[Moderated Thread]Mapping the Ice Caves: Trial 3

[Pegasus]

15th Ashan 717

It all happened so fast.

By the time that Arwel had seen Padraig hit the tiger, then gone and grabbed a bar from Amaris and given Amaris instructions, Padraig had already been struck again. His leg was pouring blood from that and it would be no surprise that the man howled in pain. However, howling and dropping to his knee was not, thankfully, all Padraig did.

As Amaris and Arwel turned and moved to try and help their companion, one could assume that Amaris at least might think that what had happened with Jackson Eclipse was about to happen again. Blood was pouring from Padraig's leg and there must be a sense that he couldn't cope with another blow. As he had fallen to his knee while Amaris and Arwel spoke and grabbed things, Padraig was now on a level more acceptable to the tiger for what it really wanted to do.

And what it really wanted to do was rip his throat out.

So, the pair turned and realised, hopefully, that in terms of combat, no one had time to stop and talk. From their angle it seemed very likely in that glimpse that the tiger, who was currently leaping at Padraig with the intention of tearing into his jugular, was about to kill the scholar of the group.

Thankfully, Padraig was a scholar, but not just that; he was also skilled in combat and used to it, more than anyone else standing here this trial, anyhow. So, he used his knowledge of physics to turn the simple state of movement into an attack. It took nerve because he had to stay in place and as the tiger leapt at him, every instinct was to run. The armband on his arm glowed a sudden golden glow, unseen by the others before now, as he stayed firm to protect the child.

The tiger jumped forwards, straight at him and Padraig had a split trill where the things face was all that he could see as it opened its jaw ready.

Arwel and Amaris must, in that split trill realise that they were too late.
Meanwhile, Lakia was looking at the rockfall and considering it carefully. There were colours, coloured rocks and they reminded the Naer of some ice previously. Did it follow the same pattern because, if it did, then she might have a way to her companions.

An examination of the rockfall showed that, should she avoid the yellow tinted rocks then yes, there might be a way through. Did it work though?

Clutching her darkstone, as she stepped into the rockfall, Lakia realised that not only did it work, it worked perfectly. If there was a way of activating the effects of these stones and ice for anyone, not just those in shadow form, then what Lakia had found was basically a secret door.

How very cliche!

Still, as Lakia was passing through the rockfall like it wasn't there, Padraig was running the risk of passing out with pain. However, the bar which was propped against his feet worked and he got to realise that somehow, the ice-tiger must breathe, because it's breath was hot. It's jaws snapped together less than an inch from his face but, it was very much a very important distance.

And just as Lakia stepped through the wall, she heard much more clearly the sounds of fighting to her right. Looking down there she saw the group engaged in combat with the massive tiger made from ice. She couldn't fire her bow into that melee from this distance without risking hurting someone. Furthermore, any one of her three companions could be hit as the tiger was trying to bite Padraig, who seemed injured and was bleeding quite a lot. Amaris and Arwel were rushing forward to beat it with metal bars.

Which was exactly what they did and, between being skewered on a metal bar through the chest and battered with more of the warm bars, courtesy of Amaris and Arwel, it was hard to tell exactly which one of the three killed it, but it probably didn't really warrant worrying about.

The tiger fell into shards. Hundreds of thousands of shards, each one like a diamond, unique in shape and exquisitely beautiful. In a moment of irony, Padraig noticed that one of them, in the shape of a perfect tooth, had landed in his lap.

In the inevitable stillness which followed, Carla looked up at Padraig with wide eyes. "Please don't die," she said to him, perhaps not reassuringly, "it's awful here, please don't." It wasn't, in fairness, likely that Padraig was about to join the realms of the recently departed in the immediate moment, but he was bleeding, and quite a lot.

They would go nowhere before Padraig was patched up, but they had between them the skills and the equipment to do so. Assuming that they did patch him up (or left him to die, of course), then the group had the situation of a floor with a glowing circle of runes, from which a massive tiger made of ice had appeared. Through the archway behind was a glimpse of another cavern, this one massive and much more obviously "constructed" as a room. In the center of that room, over the glowing circle in the ground, was a pillar of white fire which soared from the ground to the ceiling. It was a flame like no other, pure white and so beautiful and intense that it almost hurt to look upon it.

