Baker's Dozen Eggs

Carmen, Petrichor, Maghris, and Dominic filed into Arnari's office to find out what missions would be of interest.  Arnari, a dark-skinned half-elf bard seated at a mahogany desk carved with leaves, watched them sort themselves amongst the two haphazard rows of chairs.

Dominic, a human druid who was very into maps (or, perhaps, a human mapmaker who had a druidic calling), moved to study the maps on Arnari's wall and compare them with his explorations of Duquesne skylith.  

Maghris quickly grabbed the one chair in her office that he'd found would accommodate his two fluffy tails.

Petrichor moved to the front row, glanced around at the others, then chose a sturdy chair slightly to the side of center, so the Wild elf was seated facing Arnari across the bearskin rug.

Carmen tried sitting in a chair in the back row.  It creaked ominously and the big firbolg leapt up with alacrity, and sat in a different chair.

Arnari set the harp aside and started listing missions, pulling papers from various locations on the messy desk as she did so.

• Hippogryph eggs 100 eagles a piece, bring them to House Aldous
• Gryphon eggs, 150 eagles a piece, bring them to House Liona.
• They will pay premiums on specialized , or you can trade eggs, 10 for hippogryph mount or 12 for a gryphon.
• There's also cleanup near Pirates River [here, Arnari nodded at Dominic] although you just got back from it.
• Or, go to Stormhaven and find out where this Daystar lotion is being purchased from.  Background on this is Freelancers protecting Wolfkiss Inn found miscreants who were stealing to buy Daystar lotion.

Arnari stopped and looked at them all.  She never knew what they would pick.

Petrichor:  eggs, so I can get a mount.
Maghris:  down for eggs
Dominic:  down for any of them.
Carmen:  not really for eggs; Pirates River abominations must be removed.
Maghris:  we want as many Freelancers on good mounts as possible, to tackle that Daystar menace!
Carmen <warningly>:  we'll have to leave some eggs in the nests
Dominic:  that's not a bad idea, for escape reasons.  Also to ensure they are perpetuating

Carmen frowned, but eggs it would be, and the Freelancers rose to leave.  At that point Mia stumbled in, hungover and with her knuckles split.  "What are we doin'?" she declared more than asked, and was informed it would be an egg-hunt.

Keeping in mind that eggs are fragile items, the Freelancers picked up some supplies from the quartermaster.

Mia – saddlebags with extra padding for Ursula
Maghris – one sack
Carmen – 6 rations, 5 sacks, 3 blankets
Petrichor – rations
Dominic – is good, bought nothing

<Narrator voice:  at the point, the notes say, "Cat butt is rarely a choice.">

The Freelancers were going to go after gryphon eggs, and decided to visit Orderly Stones Monastery to find out if any gryphons had been spotted, perhaps trying to raid their goat herds.

Neither Petrichor nor Carmen had a mount; since Carmen was so large, Mia had him ride with her on Ursula, who could easily handle his weight, and Petrichor rode pillion on Wilson, behind Dominic.  They took off, to encounter that north of Cliffshadow, the temperature had turned brisk, with unpleasant windgusts.  By the late afternoon, when they arrived at Orderly Stones, the Freelancers and their mounts were tired.

The monks were happy to see the Freelancers, who they found entertaining, and also it was not that long ago the monastery had needed help.  The monks admitted the Freelancers and some juniors took charge of the mounts.  Most of them wore white headbands.  Fuifui, a mellow Rain sagani with a white do-rag on his head, came out to greet them.

Fuifui:  hey!  Freelancers welcome!  Did we call you to do things, or are you just here to chill
Mia:  here to chill, we're going to look for gryphon eggs
Fuifui <warmly>:  Mia!!! <lowered voice> we have some alcohol, don't tell Taleisin
Mia:  great!
Fuifui: –
<The Abbott Taleisin, an olive-skinned human, joined the discussion.>
Taleisin:  welcome Freelancers, I see Fuifui already took care of your mounts.  Dinner will soon be served in the dining hall!  There hasn't been any trouble we have noticed, what brings you here?
Mia:  mostly social visit; we're here for gryphon eggs mostly.
Taleisin:  uh
Carmen:  any gryphons harassing your herds, lately?
Taleisin:  no… a few primes back, a gryphon carried off a goat, but you will have to travel a couple days north.  Come to think of it, about time for another one to move in.  <sighed>  Nature, it should only be more orderly.
<Carmen frowned at this statement, but Mia rolled her eyes.>
Taleisin:  you are welcome here, keep in mind the balance is not fully restored from the kobolds.  We remain grateful for Freelancer help.
Petrichor:  thank you for your hospitality

Taleisin walked off, and Mia observed, "He has another stick up his butt every time we meet!"  However this was undecorous of her, as Taleisin clearly heard her say it, and stiffened, but kept walking.

That left the Freelancers on their own recognizance until dinner, which wasn't actually going to be for some time.  So they found various things to occupy themselves.

