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| Details |
| Author: | Alli |
| Summary: | In Westfall, Slicket, Natlee, Kenelly, Glyphe and Birdie take on a gnoll leader, the troubles of a lighthouse ghost, and a treasure hunt. Natlee is a helpful fashion consultant. Kenelly has many shapes. Slicket is happy to handle some ooze. Glyphe explores her blushing colors. Birdie has brought an unexpected invitation. ~6100 words. |
| Rating: | T for Teen |
Arc: EK Newbies
The team starts to assemble by the tower of Sentinel Hill, where Ripsnarl is secured in the stocks.
[Natlee]: He's okay. But I promise even if you did I wouldn't— oh hiiii Slick!
Natlee smiles at Slicket.
[Natlee]: You're looking especially… spiky today.
Slicket smiles at Natlee. "You noticed, babes! I took extra care with the mohawk today."
Glyphe turns an even weirder color, but chartreuse is the funniest color of them all and I'm not sure how to top that.
[Natlee]: Oh and it's our new friend! Just love those pants. So… comfortable looking.
Natlee waves at Kenelly.
Kenelly glows at being called a friend. "Hullo!"
[Natlee]: It is so brave of you to just… wear whatever feels comfortable. I admire that so much.
[Glyphe]: Oh gosh, it's the worgen lady! That is so cool. Can you imagine if gnomes got to be worgen?
[Natlee]: Are we supposed to… say that part out loud…? You know… the… W-word?
[Kenelly]: Oh, thank you! Yeah, they are quite comfortable.
Natlee laces her fingers together over her chest and looks nervously at Kennelly.
[Slicket]: I think so? Probably better than wolfmen, yeah? More official.
Glyphe blinks. "Are we not? Is it a secret?"
[Natlee]: Well it's just, I mean…. *She jerks her head toward the one in the stocks.*
[Slicket]: Eh, well, he's a criminal, yeah?
Kenelly grimaces, nodding to Natlee.
[Slicket]: Sheepeater.
[Natlee]: True, I guess you weren't eating sheep or anything. You've been like, SUPER well-behaved. Go you!
[Kenelly]: Perhaps…we could discuss this elsewhere?
Birdie approaches. Annuvin circles overhead.
[Birdie]: Hey.
[Slicket]: Hey, Birdie!
[Natlee]: Oh, it's Birdie and his birdie! Yay!
Kenelly shies from some suspicious looks coming her way from the Westfall Brigade.
Glyphe smiles again. "Hi Birdie and Birdie's birdie!"
Natlee claps excitedly for Glyphe.
Birdie smiles at his team. He approaches Marshal Stoutmantle and salutes.
[Birdie]: Sir.
[Natlee]: So I think I maaaaay have spotted that gnoll leader guy.
[Kenelly]: Oh?
[Natlee]: You know, the one the Marshal asked about last time?
[Birdie]: Yeah?
[Slicket]: Oh yeah? Spatterhide or whatever?
Glyphe just listens.
Natlee nods. "Yeah. I can show you where I saw him. He was like, giving orders to other gnolls, it was super obvious."
Birdie nods.
[Natlee]: Down south, by the hills.
[Slicket]: I say let's check it out, then. We'll have good news to bring to the Marshal.
Natlee cheers!
They head down south, leaving Sentinel Hill behind.
Kenelly murmurs to Natlee. "Do you think-…is there something wrong with my pants?"
[Natlee]: Oh gosh, well, it's not what I would wear, but you have your own … style.
[Slicket]: Be bold, Kenelly!
[Glyphe]: Natlee told me I needed a new dress so I got one.
Natlee looks around.
[Birdie]: Careful.
[Slicket]: And it looks great.
Slicket smiles at Glyphe.
Glyphe turns a color somewhere between port wine and merlot.
[Natlee]: Okay, so it was somewhere around here I saw him. Don't see him now, though.
Natlee peers around, searchingly.
Kenelly looks down at her attire, suddenly not so sure.
[Natlee]: Maybe you boys can just… start killing gnolls and see what happens? I have your backs!
[Slicket]: Right, killin' gnolls. No stewpots in the way today.
Natlee murmurs a word in Gnomish.
[Natlee]: He was a lot bigger than the others, too.
Birdie kills gnolls.
[Kenelly]: By the way…maybe we could just not mention I'm worgen in front of the Westfall Brigade?
[Glyphe]: Awwww. But you're so pretty as a worgen.
[Slicket]: That Ripsnarl fellow making you nervous? We can all tell you're not a ripping and snarling kind of worgen.
Kenelly blushes at Glyphe.
Natlee makes a zipping gesture on her lips, which might be confusing to people who don't have zippers.
[Glyphe]: I mean, I guess you're pretty as a human too but it's different.
[Slicket]: The fur is kinda cool. And the teeth. Pretty badass.
[Kenelly]: I'd just ravver make sure they trust me first.
[Birdie]: If that's what you want, Nelly. But you're also here to help establish that your people can still be trusted, right?
[Natlee]: Do you go by Nelly?
