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In one hour, a small group had gathered outside the Tavern.

Wizard was mildly disappointed when he saw Rapierian had come, although Wizard had known he would. Several others had also gathered and were getting ready to leave.

After a few moments of waiting for any stragglers to come, Selax turned to the others, "I believe that it is time to get started. As you know, we seek an important and powerful weapon from the past. It must be found before it falls into the wrong hands. It would appear that a series of clues is intended to lead us to the weapon. The first clue—a map—seems to indicate that the second clue is in the cave system in the southern mountains. I suggest that we make that our first destination."

Thus, the band of adventurers started south, eager for another adventure.

This post has been edited by Selax: 14 January 2007 - 12:06 AM

Cat was still a little jumpy after the episode in the Tavern, and decided she needed to get away from it for a while. Using her prodigious stock of oboloi (won in a poker game, in case you were wondering) she'd outfitted herself for the journey, and was now with the band of adventurers heading south. She noticed Rapierian in the group, and was visibly annoyed. She might have to keep an eye on him.

This post has been edited by CrazyChick: 15 January 2007 - 04:07 PM

Moonshadow joined the group quietly, staying close to Cat in hopes of soothing her after her fright in the tavern, and keeping a wary eye on Rapierian.

This post has been edited by Moonshadow: 16 January 2007 - 02:35 PM

Alice had cautiously come up and hung around the edges of the group gathered out front the Tavern. Wizard's summary cleared things up slightly, and although he still wasn't quite sure what was happening, Alice figured it was worth a shot. Muttering under his breath apparently to himself, he tightened the strap on his sheath, habitually tugged his hat down to just above his eyes, and followed at the back of the group as they headed off, hoping no one had noticed his presence.

After hearing the translation by Wizard and comments by the Linius, Talryn became even more intrigued. He went back to his room and slept for most of the hour, then got up and sat on the floor and concentrated. As the hour of departure grew near, Talryn got up, and put on a jacket. After putting some final things into his pockets he walked to the door of his room. He glanced around and left. Talryn rentered the Tavern briefly for a roll of bread and a block of cheese.

Talryn and his golem walked out of the tavern. He briefly stopped to sniff the scent of the Tavern. Then Talryn joined the rest of the party, and made a shruging jesture at Selax after he had glanced at the golem. "So if everyone is ready, shall we embark on this quest?" Talryn annouced to the group. After waiting for a few straglers, the party begun to move. By the time they have left the city, the group had fallen into a steady pace.

After talking with Selax and Wizard for a bit, he drifted back to discussing golems with Rapierian.

-Dark

This post has been edited by Dark Jet: 13 January 2007 - 10:40 PM

Shanadar kept within earshot of Rapierian as he traveled with the group; it would be a worthless gesture to come if he did not keep an eye on the troublemaker. When Talryn, the man who had defended the case of that silverfish suspect, started to talk to Rapierian about golems, thoughts of conspiracy began to formulate within Shanadar's suspicious brain. Pushing such baseless theories aside, he reminded himself that he needed to keep his watch on Rapierian, not speculate on such tomfoolery. Nevertheless, his suspicion of Talryn's motives deepened more and more.

And all the while, the party continued to march.

Brianna hurried outside and joined Moonshadow.

"Oh, you're coming!" the winter elf exclaimed.

"Like I said, I need a holiday," Brianna grinned excitedly back. "You know, the description of that sword sounded an awful lot like the Ronin's weapons, especially Trinias' bow. You'd think this was the kind of thing they'd get involved in."

"Yes," Moonshadow sighed. "Unfortunately they, and their weapons, aren't... available... right now."

Meanwhile, Sideline tried to keep unobtrusively out of sight. He was finding that rather difficult, due to the many other people that apparently had the same idea.

This post has been edited by cache22: 28 December 2006 - 05:13 AM

Silverfish caught up just as the band was leaving Cademia. After glancing around to see who was involved, he nearly decided to join the discusssion about golems, but decided it would be wiser to go with the elvish ladies for a time.

