Dionysus: "Taka, I... I want to apologize."

Taka blinks and looks at him for a moment. "...there's nothing to apologize for."

Dionysus: "At the least< i should have talked to you those days we travelled. I just didn't know what to say."

Taka: "It's alright..." she manages a smile. "You're talking now, that's good enough,"

Dionysus: "I was a fool, Taka, & it lessens the weight on my heart to know you forgive me. This is just so much to take in. I would ask a boon of you, though I've no reason to expect you'll conceed to it."

Taka cocks her head to one side, curiously.

Dionysus: "When next we face such insurmountable foes, if I falter... kill me."

Taka looks shocked. "What?!"

Quothar: "I cannot bear being a coward. If it happens again, I do not deserve to live."

Taka lowers her ears, looking at once stunned and sad. "Jean Luc, I...you're not a coward!"

Dionysus: "Please, don't argue. The Alpha Wolf said the same, but... I /know/ what I was feeling, Taka. My fear defeated me, & if it happens to me, I will only be a liability to you all. Promise me?"

Taka looks at him, ears still down. "I..." she pulls him into a hug, half because she wants to and half so he won't see the tears in her eyes. "...alright."

Dionysus: He grasps your hands & holds you close, "Thank you."

Dionysus: He leans in to kiss you if you let him

Taka does.

---

Dionysus: Do you go on a stroll with JL?

Taka: yes

Dionysus: He takes you to see the sights--this city isn't too far from his home, so he's visited a time or two. He says that there's something here you /must/ see.

Taka looks a bit amused, a bit intrigued. "Really? what is it?"

Dionysus: "You'll see." is all he'll say. He'll lead you to an old manor house.

Taka chuckles and follows.

Dionysus: He rings the gate-bell & asks the servant that arrives to tell "Her Grace" that Jean Luc D'Artagnon had arrived & wished to call on her.

Taka raises an eyebrow at him. "Where are we, exactly?"

Dionysus: "This is the manor of the Duchess of Lannah. She lives... quietly."

Dionysus: "Address her as 'Your Grace.'"

Taka: "I do have a passing familiarity with courtly etiquette." that said in a gently teasing tone.

Dionysus: He grins as the servant returns to take you to the duchess.

Dionysus: Her manor is extravagantly decorated, but tastefully as well.

Taka takes it in as they go, both out of habit and curiousity.

Dionysus: She greets Jean Luc like an old friend, hugging him tightly, calling him "jean Luc," & telling him he'd changed a lot since their last meeting. She laughs when she says this, as if it's some sort of in joke. he laughs as well. He introduces you as "Naitaka Citlali of Kali."

Taka bows, as she's not in skirts at the moment. "An honor, Your Grace."

Dionysus: "Call me Gatyana. We're all first names here, even if Jean Luc is too stuffy to play along."

Taka smiles. "As you wish, Gatyana."

Dionysus: She takes you to her garden, to a covered patio there, & orderstea brought out.

Dionysus: She & JL make small talk, including you in i if you'll join them in it

Taka will, happily

Dionysus: Eventually, JL steers the conversation around to the legendary bird that lives near here. A simurgh.

Dionysus: Usually, it lives at the World Tree, but in the last thirty years or so, these mountains have been graced with its presenc.e

Taka perks up a bit more at the change in topic.

Dionysus: And the duchess has a standing invitation for anyone who thinks they can get some of its seeds to try. She will reward anyone who can bring back seeds from the bird (see description on wiki for explanation) is a trio of enchanted rings.

Taka: "Really? what enchantments?"

Dionysus: "The first is a ring of my father's, one I have no use for--it makes a person a greater fighter. The second is a ring I had crafted for the occassion, which allows a person to speak with animals to a degree. The third is a ring crafted by a friend, which will allow the wearer to move more swiftly."

Taka looks intrigued. "very interesting." she smiles. "I just might try for the rings myself, if only to get a glimpse of the simurgh."

Dionysus: Jean Luc smiles, "I knew you'd want to. If her Grace is willing to allow us, I say we start now." He glances at the duchess, who is smiling.

