Quest We Can Do This!

[Kade Anvar]

The town of Sparlocke had a bit of a problem. Just outside of town there was a miserly old orcish mage, who had an obsession with two things: magical mischief, and dungeons and labyrinths of old. It so happened that the people of Sparlocke paid him no mind because he paid them a tax. Where did he get the coin? The town didn't know, and didn't care to know.

But then the mage, Lunghur, stopped paying them. Coin made Lunghur's weirdness and requests, the strange lights and odd smells, tolerable. And without it? Not so much. So he either needed to abandon his silly dungeon beside the town, or continue to pay. Or, well, who knew what that eccentric mage was planning.

Nobody in the town wanted to go into Lunghur's dungeon, so they resorted to a plan as old as Arethil: hire someone else to do it. Oh, but the other problem: The Lord of Sparlocke didn't want to pay that much for the help. It's not like he couldn't have done it if he wanted--the coffers were certainly healthy enough. He simply didn't want to. Besides, how difficult could the task be? So what if many a skilled mercenary and adventurer turned down the paltry reward. Someone would accept it.

Several someones, in fact.

* * * * *​

Kade Anvar happened to be one of those someones.

Traveling abroad with Master Jalil to procure some rare alchemical ingredients outside of the Empire's borders, they came to Sparlocke, a town only a hop, skip, and jump away from the Savannah Portal Stone. Kade caught wind of the Lord's notice for adventurers to investigate Lunghur's dungeon, and oh hey, wouldn't that be nice? Make a little extra coin while Master Jalil did his thing. Kade could maybe even make a lot more if he scavenged something good from the dungeon. His brother and his sister back home in Ragash would certainly appreciate it; Kade wasn't doing this to buy himself a new pair of sandals with the coin, after all.

Kade stood before the stone door to the dungeon, the town at his back. It really had been just a few minutes' walk from the town to here, the door built into the hillside. Heh, who was this guy Lunghur, anyway? Really made some kind of dungeon or something in the side of a hill and under the earth, just like some of those old, lost places the history tomes from the Ragashan library described. This mage was trying to live like, what, five-hundred years in the past or something.

Eh. Shame. Nice day out. Sun shining, got a good breeze coming in from the Gulf of Liad, and Kade was about to spend most of it inside some kind of musty old hole in the ground.

At least he wasn't alone.

Kade glanced to some of his fellows. Half-joking, half-serious, he said, "So you think we should knock? Heh, maybe say we're couriers, and we'll delivering him a spicy letter from a girl in Bhathairk--that'll get him to open up."

 

[Kikwi]

It isn't important why Kikwi was in Sparlocke. In fact, it isn't important how he got there. It isn't even important how he heard about this mage and his dungeon and the mysteries within. No, it wasn't important, because after hearing about it, Kikwi completely forgot everything else he was supposed to do.

The allure of a mysterious dungeon, full of the machinations of a secluded and probably mad wizard was too much for him to pass up. He was shocked, shocked, that other adventurers hadn't formed a queue for the chance to get in on such a bountiful learning opportunity.

The instructions weren't very clear. Were they there to talk to the wizard? To evict him? To repossess his items? Those points had been murky, but Kikwi had been too excited to get clarification. Now, standing at the doorway, he was positively buzzing with anticipation.

He didn't get Kade's joke, so he toddled up to the doorway and rapped four times with a tiny clawed fist, as he could not reach the door knocker.

 

[Weylin Kyrel]

How long had it been since Weylin had first arrived at Bhathairk following the dragon attack? He didn't know. Too much had happened right after and he lost track of time because of it. Mother Owl needed to have a proper burial in their traditions rather than the orcs. Zeri needed help caring for her father. Zeri needed to be cared for herself, although she never would agree that it was true. Mother Owl's mission needed to be completed with her passing and that meant he had to have Zeri write it down for him.

Just too much. Far too much to do.

But time for him to return home with word of Mother Owl and what happened in Bhathairk had finally arrived. So with Zeri's help, he had found his way back to the nearest portal stone and had gotten payment for the trip sorted out. The man wouldn't send White through with Weylin at the same time so he had to go through first.

Strange lights and sensations began to manifest when the man operating the portal started up the ritual to transport Weylin back home. He was nervous. This was his second time using a portal stone and the first time being alone at one. After his first experience with a city, he was ready to return to the snow and stones of home.

