Douaga: the search for Brother Dalton

As we play, occasionally we'll close a thread and open a new one to keep the size of threads (and relative complexity) down to a dull roar. Here's where we store the closed posts from the history of Errant Road.
Locked
User avatar
Graybeard
The Heretical Admin
Posts: 7180
Joined: August 20th, 2007, 8:26 am
Location: Nuevo Mexico y Colorado, Estados Unidos

Re: Douaga: the search for Brother Dalton

Post by Graybeard »

[OOC: OK, time for a significant left turn, resulting from (1) the state of the Lorrel festivities and (2) the fact that we've been dithering here for an excessively long time. Sorry about that; I had been hoping that some things would light that never did, and I probably should have been clearer about them. What is about to happen now will make things clearer, after one last bit of wandering ... clearer for everyone but Therese, that is.]

"Let's go."

"Not so fast, Sister Rose," Father Morton's voice intoned, seemingly out of nowhere. He came out of the mission clutching a paper in his hand. "You have new orders from the Holy Father. He thanks you for your progress in learning what became of Brother Dalton, and now he wishes that you continue your investigations in another place."

Sister Rose swore virulently, but entirely silently and mentally. Finally she got enough composure back to frame a reply. "And what," she asked in the kind of quasi-polite tone that always conveys more disgust than courtesy, "does Patriarch Jeramel require of us now?"

"I do not know exactly, Sister," the man said. "The orders simply say that you are to return to Port Lorrel to be debriefed. You will be joined there by a counterpart whom I don't know, a Brother Timothy." (Rose sucked in her breath at this, and permitted herself just the tiniest moment of hope.) "There will also be a representative of the Inquisitor's office --" the breath was expelled again, violently -- "but the message stresses that this will be only a 'representative' rather than any kind of formal inquiry. I don't understand the distinction, but they stress that there is one. Arrangements for transportation have already been made, and the airship is on its way." A droning noise approaching from the direction of Douaga confirmed this. "Your entire flock is to board. That is all I know."

Rose produced a deep, heartfelt sigh. "Very well. I guess we were gathering up to travel anyway. Let's get ready for that instead -- what is it, Therese?"

The redhead was looking at Rose with utter disgust on her face. "Well, if your church will not allow you to do what must be done, I'll do it myself," she said. She stepped forward and pressed something into Rose's hand. "You'll know where to find me. Bring this when you do." Without another word, she strode briskly away from the group, and through the entrance to the underground.

Rose gasped. "Therese! No! Wait! We need you! We--"

But all that could be heard were footsteps trotting down the hall that Rose knew ran away from the entrance.

Only a few seconds later, there was another rumble from beneath the surface.

"Shit," Rose swore, startling Morton and Sister Helen, but she didn't really care much any more. Before they could respond, the airship came into view.

[OOC: All aboard that's going aboard... with a new thread set to start in Lorrel shortly.

EDIT: With everyone's permission, I would like to fast-forward this to Lorrel and complete the left turn, which is only half in progress right now. In addition to whoever joins up there other than Tim, the party is about to pick up one unexpected NPC member whom some of us have seen before...]
Image

Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
Alberich
Noble Knight Protector
Posts: 1892
Joined: October 5th, 2008, 9:58 am

Re: Douaga: the search for Brother Dalton

Post by Alberich »

"The orders simply say that you are to return to Port Lorrel to be debriefed. You will be joined there by a counterpart whom I don't know, a Brother Timothy."

Hmm, thought Anfisa, wasn't that that stupid, effeminate priest she was supposed to be nice to now? Well, all right, this might be a chance to show some effort.

"Your entire flock is to board. That is all I know."

Baaaaa, thought Anfisa.

"...what is it, Therese?"

"Well, if your church will not allow you to do what must be done, I'll do it myself. You'll know where to find me. Bring this when you do."

"Therese! No! Wait! We need you! We--"


Anfisa kept her face sad and looked down demurely, but she was peeking. Oh no! Oh nooooo! Therese is leaving us! Oh woe is us! Boo hoo hoody hoo! She didn't even latch onto Desiree right then. That would make her mad. No, her darling would need comforting later on, at the end of this endless day, all this riding on big trees and hiding in the rocks and watching people defile the local idols and so on. And then she'd just have to be there.

