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Post by June Scarlet on Apr 27, 2020 20:42:52 GMT -5
(Gibi appears courtesy of Twillie) So the pair of guardians were lying about the limestone, and a about the lady of the house being gone. But together, Rose and herself had figured out and seen through the lie. Jess grinned at Rose, and Taffy squealed happily. "Hey, good job, we figured it out!" said Jess. The Garden Guardians then asked them to bring in some objects, and then they'd let them in. But there was a hitch. The duo had no idea what they were supposed to be bringing. Jess' face fell. With so many different possibilities, how would they ever find the correct ones? Jess slumped to the ground, sitting cross-legged. She took out Taffy from the satchel, and put the Guinea Pig in the space created between her legs. Taffy poked her head out and looked at the plastic flamingo and hotlips plant. Jess meanwhile stared at Taffy and thought carefully. She started twirling her magician's wand between her fingers in an absentminded way, like one would with a pencil. She looked around the yard. She looked inside her satchel. The wand slipped and flew out of her hand. Before Jess could do anything about it, Taffy jumped out of her lap and ran after the wand. Taffy grabbed one end, but instead of dragging it back to Jess, she tugged the wand towards the gate guardians. Jess wondered about her Guinea Pig sometimes. No, that was a lie, she thought about Taffy all the time, ever since Jess found her. She seemed a bit more than an ordinary pet. Appeared smarter than normal rodents. Felt like she really understood what Jess told her. And of course, there was the way which Jess first found her. “Taffy didn’t steal from you, did she?” said someone with a small laugh. Jess snapped back to reality, quickly scooping Taffy back up. She looked up at Gibi, who had a slight smile. "Haha, no, she just likes to play with my stuff sometimes." Hopefully Gibi hadn't noticed anything too unusual. Still, Jess had found it was good to listen to Taffy's intuition. She picked up the wand, and offered it out to the pair of guardians. "Or maybe she's looking for a wand?" The Guardians were lying! And Rose Liou and Jess caught them! However, this new puzzle has Jess a bit stumped. She sits on the ground, fiddles with her wand, and drops it. Taffy runs after the wand and starts dragging it to the Guardians for some reason. Gibi Twillie notices and comments with a joke. Jess quickly picks Taffy up, hoping that she didn't notice anything. Jess would rather keep something about Taffy a secret. Jess offers the wand to the Guardians in hope that it's something they want. It's a long shot, but gotta start somewhere, I guess.
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Post by Pixie on Apr 28, 2020 0:44:43 GMT -5
BAP.Purr-eh leaned right over the picket fence and tapped the flamingo on his plastic beak. He and his long neck recoiled like a spring. “Hey! Hey hey hey! Stop that! We’re guardians of the gate, and we’re all about setting boundaries--” “Hey, cat, that’s rude! You think white lies are rude?” Hotlips seemed to glare between Aggie and Purr-eh, “Pushing defenseless flamingos is rude.” "Did the lady of the house say what she needed her things for?” the tea witch asked. “If she needs plants, I would be delighted to find them for her.”“Hmm. Yeah, I think you might be right, all three things were plants,” the flamingo said, somewhat begrudgingly. He glanced at the hotlips plant. “I’m starting to think we got mixed up with all our mnemonics. …And please keep an eye on your familiars, ma’am.” At Aggie’s later suggestion for magical focuses, the hotlips plant added, “Ah, Holly, Hawthorn, and Mistletoe. Those don’t sound quite right-- but it’s jogging my memory...” Around this point, a determined guinea pig dragged the young magician’s wand towards the hotlips plant and the flamingo, before the wand itself was offered by the young magician who had called them out over the blue hydrangeas. “Oh, a wand!” said the hotlips plant. “That is the kind of focus we needed. Not that wand, it won’t do, and it belongs to you, anyway, but thank you! Need something more organic... I remember when wood staves were all the rage. Good times...” The person with the notebook was meanwhile jotting things down and excitedly jabbering about the joys and wonders of studying their strange weather phenomena. “Listen…” began the flamingo with a sigh, rubbing his beak with his leg where the cat had bopped him, “...it’s not that we have a problem with free spoons. It’s free spoons that smack you over the head that I take issue with. Have you ever been hit over the head with half a dozen spoons falling from a great height all at once? I think we gave them to the lady of the house for firewood, or something. Good riddance.” “Though now we don’t have even one. It’s too bad. But then, I suppose that isn’t quite the wooden spoon we need right now, then, is it… I guess we need some kind of spoon plant?” the hotlips plant puzzled. "Hey, that wind chime,” the individual with the notebook indicated, “Do you know what in the middle makes it ring? I can't tell from here."“I suppose it’s an easy mistake to make from afar, but that’s no spoon. The wind chime clapper is wooden beads on twine. Besides…I really doubt the Lady of the House wants us dismembering her windchimes.” “I suppose it is sort of a magical instrument, if you’re not being overly particular,” said the flamingo. “It chimed the Jaws theme song when we had that chocolate milk flood. Real unhelpful moodsetting.” The duo paused in recollection for a moment before he glanced at the person with the notebook and turned to the plant again. “Alright, this is a real novel idea, but I have a suggestion--the next time the lady of the house asks us to bring her things, we should just take down notes.” The gate guardians are not happy to be catslapped by Celestial ’s Purr-eh, but the Tea Witch herself helps them realize they are looking for three plants. Looking at June Scarlet ’s wand, they confirm its similarity to the magic focus they need. They also complain about the spoon rain to Gelquie , and tell them the windchimes’ clapper is neither spoon nor magic focus.
