The Planewalkers' Journies

[Geesi]

"Our jolly miner ones might be," Gulrd looks down at the dwarf who appears to have taken the wrong ferri. "Wonder if he's dead or not?" The question is half rhetorical and half directed at Lux, who probably knows things like that.

[Justice Augustus]

"Alive? Most certainly, unless killed during or before the petrification subjects remain in a revivable state until returned to normal in almost every case, although some philossophers argue that those who have suffered petrification should not be considered living in moral matters." Lux blinks, looking for any crack or fissure in the stones, similarly examining the symbols to see if he recognises them at all.

(Search check = 14 + 5 = 19, and I rolled to see if he knows anything about the symbols, but wasn't sure what skill you would consider it. Unmodified roll of 8)

[Jak Snide]

Zant stood up again, frowning. He wasn't adverse to people getting their just deserts, but the nature of the dwarf's debatable demise unnerved him.

"I do not recognise the symbol."

[Idran1701]

Mines of Marsellin


Lux:

Spoiler:

You see no cracks in the material, which appears more of a mixture of iron and stone than most petrifications you've heard about; the same material as the cube. As for the symbol, you don't recognize it, though it does appear distinct enough to make a rubbing, assuming someone has some charcoal on hand.

[Justice Augustus]

"Nor do I," Lux says, fumbling for paper in his pockets, "but perhaps we can find someone who does. Did anyone bring any charcoal or chalk with them? I can take a copy with us."

[Idran1701]

Mines of Marsellin

Borrowing a piece of charcoal from Lorraine's component pouch, Lux makes a quick rubbing of the symbol. Carefully folding up the parchment, he tucks it away, and not seeing much else here, the party continues on, passing the unfortunate soul by as they head deeper.

No luck yet, but the piles are starting to look fresher in some sense. The pieces are resembling less and less the ignored trash picked over by the former residents, and more things that if not valuable, at least are a bit more aesthetically pleasing.

Still, though, they haven't found anything yet...but hey! Finally, Gulrd lifts a necklace of red metal up. It glows with a red aura, shining off the tunnel walls. Not the exact same design, the material still looks almost identical to the pendant Zant holds. It has the extra weight as well, almost a full pound as best as Gulrd can tell.

Just as Gulrd stands, the tunnel shakes, and the entire cube seems to resound with a rapidly-fading "BONG". Everyone manages to keep their footing through the shake, and though it wasn't loud enough to cause anyone any true discomfort, it certainly was disconcerting to say the least. The party waits...and there's no sign of the event repeating itself. Things seem safe.


Sorry for the long delay, but I've been distracted by stuff as of late, finals week coming up for me and all. I'll try to keep up better than this in the future.

Vance:

Spoiler:

You don't know anything about what just happened at all, as far as you know. And you seem fine and unhurt.

[Jak Snide]

"What....just occured here?" Zant said, slowly looking about.

[Besyanteo]

"Maybe something hit the cube?"

[Geesi]

"Probably another cube. Didn't think I'd be glad of these things being metal," Gulrd recalls their earlier observation of the plane as a whole, before handing the pendant off to Zant, "keep that one close, ay?"

[Justice Augustus]

"Let's just hope the collision did not adversely affect the stability of these tunnels within the cube, nor cause part of the cube to break off, eh?" Lux blurts out, a nervous tone edging into his speech that had not been there before, and those looking at him notice him patting all of his many pockets to make sure no items have been knocked free or damaged in any way. "If this is our target, then further delay, while undoubtedly informative and fascinating, is highly inadvisable. The arachnids, then this...something in my gut says our welcome may be running thin."

[Jak Snide]

"Well put." the gensai said, stowing the amulet securely. "Let us be off while we still can."

[Besyanteo]

"No argument here, boys."

Lorraine wasted no time heading back the way they'd all come.

[Idran1701]

Mines of Marsellin

The party heads back through the tunnel, pressing back through to the entrance. No sign of a collapsing tunnel, of wreckage in their way, of anything besides a few piles tipped over.

They reach the exit, and climb out with a bit of effort. Overhead, a cube continues to recede; looks like Gulrd was right. In the distance, near the portal out, they can see a few groups climbing out of their own hidey-holes, and the ground itself looks more than a little scraped up as far as they can see in any direction. But the party's safe, as is the portal-sphere, still floating above the ground just a half-hour's march off.

[Besyanteo]

First thing's first, though: Time to go get Paul.

[Idran1701]

Mines of Marsellin

The party makes the trek across the cube, returning to the Mercykillers. Trevor's pulling himself out of this tunnel just as the party approaches, giving them a grin and a wave as the rest of the miners slowly start to emerge. The horses aren't to be seen, but there's no horrible smears on the ground here, and the Justice certainly looks cheerful enough.

