Take care of yourself.
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Carter was happy to avoid a fight. He backed away with Nova and headed toward the next door.
Carter looked like he'd bit into a lemon as Drafton identified the puddle. "Is there anything in this place that isn't disgusting?"
Carter glanced down the hall, but seeing that it ended in rubble, started checking the hall doors instead.
Carter gave Drafton a cranky sidelong look and headed for the door out of the library.
Carter just sighed, ignoring Drafton. "We don't want your books." he said in Aklo. "We really just want to leave. Do you know what happened to this place?"
"..͠.̟d͉̖o͚̣͖͎͎̬ ̻̙̬͈̳̼̟̀w͚̙͖̻̲̬̹h͇͔̝a͟t͇̹͔̳̰ ͖̦̮̱͓̫ͅn͏̖͈̱o̦͕̻̞̩w̪̲̻͜?̟͓" Carter said in a language that sounded like it should be spoken with at least one extra tongue.
Supplication!
Carter felt like the world was sowing down as the horrible words poured fromt he big man's lips. He couldn't turn around in time. He tried to ask why Dham hadn't listened to him. He tried to warn him again about not touching the books. He tried to swear at him. All that came out was "AaaaaaaaaAAHHHH҉̳͓̥̝H͎̘̯͈͔̳̜H̯̦̹͎̙̲̘H̤͎̬̦̦̜H̨͍͙̖̪̉͑ͨ̌̏̉͗͜͠Ḫ̱̫͇̠̋ͩ̈͒ͨͭ̓͢͟͝ ̯̻ͅH̘̺͎͓̖̰̬͒ͪ̊̌̕͘͡H̴̴͔͒ͨ̓̓" A strange series of yellowish symbols began writing themselves into the air all around him.
"Considering that I can hear them talking, yes." Carter didn't wait for anyone else. He made to leave the room immediately.
"Don't. Touch. The books." Carter said firmly. He seemed frozen, starting at the corner of the room at a small hole. "We should get out of here. Now."
"Or anything new either," Carter added. "How about if it's just a nice, small, scared dog who wants to say hi and then go back to hiding?"
Carter moved into the room slowly, scanning carefully for anything that seemed amiss.
Carter sighed and followed. "I keep thinking that whereever we go had to be better than the last place we were at, and i keep being wrong."
"Crazy not stupid." Carter muttered. "They covered their tracks." "So what now?"
Carter blanched at the sight, his stomach turning. He turned around and took a few slow breaths. "I don't care. I don't need to know what kind of monster did... that. I think I could go my entire life without ever finding out, and that wold be fine."
"Uh, no. I think I'll pass, thanks."
Carter walked over to check the door Drafton had pointed out.
"Hard to say what I'm good at. I don't remember much. I think I'm good at puzzles though, and working with my hands. When we found our things, there were a bunch of tools in mine." He unrolled the roll of leather he had slung across his chest. Inside it were a large number of pouches and pockets, full of small tools and other odds and ends. "I guess I used to make things. I don't seem to be good at anything else, except for this thing with those weird creatures and the voice in my head. I don't know if that counts as useful."
Carter watched the exchange between beast and Nova, considering the nature of their relationship. He did not like where this was going at all. "Uh, you want me to give the door a shot?" Carter asked Drafton? "I'm pretty good with locks. I think."
Carter watched Drafton venture out. The intrepid halfling was proving very capable. "I don't think he's... like us." Carter said as he watched Drafton sneak along the path.
"Uh... it's gone." Carter said. "I don't know how I know that, but it isn't... I can't feel it out there now."
"I think we have very different definitions of fun." Carter said flatly, still looking out the window to see what was happening to the weird bird thing.
"Maybe that's why we were here?" Carter said uncertainly.
Carter looked at Beast and considered Nova's words. He nodded. "Yeah, it's like that. It's rarely words though. Sometimes it is, but mostly it's just... feelings that aren't mine. The hungry thing is spot on, but I don't think it's hunger is actually about food."
Carter went whiter. Then a bit green. "How's... that whole mental tether thing work, exactly?"
"Uh, no." Carter looked disgusted. "Good lords of Elysium, no."
Carter shrugged. "Alright." He stared out the window and said "Uh... come... here! Almost immediately something dropped from the roof and latched onto the outside of the window with a stuttering shriek that sounded like an even higher pitched hyena. Carter scrabbled backwards, diving for cover again, then peeked out to look at the thing. It was bird-like, but if half an eagle's feathers were missing and it had an extra set of claws at the wing joint. It seemed to have no eyes. Instead it's head was just entirely a serrated sideways beak. "You gotta be f+*+ing kidding me," he muttered. He looked at Drafton uncertainly and then back at the creature scraping and screamign at the window. "Go... look for anything... dangerous in the fog." The creature flapped off and vanished in the yellow haze. Carter looked like he might throw up.
"What do you want me to do again? Summon... something? And then what?" Carder didn't look thrilled about where the conversation was going, but he was willing to give it a shot.
"What?" Carter looked around, confused. "Did anyone else hear..." his brows furrowed. He sighed as he saw the confused looks on everyone else's face. "Apparently the voice in my head thinks I can." he said, sounding flat and resigned.
"Uh, I don't... know?" Carter blinked, thinking about how he'd done that. Or if it was even something he had done.
They stack. Your natural armor bonus is Racial. The amulet is Enhancement.
"This whole area is clear. Just pick a door."
"So you're saying they... fell into the ceiling?" Carter looked up and shuddered. "Good thing they weren't outside." Then he looked at the corpse again. "Well, I guess it wouldn't have mattered." Carter started wandering around the area they were in looking for hazards.
"Now we're being attacked by angry birdcages? What the hell is wrong with this place?" Carter said, wild eyed and slumped against the wall.
Carter dove for cover. Strange runic symbols crawled along his arms and torso in a flash, fading moments later. Carter didn't notice them. He was too focused on trying to figure out what was going on.
With that worry assuaged, Carter went back to checking the windows.
"There's something moving out there in the mist." Carter said. "Didn't get a good look at it." Then he blinked and stared at the birdcage again. "Does this represent this place?"
"Yeah, it's just the bir-" Carter looked at the birdcage closely for the first time and realized the birds inside the cage weren't alive. "What the ... Is it like a music box?"
Carter made a disgusted face. The scene really should have been horrifying. After everything they'd seen and been though so far it seemed practically benign. The mind adapts so easily, he thought to himself. He moved to the windows and checked the latches. Right now, getting out seemed like the most important thing, but looking out the windows suddenly gave him pause. "I've seen that mist before. I dreamed of it before I woke up in that cell."
Carter waved the others forward and checked further down the corridor.
Carter spied the doors and convinced himself not to take off running towards them. He slowly crept forward and checked them over, hoping that they weren't locked and that one of them lead out of this insane place. "There's a bunch of doors. I'm going to check them," he said quietly over his shoulder.
Carter watched Nova's process in fascinated horror, then wrinkled his nose at the cat's appearance. "You look awful, Beastie." Then he moved down the hallway, scouting.
Carter shook his head at the madness and checked the newly reveled door to make sure there weren't any leftover surprises.
"Looks clear now," he said and tried to open it.
"...someone want to explain to me what just happened?" Carter asked.
"Can you get into the entry all any other way? What's on the other side?" Carter continued.
"What did it scream? Do you remember any of it?" Carter asked.
"Oh that is... hideous," Carter said. He sneered in disgust. He walked forward slowly, trying to get a closer look, propelled forward in spite of his revulsion. It almost seemed like he wasn't aware he was moving. |