The Artifact of Absonial

[Graybeard]

I continue to have this unpleasant feeling that we're being watched, Sister Rose thought as she dismounted from the wagon.

The ride out to the trailhead had been uneventful. Before they left the inn, Rose had taken the precaution of having Brad help her cast the Luminosita's Chariot spell that she'd learned from Brother Miguel. That had had two beneficial effects, Rose thought: its magical concealment reduced the chances that anyone had been able to track them magically, and it also exhausted Brad enough that poor Lillith had actually had a chance to interact with other people on the way out to the dig. [OOC: Sareth, or anyone else, feel free to backfill this... /OOC:] Non-magical concealment hadn't been necessary; the road had been almost empty.

But Rose still felt uncomfortable.

"This is the spot," Avner Indianel said. There couldn't be much doubt about that. They'd been driving up a canyon that had been becoming increasingly narrow, its walls ever more vertical. The road had been good for as far as it went, but there came a time when they could go no further. The bottom was slot canyon, and it simply wasn't as wide as the wagon. There wasn't much of anywhere to go except through the slot, on foot.

Rose didn't like it, though. "This looks like a bad place to get caught if there's a flash flood," she told Avner. The professor nodded agreement. "It is, but don't worry too much about it. The slot section is only a couple hundred feet long, and we won't be in it for long. After that, it opens back up and we're in the clear for the last mile or so. I checked the weather this morning, and we're okay for a while. Things might get hairier this afternoon, but we'll have a good view toward the mountains, so we should be able to spot a storm coming."

"That's reassuring," Rose replied. "I'd still feel better if we could find a way to post a lookout, though." There was another reason for that, one that she didn't feel like bringing up: this also feels like a spot tailor-made for an ambush.

The group disembarked and prepared to hike.

[OOC: For a sense of what's in front of them, consider this amazing locale -- although I can't guarantee that what's on the other side of the slot canyon is as spectacular as Petra, of course. ]

[Porcelain Fish]

"A lookout hmm?" Maduin repeated, expression thoughtful. He tucked his hands into his pockets, tilted his head back and sang wordlessly, tone rising and falling, pulsing, throbbing, echoing through the canyon, a slow and yet inexorable tug felt in the very bones.

A hawk appeared after several minutes, circling above them, and Maduin's song changed subtly, became more complicated, rhythm changing from one moment to the next. The hawk banked first in one direction, and then the other, almost as though dancing in reply, a quick snap of its wings one moment, backwinging lifting it higher before it dropped again a moment later.

It let out a single long, loud cry, circled once more, and then flapped onward above the canyon.

"He should give us a nice loud warning if there's anything along these cliffs bigger than a dog," Maduin said, pulling out a handkerchief and dabbing at his brow. "And kindly keep an eye out for any rodents, please. It would be appropriate for us to repay him in kind for his scouting services."

[Drusia]

So. Whatever it is Kurou wanted, it's beyond here. I'm fairly certain that I wounded him worse than he did me, meaning that he will likely require longer to recuperate. Of course, there's always the chance that I'm wrong.

"Suriah, Lillith," I say, looking at each in turn, "If we're attacked, run back towards the opening and hide on the other side. Brad, go with them; keep them safe." I think it is understood that I will stand with Argus, Rose, and Maudin to make sure that nothing lives long enough to get near them.

"Not that I think we will be," I add, by way of reassurance. "I believe I eliminated our competition this morning, so hopefully this will go quietly. But, in case I didn't, be ready to make a run for it."

-- Drusia

[Graybeard]

"A -- lookout?" Kim said. An unexpected look of determination grew on her face. "I -- can do that."

Startled, Sister Rose turned to the girl. This was the first time she'd said anything about joining in the actual work of the team (they really were a team now, weren't they?). Not hearing her name called, she'd taken it on herself to be useful. Rose appreciated the effort greatly. But the timing ... "Thank you, Kim, that's very nice of you. But I'm not sure --" The girl only heard the first part, took it as encouragement, and Rose was completely unprepared for what happened next.

