Pretty Flowers (P)

[Deleted]

Blight gather all of the saffron he obtain so far with his clone and take his leave for now.
//exit

[Ancestor Febrie]

Ragnar and the duchess come upon some good music, the tune was played very well but they haven't spotted anyone playing the said tune. Instead she trips upon a dead carcass of a larger snake who happened to be sitting right on top of the saffron plant. "Ohh we have another plant here." Ragnar looked pleased and as always she cut out the plant and giving the man a few leaves, with that he was radiating with luck. They followed the path towards the music while also looking for more snakes and another plant in their vicinity. Who could have played to music she wondered.

130sp Forest Knowledge and Cultivation, Searching for Saffron 60% , post 9, 6 Saffron plant found, 120 Spanish Nuts doses found

[Skulking Shinzu]

Rolls

Ragnar begins to wander away and comes across a trombone player. Curiously, Ragnar reaches into the instrument and pulls out another Saffron plant. In response, the musician storms off in a fit.

[Ancestor Febrie]

They were nearing the music, then the hissing came. There was a horde of snakes running away across the path from something. The duchess got interested in the commotion, and so headed to the opposite direction from those snakes. Along the way, Rangnar wanders off somewhere, after a while he returns with a saffron plant in his plant. This time he automatically pulls out a few leaves while handing her the rest. She now thought Ragnar was acting like a dog now. Incidentally the music stopped playing and she could not locate this musician anymore nor the commotion that spurred the snakes to ran away. Deciding it was just better to continue the search for more saffron.

130sp Forest Knowledge and Cultivation, Searching for Saffron 60% , post 10, 7 Saffron plant found, 120 Spanish Nuts doses found

[Skulking Shinzu]

Rolls

As the musician fled, so did your luck... No Saffron found.

[Ancestor Febrie]

Thanks to Ragnar the musician fled and did their chances of finding more saffron in this area. It was due to not hearing the good music that she and he could hardly concentrate on searching. They came across some more dead snakes but that was it, nothing more. She new thought it was better to expand the search area into the new area, going a bit deeper into the woods. The tree density was now showing, they were bunched up together more and was harder to search but despite that more snakes showed up, small and medium large at that. She still had to get this larger snake and its saffron or nuts.

130sp Forest Knowledge and Cultivation, Searching for Saffron 60% , post 11, 7 Saffron plant found, 120 Spanish Nuts doses found

[Skulking Shinzu]

Rolls

Ragnar falls onto his knees. He seems very guilty about something. Upon pressuring him, he reveals that he actually found a Saffron plant earlier and had slyly kept it hidden from you. He's willing to hand it over in exchange for your forgiveness. 

[Ancestor Febrie]

After searching for a while in the heated weather, Ragnar suddenly falls to his knees, she became confused as to what ailment came upon him. There weren't any animals that could cause this man any harm, it could be from the long exposure to the sun or even the saffron plant? It was not so, Ragnar reveals the truth about finding a plant earlier but not telling her and begs for forgiveness. "Alright" she forgives man and he hands over the plant, she gives him a few leafs. Ragnar gulped them like nothing and began sniffing like a dog, his nose was good at locating more saffron and so the duo moved out in search of more plants.

130sp Forest Knowledge and Cultivation, Searching for Saffron 60% , post 12, 8 Saffron plant found, 120 Spanish Nuts doses found

[Skulking Shinzu]

Rolls

Success! Ragnar sniffs out another Saffron plant.

[Ancestor Febrie]

Soon after walking into the denser part of the forest Ragnar would disappear again, she kind of gotten used to it by now. The duchess searched on her own for a while but did not manage to see any saffron, she did however encounter a large snake. Before she could kill it, the monster exploded leaving a sort of greenish goo on the nearby trees and bushes. Right on time Ragnar emerges from one of those bushes half covered with the same goo and holding a saffron plant. "Good job Ragnar." he handed her the plant and kept some of the leafs for himself. When she stashed the plant into the bag, the duo moved out again.

130sp Forest Knowledge and Cultivation, Searching for Saffron 60% , post 13, 9 Saffron plant found, 120 Spanish Nuts doses found

[Skulking Shinzu]

Rolls

The moment the duo moves, they instantly come across another Saffron plant. Luck is back on your side.