"Well, I see you lot're back. Have any luck?"

[Jak Snide]

"Indeed we have, though we've also had our share of misfortune." Zant said with a smile, trying to conceal that he was still shaken from the earlier collision.

[Idran1701]

Mines of Marsellin

Nodding, he replies to Zant, "Good on you all, then. Don't worry about your horses, they're safe, we just need to...ah, here they come."

And as he says this, a few Mercykillers begin slowly ushering a mount out of the tunnel; Paul looks pretty shaken too, and it's a struggle for them to get him over the cusp of the hole, but with some effort and some encouragement, he manages to pull himself over, trotting over to Lorraine.

Misty is soon to follow, a bit more stubborn at the transition, but visibly happy to see Shawn's return. Not that it's any help towards his stubbornness, but the pony gets hauled out of the tunnel himself soon enough too.

"It's something you get used to if you stay here long enough, those crashes. Nothing to do about them, just head inside and wait them out. Better than the alternative, at least."

[Jak Snide]

"Are these cubes not at risk of breaking upon impact?" he inquired, casting a glance around for any newly formed cracks as the notion crossed his thoughts.

[Idran1701]

Mines of Marsellin

"Not here. They do in the lower layers, but they're solid here and up in Avalas. Down here, as long as you're inside, the worst you have to worry about is a little ringing in the ears."

[Jak Snide]

Relieved, Zant nodded in acknowledgment of the man's words.

[Shinigori V2]

Shawn almost tried to stop herself from smiling, as her pony was returned.

Most children her age would kill for one, but she wasn't like most of them..And as much as she hated the situation, it wasn't exactly Misty's fault.

She met the keeper halfway, taking the reigns back, and wrapping them around her wrist. With her free hand, she stroked the horses neck, while with the other, she reached into her pouch, grabbing a candy. With a deft motion, she unwrapped it, offering it up to him. Finally, she snuggled into his flank for warmth, still petting his neck with that same hand.

[Besyanteo]

Lorraine couldn't help but smile, watching Shawn and Misty. She sort of felt sorry for Paul. She didn't have any treats for him; Just healthy feed when that time of day came along. ... speaking of which, how would you tell time here? She didn't see a sun immediately, or stars. Lorraine looked to what was apparently the humanoid group representative and asked hopefully:

"Do you happen to know how much time has passed since we got here?"

[Idran1701]

Mines of Marsellin

Misty eats the bit of candy, nuzzling Shawn back with her snout while she presses into the petting. After a bit, the candy's swallowed, and Misty kneels for Shawn. She watches the girl, whinnying a little and waiting for her to climb on.

Meanwhile, Travis speaks up after a bit, smiling a little at the scene himself. "Hmm? Oh...I'd say about an hour and a half, maybe two hours between when you left and now. Can't say for sure, but that's about it, I think."

[NamagomiMk0]

Vance looks around the whole time, his only guess being what he had overheard; that two cubes have somehow collided.

Well, what happened isn't as important now anyway. Shouldn't we be getting it to that one person who wants it?

"Hey, weren't we on a timeframe already? Let's find this guy, deliver that amulet to him, and get us the money. We're not quite up for an extended stay out here, you know."

Nevermind how I'd rather stay away from any sphere that possesses a regular number of metal-eating bastards from now on.

[Idran1701]

Hammergrim

The mounts regathered, and the piece of jewelry in their grasp, the party leaves the group of Mercykillers behind, heading back for Hammergrim. It's a brief trip back to the duergar city, and an uneventful check-in at the gate, before the party once more finds themselves at the entrance to the tavern. Things look a bit more active both in and out of the business, with the two horses drawing a number of strange looks from citizens unused to seeing mounts in their hometown.

Inside the tavern, the party can spy through the doorless archway at least a dozen dour dwarves drinking; they and the bartender all look up at the group of six standing outside, the tender giving a knowing nod to the party (and a small glare towards Vance).

[Jak Snide]

Zant kept his expression straight, distracting himself by thinking back to the unusual gravity of the cube. It'd taken him long enough to adjust to the strange phenomena when he first left home, and now it was apparent that it wasn't always a uniform force. He wasn't sure which way he preferred it yet.

[Idran1701]

Hammergrim

The party passes through the tavern with more than a few looks, largely ignored by the six. Walking (or in Shawn's case, riding) across the room, they get to the stairs down without hassle or obstacle. And heading through the darkness-cloaked doorway at the far end, it isn't long before they're standing on the landing of the Infinite Staircase once more, floating in the midst of the swirling fog.

And one thing to say about the Staircase; though trips up might be a bear, trips down are much easier.