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Post by PFA on Apr 28, 2020 12:28:03 GMT -5
The young magician and the dog-like person were able to call out the flamingo and plant on their lies by pointing out the color of the flowers. Ingenious! Princess Sunshine never would have thought of that on her own. Maybe she did need to start paying more attention in school, if it would help her in her fight for truth and justice... At any rate, the flamingo and the hotlips plant were now saying they would only let them inside if they fetched three things for them. Seriously? They wanted them to do their chores now? But, Princess Sunshine decided, if that was what it took to solve this mystery, then they could suffer through getting their hands a little dirty. One of the things they wanted was a wand. She definitely wasn't about to offer her own wand—it was too important to her identity as Princess Sunshine. Besides that, they implied that they wanted something more organic. "Some kind of stick, or branch, maybe?" Princess Sunshine turned her attention to the birch tree in the front yard. Now that she thought about it, didn't that crow from earlier knock a branch loose? Sure enough, there it was, lying amidst a pile of discarded golf balls. Pointing to it, she asked, "Like that one?" Princess Sunshine is impressed by Jess ( June Scarlet) and Rose ( Liou)'s brilliant deduction about the flowers, realizing that maybe she should pay more attention in school. When the flamingo and hotlips plant ( Lizica, Pixie) ask for a wand, Princess Sunshine remembers that a branch was knocked loose from the birch tree earlier, and wonders if that's perhaps what they're looking for.
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Post by Liou on Apr 28, 2020 18:06:16 GMT -5
Rose was very disappointed in the plant and the ornament. These guardians were not Rose's kind of guardian. There was prestige and honour to be embodied in the position. Aggie and her familiars understood that.
"Yes, actually!" Rose patted their pockets, grinning at the tea witch. "Oh, I must have left it at home. Myriam says hi from a lovely canyon, and she and the wife send their love and a few rocks and bones for you!" They had tuned out the lawn critters' back-and-forth when a magical word brought them back to attention - fetch. "Three things? That's nothing!" Rose grabbed the top of the fence to lean in. "We can fetch you plenty more than three things! We can make fetch happen! We can fetch you coffee! We can fetch the mail! It'd be nice to bring in the mail!" A magic focus? Well, something here certainly could focus, and it was a camera with at least one lens in it, and Rose nearly darted to the photographer before remembering that the focus had to be magical. "What about a camera? It can focus, right? Is it magical enough? Sir, how magical is your photography?" Rose paused to keep listening before they could lose track of the exchange between plant and flamingo. It seemed that there was no track to lose, however. "Nothing?" They giggled. "Maybe some forget-me-not is what we need, at this point! Nothing? Zilch? Nada? Nada Iris? Are your poet friends poet's daffodils, by any chance? Hey!" They smiled at Hotlips. " You're full of words! And you're in a pot! We could just bring you in." Rose handwaved the cat's behaviour. "Oh no, that isn't rude! It's just, you know, cat. "You're right," they told Aggie, nodding brightly, "tea is probably the best thing to bring! Magical, a focus, has spoons... and once you've drunk it, there's nothing! Except more tea." The flamingo finally remembered that they needed three plants and Rose shook their head. "Well what kind of instrument, then? Bluebells? Angel's trumpet? Or - oooh!" They applauded as Princess Sunshine pointed out a perfectly good birch staff. "Yes, birch! It's birch! Amazing, well done! That's perfect! We can fetch the stick!" Rose craned their neck over the fence. "Got any spoon jade plant around here?" Enthusiastic chattering, mention of postcard to Celestial , asking RielCZ about the magicalness of his photography before the items are specified to be plants, defense of Purr-eh's batting of the flamingo, encouragement of PFA , mention of various plant names to Flamizica ( Lizica ) and Plantixie ( Pixie ) Goodnight Mr Coconut
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Post by RielCZ on Apr 29, 2020 2:42:11 GMT -5
