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Log: Spider, Sunrise and Kana find a long-lost Tomb

Page history last edited by Tsangun 15 years, 5 months ago

(2xp awarded to Spider by Kukla)

 

"Would you like to go for a walk?"

 

 

That's how it starts. Just as innocent and cheerful as ever, satchel slung over one shoulder, tough canvas coveralls under her ever-present poncho. Offering a pleasant stroll in the countryside.

 

That's how it started. You should have known better. Four hours later, and Spider is staring up the way the three of you have come, poking her chin and looking at the remains of the collapsed scaffolding down which you climbed to get into this hole. Here and there, pitons still stick out of the sheer, smooth granite face, but most of the scaffold is now a pile of matchsticks at your feet, illuminated by distant daylight perhaps two hundred feet away.

 

 

"Huh. I really didn't think those runes would explode like that," says Spider. "Everyone get down alright?"

 

 

With a flutter of wings the dove that Dreaming Sunrise turned into to keep from falling alights on the ground, and with a moonsilver glow shifts back into the sorcerer's human form. "Fine, fine," she says cheerfully. "How about you two?" She seems pretty unshaken by the falling scaffolding as she stops to look around at the area that they occupy now.

 

 

         Woo-hoo! Wandering! Just what Kana likes to do! She managed to avoid getting hurt when the scaffolding broke, and looks towards Spider. "Yeah, I'm fine. Well. Mostly fine." She says, pointing towards her back, where a certain little kitten is clinging for dear life to Kana's back. That probably hurts a little. "Let go please, Boo." She murmurs, taking the cat off of her back. X.@ "...That was, uhm, surprising.."

 

 

Grandmother Spider coughs, looking embarrassed. "Yes, sorry about that, sorry everyone. I should have double-bolted the thing. Oh, well -- satchel's lighter without all that wood and metal in it, eh? Next time I'll just use a rope." The fact that the three of you (well, the two of you without wings) are possibly stuck in a very deep hole doesn't seem to bother her much. A carefree attitude towards starving to death in a deep hole is one of the privileges of Exalteddom, one supposes. She joins Sunrise in looking around at your surroundings. "Marvellous," she says quietly, a hush coming over her voice.

 

 

You've ended up more or less where you want to be. The sheer face doesn't go all the way to the 'ground', but rather splits and rounds around you about ten feet above your heads. You're standing in a kind of 'street' for want of a better word -- exceptionally well-fitted flags form a road surface that follows the natural curve of the gallery down deeper into the earth, and a small subterranean river runs rapidly past it on one side. Above the river, the wall has obviously been modified by sapient life, cut and engraved in geometric patterns. "The armies of the Dragon Kings once rode along this path," she whispers, "if my sources are correct. They called it the Night Road, for though they did not like to be so far from the sun, it allowed them to swiftly circumvent their enemies. It was abandoned when attacks from the mountain people became too frequent."

 

 

"The Dragon Kings?" Sunrise asks with surprise, and then wonder. "I've always wanted to be able to meet them," she remarks. "They did some marvelous things, and had a marvelous society, from all that I can recall from my studies." She seems not at all worried by being stuck down in the tunnel either, and though she is capable of flying out she certainly can't carry either of the other two as a dove. And she would certainly never leave them either.

 

 

         It.. doesn't actually bother Kana much either. At the very least, she can just climb out, finding footholds and stuff with her natural dexterity! ... She hopes. Anyway. Kana looks around quietly. "...Wow.." She says softly, as Bookitty starts to quietly sniff around and explore. "Isn't this really really really old then..?" She asks softly. She looks carefully towards Sunrise, and says, "So.. do your studies say how dangerous it is down here..? Like are we randomly going to have something try to eat us?"

 

 

Grandmother Spider grins at Kana. "Oh, probably. Whatever it is, though, it likely won't be /alive/. As you say, it is very, very old. We're looking for the tomb of Githak Stonerider, one of the Sun's Chosen in the battles against the Masters of the gods. He was a great lord over the Dragon Kings, and is named for his genius in creating constructs. He is rumoured to be the father of the warstrider, though it is impossible to verify. He was killed holding the Night Road against one of the souls of Malfeas. His tomb was built as a waystation on the road, and lost when the Road was abandoned. I believe I have some idea, however, where we might find it. If no one's broken or twisted anything -- let's be off!" And she adjusts her pack, setting off at a stroll down into the deeper reaches of the earth, lamp in hand.

