| Logs |
2008 October 20
| When The Bough Breaks |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
 |
| Realms: Bough Logs |
First Movement, Interlude: Part One
Early evening is approaching. The sun is just below the horizon and the blue sky is turning into a deep purple, with the brightest of the stars coming out.
It has been a... confusing couple of weeks. (At least, Tomas is pretty sure it's been a few weeks.) First three of the monster-hunters disapeared to the west -- Mikal, Norris, and Jareth. Mikal's father, a trapper, made fewer and fewer appearances in town, and hasn't been seen in five days. The blacksmith, to whom Norris was apprenticed, took on a new apprentice earlier this week, and looks uncomfortable when asked about Norris. And the cousin to Jareth, who tended one of the goat herds up on the side of the mountain, took over tending the goats and now spends a great deal of time up there.
It is an uncomfortable realization for Tomas, as he thinks on about the events of the past two weeks, that the other villagers seem to be actively trying to not think about their missing kin and fellows.
The sun has set, and it is Tomas's turn to keep watch this evening through the village square and surroundings.
Tomas walks around the outside of the village, eyes peeled for trouble. In addition to monsters, he is trying to look for any clues to the disappearances. He thinks is suspicious that they all seemed to disappear at the same time.
There isn't anything apparent this early in the evening. Even in his experience, most of the monsters except the kitss don't tend to be nocturnal. Still, the kitss alone are bad enough, and there is the need for someone to be up to raise an alarm in case of fire or a freak swarm or even non-monster animals.
As Tomas makes his rounds, ahead on the road he sees someone. It's odd for most villagers to be out and about this late, and away from their homes. He moves forward cautiously, ready for anything. When he gets to a distance from the person where he can either charge them or run for cover, he shouts, "Halt. Stand and state your business." His poleax is at the ready.
Moving closer, Tomas can see that the person is Nico, one of the part-time monster-warders of the town, looking haggered and drawn. "Hey, Tomas. Just me, Nico." He's leaning on his staff as he makes his way along the road back to town.
Tomas relaxes a little and asks, "What happened? You look all worn out."
Nico grimaces. "I've been looking for swarms for the past two days. I've seen plenty of tracks, but nothing fresh. No clear spoor, no swarm-lines, nothing. I know they're there, it's just that they're not there now. Or at least where I'm looking.
Tomas says, in a friendly voice, "Well get some rest. If they're not there to kill, they're not there to cause trouble."
Nico nods a little, glancing back at the forest. "No... but you learn to suspect that sort of thing, you know? When things happen that aren't supposed to.
Tomas considers this. "Aye, there has been a weird feeling of late. I'll keep my eyes open. Get yourself some rest, man, you look awful."
Nico nods, and staggers back down the road towards the village. THe night is once again silent, and down the road a ways lies the darkness of the Southern Forest.
Once Nico starts down the road into the village, Tomas continues his patrol. He tries to be extra alert, as the strange tidings from Nico disturb him. He can't think of anything that would account for the abscence of monsters, especially in their usual haunts.
As he goes back to the village, behind him in the forest he hears, faintly, the sounds of a bunch of movement, like lots of little mice scurrying... or asdrin. The sound is coming closer.
Tomas lights a torch and plants it about 50 yards from the edge of the village in the direction he hears the rustling and then backs away. This way he has light to see what is coming, while still giving him time to make a move, to sound the alarm and either to attack or get to a safe position.
THe bushes start to rustle, and now there's more than just the sound of many, many asdrin. Now other animal sounds are audible. Nico has stopped his hobbling down the road, and is turning to look back at Tomas, looking worried. A small doe bursts from the brush so suddenly it startles Tomas, running easterly -- not towards the village, but following a trail that won't bring it much closer.
Tomas calls to Nico, "Alert the other hunters. I think something has spooked the forest beasts." He is sure a doe wouldn't come this close to the village unless it is in a panic. He keeps alert for other paniced animals, and for what has panicked them.
