Mountain(s) of Madness

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.
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Sareth
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Re: Mountain(s) of Madness

Post by Sareth »

[OOC]Yeah, I'd be fine with that. Feel free.[/OOC]
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Re: Mountain(s) of Madness

Post by Graybeard »

[OOC: OK, advancing the clock...]

"The mood of this place has changed," Faye observed to Layla as they and Zachary started on breakfast. (Actually, Zachary had already had his, courtesy of Layla, but he was still providing good company.)

"To put it mildly," Layla agreed. "Look at that scene down below." The usually orderly, if weird, layout of the park had changed to a scene resembling a disturbed anthill.

"You pick anything up on why, when you were out on your run?" Faye asked.

Layla chuckled. "As a matter of fact, yes. I talked to one of the women who was on duty at the, ah, crime scene yesterday. She says that overnight, a member of the Mesuinu family arrived to, as she put it, 'take charge' of the investigation. She didn't sound exactly thrilled at the prospect."

It was Faye's turn to chuckle. "I can imagine."

"Actually, you probably can't. The look of horror on that woman's face... Anyway, let's finish and get packed, then head over for the airship dock and wait for Ace. I think we're getting out while the getting is good." The women returned to their breakfast.
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Sareth
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Re: Mountain(s) of Madness

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I gave a long, lazy stretch under my blankets, and then winced. "Ow." Apparently a rock had managed to migrate it's way under my shoulder during the night, and now I had a nice sore muscle to remind me that I'd spent the night sleeping on the ground yet again. My fingers dug under me to find the offending piece of stone, then tossed it away in some random direction.

Grumbling I sat up and scratched at a bare rib. Sleep blurred eyes worked to take in the campsite.

Over to one side I could see the fire smoldering. That was fortunate. It'd be easier to stoke that than to build a new fire to cook breakfast. And I was definitely not in the mood for a cold breakfast. Even in mid summer, the mornings in the mountains were COLD.

On the far side, still feeling like he was in the doghouse, Marcus was curled up under his blankets, still sleeping. Next to him, Boris was sitting humming something that, if I remembered, was a particularly crude ditty about a Madam, a dwarf, and a very long spoon.

Lucas had, it seemed, chosen to curl up under a particularly good tree. Evidently he was worried about more rain, though the clouds had blown over two days before. Whatever. It had kept the snores to a nice and safe distance from my tender ears.

I shrugged. Time to go get some breakfast. I reached beside me to grab my rifle.

"WHATTHEHOLYJUMPINGBUGGERINGMESUNI..."

I lept to my feet, flinging blankets everywhere. My hand, rather than finding a rifle next to me, had found a body. A surprisingly warm and soft body. I had figured her to be hard and cold. Nope! Quite pleasant.

"AYIEE! What in the name of the seven veiled whore of Emeryllon are you doing?"

"Grope told me to find Lucas." Ayiee blinked up at me from her prone position.

"Lucas is over THERE!" I yelped. "Why did you curl up with me!"

"He snores."

I swear, Ayiee is one smart gollum.
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Re: Mountain(s) of Madness

Post by AdamZero »

"Ah what I'd give to have my genitals... or at least some accurate replications..." Boris laughed as he leered as a skeleton can at Aiyee.
I kicked at the spot where his voice was coming from, sending his head spinning.

"It's too early for you to be this horny damnit..."I groaned as I sat up. "I'mma hungry." I stated for those awake and coherent. I managed to stand up, adjusting my pants from how they'd been bunched up as I slept. I looked over at Jamie, and felt my insides shift to the side of my body opposite her glare. I'm sure my eyes would try and migrate to the space inside my ear canal if they could. I turn away and just give a wave as I head off into the woods, taking a curved blade that was cut like an axe, but was shaped like a sword. It made going through the brush easy, and as soon as I was out of sight and sound, I let my tears fall.

I wasn't sad, it's just something people need to do. We need to vent. We need to cry, and get all the negative passion out of our system.

I'm glad I keep a handkerchief in all my pants and pocketed shirts. I'm a bit of a mess at first.
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Re: Mountain(s) of Madness

Post by Graybeard »

"I do not wish to leave this camp until I have hunted successfully," Grope told Chippy.

Trolls generally don't have much trouble sleeping (albeit lightly), but last night had not been good for Grope. There was simply too much psychic stress around. The presence of the hostile, magic-using colony a dangerously short distance away was part of it, to be sure, and although he'd retreated a good distance into the woods before making camp, he was still acutely aware of their presence. (The loud cursing that could be heard even over the rustle of wind in the trees had seen to that.) The ... Mesuinu ... that had passed overhead was a factor as well, even though he thought it had traveled far to the west.

Truthfully, though, he didn't know exactly why he felt as he did. The Many-Fathers-God-Wisdom-Robe fit uncomfortably on his body, as though the collective Wisdom embodied in it really wanted to be somewhere else. He'd had the sensation a few other times since inheriting the Robe from his father, and every time, his life had been in danger -- often unknown to him at the time the danger was greatest. And that was why he needed to hunt: not to satisfy his hunger (a troll could deal with that nearly indefinitely if necessary), but to take the Wisdom of something from the area, in the hope that it would reveal just what was so threatening here and what he should do about it.

