[IMG]http://i59.tinypic.com/2chxnc8.png[/IMG] “A fellow pixie, accused of a crime? Not if I can help!” Talwyn stepped right up to bat without hesitation. “So, what’s the deal?” “Apparently, I’ve kidnapped a child and left a changeling in its place.” Jili responds. Talwyn took a closer look at the suspect. ‘Hmm… despite her sass, she seems innocent.’ “All right. Bring out the evidence.” The judge quickly recounts a few vital pieces of evidence. “On the day of the crime, Jili was not accounted for. She claims to have been dancing by a nearby lake, but there are no credible witnesses.” Tylwyth looks sheepish at this comment. “At the scene of the crime, there was an open window, a lock of black hair, and, as you can see, Delwyn’s ‘changeling’ son, Ellis. Ellis has always been a loud crier, but has been complacent since the night of the crime.” The judge takes a small pause to take a sip of water. “Bendith y Mamau has testified against and accused the defendant of the kidnapping. So what say you on this crime?” Talwyn takes a moment to let all the information seep in. “Can I have a moment?” The judge sighed. This trial was taking longer than he expected. Banging the gavel, he announced a short break before taking another longer drink of water. “All right, Gilbert. So what do you think? You think she did it?” The red-eyed pixie asked her companion as they approached Díse to ask for more pointers. “It’s certainly difficult to build a case for her, at any rate.” Gilbert responded. “Though there is one piece of evidence that bothers me- the crime scene hair colour doesn’t match the defendant’s hair.” He considered another point. “She could have planted hair evidence to make herself seem innocent, but somehow that doesn’t feel right. Something’s not adding up…” The frog trailed off, in deep thought. “Regardless, we’ve gotta mention the hair evidence. Hey Díse, were you able to gather anything extra?” “Yes, and I think what I’ve found will definitely be able to help.” Díse proceeded to update Talwyn on the details. “Hum, how interesting…” Gilbert commented. Just then, the judge banged the gavel again, signalling the end of the short break. He quickly whispered his thoughts into her ear. “Court is back in session!” His voice boomed. Slowly but surely, everyone returned to their seats. “May the defendant state her case.”

Nightowls

Alanna had to take a moment to gather herself. After all that she had done and been through, the last thing she expected was to act as someone's lawyer. Ridiculous! The fact that someone's innocence depended solely on her and Mal's word alone brought on more pressure than she had felt with previous tasks.

"Well... it can't be that hard, right?" Alanna muttered under her breath to Mal. "I mean, we should just apply basic common sense here. From what I remember, a defendant is innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt. Unless fairy law is different, that is..."

"You're right." Mal whispered to Alanna as they read through the testimonials. "There really isn't enough evidence for a conviction. Besides, who's to say that the baby was even switched in the first place?"

"And the lock of black hair could belong to anyone who has dark hair." Alanna replied, her brows furrowed in concentration. "This whole thing seems strange to me." She tilted her head in puzzlement. "How did they make the connection to Jili Ffrwtan with such sketchy evidence? There is hardly anything to go on."

"Lawyer! Are you ready address the court?" Alanna and Mal flinched a little at the sudden interruption by the austere-looking judge. "We haven't got all day, you know!"

Alanna hesitated for a moment and Mal put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "We're ready." The crowd parted to make way for the two people whom Jili Ffrwtan's freedom depended on. The pressure was now on.

[Quote=Hiln] Hlin knows a fishy story when she hears one, and this is worth at least two verses of "Black is the Color of my True Love's Hair."

She leans over and whispers to Adris. "So, what do you think of all this? I suspect this is a simple tale of a woman, scorned. And if that's a changeling, my herbalist adopted granny will turn over in her grave. Personally, I think you should follow Tylwyth around and see what she has to say about Delwyn, who seems really impressionable and, even more importantly, Dale."

Turning away from Adris and smiling, she asks Delwyn if she happens to have any eggs. Delwyn admits she does, but was going to use them for dinner. Hlin urges her to do just that.

"Please go ahead. I just want the shells."

