[Log] The Drying Delta
Synopsis: Malachi, Deirdre, and Kai investigate a shadow near the Tanus shadowpath with a river drying up. Deirdre and Kai discover the water has a few more dangers than just its shallow spots.
--[ The Delta ]----------------------------------------------[ Somewhere in Shadow ]----
Along the shadowpath between Tanus and Amber, at the last waypoint before entering Tanus proper, the Argus slides off the path and into Shadow. A coastline appears, growing quickly from a brown smudge along the horizon to a flat brown plain that stretches as far in one direction as the eye can see. Alongside the ship, the color of the water changes where a wide-mouthed river flows into the sea.
The river is heavily populated with every manner of boat, from riverboats the size of mansions to tiny one-man floating baskets. Closer in, one can began to see how many of the larger boats are stuck in the bottom of the river, or stranded on the banks entirely. The center of the river is clogged solid with small boats, all fighting for space in the narrow line of navigable water left within the much broader marks of what was once a river five times its current width.
Deirdre has not been the best passenger on the trip. She seems to have pasted herself to the side of the ship and only moved when the sailors made her.
Climbing down from the rigging is Kai, who's really half-dangling from the rigging as he climbs in an effort to see as much as he possibly can of the clogged river mouth. He calls down to the deck, "Looks like shortages - er, might want to make sure we're not wasting our fresh water supplies, if the river's any indication. Might not be taking on any here." He hangs by a foot and a hand from the lines-in-use, eyeing the drop to the deck thoughtfully.
The Argus slows on the approach, halting a few hundred yards out from the river's mouth. The built up mud along the mouth of the river prevents the ship from moving any closer without risking running aground. On deck, Malachi passes a spyglass to Deirdre, with a glance up to Kai. "Two months back, the river was three times that size," he says. "Isn't a seasonal change here."
Deirdre takes the spyglass, looking relieved. Focusing on the river and beyond, "Do they follow the River God this far out?"
Kai finishes making his way down to the deck, landing with a booted thump. "Odd, that. River God, then, or maybe drought?"
The river winds back across the plain, joining another branch of the river that broke away from the same source around a low rise in the flatland. A few houses perch on stilts, and a hulking stone building sits at the point where the river splits.
"Heard mention of a river goddess," Malachi says. "Shadow of the River God, maybe. Hadn't explored further in. The Orchid Queen couldn't come this near."
Deirdre holds out the spyglass, "What are we looking for?"
Kai squints at the flats, then moves to take the spyglass with a deferential nod to Deirdre. "I'm beginning to wonder if gods aren't bad news."
Malachi says, "Recent shadow-wide changes. Sources of power. Anything unusual." He leaves the interpretation of "unusual" when out in Shadow up to those around him.
Deirdre nods toward the mudflats, "We've got our first hint."
Malachi nods, keeping an eye on certain small, fast boats with more men than necessary to man them that slip through the floating city. There are signs of more advanced technology here and there among the boats: crude machine guns mounted on boat prows, aluminum poles being used to push through the mud. None of it looks new or well-maintained. "Need to find the source of the change. God or the road or anything else."
Deirdre looks at Kai then Malachi, "Here's hoping that they're communicative folks."
Kai nods an agreement with Deirdre, holding the spyglass up to an eye and training it on the flats to spy between and past houses. "Well, there's pretty much four ways for the water to be drying up," he remarks quizzically. "Up, down, out to see, or a cut-off up ahead. I doubt it's cut off up ahead, or the boats, er, probably wouldn't be here."
Deirdre looks up at the sky, frowning and thoughtful.
Kai offers the spyglass back to the others while pointing with his other hand, trying to keep a bead on some distant landmark. "Look over there. Tell me if it, er. Looks to you what it does to me. Mind, not saying it's related, but it is odd."
Deirdre looks over at the spyglass as it comes back. She takes it and tries to find what Kai is indicating. "What am I looking at?"
The sky is a brilliant, cloudless blue.
"Stone building," Kai tells Deirdre, trying to maintain his bead. "Er, well, I went to university in Begma, you see. And I recognize a train station when I see one. When it hasn't been squashed flat by a rampaging steam-power mechanical exhibition, at least."
Deirdre's brow wrinkles above the spyglass. "I'm not the best with technology, but that looks about right to me. Perhaps an underground?"
Malachi takes a few brisk steps away to address his first mate in a low voice. The men on deck have taken up watch around the railings, many of them with crossbows at hand. None of the ships of the river have approached so far out yet, though a few that look...more or less like merchants have edged nearer that direction.
Kai says cheerfully, "Well, I suppose we'll have to go have a closer look to find out, what?" He doesn't seem averse to the idea.
Deirdre says, "Very little can ever be learned by standing around." She closes up the spyglass and looks around, "And that certainly is a place to start."
Malachi keeps his eyes on the potential threats out in the river. "Want any men along?" A few of the crew are already preparing to lower a boat over the side, with a shallow enough hull that it'll be able to fight its way up the river. The captain looks more inclined at the moment to stay near his ship, in case of a boarding attempt.
Deirdre looks at Kai and then Malachi, to Malachi, "You have my card?"
Malachi nods, with a tap on a pocket of his coat.
Deirdre says, "Then I think we can do this alone. Just call if we've been gone too long."
Kai looks between Deirdre and Malachi, then bows to Deirdre. "Speed and stealth it is."
Deirdre crosses to the boat with her very pitiful sea legs. She eases herself into the smaller boat without falling in.
Kai does not cannonball his way into the boat, but does have the hesitance of someone not used to moving from large boat to small boat. He finally settles for a combination of climbing and rapelling to get down into it, then picks up the oars. /This/ part he looks confident about.
Deirdre's knuckles are only marginally whiter as she holds onto the sides of the smaller vessel. She does not look as if she intends to help propel the boat.
The crew of the Argus lowers the smaller boat the rest of the way, and draw the ropes back up as it settles into the water. Not far away, the wide mouth of the river beckons, if in a clogged, noisy, roiling kind of way.
Kai is - perhaps fortunately for Deirdre - a champion rower. He points the boat's nose at the Argus, one hand lifting in a cheery wave to those still on deck, then grips the oars and flexes as he begins to propel the smaller boat away from the ship. He suggests to Deirdre, "Pick out a landing site, one where we can drag the boat up onto the flats, maybe."