Shaking his great head, he left the chipmunk safely hidden in a tree and began to search for the scent of prey. There simply wasn't much to be found in these woods, far less than a healthy ecosystem should have, he thought. The woods are stressed too. I can feel it. Finally, he did pick up the spoor of a porcupine -- far from his ideal prey, but at least it was something. Cautiously, he started to hunt.

----------

Far to the south, in the warehouse in Port Lorrel, Elke was waking with a bit of discomfort in her stomach. Probably just the aftermath of a bumpy trip home, she thought. But maybe...

She put the long nights (and days) of passion with Mr. Stagpoole out of her mind, and resumed thinking about the challenge she'd been set. Just how am I to track a troll?
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Re: Mountain(s) of Madness

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Watching Marcus walk out of the camp, I shook my head. He really did get all kinds of worked up, didn't he?

"You really should be nice to him, Boris."

Boris simply blew a raspberry, a particularly odd thing to do without lips. Ignoring him, I leaned across Ayiee and picked up my rifle. I double checked it, then slipped my shirt on and began walking out of the camp.

"Hey! Boris! You should start dating Ayiee."

"Why's that?"

"I bet she's just as dead a lay as you are."

"HEY!"

"I'll be back shortly. Have someone stoke the fire so breakfast can be cooked as soon as I get back."

And with that I wandered into the woods on the hunt.
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Re: Mountain(s) of Madness

Post by Viking-Sensei »

Lucas' magic-free life was starting to get a little complicated... he'd had the null ring on for a lot longer than he normally would wear it, and now the headaches were starting. He'd have to remove it, and soon, but if he took it off here in the woods the sudden magical... for lack of a better term, explosion, would give their position away to the Mesuinu encampment. His hope was to get at least a mountain or two away... fortunately these were still smaller hills, capable of being crossed without a great deal of climbing gear.

Meanwhile, he looked up to see that a topless Ayiee was now sunning herself just outside of Boris's eye (or whatever he had) range... not that it stopped him from commenting. Oh, no, that'd be too simple.

It was going to be one of those days.
How could a plan this awesome possibly fail?
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Re: Mountain(s) of Madness

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"Hi," Ace smiled as he came down the steps from the airship.

Layla hugged him hard, no small feat with Zachary in the carrier on her back. "You wouldn't believe how glad we are to see you. Yesterday, we were having all kinds of fun here, and today, the place feels like it's going to blow up like a volcano. Let's get the hell out of here."

As soon as the party was aboard and on the way, Ace brought up a painful subject. "Umm ... just thought you might want to know that Arty's body arrived in Kugelheim last night."

Both women nodded, and Layla said, "Thanks. We'll do what has to be done." And that was that.

-----------

Porcupines weren't exactly the most ... challenging ... things to hunt, Grope reflected. They also didn't taste very good. The fact that you could just about count on getting a few quills while taking them was really neither here nor there; dealing with the quills was painful, but the scars would be good to add to his collection, at least for a while.

The main thing, of course, was to take the beast's Wisdom; that was why he'd hunted it. Before starting to eat, he did as he always did, wondering whether it would be best to simply try to work a quill or two into the Robe, and eventually deciding to follow the usual routine with a bit of hide. He performed the ritual in his usual semi-trance, not hearing Chippy's pronouncement:

"Eeeuuwww ... that's gross."

-----------

The queasiness was passing, Elke noted with relief. Most likely her stomach was settling down after the trip. Of course, morning sickness would also pass as the day progressed, but it was early for that ... wasn't it?

"Who's our top bushcraft guy?" she asked Annabelle over coffee. "Something came up while I was up north that I can't say much about, but I need to set up a surveillance out in the wilds." And hope the troll doesn't just eat the guy doing the surveillance.

Annabelle thought for a second. "Jake, probably. He grew up in the mountains and knows his way around. He's on a job over in --"

Elke cut her off. "He grew up in the mountains? I don't suppose he had anything to do with those Veracian religious crazies, did he?"

"No," Annabelle said, looking mildly queasy herself (although she was definitely not pregnant). "We've never succeeded in penetrating that cult, nor have any of the other guilds that I know of. They're ... scary." She shuddered slightly.

"So they are," Elke agreed. "Let's recall Jake and I'll fill you both in, to the extent that I can." They moved on to other subjects.
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Re: Mountain(s) of Madness

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Quietly I stalked though the brush. I didn't want anything particularly large, but sufficient to feed three or four would be good. I'm not even picky about what it is, so long as it tastes alright roasted. Procupine, badger, goat, anything of the sort might do.

A sound of something rummaging about ahead of me could be heard through the brush. I slowed my pace and eased the rifle to my shoulder. Pushing forward slowly I wondered what it might be. It wasn't active enough to get a real feel for what it was doing, how big it was, anything of the sort. If it was too large, I'd leave it be. Too small... why waste a bullet? If it was just right...

The bushes parted before me, and I found myself staring into a large pair of eyes attached to a grey skinned hulk.

"Uh..."

I really hoped this was the good troll, and that he'd eaten recently.
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Re: Mountain(s) of Madness

Post by Graybeard »

"Good morning, Friend of Lucas," Grope rumbled.
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