"Ugg," Retsy complained to her big brother. "Why are we doing this?"
"To help save the world," Toreon reminded her.
"I'm all for that. The world's bound to be saved somehow, and I might as well become famous. But why are we going with these people again?"
". . ."
"We've never met half of them, and I don't trust any of them. I think they all know some magic. . ." Retsy went on.
"Shhh!" Toreon was referring to the fact that several of their companions were in hearing distance. "Do you seriously not want to go?" Toreon asked her after a minute.
"No. I want to help save the world," Retsy insisted. Then- "let's at least be social," she said.
So the two of them weaved through the group, introducing themselves to the people they didn't know.
By evening, they had reached a very uninviting looking cave, and most of the travelers broke into an argument over whether it was the right cave or not. Retsy had already resorted to resting on the ground by the time the group decided that it was worth checking out the cave.
"Nalkii," she asked her brother, "who left the clue in the cave? Why do we have any reason to think it isn't a trap?"
"Because this is about something a lot bigger. Do you want to wait out here?"
"Yes. That cave looks very unpleasant," Retsy announced. "And I'll save you guys when something horrible happens!" she added.
Toreon rolled his eyes, "whatever, Crazy." The group was already filing into the cave, and he followed them.
Retsy stood and watched them depart. "Byebye!" she called, waving to her brother, her new "friends," and all those scary people with whom she had been traveling.

This post has been edited by BreadWorldMercy453: 12 January 2007 - 08:25 PM

As people ignited various light spells and torches, Silverfish noticed that Cat did not, but was apparently checking exit routes around the large room, counting under her breath.
"One, two.... three..."
"Can you see in the dark as well as your namesake?" Silverfish asked, curiously.
"Five... Oh, yes. I can see five... six... exits out of this cave."
Silverfish looked, and could see two, not the six that Cat apparently could. He said as much, and Cat replied, "Two on the east wall, two on the west wall. Two south, one behind us and a trapdoor in the ground over there."
Most of the east and west walls, and all of the south wall, were invisible in the dark.

This post has been edited by CrazyChick: 15 January 2007 - 04:08 PM

Wizard's orb had been emitting some light by which he was checking the walls for any markings. When he heard Cat naming the exits, he turned. "A trapdoor, did you say? Where?"

Cat pointed to a spot near the southern edge of the cave. The old man carefully went over and examined it, a curious expression on his face.

"Well, let's see where it leads," Toreon stated, betraying a hint of eagerness in his voice.

Rapierian glanced around, "My guess would be more caves."

"I wonder," Wizard sounded at least a little sarcastic. He undid the latch and carefully lifted the door. Underneath, the babbling of a small stream could clearly be heard. "There's a ladder here; it looks safe enough." With that, he vanished from site. Cat was startled when he quickly disappeared, but she recovered when Selax called after him. "How far is the bottom?"

"Not far," Wizard's voice echoed. Soon everyone inside the cave had descended the ladder. They found themselves in an enormous sloping cavern, with a river flowing down the center. Wizard edged his way along the bank, "The entire mountain system is covered with underground rivers like this one. From its size, I think it's just a small tributary."

"Do we look downstream or upstream?" Talryn suddenly asked.

"Neither," answered Selax. "According to the map, the way lies that way." He pointed straight across the river. Those with sharper vision could just make out a small opening in the cavern's wall.

"Across there? You mean across that water?" Cat asked dubiously.

"So it would seem," Selax responded.

"I don't see a bridge," Cat said even more dubiously.

"Nor do I."

"Then, how will we cross? Surely, we aren't going to swim!" Cat stated incredulously.

"I don't intend to."

Cat started to say "That's a relief—" when Selax finished, "I intend to fly."

"What about the rest of us? I'm certainly not swimming!" said Cat flatly.

"Some of you may swim (if the current permits); some of you (such as Silverfish or Wizard) may fly; some of you may be lifted over be Wizard's telekiness; or some of you could be carried across by one of those who can fly. I doubt that there is time to build a raft or some such thing."

"I'm surprised that he didn't say 'or I could throw you across,'" muttered Rapierian to himself.


As the group debated what to do, Rapierian had a sudden thought, walked over to Toreon, and said, "You know, this just occurred to me, but is your sister very safe up there alone with who knows what lurking around?"

