The elderly gnome looks up from his book, and adjusts his glasses as he stares at Elaranna. After a moment of scrutiny and awkward lip smacking on his part, he answers her, "I'm afraid we don't have a 'Calal' in our prisons," He then muttered a small incantation and a ghostly hand appears. It grabs a heavy book and carries it over to the desk space right in front of Elaranna. After the hand drops the book, it disappears and the elderly gnome informs her, "You seem like a nice girl. You are welcome to look through the ledger and see for yourself if you don't believe me,"

Elaranna glanced through the book, taking some time but no matter how many times she looked, she could not find Calal's name within the pages. When she was done, she closed the book and handed it back, thinking about her options for a little while longer. There was the possibility of trying to bribe someone but again, that was not really her area. After a few moments, she would give the warden a slight bow.
"Thank you very much for you time, Warden. I will see myself out." She said in a respectful manner before leaving the prison. Once she was out, she would head to the market to find some fruit to try and lure out 'Buttons'. Once the bait was secure, she would need to try and figure out where the monkey had gone, as it seemed as if no one had seen a capuchin monkey as of late, which was leaving her with very few leads to go on and even less to work with. Besides, she realized that even if she did get a capuchin monkey, she had no way of knowing wether or not it was buttons.

Feeling her frustration growing, she quickly made her way to the outskirts of the city to find a place that was quiet, in order to calm herself down in a place where there wasn't likely to be anyone around.

As Elaranna left the prison, and bought fruit at the market, she would notice that the marketplace was pretty crowded. It was pretty much just another normal day in Nalukkhar. After buying the fruit, the monk would find herself in a quiet park that bordered up against the edge of the jungle. Elaranna easily finds a bench where she can rest and think about her predicament with the dead end. There was nobody here and the park was peaceful and quiet. Elaranna is surrounded by nature and this seems like a good place for meditation.

However, this peace is disrupted by the clinking of metal against metal, and the feeling of the purse being jostled.

When Elaranna looks down, she would see a small cloaked figure with a gloved hand in her purse that contains only five gold pieces. This figure's height is probably a little shorter than the typical halfling adult. The figure looks at Elaranna, the hood obscuring their face, and the figure breaks the tense silence with "Oops...! Uh...Bye!" The figure then runs into the jungle.

Wasting no time, without really thinking about it, Ellaranna dashed after the figure. It was a long, arduous chase, but sadly for her, the figure escaped into the woods. Being athletic had never been Ellaranna's strong suit but right now, she didn't really care much. She was tired, in the middle of the jungle, and now had actual sweat to accompany the water that usually ran down her skin. With a sigh, she found a smooth patch of grass and sank to the ground, hoping to just rest until she could recover her strength and try and make it back to town.

Elaranna finds herself sitting in a patch of grass, leaning her back against the tree, and her eyes close. It is not hard for her to find sleep. However...just as it was easy for her to find sleep, it's also easy for other creatures to find her. The hours pass as she sleeps, and she never notices how the air around her grows cold...

---

---

Meanwhile, it's another normal day in a distant town or village for Ander the Feyblessed. After a busy, busy day, night has fallen, and he was about to find sleep for himself. However, the sound of jingling bells and laughter catches his attention. He sits up and he sees his patron, The Prince of Fools, floating in the air as though he was simply sitting in a chair. He laughs "What fun! What fun! What a show!" His face, as usual, is hidden behind a grinning mask. He looks to Ander and speaks again, laughing the entire time, "Wicked witches, awakened animals with the ability to bend chaos to their will, how fun, how fun! You truly are missing out little Ander!"

The mask then warps to a frowning face and he continues, his voice now somber, "Oh...but while this foolishness is entertaining, it won't last very long if this fool is left alone for any longer..."