In front of it stood a figure of a woman, arms held out in front of her and to the side.

In order to get to that room, though, they had to walk over the circle of glowing runes.

!	Message from: Pegasus
	I will post again on the 21st June or sooner if everyone has posted by then. This thread, and this adventure, is closed to new players.

[Amaris]

It was relief that nearly turned their legs to hello as the tiger broke into shards. The warm bar remained in their hand for a moment before they dropped it, awaiting a chance that the tiger might reform and attack once more. But it didn't happen. And Amaris' relief was short-lived. Padraig was badly injured, enough to worry the spirit. Her expression was blurry but she seemed frantic over the scholar. Amaris joined this panic with their own as they hurried to get to their first aid kit. Their experience thus far had not been with wounds this deep, but perhaps it would be enough to stop the bleeding. That was most important. Somewhere in the back of their mind, they recalled that Padraig had something that might do the trick but there was no point in wasting their time to ask him and stumble over their words. Amaris took gauze from their kit and pressed it against the bleeding wounds, large hands splayed. With the bleeding tempered, they could begin to calm down.

"Padraig, where's that serum you gave Lakia?" Should the man answer, the hybrid would direct Arwel to the serum's location and pour it over the wounds. Once that was done, they'd double check their work and think ahead. Like to how they were supposed to deal with the runes. It seemed as though they might activate something. "Does the spirit know what these runes do? I don't think it would be wise for us to just step over it if there's a chance something could happen.

Common | Murnasian | Ancient Language

[Arwel Kyric]

Arwel could feel guilt, sadness and a myriad of other negative emotions sweep over him. While they had managed to defeat the tiger, it was at the cost of Padraig being injured, perhaps life-threateningly so. He didn't have much knowledge in injury repair, but he did pull out his own first aid kit to offer Amaris when she sprang into action, figuring that her response to the wound meant she knew what she was doing. He did his best to help, his head down and shoulders slumping. He'd proven to be close to worthless this whole trip. The only thing he did of any good was killing the wolf in the beginning. He doubted his notes on the caves would even be of any real worth either. Everyone else was probably better off without someone like him hanging around, being useless and unable to even protect others in a fight. After Padraig's wound was taken care of, and he'd done whatever was asked of him to help patch it up, he knelt to quietly take samples of the now deceased tiger and then writing out what all was seen in the cave. While he might be critical of himself, his notes were actually very in-depth and concise, with flowing handwriting easy to read. While the sketches of the maps and anything interesting like the cages might not be the best, his notes painted a good picture of what he was talking about to go along with it. He bit his lip as he looked at the weird runes on the ground, doing his best to sketch them and write what it looked like. "What should we do now?" he inquired softly, peering up at them with sad eyes.

[Padraig]

Don't die, the girl said. "I will do my very best not to," Padraig said somewhat weakly, and dryly, when all was said and done. With death staring him in the face, quite literally, it appeared that physics had been his friend. Saved his life. At least in the short term. Very short, unless the bleeding was dealt with swiftly. Whether it was his effort or the others, or them all together that had ended the beast, even in his current state, he curiously glanced at his lap and picked up the tooth that was ice, but had a distinct diamond like appearance.

He'd think about that later and reached out to grab his sack by the strap and pull it to him as Amaris and Arwel dropped down beside him. The tooth he dropped in his sack while blindly searching the thing for his first aid supplies. "Here," he told Amaris and handed her a bottle, the contents of which was for cleaning and disinfecting wounds. It was going to hurt of course, but at this point he'd rather hurt than bleed out. "But first, stop the bleeding." A long strip of cloth would do in that case and he wrapped the thing round his leg, using his own knife to tighten it until he could tie it off.

And once Amaris and Arwell had cleaned the wound, he gave them another bottle. "Swab this over the wound," he told them. "It's a bandage in liquid form that will prevent infection and keep the wound sealed." It would have to do, though there was no putting the blood back that he'd lost. And they needed to move on so he struggled to his feet and took one of the metal bars to use as a walking stick. "Thank you both," he said. Of course there'd be no time for rest and recovery and they'd simply need to move on.

Their destination however, ended up giving him pause as he took it all in. This chamber looked crafted unlike some of the others, but similar to the temple they'd visited earlier. The chamber beyond, the woman who didn't appear to know they were there, the pillar of white flame and the runes...And it didn't seem wise to cross them without knowing more.