Dionysus: "I've been cooped up in this manor for weeks due to rain. You can't go looking for ancient birds... without me."

Dionysus: "I'll have horses saddled." And she calls a servant over.

Taka chuckles, grinning at Jean Luc. "you know me far too well."

Dionysus: He smiles.

Dionysus: The horses are ready in short order & the duchess orders her servants away, telling you & JL that you two will have to act as her servants until you get away from the city--that way no one will pester her as she leaves

Taka nods and agrees.

Dionysus: So ten minutes later, you're riding horses in the mountains. Gatyana takes you to the forests where the bird is usually seen & tells you from there on, it's up to you to find it.

Dionysus: Roll tracking, hunting, or smell, whichever is highest.

Dionysus: Eklem Dionysus [diff: 16] 21 21 22

Dionysus: You pick up a scent of a plant that shouldn't grow here, something out of place. Only the simurgh could possibly track such a thing all the way down this way.

Dionysus: You have a trail.

Taka grins, ears standing at alert. "This way."

Dionysus: They follow. The trail leads higher up into the moutnains, through the thick pine forests.

Dionysus: Roll smell a few more times for me

Dionysus: Like, 3 times

Dionysus: You manage to follow the trail for a decent amount of time, but the second roll failed unless you use pos. karma. The third will fail as well, unless you pos. or neg. karma it.

Taka: Positive the second, neg the third.

Dionysus: It's an hour through sttep mountainside forest before you come to a flat area.

Dionysus: A series of cliffs have to be climbed to a rocky outcropping where a large nest sits. A beautiful peacock plumage can be seen amidst the nest.

Dionysus: Gatyana gasps, her hair sticking ot her face in the rain. "That's it."

Taka stares in awe.

Taka: "Here goes, then..."

Dionysus: It's athleticism to climb the cliffs & rogue to avoid detection from the bird. Roll both for the first cliff.

Dionysus: Eklem Dionysus [cliff: 13] 14 17 21

Dionysus: Eklem Dionysus [bird: 16] 18 20 25

Taka: <Eklem> Taka [ath: 12] 14 18 19

Taka: <Eklem> Taka [rogue: 16] 22 23 25

Dionysus: The first cliff is steep but not unclimbable.

Dionysus: (I get those PMed to me by being GM, don't worry about sending them]

Dionysus: The bird has not noticed you. JL makes itup the first cliff, but Gatyana stays down below, waiting.

Dionysus: Second cliff rolls

Taka: [cool]

Dionysus: Eklem Dionysus [cliff: 15] 16 23 24

Dionysus: Eklem Dionysus [bird: 16] 19 20 23

Dionysus: Jean Luc barely catches you as you lose your grip on the second cliff. He has to use all his strength to pull you up.

Taka shoots him a very thankful look

Dionysus: He says, "Let's rest. The last cliff looks worse than that one. Let's find a safer route up."

Taka nods. "Sounds like a plan."

Dionysus: Rolll awareness for searching after your rest.

Taka: straight, I assume?

Dionysus: It's figuring out what part of the cliff is easier to climb, so yeah, but include any bonuses to base awa you might have (I forget what)

Dionysus: And a spot is found. It's not as bad as the rest of the cliff, but still as bad as the one you just climbed.

Taka looks at Jean Luc and indicates it. "Ready?"

Dionysus: "As I'll ever be."

Dionysus: Ath & Rog

Taka: ahaha...

Dionysus: Eklem Dionysus [bird: 16] 22 23 24

Dionysus: Eklem Dionysus [climb: 15] 16 19 20

Dionysus: Any karma use?

Taka: ...Yeah.

Taka: Not sure what a tie does on a rogue roll[nega], but I'll go ahead and use my last good and one bad for the athletics as well

Dionysus: A tie is better than a failure. It would mean the bird gets a bonus to its next awareness roll.

Taka: *nods* then that's what we'll do

Dionysus: You make it up the third cliff. The nest is atop a stack of boulders atop this cliff, just above the tree line. You have two options--climb the boulders or the trees.

