Dragon's Egg - Act II

[Legendary Sidekick]

"Well, are you sure you don't want Nissa to peek up and see if berries are right over our heads? I can always make the swim for the boat myself." I won't talk about being naked. Who knows who I'll drive out the door if I bring that up again! "The ring might actually make the swim enjoyable! I think I'm looking forward to it, in a way..."

((CHA check))

"...heh, h-ha, heh?"

Oh, enough with the nervous laugh, Baldy! The ones who don't find you attractive will avert their eyes after they've seen enough.

That's... not... helpful...!

"I'm open to your plan, too, Mauve. Just say the word if you want Nissa to see what's in the immediate area above us. She can only come out for a few minutes, so if she sees something, it's not an hours-long walk away. I agree we shouldn't explore a vast unknown at a time like this. If that's what's up there, I'll climb later after our business with the trogs is done.

"I'll hold off on calling Nissa until we have a consensus."

I smile sincerely. I do want Ankari to be safe and I do wish Rydh stayed with us... but right now, I'm enjoying polite conversation. I don't even care which idea we run with.

 

[Nihal]

A funny noise escapes from my mouth, followed by a laugh. "What was that laugh, Baldhart? Are you shyyy?" I tease her.

"I have nothing against taking a peek over us." I nod. "Any path you take, you should expect trouble. We had just entered there when they sang and you dragged us back, and we already found more of those reptiles." I lean my head to one side and another, thinking. "And on the shore... and before that... yeah, I think you might find some on the way to berries, if you go through tunnels. Or wargs above us. The bigger the group berry-picking, the better."

The ranger is screwed.

 

[Ireth]

My spell fails in a burst of blue light. I sigh in relief; at least no one was injured.

What does Ankari think he's doing, running off alone like that? Why does he always see the need to run blindly ahead of the rest of us? He's going to get himself hurt, or killed!

I listen as Mauve and Baldhart speak, and raise my own opinion.

"I think if anyone tries to get through that opening, it should be Nissa, just to scout the area. For any of us to climb up could mean death, and I do not want to see our company lose any more of its members, especially if it is permanent. Even if no one dies, we are still without our primary healer."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

I light a torch.

"Hi, Baldy!"

I give Nissa a hug and...

"Uhhh..." I forgot her clothes don't appear with her! "H...hi. Yeah, Mauve. I am shy." I say to Nissa, "I'll keep my armor on for now. I can't wear it while I climb, if I want to ensure a safe trip up, but... I won't strip until I have to." To the others I add, "My armor, I mean. Just the armor."

"Just don't forget there's nothing under your dr--"

"They can hear you, Nissa!"

"Oh, yes." Nissa looks around. "Just me teasing Baldy. It's a thing I do, but you normally can't hear it. Anyway, I've got a job, so--"

"Can't you hold still?" I wrap Nissa in her toga. "It's hard when you're flying and holding a burning object."

"--I'm off!"

"Gaah!" And so is her damn toga! "Nissa?"



((@Steerpike, what does Nissa see? She peeks first holding the torch low, then when all directions seem safe, she flies up to see what's of interest, including--but not limited to--a source of berries.))

 

[Nihal]

I smile and sit, taking the opportunity to study the scroll a little longer while we wait.

 

[Ireth]

Feeling oddly drained by my botched attempt at magic, I sit back and watch the others in silence. I hope Darin can turn that old gauntlet into something I can use, and do so before we meet anything else that would want to kill us.

After a moment I dig in my pack again to find my pincushion, needle, thread and a scrap of cloth. Now is as good a time as any to practise my stitching. I'll leave the study of magic to those who are in a better position to use the spells.

 

[SeverinR]

What does Ankari think he's doing, running off alone like that? Why does he always see the need to run blindly ahead of the rest of us? He's going to get himself hurt, or killed!

"He is a scout, he lives to explore, discover the best route, first in a fight, last one out, and in his case, do it as obnoxiously rude as possible. I differ from him in one aspect at least, I prefer to sneak to find the best route, relieve the occupants of some tiny bauble, and return to tell of what I found. ah, I mean which route would be best." I correct myself with a grin.
I look from Branwen to the scroll, then ask;
"Mage, what is the chances of my getting hurt, If I should I try to learn that healing magic?"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Nissa signals me to come up.

I look at Branwen, but I mean to address the group. "Kids, don't try this at home." I strip off my armor and grap my end of the rope, making sure Nissa secured it. Satisfied after a tug, I climb...


((STR check needed, it turns out - but don't worry: Primary Instinct means I won't die from this...))

((...holy crap!!! Especially not when I make highly improbably rolls!))