"....Uh oh.... That isn't the right run-"

That was the last thing the portal operator said before Weylin was consumed by light.....

=====================================

The hunter had found himself in an alien place. He had not been sent home to the Spine but instead was sent in the opposite direction. He had been sent all the way to some place called the Aberresai Savannah. At least that was what he thought they called it. Most didn't speak any language he understood and the ones who did speak the common tongue might as well not have been because of their accents.

The one in charge of this portal, which was far better organized and had far more people at it, was a dark skinned woman with metal scraps stuck in her face. It gave her a rough look but she turned out to be kind. She had been the one to help him sort out what had happened and from the look on her face the foreign words she spit out were likely as venomous the snake she had tattooed around her arms.

As much as the woman wanted to help him out by sending him back, it wasn't possible. An explanation he didn't understand was given but the gist seemed to be people couldn't use the portals again without giving it hour or days. If someone did very bad things would happen it seemed. He trusted her but he wasn't happy about it. It meant he had to suffer the unnatural heat of this land. A heat so bad the woman ended up taking pity on him and held onto his clothing for him after getting him some local garb better suited to the weather.

There was another issue as well. Weylin would need to pay still to get back and for the supplies the woman gave him. She had made it as cheap as possible, but for someone without any kind of gold or articles of value he was willing to part with any amount was more than he could afford. So the woman placed some kind of mark on his hand using a paint and some kind of magic. He couldn't use the portals until she removed it. She gave him directions to a town she knew was in need of help and sent him on his way.


=====================================

Weylin had arrived and found himself around too many strangers. The town was bad enough, but at least he could avoid people there. Here he was stuck in a room with the others trying to track down this orc wizard doing naughty things. It was making Weylin think you should never trust any orc with magic after recent events in his life.

So garbed in local clothes with his bow, quiver full of arrows, his dad's sword, and his other usual tools and supplies on him he tried to blend into the shadows away from everyone as much as he could. He would listen, but he was in no mood to talk right now.

OOC: Promise this is the longest post I will have. Just had to get everything setup for myself.
Weylin's current look:

Kade Anvar Kikwi

 

[Former and the Foal]

Life was easy when you had no job nor obligation. Alternatively, those who could say would speak that it was quite difficult without thumbs.
But your ancestors made due without just as easily, in fact, they made due with just 4 fingers total, one per limb.
The lil foal, white and dotted red, unglued itself from some water through in Sparlocke and trotted after a weird assembly of supposed people, and 'people'. Well, it did not matter for they were not horse-kin.
But maybe they had food.

 

[Kenai Katzcha]

Spoiler

Sorry for the delay!

Kenai wasn't dumb... She just wasn't all that smart all of the time... Especially when it came to money... And not just her own money either... And so when a job finally came up that looked kinda fun she snatched the poster off the wall and applied immediately!
One could only live off of a tab for so long before the bar tender starts giving you dirty looks cause he knows you don't have a job and PROBABLY won't pay any time soon... Especially when it starts getting up to a kings ransom...

Kenai didn't skip town, the bar tender was too quick for that, so when she found the poster she was scrubbing floors and washing dishes to pay off her debt. When someone from the guild posted the ad she knew things were looking up for her.

And so it was with a pep in her step, a wide grin, a curled tail, and a cheerful greeting that she approached the gathering group at the door of the mages dungeon.
"Hiya everyone! Nice ta meet'cha! I'm Kenai and you don't need to worry about a thing, my Ice magic will solve all of your proble- EEEEEEEEEEK!!!"
She squealed mid sentence when she caught sight of the most ADORABLE little owl guy that she had ever seen in her whole life! And immediately she was on her knees in front of Kikwi fawning over his adorableness, "You are so cute I can't believe it! What are you? can I hold you? you look so fluffy I could just die!!!"
Without waiting for permission she had swept Kikwi up in her arms and squeezed him to her chest, pushing her face in his feathers.
"Mmmph! you're fo sowft!"

 

[Kade Anvar]

The owl among them, the shortest (also the fluffiest, as it was soon to be confirmed) took up Kade's suggestion. The first one, not the second one. Kade just watched with a 'huh, wouldn't that be funny if that actually worked' sort of face.

