"Why? What does that mean?"
"Why? What does that mean?"
She sighed. "Earth dragon. Chained to the ground. Look, if I were chained to the ground, I'd just do this," she said and phased into the ground coming up a few feet away. "See? If you were really trying to keep an amethyst dragon prisoner you'd chain them to the ceiling in some sort of net."
Aananda stood outside, alone with her thoughts for a few minutes before an idea occurred to her and she raced back inside.
"Ryo, the dragon you saw, the one who was chained up, or I should say the illusion you saw. It was chained to the ground! Which means it can't be my mom! I'm sure of it."
"Wait - what? What did I just miss here...?" ;D
"Why? What does that mean?"She sighed. "Earth dragon. Chained to the ground. Look, if I were chained to the ground, I'd just do this," she said and phased into the ground coming up a few feet away. "See? If you were really trying to keep an amethyst dragon prisoner you'd chain them to the ceiling in some sort of net."
"Ahhh."
He ponders that for a moment.
"Then why have an illusion like that in the first place? Especially if dragons of any type seem to be such a rarity here?"
"Unless it's not an illusion. What if it's been hiding farther south and came up here to hunt? Or it could have came down from the north, which explains the fire troll guarding it."
He thinks for a moment.
"Do we try and release before we head for the Temple proper and hopefully gain an ally, or play it safe and wait till we beat Chan?"
She frowned. "I don't know. He doesn't know that I know the truth. Otherwise I'd expect it to be some sort of trap. But it's either an illusion or some other kind of dragon. Which would be bad. It could mean the protections around Agartha may be starting to decay. We do NOT want to be rediscovered by the other dragons. If that's what's happened, that may be why he's holding it prisoner. Chan may be evil, but he's got as much vested in keeping Agartha secret as the rest of us."
"We should verify whether or not that is an illusion we saw first. If it is, then we leave it alone. If it isn't, then freeing that dragon would work well with our little sabotage idea for the trap system and the central chamber. The more distractions and chaos we can sow to tie up Chan's assets, the better. Either that, or we settle in for a long series of guerilla-style hit and run strikes on the temple grounds to slowly wear them down."
She frowned. "I don't know. He doesn't know that I know the truth. Otherwise I'd expect it to be some sort of trap. But it's either an illusion or some other kind of dragon. Which would be bad. It could mean the protections around Agartha may be starting to decay. We do NOT want to be rediscovered by the other dragons. If that's what's happened, that may be why he's holding it prisoner. Chan may be evil, but he's got as much vested in keeping Agartha secret as the rest of us."
"Then I need to get a closer look at that dragon. There wasn't one tailing me when that portal deposited me here, but if I managed to bring down the whole blasted tunnel complex I was in when I went through it, that probably caught the attention of somebody higher up the chain of command..."
"We should verify whether or not that is an illusion we saw first. If it is, then we leave it alone. If it isn't, then freeing that dragon would work well with our little sabotage idea for the trap system and the central chamber. The more distractions and chaos we can sow to tie up Chan's assets, the better. Either that, or we settle in for a long series of guerilla-style hit and run strikes on the temple grounds to slowly wear them down."
"Maximum distraction sounds good. But timing would be very important with that. You'd need to have someone sabotage the gears right at the same time that someone else released the dragon."
She sighed. "And I still don't know where my mom is."
"We should verify whether or not that is an illusion we saw first. If it is, then we leave it alone. If it isn't, then freeing that dragon would work well with our little sabotage idea for the trap system and the central chamber. The more distractions and chaos we can sow to tie up Chan's assets, the better. Either that, or we settle in for a long series of guerilla-style hit and run strikes on the temple grounds to slowly wear them down.""Maximum distraction sounds good. But timing would be very important with that. You'd need to have someone sabotage the gears right at the same time that someone else released the dragon."
She sighed. "And I still don't know where my mom is."
"Unless the illusion in that room is to make it look like she's on the ground when she's actually dangling up in the air. But without another look there's no way to be sure. And even then I'd have to use a spell to find out..."
Gets ready for slap on the head from Quo after mentioning magic :)
Quo snorts. "Pathetic. Can't go five minutes without magic." He clucked and shook his head. "Guess that means I'm on dragon-releasing duty."
