Salvus and homeward

[Jack Rothwell]

"Cat thing? I'm a kobold!" Tamina replied, somewhat indignantly. "Why can't I hang 'round? I'm not one of the bad peoples!"

[Graybeard]

The Ghob wasn't having any of it. "Weird cat girl go away," he insisted. "Get back in cage with wheels. NOW." A flash of metal glinted from somewhere around his low-slung hip.

[Drusia]

"Chrysalis Industries..." Rose thought out loud. "I'm just sure I've heard of them before... Chrysalis... Aha." She snapped her fingers. "I remember now. When Sasha was traveling with us, she had this incredible gadget that let her look back through time, at least until it got broken." This didn't seem like the time to tell anyone about the bat-reptile and the Melnibonean kingfisher. "And the thing was: it was made of components sold to her by this same Chrysalis Industries."

She looked at Desiree and Therese. "I'd almost call that an omen or something. So do you feel like poking around with some Tsuirakuan traders once we get to Salvus?"

"A gadget that could look backwards through time?!" I stammer. I've never heard of a device, magical or otherwise, that could do something like that. I'm not sure if I should be impressed, suspicious, or afraid of these Chryslais people. But, on the other hand...

Willing my expression back to neutrality, I say instead "So you think that Sasha might still have contact with the people at Chrysalis Industries? Because, other than the possibility of getting a ride with them to Tsuiraku - which I wouldn't object to anyway - I can't think of any other likely reasons for them to know Sasha's current location."

-- Desiree

[Jack Rothwell]

"Get back in cage with wheels. NOW."

Tamina frowned at the 'greeter' and crossed her arms; weapon or not, there was no excuse for not having any manners.

"You treat all your guests like this?" She said. "If you came to the Killikah, we'd give you some shiiiki* and a place to sleep, not threaten them with sharp shinies! Not done anything wrong! Was just curious 'bout the Gab... uhh... Ghob. Wanted to have a look and see.... n' I'm not gonna get back inside the iron thing! You can't make me!"

The kobold added the last line with a certain amount of predatory intonation. Unless the other humanoid had access to magic she was certain she'd be able to flatten him if he pulled a blade on her.

*- a type of alcohol brewed on the southern continent

[Graybeard]

"I can't think of any other likely reasons for them to know Sasha's current location."

They're a Mesuinu subsidiary, thought Sister Rose That's reason enough to suspect them of most anything. Hmmm... now that I think about it, it's also a reason to avoid them. Unfortunately, that die had been cast.

She thought briefly about filling Desiree and Therese in on all the ... consequences of interactions involving the Mesuinus, then decided against it. "Just a starting point," she said neutrally. "We could probably start with some simple questions about their product lines. Therese, it might be best if you did the asking, because they might be skittish about dealing with Veracians. We'll just need to figure out how to phrase--"

She was interrupted mid-sentence by a noisy ruckus from the direction of the cave entrance. Dess Marson, who had been doing something inscrutable with the steam engine, swore luridly and headed for the entrance at a trot.

"Uh, oh," Rose said. "That doesn't sound good. Get into hunker-down mode..."

------------

The ruckus started when the Ghob sentry decided he had had enough of Tamina.

The metallic thing at his side, whatever it was, fired with a loud sploosh sound. A glob of sticky material hurtled forth and enveloped Tamina, the equivalent of being doused with thirty gallons of what a different civilization might have called "Elmer's glue." True to its comparison, this goo quickly hardened into a gelatinous but still sturdy shell that all but prevented movement.

"MARSON, BEST AT BIG TALK!" the guard roared. "Come get crazy catgirl before do something REALLY bad!"

[Jack Rothwell]

Despite the shell covering the fur of the humanoid, those nearby heard a muffled roar followed by a dull glow emanating from beneath its shiny veneer. Tamina, put bluntly, had had enough of restraints and cages, magic or otherwise, to last nine lifetimes. With the titan spell coursing through her body the shell creaked, cracked, shattered as the furious kobold fought free.

"Bad Ghob!" She roared, shards of semi-sticky sorcery still stuck to her fur. Whatever else she said after was lost in the Killikah tongue, it probably wasn't an offer of truce. A second flash turned her into a white and black blur that collided with the ghob into a flailing pile of thrashing, beclawed limbs.

[Graybeard]

The fight, such as it was, only lasted a few seconds before the Ghob's dark glasses went flying. He emitted an ear-splitting screech -- direct sunlight is excruciatingly painful to a Ghob's eyes -- and went sprinting back into the gloom of the cave's depths.

It was only another few seconds before Dess Marson arrived at the cave entrance, puffing and sweating, and cursing in five different languages. "WHAT THE GROWF Y'THINK YE BE DOIN''?" he roared. "Argie and his beaver are still down there, dickerin' with the Ghob! They're gonna take 'em hostages now!" He glowered at Tamina.

Sister Rose, Therese and Desiree watched all this anxiously from the steam-powered wagon. "Uh, oh," Rose muttered. "This doesn't look good. Let me see if I can defuse this..." Her personal mantra thus recited, she alit from the wagon and headed for the cave entrance herself -- but not before checking the clearing for places where she could conceal herself if the fecal matter hit the rotary oscillator.

Somewhere in the distance, an alarm bell rang.

[Drusia]

"Just a starting point," she said neutrally. "We could probably start with some simple questions about their product lines. Therese, it might be best if you did the asking, because they might be skittish about dealing with Veracians."

I'm still not seeing how that will help. Then again, I don't know that much about Tsuirakuian culture or politics. I might be missing some key aspect. Maybe?

And never mind, because something's gone wrong. Argus is a hostage? Honestly I wasn't even paying attention to why he was going in that cave in the first place.

I'm not sure if I should go find somewhere to hide, or if I should be getting ready to heal, or... what. I settle on waiting anxiously near Rose and Therese - and keeping my head down in case of projectiles.

-- Desiree

[Jack Rothwell]

Tamina met the glowering and the alarm bell with a mixture of confusion and injured innocence.

"Hostages? But... but the bad Ghob attacked me! Shot me with sticky stuff just cause I stood around!" She indicated the mess she was covered in.

[Graybeard]

Argus wasn't a hostage; in fact, to Sister Rose's immense relief, he and Harker were approaching at a trot, with a gaggle of Ghob gabbling in their wake. Rose wasn't the only one feeling relief, as Dess Marson emitted a sigh like gas escaping a deflating dirigible. Harker, it was noted, had a sack strung over his shoulder that jingled and rattled when he moved; apparently some of his "trading" had been successful in the Ghob city. Rose didn't want to think about that. "Here, let me help you get cleaned up," she said to Tamina, and cast a Hygiene spell just as a metallic clang announced that a heavy gate had come down at the cave entrance. Only Marson among those present spoke the Ghob language, but the "AND DON'T COME BACK!" message was clear enough.

Marson was swearing under his breath as he got back on the wagon -- "damn kobolds, they're all like that... shoulda gone into the 'entertainment' trade after all..., but then I'd'a had to deal with 'em all the time..." and so on. With him busying himself (and involving Argus and Harker) with getting the steam train ready to go, and Rose and Tamina still out in the clearing while the former helped de-gunk the latter, Therese had time for a quick whisper in Desiree's ear. "This is something I'd been thinking, and worrying, about. When we split off and go looking for Sasha, whether we follow Rose's suggestion or not ... do we want to take Tamina? She has some useful skills, but she's ill at ease in some settings, and she's rather ... volatile."