Aurora warily looks over Voth unsure of how much to trust him. She shakes her head at hearing that Brut was convinced that the bugbear the newcomer was looking for was him. It wasn't that surprising, though still a nuisance, that he was so bent on becoming a bugbear again, it had only been less than a day.

"Well good to know you can speak more than whatever that just was she says before turning to Sshizna. "I can read it if it is elvish. Just give me a few moments please."

Aurora turned her attention back to Jub. "Sorry about all that. The scarecrow is Clapperclaw claw. He helped us get out of Hither in exchange for finding that stag skull he has on now. I guess Agdon stole it from him and replaced it with a gourd. Our other pleasantly dispositioned acquaintance is Sshizna. She was locked in a room in Bavlorna's hut. Needless to say, she owes us a favor for letting her out of there.

Once we split off from you two, we came across a rather depressed elf..." Her expression turned to one of frustrated realization, "oh hells I forgot to try to find something for him. I suppose that can be managed later.

Anyway, after that we came across a group of Bullywugs who wanted to overthrow the current Bullywug king, told them we would help if they would in exchange help us later. Found Charm at her shop, and she seemed to be rather upset with you two. Zav had traded her for a moonlight monocle and some dry wood. We met two others, though they did not seem to make it to Thither with us... come to think of it I've not seen Tsak in awhile either... Aurora hoped that the faerie was not in any danger.

"Oh and Gabriel found his missing dice. They were in a closet with a bunch of other things that Bavlorna had collected. I think that about sums up our ventures after getting separated from you and Brut. I'll be right back and you can let me know what all you two got into."

The elf went over to the poster Sshizna was referring to and read through it. "It seems this is a poster claiming someone named Will of the Feywild is wanted alive and unharmed by someone. The reward from whoever put this out is that they will curse a creature you name. It does not say who or why they want him, aside from this Will person vexing them." Aurora said rather plainly, a little irritated with Sshizna's approach. While she did not have any attachment to the group outside of returning a favor, surely she could have understood making sure there was not going to be an issue from whatever the gnome and bugbear were discussing.

Aurora turned to Clapperclaw for a moment, "Thank you for your offer. Could you please give us a moment to get our bearings and figure out what to do next?"

"Curse a creature you say?" Brutrumukk said in common when Aurora mentioned what the wanted poster said. "I can name a few creatures I'd like to see cursed." Brutrumukk chuckled darkly then at the thought of leveling a curse against one of his enemies. And all for the bargain price of bringing some brat to whoever made that poster. "What's there to figure out? An' what are you wantin' bears for?" Brutrumukk asked when Aurora then told Clapperclaw to hold off until bears could be obtained and the next move could be figured out. "Obviously what we should do next is go to this guy's cave an' eat all 'is food. Once we've done that, we find this Will o' the Feywild an' take 'im to whoever wants 'im so I can curse that kenku git from the carnival." With that said, Brutrumukk turned to Clapperclaw. "Which way's the cave?" Brutrumukk asked.

Clapperclaw looks to Aurora when she asks for him to wait for her, and he nods his stag skull, the lower jaw clacking against the upper jaw once again, "Sure thing! Whenever you're ready, I'll lead the way!"

The little scarecrow waits patiently as the group finishes talking and wraps up their conversation and introductions. After the party gives their responses and agree to go with Clapperclaw, the scarecrow answers Brutrumukk, "It's this way!"

He then leads the way through the forest.



After a while of trekking through the forest, the party find something. They find an owlbear yoked to a dilapidated chariot! The owlbear clearly notices the group approaching but doesn't move to attack. Instead, it seems to give a huff and lying down. But if a party member does approach the owlbear, it gives a low growl in warning. The chariot is noticeably large enough to carry two medium sized people and their gear.





@Vertigo@Lurking Krog@Dark Cloud@fellsing@rush99999@Necroes

More than happy to be left alone once more when the group began speaking to each other, Voth did what he always did when traveling with others. He opened his senses, and took in the world around them. Bits of information would trickle in as he did. Taking in names of people and names from the discussion and even forming thoughts about the nature of the group's purpose. Mention of the poster brought to mind the Hourglass Coven, the hags who currently ruled this area of the Fey Wilds, as the ones likely to have posted such a bounty. At the time, he didn't think it worth mentioning.

When they did start traveling, Voth did his best to keep his eyes and ears open. Being a scout for his own people, the effort came naturally to him. Given he was the tallest in the group, even from the back it wasn't hard to keep a look out ahead of them. What tipped him off as they came upon the owlbear was the smell more than anything. Predators had a distinct scent. One he had long known to keep his nose open for.

"Ever vigilant Grankhul, for your guidance I offer sight." He would speak his prayer once more as they approached, in his native tongue and as quietly as he was able. Brushing his thumb across his eyes, he would let Grankhul's guidance choose where his sight fell on the path ahead.



