Lucca slid each blade into its sheath once finished wiping the blood from it, a smile tracing her lips as she turned to face Koh's boasting.
" Fine... YOU are buying. "
Her arms folded over her bosom as her only visible eye moved to the water. There were no doubt more of those squids beneath the reflective surface. How long would it take for another attack?
" Mind you, we're not out of the water yet. "
She made her way toward the Vorman, taking a bucket as he had directed and began to scrub at the blood on the deck after splashing a bit of water on it.
Cersei dispelled her shield spell after finally coming out of her thousand-yard-stare-like state. She fell backward onto her butt on the raft and looked around at her friends. "I felt so useless there. Sorry." She said with a morose look on her face. She shook her head as she stood back up and looked on in the distance, looking more aware and alert than she was before, and tuned herself back into the tracker. "We do still have a way's to go before we get to travel on land. I don't suggest starting to kiss it when we get there though. From what I've researched the land beasts can be far more vicious. Let's just hope we don't have to run across any." She sheathed her own sword and put a hand on Lucca's shoulder as a subtle gesture of thanks for protecting her.
After rinsing the blood off the deck, Vorman put the buckets back where they came from and then cast a critical eye over the river. He pointed to the jumping school of fish, which were falling behind. "Look, they're starting to slack off. Looks like the squid are getting full. We shouldn't have too much more trouble with them tonight; we're ahead of the pod, now. Barring a rare waterdrake or evil naiad or something like that, we should only have to worry about threats from land."
It wasn't too much later that the sound of distant, primal drumming echoed between the mountains, some Dark tribe somewhere nearby, celebrating or giving homage to their savage gods. It sounded distant enough that there was likely to be very little threat to them, but it served as a reminder that the land was no longer strictly theirs to roam at will.
Dawn found them still on the river, keeping to the middle of the channel, a difficult bow-shot from either bank. The drums in the night had alerted Vorman that Dark tribes were in the area; it if was trolls or ogres, it wouldn't likely be too bad, unless the ogres started throwing rocks. But if it was orks or goblins, a lot of them used bows and poisoned arrows. So he stayed uncharacteristically watchful.
The mountains continued to be gorgeous, of course...
... and the "indicator" of the amulet was gradually moving to the side, but slowly; they still had a distance to go. The raft was moving quickly, though; Vorman kept the propeller in the water, and they kicked up a little bit of a wake as they pushed downstream. It required more attention to the tiller, but it got them there faster.
Lucca remained lucid throughout the night, mostly due to the distant sound of drums. She remained alert until dawn broke, keeping near Cersei and making sure that she kept a sound mind. A yawn erupted from her as she glanced at the indicator, making note that they'd be nearing their exit point. Perhaps she should take this time to rest her eyes?
She stretched her arms upward, giving her spinal column a good stretch before glancing around at the faces of the party.
" How's everyone? " She asked with a playful grin.
Kohdeki groaned half-heartedly at Lucca while lying on the floor of the raft. He was trying to get his fill of rest before they had to journey inland. The constant paranoia of being attacked by a Dark tribe was wearing on his nerves, as well as exhausting him.
Cersei opened her eyes slowly and yawned as she heard Lucca call out to everyone. She sat up and looked around groggily, looking down at the amulet to focus on it and cried out when she found the signal was much more intense than before. She shook her head and looked up at Lucca with a smile. "We're a lot closer than before. We should be hitting land soon."
The signal was stronger, but it still took a long time for the direction to start tipping to the side with any significance. The morning went on, occupied by the usual breakfast-making, packing the saddlebags, and general preparations to go. It wasn't a question of whether they would be leaving the river today, just how long until they debarked.
There was one minor incident around midmorning. The river was still wide at this point, and they were sticking close to the south bank, the side of the river where the amulet indicated they would be finding their target. Vorman kept them a safe distance from the shore, but most people's attention was still focused on the wild forest perimeter. It was Kohdeki, whose sharp eyes never really stopped glancing about in all directions, and Lucca, who had the almost preternatural sensation that she was being watched, who were the first two who noticed.
The two humans found themselves gazing across the expanse of water at the far bank, where a thick, rotting tree trunk, a long-ago deadfall that hung over the rocks that happened to be on that shore like an out-thrust lookout tower. Standing on the tip of that promontory was a half-naked, heavily-muscled male humanoid, his skin tinged gray, clad only in loincloth, a scattering of tribal decorations and tattoos, and a face-concealing helmet. His straggly hair hung like ratty dreadlocks, festooned with small feathers and what looked like bits of tribal jewelry, and the broad, side-wrapping eyes on his helmet seemed dark but for a dull red glow in the internal shadows, even at this distance.
