|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2014 10:46 pm
"I grew up in Nabol during the famines," L'ssa offered, peering her head in the window despite the smell, "And I can tell you we wouldn't'a left good iron or animals behind, not for bandits, the Lord Holder himself...nothin'." Frowning, the woman scratched at one of the scars on her cheek, giving C'tis a befuddled look. "The place ain't even old, I bet most of the smallfolk here built their own homes. For them to just pack up like that, they had to be really scared...or really really confident in something better."
<Suuyeth,> came the bronze's rumbled greeting, distracted by his ever-vigilant search for bandits. The others could be fooled all they want with traipsing in the woods and houses like hooligans, he knew where the real threat lie. Eyes towards the caverns, his head moved only ever-so-slightly as he scanned the caves for any signs of movement.
L'ssa scanned the assembly as the offered their various and sundry theories, her eyes lingering a moment too long on the timerider Vosin, biting her lower lip sheepishly. Redheads...why is it always redheads? "Could be a plague they tried to outrun, but I don't see any signs of a quarantine. It's more likely they were shooed out by someone with a bigger sword arm. Possibly even bribed." L'ssa shrugged, then directed her attention back towards the leader of their little pack. It would give her something to think about other than the curious little timerider, at least.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2014 10:31 am
Vesin and Kelilayth
Vesin had been among the last to volunteer for this little expedition. As she was finally beginning to feel comfortable in their new home, she figured she should try to make herself useful once more. She was glad that her twin at least hadn't had the same problem adjusting as she had and Ves knew she should try to feed off of that same enthusiasm.
Kelilayth listened to instructions from the blue, he knew others were a little irritated that they were being led by a blue but this bronze didn't give much attention to it. He was used to taking orders, and giving a few, so he would do as he was told. Once he landed, Vesin slid off swiftly and he moved away to let others dismount. He had thought to go with his brother but another had already moved to follow. He too had noticed all the things that shouldn't be, and it made him weary. I am here for whatever you need me.> Kelilayth was in one of his serious moods from the oddness of this place.
Vesin slid around the people until she was on Vosin's right side just in time for the door to be opened. She held back her gag in respect for the dead, however they died. It was then that a thought came unbidden. Quietly, she whispered to her twin, "Do you think people were sent to check on things after the massacre?" It made her think of what if her parents had lied like that and it caused a shiver down her spine. Thankfully, the door was soon shut, and the leader of this little mission began thinking aloud it seemed. As she had nothing to put in, she stayed quiet at her twin's side.
((Please let me know if it is too late to join in and I'll delete my post!))
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2014 10:49 am
[C'tis & Malcarreth]
Malcarreth rumbled in reply to Tiaeth alone, making a mental note to be more explicit in future. Before he could think any further on the matter there was movement; the blue's head twisted quickly towards it but it was only a few wherries.
At the miniature time-blue's question Malcarreth flew a low slow sweep over the copse. This was projected to all dragons on the mission, keeping them in the loop was as important as being kept in the loop himself.
C'tis meanwhile was unhappy, extremely unhappy. Whatever had happened was obviously bad but Z'fer's suggestion was the worst of the bunch from his point of view, had started niggling at his mind as soon as he'd seen the chaos inside the cothold. He remembered the terror of the dragonplague all too well, still occasionally had nightmares about Mal not getting better.... But now wasn't the time for his own worries, now was the time to damn well find out what had happened and do whatever could be done about it even if that was only giving the populous of the Hold a proper burial.
"Sickness, or conflict of some kind over something they found, or just over people being people; could be any thereof," C'tis said aloud, his mouth set in a grim line. He hoped it was people fighting, he could fight people fighting but he couldn't fight sickness. L'ssa was right though, no sign of quarantine out here, and why not flag down help? That went for any scenario though more or less unless they were up to something they didn't want riders knowing about, iron was valuable enough and of itself but a rich deposit of gold could probably turn hold folk on one another with ease.