When the chariot and owlbear came into view, Voth quickly took stock of the situation. The only tracks that could be seen were those of the creature and the vehicle. No signs of anyone nearby, and no signs of whoever the owner might be. To his sight, a particular piece of splintered wood seemed to stick out in more vivid colors. Heeding the guidance of his god, Voth would crane his neck up, looking into the chariot without approaching closer. Sure enough, the claw marks inside suggested whatever driver had been inside had been attacked. With no evidence of anyone fleeing the area, there was only one conclusion that could be drawn.

"Be aware. Whoever the driver was, they were carried away by a winged creature. Doubtful we will see either. Without its master, the beast is unlike to be calm. More like to be underfed and in want of a meal. If we intend to plunder the cart it would be best to slaughter the creature quickly. Spook it overmuch and it may flee, and any plunder with it."

"Slaughter it? Are you 'avin' a laugh?" Came Brutrumukk's incredulous reply to Voth's words. "That's a bloody Owlbear, that is! Do you know 'ow much murder that thing's capable of? If it's underfed like you say it is, all we gotta do is feed it an' it'll be all ours!" With that said, Brutrumukk pulled a day of rations from his backpack, slowly approached the owlbear, took a step back when it growled, and tossed the rations onto the ground within reach of the owlbear's beak.

It did not take long for Aurora to remember why she had left Brutrumukk to his own devices. "Yes any creature. Perhaps even one of the other hags. I do not mean bears, I mean bearings. It's another way to say where we are and what the plan is, which should be more than following your stomach." She said voice filled with irritation. "I suppose I shouldn't expect any more from you than that, despite the trouble you following you're stomach got you into with those creatures in the water."

While Clapperclaw led the way, Aurora would continue to elaborate on what happened to the rest of the group to Jub if he wanted to know more about what happened. She would listen to his tales as well if he wished to share them.

Finding the chariot in the woods was strange, though once Voth explained something large and flying likely took the riders it made some sense. The creature likely fled for its life. The chariot it was attached to was elven in make, though the engraving she did not recognize.

Carefully, possibly too timidly, Aurora approached with her own rations to try to feed the beast, completely ignoring the warning growl from the owlbear. "Poor thing, you must be exhausted. Rest and eat." She said to it in Elvish while gently setting the food down in front of it.

"FASSSCINATING." snapped the snake-woman to no one and everyone at once. "Now. Before your jolly reunion getsss any more out of hand, doesss any. Of. You. Ssspeak Elvisssh?!" feeling particularly unhelpful the bard tilted his head.

"Pedin i-lamath pân no minno." spoke the very much elvish speaking half-elf, which for those who could verily speak and understand the tongue quite literally meant 'I speak the common tongue only.' hopefully the sarcasm wasn't completely lost on Sshizna though Gabe wouldn't be too hard-pressed if she took umbrage he quite liked seeing her get annoyed. Chuckling to himself he glanced to Jub and Brutrumukk both of which had been yammering in their own rather harsh language with the addition of yet another of their ilk 'Birds of a feather tend to flock together I guess.' Gabe mused to himself, the big one who called themself Voth though was much quieter than...Well to think of it Gabe never knew many bugbears to begin with.



"Or you know...We could probably just leave the giant likely-to-eat-us owlbear alone? Saves us our rat-Oh okay then guess we're just throwing away perfectly good food?" Gabriel huffed a sigh, eyes fixed on the owlbear. Between the fact that whoever in the Nine Hells had been able to handle this beast was carried off by some likely even worse beast Gabe would have much preferred dealing with neither and much less the fact the beast seemed to very much not want them to come near it.

The owlbear growls at Aurora and Brutrumukk cautiously as they approach. However, as the both of them offer their rations, the owlbear quiets down and tilts its head at Brutrumukk and Aurora. While it ignores Aurora's rations, it does eat the jerky from Brutrumukk's rations, without tearing off his arm. After eating the rations, it sits down and stares at Brutrumukk and the party, clearly waiting for more offerings of meat.

@Vertigo@Lurking Krog@Dark Cloud@fellsing@rush99999@Necroes

Brutrumukk shot an annoyed glare a Aurora when she tried to compete with him for who got to be the owlbear's new master. That glare quickly turned into a victorious smirk though, as the owlbear completely ignored Aurora's offering in favor of Brutrumukk's. "Thought you could snag the owlbear out from under me, eh?" Brutrumukk taunted the elf as he fed the rest of his jerky to the expectant owlbear. "Not a chance, knife ears. Not a chance."

"Wait," Voth would interject, after hearing Brutrumukk's declaration. "You intend to claim the beast? We do not know for certain if its master was slain. Claiming it while the owner lives would break the rule of ownership."

Stepping forward, Voth would begin shaking his head. "I am not one to allow laws to direct my path. Be ware, though, the rules of this place enforce themselves. Petty theft may be met with petty punishment, but a beast like this would fetch a high price even among goblin-kin. With the hag coven to rule in Zybilna's absence, there is little and less to say the rules will be charitable to outsiders. We risk ripping the beast's price from our own hides, if any among us tries to claim it."