* * *

Audie was similarly silent, but out of awe. The Patriarch was sending direct orders to this little mission? What was all this? He hardly paid a mind to the Sister swearing, but was bright enough to figure that didn't mean he could try it himself.
Browncoat
Errant Scholar
Posts: 132
Joined: April 23rd, 2012, 8:00 am

Re: Douaga: the search for Brother Dalton

Post by Browncoat »

Mordan looked back and forth.
"No offense guys, but I'm not a big fan of cities. I think I'll tag along with her and see what trouble I can get up to. Here's a little something for ya, bud"
He pulled a small wooden whistle out of his pocket and tossed it to Audie.
As he followed Therese, Mordan called back over his shoulder, "An' if I don't see ya again, cause some trouble for me"

"That one never was much for saying goodbyes" Father Morton commented.

[OOC: The whistle creates a frequency above human hearing which aggravates animals (like how Mordan disoriented the bird before)]
They kicked me out of the asylum. I miss the jello.
User avatar
Graybeard
The Heretical Admin
Posts: 7180
Joined: August 20th, 2007, 8:26 am
Location: Nuevo Mexico y Colorado, Estados Unidos

Re: Douaga: the search for Brother Dalton

Post by Graybeard »

[OOC: Temporary pause with the main group since the airship is going to be flying through the night (although anyone who wants to have interactions on the way is certainly welcome to do so), but since Mordan went his own way ... BC, we need to discuss a couple of things via private message. Meanwhile:]

Therese slid into a seat on the odd little "car" in the underground passageway, still fuming to herself.

And to think I actually thought the Veracians were going to help here. I still think Rose would, left to her own devices; by the Five Great Mothers, I wouldn't have given her that if I didn't think I'd see her again. But even she is still under her church's thumb. She knows what has to be done. But the moment they get a message from that damned "Patriarch" of theirs, may Exitialis take him, they --

She caught herself before finishing that last mental sentence.

What am I saying?

She was about to say a prayer asking the Mothers for forgiveness for that awful thought, never mind the missing figurine of Coquette; she'd been the one of the Mothers that Therese had never related to very well anyway. However, before she could extract the others from her pack, there was a rumble as the car filled with its inexplicable, non-magical dwarven energy...

... Followed by a thump, as with a theatric ("dramatic" wouldn't fit, but "seriocomic" possibly might) handspring and forward somersault, Mordan joined her in the car, vaulting over its side even as it was starting to move.

For a moment she could only stare at the strange little man as the car gained speed. Then, just as the doors extended themselves into an all-enveloping cocoon meeting each other above her head, and (she knew) the speed continued to ramp to a level that no human being had ever reached on the world's surface, she smiled. "Thank you for joining me," she said. "Hold on tight. If you haven't been in one of these before, it's going to be one hell of a ride..."
Image

Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
Browncoat
Errant Scholar
Posts: 132
Joined: April 23rd, 2012, 8:00 am

Re: Douaga: the search for Brother Dalton

Post by Browncoat »

Mordan laughed.
"Just the way I like it"
They kicked me out of the asylum. I miss the jello.
User avatar
Graybeard
The Heretical Admin
Posts: 7180
Joined: August 20th, 2007, 8:26 am
Location: Nuevo Mexico y Colorado, Estados Unidos

Re: Douaga: the search for Brother Dalton

Post by Graybeard »

[OOC: Use of "kilometers" and "kilos per hour" in the following is obviously not what Therese would be saying, but we've never come up with independent mensuration systems in the Errant World. Suspend disbelief...]

It had only been about ten minutes of high-speed travel when the railway system began to emit a faint, high-pitch squeal. "Slowing down," Therese told Mordan. "I've been through this before, although not here." She didn't know the man well enough yet to talk about the escape paths for female victims of Goriel.

As the pitch dropped and the car decelerated (almost without a sensation of being thrown forward, something she'd always wondered about), she did a quick mental calculation. If she'd reckoned the system's movements correctly, this stop would be Douaga; there hadn't been any other obvious nodes along the way to Gona, and the car had to be moving in that direction, having just left the ridge. At a guess of 30 kilos per hour as a pace for the tree-that-walks, the two "stations" might be separated by 80 or 90 kilometers ... and this system had covered that distance in no more than fifteen minutes. The dwarven magic, or non-magic, was powerful indeed; that all fit with the way things worked coming out of Rosteriel. Her calculation told her that travel to the Far North might take a day at the most, if there was a direct route.

What a marvelous system the dwarves had ... and we don't dare tell anyone about it.

"I think we're coming into Douaga," she said to Mordan as conventional braking began to take hold. "Last chance to get out of here and avoid going to somewhere where we both might get killed."
Image

Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
User avatar
Graybeard
The Heretical Admin
Posts: 7180
Joined: August 20th, 2007, 8:26 am
Location: Nuevo Mexico y Colorado, Estados Unidos

Re: Douaga: the search for Brother Dalton

Post by Graybeard »

OOC: OK, new thread now up, having fast-forwarded to Lorrel. Please continue there.
Image

Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
Locked