EntQuest, the Battle for Hector.

[hectorberlioz]

Hearing Sis' chastisement, Hector gets up off the hammock, and prepares his packing for the long journey.

[Nautipus]

Nautipus rolls his eyes, "One stone, come one. Alright, how about one...um....snail shell()? Mari, I meant being turned to stone. Cant be a fun experience." Nautipus goes back to eating some spinach-artichoke dip with tortilla chips.

[Mari]

"Oh, I see, sorry." Mari laughs a bit sheepishly and looks back at Hector, waiting for an answer.
Not getting it, Mari turns back to the others. "Look, I don't know what this Qwuetzeplam is or what it does. I don't even know if that evil dwarf told me the truth, allthough I think he did, because my torture methods are pretty efficient if I may say so myself. Anyway, we must do something and for the moment I think the Qwuetzeplam is our best bet. If we keep our ears and eyes open, we might find a different way, but I say that meanwhile we should try and find this Qwuetzeplam. I don't want to be rash, but sitting here debating about it won't help us either. Sis, you seem to know about Qwuetzeplam. Could you please enlighten us?"

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

Sis emerges from the kitchen with a picnic hamper. "You'll need food for such a trip."she says, resignedly.

"Look. Qwuetzeplam is actually the term used for a sort of tonic, but it also refers to the main ingredient. That is an herb that only grows under very specialized conditions. It's found in a wild, mountainous area of Forl, at the tip of the Ered Luin, near the ice bay of Forochel. I believe the heat from the volcanism there permits it to grow. But at this time of the year, I'm not even sure you can travel in that direction. And the root has to be pretty fresh when you compound it, so you wouldn't have more than, maybe 2 weeks to get it back. Do you think you can do it? I could organize people around here to get the other ingredients, but we'll need a team for the big trip. We might be better off landscaping a nice spot for hector. Just think, he'd have his own public monument!"

[Mari]

Mari starts laughing. "Yeah, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea. But I think I would start to feel sorry for him after a few hours. I'm sorry Sis."

[Nautipus]

"Maybe we could bring him along." says Nautipus, "I mean, Aeran is built like a tank, we could hook a wagon up to him and take him there with us, eliminateing the need to hurry back with the ingredients. Also, is it a coincedince that the plant sounds so close to Quetzalcoatl?"

[Mari]

"Well, if I keep turning him back he can walk himself, no need to wear Aeran out. And I don't think the problem was that we have to get the root to Hector in time, but that we have to bring it back here so Sis can make a potion out of it. Or did I misunderstand?"
Suddenly her head snaps towards Nautipus. "Quetzalcoatl, you mean that Mayan god or something?!"

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

"Um", now it was Sis's turn to blush. "The problem isn't hector. Hector can travel under his own speed. It's me. I'm not sure I could explain the whole proceedure for the compounding , which involves a bunch of other herbs and specialized distilling. And I can't stand heights."

[Nautipus]

"Oh.....well, um....yeah, I got nothin. Maybe you could wait at the bottom of the mountain for us. We could leave some animals to guard you while we retrieve the plant." says Nautipus, then agian asks, "But seriously, there isnt any flying feathered serpent there, or anything, is there?"

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

Originally Posted by Nautipus

"Oh.....well, um....yeah, I got nothin. Maybe you could wait at the bottom of the mountain for us. We could leave some animals to guard you while we retrieve the plant." says Nautipus, then agian asks, "But seriously, there isnt any flying feathered serpent there, or anything, is there?"

"Well, there might be. As far as I know, no one is really farming or gathering this plant. That's unusual, because it's valuable. I mean, look at ginseng. So supposing it has a guardian isn't unreasonable, you know?" Sis looks worried.

[Nautipus]

Nautipus also looks worried, "Well, maybe we should be prepared. Seeing as we may be facing something like Quetzalcoatl, mybe we should prepare with a large supply of arrows and bowstring along with our original weapons. Crossbows would be nice, if we can get them: more penetrating power. We should also probably begin practicing with pikes as well, if it feasible. Using them in a porcupine style to cover archers." Nautipus rambles on.

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

"Naughty, hon, how many do you figure will be around to hold pikes? So far, I have Mari, you, hector, and possibly," Sis shuddered "me. IF I go, I'll be holding pots and pans. I'm a hand to hand fighter, not a weapons expert."

"So, who is carting crossbows and pikes, let alone "covering archers?"

[Nautipus]

"I was just sayin, we should go prepared. If Sane comes, then we will have at least one combat hardened veteran." Nautipus said.

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

Sis muttered quietly, "Or, we could stay home, and have a lawn gnome."

[hectorberlioz]

After hearing so much discussion about his person, Hector braves to come into the conversation to make some suggestions.

"Umm, folks...I can travel just as good as anyone here. As long as I have the antidote on hand for when I suddenly turn to stone...which might get complicated if I turn to stone while climbing up a cliffside on a rope...in which case, things might go awry!"

After coming to this conclusion, Hector ponders the dangers of the journey ahead.

[Mari]

Originally Posted by hectorberlioz

"Umm, folks...I can travel just as good as anyone here. As long as I have the antidote on hand for when I suddenly turn to stone...which might get complicated if I turn to stone while climbing up a cliffside on a rope...in which case, things might go awry!"

"So now I'm reduced to the antidote eh? Sis, weren't we talking about needing a statue around to increase our cultural factor just the other day?
Look Hector, you could try to be a bit more helpful here. Are there any weapons you can use? Any chance you can bring Dottie? On the subject of weapons: Nautipus, I'm proficient with my mace, but my bow skills aren't that good. I can perfectly hit an immobile target, but when it starts moving..." A bit down Mari shrugged and walked over to the fire and curled up against Aeran with Bunicula.

[The Sasquatch of Fangorn]

The Sasquatch of Fangorn walks in."Did I miss anything?" he says as he takes his long trench coat off.

[Nautipus]

"You missed hector being a statue", says Nautipus, taking a large bundle out of a room in the Aquarium. He sighed, "It's been a long time since I've used this", he said, unwrapping a large sword, shaped in bone and horn, serrations running along it's edges. "I'll need to pack my old armor, as well. I have a...ranged weapon of my own, Mari. Nothing traditional like a bow, however." he said while continueing to unpack an elaborate set of armor, as well as a long, thick dagger. "I hope I dont need to use any of this..."

[orithil]

Orithil who had been silent until now unsheathed his war axe and hefts it "er well I have a one handed cross bow, not that so powerful as one of the bigger ones but it can fire faster"

[The Sasquatch of Fangorn]

"Ah...well." said sas as he pulled a lage package from his back."Do you guys need an extra party member? I have means of defending myself." He said as he un-folded the package and a shining silver war hammer was brought out."This guy hasn't seen any action at all !"