Many of the better traveled, older, wiser elves have been to the diverse, crowded, and busy cities of the world, and they have seen things like this.

But those Elves do not get stuck on midnight road patrol.

This Elf looks baffled.  Especially when Og lets loose.  If a dragon had landed in front of him and started doing card tricks, he would have the same reaction.  The magic he is used to does not involve bright pink smoke, ever.

For a moment, he takes a defensive posture, and then relaxes.

"You are... entertainment?" he asks, trying to recall anything about this.  "You are here... I do not know if you are supposed to be here."

He sounds hesitant and uncertain.  He does what comes naturally:  kicks the problem up the chain of command.

"I am Alio, of the Black Forest," the Elf says, finally deciding what he should do.  "You are not enemy, but you cannot travel freely on our land without the permission of the Elders.  You must camp at the Aquae Villae, but go no further.  It is.. a human place, it would be good for you.  I must report your presence.  Follow me up the path. I have no magic of light for you but... you have come so far without it."

Aquae Villae is not far, but the going in the darkness is very far.  It comes into sight soon, through a gap in the trees.  Nestled in a narrow valley, strangely alone, uncrowded by other buildings pressed against it (which would surely be the case in a Human town) the see the cream colored stone walls in the moonlight.  It is a great bath house built of carved stone.  A curved, vaulted roof rises against the forest backdrop.

Most of the characters would be at least slightly familiar with these.  Once, they were one of the major features of the Empire.  Beautiful places, and when they were fed with underground springs, often with magical or spiritual powers (everyone knows underground springs carry the magic of the Earth!).

Alio explains that the Elves have recently expanded their land here, and so are the new owners of this place, but they are not quite sure about it yet.  Stone walls, however beautifully crafted, are strange to the Black Forest Elves.

Tahra exclaims happily I'd wager a bath will be possible here! A good place, Master Alio!

"Thank you for bringing us to this place Master Alio," says Nwofia, "and thanks in the name of Iment, Blessed be her name, to those to whom you must tell of us for their consideration of our position."

Alayna spoke as carefully in Elvish as she could to their guide. "Thank you for your... courtesy. We appreciate it." She had to fumble a bit, but made it work.

Later, she giggled at the comments. "A bath! Oh Goddess, I would love a bath!"

Alio looks a little surprised at the enthusiasm the travelers have for the building.  He gives it a worried, skeptical look.

"We have streams, springs... this is... well it is warm, they say.  In the winter, even now on cold mornings, you can see the steam rising from the roof.  But I haven't wanted to go in."

Alio explains things hastily:  "Once upon a time" time is different for the Elves.  The older Elves in the Black Fores remember the when this was Elven land, before the Romans came and the Elves drew back away from them.  The Romans came and built this place.  And then, they were gone... centuries, but all within the lifetime of the oldest Elves.  So the Elves retook this forest, and found this place.  But the Black Forest Elves do not take easily to marble floors beneath their feet, even polished and beautiful marble floors.  So they have let it be."

"Only a few of us have dared explore within," Alio concludes.  "But I was not one of them, so there is nothing more I can tell you.  I have brought you here, I cannot tell you not to go in, after all, it is built by your people.  But I would hesitate.  Especially in the middle of the night.  Please stay around here until my people come for you, though.  To prevent any misunderstandings.  We shall be here after dawn, with elders with whom you can discuss entry into our lands."

And with that, he is off, quickly, silently, though looking back a few times out of curiosity.  Once away from the party, into the shadows of the forest, he cannot be seen or heard.

Hylensia Argentos has been listening to the Elf.

"Well this is camp," she says.  "I am exhausted.  Travelling by night... it is not for me.  Maybe I would wish to explore the bathhouse, but I will explore some sleep first."

Alayna bit her lip, then sighed, dreams of a warm bath leaving her. "If they will not sleep there, then neither shall I. If he doest not wish it, then here we sleep. And I am most tired."

Almost in a funk, she pulled the saddle and blanket from her horse, took several moments to brush the horse, then took the blanket and laid beside, her head on the saddle and pulling the blanket over her.

Tahra is in somewhat better shape than others, perhaps, because she had been dozing. She takes care of her mount and then helps others. Finally, she sleeps with Klimmin flitting and feeding nearby.

Nwofia has been sleeping most of the way here so she sits up and looks around, listening to all around and decides it's her time to keep 'watch' or more honestly, to keep listen.

