Quest Loot Runners 1: Grangomelle's Dark Place

[Raigryn Vayd]

The building before you would probably be described as a castle. Perhaps a few hundred years ago some minor lord had decided that his manor house needed to be defensible.

The lands around were littered with ruins from the Age of Expansion. The turrets at the corners of the squat, grey building had either partially collapsed or been sabotaged. It had clearly been left to ruin for hundred of years.

Grangomelle stood before the doors in his resplendent robes. He faced a small group of adventurers and an even larger crowd who had come to watch.

There was nothing particularly exciting about the maybe-a-castle. It was close to the portal stone in the Allirian Reach and available.



"Welcome to the first of my contests!" the wizard called out. "Over time each of my treasures will be placed in locations where only those worthy will be able to retrieve them."

He stood stall, his voice was clear. To some this would come as a surprise. He had supposedly been quite ill for the last year, barely seen around Elbion where he held an position at the college in emeritus. That fragility was supposed to be why he had called this challenge, spreading word to the far corners of Arethil.



"The doors behind me lead to a lobby. You have three options.

"Ignore the stairs and head deeper into the ruins and you will encounter some of my most devious magical traps. And for good measure I have animated several suits of armour that will roam the level looking for you. Here I have hidden the Lenses of Barr.



"Head up and you will find harpies nesting in the rafters. One of them has spied a bright and shiny key and added it to their nest. They key unlocks a case in a ruined tower which holds the Twin Dragon Coin. I'm afraid you will also have to convince the obsidian golem there to let you pass. Or find a way to break him. Split up to conduct both tasks or stick with your partner. The choice is yours.



"The stairs down lead to the basement, where the owner decided to use the natural caves for storing his wine. Unfortunately since being abandoned the walls have crumbled and some underground dwellers have found their way in. Sporetta, in fact. I should mention that if you pierce their flesh they emit a cloud of spores that can cause some rather powerful hallucinations for...well, certainly the duration of the challenge. Down in the darkness you will find the Compass of Longing. May it guide you back in the darkness."



Grangomelle looked to the sky and brought a crooked finger up to curl his beard. He looked as if he was decided if he had forgotten anything. He shrugged.

"How you decided which member of your pair keeps and item is up to you. You could always try for two. Everyone who makes it out gets a vial of Starfire. The one I am most impressed with shall leave with Chapter." He waved with disinterest towards a sword being held by a young boy, potentially a student from the college.

"If you are observing," the wizard said, waving towards a row of mirrors formed of polished copper that had been laid out, "then you may express your opinion. I have rarely been swayed by the musings of fools."

He raised his bony fingers above his head and clicked them. Behind him the large doors started to swing open.

"No time for questions, you will figure it out. Or not."

Behind him as more light started to stream into the lobby the shadows started to move. The wizard finally cracked a mischievous smile.

"Oh and somehow a few Reach Trolls ended up in the lobby. They might be hungry."

"Enjoy!"

Chapter

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

OOC thread: https://chroniclesrp.net/threads/loot-runners.1163/

Info:

• Don't wait for DM posts. I won't be doing that. The introduction has outlined the challenges ahead and writers are expected to play them out.
• If anything I might throw a few new twists in along the way
• This is a quick write format. In your pairs you can posts back and forth as quickly as you want to try and reach loot
• To obtain items you can rush to them, wait to mug those who took them on the way out, or come up with new ways to find them. All I ask is that you give the challenges ahead of you some respect in your writing
• Use the OOC thread, PMs or discord to dicuss the thread as much as you wish!

 

[Alani Delkera]

The short blond stood among the group of adventurers looking up at the ruins, head cocked and feet planted firmly in a wide stance. She was a bit odd to look at. One would assume she was a short human but her grayish skin pallor betrayed some other lineage. a pair of short pointed ears poked out from her blond locks and when she grinned a pair of small orc-like tusks showed themselves, though she was much too small to be a half-orc no matter which way you spun it. A pair of hatchets hung at her hip and a sword in a sheath across her back.

She listened carefully to the old wizard as he spoke and glanced around at the other competitors. As soon as the wizard mentioned the basement and the mushroom people her eyes lit up. She had met sentient mushrooms before. Were they anything like the ones she had met near the spine. I wonder what happened to them? she mussed. The Compass sounded interesting too. She leaned closer to her partner, an elf named Quoril, and grabbed his sleeve "Let's go for the basement," she whispered, her excitement bearly concealed in her tone.

The wizard continued talking, giving more instructions to the adventures and the observing crowd. Then he snapped his fingers and the doors began to open. Alani grabbed Qurils hand and was about to start sprinting for the doors when- Wait, What? Tolls! He said trolls. She stopped short and instead of running She turned around and looked Quoril dead in the eyes with an intense gravity, "How good are you at sneaking?" She asked.

Quoril

 

[Quoril]

Quoril stood with the other teams gathered there bouncing up and down on his toes impatiently. After hearing about a wizard holding a contest for rare magical artifacts, he immediately contacted Alani Delkara. She had first came to him many months ago to sell rare plants she had found, and they had quickly hit it off. When he told her about the wizard, she jumped at the chance to join in.

The elf listened intently to what the wizard was saying, trying to decide which item sounded the most interesting. Suddenly he felt a tug on his sleeve followed by Alani excitedly saying “Let’s go for the basement!” Once the wizard had finished his announcement, Alani grabbed his hand and yanked him forward. Mere steps later she abruptly stopped. Turning to Quoril she asked “How good are you at sneaking?” Looking around he realized that trolls had somehow materialized in the room.

“I’m fairly skilled at sneaking, although it'd be difficult to sneak away from this horde of trolls,” Quoril responded quietly. “I think our best bet might be to draw their attention somewhere else and make a run for the stairs.” The elf pulled a small round object with a fuse from a pouch stored under his cloak. “As soon as this goes off we run for the stairs okay?” he said with a quick look at Alani.

Without waiting for a response, the elf touched a small magical flame to the fuse and hurled the bomb up over the heads of the trolls and other adventurers, towards the center of the room. A few seconds later it exploded with a loud BANG! And a bright flash of light. Grabbing Alani’s hand, Quoril sprinted towards the basement stairway.

Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, they were confronted by a cave that split off into three different directions. Strange sounds emanated from the path to the left, and a ghastly green light could be seen far in the distance coming from the right. Directly in front of them was a sturdy wooden door standing slightly ajar, and behind it was what appeared to be a wine cellar.

