Douaga: the search for Brother Dalton

[Graybeard]

"Is this where it happened?" Sister Rose asked Sister Helen. It seemed unlikely. There were no signs of a struggle here, no evidence of forced entry. Indeed, the chambers seemed entirely normal, with the usual amount of clutter that might be expected of a place inhabited by a young man, but no more. There was no residual magic in the room that she could detect.

"We think not," Helen answered. "We think he was in the library. There was more disarray there, and the door was open and almost off its hinges."

"Well, then, let's concentrate our efforts there," Rose said. "Maybe -- hey, what's that?" She'd noticed something under the small dresser that was one of the few pieces of furniture in the room. She bent to pick it up ...

"Well, well, well," she clucked, holding another of the little figurines that the group had been seeing altogether too frequently lately. "I think we'd better find out where this came from..."

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

"Well, let's!" Shortround enthused, and grabbed the handle on the door, which opened revealing a passageway heading downward. "The dumb town's people think all the weird animals just pop up under the big tree, but I think they come from here. And there's more. Just wait until --"

He was interrupted by a sound from the depths, a low growl with a distinct edge of rage to it, the kind that might be made by a very large predator of some kind. Particularly one that was in pain, or was very, very hungry.

"Uh, on second thought, maybe we'd better not..."

Another enraged growl came from down below as he closed the door, and this one was definitely louder and closer than the one before it.

[Alberich]

Audie looked to Mordan. "What you were doin' with the birds, can you be doin' the same wi' that thing? Find out what it be?"

[Drannin]

Argus glared at the figurine. "It's like following a trail of breadcrumbs," he noted. "Extremely unpleasant breadcrumbs."

[Drusia]

"Thank you," said Therese, and she bent to a plant bearing bright red flowers and picked one... and without even thinking, placed it not in her own red hair, but in Desiree's.
She flushed as Rose gave her a startled look. "Sorry, don't know what I was thinking there... but it just reminded me of someone who wore flowers in her own hair when she could."

I blush happily. It's been a while since someone did something so sweet.

"Thank you, it's lovely," I tell her.

-- Desiree

OOC: Sorry, busy weekend. Catching up.

[Graybeard]

"What you were doin' with the birds, can you be doin' the same wi' that thing? Find out what it be?"

Before Mordan could answer, there was another roar from beyond the door, closer now. "Uh, I don't think we should stick around to find out," Shortround said. "Let's, uh, give it some room." He began to back away from the mound...

... But the trio were still only fifty feet or less from the door when it suddenly burst open.

A very large bear emerged from underground. At least its frame was very large; it was thin to the point of emaciation, and its ribs showed clearly under its fur.

Its snow-white fur.

Fascination warred with horror on Shortround's face, and at least for the moment, won.

"KEWL!" he said, as the huge animal rose on its haunches, sniffed the air, and turned toward them, baring large, sharp teeth.

[Browncoat]

"Not cool! Hungry!"
Mordan took in the teeth at a glance; most bears would be happy with nuts or berries, but this one had a mouth better suited for meat. And it was starving.
"Move!"
Mordan sent a spray of dirt into the bear's face to blind it. Then he launched himself to land on the bear's back. He missed, but his flailing hand caught a patch of fur, ripping it out and obtaining the bear's attention.
"Oops"
Mordan curled into a ball and focused on keeping himself magically shielded as the bear swatted him around like a toy.

[OOC: Think like an armadillo made of magic.]

[Graybeard]

"Sister! Come quickly! There is a monster on the loose in town!"

Her military training having kicked in, Sister Rose was already on the way out the door, the move to the library on hold for the moment, before she realized two things. First, the alarm call had come from the translator gadget, not a member of her group. She looked around and saw the villager who'd made the original call, now frantically babbling at Sister Helen, which provided the second realization: the call had been for Helen, not for her. Well, another combatant couldn't hurt, although she wasn't really that good in a fight. (Was Helen? She'd want to think about that when she got time.)

Therese was a few paces ahead of her as they headed toward the bear, now thoroughly enraged, with an arrow in its thick fur. Luminosita's Nethers, that thing is big, Rose thought. The townspeople obviously thought so too; a few were approaching warily with spears, and the archer who had scored the one hit (which apparently served more to anger the beast than to injure it) was keeping a safe distance, to the point that his next arrow, and the one after that, didn't come close to hitting their target. And there was another thing...

What is a polar bear doing in this jungle? Rose wondered, as the animal lost interest in cuffing the well-protected Mordan around, and turned to seek an easier kill.

[Browncoat]

Mordan glanced at the fur in his hand. It wasn't white, it was clear. That meant it was designed to absorb light, not reflect it...So the bear must be from someplace cold...it could overheat here.
"Heat 'im up!"

[Graybeard]

"Heat 'im up!"

"Flame volley?" Therese asked, looking at Sister Rose. However, it was Sister Helen who answered. "I can help." She bowed her head in prayer, which Rose knew was a prelude, for many priests and nuns of the Veracian Church, to tapping Luminosita's Essence for the necessary magical energy ... but Rose had her own idea as to what to do next.

"No! Wait!" she said, as the bear made an unsuccessful lunge at Shortround and another arrow lodged in its thick fur, apparently without drawing blood. "We want to take it alive if we can! Argus? Can you conjure a cage around it? Because if you can't, there won't be any alternative to the flames..."

[Drannin]

Argus nodded, and help his hand out palm-up. Instantly, stone pillars sprang up around the bear and enclosed it in a stone cage. Enraged, it began pounding against its confinement, cracking the stone.

"Strong bastard," Argus noted.