And then it actually worked. Whether it was the knocking, the spot that was knocked, the number of knocks, whatever combination or whatever true circumstance, it worked. The door to Lunghur's dungeon opened inward, inviting the novice adventurers inside.

Kade stared for a moment. Then grinned. Let out a singular exhale of a laugh, gestured both of his open palms toward the door, and glanced to Weylin, the quiet one among them. "Are you seeing this? I'm not the only one seeing this. I was just joking around, but this owl knows things. Heh heh, he's our problem solver."

Then the problem solver had a unique problem of his own. A late addition to their budding group--Kenai, the second shortest among them--cutting off her own introduction and pitch about her magic (coincidentally how it would also solve problems) took a special liking to Kikwi. An extra special, squeezing liking.

Kade stepped forward, hands up in a 'whoa, slow down' manner of gesture. "Not too hard there, Kenai. Just in case you run out of ice magic or something, heh. It's good to have options, you know? You see him open that door like it was nothing?"

The owl had surprises. Maybe the little horse that had trotted along with them had surprises too. Still, good to have options that weren't hugged to death.

* * * * *​

Just beyond the opened door, an antechamber.

In the antechamber, three corridors: one to the left, to the front, and to the right--Lunghur in his obsession mimicking the very layouts from those dungeons of old. Above each corridor were signs upon which parchment was stuck and words not in the Common script were written, very much something with an unfinished feeling to it.

The corridor on the left. A tattered banner on a shaft stood next to the corridor, and though there was no breeze, the banner waved as if there was. This sign read: The Wind Tunnels.

The corridor on the right. A statue of a pig, belching out a stream of coins, stood next to the corridor. The sign read: The Halls of Avarice.

The corridor to the front. An effigy of a bone and a beetle hung from the arch of the corridor. The sign read: The Old Mausoleum.

Kikwi Weylin Kyrel Former and the Foal Kenai Katzcha

 

[Kikwi]

Kikwi’s head turned around at Kenai’s boisterous greeting just in time for him to be scooped into her arms and pressed rather forcefully into her bosom. The air was squeezed out of him for a moment in her excitement and his eyes showed utter bewilderment at what had just happened.

When he was finally released he toddled back a few steps, winded. “Oh… oh uh… it is nice to meet you,” was the best he could manage as he turned his head back around the right way. He smiled weakly at Kade’s praise, still a little discombobulated.

He found himself at once when the antechamber came into focus. It was very different than what he was expecting. Of course, he hadn’t really known what to expect. He looked around to the merry band as if to determine whether it was appropriate to venture forwards. The tiefling (she looked like a drawing of a tiefling he’d seen once) seemed more focused on him than the doorway, one figure stood further away and hadn’t announced himself, and there was a small horse? How had he not noticed that?

Kade seemed to be in good spirits, though, so it was probably safe.

Carefully, gingerly, he set a small, yellow-scaled and tiny-taloned foot into the antechamber.

 

[Weylin Kyrel]

Things sort of happened. The owl got the door to open before a very loud and very distracted blue girl (he thought she was at least because of her chest) with horns began to treat said owl like her own stuffed toy. Some small horse had wandered its way into the group, probably belonged to the rich looking young man, and then people began to make their way inside.

Weylin waited until everyone else was in then took the rear. He didn't trust anyone here, although was currently glad the blue girl and the owl were sort of taking all the attention.

Once inside the hunter found himself greeted by scribbles above tunnels and little fetishes. The scribbles didn't have that familiar look he was use to seeing merchants and books use. Was this mage trying to personally insult him? How did they know he couldn't read?

Quickly he ignored the writing and turned his attention instead onto the fetishes and tunnels. It was all rather odd looking. A pig spewing coins. A beetle and bone. A banner flapping about in the wind....

Weylin narrowed his eyes at the banner. There was no wind in this place. How was it flapping?

He didn't like it. It was unnatural. It gave him the creeps. But if he was looking for a bird then he would look for feathers. Those tended to be dropped around nests and favorite perches. If he was looking for someone who did stuff with magic then wouldn't the obviously magic tunnel be the most likely place to go? The orc clearly wasn't trying to hide or else they would have used some kind of magic to hide everything. Someone might advise caution and point out it was some kind of trap, but wasn't that sure to be true for all of them?

Instead of overthinking it too much more in silence, Weylin began to wordlessly head down the windy tunnel. Hopefully this didn't end too badly for him....

