Not Worth the Price
Jun. 17th, 2006 10:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
terryclothApparently, Lazar's been called in to work all day (as in 'until midnight') every day until further notice (!!), so we're still playing with just the three of us until, well, further notice.
Software is a crappy industry sometimes, although it's been a while since I've had to see that side of it.
Once the three of them had recovered from the trip down the waterfall, they looked around and saw a trail of blue ribbons tied to trees left for them. It led them to a small cave, which through an obvious teleportation effect (the mist that was supposed to conceal it didn't do a very good job of concealing the lantern suddenly vanishing) took them to the top of a mountain nearby.
The mountaintop was deserted. It had an old and currently inactive radio tower (the last ribbon was tied around the tower), and a well-travelled path leading down the other side of the mountain to a small village -- from the lay of the land (they had a good perspective from the mountaintop) it was the village they'd been intending to head for to seek the oracle for the rat.
So they went to the village, but something about it seriously freaked out the rat, who hid in the nearby woods. Zedd and Grey went in, though, where they were greeted as pilgrims and taken to the inn, where the innkeeper tried (in vain) to keep them busy until nightfall, when they'd actually be able to speak to the oracle. Unable to bear any more of his stories, they decided to take turns getting some rest while the other took a look around the village.
Grey spoke to the villagers, who told him about how their village had given over all cares about maintaining themselves to the gods, and the only activities they themselves performed were study, contemplation, and artwork. Oddly, there weren't any of the normal domesticated animals in the village at all -- very, very oddly, especially if they were supposedly relying on them for everything. One of the villager s demonstrated that, thanks to the wisdom of the oracle, they knew the songs to sing to the squirrels to bring them anything they needed. Presumably they communicated with other wild animals in a similar fashion.
Zedd, for his part, went and found the rat, and told him about how the oracle only came out at night. The rat spent all day trying to fend off the squirrels, and managed to lose his last remaining possession in the process, then joined Zedd and Grey after dark as they walked up the lantern-lit path to the glowy blue portal which had appeared atop the mountain, near the radio tower.
The portal was glowy and blue because the other side of it was a snowy mountaintop in midday -- in a much harsher and taller mountain range, elsewhere in the world. Despite the apparent distance, the trip was instantaneous -- a far cry from the hours a trip through a human-made portal had taken.
So they were instantly dropped waist-deep in snow, with the frigid air trying to suck the heat from their bodies. Zedd teleported to the oracle's house and went inside right away, Grey accepted the hand of one of the strange raccoon-folk who walked on top of the snow, and was given the ability to likewise dart quickly up the short slope to the warm building. The rat was too stubborn to accept help from someone dressed like the creepy villagers, and was half dead by the time he staggered inside -- probably only alive at all because of his regeneration.
After they'd had a chance to warm up around the fire, they were escorted into the oracle's presence. The oracle had foxlike features, but most of his body was concealed beneath his robes (so Zedd couldn't count his tails). The rat knelt in front of the fox (after some 'encouragement' from the oracle's bouncer) and asked his questions.
Zedd and Grey had been warned by the villagers that there was a price for each question, and that those who asked too many never returned. After the first couple poorly thought-out questions the rather agitated rat asked, Zedd warned him not to ask too many, and while the rat tried to comply he really wasn't sane enough to take that advice properly to heart.
After five or six questions, the last of which was 'What the fuck is wrong with you!?', the rat collapsed, seemingly dead (although on closer examination he was still barely alive). Given that demonstration of the danger, and the extremely oracular nature of the fox's replies, Zedd and Grey decided not to ask any questions themselves, and instead carried the rat back through the portal and down to the village.
Zedd mused a bit about what the oracles responses might have meant -- and came to the conclusion that the oracle was basically telling the rat that the people of his city should leave it and go somewhere else. Some 'puppetmaster' was messing with the animals and causing all the trouble, so the best thing to do would be for them just to leave. Of course, he didn't really know what a 'city' was other than 'a large village', so the difficulty involved in moving the population of an entire city elsewhere escaped him...
Their reception in the village below was... well, was basically 'oh my god he's cursed, please take him a way before he curses the rest of us!' The rat did, indeed, not look at all well, covered in diseased boils and lesions, which didn't seem to be healing with his normal vigor. Zedd and Grey kept watch over him near (but outside) the village overnight, then build a travois to carry him back to their mining camp.
Of course the teleport-tunnel was no longer active, so they had to actually walk the whole distance. Zedd guessed it would be a day and a half trip under ideal circumstances, but it ended up being four days, thanks to problems with wolves guarding the most convenient routes and of course the need to drag the rat everywhere. The rat did wake up during the journey, but was still too weak to stand or even move much, and somewhat delusional most of the time besides.
Of course they still suffered insect attacks, although the only one of note was a giant spider that tried to pull Grey up into a tree, and ended up instead getting pulled out of the tree and squashed. They also had nearly all of their possessions stolen by squirrels when they camped in the woods at night -- which was normal, and one of the reasons the rangers didn't generally range that far from the village. On the last night, Grey got fed up with the squirrels and mind-controlled two of them to bring their stuff back. They got most of it back (one item at a time, in individual trips... the same way it'd been stolen, really) before the squirrels he was controlling stopped coming back, probably eaten by wolverines or something.