This post has been edited by Selax: 14 January 2007 - 12:06 AM

"Well there is this landish bridge trick i've been wanting to try out for a while.. Use at your own risk.." Talryn said as he sat down onto the cave floor and begun concentrating. A few moments later, just above the water, a mostly transparent arch appeared. Talryn's golem crossed the bridge. As it turned around to await the others, it crumbled to pieces.

"Uh oh... I can't sense beyond the chamber anymore..." Talryn stood up and watched as his bridge dissolved back into air. He walked over to the river and touched it. He looked at his finger observing the water and then recoiled in pain momentarily till he wiped off the water. "Okay, who else wants to touch the river?"

-Dark

This post has been edited by Dark Jet: 13 January 2007 - 10:41 PM

"What's wrong with the water?" Brianna asked Talryn.

"As near as I can tell," he replied, "it's anti-magic - nullifies all magic."

Brianna hurriedly backed away. "Keep it away from me!"

"Steady, Brianna," Moonshadow cautioned.

"You know what that could do to me!" Brianna exclaimed.

"Calm down. It's all right, we'll find another way across."

This post has been edited by cache22: 29 December 2006 - 03:31 AM

"Well, it shouldn't hurt me!" said Cat, "But I'm still not swimming! Maybe I can see something on the other side..."
She looked, long and hard, and after a while, she asked, "Moonshadow, come over here a second... Can you see that?"
What Cat was pointing to was a lighter patch in the wall, that could, with imagination, be thought of as unusual.
"Do you think it's anything? Or am I even imagining it?"

Moonshadow had been conducting experiments on the water, trying to find out what kind of magic it nullified. It seemed transforming from one natural state to another - like freezing water - was possible, yet anything that could be thought of as unnatural - like flying with the help of magic - was dispelled. The higher the magic was, the longer it took to nullify, but Moonshadow doubted it would be enough for anyone to fly across. Strangely, even though they were standing right next to the river, it did not seem to have any effects there.
When Cat spoke to her, she went to join her, looking up at the spot Cat was pointing. "It seems to be lighter than the rest," She acknowledged after a while. "Maybe there is some light source shining on it... no, that would be more obvious. I wish we could get closer to look at it."
"I'm not swimming!" Cat said, almost instinctively, and Moonshadow smiled wryly.
"I wasn't suggesting you do," she said, still staring at the far wall, tapping her fingers together thoughtfully. "I wonder... if I could..." She murmured.
"If you're thinking what I'm thinking you're thinking... don't." Brianna said decisively, joining Cat and Moonshadow. "It obviously doesn't like magic -- what if it undos your transformation and you fall in?"
Cat blinked, looking at them in confusion. "Transformation?" She queried.
Moonshadow waved off Brianna's concerns. "It only rejects artificial magic. I was able to freeze the water just fine."
"And you think transforming from an elf into a hawk is natural?" Brianna said, eyebrows raised.
"Well, don't you?" Moonshadow countered.
"Well yes," Brianna faltered for a moment. "But for most other races it isn't!" She then objected. "It just isn't safe. You saw what happened when Talryn touched it. Maybe you'll be able to fly across, but what if you don't?"
Moonshadow sighed. "I suppose you're right," she acknowledged finally, still looking thoughtfully at the far wall. "But then, I wonder what that is."
"Maybe it's nothing at all," Brianna murmured, but nonetheless she was now looking at the far wall too.

This post has been edited by Moonshadow: 16 January 2007 - 02:35 PM

Sideline tapped Brianna on the shoulder with an arrow, to which he'd tied the end of a light but strong cord.

"See if you can get that stuck over there for me, will you? Somewhere high enough to stay clear of the water."

Brianna unslung her bow, and scanned the other side of the river.

"How about that notch in the top of that tall stalagmite?"

"I'll take your word for it, I can't see a thing."

Brianna quickly knocked the arrow and let fly. The cord dropped perfectly into the narrow notch, and the arrow held fast when Sideline pulled on it. He tied the near end firmly around another stalagmite, then tested the tension by hanging his whole weight on it.

