Khan of the Steppes

When Sleipnir goes to wake Zane for the next watch, Zane notices as he rolls over to get up that a certain itchy scratchy sensation is gone from the side he rolled over- the burrs were gone from his legs. Most of them had dropped off during the day's travels, but a number had been stubbornly clinging on even up to the point he had gone to sleep- you remember rolling over them as you were getting comfortable for sleep. You can hear something- or somethings- scuttling about nearby in the camp, towards the direction of the camels' belongings

That's not all you can hear. Book Smart is snoring, quite soundly asleep. It may take a little extra effort to wake him if the need arises. Cau'rha seems to be dreaming pleasantly, and Anenome is sleeping lightly outside, temporarily awoken by the shift change before drifting off again. It would be very easy to wake her.

Spoiler:

As intrigued as he is by the disappearing seeds, Zane figures the rustling sounds are more important to investigate and walks in their direction.

Note:

Steele was pretty much dead to the world, sleeping soundly for now...

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Zane walks towards where the camels are sleeping. There is definitely some rustling in their bags, and you can see a number of very small shapes moving about inside through the cloth. You can also hear the sounds of little mouths nibbling, munching, and crunching on the camels' supplies.

Zane whistles quietly through his teeth, attempting to summon one, if not all, of the rustling noises.

Call Animal:

At the noise Anemone opens her eyes but remains lying down and just listens.

---

Perception: 19 + 11 = 30

The rustling immediately ceases as you let out your whistle, and one of the creatures that is compelled to answer your summons. It cautiously pokes its head out, still holding a chunk of bread in its tiny mouth.

It appears to be exactly the same size and shape as some of the burrs you had acquired in the forest, looking in fact exactly the same except for that now you can see it has enormous insect eyes, and that some of the spikes are in fact legs, as it combination walks/rolls towards you.

"Chiirp?" it chirps at you, and looks like it recognizes you. <Oh! It carried us!> some quieter munching can be heard to have started up again in the bags

Spoiler:

Sleipnir does not hear the rustling or the whistle after the shift change, and so goes to sleep.

Perception:

Deep Focus: 19 + 13 = 32. +2 Bonus

Knowledge on briar creatures: 5 + 2 + 18 = 25

Zane looks confused at the creature for a moment, before quietly making the connection.
"Ah! So you are what has happened to prickling seed!
I am shamed that I did not already recognize your breed."

What is this check:

Most of what you know about these creatures come from your elders or parents, as part of warnings to not waste food or leave it lying out. Fairly uncommon, they tend to live in the even more remote parts of the steppe, where they survive by hibernating, camouflaged as a prickly seed, waiting to latch on to a creature that can take it to a reliable source of food. Once they find food, they are voracious eaters- they never have enough to eat, because once they've had their fill they very efficiently convert their food mass into producing more of themselves. They have a variety of names depending on where you're from, but a common one is "paraspike"

Spoiler:

Cau'rha's dreams dealt primarily with spirits, and his dreams were never far from him. Just another joy (or curse) of shaman-hood. Thankfully, said spirits apparently found him favorable tonight; so far the experience was reasonably pleasant.

The Spirit Of Laughter almost invariably presented herself as a bright pink earth pony, with a tangled mess of even brighter, pinker hues; Cau'rha had never seen her flank, however (it was always covered by some ridiculous dress, or under a table as now, or otherwise out of sight) and so it was impossible to know if she might have an avatar. And of course it would be exceedingly offensive to ask.

Cau'rha dearly hoped she didn't. The thought was truly frightening.

"So then I said, 'Oatmeal!? Are you crazy!?' And she was like - oh wait let me get you some more punch - she was like 'These are MY tickets, I'll decide who to give them to' so then I went to gather up ponies for a super-duper party and hay, what's wrong Cau'rha?" She suddenly stopped and stared at the goat.

His response was very quiet in comparison. "I thought I heard something, Muth Gusha."

Translation:

"Well, DUH! I've been talking this whole time, of course you heard something, sillygoat! Me!" She blew a stray hair out of her face.

"No," he spoke a little louder. "Something else. Something in the campground. Voices... a whistle? Something rustling, I think. I'm afraid I should probably look into it..." he said with a resigned sigh.

"Okie Dokie Lokie! I understand! Your friends come first! But wait, I'M your friend! But wait, they probably need you more! But come back later, okay?"

"Hai, Muth Gusha," he bowed his head towards her respectfully.

"Huh? Oh, right!" She put a hoof on his head. "Fasat Muth La luthat tha," she said with a deliberate slowness that, in any other context, would have been very odd coming from the normally speedy talker.

"Shashav, Muth La. Shashav, Muth Gusha."

Translation (Again!):

Cau'rha sat up quietly and looked around. He was once again in his own tent. Listening carefully, he let his ears lead him to Zane, where he saw the paraspikes...

"GAH!" he shouted, immediately seizing the moment and wrapping them in the spiritual energies to form a magical cage with the miniature monsters inside...

Arcana Check:

Zane's eyes widen briefly, before he gives an uneasy smile to the paraspike.
These are definitely not creatures I should have carried here! To think I had forgotten the tales of destruction! And if that were not enough, to bring them here where I have been invited as a guest! Mother would be forever shamed. No, I must bring them back to their habitat, somehow. The stories did not tell much though...perhaps the others might know.
Zane thinks for a moment, before continuing to whisper to the paraspike.
"I...imagine you and your kin must be more than ravenous....though, I cannot say you've found much of a buffet.
My friend, however, is capable of procuring a concoction gelatinous; capable of sustaining for no less than a full day!
If you and the others come with me now,
he might be convinced to make the chow."
ZANE THEN GASPS AS CAU'RHA NINJA'S HIS PARASPIKE ACTION AND THE RHYMES THAT TOOK SO LONG TO PUT TOGETHER.