Everyone, especially Jili, looks at Hlin in puzzlement, but they all proceed to Delwyn's cottage, where she starts dinner, cracks the eggs and gives the shells to Hlin.[/quote]

(OOC --What my devoted and usually brilliant teammate did not post above is that she is currently in the thralls of the migraine monster. I'm not subject to these, but my mother was, and, if you have never seen a full-blown wreak its havoc, you can't imagine what it's like. Basically, the sufferer can't think because it hurts too much. However, if you will, please accept Orphans R US working as a team, please accept this version with Hlin reading Adris' mind and writing for her.)

Hlin knows a fishy story when she hears one, and this is worth at least two verses of "Black is the Color of my True Love's Hair."

She leans over and whispers to Adris. "So, what do you think of all this? I suspect this is a simple tale of a woman, scorned. And if that's a changeling, my herbalist adopted granny will turn over in her grave. Personally, I think you should follow Tylwyth around and see what she has to say about Delwyn, who seems really impressionable and, even more importantly, Dale."

Turning away from Adris and smiling, she asks Delwyn if she happens to have any eggs. Delwyn admits she does, but was going to use them for dinner. Hlin urges her to do just that.

"Please go ahead. I just want the shells."

Everyone, especially Jili, looks at Hlin in puzzlement, but they all proceed to Delwyn's cottage, where she starts dinner, cracks the eggs and gives the shells to Hlin.

At the same time, Adris begins to follow Twylyth while she mutters under her breath about how stupid Dale must be to just drop his hair at the scene like that. At the third remark, Twylyth whirls on her and spits out that Dale is as smart as he is handsome and that Delwyn is so gullible she believes anything. Adris smiles as Twylyth stalks away and gives Hlin a thumbs-up.

Now, it is a well known piece of hedgewitch lore that boiling egg shells and then attempting to eat them as soup for dinner will make any changeling laugh or talk in an ancient voice. It's also the only method to determine a changeling without harming the infant, which Delwyn would never allow.

As she cooks, Hlim murmurs again to Adris. "Could you go to Bendith y Mamau, sees if she sings to herself with the window open and, if she does, ask her to sing?

Adris goes flying to the small secluded cottage and knocks repeatedly on the door. There's no answer. Finally, she stands right outside the single window and talks as id to herself, but loudly.

"Poor baby. Without help, he's going to get really sick, sobbing and wailing all night . What if he dies?"

As she hoped, the window opens a crack and part of a truly hideous face peers out. "Can't die from clogged ears," the raspy voice snaps. "A stupid parent is another matter. Besides already cleared that ear infection once with a draining lullaby. He should be smiling and cooing now."

"Could you please sing it one more time? Jili depends on it, too."

"Jili? That little pixie thing that drinks too much? I like to watch her dance. She's a lot better than that friend of hers, who's not much of a friend to anyone, really. That one just pines for other people's husbands. Very well, I'll sing again, but back off from the window. You don't want to see my face."

The window latch swings wide, and a truly hideous visage appears. Adris stands her ground and is rewarded by a song sung by an angel's voice. Who could imagine? Bendith finishes and seems surprised that Adris has stayed. But, caught by the song and her own feelings, the girl leans in and plants a small kiss on the hag's cheek. The Bendith's eyes fill with tears, and she whispers, "My blessing on you, girl. Call on me if you need something later."

As soon as the shells soften enough, Hlin sits by the baby and begins to sip the eggshell soup noisily. The infant giggles happily at the sound and Hlin's silly faces, but it is a baby giggle and he simply gurgles with no words.

Adris comes back and nods to Hlin, while outside, a sweet song drifts through the open window, so sweet that everyone inside is made to feel well and whole, and so happy. The babe coos with delight at this healing melody.

"Did your son happen to take a chill in winter?" Hlin asks Delwyn.

"Why, yes," says the surprised mother. "How did you know?"

"Because he's healed now," smiles Hlin, "thanks to the song of Bendith, who, despite her ugly appearance to humans, has the voice of an angel. You had a baby with a bad ear infection that needed draining. He's well and happy now, and no changeling! Someone just wanted to convince you he was for her own purposes, especially since it would cause conflict between you and your husband, and I think Adris can fill in those blanks, including that black lock of hair."

Adris smiles. I think it might be better if Twylyth starts explaining why she can't get her own boyfriend, and has a crush on Dale, which includes duping Delwyn into believing her own baby, who simply suffered from clogged and painful ears, was a changeling. Every one with half a brain knows changelings don't look like that. Framing your supposed best friend so Delwyn wouldn't suspect the truth isn't cool either, right Jili?"