Turning to Carlo, Padraig smiled and pointed at the pillar of flame. "Does that have anything to do with the place that needs closing?" he asked. "Do you know who that woman is and why she's here? Or what the runes mean?" If one was to cross them and do it safely, he wondered, was it something like a maze or puzzle that needed deciphering? "The stones we brought, are they connected to this somehow?"

[Pegasus]

15th Ashan 717

Between the three of them, they patched Padraig up. Amaris' medical knowledge came in handy and Arwel's assistance meant that they got the tourniquet on his leg, then Amaris applied the liquid bandages known as the "raft". It was a clear substance which dried on and held the wound closed. Padraig's trousers were ripped and something which became obvious to him was that this was going to be an issue, due to the extreme cold.

So, the four of them were together and facing a decision of what to do. Both Lakia and Padraig had suffered significant blood loss and, whilst Lakia had rested Padraig had not. Anyone with even a snippet of medical knowledge would be concerned about Padraig descending into shock. He could feel it as he started to tremble; his hands were shaking when Carla put her hand in his. Where the ghost touched him, he felt warmth start to flow through him and the others felt the place getting colder. "Think about home," Carla said and they could all see her and hear her now. "Wherever, whatever or whoever that is, think about home. It will help." She squeezed his hand and the overwhelming sensation of cold and trembling started to ease.

There, over the circle of glowing runes, they saw the room ahead of them more clearly. It was like there was a bridge across a deep chasm to the area with the pillar of white flame. From there, three more bridges spanned what seemed to be an impossibly deep darkness. The bridges were constructed, there was no doubting it, as were the massive archways which spanned over them.

At the "end" of each bridge, including the one which they would walk past were they to go to the central 'island', there was a pyramid made from ice. For those who had seen it, the pyramids looked exactly the same as the one in the room with the altar. Each pyramid had in it, in the side which was pointing towards the center of the cavern, an indentation. A space.

It seemed obvious.

The indentations in the pyramids, four in total, were each an individual shape. But it was obvious that they were the shape of the rune-covered stones they had with them.

The woman in question did not see them, she stood entirely still and made no movements at all. Padraig asked Carla a question, then, about the pillar of flame and Carla looked at him. The answer was obvious in her face before she spoke. "I don't know. I think so. I've never seen anyone get this far without dying." Perhaps not reassuring to them, but there it was. "I just know you need to, that's all. You need to take them that way. I don't know why, I just know you do. It needs to be closed, I know that. Please, please do it." The ghost looked at them all with desperation in her eyes.

The woman didn't move, the runes continued to glow on the floor and the flames continued to rise up to the ceiling.

!	Message from: Pegasus
	I will post again on the 25th June or sooner if everyone has posted by then. This thread, and this adventure, is closed to new players. Arwel has 5 x samples of ice tiger pieces. Padraig has 5 x sample of ice tiger pieces (including a tooth).

[Arwel Kyric]

Arwel knew that there would be an issue with Padraig's ripped pants, and he thought on it for a moment. They needed something to cover it so he would stay warm, the cold would do more harm to his leg than good. He glanced down at himself, then up at Padraig again. They were, roughly, the same general size, and so Arwel had an idea. He pulled his bag around his shoulder and pulled out his first aid kit, then one of the cloth bandages from within. While the wound itself was already sealed, he went over to Padraig and said, "Here, let me help." and wrapped the bandage around his leg, covering the entire area where his pants were torn. After that was done, he put away his kit, then got up and took off his faulds, the leg piece to his leather armor that covered the entirety of his lower half. Underneath was the thick winter clothes he'd obtained from the store in exchange for his own clothing, so he knew that the clothes, combined with his warmer heat, would keep him plenty warm. He handed over the leather armor to Padraig and said, "Here, wear this. It's better than just leaving your leg exposed, and it's probably really warm from well...me." he was still hesitant about being open with his race, but since no one had really seemed to care, he was just doing his best to roll with it. "I wouldn't want your flower to have you come back without a leg if there's anything I can do about it." He said, not really letting Padraig say no if he tried to object.