It actually took very little time for the teenager to realize she was being pissy. She sighed, then picked up the blanket and the very small saddle and led her horse to the back of the wagons. She took a decent amount of time to take care of her horse, then made her way quietly to her wagon, truly hoping nobody noticed her snit. She found her bed, then climbed in, falling asleep immedietely.

OOC: Correcting the writer's own snit when the previous post was written.

Og doesn’t sleep. He brews some strong coffee for himself as well as some chewing tobacco to keep the buzz going so he can guard everyone till daylight.

He also thought that elf was a prick for not appreciating their showmanship, but to each his own.

The group encamps...  and sleep comes quickly, as they are tired.  For most of them, at least.
Og chooses to stay up, as guard.

He learns a few things.  First, Alio was not alone.  The Black Forest Elves make it a rule not to post lone guards, and always leave at least one in hiding.  That one never comes out- of course not, that would defeat the whole purpose.  But someone has stayed behind to watch the camp in front of the bath house as Alio has gone off to spread the word.


and then...

morning already?   It is, but barely.  The sky is pale blue above... but there's no sunlight.

Someone protests, pointing out the lack of sun, but you hear Celeste Argentos explaining, "There is a mountain to the east, so the sun is up, just not high enough up, and if important Elves are coming to see who we are, it would be best if we weren't lying around in bedrolls."

She moves along the caravan.

"Come on everyone, it was a long night, but we need to be presentable and make a good impression on whoever is coming for us here.  Impression is part of our job, you know!"

There is steam rising from the roof of the bathhouse.  And... maybe it is some trick by which it has caught a flicker of the hidden (but presumably rising) sun before anyone else, but it does seem like there are lights inside, through the large glass windows flanking the main door.

Alayna came awake reluctantly, despite her being an early riser. She was sore from a whole night of riding and felt icky. She looked around, seeing Celeste. "Can we get a bath first? A girl looks better clean, especially with all this hair!"

But even as she spoke, she looked for her bodysuit and costume. She loved this new job, and wanted to keep it, so she dressed anyway, hoping she could look her best.

Tahra rises and, after doing the necessary where politeness indicates, takes some clothes and heads into the bathhouse. Once there, if there is a place that seems water-inviting, she speaks. God, goddess, guardian, or spirit of this place, I ask Your permission to bathe for the good of my body and the ease of my soul.

Unless there is reason to avoid it, she immerses herself.

Nwofia follows Tahra but she does not pray to the undine, bannik or whatever other sppirit dwells in the bathhouse.  Instead, she prays softly to Inent, asking Her to negotiate on her behalf and only then, does she immerse herself naked into the water, bathing herself quickly before emerging and standing in the heat as she waits until she's dry before dressing again.

Seeing the other women go in, Alayna follows. She gives a very child-like squeal of joy, pulls her clothes off and almost dives into the water, clearly not at all modest. Anyone looking will notice she is quite fit and thin. Her back is criss-crossed with many scars, as if she had been whipped at one point.

"Oh, this is heaven!" she cries out, taking the time to wash her very long silvery hair.

Marcos dismounts his heavy wagon and instead of heading for the baths, he casts a prestidigitation and brushes all the dirt and sweat from his body. then proceeds to half open his wagon and"magic away" all the road dirt from his wagon and puppets. To aid his efforts...

(He snickers that no one asked him earlier during trip out of the last town, the performance back there made sense, because of the whole..."no elven magical trickery"...)

...he waives his hands and casts a minor image illusion of the full stage lights, which light up the area not quite noonday level, but close; and continues cleaning the wagon and props un hindered by pesky shadows.

Marcos' apparent absence was not effected to be malicious or lazy, but he had felt that his presence or skill set would have been a detriment to his fellow performers as they put on the show for the orc patrons.

Marcos does not turn away spontaneous conversations should anyone approach. but there were a large number of joints and seams that needed maintenance and a good lubrication with a bit of bar soap and beeswax.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:52, Tue 22 Oct 2019.

After fully getting clean, and soaking to her heart's content, the teenager climbed out, dried herself as best she could, rung out her long hair, then dressed, gathering her hair over her arm until she could braid it.

"Oh, I can die now. That felt heavenly! Should I ever be rich, I want such a place for my own! I'd never leave it!"