 

 

Dreaming Sunrise follows along with Spider, grinning cheerfully, her staff playing a rhythmic drum as she walks. "Is there some reason other than curiosity for what it looks like that brings you here?" she queries of Spider, obviously feeling that it's likely there was something specific that her mate expected she might find. To Kana she says, "There may be things here, but stay close to me dear and I'll keep you safe," And then she beckons for the ghost-blooded girl to come closer and smiles reassuringly. "The Stewards of Creation are good at protecting," she adds.

 

 

         Kana moves to sweep Boo up into her arms gently, and then set him on her shoulder, as she nods towards Spider. "Wow! That sounds really really interesting! Maybe I'll have a book that says what happened in that battle, and what lead up to it 'n stuff!" She nods sagely. She hesitates, and looks towards Dreaming, and then nods, moving to get closer to her, "I'm pretty good with my bow, too.." She murmurs. ... Just a hint of pride there? Maybe?

 

"I'm here to pay my respects, in a manner of speaking," says Spider. "Githak was a prodigy; he learned the ways of crafting extremely powerful artifacts at an age that was largely unheard of in later times. I aim to accomplish the same feat, and I believe that some of the secrets buried in Githak's tomb will help me."

 

 

Your road takes you deep, deep into the earth, a few miles along the remains of the Night Road. In places, rock falls and shifting earth necessitate detours, but by the time you stop for lunch you are well on your way -- and on the edge of a great underground valley. The Night Road soars out here into thin air, an arched bridge connecting it to the other side, and you can hear the roaring of cataracts in the ravine below, beyond the reach of your lamps. Four titanic figures support the corners of the bridge, their muscles all of square-cut stone, representing the subjugated enemies of the Incarna. In the centre of the flagstone laid bridge is a statue of mouldering metal, its features indistinct with time.

 

 

"I think we found what we were looking for," Sunrise says cheerfully, taking Spider's hand in her free one and starting forward at a more hurried. "Such secrets would be a wonderful thing to uncover," she says. "Save for the war, and having to try to learn things that may have helped us with that, I would be working on the secrets to working Moonsilver, myself." She smiles at Spider, almost proudly. "It's something many in this age don't seem to know the trick of. But it also may require heading out to the Wyld, for materials..."

 

 

Grandmother Spider whistles low between bites of her travel-biscuit and swigs of watered wine. "Moonsilver. Never even seen much of the stuff myself. That'll be a treat to look forward to. Anyway, yes, you're right -- we're getting close. The statue is mentioned as pointing the way to Githak's tomb; when we're done refreshing ourselves, we should go have a look."

 

 

         Kana looks around silently, tilting her head a bit. "...It's very large and noisy in here." She nods quickly, and starts to nibble on the lunch. "I wonder if the tomb'll be trapped to defend against graverobbers and thieves.." She murmurs softly to herself, as she scritches Boo's head, who rubs against it. She hesitates. "I was kinda thinking of learning how to make Artifacts, though I dunno if I'll ever be rich enough to afford the materials, or strong enough to look for some of the more exotic materials.."

 

 

Dreaming Sunrise normally enjoys her food a good deal, but she's too excited to stop and enjoy herself as thoroughly as she might normally. Though she does make some /amazingly/ travel biscuits. Oddly, Spider might notice, she doesn't actually seem to be so good a cook now that she's Exalted as she used to be. Perhaps the overwhelming of her divine association with her food by her Exaltation. "I think that if you truly wish to learn, Kana, Spider and I can arrange to find the things that you need. The knowledge of how to do these things is very important to pass on too anybody who can learn and wishes to, so that the secrets aren't lost." She smiles encouragingly. "I would gladly accompany you and guide you as you followed that path."

 

 

Grandmother Spider nods. "I agree," she says, standing up. "You're coming along very quickly; we need to give you a real challenge, soon." She dusts some crumbs off her thighs, and smiles at Sunrise. "Thank you for making us lunch, darling. Shall we have a look at the statue?" She proceeds to walk out over the expanse to do so. Though the drop is rather terrifying, the bridge is very broad and heavy; it has stood for thousands of years and probably will stand for a few years more at least. The statue, on the other hand, is badly decayed by the moisture from the cataracts. "Hm. Copper-platinum-orichalc alloy, but strange that it should be so badly pitted," says Spider softly, walking around it. "Usually anything with orichalc it in is imperishable. I /think/ this was supposed to be Githak, and his arm pointed the way to his tomb, but -- the arm appears to have fallen off."

