Lyj nods back. "Time for introductions later, I suppose." He cracks his neck, and ties the case of tools to his waist with another strip of cloth from the overlarge shirt. He glances around. "I'm somewhat less armed than the rest of you - care to lead the way?"
Inwardly, though, there is less confidence than he shows the world, and his mind works feverishly.
Captured by a mad channeler, then rescued by armed rebels, trapped in a hole filled with undead, and apparently now on a quest to find a nexus before we're all killed by someone calling himself a King.
He very nearly chuckles to himself, a wry smile playing on his lips. Interesting day.
Gilian had already turned to take the way back to the elevator when she hears Lyj comments.
"Good points, let's start with the second one. Pebble is a friend and he is with us to learn the soft-ones' ways. Care to come out?"
As she speaks, the ground in front of her seems to move and a bubble grows from it, up to the healer's height. It progressively resolve in a crude imitation of Gilian.
"I am Pebble, says the stone-like being, I will remember your steps, so do not try to harm my mistress."
He crosses his arms and trying to look bigger and more menacing than he really is.
With an apologetic but fond smile, Gilian goes on:
"On the second point, I'm afraid I do not have anything your size, but one of us may have. What do you usually fight with?"
Unabashed, Pebble stares at Lyj.
"If you do, I'll call Grandfather and he will squish you."
With these words, Pebble sinks into the ground again and a ripple shows here and there around Lyj, a trace of his presence.
From the central chamber eight equally spaced corridors lead somewhere else.
As she speaks, the ground in front of her seems to move and a bubble grows from it, up to the healer's height. It progressively resolve in a crude imitation of Gilian.
Lyj very nearly drops the case as he finishes tying it on, eyes growing wide at the sight of the little elemental. F**k, a walking rock!
He backs up a step, involuntarily, before forcing his reflexive fears back down. Damn, those things scare the fire out of me. Too much time dealing with dwarves. Get over it and deal, you moron. He can't help watching the floor move with serious trepidation in his features, though, even as he answers Gillian.
"Fight with? Ah... generally speaking, I'd rather avoid a fight to start with." True, I suppose. I'd rather end it before the other side knows there's a fight. "But when I came down here in the first place, I had a pair of sturdy knives with me. I'm probably most comfortable with that sort of thing."
Chops leans over and unstraps his dagger and sheath from his foreleg. He then tosses it to Lyj. "It's a nice knife, and i wouldn't mind getting it back sometime, but for now it's yours."
Chops leans over and unstraps his dagger and sheath from his foreleg. He then tosses it to Lyj. "It's a nice knife, and i wouldn't mind getting it back sometime, but for now it's yours."
Lyj snatches the dagger from the air, and draws it fluidly. He tests the edge on his thumb, and whistles. "Not bad, not bad at all. I'll try to put it to good use." He takes the excuse of strapping the knife to his leg to turn, and make an incredulous face at the wall. Less than a minute known to these people, under highly suspicious cirumstances, and they're arming him already?
Straightening, he nods and gestures towards the door.
The presence of the small elemental clearly unnerves Lyj, but with a visible effort, he masters himself and sets to work. He examines every bit of stonework with eyes and hands both, looking for any of the workings that might reveal themselves to his experienced eye. After a moment, he turns to any of the others watching and mentions, "This could take a little time, if I can do anything at all. You might want to start whatever explorations you still want to do around this area." He breaks out a few tools from the little kit, and sets to tinkering, hoping he can find a way to disable the thing that he can undo if necessary.
Ragnar continues to keep his distance from the newcomer and sets himself at the end of the hallway as a sentinel so those with keener eyes can look around the strange library.
...hoping he can find a way to disable the thing that he can undo if necessary.
"Lij, wait. The idea is not to disable our way out, but to disable the moving room going to the palace level." says Gilian to the newcomer.
"In the mean time, I agree with Duncan. Let's have a quick look at this level to see if we can gather more information."
Less than a minute known to these people, under highly suspicious cirumstances, and they're arming him already?
"Lij, wait. The idea is not to disable our way out, but to disable the moving room going to the palace level." says Gilian to the newcomer.
"In the mean time, I agree with Duncan. Let's have a quick look at this level to see if we can gather more information."
Lyj shrugs. "Of course. I assumed the mechanisms were the same, so some time studying this one seemed useful. Do we know where the other is located?"
He falls in line as near to the center of the group as the others let him get.
|
You spent two hours searching through the remains of the library, but no secret passages or hidden compartments were to be found. At least, you didn't manage to do so.
The descent to the mines lasted a long time. You've reached the lowest level of the mines pretty quickly, but you got lost pretty quickly soon after that. Even Sorok was unable to determine where you are exactly in relation to the moving room shaft.
While descending to the depths of earth, you have come to see riches untold. Mighty copper veins, filled with promise of silver and gold as well. Loads of iron ore, already mined and prepared to be taken to be smelted. As you go deeper and deeper, copper gives way to gold and gold to strange metals that are unknown to any of you. Soon, after some ten hours of going straight down, even the veins of metal become rare. Instead, the tunnels are chock full of large geodes, probably with some crystals inside. These mines are every dwarf's dream - but it seems impossible that all that mineral wealth is concentrated in just one mine, no matter how large.
After eleven hours going straight down, you have exited the last mine tunnel and reached the natural caves, shaped by the flow of water and movements of the earth. And that's where you begin to feel a presence...
