[Broiling Lagoon] Catch a Dragon by the Tail

[Pig Boy]

Onnie watched as the other group came into the chamber. Her eyes bugged out when she spotted Vega, she gasped, and then overwhelmed by the emotions swirling about the chamber, fainted dead away, splashing into the water face-up. Rollo immediately turned to Onnie, "Onnie! Onnie! Come on, this is no time for a fainting spell..." He worried about her, bringing out some smelling salts and flicking them at her face. She began coughing and sneezing, and then took another look at Vega and it looked as if the cycle would repeat all over again, before Ruby put herself between the new group and Onnie and Rollo. Setting her hands on her hips.

"Well fancy meeting you here!" She strode forward, wading slowly through the hip-high waters. "Mind if we have a ride on your dragonling?"

Regardless of the groups acceptance, the mage continued, "We had nothing to do with your husband leaving, Vega. This is news to us. If he didn't tell you he was leaving, then that's on him." She muttered, then turned her head over her shoulder to regard the two mouse cadouri behind her, "Always getting blamed for things, aren't we, when we're just trying to help."

"The trouble is, your husband seems to be suffering from a spot of memory loss, so I doubt he could tell you exactly what he was doing when he left. But Cassion informs us, we're adored by him mind, that he wished to bring his son along on a good old adventure. To the prison realm of a dead Immortal..."

Rollo spoke up, covering Onnie's ears to spare her sensitive mind from his own sense of indignance. "As to the absurdity of that, well, I'll let Cassion explain, should you meet him anytime soon. For now, there appears to be a bright light approaching, and you know what that means."

Ruby shook her head, "Listen, I know it looks funny to have us here at the end of things, and us there at the beginning of his departure. But I'm certain with time things will come clear. However, if you leave us to boil here, you'll have slain three adored followers of Cassion for no good reason. As you'll find out if you should make it out yourselves. So I propose we take a leap of faith, and decide to trust each other for now, until such time as it becomes clear that we shouldn't."

"We gave the man his blasted things, afterall! Does that sound like something a captor would willingly do?!" Rollo growled. Meanwhile, the whistling got louder.

Varlum looked at the mice as they talked. It was hazy, but in the firelight he saw what could only be the form of Old Dust, wearing a travelling cap and walking away from Varlum. There was also something odd about the image however, a part of it was cut off, like Cassion was hand in hand with someone else, leading them along. But the full form was obscured by blank flames.

"Now can we board your Dragonling or are we going to have to go our separate ways?" The two of them said in unison, as Onnie sniffled sadly.

Onnie finally broke her silence, when none of the others answered the questtion about the Miracle Stone, "W..w...we heard it could grant wishes. We... my... our grandpapa is sick, and we hoped we..." Onnie choked, "Hoped he could..." She sobbed, "Stay around long enough to see his grandsong accept Saoire's honors for his novel which is about to be published."

Rollo shushed Onnie, and hugged her close, protectively. "Now see what you've all done! Forget it Ruby, this lot is heartless!! Absolutely heartless..." So saying, he began wading off toward the right-most passage, opposite the entrance that the three had come through.

Off Topic

0 Points for narrative and thinking things through.
0 Points for quick/brief personal reactions to others in the group.
0 Points to ask one question and, or otherwise confer/converse with anyone in the group (Tune-bound from Vega)
1 Point each to take an action undertaken in cooperation with another group member. (Tune-Bound from Vega)
1 Point each to take an action and movement undertaken in cooperation with another group member. (Tune-Bound from Vega)
2 Points for Mousechat (Upping the cost of chatting up the mice for reasons.)
2 Points to take an action alone.
2 Points to take an action and movement alone.
2 Points to examine your environment lightly.
3 Points to examine your surroundings in detail.

Varlum: 4 pts
Vega: 1 pts
Praetorum: 1 pts (extending the bond counts as an action with the group)
Arlo: 2 pts (climbing aboard Martha counts as moving/action with the group since you is linked up)

Average pace of 2 for the group this

turn

.