"Well there's only one thing to do now, we head inside." The question was whether to knock, to just try the doors, or to look for another way in. On further consideration C'tis decided that doing either of the first two could quite easily get them all shot full of arrows and that would not make anyone's day. Of course the latter could too but it seemed less likely. Slightly less likely. "I don't fancy the main doors, they look firm shut and if we go hammering on them and something nefarious is going on we'll probably all be able to get exciting new jobs as extras in a pincushion show. There must be another entry besides the main one...." C'tis trailed off there and looked distant for a moment before focusing sharply again, nodding, and setting off along the cliff face. "Fang's found a side entrance of some kind, we'll try that," he explained.
It didn't take long to reach the door. C'tis gave it and everything near by a very hard look before approaching it and motioning for the rest of the group to get to the sides as they had at the cothold. "If it's locked we'll have to break it down," he said softly. "Z'fer you and I are the biggest so if needs be help me boot it down, alright?" With that said C'tis tried the door.
___________________
[In the interest of moving us on I've assumed everyone followed!
EDIT: =D S'all good Nilah <3]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2014 2:48 pm
Banneth replied and stretched slowly before moving across the ground, deciding to move towards the road to get a better idea of the situation. Perhaps he would find something of interest on the ground.
‘Do keep safe,’ Ra’fe sent back as Banneth moved, a small bronze lump. He listened and frowned at the thought of trying the main doors. Nope, and pffh. Extras in a pincushion show. And they were moving? He set off, following C’tis to the side entrance, much more likely to be safe, though perhaps it was a moot point. They had flew here, after all.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2014 6:42 pm
Valdene could agree with bribed. It made some degree of sense. But if bribed, why? How? With what? That wasn't her problem – it was the leader's problem, and this one was competent so Valdene saw no reason to protest. Finding another way was a damn good idea, after all... who knew what was behind those doors? She kept quiet and kept to the back, near the other time riders and L'ssa, though more off to herself than close to anybody...
said Suuyeth, pleased. He had been worried: He was very small and the trees were very large, and who knew what a blue looked like amidst browns and greens? he chirped, plodding through the copse with nimble steps,
Suuyeth liked the smell of the small thing of trees. It smelled, unsurprisingly, of trees, but trees had lots of scents in them to smell. He poked around the grove until he had traversed the center and reached the other side...
((I don't want to just assume nothing happens... Not unless the DM tells me nothing happens...))
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 7:30 pm
Z'fer & Calanoth
Z'fer eyed the side entrance warily even as C'tis urged them forward. Who was to say this entrance wasn't guarded as well? A firelizard? Fat lot of faith he put in those things. Seeing as he wasn't sprouting feathers he doubted they at least had archers but if there were people alive inside... he doubted they were unaware of their visitors. It just remained to be seen what sort of arms they had available to them and what intentions they may have.
He paused before he agreed to C'tis's request "Another possibility." He whispered to the bluerider and those closest to the door. "Is bad air. Could be something inside that made people sick. Hold your breath if we get it open."
Calanoth heaved a sigh but lugged himself to his feet without complaint. He slowly paced towards, then along the external wall around the hold's inner courtyard, looking for potential signs of damaged outside of normal weathering. If a fight had happened there might be signs of siege weapons or fire.
Jasiline & Sanuyeth
I can. Sanuyeth ignored the wherries. They were unimportant to the task at hand and she wasn't hungry anyways. Her sharp green eyes scanned the edges of the forest, looking for any sign of moment that seemed unnatural considering the circumstances. She kept track of Suuyeth's progress from the corners of her vision but paid him little mind so long as his bright hide didn't disappear. The forest was fairly quiet but that was to be expected considering the giant predators stalking it's perimeter. Nothing of note yet. If I don't see anything on the second pass I'll join you. She replied formally to Malcarreth.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2014 12:34 pm
The door swung open under C’tis’ hand, revealing a dark corridor. There were no glows lit, and the rush of air did indeed smell a little foul. There was a faint scent of decay and sickness to it, though not as bad as it had been in the small hold.
The little copse remained silent. There were signs that it had been heavily coppiced, probably for the charcoal kiln that had burnt out. Charcoal was essential in working some of the ore, as it burnt at a higher temperature then coal.
Calanoth found no signs of fire or siege weapons - indeed, everything seemed quiet. The rock was relatively newly-hewn, in a modern style of dressing around the doors and slitted windows.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2014 12:52 pm
[C'tis & Malcarreth]
Foul air? C'tis frowned to himself, it seemed unlikely unless the holders had cut through to the mines from here but better safe than sorry, he nodded to Z'fer. "The door's hardly airtight but if you're right we might get a bigger dose of it when we open it." Right then.