"Oh, I'm Jess, by the way," said the top hatted girl. Evi smiled at her. "Pleasure to meet you again, Jess!" Unfortunately, though, he did not get to see what was undoubtedly a truly superb and mind-bending guinea pig hat trick, because the flamingo looked at him and yelled something about an interview. He shrugged and took out his camera, starting to capture photos of the talking flamingo and hot lips plant -- how very interesting. He had never seen a plastic flamingo talk before, let alone shout. (A plant speaking, though, he might have seen that once or twice.) And then just like that, Jess and a very loud clearly-human teamed up against the flamingo and the plant. He captured a brilliant picture of just the moment of pure shock in the flamingo's eyes at Jess's smoking gun query. Haha, so many potential captions or memes. Nice. "Good work you two!" he commended. Evi vaguely caught some banter about the house guardians needing plants... or was it spoons? Someone really liked spoons, anyway. "I mean, I can see the appeal--" started Evi before the loud human burst up to him and almost made him drop his camera. He shot them something of an angry look. "What about a camera? It can focus, right? Is it magical enough? Sir, how magical is your photography?""Er..." he dismissed his anger with a wave of his hand. The loud human meant no harm it seemed. "You're right, it can focus!" He even played with the focus, lens, and zoom to show them. "Magic though... I wouldn't call it that, but it can photograph the odd magic trick or illusion." And he grinned at their last comment. "As magical as you can possibly imagine," he replied with a wink and fingergun. "It's not a plant though," he added, more so to himself and Rachel since the loud human started to dart about. "Though it does have a lens. And lenses do help focus. Lentils look sort of like lenses, eh Rae?" He just liked lentils. But what else? He had once taken a course in environmental archaeology as an elective... He liked getting to see closeups of plants and pollen and such. "Cheese wheel -- there is the mallow 'cheese weed'. In terms of a flower that talks a lot... some roses ramble rather than climb, and there are some fairy roses. Spoon plants..." The photographer shrugged. "I'm not sure, what plants go good in soup?" He glanced at Rachel. "Lentils? With cheese?" Riel plays catch up! Evi slightly responds back to Jess ( June Scarlet), photographs the flamingo's shock, and commends Jess and the human ( Liou) on their work. The human darts up to Evi and almost makes him drop his camera, which upsets Evi until he realizes they mean no harm. He takes the insinuation that his photography is magic in stride. In addition to the human's comments on his camera / lens, he hears banter about plants, cheese, rambling, and spoons. He tries to connect some dots whilst engaging Rachel ( Rabbit ♠). He also likes lentils and took a course in environmental archaeology so clearly he knows what he's talking about. Perhaps his most sensible predictions are the cheese wheel being mallow cheese weed, and rambling (fairy) roses. Perhaps.
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Post by Kat on Apr 29, 2020 9:51:52 GMT -5
Things just got weirder. Now they were talking to a plastic flamingo and a plant, which were both sentient enough to be capable of lying. But now that she had the attention of the guy with the duffel bag full of Meepits, she decided that there was no harm in getting to know him. Cassidy smiled, also taking solace in the fact that conversing with a man whose weirdest feature was toting a horde of colorful rodents who were unafraid to bite was indeed normal compared to everything else around them. Even she needed a break. "Cassidy Clarion, but you can call me Cass," she said with a friendly smile, and gave the Meepits a wave. "I am from around here, although I just got back from my time at the monastery. I was learning to be a healer." But before she can say anything else, the owl landed on his shoulder, prompting one Meepit to threaten the bird of prey. She blinked and leaned away slightly in surprise, but she was otherwise unfazed by this new arrival interrupting their conversation. Although the owl was definitely not hers, it was more than familiar. "Oh, that's definitely not yours. That's the Tea Witch's familiar, H-oolong. Helped me and Jess find the other people with puzzle pieces that fell out of the sky." Still, Cassidy's attention was occasionally diverted by what was going on with the masters of the house, and she stifled a giggle at the sight of the cat swatting the plastic flamingo. She should really consider getting a familiar of her own. Cassidy accepts Jeff's ( Huntress) invitation to chat for a bit with him (and the Meepits). She notices H-oolong, the Tea Witch's owl ( Celestial) using him as a perch, and informs him that the owl is good. Nevertheless, Cassidy tries to keep track of what's going on, and now wishes she too had a familiar. Was there even such a thing as a healer with a familiar?
