"Right," says Histoire, gulping down a glass of water. "...Hold on, were they wearing gloves or any kind of protection for their hands when they cut open the worm..? Hrm, well they've already cleared the will save for the greed mechanic, so I suppose it should be fine."
Taking a deep breath she ponders further on how exactly they'll come back to the town. "Hm, have I mentioned if there was a nearby town? I did basically take them to their destination via a caravan. I suppose I'll just make them walk? It's been a while already... how long did the caravan ride actually take... ah a few hours... then they got into battle for less than a minute... then, I think a few more hours of movement..? And that's via carriage... so, walking wouldn't be out of the question. Maybe just two days in total, because walking is more tiring, unless they're all going to be in a breakneck sprint... oh right, their smallest member can't walk as much as the others, so their pace would also slow down..."
Histoire just voices out her stream of thoughts to no one in particular, as she sips her water.
"Hm... I sure do sort of wish, I had some outside help to check if I have some massive plothole already. Ah, I'm sure there isn't... uh. Hopefully. I guess I'll get back to them and get the worm result finished."
Finishing up her drink, she places the cup to the sink, before deciding to take it back and bringing a pitcher of water. As she returns to the table, the rest of the table is chit-chatting about their week, the different snacks they tried out and some complaints about their work. Taking her seat at the table, they notice Histoire and slowly quiet down.
"Alright, we left off with Blunga slicing open the worm, everyone is keeping a look out. Due to the sheer size of the worm, it takes her a while to do so, but eventually she is able to cleanly cut it open. As she does though, a strange sensation envelopes her, it's similar to when she first approached the area, yet this is a much more powerful sensation, it's almost like you're in a thick fog."
"Erm, would I need to roll anything..? Is it affecting me?" asks Blanc, looking worried.
"Yes, please, go ahead and roll."
"Wait, Lady Histoire, what about the others?" asks Noire. "We're somewhat nearby, and since this is so thick and prevalent, wouldn't we get affected?"
"Actually Miss Noire, looking back, only Miss Blanc has failed the roll, so she is actually under the effect, but she is aware of the effects, so it isn't too detrimental to her. Although, with such concentrated amounts, she would need a second roll to not get negatively affected."
"I see. Okay, that's alright, let's see how it goes. Will Save right? What's the DC, so I know to be mad faster."
"Uh... 15. Since Blunga is aware of the effects, you have a positive modifier of 2. So, add an additional 2 to your roll."
"I'm still not hopeful..."
Blanc lazily lets her die roll off her hand and unto the table, where it nestles neatly on the result 14. Blanc blinks in surprise, amazed at how the dice allowed itself to roll high.
"Well, looks like Blunga has been able to gather her will and concentrate on the task ahead. The fog has cleared from her mind. She notices that there are things glistening in the innards of the worm... wait, do worms bleed? Uh... um... I'll say, yes. This worm isn't mechanical, so, yes, although I don't think they'd bleed a lot, but then again this is a giant worm... uh. Anyway, I got into tangent there, ahem. There are glistening objects lining the innards of the worm. Taking a closer look, they're tinted orange."
"So this worm, has been consuming the gemstones, and I guess since it's a worm, that burrows, a gigantic earthworm... and soil is usually... yes. That makes sense. That must be why this effect is everywhere, it's basically been burrowing around the area. As to why it's eating debris, it must've been seeing it as food. So, greed can affect any species and it changes... hrm."
Histoire nods. She didn't exactly think that the orange gemstones would be specific but it makes sense. Yes, they're making their own theories and things are looking good. She continue to listen to Blanc collect her thoughts.
"How exactly are we going to collect this corpse? It's huge. We could collect some of the gemstones, and this little village is hidden, so we could do that? Anyone against the idea?"
"We should still have a burlap sack or something for it," says Neptune. "Thankfully, unlike the red one, the worst thing this can do for us is make us think we're looking at shiny things, or food. I guess. So we still need to be careful, but not that much. RIght, just pick off some of those gems and we can store it and travel. Histy, what time is it for us?"
"Almost night time. So, unless you wish to travel in the dark..."
"Uh, no. Maybe we can just sleep in the town. It's a roof over our heads. Is that possible Histy?"
"That should be fine."
"Well, we still have our watch order and such, so anything special for us to sleep through the night?"
"Not really, things are relatively calm. Blunga plucks a good number of orange gemstones and place them inside the burlap sack. The rest of the party sleep in the village. It smells a bit, but definitely feels safer than just the plain outdoors. Alright, everyone gets a full rest, since the party has more or less healed themselves to near full, everyone should be in tip top shape."