...better than I've ever climbed in my entire life!

But all I see up here are rocks, trees, the Taint. "Aw, Nissa, I'm not sure there's a point in staying up here." I gather the best berries I can find, and... seeing how Nissa is enjoying naked time, I guess, I use what was supposed to be her toga as a means of carrying berries.

Nissa flies down to Keitsumah with the sack of berries. Her voice carries all the way up here!

"I'm not sure if these are safe to eat," she says. "The berries I found were darkened by the Taint, and I'm not sure if Baldy was able to handpick anything better. If elven life magic won't purify these, we may want to cast them away and get the ones Hiljikki picked earlier. I know nothing about your goodberry magic, though, and I don't know if Hiljikki used tainted berries."

 

[Nihal]

"Mage, what is the chances of my getting hurt, If I should I try to learn that healing magic?"

"Uh? Oh, we will have to try to see. It is not arcane magic, in theory you should not suffer from runaway magic. Though I am not sure if you would not hurt the person you are trying to help... You see, I am new to elven magic, we did not have this kind of enchantments back at—when I studied magic."

I narrow my eyes at the berries Nissa brings down. "I do not like the aspect of these berries."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Nissa's POV

I fly down and speak to the mortals...

To Mauve:

"No, I don't have a good feeling about them either. Baldy's up there staring at the Taint now. It's as you guessed, Mauve. I think Baldy will need to climb down and get a boat. I only called her up to see if she'd find something I missed."

To Darin:

"Oh... I uh... forgot my toga is off. Sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable." I look him over as I speak. Can I see what he spoke of? Can I sense it? Now that I know more... hmm. "Yeah, I'm glad you're going along with the goodberry plan. You heal quickly, but the berries'll really speed things up for you."

I see Branwen is watching me very carefully.

"Hi, Branwen! What beautiful wings you have! Do you like my wings?" I land with my back to her and flap them once. Is she imitating me? I flap again, flap, flap, again, faster. "I'm not really here to teach you to fly, but if the mortals wish to teach you other things, I guess I can help with flying!" Maybe I can show her how to let Baldy dress her. I know Baldy can't stand me flying like this. Maybe after she's dead she'll see it's not a big deal. It's how we're made.

To the group:

"Well... there isn't much to see up there. The Taint is creepy, and only fifty yards from the hole. I prefer Baldy get down now. She wanted your opinion first, but thinks it would take a very long time to find anything up here, and the purpose was to only search the immediate area. If no one objects, I'll fly up and undo the rope."




Baldy's POV

So, there's nothing to do up here. I come down, figuring if someone wants to be pulled I'll just climb up again. The climb down is slow at first. It really is quite a drop! But halfway down I pick up the pace until...

((Fail at 30-40 feet, but only by 1 point. Need to miss the target by more than 5 to fall, per SP's earlier PM.))

"Aah..!"

I cling onto the rope--onto dear life!--for several seconds. Precious seconds! I'm about as high up as I was on the ledge! I'd survive, but... I'd feel it!

I continue the climb down.

I hug Nissa. I don't care if she's naked. That wasn't a good feeling at all.

"Why was it so much easier to climb up?" I ask her.

"Wait'll you fly, Baldy. Landing's harder than taking off, too." I see a look of mischief. I know she has to add something. "Of course, as a Valkyrie, you can't be killed from a bad landing since you're dead already!" Something ominous. Yeah. Like that.

I remember Sir Cadell's words.

I approach him. "Sorry. I know you were worried about any of us going up. I've been doing that since my teens, but..." I look down. "If I gave you or anyone a scare just now, I'm sorry."

 

[Ireth]

I look up at Baldhart's yelp, and watch with my heart in my throat as she clings to the rope, frozen in place. At least she isn't at the top!

Baldhart continues her descent, and I swallow my heart and relax when her feet are on the ground. At her words, I smile faintly. "Apology accepted. I just don't want to see anyone be needlessly hurt."

 

[Keitsumah]

"We'll see if we can find some more-likely edible berries before i try anything with these." i say, taking the bag off of Nissa's hands and kneeling next to Batos as he pads over. The wolf sniffs the berries curiously, then snorts and shakes his head wildly to get the scent out of his nose.

"Uh . . . yeah we may not be able to use these, but I will try if we can't find anything else." I explain, looking up just as Baldart yelps. My eyes widen in alarm and my stomach drops to the floor, but then she makes it safely down and I sigh with relief, glancing over at Cadell.

