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 Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 11:06 pm
Marfolious Rickards
Marfolious laid in the flowers, dazed, his body was completely numb. What just happened? That was a solid wall of rock, so how did he end up falling down that tunnel? He had so many questions, yet no answers. With that, he sighed defeatedly, he got really unlucky this time. In any case, he needed to do something, and collecting information was first. He looked around as best as he could, he could at least move his neck. As far as he could tell, he was lying in a soft, bed of flowers, the one thing he was thankful for that day. He could hear the ambience of a forest, animals going about their business, leaves rustling on their branches. "Just where am I? And how in blazes did I get here....?"
Moments later, he heard two sets of footsteps, Marfolious immediately attempted to leap to his feet, but his body rebelled against it and refused to move an inch; it made sense, considering he couldn't feel any of it. After muttering something to himself about his hopefully undamaged bones, he craned his neck to get a look at the two strangers. He couldn't make much out, considering his current position and vision-obscuring flowers. One was a hooded, pale man. The other was somewhat obscured by this hooded man, but he could tell that it was a female, a young, brown-haired woman.
They stopped beside the flower bed, and Marfolious heard the hooded man gibe about his unfortunate mishap and frowned. "Indeed, 'tis a fine day for a stumble, good sir!" He imagined this all looked very strange. A strange duo stumbling across another person who just tumbled out of a tunnel and was now lying among flowers. He couldn't resist smiling at that thought, they stumbled upon another person. He thought to correct one problem and attempted to stand up, but nothing moved, save for his right arm, which twitched slightly. If he could shake his fist, he would've. But with fist-shaking not being a valid option, he simply looked over at the odd pair standing near him. "If we're done mocking my current predicament, a helping hand would be much appreciated."
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Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 8:29 pm
Marfolious was rewarded with a pair of bandaged hands reaching down to him from under the hooded man's cloak as Traveler leaned down to grab the new stranger under his arms and help him up. The hands were a bit hot to the touch and there was a lingering sort of smoky, sulfuric smell to them but he managed to get Marfolious on his feet and after lingering a moment longer to steady him Traveler was able to step away without the new stranger falling back down. Marfolious couldn't quite say how or why but he felt better standing. The aches and sprains of the fall seemed to have been all in his head and he was just a little sore, very tired.
Traveler didn't give the man long to dwell on it though before stepping around him and into the flowerbed. "I suggest we not stay too long," the hooded man warned as he walked through crumpled flowers to pull back the curtain of thick vines through which Marfolious had fallen and reveal a dark tunnel. The man paused at the opening to look back at the others with a wave of his hand as if he expected them to step into that black hole in what looked to be a brick wall.
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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 11:54 am
The guard continued to sneer but with an almost wary, considering look now. It was obvious he was trying to decide if he believed Sam or not. The book must have been something important for him to have hesitated with it so but the Caliph didn't seem to recognize it.
The boy eyed the book curiously but wasn't concerned by Sam's having it. He shrugged at the merchant's offer to trade the book for the stone and was about to give him a noncommittal shrug when Qintus cut in. The question made the boy laugh. "A spellbook," he answered. "Or research notes. Wizards are always writing things in their dusty old books. Not worth much really. Few of them ever write anything interesting."
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 9:30 am
Sam feared for a moment that he was losing the trade, so he thought of a way to regain some ground.
"Yor gahrd 'ere es intrestit. Mahbe ghe sah summit valable?"
The mad merchant gestured to the book, "tuk a luk ad see for yessef."
He was not about to let the possibility of the crystal go, but his only bargaining chip was about to be tossed back and forth like it was a pillow in a brothel. For a simple moment Sam's mind briefly reflected on that sudden metaphor. He smiled a charming smile to no one in particular. His thoughts were elsewhere.
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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 9:32 pm
Alana watched as Traveler pulled up the stranger, but didn't do much to help him or check on any potential wounds. The man seemed alright to stand and he hadn't slurred any of his words. Perhaps the man would leave them now that he'd gotten on his feet. Or...maybe not? Traveler seemed to want this man to join them. This wasn't the appropriate time to ask, however. They were in a hurry after all.