“Hmmm. Which way do you think we should go?” Quoril asked, letting go of Alani's hand.


Alani Delkera

 

[Kalianna Romane]

Among the gathering of adventurers that stood before the ruins was Kalianna, who eagerly tapped her foot in anticipation at the challenge's beginning. Her hand hovered in idle waiting over the rapier that hung at her belt, the other stroking the Allirian Korvin, her good friend and companion Pan, that was currently curled atop her shoulder. An ornate violin was also strapped to her back, an odd accessory considering the situation they were heading into momentarily. She grinned as she heard the various items that lied in wait, glancing over to her partner, Amades. Leaning over as the doors shifted open, she asked, "Fancy going for the coin?"

Her expression faltered for a moment as she heard the last minute mention of the trolls, her eyes managing to find the silhouettes that appeared through the glass. "Unfortunate house guests." she commented at the sight. Still, she maintained her confidence, beckoning Amades to follow her inside through a pull of the arm.

Rushing inside she stopped at the edge of the doorway with Amades, staring at the Reach Trolls that seemed to have found a home inside the ruined structure. Her eyes darted to the different directions that led further in, as her hand went to Amades's shoulder. "Follow me," she said suddenly, as she broke into a sprint towards the stairs heading up.

As soon as the pair began to move, illusionary duplicates emerged from them, darting off in the other directions to distract the trolls. The lobby was quickly turned to a mess of illusionary Kali's and Amades' rushing off in different directions, the trolls unable to pinpoint the real pair in the groups, their clawed swipes only going through air as they slipped past.

Quickly climbing the stairs, they soon found the harpies they were after, woman-bird hybrids lodging in a menagerie of nests within the rafters. "Any ideas?" She asked, looking over to Amades, letting go of him.

Amades

 

[Alani Delkera]

As they entered the lobby the tolls stopped what they were doing catching their scent. Or more accurately Quorils, scent. It wasn't that they couldn't smell Alani, it was just that she smelled unappetizing, at least to a toll. As soon as she had realized there were tolls about she had quickly masked her natural scent, covering it with a more earthy smell, like dying autumn leaves.

She would have been able to quickly disappear from the troll's senses. The trolls she knew of in the Spine did not have particularly good vision, though their sense of smell was excellent. She could easily move quickly and quietly but it seemed that Quoril did not feel confident he could accomplish such a feat. Instead, he pulled out a strange round object and threw it across the room. There was a loud bang and the trolls attention was redirected away from them momentarily as Quoril grabbed her hand and ran across the room to the stairs. By the time they reached the stairs a new pair of adventurers had entered the room and caught the trolls attention.

When they reached the bottom of the steps Alani stoped her eyes gleaming, "That was amazing,"

Quoril then asked her where they should go next and she glanced around at the options. She closed her eyes and lifting her nose in the air and sniffed. She took a couple of steps forward folwing her nose, her eyes still closed. She took another sniff before opening her eyes.

"I can definitely smell them," She cocked her head and took another sniff, "Don't smell much in the wine cellar part. Though they have been back and forth through here recently. The right path smells different than the left." She held up a hand as if feeling the air in the direction of the right tunnel as she peered at the distant light. "There seems to be a draft." She took another deep sniff. "They smell... younger... like young mushrooms and moss... maybe a nursery? Interesting," She muttered before wandering towards the door to the wine cellar. She peered into the room wooden barrels and scaffolding lying in broken decaying disarray. A thick layer of dust and must covering everything. Some of the wine had leaked onto the ground filling the air with the heavy smell of alcohol that even Quoril could easily smell.

She pulled away and returned to the branching tunnels. She could hear the sound of more commotion upstairs as the trolls trundled around. She hoped they did not try to come down the stairs. She doubted any of them could fit but you never knew.

Looking down the left path she cocked her head and analyzed the sound coming from that direction, trying to ignore the thumping coming from above. It was a whispery shuffly sound. The path didn't go very far before taking a sharp turn and disappearing from view. A strong musty earthy smell came from that direction.

She looked back at Quoril. "I think this one leads to a decent-sized cavern filled, most likely, with adult Sporetta. That one is probably the best, it is usually a bad idea to mess with a parent's young. Just be sure not to injure any of them. I'm going to try and talk to them." She said starting down the left path.

As soon as she turned the corner she had been right, the room opened up into a large cavern, a wide variety of humanoid mushroom people stood or sat about as if chatting with each other but the only sound was a kind of shuffling as they moved. However, the room was filled with a wide range of smells that seemed to have no source. must and decaying leaves pervaded but wafts of freshly cut grass, young wood, and citrus wafted in and out.

They didn't seem to notice her at first It wasn't till Qouril caught up with her that they noticed. They jumped up some of them grabbing harpoon-like spears and a sharp acrid smell quickly filled the air. Alani held up her hands showing they were empty and a strong smell of rose and lavender filled the air. Qouril quickly realized it was coming from Alani.

 

[Amades]

Dressed as a typical hedge knight, sailor, disheveled traveler, western islander mix, meant he looked like a bit of everything, and more the road itself. He had chainmail on, patchy and run down but sturdy. Like the sword, dirty and old but sharp all the same.

While he waited Amades put his own large coin up to the light and dusted it off, polishing it made no odds. The face of it was worn and peeling away as it ever was, but he continued to polish the metal, tapping the secure chain it was on around his neck. Let’s see a certain someone pickpocket it this time. Certainly no twin dragon treasure, but important to him all the same.

When Kalliana suggested a treasure of a type dear to him, he nodded and his grin threatened to break his cheekbones at seeing copies of himself confusing the Trolls. “Good choice.”

She bolted off and follow he did on her arm, barely keeping up, Kalliana moved like she was at home in the challenge. He was completely lost and loving it. Barely understanding who was who in this land, or why the wizard had the veil order's interest. Then wham it was his first time seeing a harpy up close. When she asked about the bird creatures, he looked at the ground and half considered just lobbing a rock up. Shrugging. Probably not plan A.

“As a rule, birds don’t like strangers or new people.” He leaned over and whispered, “unless you can fly I suggest a very loud noise. ” He looked up, “mentioned a golem? This goes badly, I’ll draw them to it.”

Squatting against the floor he reached down into his traveling backpack and first pulled out some rope, something a good sailor never leaves shore without, attaching it up there would be another matter. Then he produced what Kalliana would probably recognize as a horn from her profession, however, it was the sort of horn ships use to signal to each other. “Ah, put your fingers in your ears please.” He grinned sheepishly.

