Jericho returned to where he, Princess, and Ken were practicing with his mini army of lesser wood elementals. "Princess!" He called out. "I have some new friends for you to meet."
The girl turned around. "Wah! How cute!" She smiled brightly at the humanoid/plant shaped elementals. She crouched down and held out her hand.
Narzisse looked up at Jericho. {She doesn't speak our language does she?}
The bard shook his head at the daffodil. {No but I can translate for you.}
The flower nodded before changing its appearance to an aged dandelion. It plucked a seed and then changed back. It held the seed out to Princess. {Tell her to take this seed.}
Before Jericho could translate, Princess already picked up the seed. "For me? How kind of you."
{How did she know if she doesn't speak our language?} Narzisse asked.
Jericho chuckled. {She is a dancer who pays close attention to posture, movements and other such things. Lifting the seed in her direction was basically using your body to tell her to take it or to look at it.}
{Oh. I see.} The lesser wood elemental focused.
The seed in the dancer's hand burrowed into her skin.
[A wood elemental's seed has been ingrained into you. You can use the ability Speak with Spirits for 1 week.]
Princess's eyes lit up. {I can use Speak with Spirits now! Thank you so much. My name is Dancing Princess, what is yours?}
{You are welcome, I am Narzisse and these are my friends but you do know that the ability is only temporary right?}
{Yep! It is really nice to meet you Narzisse.}
{It is a pleasure to meet you as well. Bush can you come over here and explain why we have come so we don't have to beat around you?}
Princess laughed as an elemental shaped like a small shrub waddled forward.
Jericho face palmed. {You guys really like that joke don't you?}
{Would you prefer that we find a canine to bark up the wrong tree?} Bush inquired continuing the terrible and overused plant jokes.
{We are good. You wanted to talk to my sister about something though?} Jericho reminded.
Narzisse chuckled. {Feeling a little impatient are we? Fine then, Bush go ahead and make the request.}
{We have seen that you possess summoning magic and are a fun but tranquil person most of the time. We want to let you know you can summon us to dance with you whenever. We may not be good at it yet but it looks like a lot of fun.}
[You possess the skill Summon Background dancers. You can now summon lesser wood elementals to dance with you. Wood elementals will enhance any dance related to nature.]
The girl smiled. {I will gladly ask you to come and dance with me in the future!} She exclaimed.
Most of the lesser wood elementals departed whispering excitedly among themselves as they left in search of the other elf.
Narzisse walked closer to the girl. {I know how important the skill to Speak with Spirits is. You can summon me even if it isn't for dancing. I can help you regain that ability periodically.}
[You have gained the skill Summon Elemental 0/10 Beginner. You can call for a lesser elemental to join you at your side. This skill has a high failure rate because the elementals do not know you well enough to trust you. Due to your other skills, lesser water and lesser wood elementals will be slightly more willing to come to your aid for non-dancing purposes. You can specify the elemental you wish to summon by name. Current named elementals that will gladly come to your aid: Narzisse (lesser wood elemental).]
The girl held out her hand and gently stroked the stem of the flower shaped elemental.
The daffodil shook. {I will see you in the future. Just know that I am not suited for battle so please don't ask me to fight. I gave you this power because I want us to be friends and helpful to each other.}
{I understand.}
Narzisse left the mortals behind and joined her friends in search of Lillith.
Ken smirked and patted his friend on the back. "That was interesting. I have never seen elementals give a summoning contract to someone who didn't instigate it."
The girl smiled back at her friend. "I don't really use summoning other than to have background dancers. But being able to communicate with them is useful. I don't really see much use for me to use the summon magic otherwise. I mean it is cool to be able to call for friends but I'm not a fighter."
"That is true. But I think you will find a good use for it later." Ken replied.
"Princess, my clone that is in town has noticed that the satyrs seem to be getting excited. Are you ready to teach them your dance?" Jericho inquired.
The young dancer nodded. "Are you ready to start teaching them how to play the music?"
Jericho nodded. "Just as soon as I can re-gather the last part of me," he replied. "Carn gave me a useful object that will make at least part of it easier to teach. One of my clones has been writing down the sheet music for the satyrs to use."
"That is good. I look forward to hearing the full song." The girl smiled.
Kenneth sighed. "If you don't need us to help out right now, Lux and I will go back to hunting for a bit. The satyrs seem to be progressively thinking the two of us should be offered as tribute to their god. They seem to have found out that we are now spirit beasts and they have greed just like anything else. I would rather not be sacrificed and turned into a drum." He grimaced thinking about the intention he had read in the satyrs' eyes yesterday and today.
Jericho nodded. "Thank you for all your help. If we need more help we will message you."
The pre-teen nodded. "We'll be close by." Ken and Lux dashed into the woods. Their figures quickly vanished from view.
"Shall we head to the stage they call an altar?" Princess asked.
***
"Blasted satyrs! How dare you take my granddaughter!" The old elf fisherman swung his metal fishing pole and smacked one of the satyrs who had rushed at him.