[Ancestor Febrie]

Right when they moved out another saffron plant appeared before them. The usual occurred and then she actually realized it will be dark soon, the Duchess then moved into a normal path towards the capital for lodging. She dragged Ragnar with her, they still walked the forest path and were still actively on the lookout for more plants but being on the normal path meant less of a chance to spot it. Snakes carcasses were all over the place, it seems today was not her day to find that giant snake, maybe another time. The duchess was counting saffron leafs in her bag, the number was still the same. She hoped Ragnar wouldn't be sneaky and secretly stole some. The man was still sniffing but his head was now less tilting.

130sp Forest Knowledge and Cultivation, Searching for Saffron 60% , post 14, 10 Saffron plant found, 120 Spanish Nuts doses found

{Exit after roll}

[Skulking Shinzu]

Rolls

More Saffron found!

[Ancestor Febrie]

11 Saffron plant found, 120 Spanish Nuts doses found

{Exit}

[Ancestor Febrie]

{Enter}

The duchess was now finished with most things in Waterfall, now just to wait for completion of her unique shield-fan and that should be it. She has once again entered with Ragnar the same forest they were in earlier. In a sense she was still adamant to look for this stupid big snake that was terrorizing a village and to do that, she had to look for saffron. Ragnar once again began to tilt his head left and right while they were searching in the vicinity, the forest was sure to spit out a few saffron in time. Maybe now they will have more luck than before and actually get to find their prey.

Searching for Saffron 60%, post 1, 120 spanish nuts found.
130sp Forest Knowledge and Cultivation

[Skulking Shinzu]

Rolls

Saffron found! ...Too bad you weren't looking for anything rarer.

[Skulking Shinzu]

[Enter]

Dressed in his standard cloaked attire with weaponary around his sides, Zuruel glanced around the foresty area as his keen sense of smell picked up on a familiar scent. “Could it be?” He thought to himself as Lady looked down at her master in her silver-haired humanoid form. At that moment, the world around Zuruel began to blur as he broke out into a dash. Lady, meanwhile, effortlessly followed by leaping from tree branch to branch while her master scurried along from ground level.

“Ah. I knew I smelled you.” Zuruel skidded to a halt as the familiar figure of the Duchess came into view. The man beside her, however, was someone he had never encountered before. “Saffron addiction?” Being a master botanist, Zuruel knew the signs full-well. Not to mention that the man's breath reeked of Saffron. Why was the Duchess associating herself with such a man? Either way, the Kedoin had no business questioning her. Especially not when he needed her assistance.

“The smith told me you might be wandering the forests of Waterfall…” As he revealed that fact, Lady cautiously glared at the Duchess and her companion from above. Although she didn’t keep herself hidden, the fact that she hadn’t come down yet revealed that she most likely didn’t trust one of the two. “I seek your assistance Duchess… A powerful artifact has come into creation that I must secure. The reasons are… Complicated you see-” Before Zuruel could continue, Lady jumped down from the tree and landed with a graceful thud. She then cut her master off as she shot the bearded man a dark glare. Despite being the shortest of the group, she definitely exuded the most confidence. “So you’re the Duchess of Mo?” Lady’s expression then lightened as she made contact with the Duchess. “I sense much goodness in you. Would you aid us in our humble quest? It for the good of this realm.”

[Ancestor Febrie]

Ragnar began to quietly sing something as they were combing the forest. "Aha!" the man yelled out and began pulling the grass. When the duchess came to the man she has seen a saffron plant being rescued from a chump of grassy weed. "Nice job Ragnar, you know what you can have right?" the addict simply tilted his head and pulled out a single leaf. He quickly stuffed it all in his mouth and chewed. You could simply see how happy he was from the eyes and also how red his mouth was. She wasn't really sure what caused it but most likely something within the saffron itself.

It was also when they almost began to leave the place that a voice would ring in her ears. "Oh it is you Zuruel?" the kedoin, one of the assassins from Mo has come seeking her. The smith they were both ordering weapons from has told him where to find her. "Oh, is that company I see you with?" she meant the silver haired girl. "Ah right, this is Ragnar." she introduced him, the man simply nodded and turned his attention to sniffing more saffron rather than a conversation. The girl did not introduce herself, she looked rather shy. Well, I should not disturb her if she doesn't want to come out.