Arwel had noticed Padraig's shaking and had initially planned on tentatively offering him a hug if it would help, since his body was warmer than a humans, but the ghost child, Carla, stepped in first and helped. He glanced over at Amaris and said, "If you want, I can try and melt more ice off of you before we move forward. It wouldn't hurt to give Padraig a moment or two to rest anyways, especially with such an injury." He was trying very hard to be a little more forthcoming with his suggestions and do more to help, as he felt very much at fault for everything that happened, even if there was nothing he could have done about it. If she said yes, he'd heat his hands again, though since he had seen that it wouldn't melt quickly, he did a lower heat than before, so that his hands glowed red but did not catch fire, moving them along all of the ice carefully and delicately, not wanting to burn her. When he was done, feeling a little tired but saying nothing, he glanced up to look around. He was nervous about stepping over where the tiger had spawned, but he noted with interest that there were pyramids, a lot like what he'd peeked at in one of the previous rooms after he'd killed the ice wolf. Of course, from as far away as they were, he could only guess that they were alike, as he hadn't had a good look at the one in the other room as the others had been insistent on going on, and he was far away from the ones here.

He glanced over at Carla and said, "If we touch the stones, are they going to make us vanish like our friend? If so, if we need to use the stones for something, we're going to have to figure out some way to move them without touching them, and I'm not entirely sure how to go about it. Do you have any ideas?" He bit his lip, feeling bad that this little girl was going through so much, and that despite being dead was still being tormented. He hesitated, then added, "I know it's no real consolation, but I intend to find out the names of the people who were trapped in the cages here, and do my best to help put them to rest, including closing whatever was opened here." his voice was soft as he spoke, and he wasn't entirely sure what someone like him could do, but he did know that it was wrong for all of these people to have died, and he wanted to do what was right.

[Padraig]

With help from the others, Padraig's wound was dressed, the bleeding was stopped and he'd thanked both Arwel and Amaris for their help. He wouldn't have been able to manage it alone and might have lost consciousness given enough time. It didn't stop the overwhelming cold however and first he shivered, then tremors took over from head to toe. He might have argued that Arwel didn't need, and maybe shouldn't surrender any of his own protection against the cold. They might instead fashion something out of the small orange sacks of sand that would address the worst of it. But that required time they didn't have.

"Thank you," he said to Arwel once they'd wrapped the bandages and gotten the bit of leather armor on. Warmth or no, that helped since the stiffer leather helped support his leg. All the better to move on with. "Faith will thank you too when we get back." For helping to save her special flower, he meant, and grinned weakly when he said it.

As for Carla? He did indeed think of home when she took his hand, and though he wondered how she did it, the bone chilling cold seemed to slip away noticeably, though he was unaware of what it cost the others in turn. So they'd need to cross over to the center where the white flame rose to the ceiling. The woman on the far side of another was still there, but what interested Padraig most was the pyramid.

It was so like the one he had seen in the temple caused of ice that it must be connected and he looked for any markings there he might recognize. And of course he did, but it was in the sunken places in the surface. So even Carla didn't know if this was the place, the thing they were meant to close. But what he did know, or at least strongly suspect was that here was where the stones were meant to go. What would happen then? He couldn't begin to guess.

That in itself was a risk. Placing the stones could yield a desirable result, or an extreme undesirable one. But in order to find out, they needed to cross that first bridge to the center. Pleased do it, Carla said and Padraig picked up the sack to take with him. And when they got there, his question was similar to Arwel's. "We can't touch the stones ourselves, or whatever became of Lakia will become of us," he said. So he sat the sack down on the ground. "Can you place them Carla?" he asked.

Belatedly, maybe, it was at this point that Padraig hoped that his sense of the small girl was accurate, and that she was actually here to help them, not lure them further into disaster. He was a scientist, not inclined to completely rely on gut instincts. But if they were worth anything, his told him that they could trust her. Besides, what choice did they have?

[Lakia Amaranthine]

Lakia was a bit behind the rest of the group as they head in, but it appeared that they hadn't noticed her rejoining them. Probably had to do with the fact that Padraig looked like whatever they had fought in her absence had messed him up pretty bad. Didn't help that she was mostly silent, pondering what was going on in the ice caves. When the other spoke up about the stones however, she looked up and cleared her throat. "The stones just took me back to the base camp. There was a problem there, though. That ice, the stuff that froze Amaris's hand? Something similar was falling there. If I hadn't been ported back, we might not have been able to wake them up. As it is, they're evacuating, if Zach gets the others awake." she said, before rubbing the back of the neck and looking at Padraig.