He stood facing them fully as they floated past, gripping his long spear at the haft, and as they drew abreast, he just crouched, as if resting, his spear butt still planted in the rotting wood he stood on. He seemed content to just stand watch as they passed, either knowing there was nothing he could do to reach them, or perhaps warning them that he and his people were keeping an eye out for them.
Upon sight of the seemingly at-ease dark tribesman, Kohdeki immediately wanted to jump into the river and swim back to the beloved confines of Tarak as fast as his limbs would take him. It seemed to the young thief that braving the river was a safer alternative to entering dark tribe territory.
Despite his fear, Kohdeki put on a brave facade, and glared back at the dark tribesman until he could no longer make out the eyeslits on the helmet. Only afterward did he heave a sigh of relief.
It was just past midday when Cersei's sense of their target finally pointed them inland, toward a mountain.
They made landfall near a small waterfall spilling down from the mountain. Vorman moored them temporarily and helped them debark the horses and supplies. "I'm to leave you and return; it's probably three days ride back, but you should be able to do it reasonably easily, if you steer clear of the Dark tribes. Good luck, young worthies, and I hope to see you all riding back, safe and sound."
With that, he returns to the river, and turns the prow of the raft upstream, the ever-turning wheel of his propeller pushing the craft against the current, not as quickly as they came, but fast enough, without all their weight. It only was a matter of loading the horses and heading up the mountain.
<<Cersei has the best Survival skill, but at this point it's more a horse riding issue, which is under Mechanical. For the moment, it's within everybody's capabilities, it's just if anything flashy happens, I'll be doing Beast Riding rolls for everyone to maneuver at speed and if you try anything special, like jumping or having the horse rear and kick with its hooves. Just keeping you posted>>
Lucca situated her valuables on the saddle before she slipped a foot into one of the straps, flinging her other leg over the equine. Running a hand through her crimson locks, Lucca turned an emerald eye toward her other party members. She wondered how Cersei was handling herself mentally and she was also curious as to see how Koh would handle himself on such a quest. A portion of her felt that she would take on the role of babysitter if he were to break down around the same time as Cersei...however, Lucca felt she could trust Koh with her life. As of that moment, she saw both Koh and Chay as her blood brothers. Together they would protect and fight with Cercei to the very end.
With that thought swimming through her mind, Lulu gave a gentle smile, one that most of her clients and acquaintences had never seen.
Kohdeki sat atop his borrowed steed, what little he owned slung over the back of the horse.
On Lucca's word, Kohdeki normally would have screamed 'onward' in a valiant fashion, but his current state of mind, and situation, wouldn't permit such an outburst.
He Instead raised a hand into the air, then brought it down in a pointing gesture with two fingers.
Cersei smiled wanly at Lucca and the boys, but remained preoccupied. She rode in silence, speaking only to correct their course according to the guidance she received from the magic device. Chay was similarly quiet, keeping a watchful eye on the wooded slopes around them as they rode up the mountain beside the stream.
There wasn't so much a trail as occasional dry run-offs and some animal paths. They worked back and forth, heading up the slopes, always within earshot of the water, as it seemed to be running down the most direct path. Besides the huffing and hoofbeats of their horses and the babble of the stream, the mountainside was alive with birds and small animals. So many creatures had apparently never seen humans (or near enough, in Chay's case) that they had no fear, and only some caution with regard to sudden movements. Squirrels, birds of various types, groundhogs, foxes, rabbits... they all came to take a peek.
[Survival Rolls: Lucca has 3D, Cersei has 6D, the boys both lack it, so they default to 2D Knowledge. Lucca: 6, 3, 1, reroll the 6 on the Wild Die: 1 = 11. Cersei: 6, 5, 5, 4, 4, 3, which is bizarre in its descending order, but reroll the Wild Die: 1 = 28. Koh: 4, 6 = 10. Chay: 6, 1, reroll 2 = 9]
It's Cersei who suddenly straightens in her saddle, looking around with some alarm at the treetops. "It's gone silent!" she whispers, coming to a stop. "Something's coming!"