Alana grabbed at her elbows and stared into the dark tunnel before looking back at Traveler's hooded face. Where is this going to lead us? And did she trust him to guide her down a dark unknown tunnel? She bit her lip as she looked down the tunnel. He's yet to lead me wrong. With that thought, and with the hope that she hadn't misplaced her trust, she stepped into the black hole. To further prove that she trusted him, Alana didn't stop walking.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 8:50 pm
Marfolious stretched out his now movable limbs, it felt strange. To be honest, this entire situation was pretty strange. Just a few moments ago, his entire body was completely numb, but here he was, up and moving, thanks to the hooded man who happened to be passing by. That begged the question, however, just what did he do to make Marfolious recover so quickly?
Feh, as many as he had, this wasn't the time to be asking any questions. The hooded man's suggestion was a good one. Getting out of... wherever they were was top priority. He seemed to know where he was going, so following him seemed to be the most logical choice. It's not like Marfolious could've broken off and attempted to find his own way. He was lost more than ever, and he couldn't even use his magic, let alone find his way to safety. He looked into the dark tunnel. That was where he came from, wasn't it? He stepped into the tunnel slightly reluctantly. He'd have to trust these strangers for now.
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Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 8:36 am
The boy considered briefly, turning the dimly glowing crystal over in his hand as he did, then shrugged it off with a laugh. "Wadi doesn't know the value of a rock," the Caliph purred. "It's why he is a guard and not a merchant." The boy gave his guard a wry grin at that and got a hard glare in return for it. Of course the Caliph just laughed then turned a friendly smile on Sam and asked, "What else have you in that bag of yours?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 1:27 pm
The hole was black as pitch and the ground rough inside. Once the two were through Traveler followed, dropping the vines behind him to block out what little light had managed to seep in from the opening. They were in total darkness as Traveler stepped around them, taking Alana's arm in his to lead her through the black, all but leaving Marfolious behind save for an almost wry suggestion.
"Take her hand and follow close. These tunnels are dangerous," he warned, "Best stay in touch."
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Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2012 12:02 pm
Skurk got up and followed. His goblin nature grappled with the obvious unwisdom of antagonizing someone empowered by a maybe-demonic maybe-divinity until his nature won out:
☼What do we accomplish by going there, exactly? Do we have some actual reason to head to that location before further planning?☼
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Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2012 5:01 pm
Sam's brow furrowed. The merchant had come a long way and had many many things, not a single one, he thought, would win him this crystal. So he held his finger up in a gesture telling the Caliph to give him a minute, and stuck his hand in his bag to recall his journal.
He flipped through the yellowed pages quickly and found his list of inventory. With a slight "hmm" he stuck his hand in his bag and recalled an item, which when pulled out revealed to everyone to be a scroll.
"Dese a'plenta I have." He unrolled the scroll a little and looked at the word upon it, "zis, a papair of..." he squinted his eyes to read the word, and let from his mouth what might've been fatal had it been any other scroll, "zagat!"
And with that spoken word the mad man lit up, that is to say, he began to issue a startling orange light from his body, illuminating the immediate area. The scroll itself had disappeared, had anyone watched it they would have seen it go in a puff of smoke.
Sam sheepishly smiled at the cats around him, "Um!" he said, not really understanding the intonation usually given to the sound, "I hav mair, dag was light!"
The merchant was glad thta this one was not quicksand like the last one was, else those around him might think he was trying to kill everybody.
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Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2012 8:03 pm
Alana hated the dark. Dark usually signified cold, and cold made her want the warmth of a fire. However, fire was not the answer for this situation.
She flinched when someone grabbed her arm, and she unconsciously tugged her arm closer to her. The person didn't seem to mind, and she relaxed her arm when she realized it had been Traveler who grabbed her arm. While she wasn't fond of touching in any form, she appreciated that he had tried to lead her to safety rather than leave her behind. Her timid steps got a confidence boost knowing that someone else was leading her. But how is he knows where we're going? It's way too dark to see in here.
The urge to groan was hard to stifle when Traveler offered her unused arm to Marfolious. Instead of whining about it, she lifted her arm behind her to see if she could feel the person. It was in her best interest to get him to grab her arm than let him try to grab at any part of her body. She hoped that Marfolious reached out soon.