"And I have some...bad news. I think it was us, you, me, and Niv, that turned everything on in here, opened the door or whatever. That altar on the first trial, remember? I'm pretty sure it was a seal of some sort and we broke it somehow." she said, before shrugging. "Granted, I don't know how, but it's the only reason I can think of for why that shadow door appeared, or the sleepy ice falling in the main camp all of a sudden. Plus the ice wolf was hidden behind the shadows, before we did whatever we did in the altar room." Lakia grimaced. They certainly hadn't meant to turn the place on. They'd just been curious.

Well, curiosity killed the cat, or so people said. And regardless of their intentions, it had happened, and they had to fix it, so she turned her attention to the task at hand. "Well, let's see if that fire burns, or if it's just a trick." she said, taking out an arrow and throwing it at the fire. Just in case something came out, she pulled out her bow and put an arrow to the string, ready for potential trouble.

[Pegasus]

15th Ashan 717

There was, it seemed, no other choice but to move forward and that was what they did. Stepping over the glowing circle from which the tiger had spawned did nothing except give them all anxiety. Carla nodded her head to Arwel's question and Padraig's response to it. "Can everyone see me now or is it just you? The nice man is looking at me." Carla said to Padraig and, assuming Arwel responded she smiled. "It's nice to be seen and talk to new people. I've been here a long time."

She looked up at Padraig, though and nodded. "I can, yes. Do you want me to?"

He did, but first Lakia experimented with the fire. The arrow sailed through it and straight out of the other side. It appeared it wasn't hot or, at the very least, it did not burn. Odd. Very odd.

They walked, limped, hobbled and stumbled to the first pyramid. The closer they got, those of them who had been close up to the one in the altar room, they recognised it as the same. Exactly the same, except of course for that indentation. The pyramid in the room with the altar had been perfect, pristine.

Padraig opened the sack and Carla got the stone out of there. The first one slotted into place and, as it did, the flame pillar in the center of the room flared brighter, stronger. The pyramid, too, glowed and a sound reverberated around the cavern. It was the same sound that they'd heard in the room with the pillars, was it one or two trials ago?

As the pyramid lit, though, it swirled with the colours that they had seen in the ice. Everything seemed to resonate, one thing with the other. The colours moved in time with the sound which ebbed and flowed with the swirling lights. Carla took Padraig and Arwel's hands, seeming somewhat nervous. There, though, was a continued difference. Padraig felt the little girl hold on to his hand Arwel didn't, but he saw it.

The bridge was not a fun experience. It was narrow and the drop from the sides of it seemed to be endless, bottomless. Yet, the floor beneath them was secure. It might be as well to not look underneath the other three bridges because they, like this one though the adventurers couldn't know it yet, seemed to be suspended in the air.

With the placing of the first rune-stone, the woman in front of the pillar of light stepped forward, one step. She was stepping towards the pillar and the light played across her face. It was the woman in the ceiling, from the room with the spider snake.

But they moved.

Once the first rune-stone was in the first pyramid, Carla looked at Padraig and smiled. "It's closing, isn't it? It's changing." It had to be said they could all feel what she said. The atmosphere in the cavern had changed, it was full of a growing sense of anticipation.

As the woman stepped forward, the pillar in the middle of the room grew brighter, but it also seemed to get thinner, somehow. Certainly, there was plenty of room for them to go past it which was what they had to do to put the rune stone in the second pyramid.

Which they did.

Across the narrow bridge over the bottomless chasm and then, the ghost child put the second rune into the ice pyramid. The sound grew louder, the lights swirled in the two "activated" pyramids (for want of a better word) and everything was more charged again.

Again with the third. Carla tugged Padraig's hand. "I'm afraid," she whispered. "I've been here a long time. If I go, will I be alright?" She looked at him for reassurance but, either way, she took the final rune from the bag and she placed it in the final pyramid. And the world exploded in bright, white, all encompassing light. There was nothing but white in their vision as the last of the rune-stones slipped into the indentation for it.