Deirdre looks out ahead, "The closer the better."
The banks of the river are all gummy mud, with less fortunate boats mired within and the still-moving traffic trying very hard not to be shoved into them by more aggressive travelers. In a matter of moments, the small boat is surrounded by the throng.
Kai tells Deirdre with casual helpfulness, "I was on the sculling team at university. Usually river traffic, so we should do well enough." He shifts, looking over his shoulder to begin navigating the insane press of larger vessels. "This'll want some care. Help spot if you would?"
Deirdre's attention shifts from the shore to the boats nearby, her eyes searching merchants as well as private vessels.
RPG: Kai challenges a difficulty of 7, using his Grace. Kai succeeds.
RPG: Deirdre challenges a difficulty of 7, using her Resolve. Deirdre almost succeeds.
Kai zips with casual ease around a freighter, calling a cheery hallo up to a sailboat five times the size of the little runabout he and Deirdre are in. He's done this before, even if not quite under these circumstances. "Found a good spot?" he queries.
Deirdre's attention is drawn away from the landings by a merchant with shifty eyes. Unfortunately his intentions are enough to distract her from the well armed group bearing down on them until it is nearly too late. "Incoming."
The pursuing boat is no larger than the one Kai and Deirdre are in, but it holds six men, all of them armed. A grizzled man with a scar running across his mouth to give him a perpetual grimace stands at the prow, a machete drawn. Solitary merchants begin pushing out of the way, headless of the muck in their haste to not be in front of the oncoming group.
Deirdre's hand goes to her saber, "Can we evade?"
Kai begins hauling on the oars as if his life might depend on it - as after all it might. "We're definitely going to try." The end of the little skip actually lifts slightly out of the water with the sudden surge.
The heavier boat picks up speed to follow, accelerating more slowly. At the front, the scarred man takes in the prospect of his target getting clean away, and leaps out from his boat toward the other before the distance can increase any further.
RPG: Deirdre challenges a difficulty of 6, using her Force plus SKL-AR. Deirdre succeeds.
Kai glances over his shoulder at two large boats with a narrow gap. "Brace yourself," he calls to Deirdre. "I'm going to try to pass between those two ships before they pass one another!" He piles on the speed.
RPG: Kai challenges a difficulty of 9, using his Grace. Kai succeeds.
Deirdre draws her sword, and plants her feet. With a practiced stroke she is able to dispatch the enemy launching himself toward them.
The dead pirate tumbles over the side of the boat to splash into the water, with a very surprised grimace on his face.
Kai hurtles the small skiff through the gap between the two ships. The ship's keel barely seems to /touch/ the water en route, and in the moments thereafter, the view is increasingly blocked as the two large ships loom closer and closer to one another.
A nasty crunch, and a sudden rise of shouting on the far side of the two ships, indicates the fate of the pursuing boat. The stone building up the river bobs in and out of sight as sails obscure the view up ahead and then move out of the way.
Deirdre drops back down to her seat. Her bloody sword still out.
Kai exhales, and slows his pace a trifle. He asks Deirdre, "So d'you suppose this is the usual welcoming committee, or something about us in particular?"
Deirdre says, "I do get that alot. Something about looks being deceiving."
Deirdre points off in the near distance, "Looks like there's a landing ahead."
"Oh, good. Are we planning on coming back or leaving the skiff here and clubbing in to buy Malachi a new one?" Kai inquires. He looks over his shoulder periodically, aiming the small boat at the landing.
Deirdre says, "I'd prefer to leave our options open."
Kai nods. "Right. No sinking the boat, then." He looks in the bottom of the boat for a length of line.
The landing has seen better days: the stone is chipped, and all the metal bands and ladders are red-brown with rust. It does not, however, seem likely to collapse under the weight of one or two people stepping on it.
Deirdre says, "Don't begrudge them just because some toughs tried to rough us up. If we can't use it, I'm sure someone will be able to."
Kai slows down, settling the oarlocks so the oars won't slide out, and pulls them into the boat. He picks up a length of line, and busies himself with securing the skiff. "Oh, I'm not one to hold a grudge. Er. Except the actual people who try to kill me. Or offend me. Trying to kill me usually offends me, though. Would you like a hand, your highness?"
Deirdre gives Kai a quick smile, "I think I can manage." She hoists herself onto the firmer landing.
Kai moves to follow Deirdre once he's sure the skiff won't be floating off downstream.
A cement path runs along what used to be the bank of the river, now a good distance from where the water stops, down to the stone building. A long, low whistle echoes out of the building, and a puff of steam escapes from some unseen door.
Kai eyes the building, then Deirdre. "Well... sounds like a train station..."
Deirdre seems happier now that her feet are on solid ground, though she's not really more stable for the first few steps. "Steam. That's a good sign."
It's a conveniently uneventful walk to the building. Inside the station, train tracks run along the bottom of a channel cut through the center of the building, under a few feet of water. Several train cars wait with their doors open, the seats inside grimy and torn. Only a handful of people have sat down inside, clutching baskets and bundles to themselves warily. On the wall of the station, next to an unmanned and locked down ticket booth, a map of the system declares they're at Final Delta. The line goes through five or six stops before ending at a location marked as Temple of Sawati.
Kai eyes the people, the map, and the final location. "...Pretty ring to it, but why do I have a sinking feeling?"
Deirdre brightens a little at the map, "Temples are always an excellent place to start."
Kai nods, looking dubiously at the cut channels. He points discreetly to them. "Thinking that might be where the water's gone to, myself. Er. I suppose we have to buy tickets. Or mug someone for theirs. And their clothes."
An official announcement crackles out over loudspeakers installed behind heavy grills in the walls. Static makes it nigh incomprehensible, but from the way the last few people wandering about the station move towards the train cars, it might be an announcement of imminent departure.
Deirdre starts toward the car, she doesn't seem concerned with the thought of paying for or locating tickets.
Kai shrugs philosophically, tagging along behind Deirdre faithfully.