Suddenly Noire starts to panic, seemingly out of nowhere. "Wait! My horse! My Soleil!"
"C-calm down Miss Noire... Albedo took Soleil to the village before they slept."
"Okay. Phew."
"Geez Noire, anyone would think with how you panicked you lost an actual horse..." says Neptune with a shrug.
"Oh? How would you like it if your Sir Puddington bites the dust?!"
"Ack! No!"
"Exactly, now shush and let me have my horse. Anyway, how are we going to get back to Keydento?"
"We walk?" says Blanc flatly.
"Won't we get slowed down because ... well..." Noire's eyes shift towards Neptune's character sheet, which Neptune quickly notices.
Neptune scoffs in disbelief. "Did I just see your eyes pass by my character sheet? I know what you're thinking, it's because I'm short and my movement speed is less isn't it? Well, guess what, even Uni is an accomplice to that! So you can't pin the blame on me! And before you forget, you're wearing heavy armor, which means you're actually at the same speed as I am!"
"Alright! Fine, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... I forgot actually... that heavy armor does that..."
"Well, now that that's settled, we're just going to take a while in walking, aren't we? You know, I just remembered, shouldn't the trip to this forest have taken days?"
"About that Neptune," says Histoire, "the whole ordeal would take days, not that traveling there would take a few days, I must have just gotten my thoughts and words mixed-up. You know how when you talk and have to think about your next sentence?"
"Oh, okay. That makes sense, yeah I know what you mean. Anyway, so it'll take us a day or so just flat out walking. Wait, what's closer? I feel like we should just go to the nearby town, then grab a carriage home."
"Wait, big sister, wouldn't it be dangerous to bring the burlap sack filled with orange gems in a populated area?"
Neptune raises a finger, opens her mouth, closes it, then puts her finger down. "You're right. We don't exactly know large the area of effect this stone has, is it touch only? It's definitely area of effect, otherwise this village wouldn't have gotten so ... affected by it. Unless everyone kept one in their pocket, definitely, this thing has an area of effect. Wait, how are we going to even properly bring this back to Keydento? Maybe, someone has to stay out of town? Should we even bring this back in the first place?"
Suddenly the table is in full discussion on what to do about the gemstones, after realizing that it would invariably cause panic if it ever steps into the town. Although, it's really just Neptune, Vert, Blanc, and Noire discussing what they want to do. Histoire feels a bit sorry for the their sisters, although looking at them, they all look happy enough to watch their big sisters go back and forth in discussion.
"If we leave this place," says Vert, "what's to say, oh, I dunno, some random bugbears appear here, and things get worse?"
"Oh, are you saying we leave someone here then?" retorts Noire.
"Of course not, but I'm just saying, that's a high possibility, and I would just like to cover our bases."
Their back and forth goes on for a good while. Histoire listens to their points, and mentally notes down ideas that she hasn't even thought of. Mostly the possibilities on what would happen if they did leave someone or half the group, what if they all left, the only thing they all agreed on, is that they can't just stay here forever.
"Alright, obviously," says Vert, looking a bit frazzled, "we can't really get into a consensus, we're going to need an arbiter." She looks towards Histoire.
"Erm, why are you looking at me Miss Vert...?"
"Lady Histoire, what should we do then?"
"You lot are the players, I can't force a decision on all of you... but if you cannot make a decision... perhaps letting the whims of the die do the decision for you?"
Everyone winces from the suggestion. Vert speaks up.
"I don't think that's a good idea in the end... we'll just have to make an actual decision and live with our choice instead of letting randomness take it from us and we'll all regret it in the end."
"That's good Miss Vert. I would suggest to make a decision soon, or else we will need to do the traveling segment for next session."
"...Ah. I will acquiesce then. I will agree on the decision that we should all return to Keydento. I will say, we should at the very least, ensure the gemstones we have gotten be left in the village, inside a chest, or inside a house, secure. Atleast as secure as we can get it."
Noire and Neptune nods. "I think we can agree to that," says Noire. "Fastest way for us to get back to Keydento is to walk to the other nearest town, since it took us a while to get here on carriage."
Everyone else nods.
"Alright then," says Histoire, "the party decides to hide the burlap sack in the village. Who will be the one responsible for hiding it?"
Uni raises her hand. "I'll do it! As a rogue, I'm sure I should know how to hide it properly!"
"That makes sense," says Histoire with a nod. "Please roll a hide check."
"And it's ... 17, adding in my modifier of 14, it's 31 in total!"