Taka: Which one gives the better cover?

Dionysus: There's no cover on the rocks, but the trees are a tougher go as you'd have to jump from the branches to the nest

Taka: hmm...

Taka: *flips a coin* looks like it's the rocks.

Dionysus: Eklem Dionysus [climb: 13] 19 21 21

Dionysus: Eklem Dionysus [bird: 16+3=19] 22 22 23

Dionysus: The climb shoulda been easier. Call that 18

Taka: kay. still screwed with the rogue, though ^^;

Dionysus: As you make the climb, you slide a little, & the bird turns & looks at you, making a call.

Dionysus: Do you try anything while it is staring at you?

Taka: Would Taka assume, with all the legends, that it could understand her if she spoke?

Dionysus: She'd guess that it was possible

Taka: kay,

Taka stops where she is, ears lowered in a very humble 'I mean no harm' position. "Please excuse the intrusion..."

Dionysus: It quirks its head & squawks. You hear the duchess scream.

Dionysus: The bird takes flight, swooping just over you. Seeds fall all over you as it flies.

Dionysus: Jean Luc is sliding down the rocks backward, trying to get down to the duchess.

Taka tries to catch a few of the seeds.

Dionysus: You can grab as many asyou want if you stop do grab them, but that will leave the duchess under attack with no aide.

Dionysus: [By the way, these cliffs woulda been less difficult had it not been for the rain]

Taka: down I go, then.

Taka: [damn rain.]

Dionysus: You do manage to grab a few, I assume

Dionysus: It's hard going down, but not as hard as going up. The hardest part is not going down too fast.

Taka: i definitely try as I go.

Dionysus: Roll ath going down to keep from falling

Dionysus: Eklem Dionysus [diff: 11] 12 16 18

Taka: ahaha.

Dionysus: Unless you use karma, you fall down the cliff.

Dionysus: You have the option of making your skin as hard as wood as you fall, though, which will lessen the damage

Taka: I'll go with option B. I may need that last nega later.

Dionysus: Roll stun wound +6 each

Taka: ...I've never seen that happen before, that was cool

Dionysus: Eklem Dionysus [stun: 15] 17 18 25

Dionysus: Eklem Dionysus [wound: 15] 18 20 20

Dionysus: That is cool

Dionysus: You hit the ground hard, but you are harder. It hurts, but it not debilitating in anyway. jean Luc gracefully slides down next to you. "It's better to go down slowly." He says, grinning slightly & running for where the Duchess was.

Dionysus: You can smell blood through the rain. Two kinds.

Dionysus: One is deer of some sort.

Taka: the other?

Dionysus: The Duchess's

Taka takes off after him. "Oh hush, you..."

Dionysus: You see the duchess lying in a pool of her blood, face down.

Dionysus: The simurgh is sitting on a tree branch nearby.

Dionysus: A wolf walks up, one of the Pack.

Taka takes the scene in - I'm guessing the evidence points to the simurgh as the one who hurt the duchess - then glances at the wolf questioningly.

Dionysus: Err, no.

Dionysus: The duchess screamed before the simurgh flew.

Dionysus: There's a faint smell that's vaguely familiar leading away from the duchess.

Dionysus: The simurgh is well known for its benevolence, actually, & its healing powers.

Taka: yeah, now that I go back and actually read...*headdesk*

Taka looks at the wolf, trying to place the scent as she speaks. "what brings you here?" in the wolftongue

Dionysus: "The Pack is hunting the Hunter."

Dionysus: You feel Albert call you via the Sword.

Dionysus: The wolf clearly heard it as well.

Taka tenses and looks at Jean Luc. "I have to go...Albert needs me."

Dionysus: He looks to you. "Wait!"

Dionysus: He bends over & rifles through the duchesses pockets. He pulls out three rings.

Dionysus: He puts them on, "Talk to animals! The bird!"

Dionysus: He turns to the simurgh & says something chirpishly. The bird responds, swoops down & touches the duchess. Jean Luc looks relieved, "Okay, go! I'll be here!"

Taka nods and takes off.