Widow Merrone was one of those hermit type women who had property earned many many years ago. Many of those years ago she became obsessed with the idea of making skunks into the most perfect of pets. They are so adorably adorable afterall. This didn't really bother anyone (except her neighbours) and so her project carried on until her death a few days ago. Her grandson gained the house and the responsibility to deal with the surfeit of skunks within and now he turns that responsibility over to you all.

"I just cant do it." He wrings his hands as he leads you towards the gate. "They terrify me but we can't just leave them in there. How will they eat? How will I use the house?"

Kiera approaches the man to greet him as she keeps an eye out for the beasts in questin "I appreciate that your current situation is not sustainable. Precisely how many of the animals ar on the property and do you have any preference or idea of what to do with them?

Arion arrives to help, wearing a simple but elegant dres of green and gold cotton with matching shoes. The lithe male with his long crimson hair carries a small covered basket. He smiles reassuringly to the widows grandson, charming and serene. "Its quite alright. I'm Arion Harrow and I think I can get them out without causing harm to them or the house and garden. I brought something that should do the trick." He smiles and brushes back his crimson hair. "Do you have cages I can put them in for transporting once I round them up? My plan is to bribe them and elad them out to safety, either to the wild or to a cage where they can be taken back to the wild..."

The leaflet had hit Brannen in the face. Literally, the storm had blewn the soggy piece of parchment into the face of the young Knight of Solace and it was not without disgust that he peeled it of his skin, reading about the help required. The leaflet was not /entirely/ specific, but it stated someone needed help, it had a name on it, and it was not that far from town. Feeling responsible for the innocent, Brannen walked to the cottage, nodding to the others in greeting. "At least you are not alone any longer, Goodman. How many, exactly, are there inside?"

"At least twelve." The young man exclaims to Brannen. "But there could be hundreds!" Kiera's question about his desires for the skunks results in some more hand wringing and a shake of his heads. "Do whatever you want. I just want them gone." Arion's suggestion seems to present a spark of hope for the young man. "There are cages inside. Maybe you can use some of them?"

The knight looks at the two others, one suggesting bribes, the other already keen on spying any of the animals. A good mind and a good pair of eyes. Now really, how difficult could this be with these helping hands? The grandson gives a number. Brannen's eyes widen. The grandson multiplies the number by 9. Eyes grow even wider. "H...Hundreds? How indeed would they eat?" He looks at the others, and his motivation to help seems to have decreased ever so slightly. He clears his throat and addresses Arion: "Do you know /how/ to bribe them?" He looks also to Kiera, and finally to the young man.

Kiera checks stamina and survival at easy. Kiera is successful.

Kiera smiles in Arion's direction as he seems to have a plan in place "Lady Kiera Wyvernheart "she offers by way of introducton to all and then to Arion, eying his basket "You've brought something to lure them then. Would you like to lead since you're the one with the goods so to speak

Brannen checks stamina and survival at easy. Brannen is successful.

The young man just shakes his head at Brannen's question "No idea!" he pushes the gate open and practically leaps back out of the way so you can all enter. "Thank you!"

The first thing you notice after passing through the gate is the smell. Its a horrible mixture of skunk musk and animal enclosures badly overdue a cleaning. Even out here in the garden its like a wall. It must be hard to breathe inside.

You also spot your first skunks soon afterwards. Its a family with mom (or dad. Who knows) leading a bunch of kits up the steps and into the building proper. Awww. So cute. The babies might explain why the youth has no idea how many skunks you might be dealing with though.

There are also a number of enclosures and cages around the yard. Some might be useful for holding captured skunks.

Arion checks stamina and survival at easy. Arion is successful.

Arion smiles and nods. "I think so? I have food with a scent that should be highly tempting to skunks mixed into it. I can lead yes. I will offer the food. Once they calm down and start munching it should calm and sedate them enough to pick them up and put them in cages. I mixed a mild sedative into the mixture. It won't hurt them, just make the sleepy." He smiles and steps in, wrinkling his nose. "Eww. That is awful. I will need a bath and a spritz of perfume after this I think." He shudders but presses on bravely.

Arion checks intellect and alchemy at easy. Arion is successful.

"Ugh!" Brannen exclaims without grace. He has the tact not to ask about the destiny of the poor deceased widow. And a part of him may be afraid of the response. "Well, they are leaving," he remarks, pointing at the skunk family, "so at least they don't attack us right away." He lowers his defense slightly, calming down visibly. He looks at the cages, attempting to open and close a few, considering if there are enough tools for all of them. A consideration uttered softly, "Are these good enough? Are they still usable?"