Hlin and Adris high-five happily. "You're free, Jili!" Hlin announces happily. "There's no crime here, but I do think you might consider staying sober, and choosing your BFF more carefully."

[Quote=Odin] My human can be so utterly ingenious sometimes it scared me. I walked over to Eddo and asked if he could help me go look for burn cream in the village nearby. Humans were so stupid after all, that no matter what they did with this dragon, he was surely going to singe one of them. Eddo and I left--it was Adris' turn now.[/quote]

[Quote=Adris] "Hlin, I've got some beer here, lets have a few to steady our nerves before we go tackle this dragon. I don't know about you, but I need some liquid courage." Hlin and I drank. I felt a little bad when I slipped in the sleeping draught in her beer, but well, she'd never EVER let me do this... and well we needed that shard. Once Hlin was out like a light, it was time to take care of business. I whistled for Odin to come back and watch over Hlin whislt I made my way to the village. Eddo would also not be happy with being tricked. I'd have to repent to them both later-- better to ask for forgiveness, right?[/quote]

[Quote=Adris] Now, first thing's first, where should I go to find one of these.... hmmm... oooh a cloister. Oh gods, the Catholics are gonna be after me. I gulp a little bit, but hey, I needed the shard. How does that line go? "Bless me father for I have sinned." Sneaking up behind the nun, I whispered the line and -twack- one nun down. I got the wheelbarrow I spotted out in the gardens and hoisted her into it. It squeaked loudly as I ran madly with my abducted nun out of the church and towards the dragon.

I saw the shard in plan sight on top of the treasure hoard that the dragon was sitting on--well that was convenient. "HEY Fáfnirs!" I yelled, getting the dragon's attention. "Look a virgin!" Don't ask me why but dragon's like to eat virgins. I first wonder how it can tell, then I secondly wonder how they taste different. "And look, she's a holy person, that's gotta be even more juicy."

Surely enough, the dragon comes over and starts nibbling on the nun. A loud crunch had me jump but I was already running to the shard. I grab it, just as he finished off the sister. "Peace be with you," I said as I rolled out of the way from a vault of fire. OW! he got me. Maybe I should've let Eddo and Odin get burn cream... a stupid human did get burned on her shoulder. Well at least I had the shard. "Oh come on," I yelled back, "one shard for a yummy meal. Is that too much to ask?"

The dragon laughed heartily and stopped in his tracks. "You have spunk, human," he said, "do you have anything precious to give me in return?"

I thought about it, hmmm...I could lie, but what was the point? "No, I don't. Do you take IOUs?"

Another heartily laughter. I continued to edge my way away from the dragon. "A favour? You want to be indebted to a dragon?"

I nodded. "Sure, why not?"

The dragon thought about this for a moment. "Then it is done. I will call on that favour one day, till then, go and be free."

I left as quickly as I could. Tears were in my eyes from my burn. I had the shard, I owed a favour to a dragon, I fed a nun to a dragon and I tricked Hlin unconscious to do it all--I'd say this was a mixed review. [/quote]

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The rumbled snoring from in the cave sent a shiver along him. He had never seen such a large creature before, much less had to deal with one. The thought of going in and willingly tempting fate like that didn't sit well with him. He could picture himself as a cooked chicken - a tasty snack for the beast.

Hearing about the curse of the dragon from Díse inspired an idea in him; one much more appealing than the previous ones running through his mind. Though his confidence in it was shaky, it felt like the most viable option to him.

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Elethia pauses outside of the dragons lair and begins to consider her options. A dragon that has a toxic breath and can also wield fire is something that she isn't even crazy enough to consider challenging. She hears a steady rumbling sound and hopes that that indicates the dragon is still sleeping. Fafnir doesn't seem the type to negotiate with and she doubts she possesses anything on her person that would interest him more than the splitter. "Well I guess that only leaves one option....Mr. Scoots it's your turn!" Elethia states gleefully

Mr. Scoots is in the process of cleaning his paws and considering his next sardine meal when Elethias words finally register. Excuse me?!

