Tarhall cautiously added a little more of his vital energy into spell...but for now he was willing to let D'aden try to communicate.

OOC- add one point of energy to Stone Missile.

IC: Kar thought quietly before speaking. "Perhaps we can communicate using gestures?" It was only a suggestion, as he had never been in the presence of such a creature before. It never really occurred to him that one might fly on the back of this creature, but he had heard of knights on the backs of such winged creatures. What a thrill it might be to ride one of these.

He attempted to settle the winged creature using non-aggressive motions.

(OOC: rolled)

"Good idea, Kar."  Olven briefly considers flipping the gryphon a one-fingered salute, but thinks better of it.  If they could convince the gryphon to leave them alone, they might prevent needless injuries.

In the universal language of gestures, Olven resheathes his spear and holds his hands apart and up to show that he means the gryphon no harm if it backs down.

OOC:  Use Gesture as well to communicate to the gryphon that we are not hostile if he is not.

Looking at Kar, the griffon shook its head and tail and moved forward a few steps before stopping, now within striking distance of Olven, looked at the mercenary, and squawked again. Though it sounded different this time.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:24, Sat 21 Apr 2012.

Tarhall continues to husband his magic in the palm of his hand.  Curiously he watches his companions attempt to communicate.  Fascinating.

D'aden calmly puts his bow and arrows away, and pulls out his mandolin. As he tweaks the instruments tuning, he says, "I would suspect hunger, what with being stuck in here, and I didn't keep any of the fish I caught. But this is similar to a situation I'm somewhat familiar with. We had a large bull, back home, and that dangerous, but not malignant, would get in moods where only a song would calm it."
D'aden plunks a chord or two, but before he starts playing in earnest he mentions, "Of course, it would also get in moods where only a sound blow to the head would calm it."
After this comforting thought, D'aden begins to play through all the calming songs he can remember.

The griffon continued forward, moving Olven to the side with his large frame, as it continued into the corridor.

[The griffon is now approximately in the middle of the corridor.]

Olven stands aside to watch the gryphon pass by.  As it shoulders its way into the corridor, the mercenary scans the room the creature had been living in for anything interesting.

GM passing a secret message

"Phew!  This place smells awful!" Olven goes ahead to search through the mess.  Perhaps there is something of value hidden within.

Tarhall steps to the side, curious to see if it will walk by him as well.

D'aden continues to play, and retreats. If the creature follows, he'll attempt to guide it completely out of the facility.
He sings an old traveling song he picked up in a tavern frequented by muleskinners,
"You know I'm a dreamer
But my heart's of gold
I had to run away high
So, I wouldn't come home low
Just when things went right
Doesn't mean they're always wrong
Just take this song and you'll never feel
Left all alone
Take me to your heart
Feel me in your bones
Just one more night
And I'm comin' off this
Long and winding road
I'm on my way, I'm on my way
Home sweet home"

OOC: I couldn't resist, sorry.

The griffin continued down the corridor to the door and scratched the door with one of its claws.

At the same time, Olven explored the smelly room.

His search complete, Olven exits the griffin's stall as quickly as he can.  "OK, I didn't see anything in there," he says.  "Let's continue on, shall we?"

D'aden scratches his head, looks at the griffin, and remarks, "In for a copper, in for a gold." before attempting to open the door for the creature.

The door opened up onto a large courtyard, open to the sky, and the griffin didn't need anything else but quickly leapt for the sky and freedom.

The once carefully tended herbal garden had long ago succumbed to neglect. Weeds were everywhere and they were as tall as a man. The sky was just about the only thing the heroes could see more than a few feet away.

As the griffin wings away, D'aden remarks, "In future, I should remember to carry a bridle for such occasions, Although I understand the dismount is problematic."
Standing in the hall, he looks through the doorway and tries to recall what he can of the flora and possible fauna that could be in the courtyard.

OOC: what could he possibly know about a courtyard?
14:53, Today: D'aden Tor VIII rolled 12 using 3d6. naturalist, 13.
14:53, Today: D'aden Tor VIII rolled 14 using 3d6. herb lore, 11.

"Nice place out here."  Olven Wolf scans the courtyard, looking for anything of interest.  "I know zilch about herb lore.  Any of you want to examine those plants to see if any of them might be of use?"  The mercenary folds his arms and looks skyward.  "This is a useful place, actually.  The King should see about renovating and reopening this Lyceum once Kalaman is secured."

"Formal magical teaching is restricted to the Towers of High Sorcery."  Tarhall replies absently.  "Of course, they might be persuaded to open a Tower here with the proper inducement"  He suggests.

Putting his instrument away and re-organizing his pack, D'aden states, "All formal teaching does not have to concern magic, just think of all we've learned here so far."

GM passing a message

"None of the plants look particularly useful, except as tall grass to hide in. If the former meal wasn't the only kender about, they could be having a party in there without being noticed."

Olven Wolf nods his head.  "Fair enough.  All right, let's go back inside.  Perhaps we can find those children today."

The heroes went through the dining hall, which showed traces of breakfast that hadn't been cleaned up. Exiting on the other side of the room, they entered a corridor with a number of doors on the left hand side and a corridor leading to their right.

They heard snores from behind the doors and a foul stench filled their nostrils.

D'aden gets his bow and an arrow out, and stands back from one of the doors. He holds one finger to his lips, then points at the door. Then he readies an arrow.