The mask then warps back to a smiling, laughing face, as the Prince of Fools looks directly at Ander, and he speaks to him, "Why don't we join in on the fun, little Ander? Your task now is to find the fool and make sure this game continues! Help that fool complete the Trial of the Monkey!" He laughs to himself before he realizes something,

"Oh, that's right. You are very far from the jungles of Tumunzah...That certainly is a problem," He then shrugs and he states, "Oh well. I am a benevolent benefactor. I'll save you the trouble of transportation,"

He then snaps his fingers, and Ander would quickly find himself elsewhere with all of his equipment and belongings with him. He was no longer in a tavern room. Instead, he is in the jungle. He was pretty sure that forests had surrounded the town he was in, not jungles, and it wasn't this humid before!

The last he hears of his patron is the laughing voice echoing through the air, "Good luck, my little warlock! Don't let the wights bite!" His presence fades along with his laughter.

After a moment of quiet, Ander notices that the air grows colder and colder. He instinctively looks to the side and sees it. An undead being is walking towards something. And it doesn't seem to notice him yet.

"Oh bloody hell. That was a fookin' day if I ever had one." Ander said to himself, leaning back in his seat, ready to take a nap for the day. But then, he heard that oh so familiar voice. "Oh fookin' hell. What do ya want lad? I just finished a job for you! What more could you want!"

Despite his complaints, the warlock listened intently as his patron spoke. Over the years, if he had learned anything, it was that Archfey, or fey in general, were assholes most of the time and loved speaking in riddles. As such, he knew he needed to pay attention to every word that came out of Hyrsam's hidden mouth. As per usual, it made very little sense, but it did give him some sort of idea of what he was going to do.

Then he learned that he would be returning to his secondary home. The land were his apprenticeship to a wizard had been. As well as where he knew most of his friends would be. That news, brought a smile to his face.
"Well, why did you say that's where I was going soon lad? Take me there as soon as..." He said before he was teleported to the middle of the jungle. Looking around, he picked up his back before sighing and muttering under his breath. "Of course it's never that easy... wait... what wights?"

Then he felt it. The presence of an undead. Whirling around to face it, preparing himself to cast magic. However, it seemed to not have noticed him. Knowing it was better to not risk things going incredible south, the man attempted to sneak away.

As he began sneaking away, Ander spotted something he had not been expecting to see: His old friend Elaranna sleeping against a nearby tree. And the Wight was sneaking right towards her, apparently intent on making a meal out of her. He only recognized her due to asking Hyrsam to show him how his friends were doing on occasion. Immediately his eyes flared with magical power as he rose to his full length, pulling out his spear while moving his free hand and muttering an incantation under his breath, golden energy surrounding his hand. Once he was finished, if the light didn't give him away, he words definitely did.
"Hey, you pasty skinned bastard! Away from the girl!" He said, launching the bolt of energy at the creature.

As the golden ray of light flared it's way towards the undead being with vines and flowers appearing from the blast, the undead looked towards Ander after he shouted. The undead tried to block the blast with its sword hand, but the blast still did a little damage to it. With the blast done, the undead being lowered his sword arm, and glowered at Ander. It begins it's dreadful march towards Ander. That slow march quickly turned into a run and soon enough the undead being was in front of Ander, ready to use his wicked blade on the warlock. But Ander still has a chance to do something before the blade comes down to slice him.

Ander grimaced as the creature closed in on him. That was the bad news, the really bad news. The good news was that is seemed to be slow, so he aimed to try and skewer it on his spear before it would get a swing at him. Sadly, melee combat was not something he was any good at and his strike went very wide.
"Ah, shite. This is was horrible idea now." he muttered to himself, readying himself for whatever blow was going to be coming his way. Hopefully he would be able to deflect it.

The sword is raised and it was about to bring down the sword down onto Ander. It seemed like the journey for Ander was going to end just as quickly as it had started. But then, something unexpected happened. A warbling orb of dark green and sickly green energy flew down from above and splashed onto the undead. Thankfully, none of that acidic magic landed on Ander. Both Ander and the undead would look up to see a robed figure standing in the trees above. The figure shouts to Ander, "Grab her and run! Hurry!"

As the figure shouts that, the undead shambles towards the tree and once he's below, he takes out a longbow and knocks an arrow, preparing to fire at the figure.

