Curiosity did what, now?

[lurkingkobold]

The kobold's research cave is coming along nicely, after her previous adventure - the floor carefully flattened (by teleporting stone out) and softened (by teleporting sand in); the permanent portals to Deva and the cavern's exit, currently closed to anyone who doesn't know the passwords, but marked off, with spaces set aside for several more portals; her experimenting supplies tucked away behind further portals in her workspace; a small cache set up for her new translation necklace and any other magical items she might happen to find in her travels.

And, now, another portal, leading to another new world. She double-checks that she has her traveling gear - translation necklace, teleporting ring, twine - completes the spell, and peers through.

Comments

[last_one_out]

He nods acknowledgment.

[lurkingkobold]

Next she makes a twine portal and pulls a small white rock out of it - distinctive enough to work as a marker without being too obviously out of place here - and drops it, not directly at the base of the enspelled tree, but closer to it than to any of the others. She then heads out of the clearing, gesturing for him to follow.

Just on the other side of the bush is a trail, not much more than a game trail. She marks the exit point with another stone, and sets off down the path, staying alert and leaving stones at the side of the trail every few dozen feet.

[last_one_out]

Clever trick. He makes an effort to memorize the path anyway, in case something happens to the stones.

[lurkingkobold]

The game trail branches a few times, which she makes a point of marking especially clearly, and then crosses a much larger path after they've been walking for about twenty minutes. She leaves a small pile of stones on the opposite side of the crossing, and leads them along the new path, staying much more alert and marking it only infrequently.

[last_one_out]

He pays closer attention, to both the trail and the ambient sounds.

[lurkingkobold]

The trail is pretty unremarkable, and the forest sounds are too, for a while. Eventually, though, there's a subtle change to it, and the kobold pauses to listen.

[last_one_out]

That sure is a subtle change all right. Not that he has any idea what it means.

[lurkingkobold]

"Elves," she whispers, gesturing down the trail in the direction they were heading with her nose, then listens some more; "mounted."

She retreats into the underbrush.

[last_one_out]

Huh. Well then.

He considers the interpretation of reality he will shortly be acting under. Mysteriously transported from home to this unnaturally bright forest. Confused but not very alarmed because, after all, unnaturally bright areas are supposed to be low on monsters and this one's holding up the bargain so far. This is his completely ordinary and unremarkable magic translation necklace, which he would not like to part with because he has no idea where he is and certainly doesn't imagine he can speak the local language by himself. This is his magic ring, and its functions are no one's business but his, and being questioned about them is mildly offensive and being asked to give it up is extremely offensive. What's a kobold? What's a tigerfolk? For that matter, what's an elf?

That seems to cover it. He settles into the appropriate air of curiosity/caution/bewilderment.

[lurkingkobold]

And, shortly, there are elves. Half a dozen of them, in fact; one, apparently the leader, is riding an absolutely gigantic fluffy black bear with a white snout and white marking on its chest; the other five are on pointy-eared, spotted cats about half the bear's height and maybe a third its mass, or slightly smaller than a horse.

They're moving at a pretty good pace when they come into view, but start slowing down when they spot the Aluvai, and they've slowed to a walk by the time they're in reasonable shouting distance.

[last_one_out]

He blinks up at them - confusion, mild wariness - and waits a little longer until they're in reasonable less-than-completely-shouting distance before he says, "Uh, hello?"

[lurkingkobold]

The elves come to a stop, and the one on the bear gives one of the cat-riders a questioning look. The cat-rider shrugs, and the leader turns back to the stranger. "Hello! What sort of creature are you, and how did you come to be in our forest?"

[last_one_out]

"I'm an Aluvai, and I have no idea," he says. "I just appeared here from where I was before. It was very surprising."

[lurkingkobold]

The elves seem alarmed at the latter half of this. The leader addresses one of the others: "Quill, go back to the village and tell the others - Petal and his apprentices first, and then see what the council wants us to do." The addressed elf nods and turns back up the path while the leader dismounts, landing with practiced ease and the steadying help of his spear. "I'm Swiftness Wintercloud, and these are Goose, Dusk, Hare, and Thorn, of the Saffron Fountain." He indicates the other elves in turn as he speaks, then bows.

[last_one_out]

"I'm Elarron Kevarsin," he says, and returns the bow. "Do strangers often spontaneously appear in this forest? Nothing like it has ever happened before at home."

[lurkingkobold]

"No - that sounds like foreign magic, I've never heard of anything like it. Can you show us where you appeared?"

[last_one_out]

He looks doubtfully back along the path, then shakes his head. "I'm not used to finding my way in a place like this, and I think I've gotten lost a few too many times to find where I started."

[lurkingkobold]

The elf nods. "We should bring you to the village, then. Not all the wildlife here is as well-behaved as Blueberry." He pats the bear's flank affectionately. "Do you ride?"

[last_one_out]

"I do, yes, but I'm only familiar with goats as riding animals."

[lurkingkobold]

The elf glances speculatively at the bear's saddle-less bulk, but concludes, "It's not too far to walk. Dusk, you're with me; Goose, you take Hare and Thorn and go check for tigerfolk - we were assigned to the south bend of the river, but check the eastern bit, too, Lizard's team was assigned there and you know how they are. Don't engage - if they're setting magic traps we want them alive, just report back and we'll get a trapping squad to follow up."

Goose nods, and Hare and Thorn fall in behind her and they set off down the path. Swiftness makes no move to re-mount, but starts walking, and the bear and remaining elf follow. "Can you tell me anything else about the trap that brought you here? What you were doing right before you appeared?"

[last_one_out]

"Nothing exceptional," he shrugs. "Went for a walk in one of the wilder parts of my family's holdings, got attacked by a giant snake, and then before I'd figured out what I was going to do about the giant snake, here I was in this extremely brightly lit forest."

[lurkingkobold]

"...extremely bright? You're from the underdark?"

[last_one_out]

"I don't know what you mean by the underdark, but it doesn't get this bright where I'm from."

[lurkingkobold]

"The caverns," he gestures, "underground. I've never seen them, but the traders are always coming back with stories of the latest wonder or monster the dwarves have found down there."

[last_one_out]

"Oh. No," he says. "We have caverns where I'm from, but I didn't live in one. We just don't get much direct sunlight."