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Post by Celestial on Apr 29, 2020 17:33:16 GMT -5
H-oolong cocked his head towards Cassidy. Yes, it was good she recognised him. He was very much a recogniseable figure. And indeed, he was the familiar of the Tea Witch. The owl gave a hoot in reply. He was almost tempted to go sit on her shoulder, but he did like this perch. The man was a good place to observe the meepits from. Their coarse threats could only put him off so long. In response to the flamingo's aggrevation, Purr-eh merely raised her nose in the air and turned around, returning to Aggie. Fine, if they were going to be so whiny about this. She only wanted to give them what they deserved, but if they were going to be like this...well, she would not bother. Nevertheless, she gave Rose a glare. How rude that dog-person was! She was not doing it because she was cat: Purr-eh had very good reasons, thank you. Aggie petted her cat, running her fingers down her back and finally her tail. "Don't pay no mind," the Tea Witch said, though it was unclear whether it was to her cat or the two guardians. So they needed a wand, or rather something resembling a wand. And what they needed was definitely a plant. Wands, spoons, fairies... If this had been tea, Aggie would have known it in a heartbeat but her speciality was unfortunately only with a few select types of plant. She never used wands, the closest she got to spoons were tea spoons, and as for fairies...well, they did make lovely companions, though they were not too fond of fairy cakes, ironically enough. None of this would help much, of course. Oh well, there was no helping it, and no use stewing on it! Nothing was worse than stewed tea. An answer would surely come to her. "I am so glad that Myriam and her dear wife are doing well! I would love to see the postcard, and the rocks and bones!" Aggie exclaimed to Rose. "You really must bring it along next time we have tea so I can see. Oh, I made something for you!" She dug in her basket and brought out a box of dark brown cookies studded with tiny flecks. "I call it the Double Chocolate Roulette. You don't know if you get raisin or chocolate chips in every bite. I thought you would like it, given your love of chocolate," Aggie held the box out to Rose, and anybody else who may be interested. "Really does go well with a lovely chocolate tea with a spot of milk. Would anybody like some?" A teapot was already hovering above her shoulder. She poured herself a cup and as she savoured the tea, her mind continued to work. Wand, fairy, spoon... "OH!" Aggie suddenly exclaimed. "I know there is a wand flower, a fairy flower and a spoon flower. None of those are great for teas, but perhaps this was what the lady wanted? Assuming the branch Princess Sunshine has brought is not it, of course." H-oolong acknowledges Cassidy( Kat) and is pleased she remembers him. However, he very much likes Jeff( Huntress) as a perch. Purr-eh, meanwhile, goes back to Aggie in a huff after being told off by the flamingo and plant. ( Lizica, Pixie). She does get offended more at Rose( Liou) for them saying her actions were merely her being a cat! Aggie ponders the clues that are being given by the plants. She decides it is best pondered over tea and biscuits, and offers some to whowever wants to accept while making conversation with Rose. Suddenly, she has an inspiration: what if all that is needed are particular flowers. Assuming, of course, that Princess Sunshine ( PFA) has not figured it out.
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Post by Lizica on Apr 29, 2020 22:30:20 GMT -5
"Some kind of stick, or branch, maybe? Like that one?" the girl in the weird costume pointed over to the broken birch branch on the ground. The flamingo lifted his stake legs and made his way over to examine the branch in question. “Mmm...nah, sorry, Princess Sparkles, I think we may be looking for something a little more...presently rooted?” The flamingo bent down and picked up the stick in his beak. “Still,” he murmured with his mouth full, carefully taking the object over to the porch, “itdth a good branch, we’ll bring id in to give do the lady eddyway.” As they were depositing the fallen stick by the front door, the initial yeller (the one who had helped call them out) was now riling themself up in excitement over the fetch quest, bounding about through the small crowd in front of the house, tossing out ideas and suggestions like glitter rain. "Nothing?" the bouncy pigtailed individual chattered. "Maybe some forget-me-not is what we need, at this point! Nothing? Zilch? Nada? Nada Iris? Are your poet friends poet's daffodils, by any chance? Hey!" They smiled at Hotlips. "You're full of words! And you're in a pot! We could just bring you in."