[As One River to Another] Rage in a Cage

[Pig Boy]

As Faith and Grimwald lingered and considered the gates leading into the larger cavern, the Warden was in his office, giving Val and Ricard the berating of a lifetime.

"So Augustin is here. And the rookie is giving her a little tour. How nice. Where, pray tell, is the rookie leading her. Did neither of you even think or consider that you ought to accompany such an important visitor, to make sure she doesn't go where she shouldn't? Where I don't want her to?"

Val was smirking as Ricard took the brunt of his spittle in his face. She seemed content to let Ricard handle the hardest questions, but did thrive on his squirming.

"I er... I thought I should go straight to warn you. I didn't thi..."

"Yeah clearly thinking isn't your forte." Val snickered.

The Warden then turned his attention to Val, "And you! Don't think I didn't notice what you did. Our resident attuner saw what you did. How can you be so reckless."

Val rolled her eyes, "Really, you're worse than my mother."

"What..."

The sound of metal scraping on wood for a fraction of a second was the only warning the Warden got before Val plunged a sword into his abdomen, severing several nerves but narrowly avoiding the artery. He fell to his knees, a shocked look on his face. Ricard hadn't even the time to react before Valtharn's other hand stabbed a dagger into his upper vertebrae, paralyzing him.

"Now... You're going to tell me all about what you're looking for, Warden. And maybe I'll make the pain pass quick...er."



Faith would get the hunch that time was of the essence, and that she currently was at a critical position in this scenario. She was vaguely aware that things were slowly but surely falling apart at the top of the prison, but not the details. Something was coming down to them.

Grimwald, meanwhile, was fairly clueless, but had the key and a very important visitor to the prison in his custody.

Off Topic

I will post again around the 25th of September 2022. Posting quicker as players will get me to post faster as well. Thanks!

[Faith Augustin]

Rage in a Cage....

She was going to have to do something about this.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," she said to Grimwald. Faith didn't know that he was concerned about talking, but he didn't have to be. She was quiet as they walked and she spent the time looking very, very carefully at the place. She looked at the details, paid attention to the specifics . She also turned her attention to the evidence of abuse, of wounds, of what was happening down here, in terms of what injuries and illnesses people had .

These people were criminals, and Faith knew that there needed to be a system of dealing with criminals, but as a marked of Pier and Pre, she saw no justice here. This type of thing was what had happened in Slags Deep, back on Scalvoris and she had been a vocal opponent of that. She needed to gather what information she could here, and it took all her self control to not stop. The reality was, it gave her pause and then, she knew, she had to keep moving. The inner conflict she felt was relevant and she had to feel it but Faith recognised what it was doing.

She was pulling herself in two directions and, inevitably, it would mean that she went to neither.

So, she focused and she walked, quietly. Every detail she could pay attention to she did, relying (rather unusually, for her) on her eidetic memory - granted by Vri - in order to be able to make notes when she got out of here. No detail would be forgotten.

And so, she put her mind into focus, pressing her fingers tight one against the other till the pads turned white and Faith fought against a growing sense of urgency. She wanted to help here, but she had to prioritise. There was the gateway, and she had to get through it, but it needed two keys. Her first thought was that she would take a Wisp-form, see if it would take her through the door. But then, Faith realised immediately, it was Saun and the ability simply wouldn't work.

Her brow furrowed briefly, and Faith made a calculation in her head. Then, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of chalk. "One moment," she said. She turned and, on the wall, she drew a door. The chalk drawing became a door and Faith's hand closed around the handle.

In there would be what she needed which, she hoped, would include a key PB's Palace
A simple piece of chalk. Twice a day Faith can use this chalk to draw a door. When she does, it becomes a door to a "room of requirement" (which PB insists is his palace) of varying size, depending on what it contains.

In there, neatly organised and clearly labelled, is whatever Faith needs for her current project. She can identify one project per season and this item will allow her to resource it. The room itself won't provide raw materials such as building supplies, but it will provide sheets and blankets. Strangely, though, it won't provide prepared food, but will provide the ingredients needed to make that food. Medical supplies, clothing, etc, all of these will be provided. Specialist medical equipment or scientific supplies, however, will not. approval . By making that choice, she had decided that she would be dealing with this prison this season. It would be her project for this season.

Whatever the room gave her, Faith would pick up. If it was simply a key, or if it was more than that, then she'd take what was there. And, if there was a key, then she'd grab it and then, in the same moment that Grimwald did. She glanced at him and gave a slight, terse smile.

She didn't know what would be ahead of them - but whatever it was, she knew this was where she had to be.

!

Message from: Pig Boy

What Faith finds, and Grimwald can see and respond to what it is, are the following: A perfume decanter labeled thusly: "Jesine's sleeping perfume. Puts the wearer(s) to sleep immediately upon application." A set of camping equipment and bedding: "For resting comfortably" Tree-care materials, for manicuring roots: "For appeasing the old bitty" At first, it appeared this was all that would fall out of PB's Palace, but then, when removing the camping equipment, a hard metal object or two fell out of the bedroll she pulled from the portal. It was also attached to a label, which explained its use: A blank key, and metal grinder: "For producing a key copy. Probably want someone with experience in tinkering with locks, Love."

