Ch.2: "Trouble in Paradise" / Volcanic Paradise Island Arcadia

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell begins her chant for some local bats to go check out the sound of the faint moan up ahead.

Kelleia:2D6 → 10(4 +6)#Roll for bats!

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

As the fairy tour guide and the old couple come closer, it becomes apparent that the grunt and moan were from the old man, who is still grunting and moaning. His head is bleeding and he's leaning on his wife.

Debbie grimaces. "Oh... blood. Big people sure bleed a lot." Steph and Shelly see that Debbie is looking a little pale. The honeymooners escort Debbie somewhere out of sight.

The old woman says to her husband, "Oh, thank heavens. Young people."

The fairy asks, "Do any of you happen to have a healing kit? Mr. Bernie hit his head on a sta—"

"They shoulda put up a sign!" Bernie says.

"I'm sure they will dear," his wife says. Turning to the fairy, she goes on, "His pride is wounded, sweetheart. You're doing a fine job. Pay no mind."

"Pay no tip is more like it," Bernie grumbles.

The fairy says through a forced smile, "It's against company policy for me to accept tips, so thank you for not." She then approaches our heroines. "On behalf of Arcadia Tour-poration…" She cringes a little as she states the name of her employer. "I apologize for the not-niceties you have witnessed. I am Phœbe, the um… the Fairy Torch…" Another cringe. "And if you happen to have a bandage, I could use one right now."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Even though Leto makes no attempt to beast-speak, a vision flashes as soon as Kell casts her spell—that of a white-winged bat… and hundreds of others!

Kell feels that her spell was powerful, even though no creature approaches…

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell sighs. "Well, that was a waste of a nice powerful spell, even if the vision was interesting..."

Grabbing a bandage from the healing kit in her purse, she hands it to Phoebe the Fairy Torch. "Here you go."

 

[Ireth]

Leto

Leto winces in sympathy for the injured man, and looks at Kell when a fairy asks for a healing kit. She opens her mouth to remind Kell of the healing kit she bought, but Kell is already on the ball.

At the sight of hundreds of bats, she looks up in amazement. The solitary white one holds her attention. "Should I try beast-speaking now, then?"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

The old man mutters to himself while the fairy puts the bandage on his head. When the wife apologizes for her husband's grumbling, Phœbe the Torch says, "Perfectly understandable, Miss Gert."

The old woman seems amused by the title, 'Miss.'

The fairy flies to our heroines and asks, "Will you accompany us on the way to Sunset Strip? I mean… I can't blame you if you'd rather not. Tourists don't walk fast—"

"I just HAD breakfast!" says Bernie. "TWICE!"

"…or hear well," the fairy goes on. "If you want to go ahead of us, that's understandable."

Debbie calls to Phœbe, "Bad day at work, Torch?"

Phœbe nods, not realizing that Debbie still isn't looking into the cave. In the silent moment, Leto hears distant flapping sounds scattering in several directions.

Kell doesn't hear the flapping, but she does sense something the lingering effects of her spell, as if something dormant has awakened. She has a sense that the cavern breaks into multiple paths, and her magic is flowing into all of them.

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell looks at Phoebe and says, "Well, we're headed to Arcadia Village. Would we go there by way of Sunset Strip, or is the route different? I fear that about all I've managed to understand is that these caverns are the shortest route to get where we're going, and that the Sunset Strip is just south of Arcadia Village. I didn't manage to pick up what the exact route would be."

Then she glances at her companions. "Do you ladies have any thoughts about this?"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Phoebe the Torch says, "Oh, yes. There's a direct route to the Strip, and that is the fastest way to the village. I'm heading that way now, but you probably walk faster than Bernie and Gert. I can tell you the way while we walk, then you can go ahead of us if you prefer."

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell replies, "If Bernie and Gert are ready to head back, yes, why don't we start back, you can tell us the way, and then we'll decide what we want to do." And she smiles at the older couple.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Bernie says with a smile to Bridgette, "Just watch your head as we round the corner."

