The Planewalkers' Journies

[Idran1701]

Mines of Marsellin

Zant heads through the five-foot-wide gap, pulling himself through to Shawn's side. It's a little disorienting as he hauls himself through, one half of his body in one area of gravity and the other in another entirely, but without hardly a struggle he pulls himself through and onto the floor of the tunnel below.

[Jak Snide]

"This certainly is an experience." he commented, failing to keep the stupid grin off his face as he hauled himself to his feet.

[Besyanteo]

Lorraine blinked at this new development. The gravity changed... how... Well, there was no time to waste standing around, speculating on it. She saw that Zant seemed to have trouble getting in, and she hoped to bypass that and hurry the whole process along. She sent her familiar a quick warning of her intentions through their bond, and Aaron took off from his perch on her shoulder while she... jumped. She sort of attempted a belly flop into the gravitational anomaly.

Now, from what she'd observed, she expected to land on her feet next to Zant. What actually happened is that for a breif moment, she hung in the air, caught nearly equally in the pull of several directions.

"... Tears of Aitrus... What is-"

She didn't have time to finish. She'd drifted while speaking, she fell onto her left side with a soft thud. She cursed quietly while picking herself up... And stood at a 90 degree angle to Zant and Shawn. She tried to mask her embarrassment as best she could behind a forced smile, while calling for her familiar.

"That was... fun."

Aaron, in response, lands by the edge, and hops in after her. Being much closer to a particular side of the hole he doesn't suffer the same troubles as his master, hops over and lets her take him onto her arm.

[Jak Snide]

Zant gave Lorraine a curious look, somehow continuing to be surprised by this environment.

"Curiouser and curiouser."

[Geesi]

Gulrd stretches a hand out over the hole. It seemed safe enough, but what was the source of the reversal? Was it just the geography of the cube, or...? It was probably a good way to get a lot of use out of the insides, but...

Seeing the tribulations of his companions in both extremes of caution, he hands Snowblind off to Lux for a moment along with an unidentifiable scrap of meat, a bow and a couple of pointy things that would prove troublesome if fallen on too hard. "Hang on to this a second, will ya?"

Regardless of the scholar's response, he steps into the hole and makes what can only be described as a reverse-gravity cannonball. Well, it would be described as a lot of things, but not many of them could be said in polite company.

He silently hopes to not hit anyone.

[Idran1701]

Mines of Marsellin

Gulrd leaps into the hole, flying past Shawn and Zant. He feels himself start to slow almost as soon as he enters, speeding up only as he passes the center, drifting by the top of Lorraine's head. Quickly enough, he hits the far side of the tunnel with an oof, slightly knocking the wind out of himself, but not leaving any true injuries as best he can tell. Stopped on the tunnel wall, from the outside Gulrd looks to be the only one oriented "correctly".

As more enter at varying positions around the circumference of the tunnel, those within may have a slightly disorienting feeling. Seeing someone standing on the wall or ceiling without even a disturbed hair is certainly odd to those that haven't seen it before. However, with time, a person can certainly adapt to anything. Especially those of the Guild.

[NamagomiMk0]

Vance, on the other hand, bothers to take the rope--climbing down before dropping into the hole--the heavy armor would mean that he passes the gravitational threshold with more force--but given how gravity is equal regardless of your weight (and that of your gear), that extra force is seriously wasted. As such, the large man would have to put in some more effort to get through than those who just maniacally dove into the, well, hole, with some visible frustration as he strains to get past the gravitational borderpoint...

The facing changes? I guess we're about to go on the other side of it, or something...

Of course, this is assuming I can get through this blasted pit.

[Idran1701]

Mines of Marsellin

Vance lowers himself along the rope, before trying to haul himself over the threshold of the hole alongside Shawn and Zant. It isn't exactly the most graceful of entrances, nor the quietest, but Vance manages to get through with only a small hit of exhaustion.

[Shinigori V2]

Shawn looked over her shoulder at the others, sighing. "...You really should wait for me to give the all-clear..."

She shined her torch up ahead a bit, narrowing her eyes to get a better look. "Start heading back to the other side. There's something down here and it may be dangerous."