The figure easily moves through the trees in an attempt to take cover. He does so and the arrow hits the large tree trunk. Ander then hears an incantation being muttered, and sees a soft glow appear from behind the large tree trunk. Then the glow becomes brighter and brighter, and he hears a surprised yell before he hears a pop and then another pop, twenty feet away and still above him and the skeleton.

Ander was not going to argue with any help that came his way. The way the sword was raised sent a chill down his spine and he knew the blow was going to be deadly. Thankful for the distraction, he disengaged the wight and made his way over to Elaranna, kneeling next to her and gently tapping the side of her face to wake her up.
"Come on lass, wake up, wake up!" He said frantically.

Thankfully, the genasi didn't take long to wake up, groaning as she slowly opened her eyes.
"Huh? Wha… what's going on?" She asked, looking around, her trying to get a grasp was what was going on.

"Later Lass. Let's get moving." Ander said to her, helping her to her feet and dragging her away. Being stronger then Elaranna and seeing as to how she was offering little to no resistance due to how tired she was, they would be able to try and flee.

Thanks to the distracting words of the cloaked figure, the undead being was completely focused on him. The undead was clearly bamboozled as the figure kept popping in and out of existence, from one place to another. However, the two would not be focused on the battle as they successfully ran away. The both of them would continue to run and run, until they were far from the battle.

As Ander's luck would have it, the both of them reached a peaceful grove. A spring filled with crystal clear water can be seen and Ander would be able to sense a little fey presence here. Perhaps his benefactor guided him here? He can't really say for certain. But here seemed like a better place for both friends to collect themselves and rest.

Ander helped led Elaranna away, wishing the mysterious figure luck in his fight, though from what he was able to make out, it seemed their unknown benefactor was more then used to combat. This evident fact gave Ander some confidence in the figure and a bit of a cleaner conscious leaving them behind.

After a bit of running, the two of them came across a clear, from which he felt traces of fey energy. Knowing that they would be safe, he let Elaranna go, the genasi sinking to the ground, catching her breath while Ander did the same. Once they had recovered enough, Ander turned to face his old friend, a smile playing on his face.
"Well, not how I expected to meet ya after so long, but it's a pleasure to see you Elaranna. How ya been lass?" He said, his tone light and playful.

Elaranna for her part, was caught off guard by the human in front of her knowing her name. She reached back for her staff while examining the man closely before some of his features, though changed due to age, were familiar to her. After a good minute, it finally dawned on her.
"Ander? Is that you?" She asked, her tone one of surprise.

"The one and only. It's been years my friend. But it's nice to see you alive and kicking. Tell me, whatcha been gettin' up to?" Ander asked, taking a seat on the ground.

Elaranna smiled back as she relaxed and let out a sigh.
"I was training with my master that you managed to find for me up until a while ago. He passed away sadly. Since then, I've been journeying around the jungle. It hasn't been too long, but I seem to have found myself in some trouble. I caught someone trying to pick my pockets and chased them out here. Pushed myself a little too hard and now I'm just utterly spent." She said with a laugh. "And what about you? How did your training go? Why do you sound so... different?"

Ander listened and laughed at the last question.
"One thing at a time lass. You chased a pickpocket all the way out here? To the jungle? The thief must be fookin' mad to run all the way out here. The wilds are much more dangerous then any city. As fer my trainin', well... it didn't go as planned. I got no talent fer book learnin' but..." He said before raising a hand and gathering some eldritch energy around it. "I was good enough to learn something to get me what I wanted. Hence why I talk so funny now. A small price to pay if ya ask me."

As the both of them continue to speak, the sun sets and the surroundings around them grow darker. Fireflies appear, lighting the grove around them, and frogs begin to croak. The scenery is quite peaceful and serene. As the two of them would talk, they would notice that there is a series of mushrooms surrounding the grove, forming a sort of ring around it.