Kenelly smiles. "Well, Birdie called me that and it's kinda cute."
[Natlee]: Okay!
[Natlee]: I go by Nat sometimes. If you want.
[Kenelly]: Nat! I loik it.
Birdie grins. "Nat."
Kenelly's accent keeps slipping back and forth.
[Slicket]: And I go by Slick.
[Slicket]: Y'know, like an oil slick.
[Glyphe]: I'm just Glyphe.
[Kenelly]: Nat, Slick, Birdie, and…just Glyphe!
[Natlee]: Because you're always covered in grease, hee hee.
Glyphe giggles.
Slicket laughs, and does not seem insulted.
[Slicket]: We could go the inverse, call you something longer. Tinkerspell.
[Natlee]: Or Glyphiepoo!
[Natlee]: Oh loook, a big one!
[Kenelly]: I think Glyphe is a beautiful name.
[Natlee]: I think that's the one I saw barking orders.
Glyphe laughs! "Not Glyphiepoo."
[Slicket]: I can think a lot of things to call you Glyphe, but maybe let's not see what other colors your face can turn today.
Natlee giggles at Glyphe.
Natlee pouts at Glyphe.
[Kenelly]: Aye…Glyphiepoo, not so much.
[Glyphe]: Let's get 'im!
Natlee points at Jango Spothide.
[Slicket]: Ah! Let's kill him, yeah!
Annuvin circles closer and then swoops down towards Jango Spothide.
We attack and kill Jango Spothide.
Natlee peers at the body.
[Glyphe]: Aw, look at his little toe beans.
[Slicket]: Bigger, but not all that much tougher.
[Natlee]: Mmm, he's got fancier armor and stuff. I think this must be the one.
Natlee rummages through his bags.
[Slicket]: Find anything interesting? Stuff on that Helix guy?
[Natlee]: Hm, nothing helpful.
[Slicket]: Darn.
[Slicket]: So what now? Let the Marshal know?
[Glyphe]: Well we can at least tell them we got the guy.
[Birdie]: Yeah.
[Natlee]: Should slow down whatever they're planning.
Birdie says to himself as they head back, "Folks with one-syllable names are always the hardest to nickname…"
Slicket watches Kenelly the worgen run with open curiosity.
[Natlee]: UGH these gnolls.
[Natlee]: I hate that little… giggle.
Annuvin croaks, "Hey."
[Slicket]: It's malevolent. It's so bad I have to use a four-syllable word.
[Kenelly]: They smell just AWFUL, don't they?
[Natlee]: Hey Annuvin!
Birdie nods to the guards on their way in.
Natlee makes kissy sounds at the bird.
Kenelly shifts back to human form before approaching Sentinel Hill.
Natlee waves at Captain Danuvin.
Natlee salutes Marshal Gryan Stoutmantle with respect.
Birdie salutes Marshal Gryan Stoutmantle with respect.
Slicket salutes Marshal Gryan Stoutmantle with respect.
Marshal Stoutmantle says: What's the word, Cobalts?
[Slicket]: We got the leader gnoll. Spothide.
Kenelly steps back to let the actual Cobalts give the word.
Marshal Stoutmantle says: That's fantastic news. My people are still trying to follow some leads and figure out how Helix figures into all this.
Slicket nods. "Hate to tell you, but we didn't find any more intel on that with the gnoll leader."
[Glyphe]: And he was kind of a pushover.
Marshal Stoutmantle says: That's all right. I've got one of my men chasing down something. Don't go far, hm? Because once we're ready to move, we're going to need you.
Marshal Stoutmantle says: My guy knows someone at SI:7, so I think we should get some good intel soon. I'll keep you posted.
[Birdie]: Yessir.
[Glyphe]: SI:7? Wow, that's cool.
[Slicket]: We won't go far.
[Slicket]: Actually… will we go anywhere? What've we got on the docket?
[Natlee]: Oh, maybe while we're here we can go see the lighthouse? I keep hearing about this famous ghost there, and I was sc— I thought it would be more fun to go with friends or whatever.
Kenelly whispers, "What's SI:7?"
[Slicket]: Oooh, ghost lighthouse! Don't worry Nat, you can always grab me.
Glyphe whispers back, "Spies and stuff."
[Slicket]: If you get scared.
[Glyphe]: Yeah, Nat, you can always grab Slick…
[Slicket]: You too, Glyphe. I'll comfort everyone.
[Natlee]: I will not be grabbing you, Throttleblast. I am not a paladin. I can heal from back here.
[Birdie]: If that counts as not going far… sure.
Natlee giggles.
Slicket laughs.
Marshal Stoutmantle says: Sure, just keep checking back in at the inn here, hm?
Birdie salutes the Marshal.
Marshal Stoutmantle says: Stay in Westfall if you can.
[Glyphe]: Righteo!
The team heads down towards the lighthouse on the coast.
[Kenelly]: So, we're goin' to see a real ghost?
[Slicket]: I hope so! Have you before?
[Natlee]: I … have not.
