(M) The Adventures of the mixed and messed up [IC]

[Highland Sniper]

"Follow me, it's just about a few blocks-" Jaydeen started, but a man in a leather duster with a badge on his shirt under it was already striding over to them.
"Sheriff, it took you long enough." She said, "What kept you?"

His wrinkled face didn't change a bit at the comment, "I had other business to take care of when I heard the fighting, and figured it would be dealt with soon." Then he turned to Gasha in Jaydeen's body, "I see you managed to get another one Jaydeen. I suppose you'll be wanting your reward? Split with your new friends of course."

"Uh, Sheriff, I'm Jaydeen. We... we swapped bodies." She said.

The man looked sideways at her for a moment, "Is that so," He said, "well then, I might just ask you to dinner if only to see your unease."
There seemed to be a hint of humor in his voice at the idea.
"Don't bother with the bodies, I'll have the deputies take care of it soon. And don't go anywhere, I'll be back with the bounty."

[Alura]

Dropping the body with a thump, Klara was quite impressed with how efficient the sheriff seemed to be. "Well, that's lovely then. A little slow, agreed, but quite helpful."

Dusting his hands, he reached for a kerchief that no longer rested in his skirts. Settling for a second round of hand-dusting, he strode by Jaydeen and arched a brow. "You seem on good terms with the local authorities. Dinner with the sheriff might be the safest place you could be tonight."

Smirking as he passed the brigand in the elf woman's body by, he moved to lever and shuffle the body he had set aside awkwardly into the carriage. It was far from ideal, but as long as it was safe he hoped he could find some way to reverse things. It was impossible to know whether that would require the corpse, or the true Arapegol, both, or neither at this point. Sighing and fanning himself a bit from all of the unfamiliar manual work, he managed to rifle around and fill a small rucksack meant for books with essential supplies and held an urgent, whispered conversation with one of the two horses that pulled his carriage, of all people.

When they had finished, with a snort and a bob of the head, the Grani horse wheeled the carriage away towards the Acantha estate, bearing Klara's letter and most of the traced and sketched images of the amulet with them. He would have prefered to keep the carriage, but other than a few books that seemed to have potential worth and a few traveling necessities he really did not see the point. He'd never make use of the beautiful clothes at present, and the ritual materials were worthless without the power to command them into something useful.

Sighing as he dragged his feet to rejoin the others, he pondered what turn this adventure might take. He had never anticipated a scenario quite like this in all his plans of what might occur on the road. It was unpredictable, but this was a little beyond the pale of what Klara felt he might reasonably have expected to plan against... Still, with the letter sent there was nothing for it but to press on towards a solution. Standing between Gasha and Nasa, he piped up after a long pause.

"Did anyone hear what the man said when he lifted the amulet? He named it and said something else, but it's all a jumble for me still..." He shrugged the rucksack higher on his shoulder.

[Highland Sniper]

Jaydeen stiffened and blushed for a moment before turning to Klara with a surprised expression. Then shook her head. She was still Jaydeen. Besides, everyone had an agenda. She narrowed her eyes. She didn't think about it so far, but she really did trust anyone yet. She didn't even know them.

"So, Shall we all share a room? We're all gonna need to... help each other out figuring things out." She said as the sheriff walked away. This way, she could keep an eye on all of them, and anyone else that may suspect anything may also keep an eye on everyone else. But there was this nagging feeling like she could really trust Gasha. He seemed a little too timid and off-balance to really be much of a threat besides unless he really chose to be. It just didn't seem right to suspect him.