“I am not an object. I would remember if I was meant to bring myself. She would have asked for me by name, or well, ‘dear Hotlips.’” "OH!" the tea witch suddenly exclaimed. "I know there is a wand flower, a fairy flower and a spoon flower. None of those are great for teas, but perhaps this was what the lady wanted?"Hotlips considered. “A spoon flower... And it’s not the spoon jade plant, either, I’m afraid. We call that one by a sillier name, and couldn’t possibly forget it even with this chaotic weather. I hope the spoon plant we need is still in the garden. Otherwise we’d have to hike a mountain to get some more, and we don’t have time for that.” “And goodness knows the lady of the house certainly doesn’t have time for those kinds of errands, either.” The flamingo glanced at the tea witch. “And you know, I bet she would probably like some fancy tea. Though I can’t speak on her behalf about whether or not she cares for gambling with raisins in her cookies--” “Wait,” the plant interjected and turned back to the bouncy gardening enthusiast. “What was that other thing before you called me a thing? Poet’s daffodils! That sounds rather familiar. Same as Poet’s Narcissus, right? It's that poet’s flower we needed! If you can find any in the yard, that would be perfect!” “Oh, good!” the flamingo said, brightening. Then, turning to the hotlips plant, he asked uncertainly, “...Did I say that the narcissistic fairy recommended those daffodils we needed? Or did they actually recommend the instrument and focus to us, and only remind us of the second plant?” “It was the latter, I think-- the wands we needed to get for the Lady of the House. I can… easily see where you’d get those things muddled.” “Ahh, shoot. Well, that’s why we need to take better notes.” Congrats! Liou has identified the 2nd plant, Narcissus poeticus, AKA Poet’s Daffodils / Poet’s Narcissus. Two plants remain, but everyone is so close! Keep going, you all are doing great!(We also clarified some bad wording from this puzzle’s first narratorpost with regard to the first and second items. We’re so sorry about that! Please direct your frustration at the plastic flamingo.) Summary: The Hotlips plant and the plastic flamingo respond to PFA, and while the birch branch isn’t what they need, it’s still a good branch, so we can bring that inside later. Meanwhile, Rose and Celestial suggest more plants. The guardians make some small hints, say that the lady of the house probably could use some tea, and then have a sudden, delayed reaction to one of Rose’s flower suggestions, which is the correct second item!
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Post by Rabbit ♠ on Apr 30, 2020 16:22:42 GMT -5
Plants. Plants plants plants plants plants. Rachel was good at meteorology, not botany. She took out her phone and started looking through plants, only vaguely listening to the crowd that had gathered around. She could do this. Nothing could break her focus. Except... "Cheese wheel -- there is the mallow 'cheese weed'. In terms of a flower that talks a lot... some roses ramble rather than climb, and there are some fairy roses. Spoon plants..." Evi shrugged. "I'm not sure, what plants go good in soup? Lentils? With cheese?"Rachel raised an eyebrow. “Honey… are you okay? Are you hungry?” She pressed the back of her hand to Evi’s face. “You’re not sick, are you?” If Evi was so set on spoons, she might as well look for spoon plants. From chattering, she could narrow it down. Until... “Wait…” Rachel tapped her foot and looked back up at the flamingo. “What about spoonwood?” Rachel's trying to think of plant names when Evi ( RielCZ ) suggests stuff to go with soup. Rachel wonders if he's just hungry. After looking at plant names, she suggests spoonwood aloud to the flamingo ( Lizica , Pixie , and anyone else around to hear).
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Post by Twillie on Apr 30, 2020 16:45:21 GMT -5
The sight of Jess' guinea pig dragging her wand across the ground brought out a soft giggle from Gibi. She couldn't say she'd ever seen such an active guinea pig before. Jess was quick to take Taffy back into her hands, but Gibi didn't make much of it. The Garden Guardians were called out on their lies about the Lady of the House, with Jess and Rose using deduction skills that impressed Gibi. She had never been much of an expert in the way of botany or gardening, and the fact about limestone would have never crossed her mind had she been here alone. Before they could make progress towards meeting the Lady, however, the Guardians brought forth a new task for them. Three items in the yard they'd need, but they didn't know specifically what. All plants, at least, so Gibi instinctively wrote off herself as a reliable resource. There were a lot of plants out there, so many she probably never even heard of. Many of the others started suggesting plants based off the clues given with varying degrees of success. Some were indeed flowers Gibi never knew the names of before, but others she was familiar with. Maybe, she figured, it wasn't as complicated as she initially assumed it to be. There were countless plant species out there, yes, but that didn't mean the option pool immediately filtered down to the most obscure. Pondering the hints for a moment, Gibi gathered enough confidence to try and help. "A magical instrument? Well, I know foxglove is supposed to be like fairy bells, do you have any of that growing around here?" Gibi finds Taffy ( June Scarlet ) cute, but she still hides a bit in the backdrop, not confident in her knowledge to guess what plants the Garden Guardians may need. Thinking more on the clues given, though, she decides to give it a shot and suggest foxglove as the "magical instrument." Pixie Lizica