[Birdie]: I've seen ghosts.
[Glyphe]: You have? Where?
[Slicket]: Oh yeah?
[Slicket]: You'd think there'd be a lot of ghosts in Gnomeregan.
[Natlee]: For whatever reason, gnomes don't seem to … be as… ghosty? As humans? Like we usually don't hang around.
[Kenelly]: I've never seen one. Plenty of ghost stories in Gilneas…but if you wanna know the troof, most of 'em are actually about harvest-witches doin' stuff inna forests.
[Birdie]: Northrend has a ton. Kalimdor has some.
[Natlee]: Kul Tiras has a few ghost stories too. Haunted ships and stuff.
[Natlee]: Kezan, not so much. Goblins don't even make ghosts at all, I don't think.
Kenelly lights up, "I have cousins in Kul Tiras!"
[Slicket]: Figures, yeah.
[Glyphe]: No profit in it.
[Natlee]: You have cousins in Kul Tiras?? Where?
[Kenelly]: I fink they live in Tiragarde Sound? Never been, myself.
[Natlee]: Nice. That's where all the action is.
[Slicket]: Oooh, what kind of action?
[Natlee]: Like, the biggest city?
[Natlee]: Boralus.
[Kenelly]: You've been to Kul Tiras, Nat?
[Natlee]: Mm hm.
[Slicket]: She's a world traveler.
[Kenelly]: Marvelous!
[Glyphe]: I want to go someday.
[Glyphe]: Oh look, the lighthouse!
[Kenelly]: As would I.
[Kenelly]: Oooh.
[Natlee]: She was a naval engineer. The girlfriend, not my mom.
[Slicket]: Me too. Love seeing new stuff… like this.
Birdie picks his way down the slope towards the lighthouse.
[Natlee]: Ewwwww, murlocs.
[Slicket]: We'll have to clear a path.
The team clears a path through the murlocs. As they come up to the little island with the lighthouse, the transparent figure of Captain Grayson comes into view.
[Glyphe]: Wow, he's really a ghost!
Slicket pauses on the shore. "A GHOST! Like for real! Just standing there!"
Kenelly gasps at Captain Grayson.
Natlee hangs back, her smile bright and fixed.
[Slicket]: This is the most awesome assignment ever. Wolfgirls and ghosts.
Birdie walks up and salutes. "Captain."
Kenelly giggles at Slicket.
Captain Grayson says: Don't be alarmed.
[Kenelly]: I'd say we're more intrigued than alarmed, sir.
Birdie doesn't look alarmed.
[Slicket]: Not alarm, dude. It's excitement and delight.
Captain Grayson says: Oh? People are usually alarmed.
Captain Grayson says: That's refreshing. What brings you to the lighthouse?
[Glyphe]: Maybe if it were night time. Oo, and if you had chains to rattle.
[Slicket]: We heard you might be here! Or well, rumors of a ghost.
[Kenelly]: You're an honest-to-goodness ghost?
Captain Grayson says: It's true. I have to protect the lighthouse, even though my body has long since passed away.
[Birdie]: Nobody else works here?
[Kenelly]: Admirable to continue your duty beyond the flesh.
[Slicket]: Yeah, can't you just pass it on to somebody?
Captain Grayson says: I wouldn't want to pass on my duties. It's… who I am.
Captain Grayson says: Murlocs are constantly trying to take over this area. There isn't much I can do on my own, but I do try to warn people, so they can help fight them back.
[Glyphe]: We can do that too!
Captain Grayson says: And… well, I do have one other problem.
[Kenelly]: What's that?
Captain Grayson says: There are certain jobs I can't do without … hands and such. Like refilling oil. There are some oozes nearby that have just the perfect slime. It burns forever.
Glyphe takes a moment to try and imagine what problem a ghost might have, but gives up with a shake of her head.
[Glyphe]: Ooze oil?
Captain Grayson says: How do you feel about killing oozes and collecting their slime?
[Slicket]: I'm in!
Glyphe makes a face.
[Slicket]: Do they really make good oil? Can I keep a sample?
[Birdie]: Let me borrow a bucket from the lighthouse and I'm in.
[Glyphe]: Slick can carry my ooze.
Captain Grayson says: Let's make sure the stores in the lighthouse are filled first. If there's extra, sure, you can keep it.
[Slicket]: Sure, happy to carry your ooze, Glyphe.
Natlee has been making a weird scrunchface this whole time.
Birdie ducks inside to check on how the stores in the lighthouse are doing and fetches a couple buckets to pass out.
[Slicket]: Alright, I'll collect loads.
[Natlee]: Hooray. This is… fun.
[Slicket]: Who knows? Maybe it can be a new accelerant.
Natlee smiles stiffly.
Slicket accepts the bucket.
Natlee holds her nose.
The team heads back toward the mainland kill murlocs and collect flammable ooze.
[Birdie]: So Nat, what'd you think of your first ghost?
Old Murk-Eye becomes enraged!
[Slicket]: He seemed pretty reasonable to me.