Brannen checks perception and animal ken at easy. Brannen is successful.

Kiera smiles as sees the family of skunks proceeds them in the cottage "I do hope we can relocate them safely . It would be a shame to have to resort to another course" as she steps inside, she manages to refrain from gaging "This stench can't even be good for the skunks" she attempts to determine ratio of skunks to cages

The cages have been opened rather than broken for whatever reason. Whilst there probably arent enough small cages for you to carry dozens of the animals away you can definitely hold them here temporarily.

Arion's bait proves to be spectacularly successful. The moment he breaks the tie or seal on the storage container skunks start showing themselves. The first one out of the door is the mother and she sniffs cautiously at it. The rest however are not cautious. Suddenly there is a wave of undulating black and white bodies flowing out of the open door towards you!

"Well, they all have been open..." Brannen manages to say as the bait odor -- slightly resembling the smell in the humid forest after rain -- emanates from Arion's basket. "Oh no... Oh no!" he interrupts his own statement, staggering back a few steps "Close the lid! Close the lid!" he shouts at Arion.

Arion unwraps his treats and places them on the ground in front of mother skunk. He smiles and steps back, letting her inspect. The spell is interesting like a forest after a summer rain. The skunks come swarming him and he quickly becomes a bit overwhelmed He is handing out treats left and right, the skunks chowing down and hopefully dozing off soon after. "Okay. I think it will work? Do we have enough cages?"

Kiera hms "We have to lead them out far enough that brannen can srt the cages. Move the food back else we'll be stepping over skunks "she backs up and tries to dodge the wave of skunks

Brannen checks command and animal ken at easy. Brannen is successful.

Arion checks charm and animal ken at easy. Arion is successful.

Kiera checks charm and animal ken at easy. Kiera is successful.

To start with the hungry, tame-ish, skunks are wonderful dinner guests. They make adorable noises and even practice reasonable table manners but as the numbers of hungry skunks increase and Arion's ability to hand out the food quickly enough starts to fail the skunks start getting ornery. One tries to bite Arion's hand so he drops everything. Another starts bullying the other skunks in an effort to get more for itself. And all around you several start making threat displays..

Arion stays calm and hands out sedatives as bartenders hand out 'free drinks' paid for by nobles in their generous sprees. Much to Brannen's surprise, the horde behaves -- mostly at least -- and thus the Knight of Solace remembers his oath to protect the innocent, be it skunks or drug dealers. He advances, picking up a cage as he moves forward. Noticing a skunk so soothed it almost cannot stand straight, he places down the cage, open door facing it, and commands, sharply, but in low volume, "This is no place to sleep for a skunk. Go home." Encouragingly, he pats the back of the cage, making a soft sound hopefully luring it in. As he manages to capture one, he repeats it with several cages and skunks. Those not listening to the matronly advice instead get a soft shove or a gentle nudge. Brannen does not dare to move towards the more feisty ones. Not as long as there are bits - and of course that horrid smell.

Kiera follows brannen's example, coaxing sleepy skuncks into cages making soft clucking noises with her tongue across ger teeth as they settle in. " We'll need more cages if we plan to release them to the wild" she says. I suppose we can start with a few and make trips"

Twenty three. Thats the number of skunks you collect in the end. Twenty three sleepy skunks and yet somehow you all remain uncontaminated. Once you've checked inside the house (which somehow smells better than the yard) and confirmed that you do indeed have every one of the critters its a pretty easy job to get someone to load them all onto a wagon and cart them off to the wilderness. Its unlikely you could have done better than that.

"This was a very handy bait," Brannen admits, "and I did not think it would work so well." He clears his throat, then adds, "honestly, I never thought perfume could be so handy." He scratches the back of his neck, also giving an acknowledging nod to Kiera whose gentle animal treatment had impressed him.

As the three leave, Brannen encouragingly taps the shoulder of the young grandson. "Well, Goodman. It seems we did the worst. You only have to clean up all the piles of skunk droppings." He leaves with a soft smile. The leaflet said nothing about cleaning up afterwards.

Kiera hms "well that was a nice little adventure, though I have to wonder why someone would want so many of animal you couldn't eat or breed and sell. I'm sure they'll be happy back in the woods. i can help clean if you lile. you sorta get used to the odor

"Oh no, no, Milady" says the young man. "I wouldn't dream of asking you to clean. I'll hire someone now those pests are gone. Thank you."