The Essence of Souls [Open, PM me for bio submission]

[Blewcheese]

J crosses his arms.

Get up. We might not have much time left.

The grandmaster towers over Telumi, just as she towered over her 'guests'.

"That one is not to be killed. He is Mr. Carter. You do not seem to remember who he is. We are indebted to him."

The Grandmaster shifts, moving on to a different subject. He glares at Telumi accusingly under the shadows of his cloak.

"Where did you go, Telumi? Why were you not in the grove?"

[Battal]

<I can't get up because I have no idea where my body went!>

Frank, wake up! 

[Blewcheese]

I don't know what you did. You did it.

J grunts.

What did you do? What did you feel?

[Battal]

<I feel like air!  Help!>

​You're an ancient!  Aren't you supposed to know these things?

[Blewcheese]

What do you think I am, some sort of all knowing god? My guess would be it has something to do with the hex.

J's eyes drift to Barry the fish, who seems to be in mild pain.

Damnit...

[Battal]

Actually, I DID think you were an all-knowing god.  But that's besides the point.

 

Oxryklne concentrates.  With a pop, he materializes again as a beetle.

 

<That worked.>

[Blewcheese]

What did you do?

Hey, you're a beetle again. That's good. How'd you do it?

[Percival]

"Dryad praecantatio is weird."

 

Petal is now fully awake, if a sentient doll can look awake.

Edited December 21, 2013 by Pecival

[Battal]

<I just...tried to make myself a beetle.>

[Blewcheese]

(Uh... The dryad left.)

That doesn't explain very much.

J laughs.

Great explanation there. Well, at least you're back to normal. Can you do that, Barry?

Fish Barry shakes his head solemnly.

[Percival]

(Oooooops. Nevermind. Just gonna....edit that.)

[Battal]

Oxryklne flies up to the window, observing the tree branch.  <Maybe I could crawl through this and speak with the Dyrads.>

[Blewcheese]

Talk to the Dryads? What are you, insane?

Why would you ever want to talk to them?

[Battal]

Oxryklne gestures to the blocked windows and red marks around J's throat.  <So they don't kill us?>

[Blewcheese]

That was only because... Well... We're in that Dryad's house. It's my fault. I should have know the Grove Keeper lives here.

[Percival]

Petal, ignoring the rest of the group, looks at fish-Barry.

 

"I think I'll call you Barry Blackstriped."

[Blewcheese]

Barry glares at Petal, not amused.

[Battal]

<So, do we get to leave?>

[Blewcheese]

On second thought... No. The dryads will be put on edge if they see we ran away. Just stay put and stay calm.

[RainyDoodles]

Telumi couldn't bow any deeper. She replied respectfully with "my apologies, Grandmaster. Most humans look alike, if I knew it was Mr Carter I would've welcomed him with open arms." She hesitated, carefully adding "but it was rather offending to have him enter my house without warning. It matters not, Grandmaster, I shall treat him with respect."

But when the Grandmaster asked where she went, Telumi was surprised enough to glance up at him. "G-grandmaster," spluttered Telumi, "I thought I had explained myself before? I sometimes venture from the Grove to assess threats to it, observe foreign plant life and their adaptions, check on local animal habitats...if this task wasn't completed every so often, our trees might weaken or something may attack the Grove."

It was not a lie, she was telling the truth. Just not all of it. It was true and the Grandmaster would have a hunch that Telumi wasn't like other Dryads. That leaving the Grove to venture out on her own is beneficial for her since she has a different view on the land that might be snuffed out by the 'indifferent' locals. And what would happen then if the Grove Keeper changed her ways? It might affect the Grove itself.

Telumi stood up, but kept her head bowed. "Grandmaster I must depart. One of Mr. Carter's guests managed to hex himself, I believe. Please pardon my rudeness for excusing myself from your presence, but it may be urgent. Have a good evening." She stated politely, and turned fluidly to move down the path.

The door to the house clicked open again, tree roots parting for Telumi to enter. She moved to the kitchen and picked as many glasses from the cupboard that she could carry. The more one looks at the house, the more they'd find out about it - that even now, the belongings are fairly new and the shelves aren't dusty. It starts to look less run-down and more...welcoming to nature. Moving to the window Telumi filled the glasses from a large pot of sparkling fresh water, each glass filled to a different point.

