A jungle forest of trees and mushrooms of all varieties. Mushrooms grow in all sizes from small, to towering larger than trees. Mushroom spores float through the air, causing various effects (some poisonous, some beautiful).
After the oracles and shamans interpreted the message, Gabriel wasted no time in rallying up some of Verdantis' members for a hunt. He figured the Mushroom Grove might have something promising -- plenty of places for an enchanted beast to hide, uninhabited by any quarreling Kingdoms, with a plethora of uses for the local fauna and flora. He didn't know what the beast looked like or its' temperament, so a lot of his theories were guesswork. But he wasn't the only one searching. Sooner or later, someone will find out something. He kept his eyes and ears alert for any signs, nose occasionally moving down to follow any foreign tracks. He made sure Linnaeus and Flame were with him as well, and no one stayed too far from the others, "stay close. If you sense danger, don't hesitate to call out,"
The wind was a playful thing, and it whispered to Linnaeus.
They'd felt it on the breeze and in the baying branches; in every breath they'd taken and every beat of wing, they'd felt Ohr's thrumming pulse carried through its whistling melody. They'd locked deathly still upon their post, eyes wide and glittering standing upon the highest branches of the highest trees. It had been still and silent then, but they were not kept waiting long. At once the wind had kicked to life and the sky buffeted and battered from every angle, a message thrumming through their skull and flying out above the treetops to swirl up up and away into the clouds.
Find it.
They'd laughed then, shrill and sharp above the howling gales, and spread their wings to catch the current and blow asunder, whipping wildly through the bare branches like a comet entering the atmosphere. Linnaeus felt it in their bones, their soul, their very being! A flash of brightly colored exhilaration catapulting through the woodlands and following the wild winds to where he knew they'd deliver, to where they knew they had to be!
It was how they'd landed before Gabriel then, nearly crashing at his paws with a spray of feathers and shrieking lupine laughter.
"For what was said above the trees below the clouds within the breeze
Find it! Find it! Instructed he! Find it which calls and bring to me!"
Linnaeus was never one for specifics; thankfully, that was left to the shamans. It was thanks to them that now Linnaeus found themself trailing after their king and another of their kingdom, Flame. Excitement thrummed through their little body, every feather standing on end as they danced and hopped on thin little legs. Gabriel had instructed them to stick close by, so they'd stopped trying to hop between the higher mushroom caps above as they had earlier. It was harder to feel the wind across the forest floor, but the strange little fox fluttered their wings and grinned, gaze bouncing between Flame and Gabriel as he hummed his thoughts.
"Now now, To what itwas I cannot say! The wind has blown it all away!"
Excitement coursed through every fur on Flame's body. She longed for this kind of adventure. Though it may have seemed that the jackal was distracted, stopping to investigate every plant and climb every mushroom along their pat, Flame was actually paying close attention to every detail for any clues that might help them on their journey.
She started to fall behind when she heard the monarch's call to stay close. Swiftly, her moth wings fluttered her over to where Gabriel and Linnaeus were. "Do you think it could be in this forest?"she asked curiously. So far, she had seen no signs of a giant beast being present, but the lands were vast, and she was determined to keep looking.
Inevitably, the jackal became distracted again just minutes after catching up with the pair. This time, a gentle caw caught her attention. The sound of the breeze rustling the brush could easily overpower it, but Flame was intent on finding the source of the call. Finally, her gaze landed on a crow resting on a tree branch. "Hey there,"she said softly, slowly fluttering her way toward the creature."Have you seen any suspicious beasts around here?" The crow gave her a hard, blank stare before spreading its wings and taking off into the sky. She watched as its dark silhouette disappeared beyond the tallest mushrooms. Strange… perhaps it wanted her to follow it?
It was then she realized she was falling behind again. Her attention shot back to the group she was supposed to stay close to."Wait for me!" she shouted before catching up with them once more.