[Revan Blackhand]

35 Saun 722

Ignorance was very blissful as Grimwald stood beside Faith and waited to find out what she wanted to do about the locks they could not get past. He had any idea what was really happening in the prison he would probably have acted very differently but he didn't know. He knew not that the warden was being interrogated or who was doing it. If he did, he might have considered the opportunity for upward movement in the prison. Another promotion couldn't hurt, could it? Well... the warden might say that it could very easily hurt. Regardless, he did not know and because he did not know he only thought about what was in front of him. Ironically, what was in front of him was a locked door that was clearly meant to keep them out. He was a criminal at heart, or at least this face was, and criminals liked going places they were not supposed to go if they thought it would get them something.

While he waited for Faith's response, he looked over the locks and the keys that he'd been given once more. Faith's brow furrowed and she asked for a moment before producing a piece of chalk. Grimwald was a moment from making a sarcastic remark about drawing on the walls when Faith's doodle turned into a door. Grimwald's eyes widened, unable to hide his surprise. It shouldn't have been as impressive as it was given that he was able to change his face and body at will but most mystical things still had a tendency to shock the thief. Perhaps she was not everything he thought that she was.

He looked carefully at the few objects that Faith pulled from the door she had created and he stumbled over his words for a few trills while trying to think of an adequate way to question what had just happened. In the end he couldn't figure out what to ask so he defaulted into silence and observation. A perfume decanter? Camping equipment? Some weird stuff for- well Grimwald couldn't really even guess what the tree-care materials were actually for.

Then Faith pulled out the blank key and the metal grinder. Those were tools that Grimwald was a little bit more familiar with and as soon as he saw them, his eyes shifted down to the keyring he was holding. Faith looked towards him and Grimwald held up the keys.

"I can make a copy with that right there. Then we can unlock the door and go on." Grimwald decided it didn't hurt to divulge that he knew how to use the grinder. So long as Faith didn't dig into why he knew so much about locks, he was sure he could come up with some excuse that made sense. When it was offered, Grimwald took the blank key and the grinder and walked over towards the first of the two locks. He shuffled through the key ring until he found the key which fit the lock and then began a slow but precise process of grinding a copy. One shave too much or one shave too little, and the key's wouldn't match. If they didn't match, it wouldn't work. After a bit or so of careful work, Grimwald turned and offered the copied key to Faith. "We'll have to turn them at the same time, but it should work. If not, I can try to adjust the key again." And if that didn't work he could always try to replicate the key with his marble, but he preferred if Faith didn't find out he had that with him.

Grimwald walked over to one of the locks and looked towards Faith. Same time. He couldn't deny he was curious to find out where they were going.

[Pig Boy]

Faith saw the details and specifics, those of the conditio of prisoners. One throughline, for all the various abuses levied upon the prisoners, the endless hours toiling in the dark, the scuffed hands and fingernails, the obvious signs of torture and corporal punishment, she would notice that they all bore signs of sleep deprivation. Severe sleep deprivation.

In the moment she brought out the supplies, and granted Grimwald the key-grinding kit, he knew just what to do with it. Exploring the lock, he found it wasn’t all that advanced, just requiring two people a certain distance apart to turn at the same time in order to open. He could grind a shape out of the key that would work.

As it happened, the shape was identical to his one key.

And so, the doorway opened for them, and they saw a deep tunnel leading down into the gloom. There were signs there, of a pair of people who’d been cast down into the tunnel, and left there to rot.

Faith would have a hunch that perhaps the man she’d sent to custody had been brought down here, although she had no real solid proof, and couldn’t quite be sure of that. Still, a note of caution might play into their procession as the gates opened and the area ahead was laid bare.

Grimwald, meanwhile, felt strangely ill at ease all of a sudden. As if a sudden atavistic fear had sprung to the back of his mind. He’d never felt that way before, but there was something that keyed into his connection to Uleuda. He couldn’t quite place what it was, or why. There was a palpable air of menace ahead, if he wished to enter it.

Off Topic

Please continue to the thread, “Big Shadows in Little Garaia”.

[Pig Boy]

Rharne

Vincent Steinitz

Feedback

Vincent quickly finds himself in over his head, but I can't help admiring his devil-may-care attitude toward the very real danger he finds himself in. A rogue that's used to living dangerously, one might say. Have some xp.

Rewards

• XP: 15

Sabine Devereaux

Feedback

Sabine took the drowning in mud like a pro. Sign me up for the mud--wrestling rematch with her and Valtharn. At any rate, you were a good sport throughout this event, even though your character was ill prepared at first, she made some critical moves toward the end, and helped the group succeed eventually. Or so it seems. Have some xp.

Rewards

• XP: 15

Knowledges

• Strength: Tossing a loaded pack as far as you can
• Field Craft: Making oneself appear unthreatening to a wild animal
• Field Craft: Extra clothing for emergencies

Revan Blackhand

Feedback

I like Revan, or rather Grimwald. He appears a very likeable psychopathic non-person. It's fortunate he avoided shaking Faith Augustin's hand this time, as she would've had him pegged as an Yludih! Oh boy that would've been awkward. Or maybe not. Anyway, have some xp.

Rewards

• XP: 15

Faith Augustin

Feedback

Faith's appearance here seemed an unconventional choice as I said elsewhere, but then again, her brother having been imprisoned there once upon a time this actually seems a very apropos direction for her to take. We'll just have to see where she takes her involvement here going forward... Have some xp

Rewards

• XP: 15