Clearing his throat, Amades took a breath and leveled the small brass instrument upward at the offending harpies. There was a small pffffttt as he tried to blow, then nothing, probably down to performance anxiety. After a pause, he cleared his throat again. There was a pfffftt again but this one was followed by a loud bwwwooooooooonnnnnggggg noise sounding like a gong going off. The reverberations were quite impressive for a small handheld horn, enough to carry to the nearest ship if you happen to be on the ocean. It also had a habit of scaring off birds trying to scavenge ship supplies closer to shore.

On a harpy however it prompted a SHRRRRRIIIIIEEEEEEEEEKKKKKK and a flapping of wings, more than one pair to be precise. Part bird, they really didn’t like loud noises and instinct took over. The only question was, were they flying toward the horn or away from it, and how was the pair going to get up the sailor's sturdy rope up there?

 

[Quoril]

Quoril waited eagerly while he watched Alani move slowly around the room. She went to each exit in turn, sniffing the air and muttering to herself. “Don't smell much in the wine cellar part. Though they have been back and forth through here recently. The right path smells different than the left. There seems to be a draft. They smell... younger... like young mushrooms and moss... maybe a nursery? “

Returning to the left passage, she turned to Quoril she said, "I think this one leads to a decent-sized cavern filled, most likely, with adult Sporetta. That one is probably the best, it is usually a bad idea to mess with a parent's young. Just be sure not to injure any of them. I'm going to try and talk to them." before he had time to respond, she had started down the tunnel.

Quoril hastily followed after her, his footsteps echoing off the walls. Rounding the corner he emerged into a large chamber.The room was filled with mushroom creatures, and as soon as they noticed him, they grabbed spear like weapons. An acrid smell filled the air.

Sensing a fight, Quoril summoned a fireball and got ready to throw it. Suddenly another scent filled the room. Lavender and rose. And it seemed to be coming from...Alani?


Alani Delkera

 

[Alani Delkera]

"Put that out!" Alani hissed, the floral scent wavering for a moment. She grabbed her cantine and dumped it's contents over the magical flame, it going out with a hiss leaving the cavern dimly illuminated by bioluminescent moss that clung to the walls.

The Sporetta raised their spears, pointing them at Quoril. The acrid smell was almost overwhelming. To Alani, it felt as if they were screaming in outrage and fear. She quickly moved between the mushrooms and the elf. It was clear they disliked the smell of living meat. The smell of lemon and lavender wafted from Alani as she tried to pacify them and explain that they meant no harm.

The acrid smell lessened a little and was joined by the smell of dead leaves and saltwater. It was a question, Why should we trust it? Their communication of less of a language with sentences and words but more made up of a series of smells linked to memories and feelings with a complicated grammatical syntax which was hard for those used to an auditory language to grasp. Alani only got a very basic level of meaning but it was enough to understand what they meant.

The air changed again as Alani responded, mint and acorns and young grass. (We are young and curious) followed by the smell of lavender again (We mean no harm).

Some of the Sporetta lowered their spears, though they still watched Quoril with suspicion. One of the larger mushrooms looked at Alani and pointed at her with it's free hand. The smell of ripe berries and spring leaves filled the air (You smell like a friend) but was quickly underscored by the smell of ashes and smoke as it pointed at Quoril with its spear. (But the animal comes with fire)

The smell of lemons and damp earth filled the air as Alani responded. (It apologizes for it's actions, the fire is now out) Then the smell of fertilizer overwhelmed the other smells, which to Quoril would just smell like some kind of animal manure. (We come to help)

The rest of the Sporetta seemed to relax a bit. Alani sighed as the acrid smell dissipated. She then glanced back at Quoril "Ok so I think I convinced them you're not here to eat them or cook them or anything. Just don't do anything that they might perceive as hostile."

She then turned back to the Sporetta as one of them spoke up. Berries and dead leaves (How can you help us?)

Alani took a few steps forward and held out her hands in a gesture of giving like when a flower opens it's buds to release its pollen to the wind. (You are hunted by the mammals, They kill you and your children and cut off your food supply, but you cannot speak to them. I can be a voice for you.)

(Why would they care what we have to say?)

(We all fear what we do not understand. Understanding will bring cooperation.)

A number of them seemed to bob their heads from side to side as if in agreement and the largest one motioned Alani to sit with them on some of the bioluminescent moss growing in a small alcove off to the side.

She looked back at Quoril her face beaming yet still serious, "I just told them I wanted to be their ambassador, they just asked me to sit with them to talk about details. I might be able to ask them about the compass if everything goes well." She said.

 

[Kalianna Romane]

She nodded in agreement at Amades' observations, her eyes watching the harpies as they rest in their nests of assorted branches and sticks that laid among the rafters. "The key's up in one of their nests. You draw them away, and I can search for it. I can throw in some illusions to help you keep their attention if need be."

An eyebrow was raised as her companion went to his bag, soon turning to understanding as she saw the length of rope before developing into a familiar grin at the horn. It wasn't of the musical variety, per say, but the similarity was there. "Got it," she replied, covering both ears in anticipation. After a moment, she frowned, not hearing anything from the horn. "Is it-" She started, before a sudden noise rang out through the rafters with a resounding gong-like property. Her hands, which had been in the process of leaving her ears after the first attempt, quickly returned to cover them at the loud sound.

The harpies suddenly directed their gaze towards the horn, horrible screaches leaving feminine lips as they unfurled their wings. Unfortunately, while the noise did succeed in bringing the harpies and their attention away from the nest, their reaction was not all one of fright as with their smaller avian relatives. A few burst into flight, fleeing through shattered windows and gaping holes in the ruined ceiling, but some maintained their composure. Three harpies stood up from their nests, shrieking once more before leaping down from the rafters, sweeping down towards the duo.

Watching this occur, Kali grabbed hold of one end of the rope, her eyes searching the walls and rafters for a way up. Finding one, she rolled to the side as the creatures' talons scraped the staircase where they once stood. Looking to the wall beside her, rope still in hand, she thought back to her practice as an acrobat amongst the bards. It probably not what they intended she'd use that knowledge for, but if it works, it works. The bard leaped onto the railings of the staircase, her foot pushing off immediately after to allow her to grab onto an outcropping in the wall.