Indeed, the sounds of the forest were distant; all the local animals had gone to ground, or fled. The reason was soon apparent as a bestial roar blasted from a thicket of brush across the stream, and a huge bear rose up on its hind legs to snarl and paw the air in their direction.
Kohdeki sat in silence, his mouth agape. He didn't recall ever having seen such a monster in person, nor having any sort of in-depth knowledge about it.
The next thing to come to mind was what he did third-best. Escape.
"I think this is the part where we get the hell outta' here. Whaddya' guys think?" Kohdeki said almost breathlessly.
Chay shouted, "I say let's go!" and spurred his horse into motion!
Cersei followed as they goaded their horses up the slope, to a clearer stretch where they could pull the reins off to the side and get some distance and speed.
The bear roared and smashed through some trees in an attempt to pursue.
When our heroes were last seen, they had been confronted by a dire bear on the mountainside, on their way to find and destroy the mad mage Arran Shieldbiter. The dire bear gave chase as they wheeled their horses around and tried to find some clear ground where they could outrun the beast, but it had been centuries since anything like a road had been cut through the mountain woods. A few bolts of magic werenât enough to stop it, nor were arrows or daggers, and a brief attempt to mystically contact its mind was countered by its ravenous hunger and single-minded determination to eat. Eat the party, and/or their horses, specifically. Dubious salvation came in the form of a draconic creature, one or another species of wyvern as Cersei would later confirm, who swooped in over the charging horses from the front. The tree cover and the partyâs reflexes were enough to avoid the snatching claws, but the dire bear, denied cover by all the smashing down trees it was doing to pursue them, was rent apart by the draconic talons, and as they rode around the side of the mountain, the group could glance back and see the wyvern perched on the corpse, ripping out mouthfuls of entrails with sinuous, snake-like darting stabs.
[/quote]
There would be other pitfalls of the trail: navigating treacherous terrain, a rockfall, an unfamiliar plant that turns out to be animate and carnivorous, always keeping an eye on the skies because they know theyâre in a wyvernâs hunting grounds. Game was pretty plentiful, though, albeit some varieties seem strange, as if new breeds were being introduced, this far from Tarak. Soon there was a glacier, though, and while the ice was cold and slippery underfoot, at least the surroundings were clear.
This travel took a couple of days, and during the nights, Cersei started getting dreams. She saw a tunnel entrance, stretches of tunnel in little segments, and finally a large cavern with carved walls and basically living quarters, kind of crumbling and dusty and fungus-grown, but always also a voice, echoey, vaguely inhuman but also vaguely recognizable, calling âCome⦠comeâ¦â
On the glacier, they were swiftly led to a cave half-closed and partly ground-down by the ice. It was the entrance Cersei had seen in her dreams. The tunnel was laden with traps, the most cunning two old dwarf mages could devise, but Cersei had dreamed of the safe stretches of tunnel, so where her dreams ended, thatâs where the party became wary. After avoiding traps and fighting a few guardbots, they came into the cavern, and could actually physically hear the voice of Cerseiâs dreams. âCome⦠come⦠help meâ¦â
Shieldbiter was in the back of the chamber. His legs and lower torso had converted themselves into a fungal colony, but his chest and head were still dwarven. He offers no resistance, but begs them to hear his story, first.
He and his mate escaped what they viewed as the tyranny of the Guild by vanishing into the wilderness and establishing their own place to study. Unfortunately, they discovered that while the Guild was very controlling of its members, it sometimes needed to be. Their studies of forbidden knowledge unlocked uncontrollable transformations, drove his mate, Wurra Stonesmasher mad, and immobilized him so he could do nothing as his mate studied further and eventually left their home, presumably to go to Tarak, where what was left of her mind sought either revenge or companionship or both.
Now he is unable to do any major magic himself, all his will and energies being focused on keeping the corruption of the alien fungus he accidentally called into himself under control. He has not slept in eight years, by his count. All he can manage are sensory spells, and with great effort, dream-casting. He watched the adventurers kill his mate, and knew it to be sadly necessary. He knew he would be detected, and when he saw who had been selected by the Guild, and why, and what she had been going through just before her selection. And he hoped she might help him.
He has a plan, a great spell that would preserve his life, at the cost of his ability to work magic, and indeed, his ability to do much of anything. He has the tools and materials in the cavern, but he cannot work it himself. He needed Cerseiâs help, and in return, he has sworn to impart his knowledge to assist her in whatever research she desires. She can go rogue, as well, but with his advice and counsel, she can avoid the pitfalls and dangers that he and his mate fell into. He has suffered for his hubris, and could help her avoid her own pride and the resultant fall.
