Goriel and beyond, part 4

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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 4

Post by Jack Rothwell »

Tamina, several minutes later, wearily pulled herself to her feet and made her way back to the entrance of the cave, leaving a snail-trail of orange goo behind her as she walked. She eyed up the blob, now annoyingly recovered, her friends on the other side of the room, and the options left available to her.

'Can't pelt it with bullets, can't pelt it with rocks, can't burrow through it like a greased up woodworm, what's left?'

"Oh!" She exclaimed, putting her hand up and waving it at her companions with a further shower of gore. "Hey! Peoples! Could try to run you over! Infuse with the magic!" She finished optimistically, her view briefly blocked as the blob rippled at that moment with its usual monotone of 'eat, eat, eat'.

She waited as patiently as she was able for a clear run and prepared to channel again, aiming for the entrance her friends stood at.
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 4

Post by Alberich »

Udo and Jamie welcomed the interruption to the tedium of waiting -- they had many strong suits, but "patience" wasn't one of them. Udo made a mental note - "When setting out on a covert mission, it's important to bring some good illustrated thaumos." Well, he did have a couple of his naughty pics from the Red Shell in his inside breast pocket...but, ah, using them in front of Jamie just didn't feel right somehow.

Sadly, no free path seemed to be opening up for the kobold. The damned thing had spread out once it woke up, so that the pathway they'd uesd before was gone; and countless little eyes seemed to be looking right at Tamina with "lunch" on their mind.
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 4

Post by Jack Rothwell »

"Ahhhh.... cabra." Tamina sighed, her curse accompanied by the sound of many clicking teeth, teeth that would only cost the kobold her toes if she were lucky on her first run across the monster and the rest of her legs on the way back. Not an appealing thought.

'Maybe there's something further up the tunnel.' Her tired mind volunteered. 'Maybe there's a big rock or something you could roll over the thing, or crush it flat and make a pathway.'

"K, k." She muttered. "Umm... guys? Gonna check up the tunnel! Look for something to help. Be right back!"

With that Tamina took off at a jog, keeping her eyes peeled for a solution to their situation.
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 4

Post by Alberich »

Tamina's excursion didn't reveal any wonderful weapons on the far side. It didn't reveal any humans or mining activity either -- Nick the copper-goblin had been right about that -- but it did reveal the smell of fresh air. With her ability to see in the dark and her lithe kobold speed, it wasn't an hour before she was in sight of afternoon daylight. If she wished, she could probably sneak out into the humans' camp alone and have a look-see.

Meanwhile, Jamie fumed with impatience, and Udo sat on the floor, glumly watching the thing. "I spy with my little eye something beginning with 'b'..."

"What are you calling me???"

"No, no, blob! Blob!"

"You're not so skinny yourself!"
Last edited by Alberich on July 12th, 2012, 3:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 4

Post by Jack Rothwell »

Tamina dropped into a crawl at the first sight of tents, experiencing a momentary flashback to some weeks before as she did. She remembered wandering the outskirts of her village, tracking a garlop (see cavalcade of beasties), creeping through the undergrowth with a longbow in one hand and an arrow in the other. It had been the day she'd been captured.

The humans had appeared from either side, scaring away her prey, scaring her with glassy smiles and humorless eyes as she tried to greet them politely. The impact of a club to the back of her head had cut her off before the second sentence and she'd woken up on a ship heading to Port lorrel the next day. Now, she was here, hopefully this time with the roles reversed.

The kobold shuffled to the nearest side of the closest tent, her large ears pricked up for any murmurs of conversation. She wondered idly if the men had 'splosives (another human word she hadn't learned to pronounce correctly). If she could find something she could use, maybe the next time she took a run at the blob-thing she could leave a desposit in its guts before she made her escape.
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 4

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On her crawl out the door, she spotted something else - another one of those skulls, poised to spot her and call out the alarm. But she wasn't running pell-mell from horsemen this time, and it was easy to crawl below its field of view, and avoid raising the alarm. (Even Jay-me and Oo-doh could do that, if she remembered to warn them.)

This side of the mountain was not so thickly guarded as the other, and the terain was still rough and rocky mountainside, so it was very easy for the cunning huntress to stay out of sight, even in daylight. (At night, she would have been the night, and the humans would have no chance finding her.)

She didn't overhear or spot anything useful at first. The humans she was seeing outside were almost all male and armed, many with those clunky rifles they'd. Towards the middle of the camp, over on another side of the hill, they were preparing a wagon with horses and strong escorts to take something out to the south. All were armed and a great many had those clunky rifles they'd spotted before. She remembered something that looked like a cannon near the fortified pass they'd seen before (and avoided by climbing the cliff), and cannon often had that funny 'splosive powder Jamie liked so much...so she crept around looking...and then didn't have any surprising encounter.
Last edited by Alberich on July 12th, 2012, 12:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 4

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Sister Rose nodded. "It sounds like we have a consensus, then: we're all in this together, and we're all heading north to the mine -- at least until Eli shows his hand." There was a subtle but distinct change in her voice as the subservient Gorielian wife got out of the way and the re-activated Veracian special-ops officer took over. "Okay. Brad, you're coming with me, we'll get a coach from the consulate and get briefed by Boris on what he knows about the mine and this artifact. It may be a wild goose chase, but it's all we've got. Argus and Drusia, your next stop is the Duravsky outfit, to extract Desiree, and if possible, her lover." A wry smile for Drusia. "And to reminisce about old times, if it doesn't take too long. Everybody else is getting us packed up here. We move out in two hours. Have I missed anything?"