The doe is quickly followed by a couple of other deer, then a pair of raptor-wolves, then a swarm of asdrin. Except they're not swarming, they're fleeing for their lives, not bothering to consume everything they're stampeding over. They are quickly followed by a graceful, deadly kitss that is also not bothering to kill anything it comes in contact with.
Nico is already moving swiftly back to town, calling for the warders.
Tomas, while fighting down his own panic, and getting ready to meet whatever is coming, sounds the alarm horn that hangs around his neck.
The stream of creatures -- mostly normal animals, with the occasional monster thrown in the mix -- goes on for at least a couple of minutes. It's when the stream starts to disappear around the mountain, and the forest is silent again, that it starts to feel... different.
Tomas isn't sure if the others notice it; to him, thinks start taking on a bit of an awful clarity. Meanwhile, the other hunters and pretty much any able-bodied adult in the village has armed themselves with whatever was at hand and is starting to gather; Nico and several other hunters are gathered behind Tomas, all collectively holding their breaths. "What happened?" one asks in a stage whisper.
Tomas whispers back, "The forest beasts and monsters were spooked out of the forest by something. It hasn't shown itself, but I have a bad feeling."
"I think we should set up small groups to keep alert, while the others sleep. After a while, if nothing happens, I think we will be all right for the moment."
A soft murmur goes through the group, and the hunters organize themselves, spreading out in small groups. Nico and two others stay near Tomas.
It's not long after that the crunch of brush and leaves starts to become louder, as the sound of something approaching through the forest comes to them.
Tomas gets ready. As he is probably the most heavily armored of the group, he suggests that he take the lead while the others work around the flanks and back.
The sounds get louder. It's odd; they don't sound like footsteps or pawsteps on the forest ground. Rather is sounds liek a constant rustling--
And then it breaks through the brush. it's not a snake; on first glance it looks like a smooth worm with a pair of feelers on either side of it's head. But a worm that is two feet in diameter and quite, quite long. Any resemblence to a common worm disappears, then, as the teeth-lined circular mouth set between the feelers opens and a ragged hiss emerges from it's maw.
Tomas mutters a quick prayer, motions the others to go around it, and moves to attack the head.
the villagers are frightened, but they manage to rally enough to deal with this new type of monster. Two of the villagers -- Alex and Barton -- move to flank the worm.
Tomas shouts and attacks with his pole ax.
The poleaxe strikes true, but this strike does not have an effect on the creature other than a scratch. And making it angry. It rears back and attempts to lash at Tomas with it's feelers. He blocks the feeler with the haft of his poleax
Nico shouts, and tries to stab the thing with his spear, but he narrowly misses the thrashing worm's head. The two villagers at either side of the monster are attempting to keep it at bay, a little unsure of themselves, but attempting to keep it from diverting it's attention.
Tomas swings at it again and misses horribly. He manages to recover enough to block the attacking feeler.
This time, Nico's spear strikes but it again fails to do damage. "This isn't good, Tomas!" he blurts out hastily. Alex likewise misses, but Barton manages to strike -- again, his spear does nothing to the creature.
Tomas shouts back, "Get a torch, maybe we can drive it off."
Tomas's next strike hits home, and while it doesn't draw blood -- or what passes for blood in the worm -- it does seem to wound it from the impact at the very least. The screech that the thing emits is also a hint that it's been hurt.
Nico moves quickly, scooping up the torch that Tomas planted in the ground, while Alex and Barton make another go of putting holes in the worm. They only succeed in narrowly missing the worm.
Buoyed by his recent success, Tomas rears back to hit the monster again and misses again, horribly.
The fire seems to have an effect, however; as Nico waves it at the worm, it recoils, hissing sharply. It doesn't seem happy at the fire.
Tomas shouts "Keep at it, it is getting confused."
Once again, Barton lands a hit but doesn't do any damage. Meanwhile the worm lashes at Nico, who has the torch, making the man jump back startledly.
Tomas goes over to grab the torch from Nico and shoves it in the "face" of the worm. This more aggressive thrust seems to have the desired effect. The worm recouls, scuttling back with an agitated hiss.
The worm doesn't seem very interested in fighting now, instead backing away from the torch.
