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.
"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.