 

 

         Kana smiles towards Sunrise and Spider. "Okay! I think I like the sound of that!" She nods quickly, and pauses, noting how good the travel biscuits are. Mmm. She'll have to learn how to cook from Sunrise too. While she can make basic food, she can't make /good/ food! She hesitates, looking towards the statue. "Maybe.. it's just because of how old it is?" She asks softly, looking towards the statue, if there's still a little bit of the arm left, she thinks she might be able to determine where it's pointing from the positioning of the arm. At least, roughly.

 

"Usually age doesn't touch orichalcum alloys very heavily," Sunrise says, nodding her agreement with Spider. "It means that perhaps something unusual is in this area that can cause it; perhaps unusual environmental conditions, or something that feeds upon it. There are a few possibilities, but I can't say yet what it might actually be."

 

 

(Judge) Dreaming Sunrise rolls Perception  + Perception  + Craft_fire: [ 2 3 5 5 7 8 8 8 8 <10> ]

        Resulting in 7 successes.

 

(Judge) Grandmother Spider rolls Perception  + Craft_magitech: [ -1- 2 3 4 6 7 <10> <10> ]

        Resulting in 5 successes.

 

(OOC) Dreaming Sunrise just spent Essence from her Essence Personal pool

 

(Judge) Kanashii Eiei rolls Perception: [ 7 9 ]

        Resulting in 2 successes.

 

 

"Wait," Sunrise says, squinting her eyes and peering closer at the statue. She leans her staff against the statue and moves closer, then climbs up to have a closer look. "This had something like a Prayer Tranceiver built into it, I think, and... this was damaged on purpose, not by accident." She drops back to the ground. "For some reason, someone didn't like the statue, and defaced it. It may not have been recent, or it may have been. We had best be cautious, though."

 

 

Grandmother Spider frowns. "I wonder if it still works," she says. "The tranceiver I mean. Perhaps if we announced our intentions to Sol we could gain admittance. My praying skills are a bit rusty, but I did bring some dried hallowgrass. We could sacrifice it."

 

 

         Kana hmms softly, and looks up towards the statue, looking at what's left of the arm. Though there /might/ be enough to see, she doesn't think she can tell without climbing up closer, which just might cause bad things to happen. She looks towards Sunrise, "Uhmm.. right.. should probably be care--" She stares at Boo, who's now wandering a bit. "Boo! Come back here!" She sighs, shaking her head as the kitten comes back to her, and reaches to sweep him back up onto her shoulder. "Don't wander here." She shakes her head.

 

 

(Judge) Dreaming Sunrise rolls Charisma  + Performance and spends willpower: [ -1- -1- 7 8 8 ]

        Resulting in 4 successes.

 

 

"Shall I?" Sunrise offers, knowing that her role as a priestess of Luna gives her somewhat of an advantage in this sort of thing. She takes the hallowgrass from Spider and builts a small pyre out of it. From one of her pouches she retrieves a small box with a button on it, and when she clicks the button a tiny flame appears, fueled by essence. In the Old Realm tongue she starts to make chanting prayers to Githak, the smoke rising toward heaven and carrying the prayers with it as it billows upward.

 

 

Sunrise's prayers do not go unanswered. There's a creaking from the damaged statue, and then golden spears of light pour out of the pits dissolved in its once beauteous skin. A rumbling fills the ravine that puts the roaring of the cataract to shame. Gradually, from the deep darkness down-river, you see a gargantuan shape moving towards you. The shape is ominous to say the least, that of a behemoth or hekatonkhire, but as it gets closer it becomes obvious that it is something yet more remarkable -- it is the tomb of Githak himself. The shape of the tomb is vaguely crablike, with six enormous stone limbs gripping the sides of the ravine as it hauls itself upwards, and the entrance just below its great carved and jewelled crustacean face. You now see that the lip of the bridge by the statue has not in fact crumbled away, but was originally built as an entrance ramp.

 

 

"Hoorah!" says Spider. "Marvellous, Sunrise, marvellous! Look at that thing... hm... you know, it actually seems to be coming in a bit fast..."

 

 

Grandmother Spider's triumphant mood turns rather pensive as the enormous stone creature bears down on the bridge without any sign of slowing down.

 

 

*boom boom boom boom BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!!!*

 

 

Dreaming Sunrise smiles, pleased with herself, and moves to stand near spider. Then she sees the thing bearing down on them, and slowly starts to look more worried. "Perhaps we should... try to get off of the bridge..." she says. "You know, before it crashes through and sends the whole thing tumbling down..." She looks over at Spider, as though waiting for confirmation before she takes off running.