[GodlyD&D]

"You knew what we dealt with at the Primal Forest, and what city I went to, already?" Arapegol said, "I have more to say than I could go through in a few minutes, but you would surely have questions and could ask me yet. I am not as I was, with all I was sent out with. Eyriconer and I came to the Primal Forest where you sent us with the devices, to deal with the threat there, which might have been bandits, for all we knew. This monster in there shot out a limb grabbing Eyriconer and drew him quickly back in, out of view with the forests many trees. I shot at it as I was prepared to do. It would have killed it, there was no more response from it. I called for Eyriconer repeatedly, but he never answered, and I despaired, thinking he had been killed. I grieved for Eyriconer, and I made my way to the city nearer to that forest to figure out what to do, still grieving, and not knowing what to say if I returned without my friend, and not viewing my mission as a success. I found a tavern in that city of Quadick, to have a warm soup, it was there I first saw a woman with control of an imp fiend, and while I was figuring out what I was to do, I decided to go where I would get a map of the area, while I was there. I have maps from there still with me. But a disaster was happening in that city right in the area I was in where it happened. I came out from where I bought the maps, robbers were coming out to rob a near carriage. An elf lady rode up toward me as I came out from the store, and one of those violent men was coming after her. I used the device for teleportation to cast him far away, and I went quickly toward the carriage, to use it against several others. Just then there was a violent phenomenon like an explosion, knocking me over. I came to under very different circumstances, I was now in that carriage, and I found I was in that body of that woman I had seen, with that imp, and she had been really hurt, in the body which I then had. Others had been switched from their bodies too, I heard mention it happened from an amulet, and it was shattered. I found that imp outside of the carriage, and ordered it into the carriage, to wait there, the woman was in my body, but I waited for a long time with my body, which would not wake up. So I used the device for alteration duplicate the woman's body I was in onto a body she had animated, somehow, and used the alteration to duplicate my body on me in that woman's body then. I went to warn others who were near the carriage about the imp in there, not being under control. That woman then came to in my body right then just that moment I went to the others. She killed that duplicate of her body, which went back to the corpse it was, while she was still in my original body. The imp somehow exploded out from the carriage, and appeared suddenly before me and took the orb from the bag. Then it sonehow teleported the rod to itself and threw the orb up, it hit the cobblestone with a cracking noise, but it did not shatter. The imp disappeared again and reappeared mounted on one animal at the front of the carriage, still holding the rod, and then it disappeared as it laughed."

The wizard laughed. "The orb cannot shatter."

[Highland Sniper]

"But, I must say, this is troubling." He says, "of course, you've been informed that the healer will take care of Eyriconer in the morning. And you must have used alteration to regain your form knowing that you'll need to undo it later by some means. Of course, I can undo your work, but I think it would be best to leave that till you've found a way to undo this... phenomenon. Old, chaotic magic that hasn't been seen for a long time. And that Imp could cause a lot of trouble if not dealt with." The wizard gives a sigh. "There are things you may need to learn before you leave, I'll leave questions for later. For now, we all need our rest. I'll look more into this tomorrow." He stands up with a stretch and a yawn, "I believe it is time for you to retire to your own bed. There will be work enough for all of us soon enough."

[GodlyD&D]

Arapegol said before he left the high wizard, "I did know, if the woman with my body lived, it could not stay this way. I cast the alteration from the rod for that while the one in my body, who I was not sure was the one whose body I was in, was not responsive for a long time, and I began to worry my body would die, and I would not have it back, and with making the precaution of duplicating the woman's body for that to be available for duplicating to her. And I remember what you taught us about the clear gemstone making a protective layer over the glowing gemstone to shield us from harmful emination, and that it is essentially unbreakable crystal. I didn't think when I learned of the breaking amulet. That must be something else. Well, have a good night, I expect that I can speak with you more tomorrow morning, as there are further things."

When Arapegol was home and with the lantern lit, he set the bag on the table in the front room, and then looked in it and drew out the glowing orb. Indeed it was crystal material, shaped under use of extremely high heat, and sure enough with a careful look he saw there was no mar. Devices the wizards and those they trained all were of such rare materials, none would be breakable. Then what was the amulet, which yet brake? Perhaps this would be a clue of what it took to have people switch bodies, and then, what it would take to switch them back.