[Jak Snide]

"Your concern is appreciated, but we would not be much of a group if we let something terrible eat your face off."

Despite his nonchalant response, Zant was scanning the tunnel ahead of the group with his darkvision. He'd been in a scuffle or two before, but he certainly didn't relish the thought of it.

[Idran1701]

Mines of Marsellin

Shawn shines her torch, but there's no motion to be seen within its range in either direction. Whatever Shawn may have caught wind of down here, it doesn't look to be anywhere close by.

Shawn:

Spoiler:

...That noise seems to have stopped; possibly it was spooked off by everyone coming in?

Zant:

Spoiler:

You don't have that much extra range with your darkvision, but with what area you can see, you also see no sign of any sort of creature.

[Jak Snide]

Zant relaxed, nothing appearing to be out of place.

"Besides, we appear to be alone down here. Let's keep moving."

[Justice Augustus]

"Incoming," is all the warning Lux gives as he throws Gulrd's possessions towards him, aiming to miss with the more dangerous objects. Lux then looks to Snowblind. "We may have a problem here..."

[Idran1701]

Mines of Marsellin

The objects fall through, landing without harm around Gulrd. Meanwhile, as Lux speaks, Snowblind glancies to him. She tilts her head, before looking down towards her master in the tunnel with a vague sense of nonunderstanding passing along to the druid. Pushing that aside, though, she takes off, dives through, and navigates through the distorted gravity, managing to return to her perch on Gulrd with barely a stumble.

[Jak Snide]

Zant looked back, realising with slight annoyance that not everyone had traveresed the tunnel yet, though he did his best not to show his irritation.

[Idran1701]

Mines of Marsellin

Joining the rest of the group in the tunnel, Lux takes up position with the rest of the group, as they ready to head into the depths of the tunnel. With everyone here once more, Lorraine takes up her rope once more, and the group is ready to head through the caverns of Acheron, seeking their amulet.

In the interest of moving along, people will be assumed to be going along with the group down here unless they post otherwise. Probably in the future too. But I'll try to give a reasonable chance for people to post such, of course. When you do post, if you haven't said marching order already, I'd like you to do so now; given the odd gravity here, consider it as if you were walking down a 45'-wide hallway. You could even stand shoulder to shoulder to walk down the tunnel, if you wanted. What I've currently got is Shawn and Lorraine up front and Vance hanging back a bit.

Gulrd, Shawn, Zant:

Spoiler:

Just from a look around here, one direction's scattered trinkets do seem to be fresher, less ferrified than the other.

Shawn:

Spoiler:

That scratching still hasn't picked back up.

[Jak Snide]

Zant hung just behind the front of the group, scanning the darkness inquisitively, and pointed out the trail of "fresh" trinkets to the others.

[Geesi]

Gulrd beams at the acrobatics of his pet, stroking her gently and giving another unrecognizable treat.

"What's the one we're after look like?" He looks around, wondering if it might be so easy as that.

[Justice Augustus]

Lux is fascinated with the tunnel, running around the walls and ceilings, tossing items into the air and catching them on the other side of the space. "Theoretically it should be possible to get an object to hang in the midpoint of the area, with all walls pulling with equal force to maintain its position," he mutters to himself, jotting down a quick note. He keeps up with the group, but it's clear that he's not paying attention to their progress and only listens out with half an ear to hear what the others are saying.

[Shinigori V2]

Not saying anything, Shawn begins sifting through the trinkets to see if any match what she remembers being what they're looking for.

"Keep your ears open for any thing that may be down here. I know I heard something."

[Jak Snide]

Zant paused to fetch the sample he'd been given from his pack.

"It looks like this," he said, holding it up "but a pound or so heavier. That's what the sickly one specified."

[Idran1701]

Mines of Marsellin

Zant holds up the amulet; a brooch about half the size of a man's fist, made out of a dull, red metal but lighter than any metal he's ever carried. It spins on its thin iron chain as he shows it to the party, revealing the rear of the amulet; in back, it looks to have a thin groove along its length about the size of a small potion vial, with a clasp of the same red metal built into the brooch; it's obviously designed to hold something within it, though it's empty now.