Spoiler:

At first Cau'rha's forcefield only manages to contain the paraspikes within the satchels of food they were infesting, but as though responding to his will (perhaps assisted by the number of spirits gathered to the circle he had drawn)the sphere began to contract and float upwards, pulling the paraspikes from their food source and isolating them in midair within a sphere. They let out alternating cacophonous chirping and hacking noises, some of them in the process of coughing up more paraspikes. The field is strained, but holds, expanding again to allow for the new paraspikes, until you are left with an orb filled completely with wide-eyed paraspikes. It's hard to tell how many there are they are so closely spaced, but a quick guess would be about two dozen by now. They managed to eat a lot of food, but you did manage to save much of the food as well.

The ball of pests then floats to the ground like a bubble, and then begins bouncing in place- perhaps a lingering effect of the spirit that had visited Cau'rha's dreams?

"chirp!" "chiiirp!" "squeak!" "hack!" "chirp!" "wheeze!" "cough!" "squeak!" "chiiiiiiiiiiiirp!" "chirrrrp?" "chirrpp!"
<hey!><HEY!><*hack*><hey?><Huh?><hey!><wha?><hey!><ow!><*cough*><*wheeze*>

Cau'rha's shout, and the endless squeals of the paraspikes manage to wake Ibn, although Zheng seems to be as oblivious as Book Smart to the happenings, and is snoring loudly.

"Hm, goes on what here? What?" Ibn says groggily. His eyes widen, noticing the noticeably more empty bags of food, but not the sphere of paraspikes yet. "The food! What have done with you the food?!"

Spoiler:

Does Anemone know where the Red Hoof tribe might be right now based on her scouting? Specifically their supplies?
Streetwise check since I can't imagine the answer is just "yup, no roll!": 11 + 14 = 25

Despite being in Redhoof territory, you've seen practically no sign of any recently- the closest ones are probably the same ones you saw at the meet, and had apparently gone off in a different direction than you after leaving the mountains- and probably don't have too many supplies, as they are either returning to the main camp or hunting for what they need.

"'We' didn't do anything. They," Cau'rha explained, stepping aside to allow Ibn to see the bouncing ball of ravenous hunger. "Did quite a lot, however, and would have done more left unattended. Soooo, it is now a question of what do we do with these... things," he spat the word out, the sight of the briarsprites being an offensive one to him, bringing up many painful memories...

He stopped and looked - and smelled - and listened - around himself, trying to determine if his spell might have missed any of them.

Perception:

---

((OOC: Can the force-field be moved around, similar to Ponykinesis? Or would that require another check?))

You are quite certain you couldn't have missed any. You wouldn't normally be able to move your field around without some effort, but it doesn't seem to be very normal. Between the enhanced spiritual presence and your spectacular success in containing the briarsprites, and the peculiar bouncy nature of the field, you could move the sphere around as easily as though it were an actual ball.

"Ah, good job containing you the problem then." Ibn inspects the orb of briarsprites "They are what? Never have I seen these creatures in travels... Hmm, think have heard I stories of similar blights in my homeland. How came they here?"

"They are briarsprites, they are pests, they are monsters. Pick one," Cau'rha explained rather vaguely, clearly offended by the sight of the 'monsters'.

"That orb should hold for quite a while. If you want it elsewhere, just pick it up or kick it or whatever. I am going back to bed," he hurriedly explains as he tromps back to his shelter.

As he fell back to sleep, the pretty pink party pony returned... and unusually, said nothing for a minute, merely putting a knowing pair of hooves around him...

"They eat everything and multiply." Anemone explains. She looks to the others and suggests, "We could have Red take the orb back over to where the Redhooves are perhaps."

Through Zane, you relay the possibility to Red, who enthusiastically supports the idea, and boasts that he should be easily able to find the Redhooves before the field dissolves and the briersprites are freed. <"Ha! Pony will try to give orders, and instead will get head covered in spikeballs!">

"Ah, well, am not I one to meddle in Steppe politics- do with you the vermin whatever pleases you, so long as no longer raid them our food supplies." says Ibn.

Spoiler:

Perception: 19 + 14 = 33

Zheng said earlier he thought Ibn was acting a little strange- and despite the fact that Anenome doesn't know him very well, it would seem that statement is accurate. Right now, he seems a lot more on edge than he should be considering the situation with the briarsprites seems taken care of. You don't know if foreigners behave differently than steppe folk, but you would almost think he was hiding something else as well...

It has felt like so long since the spirit had felt the call of a summoning circle, and while this one was not looking for any specific spirit, it was good enough in his eyes. Wearing the Red Hoof armour he was bound to as it should be worn, he arrives at the circle, and stands on the perimeter of it, slightly impressed with how round it was. However, it just wasn't the same. He felt distant from all the other spirits, and the armour prevented him from moving as freely as he would. Still, the spirit stood on guard, his spectral form ebbing ever so slightly, as whatever part of his spirit that wasn't bound enjoys the round ritual circle...

Spoiler:

Anemone leapt up in alarm and drew her bow and was about to cry out to the others, having immediately recognized the Red Hoof armor, and then instead, realizing it wasn't worn by a living pony, demanded, "What and who are you and what are your intentions!?"

---

That's a good point, I hadn't considered that.