Kade Anvar Kikwi Former and the Foal Kenai Katzcha

 

[Former and the Foal]

Nosing across the floor, she put her attention towards the adventurers as they came upon a massive stop-thing.
Exploring is over! Or has it just begun?
The foal in a pace, trodded over to the gate, her long face pointing between the bodies of the assembled.
Little wingy two-leg seemed to be doing some of massive intrigue.
Her ears first perked before flattening at the gate began to move.

The presence of another two-leg, this time horned intrigued the horse, but the door began to roll inwards, and her gaze shifted back, at least in fear. (It didn't take much to scare a horse)

But bravery soon prevailed, and she gingerly trotted into the centre of the Antechamber. She looked at every new possibility, and one of the silly two-legs already made his way into a tunnel dubbed 'The Wind Tunnels.'
Of course, she could not read, nor did she understand what it meant. But following him, she knew was that she needed to do... run!
Zoomiing past Weylin, the horse seemed a bit too spirited to gallop full speed into the unknown.


Kenai Katzcha

 

[Kenai Katzcha]

Kenai only reluctantly released the adorable bird creature. It seemed he had figured out how to open the door by simply knocking on it... Which would have been a LITTLE bit better than her plan, which would be to blast it with ice!

She followed the group into the first chamber and examined every passage carefully, thinking it over and what each sign could possibly mean so that she might make an informed...
Just kidding.
She saw the pig puking gold and didn't even hesitate.

"I'm going this way guys, don't mind me! Bet it's nothing interesting anyways!"
Tail swishing behind her she boldly followed the gold.

 

[Kade Anvar]

Kade walked into the antechamber. Placed his hands on his hips for a moment as he glanced at the three separate corridors and the signs--which he couldn't read--above them. He took out his utility knife and absently twirled it around in his hand, making it dance along the top of his fingers and then spinning it around after taking hold of it once more.

"What do you think all this is?" Kade said in general, but, let's be honest, mostly to Kikwi. The reputation owls had as symbols of intelligence was well-deserved, he'd say. Not that he'd ever met a tiny owl-man before. Kade hitched his shoulders up and smirked and said, "Also, who'd want to live in a place like this, anyway? No wonder Sparlocke wants this wizard to pay up or pack up. Am I ri--?"

He heard the clomping of hooves. He looked to his left, and saw the horse that had wandered along after them...well, wandering further along. Down one of the corridors. And, oh, he also saw the flowing clothes of that quiet guy ahead of the horse. Seems a path was already picked--

I'm going this way guys, don't mind me! Bet it's nothing interesting anyways!

Kade looked to his right. The short blue girl, Kenai, was going right. When two others were going left.

He glanced back and forth between the left and right corridors and called out to Weylin, Foal, and Kenai alike, "Hey! Wait! Maybe we shouldn't split up! It's..."

Kade sighed. Looked to Kikwi. Said, "Well this is a great start, huh? What are we gonna do?"

* * * * *​

The corridor leading to the Wind Tunnels was long and narrow, and curved ever so slightly to the right as it went deeper. Small, magical etchings on the walls emitted dim light.

Eventually the corridor led to a thin stone bridge (with no railings) in the middle of an expansive chamber with a bottom that plummeted down a dizzying height. Metal grates were interspersed along on the walls of this chamber at the bridge's height. Near the far end of the chamber there was still earthen mounds at the far bottom, and even reaching up to the bridge, as if there still needed to be work to fully excavate the room. There were a number of signs scattered around in seemingly random locations.

The bridge itself was not straight, and it twisted and snaked its way through the expansive chamber to the other end.

Powerful gusts of wind were waiting to be activated (or not) upon crossing certain thresholds.

* * * * *​

The corridor leading to the Halls of Avarice was long and narrow, and curved ever so slightly to the left as it went deeper. Small, magical etchings on the walls emitted dim light.

Eventually the corridor opened up into a rather green-and-white-hued square room filled with pillars. At the base of these pillars were stacks of loose gold coins. Or so they appeared to be, but, on touch, they would be revealed to be merely painted wood. And there were also two wide and solid iron doors on the right and on the left side of the room.

In the center of the room there was an open book and a quill on a pedestal. Written in Common on the left page was the word "YES." Written in Common on the right page was the word "NO." A scrap piece of parchment was also tucked into the fold of the book.