"If i ever get strong enough to cast that one spell i read about I am definetly choosing a Silver Eagle." I mutter.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Nissa's POV

"I didn't think they were any good," I say to Keit. "How about I take those back up and discard them where the child won't get near 'em? If you're having doubts, we should err on the side of caution! My body's temporary, but even I won't put one in my mouth to see what would happen."

 

[Nihal]

Nissa shows off to the little harpy, bringing a delighted laugh to my lips. "That's true, you can teach her! I feared we would be forced to teach her like you do with fallen baby birds: Shaking them up and down!" I return to my reading, keeping my ears on them, until a gasp captures my attention.

She fell!

I cover my mouth and hold my breath, watching Baldhart slipping down and holding to the rope seconds later. Only when her feet touch the ground again the knot in my throat disappears and I can sigh in relief.

"What the hell, Baldhart? No more climbing!" I sigh again and shake the head.

"Damn.

"Are you going to the tunnels? Like I suggested or...?"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Baldy's POV

No one commented on my climb up—which might be a world record! But the looks I got on the climb down… they really worry about me. I'm touched, Nissa. Uhhhh, Nissa? Oh… right. "Nissa? Get the rope."

I watch her fly up. Hopefully, after she dumps the berries she'll finally wear that cloth.

I turn to Mauve. "Yeah, why climb when I can swim instead? Should we all go, or do you still want to wait here?"

 

[Nihal]

"I still need some time to study. And," my voice hints at annoyance, "do not forget the stupid ranger. Is Aliron going to track him or are we going to forsake him? Any of the knights will stay?"

 

[Ireth]

"No, I don't think we should forsake Ankari. If we find him and he wishes to leave, then we may let him, as we did Rydh; but it may be he is only scouting to make sure these tunnels are safe for the rest of us." I do not voice the thought that comes to my mind: Though a wiser man would have taken at least one partner with him, in case he was injured. Is there no limit to that elf's arrogance? Does he truly think he can face every monster alone?

In any case, I then add, "I will stay with you, Mauve. Someone needs to look after Branwen, and you should study those spells. I hope you will have better luck than I did," I chuckle.

 

[SeverinR]

"Tainted berries? Some one that deals in poison might find a use for them. Maybe taint-berry juice on arrows tips would add some damage?"


"Ankari will turn up, that is one bad copper piece that won't be cast away."

"I could go down the path he took a little ways and see if his ego got his arse in trouble...again. It would show us how Branwen will tolerate me leaving for a little bit."

I wait for a response then add,
"I trust Branwen with all of you, but the ranger acts on impulse, and does not seem to have any care for the bird child. I do not trust him with her, I hope if he returns you all watch him closely around her."

I move to the door that Ankari took, drawing my sword slowly, open it quietly, and peer down the hallway. (If no light) I will pull out my glow rock and toss it down the hallway.

"Aliron: 1D20+3 => 23 #toss glow rock down dark hallway. "
Rolz isn't offering the regular posting assistance. It is in the DE2013, if you want to check.

(Even if the group decides not to have me look, I will need to go get the rock.)

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Nissa flies down with the rope. "Hey, Baldy," she says, "let's show Branwen how I look in a toga." I dress her. "Slowly, Baldy." Aah! Why? Nissa knows how awkward this is for me! "See, Branwen? It's so comfy, and I can still fly like this!" Nissa flies to me with a bigger piece that was originally intended as a proper skirt for the girl, but yeah... maybe I can wrap it like a toga.

Nissa's posing and encouraging the child, but still, if the kid panics I'll back off and just hold her hand to calm her. I talk to Alin as I try to dress Branwen.

"Alin, you trusted me to climb without killing myself, so I'll trust you to follow Ankari without being spotted. Please be careful. If he's scouting, he should be safe enough. If he intends to confront the lizards alone, I don't want his recklessness to get you killed with him. Truthfully, if his intent was a confrontation, the fight will be over by the time you arrive. Whether you spot dead lizards first or live ones will determine the winner.

"He left as we were talking about how some of us are wounded and we need those berries for healing. Since that cloudberry bush above us has been twisted by the Taint, I think it's best we move to the boat now, get our source and prepare for battle.

"Who's coming to the surface with me?"

 

[SeverinR]

While they show Branwen how to dress,
"Maybe a lullaby my mother sung to me, will calm her?"

I try to sing in my softest voice to Branwen:

"Hush, child, the darkness will rise from the deep,
And carry you down into sleep
Child, the darkness will rise from the deep,
And carry you down into sleep.

Guileless son, I'll shape your belief
And you'll always know that your father's a thief
And you won't understand the cause of your grief
But you'll always follow the voices beneath.

Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty, loyalty
Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty only to me."

"What you thought me mum would sing of unicorns and things of sweet?"