Zuruel was now speaking about needing help with something, an artifact in fact. She put her hands on her chin and gave it a stroke. "Hmm, I see an artifact for you is also a benefit for the Duchy. Of course I'll..." she was cut off by the girl coming down to introduce herself. "Yes, indeed I am. And you can sense it?" she was surprised as not many people could read the inner workings of others to determine if they were good or not. She might not look like it but this girl could be powerful, just who was this girl Zuruel kept with him? "Nice to make your acquaintance." she slightly bowed her head to the girl in acknowledgement. "And of course I'll come."

"So, I'd like to know more about this artifact. How did you come to know of its existence and what can it do?" she liked a little mystery and certainly this artifact must be good or it wouldn't be worth Zuruel's time.

SPOILER: Click to show

1 saffron found
120 spanish nuts found

[Skulking Shinzu]

“Ragnar?” Zuruel blinked as the so-called Ragnar wandered away and began sniffing at the air. Did he possess an augmented sense of smell too? “I don’t trust him.” Zuruel spoke loud enough for the Duchess to hear, but just quiet enough for the words to reach Ragnar as nothing more than an inaudible mumble. “This is Lady by the way.” In response, Lady gave the Duchess a warm smile. She even went as far as to bow in order to politely return the gesture from the Duchess. When it came to creatures of good, Moon Dogs were known to easily warm up to others of the same alignment.

“I can sense many things… Such as the evil in that man’s soul.” Lady shook her head and shrugged as her attention fell onto Ragnar. Her expression revealed that the man had likely committed many acts of sin in the past. “Whatever. I’m not one to give lectures.” Despite the words, a disgruntled growl at the end of her sentence did signal that she was more displeased by Ragnar’s presence than she cared to admit. “Moving on. I am grateful for your assistance. Firstly, have you ever heard of a Chapel in the Land of Hot Springs? Lady caught wind of a rumour that suggests our artifact is housed in this Chapel.” As Zuruel awaited an answer, a slight grin began to stretch across his usually neutral face.

“Here he goes…” Said Lady as she rolled her eyes. “The artifact in question is known as a Keyblade. It is a powerful weapon. The only weapon in fact which can banish these demons named the Heartless. I came across it while being transported to another world. Sort of like what happened to us during that Panda adventure. Anyway, the Keyblade is apparently a powerful relic. It chooses its own master. Apparently, only the worthiest of individuals.” While snickering, Lady butted in at the end of Zuruel’s sentence. “And it totally went straight to his head.” 

[Ancestor Febrie]

Ragnar was a man she did not completely trust but so far he seemed harmless. The only problem was his addiction to the saffron but her plan was to try heal him off the stuff but for now she had no other way to do that than keep him on the constant supply. Luckily Ragnar hasn't heard what Zuruel just said about not trusting him, she did not know how he would have reacted. Maybe he heard it and just chose to ignore that fact? Lady was now pretty polite exchanging pleasantries and speaking about the man. "I see. He might have drowned himself in saffron in regret of his sins. Otherwise I don't know why the man would pick up the addiction. I'd like to take him with us just to keep an eye out for him, he did help me gather a few valuable plants earlier."

She was sure he has picked up some good smell enhancement, the man was a goldmine for saffron. In any case Zuruel was now eagerly talking about the artifact "I don't think I've heard of this chapel in the land of hotsprings. In fact I can't remember the last time I traveled to the place." she gave it a thought, has she even visited the land yet? From what she has gathered from history and politics that land had no ninja villages to speak of. "Nonetheless we should check this rumor." this was getting even more interesting as Zuruel grins, why did she have a feeling this was rare? "Oh, a weapon? Keyblade?" the duchess couldn't imagine what this weapon would look like. Maybe a blade in the shape of a key? How would that even be practical?

"You say heartless and pandas?" she was in awe, the duchess haven't heard anything about the pandas and another world but it does sound like it could be real. Throughout the history people have talked about such occurrences happening but there were no further records about them that it was impossible to confirm. Although these heartless and pandas sound like something they should be wary about. "And you think it will choose you?" Zuruel did sound confident and eager to get on their way. "Alright, if the map doesn't lie we have to go back to the land of fire and go from there." she pulled out a map and a compass to get the right idea.

"If this artifact does really exist there might be other people after it. We must take precaution. What do you say about we each mark a few of our kunai with the seal?" by the seal she meant hiraishin but did not want to say it out loud for fear of someone overhearing it. This was of utmost secret and Mo would do well to guard it. She was prepared to permanently mark 3 kunai on Zuruel before they departed by normal road.

3 kunai marked

Travel to land of fire request after Shinz posts