Glancing back gave her sight of one of the harpies still eyeing her, their feathers still ruffled from the prior outburst of sound. The harpy began to flap its wings once more, ready to take flight again towards her. Kali threw a hand towards it just as it started towards her, as sudden pops of color and noise appeared before the woman-bird hybrid's eyes. She hopped away from the wall, managing to grasp a part of the rafters.

Below her, the harpy shrieked out in surprise at the sudden illusion of what appeared to be a firecracker, crashing into the wall with a cry. It wasn't enough to defeat the beast, but it should keep it occupied trying to recover for the time being. There was still the matter of the others, of course, but hopefully Amades could handle them. Pulling herself up, Kalianna balanced along the wooden beams, hopping from one to another as she searched for the golden key they needed.

Amades

 

[Kerastrina]

Kerastrina was slow to enter the competition as she searched for her partner. She was quick to run through every reasonable option of what was happening: This was a cruel joke being played on her, They had been murdered, they were tricking her so she wouldn't find another partner, or they had been convinced to leave Kerastrina to compete alone, probably through threats or bribes. All of these would end with Kera being forced to be alone for the competition, why would someone want her to have to compete alone though? There was only one answer to keep her from getting one of the treasures. But which treasure was she to be kept from getting? There was no good way to know, so she would just have to get all of them.

She took note of how quickly Quoril took action, almost as if he had to get this item before a certain someone. unfortunately she did not see much else as she was quickly blinded by what ever it had been he threw. She blindly stumbled over to where he was before her eye sight finally returned, just in time to see him slinking downward with his suspiciously still present partner. Well she would easily sneak past these trolls with her cloak, and catch up shortly. She made it only halfway across the room when the distractions from the other teams were finished and then a fist slammed into the wall where she just was, and then another, and another, it was almost as if the trolls could smell her and didn't need their eyes to see her. This was very bad for Kera as she was now in the middle of a room full of trolls with no way of hiding, through the quick thinking of desperation she through her bag carrying her rations over their heads, distracting a few with the food. She then threw down a smoke bomb and ran for it, making it to the path down with only one solid smack from a stray swing of an arm. Great now she would have to find a baby to steal some food from.

As she ran, or more so limped, down the low path to catch up once more with those who conspired against her. When she reached the crossroads she was able to tell their footprints went towards the strong smell of alcohol, Ha fools thinking of drink when they were trying to best Kerastrina bandit extraordinaire. As she followed the tunnel she noticed a guard walking towards her around a turn. One of the mushroom people that wizard had talked about. Sitting silently around the corner she waited till it was close enough and then she quickly sliced it open where its stomach would have been were it a man, and drove her other dagger through the top of its head, as she forced the creature down, and pulled it behind the corner, she continued to stab at other vital organs realizing she didn't know the anatomy of these creatures so she would just have to stab normal vital regions, covering herself in the internal fluid as she did. Down the hallway she found another guard before a door, she was truly lucky to get to kill them one on one. She pulled out a pair of throwing knives, and before the second guard could react she threw them and then another two pairs, until she knew where they were weak she would just have to be extra safe. Peeking threw the door using a clean dagger as a mirror she realized she had gone the wrong way. before her were small mushrooms in a dead end room. This did give her an idea. Those that tended the, what had to be young, likely were not skilled warriors, so if she used the young as hostages she could keep herself safe from any other roaming guards. So she burst through the door, and killed the larger shrooms before they could arm themselves. Picking two of the smaller fungus she began running, if she was fast enough she could still catch up.

Kerastrina caught up just in time to hear Alani say,

I might be able to ask them about the compass if everything goes well."

 

[Quoril]

“That was amazing! I didn't know that you could talk to these things!” Quoril exclaimed in amazement. He continued to watch, fascinated as Alani continued using scents to converse with the sporetta.

Quoril’s face suddenly changed to a deadly serious expression. His sharp hearing had picked up the sound somebody in the tunnel. “There’s somebody following us!” Quoril said quietly to Alani, pressing himself against the wall near the entrance. “Whatever happens, please try to keep them calm. I don't want to know what happens when one of these things gets upset!”

Moments later, a human woman burst into the room. The instant Quoril saw her, he jumped, attempting to knock her over.

Alani Delkera
Kerastrina

 

[Alani Delkera]

Alani smelled it before she heard it. Someone was indeed following them. The Sporetta smelled it too. She was about to tell them to stay calm when she smelled something else. This person smelled of death. The Sporetta smelled it too. The room filled with the acrid smell mixed with the stench of carrion. The person didn't just smell of death they felt wrong, unnatural. The Sporetta felt it too. They could also smell that the thing had their young. They began to sway from side to side banging the butts of their spears against the ground as the acrid smell rose to a crescendo. The ones without spears moved behind the defenders.

The woman ran into the room and Quoril moved to tackle her. It was then that Alani saw she had the young Sporetta in her arms.

Alani became swept up in the moment as she joined the Sporetta, an acrid smell wafting from her as she crouched, hair bristling and her face twisting into a snarl, her tusks showing as a growl rumbled deep in her throat.

 

[Amades]

Thankfully or not thankfully Amades hearing was well accustomed to being half deaf.

Is it? Kalliana began to ask.

“WHAT?” He said loudly, rubbing a finger in his ear and looking at her directly. Then he realised he was shouting and stopped, the ringing slowly fading.

Oh Fetch it all. Three bird women left. Oh well, he drew his longsword and sword catcher. The acrobatics Kalliana was performing got a clap of his steels together in appreciation as she thinned their number. She had a gift, what he did have. Hmm.

“HEY BIRD LADY.” Come on think of a joke Amades. Nobody told him humor or taunting would be needed today.

The two just looked at each other, both expecting someone to do something.

“Damn your ugly.” At least he’d nailed the tone. There was a squawking from the horn angered and now mildly insulted or confused bird creature, she’d had enough, swooping down. Readying the steels out ahead of him, he raised the point of the longsword directly at her. Putting two fingers behind the hilt.

Was he saluting, giving a gesture of respect?

No, he just hurled the blade directly at her center torso as soon as she was close enough, about ten feet. Thrown like a spear it shot forward cleanly. Feeling quite happy with himself as the blade bit into her, she screeched in pain and he nodded smugly. "Not too bad." He backed off a step to avoid her flailing hands, the bird lady clutched at the offending blade and she flew off with it sticking out of her, mortally wounded no doubt.

No sword. He hadn’t thought that one through.

Enraged this caused her companion to descend, and all he had was a sword catcher, a small dagger blade with rivets down the side. Her companion came claws out and all he could do was meet her with that dagger, that and his backpack swinging for her head. She got some scratches on her arms, he got some scratches on his and then she got good smack around the head to send her reeling.