[Natlee]: I can't decide if these or gnolls smell worse…
[Kenelly]: Somehow the gnolls are worse to me.
[Natlee]: The ghost? Um… he was fine.
[Glyphe]: I liked him better before he asked for slime.
[Birdie]: Rare to find one that coherent.
Kenelly giggles.
Natlee giggles nervously.
[Slicket]: And the smell… I guess it's sea smell versus land smell.
[Natlee]: Gnolls smell like… the worst wet dog ever.
[Glyphe]: At least the murlocs are sort of pretty
[Kenelly]: Gnolls smell like an outhouse to me.
[Natlee]: I suppose they're worse, because fishy stink I'm at least kind of… used to? Not that I like it mind you…
[Natlee]: Yes, wet dog plus outhouse. Exaaaactly.
Kenelly nods at Natlee.
Slicket sniffs. "You smell alright, though, even with the fur."
[Kenelly]: Fanks. I do try to keep clean.
[Birdie]: So when he said the oozes were 'nearby'…
[Birdie]: I haven't seen any caves yet.
[Natlee]: Oh so um….
[Slicket]: Me either. Maybe relative. Like, they're on Azeroth, I swear, no portal needed.
[Natlee]: Have you been by that huge hole in the ground? The Deathwing one?
[Slicket]: Only saw it from a distance.
[Kenelly]: A Deathwing hole?
[Natlee]: I peeked over the edge of it and there was all KINDS of gross stuff down there.
[Slicket]: The sinkhole, all the stuff in the air swirling above it, right?
[Natlee]: Those might be the slimes he was talking about. You guys can totally go down there and check it out.
Natlee does not sound like she is coming.
[Birdie]: Sure. I can leave Annuvin with you.
[Slicket]: I think probably I'm not gonna jump in a Deathwing sinkhole full of slime. Probably.
He totally is.
[Birdie]: I don't want him flying too close to, you know.
Natlee clasps her hands against her chest. "He won't um… bite or anything right?"
[Birdie]: Nah.
[Natlee]: Will he need to … perch on me? Like… with his… claws? Talons?
[Birdie]: He can circle, it's fine.
[Kenelly]: Did Westfall's coastline change much with Deathwing's emergence? Gilneas's did quite a lot. Though we had no idea what was happening at the time.
Natlee looks sharply toward the coast. "Ohhhh heyyyy…."
There is a footlocker in the sand by the water.
[Natlee]: Oh my GOSH.
[Birdie]: I'd need to compare with a map, honestly.
Natlee stares at the footlocker.
[Slicket]: What's that?
[Natlee]: This is just like that note I found!!! A buried treasure note!
[Kenelly]: Oh, how exciting!
[Natlee]: It said… a rusty anchor…. and a locker.
[Natlee]: Someone should totally open it.
Natlee stands back.
[Birdie]: Sure.
[Slicket]: Oh! Let's see what's inside!
Birdie crouches in the sand and pries the footlocker open.
[Natlee]: If we really did find a buried treasure… I bet Cobalt Company would totally let us split it, right?
Sand… water… and a small crab that scurries out holding something in its claws.
[Slicket]: I'd think so? It's like salvage, right?
[Natlee]: Salvage. Exaaactly.
Glyphe tries to grab the crab. "Get it!"
Natlee does not attempt to grab the crab.
Natlee is happy to let others do crab-grabbing.
Slicket pounces on the crab. Maybe it has treasure.
Glyphe retrieves the piece of driftwood from it. "It's another clue."
Birdie sifts around through the sand to see if there's anything else of note in the footlocker. There isn't.
[Birdie]: Yeah? What's it say?
Slicket holds up the crab, looking it over for gems. "Oh? I should probably let this guy go then."
Glyphe reads aloud, "Good work matey! Now ye need to head due east. East up the bluffs, east to the road. Look for the Ol' Chimney ruins near the side of the road. There you'll find an old barrel with your next clue."
[Natlee]: Oh my GOSH, this is so … piratey.
Natlee laughs.
[Slicket]: Oh… we're on a treasure hunt! Awesome!
Glyphe blinks. "A clue to a clue to a clue. I bet this is a really cool treasure."
Slicket carefully sets the little crab down, so it can be on its way.
[Natlee]: That's near the big hole in the ground anyway, so might as well look, am I right?
[Slicket]: Yeah, worth looking!
Natlee seems to have really gotten around, this week.
[Birdie]: Sure.
[Natlee]: At least we have something to amuse us while we wait for them to contact that SI:7 person or whatever.
[Natlee]: Oh, some stray reapers, ugh.
[Kenelly]: This is so exciting. I've never been on a treasure hunt before.
[Slicket]: That and we're helping ghosts.
And that’s when they see the path to the Westfall sinkhole, crawling with animated slimes.
[Natlee]: EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
[Slicket]: And collecting flammable ooze.
Natlee points at Chasm Slime.
[Natlee]: Ugh, ugh, UGH.
Birdie inches carefully down the slope.