Tomas continues to aggressively shove the torch at the worm. After a few more thrusts of the torch, the worm turns and, hissing, dives into the brushes behind it, thrashing as it attempts to flee.
Tomas stops at the edge of the forest. "I don't think it is a good idea to follow it in the dark. We need to make sure none of the monsters it paniced come back and harrass the village. I will backtrack it tomorrow when it is light."
Nico pants, nodding. "Good... good idea. Damn, I've never seen anything like that."
"Me neither," says Tomas, "but at least we now know it is afraid of fire."
The following day, the village is quite abuzz with activity. Patrols have been running all night. The animals and monsters that fled the worm have not returned. Tomas and Nico stand at the edge of the forest approximately midday the following day, looking out into the Southern Forest. It left quite a mess, but it's hard to tell where the worm's trail is amodst the mess left by the fleeing beasts. Nico, a tracker, does manage to point them in the right direction, and they set off through the forest.
Tomas is alert for the worm and any other dangers. It would do no good, he thinks, to get eaten by kidhra while looking for the worm.
Nico seems to be somewhat out of it; he seems exhausted and a bit jittery. The encounter with the worm seems to have unnerved him He will get better in time but for now he's not doing so well. Tomas, however, takes up the slack, and about five hundred yards into the forst, they find an odd rock formation. In actuality, it's a rock-and-felled-tree formation. Between a pair of bounders and a hollowed-out tree, there is a crevice in the side of a sharp hill that the worm-trail seems to lead to. It is easily wide enough for a person.
Nico seems a little surprised by the appearance of the crevice, but he crouches down, examining the area. "Interesting. No spoor, no other trails at all... nothing else has been in this cave." He looks up at it, frowning. "I... remember it being here, though," he murmurs, then shakes his head. "I mean, it's been here, I'm surprised no animals have nested inside.
Tomas says, "You wait here. I'll go in to explore. If I'm not out in 30 minutes, get help." He takes a torch and lights it, and advances slowly into the cave.
Nico nods, taking in a slow breath. "Thirty minutes. Right."
The cave is dry and cool, a little musty and smelling of dirt and dust and cobwebs, but otherwise bearable. It takes a slight downward turn as he goes on, and after about ten yards it turns sharply, putting the front of the cave out of sight and leaving him with only his torch to give him light.
He continues to advance, with the torch in his left hand and his sword in his right. He keeps his eyes open for any sign of the worm. He is also trying to keep track of the time, though this is probably difficult.
The cave continues on, widening here and there, narrowing, turning, but still no sign of the worm. And then quite unexpectedly he gets a palpable shiver down his back, having that same moment of terrible lucidity that he had the night before. He knows without looking that the worm is in the overhead part of the cave behind him, even as still as it must be.
Tomas tries to shake the weird feeling and turns around, looking up at the ceiling of the cave and starts to retrace his steps to the entrance.
As soon as he turns, the worm drops down from the cieling, hissing aggravatedly as it weaves in front of him.
Tomas shoves the torch at it while he prepares to attack with his sword. The worm doesn't seem to be quite affected by the torch here as it was the night before. He then tries to stab the worm with his sword. Tomas's sword-thrust strikes home in the creature's mouth, striking deep, and making the worm screech in unholy pain, it pulls back, hastily, but weaves unsteadily before him; he can tell it's been severely injured.
Tomas waits for its retaliation and then the counter blow.
The worm launches itself in a vicious charge against Tomas, a leap of surprising agility against the warder. The worm is dying; Tomas has seen enough creatures on the verge of death. The leap was it's dying act, as it wraps itself around Tomas, attempting to throw him back into the cave....
Tomas manages to stand upright but the weight of the worm is immense, and it sends him careening back into the cave even as it shudders and dies.
There is sudden, utter silence, and not merely the silence of a still forest. No sound, whatsoever, in a heavy silence that seems to roar and scream in his ears. And he feels himself drifting, floating, as if in water, except he is completely dry. He feels as if he has no weight as he tumbles slowly in the blackness.