A few seconds after the two of them have stepped into a car, the doors slide shut, and the train groans into slow action. It accelerates with the alacrity of a pregnant water buffalo, rattling on down the tracks. Water begins to rise up around the cars on the outside, sliding past the windows as the train descends deeper into the canal.
Kai adjusts his sword. Just in case. He doesn't seem particularly afraid so much as curious, and a trifle cautious of the unfamiliar surroundings. "Fascinating. I'd venture a guess as to how it works, but I'm afraid I'm a terrible example of Begmanosity."
Deirdre drops into a seat, taking the time to clean her sword and put it away. "I like what's become of Begma. It has a certain poetry to it."
The train builds more speed, the groan and rattles fading away as it dives deeper into the water. The canal flows into a dark tunnel, submerging the train entirely. Dim lights inside the car flicker on, and one continues to flicker while the others provide a steadier pale glow. Down at the far end of the car, a woman wrapped in a dark blue sari puts on a pair of spectacles to read.
Deirdre turns her attention to the exterior once her sword is cared for.
Kai grins at Deirdre, gallantly remaining standing. "I am a much better poet than I am a Begman, your highness. I agree, though I think there is a danger in Begma to itself." He looks thoughtful for a moment, then looks around the train.
The canal has been cut through rock, or blasted through: the glow shining from the cars shows uneven stone walls, and sometimes darker holes leading off to unknown depths. Inside the car, ancient advertisements faded or written over into illegibility still cling to the walls above the windows.
Deirdre says, "They are, I think, the most repressed daring people I've managed to find in shadow." Her eyes following the walls outside, "How old do you think those marks are?"
RPG: Kai challenges a difficulty of 7, using his Wits plus SKL-BA. Kai succeeds.
Kai frowns. "Well, I'm no expert - that is to say, my curriculae never involved outright archeology - but I'd say less than a hundred years. Call it between two and five decades."
Deirdre nods, "We might have another culprit."
The train slides out of the tunnel, and up until daylight again as it approaches the first stop. There's no one waiting at the station, and the woman inside the car doesn't look up from her reading as the doors slide open.
The train rattles on through four stops, picking up two or three people and letting them out again. Each tunnel is a little longer than the last. At the second to last stop on the line, the woman who's been reading all this time tucks away her spectacles, stands up, and goes for the door. She stops there, and looks back to Deirdre and Kai. "It is dangerous to continue to the temple," she murmurs, and then hurries onward, leaving them alone in the car.
Deirdre smiles at Kai, "Well, that's an excellent sign. Isn't it?"
Kai says thoughtfully, "At the least it means they know we're coming. But oh well. Who wants to live forever?"
Deirdre says, "It's not about living, it's about solving the mystery today."
The doors slide shut, and the train descends once more. As it enters the final tunnel, the lights turn on, two of them flickering now. Dark holes in the walls of the tunnel appear every few seconds, the flickering lights making it look as if shadows are crawling inside as the train speeds past.
Deirdre laughs, almost giddy. Her full attention is what is outside their car.
Kai's attention is divided between outside and inside, and he puts a hand on his saber. Just in case. He seems to find it comfortable.
RPG: Deirdre challenges a difficulty of 6, using her Wits. Deirdre succeeds.
RPG: Kai challenges a difficulty of 6, using his Wits. Kai almost succeeds.
Kai flinches slightly, attention dragged towards the shadows in the tunnels. "Er. Maybe we want to stand in the middle of the train's corridor. Away from windows."
Deirdre's head follows one of the holes as it flies past their window, "Don't show fear yet. It's just watching right now."
The car they're standing in jerks, and rattles as a scraping sound comes from the roof. The train doesn't slow.
Kai looks up, hand tightening on his sword. "I'm guessing it's stopped watching."
Deirdre says, "Patience." She moves to one side, eyes still toward the outside, "Be ready, but stay calm. No matter what it is."
More scraping from above. Then a ping, like a rivet being yanked off a sheet of metal. Water trickles down from the ceiling.
Deirdre's attention is caught by a shape outside the window. She nods toward it in a respectful manner for some cultures.
RPG: Deirdre challenges a difficulty of 8, using her Grace. Deirdre fails.
A long, dark shape outside the window keeps pace with the train, and twists something that might be a head towards Deirdre. Then a claw slams into the window--not breaking through, but cracking a spiderweb of lines through the thick glass.
Deirdre backs away from the window, "Alright, perhaps now is a time to panic."
Kai stares outside the window. "Well, it's not dead yet." He draws his sword, seeming mildly fascinated. "Oh, why waste a good panic? Panic after. Poetry now. But, er, take cover." Gallantly, he tries to put himself between the breaking window and Deirdre.
Deirdre laughs at Kai, "I think not." She draws her own sword.
"Well, I meant from the breaking glass, but have it your way." Kai grins, falling into a ready stance.
The scraping from the roof continues: the tiny trickle of water has become a light shower from multiple points. At the window, the shape gathers itself back, and then punches forward, a clawed gray hand punching through the window in a spray of broken glass and water.
Deirdre backs to the other wall, watching the hand while remaining en garde.
A second hand joins the first, scrabbling at the hole in the glass to pull out another chunk. The creature doing the shredding has a long, snake-like body, with rows of clawed and webbed hands on a series of bony arms all along its sides.
Kai darts forward in an attempt to slice off a hand before it can pull itself through.
Deirdre rushes forward as she sees Kai do so, "Well, either we've found something or this is a very unpleasant shadow."
Kai suggests, "Possibly both? Still, if the hands go, it can't hang on, right?"
RPG: Kai challenges a difficulty of 6, using his Grace. Kai succeeds.
RPG: Deirdre challenges a difficulty of 6, using her Force. Deirdre succeeds.
Kai brings the edge of the saber down with a graceful swoosh. It's sharper than it looks; there's the crunch of steel slicing through bone, followed by the rattle of the gray hand falling to the floor of the carriage. "I hope that hurt."
Deirdre swipes at the second hand, closely following Kai's. Her sword comes down hard at the joint.
The creature outside is forcibly detached from its hold through the window, two hands splattering across the floor. Other claws slide along the side of the train, and then away, as the wounded beast is outpaced. Which leaves only the small problems of the water pouring in through the hole in the window, and the scratching from above.
Deirdre reaches for the disembodied hand and tries to shove it back into the space it had recently occupied.