Petrichor joined the monks in training.  Her style was different than Orderly Stones', so she learned some good moves, and taught some of them!
Dominic visited the library, looking for maps.  What he found instead were treatises on martial arts, as well as philosophy writing on how to "be like a stone."  He also found a still, which was producing very questionable alcohol.
Mia, of course, joined Fuifui in drinking some of that alcohol.  It was not great, and she concluded Taleisin knew about it, knew it wasn't great, and wasn't cracking down on it as he figured the alcohol was its own punishment.
Maghris sat by himself, outside, contemplating his spells.
Carmen checked with all the herders:  had they seen anything (e.g. gryphons), and also, was there any sickness in the herds?  <Narrator voice:  Shari rolled a nat 1 on persuasion.>  The herders fell all over themselves explaining everything was fine, nothing to worry about, Freelancers took care of everything.  Frustrated, Carmen realized after a while they thought he was checking if they were sufficiently grateful.

The next day dawned with much the same weather, and the Freelancers prepared to leave Orderly Stones.  As Taleisin came to see them off, Carmen stared at the wide mountains to the north, and asked, "Which north?"

Taleisin replied, "Northwest where the kobolds were?  They are underground most of the time.  Maybe over them, but don't bug them; I do not want to restart hostilities, please."

The Freelancers assured him they were not interested in hostilities with the kobolds, and took off, with Dominic leading the way, given his familiarity with the maps.  It was slow going, between the gusty winds and the need to go around the taller mountains.  As the day progressed, they realized they were heading towards the headwaters of the River of Dreams.

Mia realized that Ursula was likely to try eating the eggs, and started lecturing the winged bear "DON'T eat the eggs" which of course was just raising her mount's anticipation of egg-eating.  The rest of the Freelancers were keeping a sharp eye out; but while they saw signs of gryphons ‒ such as torn up giant elks, pounced on from above ‒ they saw neither the actual gryphons, nor their nests.

Dominic found a nice campsite near some streams, and the Freelancers bedded down for the night.  Since they were in the wilds, they set watches.

Dominic & Carmen took the first watch.  They heard owls ‒ well, Carmen was pretty sure they were owls ‒ and water sounds from the nearby streams.
Petrichor & Mia took the second watch.  The night was uneventful, and they heard small creatures splashing in the stream, and owls hooting.  Petrichor, tired from the travelling, passed out, fully in elven trance, and Mia covered her with a blanket.  <Narrator voice:  Kylie rolled a nat 1.>
Maghris took the last watch, with Mr Zircon patrolling.  He kept an eye out for mutated creatures, of which there were none; but as the sky brightened, there was lots of birdsong.

The Freelancers realized they really were pretty much at the start of the River of Dreams.  Maghris decided he should cast speak with animals and talk to a small creature to get a sense of where to go.  He found a polite chipmunk.

Chipmunk:  ah!  You have better tails than a squirrel!
Maghris <embarrassed>:  thank you very much, your tail's not too bad yourself.  Is there any area with dangerous creatures, that you avoid?
Chipmunk:  my tail gives me wisdom, to avoid top of tree, from hawks.  Sometimes, big shadow comes from north.  BIG.  Always hide in ground from shadow.  Not mountain north, but past it.  Maybe you can tell me what it is!
<Maghris explained a gryphon to the chipmunk, and fed it nuts & crackers.>
Chipmunk:  thank you, Great Fluffy-Tailed One, I will tell my children about this.

After Maghris relayed the conversation to the other Freelancers, they decided to fly north on the chipmunk's word.  As soon as they cleared the treetops though, they realized the unpleasant gusts were still continuing.  Petrichor, in particular, was hanging on for dear life on Wilson, which compounded her exhaustion.

The others were looking for gryphon sign, but Maghris and Mia hadn't actually been on this part of Duquesne, or any other skylith big enough to sport mountains, and were marvelling at the size and beauty.  In the early afternoon, they see a really tall mountain in the distance, but both Dominic and Carmen note a cliff edge with a large nest on it.  The ledge was open, but unapproachable from below.

The Freelancers were still far away, but they saw a gryphon on the nest, and others in the air above it, leaving.  These were golden eagle gryphons.  The Freelancers landed where they were and waited, watching.

Twenty minutes later, another gryphon returned, holding a limply struggling hippogryph.  It landed on the ledge, and the gryphon on the nest rose, then flew off.  Carmen and Dominic saw the nest had baby gryphons, not eggs!

Dominic:  maybe this gryphon nest is not for us
Petrichor:  I agree
Mia:  I agree
Petrichor:  a lot harder to transport gryphon cubs instead of eggs; not sure if contract accepts

The Freelancers briefly debated trying to rescue the hippogryph, but decided it was part of the food chain, and training the nestlings, so no.  Fortunately the gryphons did not come near where this debate was getting held.

The Freelancers took off, with Maghris cat-splaining to the others how to find where to go, past the mountain.  So they just started on a pattern, searching each quadrant.  Southward was a bust, but eastward they saw a nest made of saplings with a golden eagle gryphon on it, its wings spread out so nobody could see under the gryphon.