Please post in 5-7 days as always. I may post in five days or seven, so beware and post asap.

[Arlo Creede]

By the end of the three cadouri's version of things as they told it, Arlo was no closer to reaching any kind of certainty as to whether they could be trusted or not. The problem was, not so much the possibility that they were lying outright, but the possibility that they'd been duped and were being used by some faceless imposter for nefarious reasons, but believed absolutely in each word that they said. In which case, truth might be wholly subjective.

"If I can rely at all on any memories, or rather broken shards of memory that I've got at hand, it's that I've been imprisoned in Maste's prison realm for some time...I don't know how long and it wasn't a pleasant stay. And apparently, according to my rescuers here, rather than release me himself, Cassion sent these three to do it while providing them with scarce few details at all." Not exactly Cassion's usual, this apparent disinterest in the details.

"However, while it's possible that Cassion was involved somehow in my disappearance and I simply don't remember, the extent of his involvement in my...rescue and my presence here now is debatable. Based on what I was able to see by tapping into my Hidden Truth ability, I don't believe it was Cassion who arranged for my rescue at all." Perhaps the three cadouri did believe it,, again making both lies and truth relative things. Nonetheless, for the sake of them all together, as he kept a sharp eye out for the wisp and they began to move on, Arlo described what he'd seen.

What he'd seen and experienced, Arlo began, "had nothing to do with Cassion. He wasn't there. Instead, there was these three," he explained, gesturing to the three cadouri who he was coming to believe more and more had genuinely been bamboozled. "and the individual who put set them to rescuing me and seeking out the Heart and miracle stone. He was an imposter. A masked man wearing a hat." Of course, Arlo realized that the mask itself might well be both a literal one, in order to look every bit like his immortal father, and figurative. Nonetheless..."When they turned away, presumably to set off on their task, behind their backs he drummed his fingertips together like a storybook villain, and grinned with a kind of maniacal, cursed gleam in his eyes."

That was it, it was all he had to offer. And perhaps the three cadouri were at least at heart being honest. Unless of course, Arlo's own mortalborn abilities had suddenly become less reliable or even misleading in this place.

[Vega]

Catch A Dragon By The Tail ....

Arlo wiped a tear from her cheek and Vega looked at him.She lifted her hands, but not to touch him - instead she played an invisible fiddleRe-using the Tune Bound abilitiy with the Song Forged invisible fiddle! and did so enough that they all heard it. Arlo, and the mice, would be bonded to them.

Now that he was bonded to her the same as Varlum and Prae, he could feel her emotions like waves even though she did her best to keep them in check. It would not surprise Arlo at all, of course, what she said next but it did occur to Vega that perhaps Praetorum and even Varlum might think that this was an unusual and debilitating level of emotion for her. Nothing, of course, could be further from the truth because if there was one thing that Vega did it was to feel - deeply. So, her emotions swelled with love and sheer relief at the sight of him and feel of his hand on her cheek, as she looked at him her eyes told the reality of that too.

"Gerroff me, you dweeb,"

she said softly with a smile.

"Not in front of the ithecal."

And one of the cadouri was an empath. She glanced at the one in question, the one prone to fainting and she said, clearly.

"Mess around with my emotions or try any o' that stuff, an' I'm gonna punt you into next Ymiden. Other than that, we're fine."

She looked at the three mice and raised an eyebrow.

"Yer a bunch o' well informed folks considerin' how new dragons are to the world,"

she said. Vega didn't use any sensing abilities on them, but she knew that by virtue of the same situation that they could sense her emotion, she could now sense theirs.

"Can we trust you?"

she asked. directly.

"If we can, then you're welcome to get up on Martha. If not, then i imagine yer gonna feel guilty, an' that's that."

She had no time for anything else.

Varlum did something and she glanced at her brother.

"We good here?"

And then, they had to move. The wisp was coming one way, Arlo had come from another.

