Indeed they do.
There is a wash of air that bristles Hubert’s fur and Mortimer’s feathers. The pressure of the beady eye of the old bird relents.
He has taken flight, quietly, stealthily.
The nest is now free.
What next?
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“We’re in!” in a squawk that gets pressed down into a whisper. Camouflaging smell on, and let’s go!
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Mortimer and Hubert emerge from the pile of leaves, wafting the scent of sage and rosemary in every direction, and rapidly unpack the harness.
“Let’s fly. Hopefully I’ll be able to sniff out the half-sight ink, or you’ll spot its bright colours, and we’ll be out of here before you can say ‘360 Ollie Kickflip’…”
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“How hard can it be? Don’t answer that.”
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But somehow fate decrees that an answer must be given.
You flap up to the nest. It is dark, and cosy, and … musty. There are all sorts of things hidden in here. Half the stuff that you have heard has gone missing or misplaced in the last six months is stacked in to the nest. And behind those objects are more layers of older, rusting and decaying treasures.
So a d10 roll to find the ink, whilst letting me know of any skills or traits you want to deploy
Time is, after all, of the essence…
@Phil asked for a die roll:
Hubert’s nose gets to work, the fleshy star-shaped tendrils taking on a life of their own as Hubert moves through his surroundings, considering and rejecting items faster than seems possible, courtesy of the most sensitive touch organ possessed by any mammal. With his trait of being able to smell and identify anything by touch alone, Hubert is certain to recognise the half-sight ink when he finds it.
d10: 3
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Our first 3, our first complication .
You see the half-sight ink. It is easy to detect with your great senses, but it is hard to reach.
You rummage and probe, until it is free. Unfortunately you take an involuntary step backwards as you pull the bottle free, and bump into a marble. The marble rolls backwards and teeters on the edge of the nest for a tantalising moment, before slipping over the edge and falling to the forest floor with a thunk.
Reginald must have heard that.
But the half-sight ink is free and in your hands.
What do you do now?
Hubert stifles a cry of alarm at the sound.
“Mortimer! I have the ink! Let’s get out of here, as quickly as possible! We’re also going to need to rid ourselves of our ‘disguise’ as soon as we can.”
Hubert hurries to the harness, and tightly secures both the ink and himself.
“I’m ready.”
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“Let’s go!” Time for a good hard bit of flying, and if it’s possible look for a stream or pond or mod or something: we don’t have to smell of us, we just have to smell not of this.
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Time for a roll from Mortimer to see how that goes …
@RogerBW asked for a die roll:
We’re still on d10s, right?
d10: 1
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Yes we are. And uh-oh …
A 1 is:
1 / Hijinx / Something goes hilariously wrong, and chaos is sure to follow.
So:
Let’s set the dice to d8 from now on
Mortimer flaps off from the nest in a hurry - too much of a hurry. Hubert has not quite harnessed himself on and is left behind in the nest.
It’s ok, it is obvious to Mortimer almost as soon as he gets airborne that he doesn’t have the weight of a hefty hairy mole to carry. The power he puts into his step off means he lofts much higher into the air than anticipated, walloping his head off a branch that should not have bothered his flight path.
So Mortimer has a rapidly growing bump on his head. Hubert is left stranded in the nest with the half-sight ink bottle in his claws, and somewhere, Reginald is out there.
Smash cut to Mortimer, alarmed
Smash cut to Hubert, bemused.
Smash cut to Reginald, realisation animating his beady eyes. He thinks about the last mammals he tore to pieces. He moves to turn.
What are you going to do now?
Ps this has made this a much more interesting train journey than I expected!
We’re a team. Hubert can’t get away with jumping. I’ve got to turn back and rescue him.
The one on the left or the one on the right?
The one on the left!
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Ok you whip round. But you can now see Reginald wheeling round on the far side of the clearing.
Can you get to Hubert and get him on the harness quickly?
Another roll please.
@RogerBW asked for a die roll:
d8: 1
And a few more characters.
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'Scuse me, just gong to rewrite the dice roller.
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You know it was all fun and games until someone started rolling dice!
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