A Horse By Any Other Name (Part 3)

One Month after the Summer Solstice (Seventh Moon, 1000 ALB)

The group begins to make their way toward the small town.  Suddenly Grotto lets out an excited “A-Ha!  That's it!  The puppet broke the curse by leaving the island.  Perhaps if we leave, we will break the spell!  We just have to find where to leave from first!”  The shaggy dwarf-pony prances a little, his feet digging small divots in the earthy loam.  For the first time in years, nearly longer than he can remember, his body is whole and unscarred.  He sees Kysek's horn glow as the elf casts his flight spell and chortles loudly.  “Feeling a bit horny are you? As am I! Let's see if we can also find a few fillies or mares in town! Surely the townfolk have some in a stable. We are now animals, lets give into our animal ways!" Following the lead of Kysek, Grotto also pounds his hooves and prays to Hanseath to heal his horse body! "Hanseath heal me so i can plow a plow horse!!" 

Raven nearly snarls in reply.  “I think that is a terrible idea! Wasn't there a legend about a woman who enters the underworld and is condemned to stay because she ate some seeds or something? Pressing your luck and acting like an animal may doom you to life as an animal."   Nik coughs and gasps, regurgitating some of the grass he ate earlier, shocked and repulsed by Grotto's statements.

Raz'iir walks up beside Raven, “So, to the town then.  It seems to be our best option at present.”  With that, the elf-emental pony breaks into a trot.  

Shadow follows in the group's wake, “Horses... why did it have to be horses?”

Kysek wheels in the air, excited to discover that his magic still works.  “Let's go, let's figure this out. We must return ourselves to normal.”  He continues to think about how he can move his tail to cast other spells as he breaks into an airborne gallop that carries his over to the rest of the group.

Drax, having seen Kysek cast his spell successfully, wags his tail as well, chanting, “غير كشف” and “محاذاة غير قابلة للكشف”.  A spot on his forehead, roughly equal to where his “third eye” would be in his human form, begins to glow and after a moment, spells that will misdirect divinations take hold.

Cedron, relieved that his voice is still intact, begins to sing another song.  The harmonics of life flow through his music as he turns his ministrations upon Ra'ziir and Niklas.

As the group reaches the edge of the town, they see dozens of other horses going about the business common to any small settlement.  A wide stream crossed by numerous bridges encircles the village.  Most of the homes in the village are one or two story white wooden affairs with thatched roofs although there are several fancifully painted houses and shops.  Most of the homes have small vegetable gardens growing in their yards.  

Near the center of the town, in the village square, there is a three story round building with numerous windows and balconies that wrap all of the way around each level.  The number of ponies coming and going from the building indicates that it is some sort of official structure, possibly a town hall or something similar.  To the west of the town hall, there is a fountain with a statue of a rearing horse.  

Small ponies splash in the water at the base of the statue, laughing and giggling with delight.  The smell of freshly baked pastries wafts toward the group on the light breeze blowing through the town. It is like the entire town is perfectly normal except that all people have been replaced by ponies.  The overall effect is fairly surreal, even for a seasoned party of adventurers like our own.  Looks of confusion (and perhaps horror) must be plain on our faces since one of the unicorns begins walking toward us with an exaggerated tip-toed gait.  A thin sheet of shiny silver metal covers most of his head although wisps of wild white hair poke out from beneath the edges of the improvised cap.

The pony addresses the group once he draws close enough to speak in a “hoarse” whisper, “Hey, I’ve never seen any of you around here before.  Who are you? My name is Foil Hat.  I know EVERYTHING that goes on around here … Everything.  Even the stuff “THEY” don’t want me to know.”  He points with one of his hooves toward the thin sheet of metal covering his head. “It’s why I wear this” he says, “so they can’t steal my thoughts.”  The strange (and possibly paranoid and/or delusional) pony giggles quietly to himself, “What brings you here?”
- - - - -
• Cedron: 79% health;
• Drax: 100% health; Nondetection (lasts until about 10 pm), Undetectable Alignment (lasts until about noon tomorrow)
• Grotto: 61% health; 
• Kysek: 100% health; Half of the Tome has been read, Fly (9 minutes, 9 rounds remaining)
• Niklas: 84% health; 
• Raven: 80% health; 
• Ra’ziir: 73% health; 
• Shadow: 97% health;