Kai gets a dawning look of dismay as water begins pouring in. "...I think we're in trouble. Er. Let's run to another car and hope we can seal this one off?"
The hand goes splashing back outside through the waterfall pouring in, to disappear somewhere in the tunnel behind the train. Overhead, clawtips puncture through the roof.
Deirdre looks dismayed and nods, "Lets do."
There are doors at either end of the car, locked down with wheels that seal them off from the next car down the line.
Deirdre frowns at the wheeled doors as she turns her attention to their escape, "These look a bit water tight."
Kai nods quickly, racing towards the head of the train. "Odds are the engine compartment will be more armoured," he suggests hastily. "Separate the rest?"
RPG: Deirdre challenges a difficulty of 7, using her Force plus BLD-OB. Deirdre succeeds.
Deirdre says, "We'll have to do this quickly." She crosses to the door, her sword under one arm, "Stick close."
The door lock spins open easily for Deirdre, ankle-deep water splashing into the new car as it's opened up. The hole in the ceiling in the first car is definitely getting bigger, and there are more than two hands pulling at the metal there.
Kai is, fortunately, quite speedy; he moves to keep up with her without pushing into her, trying to pull the door closed behind them.
The door swings shut more easily than it opened, leaving a puddle of water all across the floor of the car. There's no sign of anyone else in this part of the train, either.
Deirdre moves to close the door behind them.
It's sort of like leapfrog, only involving running and opening and slamming doors. Kai hurries to the end of the new car, trying to open the door.
RPG: Kai challenges a difficulty of 7, using his Force. Kai almost succeeds.
Kai grunts as he tugs on the wheel. It squeaks, but refuses to budge more than an inch. "Grergh!"
Deirdre doesn't have Kai's urgency, taking the moment to hastily clean her sword and put it away before reaching to help.
The door Deirdre shut behind them begins to rattle, and grind, as something begins pulling at the wheel on it from the other side.
RPG: Deirdre challenges a difficulty of 7, using her Force plus BLD-OB. Deirdre succeeds.
Deirdre gives Kai a hand, her concern returning as the noises start to emanate from the door.
The next door spins open, to reveal a control room up ahead. It's full of flashing lights, control panels, and no driver at all.
Kai looks simultaneously relieved and terrified - which is odd, because he didn't look terrified at all with the monsters. "Er. I'm letting you handle this, princess. You don't want me at the controls. Really. Take my word for it."
Deirdre seems more intent on closing the door behind her. She turns, shrugging, "I'm not the best at this, but let me see, they usually make these kinds of tasks quite simple."
Kai holds his sword to his chest like a teddybear, hugging it and very pointedly Not Touching Anything.
RPG: Deirdre declares she has Shadow lore of at least level 5.
Deirdre looks it over, nibbling at her lower lip, "Well, that's our problem." She reaches for a level and pushes it forward.
The train surges forward in a sudden, jolting burst of speed, as if it's been chugging along with the brakes on this entire time.
Kai sways, but catches himself. "Oh, good. Maybe it'll shake those things off as well."
Deirdre says, "It's our best chance at the moment to actually make it to the Temple."
Kai nods, looking for a safe place to hang on. "Here's hoping! Oh, er, by the way. Kai Feldane. Terribly rude of me, remiss of me not to've mentioned sooner. How d'you do?"
Deirdre says, "Now that we've saved each other from horrible fates you'll call me Deirdre. Unless there's a brother around that might make you rethink that."
The lights in the control room switch off. A moment later, the train emerges from the tunnel in a roaring splash of water, speeding towards the final stop. Dark shadows swarm about the train a moment longer in the water, falling quickly behind as the tracks move through shallower channels. Up ahead, an ornate temple wtih a domed roof perches atop a hill. Below, the canal ends at an open train platform, a narrow set of stairs leading from the platform to the temple above.
Deirdre starts slowing the train down again, just in case.
Kai grins cheerfully. "I'll duck brothers whenever I can. Wouldn't be the first time. Er - pretend I didn't say that." He eyes the windows. "Think we brought any hitchhikers?"
Deirdre says, "Likely, but now that we're here, hopefully we can manage to find a solution."
Kai nods. "Don't suppose there's an 'electrocute shell' command button there." He looks wistful. "Flash-fried monsters."
Deirdre says, "I don't think those come standard."
The train groans and rattles wildly as it attempts to slow down quickly. A red light begins flashing on the control panel. The platform nears very quickly--and then thuds into the front car with a crackle of glass, not fast enough to do much more than dent the sides.
Kai says philosophically, "Ah well. Pity." He braces himself as the light begins to flash, though he's still shaken off balance a bit by the impact. Flailing, he does his level best NOT to accidentally grope Deirdre as his cousin once did to a duchess.
Deirdre braces herself as best she can and then starts to open the door again.
The door opens easily, unlocking automatically as the train begins to power itself down. In the canal outside, there's only a foot of water over the tracks, and no sign of the creatures.
Deirdre jumps out and immediately begins looking around.
"Well, that's encouraging," Kai remarks, following Deirdre out. "Unless the thingummies are afraid of whatever's here."
The air is very still, and smells of sweet flowers. It also smells, more faintly, of decay. There's no sign of animal life or any people, though the hill is coated in bright green plants that give shade to the stairs up.
Kai looks interestedly at the plants, moving to pluck one.
Deirdre follows the stairs, more intent on the possibility of religious iconography.
RPG: Kai challenges a difficulty of 8, using his Resolve plus BLD-FE. Kai almost succeeds.
The stairs switch back and forth on the way up, past murals depicting scenes of a four-armed woman who sits by the side of a river, playing a lute. In some of the images, she plays with two hands while her other two hands pour water into the river.
Deirdre spends her time on the murals, slowing to consider each as she climbs the stairs.
Kai winces, dropping the plant. "Ugh. Steer away from this stuff." He wipes his hand carefully, swearing under his breath as he moves to follow Deirdre. The murals get his attention, and he stares with interest.
Deirdre says, "Oh?" She looks back at the walls, "I think something may have twisted things here. Pretty sure it's the right spot."