Solvistania struggles to avoid losing her sanity as memories of her childhood flood into her conscious mind overwhelming the barriers she erected to keep her sanity intact...unfortunately the memories are too much for her and she breaks Chops grip on her hand, and flees back the way the group came.
In his usual place at the rear of the group, Ragnar sees Solvistania break ranks and start to run. As gently as he can the big Dorn reaches out his hands.
"Solvi?!?" Chops squeaks as she tears from his grips and runs back, only to be caught by Ragnar. Chops meets the giant Dorns eyes for a second with a questioning look, then nods as he draws Hope and peers further down the tunnels, searching for a sign of what caused her to flee.
Gilian had walked by Solvi and the sudden change of attitude had taken her by surprise.
"Solvi, what have you seen? What's going on?"
Ragnar meets Chops' gaze with one of his own, obviously at a loss as to what to do next. He continues to hold the struggling waif, looking to Ilona as his face begins to redden with concern, confusion and embarrassment.
|
|
"Solvi?!?" Chops squeaks as she tears from his grips and runs back, only to be caught by Ragnar. Chops meets the giant Dorns eyes for a second with a questioning look, then nods as he draws Hope and peers further down the tunnels, searching for a sign of what caused her to flee.
"Ragnar, Chops, it's all in her mind. This place must remind her of something. Chops, hold her tight and talk to her. You have to make her come back to the reality."
Worried, Duncan tries to sooth lady Solvistania.
He looks into her eyes capturing her frantic gaze for a moment, but it was all he needed to catch her attention, if only for a short while. Taking her hand he starts talking to her.
"Lady Solvistania, you are safe here.(praying that he is not lying to her]Whatever you are afraid of, it is not her. Tis nothing but a tunnel, no immediate danger here. We will do anything to protect you. You are surrounded by friends. Ragnar, Gilian, Ilona, Sorok and of course, Chops. He will somehow even do the impossible for you" He discretely nudges Chops to give him a signal to approach Solvistania at that moment and hug her.
Felina moves next to her mistress and mews loudly, as she locks her gaze with Solvistania. You all get the impression she is also trying to pierce the waves of terror emanating from her mistress...
As Duncan draws Solvistania's attention Ilona closes her eyes for a moment drawing a deep breath that seems to lighten the very atmosphere around her.
She steps forward locking eyes with the delicate elorg her voice warm, soothing, washing over the senses to eliminate everything else. To Solvistania the very shadows seem to shy away, Ilona's voice striking a resonance in her soul that strengthens her resolve.
" It's alright hon, we're here with you now. It's all in the past, you're not alone anymore, you're stronger, you're loved."
She continues to speak, bringing her hands up to cradle Solvi's face as her struggling subsides.
Sheathing Hope, Chops crosses over towards Ragnar and Solvi. He wraps his giant arms around the both of them, taking Solvistania into his own arms.
He whispers in her ear, "Darlling. You know your Durathoin won't let anything come to harm you. Come out of this. You are with your new family. We are all here and you are too precious to us to let danger reach you."
Solvistania flees...flees from her friends, her lover, and her destiny, and back to the past. The past she has fought to escape...what she thought was buried deep in her, never to be exhumed. However, the deeper she went, the closer she moved to the Nexus, the closer she came to her past.
NOOOOOOoooooo!!! She would not, must not go BACK there! She was changed, she was loved, she was redeemed. This was not supposed to happen... Her past memories just laughed with malevolent glee, and thrust her back into her cocoon, never to emerge again.
Far above her, she hears a faint noise...pleasant words....images...faces....one face strikes her in particular, not a particularly handsome face, but one with startlingly blue eys, beautiful eyes, eyes she was fascinated with...
Then a faint voice...a name...Durathoin.
She struggles to reach the voice, but the voice grows fainter. She fears to lose that memory of the voice. She knows she has one chance and one chance only:
To plunge deeper into the madness, and follow her past events, retracing her footsteps until she has reached the point when she regained her sanity. She remembers every haunting detail of her imprisonment, and then....the one memory she knew was there, the one she could NEVER forget, she remembers her rescue.
Once she has passed that point, she is able to summon her reserves of strength of her willpower, and rejoin the present...
....Where she gasps, and, seeing Durathoin holding her, clutches him tightly to her, sobbing like a child.
"Durathoin....Durathoin....my love..."
Ragnar eagerly lets go as Chops reaches for Solvistania and begins to back up, when Chops arms unexpectedly grab onto him too, using him as an anchor point to keep the struggling elf where she was.
He stiffens and turns even redder, his arms pulling back and raising up as if he had no idea what to do with them or even where to put them any longer.
His look of confusion to Ilona turns to one of wide-eyed desperation as he stands riveted in place.
As the group attempts to talk her back to rationality he only swallows awkwardly.
Ilona steps back as Chops takes Solvi into his arms and looks at Ragnar, sensing his discomfort, his confusion. Her hands reach uo to grasp his own, fingers lacing with his to encircle Solvi and Chops, her smile encouraging, an invitation to feel... to embrace emotion rather than run from it.
This was what life was all about.
A complex array of emotions runs across Ragnar's normally impassive face as he looks down at the three people now holding onto him. Eventually settling on concern he nods, sighs slightly and a bit awkwardly pats Solvistania on the back.