Spoiler: Written in Dwarvish on the scrap

Need a good philosophical question here. It's about theme! Some quotes too. Maybe a reference to Elbion poets. Good lines that could work here.

Kikwi Former and the Foal Weylin Kyrel Kenai Katzcha

 

[Kikwi]

Kikwi pondered the three openings, and the strange writing above the doors that he could not read. He was, of course, most interested by the beetle in front of them, and took one small step towards it.

“Maybe they are old ruins,” he proposed in response to Kade. “Maybe he wanted to study them-” he was cut off by the sound of rustling wind as the cloaked man and small horse made their way to the left. “Oh, I guess-” and again stopped, turning his head around quite independently from his body to see the strong-armed Kenai galloping down to the right.

His beak hung open in mid sentence, but Kade spoke for him. Splitting up didn’t seem like a very good plan.

Finally, turning his head at a full 180, he met Kade’s eyes with saucers of his own. He put his small hands on his hips, and tapped a little foot on the stone, seeming to think very hard.

“I don’t think Kenai should be alone…,” it was a difficult predicament, deciding between comradery and his desire to not have the wind squeezed out of him again.

 

[Weylin Kyrel]

The hunter's mind was preoccupied with what trickery he might run into down the tunnel as he walked. He was so preoccupied in fact that he nearly jumped when a little horse went darting by him. Why was the horse's owner letting it run off on its own like this? His eyes darted back, but none of the strangers were following. The blue woman had already sprinted off down the tunnel with the pig statue and the other two seemed to be in conversation.

Guess the horse was his problem right now.

Weylin did his best to catch up to the little thing down the tunnel. But he quickly slowed to a stop before reaching it as the cavern suddenly came into view. A rickety bridge and weird things on the walls. He had spent enough time in abandoned and ancient dwarf homes to know this wasn't safe. The biggest question was what the danger would be if they moved forward.

So the hunter stopped and began to look over everything in the room trying to spot some kind of visual pattern that might tell him what this place was about. As he did he fully ignored the signs and was somewhat ignoring the little horse.

Former and the Foal Kade Anvar Kikwi Kenai Katzcha

 

[Former and the Foal]

Kade Anvar Kikwi Kenai Katzcha Weylin Kyrel

Horses were many gracious things, but this one was obviously without intelligence.
It's bravery, likely a ruse from lack of forethought and strategy.

The equine zoomed further and farther. No dingy bridge could stop it either. In fact, as the gently winding tunnel came to an end to open to a long and narrow bridge, it ran...faster!
Its tiny brain could possibly not comprehend that the pits on either side of it were a likely death filled abyss of death and more death.

The first few meters of the path were indeed without trouble, but the moment the horse stepped on a suspicious square tile, the grating on the wall, adjacent to the tile blew hard and strong.
Little pebbles and specks of dust went flying, getting sucked in at the other side of the grated wall. The foal's tail hair like a flag swooped to the side and the gust at its bum made its back legs skid to the side.
The balance was not lost! Its tiny more-legs-than-body frame might have saved it this day.

Most anyone would stop and reconsider their move, but not this foal.
I AM WIND.
It ran faster.

 

[Kenai Katzcha]

Kenai marched onward down the hall, tail swaying with each step and arms pumping as she walked down the hall that she was positive would lead her to great treasure!
She even hummed a happy tune to herself. She'd been in dungeons before with other parties, but those were all scary and dangerous and everyone kept getting mad at her whenever she would blast away with frost because she heard something behind her... Of course the only thing behind her was her companions and they would have to waste hours trying to thaw them out...
But in those dungeons the treasure room was always at the end, this time it was right at the beginning and she was sure of it!

She entered the chamber and her eyes lit up at the sight of piles of gold just laying around waiting for someone to take them!
But in a rare moment of thoughtfulness she decided to check out the pedestal to make sure there wasn't a curse or trap involved here. That happened before, she took the treasure without waiting to look around which activated a trap that filled the room with water... She froze that too and managed to stop the water, but trapped all of them in a huge block of ice in the process...

Not wanting a repeat of that she examined the book. The mysterious note wasn't in a language she could read so she decided to keep it as a clue for whatever mystery is connected with this dungeon.
All that remained was the pages with "Yes" and "No" written on them.
What could that mean?
She snapped her fingers, "Of course! It's an invisible question! And the question is obviously, 'do you want to activate the trap', and the answer is obviously, 'No'!"
Thinking herself so clever she turned the page that said "No"
Now thinking everything totally safe she greedily turned to the piles of shiny gold...