Kai hms. "Goddess of rivers, music - possibly also of art. She seems to be the source of the water, if you look here," he points to one of the murals. "It's actually a not uncommon theme - water and creativity are linked, after all, in a lot of mythos. Maybe she's dying? Or, er. maybe a rock fell and is blocking something."
The stairs at top open onto a flower-filled garden; the scent is so sweet it's nearly overpowering. In the center of a pavilion placed there, an ornate throne cascades water down its sides into a wide, deep pool. The cloudy surface of the water ripples constantly from the fountain's flow.
Deirdre says, "Or the beings below are stealing her gift."
Kai frowns a bit. "Well, the goddess normally would sit on the throne. Er. Depending on the magical effect, I'd guess offerings placed anywhere in the river possibly would show up here."
Deirdre frowns as well, "I wonder if they've lost her. Perhaps there's something of a reflection with the River Kings."
A flower bobs across the surface of the pool, spinning about on a fat, egg-shaped stem.
Kai hms. "Well... I could try climbing up there." He pauses, looking at the flower.
Deirdre says, "Grab that."
Deirdre says, "That is how they are meant to be."
Kai goes to grab the flower obediently. "Er. Sure?"
When picked up, the flower bursts apart in Kai's hand, the bulbous stem splitting open. It deposits a slimy gray creature in his palm: a tiny snake with rows of tinier arms, its hands studded with miniscule claws.
Deirdre says, "Well, no, that cannot be right."
Kai's eyes open wide. "Yeeegh!" The snake goes flying to the ground and he stomps on it. Instinct appears to have taken over.
The snake turns into a tiny sticky smear on the beautiful tile floor of the pavilion. In the pool, there are other shapes bobbing gently beneath the cloudy water.
Deirdre leans over the pool to see what lies beneath.
Three hands, not attached to anything else, spin about slowly underwater. More grey snakes slip back and forth between the fingers, nearly invisible through the haze in the water.
Deirdre says, "The corruption begins here."
Kai asks uncertainly, "So what do we do?"
Deirdre says, "What did you learn from the plants?"
Kai answers promptly, "Poisonous. - Oh." He nods, cognition dawning. "Right. Poisonous plants, corruption. Makes sense. Want me to go back down and do something about those?"
Deirdre says, "I think these up here would be the right place to start."
Kai nods, turning to head down the stairs again. "Right. Back in half a tick."
Deirdre paces around the garden, waiting for Kai's return.
There's a faint sound of falling vegetation as Kai's sword sweeps through leaves and flowers. Slowly, the scent of the flowers begins to ebb.
Deirdre calls down the hill, "Need any help?"
Deirdre frowns at something she spies, leaning closer to brush a few flowers aside.
Kai calls from below, "Seems all right so far! How about you?"
Deirdre lets forth a string of very unladylike expletives. Removing a be-ringed hand from between the flowers.
Kai trots up the steps at the cursing. "What's up?"
Deirdre holds out a feminine hand, not her own. Water trickles from the palm. "I've found their goddess. At least one of the important parts."
Kai winces. "Well, there were the other three hands - she had four. Let's see if she's, er, reassemblyable."
Deirdre moves to set the hand upon the throne, palm up.
Kai moves to where the other hands had been.
The water pouring from the throne clears slightly, and down in the pool the infant snakes wriggle in some mild distress around the fingers of the three remaining hands.
Kai hms. "I think I'll go cut down more flowers," he decides. "Let me know if you see any other changes."
Deirdre shakes her head, "Wait here for a moment." She then plunges her hand into the pool, reaching for the hands.
Kai obligingly waits, sword held at the ready.
Tiny snakes dart away from Deirdre's hand when she reaches in, leaving the other hands easily acquired.
Deirdre passes the hands to Kai as she extracts them, nodding toward the throne.
Kai does not seem too squeamish about handling, er, hands; he puts them with the other hands, examining them for a moment.
Deirdre says, "Palm up. She still needs to provide for her people."
Water flows from the palms of the hands, faster and stronger as each additional piece of the goddess joins them on the throne. In the pool, the infant snakes begin piping shrilly in pain as the water clears.
Kai frowns. "There's no spirit left, not right now. It does seem to be working, but - do you see any more parts in there? Right now, it's more of a relic than, er, a goddess."
Deirdre says, "Goddesses are often spirits of their people rather than actual beings. Physical forms aren't always necessary." She nods toward the throne as she wipes her hands on her pants. "She'll care for her people, even beyond death."
Kai exhales. "Well. Hopefully that'll do it, then."
--[ The Delta ]----------------------------------------------[ Somewhere in Shadow ]----
Along the shadowpath between Tanus and Amber, at the last waypoint before entering Tanus proper, the Argus slides off the path and into Shadow. A coastline appears, growing quickly from a brown smudge along the horizon to a flat brown plain that stretches as far in one direction as the eye can see. Alongside the ship, the color of the water changes where a wide-mouthed river flows into the sea.
The river is heavily populated with every manner of boat, from riverboats the size of mansions to tiny one-man floating baskets. Closer in, one can began to see how many of the larger boats are stuck in the bottom of the river, or stranded on the banks entirely. The center of the river is clogged solid with small boats, all fighting for space in the narrow line of navigable water left within the much broader marks of what was once a river five times its current width.
Deirdre has not been the best passenger on the trip. She seems to have pasted herself to the side of the ship and only moved when the sailors made her.
Climbing down from the rigging is Kai, who's really half-dangling from the rigging as he climbs in an effort to see as much as he possibly can of the clogged river mouth. He calls down to the deck, "Looks like shortages - er, might want to make sure we're not wasting our fresh water supplies, if the river's any indication. Might not be taking on any here." He hangs by a foot and a hand from the lines-in-use, eyeing the drop to the deck thoughtfully.
The Argus slows on the approach, halting a few hundred yards out from the river's mouth. The built up mud along the mouth of the river prevents the ship from moving any closer without risking running aground. On deck, Malachi passes a spyglass to Deirdre, with a glance up to Kai. "Two months back, the river was three times that size," he says. "Isn't a seasonal change here."
Deirdre takes the spyglass, looking relieved. Focusing on the river and beyond, "Do they follow the River God this far out?"
Kai finishes making his way down to the deck, landing with a booted thump. "Odd, that. River God, then, or maybe drought?"