The party heads down the tunnel, and while Lux performs a few gravitational experiments, Shawn and Gulrd dig through the occasional pile as they pass by. There's a number of cheap pieces of jewelry and slagged husks that may once have held a magical charge, but so far, there doesn't seem to be one of this amulet's design or material in any of the nearby piles. With Shawn's warning, the group keeps their ears peeled for any sign of inhabitants that might be unhappy with their passage.

[NamagomiMk0]

Vance indeed hangs back a bit, having been digging through his pack for a couple of things while the rest of the explorers stay up front for the most part...experiments with gravity and whatnot be damned, he's not going to be defenseless if he has anything to say about it...

...and as such, he pulls out what he was looking for, eventually...an empty wine bottle and an odd looking rod. The large man taps the rod harshly on the floor a couple of times...and if that would have the expected effect, he would then smash the closed end of the aforementioned bottle on the same surface as the rod lit up brightly...

Try eating this. I fucking dare you to try eating this, assholes...

[Jak Snide]

Zant looked around to take a good look at what Vance was doing.

He had no idea.

"Hey, Vance. What's up with the, uh...paraphernalia?"

[NamagomiMk0]

Vance looked back, broken wine bottle in one hand, glowing stick of...something, in the other.

"What do you think it looks like? Light and a weapon."

[Shinigori V2]

"..Weapon?" Shawn said, raising an eyebrow. "...You really have no idea. These things eat metal, and you think glass is going to do something?"

Shawn shook her head, whipping out a short sword- Scaled to her size, of course, attemping to slam the flat of her blade across the top in order to shatter it completely. "And furthermore, it's not very sturdy."

[Idran1701]

Mines of Marsellin

Shawn swings her short sword against the half-broken bottle, and though Vance tries to pull it away in time, he's just a little too slow. The blade smashes the sharp implement, leaving Vance holding a snapped bottleneck. Not too useful for fighting anymore, unfortunately.

[Jak Snide]

Istishia, give me strength.

"I think what she's trying to convey, Vance, is that any assailant is best dealt with using a proper weapon and a focused mind. Your desire to adapt to the situation is commendable, however."

Zant smiled kindly, trying to calm the storm he feared was coming.

[Besyanteo]

Lorraine... twitched. She continued to smile, and look chipper, but it looked more strained now.

"While I tend to agree with Zant.... That was unnecessary, Shawn."

[NamagomiMk0]

Vance twitched. He twitched again. The hand around the sunrod he held clamped tighter. And he gave Shawn a glare that could kill bunnies, scare ponies, and kill any sunshine and rainbows in the immediate area...

Damnit, arrogant little...if it weren't for the rest of them right here, I'd smash the crap out of her for doing that! Just...DAMNIT.

...before de-tensing, and tossing the bottle piece rather haphazardly over his shoulder, and retaining his glare, speaking with a low, extremely irate tone...

"Yes, because we're all supposed to carry fucking sharp pointy wooden sticks wherever we go. Because obviously all of us know that there are apparently fucking spheres out there that have fucking things that fucking eat goddamn METAL on a regular basis. Now get the hell away from me before I change my mind about not bashing your face in right about now."

...oh yes. The spiked gauntlet on Vance's hand that was holding the bottle looked very hard, very spiky, and most importantly, very painful.

I'd take a Giff platoon over this at this rate right about now...I'd take damn Beholders or Illithid over these right about now.

And so, he continued onward, only turning to call to Lux,

"Oi. You seem to know something about this sphere. Tell us if anything we run into eats or breaks or does whatever to metal stuff, will you?"

Before falling silent again, in very apparent irritation to say the least.

[Shinigori V2]

"..Unnessessary?"

Shawn continued walking again. "No, unnessessary is the risk he put everyone into by thinking a broken bottle serves as a usable means of defending yourself outside a brawl fight. Think about it, it was completely broken by a kid tapping it with a sword. If he tried to actually use it, he'd probably be dead. He's not an explorer, he's someone who wants to look tough. Seriously. You'll run into things out here that simply won't be impressed by shards of glass."

[Besyanteo]

"The way you made an example of him was unnecessary. Provoking people right now is just wantonly foolish. The last thing we need is to come apart at the seams as we jaunt off unto the unknown. ... And someone more alert and less moral probably would have attacked you in his position."

