=> Whimsical Underground Adventure 2000: Kids and Fun

[Sypon]

TEAM 5:
Choice: C
5/5
-1 Lusus

Aah. Quiet. The kids didn't make much of a fuss. Good.

Tamiya sheperded the kids through the halls with a stern air. There was no time for any more misadventures. After their restful time in the tanks, she was feeling confident and refreshed. There was nothing more to be said... But of course she would say some words of wisdom anyway. As soon as they made their way down into the depths of the cave, Tamiya began to chant.

Under her breath, she murmured prayers to the heavens: calling upon Messiahs for protection, seeking their mirthful guidance and outlets for the capricious nature of these twisting times. She wished the best for the children: their protection, and a healthy dose of fear for them as well. She wished for Kabukidad. It was not like him to be this long on a hunt. He would have at least left some sort of elusive mark for her -- a bloodstain on the wall. Puddles of water in the living room. Perhaps an effigy nailed to a tree or a group of tar-covered twigs covered in troll hair and tied delicately with sinewy heartstring sitting in her fruit bowl.

This was unlike him. Tamiya's eyes closed only momentarily as her prayers came to a head, and suddenly a hissing sound began. Alexin noticed it immediately. Tamiya drew her weapon.

And waited. Kabukidad would make all matter of noises. Hissing was, of course, one of them. After a while of standing stock still and glaring through the cave, the mist cleared.

"Thank Messiahs for this gift. The path clears ahead of us to show us our way. We are ******** blessed."

Tamiya confidently strode forward. Soon enough, the hissing began again. She put her hands on her two small companions' backs and pushed gently to usher them along. "Make haste!" The steep decline was laid out before them.

Puddles would be no easy feat for Tamiya's footwear. Likewise, sliding down the tunnel would be absolutely preposterous. The treacherous path was filled with tricks, and the lesser of the evils was to descend by clutching the flora on the walls. Likely it was not poisonous, though Miache's gloved hands would allow him some barrier between himself and the wall.

"There - the lichen. Grab a hold of it and we will be down in no time." Tamiya commanded. There was no time to discuss the matter.  

[Sypon]

Candy Dandies:
3/5
Choice: C

Aandes' breath came in ragged gasps. He squinted the moisture out of his eyes and kept stomping and fighting until he had no more energy left. "NO!" He barked. Suddenly, Aandes stood still. Whatever it was had left. He felt a bit exposed. Straightening, the troll looked around for his lusus. Koalapops was sitting up on the ground, tasting some of the lichen that grew on the walls and floor. "I guess we're okay for now..." Aandes muttered. His head was killing him. And to boot, he wasn't making a great impression. Even if he had just fended off whatever it was that was attacking them, his lusus was completely useless. Embarrassing. At this point, he was nearly beyond caring. But not quite.

"Are you alright? Sorry my lusus isn't of much help," Aandes shot a half-hearted glare to his lusus, who smacked his lips and kept a slow, lumbering pace before Aandes had to pick him up again. Did he not see that his charge was in danger? Aandes wiped the moisture out of his eyes, and found it was harder than he thought to accomplish.

Using the wall for support, Aandes continued down the path. There was a steep drop-off. Aandes was unmoved. "The lichen's pretty good for bracing yourself... It'll be okay to avoid stepping in these gross puddles, I think." he explained. He took it slow. Even Koalapops climbed off of his back and started climbing down the wall at a fairly decent pace.  

[Green Minuet]

∞ Ephias Sagine

Cops and Robbers
Health: 4/5

“Not quite,” Ephias murmured, hearing the soft rustling of something sliding over the cave floor. It was accompanied by a soft but swiftly growing hiss. Voscil was right about one thing though: the mist was beginning to clear at least. He was not sure he wanted to look to see what was coming up from behind them, so instead he focused his attention on what lie ahead.

The path curved into a downward slope, the surrounding rock slick and shiny with moisture. Small pockets full of mineral rich water were scattered across the floor, and lichen lined the walls, rounding out any handholds. If the group wanted to escape their pursuers, progressing safely would be difficult. Not necessarily impossible though.

Suddenly, Voscil grabbed Zindel and slung him down the slope. Ephias was not sure whether to praise her for her quick thinking or scold her for her treatment of the other redblood. He decided he would save judgement for later. He turned to Etsali. “Be careful,” he told her then grabbed Wolly and pulled him down over the side before he could raise a fuss.

Ephias went on his back, feet first. Flipping over his side, he hugged Wolly as they slid down the tunnel. It was the least he could do for all the trauma he was putting the sheep through.  

[purplerosesbeauty]

Candy Dandies Team HP: 3/5
(Eostre & Aandes)


Eostre was angry. So many things were going wrong and all she wanted to do was... de-stress! When the slithering creature touched her, she grunted and began her stomping. Die! Die! She tried to curbstomp whatever was underfoot, and it eventually slithered away...