Linnaeus' comet-like arrival caused him to stop in his tracks, head rising away from the perceived danger, before he relaxed upon realizing it was the feathery fox. His ears perked to listen to the message, a serious expression on his face as he nods in affirmation. his nose once more goes back to the earth, finding one intriguing scent but staying silent until he was sure it was something worth tracking. "Wait for me!" Calls Flame. He stops and looks back, allowing Flame time to catch up before saying, "we must be hasty. if zis beast is something ohr is after and aware of, i have little to doubt zat other, less savory people know of it as vell. vor all ve know, even duskorna is after zis beast - ve cannot allow zem the upper paw," it was then that he turned back to the earth, answering flame's question in the meantime, "i chose zis location because i believe zis may be a land brimming vith potential magic. zere are many special mushrooms used both in brews and on zeir own zat hold immense power. ve have no clue vhat zis beast looks like, vhat it eats, or vhat kind of powers it holds. but perhaps, if ve're lucky, ze grove's pro-pen-si-ty vor magic and mushrooms might hold some sort hold on ze beast,"
the trail he had been following still didn't smell familiar to him, and seemed to go deeper into the grove. with his tail flagged out for attention, he says, "i zink i vound something. it heads east. linnaeus, can you look on ahead and see if you vind anything?"
Linnaeus bounded sideways and fluttered their stubby wings to make the space for Flame as she buzzed closer. They spun in midair, somehow landing backwards and continuing their jaunt in reverse to keep pace with the other two canids as they spoke. They looked over their shoulder and gave a sharp nod to Gabriel's words, bright eyes glittering with excitement before looking forward again towards Flame. A giggle escaped their narrow muzzle, and they gestured wildly to the towering stalks above them with a wave of a clawed wing.
"More than mushrooms meet the eye! A Will in each, like you or I! The wind is split between each stalk But watch and listen, they will talk."
In their backwards prance, Linnaeus nearly missed Gabriel's tail alerting. They skidded to a halt behind their king and hopped again, fluttering their wings to spin again in midair so that they were facing forwards and didn't have to crane their neck back to meet the huge wolf's attention. Their ears pricked at the instructions, and they pressed their own nose to the soil to snuffle at the strange scent before vigorously nodding. At once they were off, taking a few excited hops across the soil to build momentum before flapping hard and taking off into the still, uneasy air.
The trail had smelled of...well, they couldn't describe it. It only gave a feeling, like that of rocks suddenly weighing in their chest. It was a nervous, exciting thing, and they begged the wind to listen as they focused on channeling the scent upwards towards their nostrils. They seem to have caught it again, but even so, Gabriel had said it seemed to be heading east, so east they were heading anyhow.
The deeper they travelled into the grove, the harder it was for any wind to snake its way in from the outside. They tried to at least keep several yards above the forest floor, peering curiously into the shade below to try and spot anything unordinary, but the towering stalks only grew thicker in number and the caps above only pressed tighter, blocking out the sunlight and plunging the forest into a dimness only illuminated by pulsing blue and purple spores. Uneasiness churned in their belly, suddenly aware of an unfamiliar silence pressing in at all angles without a constant stream of breeze. It certainly didn't make flying any easier either, and multiple times Linnaeus found themself landing with hesitant claws upon shorter mushroom caps to conserve on energy.
It was where they found themselves now, careful to avoid piercing the squishy cap with their talons as they poked their nose over the side to look down between the stalks. They held their breath, suspended in an uncomfortable stillness which felt like cotton in their ears as they searched for any possible clue.
--
DICE ROLL: Arcana, air element
Success: Linnaeus successfully channels the wind to waft the scent trail upwards, allowing them to track it more precisely while flying. Gives +1 to following perception roll.
Failure: Linnaeus can't keep the scent but refuses to stay on the ground. They keeps heading east to where they assume the trail leads. Gives -1 to following perception roll.
DICE ROLL: Perception (+1 due to successful arcana roll)
Success: Linnaeus sees that several mushroom stalks further ahead have been felled. They don't know how, but it looks like whatever did it was large.
Fail: Linnaeus sees nothing out of the ordinary.
Either option, they head back to Gabriel and Flame to report.
Character Diceroll 1: Success Diceroll must be above 500 to be successful.
0 was added for Arcana.
502 was added for Level 4.
0 was added for A. No Enchantment.
0 was added for A. No Buff / Penalty.
DICE ROLL: Perception (+1 due to successful arcana roll)
Success: Linnaeus sees that several mushroom stalks further ahead have been felled. They don't know how, but it looks like whatever did it was large.
Fail: Linnaeus sees nothing out of the ordinary.
Either option, hey head back to Gabriel and Flame to report.
Character Diceroll 1: Fail Diceroll must be above 500 to be successful.
0 was added for Perception.
494 was added for Level 3.
0 was added for A. No Enchantment.
0 was added for A. No Buff / Penalty.
