Post by BB on Nov 17, 2019 17:54:59 GMT
An older halfling woman wrapped tightly in a thick winter jacket adorned with various utility belts is peering intently at random rocks jutting out of the powdery snow at her feet. As her eyes wander slowly over a new patch of rocks, she suddenly stills.
âBB over here, I think I found it!!â
BBâs silver head of hair whips round to find the halfling woman higher up on the mountain.
âAre you certain Professor?â
âYes, Iâm sure of it! It even has the unique red frost crystals on the stem. Now bring those jars over and we can extract itâ
At this point BB speed walks up while producing jars of dirt from her rucksack pockets. Upon reaching the professor she kneels to look at the small flower nestled tightly against the underside of the rock. Its flowers are a light grey and its stems pale green, but surrounding the stems are patches of deep red frost that have formed into sharpened points protruding outwards.
âYou were right Professor, it really is reminiscent of a rose stem. Do you think the ice has any special properties?â
The professor shakes her head, a small flurry of snow coming off the top of it.
âAny properties it might contain have certainly not been recorded, all accounts only mention its unique appearance. But Iâm not surprised no one checked, up close the thorns are certainly quite menacingâ
As she says this the professor produces a number of spades of various sizes and compares them to the size of the plant in front of them, but she pauses before digging into the dirt.
âNow BB, I think you should do this one yourself. You have a deft hand for this, and itâs time you gained some confidence with more dangerous plantsâ
âErr, are you sure Professor? I donât want to mess it up for you, especially considering that weâve been looking for this third plant for days nowâ
âYes I insist! You can only learn so much from just watching meâ
At this, the professor presses the spade into BBâs hand and looks at her with an expectant gaze. BB sighs, but with a fond smile on her face, and goes to make quick work of loosening the soil and extracting the whole plant into the awaiting glass far that the professor is now holding up. The professor, seemingly happy at BBâs work, puts a vented stopper on the jar and starts to get up from her kneeling position.
âWonderful! Now thatâs what I call a job well done. Letâs call it a day and go make camp, I feel like Iâm about to freeze solid!â
â
At the promised campfire further down the mountain, BB and the professor are wrapped up next to its warmth, piping hot bowls of stew cradled in their hands, and an open book on the ground between them.
âAnd then what about this line?â The professor says while pointing at a sentence on the page.
âTheir own magic had seemed to evolve, allowing them the ability to shapeshift into any creature, including humansâ
âBrilliant, and again in Draconicâ
A series of guttural snarls escape BBâs mouth.
âYes, yes, now remember to articulate the receding snarl with your diaphragm, not the back of the throatâ
BB tries again, the professor this time giving an enthusiastic thumbs up. BB returning the gesture with a strained smile.
âWhatâs the matter?â
âThese books, they seem to be leading me in circles. Not that I donât appreciate the Draconic lessons! Itâs just that I havenât really found out exactly how they have this magic, how it even works, how other non-dragons can have innate spellcasting.â
A long silence ensues as BB stares harder at the book, hoping maybe some secret will pop out of it at any moment.
âYou know BB, books donât hold all the answers to everything. Thereâs a lot of information that no one has discovered yet. Perhaps your answers are waiting for you way out there, far away from this bloominâ freezing mountain.â
âBut I like helping you with your research Professor, a lotâ
âAnd I count my stars lucky that I bumped into you that day at the library and managed to convince you to aid me. But what Iâm trying to say BB is that if you want answers on this magic of yours, to get to understand yourself, you need to explore the world and discover the people and places it contains. Not stunt yourself by hanging around me and my research, which thanks to you I certainly have enough data to start writing my new bookâ
The professor starts waving her hand in the sky as if writing imaginary lines in a book.
âRare and Hidden Flowers of the Savage Frontier, by Professor Brittleburr and Big Blue. What do you think?â
At this point BB gives the professor an all encompassing hug, almost hiding the halfling professor from sight, but they seem used to it as they sit there with a smile on their face.
âIâm not trying to push you away BB, Iâve never been scared by you or your magic, I just want to help you grow into the happiest version of yourselfâ
âThanks Professorâ
â
The next day BB and the professor slowly emerge from their hiding spot in a snow covered thicket as the deep grunts of Giants can be heard in the distance, BB crouching over to look at the numerous Giant tracks in the snow.
âSeems to have been about ten Giants of various size, luckily they look to be heading in the opposite direction to where we want to go. They kept talking about looking forward to smashing some small folk up, which is highly concerningâ
âYes, I have noticed the increased frequency of these roving groups of Giants while weâve been out here. Itâs certainly something to bring to attention when we get back into townâ
As the professor says this a grunt echoes out from the trees, significantly louder and closer than the ones of the group that just passed. Instantly BB grabs the professorâs shoulder while producing a sticky eyelash out of her component pouch and mutters some arcane words. As the spell takes hold a dim swirling light emits from BBâs eyes, shifting into multiple colours that spread out and mix with the spell BB is trying to cast. Both BB and the professorâs eyes catch for a moment, both recognising what this means.
âOh noâ
Thunk
As the two of them go invisible, the only thing that gives their location away is their prints in the snow. One pair of smaller halfling footprints next to one larger circle. The footprints turn to the side to face the circle in the snow, and the voice of the professor whispers.
âBB are you a plant pot?! A plant in a plant pot?! At least youâre not your normal size in this form. Oh bloominâ hells I hope this isnât permanentâ
At this point the footprints emerge one by one in the snow, their gait reminiscent of someone awkwardly carrying something, as they slowly make their way down the slope and away from the dangers of the mountain.