"Seems solid enough," he judged. "Cat, you up for a climb?"

This post has been edited by cache22: 29 December 2006 - 05:33 AM

Silverfish sat on the floor of the cavern above, trying to figure out how he could see in the dark. The theory wasn't hard to understand, but the implementation... He tried for a little while, and then thought, "I could probably get this figured out in a week, but I would weaken my familiar abilities, and miss out on the adventure." He looked up, "Oh, no. Where have they gone?" He looked around, now that the torches were not shining in his eyes, and they had used themselves to the dark, he could see four openings. "Which way did they take?" Then he remembered, "Cat mentioned a trapdoor! Of course we're going to take that way!" He made his way in the direction she'd pointed out, using filaments as whiskers to detect his surroundings. Soon he found the open trapdoor and looking down, saw the party's lights.

Silverfish saw Brianna shoot a corded arrow. When he saw that it held, he dropped lightly down onto it.

Selax debated what to do. In the end, he decided not to risk flying: if an elemental had set this trap, it was doubtless designed to catch such things. However, since Selax was almost weightless (which was both an advantage and a disadvantage to him), he was going to guess that he could make the jump.

Selax took a running jump over the river; just before he reached the anti-magic barrier, Wizard pushed him with telekiness, giving additional force to clear the river just in case Selax didn't make it on his own.

He landed in the entrance to one of the caverns, just as the first or second person finished climbing across the rope.

Considering the elementals' love of traps, I suspect that this isn't the only trap that we will encounter, thought Selax to himself.


Rapierian stared across the river and debated what to do. He certainly was not going to get thrown or carried across, and he disliked the thought of using the rope. However, since no magic worked to cross the river, he supposed that he might just have to use the rope after all. Of course, he could always try convincing someone to freeze all the water, letting ice skate across, but, somehow, he didn't think that he'd be very successful in such an endeavor.

This post has been edited by Selax: 14 January 2007 - 12:06 AM

Talryn was interested when he heard Moonshadow mention that she could freeze water. He bent down and concentrated on the water underneath the rope. The top layer began to freeze, but it was taking longer because of the fast current of the river. After the inital layer was frozen, Talryn took a break, "Anyone notice that the water was flowing this fast before? Oh and are we going to send someone to go get Retsy?"

-Dark

This post has been edited by Dark Jet: 13 January 2007 - 10:41 PM

He glanced at his options with a frown. "It seems that I have reached an impasse," Wizard observed as several others had reached the other side. "I can't hover over it. I can't swim in that current, and I'm not shinnying across on that little rope!"

"Of course not! We wouldn't expect you too," Rapierian seemed to have compassion in his voice for the first time, which drew a glance from Moonshadow. "That tiny of a rope would snap under your weight!" Rapierian burst into laughter.

"Well, we'll just see about that," Wizard said with renewed determination.

They say the first steps are the hardest, but is that really true? After climbing a few feet on the cord, the old man began to smile, "Hey, I think I can do this." He continued along fine until he reached the half-way point. With a cry of surprise, his legs lost their grip and slid off; he was left dangling over the water by his hands, legs flailing helplessly.

Sideline was watching in amusement. "You know, Wizard, maybe you should stay on this side."

"Oh no, I've gotten half-way, I'm going over with the rest of you. I may be old, but I'm not totally decrepit."

The sight of Wizard in his current state was too much for Moonshadow and Brianna. They both covered their mouths to conceal their broad smiles.

"This isn't funny. This is serious. I'm going across." Wizard began to pull himself across with his hands, stifling a laugh himself. "If I die, I'm blaming all of you!"

"Wizard, lift one hand over the other and repeat until your on this side," Selax spoke at last.

"Well, somebody's got to stay over. Retsy's up their alone. Besides their are six other tunnels in the cavern above, how do we know that we've taken the right direction," Toreon mentioned.

Wizard was nearing the side he wanted to be on when he answered, "Because we have the map. I'm betting the other tunnels are decoys intended to throw unwary searchers into a trap."

"I hope your right," Toreon replied.

