| Logs |
2002 October 27
| Idlewild |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
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| Realms: Idlewild Logs |
October 27
Oct 27 2002Sol's sudden Twinkie-induced illness is aided but not entirely cured by Aiden's offer of the ex-gelatinous cube... er, flesh. Blue, goopy flesh. Anyone who touches the goop notices that the burning sensation it caused when alive is entirely gone-- according to the rocky, stocky little man Lotte traded a kiss for the cure, the sugar magic of the Grey World is cancelled out by the acid, to an extent.
Steven is a little perturbed by his homeworld... er, homeplane... whatever... being called the 'Grey World.' It bothers him in a way he can't really put a finger on just yet.
Despite the party's mistrust, Lotte shows no ill effects from having given the grey stone man a peck on the cheek, and the rocky stranger is nothing but courteous to her. He lingers while the group waits for Sol to be travelworthy again-- no more than a handful of minutes-- and then leaves with a short goodbye. The group is left with a happier Sol and a few words of advice-- the tunnels go farther down, but the grey man and his unseen partner are not the only folk making use of them.
Steven takes that advice with a worried nod. He already figured that there were others -- namely the ones that captured Lotte. "Noplace else to go but forward," he says quietly to the others."
Aiden nods at Steven and looks down the tunnel. "Yeah," he says quietly.
Lotte and Sol rise from their resting positions and walk forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with the rest of their group. She nods.
Once outside the doorway, the party can see the tunnel continue at a downward slant, illumined by patches of the glowing moss. It either ends ahead, or turns another corner-- it's not obvious from far away.
Aiden takes a deep breath and starts walking down the tunnel.
Steven will be walking forward cautiously, keeping himself alert for any sounds or anything amiss in front of them. As he walks forward, a sudden thought catches him. "Aiden," he asks quietly, "how long until Sol and Lua change?"
Aiden blinks. "I'm not sure.. It's probably coming up soon."
Steven nods, grimacing. "Okay. I don't know if the kidnappers know that or not, but we should try to find her before then all the same...." He approaches the end of the tunnel segment, trying to ascertain if it is a dead end or indeed a turn.
Sol walks ahead, and does not seem to hear the exchange. He disappears around the bend in the tunnel that shortly becomes obvious to everyone after Sol's lean golden rump takes the corner.
Aiden grins a little in spite of the serious situation. "Guess that answers that question." He follows Sol around the corner.
Steven pauses long enough to roll his eyes a little, albeit with a grin, and follows along after the others.
Long, low and distinctly female, a cry of pain echoes eerily up the tunnel the same moment the group rounds the corner. Immediately ahead are three possible tunnels as the causeway branches, and no sign of Sol.
Aiden looks down the branches, eyes looking panicked. He points at the one to the left and says, "I'll take this one."
Steven blinks at the sound, and winces, and nods, "Okay. I'll go with you. I really don't like the idea of us splitting up down here." I hope she's all right...!
Aiden would nod, or somehow acknowledge Steven's words, except that he's already heading down the passage. He puts on hand lightly on the wall to help guide himself.
Steven blinks as he realizes he's talking to air, and hurries to follow along behind Aiden.
The air in the passage is darker and thicker somehow, and the smell has changed. Oddly, it's sweeter.
Aiden pulls his fingers away from the wall and rubs them together a bit, then takes a quick sniff at them.
Steven blinks, his nose twitching. "Aiden," he whispers, "Do you smell something...?"
Aiden looks over at Steven. "Really sweet smell? Strong, but not unpleasant?"
Both men notice that their visibility is getting worse, as if they are walking in a mist... the patches of glow-moss have not decreased that dramatically, and the mist gets deeper the farther they walk.
Steven blinks, and stops. "Aiden... wait. I think it's a trap of some kind."
They also notice that Lotte is not following them.
Steven glances behind, and blinks, seeing no Lotte. "That's... that's odd...."
Aiden looks at Steven. "Want to try the right corridor first?"
A low murmur rises ahead of the men, and falls.
Aiden says, "Hang on.."
Steven nods quickly, 'Yeah, let's backtrack and go down another... uh... another route." His voice drops. "I don't think we want to run into whomevers over there, not with our visibility shot to hell and back.
Aiden whispers, "What if what's down there and chanting is chanting and getting ready to do something horrible to Lua?"
A short sob cuts through the darkness, quickly stifled. The murmur rises again-- it sounds like laughter.
Aiden scowls. "I know that voice.."
Steven freezes, both at Aiden's words and at the sudden whimper. "Good point," he whispers. And though I'd not tell Aiden this right now, even if it isn't Lua there, someone's definitely sounding to be in trouble.... He blinks. "What... what voice?"
Aiden looks back at Steven. "I don't care if they've got Lua in there. That cry was Otter. I'm going in."