"Oh, it's getting that late already. Well, how about you continue to get some rest my friend. You're in more need of it then I, so don't bother arguin' with me about it. It'll be like the good ol' days." Ander said after he noticed that the sun was setting.

"Are you certain Ander? I can at least take the first watch, after you helped me out back there." Elaranna said.

"Save your thanks for the lad who helped us both by distractin' the pasty bastard. For now get some rest. I doubt harm will come to us, but I'm more alert then you at this point, so just get some sleep." Ander said, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Elaranna knew he was right about him being more alert then her, so she set up a place for her to get some rest before lying down and closing her eyes, quickly falling asleep due to her exhaustion while Ander kept an eye out for any possible trouble.

The night passes by peacefully enough. Early in the morning though, just as the sun started to rise, Ander would notice something. The small cloaked figure, the same one that distracted the wight, could be seen approaching. It looks as though he was following the pair's footprints. He stops however, and looks around. He mutters to himself, "Huh...? That's weird. Where'd they go?"

He looks around some more, and he muttered to himself thoughtfully, "Maybe they teleported themselves out? That's probably it..." He then starts to head away from the grove. From what Ander could guess, the figure clearly didn't see the grove, nor the two of them.

Ander managed to find a balance between getting enough rest to get through the next day and staying awake enough to keep a proper watch out for possible danger. Thankfully, the faerie circle didn't attract any sort of trouble towards them. When morning came, he glanced around and found Elaranna still fast asleep on the ground. Knowing she needed the rest, he didn't bother her, determined to let her rest until her body decided enough was enough.

Getting to his feet, he glanced around and spotted someone moving around just outside the circle. Getting up with his spear in hand, he noticed it was the small figure from the night before. The figure appeared to be tracking them and stopped just at the edge of the circle. Noticing how the figure seemed confused before moving away, Ander now understood the circle was one of protection, to keep those who were not welcome out. Thanking a small message of thanks to his patron, he moved over to Elaranna and gently shook her, knowing what she would want to do.

It took a couple of tries before the Genasi stirred and sat up with a yawn.

"Mornin' lass. How're you feeling?" Ander asked.

"Sore but I'll still be able to do what needs to be done. Probably just not as well as usual." Elaranna said, getting to her feet.

"Wel'll go slow then. By the way, our rescuer from the night before seems to have just passed by. How's about he go give 'im out thanks" He replied.

Elaranna just nodded in response, both of them checking to make sure they had all their belongings and that nothing was missing before heading out, weapons still drawn, as they attempted to find the figure from the night before, with Ander taking the lead and Elaranna helping to the best of her ability.

As Ander led the way in trying to find the figure from before, he was easily able to find footprints. He followed the footprints through the forest. Eventually the footprints disappear, but Elaranna was easily able to point out the broken branches on the ground. The figure had gone into the trees! Just as the two come to that realization, they would see the robed figure jumping from branch to branch with ease.

When the genasi monk sees this, she realizes that the figure they were pursuing, the person who saved them, was the same person who tried to pickpocket her earlier! She'd recognize that robe anywhere!

With some help from each other when needed, Elaranna and Ander managed to find the trail of the figure and follow it once again into the jungle. Ander was able to take the lead for the most part, being rather fortunate in finding the tracks and following them with ease, despite his lack of training for getting around in the wild and finding people. Elaranna's contributions consisted of helping him relocate the tracks whenever he lost them, which happened once or twice. When they reached the end and he was once again confused, Ander's companion was once again able to help by spotting the figure in trees. And she recognized what they were wearing.

"That person tried to pick my pockets last night!" She whispered to Ander.

"He also saved though lass. Let's try to take a diplomatic approach here." Ander muttered back for shouting up to the figure in a friendly tone. "Top of the mornin' to ya laddy! Care to come down for a talk"

The figure yelped at Ander's voice, and he looked down towards the two of you. He answers Ander, "Oh-Uh! H-Hi! Glad to see you two are safe, and, uh...I'd really rather stay up here, thank you very much! Very comfortable with the distance, ya know?" He then asks Ander, "What do you want?"