[IMG]http://i60.tinypic.com/mll0jp.png[/IMG] “...A-A dragon?” Talwyn’s voice quivered. A Banshee was one thing, but a dragon was a different matter entirely. She’d never had the pleasure of meeting one in person, but she had been privy to Athdara’s horror stories about the creatures. “Are you s-sure this is a good idea?” “Unfortunately, we don’t have a choice if we want his Bifröst splinter.” Díse’s expression turns grim. “I wish I could say ‘if we can deal with Banshee, we can deal with Fáfnir’, but he’s extremely powerful. Not to mention he’s got poisonous breath.” “P-poisonous breath?” Gilbert repeated, in shock. “Yes. Fortunately, it vaporizes pretty quickly, so all we need to do is not get hit by it.” Díse reassures. “Here we are.” Talwyn dared to peer into the abysmal darkness of Fáfnir’s cave. Heaps upon heaps of trinkets and gems were piled up in the cave as far as she could see. The faint outside light caressed the treasures, giving them an ethereal glow. “Wow…this guy is stinkin’ rich!” Talwyn commented, completely forgetting her earlier fear of Fáfnir. Without thinking, the pixie dashed into the lair. “Talwyn, wait. We have to be careful! He could be awake--” Gilbert called out after her futilely. Just then, a deafening roar interrupted him. “TALWYN!” The frog leapt in after his companion. The sight that greeted his eyes was horrifying. A giant, scaly paw greeted his vision. The frog slowly let his eyes trail up the dragon, seeing his impressive, muscled, tree-sized legs. Gilbert then quickly glanced around for Talwyn, only to see her trembling in place, staring into Fáfnir’s eyes. “Talwyn! Grab the Bifröst splinter so we can get out of here!” No response. “Talwyn, you blithering fool! Now is not the time to gawk!” “DARE YOU STEAL MY TREASURES, YOU FILTHY THIEVES?” The dragon’s booming voice echoed throughout the chamber, striking fear into Gilbert’s heart. The pixie continued to tremble. Fáfnir slowly raised his neck and prepared to give Talwyn the breath of death. It was only then that Gilbert knew that staring into Fáfnir’s eyes meant certain doom. “Talwyn!”

Nightowls

"Great..." Alanna sighed, "Now we have to get the shard from a dragon? And one that breathes poison as well as fire." She tilted her head to one side as she tried to think of a plan. "I don't think we can persuade him to part with it so bartering for it would be out of the question." She spotted the cave that Fáfnir and his famous treasure was meant to be in and reigned Vár in to slow down to a stop. "Looks like we're here. We shouldn't get too close until we work out how we're going to do this."

"Ooohh... treasure... I think I can smell the gold!" Mal stroked Wash excitedly as she looked at Fáfnir's cave in the distance. Wash seemed less than pleased at the excessive petting, ruffling the feathers that Mal's fingers had unsettled in her wake.

"Ugh... I don't fancy being roasted or poisoned in there though." Her face wrinkled at the unsavoury thought. "I mean, can we even go in the cave without being detected?" A light bulb in her head lit up as a brilliant plan popped into her head. "Alanna... I have just the perfect idea!"

(( I must admit, I had particular fun with this chapter. chuckle))

Howl sighed. He really wasn't interested in fighting a dragon. He looked up at the cave, and asked a few questions of Díse. If he was clever, perhaps he wouldn't need to.

(( Ahahaha, you two are great. ^.^ A nun, that's brilliant. cackling))

[Quote=Hlin] While it was great to hear from Dise about the surroundings, where was a village bazaar when you needed it? The only place that seemed promising was the nearby bog.

Bogs can be very useful in terms of pixies, nixies, will o'the wisps, and the occasional skull warrior who fell off during the Wild Hunt. However, if I can sweet talk Adris into going in, I'd love not happening to muck about.

Besides, she owes me for offing that poor little nun, and Fafnir won't be happy since we gave him indigestion. Whoever told her all nuns were virgins?

But I digress. Into the swamp she goes while I started digging around for hapless toads. Just warts; no kissing involved...I hope.[/quote]

[Quote=Adris]

Okay, in future, I'm not going to go to a witch's house in the middle of a bog in the dead of night. Seriously, this place was creepy as hell. There was a sign on the witch's door:

MacBeth's Three Witches

Trouble Trouble On The Double? Fire Burns and Cauldrons Bubble Come in if Ye Dare But Without Pay, Ye Go Elsewhere.