"So, lets take that direction then? "

she said and, unless anyone had a reason to stop or change their mind or suggest differently, that was what Vega did. She flew on wings from her back - Arlo, Pratorum and the mice were on Martha and Varlum was also self propelled.

As quickly as they could, they moved.

Actions:
1 point for the tunebound thingiet (I think?)
1 point for getting moving.

I'm assuming that "threatening to punt a mouse" isn't "mousechat" - but just in case!

Buffs:
Invisible armour
+ 1 level to a skill (Vega's is flying so Competent -> Expert)
Bound together a-la Qylios.

[Varlum]

Before the two had even started talking Varlum knew it would be an emotional conversation between Arlo and Vega, but in the typical Vega way she ensured to call Arlo a dweeb and return to business. But he felt what she felt. It was strong, as it always was. That was how Vega always had been since Varlum met her. Passion in everything she did, strong emotions to back a strong mind. It was a scary combination for those opposed her. Truth be told, Varlum almost envied it. She had far more control of how she felt than anyone else he had ever met, himself included.

Varlum gave her a reassuring smile when her and Arlo talked before returning to the conversation at hand. When asked, Varlum would nod, eyes looking to the Cadouri. "I think so. I see enough to know their intentions are well. I trust that they mean well. For now, at least" he nodded to Vega. Truthfully, he wouldn't trust them until he had more reason to. But Vega knew that much to be true. Even if the pair wasn't connected they had been on enough missions before. If he had learned anything it was that placing trust in those that hadn't earned it was a worthless idea.

Arlo's talk of Cassion had Varlum concerned, admittedly, as it was possible the Cadouri believed they were working for Cassion but weren't. Somebody disguising as an Immortal to trick these Cadouri meant they had a purpose. But if that was the case then they would tackle it as they went. Whoever this fake Cassion could be wasn't likely to show themselves any time soon. If they could, or wanted to, they would have no need for the Cadouri.

Still, the idea of somebody disguised as an Immortal was not one that Varlum wanted to come true.

"As for the direction, I agree. Let's go" he agreed. It made sense as far as he was concerned, not that his opinion on navigation was worth anything. Fighting was his speciality, alongside looking intimidating and occasional sarcastic remarks. The job of navigating could be left to the people skilled enough to do it. Once the group had agreed on what to do, though, Varlum would continue pressing forward with the others - going any direction they decided alongside the others.

Off Topic

1 point for getting moving!

Total: 1

[Praetorum]

The urge to recall his diri entirely was strong, Prae couldn’t deny that. Aurien was a part of him, and danger was fast approaching—the thought of putting him in danger… But Vega was right. They needed to know where the wisp was, how fast it was moving.

Stay close enough that you can just barely hear it whistling, but don’t let it get too close to you. Stick as close to us as you can without losing track of the sound, Prae instructed after some consideration. Hopefully it would be a happy medium, allowing them to track the wisp without risking his diri too greatly.

With that settled, Prae tuned back into the conversation at hand. Vega was feeling… everything, but it didn’t seem to be impeding her in any way, so Praetorum simply accepted it, well accustomed to filtering out emotions not his own. He simply gave her a smile, happy for her that she had found her husband again.

Arlo seemed deep in thought, speculating on whether someone were impersonating Cassion. Varlum was steadfast as ever, putting out his two nels on the cadouri. Unlike the others, Prae had no special way of determining the truth of the matter, not anymore—so he simply deferred to the others, going along easily with their decision on the matter.

More concerning to Prae than the potential risk of the cadouri was the much more imminent risk posed by this place, and their quarry. “I’ve an idea, but it’s risky,” Prae said as they began to move. “I’ve a piece of magic parchment that can turn into a messenger bird I can send to someone. First of all, it might not work—someone hidden by sufficiently powerful means can’t be found by the bird. But if it does, it might lead us straight to the assassin, or the cub, depending on who we choose as the recipient. Then again, it’d forewarn them that we’re coming. But we're hardly being stealthy anyways. What do you all think?”