"Don't be so quick to judge Master Quo, considering we wouldn't even know about the dragon without magic. If Ruji wasn't so good communicating with illusions, I might have forgotten about it, what with a fiery troll leaping at me witht he intent to eat."
"Don't be so quick to judge Master Quo, considering we wouldn't even know about the dragon without magic. If Ruji wasn't so good communicating with illusions, I might have forgotten about it, what with a fiery troll leaping at me witht he intent to eat."
Master Quo cackled. "Oh, you should see the look on your face. So serious. You young people are always so earnest. Lighten up a little. You'll live longer," he added, eyes twinkling with amusement.
Quo snorts. "Pathetic. Can't go five minutes without magic." He clucked and shook his head. "Guess that means I'm on dragon-releasing duty."
"Part and parcel of being a wizard. Guilty as charged," he says with a nod and a wink.
"Don't be so quick to judge Master Quo, considering we wouldn't even know about the dragon without magic. If Ruji wasn't so good communicating with illusions, I might have forgotten about it, what with a fiery troll leaping at me witht he intent to eat."Master Quo cackled. "Oh, you should see the look on your face. So serious. You young people are always so earnest. Lighten up a little. You'll live longer," he added, eyes twinkling with amusement.
"Yeah Ryo, lighten up - we can't all be mental like Old Master Quo here...." Tam says with an exaggerated grin. ;D
Sidesteps out of arm's reach :)
"Yeah Ryo, lighten up - we can't all be mental like Old Master Quo here...." Tam says with an exaggerated grin. ;D
Sidesteps out of arm's reach :)
"Lighten up huh? I guess I can do that."
He blinks, hiding the instant his eyes are clouded for, and floats a few inches of the floor.
"This light enought for ya?" :)
"Ha! Mental! I like it."
"Oh, and that's a good trick, boyo, but we should move now. Magic and all that. I know just the place."
Without moving he knocks Tam over using telekinesis.
"Don't think you can get away that easy," he grinned.
"What?" he said, as innocently as he could manage to Aananda's exasperated expression. "They started it."
She shook her head and laughed.
"Alright, so none of us can manage normal for more than five minutes put together. Let's get this show on the road. I've got a feeling we've got a lot of ground to cover. Master Quo's idea of just around the corner is anywhere you can walk to in just one day."
She shook her head and laughed.
"Alright, so none of us can manage normal for more than five minutes put together. Let's get this show on the road. I've got a feeling we've got a lot of ground to cover. Master Quo's idea of just around the corner is anywhere you can walk to in just one day."
"And that's why technology is our friend," Tam says, chuckling and tapping the side of the skimmer as he pulls himself back to his feet.
"Hop in gang, and let's make some distance!"
"Who's driving this time? I want to know if I should keep my eyes closed until we get there."
"Who's driving this time? I want to know if I should keep my eyes closed until we get there."
"Well, we could let Master Quo drive.....but I kinda like this skimmer, and no, half the fun isn't putting it back together again afterwards. So I think I'll just drive."
"spoilsport."
"Eyes closed it is."
Ryo climbs in the skimmer and tightly closes his eyes.
"Now all I have to do is not look into the future, and I should do fine..."
Tam just smiles to himself and gets in. :)
"It's an old storehouse. We've never actually used it. Another of those little quirks. There's dozens of them throughout the jungle."
"I'll never be safe in the skimmer..."
"Okay, as my stomach settles and I try not to think of all the food Aananda can eat, can someone come up with a plan based on the information we have?"
"Also, we should get around to the fighting lessons while we have a bit of time."
"It's an old storehouse. We've never actually used it. Another of those little quirks. There's dozens of them throughout the jungle."
"Well let's hope Chan hasn't gotten around to doing so yet either," Tam says as he looks around for any signs of recent occupation.
The door creaks open revealing a small, dark space full of spiderwebs.
"Looks pretty undisturbed to me. Anybody got a torch? The girl may be able to see in the dark, but I sure can't. I'd hate to fall down the stairs and break a leg. Can't very well fight if we get defeated by stairs before we even get there."
"There should be space inside for us to have a lesson, Ryo."