"Ugh," she grunted again. This place was disgusting, so of course it'd be filled with disgusting things. She wrinkled her nose and looked at her small partner. She felt a bit better now that she'd stomped the daylights out of something.

"Don't worry about it, Aandes. I'm sure if my lusus was here he'd be utterly useless as well," she said with a smile. She imagined Volcano bounding around the filthy cave, telling her to punch everything. He'd probably tell her to punch the child too.

Taking Aandes' lead, she reached out and used the lichen for support. Seemed better than trying to go down the tunnel (which was coated in slime or something, of course) by sliding!

 

[Hivestuck]

A) You lay down on top of the wet algae and start to slide down the cave floor. It’s an impressive, but disgusting trick. You’re covered in algae and water and smell like whatever has been growing in the caves for sweeps, but as you stare at the green-tinted cave wall above you, you find that this little adventure was surprisingly restful. The party advances.

B) At first, using the footholds seems like a quick way to get down the steep tunnel, but unfortunately over time the distance between the puddles increases dramatically. When you have to put one sopping wet foot on the surface, you immediately lose your balance and nearly crack your head open on the cavern floor. You slide, disoriented, and when the tunnels fork you find yourself lost and confused. The party loses 1 HP.

C) Grabbing onto the lichen has an interesting affect, as it quickly adheres to the palms of your hands! Using the gooey substance to gain traction helps you choose your paths wisely and quickly. The party advances.

D) You join hands with your teammates and make a troll chain. The standing portion of this bizarre exercise does not last long as you fall straight on your rumps, but with the combined forces of the team you navigate the tunnel and come unharmed, if not soggy.

The slimy trail spits you out suddenly, in a massive cavern filled with radiant flora: a veritable underground jungle. A sea of pale flora branches upwards, begging for light. They are tinged with desaturated greens from the bioluminescence of the cavern and fungal spores. Deep pools reflect patterns every which way, growing bigger in radius as the party proceeds. Danger is on top of you now as a mysterious force within the thicket begins to violently shake the enormous plants all around you, loosing a cloud of spores in the entrance of the cave. Going forward may mean confrontation for whatever lies ahead, but staying put in the dust could be a worse fate if the spores contain toxins. What do you do?


A) Try to find an alternate route around the thicket – perhaps there’s a better way in than straight through.
B) Jump into one of the pools of water to avoid harm from the spores.
C) Stay put and hold your ground. There’s no use charging blindly into the enemy’s home turf.
D) Charge into the thicket away from the spores.  

[amicableAggressor]

Trudging through the slimey darkness, Regina nearly jumped as Lorata and Dictys began to howl like the piercing wail of a siren. "Shh!! What the --" Her piercing hiss was lost on the two trolls as they were pulled sharply down, hitting the ground heavily. Her expression when they eventually struggled to their feet clearly indicated that she thought they deserved exactly what they got. "Keep your heads. Ain't nothing down here more frightening than us highbloods. You got that?" Her tone was edged with a hard line of irritation that wasn't usually present in her laid back chatter. As Dictys offered a slightly more hesitant choice she had strode past, gripping the wall certainly and with irritation, taking the lead of the group. Someone had failed their test in the eyes of the queen. Eventually she stopped at the end of the tunnel, looking out over the sea of flora ahead.

better than you - 3/5  

[T-Kai]

Nervit covered her ears, cowering as Sinter started to scream. This place was creepy! CREEPY! And now some..thing was attacking Sinter! Or Reemus, as the younger troll pushed the older one out the way, she realised. Stumbling forward, she tried to yank at the coils wrapping round Reemus, but all it served was to get her fingers pinched by the coils and make her wince. As Reemus limped forwards she hovered next to him temporarily, worrying. There was little she could do, however - this couldn't be solved with anything she had to hand.

She took both of the boys' hands firmly in her own small digits as the three of them slid down the slope, and hidden in the neck of her jumper, she couldn't help a small smile. The thrill of the slide was exciting!!!!

As they stood up at the end of the slide, filthy, she tried to scrape herself off, but it wasn't happening. Nervit's face scrunched up a little with how filthy they'd gotten - this outfit was going to take a LOT of washing if they were going to get it back to it's original state. But then she looked up.

Awe was the only word for it. This place was...beautiful!

Also, she swiftly added as it began to shake and spores floated towards them, terrifying.

==

Alexin's eyes once again went shiny with admiration as Tamiya drew her weapon. What poise, such grace! Staying still seemed to have been a good idea though, as whatever the hissing thing was went passssst (hehe, even in-head puns were funny) and Tamiya guided them onwards. They trotted ahead obediently, at least until they came to a stop in front of the new tunnel which was...well, treacherous was definitely the word.

