Happy Owl-ween! (light roleplay, advice-giving treats)

[June Scarlet]

Walking along a forest path on a moonlit Halloween night, you hear the sounds of the woods. Dried leaves crunching underfoot, the wind whispering through almost empty branches, and the hooting of an owl.

You turn a corner, and are faced with the owl itself.



"Who-hoo-whoo," it says.

You take in the moment as the owl takes in you.



"Whoooo goes there?" it says.

Startled by a talking owl, you take a step back. The owl seems insulted.



"Surely I am not the strangest thing you've seen tonight. If not yet, then soon enough."

You consider this, and nod.

"It being Halloween, I'm sure you're looking for a treat. I could probably cough up a puzzle for you, however I find most don't appreciate putting together the skeleton of a rodent. Besides, I know what you're really looking for from an owl..."



"Our fantastic advice! Yes, owls are indeed the wisest of creatures, and only give the best wisdom. Tell me what you need advice on, and I'll provide."

You remember that while in folklore owls are wise, in life there are smarter birds.



"Perish the thought! Besides, I can speak your language, surely that makes me better."

You decide not to mention parrots.



"So, traveler, what's on your mind? What advice can I give?"

---

Ask the Owl (they/them/it) for advice. There's no guarantee that it'll be good advice, however...

Have a happy Owl-ween!

[downrightdude]

Dressed up as the most popular and glamorous singer in the world, Fancy Snaw is intrigued by the talking bird. Could it really predict the future? Was it also a mind reader?

Snaw thinks over a thousand different questions before speaking to the owl. "Since I'm planning an intergalactic tour for the Winter, I was wondering which fashion pieces one should keep at-hand while visiting Jupiter. Are tan stripes out? What about faux-faux fur? Also, what's in an egg salad sandwich?"

[June Scarlet]

downrightdude

The owl rotates their head to look at the starry night sky. "Jupiter, eh? A fine destination."

They look at you once more. "Tan is never out of style, however, fur of any kind is. I say go for faux feathers instead, it shall keep Jupiter most impressed." The owl spreads their wings to prove their point. "Brown and tan fake feathers will make for a most impressive outfit."

The owl shudders at the last question. "An egg salad sandwich is made of the most horrible things, only the most uncouth would dare make one. Never eat eggs at all is my advice, especially in the presence of a bird."

[downrightdude]

Fancy Snaw is intrigued by the wise Owl's fashion advice. "An owl feather coat would be the perfect thing to wear during my tour! Surely, they'll be able to withstand the rigid temperatures of Neptune!"

Snaw twirls, imagining a coat so fabulous it makes everybody scream. "Thanks for your kira yaba advice, talking owl! How can Snaw, the most popular and glamorous entertainer in our known universe, repay you?

[June Scarlet]

downrightdude

The owl considers Snaw's offer. "There's no need for repayment, however, I wouldn't say no to a small performance in my honor. Perhaps a song about the wisest of animals? It'd be a real hoot to tell all my friends."

[downrightdude]

Fancy Snaw agrees. "A performance will be perfect! It'll be a real hoot!"

Retrieving a microphone from a Hello Kitty shaped purse, Snaw begins to sing a hoo-tiful song for the delightful owl!

[Gelquie]

A completely ordinary person in ordinary clothes stares at the owl, pondering all their words. Hm, some sort of wisdom? Even if it was bad wisdom, they could just reject it, so there was really no reason why not. If nothing else, it'd bring some entertainment. Or maybe they'd have just the advice they need?

Well in any case, they had several questions they could ask. But they figured they'd ask one at a time.

"Hello owl being!" the person calls. "Seems you're social right now, so I guess I'll ask something. Or, uh, actually, I have a conundrum. You see, Halloween and Trick or Treating is here, and I have... no ideas." They gesture to their whole body and their lack of effort at anything. "As you can see. So I was thinking. Do you have ideas for a Halloween costume for me? If you need details about me, I can give them."

((The detail-giving can be truncated by you taking what you know of me (assuming it's not secret or super-deep) and assuming I tell the owl.))

[June Scarlet]

downrightdude

The owl bobs their head along to the music. When Snaw finishes singing, the owl flaps their wings as their way of applauds. "Most stimulating and exciting. Owls may not have the memory of an elephant, but this is something I shall never forget."