All they saw was pure white and all they heard was a deep, resonating sound. It was beautiful, there was no doubting it, but it was also awe-inspiring in its beauty. It was like, for a brief split second they saw and touched and heard divinity.

And then, it had stopped.

Their eyes readjusted to the relative darkness and as their vision returned they were standing or leaning where they had been. However, where the pyramids had been there were now tall, floor to ceiling... glowing portals for want of a better expression. Each one was huge, with steps leading towards it.

The pillar in the center had gone. The woman too. There, in the central "island" was a single pyramid, revealed as the pillar of flame had disappeared. They might also be interested to note that the bridge on the right had opened up, the wall of darkness which had enshrouded it clearing, as had all the other walls of dark, revealing where, in fact, they now were.

Of the little girl, there was no sign. However she did not leave without some final gifts which would become apparent. Lakia's words were proven true, should they go down the large corridor which they could see through, the wall of impenetrable darkness was gone and indeed, the scientists were getting themselves defrosted.

But evacuating? No. Zach was far too excited to even think about that. After all. This was where the exploration, as far as he was concerned, really began.

!

Message from: Pegasus

And that, lovely players, is that. What have you discovered? Well, frankly, you don't know. All will be revealed on the 1st Saun 717. In the meantime... 1. Thank you. I hope you've all enjoyed the threads as much as I have. 2. Please do a wrap up post. Once you have, or on the 29th June, I'll put up the epilogue and review. Same things apply in the wrap up post - and they will impact your final rewards. 3. If any of you want to do an "aftermath" thread either solo or collaboratively between yourselves etc - let me know as I have some placeholder posts that I can give. Thank you, all, hope you had fun! Please feel free to let me have feedback / ideas for improving etc.

[Padraig]

He'd been studying the pyramids and flame so intently that he hadn't been aware of Lakia appearing again behind them. But then Padraig had also been planning how he'd navigate bridges with a limp and a walking stick that were narrow at best, and seemed to drop away into nothingness. He started when she spoke and turned round, frowned a little then nodded. He'd wondered off and on what was going on at their point of entry, with those who'd been left behind.

She might be right too, that it was them who'd opened up the way for all these deadly creatures, even if it had been inadvertently. Lives were lost because of that. Jackson's at least. The man had known, or should have known better than any of them the risks of venturing into this place. That knowledge however didn't do much to ease a feeling of being partly responsible. He had the man's wedding ring in his pocket, and was all the more resolved to find Jackson's wife and offer his condolences.

He smiled down at Carla as they went and said, "He can see you. I'm not sure he can hear you however, except when you were lifting the stones." He knew that the child was frightened, more by the unknown than by what she saw around them, maybe more than by what she'd already experienced. But Padraig had to rely on faith. Faith that whatever waited for her was a far better hand than she'd been dealt before. So he'd squeezed her hand to encourage her, and watched as she placed each stone.

And with each, the flame flared more brilliantly than before. No matter what happened once it was all done, the flame, the lights, the musical reverberations, it was all awe inspiring and he couldn't help but watch in wonder as Carla took his hand again. They'd crossed the bridge, she tugged on his sleeve, and looking down, Padraig didn't see a ghost so much, as he saw a frightened child looking for reassurance. Smiling, he dropped down best he could to look her in the eyes. "You'll be alright, I'm sure of it. Better than alright," he told her.

"When you leave here," he told her, and took both her hands in his. "A very nice lady will be waiting for you. Don't let her dark clothing bother you, she's very nice and she's been waiting a long time to meet you. She'll help you get where you're going. You'll know her by the lantern she's carrying and her name is Famula. I've met her before, and though I don't know her very well, she'll remember me." He smiled a little and added as he straightened up. "If you're not sure, or she gives you any trouble, you tell her Padraig sent you."

It was then that the world exploded in bright light white around them and Padraig threw an arm up over his face to shield it. And yet it was beautiful and he wanted to watch, to drink it all in. But then as suddenly as it had happened, it stopped. All gone, the flame, the pyramids, all of it. And looking down, he realized that Carla was gone too. Somehow, he already missed her, and in many ways she'd saved his life and that of the others. "Take good care of her," he whispered, a prayer offered up to Famula herself as he realized that the way was finally clear for them to move on as well.