Infinite Staircase

The party heads down, with Shawn once more heading off from the group for her hourly restroom breaks. And after a 4 hour trip, almost half the time heading up, the party finally returns to the Planewalkers' Guild. The Guild currently looks to be around evening-equivalent time, but it's still plenty active, and they seem to have arrived just for the tail-end of dinner.

It may have been a comparatively short trip, all told, but it wasn't bad for a first go at it. And the payment won't be half bad either, once they collect it.


Well, then! It looks like your first trip was a success. Thus, everyone gets the following XP:

200 XP apiece for killing the spiders
500 XP apiece for recovering the amulet.

In addition, a bonus 200 XP for making a solid attempt at keeping up posting, or keeping up with the thread, by Jak, Bes, and Shini.

As for party swaps, we'll be losing three people here. Doug, unfortunately, has requested to be swapped out for now due to schoolwork bearing down on him. Bes'll be swapping out as well for now since he's taking on a lot of RP responsibility as it is, and this'll be one less concern for him. And I'm afraid I'm going to have to move GC to the alternate list, mostly because he seemed to have quite a bit of trouble at keeping his posts up here. No insult to you, GC, and if in the future you think you'll be able to make a better attempt at holding that up, I'd be willing to consider swapping you back in. Gus, you are starting to get on the border of this too, I'll warn you. But I know you've had a lot of extenuating circumstances over this adventure, and when you have posted I've seen a lot of effort at making up for your absences, so I'm keeping you for now.

As for who's replacing these three, that's up in the air for now. I'll be checking availability of the current alt list to see who might be free. Current options for players are Kelne, Seethe, Neb, and Spleen, and I'll be trying to contact each of them. And of course, I do remind all four of you (and the people swapped onto the alt list) that while the party's on the Infinite Staircase, all players can post ICly in the thread, both current and alternate.

Of course, there is the matter of returning the amulet itself, but that won't require the entire party. Those characters that will be doing so, go ahead and post to that respect, and I'll handle that with an in-thread side quest once the entire still-current party's weighed in.

And for all six of you that went through this, congrats! The first trip's been completed!

[Jak Snide]

Upon the groups return to the guild Zant plotted a course for the tent where their employer was staying, taking their prize, the other amulet and whoever wanted to tag along with him.

[Idran1701]

Zant

Splitting off from the group after their return to the headquarters, Zant makes his way towards the sickly elf's tent. Weaving through the various campsites, he reaches the canvas quickly; though pinned shut, he can hear a coughing and shuffling, and spot a small light glowing from inside.

[Jak Snide]

Lacking a door to knock on, Zant poked his head inside the tent.

"Greetings."

[Idran1701]

Zant

Looking towards the sudden intrusion, she coughs again as she sets a book down, sitting up. Dressed in fairly unadorned sleepwear, there's a slight hint of a glare, quickly dropped as she takes a drink from a nearby waterskin. Instead, she simply speaks up in a quiet voice, scratchier than last time, sniffing some as she does.

"You know, it'd be nice if you could announce yourself next time. I might have been naked or something. You probably shouldn't get much closer than that, I wouldn't want to infect you too. I guess you found that jewelry?"

[Jak Snide]

"My apologies on my intrusion, and yes, we have the amulet you requested."

He produces it and holds it up for her to see, keeping his distance as recommended.

[Idran1701]

Zant

Nodding, she twists around, digging through a few sheafs of parchment in a fairly messy pile at her side, mixed in with a couple barely-visible small sacks and a sheafed short sword. "I've got the directions for the guy that wanted it here somewhere...

"...Uh...right, here it is. He's in...", she gets up to before interrupting herself with a chain of sneezes.

"...Sorry...he's in Tradegate, it's a pretty major doorway only 15 minutes down or so. Here, this'll get you there."

Balling up the parchment, she tosses it weakly over towards Zant. It bounces across the tent floor, rolling to a stop against the pinned flap.

"He's selling smokepowder just outside the wall. There's a big, scorched banner with a ruby on it over his stand, you can't...can't miss it..."

With another sneeze, she sniffs, grabbing a handkerchief.

"...He's got the rest of the payment, he'll pay you once you hand over the necklace."

[Jak Snide]

Zant collected the parchment and then turned back to the elf, nodding to her appreciatively.

"My thanks once again for this opportunity. Waterlord willing you'll return to good health swiftly. Is there anything I could help you with while I'm here?"

[Idran1701]

Zant

"Eh, not unless you've got some soup on you or something." She chuckles, but it quickly leads into another coughing fit. Taking a drink, she manages to get herself settled, weakly smiling at Zant. "Thanks for the thought, though. Oh, I'll warn you, this berk's a little odd, even for a Clueless. Kinda...eh, what's the word...quirky. He seems harmless enough, but I'm letting you know going in."

[Jak Snide]

"Clueless? Well, this will certainly be interesting. I'm afraid I don't have any soup on me presently and I should attend to gathering the rest of my party before venturing forth. My thanks again, and good day to you."