---

Gelquie

The owl peers at you. "Costume ideas, eh? Wise of you to not limit me to just one.

"Of course, dressing as an owl is a classic and tasteful costume, if I do say so myself." The owl spreads one wing in support of their statement.

The owl spreads the other wing. "There is an entire forest of woodland critters one could dress as, however, and I would not be insulted if you were to chose another."

The owl folds their wings and shifts position. "If you prefer something a little more human-centric, perhaps a noble career such as an ornithologist.

"And finally, if you wish to change nothing of your base outfit, grab paper and pen and tell those you visit you're a writer. It is acceptable to dress as ones self in such a case."

[downrightdude]

Fancy Snaw beams. "Goodbye, talking bird! Hoot-y Halloween!"

Snaw gets into a glamours tour bus and zooms away, waving to their new feathered friend.

[Lizica]

Lizica comes down the forest path dressed in a weird costume that sort of looks like the Dodecahedron character from The Phantom Tollbooth, except the head costume bit where her face sticks out seems to have a lot more than only twelve cardboard sides. (Maybe it's 31 emotional faces? Whatever, it's too complicated.)

She tilts her head (and the whole costume bit) alongside the owl as they have their exchange together.

"Hm, do you maybe have any fun ideas for how I should decorate my pumpkin for Halloween?" she asks, after a long time trying to think of questions. "We did a grocery pickup order, so I didn't get to choose it myself, and it's very small--not much bigger than a grapefruit. I'd like to carve some design in it, but I dunno how well it'd work with it being so small."

[June Scarlet]

Lizica

The owl nods knowingly at your costume, then considers your predicament. "I would suggest an owl, however I doubt such a small pumpkin could properly capture my grandeur. You probably need something small and less detailed for such a gourd."

The owl sweeps one wing towards the night sky. "I would suggest carving a crescent moon as the centerpiece of the pumpkin, and surrounding it with tiny stars made by poking it with a toothpick at random.

"And as an extra piece of advice, watch out for squirrels; they treasure the seeds inside and will tear open a pumpkin to get at them. If you so desire, after you carve the pumpkin you can set the seeds out specifically for the little vandals, they will surely appreciate it."

[Liou]

A large, wobbling half a fish is making its way up to the owl, carried by a pair of powerful athletic legs. The owl's perch on the branch are helpful for the reverse mermaid to see it from the large eye that stares blankly from the top of their head above their gaping mouth.

They perform a thoughtful kind of tap dance, splap plap plapping this way and that, and wiggle their minuscule flippers a bit.

"Blub?" they finally ask, pondering how best to tackle the clearing out of one's closet.

[June Scarlet]

Liou

The owl seems unflustered at the reverse Mermaid and their unique way of speaking. "I find closets to be a rather unhelpful thing. 'Oh, the storage!' say humans and humanoids, however a closet's tendency is just to collect stuff, I find. If one must have a closet, then you'll eventually find the need to clear it out, as you now do."

The owl twists it head from side to side, thinking. "I speak not from personal experience, of course, but I do believe the best way to clear out a closet is to swoop in and start at it. Perhaps start from the back, where less used items reside. I would presume that the most used items stay at the front, so set those aside to put back in at the end.

"What sort of items do you keep in your closet, anyway? Is it a clothing closet one is trying to clear out, or perhaps storage? A closet of board games? Go on, tell me, I'm owl ears."

[Lizica]

Lizica excitedly listens to the owl's suggestion. "Oh, that's a fun idea! Maybe I could see how well I can do a moon and some stars on it. That sounds lovely!" she says. "And hmm. Usually we like to save the seeds for ourselves for roasting, and the squirrels are usually happy with the sunflower seeds in the backyard, but maybe I can set some aside this year! Squirrels can be crafty when they want to.

"Thank you very much for your advice!"

[Liou]

June Scarlet
The mermaid approves of the notion of swooping. They highlight it with a little skip and midair paddling. Swooping, indeed! In fact, they practice it right now by diving gracefully beneath the owl's branch and landing in a sloppy heap at the bottom of the tree trunk.

"Blub," they add, confirming that the closet in question is simply filled with clothes, all of which are old, some older than others, but handling textiles is such a bother.