________________​

Back in the main chamber, not long after Kenai marched off down the hall and left everyone, they would hear an anguished cry of despair, followed by quite a few muffled choice words, perhaps a bit of sobbing... The lamenting would go on...

 

[Kade Anvar]

Old ruins. They sure looked old and they were definitely ruins. Alright, maybe "ruins" was a strong word. But nobody but one crazy orcish mage was living here now at least, and that was saying something.

But those were questions and concerns that were left behind in the haste three others of their party were happily engaged in. Kade and Kikwi, left behind in the antechamber, had to choose which corridor to go down, or, probably way worse, split up even further and go down the one unexplored corridor.

Kikwi though--smart owl--had the best idea. "Yeah, the quiet guy can handle himself. Seems like he can, anyway. But, I dunno, Kenai said she had magic. That's pretty rare, right? She should be--"

A cry of despair came from the corridor to the right.

"...fine." Kade shot a quick glance down to Kikwi, then back to the right corridor. "I guess that settles it."

And Kade started running down the corridor to the Halls of Avarice. Hot sands, what if there were monsters in here? Like, big time monsters? Something had to be in here, unless Lurghur himself just deterred the townsfolk of Sparlocke from coming in. And if there were monsters of some kind, these tight spaces weren't going to work well at all for him. Kade knew he could hold his own in Ragash, or in some other dense city, and yeah, there were tight spaces there too, but there were also way more options for him to leverage his agility. Worst of all, he just had his utility knife. Not the best weapon, and that was no mistake.

Kade skidded to a stop once in the green-and-white square room with the pillars and the (unbeknownst to him) fake gold coins.

And there was Kenai. Absolutely not being attacked. That was great and all, but...why that cry a moment ago?

"Kenai, you had me thinking there was some kind of terrible--"

And then he noticed it.

His tone, made flat with amazement, as he said, "Thaaaaat is a lot of gold, wow."

The result of Kenai's turning of the page did not happen...yet.

* * * * *​

In the Wind Tunnels.

Some surreptitious square tiles on the bridge would work as intended, like the one Foal had stepped on, and blew strong gusts of wind that could threaten to blow Foal or Weylin off the bridge. Some did not. A few of those signs scattered around the Wind Tunnels, written in the Avariel's script, held the answer:

Spoiler: In the Avariel script

I hate wind magic. Finnicky. Need more work on these grates.

And the final section of the bridge, a straight stretch of it that went on for about fifteen or twenty meters, was something different. The stones at this section of the bridge was slightly different in hue than the rest. Lighter. As well, there were tiny cracks along the section if one looked closely, evidence that this section of the bridge had possibly been destroyed and rebuilt multiple times.

Just prior to this peculiar section of the bridge, a large and unmissable square tile. Written on the tile itself in the soft luminescent magical etching that provided ambient light throughout the dungeon, was a short message in Common: Fear Will Make You Fall.

Another sign, as well, before the large tile--though in truth more like a sheet of parchment held in place by a heavy rock. Its contents were also written in the Avariel's script:

Spoiler: In the Avariel script

Remember to test. Very important. Runner steps on the tile, bridge doesn't collapse. Runner jumps over the tile, bridge collapses. No getting it backwards this time.

Beyond the bridge was the end of the Wind Tunnels, and the corridor that would lead further into the dungeon.

Kikwi Weylin Kyrel Kenai Katzcha Former and the Foal

 

[Kenai Katzcha]

When they found Kenai she certainly wasn't being attacked, but she was certainly on the verge of hysteria.
She had the book on the floor frantically flipping both the "Yes" and "No" pages back and forth over and over exclaiming, "Turn them back! Turn them back! Turn them back!"
She seemed genuinely on the verge of tears as she let out another despairing cry and fell over the book in defeat stretched out on the floor.

She barely registered the arrival of Kade and Kikwi, but she whimpered to herself, "The invisible question... (Sniffle)... The invisible question was... (Snort)... DO YOU WANT THE TREASURE TO BE REAL!!!"
She looked pitifully at her fist as she grabbed a handful of wooden coins and let them fall through her fingers to clatter woodenly on the floor.
In final defeat she put her face against the stone floor to wallow in her own self-pity.