Petrichor:  let's go for it
Carmen:  how do you want to do this?
Dominic:  we should wait a while, and be sure it's solo
Maghris:  it's late
Petrichor:  sooner than later
Carmen:  or, wait til morning
Maghris:  could do that too
Petrichor:  and be pursued by angry gryphons all day?

They looked at the westering Daystar.  Maghris looked for any approaching gryphons, but saw none.

Carmen:  draw it off?
Dominic:  not easy
Mia:  don't want to smash the eggs
Petrichor:  I can be precise with strikes; it will not smash eggs.
Dominic:  pass without trace, and silence.

Dominic cast pass without trace, and the Freelancers approached the ledge as stealthily as they could, from below.  As soon as they appeared, Carmen cast silence centered on the gryphon.

Ursula landed on the ledge, so that Mia was in the gryphon's face, and she raged, slashing the surprised gryphon twice with her sword.  The air around them shimmered as Mia's ancestors made themselves felt, interfering with any attacks from the gryphon.

• Maghris sent Mr Zircon to sneak up on the nest with a bunch of sacks.  The homonculous put an egg in one of the sacks.
  • The nekomata then crit the gryphon with his light crossbow as Blaze flew in.
  • Blaze bit the gryphon, also a crit.
• Petrichor said something, but she was inside the silence, and nobody could hear.
• Dominic transformed into a starry form, the archer pattern obvious.  A star shot out toward the gryphon, and it crumpled slowly sideways into the nest.
  • Wilson landed, and Dominic dismounted and immediately worked to stabilize the gryphon.
• Carmen pantomimed to Mia, passing her eggs.  She gave him a thumbs-up but still had sword and shield.
  • The firbolg slid off Ursula and …
  • This was the first good look any of the Freelancers had at the nest.  Carmen realized the gryphon was spread across it because it was two sets of eggs:  7 on one side and 11 on the other.
  • Well, 6 on one side, after Mr Zircon.  Carmen gesticulated at the eggs and the other Freelancers, and packed 2 eggs.
• Petrichor slid off Wilson and packed 2 more eggs.
  • Carmen indicated to leave the remaining 2 on this side and get the rest from the 11 on the other side.

Mia slid off Ursula, and wagged her finger at the bear.  She packed 2 eggs, and the bear gave her an obvious side-eye.  Then she remounted.

• Maghris packed 2 eggs and Mr Zircon another 1.
• Dominic grabbed 2, making a dozen, and he also remounted.
• Carmen hesitated, then took 1 more egg and packed it.  Then he also mounted.

The Freelancers were about to skeedaddle, but then Dominic and Petrichor rearranged the wounded gryphon so the remaining eggs would stay warm.  Then they mounted up and the Freelancers took off, with pass without trace still up.

Dominic, with Petrichor assisting, was hunting for a good camping spot.  They found a defensible sheltered cave, and were able to set up a campfire to keep the eggs warm.  Then they settled down for the night.

Mia & Maghris took the first watch.  They examined their setup:  dry cave, no tunnels, fire not visible to the outside.  They heard nothing interesting but bird calls.
Dominic took the second watch, and Maghris left Mr Zircon to help.  Dominic identified wolfsong from a faraway pack.
Carmen & Petrichor took the third watch.  Petrichor saw a really neat bug that looked like a stick, and thought Carmen was messing with her.  Carmen wasn't; he was listening to the wolfsong celebrating a good hunt.

Dawn came, and Carmen listened carefully for angry gryphons.  He heard some hawk cries, but no gryphons.

The weather was mostly clear, with a pleasant breeze and the Daystar warming the Freelancers as they flew back to Orderly Stones.  There were no signs of gryphons chasing them, just bird specks high up above the skylith… the hawks Carmen had heard earlier.

At Orderly Stones both Fuifui and Taleisin greeted the Freelancers.  They were interested but not worried wrt what the group had found, and glad some of the gryphons had been culled.

Finally the Freelancers got back to Cliffshadow, and brought the eggs to House Liona.  The House was happy to accept eggs, and quickly fetched the Head of House, a Wind sagani woman named Kailani.  She examined the 13 eggs.

Kailani:  what type of gryphon?
Mia:  golden eagle gryphon, sort of a double-nest scenario
Petrichor:  don't know if the eggs are the same
Kailani:  well, we're more interested in health.  Happy to take these eggs.  Cash, or gryphon?  And who do you want to have the gryphon?
Petrichor:  I would like the gryphon.
Kailani:  very well.  House Liona will pay the fee.

Kailani produced two pouches:  150 eagles to pay for the extra egg, and 195 eagles to go to Arnari.  Mia, Carmen, Maghris, and Dominic returned to Freelancers to split the former and pay Arnari the latter; but Petrichor stayed at House Liona, to choose a gryphon and familiarize herself with her new flying mount.

350 xp!