She sighed, rubbing her forehead lightly.

"I'd really rather it not come to having to cut him down because you keep provoking him, Shawn. Could we all just be civil, till we get out of here?"

It felt like a good reproach. It felt reasonable. Sadly, she had no intention of actually saying it. Oh, certainly there was a slim chance that it would do some good. But the intention of such things was often quite different from the true outcome would be. Any scolding of one was very likely build up the other, if her previous experiences with groups told her anything. If only she'd memorized sleep more than once this morning...

Her voice suddenly gruff and agitated, she walked on past Shawn.

"Let's get moving. Sitting here isn't getting us any closer to the medallion."

Maybe she could transfer to a new group when she got back. People less inclined to fight amongst themselves, as opposed to monsters they would be facing in the near future...

[NamagomiMk0]

"Listen," Vance started, not bothering to look back, "The only thing that kept me from making an example of you as of now is the fact that there would be four others ready to turn on me for doing so. And you're right, I'm not an explorer. Were I an explorer, I would have been killed long before I got to this blasted sphere dealing with your bullshit. And perhaps, I would have been happier."

"Just remember. The things here may eat metal. -You- don't."

[Jak Snide]

The gensai's hair rippled as he turned to address the two bickerers.

"Listen, both of you. The time for trading barbs is not now. Differences can be settled later, if you both continue to desire to do so at such a juncture. Lorraine has the correct grasp of the moment; we are here to retrieve an amulet, and do so in short order. Let us not loose our focus."

[Shinigori V2]

Shawn opened her mouth to begin saying something, and almost got there. Instead, she took a sharp breath, bringing her hands up to her chest and looking pained. She backed away a bit, squinting her eyes and looking uncomfortable. "K..Keep going. I'll catch up.."

With that, she turned, brushing past the others, running back the way they came.

[Jak Snide]

Zant simply shook his head, turned and kept going. He'd never heard anything about this sort of thing from his father.

[Justice Augustus]

Lux looked towards the group, putting away the pen and paper and reaching for a small lyre. After a couple of test plucks to test that it hadn't lost its sound with the transitions between planes, he begins to strum a slow, gentle tune, the kind you might hear in a lullaby or being played towards the end of a feast when people are starting to feel sleepy. Hoping that the melody would calm his companions down and remind them that they needed each other to survive in this foreign environment, Lux hums a little in harmony with the music.

(Perform check: BAM! Natural 20 + 7 = 27. No idea if this'll even have an effect, it's not a bardic music check, but hoping that it'll make a few people calm down.)

[Jak Snide]

Slowing his step slightly, Zant let the music soothe his headache and hoped the music would have the effect that the bard no doubt desired.

[NamagomiMk0]

Vance, on the other hand, merely kept walking with a rather irritated look on his face; while it may not be so apparent--he did stop stomping around with a look of utter anger in his face--so at least he was less angry. Annoyed, but not full-blown angry...

[Idran1701]

Mines of Marsellin

Heading through the tunnel, the party continues along, leaving Shawn behind them for now. As the minutes tick by, there's still no sign of the amulet, nor of their young ally, nor of whatever she may have heard when they first entered. Things quickly get fairly boring, with the only break in the monotony being an occasional new pile to check.

Pressing forward, Lorraine and Zant are the first to spot it, but the entire group sees it in short order afterwards: a golden piece of jewelry sitting in the middle of Zant's "floor" just at the edge of their light, about 30 feet ahead. From all appearances, it seems to be in pretty good condition, and sits on its own separate from any of the other junk heaps, this entire area of the tunnel in fact looks fairly clear of trash and ferrified piles.

Lorraine:

Spoiler:

Such a shiny piece of jewelry. Wouldn't it be nice if you owned it? You should go get it before anyone else does. (Handle this in a way that doesn't seem too out of character; it's a mind-affecting effect, but not a very strong one, and she's not obsessed with it or anything. More she feels a draw towards possessing it.)

Zant:

Spoiler:

For a brief moment, you felt some sort of tugging at your mind towards the golden brooch, but you managed to fight it off.

Gulrd:

Spoiler:

You feel completely and utterly normal. Nothing feels odd in the least.