Og helped Escher clean stuff up. Sharing his unspoken sentiments about magic.

“Damn orc.” He muttered now and then.

The adrenaline of a possible attack was still coursing through his veins.

The bath house is in remarkably good condition, considering the Elves don't seem all that interested in it and there doesn't seem to be anyone else living around here.

A little... too nice.  The floors are clean, and polished. The pools (one hot**, and one not hot, in classic Roman style) are full and clean.

But the folded towels on the shelves, that is just too much.  One simply does not find the towels clean and fluffed and folded in an abandoned building.

In their eagerness to have a hot refreshing bath, perhaps the performers overlooked these odd little details.  But once everyone has a chance to relax a little they become more and more obvious.

It is the puppeteer's lights, though, that bring forth a possible answer, as almost immediately, there is a clatter of small feet.   Yes, clatter, like the sound of small solid objects clicking against the tile floor, not soft shoes or feet padding along.  And those feet are on the bottoms of little legs...

They are little creatures... humanoid... perhaps from a distance one might mistake them for the Fey.  But here, at close range, illuminated, they can be clearly seen.  Five of them.
 They have shiny white skin, rigid, and bright clothes.  They seem like porcelain dolls more than anything else, each about two feet tall.

For a few moments they are fascinated by the lights outside.  They stare through the window.

"Oooh."  "Lights".   "Lights are nice."  "It's been a long time."

Then they realize they have... company.

Their expressions seem painted on, no parts of their faces move.  And yet one, a doll representation of a teen aged boy with a fluffy mop of hair, suddenly changes its neutral expression to a smile.

"Are you happy?  Do you need anything?  Do you like it here?" it asks.


**You might say "Geothermal"  or you might say "Magic of the Deep Earth".  Same thing.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:57, Mon 28 Oct 2019.

At first Marcos does not "seem" to notice, but as he continues with the maintenance it is clear that he is taking a reactionary stance. Not wanting to make a sudden change that could be misinterpreted as hostile.

Marcos sets his stuff down and bows with an flourish, and extends his hand in a friendly (thanks for letting me be here kind of way)

My friends call me Marcos

Tahra rises, careless of her nudity, and takes three towels... one to wrap around her, one to wrap around her hair, and the third to dry with. She replies Yes, thank you; but it is time for us to be on our way.

Hands full of damp hair, Alayna didn't get up, but stared for several moments. So that was why everything was so nice! "Why, thank you for all this, truly! I am very happy and love it here! But we must go. Thank you for making it so wonderful!"

She finished her braid, then stood.

Nwofia finally dresses and flashes a bright, white, smile. "Very happy thank you."

The others don't seem to need anything from the little doll like creatures, but Marcos has introduced himself.   They return the courtesy, introducing themselves.  Simple names, all of them... Oli, Tholi, Nelli, Mally...

They are glad everyone seemed to like it.  They seem to take a lot of pride in the bath house.  They apologize to Marcos (and anyone hanging around to listen to them) for the fact that parts of the bath house haven't been properly kept up.

"There were more of us" Oli explains.

"Are" Nelli corrects.

"Well we don't know where they took the others," Oli says.

"That's true but Gili and Quolli and Zoli are here, just too damaged. We must not forget them." Nelli says.  Nelli adds, explaining to the party, "Elves can heal, but not us.  They can heal flesh and blood things, we are... crafted. They cannot help us, they think we are strange.  Perhaps we frighten them."

Another one speaks, maybe it's Tholi?  "Three others were damaged, too, and the Elves took them away.  We thought the Elves would fix them, and bring them back, but they never did."

And then... A few of them have been staring intently at Marcos.  They seem curious.

A look of realization crosses Oli's painted face.  "You are like those who made us." the little creature says.  "Very much like.  I remember."
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:10, Thu 31 Oct 2019.

Og was too embarrassed to bathe with the others. Though he did his best to take care of his body, he always made sure people only saw the perfect-non-scarred parts of it. He removed his boots and washed his feet in the cool pool before joining his family in the hot pool, just dipping his toes in, completely clothed.

He respectfully tried not to look at the females, but occasionally gave in to temptation and stole a glance once in awhile.

When the dolls appeared he was at first scared and ready to fight, but the calm reactions from everyone else settled him down.

“Heh. No one is like Escher.” He told the dolls. “I am Og Worman. You seem friendly enough. What are your intentions? Do you need help?”