 

 

         Kana quietly watches Sunrise. Wow, that prayer was way way more complex then the ones she does to her father! Oh well. She quietly watches as the tomb starts to come towards them. "..." She then does the first reaction she can think of, and gently(But hard enough to get him at least most of the way there) tosses Boo back towards where they came from. Whee, flying kitten. "MREOOOOOW?!" She then.. starts to make her way towards where she tossed Boo. First priority down, now for the second priority! ... She carefully keeps an eye on Dreaming and Grandmother Spider, though, to make sure that they get to safety too!

 

 

Grandmother Spider nods. "Ah, yes. You should do that," says Spider, although it doesn't sound like she has any intention of moving. Which is silly, right? I mean, she wouldn't be trying to do something ... like... wrestle a seven hundred ton sarcophagus, would she?

 

Just before impact, an improbably soothing female voice booms out from the moving stone structure, speaking with calm, precise diction in Old Realm. "Attention; there has been an error. Please stand by for correction."

 

 

Then the bridge goes up in a shower of flying flags and boulders, with a titanic crash as the crab-tomb ploughs into it... and shows every sign that it means to keep going...

 

 

(OOC) Grandmother Spider just spent Essence from her Essence Personal pool

 

 

Dreaming Sunrise starts to run to get out of the way, and as she does her form shifts quickly into that of a larger, bipedal red panda. She seems to move more quickly in this form, which is perhaps why she chose it, but it's also a stronger one which means that she can scoop up Kana as she goes to make sure that the other girl gets out of the way as well. She knows that Spider can take care of herself.

 

 

         It's a very good thing that Sunrise scooped up Kana, because as soon as she saw that Grandmother Spider wasn't running, she was starting to go back! When scooped up, Kana flails slightly, "No! We can't leave her!" She says, trying to doing her best to look over towards Grandmother Spider, but all the debris gets in the way of her seeing. ;-;

 

"She'll be fine, girl," Sunrise says softly, comfortingly. "She's faced far worse and walked away unscathed." She holds tightly onto Kana and sprints down the path, but not so tightly as to hurt.

 

 

Grandmother Spider is obscured by the flying debris and such, which may lead some people to speculate that she has been flattened, as a pancake is flattened. However, this is not the case; she leaps straight upwards with supernatural force as the tomb strikes the bridge. The ground begins to give way under the feet of Sunrise, Kana and Boo, as one of the long, broad crab-legs of the tomb slices through the bridge towards them like a ship's prow cutting water. "Bad gigantic automata!" shouts Spider. "No fucking biscuit!" She clings to the top of the thing for dear life and looks around wildly, braids in her face, for some means of stopping or controlling it.

 

 

"Warning," says the Old Realm voice. "Foreign Objects detected. Removing." And several smaller stone arms tipped with glowing hot points of stone swivel around to try dislodging the troublesome Solar. The tomb continues to climb up the ravine towards the unseen cataracts.

 

 

         Kana frowns a bit, looking back towards Grandmother Spider, narrowing her eyes. She heard the shout. She's fine, but.. she's far from safe! "...But..." She murmurs softly, wishing she was on firm ground. She might be able to help Grandmother Spider then with a bow and arrows. But.. since she's in Sunrise's arms, she grudgingly goes.. wherever she goes.

 

 

Dreaming Sunrise sets Kana down when they've got far enough from the edge of the crumbling bridge and the path of the crab-tomb she's sure kana can make it on her own, and then she says, "Be careful, dear. Spider and I will both be upset if you get hurt, but I have to go help her now." And then she turns and starts back toward the crab, moving with great speed, and then leaping onto one of the stones, then another, and then landing on the back of the crab as well, grabbing hold of any crack with sharp claws to keep her grip. "Spider!" she calls out. "Are you okay?"

 

 

"Yes, ma'am, I am --" Spider ducks to one side as the tomb lashes out of its rat-removal devices at her, swatting it back with a barehanded strike that cracks the rock. "I'm just fine! Hey -- do you think this thing might go all the way to the surface?" The crab is, indeed, still climbing, rolling up the ravine -- you hear the cataracts passing beneath you, and then the ceiling starts to get uncomfortably close on top of the thing.

 

 

         Kana is set down, and she bites her lip, thinking swiftly. She can't bear to stand by and be useless like this. She closes her eyes, working up her courage, glances towards Boo, and murmurs, "Stay here, Boo." She then.. takes a running leap for the nearest piece of debris, attempting to grab the flag on it to propel her to the next bit of debris, a leap towards a statue to rebound off of it, and several other smaller jumps to attempt to get onto the top of the Crab-like tomb! She can't leave any of her friends or family behind! Boo's safe, now she has to make sure the others are, too! ... Little does she know, a certain kitten is clinging for dear life to her kimono..