As the Torch gives Kell directions, she can feel the flow of magic is strongest in the tunnel the leads to the Strip. The bats are all telepathically contacting her at once, though for now, it is merely a ping from every tunnel and every fork. It seems likely that Kell could find the way without directions simply from following her bats.

As for Leto, she sees another flash--this time it's a bat's-eye view of the cave ceiling. The bat is flying fast, and she hears several others flapping behind. The image only lasts a quarter second at most, but then, Leto hasn't attempted to contact the white bat...

 

[Ireth]

Leto

Leto blinks as she suddenly sees through the eyes of a bat, all in black and white, just for a second. She frowns, then tries to beast-speak the white bat, wondering what else its mind can show her.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Leto faints.

Bridgette scoops her up over her shoulder. "Just like on the boat, I guess," she says.

"Kids these days," says Bernie.

 

[Ireth]

Leto

Leto sees and hears through the eyes of the white bat as it and others like it search the tunnels for danger. The tunnels are clear, but one room is full of lava, blazing bright silver-white on all the walls.

She blinks as she wakes up, slung over Bridgette's shoulders. "...Dritt, I fainted again, didn't I?"

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Taking a moment to separate out the bats' pings from her current location, she finally gazes at Leto and pats her on the shoulder. "Are you okay?"

At her friends question, she replies, "Afraid so. I'm starting to wonder if beast-speaking is a good idea for you..."

 

[Ireth]

Leto

Leto frowns. "It worked for the breel and its baby. Today has not been a good day for it. Thanks, Bridgette; I think I can bear my own weight now."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Bridgette puts Leto down.

Hess says, "Maybe if you find another beast-speaker, she can tell you if fainting's normal or not."

As our heroines travel the tunnels, Phœbe the Torch names different formations. "That dark, narrow passage is the Bat Cave, on your left we see the Drooling Dragon. Please keep children under twelve away from the molten lava and note that Arcadia Tour-poration is not respons… oh, wait." She turns to Leto and says, "I never did have you sign a waiver for you and your daughter and/or niece, did I?"

Gert says to Phœbe, "Sorry, sweetheart. These young people are just tagging along."

Bernie says to Hess, "Ha! Burn yourself and your ma can sue the bastards!"

Between Phœbe's directions and the magical connection to the cave bats, both Kell and Leto are quite capable of finding their way to the caverns' west-side exit.


((Choose:
1 - Pick up the pace and leave the tour group behind.
2 - Move at old-people speed.))

 

[Ireth]

Leto

Leto smiles at Phoebe. "She's neither. We're just looking after her for a friend of ours."

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell says, "The white bat just communicated a threat to me, but I can't tell what it is. It told me only that it is near the exit to Sunset Strip. And I have the sense that whatever it is needs to be dealt with sooner rather than later."

She tells Phoebe, "With any luck, we'll be wrapping up by the time you get Gert and Bernie back to the entrance, but you might want to let them delay along the way however much they want and the take the last leg of the trip with some extra caution. If we haven't seen you by the time we deal with whatever it is, we'll send word that the coast is clear. If it's not something we can deal with, we may come back this way."

To her friends, she says, "Ladies, I think we'd better get a move on and let's make it snappy." And with that, she begins striding purposefully toward the exit to Sunset Strip.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

"My mistake, Phoebe says."

Our heroines continue walking the cavern with the fairy lighting the way. The elderly couple seem to enjoy their youthful companions, though they mostly talk to each other.

"Ladies and gentleman," Phoebe says, "we should be at our destination in approximately thirty minutes. Please enjoy the colorful Crystal Castle. Arcadian Tour-proration asks that you do not take any crystals from the cavern in order to preserve the natural environment. Crystals may be purchased at the souvineer shop."

-----

Once Kell receives a communication, our heroines are off and running. But it will take 5-10 minutes to get to where the white bat is! Will our heroines arrive in time?

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

As they move in the direction of the Sunset Strip, Kell keeps her senses peeled and alert for any evidence of the threat that the white bat identified.

Kelleia:2D6 → 11(6 +5)#perception check - listen for threat