[Glyphe]: I'll use ice on it instead of fire.
Natlee does not follow.
[Slicket]: Whoa, check it out!
[Birdie]: Careful, it's a bit of a steep drop.
Slicket attacks the ooze.
Annuvin hangs back when Birdie signals to him.
[Slicket]: Oh man, this slime hole is not so bad.
Natlee yells out from the rim of the crater, "Um just come back here if you get hurt!"
[Birdie]: Will do!
[Kenelly]: I thought he just meant somethin' loik pools of slime! Not living slime!
[Slicket]: WILL DO, NAT!
Natlee stays behind and coos at the bird.
Kenelly calls back to Nat. "Don't worry! I'll keep them safe!"
The bottom seems solid now, not sinking.
[Slicket]: I guess it filled up down here?
[Slicket]: I heard we lost a guy from Cobalt when it first collapsed.
[Glyphe]: Wow. Look up.
Slicket peers up at the swirling rocks in the sky.
Kenelly looks up.
[Kenelly]: Light preserve us….
[Slicket]: That is… not normal.
[Slicket]: Let's get to the other side, see if the chimney thing's still here.
Birdie hangs back out of the strong winds.
Natlee yells "Where did you GOOO? I can't see you!!"
Birdie whistles loudly and Annuvin takes off towards Birdie.
Natlee follows.
[Slicket]: Here's a barrel! Bit smashed up.
Annuvin leads Natlee back to the group. Oddly, he picks a route that isn't too terrible for a gnome to follow along rather than going in a straight line.
[Natlee]: This is definitely the place. See anything good?
[Kenelly]: Amazing it survived all this.
Glyphe nods at Kenelly.
[Slicket]: Wow, that's some luck. That barrel was 6 feet further west and we'd have been out of a treasure hunt.
Natlee giggles.
Birdie laughs.
[Natlee]: I always have super good luck. My mom used to call me her lucky charm.
Slicket grins at Natlee.
[Natlee]: Maybe it was the Light blessing me all along?
[Glyphe]: Is the treasure in there?
Birdie lets somebody else check out the barrel.
Slicket pulls out another piece of wood with writing. "No, but here's our next clue!"
Kenelly smiles at Natlee. "Maybe!"
[Natlee]: Ugh, just more grimy wood.
[Slicket]: It says 'Now from this here barrel, face ye North. Straight as the crow flies, keep ye walkin' till you see the empty jug next to the lone windmill on the sea bluffs. If ye poke around that jug, ye just might find what you're lookin' for."
[Slicket]: I don't know about the odds of finding a jug still in place.
[Natlee]: Okay, well I didn't know to be paying attention to JUGS. No idea where that is.
[Natlee]: Windmill though…
[Slicket]: North. Do we just… walk north till we see windmills?
[Natlee]: That is due north just like he said.
[Birdie]: Well. We probably don't have to walk in an exact straight line, given… the chasm.
Natlee nods at Slicket.
[Natlee]: The windmill should be hard to miss.
[Birdie]: Yeah.
Natlee makes more kissy noises at Annuvin.
Annuvin croaks, "Hey."
[Natlee]: Who's a pretty bird! Who's a pretty clever bird!!
[Slicket]: Even if there's no treasure, I want to see what I can do with this ooze.
[Natlee]: Ugh, you would.
As they work their way north, they see tornadoes roaming around the land.
Natlee points at Unbound Cyclone.
[Natlee]: Look out…
[Slicket]: What? It’s very gnomish to be inquisitive and enterprising.
[Natlee]: Are you… gnomesplaining me??
[Slicket]: Ugh, the wind in this place.
Slicket laughs.
Kenelly shifts again, this time into some kind of wolf-cat thing.
[Slicket]: Sorry, sorry.
[Natlee]: Just because I wasn't born in Gnomeregan doesn't mean I'm not a gnome, gosh.
[Natlee]: Or um, didn't grow up there.
[Slicket]: You can gnome with the best of them.
[Natlee]: Guess I was born there. I think.
[Slicket]: Me too, also didn't grow up there. Guess that's why I sometimes double-down on the gnome stuff.
[Slicket]: To make up for it.
[Slicket]: Glyphe are you a Gnomeregan born and raised?
They arrive at an old windmill.
[Natlee]: Do you see any jugs? … NO comments, Slicket Throttleblast.
[Slicket]: I see… *Slicket just laughs*
Birdie puts a hand on the wooden frame of the windmill.
Kenelly sniffs around.
[Glyphe]: Born there and fled when the trog attack happened.
[Natlee]: I did hear about that. Must've been awful.
Natlee gently pats Glyphe.
[Slicket]: Yeah, so you're closer to Gnomeregan of the three of us,.
[Slicket]: Wait… over by that log…
[Natlee]: I've never even seen it.
[Glyphe]: Yeah, it was a pretty cool place with all kinds of places to hide and play.
Birdie lets the others search for jugs. He's carrying a bucket of slime.
[Slicket]: We saw it not long ago. But that was the after Gnomeregan. Not the before one.