The river winds back across the plain, joining another branch of the river that broke away from the same source around a low rise in the flatland. A few houses perch on stilts, and a hulking stone building sits at the point where the river splits.
"Heard mention of a river goddess," Malachi says. "Shadow of the River God, maybe. Hadn't explored further in. The Orchid Queen couldn't come this near."
Deirdre holds out the spyglass, "What are we looking for?"
Kai squints at the flats, then moves to take the spyglass with a deferential nod to Deirdre. "I'm beginning to wonder if gods aren't bad news."
Malachi says, "Recent shadow-wide changes. Sources of power. Anything unusual." He leaves the interpretation of "unusual" when out in Shadow up to those around him.
Deirdre nods toward the mudflats, "We've got our first hint."
Malachi nods, keeping an eye on certain small, fast boats with more men than necessary to man them that slip through the floating city. There are signs of more advanced technology here and there among the boats: crude machine guns mounted on boat prows, aluminum poles being used to push through the mud. None of it looks new or well-maintained. "Need to find the source of the change. God or the road or anything else."
Deirdre looks at Kai then Malachi, "Here's hoping that they're communicative folks."
Kai nods an agreement with Deirdre, holding the spyglass up to an eye and training it on the flats to spy between and past houses. "Well, there's pretty much four ways for the water to be drying up," he remarks quizzically. "Up, down, out to see, or a cut-off up ahead. I doubt it's cut off up ahead, or the boats, er, probably wouldn't be here."
Deirdre looks up at the sky, frowning and thoughtful.
Kai offers the spyglass back to the others while pointing with his other hand, trying to keep a bead on some distant landmark. "Look over there. Tell me if it, er. Looks to you what it does to me. Mind, not saying it's related, but it is odd."
Deirdre looks over at the spyglass as it comes back. She takes it and tries to find what Kai is indicating. "What am I looking at?"
The sky is a brilliant, cloudless blue.
"Stone building," Kai tells Deirdre, trying to maintain his bead. "Er, well, I went to university in Begma, you see. And I recognize a train station when I see one. When it hasn't been squashed flat by a rampaging steam-power mechanical exhibition, at least."
Deirdre's brow wrinkles above the spyglass. "I'm not the best with technology, but that looks about right to me. Perhaps an underground?"
Malachi takes a few brisk steps away to address his first mate in a low voice. The men on deck have taken up watch around the railings, many of them with crossbows at hand. None of the ships of the river have approached so far out yet, though a few that look...more or less like merchants have edged nearer that direction.
Kai says cheerfully, "Well, I suppose we'll have to go have a closer look to find out, what?" He doesn't seem averse to the idea.
Deirdre says, "Very little can ever be learned by standing around." She closes up the spyglass and looks around, "And that certainly is a place to start."
Malachi keeps his eyes on the potential threats out in the river. "Want any men along?" A few of the crew are already preparing to lower a boat over the side, with a shallow enough hull that it'll be able to fight its way up the river. The captain looks more inclined at the moment to stay near his ship, in case of a boarding attempt.
Deirdre looks at Kai and then Malachi, to Malachi, "You have my card?"
Malachi nods, with a tap on a pocket of his coat.
Deirdre says, "Then I think we can do this alone. Just call if we've been gone too long."
Kai looks between Deirdre and Malachi, then bows to Deirdre. "Speed and stealth it is."
Deirdre crosses to the boat with her very pitiful sea legs. She eases herself into the smaller boat without falling in.
Kai does not cannonball his way into the boat, but does have the hesitance of someone not used to moving from large boat to small boat. He finally settles for a combination of climbing and rapelling to get down into it, then picks up the oars. /This/ part he looks confident about.
Deirdre's knuckles are only marginally whiter as she holds onto the sides of the smaller vessel. She does not look as if she intends to help propel the boat.
The crew of the Argus lowers the smaller boat the rest of the way, and draw the ropes back up as it settles into the water. Not far away, the wide mouth of the river beckons, if in a clogged, noisy, roiling kind of way.
Kai is - perhaps fortunately for Deirdre - a champion rower. He points the boat's nose at the Argus, one hand lifting in a cheery wave to those still on deck, then grips the oars and flexes as he begins to propel the smaller boat away from the ship. He suggests to Deirdre, "Pick out a landing site, one where we can drag the boat up onto the flats, maybe."
Deirdre looks out ahead, "The closer the better."
The banks of the river are all gummy mud, with less fortunate boats mired within and the still-moving traffic trying very hard not to be shoved into them by more aggressive travelers. In a matter of moments, the small boat is surrounded by the throng.
Kai tells Deirdre with casual helpfulness, "I was on the sculling team at university. Usually river traffic, so we should do well enough." He shifts, looking over his shoulder to begin navigating the insane press of larger vessels. "This'll want some care. Help spot if you would?"
Deirdre's attention shifts from the shore to the boats nearby, her eyes searching merchants as well as private vessels.
RPG: Kai challenges a difficulty of 7, using his Grace. Kai succeeds.
RPG: Deirdre challenges a difficulty of 7, using her Resolve. Deirdre almost succeeds.
Kai zips with casual ease around a freighter, calling a cheery hallo up to a sailboat five times the size of the little runabout he and Deirdre are in. He's done this before, even if not quite under these circumstances. "Found a good spot?" he queries.
Deirdre's attention is drawn away from the landings by a merchant with shifty eyes. Unfortunately his intentions are enough to distract her from the well armed group bearing down on them until it is nearly too late. "Incoming."
The pursuing boat is no larger than the one Kai and Deirdre are in, but it holds six men, all of them armed. A grizzled man with a scar running across his mouth to give him a perpetual grimace stands at the prow, a machete drawn. Solitary merchants begin pushing out of the way, headless of the muck in their haste to not be in front of the oncoming group.
Deirdre's hand goes to her saber, "Can we evade?"
Kai begins hauling on the oars as if his life might depend on it - as after all it might. "We're definitely going to try." The end of the little skip actually lifts slightly out of the water with the sudden surge.
The heavier boat picks up speed to follow, accelerating more slowly. At the front, the scarred man takes in the prospect of his target getting clean away, and leaps out from his boat toward the other before the distance can increase any further.