Steven blinks, and nods. "I'm with you, Aiden," he says resolutely.
Aiden starts running down the hall, towards the sounds.
Steven is certain now -- it was some sort of sound of pain. he runs forward with Aiden, trying to catch up with him. Lord Pelor, give us strength to face that which must be stopped from harming others! he prays silently.
As Aiden and Steven run ahead, the mist grows rapidly thicker, and the scent approaches a cloying sweetness... but the voices get clearer as he runs. They sound male when they laugh-- and the soft whimpers now audible are definitely female, and at least to Aiden's ear, definitely the little dark girl he met at the river bathshops who called herself Otter.
Aiden draws his sword as he's running forward.
Aiden looks over at Steven. "What's that roaring noise?"
Steven has enough time to get out, "What roaring noise?"
Their own footfalls and the sense-clouding mist drown out the underground river until it's rather too late. Both men make ineffectual grabs at the air and disappearing ground, but the path ended abruptly on a two-foot drop into a very cold river.
Steven tries desperately to avoid breathing water -- again! to take much notice of anything else.
Aiden is floundering to keep himself up in the water, having apparently completely forgotten how to swim. Afterall, his last experiences in water haven't been pleasant ones either. He does, however, hear Otter's pained voice say "Told you! Got coin from bottom of river," followed by a male grunt and a hiss of pain from Otter. He also hears thunder, oddly.
Steven stifles a whimper as he finds himself loosing to the cold, cold water. Not again, dammit, not again! He tries to calm himself, trying to get his mind focussed on the act of not-sinking. What he hears, though, in his lucid, surface moments, is odd: a man saying, "Who leads the resistance? You know *underwater* tired of asking *underwater* do it again?" What resistance? Do what again?! Arrrrgh! No! I WILL... NOT... DROWN!
Aiden finally manages to get his swimming under control and starts swimming, hard, for Steven. He's quite determined that he won't let them both fall over the waterfall that he mistook for thunder.
Steven makes one last effort to stay afloat and without his lungs filling with the chilly water. Pelor, please... someone is in need, give me the strength to help them...!
Steven can't make it. Try as he might, the cold water is too numbing, what air he can get too sickeningly, cloyingly sweet.... He could breathe, once, but that was inthe past. A rueful thought makes it through his mind: This time, there's no light at the end... but for when I see Lord Pelor. I'm sorry, Aiden, Lotte... Sol, Lua....
Aiden starts swimming strongly towards Steven, looking determined. He makes a grab for Steven and amazingly, manages to get him and pull him up for air.. He holds Steven above the water as they both plummet over the waterfall..
Steven finds himself pulled up out of the water by Aiden, and spluttered, grateful words of thanks start to form... right before he feels suddenly weightless. Oh, crap, he thinks fuzzilly.
The bottoms drop out of both men's stomachs as they become airborne but not weightless. Forty feet of falling hits them like a rollercoaster dive... until the water below hits more like a brick wall.
Aiden loses his hold on Steven when he hits the water and is not able to keep himself up. He goes under the water..
Steven blinks, looking around as he surfaces in a wide pool. Air! And he can SEE! They landed relatively close to a bank... but right now they're way too close to the waterfall. He realizes that Aiden is having difficulties, and tries to aid the other man as best as possible, diving after him as he goes under...
Steven successfully navigates toward Aiden and makes the grab to haul the forest ranger back into the air, in a nice turnabout. They make their way over to the cold stone bank with each other's aid, and crawl out to lie wet and bedraggled for a moment, catching their breath.
Otter's voice says raggedly nearby, no farther than 20 feet away, "Told you. Seen no elves, long time no elves, not know! Not my coin!"
Steven opens his eyes, trying to remain conscious if there's anything preventing that, and tries to make sure Aiden is as well, and trying to remain quiet for the time being before they can ascertain who's butt, if any, they should start -- trying to, he amends -- whail on.
Aiden is laying on his back, trying to catch his breath. His eyes are closed, but at the sound of Otter's voice he scowls and raises his head to look around.
A male voice says pleasantly, "Well, you do carry on. I suppose if you're quite sure about this even with one ear, I might have to move on."
Both Aiden and Steven can see a ruddy glow coming from a tunnel in the way about 20 feet away... much like firelight.
Steven scowls, and pulls himself upright. Oh, no... oh, no, you don't.... If he's well enough, he moves forward towards the tunnel, trying to keep out of the light, getting to the wall beside the tunnel.
Aiden looks around for somewhere - other than the river - to hide.
The male voice says, still very pleasantly, "I'll just see what your friend next door has to say... and then perhaps I'll come back for you. I do so enjoy our time together."
Otter's strangled sobs come quietly from the tunnel as Steven moves forward.
Aiden follows Steven's lead, but is looking around for this "friend next door". He can only assume that he means this room.