 

[Weylin Kyrel]

The little horse didn't stop. It just kept on running and right across the bridge. No fear. No thought. Just all hoof. And there was nothing Weylin could do to save the more brave than brain little thing if something happened. Then it triggered a trap and a gust of wind blew....

Was that it? Was that all the danger here?

The hunter began to walk down the bridge following behind the horse but at a steady pace rather than a full sprint. He grew up in the Spine. Sudden gusts of strong winds out of nowhere were part of life. He just had to treat this like he did walking along a cliff back home. Steady pace and ready to brace himself if he felt anything.

Former and the Foal Kade Anvar Kenai Katzcha Kikwi

 

[Kikwi]

Kikwi hurried along at the sound of Kenai's cries of misery. Of course, his hurrying wasn't quite so effective on short legs, but he made up for it with gusto and clattered along the stones as quickly as he could manage.

He skidded into the room a few paces behind Kade, huffing and puffing as he went. "We're... here... Kenai..." he forced out. He spent a good few seconds to recover, and then gawked at the room. It was brimming with wealth, and his large eye grew even wider at its splendor.

Kenai's yells brought his gaze back to her, and he pondered what she was saying. "What invisible question?" he asked, toddling over and picking up one of the wooden disks. He squinted at it, looked back to Kenai, and then put the two things together. He didn't quite know how to comfort her, but he knew he should try, and so he reached out (carefully), and gave the ice mage a few small pats on the shoulder.

"Who would fill a room with wooden coins? And why try to make them look real?"

 

[Former and the Foal]

Fear Will Make You Fall.


As if a horse could read, let alone script from some skyfolk, what is this? A circus? Well...maybe it could be a circus. It definitely would be an honest job with honest pay.
More honest so than this danger-filled tunnelling and dungeoneering.
Far less dangerous too!

The little horse paid the writing on the stone no mind, it only ran, ran and ran, it's legs would not give way for the following section of the bridge.

 

[Kade Anvar]

Kade took a moment. Between Kenai's repeated exclamations, a whimper that was something about the treasure being real, and then the actual sound of the golden coins not making the sound golden coins should make when falling and clattering to the ground. The part about the question he didn't quite get, not really taking full notice of the pedestal and the book, but he keyed into the fakeness of the coins quickly enough.

Kikwi tried his best to console Kenai, but, let's face it, there wasn't any way of making those imposter coins into real coins, was there? Kade himself felt bad--not as far down in despair as Kenai, no, but bad. He could have used some of those coins if they were real. Hell, if they were, everyone could have taken a healthy share and, honestly, they really could have just called it quits there.

Who would fill a room with wooden coins? And why try to make them look real?

Kade took a few more steps forward, hand on the back of his head and kicking lightly at some of the fake coins around the pillars. "Somebody who hates Kenai, that's for sure." He grinned a little, looked to the two of them, and said, "I'm kidding. He hates Kenai and me, and probably you too Kikwi."

So Kade wasn't the best at consoling either. But a little joke might--

One of the solid iron doors, the left-side one, creaked. There was a hiss. And the door jolted down slightly, then fell forward like a draw-bridge and smacked quite loudly into the tile of the floor, a wallop of a sound and a rush of disturbed air from the door's collapse.

Inside the enclosure the iron door guarded was a no-shit monster. A malformed and dreadfully gaunt pig creature, as tall as a human and walking on two legs and twitching with a tenuous hold on unnatural life. Its saliva had a golden hue about it and its beady eyes locked onto the three of them greedily.

Kade made a face that was half-disgust, half-alarm, "Uhhh...that's--"

The Pig squealed, then hastily hobbled toward the nearest among them--Kenai--with malice in its hungry eyes.

* * * * *​

In the Wind Tunnels.

The tile with the written words upon it remained unpressed. And the home stretch of the bridge, that construction of many-times-broken stone, began to rumble. Dust that had settled went falling plumes from the sides, beginning their long descent to the bottom of the overall chamber.

Pieces of the end section of bridge past the special tile began to come loose. Not a uniform destruction this, but haphazard. Pieces large and small, near and far, tumbled free from the whole and joined the falling plumes. Unclear, perhaps, if this was the intended way the bridge should collapse, or if it was an imperfect representation of its creator's wishes.