After much deliberation and consultation with her companions, and after examining Shieldbiterâs alchemical and enchanting formulas for traps or flaws, Cersei agreed to help, without promising to go rogue. While the others watched with varying degrees of reservation, she built devices and enchanted items and prepared, and finally, in a powerful and thoroughly disgusting hours-long ritual, she removed Shieldbiterâs brain and eyes from his skull and put them in an enchanted jar of water, sealed it, and set it on a platform with at least a dozen little mechanical crab legs and two tiny arms.
The jar was enchanted to keep the brain alive, and allow it to hear and speak (in a slightly burbly, watery voice â a byproduct of the resonance method used to produce the voice). The platform was enchanted to let the brain move at will, and manipulate things, and have a sense of touch, and it automatically kept the jar in place unless Cersei took it off; the magic was indexed specifically to Cerseiâs body, allowing her to remove the jar from the platform anytime she wanted, no matter what. Shieldbiter actually suggested Cersei have that absolute control over his movements, and designed it as such. From the jar, he could live indefinitely with no need of sustenance, as long as his brain was safely encased, and he could still teach Cersei anything she wanted to know, and could help her when she needed a (tiny little clawlike) hand. As a brain in a jar, Shieldbiter could project no magics. He found, unexpectedly, that he could still handle receptive spells, could still project his senses into the past and future and into the distance, but could not exert any will over what he saw. Otherwise, it was exactly as he had predicted.
As soon as the ritual was done, the rest of his former body was consumed by the fungi in seconds, which then began to spread aggressively. It took fire spells, flaming oil, alchemical acid, and a whole bunch of improvisation to kill all the spores, but Shieldbiterâs magical senses detected every microscopic flake of the fungi and told them where to burn until it was all gone.
With his body and ability to project magic gone, the tracking amulet no longer registered Shieldbiterâs presence at all. As far as the Guild was concerned, he had ceased to exist, so the party had accomplished their mission, and could return home. And it was then that Cersei admitted that she wanted to stay. She would scar her tattoos, mar her amulet, and drop off the Guild radar, stay in the cavern with Shieldbiter and pursue her own path. It was a tearful, sad farewell, but Cersei could not be convinced. In secret, Shieldbiter provided Lucca with a tiny jump ring, no larger than a regular finger ring; it was all he had, but it used to be his and his mateâs, and he would give the other ring to Cersei when the others were on their way. That way, Lucca and Cersei could stay in contact, passing notes and whispers and small touches as best they could.
The travel back to Tarak might have been dangerous, but they could suffer through. With only physical threats to conquer, the three âsurvivorsâ were more than capable of making it back with the horses, crossing the broad and ancient Yarranâs Pass Bridge. When asked, they stuck to their story that the two mages destroyed each other, and they seemed grieved enough that everyone took them at their word. And thus, Cersei departed the campaign, with an option to be called back, in emergencies.
(I had a sudden flash on a fight scene on the way home, with Lucca whispering urgently into the ring, and then holding it while Cerseiâs finger came forth through it, pointing the finger at the threat, and tapping the knuckle to let Cersei know to release the fireball straight ahead. If they both put the rings on at the same time, it would be like wearing each otherâs fingers. Bizarre! But useful, in a limited way, and not just for spellcasting like that.)
Kohdeki sat, sulky and quiet, at a corner table in the Blue Boggan. The lights had been dimmed specifically in that area, as requested, and bribed. A mug of ale sat in front of him, and another sat at the end of the table opposite of him, an empty chair beyond it. Losing friends was always hard for the young Kohdeki. They were his only family. Even though he knew Cersei was alive, and as well as she could be, she was dead to everyone else. He had other friends like that. Brother and sister criminals that had to feign death for the sake of life. Imprisoned father figures. Missing sons and daughters.
He hated it so much. There was only so much a barrel of ale and a night of wild sex could do for him, and it didn't heal every wound he bore in his heart. It had turned into adamantine; cold, hard, and black. It made him merciless to those whom hadn't earned his favor or trust. And those that betrayed him... He had his daggers readied for them.
Kohdeki ran a hand over his face and through his hair. He didn't want to hear a word from another living (or otherwise) being for the next few hours, unless it was Cersei making a heartfelt apology and taking a sip of the ale he had waiting for her.
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