That said Zant smiled and nodded once again before turning to leave.

[Kai]

The decision to obey his uncle's wishes had taken Joss less than a minute. Actually getting up his nerve to go visit the Planeswalkers took him longer, long enough that Joss tried not to think about it. It smacked of cowardice is what it did. Unacceptable.

He sighed as he planted his quarterstaff onto the step in front of him. Seemed fitting to have one. It was right that a wanderer should have one, and Joss certainly heard few stories about ill-equipped leatherheads who couldn't even make their way up a steep slope on their own. Speaking of which... Joss looked up. Another few minutes.

It had been months since he'd left his father, and Joss was still uncertain whether it had been the right thing to do. Wasn't it supposed to be right and honorable to care for his kin? No story he'd ever heard of ended well for otherwise-honorable men who neglected the needs of their close family. But still. What about Dsedh?

No, Dsedh wanted him to go. Dsedh had always understood him best, and if Joss knew no other adult who deserved his trust it was Dsedh.

He wouldn't have wanted me to stay. Probably took Dad a week to notice I'm not around anyway. At least he won't have anyone around upsetting him, he thought, not for the first time. Maybe if he doesn't have to take care of a kid he can straighten himself out.

With that Joss lifted his chin proudly. He didn't need anybody to raise him or protect him or any of that crap. He knew what was right and what was wrong and he had a lot to fix before he could worry too much about his own family. If the universe were a better place maybe men like Trafford wouldn't turn into... well, men like Trafford. Joss could fix it.

Joss could fix everything.

And if he can't? Well, sometimes it's better if the fight is in vain.

He mounted the last step and looked out over the encampment on the landing.

Well, I will be dipped in shit, he thought. Outstanding...

He shook his head. He was a warrior and spellslinger in his own right. Nothing to be impressed by here, right? Who'm I kidding, Joss thought, allowing a grin to spread over his face. These cutters have got it set up. I can't believe Dsedh was one of them!

His thoughts were interrupted by the smell of something unidentifiable but probably meat and definitely being fried. Too much to ignore. Joss didn't know who was cooking or whether that food was for sale, but a man had to start on the path to Destiny someplace. Dinner seemed as good a beginning as any.

[Idran1701]

Joss

Following the allure of food cooking from somewhere ahead, Joss passes down a thin walkway, apparently kept clear from the stairs for folks just like himself. Curving around, he passes a number of tents; some occupied, some not. People doing all manner of tasks - sharpening weapons, cleaning clothes, eating, drinking, reading, gambling - watch him as he passes by. Some give him nothing more than a quick glance. A noticeable fraction give a mild glare of disapproval or look of concern for the lone child. But by far the majority seem to be giving him a friendly smile or nod. After all, they might not know he's a brother of the guild yet, but despite his age he still shows all the signs of being yet another traveler; in that sense, they all share something.

Before long, he reaches the edge of the makeshift kitchen. Tables are scattered about, fairly sparsely populated at the moment. The fire pits are starting to dim, but there's still a bit of roast and stew left, a couple folks in adventuring leathers cutting and stirring. Not exactly professionals, they appear, but the food smells edible enough. Even beyond, in fact: it smells like it might be not bad. A small line's left for the meal, if a basher can call a group of two a line, but there looks to be just enough for Joss to get in on the end. And no one looks to be asking for payment, no money's changing hands with the guy in front, or the folks leaving...by all appearances, it's simply up for grabs.

[Shinigori V2]

Shawn decided not to head to their employers tent. She was finally away from the rest of her companions, and had dropped Misty off at the stable. She began wandering back towards her tent, pulling a couple items from her pack.

Carefully striking the tinder twig and lighting her cigarette, she frowned a little. More and more, these days, they were tasting like dung. But still, it was habit.

Ignoring any looks she may be given, she quietly entered her tent, lying on her bedroll and contemplating the days events.

She killed some spiders, good times. But this group...This group was self destructive. She'd need to stick around with them to make sure they didn't kill eachother.

She took a deep puff, and exhaled. It was going to be a looong week.

[Idran1701]

Shawn

Lighting up on the way back to her tent, Shawn indeed gets more than a few odd or disapproving glances, but she pays them no heed as she slowly makes her way across, back to her "room". An island of privacy in an ocean of people, here if nowhere else she doesn't have to worry about others watching her, evaluating her. She can consider the day's actions in peace, slowly puffing away in her precious sanctuary from the outside.

...For a few minutes at least, before she hears a rustle from just outside the flap, and a familiar, older woman calling out to her with a bit of concern in her voice, unseen yet as she speaks from the out of doors.

"Shawn, are you home? Someone told me they saw you coming back here...can I come in? It's Florence."