"So Poppy hides the burlap sack, that no one expect a fellow expert rogue would be able to spot it. After that, the group prepares to leave the dilapidated village. Taking note of where they originally came from, they continued the trek towards the supposed nearby village."
Histoire waves her arms around, and conjures what looks to be a simplified map, the faces of the party all bundled together, and a big red arrow pointed toward a nearby town.
"Traveling in this game is definitely much more enjoyable than just simply holding down my forward key on my keyboard," muses Vert. "A lot of mental preparation though..."
"The group continues to walk, the journey is thankfully uneventful, after the excitement of the village, everyone might have needed a break. It still takes a good amount of time before the group eventually reaches what looks to be a small village. Somewhat reminiscent of Keydento."
"What's the town called Histy?"
"Uh... sec, checking my notes here... New Haneda."
"I guess, why not. Sure. Makes sense, I guess that old village was originally called Haneda, which is why the forest is called Haneda Forest, wouldn't it have been awful if the same tragedy struck New Haneda because we decided to bring those gemstones with us?" says Neptune, somewhat mindlessly.
"Right..." says Histoire. "All the same, it's a town, and wanderers aren't that uncommon, so no one raises any kind of reaction to the group walking in. There are some sentries looking at the group, but otherwise the group is left alone."
"Alrighty, we should get a carriage ride back to Keydento, not sure how long that'll take but, it shouldn't be that bad. Sir Puddington will use his Gather Information to find out if there is a carriage passing by Keydento."
"Go ahead and roll Neptune."
"That's 8, and adding my 8 mod, that's 16 in total."
"Okay, since merchant carriages or even carriages in general aren't withheld information, Sir Puddington quickly finds out that, there is a merchant planning on passing by there."
"Neat, how much would it cost him to add in... uh, 7 others?"
"Wait, 7?" asks Noire.
"Oh come now, Noire, you have Soleil, you would more or less be just riding with the carriage. While, us, would need to be in the carriage, which would be less profit for the merchant."
"Oh. That's true. Right. So, Lady Histoire, how much would it cost for us?"
"Erm, let me see..." says Histoire attempting to quickly leaf through the Dungeon Master's Guide but failing to quickly find anything regarding traveling via carriage, which was why she specifically made the travel portion free of charge via that missive. "Sir Puddington would have to speak with the merchant, as they would charge different rates."
"Okay, I'll look for our merchant friend, and butter them up, maybe get a discount or two. Think I could roll some performance for that?"
"Erm... sure. But, not right now."
"So, Sir Puddington will go look for whoever the merchant actually is, and since like you said Histy, it's not withheld information, I'll assume the merchant is in a bar somewhere."
"Yes, that's a reasonable assumption. Sir Puddington was able to find the person, and it's someone, somewhat familiar."
"Oh? We've seen this merchant before?"
"Roll, uh, an intelligence check, to jog your memories, DC 10."
"Oh hey, rolled 10. Modifier makes it 12, so, who is he?"
"Sir Puddington recognizes the merchant as Creed."
"Who? Wait... uh... oh yeah! That guy from Chapter 6! He sold us the Arsenic for that rat poison! Been a super hot minute since then, huh. Well, does he recognize us, or rather me?"
"Well, Sir Puddington, introduces himself, and it seems that Creed does remember you, especially since you did help him out and his bodyguards."
"Neat! I'll tell him, 'I heard that you will be passing by Keydento, we don't want to walk all the way there, how much would it be?' then wait for his answer."
Histoire clears her throat, "Creed replies, 'Oh? Passengers today, I see, well, I still remember you helping me out during my time of need, so I shan't charge high. Hmmm... how many will there be? Just you?' he says."
"I'll reply, 'It'll be 7 of us, even though we're 8, one of us has a horse so not technically a passenger.'"
"Creed nods, 'Alright, I believe it would cost, 45 gold pieces in total for 7 people riding in the wagon.'"
"45 gold pieces huh. Yeah, I think that's fine, and having a reliable merchant friend would be good!"
"That's right, when a merchant knows that you're willing to purchase goods from them, you'll become more reliable in their eyes."
"Sir Puddington will tell him, 'I think that's a fair price, when will you be departing?'"
"Creed replies back, 'I was just about to finish my meal, we shall be departing shortly.' He finishes up his meal and cleans up. 'Shall we meet by the village entrance then?"
"Sir Puddington will nod, and gather the party."
"Alright Neptune, deduct 45 gold and, well, since all of you have consumed a good amount of time with your discussion, it's more or less time for the session to be done. We can reconvene back in Keydento. Sound good?"
Neptune nods, and everyone else nods after.
"Thanks Histy, see you all next week!"