[Natlee]: Maybe sometime you could tell me about it, Glyphe!
[Natlee]: Oh yeah, that pile of radiated junk doesn't count.
[Glyphe]: Um. Sure!
[Natlee]: That's not a city, it's a trash dump.
There is a jug! It is a literal jug, sealed. There’s also a skull nearby.
[Slicket]: What? There's a paper coiled up in here. That's no treasure. Somebody can get it out?
Natlee stands back as usual and lets others touch the dirty stuff.
[Glyphe]: Ew, there's a skull.
[Natlee]: Gross.
[Slicket]: Birdie, Nelly? Or should I?
[Birdie]: Go ahead.
[Kenelly]: Oh…feel free.
Slicket turns the jug over and carefully fishes out the paper with his tiny gnome hands.
Natlee smooths her pigtails and stares at the sea.
[Slicket]: Alright, it says… 'Now that ye found me ol' whiskey jug, you're almost to the treasure.' Finally.
[Natlee]: Whiskey jug? Ugh, how gauche.
[Slicket]: And then 'Just face West from the bottle, and walk down to the shore. Once ye get to the water keep going! Swim straight west till you find the island with me treasure chest!"
Kenelly sniffs at the jug. "Ugh…that was whiskey?"
[Slicket]: Um. Up for a swim?
[Natlee]: Ugh, I wish I'd mastered that… floaty thing.
[Natlee]: It's hard, okay?
Birdie looks to the west.
[Slicket]: And I don't know, smells like paint thinner to me.
[Birdie]: If it's that small island there, that looks doable.
[Glyphe]: Well we didn't come this far just to not go and get the treasure.
[Natlee]: I guess you're right.
Natlee heaves a huge sigh.
[Natlee]: But if anyone looks at my wet white robe I will MIND BLAST you. That, I can do.
[Slicket]: I'll be a perfect gentleman.
[Slicket]: Trust me.
They swim a little, and come up onto a tiny little island just off the shore.
[Natlee]: I don't see anything!!
[Birdie]: This isn't due west. That one is.
There is, indeed, another island further out and due west.
Kenelly transforms when she hits the water, into a lovely seal-creature. It's not hideous or terrifying at all.
[Natlee]: Ugggggggh.
[Slicket]: Yeah, I think it's the island further out.
Natlee holds onto the lovely seal.
Natlee doesn't even kick her legs to help.
[Slicket]: Whoa! That's not a wolf thing!
Birdie swims easily enough.
[Natlee]: Once she changed into a different thing once I like, kind of lost the ability to be shocked.
Slicket swims with obvious skill, but still he's a tiny gnome and not so fast.
Kenelly laughs.
They land at the further out due west island.
[Glyphe]: That was cool, Nelly!
Slicket laughs.
[Natlee]: There are some witches in Kul Tiras who can change forms but it is…. SUPER creepy. Not sweet and fuzzy like yours.
[Kenelly]: Really? The Kul Tiran witches are real?
[Natlee]: I saw one once. When I was little. At least, I think I did.
[Kenelly]: I've heard stories from the other harvest-witches. But some said they were just like ghost stories.
[Natlee]: I heard a lot of stories, too, and maybe that's why I thought I saw what I did. I dunno for sure.
[Slicket]: There's a chest, just right out in the open!
[Natlee]: OH MY GOSH.
[Natlee]: Did we find it???
Natlee bounces up and down.
Natlee claps excitedly.
[Slicket]: I think so!
Glyphe cheers!
Birdie looks at the pile of bones by the chest.
[Birdie]: Here, let me have a look first.
Natlee nods at Birdie.
Birdie kneels down.
[Natlee]: Good call. This screams trap.
Natlee backs up.
[Slicket]: I could just try to open it? Then you can heal me if it's a trap.
Birdie examines the lid and locking mechanism as best as he can with the light he has.
[Natlee]: Ready to heal!
Glyphe vibrates with excitement.
Natlee mutters a gnomish word.
Slicket watches Birdie examine the chest.
Natlee mutters a different gnomish word.
[Birdie]: I don't see anything from this side, but I can't be a hundred percent. If you want to get it open…
Birdie backs away.
[Slicket]: I'm in. Like they say, nothing ventured…. back up everyone.
Slicket opens the chest, tensing in preparation for an explosion.
The hinges are rusty but they still work. There is no explosion.
Kenelly winces…then lets out a sigh of relief.
[Natlee]: What's in there???
Kenelly's nose twitches. "Musty."
[Slicket]: Looks like… some pirate clothes? And a few bags. And silver. Five silver bars.
[Slicket]: We can split them up!
[Glyphe]: Oooo, silver bars!
[Natlee]: That's all??
[Natlee]: Glyphe you can have mine if you want it.
[Natlee]: I'm not carrying that.
[Slicket]: Silver's good!
Natlee shrugs. Who knows?
[Natlee]: I don't mind if it's already been made into jewelry, but.
[Glyphe]: You can make other stuff out of it, too.