Part of him thinks that maybe he fell off a precipice within the cave from the impact of the worm, but that idea is easily dismissed right away; there is no rush of air around him as he would feel if falling, and there is no jarring, bone-crushing impact for several moments. There is only the disconcerting feeling of drifting through... nothing.
The weightlessness of the situation eventually makes the worm carcass drift away from him, and Tomas gets a better look around. It is definitely not the cave.
From what he can see as he slowly tumbles in this void, he is receeding from a wall of black granite; far 'below' there appears to be a great, grey, still ocean. And scattered amongst the blackness are countless pinpricks of light, almost like stars, but he can also see, glittering like spiderweb, traceries of threads through the void.
Tomas alternates praying and swearing. He tries to move in the darkness, in the direction he came from, as best as he can determine. If he can't seem to move he will try to keep alert for any changes that might help him figure out the best course of action.
He doesn't seem to be getting any closer to the stone wall; he appears to be drifting away from it at a fairly good clip. IN fact, now that he can see more of it, he gets the impression it's a massive stone sphere. A massive stone sphere with grey cables of some kind enfolding it. A bit more distance, and he can start to see that the cables -- they must be titanic -- are some kind of spider webbing.
And then he sees what made the cocoon.
Mounted atop the black sphere is a huge creature that seems to dwarf even the mountains near the village. It is, in shape, a spider, with white translucent chitin; visible within are the pale blue veins and organs. The eight legs apepar spindly but wickedly-barbed, and the abdomen seems narrow and slender. Massive wings, glittering and gossamer like those of a wasp, sproud from it's back, and it's bony head has fangs stained with venom.
This close to the scene, some part of Tomas's mind notices dozens of the worms upon the surface of the cocoon, and he thinks that he can see them on the body of the spider-wasp as well.
After wiping the vomit off his face, Tomas tries to determine if he is drifting into the web, toward the spider thing, or to the sphere. He also tries to see if he can affect his movement in any way. While doing this he is also looking for some way to avoid the web and spider thing. His sword and shield will do no good against it.
Tomas tries to determine where he is going and, as long as it is away from the web and the spider, if there is any way to increase his speed in getting there.
Tomas, failing in his attempts to influence his descent into the void, makes a final prayer and starts to softly sing a song learned from his much-travelled uncle.
Oh my name it is Sam Hall, it is Sam Hall.After a few minutes of that, Tomas could swear that he hears someone calling out to him -- not his name, but shouting, from a very great distance, to hold on, they'll be right there.
Oh my name it is Sam Hall, it is Sam Hall
Oh my name it is Sam Hall and I hate you one and all
You're a dirty bunch of buggers,
Damn your eyes.
Tomas shouts back, sardonically, "Don't hurry on my account." and goes to the second verse.
After a minute or two, there is a great rush of wind, buffeting him lightly, and as he tumbles he comes somewhat face-to-face with a very large creature. A sleek lizard of some kind, with two pairs of wings and a narrow, whiskered snout at the end of a bony, horned head, as well as a pair of arms and a pair of legs the creature floats there in front of him rather placidly. it blinks at him with huge yellow eyes. "What is that you are singing?" it asks calmly, as if asking such a thing is perfectly normal in this unnatural black void.
"A song I learned from my uncle," Tomas replies. "About a man who also was looking out into eternity, and not liking what he saw."
"Now please either give us a hand or leave me to my fate. I'm not much feeling like chit-chat right now."
The creature tilts its head to the side. "Oh! Certainly." With a few flaps of it's wings in careful maneuvers, It is close enough now to Tomas for him to grab hold of the leathern harness that crisscrosses it's torso.
Tomas makes a grab for the harness. Once he has grabbed on, the creature waiting placidly, it asks, "There. All secure?"
Tomas makes sure he is secure, and says, "Yes. Thanks for the rescue. My name is Tomas." and offers his hand.
The creature glances over it's shoulder, reaching back to take his hand -- or rather to let one of it's fingertips touch Tomas's palm, about as close as it can get to a handshake with the size difference. "I'm called Dabo. What are you doing out here in the Mirror alone?"