"As for plans, I'm really not sure. I mean, so far we've got a few good ideas, but I'm not sure the best way to put them together."
The door creaks open revealing a small, dark space full of spiderwebs.
"Looks pretty undisturbed to me. Anybody got a torch? The girl may be able to see in the dark, but I sure can't. I'd hate to fall down the stairs and break a leg. Can't very well fight if we get defeated by stairs before we even get there."
"Easy enough," Tam says as he pulls out a flashlight and clicks it on, illuminating the space ahead.
"Huh. Guess we shoulda done a little more maintenance over the years."
Down wide stone stairs covered in slippery moss they finally reach a large underground chamber. Roots have grown in through the walls in places and there are various forms of fungus growing throughout, some of which give off a pale glow.
"Huh. Guess we shoulda done a little more maintenance over the years."
"Yeah - let's not have any major impacts on the walls or ceilings if we can avoid it," Tam agrees, shining the light around.
"Well, lack of house-keeping down will work in our favor! I'm pretty sure this fungus isn't lethal, :D, but if we put it on some arrows or darts it should make the targets woozy and easy to knock out..."
Ryo looks at the fungus as they travel the hall, careful not to actually touch it until he's sure he remembered Addy's "1001 Fungi" folder. Informative, but really boring...
"Well, lack of house-keeping down will work in our favor! I'm pretty sure this fungus isn't lethal, :D, but if we put it on some arrows or darts it should make the targets woozy and easy to knock out..."
Ryo looks at the fungus as they travel the hall, careful not to actually touch it until he's sure he remembered Addy's "1001 Fungi" folder. Informative, but really boring...
"Riiiiiiiight. You'll excuse me if I don't start scooping up piles of the glowy stuff just yet," Tam says, chuckling as he shakes his head. ;)
"Hmmmm...some of it might make good eating....of course that's if it doesn't kill you...ah, well, life's full of little surprises." ;)
"Alrighty. We have a (hopefully) remote location on Chan's doorstep to use as a base of operations. We have some intel on the layout of the compound, and one possible idea to take out part of its defenses and make life for the current inhabitants a bit more trying."
"What else have we got...and when do I get to see Quo throw down some 'Tae Kwan Leap' on Ryo?" ^.^
"There's potentially a dragon in the temple.....errr....let's see......ummmm.....if we can access it there's a storage area that had a lot of mechanical parts and such.....and some potentially flammable chemicals. If Chan hasn't moved them or destroyed them. Also if there's anything important he's trying to hide it might be under the third paving brick from the back wall of the dormitory. Old habits and all that."
"That's it. That's all I got. Just...if future me was right, we're not ready to take him out head on so we need a super good exit strategy."
"And I'm sure Master Quo can have a turn later if he wants, but I'll work with Ryo on the basics first. We don't have time for Ryo to be spending hours listening for the buzzing of a fly."
"There's potentially a dragon in the temple.....errr....let's see......ummmm.....if we can access it there's a storage area that had a lot of mechanical parts and such.....and some potentially flammable chemicals. If Chan hasn't moved them or destroyed them. Also if there's anything important he's trying to hide it might be under the third paving brick from the back wall of the dormitory. Old habits and all that."
"That's it. That's all I got. Just...if future me was right, we're not ready to take him out head on so we need a super good exit strategy."
"Well if we're not ready to take him head on, then we're definitely going to have to do the hit and run thing..."
"We need to find your mother as fast as we can and get her out of here, and hopefully dismantle some his infrastructure around him so we can actually deal with him later. Or at least slow him down so we can get out of here."
"And I'm sure Master Quo can have a turn later if he wants, but I'll work with Ryo on the basics first. We don't have time for Ryo to be spending hours listening for the buzzing of a fly."
It takes him a moment to stop almost laughing so he can respond.
"Fiiiine - just ruin all of my fun," he says teasingly, pulling a very silly 'pouty' face. ;P
"Okay, Ryo, first you need to get into the proper stance. Feet apart, knees bent, that's right. Now breathe slowly. Pull in energy from the earth. Become the rock."
She kicked his feet out from under him and sighed in frustration.
"You're not going to get very far if you can't master the basic stance. First you have to learn to stand firm like rock before you can move like water."
"Try it again."