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Minsuil rolled 2 20-sided dice:
15, 19
Total: 34 (2-40)
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 Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 7:33 pm
 34. Never Idle didn't ask you to bring back spider silk, but this perfectly-preserved web from a giant spider is too valuable to be left unattended.
It was rare for Burning Bush to leave the Westfen lands nowadays. She had wandered a lot in her youth, but it seemed that this wanderlust was something that would not leave her. So, with only a small nod to Longclaw, she took off. Owl Caller would have to put up with the poor kids. Or perhaps it was the kids who would have to put up with Owl Caller, she snickered at that thought.
Her wanderings brought her to a familiar grove, one that she'd visited in the past, or perhaps in a half-forgotten dream. It was getting harder to tell. Perhaps she'd seen it through her son's eyes. (Nightfall would kill her if he knew that, but then, he could never understand a mother's worry.) Either way Burning Bush did not feel unfamiliar with the busy kimeti, his horde of familiars or his odd tinkerings. Perhaps this is why she agrees to help. It gives her an excuse to wander around more anyhow.
She traces half-forgotten paths through the swamp in search for Never Idle's litany of objects. A gleam catches her eye, and then she sees it -- the perfect web of a giant spider. He didn't ask for it, but Burning Bush knows that the silk of a giant spider is good, it is strong. Never Idle might not need it but Westward Bound will delight in it.
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Minsuil rolled 2 20-sided dice:
19, 15
Total: 34 (2-40)
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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 7:56 pm
Just as she'd finished unweaving the first web, she spots another one. Westward Bound will owe her, and she'll somehow badger a bag out of Never Idle. He owes her too.
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Minsuil rolled 2 20-sided dice:
18, 6
Total: 24 (2-40)
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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 7:58 pm
24. You find an ideal log. Unfortunately, rolling it free of the bracken it's trapped in and getting it back to the construction site will require some assistance! Help required. Success!
Further on, and farther away from the giant spiders, Burning Bush came upon a giant log. Something that Never Idle required, but...it was too large for her to move by herself. It was a good thing that she saw a familiar face nearby.
"Well, well, if it isn't No Bloodshed, stop hiding in those bushes and come help me out here."
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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:15 pm
The last thing No Bloodshed expected was to run into someone he knew.
It'd been over a year since he'd left Westfen. In anyone else that'd probably be an indication that they'd turned tail - No Bloodshed, though, was known for his sometimes idiotic perfectionism. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that if he was alive, he would return. And yet he'd never set foot in his home grounds, since he'd departed: he didn't want the temptation of returning without a perfect offering. But here, in the swamp...
"Burning Bush? Is that you?" He'd been afraid to speak out, but the intimidating, wise seer would never lead him astray or encourage him to return prematurely, he thought. She was attempting to free a log from its confines. Oh, he thought, and he cantered quickly forward to help her. "Where is this headed?" He had the strength of a rather experienced hunter already: he'd had to acquire it or risk being unable to survive on his own for the past year.
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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:19 pm
"Just over a ways to some grove, to an eccentric if not talented guy named Never Idle. Have you met him? Perhaps you'd learn something from him."
They dragged the log back to Never Idle, chattering all the way back of home and their loved ones. Burning Bush did not touch on his extended absence. She only helped the lost and No Bloodshed was not lost. Never Idle seemed satisfied with the log, which was good, because she wasn't going to procure another one for him anyways. She turned out back to the forest before remembering a conversation she'd had with West.
"Your father sends his regards boy!" She called over her shoulder before sinking back into the swamp.
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Minsuil rolled 2 20-sided dice:
13, 2
Total: 15 (2-40)
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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:21 pm
15. You find a marvelously-intact shed snakeskin.
Burning Bush was turning over stones by a pond when she'd spotted it. A perfectly intact snake-skin. Imagine that. She left it where it was and wondered who'd find it next. Perhaps they'd have a use for it, for she could imagine none.
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Minsuil rolled 2 20-sided dice:
12, 7
Total: 19 (2-40)
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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:22 pm
19. You hear Never Idle chiding you in a strangely metallic voice: "Work faster! Work faster!" But then you realize it's only a mocking-raven, who must have grown up near the stag's place of business.
"Work faster! Work faster!"
At first Burning Bush thought she was sinking into another dream. She seemed to be hearing the voice of Never Idle, only a thousand times more hoarse and metallic. She glanced around, ready to beat that stag. She'd just dragged a log to him for Motherfather's sake! But no, a glance into the treetops revealed only a crow and Burning Bush's anger dissipated. Crows were smart. She liked them.
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Minsuil rolled 2 20-sided dice:
4, 8
Total: 12 (2-40)
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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:39 pm
12. A beautiful red bird has met an unfortunate end here. Success!
A streak of red caught her eye and she lashed out at it. A few misdirected pounces later, Burning Bush had a clump of bright red feathers. Good. Almost done with her task.
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Minsuil rolled 2 20-sided dice:
5, 19
Total: 24 (2-40)
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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:43 pm
Reroll, Burning Bush can't pick on No Bloodshed anymore. : (
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Minsuil rolled 2 20-sided dice:
17, 17
Total: 34 (2-40)
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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:44 pm
34. Never Idle didn't ask you to bring back spider silk, but this perfectly-preserved web from a giant spider is too valuable to be left unattended.
She had somehow wandered back into another spider web. Burning Bush was starting to wonder if spider silk really was as rare as everyone said it was.
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Minsuil rolled 2 20-sided dice:
20, 5
Total: 25 (2-40)
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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:47 pm
25. You had every intention of bringing this perfect fallen fruit back to Never Idle, but temptation won out, and you ate it yourself. Way to go.
The mayapple she'd found probably would have fed Never Idle and ended her quest, but Burning Bush was tired from all the log dragging and spider web untangling and bird nabbing so she decided to indulge herself. Never Idle wouldn't starve. (Maybe.)
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Minsuil rolled 2 20-sided dice:
14, 7
Total: 21 (2-40)
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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:48 pm
21. You locate a perfectly round, enormous boulder. It is exactly what Never Idle needs--but you're going to need help to uproot and move it. Help required. Success!
Burning Bush found her third item. With this she was done running errands for that eccentric legendary. The only problem was, she was staring at the boulder and no matter how much she thought, she could not think of a way to move it herself. A shame she'd sent No Bloodshed away, really. If only she could summon someone else...despite what the children of Westfen thought, Burning Bush was not magic. So she sat. And she waited.
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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 9:08 pm
There was something about the tangled mess of the swamp compared to his home plains that just begged for it to be treated as an obstacle course, one that needed to be run through as recklessly as possible. His strong legs carried him with dangerous speed, leapting bracken and fallen trees--but then there was a boulder in his way, and the Kiokote barely managed to skid to a stop a bare hooflength from the imposing stone. Now how did something that big wind up right in his path? Oh well--what was more important to the buck was the lovely doe who sat beside the boulder, and his eyes brightened with appreciation--wasn't she beautiful...
"Excuse me, you look, well--like you could use some help. Unless I'm interrupting something, of course. Mind if I offer some assistance?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 9:20 pm
Ah, a kiokote appeared to help her just when she needed it. "My thanks, your help would be most appreciated."
Together they somehow managed to move the boulder back to Never Idle's workspace. Though Burning Bush wondered what he was doing with all those things, she didn't ask. She knew better than to expect a levelheaded answer from this one.
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