Thankfully Tamiya was full of good advice! Alexin grabbed onto the lichen, though they pulled quite a face when it went gooey. Gross! Still, it was giving them adhesion, which meant they were navigating the tunnels efficiently, rather than slipping and sliding around, or having to go into puddles.

Oddly, it was quite similair to climbing trees, which Alexin did with more frequency then they'd like to admit - the number of times their lusus had dropped prey and it had got stuck in a tree branch...or they'd taken something of Alexin's and hidden it in their nest because it was shiny...well...it was quite a few, anyway.

This train of thought enabled them to ignore the grossness of the lichen, though when the tunnel came to a stop Alexin immediately tried to scrape it off on a dry patch of the cave wall. It didn't work so well, but it at least got the majority of the goo off. You never knew, it might be poisonous after all.

Talking of poison, those spores didn't look good, and the shaking was pretty ominous too.

"We should move..."

The thought was out their mouth before they could stop it. But then, saving face by deferring to the highblood:

"Tamiya, which way do you think we should go?"  

[leon_a_darkangel]

Voscil gave a cheer of excitement once they'd reached the end of the line. The ride had been an enjoyable one rather than a disastrous one way trip into oblivion. Most of the way down she kept close to her lusus but would cast a glance to make sure everyone was close at hand. They wouldn't all be this far without each other...even if they hadn't all really had much time for conversation what with constantly yelling and running the moment of fun was stress relieving and pleasant.

Minus the smell of course, Vos could have done without that part. She'd worn smelly flarp gear, rolled in the dirt, and sweated with the best of them but this was almost a little too much. Standing up a grin stretched across her face. "I would totally do that again if we could~" She chuckled, before giving herself a shake to remove any excess algae matter.

At Estali's comment about her hands she offered out what little of her sleeve that was clean to the other troll. "That's the best I got.." Voscil added with a sheepish laugh. Whether it really helped or not wasn't particular set in stone.

Mamaju glared at the lot of trolls accusingly, running her paw over her face a few times until she was sure none of the material was left on her white fur. Voscil cast her a bored look to her when the cat huffed. "Mama it's not that bad." She remarked, reaching over to help the roarbeast. Once she was sure the roar beast was fine, she turned her attention on everyone else. "So. Is everyone alright?" Voscil asked of her fellow teammates. Once her speedy inspection was over she came to a halt. Instead of progressing into the cave for the moment. The matter of course was pressing, the plants and spores would not wait for them she was sure.  

[quite uneventful]

When Zindel saw the mist clear up, he couldn't help but rub his eyes a bit, only to rub some of the tears that had bubbled in his eyes and smoosh them on his face, giving his face a red tint. He sniffed a bit and quickly wiped it on his shirt, not liking this one bit. He didn't need these feelings! Turning his attention to the yellowblood that grabbed at him, he heard her words and his eyes widened. "Slide-- SLIDING?!" That was dangerous, he couldn't just go ********, of course he did. He went face first, practically getting an algae mask of the stuff, making sure to close his mouth before anything entered where it wasn't supposed to. Managing to switch his sliding position to something laying down, Zindel was slightly panicking-- but also, not at all. He managed to dodge any obstacles, and by the time they slid down, Zindel actually felt quite relaxed, save for the disgusting stuff that was currently stuck to his clothing. At least the smell wasn't as bad as some stuff he'd smelt in the past-- a rotting corpse definitely smelled worse than this.

Turning toward Etsali, whom seemed desperate to clean herself, Zindel wrinkled his nose. The only thing that seemed even a little clean on his body was his sash, but he wasn't about to hand that over. It was his favorite sash, and just the fact that it was kinda dirty now made him slightly irritated. He pat his body, pretending to look for something that wasn't dirty, until he heard Voscil offer her sleeve. Motioning to her, he turned to look around and nodded at the higher yellowblood, getting a little nervous at their surroundings. Suddenly, something in the thicket nearby them started moving violently, shaking spores all around them, prompting Zindel to let out a small squeak. "We never catch a damn break," He said with a groan, throat feeling like cheese on a grater as he wiped his face from the slimy stuff. "What do we do?!" He asked, a little helplessly-- really he just wanted to run away from it, but maybe they had a better idea...?

 

[purplerosesbeauty]

Candy Dandies Team HP: 3/5
(Eostre & Aandes)

Choice D


The cloud of spores made Eostre uneasy. Who knew what the heck was in them? It could be some weird sort of toxic thing or something else that'll kill them in an instant. Besides, the thicket had something moving inside of it.

"Come on, there's no sense dawdling at this point. Whatever's in there, I'm gonna punch it in the face!" she said, pulling her knuckledusters out of her pocket.

