The trough is like a dry channel in the rock. It references a wooden structure used to feed animals. You dump food in, and the animals eat it. Just imagine a shallow, dry moat chiseled out of the rock.
OOC: that kind of thing to feed animals was exactly what I found when googling for trough. It didn't seem right given the context, but apparently the word means the general form more than what a trough is being used for.
OOC: doesn't Jan need cooling now? Putting a warming bottle to the wound will just make it bleed more. Or does it contain turnip liquor? In that case, Jan will gladly accept!
thanks for the bottle Arkanis! And thank you for healing my shoulder, lady Aerie. I can't help but wonder, where the porpoises are. Finally, something that is fitting for an amusement park. So much better than the land sharks or hydras!
Alora hurries head, leading everyone to the porpoise room. Alora goes to check out the holding pool but she is very cautious in case something nasty is lurking in the depths.
@Minevese Sadly, this is probably the truth. Okay, the porpoise show is (apparently) being held to the north of the large room with the glowing wall slime that Alora found. In the center of the room is a very deep fountain of stone. Coins- mostly copper and some silver, gleam up from the bottom of the fountain. The fountain is deep- chest height on a human, and over the head of a Halfling, gnome and is deep enough to probably even cause Arkanis problems. The gleam of the coins attracts Alora's eyes, and she can see a few strands of water plants in the corner.
Jaheira didn't porpoisely interfere with the will of the group, even though she had little interest in shenanigans. "I will follow the will of the group," she told Khalid, before following. The glowing slime appeared mostly harmless, but there were no guarantees. With her eye mostly on the slime, she muttered, "Be wary of gold, left for no reason. This is not in balance with nature."
"I... I think, my dear, it's a w... wi... wishing well," Khalid said. Being raised in a city, he probably had more experience in this area than Jaheira did. "It's a human thing."
Jaheira turned on him abruptly with a quizzical look. "Nonsense," she concluded. "Wells have no need for wishes. Unnatural." Sometimes, humans were pretty far-fetched with their doings and believings, and this was no exception.
"Very convincing," Jaheira fibbed. "You might consider that not everything you were taught is true." Anomen was probably the worst of the bunch - self-proclaimed paladins (she hadn't seen one so-called holy act by him) were worse than the real ones. Wishful thinking, and half-thought-out proclamations did not make one special, and generally worked against all semblance of balance. Why one would want to be such was well beyond her, which was just as well, for she didn't care to hear the reasons - provided there were any.
The tunnel descends into a large, rectangular chamber. On either side of you are bleachers, cut into the natural stonework, all facing towards the far end of the room. There, well lit by more of the green fungus, is a swimming pool, its bottom sprinkled with silver coins. Above the pool is a wooden bridge, suspended beneath which are three wooden hoops, hung several feet above the surface of the water. As you enter, three dolphins leap from the water, sail through the hoops and plunge back into the pool in perfect symmetry. They hit the cool, clear water with a muted splash, then rise to the surface, swimming upright and backwards, chortling in high-pitched squeaky voices before sinking back down again.
Jaheira can see that these are dolphins, not porpoises, and that their gray upper skin is laced with faint tracings of green and black, as if they had been tattooed.
However, her disappointment is short-lived because she is delighted when she sees the dolphins. "We are here in time for the show! We're here in time for the show!" She claps her hands and does her happy dance.
Alora's happy dance and clapping draw the attentions of the dolphins. Their heads come up out of the water, and the pace of their "Show" increases, as if they are showing off for the halfling. They do somersaults in midair and fly through the hoops again and again.
Alora stops her happy dance. She's suddenly got a bad feeling about this.
"Jaheira, do you think those dolphins are happy dolphins?"
Alora cautiously approaches the pool. She's not going to get close enough that the dolphins could jump up and get her but she wants to get a closer look at the tattoos.
"Not as happy as they would be, in nature," Jaheira told her. "But they do enjoy such play." She was wary, as there was no telling what magic had done to them in this place.
The markings are too light to be tattoos. It's more like the actual color of their skin. As Alora steps closer, the splash her lightly with water, as if inviting her to play with them.
Considering his last encounters with peaceful creatures in this den of stinking evil, Minsc draws his sword and stands ready to be attacked at any moment.
The dolphins squork excitedly and do pirouettes and jumps, splashing Alora even more. She is rapidly getting soaked, but also having the time of her life.
Leave the beasts alone and come back here. We need to find Culum's father unless you have given up on the task already and abandoned not only your purpose but this child too.
Once we find his father, you can come back and frolic with the fish. It isn't like they are going anywhere.
As much as Aerie wanted to jump in with Alora and play with the dolphins, she had to admit that Anomen had a point. They still had a job to do. Culum's father was still missing. Trying not to pout and show her disappointment, she raised her voice.
"They're right, Alora! We can come back after we've found Culum's father!"
OOC: Luckily for Aerie, she has a much higher wisdom than Alora!
"I wonder who tends these animals in this abandoned underground zoo. Hey Alora, if you are lucky you can get a job here after we solved this little problem with the monsters and missing people!"
Comments
"Porpoises!" Aerie exclaimed when she read the sign. "Oh, imagine the kind of tricks we will see! The circus would have loved to see them!"
(i.e.: Aerie wants to see the porpoise show. :P )
On Porpoise… or for the Halibut?
But if we must go that way, then I will not object.
Its a Tymora thing I studied in the order.
When she opens her eyes, assuming there is no bear, Alora heads down the dark passage towards the porpoise show.
Jaheira can see that these are dolphins, not porpoises, and that their gray upper skin is laced with faint tracings of green and black, as if they had been tattooed.
"Jaheira, do you think those dolphins are happy dolphins?"
Alora cautiously approaches the pool. She's not going to get close enough that the dolphins could jump up and get her but she wants to get a closer look at the tattoos.
"You're right Jaheira. They just want to play!" Alora splashes them back.
Leave the beasts alone and come back here. We need to find Culum's father unless you have given up on the task already and abandoned not only your purpose but this child too.
Once we find his father, you can come back and frolic with the fish. It isn't like they are going anywhere.
"They're right, Alora! We can come back after we've found Culum's father!"
OOC: Luckily for Aerie, she has a much higher wisdom than Alora!
"I wonder who tends these animals in this abandoned underground zoo. Hey Alora, if you are lucky you can get a job here after we solved this little problem with the monsters and missing people!"