"I got pushed by a worm-thing in a cave," Tomas replies, "and here I am. What is all this about a mirror? I didn't see any mirror, just a big spider thing and a hole."
Dabo considers, making a quiet sound. "A worm, you say? That's...." It looks around a bit, and points to the sphere-and-spider. "You came from that one there?"
"Aye, I think so. It is the only one I saw. And may I ask where are we going and what you were doing here, whereever here is? Not that I mean to be rude, you understand."
"Not rude at all to ask, certainly." Dabo starts to drift a little closer to the massive structure, wings flapping just enough to give it momentum. "We're not going anywhere just yet, though, I need to find out what you mean by 'worms.' As for where here is -- wait." It arches it's head back to look curiously at him. "You are not -- I mean, you were in a cave, and then you were here?"
"Aye, that's the long and the short of it. A worm thing attacked my village, and I followed it the next morning to a cave, me and Nico that is. I went in to investigate, and the worm thing attacked me. I killed it (I think) but it charged into me and I fell back and sort of kept falling. And here I am."
"Oh. Oh, I see." Dabo turns back to the sphere, gliding a little closer. "Well, then. This may be hard for you to grasp, but I assure you it is true.
"You are dreaming, Tomas. You have been dreaming for the entire life that you can remember. The place you knew was a collective dream by the people of your Waking world. And you are now outside that dream, in the Dreamtime."
"And what happens when I wake up from this Dream? Or are you saying that I already have? And, if I can't get back to sleep, what do I do next?"
Dabo is quiet for a moment. Meanwhile, the titanic spider looms large before them, and she flits to a halt. "When you wake up, however briefly, you disappear from the dreamtime as your physical body awakens or rouses in it's sleep. Your Waking body still sleeps, Tomas. But in a sense you have awakened: you have awakened to the world that is beyond your dreamscape.
"Hmmm," she continues. "I do not see where you emerged from, but -- oh. Are those like the worms you talked about?" As if converging, dozens of the selfsame worms are thrashing their way over the cocooned sphere's surface towards them.
"Aye, that's one of the little buggers. I'd rather not get too close. I was hard pressed to get rid of one of them; I don't think I can take on that whole lot there."
"Right, then, time to go." With several powerful flaps of its wings, Dabo flies away directly from the sphere, as the worms seem extremely agitated. "Parasites," it says disdainfully. "Dreamseed. Remoras upon the bodies of the spider-wasps, feeding off of the dreams of the worlds that the spider-wasps devour."
"Och Aye," Tomas grunts. Then suddenly alert, he asks, "What do you mean world that it devours?"
Dabo is again silent, as she flits swiftly away from the sphere, bringing the spider back into view. "The spider-wasps fly around until they encounter a world they consider the proper size. They then mount it, inject their venom into it and cocoon it. And eventually, lay their eggs within the world. After a time, the world dies a horrible, entropic death, and the eggs hatch. And a new spider-wasp emerges from the shell.
"I am sorry, Tomas. There is no kinder way to say it. A spider-wasp is devouring your world. It has not finished yet, so there may yet be time to save your world," she adds, attempting to sound hopeful.
Tomas stares at the spider thing as if trying to find the right place to stand to get his best shot at it. "And when do we start, Dabo?," he asks.
"Not here. Not now. You and I could not hope to be more than a meal for the parasites upon it. It is a good sign, though; the Dreamseed vacate the dreamscape of the world sometime before it is too late, and you say you only recently noticed them. That is good, it means that your world has only recently been found by the spider-wasp. But for now... for now we must get you to a place of safety, a place where you can at least learn more about the threats facing your world, and where you can meet others who are of like mind." SHe turns, and begins to fly off outward into the blackness, at first sedately but with a speed that increases to, to judge by the ocean below, terrifying velocity.
"You're the one who can travel here, so I guess I have to go where you go. You seem to know more about this than I do and I will follow your lead." Tomas replies. "But by setting our hearts to this end, we have all ready started on our quest to save the world."
Dabo seems to laugh softly, as the spider-wasp and the dreamscape is left far behind. "You and many others, I assure you, Tomas. We are all that is left... but you are not alone."
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