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Post by Gelquie on Apr 30, 2020 17:47:39 GMT -5
Era had stood in rare silence for a moment, both in awe of all the stories and suggestiosn being thrown out, and upon learning the fact that "She burned them?" Era declared horrified. "Do you know how useful spoons are? Fair point about them hitting your head, you're right, I don't think I'd like that either. But I hope your lack of spoons teaches you a lesson in wanton spoon arson!" Era sighed. "Well, it's a nice windchime anyway. Especially if it gave mood music; how lovely! I don't think I'd want to take it apart either." Others continued fielding their suggestions, and it seems confirmed that the items needed were plants. That's... far different from a spoon, although a spoon was made from wood. "...Would you like some notebook paper? I have plenty left. Though I can't give you my pen, it's the only one I have and I need it, but if you really want I can find one for you! It helps me so much, I think I'd forget everything if I didn't have it, there so much to keep track of, so much to do, I'd forget the spoon for my cereal! ...Aaah, that's how you lost them. Okay, I get it now. Not the burning, but you can't have burned all of them, so for the others, I get it." The others continued on their suggestions for plant material, and it was confirmed that they needed plants and not objects. That would... certainly make things harder for Era. Working with just objects around, they could do. But while they did their share of gardening, they could hardly be called a botanist. Era was content to let the others field this, but it seemed like they were having difficulty too. At least they figured out one of them, with Poet's Daffodils. What wordplay indeed! Like a poem... Hmm, they were reminded of one, that involved a lot of magic. And magical instruments that could be a plant, that was something to think about. "Hmm, 'root of hemlock digged in the dark'... Uh, I dunno about that. Isn't that really poisonous? Please don't tell me your lady of the house wants something poisonous, that seems a little weird. Um, uh... 'digged in the dark'... something something, it's been so long... oh! 'Slips of yew'... Oh, yew! Isn't that a wood used in wands? ...Oh, but I think that's a tree, not a shrub, and it has to be rooted. Maybe if it were a small tree that you could fit in the house? Unless she's looking for another tree in her yard. It's kinda pretty. Maybe you could get a few. I like common whitebeams; they have some nice flowering. I think their scientific name is 'Sorbus aria?'. That's kinda musical! Not as musical as the tree itself, though; probably nothing magic about it. But maybe she's looking for something specific as a weather conduit? Metal generally makes for better lightning rods, just so you know. But this is all new weather, maybe she's looking to draw in something else. Now I'm very curious; you'll have to tell me what it's for! And what it is." Era thought for a while as others threw out suggestions. If only they knew more... ...Oh! But if there was anyone who knew plants, it'd be... Well, Rose and Jess were good contenders; they understood the hydrangeas. But also Aggie the tea witch! She was all about herbs! She even had a good suggestion for a spoon flower! Though apparently the spoon flower was found in the mountains? "Hey Aggie, you sure there aren't any spoon-like flowers for teas? Or anything you harvest from the mountains? How good are those teas anyway? Actually, come to think, you wouldn't have any tea on you, would you? I think better over some coffee. Or tea. Or oh! Can I see that saucer again? That plant design on it, maybe it matches what they're looking for." Era is unhelpful! Era is aghast at how the wooden spoons were burned by the lady of the house ( Lizica, Pixie), how dare! They are impressed by the abilities of the windchime, though. They offer a page from their notebook to write on, but no writing utensils as Era doesn't have any spares they're willing to give, but they're willing to get one for the two. They actually try to ponder a bit, and are reminded of the "Double Double Toil and Trouble" speech from their past, and remember two plants from it. One being hemlock, which they dismiss pretty quickly and question because "uhh, it's poisonous?", and the other being yew, which they don't think is right but gets them rambling anyway. They also suggest common whitebeam because "it's pretty", but also because it's scientific name is Sorbus aria. Then they go on a tangent. They for the most part leave the pondering to the more botany-inclined. But they do end up pestering Aggie ( Celestial) a bit, based on the new information given to them, before going on a tangent on how they really need a caffeine fix. (They do not; don't encourage them.) They also ask for the saucer again to see any plant designs on it, in case that's somehow helpful.