 

 

(Judge) Kanashii Eiei rolls Dexterity  + Athletics  + Valor: [ -1- -1- 2 2 3 4 4 5 6 9 <10> ]

        Resulting in 3 successes.

 

(OOC) Kanashii Eiei just spent Willpower from her Willpower pool

 

 

Grandmother Spider happens to look over when Kana attempts to make the crossing, while fighting her way up over the back of the crab towards the entrance. "Oh, no!" she shouts as Kana first succeeds, then fails to navigate the crab's debris tail. "Oh... /bugger/. Sunrise, I'm going to try to pull the doors open, and get us inside..."

 

 

"I'm on it, Spider!", Sunrise says, her keen eyes catching sight of Kana trying to make her way up as well. "Hold on, Kana!" she calls out. "I'm coming! Just hold on and don't look down!" She starts hurriedly making her way down the leg to where Kana is holding on for dear life, and when she gets down holds out a hand. "Grab on," she says, "and climb onto my back. You're a nimble girl, but this is rough going even for the Exalted." She tries to smile encouragingingly, but it's actually a little scary on the animalistic face.

 

 

         Kana doesn't want to look down. She also doesn't want to let go, so she does her best to cling to the leg, as she's pelted by the debris. "Owowowowwowowowow!" She blinks a bit at Sunrise, almost scared by the smile on the animalistic face, but she also knows that Dreaming is her friend, so she moves to climb onto her back. "...I couldn't leave you two behind.." She murmurs softly, as Boo climbs up the back of her Kimono so that he's clinging to /her/ back too. "...Boo! I told you to stay behind.."

 

 

Grandmother Spider is knocked sideways by one of the vermin-removers while she's watching Sunrise and Kana, and falls down, her shoulder smoking. She rolls with it to avoid being crushed by the huge rocks impacting on the crabs back as it continues its mad upwards climb. Gradually she inches forward and ducks under the cowl that protects the tomb's entrance. Things are a little calmer in here, and she flattens herself next to the door, staring intently at the patterns on it for some sign of how to get /in/. "Oh, bloody hell, I'm going to puke; well -- worth a shot." And she flares her castemark, the half-circle playing like a torch-beam over the surface, probing its golden curves for a secret switch. With a click, the doors unlock. "Thank the gods for predictable Solar egotism," she mumbles to herself, and then shouts out of her shelter. "COME ON!! Get inside before you're crushed!"

 

 

Dreaming Sunrise pulls Kana up onto her back and then starts making her way back up, toward where Spider found a door. "You've got a good heart, Kana love," Sunrise says approvingly. "We'll be fine, and I can't fault you for wanting to help." It's a bit of rough going, but she manages it fairly enough, dodging vermin removers as she goes. One of them actually manages to zap her as well, and she lets out a pained yelp, but she keeps her grip and keeps on going. Finally she makes it to the doorway, and she lets Kana off and shoos her inside before making to go herself.

 

 

         Kana bites her lip, "Good heart sometimes isn't enough, I guess.." She says, slightly jokingly, maybe.. well, not really, considering the situation. "Ack! Sunrise! Are you okay!?" She asks, looking back towards her worriedly even as she scurries inside.. and then moves to cling to Grandmother Spider. "I was so worried.." She says softly, as Boo finally climbs off of her back to look around curiously.

 

 

The inside of the tomb rocks in a rather sickening way as it makes its way implacably towards the surface, but it sure is better than being outside. Spider waits breathless until the two women are in sight, and grabs them, helping to haul them in out of the shower of rock. She leans back against the door, closing it, her castmark beginning to fade as Kana embraces her. Fighting to stay balanced (without the charmed help Sunrise has), she rocks back and forth with the girl in her arms.

 

 

Finally, it ends with a bang, followed by a whimper. The bang is the side of a rock face on the surface blowing out as the tomb reaches ground level; the whimper is the dying, fading noise of its magickal machinery as it fatally damages itself getting through. The Old Realm voice says something unintelligible and then is gone. Bruised, and battered, your stroll underground comes to an end.

 

 

"Would you look at this place!" Spider says when the dust has settled. "Good thing I brought a tent..." The walls of the interior are covered -- floor to ceiling -- in diagrams and equations, the life's work of the Dragon King warrior left behind as a legacy for someone who could understand it. With a kiss on the cheek for both Kana and Sunrise, Spider gets to work.

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