There was a slow tapping. Both combatants paused. The creatures large talons were flexing along the ground, and she shot forward, grabbing his chainmail in them. Picking the sailor up, "Ah, little help!” Thrashing him against one wall then heading for the other. It was now his turn to flail, and he began jabbing at her legs.

Tags:
Kalliana Romane

 

[Kalianna Romane]

Kalianna looked up from the collection of sticks and twigs that made up the harpies' nests, hearing the sound of Amades' voice. Immediately, she saw the problem. It was very feathery, and carrying a not-too happy Amades by its talons. "You never told me you could fly," he commented to her companion with a light grin, her eyes darting around the rafters for any idea as to how to get him out of the harpy's grasp.

Her gaze found rest on the length of rope still in her hands, turning up to the harpy as a plan formed in her mind. Taking one end, she called out, "Grab this, and pull!" She tossed the end of the rope to Amades, taking the other and wrapping it around a portion of the rafters. Now secure, she drew her rapier, using her other hand to hold onto the rope and tug it towards her.

With both Amades and Kalianna pulling at the rope, the harpy began to have some difficulty in its attempt to crash into the wall. Just before the flying monster was able to make impact on the stone wall with Amades' form in its talons, the rope reached its full length. The harpy began to turn around, forced to do so by the tied rope. "Come on, you..." She paused, trying to quickly workshop a name. "... weird bird lady," she decided on, "Sure, that works."

As the harpy came round to her, she readied her rapier. She hopped to another wooden beam among the rafters, using the rapier to stab at the harpies body and pull Amades from its talons while it was recoiling from the injury. It landed on another nearby beam, inspecting its wounds before taking a few steps back. It seemed cautious now, caught up in an internal debate between flight or fight. Clearly, this was more than the creature had bargained for when it took up residence in what it had thought was an abandoned ruins. It sounded like the harpy from downstairs was beginning to ready to take flight up to the rafters as well.

Tags:
Amades

 

[Kerastrina]

Kerastrina ran down the hallway in a panic these little shrooms kept releasing some stench, and if the silence she had heard from the before was any indication this was how they screamed. Which meant she had two captives that were continuously screaming for help. Worse she had no idea how to shut them up. Captives need to be quiet until they are being used for threats otherwise they are just liabilities. Soon the walls were also screaming at her, she began to see the faces of those who died because of her begin to take form in the walls.

So she was happy when she heard the voice of proper people, but as soon as she peaked her head around the corner to the room they were in the flash bomb guy, and number one most like to have sabotaged her, tried to tackle her as she peeked around the corner. Obviously this guy was terrible at hostage negotiations. He had let his hatred of poor, innocent Kerastrina get in the way of trying to keep the children safe. Kera quickly pulled back as fast as she could to get behind the wall again.

"WHoa there, is that any way to handle a hostage negotiation? I'll answer for you no, but now you see I need to prove how stupid of an idea trying to tackle me was, otherwise others might think am giving empty threats, or they could try without consequences. So I want to make this clear: This things blood is on you."

With the swift motion of her arm she slit one of the young's throat, and shoved it forward, where it stumbled for a few steps before falling over.

"I don't know much about their biology, but if they are similar enough to human, as long as you stop the bleeding now it may live. See, unlike you I actually care about people's lives. Now give me the... whatever treasure the wizard said he put down here. If it was important enough for you to sabotage my chances in this game then it is important that I get it. All you have to do is just give me the treasure, and I will spare this one's life, eh? Oh, and tell your stinky dog thing to heel, and stop growling at me. Also does anyone know how to get the walls to stop screaming?"

 

[Alani Delkera]

Alani stared in shock. Did the lady really just do that? She only had a split second to think but everything seemed to slow down. The Wizard had said something about hallucinations if these creatures were cut. She instinctually held her breath but quickly realized that she would be unable to hear the Sporetta like this. Oh damn it all.

"Cover your mouth! Don't breath it in!" She cried in warning to Quoril as she lunged forward and scooped up the child before he could do anything. Covering the gash in its neck with her palm she ran back to the other Sporetta. The line of spear bearers parted letting her trough. She laid the child down and the rest of the mushroom people moved forwards to care for it. It was still moving slightly and a weak smell still came from it. Though there was another smell too, the smell of it's 'blood'. Alani had breathed it in and it was all over her hands. She didn't know how much longer she had before she lost lucidity. She was already starting to feel a bit fuzzy in the head.

She blinked rapidly trying to keep it together. She smiled weakly as she watched them care for the child, one of them had made some kind of a graft or patch over the cut and another connected a mycelium or root-like protrusion on their hand to the child's arm to make a transfer of lost fluid.

(I smelled its life fluid. I might start acting strangely.) Alani explained as she began removing all of her weapons. She didn't want to hurt any of them accidentally. If she had to defend herself she could do it without blades. She handed her axes, sword and hunting knife to the Sporetta around her. (You can use these to defend yourself.) She said.

 

[Amades]

“Flyings easy! Landings are hard?” A young grin for bad puns met Kalliana until it was forced to point toward the rapidly approaching wall. He spun this way and that in the grip, impact fast approaching. The rope lifeline mercifully depositing him onto the rafters hanging by his arms.

"Thanks!" Looking down as his legs dangled below him, the chainmail had a few holes in it, a few more holes than before anyway. He took a breath and looked at Kalliana as he pulled himself up. “Scratch that. Flyings hard too.” Rolling around on the rafters to be face up. “We find what we are looking for yet?”

As Kallinana faced off with the first harpy. Kissing the coin around his neck for luck he heard the other’s call. Well he was on a beam up from the ground, no weapon to speak of. Brilliant. Any rocks to throw up here? He looked in the nest and noticed the eggs. “They are coming back for their young,” crawling along the beam, with nowhere near her grace. Curious hands began going through the nest at speed.

“Work fast.” He half said to himself, half her. The first nest he searched had nothing. Standing up to walk faster, didn’t make much difference. Putting his hands out to balance, wobbling along the beam, he could feel the tension rolling off him.

The final harpy appeared below them and made a beeline straight up from under them, soaring past and upward, nearly knocking him off the beam. She did a flight along the ceiling and then looped around beneath them again, hoping to knock Kalliana or Amades off their footing rather than fight them directly.

There it was, the key was in her talon!

“Going to try something.”