What the witch's sign didn't say was they extortionist prices of this concoction and that the Do it yourself rate was still bloody ridiculous. But she had us over a barrel or would that be a cauldron?

The list was just as crazy:

Eye of newt (2) Frozen cow liver Lavender (3 sprigs) Pickled pig feet Potatoes (one barrel) Carrots Mutton Lots of Beer

and it went, getting weirder and weirder. I sighed, when would these crazy tasks end? I took the list begrudgingly back to Hlin so we could start collecting and brewing the potion and cure the bloke in jail.[/quote]

[Quote=Adris] As we started brewing the potion and partaking liberally in the lovely beer that I procured. Seriously, free beer if I scratched a troll behind the ears? Why would I say no? It became obivlous--no, er obvious that Hlin was getting dunk or drunk even. She was skipping about the cauldron singing merrily or maybe the cauldron was skipping about her? I don't know. The world was getting a little blurry--silly world. Then there was a knock at the door. Seems the witch gave us the wrong list. It wasn't the Do it yourself potion list at all, but her own shopping list. She gave us the brewed cure as an apology (that's a funny word, isn't it apology... -snickers-) and we gave it to the guy, whatshisname... zzzzzzzz[/quote]

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Naturally Cuinn would have preferred some stronger form of medicine, but given their current location he knew any solution would have to be done with what they were given. It looked especially tricky without an exact pinpoint as to what Gweir had caught - Cuinn settled on a fever and cold mixture based on what was described.

He walked to the wall and leaned in closer for examination. His eyes lit up as, sure enough, there was something that could help.

[IMG]http://i60.tinypic.com/34ypqaf.png[/IMG] “You want to do what?” Talwyn voiced her confusion. Most of the challenges involved in retrieving pieces of the Bifröst were much more difficult than the one Gweir was proposing right now. “You don’t want us to help free you?” “Not at all. My time of freedom will come, but it is not today. I just need to get better from my cold…” The ancient prisoner coughed. “Okay then…” The pixie trailed off, bewildered. If he really wanted to stay in his shackles, Talwyn certainly wasn’t going to be forceful about freeing him. Healing was no challenge to her; after all, she was training to a healer back home.

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Elethia slowly looked around the prison cell with distaste. Surely a man of Gweirs status wouldn't want to be kept in a filthy place like this for another day?! Alas for some odd reason Gweir contradicts her desire to help him by informing her that he wishes to stay for the time being.

Elethia is now faced with a dilemma. No doubt the environment as well as his physical condition was probably what culminated into his current condition. All he wants is a cure, but she seriously doubts that it might not come back again unless he extracts himself out of his situation soon.

Gearing up to argue with him again, Mr. Scoots presses up against her ankle and meows at her. Looking down at him she sighs and says "Well I guess there's no debating about it then. All I have to do is fix you up to get the next piece. I don't understand your reasons for wanting to stay here, but there's not much else I can do. I'll have to work quickly then before the guards return back from their patrol here." she sighs forlornly and then begins to search through her bag

I went ahead and posted up the RP so we don't need to worry about it. :)

Nightowls

Alanna bit her lip and looked at Mal. Of all things, they were now playing doctor. From what she knew, colds usually resolved themselves on their own in about a week. But they couldn't very well just tell Gweir fab Geirioedd to suck it up and wait it out. Besides, colds could also lead to more severe illnesses - which would be extremely troublesome.

"About the cure..." Alanna turned to Gweir fab Geirioedd, "There is no cure for a cold. But I'll see if we can do something about relieving the symptoms so that you're more comfortable."

"Ah jeez... I was expecting you to ask me to help with jailbreak!" Mal groaned, "That would have been way more fun." Alanna shot her friend a look and Mal quickly looked away. "Ahem, I mean. I'm no doctor or anything. I'll probably do more harm than good if I try to treat you."

"Let's look around and see what we can use." Alanna suggested as she glanced around the prison. There really wasn't much to look at. It was dark. It was dirty. And it was dim. Not a place you would want to get sick in. Or stay in, for that matter.