So, after an annoying trip, they made it back to the mining camp, only to find it completely deserted. Apparently, in the five days they'd been gone, the blacksmith's family and the healer had decided to take off, perhaps to head back to the village. At any rate, it was getting dark, and the smelter house was a better place to make camp than out in the woods.
last session | next session
Software is a crappy industry sometimes, although it's been a while since I've had to see that side of it.
Once the three of them had recovered from the trip down the waterfall, they looked around and saw a trail of blue ribbons tied to trees left for them. It led them to a small cave, which through an obvious teleportation effect (the mist that was supposed to conceal it didn't do a very good job of concealing the lantern suddenly vanishing) took them to the top of a mountain nearby.
The mountaintop was deserted. It had an old and currently inactive radio tower (the last ribbon was tied around the tower), and a well-travelled path leading down the other side of the mountain to a small village -- from the lay of the land (they had a good perspective from the mountaintop) it was the village they'd been intending to head for to seek the oracle for the rat.
So they went to the village, but something about it seriously freaked out the rat, who hid in the nearby woods. Zedd and Grey went in, though, where they were greeted as pilgrims and taken to the inn, where the innkeeper tried (in vain) to keep them busy until nightfall, when they'd actually be able to speak to the oracle. Unable to bear any more of his stories, they decided to take turns getting some rest while the other took a look around the village.
Grey spoke to the villagers, who told him about how their village had given over all cares about maintaining themselves to the gods, and the only activities they themselves performed were study, contemplation, and artwork. Oddly, there weren't any of the normal domesticated animals in the village at all -- very, very oddly, especially if they were supposedly relying on them for everything. One of the villager s demonstrated that, thanks to the wisdom of the oracle, they knew the songs to sing to the squirrels to bring them anything they needed. Presumably they communicated with other wild animals in a similar fashion.
Zedd, for his part, went and found the rat, and told him about how the oracle only came out at night. The rat spent all day trying to fend off the squirrels, and managed to lose his last remaining possession in the process, then joined Zedd and Grey after dark as they walked up the lantern-lit path to the glowy blue portal which had appeared atop the mountain, near the radio tower.
The portal was glowy and blue because the other side of it was a snowy mountaintop in midday -- in a much harsher and taller mountain range, elsewhere in the world. Despite the apparent distance, the trip was instantaneous -- a far cry from the hours a trip through a human-made portal had taken.
So they were instantly dropped waist-deep in snow, with the frigid air trying to suck the heat from their bodies. Zedd teleported to the oracle's house and went inside right away, Grey accepted the hand of one of the strange raccoon-folk who walked on top of the snow, and was given the ability to likewise dart quickly up the short slope to the warm building. The rat was too stubborn to accept help from someone dressed like the creepy villagers, and was half dead by the time he staggered inside -- probably only alive at all because of his regeneration.
After they'd had a chance to warm up around the fire, they were escorted into the oracle's presence. The oracle had foxlike features, but most of his body was concealed beneath his robes (so Zedd couldn't count his tails). The rat knelt in front of the fox (after some 'encouragement' from the oracle's bouncer) and asked his questions.
Zedd and Grey had been warned by the villagers that there was a price for each question, and that those who asked too many never returned. After the first couple poorly thought-out questions the rather agitated rat asked, Zedd warned him not to ask too many, and while the rat tried to comply he really wasn't sane enough to take that advice properly to heart.
After five or six questions, the last of which was 'What the fuck is wrong with you!?', the rat collapsed, seemingly dead (although on closer examination he was still barely alive). Given that demonstration of the danger, and the extremely oracular nature of the fox's replies, Zedd and Grey decided not to ask any questions themselves, and instead carried the rat back through the portal and down to the village.
Zedd mused a bit about what the oracles responses might have meant -- and came to the conclusion that the oracle was basically telling the rat that the people of his city should leave it and go somewhere else. Some 'puppetmaster' was messing with the animals and causing all the trouble, so the best thing to do would be for them just to leave. Of course, he didn't really know what a 'city' was other than 'a large village', so the difficulty involved in moving the population of an entire city elsewhere escaped him...
Their reception in the village below was... well, was basically 'oh my god he's cursed, please take him a way before he curses the rest of us!' The rat did, indeed, not look at all well, covered in diseased boils and lesions, which didn't seem to be healing with his normal vigor. Zedd and Grey kept watch over him near (but outside) the village overnight, then build a travois to carry him back to their mining camp.
Of course the teleport-tunnel was no longer active, so they had to actually walk the whole distance. Zedd guessed it would be a day and a half trip under ideal circumstances, but it ended up being four days, thanks to problems with wolves guarding the most convenient routes and of course the need to drag the rat everywhere. The rat did wake up during the journey, but was still too weak to stand or even move much, and somewhat delusional most of the time besides.
Of course they still suffered insect attacks, although the only one of note was a giant spider that tried to pull Grey up into a tree, and ended up instead getting pulled out of the tree and squashed. They also had nearly all of their possessions stolen by squirrels when they camped in the woods at night -- which was normal, and one of the reasons the rangers didn't generally range that far from the village. On the last night, Grey got fed up with the squirrels and mind-controlled two of them to bring their stuff back. They got most of it back (one item at a time, in individual trips... the same way it'd been stolen, really) before the squirrels he was controlling stopped coming back, probably eaten by wolverines or something.
So, after an annoying trip, they made it back to the mining camp, only to find it completely deserted. Apparently, in the five days they'd been gone, the blacksmith's family and the healer had decided to take off, perhaps to head back to the village. At any rate, it was getting dark, and the smelter house was a better place to make camp than out in the woods.
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