RPG: Deirdre challenges a difficulty of 6, using her Force plus SKL-AR. Deirdre succeeds.
Kai glances over his shoulder at two large boats with a narrow gap. "Brace yourself," he calls to Deirdre. "I'm going to try to pass between those two ships before they pass one another!" He piles on the speed.
RPG: Kai challenges a difficulty of 9, using his Grace. Kai succeeds.
Deirdre draws her sword, and plants her feet. With a practiced stroke she is able to dispatch the enemy launching himself toward them.
The dead pirate tumbles over the side of the boat to splash into the water, with a very surprised grimace on his face.
Kai hurtles the small skiff through the gap between the two ships. The ship's keel barely seems to /touch/ the water en route, and in the moments thereafter, the view is increasingly blocked as the two large ships loom closer and closer to one another.
A nasty crunch, and a sudden rise of shouting on the far side of the two ships, indicates the fate of the pursuing boat. The stone building up the river bobs in and out of sight as sails obscure the view up ahead and then move out of the way.
Deirdre drops back down to her seat. Her bloody sword still out.
Kai exhales, and slows his pace a trifle. He asks Deirdre, "So d'you suppose this is the usual welcoming committee, or something about us in particular?"
Deirdre says, "I do get that alot. Something about looks being deceiving."
Deirdre points off in the near distance, "Looks like there's a landing ahead."
"Oh, good. Are we planning on coming back or leaving the skiff here and clubbing in to buy Malachi a new one?" Kai inquires. He looks over his shoulder periodically, aiming the small boat at the landing.
Deirdre says, "I'd prefer to leave our options open."
Kai nods. "Right. No sinking the boat, then." He looks in the bottom of the boat for a length of line.
The landing has seen better days: the stone is chipped, and all the metal bands and ladders are red-brown with rust. It does not, however, seem likely to collapse under the weight of one or two people stepping on it.
Deirdre says, "Don't begrudge them just because some toughs tried to rough us up. If we can't use it, I'm sure someone will be able to."
Kai slows down, settling the oarlocks so the oars won't slide out, and pulls them into the boat. He picks up a length of line, and busies himself with securing the skiff. "Oh, I'm not one to hold a grudge. Er. Except the actual people who try to kill me. Or offend me. Trying to kill me usually offends me, though. Would you like a hand, your highness?"
Deirdre gives Kai a quick smile, "I think I can manage." She hoists herself onto the firmer landing.
Kai moves to follow Deirdre once he's sure the skiff won't be floating off downstream.
A cement path runs along what used to be the bank of the river, now a good distance from where the water stops, down to the stone building. A long, low whistle echoes out of the building, and a puff of steam escapes from some unseen door.
Kai eyes the building, then Deirdre. "Well... sounds like a train station..."
Deirdre seems happier now that her feet are on solid ground, though she's not really more stable for the first few steps. "Steam. That's a good sign."
It's a conveniently uneventful walk to the building. Inside the station, train tracks run along the bottom of a channel cut through the center of the building, under a few feet of water. Several train cars wait with their doors open, the seats inside grimy and torn. Only a handful of people have sat down inside, clutching baskets and bundles to themselves warily. On the wall of the station, next to an unmanned and locked down ticket booth, a map of the system declares they're at Final Delta. The line goes through five or six stops before ending at a location marked as Temple of Sawati.
Kai eyes the people, the map, and the final location. "...Pretty ring to it, but why do I have a sinking feeling?"
Deirdre brightens a little at the map, "Temples are always an excellent place to start."
Kai nods, looking dubiously at the cut channels. He points discreetly to them. "Thinking that might be where the water's gone to, myself. Er. I suppose we have to buy tickets. Or mug someone for theirs. And their clothes."
An official announcement crackles out over loudspeakers installed behind heavy grills in the walls. Static makes it nigh incomprehensible, but from the way the last few people wandering about the station move towards the train cars, it might be an announcement of imminent departure.
Deirdre starts toward the car, she doesn't seem concerned with the thought of paying for or locating tickets.
Kai shrugs philosophically, tagging along behind Deirdre faithfully.
A few seconds after the two of them have stepped into a car, the doors slide shut, and the train groans into slow action. It accelerates with the alacrity of a pregnant water buffalo, rattling on down the tracks. Water begins to rise up around the cars on the outside, sliding past the windows as the train descends deeper into the canal.
Kai adjusts his sword. Just in case. He doesn't seem particularly afraid so much as curious, and a trifle cautious of the unfamiliar surroundings. "Fascinating. I'd venture a guess as to how it works, but I'm afraid I'm a terrible example of Begmanosity."
Deirdre drops into a seat, taking the time to clean her sword and put it away. "I like what's become of Begma. It has a certain poetry to it."
The train builds more speed, the groan and rattles fading away as it dives deeper into the water. The canal flows into a dark tunnel, submerging the train entirely. Dim lights inside the car flicker on, and one continues to flicker while the others provide a steadier pale glow. Down at the far end of the car, a woman wrapped in a dark blue sari puts on a pair of spectacles to read.
Deirdre turns her attention to the exterior once her sword is cared for.
Kai grins at Deirdre, gallantly remaining standing. "I am a much better poet than I am a Begman, your highness. I agree, though I think there is a danger in Begma to itself." He looks thoughtful for a moment, then looks around the train.
The canal has been cut through rock, or blasted through: the glow shining from the cars shows uneven stone walls, and sometimes darker holes leading off to unknown depths. Inside the car, ancient advertisements faded or written over into illegibility still cling to the walls above the windows.
Deirdre says, "They are, I think, the most repressed daring people I've managed to find in shadow." Her eyes following the walls outside, "How old do you think those marks are?"
RPG: Kai challenges a difficulty of 7, using his Wits plus SKL-BA. Kai succeeds.
Kai frowns. "Well, I'm no expert - that is to say, my curriculae never involved outright archeology - but I'd say less than a hundred years. Call it between two and five decades."
Deirdre nods, "We might have another culprit."
The train slides out of the tunnel, and up until daylight again as it approaches the first stop. There's no one waiting at the station, and the woman inside the car doesn't look up from her reading as the doors slide open.