There was a sudden blurring of reality, and afterward, Rose thought she remembered seeing Kim move -- just barely seeing it. It looked like she was dancing up the sheer cliff -- dancing at an impossibly high speed, but with her hands and feet barely seeming to make contact with the rock at all. And the next thing Rose knew, Kim was ensconced on a ledge near the cliff's top. She waved back down at the group and shouted, "I'll watch from here. Nobody coming..."

... Which, of course, attracted the attention of Maduin's hawk.

Raptor screams filled the canyon as Rose facepalmed. Well, she meant so well ...

[Sareth]

Lillith quite frankly gaped at Kim. "How... did she do that?" The girl curled her head in a curious fashion, surprised. "I wasn't even able to see her!"

[OOC]So folk know, I'm on the road until Friday. I'll try to poke in when I can, but that might not be very often.[/OOC]

[Graybeard]

"How... did she do that? I wasn't even able to see her!"

"Yes, that was impressive, wasn't it?" Sister Rose replied neutrally, her own brain too overwhelmed to form a more pointed reply ... and also too busy putting some pieces together. I wonder if Kim ever met Sister Eva and Sister Marilyn. They're a bit older than she is... but if she did, that would just about clinch what I'm coming to think her past history might be.

She turned her attention back to where Kim had gone, and noticed something else interesting: the hawk had stopped calling. When she looked at the ledge, she saw why: the girl had simply disappeared. Had her fear overcome her, so that she ran? It seemed unlikely; Kim didn't seem capable of deception, and she said she was going up to keep watch. So where was she?

Aha. What looked like a pink-brown boulder on the ledge wasn't, and it had a hat on. The combination of Kim's complete motionlessness and the outfit that Maduin had dressed her in, serendipitously exactly the same color as the pink of the canyon's sandstone, created camouflage so perfect that it even fooled the hawk. Rose watched for a minute or two and detected absolutely no movement from the Kim-boulder, except for the slightest flapping of the hat in the breeze.

This girl is more formidable than she appears, Rose thought. Between her and the hawk, they'd have their escape route well covered. That meant they could move on to the dig in safety ... at least relatively speaking. "Well, shall we?" she said, hefting her own day pack and starting toward the slot canyon.

[Porcelain Fish]

"Yes," Maduin said thoughtfully after a moment, hazel gaze dropping from Kim, frank calculation masked once more behind pleasantry. "By all means, let's have it done with."

[Graybeard]

The passage through the slot-canyon section wasn't difficult going, just slightly slow because of the footing. The canyon got enough rain that the ground at the bottom was soft and sticky. A mixed blessing, Sister Rose thought; if they had to decamp in a hurry, they'd be moving slowly when they got back to this section, but then again, so would any pursuer ... except for a magically enhanced one.

As she emerged from the slot into a more open section of canyon, she paused to think about that. I wish I had the ability to shape-shift into non-human form; it would be handy for a place like this. But wishing won't make it so. Argus had told her that the Tsuirakuans didn't have that skill either, apart from highly specialized archmages who could deviate from human form for very brief periods, and required lots of rest after they did it. (Rose had felt intensely flattered by his comparison to her own shape-shifting skills, even if they were limited to variations on a theme. A gift from Luminosita...) The living flesh was just too difficult to manipulate magically for anyone to simply become a swallow and fly through the slot and emerge on the other side as a human.

So how had Egbert learned to do it?

She kept that thought in her mind as the others emerged from the slot, one by one.

[Drannin]

Argus glanced back as they passed out of the slot canyon. "...That's a bit tight, and I've been in some tight places," he commented, before looking at lay ahead of them. "Huh."

(OOC: Aaargh. Curse you, writer's block. Curse you, I say.)

[Drusia]

Argus glanced back as they passed out of the slot canyon. "...That's a bit tight, and I've been in some tight places," he commented, before looking at lay ahead of them. "Huh."


I follow after Argus, Suriah directly behind me. As my eyes adjust to the light, I look around, looking for any sign that anyone besides us is here. None leap to my attention. Well and good; I keep my attention sharp, just in case.

"It's... pretty," I comment, looking ahead.

-- Drusia

OOC: I have no idea what Drusia is looking at (ruins? a temple? more rocks?) but I figured that was vague enough that it will fit whatever is actually there. ^^