Picking up the end of the rope, he did a good sailors knot with a loop, he was fast as he’d done this day in day out all his life. Pulling the rope around himself for support.

“You’re not going to like it”

Just as the harpy flew by, this time Amades grabbed the bird creature’s leg with both arms in a bearhug, hooking it. He was unbalanced and almost thrown off, hanging on again for dear life and feeling a good squeeze around the midsection from the safety rope. The clever things was, the more the harpy tried to pull, the tighter the rope got around her leg, until out came the key falling to the floor.

Just one small hitch. With a flapping of wings. The rafters started to creak… the wounded harpy facing Kalliana sensed it and took flight too, which left the two of them up there on the beams and tied a harpy slowly pulling the roof down.

“Time to leave!” Amades shouted, trying to unhook himself from the rope and find a way down.

Golems awaited, that and falling nests, scrambled eggs, and some angry birdwomen.

Tags:
Kalliana Romane

 

[Harrier]

Harrier stayed with the crowd, at least initially, for three reasons.

One: Grangomelle held an emeritus position at the College of Elbion, where she'd been a Maester of the First Order - lowest of the five - once upon a time. In the realm of magic, Grangomelle had forgotten more than she'd ever learned, at least formally. Watching how he did business, observing his health, these all had value.

Two: Those trolls sounded both difficult and uninteresting. Staying here would let the first runners soften them up.

Three: She needed to wait for a ghost to come back from scouting.

<A girl and a boy, the bomb-thrower, went down to face the fungus,> Mathquil whispered. <A bandit followed them. An illusionist and a knight, the horn-blower, went up to the harpies. Your path forward is clear but for the trolls, and the traps, and the suits of armour that move.>

"Tell me about the traps," Harrier mumbled.

<Outside my skill. All I know is they exist, and where.>

Harrier hitched her cloak's hood a little lower, just in case Grangomelle had a long memory and a good eye for faces. For the life of her she couldn't recall if they'd met among the Foard of Maesters. She'd spent ten years there, and grown up in Elbion besides that, in a place where quirky old wizards were a copper a dozen. Hooded, with Mathquil's wispy form hovering around her head and shoulders like a cowl, she stepped out of the crowd and headed in to meet the trolls.

The trolls were not happy. They'd been flashbanged, they'd been smoke-bombed, they'd faced a confusion of illusions, but they were smart enough not to menace Grangomelle and the crowd of onlookers outside. Harrier, however, was fair game.

Fortunately, so were the half-dozen other cloaked figures that followed her. Those cloaks fluttered out behind them, revealing clean bones. Preparing each skeleton had constituted a serious sacrifice of time, but for a prize like those lenses, Harrier was more than happy to make that sacrifice. One could always find more skeletons.

The skeletons had some degree of both autonomy and wit, enough to face down the trolls. What they lacked in reach, strength, and structural integrity, they made up in tenacity, speed, and a really charming imperviousness to pain. Within thirty heartbeats the lobby was a mess of blood and shattered bone, and Harrier was no longer in said lobby.

 

[Kalianna Romane]

Kalliana held out a hand for Amades to pull himself up with, a raised eyebrow and quick smile at her lips. "Not surprised, your little flight didn't seem all too pleasant," she commented before shaking her head at his question. "No luck with the key so far, unfortunately." She eyed the nearby harpy cautiously as she spoke, her eyes darting from it to the collection of nests at their feet as she balanced along the rafters, shifting from beam to beam with some element of grace to inspect more.

The sound of wings flapping seemed to be coming closer, coming to a crescendo as the last harpy shot through the beams below them. Feathers brushed against Kali's skin as she was pushed past by the flying creature, the talons leaving a lasting mark from the slight graze. She leaned back, her hand falling to a nearby vertical beam to catch herself. She stole a glance at the floor below her, frowning as she saw the distance from the rafters. "It's a bit of a drop, be careful," she called out to Amades, pulling herself back to a balanced position atop the beam.

She kept an eye on the persistent harpy, furrowing her brow momentarily as Amades mentioned a plan of some sort. "Wait," she started, wanting to hear it beforehand. However, as she turned her gaze to face her companion, she instead laid eyes on him tie the rope around himself and leap onto the harpy. Surprise ran through her face before there was a glint of reflected light that hit her eye from within the harpy's talons: the key.

She hopped across a narrow gap, her feet touching against the wooden beam causing a subtle groan as she stretched her hand out. Her eyes tracked the key from the talons of the creature, watching as it slipped from its grasp. Taking another jump to get closer, she grabbed the key out of the air, landing on another beam. Giving a thumbs up to Amades, she exclaimed, "Got it!" She stopped to look the key over, when the wood beneath her seemed to creak further, letting out pained groans and whines as she shifted her weight onto it. "That can't be good." It seemed the other harpy had a similar idea as to what was going to happen, taking flight through a shattered and ruined window.

Glancing down, she could see some of the beams beginning to splinter around the harpy, who was still persisting in its attempts of escape. She took out her rapier, cutting the rope that was still around Amades to hopefully let him get down quicker. Beckoning him, she said, "Let's get a change of scenery. The rafters were fun for a while, but we've got what we needed," holding up the key so that he could see.

She tried to balance along the rafters, but the sound of creaking wood was getting louder and more intense, with thin cracks and splinters appearing around them in the menagerie of beams. A nest began to lose some of its twigs, dropping them to the floor below. They couldn't stay up here long. A sudden crash sounded as one section fell to the ground, removing her selected path back down. She took a deep breath before leaping across, her hand grabbing onto the as-of-yet untouched upper beams before swinging across. She quickly transitioned to another jump, managing to reach the wall and take hold of it to climb down.

Her feet finally touched down on the stone floor platform of the stairs, away from the jungle of beams and splinters within the rafters. She glanced up to see how Amades was doing, giving him a grin as he descended in whatever method he decided to use to do so.

"Now to find that golem. Thanks for the help getting the key, by the way," she said, referring to his tying down of the harpy, genuine in her comment. "Having a partner definitely makes this challenge a lot more manageable." Scanning the room below the rafters, she spotted an open door leading into a tight hallway. She gestured for Amades to follow, delving into the passageway. Rubble and assorted debris littered the floor, cobwebs decorating the ceiling as they walked through. Kali couldn't help but let out a cough as she entered. This was certainly a rather old set of ruins, with even the rubble having collected a covering of dust from being untouched for so long.