C'tis tried the door, which opened easily to reveal darkness and... well that air was foul alright but not the kind of foul Z'fer had meant. "Alright then, everyone get your glows out," he said, keeping his voice low. He didn't really like the idea of lighting them up like a gather but there was no point stumbling in blind and besides, if that stink was anything to go by there might well not be anyone around to mark them. People didn't just leave rotting bodies lying around for no reason.
As he tried all of the theories over in his head again and search for more C'tis fetched his small glow out of its pouch on his belt and held it up by the net it was nestled in. With this done and his knife checked and loosened in its sheath - there might be no room for his sword in tight halls - he stepped into the darkness and started cautiously down the hall.
Malcarreth sent a feeling of acknowledgement to the pair of dragons on the ground and while he waited he swooped down to take a closer look at the burned out kiln, hoping that he might be able to tell how long ago it had burned out and whether or not anyone had been around here since.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2014 6:37 pm
Suuyeth was a little dissapponted. he commented to Sanyeth, Tiaeth, and Malcarreth he emerged on the other side of the copse and took a running start, he said, taking off with a flutter of wings as he spiraled into the air. He stayed low – their wings were bigger than his – but he kept his eyes on the ground.
Valdene, soon to be V'den possibly, covered her nose and mouth as the stench reached her nose. She drew her dagger – that wasn't a good sign.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2014 6:38 pm
Caldweth did not like patrolling on the ground. He was a lumbering hulk of muscle, and while he was capable of being poised in the air he was less than elegant on the ground with his broad posture and his thick, stocky legs. Nevertheless, orders were orders, and the bronze began to plod slowly for the treeline, looking for somewhere open enough that gave him the space to search. He eventually found a less populous grouping of trees, but even so the bronze crunched bits of the underbrush with each heavy footfall, his head just tall enough for his horns to get tangled in the treetops.
the bronze reported to Malcarreth, his tone grazed by the sensation of tensed muscles and grinding teeth. Caldweth was not built to search the ground, he huffed to himself. Caldweth was not a wher. He was built to scout from the air for spies, or to sniff out murderers and strike them where they stood. This nonsense should have been reserved for the weyrlings and the time riders, who were both small enough to search these miniscule crevices and inexperienced enough to not mind the tedium.
Oh, hush, you big baby, L'ssa scoffed, peering intently at the opening door. Tiny spaces or not, her hand was still rested on the hilt of her sword in the event of an untimely attack. Even if she couldn't draw it fully, she'd bludgeoned enough bandits in her day to know that she'd be just fine. Glow at the ready, she wriggled her way to the front of the group, drinking in the darkened view with a wry smile on her face.
She paused just short of C'tis, not wanting to affront his authority in the mission, but nevertheless shuffling like a wher begging to be set loose from the leash. "Ladies first, am I right?" she asked, biting her lip as the adrenaline began to kick in. She wanted to know what was at the end of the hall, and if it moved, it was getting punched.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2014 8:36 pm
Vosin and Bronze Tiaeth
Vos glanced at the rider who'd said what she hadn't. "Wouldn't we have heard of a fast spreading sickness?" What was his name again? Z'fer, she thought she remembered. She hadn't noticed the look from L'ssa, but looked her way when the woman spoke up. "Can you outrun a plague without a dragon?" So far none of the suggested theories really fit the evidence they'd gotten, except maybe a really fast, and deadly sickness.
She felt her twin come up to her right, and grinned with mouth closed in sympathy as Ves got her share of the stench. "Ya'd think eh? Apparently they didn't bother until things had been quite for a month," Vos whispered back. "Or what they found scared the wherries outta them so much they pretended they hadn't." She nodded with an arched brow at the door that had just shut. Her nose wrinkled again for a moment at the memory of the smell. Ugh. She'd need to bathe in the lake with Tiaeth to get rid of it.
Tiaeth salivated at the sight of the wherries as they took off. They looked delicious. Anyone heard of particularly tasty beasts being dropped off at the weyr? Maybe we can hunt before we go back? He focused his attention back on those around him... and realized the green had to peel off. It's nice to meet you Sanuyeth. Ah ok, he sounded a bit disappointed. Tiaeth peered curiously down to see if they stirred up any movement.
