Telsa's pale blue eyes look at Thom coldly for a moment, then two, as she tries to assess the candor - or not - of his remorse. By her side, Sasso is still stiff with anger, his jaw clenched.
"Apology accepted, magus," the sister says. "But no more magic us with no telling, asking, before. Evil ones do that."
Her brother growls, then says some sharp words to her in their native language. Her own reply is just as sharp, her sentences quick and tense.
Then he nods, and says to Thom, "That so. Accepted too."
The little part gets down to the beach, and as Finn shouts his introduction, one of the boulders rolls over to rearrange into the rock troll that you spoke to yesternight, or one just like it.
«Good morning, men of Ungulus, and woman too,» says the troll. «A story for the queen, you say? Most unusual. Grand is her reputation as a collector of the art of the tall folk, but how do you propose that she collects a story?»
The troll looks a little puzzled by the proposition, but agrees to summon the queen. A couple of other trolls have rolled into being, and two of them take the instruction disappear into the river.
Thom cannot see any regione. Finn finds it a little hard to write his story down. Whenever he puts the parchment on a flattish stone to start writing, the stone rolls over, giggling as it turns into a troll ... Finn did not bring a portable desk, did he? How does one write properly while travelling?
Sasso and Telsa are equally annoyed, as the little trolls try to steal whatever they carry in their belts.
The head troll only watches, bemused at their struggles.
I imagine Finn has a book of paper bound together so he can write what he composes as the muse takes him. He would intend to rip the page out to present to the queen
Thom chuckles a bit and then calls out toward the rock trolls.
"I see then, you rock guardians of the Day Queen's Court, that you love a bit of sport and exercise. While we wait for the Queen's response, I offer you a challenge!"
"I, a mighty wizard of renown, shall conjure into existence a Great Rock Goat! If you can catch this mighty goat, then I shall compose a song in your honor this very day! But if you cannot catch the rock goat, then you must remain still and leave the Envoys of Ungulus alone!"
With a flourish of his hands, Thom casts his Phantasmal Animal spell and a black, long-haired goat appears in front of Thom, prancing back and forth. The Ungulus Envoys may notice it bears a resemblance to goats in the Ungulus herd though none will have ever heard of them talked about as Rock Goats.
"Do you accept?"
The Rock Goat prances back and forth, springing here and there before bleating its own challenge to the rock trolls.
A crowd of little rock trolls roll into being to chase after the goat, and they are remarkably quick and agile in the pursuit. Does Thom try to have the phantasm escape? Please roll finesse+quickness (14+ to make it any challenge at all, 18+ to have it last its diameter).
The book sounds anachronistic to me, but ok, some kind of hard board to use as a writing surface is reasonable enough. He just has to get off the beach to write without being disturbed by the cleptomaniac rocks. It is Craft: Poetry + Com to make it look good in writing.
Thom's rock goat isn't all that nimble after all. [Finesse+Quickness Roll: 5].
But the Merinita is undaunted.
Once the little rock trolls get his goat, Thom lets it disappear and then casts an Image Phantom of the same goat up a nearby tree by transforming a branch into the appearance of the goat.
Sure, but I think your original roll was storytelling, which is the live performance. Craft: Poetry would be similar, but in writing. I am not saying that the caligraphy does not help, though, and I am assuming that you still want to make the performance, even if you have a written version to keep.
That's a lot of assumptions, so feel free to correct.
Happy to accept your take on it as it makes things easier for Finn. Roll is botched, the written story looks like a spider escaped the ink bottle and ran across the parchment!
«He's cheating,» shouts the little trolls when the apparent goat teleports, and everybody giggles, and runs after the new image. The next time, one shouts, «spread out», and Thom is not quick enough. The goat reappears in their laps. «Hah, got you master wizard,» they shout. «Now the song.»
Thom chuckles and then just starts into another ditty, the tune folksy and playful, though no bard's song.
Oh, the boulders roll and tumble fast,
With feet of stone theyâre built to last!
They chase the wind, they stomp the ground,
And flip right overâround and round!
Stomp, stomp, jump and hop!
Try to catch themâjust donât stop!
Fast as thunder, strong as trees,
You canât outrun stone trolls with ease!
Through caves and lakes and hills so steep,
They race so quick, they barely sleep!
With hands so strong and laughs so loud,
They even chase a goat-like cloud!
Stomp, stomp, jump and hop!
Try to catch themâjust donât stop!
Fast as thunder, strong as trees,
You canât outrun the trolls with ease!
Thom ends with a chuckle and shake of his head.
"Now leave us be for the audience of the Queen, you speedy rock trolls!"
The queen arrives while Thom is reciting. She comes down the river, as if carried by an invisible boat, just in time to hear the last verse. She wears a white dress, with many layers of light fabric which floats in the wind. Even though the long skirt touches the water, it still looks light and dry.
Halting at the shore closest to Thom, she speaks, «you started without me!» The insult is evident in her voice as well as in her eyes.
Finn is just completing his writing when he hears her voice.
âNoble queen, please excuse my masters ditty for the young trolls here, it is not the composition for you. Please hear my story, may it be to your satisfactionâ - Story quality 12, recital of it roll 15
"Yes, your majesty. No offense intended. My little ditty was but a playful payment for a challenge lost to these nimble little rock trolls," says Thom with respect, bowing to the Queen.