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Post by Pixie on Apr 30, 2020 22:56:59 GMT -5
The person with the notebook graciously, if overly excitedly, offered them a page from their own notebook. “Oh, lovely, thank you! This should save us some trouble next time,” said Hotlips, as she and the flamingo gratefully accepted the sheet of paper and tucked it away under her pot. “And if you really like them so much, we’ll just send a dump truck of spoons over to your house instead the next time it rains utensils,” added the flamingo. The person with the notebook then made a whole slew of plant suggestions in rapid-fire succession, barely giving the hotlips plant and the flamingo any time to process, let alone respond. They were distracted in their reply, however, when the woman with the enormous umbrella suddenly looked up from her phone. “Wait… What about spoonwood?” she suggested, turning from the photographer directly to the flamingo and the hotlips plant. “Oh, spoonwood!” the flamingo exclaimed. “Yeah, I think that’s exactly right! And we shouldn’t need to bring in the whole shrub when we find it, just a decent sized clipping.” “We still don’t have a wooden spoon to go with it,” mused Hotlips, “but I guess we’ll manage.” “So that leaves just the first plant that we’re missing…” "A magical instrument?” a quieter member of the group piped up. “Well, I know foxglove is supposed to be like fairy bells, do you have any of that growing around here?"“Hmm, I think some survived around the side of the house,” the flamingo said. “But I don’t think what we need is as big as foxglove.” “Something about fairy bells sounds almost familiar, but it’s still not quite right,” said Hotlips. “It must be close, though.” Just as she spoke these words, a series of great, rolling cracks of thunder pealed overhead, as if the dark clouds were shifting. A single poached egg fell from the sky and onto the pavement outside the fence with a definitive splat and started leaking yolk near someone’s shoes. “...What, you egg?” said the flamingo in confusion and exasperation. When this hurlyburly was done, they'd better get inside and be gone. Hoorah! Rabbit ♠ has solved the third plant! Kalmia latifolia AKA Spoonwood, AKA Mountain Laurel. Just one plant remains, and you all are so close. Props as well to Celestial and RielCZ for finding this plant OOC!The gate guardians accept Gelquie ’s offer of notebook paper. They then confirm to Rachel that they need Spoonwood. They realize that Twillie ’s suggestion of “fairy bells” is almost the final plant. Era’s Shakespeare allusions are continued through falling eggs.
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Post by June Scarlet on May 1, 2020 19:58:44 GMT -5
(Written by Gelquie and June Scarlet) Jess was at a bit of a loss. Apparently they did need a wand, but not her wand. Other suggestions came and went, and two of the plants were remembered. But not the first. Just because they had recently done a unit on plants did not make Jess a botanist. She'd never heard of Poet's Narcissist, or Spoonwood. What strange names plants could have. Jess absentmindedly petted Taffy, who responded with Guinea Pig chatter. What could the first plant be? She thought and mused. It had something to do with wands, apparently. Suddenly, Taffy turned around and nipped Jess. "What was that for?" she said. It wasn't a hard nip, but still surprising. Wait a minute. Fairy Bells was a plant too? "Is there such a plant as Fairy Wand?" Jess wondered aloud. Era was in the middle of accosting Aggie when this speech made them pause, and back away... almost stepping on the egg that fell before them. They looked up, seeing the cloud where the egg came from. "Oh, if only we had frying pans, this'd make for great omelettes..." Era lamented. "...What was I-? Oh right! Fairy Wand! Fairy Wand? Huh. As in, the name of a plant? Not a tree, but a wand--" Suddenly, their eyes went alight as something clicked in their head. "That would be a focus, more than bells. Needs to be rooted, so more like... like a... Wait... Wait, that sounds familiar..." A memory flitted in their head. A presentation on medicinal plants at a museum they were taken to. Era hadn't paid attention to most of it, but there were occasional ones that caught their ear; one that sounded cool. Flowers that bloomed where fire had scorched. Mushrooms that sprouted in a ring. A false unicorn horn... 'False unicorn.' Or 'Fairy Wand.' Could it...? "Hang on, Jess! Hang on! Maybe, maybe! Lemme see!" Era excitedly whipped out their phone and frantically scrolled through all the options before finding their browser. If they could just get a glimpse, maybe... "Ah, yes, yes, that's it! There is! Jess, you're right, look!" They tilted their phone to show Jess a picture of a stem holding a rod of white flowers, standing up like a unicorn horn... Or a fairy's wand. Jess quickly scanned the text on the phone. Chamaelirium luteum. "Ch- Cha-mary-leary-um lu-tem. Or however you pronounce it. Also know as Fairy Wand!" Era nodded quickly and eagerly, and then moved to show their phone to the flamingo and hotlips plant. Jess is at a lost until Taffy nips to get her attention at a key moment. Fairy Bells? Is Fairy Wand a type of plant too? It rings a bell (puns!) to Era Gelquie, who looks it up on their phone, to find Chamaelirium luteum, otherwise known as Fairy Wand. Era goes to show the screen to the guardians.