Eventually, they came to the end of the long hallway, coming face to face with a doorway leading into a large and spacious tower. Parts of the tower seem to have collapsed in on itself, covering the surprisingly lavish interior in rock. Glass cases sitting atop velvet pillows or displays lined the walls, each unfortunately empty or shattered.

As they walked in, a groan echoed throughout the chamber as the sound of shifting obsidian filled the tower. "Master... Is that you I hear? It's been so long..." A voice called out, carrying with it all the power of a mountain seemingly mixed with an elderly man, weathered with a subtle strength to it. One of the lumps of what seemed to be stone stirred, the collection of rubble departing as a giant obsidian golem emerged from it. Slowly, it directed two glowing eyes the color of magma at the pair, looking the adventurers over. "No, alas..." It called in a disappointed tone, before continuing. "...And who are you to step foot in this place?"

Kali glanced over to Amades, clearly thrown off by the appearance of the golem as something quite so large and... surprisingly not murderous, although she supposed the latter might arise later. "We're very sorry to have disturbed your rest so," she started, throwing on a charismatic tone of voice and giving a cordial bow, mimicking the actions of the nobles she had seen so often, elbowing Amades to do the same. "Me and my companion don't mean you any harm."

Tags:
Amades

 

[Quoril]

Quoril could only look on in shock as the woman stabbed one of her captives and pushed it into the room. A strange smell emanated from the small creature and he heard Alani cry “Cover your mouth! Don’t breathe it in!” as she rushed over to scoop it up. He quickly held his breath and picked himself up off the floor.

Everything around him seemed to slow to a crawl. Quoril watched as Alani carried the young sporetta over to the adults. As a few gathered to treat it, Alani handed her weapons out to the rest of the sporetta.

The intruder seemed very intent on acquiring the compass for herself. Unfortunately for her, neither he nor Alani knew its whereabouts. Even if he did know, he wouldn't have handed it over to her after what she had just done.

Quoril shook his head vigorously, and the world resumed its usual pace. After a brief moment he drew his sword, preparing for whatever may happen.


Alani Delkera
Kerastrina

 

[Kerastrina]

Keratrina watched for a moment as spiders crawled out of the wound she inflicted on the mushroom. Strange that hadn't happened with the others. She was brought back to reality by the rainbow badger carrying it into the crowd of mushrooms. Luckily the walls had stopped screaming, and were instead whispering her helpful bits of advice. One said stab everything, a second said to stab everything twice, but a third want'd her to just give up, she stabbed that bit of wall. She had figured out that if she couldn't understand them maybe they could not understand her, so she stood there thinking as no one really moved much. The badger pet had handed its hands to the mushrooms, and the cloaked saboteur had drawn his sword and begun to bleed out his eyes in the mean time though. Suddenly it hit her. Sticking her free arm dagger away, she quickly rummaged through her pack, not taking her eyes off the crowd, and pulled out her compass, flipped it open, and threw it onto the ground, redrawing her dagger and pointing at it.

"Where is the compass?"

As she stared at the mushrooms some of their eyes grew wide, and inside she could see a black void that seemed to swallow all, and she watched as their eyes swallowed the world, but inside there was another world exactly the same, but smaller. In this new world Kera did notice one turn to a more elder looking one. The rest could have been illusion, but she had to trust that turn, as the younger one asking if it should speak up. Kera pointed her free dagger at the younger mushroom, and beckoned for him to come, holding the dagger closer to the child's throat. The mushrooms parted and the young mushroom began to approach, but it still held its spear. With a quick movement Kera pressed the dagger deeper into the child's throat, and motioned for it to drop the spear accidentally throwing her own dagger into the ground in the process, that was funny she remembered having fingers on that hand a second ago. She pulled another from under her cloak without allowing second nor a beat, but the mushroom did drop its weapon. There were ways to talk without understanding smell after all. When it was adequately close Kera beckoned at the compass again,

"Where is it? Lead me?"

When the mushroom turned away from her to look, she grabbed him as well. Giving a second for his fungal brain some time to realize what happened, She motioned for the rest of the mushroom people to move to the side where the injured was so that she could get through with a large gap, making it extremely clear that if they did not cooperate another would be stabbed. Once they did she gave the young fungi a shove, telling it to lead the way. Forcing her involuntary guide to side shuffle so she could walk past without having to take her eyes off anyone trying her best to ignore her shoes that kept trying to lick her feet. When she arrived at the entrance to another passage she drew a line with her floor and warned, verbally, as well as with gestures,

"If any one crosses they will be killing these two, then themselves."

When she felt she got her point across adequately she started heading down the path. Now if only she could get this taste of cotton out of her mouth.

 

[Amades]

Amades descended… with no grace whatsoever. He’d got himself out of the rope, and managed to stay upright on the beam, picking a corner support for balance. Until the corner support buckled, the beam groaning under his weight and the harpies constant thrashing. He tried to shimmy his way down a wall for support, running out of places to put his feet, dangling he looked for something, anything.

“Nice catch!” He called over as she grabbed the key.

Wood and roofing splintered above him and he spat out some dust sneezing. That moment when you know you have to drop but you don’t know where can be a very long moment. Electing to aim for the softest landing he could see, which was a large wooden box with old pieces of wood and wood chips on, muddy and dirty certainly.

Fall he did landing right onto the wood with a crunch. His armor taking a dent or two and he got a nasty splinter for his trouble along the thigh, not deep thankfully just painful. Pulling it out of his chainmail, he got a bandage out of the backpack and tied it up.

“Easy.” Amadis grinned at Kalliana and hobbled after her. “Having a partner watch your back saves it. Your welcome, and hey if you want this coin at the end, it’s yours. I’m more interested in the owner of it.” He said honestly, no need for a double-cross at the end or to make any hard choices. Could she trust a pirate, hedge knight, travelling stranger? Yeah but she wouldn’t know that. He winked.

Moving to where the golem was and hearing the exchange got him thinking.

And... taking the elbow as his queue to stop thinking, which wasn’t his strong point anyway. “Yeah that’s right no harm, you’re a golem and we are far too squishy to harm you.” He cleared his throat as he stepped forward to engage it in a battle of wits “You’re master sent us,” Amades answered the golem honestly, “he’s opened up his estate to strangers for his amusement, so they can take the treasures for themselves.”

The golem didn’t move, it just listened.

Standing right in front of the large stone guardian he shrugged. “Go ask him if you like.”

“I am to guard this door.” It answered.