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 9:31 am
As Marfolious stepped into the suffocating darkness in the cavern, he rummaged through his satchel for his spelunking goggles. They ran on magic, so they probably wouldn't make it any easier to see, but it was worth a shot. Once he had located them, he slapped them onto his face hurriedly. His only reward was pain.
"Figures, this day just gets worse and worse..." He mumbled.
When he heard Traveler speak, he resisted the urge to stop and burst out laughing. "Hand, touch..." That was a good one. Still chuckling about the pun, he stuck his arm out in an effort to find Alana. His outstretched hand landed on her forearm, and he gently wrapped his fingers around her wrist. Hopefully that wasn't too awkward. With his free hand, he felt around the tunnel. There was enough room to walk in, but aside from that, it was pretty cramped. He pat his hand on the cavern wall as he walked along.
Hand, touch, now he was feeling around the tunnel.
He could barely contain his suppressed laughter.
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Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 8:14 pm
Castor gave a low, quiet snarl when he was accosted by Skurk. Despite the diminutive goblin having some good points in hindsight, he was still very grating on the Conduit's nerves with his belligerent pessimism. Castor stopped, rubbing the bridge of his nose in irritation. Even some sleep had done nothing to improve the mage's mood. He turned slightly, signaling to Mac to stop, unsure if the construct would understand, but having no patience to ensure that he did.
<"Because,"> he said in as calm a voice as he could manage, <"The... woman (he suppressed a wince here at not calling her The Lady) told us that there is a train- which I must assume is a type of transportation, since I am unfamiliar with the term- that will take us to, 'The Top,' which I also must assume is our intended destination, since, as par for the course for gods, she prefers to be as cryptic as> rakashe he said, not bothering to translate the violent curse in the middle of his rant. He gave a sigh.
<"Look. We don't have many leads. All we have is a single concrete location, and the fact that this... woman, wants us to find this Seal as much as we want to get home. Whatever she does with it is her business- I want to get back to being myself again, and this is the only foreseeable way of doing that. More than that, I am tired of being in this forest. A city is a welcome change from what we've been through this morning.">
He turned back around and continued walking, rubbing at his hands unconsciously, as though once again trying to rub away the lines of power under his skin.
<"Now are you coming or not? 'Cause if you want to stay, that's fine with me.">
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Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2012 11:21 am
The Caliph grinned, watching the merchant amusedly as Sam dug through his bag for other merchandise. When the scroll was pulled, the boy arched a pale brow at it curiously but the guard narrowed his eyes almost threateningly and reached to stop him but not fast enough before the madman cast the bright glow on himself.
Sam found a long, curved, and very sharp blade pressed to his throat for the effort. The guard's blade had stopped short of lopping off his head but did bite slightly into the soft skin of his throat as the man growled lowly. The Caliph however was all but rolling in laughter.
"Oh, Wadi. If they'd wanted to kill me they would have done it by now," the boy waved at his guard as he sat back up to grin at the glowing lunatic's guard. "Isn't that right," he only half asked before smiling back at Sam. "But I already have things that glow. No need for magic to do it for me. What else have you got?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2012 2:43 pm
The darkness was indeed cold and only chilled more the deeper they went into it. Traveler's hand provided some warmth on Alana's arm, as did Marfolious' to a lesser degree, but the air bit with the sharp, metallic tang of ice in the atmosphere. Sounds of a dying city echoed in the distance, strangely muted and drowned in the dark as they walked blind over rough ground. Before long dripping water, the shuffle of their own footsteps, and silence were their only company in the dark tunnels.
Still they went on, leaving the sound and the light behind. Traveler lead them calmly, like this were still just a casual stroll in the beautiful garden which was likely now crushed under the surging tide. He walked quietly with but a gentle hold on Alana and a slow though steady stride as if the dark did not blind him. Even when Marfolious lost contact with the wall, pulled into a much larger chamber, Traveler continued along unconcerned. Even when the rough ground turned smooth and their footsteps echoed in the depths of a massive, unseen chamber, the cloaked man only lead them to and up a winding flight of stairs. Even when Alana's foot slipped on something cold and slick (most likely ice), Traveler only caught her and helped the girl back to her footing with a purred, "Careful," before leading them on again in the never ending dark.
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