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Post by Lizica on May 2, 2020 0:41:55 GMT -5
The individual with the notebook and the young magician spoke up, brainstorming together before turning back towards the guardians with their proposed identification. The flamingo and the plant scrutinized the picture on the person’s phone. “Yes, the final piece!” Hotlips rejoiced. “Fairy Wands. They can sometimes be good for channeling fine bits of magic with precision,” agreed the flamingo, nodding. “There’s a trowel, some clippers, and a few pots under the stairs. We need to get inside before we all get covered in breakfast food,” Hotlips said with a frown upwards as another egg (hardboiled this time) bounced off the broken fence post and sent it swinging to and fro. “I don’t know what time of day it is supposed to be, nor do I eat, but I know now is not the time for this.” “And alright, you can come in now,” sighed the flamingo, and the gate of the picket fence spontaneously unlocked itself and sprang wide. The guardians, at long last, had opened the gate. Gelquie and June Scarlet have found the remaining plant, and completed the puzzle! The Lady of the House needed Chamaelirium luteum, AKA Fairy Wand / False Unicorn.Jess and Era find the remaining plant. The gate is open! The gate guardians ask for help collecting specimens so everyone can escape the breakfast downpour.
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Post by Pixie on May 2, 2020 2:25:56 GMT -5
After finally securing all three of the plants, the group of puzzlers gratefully bustled indoors into the relative warmth and dryness of the strange house. (“Wipe off your feet before you come in!” the flamingo had shouted as they hurried inside. “Don’t you dare get any of that scrambled egg on the lady’s antique carpet!”)
The sky continued to rumble with deep, crackling, swirling thunder, and the yard and street presently looked like a ridiculous breakfast buffet after a riot. Even as far out as the Uffnewt Regional Airport, the storm had begun to plaster the runways with eggs sunny side up until it looked like there was a giant omelette on a plateau.
The group’s retreat indoors was met with a high-pitched noise and a few distant crashes. The room they had entered seemed to be part foyer and part study, and was in a state of casual disarray that indicated the lady of the house either did not get many visitors, or her visitors did not care about decorum.
“Uhhh...excuse me, my lady?” the flamingo called into the house, craning his neck to look into various hallways that turned off from the messy foyer. “Where are you? We’ve brought your plants. And beg your pardon, we just let in a huge ragtag bunch because they demanded to talk with you...”
An exuberant creature, seemingly of animated darkness, skulked towards them. On closer inspection, the visitors realized they were greeted by an extremely fluffy black cat-- who had been interrupted in the process of clawing and devouring a book of some kind. Torn paper scattered the study, and magic glyphs seemed to shrivel and dissipate into the air. The cat made eye contact with all the puzzlers, then meowed loudly.
“Mr. Snuggles!” shrieked the flamingo. “What is this? Is this your handiwork? And what’s that thing you’ve--... Hey! Hey! Spit that out right this instant! How dare you! The lady’s personal day planner!! Bad kitty! Terrible kitty!!”
The cat turned. He arched his back and made a series of hacking noises that would be highly familiar to any keeper of cats.
“Mr. Snuggles. No. Bad!” Hotlips sputtered.
He ignored her. When he turned back, three tattered scrolls were lying at his feet. He stretched and licked his paws.
He went up to the nearest person and rubbed against their leg until it had a solid dusting of black cat hair on it. With the cat this close to everyone, they could see that his voluminous cloud of fur had engulfed a collar. A shiny tag hung that read, in small and delicate print: Count von Mister Snuggles the Elaborate, Skillful, and Greatly Adorable.
He gazed at his new houseguests with an arrogant feline expression, and flicked his tail.
With strategically placed headbutts, Mr. Snuggles grouped the puzzlers as follows:
Team Red Jeff and the Meepits Era Newton Sherrie David Gibi Team Green Uffnewt Regional Airport Rachel Leewind Rose Agatha the Tea Witch Sparktater Team Blue Norma Schoolchild Anton Dracula Cassidy Clarion Jess (and Taffy) Evi
“I can’t stay mad at that ball of fluff. Not sure what’s the deal with the herding cat, but I would listen to him. The sweetie.” Hotlips said, reaching out a leaf to scritch behind his ears.
The flamingo scowled at Mr. Snuggles. “Well, I can still stay plenty mad,” he muttered.Please check your PM inbox, everyone! You can find the next clue there, and a place to brainstorm in the new teams.
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