ITT: The Sapphire of Animor: A Medieval (Mis)Adventure!

"I dunno," says the mole to the owl. "I'm not really sure what's going on, but it sounds kinda serious..."

Edited by Bluethorn on Jul 22nd 2020 at 7:02:31 AM

The people in the Luminous Cascades were supposed to be watching it! (The knight tells his peer.) What I want to know is how in the world it ended up here in Notalot and how that kid ended up with it??

(He moves a bit faster. The junkyard is now in sight. There, everybody will find the cat they're looking for peering over a broken statue at the wagon, upon which there now stands a very dazed-looking winged pink creature, with the gem on their shoulder. The creature sees the group approaching and weakly waves a clawed arm at them.)

H-...Hey....?? (The creature says before stumbling off the wagon.)

(The cat then sees the crowd approaching (along with two knights) and his face falls.) P-Please don't tell Miss Parquah... (He squeaks, worried that they'll tell the woman who runs the town orphanage.)

Edited by kablammin45 on Jul 22nd 2020 at 6:59:09 AM

"This poor kid..." the owl says to himself.

"Don't worry. We mean you no harm. We just don't understand what's going on here."

"Ahh, it appears we've approached too late. The gem has already been affixed to a statue, which has now animated itself! ...yet it's not seeming very dangerous, to first sight..."

The osprey approaches the pink creature with the gem on their shoulder. They face towards the cat with sympathy. "I won't tell the Miss you stole the gem. Just tell me; where and how did you get this gem?"

Edited by MadameButterflyKnife on Jul 22nd 2020 at 10:02:51 AM

I-...I...I got it in the pub... (The cat says.) There were these three guys with these huge cloaks in it...they were looking at the jewel and talking about it bringing statues to life and I...I nicked it when they weren't looking. I wanted to see if it would work... (He hangs his head in shame.)

Whereeee am Iiiii...? (The gargoyle mumbles, sitting upright and looking at their surroundings.)

The thieves were HERE in Notalot?! (The angler knight cries.) Dang, there's no telling where they might be now depending on how long ago it was...

[The lizard decides to approach the gargoyle, eyeing the gem on its shoulder.] "Rise and shine, Mr. Statue... and welcome, to Notalot. To be specifically speaking, this is the junkyard—the part reserved for statues, as you once were before you had..." [She points to the sapphire.] "...thing on your shoulder there."

Huh? (The gargoyle groggily tugs at the gem. It doesn't seem to want to come off.) Huh...uh...thanks?

(Then they look at the still frozen and/or broken statues and looks at the gem, then moves their limbs and wings a bit.) Wow...I-I must be lucky to have this then... (The gargoyle mutters.)

(They see one statue lying on the ground with its head broken off and nervously wrap their hands around their neck.) Eughh...

"Yikes! What's that?" asks the mole. "A m-monster?"

The osprey takes a good look at the gargoyle. Looks like the gem worked. Hey, you should come with us. For your sake and ours."

Uh...sure. (The gargoyle stands up. Then they respond to the mole.) Monster? Me? Nah, I'm just the luckiest gargoyle in the world. (They begin swinging their arms around.)

We should probably go meet up with the others. (The angler knight says to his osprey companion, then he turns to everyone else.) All of you saw this, too, so we'll take you with us as witnesses, and then we can talk about what to do with the sapphire and... (He gestures at the gargoyle.)

(At this point, the cat child has begun crying.)

What's eating him? (The gargoyle asks nobody in particular, gesturing at the kid.)

"The child is the reason you have been animated. Or reanimated, I do not know for sure which. He was not supposed to be possessing the sapphire—that is why the others of us have come here."

(The gargoyle turns to see the (still crying) youngster.)

Hey, hey! Don't cry. (The gargoyle says.) You bringing me to life is probably the best thing that's happened to me in my life! This beats being a statue...

(Of course, the gargoyle, as far as anyone knows, anyway, has only been alive for a few minutes. The cat looks between everyone, his small eyes still glistening from his tears.)

The osprey kneels down to the cat. "Look, look, do not worry. We will deal with this, and you won't get into too much trouble. How old are you, nine? You probably would not get one of the more severe punishments. Alright?"

[The lizard stays silent, simply staring at the sapphire.]

(The cat nervously nods.) O-Okay...

Well...let's all go meet up at the castle so we can hash this out and figure out what to do about this. (The angler knight says.) The gargoyle needs to come with us, too.

(From here, everyone goes to the castle, where a gathering of knights, other Notalot lawkeepers, and a few Notalot citizens are gathered in a large room in one of the turrets. The young cat sits in a chair at the front of the gathering with the angler knight on one side of him. Meanwhile, a human knight is trying in vain to get the sapphire off the gargoyle's shoulder.)

Ow! Ow! Hey, that hurts! (The gargoyle protests as the knight does so.)

Give it up, Jerry. That thing isn't coming off without magic. (The angler knight says.)

(Jerry stops and lets the gargoyle go, who runs to stand by the others.)

"So this blue stone thing is magic?" asks the mole. "What's the story behind it?"

In the background, the osprey pulls out a magic butter knife and tries to use it to pull out the sapphire.

Well, it's one of several magical gems that is usually kept heavily guarded in the Luminous Cascades, where I'm originally from. (The angler knight explains to the mole and anyone else who cares to listen to his explanation.) Usually the king himself personally guarded them...but as you might know, the king passed away recently, and the sapphire, and only that particular gem, curiously enough, went missing during the coronation of his daughter Celina.

(The sapphire does start to budge when the ospery knight takes the magic butter knife to it, but when the gargoyle starts to feel it actually coming off, they jump back.) Hey! Hey! I don't want to be a statue again! (The creature protests.) I don't want to stand around doing nothing until someone knocks me down and breaks me to bits!

The osprey faces the gargoyle. "Well, we need to protect the sapphire and you somehow. I'd recommend that you stay right where you are for the time being."

(The gargoyle immediately plunks themselves down on the floor where they were standing.)

"So... if we take the gem out, this fellow would turn back to stone?" asks the mole. "We can't do that. It would be like killing him..."

"Magic is such a precious thing," says the owl. "I agree that he should be allowed to live."

Edited by DrNoPuma on Jul 29th 2020 at 10:26:47 AM

"Alright then! We'll give the gargoyle the finest accomodations and protection while we investigate this sapphire and how it got here!"

The osprey then awkwardly whispers to their anglerfish peer. "Wait, do we have authority to do that?