[Pig Boy]

The mice all breathed a sigh of relief, as the group relented and seemed to accept their presence, or at least neutral enough that they could be accepted to hitch a ride on their dragonling.

They clambered aboard Martha. Before Onnie piped up in response to Vega's threat to kick her into Ymiden, "Oh no! It's hard sometimes to look the other way with so many emotions on the air, but I will never use my gifts for manipulation! Dear oh dear.... By the way, there is something we forgot to tell you."

Ruby shot a look at Onnie, but Rollo shrugged at Ruby. "There's these two gems that Cassion gave us, what he said would be useful at the heart somehow. Said they'd open up the way for a surprise twist. We didn't mention it, because he swore us to secrecy, but you all seem a trusting lot."

This said, they began their journey through the tunnel that they'd arrived from, evading the sound of the Wisp as fast as they could, while Aurien stayed near it to keep track of where it went.

As they went along, it appeared the passage they'd arrived from had shifted slightly in their absence. No matter, there were three passages before them. One high, and two on the ground level, treading water. The first on the ground level smelled of tea, and gave a sound like a roaring predator, which caused a shiver to run through the spines of most of the mice.

The second ground-level passage smelled of copper, with a tinge of blood flavor, and sounded like the gentle wind through a meadow. The top passage, which was devoid of any apparent water, but did drip some out through its opening to the floor of the Lagoon, smelled of Dandelions, and sounded like the harsh rubbing of cloth against layers of the same cloth.

These sensations were strange no doubt to the travellers, but surely they meant something. They could ask the mice if they thought they'd have any input, but knowing how the mice tended to run at the mouth, it would take time to extract much worth of meaning out of them. Plus they were making such good time now, between all their flying and avoiding the treading of water.

Off Topic

0 Points for narrative and thinking things through.
0 Points for quick/brief personal reactions to others in the group.
0 Points to ask one question and, or otherwise confer/converse with anyone in the group (Tune-bound from Vega)
1 Point each to take an action undertaken in cooperation with another group member. (Tune-Bound from Vega)
1 Point each to take an action and movement undertaken in cooperation with another group member. (Tune-Bound from Vega)
2 Points for Mousechat (Upping the cost of chatting up the mice for reasons.)
2 Points to take an action alone.
2 Points to take an action and movement alone.
2 Points to examine your environment lightly.
3 Points to examine your surroundings in detail.

Varlum: 1 pts
Vega: 2 pts
Praetorum: 1 pts
Arlo: 1 pts

Average pace of 1 for the group this turn. Please do identify 3-5 knowledges each round you post. Also please identify the actions you're taking in subtext, for my ease of tracking your actions and also recording them. I may not agree with the exact count, but please try.

Please post in 5-7 days as always. I may post in five days or seven, so beware and post asap.

[Vega]

Catch A Dragon By The Tail ....

When Praetorum started his idea with the word magic, Vega worried that she was going to have to thump him, but he talked about an item. She listened, frowning slightly and nodded.

"Were it ok to use magic items on Ishallr? When castin' were a bad idea?"

If it was, then she nodded with a

"I say go for it, we're not quiet. The cub. We want the cub if we can. I have a plan."

It was a sort of plan maybe something in her mind, but Vega considered that there might be a way to break the trust of the cub and the Dweeb, if she could but have two sentences with the cub first.

It might not work, but it was worth a go.

The mice talked about two gems and Vega thought about it, then nodded.

"Lemme see?"