“Well, we don’t intend the door any harm, I like doors, and we have a key.” He nodded to Kalliana, “promise to not hurt that door in any way whatsoever.” Amades reasoned with the creation.

“You must stay that side of the door.”

Tough crowd. Feeling parched, Amades took a drink of water. He went over to where his companion was and whispered, “now might be a time for us to be here and there, like the trolls. Then technically we haven’t broken any rules.” He scratched his stuble, “technically speaking.” Did Kalliana have any fancy illusions left in her, if not there was always plan b, run.

Tags:
Kalliana Romane

 

[Kalianna Romane]

She rose an eyebrow at his mention of the coin, mulling it over. "I'm not opposed to that idea. Thanks," she said, giving a light smile. She'd prefer not having this challenge end with a sudden betrayal that made it worse off for the both of them, after all.

Kali listened to Amades try his hand at convincing the golem, not quite managing to reason with it to allow access. She leaned closer to him as he whispered, nodding silently before walking forward. "Hearing that saddens us, but we understand. You're under strict orders, and you wouldn't want to disobey your master."

The golem let out a slow nod, pieces of rock that still laid on his back tumbling down to the ground with the motion. Seeing this, she continued. "However, beyond being adventurers in search of great treasures and excitement, me and my compatriot are also traveling bards." She took a graceful bow, using the movement to motion over Amades.

"If you would allow us, we would like to have your eyes for a moment as we perform. I imagine you don't have a great too many visitors up here, unfortunate as that is, so let us entertain you. I promise that the performance will be unlike any other you have seen before." A grin played across her face as she talked, her eyes looking at the obsidian golem's expectedly. "No need to even leave your post."

There was an almost permeable period of silence occupied only by the sound of shifting rocks that passed afterwards, the golem clearly considering. "Performers... I suppose so. It has been a long... long time since I've seen a visitor." The lumbering golem moved to sit, his head still feet above them. "You may perform."

"Excellent," Kalianna said, looking over to Amades with a smirk. The violin which had been strapped to her back over the course of the challenge was finally taken out by the bard, who prepared to play. A tune began to emanate from the violin as her bow went across it. As each beat of the melody came along, an illusionary image slipped out from Kalianna, exact in every way. The next beat came an Amades, a horn at his hands. The illusions circled around her, quickly masking Amades as they passed through him, playing out accompanying tunes and melodies as they gracefully encircled the lead.

There were soon dozens a part of the performance, and as the song raised in tempo, they pulled out their rapiers. The shining blades were pointed towards the center and upwards, covering Kalianna in a metallic tent of sorts at the center of the mass. In unison, the blades were pulled down, a mesmerizing display of light reflecting off of them both real and illusionary. The illusionary clones quickly spiraled out of their circular pattern, filling the tower with their dancing forms. Music flowed from the air, seemingly coming from no perceivable source as it did so, and with every step of the dancers the floor was covered in a layer of mist and clouds which gave it an ethereal feel. It was a sight to behold, and the golem was enraptured.

Amades, wherever he was in the large gathering of illusions, would feel a tap at his shoulder. Kalianna was beside him, clearly real in all aspects. "Now," she whispered, nodding to the now unguarded door. She took hold of his arm, guiding him through the performance, the mist and dancing clones covering them well.

They made their way to the door, and as she inserted the key, it was unlocked. The performance continued behind them as they slipped through the doorway, their disappearance unnoticed by the captivated guard. The room they entered was surprisingly immaculate, a red carpet covering the center floor with only a slight amount of dust. Atop the cabinet laid a display case, similar to the ones in the chamber before but clearly new and well-taken care of. Within, there it was. A single coin was inside, twin dragons twirling around each other engraved on the side. Kalianna stepped forward, slowly and carefully taking the case off, gingerly picking the coin from its place.

No one seemed to spontaneously die or explode upon touching it, which was good. "Well," she grinned, "We did it." She held it closer for him to see, letting the light glint off of the design. A grin was on her face as she looked upon it.

Tags:
Amades

 

[Alani Delkera]

Alani watched as the walls rippled like a curtain of willow leaves... wait it was willow leaves. Pink and purple flowers bloomed from the luminescent moss and bright blue butterflies flew about the space landing all over her and the mushrooms, they didn't touch the crazy lady or Quoril though. The mushrooms put the child in her lap as she sat cross-legged on the floor. She heard what everyone was saying.

One of the Sporetta knelt down in front of her and said (You can translate for us? Don't tell her what we say?)

Alani nodded and repeated the ladies instructions. As she listened she watched a line of large palm-sized ants crawl across the floor in single file carrying gold coins on their backs. She explained to the Sporetta that the lady wanted the compass that was hidden here. They then proceeded to volunteer one of their own to lead her to the object. Pearing out though the Sporetta's legs she blinked in confusion as she noticed a pair of bat wings sticking out of Quoril's head, had those been there before? But that wasn't important. The important thing was that the crazy knife lady's guide was taking her the wrong way. The Sporetta had agreed to take her in circles wandering through the complicated tunnels till she was tired and overcome by the hallucinations and either decided to take a nap on her own or they had an opportunity to ambush her and take the child back.

The child in Alani's lap swayed side to side, seeming much better than it had moments ago. A crown of flowers and berries circled the top of it's head as it bobbed gently. She could smell something from the child but it wasn't words instead it seemed to come across in images that manipulated her hallucinations. She saw rivulets of purple water run down from a pathway off to the side and create little pools in the room with chirping frogs in them. She stood up and followed the water, carrying the child in her arms as she wandered through the tunnel of willow branches the sound of chirping frogs following her.

The came into a massive cavern, bigger than the one they had been in before filled with stalactites and stalagmites. No, wait, the stalagmites grew up into trees with canopies of flowers hanging down to meet them. Older Sporetta sat dormant on the ground between the trees. She could smell the soft whisps of a shared dream coming from them and affecting her vision.

Alani wandered through the trees following the purple river. A three-headed buck wandered between the trees, She was amazed how its antlers did not get entangled. Finally, they came to a clearing backed by a wall of willow leaves. A large tree stood in the middle of the clearing the purple river flowing from a knot in its trunk and wedged into it was a shining piece of rounded mettle and glass. She reached up and pulled it out. The river stopped flowing and where it had been flowing, wildflowers grew.

Alani looked at the thing in her hand, It was a compass, the hand spinning around wildly. What did she want? She looked at the mushroom that was still swaying gently in her arms. What do you want? She thought before heading back the way they had come.