Aurora rolls her eyes at Brutrumukk. "You mistaking kindness for an attempt to bribe a creature to follow me shows more than you realize. Not everyone does things like this to gain some advantage as you do. Likely this creature belongs to one of the fey courts or someone of high standing of the elves that live in the Feywild. The more I am around you the more I regret even trying to save you from yourself back in Bavlorna's hut. Were it not for Jub you would have been left to whatever plans that hag would have for you. I don't even know if I would jump into the water to try to save you from those creatures again." Aurora stood up and threw the jerky from two of her rations into the pile Brutrumukk made for the owlbear. "If you won't listen to any others maybe you will listen to the words of your new companion. This beast is not ours and it's owner could still be alive."

Carefully she tried to check the harness without getting to close to the owlbear to see if there were any markings that might name the creature or its owner, or a way to release it safely. At the very least she could look for a way to release it from the chariot so it was no longer bound to the cumbersome thing and could hunt for itself or return to its home.

Her eyes were drawn back to the emblem and a bit of realization took hold. "Juniper?" she says in elvish at first then sylvan if the owlbear does not respond.

Jub watched with only mild interest as Brutrumukk and Aurora both made attempts to beckon this owlbear towards them. No one seemed to share Brutrumukk's desire to take the creature for their own, and Jub couldn't help but side with majority. From what he knew, owlbears were vicious creatures, and not easy to tame, and didn't they have enough problems without dragging some killer creature with them? They'd been lucky enough to lose that giant snail eventually.

That being said, he wasn't going to voice any of this, as he'd learnt by now that attempting to dissuade Brutrumukk was near impossible. He did however flinch when Aurora said we wasn't sure if she would jump in the water to save Brutrumukk were he to drown again, triggering an unpleasant flashback to the former bugbear's untimely death. "A little harsh..." Jub muttered.

Then again, he understood Aurora's frustrations. He really did. He was just too tired to bother anymore.

Brutrumukk let out an annoyed groan as people began giving him grief for wanting to have nice things. "Alright. Alright. Fine. I won't clam the owlbear." Brutrumukk said in exasperation... Then his face became contemplative... Then shifty. "I'll just... 'old onto it fer now. Make sure it don't starve to death like it was doin' before. If we run into its owner, I'll give it right back. If we don't, then obviously the git's dead an' gone. An' THEN I get to clam the owlbear. Sound good?"

"What booyahg will you feed it with? Grankhul has yet to grant me such." Voth would retort, before looking over at the chariot. As small as it was, there was no way it carried enough raw meat to feed the owlbear for more than a day. The creature clearly had no interest in any other food, even as hungry as it seemed. "If it was a fey owned the beast, like as not they used booyahg to feed it. Without such, I have doubts you'd be able to travel as well as feed the beast."

He would switch to the goblin tongue before continuing, not wanting to reveal any secrets to more people than he had to."Took the worgs my clan kept barely two days to eat a deer whole. There was only two such we kept. This beast here has the heft of four, to the least. My time here, largest meal I've hunted in a day was two brace of hares. Hunger gets to it, it's like to run off to hunt without reason to return. If the brothers decide asudden to smile on your fortunes, the beast won't be hungry enough to bite the hand that didn't feed it enough. Large as it is, and small as you are, more like to take a whole arm than a hand. If just that."

"You've been spendin' too much time 'round the 'obgoblins. Yer overthinkin' everything... And yer sayin' booyagh wrong." Brutrumukk said in goblin. "I've run into quite a few enemies 'round 'ere. Snakes the size o' giants. Rabbits an' frogs the size o' people. Cats an' ugly mermaids the size of ogres. I'm sure there'll be more where that came from... An' if there ain't..." Brutrumukk inclined his head towards Zavakri. "...That one's been nothin' but trouble ever since she decided to drag us 'ere before we were ready." Brutrumukk said, still speaking in goblin. "If all else fails, I can think o' one way she could make 'erself actually useful fer once. Heh heh heh heh heh."

When Aurora speaks the name, the owlbear does indeed respond. It looks to her, and when Aurora repeats her name in Sylvan, she approaches Aurora and gently butts her head against the palm of her head. It is clear that the owlbear is asking for pets from Aurora in response to hearing her name.

When Brutrumukk and Voth talk amongst themselves, and Brutrumukk points to Zavakri, the human woman in question looks to them with a raised eyebrow. Her irises are that of golden clock faces once more. She doesn't say anything to them though and focuses back on the situation in front of the party.

@Vertigo@Lurking Krog@Dark Cloud@fellsing@rush99999@Necroes

Aurora starts to pet the owlbear's head, warily at first, then more relaxed. She removes some of the jerky from two of her rations to give to Juniper. "There you go. Can you find your way home?" she asked the owlbear in elvish not expecting much.

"Well now she is calm perhaps one of you can carefully and calmly check the chariot. I am planning on removing the connecting harness to free the owlbear. I do not think she will harm us if we do not act aggressively towards her." Aurora starts to undo the buckle harnessing Juniper to the chariot.

"Like Nine bloody 'Ells yer gonna free the owlbear." Brutrumukk hissed in response to Aurora stating her intentions, fighting to keep his voice down despite his anger so as not to risk agitating the owlbear. He moved to where the elf was working on unbuckling the harness and swatted her hands away. "I saw it first. So I get to decide what's done with it. An' I say I'm keepin' it."