She said. If they were on Martha by that point, she'd suggest that they pass them to Arlo, since his hands were free as Praetorum was steering. They moved, and it was different but the same and Vega considered the three openings. Her frown deepened and she looked around. She used her ability to understand the contextFrom the siege at Storm's Edge to every camp she has ever set up, Vega is used to working with the environment she is in to maximise her tactical chances and / or to weaken her opponents. In any given situation she is able to use the environment to give her maximum tactical advantage and to disrupt the enemy. Obviously, this will be dependent on the context and the time Vega has. When she has time to plan and prepare, she is able to prepare defences / sentries which provide absolute coverage of an area and also identify the most efficient places to put traps and alarms so that a surprise attack is near to impossible to achieve. In the heat of the moment, she can find the single most useful spot to stage an attack, or how the environment can be used to weaken an enemy's defences. The environmental context becomes a fundamental part of Vega's tactical arsenal here, and she uses it like a resource which both strengthens her position and weakens that of her enemy. She can, in the moment, make such changes and adjustments as necessary to make the landscape as favourable to her side as it can be. Examples might include things like: if she's leading a group of missile troops and archers, she can find a high ground with cover. Or if she's leading a group from danger, she can find an escape with plenty of cover. Equally, it might be that she picks an escape route which seems obvious but, as she does so, it draws the enemy into a tactical disadvantage because of some aspect of the environment which she had spotted. to make sure that she was coming to the right conclusion. Then, she spoke, quickly.

"Things are in threes here,"

she said.

"Sight an' sound an' smell."

She pointed at the top opening.

"Looks good, smells good an' sounds middle-o-the road."

The first ground one.

"Looks bad, sounds bad, smells middle-o-the road"

There was very little going for it. The third one, by now obviously.

"Looks bad, smells bad, sounds good."

. That gave them an order, of sorts. The top opening had the most going for it. The third one was middle ground, but the second one - the first ground one - that was the worst.

She looked at the others and said, simply. [sa=vy]"There's a biqaj tale about three journeys by sea. Hardest one leads to heaven, easiest one leads to hell. Middle one takes you round in a circle. I vote we go the hardest appearin' one. That's that one."[/say] She pointed to the one with the sound of the roaring predator.

Not sure whether it would work or not, Vega used her Guiding LightThe Blessed is guided by the stars at night. When the stars begin to appear it is as if they speak to him, giving intangible hints as to where things are, the best way to go to reach them, and what hazards may lie in whichever path he takes. The glares of starlight seem to take on brief shapes that warn and direct. There must be either direct, or directly reflected, starlight present to receive this benefit. Night clouds lit with starlight will also bestow this benefit. Those that lack Xiur's mark will not perceive this effect. ability. Thanks to her ability to use that being amplifiedThe Blessed can now gain the benefit of "Guiding Light" even when starlight is not naturally present. This includes being indoors and underground. The Blessed still sees visions of starlight hints in his eyes that no other sees. But this benefit is only during nighttime breaks. , if there were stars out, it would work. If possible, she'd try that in conjunction with Praetorum using his item also - after all - if Praetorum and Arlo had agreed on items being good to use, now seemed to be the proper time.


Having put forward her point of view, Vega looked at the place and watched it with a clear idea that this was a trap. It was that which she wanted to find.

Actions:
1 for activating an ability with Prae.
2 for examining the area (tactics head on).


Buffs:
Invisible armour
+ 1 level to a skill (Vega's is flying so Competent -> Expert)
Bound together a-la Qylios.
[/quote]

[Varlum]

For a moment Varlum considered Praetorum's idea, pausing as he debated his options. Admittedly, stealth had never been Varlum's approach anyway, nor was he good at it. Glowing bright with magma and standing twelve feet tall tended to make him an easy target to spot. "If the item won't kill us all, I think it's worth a try" Varlum nodded to the others. "I hate to ruin any plans we had but I'm hardly sneaky anyway. If this finds our target quicker, it's for the best."

Regardless of if they used the item or not, however, Vega clearly had some ideas of her own. Varlum listened to her reasoning and sighed for a moment, though a smirk broke out on his face. "If you were anyone else telling me to march into the scariest of all our options, I'd think you were stupid" he admitted, before giving her a gentle nudge. "I liked it better when I was an only child. Didn't have to worry about siblings that were smarter than me."