A dart flew out from the overhead trees. And punctured the old elf's skin.
Lillith's grandfather felt drowsy and fainted.
The satyr who had been hit by the pole was rubbing his forehead. "How dare you attempt to intrude upon our village during the time the champions of our god are bestowing upon our people their blessing! Bring him. The champions should decide his fate."
Another elf walked into the clearing with her hands up. "Peace." She said as another sleeping dart flew through the trees.
"Peaceful or not, you are coming with us." The satyrs tied up and dragged their two would be victims towards the altar of Arglwydd y Ddawns.
***
The third satyr removed the memory crown. "So that is how you 'beat box' with an alphorn." He replied as if filled with an epiphany.
Jericho nodded. "Yeah, you and the two guitarists should take the time to practice." He pointed to the two new guitars held by the nearby satyrs. The three fiddlemakers were inhumanly fast at making the instruments. "Come find me if you have questions of find something difficult. I will try to help out." He pulled out the sheet music. "Here, I have been told you know how to read it."
The satyrs grinned. "Thank you. We will practice hard." The three took the parchment and left.
Jericho sighed. "Wow, that crown really is potentially dangerous. It recorded memories thoughts and feelings." He muttered as he thought about the bursts of foreign memories in his mind. "I should go find Carn and return the crown. Memories are a tricky thing and I prefer to avoid messing with them further. I'm just glad nothing broke my concentration or allowed my mind to wander while I played. It would have been bad if my darker thoughts invaded their minds."
He wandered the stone stage and found the old goat humming happily to the sounds of a new song with new lyrics.
"Ah, Jericho, you have returned. I suspect this means you were successful?" The satyr inquired.
Jericho gave a light nod and handed back the crown. "It was. They have received the knowledge of how to play the instruments. But I agree, this crown is very dangerous. So I am returning it to you."
Carn smiled back. "Thank you. Though I would prefer it if you took the crown away from here when you journey on. It is actually a dark relic in our eyes. At least in your hands it will be used for better purposes." He pushed the crown back into Jericho's hands. "You are someone we can entrust it to."
[You have been given The Memory Crown. This relic of the satyr god Brenin Tragwyddol is used to transfer memories, feelings, and thoughts from one wearer to the next.]
Jericho sighed. "Fine. I'll take it away from this place."
Carn nodded. "I thank you. What you do with it from here is your choice. We will not begrudge or claim responsibility for any action you take even if you give it away."
The sound of about seven bodies being dragged across the ground caught Jericho's and Carn's attentions.
While immobile, the seven individuals were conscious. "Let us go!" "Fight me!" "Blast, this is humiliating!" Their weak voices attempted to shout.
"Champion of Music, Champion of Dance; we have captured these intruders. What do you wish to do with them?"
Jericho frowned. "Why ask us?"
"Because this is an interruption to your great work; this crime must not go unpunished but we also wish for you to be pleased with the decision."
Princess frowned. "Why must they be punished? Ignorance will get people in trouble sure, but it certainly isn't a crime."
The satyr hunters hesitated.
Jericho looked over the group and saw the two vaguely familiar elves. He sighed once more. "Separate these two from the rest. We will talk to them in a bit."
Lillith's family members were separated from the others as ordered.
"You five are players right?" Jericho asked.
"Yeah," the one who looked like a martial artist replied.
"Are you here to hunt or to leave Pren?" Jericho asked.
"We wanted to escape this place but we can't afford the teleportation fees. This is the only way we know out of here." He honestly replied.
Jericho nodded and turned to the satyr hunter. "Other than through your sacred grounds, is there another route out of the forest?"
"There is. However it is significantly more dangerous. The path to the Northwest will also lead people out of the forest but they will have to venture through the dangerous FoxBear territory. While there aren't many foxes left, the bears and the even more wild and territorial FoxBears are still around. It would be a challenge to protect themselves against any of their leaders seeing how easily we subdued them."
A nearby satyr shivered. "My older sister was eaten by a FoxBear. They are very scary creatures that think of us as food."
Jericho nodded. "I know your sacred grounds are best left undefiled which is why you are having Purai and Lillith prove they are helpful enough to allow through. However, let these five leave the forest. If you do not want them traveling directly north, send them this other way towards the exit. In the near future if invaders are here to pass by, let them through. There are some unpleasant things happening near the human lands and many humans have been leaving."
The satyr hunters nodded. "We will escort them to the edge of the FoxBear territory and give them instructions on how to leave. What about the others?"
"If they are here to harm you, do what you normally do. If they have specific reasons for coming like those two elves, hear what they have to say before making a decision." Jericho took a breath. "There is no need for unnecessary violence or interruptions."
The satyrs untied the five adventurers. "Follow us. We will show you the best way out of these woods."
The players mildly cursed their luck but were glad there was still a way out. They departed.
Jericho and Princess walked over to the old fisherman and woman. "Are Lillith and Purai nearby?" He asked one of the satyrs.
"They are."
"Please bring them here to see these two. They need to talk."
© J Eranoth