Duck Lake Not I!

This thread is very much all welcome, but I'm tagging a zillion people for visibility~ ^__^

Sun and moon and dim starlight, quick sunsets and slow sunrises, blankets of drizzle and full-blown gales — much had happened so far in the quest of Goldhawk and @Scimitar, but they had not yet reached their objective. It was an obscure one, for their quarry (a dangerous stranger named @Goober) was elusive. Neverwinter's high lord and his gold-coated bard had travelled far across the region, their first decisive stop being Phoenix Maplewood so that Scimitar might converse with his friend @Saena and warn her of the creature. Furthermore, though it had been Goldhawk himself that Scimitar, @Eshe and @Charon had sent to bring Goober back within punching distance, it was Scimitar who knew their quarry's scent. A bit here, a bit there... it was certainly in this area of the country, but no sniff had yet created a neon sign.

During the latest stretch of their hunt, Goldhawk walked off alone through the morning towards a large pond among the reeds. It was as good a place as any to continue his mission. Easily-accessable drinking water and ample fresh duck — an ideal place for any wolf to roam. If he didn't find Goober here, he would at least encounter some other wolf he could interrogate. But as he roamed along the bank, he took a moment to address the very noisy ducks instead. Quack, he replied. Then: Quack ♫ in a sing-song voice. And then the bard was singing:

There once was an ugly duckling,
With feathers all stubby and brown,
And the other birds said
In so many words:
Quack! Get out of town. ♫