"Let's do it" he nodded in agreement. Vega was his sister, but more than that - she was more competent than any soldier he'd ever served. He couldn't disagree with her logic. The entrance could be dangerous. Of course it could. But they were hardly an untrained group. Varlum and Vega had fought through hordes alone and the Ithecal had seen Prae fight enough to know he was better trained than most. While his time around Arlo had been mostly peaceful he trusted that the man was above and beyond many others. He had to be, to have the patience for this family.

Should the others agree Varlum would make his way through with them all. If they had other ideas, however, he would hear them out. This was a group mission, after all, and while he trusted Vega's judgement that didn't mean it was the only point of view he wanted to hear. Truth be told, Varlum wasn't concerned where they went. They were flying blind as of now. Any direction was just as likely as the next to lead him where he wanted to go. Their logic would only take them so far, an element of luck remained.

But wasn't that always the way?

Off Topic

1 point for moving with the others!
Should be it I think

[Arlo Creede]

Two gems, handed over to the cadouri by Cassion. It was a detail that in spite of his own previous, extensive efforts to pry anything of use from the trio, Arlo had failed to extract from them. Though he wasn't willing to stake his own life, or anyone else's life, on it by trusting in them completely, he was at least more willing now to think that they'd more likely been duped by an imposter, rather than to assume they were by nature and action, up to no good.

And the addition to the tale made sense nonetheless. If anyone liked a good twist in a story it was Cassion, and it wouldn't be a twist had he been willing to supply many details. At any rate when Vega asked for the gems, so long as the cadouri were willing and acted accordingly, Arlo would pass them along. "I believe the use of magical items was an acceptable alternative," he said. The scents, sounds and sense of the three options hardly matched neatly together, nor did the lay of the land...so to speak, appear to remain reliably constant. But what could be expected, if all this had anything whatever to do with Mastes, be he dead or alive...or alive again. Whatever.

Arlo opted not to ask any of the three mice what they thought of it all, since he suspected he'd need to spend more time sorting nonsense from anything reliable than what he'd have gained from doing it. Ultimately he grinned a little when Vega made her suggestion. Of course she had a plan and was all to willing to put it into action. Ultimately she suggested the direction she felt was the most likely prospect, unsurprisingly the most difficult and potentially dangerous one, and Arlo grinned again and simply nodded in kind. Cassion's own blood ran through his veins. What other way but the way most likely to provide the best story?

However that didn't mean he'd be eager to rush blindly in. With that in mind, he reached out to his diri Lyova through a shared link between them requiring no words spoken at all. "Lyova? Would you mind scouting ahead of us a little and reporting back what you see and hear?"

Off Topic

2 points for climbing aboard Martha
1 point for moving along as part of the group
1 point for confirming previous use of magic items
2 points for sending Lyova ahead to scout and report back

[Praetorum]

“Magic was the wrong word,” Prae said at Vega’s concern. “It doesn’t function using ether and domain magic, it’s more like a knicknack with special properties. We were able to use those on Ishallr just fine.” He recalled Darius having a healing mirror, and all of them having domain bags. This message bird was more like that than any domain magic.

With that determined, Prae pulled the piece of paper from his domain bag, and focused on it. In the palm of his hand, it folded itself into an intricate little bird, and fluttered its wings. Vega spoke

her message

into the bird, and Praetorum send it flying towards Ban Azîr.

“Vega, you have a forged diri as well. It might be prudent to have them follow the bird at a distance.”

He listened as the mice spoke of two gems, and frowned, trying to think of what they might be. Wells, perhaps? As the mice passed them over to Arlo, Prae would turn to take a quick look, just in case he might know something the others wouldn’t.

“I’ve no objection to the path you suggest.” Prae was not sure he thought Vega’s logic sound, but he had no better alternatives, and going quickly down a wrong path was better than dithering about the right one until the wisp caught up to them. Besides, in a fracture, who was to say there was a single right path at all?

“Let’s go, then.”

1 to use the messenger bird with vega
2 to examine the wells lightly