Back on the shore, Annuvin circles overhead around the buckets of slime, shrieking at murlocs that get too close.
[Natlee]: I have to admit following all those clues was… pretty entertaining? Much better than just sitting around waiting for the Marshal.
[Glyphe]: I'm gonna see what my engineering books say.
[Kenelly]: Should we get back to our ghost friend?
[Slicket]: Yeah, it was pretty fun. And Glyphe, you'll have to show us what you make out of it.
[Slicket]: Yeah, let's head back to the ghost.
Back into the water they go!
Natlee holds onto the seal again on the way back.
Natlee is not terrified by the seal, because it is cute and not a terrifying angry walrusbeast.
Birdie definitely swims back to the spot they left from to pick up his bucket of slime. Fun.
Kenelly is very cute. Very not walrusbeast.
Now they’re back on the mainlan. Time for a long walk on the beach. The murloc-filled beach.
[Slicket]: I guess we can just work our way down the coast.
[Natlee]: Oh right, we have to return the… ooze… stuff.
Natlee sighs at Slicket.
[Birdie]: Yep.
Natlee sighs again, extra dramatically.
Slicket eyes the Kenelly cat.
[Natlee]: Just how many things can you turn into, Nelly? *Nat eyes her as well*
[Glyphe]: This is my favorite.
[Natlee]: Oh, oh, can you be a bird???
[Kenelly]: Well…considering my two natural forms…six?
Annuvin caws.
[Slicket]: You could hang out with Annuvin!
[Natlee]: Six??? What six?
Kenelly sighs. "I haven't learned how to become a bird…yet."
[Kenelly]: But look at this!
[Natlee]: But you can learn? That would be SO amazing. I've only gotten to fly in zeppelins.
Birdie whistles as Kenelly turns into a bear.
Natlee glances back at the bear and YELPS.
Kenelly giggles. A bear. Giggling.
[Slicket]: Wow. Glad you're on our side.
[Natlee]: Oh my GOSH Nelly, do NOT scare me like that.
[Glyphe]: Bears and cats and seals and a wolf-person… I'm so jealous!
[Kenelly]: Sorry!
[Natlee]: You could swallow me in ONE BITE.
[Natlee]: So… human, worgen, cat, seal, bear… what's the sixth?
[Kenelly]: But yes, I think I can learn to become a bird. Some kaldorei druids do it.
[Slicket]: Gnomes are snack-size. Which I would normally mean as a flirt, but in this case, literally.
[Kenelly]: Oh, the fifth is very fast.
Natlee sighs at Slicket.
[Natlee]: Oh, spotted kitty!
[Glyphe]: TWO cats?! That's just unfair.
Kenelly giggles at Glyphe.
[Natlee]: I like the spotted one.
Birdie laughs again.
[Kenelly]: It's not as tough as the other cat form. But it's very fast. Nice for traveling.
[Slicket]: Now I'm jealous. That's one thing we gnomes don't have the advantage on. Speed on foot.
[Glyphe]: I can turn things into an animal, but not myself.
[Slicket]: We can get mechanostriders, though. That makes up for it.
[Natlee]: I would definitely turn into a bird if I could. But one day supposedly I can learn how to like, float. Really looking forward to that.
[Kenelly]: You could give me even more forms, Glyphe?
Kenelly grins
Glyphe giggles.
Slicket laughs.
[Glyphe]: Only if you want to be a sheep.
[Slicket]: Watch out for Ripsnarl, if you do that.
[Birdie]: Hey, after we're done swimming for the day… I got something for you guys.
[Kenelly]: I confess, I love shapeshifting. The druids say I've taken quite well do it.
[Natlee]: For us??
[Kenelly]: Oh?
[Birdie]: Yeah.
Natlee bounces up and down in front of Birdie.
[Glyphe]: Is it towels?
Natlee giggles at Glyphe.
Kenelly giggles at Glyphe.
[Slicket]: Really? *Slicket looks at Birdie curiously.*
[Birdie]: Not towels.
[Natlee]: You are so super nice, Birdie.
[Slicket]: Once we talk to the ghost guy. Then I think that'll be the last swim, back.
They head through the water to the lighthouse island once again. Captain Grayson is exactly where they left him.
Birdie hauls the bucket up the slope.
Slicket sets his own bucket down by the ghost.
Natlee hangs back, still seeming creeped out by the reasonable ghost.
Captain Grayson says: You're back!
Captain Grayson says: Sometimes people don't come back.
[Birdie]: Captain. Hope this slime ooze'll do. Want us to take it in?
[Kenelly]: Did you know the slimes are alive?
Captain Grayson says: Yes. I can't carry it, for obvious reasons.
Captain Grayson says: Well, I heard they were moving… but alive?
[Glyphe]: Alive and gross.
[Kenelly]: Well yes…movin'. They seemed alive. I don't know.
Birdie hauls the bucket around the back.
Captain Grayson says: Interesting. Thanks for telling me that. I can't leave the island, so I always enjoy hearing about what's going on out there.