((I'll write more later!))

 

[Green Minuet]

∞ Ephias Sagine

Cops and Robbers
Path: A
Health: 4/5

The slide might have been fun, despite the terror factor if it had not also been disgusting. Admittedly it was not as bad as his teammates were making it out to be. Considering their location, the cave water was unlikely to be polluted, and any minerals that seeped down from above would be absorbed by the lichen. Still, their journey had compressed the lichen into a veritable slime that clung to their clothes and skin.

As Ephias got to his feet he scraped it off his arms and legs. “Good thinking,” he said to Voscil, removing his jacket to shake off the coat of algae. “I think it's stopped following us. Whatever it was,” He moved on to beating the backs of his cargos. Beside him, Wolly had staggered to his feet and let out a dismayed bleat. When Ephias looked over he saw that one half was Wolly was absolutely covered with the slime. Giving a loud sigh, Ephias pocketed some of the slime and began to disentangle thick clumps from Wolly's wool.

“None of ours are. It's just lichen and-and water; nothing toxic,” Ephias replied when Etsali spoke up. He failed to understand the issue.

Further discourse was interrupted by a frantic movement nearby and Zindel's voice. Ephias' mouth dipped into the faintest of frowns. “It's p-probably a defensive mechanism. It could inhibit breathing, generate hallucinations, induce drows-drowsiness, or...” With the large number of unpleasant condions the spores could cause, it would be wiser not to stand around talking about it. “We should move.”

Unfortunately the way ahead was blocked by a large thicket. To plunge ahead would be to risky. There could be dangerous cave beasts lurking within or poisonous thorns. There was no chance for retreat though. The way behind them was too slippery and besides: that would mean returning to face their opponent from the mist.

“Let's try to avoid the nettles and go around. Hold your breath when we pass near the spores,” Ephias said. He only hoped that nothing awaited them outside the brush.  

[thyPOPE]

Dictys didn't know why Lorata had begun glaring at em, now. She'd been screaming, too, and it'd been Dictys that'd thought of this method of navigation, dirty as it was. Did she see any of the older trolls holding their own weight? Never mind that Klymen had navigated along the walls, earlier, and that Regina was of course the queen, and deserved the most courtesy.

And using the lichen had turned out quite well: Dictys was pleased to see it sticking to eir palms, and used it quickly to move deeper into the caves in the wake of eir angry queen. But fortunately even that came to an end, and the path the group eventually took found an end in a large, empty-feeling cavern replete with...oh, how stunning. Dictys turned eir head to and fro, taking in all the lovely colors. Oh, if this was what it looked like abovewater everywhere, Dictys would understand landdwellers more. As it was ey wasn't certain why they didn't simply all invest in portable oxygen tanks and swim where it was lovely and cool. Dictys certainly hoped that the planet Alternia eventually named after em was as lush as this, above.

"We may be the most frightening things here, but we're certainly not the largest," Dictys pointed out. "The water's certainly the wisest choice, because we thrive best there." Dictys agreed, leveling Lorata with a glare of eir own, Wigglers! Ey found a different pool and submerged emself eagerly. Oh, how glorious it was! Eir fins had begun to feel a bit parched, in truth.

Team BETTER THAN YOU has chosen option B.
feat. Lorata Gorgos, Klymen Carcha, Dictys Glauci, Regina Marian

better than you: 3/5 hp
 

[seekingCylem]

Group 3
HP: 3/5
Lusii: 2/3
Option: A

[ Knocking the wind out of Sinter was as good of a way to make him shut up as any. In fact, he stayed silent until well after the plants were dealt with. When he managed to right himself, all he did was gape dumbly as he processed what had happened.

It was a little unclear as to whether or not he made it past the processing phase. Sinter nodded stiffly to Reemus, who was already marching down the tunnel, and skittered after him and Nervit. Lophie, who'd only just thought to stop scratching nervously at the grassy floor, struggled after the group.

Sinter kept a generous distance between himself and Reemus, only catching up when the floor slipped under him. Sinter skidded to a stop just in time for Reemus to turn back to him.

Both thoroughly ashamed of his earlier actions and impressed by Reemus's quick change in behavior, Sinter smiled weakly. Nervit grabbed his hand and they all slid down together.

The group just managed to avoid getting squashed by Lophie as she landed beside them in the cavern. Sinter didn't even notice. He was too entranced by the cool glow of the environment.

The shaking quickly broke Sinter's good mood. Pretty as the spores were, the cave flora didn't have a good track record of not trying to hurt them. By the light of the fungus and Lophie's lure, Sinter tried to see a way around the ominous brush.

"C'mon! We can't stay here!" Sinter tightened his grip on Nervit's hand and pulled. ]