"I hope so too. And as for Retsy, someone should go get her. There's no knowing what could be lurking deep in the tunnels above." Wizard thought for a moment before finishing, " Or outside. Or in this tunnel for that matter." The rope held firmly, and he finally crossed the river, with no little satisfaction.

"It held," Sideline muttered in relief.

Once she was over, Cat wandered over to have a look at the light patch. It was a lot bigger than she expected, almost a metre deep. She discovered it was lighter because it was not covered in fungus like the rest of the wall.
"I think I have something important over here!" she called to the rest of the group.

This post has been edited by CrazyChick: 15 January 2007 - 04:09 PM

Meanwhile, Alice was looking around at the others in dismay. "Don't tell me I'm the only non-magic-user here..." he muttered to himself and turned to study the river. There wasn't an ounce of magic in his bones, so in theory, the water shouldn't hurt him. But one should never leave their life in the hands of theory.

He walked over to the edge of the river and dipped his finger into it. Felt like water, looked like water, sounded like just normal water. He brushed it off on his cloak harmlessly, and looked up just as Wizard slipped off the rope. Alice as well was somewhat amused, but watched with bated breath until the older man made it safely across.

"In regards to his comment," Alice said, "I don't know why we left Retsy alone up there at all. It's not safe. Instead of just talking about it, someone should actually go and get her before a zombie jumps out and eats her." Everyone on that side of the river gave him an odd look, but he seemed not to notice, preoccupied with something else.

First he beckoned to something no one could see, then pulled off his hat and left it in seemingly mid-air, but conformed to the shape of a head. Then he took a length of rope out of his bag, dropped it on the ground, and slung the bag and his sword in the air just underneath the hat. Lastly, he took off his cloak, draped it in place, and set his boots on the ground under the newly-formed figure. "At least you're good for something," he grumbled, and as everyone watched, they could see a translucent sort of figure now wearing Alice's outergarments. Using a mixture of hand gestures and verbal commands, he sent the mock-him back up the way they'd come.

"My ghost will go and get Retsy," he announced. "In the meantime, I'm going to swim across."

"Swim?" Sideline queried. "What about the current? It looks pretty strong," for someone as scrawny as you, he thought, but didn't say aloud.

"It's only water. As long as there's no monstrous fish living in there..." Alice looked paranoid for a second, but shook it off. "And just in case I get washed away, that's what this is for." He picked up the length of rope, tied one end securely to his belt, and the other as a slipknot around the rope crossing the river. "Wish me luck," he said, and dove into the water, downstream of Talryn's ice sheet so that he wouldn't get swept underneath and get caught.

"He's a fool," Moonshadow said, shaking her head and waiting for him to surface again. When he did, he was already near the middle of the river, pulled towards the center of it by the swift-moving current. They watched as he slowly made his way across to the other bank, the knotted rope sliding down the other as he progressed.

After what seemed like ages, Alice crawled up on the other side, soaking wet but alive. "Send my ghost over when it gets back with Retsy," he called back over, unknotting the rope from his waist, but leaving the other end attached, knowing he'd have to get back somehow. He wrung his clothes out and shuffled his bare feet uncomfortably on the ground. "Should've thrown my boots across first," he muttered.

This post has been edited by iKaterei: 13 January 2007 - 10:28 PM

Silverfish accompanied the ghost, in the hopes that Retsy would listen to at least one of them.

This post has been edited by Jehezekel: 29 December 2006 - 05:03 PM

The others walked over next to Cat and bent to examine the small patch. After a few moments, someone cried, "This isn't a cave wall! There's some kind of door hidden back here!"

A few more moments of digging at the wall confirmed this: the cavern wall was actually a stone door covered over with dirt and other such things to disguise it as part of the cave wall. The light was somehow shining through the door and its camouflage.

Although there initially appeared to be no way to open the door, Wizard was able to pry it open with his telekiness. Beyond the door stretched a narrow hallway; light was shining down this hallway from a room at its end.

"I think that there we shall find the next clue," Selax announced. "However, we should all be on our guard: there is bound to be at least one more trap."

With that, the group entered the hallway, weapons out and ready for trouble...