[Kenelly]: Oh! Well…you might like to hear how we just discovered some hidden treasure!
Captain Grayson says: Is that so?
[Slicket]: Yeah! it was in a chest on an island in the north!
[Kenelly]: We had to follow several clues to find it.
Captain Grayson says: Whose treasure was it? Do you know?
[Slicket]: Captain fellow who was fond of whiskey?
[Glyphe]: And silver bars?
Captain Grayson says: Wonder if it was anyone I know… They were all pretty fond of whiskey and precious metals.
[Glyphe]: Sanders! Captain Sanders.
Captain Grayson says: Sanders? Oh, goodness. I remember him.
Birdie returns.
[Slicket]: Well, we found his treasure! If he's a ghost, and you have a ghost get-together, you can let him know.
Captain Grayson says: He and Captain Hanes were pretty tight, back in the day…
Captain Grayson says: Not sure whatever happened to them. Or even how long it's been.
Captain Grayson says: Time is a bit…. I get confused sometimes.
[Glyphe]: I wish we could set you free somehow. It seems so lonely out here.
Kenelly frowns sympathetically.
[Slicket]: Hope you can hand over the lighthouse control sometime soon, so you can move on to the shadowlands. Hanging around here forever can't be good for you.
Captain Grayson says: Has to be me. Someone else might get it wrong.
[Kenelly]: I see….
[Slicket]: Well, good luck. Maybe we can come visit sometimes, tell each other stories.
Captain Grayson says: Sure, I'd love to hear stories any time. You lot stay safe. I appreciate your help.
It’s time to go. The team heads back to the mainland for the last time today.
Slicket swims to shore.
Natlee wrings out her robes and mutters.
[Slicket]: I think that's it for the swimming.
[Birdie]: Sorry it's not towels, but…
Slicket shakes the water out of his mohawk like a dog.
Natlee wrings her hands in anticipation.
Birdie reaches into a bag that must be enchanted, because he pulls out a stack of envelopes and fans them out like a 'pick your card' thing. They're all the same. "I'd like to invite you guys to my wedding. It's happening on the twenty-third this month."
[Natlee]: Seriously??? Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh.
Kenelly squeals, eagerly accepting an envelope!
[Natlee]: I have literally NEVER been to a wedding, oh my GOSH.
[Glyphe]: Woooow…
Birdie nods, passing the envelopes out.
[Slicket]: Whoa, really? *Slicket reaches out to take an envelope, then stares at it, and back up to Bertrand.* Really? You're sure you want me there?
Glyphe takes an envelope carefully.
[Kenelly]: This is so exciting!
[Glyphe]: I need a new dress.
Natlee takes her envelope as though it is a sacred relic.
[Birdie]: Yeah, I'm sure. I'm Bertrand, by the way. That's my full name.
[Natlee]: Oh my gosh, Glyphe, you and I should go SHOPPING.
[Birdie]: You guys can still call me Birdie.
Birdie grins at them.
[Glyphe]: And Kenelly too, she only has pants.
[Kenelly]: Oh, a new dress. Yes. I don't even know what's in season in Stormwind!
[Natlee]: I guess we could all go… but I don't really know what looks good on… long legged people?
[Glyphe]: It's summer.
[Slicket]: Bertrand… Birdie… Priscilla… *Slicket reads the invitation.* Yeah, I'll dress up nice. Somehow.
Glyphe is helpful.
[Birdie]: Oh! My little sister Cressidha, she's one of Cobalt Company's tailors.
[Kenelly]: I don't suppose any of you know of a good modiste?
[Kenelly]: Oh!
[Natlee]: Oh, so she'll know what to make for Nelly, right Birdie?
[Glyphe]: I don't even know what a modiste is.
Birdie nods.
[Kenelly]: Oh…a dressmaker. Usually rather…upscale?
[Natlee]: Don't worry Glyphe, I've got the two of us ALL sorted out. I know just what you should wear.
Glyphe sighs in relief. "Oh good."
[Slicket]: And I'll… figure something… coveralls are probably not the right thing. Um. I'll ask over in Tinker Town.
[Glyphe]: Thank you, Bertrand!
Glyphe giggles at Captain Grayson.
[Natlee]: Um yes, thank you!!!
[Birdie]: I hope you can all make it.
Natlee forgot that bit.
[Slicket]: Yeah, thanks, Birdie! If I ever get hitched, I'll invite you back.
[Glyphe]: That sounds so silly. Birdie is your best name.
[Natlee]: I will SO be there. I wouldn't miss it for anything.
Birdie grins. "It is my best name. Scilla came up with it."
[Natlee]: Awwwwww.
[Kenelly]: Awww!
Slicket smiles.
[Natlee]: Oh my gosh I need to start looking at dresses RIGHT AWAY. I'll see you all later.
[Glyphe]: Meet you in Stormwind, Natlee?
[Natlee]: Yes!!
[Slicket]: See you all next time!
Birdie chuckles. "See you all next time."
[Kenelly]: See you soon!
Kenelly produces a hearthstone and traces a finger along the rune.