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

[OOC: Note that the following would NOT be going on on the side of the mountain facing the action that Udo and company are now seeing; indeed, that's kind of the point. Rip and Shorty have to get back to town before that particular complication can arise. So:]

With the group's [OOC: Jamie's, etc., in case it wasn't clear -- OOC:] attention now turning to possible conflict with the armed guards or bandits or whatever they were, Rip stopped in the middle of his note taking (glad to be getting way before the fire started -- he knew from prior experience that starting a fire in an enclosed space was indeed a Very Bad Idea) and turned to Shorty. "It's been fun," he said, "but we'd probably better be getting back to the ship."

"Yeah," the huge man rumbled. "We only got a forty-eight, and the skipper gets pissy if we're gone too long on shore leave. But if you don't mind me asking, what have you been doing?"

Rip chortled as he put away his crystal ball. "Oh, just getting all this documented for posterity. I thought what we've seen here would make for the beginnings of a fun travelogue. Things like that sell pretty well in the mass-market trade in Tsuirakushiti. Remember, I'm still an anthropologist, I'm supposed to be able to observe and write about what I see."

Shorty snorted. "Those people don't get out much, do they?" They started back toward Goriel.
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 4

Post by Alberich »

[OOC: Indeed; Udo and Jamie are still deep underground, and only Tamina's up and about.]

Tamina's scouting excursion, as she moved around the other side of the mountain, further informed her -- that the mine entrance they'd originally used was now unguarded. (Except by the other screaming skull...which was placed like the one she'd just crept past; if she wanted to check things out in there, she could get past it easily.) Amongst the few permanent wooden buildings in the area there was a little shack not too far from that entrance. Peeping between the boards she could see that it housed what looked like a winch and counterweight to raise that gate - or at least, would look like that to a human with mechanical aptitude. To Tamina, they looked like big metal things that could make loud clanky-clanky noises if you played with them right.

There were a couple of guards in there, not in a state of high alert. Down in the middle of the camp, most of the humans were concerned with this departing wagon expedition.

There were a couple of stouter buildings that looked more important, the likeliest places to hide MacGuffins and adventure clues (and maybe evil wizards who did not appear to be hiding in the mine itself?). But these were elsewhere.

* * *

As Argus moved out with Drusia, he was met by - of all people - Sevastien Yurkashev, the plump sub-chief who stood out so much among the others, who was just coming to look for him. Inwardly he could but groan - how could he get ready for any damn thing in two hours with Gorielian verbiage in the way?

"Good my lord and our gracious guest of the Most Noble Clan Cleiviein! I trust your repose has been restful, and none has disturbed you? Well you deserve it for your goodness in accepting our hospitality, and your most felicitous company, may it continue as long as you wish! - For our men rejoice in your ways, your good conversation, and your company, and none would ever wish to cut it short! Our house is as your own and long may it remain so! May you often return to its confines as well, to grace us with your company, after you have gone!

"Yet if you could spare me a moment of your time, I do have a request to make of you, which I hope will not seem unhostlike in these troubled times. It seems this evening that we will be having even more noble visitors, from our brethren of the Most Noble Clan Gibazov - their chief, Semyon Vanyevich himself, is being invited to feast with us, and I think he will accept, and will bring some of his most noble and accomplished kinsmen. But, alas, we are inadequate to give complete hospitality to so many brave and noble warriors at once - and so we ask, entirely as you wish! - if we might assign a couple of our geteroi - whichever you choose! - to our guests from Clan Gibazov for this evening, so that none might feel slighted or insulted."

He quite ignored the presence of Drusia - just another woman, after all, apparently under his guests' protection.

Rose, wherever she was, could observe lots of frustration, rage, fear, and grief among the Yurkashev this morning - an explosive cocktail of emotions that made her think well of her decision to get the hell out of this house before much more time had passed.

Sevastien looked hopefully at his guest.
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 4

Post by Jack Rothwell »

Tamina leaned back into shadow and mulled over the things she'd seen. The men inside the hut with the metal gear (OOC Snake? Snaaaaake!/OOC) were definitely there for a reason, and the kobold knew how fond the humans were of their gadgets. Maybe it was something important?

Further sneaking around and peeping through knotholes in the sturdier buildings didn't reveal anything of great interest, just bunks, chests, and a few guns she didn't have the digital dexterity to use (and, in one, the unfortunate sight of one of the guards giving himself a special treat, which Tamina would have burned into her memory until her dying day). The kobold doubled back to the gear hut, took a deep breath, and stepped inside.

One of the men saw her immediately, his mouth opened to say the word which grated directly on her nerves.

"Catgirl!" He exclaimed.

"Kobold!" She snarled, and charged.

A few, extremely violent, moments later. Tamina placed a freshly blood-soaked and tentative paw-like hand on the handle of the winch and gave it a preliminary tug.

"Catgirl!" She muttered under her breath. "<Bloody humans and their species-bashing terms!> Catgirl? <How would they like it if I called them monkeymen? Oh! It moved!>"

Tamina watched the gate drop the two inches or so her action had raised it. She looked back at the winch, braced herself, and threw her weight behind the handle, gritting her teeth at the squeaking noise the wheel made as it turned.
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 4

Post by Alberich »

She might not have much mechanical aptitude, but she had...the Luck of the Kobolds. And what more did you need?

Clank - clank - clankclankclankclankclankclankclankclankCLANK!!!!!!

It was turning and rolling up chain somehow - but that was a lot of noise. Maybe this was a good place not to be right now...
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