But the end section was, in fact, coming apart. Slow to begin, but at a pace which quickened with each passing second.

Weylin and Foal would not have much time to commit.

Former and the Foal Kenai Katzcha Weylin Kyrel Kikwi

 

[Former and the Foal]

Kade Anvar Kikwi Kenai Katzcha Weylin Kyrel

It ran and it ran...Yet... no way, how could this path of (seemingly) infinite length end so abruptly.
Stone by stone fell, and soon if she did not move.
No, this was no time to be daring.
This was too soon little fledgling.


She snapped around like a nasty dragon turtle (renown for biting off fingers of touchy people and noses off daredevils) and began running the way from which she came.
Every footstep seemed looser than before and she zoomed past Weylin once more, for there was no time for greetings!

 

[Weylin Kyrel]

The steady pace Weylin took was working. A gust would blow, he would brace himself for a moment, and then he could continue like before. Simple tactic yet it was effective. Was just like walking around the mountain side back home in the Spine, only with less vengeful winds of biting cold blowing about. Was kind of relaxing in that sense.

...Then the bridge he and the little horse were crossing began to collapse at the destination side.

The hunter wanted to curse and would have if he didn't know how urgent it was to get moving now. Yet again, this was reminding him of home. The cliff or old bridge left long forgotten by dwarves would begin to break apart. You either committed to crossing as quickly as possible or you fled back in fear. This seemed to be much the same sort of situation.

Normally he would retreat and find another way. But he couldn't here. There was no going around in this tunnel. There was only committing or failing to get the coin he needed to get back home. So he had to press forward as fast as he could.

So he did.

Weylin was sprinting full speed forward. He had to get close enough to cross. Fear and caution were not options to him. But they did seem to be for the little horse. Instead of continuing on with its tiny bravery, it spun around and began to gallop back the way they had both come. He narrowly managed to dodge it as they past. Seemed he was the only one who would brave this path.

The way the stones broke apart had no real pattern to them. It was just like the cliffs and bridges back home. It made him begin to wonder if everywhere was more similar to the Spine than he was told. But he soon had to push that thought aside. An actual section of the bridge had fully given way and with it the whole process began to speed up immensely. Far too soon he would be at the swiftly approaching end of a bridge dropping off into a seemingly bottomless pit.

So he jumped. As soon as he reach the edge he pushed himself forward with all the might his legs could muster and prayed his leap of faith would pay off.

Thankfully it did, barely. His arms fell onto the stone of the other side of the pit and his chest struck the edge of it. It knocked the wind out of his lungs. He could feel his limbs go limp, a burning in his lungs, and flashes before his eyes. A thump, thud, and oooooof all came to his ears seemingly at once as well.

Then he began to slide down towards the bottom of the pit. No time for a breath. Weylin willed his fingers to grab whatever they could as his toes tried to push against the wall to force him back up. It felt like he was failing as he slide further and further down. Between sand and wind smoothed stone, there was nothing for his fingers and toes to grip.... But then he got the edge in his hands.

His body jerked as it finally came to a stop, threatening to rip his arms out of his shoulders. It hurt, but he had stopped. So he finally took a moment to breath. One, two, three painful breaths in and out. He had air back in him and with it reminders of his limits and mortality. But he was breathing.

Finally in a position to do something, the hunter pulled and pushed himself back up over the ledge and onto the safety of the other side. His breathing quickened and became ragged. So little action yet it had already tired him out. He needed to take a bit to rest before pushing forward.

Laying on wind swept stone trying to catch his breath while his body hurt once again reminded him of home....

Kade Anvar Kikwi Kenai Katzcha Former and the Foal

 

[Kikwi]

Kikwi did not like to see Kenai so distressed, but he did find it a little odd that she would be so upset about wooden money. He guessed it would be disappointing if she had thought they were real. Maybe she needed money badly? Maybe that was why she took this job.

While the cogs of his head turned, trying to work out he tiefling's misery, the gate crashed open. The vibrations sent the small owl falling atop the pile of wooden disks, and his eyes became even larger in surprise.

The monster was very strange, and while part of Kikwi wished to know what it was, the other wanted desperately to get away. Judging his life to be more important that his study, Kiwki turned and began clawing at the piles, trying to bury himself within the wooden hoard. Maybe the pig beast couldn't see very well?