âBB over here, I think I found it!!â
BBâs silver head of hair whips round to find the halfling woman higher up on the mountain.
âAre you certain Professor?â
âYes, Iâm sure of it! It even has the unique red frost crystals on the stem. Now bring those jars over and we can extract itâ
At this point BB speed walks up while producing jars of dirt from her rucksack pockets. Upon reaching the professor she kneels to look at the small flower nestled tightly against the underside of the rock. Its flowers are a light grey and its stems pale green, but surrounding the stems are patches of deep red frost that have formed into sharpened points protruding outwards.
âYou were right Professor, it really is reminiscent of a rose stem. Do you think the ice has any special properties?â
The professor shakes her head, a small flurry of snow coming off the top of it.
âAny properties it might contain have certainly not been recorded, all accounts only mention its unique appearance. But Iâm not surprised no one checked, up close the thorns are certainly quite menacingâ
As she says this the professor produces a number of spades of various sizes and compares them to the size of the plant in front of them, but she pauses before digging into the dirt.
âNow BB, I think you should do this one yourself. You have a deft hand for this, and itâs time you gained some confidence with more dangerous plantsâ
âErr, are you sure Professor? I donât want to mess it up for you, especially considering that weâve been looking for this third plant for days nowâ
âYes I insist! You can only learn so much from just watching meâ
At this, the professor presses the spade into BBâs hand and looks at her with an expectant gaze. BB sighs, but with a fond smile on her face, and goes to make quick work of loosening the soil and extracting the whole plant into the awaiting glass far that the professor is now holding up. The professor, seemingly happy at BBâs work, puts a vented stopper on the jar and starts to get up from her kneeling position.
âWonderful! Now thatâs what I call a job well done. Letâs call it a day and go make camp, I feel like Iâm about to freeze solid!â
â
At the promised campfire further down the mountain, BB and the professor are wrapped up next to its warmth, piping hot bowls of stew cradled in their hands, and an open book on the ground between them.
âAnd then what about this line?â The professor says while pointing at a sentence on the page.
âTheir own magic had seemed to evolve, allowing them the ability to shapeshift into any creature, including humansâ
âBrilliant, and again in Draconicâ
A series of guttural snarls escape BBâs mouth.
âYes, yes, now remember to articulate the receding snarl with your diaphragm, not the back of the throatâ
BB tries again, the professor this time giving an enthusiastic thumbs up. BB returning the gesture with a strained smile.
âWhatâs the matter?â
âThese books, they seem to be leading me in circles. Not that I donât appreciate the Draconic lessons! Itâs just that I havenât really found out exactly how they have this magic, how it even works, how other non-dragons can have innate spellcasting.â
A long silence ensues as BB stares harder at the book, hoping maybe some secret will pop out of it at any moment.
âYou know BB, books donât hold all the answers to everything. Thereâs a lot of information that no one has discovered yet. Perhaps your answers are waiting for you way out there, far away from this bloominâ freezing mountain.â
âBut I like helping you with your research Professor, a lotâ
âAnd I count my stars lucky that I bumped into you that day at the library and managed to convince you to aid me. But what Iâm trying to say BB is that if you want answers on this magic of yours, to get to understand yourself, you need to explore the world and discover the people and places it contains. Not stunt yourself by hanging around me and my research, which thanks to you I certainly have enough data to start writing my new bookâ
The professor starts waving her hand in the sky as if writing imaginary lines in a book.
âRare and Hidden Flowers of the Savage Frontier, by Professor Brittleburr and Big Blue. What do you think?â
At this point BB gives the professor an all encompassing hug, almost hiding the halfling professor from sight, but they seem used to it as they sit there with a smile on their face.
âIâm not trying to push you away BB, Iâve never been scared by you or your magic, I just want to help you grow into the happiest version of yourselfâ
âThanks Professorâ
â
The next day BB and the professor slowly emerge from their hiding spot in a snow covered thicket as the deep grunts of Giants can be heard in the distance, BB crouching over to look at the numerous Giant tracks in the snow.
âSeems to have been about ten Giants of various size, luckily they look to be heading in the opposite direction to where we want to go. They kept talking about looking forward to smashing some small folk up, which is highly concerningâ
âYes, I have noticed the increased frequency of these roving groups of Giants while weâve been out here. Itâs certainly something to bring to attention when we get back into townâ
As the professor says this a grunt echoes out from the trees, significantly louder and closer than the ones of the group that just passed. Instantly BB grabs the professorâs shoulder while producing a sticky eyelash out of her component pouch and mutters some arcane words. As the spell takes hold a dim swirling light emits from BBâs eyes, shifting into multiple colours that spread out and mix with the spell BB is trying to cast. Both BB and the professorâs eyes catch for a moment, both recognising what this means.
âOh noâ
Thunk
As the two of them go invisible, the only thing that gives their location away is their prints in the snow. One pair of smaller halfling footprints next to one larger circle. The footprints turn to the side to face the circle in the snow, and the voice of the professor whispers.
âBB are you a plant pot?! A plant in a plant pot?! At least youâre not your normal size in this form. Oh bloominâ hells I hope this isnât permanentâ
At this point the footprints emerge one by one in the snow, their gait reminiscent of someone awkwardly carrying something, as they slowly make their way down the slope and away from the dangers of the mountain.