He was pleased when Suuyeth also suggested having a snack. The tiny time bronze circled slowly. I could try to scrub your back Vosin, but it might not work very well. Tiaeth followed Malcarreth on his swoops to keep an eye on Suuyeth. Right-o then. All quite still. He accepted easily. How goes it Kelilayth?
I think I'll pass this time. Her wiry comment returned to the dragon. So nice of you to offer.
Her attention drifted back toward C'tis as he spoke up. She thought they needed to snoop around some more before deciding to call it case closed. They were soon gonna get more, as the bluerider said it was time to head inside. Vosin hoped that of anything there wouldn't be more bodies in there. She did snort at the image conjured up by mention of a pincushion show.
She followed with the group around to the side door. Vos waited, crouched against a wall and peered around. She wouldn't be much help with the door. Ah his name was Z'fer! She grinned at the giant man. If the situation were different, she could admire the display that might happen, or maybe she'd do it anyhow. Unfortunately the door opened quite easily. Ah well maybe next time, she could conveniently find herself nearby when he was working out. At the order she pulled out her packed glow and followed with her knife. She'd rather go armed in tight halls. Her sword work was still no good.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2014 6:38 am
Banneth glanced back and deciding that he was far enough from the hold swung the opposite direction of the copse wood and started to travel the broad swatch of grassland, likely used to graze the beasts. He sent to Malcarreth and broke into a trot to cover more ground.
Ra'fe took a moment to reach back and retrieve his dagger still in sheaf from its harness and fastened it in easy reach before fishing out his glow. He might not be able to use his sword depending on the tightness of the halls.
He nodded to the twins and followed C'tis and L'ssa inside, nose wrinkling slightly at the stench. More dead.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2015 5:19 pm
There was a glow of light around a bend - as if someone was coming around it with a glow in their hand - before it stopped. There was a little gasp of breath, and then the pattering of what sounded like might have been bare feet - running!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2015 3:18 pm
Oh well great, they'd been spotted... heard, whatever.
Seen as there was no point pretending they weren't there C'tis gave a sharp whistle, a fairly recognizable rider's call to order. That sounded like bare feet, who was running around barefoot? A child? A drudge? It was hard to tell, the gasp hadn't really been a giveaway either.
"Whoever you are, stop where you are! We are riders of High Reaches, we mean you no harm." So long as you don't mean us any shaffing harm.
As he did not actually expect to be heeded C'tis glanced back at his comrades, jerked his head down the hallway, and hastened towards the bend. Having survived being in Second Wing for a number of turns C'tis had enough sense to peer around it to make sure there was no obvious sign of a threat before continuing. Of course carrying a glow made him a shaffing brilliant target but there was little he could do about that and so he held it up high enough to illuminate his shoulder knots well.
After a moment of thought he urged Fang to fly on ahead in search of the running person, and to act as an early warning system of trouble.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 10:02 am
Vosin and Bronze Tiaeth
Unfortunately the smell was also here. Vosin tried to breathe shallowly without depriving herself too much. She felt a new respect for these riders, that they'd deal with something like this frequently. The woman wondered how they'd deal with the smell afterwards, or maybe they just didn't notice it after a time. She hoped that wasn't the case for her. Vosin took another shallow breath.
At first she thought her eyes were playing tricks upon her. It looked like there was a glow around the corner. Vosin perked up as she heard the gasp then the sound of running feet. It wasn't her imagination. Someone was alive here. The sound tickled the back of her mind. She glanced at the other riders around her. When C'tis spoke up she relaxed just a bit. Stealth was no longer a worry.
"Please don't run. We won't hurt you." Vosin called after C'tis, hoping a female voice would help sooth whoever it was. She followed as he approached the bend and looked around. Had they stopped she wondered, or had they frightened the person completely off? Keep your eyes out Tiaeth. There was someone down here.
Tiaeth rumbled as his rider informed him that people still lived here. Why do they hide Vosin? What happened here? There was nothing his rider could answer yet. He kept to the air and increased his surveillance of the area. To the dragons around him, be aware. Mine has said there are people alive down below.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