The branches surrounding the room receded as quickly as they grew, with the same creaking groan as before. Telumi entered again and bowed her head briefly to J, but her attention was on Barry. She noted that the beetle replaced the rabbit.

In silence, Telumi set the glasses down in a circle next to Barry's impromptu fish bowl. Holding her hand out caused a rustle of leaves and a small, thin but sturdy twig fell into her pale blue delicate fingers. Two branches manipulated themselves to prop the music book in the middle of the circle.

Telumi tapped each glass with the stick, and each time they let loose a note. After some more careful adjustments, each glass played the correct note for the song that hexxed Barry. "Play it backwards," came the purring accent from Telumi, "see if that cures your mistake." And with that, she dropped the stick into the fish bowl. It was long enough to reach the edge of the glass if Barry swam close to the surface, but light enough to be less unwieldy than, for example, a spoon.

While Barry attempts to fix himself, Telumi regarded J closely. "You entered my home without permission. Your friend dabbled with magic that was not meant for humans, and you brought a being of shadows into the Grove." She said, coldly. At least she isn't strangling him. "If it wasn't you, then I would have ended your lives and had the trees leech the energy from your decomposing corpses. I will assist you, but I would like to know what brings you, and your...group, to the Grove first."

Telumi glanced over at the beetle warily. There' s a light rustle in the leaves, and as an afterthought, she took off her cloak and set it beside Barry. "Fish don't wear clothes, just in case you change back and your outfit has disappeared." She explained.

Edited December 21, 2013 by RainyDoodles

[Battal]

Oxryklne raises an antenna at "being of shadow", but remains silent, remembering what the Ancient told him.  He decides to simply back off and let the others do the talking.

[Battal]

(I'm not going to be here for the rest of the day.  So, bye.)

[TheFireStarter]

Name:  Alederin
Gender: Male

Age: 32
Abilities: Extremely clever, can solve traps and puzzles quickly, and can build contraptions out of almost anything
Appearance: Very wirey and thin. Unshaven and not well taken care of
Backstory: Grew up in a poor neighborhood but was very clever. People doubted him and never supported him to his full potential. One day he went crazy and tried to invent a portal to a undiscovered planet. It failed and the machine exploded and the components flew into a nearby lake. Infuriated he charged into the lake to retrieve the parts. He was suddenly clubbed over the head by an unseen force. He woke up in a strange new world.
Side notes/etc: None

Edited December 21, 2013 by TheFireStarter

[Blewcheese]

Name:  Alederin

Gender: Male

Age: 32Abilities: Extremely clever, can solve traps and puzzles quickly, and can build contraptions out of almost anythingAppearance: Very wirey and thin. Unshaven and not well taken care ofBackstory: Grew up in a poor neighborhood but was very clever. People doubted him and never supported him to his full potential. One day he went crazy and tried to invent a portal to a undiscovered planet. It failed and the machine exploded and the components flew into a nearby lake. Infuriated he charged into the lake to retrieve the parts. He was suddenly clubbed over the head by an unseen force. He woke up in a strange new world greeted by a supposed "friend" advising him to find food and fire before night came.Side notes/etc: None

(If you can ditch the part about the greeting by the friend, which I assume is Maxwell, that would be good. He's too busy to do any greetings.)

Barry begins playing the song backwards, and the small tinking of glasses can be heard in the background. J looks at Telumi, and raises an eyebrow. That fish is a bard. The music is in fact meant for him. It was made for him. I don't know if this means anything to you, but think of this for a bit. A strange human, her pet, a bard, and a human-made shadow have arrived to the Grove. J shakes his head. We have come to the grove as refugees, as you may have guessed. If there is anyone to blame for this... Mishap, it is me. I should have known the mysterious Telumi lived here. I assumed too quickly that it was abandoned.

A Shadow Shard has been unleash a few days travel from here. We have come to warn you, and to rest ourselves before fleeing again. The Grandmaster wants nothing to do with us. He would rather us leave as soon as possible. Barry has finished the song at this point, and is growing very, very slowly.

[TheFireStarter]

OCC incoming (Haven't been accepted yet but might aswell claim an occ right?) Maxwell traditionally advises you at the beginning of a don't starve game so I was trying to make a reference to that and with no evidence to prove Maxwell is an enemy and the fact that he is helping you with advice would make you assume that he would be a "friend"