There were the maps, he brought those out, and then his folded blanket in it. There was nothing else now, he had shared of his food rations with Eyriconer on their way back, and all of it was gone now. And the rod of alteration was gone. There was no power he had now for alteration, or reverse alteration even. What would the imp which was loose do with it? It would have no knowledge which Arapegol was trained for, for triggering any supernatural translational thermodynamic energy. Yet the imp teleported the rod to it somehow still. It might have its own supernatural ability for that, the orb would not serve it usefully. But the imp would not have the knowledge for triggering the energy from the rod, either.

Arapegol thought of these things while he cut up potato and vegetables, and cooked them in a pot, and added seasonings and pieces of bread to it, for a late dinner. These things could not be answered, any time soon. So his thoughts turned to Eyriconer, who he must see in the morning when he could.

[Enigma]

Nasa found herself bristling during her body's conversation with the sheriff - that was her body the man was leering at!

Tavern was one of the words she picked up - they wanted to go someplace off the street. With a sign she glanced at the tiny man between her and the other 'rider', then went to fetch her horse.

"Hey!" screamed the goblin head. "This ain't your horse! Let go!"
"Hutsa tiën!" Nasa yelled back at him. "Iën eenbu aën ewnën odyba!"
"It is you," the head said slowly. "Wow, we hit the city and you really let yerself go!"

The others laughed jeerfully.

[Alura]

Klara, hearing the laughter of the talking heads, became immediately distracted and wandered over to where Nasa was having words with the shrunken speakers dangling against her mount.

"Well..." He reached out a hand and touched the most chatty head's cheek gingerly. "Owhën uaintqa." Klara began, changing to the dialect of the elves who lived beside the Grani horses to repeat the phrase and see if that was more preferable to the rider. "Manen ettelëa."

[GodlyD&D]

As Arapegol ate this late meal he made for himself, where he lived alone now, he thought more about his friend Eyriconer. He certainly felt guilty. He had lost his friend to the Primal Forest, even when whatever monster was in it had apparently been killed. He then left him for dead, and went off to that Quadick City, and spent a good part of the day there, mostly waiting while inactive by his body occupied by the one who took so long to come back to awake awareness. And he only came back, where he could rescue the friend he left for dead, when the dull yellow sun was going down. His help to him paled by that glaring circumstance. He must go to his friend right away in the morning, he would be sure to do that, to see after him. But it would make sense if his friend never forgave him. He would have to bear that.

Finally he got up from the table, after doddling over the almost finished meal before him, with these thoughts. He then removed his leather coat and the shirt and breeches, and brought the nightshirt to put on. Looking at his body he became aware again it was a duplication of his body put on the woman's body in whom he was unwillingly put. The alteration might be reversed. But it was really out of his hands as he no longer had a rod for alteration. With the nightshirt on, he then went to his bed.

[Highland Sniper]

Jaydeen jumped at the chatter from the heads and gaped at the man who now spoke in the elven tongue of the tribes.
"Well, do we want one room? Or maybe two?" She asked, trying to get her wits back after the few new things that just happened. Between the sheriff seeing her like this, her already strange behavior around Gasha in her old body, the talking heads, and the man being able to speak the same language as the half-orc, it was already an interesting day. But it was downright crazy after the swapping. She wanted to scream, to cry, to tear something to shreds and curl up into a ball. She almost felt sick and finally wondered why she hasn't lost her breakfast yet.

She repeated herself for the Nasa's benefit. "neoen oomre, roen woten?" She asked again.




The wizard sat in his bed for a bit, contemplating the things Arapegol had told him.
"An amulet," He wondered. Then, as with some thoughts he had before going to bed, he rubbed one of his rings and a notepad and pen popped out of thin air and landed in his lap before he picked them up and used them to jot down some thoughts on the situation.
Amulet of Power
Jearius' Amulet
power to swap bodies?
Requires further study.
And with that, he set it on his nightstand and went to sleep.