3B - One flew over the cuckoo hut

"I don't know exactly. It's just I know I can shoot something from the crown by just thinking about it. I knew the moment I wore it. Here, you can try too if you want. Just please don't shoot any brain arrows at us!"

Sun takes the circlet off his head and hands it over to Sam.

"As far as animal related rooms goes, what about these rooms labeled 'Black cat room' and 'Black jackrabbit'?"

Once again, the frog croaks as Sam talks and the tiny, flying schoolmarm is extremely flustered. She flits up to the frog and whispers, "One more loud noise out of you and we're having frog legs for dinner, understand?"

She then whispers to Sun, "You better keep that animal under control. I don't tolerate funny business in my library."

Sun tells the frog: "This will be only temporary. Once we're out of the library, I'll remove this again." He gets out a hanky and ties it around the frog's head, so he cannot croak anymore.

Ichigo wispers.."sorry guys I really wish I could do more to help us out!!"

Sam accepts the circlet and places it on his head.

The circlet glows for a moment as it is placed on his head but otherwise does nothing.

Sam says "Oh. It shoots magic. Okay."

"Yeah, see what I mean with brain arrow? You just sorta think and it will shoot some sorta arrow or such."

"Well, I suppose having the circlet be the answer to our problems would be too much to ask.  I have similar low expectations of contacting the hut through animal themed interior rooms since I saw no indication the hut is all that aware of its innards.  I do not have a better idea at the moment, however, and I would still like to check out the stable in any case, as it seems like the best place to find a way out other than the actual front door.  I mean, animals are usually kept with access to the outside."

WuJen whispers to the librarian "I am pretty sure Baba Yaga is watching or at least aware of our presence, but if you had to get a message to her, how would you do it?  I'd like to offer our services in the city in exchange for letting her current captives go.  It seems like having her let us go is our best chance of leaving given what we know for now.  I don't want to waste time however, I'd still like to leave on our own without bothering or confronting her if possible.  I'm pretty sure she can just appear where ever we are in the hut if she chooses at this point, Magic is ridiculously easy in here."

"When I hit that door with my staff, the hut obviously didn't like it. I think it is aware of certain things. Like if you ate a fish that shouldn't have been eaten. So maybe we can try making it cough us out, or find out how it will squeeze us out the back door?"

"That circlet is *probably* safe enough to use in here, btw... but assuming we don't leave it here I'd suggest being careful and testing it when we get outside.  Magic cast in here appears to not drain the caster like it does outside, and I have no idea if that holds true for that thing or not.  It's easily possible to cast a spell powerful enough that the drain severely injures or even kills you.  I've never heard of an artifact like that, the closest would be certain metamagic techniques or alchemy, and the saying that there's no such thing as a free lunch applies to magic as much as it does everywhere else.  Point being, if that thing pulls it's power from you the way casting the same spell pulls power from me, then while it's effortless in here it might be as deadly to the user as the target outside."

"Yeah, trying to make the hut uncomfortable was always a backup plan for extreme situations.  I mentioned earlier trying to take the doors off the hinges or setting it on fire earlier, and poor Snot nearly died of fright at the suggestion."

"It seems workable, but I'd much rather leave without damaging the owners property if at all possible.  A personal grudge from an angry and apparently immortal giant witch seems like a poor way of living to a ripe old age"

The frog tries to croak through the hanky when Sam talks and the tiny, flying schoolmarm has had it with its noise. She attempts to sting the frog with a stinger in her tail, but it manages to hop out of the way and into the pocket where Sun keeps his commlink. With the frog gone, the stinger jabs Sun in the shoulder, but his armor completely deflects it with ease.

The tiny, flying schoolmarm stares crossly at the pocket where the frog has taken refuge.

WuJen whispers "Thank you for your help. Feel free to contact me anytime if we make it out of here, I would be happy to exchange correspondence and research."

"For now I think we should be going. Do pass along my message to Baba Yaga if the opportunity presents itself. We really don't intend any harm, theft or even disruption to her beyond saving our lives, and I'm willing to work out a trade if reasonable terms can be agreed upon."

WuJen begins the process of opening and closing a door, quietly, to navigate to the stables.

Ichigo, Wujen and Sun's commlinks each chirp as they receive a local area direct text, apparently from Sun. It reads:

>>>>> Sam not Sam. Frog is Sam.


Meanwhile the tiny, flying schoolmarm whispers to Wujen, "I'm sure she will approach you when she feels the time is right. I don't think anything happens in this place that she is unaware of."

Sun almost gets a heart attack, fishes for his commlink, accidentally pinches the frog, finally manages to get his commlink and checks the message. Looking up at Sam, he says: "WuJen is right about the crown. Maybe it's best if he keeps it so he can examine it further to make sure it's safe to use."

WuJen acknowledges the text, sighs, and looks at Sun while whispering "One problem at a time. The Librarian is clearly uncomfortable with all of us in here making noise, so let's get into the next room and deal with things there."

Sam says, "I think I'm fine with it, thanks," then dashes through the nearest door.

Sun rushes after him, trying to stop Sam from running off.

WuJen hisses as loud as he cares without angering the Librarian "Sun, Stop! It's not our crown, not our Sam clone, and if anyone not us wants to run around in here, it's there own business. Do not get separated."

Sun doesn't react in time to get to the door before it closes, but he catches a glimpse of the room Sam ran into, which appears to be a long hallway filled with suits of armor standing at attention. Once he opens it up again, the door leads to the kitchen.

Turning back to WuJen, Sun whispers: "Fair point. Fake Sam does have our map, though. I'd also rather not get a sneak brain arrow hitting us. He ran into the armor room. But what do we do, chase, or fix Frogsam?"

WuJen quietly asks the librarian "Can we get another copy of that map or do we need to chase down whoever that was that just ran off with it?"

The tiny, flying schoolmarm whispers, "I have another, I think."

She flies off and returns with another copy of the same map. "Don't lose that one though," she whispers, "That's the last one."

Ichigo will take a picture of this map. Ichigo whispers "God fragitt sam"