The train rattles on through four stops, picking up two or three people and letting them out again. Each tunnel is a little longer than the last. At the second to last stop on the line, the woman who's been reading all this time tucks away her spectacles, stands up, and goes for the door. She stops there, and looks back to Deirdre and Kai. "It is dangerous to continue to the temple," she murmurs, and then hurries onward, leaving them alone in the car.
Deirdre smiles at Kai, "Well, that's an excellent sign. Isn't it?"
Kai says thoughtfully, "At the least it means they know we're coming. But oh well. Who wants to live forever?"
Deirdre says, "It's not about living, it's about solving the mystery today."
The doors slide shut, and the train descends once more. As it enters the final tunnel, the lights turn on, two of them flickering now. Dark holes in the walls of the tunnel appear every few seconds, the flickering lights making it look as if shadows are crawling inside as the train speeds past.
Deirdre laughs, almost giddy. Her full attention is what is outside their car.
Kai's attention is divided between outside and inside, and he puts a hand on his saber. Just in case. He seems to find it comfortable.
RPG: Deirdre challenges a difficulty of 6, using her Wits. Deirdre succeeds.
RPG: Kai challenges a difficulty of 6, using his Wits. Kai almost succeeds.
Kai flinches slightly, attention dragged towards the shadows in the tunnels. "Er. Maybe we want to stand in the middle of the train's corridor. Away from windows."
Deirdre's head follows one of the holes as it flies past their window, "Don't show fear yet. It's just watching right now."
The car they're standing in jerks, and rattles as a scraping sound comes from the roof. The train doesn't slow.
Kai looks up, hand tightening on his sword. "I'm guessing it's stopped watching."
Deirdre says, "Patience." She moves to one side, eyes still toward the outside, "Be ready, but stay calm. No matter what it is."
More scraping from above. Then a ping, like a rivet being yanked off a sheet of metal. Water trickles down from the ceiling.
Deirdre's attention is caught by a shape outside the window. She nods toward it in a respectful manner for some cultures.
RPG: Deirdre challenges a difficulty of 8, using her Grace. Deirdre fails.
A long, dark shape outside the window keeps pace with the train, and twists something that might be a head towards Deirdre. Then a claw slams into the window--not breaking through, but cracking a spiderweb of lines through the thick glass.
Deirdre backs away from the window, "Alright, perhaps now is a time to panic."
Kai stares outside the window. "Well, it's not dead yet." He draws his sword, seeming mildly fascinated. "Oh, why waste a good panic? Panic after. Poetry now. But, er, take cover." Gallantly, he tries to put himself between the breaking window and Deirdre.
Deirdre laughs at Kai, "I think not." She draws her own sword.
"Well, I meant from the breaking glass, but have it your way." Kai grins, falling into a ready stance.
The scraping from the roof continues: the tiny trickle of water has become a light shower from multiple points. At the window, the shape gathers itself back, and then punches forward, a clawed gray hand punching through the window in a spray of broken glass and water.
Deirdre backs to the other wall, watching the hand while remaining en garde.
A second hand joins the first, scrabbling at the hole in the glass to pull out another chunk. The creature doing the shredding has a long, snake-like body, with rows of clawed and webbed hands on a series of bony arms all along its sides.
Kai darts forward in an attempt to slice off a hand before it can pull itself through.
Deirdre rushes forward as she sees Kai do so, "Well, either we've found something or this is a very unpleasant shadow."
Kai suggests, "Possibly both? Still, if the hands go, it can't hang on, right?"
RPG: Kai challenges a difficulty of 6, using his Grace. Kai succeeds.
RPG: Deirdre challenges a difficulty of 6, using her Force. Deirdre succeeds.
Kai brings the edge of the saber down with a graceful swoosh. It's sharper than it looks; there's the crunch of steel slicing through bone, followed by the rattle of the gray hand falling to the floor of the carriage. "I hope that hurt."
Deirdre swipes at the second hand, closely following Kai's. Her sword comes down hard at the joint.
The creature outside is forcibly detached from its hold through the window, two hands splattering across the floor. Other claws slide along the side of the train, and then away, as the wounded beast is outpaced. Which leaves only the small problems of the water pouring in through the hole in the window, and the scratching from above.
Deirdre reaches for the disembodied hand and tries to shove it back into the space it had recently occupied.
Kai gets a dawning look of dismay as water begins pouring in. "...I think we're in trouble. Er. Let's run to another car and hope we can seal this one off?"
The hand goes splashing back outside through the waterfall pouring in, to disappear somewhere in the tunnel behind the train. Overhead, clawtips puncture through the roof.
Deirdre looks dismayed and nods, "Lets do."
There are doors at either end of the car, locked down with wheels that seal them off from the next car down the line.
Deirdre frowns at the wheeled doors as she turns her attention to their escape, "These look a bit water tight."
Kai nods quickly, racing towards the head of the train. "Odds are the engine compartment will be more armoured," he suggests hastily. "Separate the rest?"
RPG: Deirdre challenges a difficulty of 7, using her Force plus BLD-OB. Deirdre succeeds.
Deirdre says, "We'll have to do this quickly." She crosses to the door, her sword under one arm, "Stick close."
The door lock spins open easily for Deirdre, ankle-deep water splashing into the new car as it's opened up. The hole in the ceiling in the first car is definitely getting bigger, and there are more than two hands pulling at the metal there.
Kai is, fortunately, quite speedy; he moves to keep up with her without pushing into her, trying to pull the door closed behind them.
The door swings shut more easily than it opened, leaving a puddle of water all across the floor of the car. There's no sign of anyone else in this part of the train, either.
Deirdre moves to close the door behind them.
It's sort of like leapfrog, only involving running and opening and slamming doors. Kai hurries to the end of the new car, trying to open the door.
RPG: Kai challenges a difficulty of 7, using his Force. Kai almost succeeds.
Kai grunts as he tugs on the wheel. It squeaks, but refuses to budge more than an inch. "Grergh!"
Deirdre doesn't have Kai's urgency, taking the moment to hastily clean her sword and put it away before reaching to help.
The door Deirdre shut behind them begins to rattle, and grind, as something begins pulling at the wheel on it from the other side.
RPG: Deirdre challenges a difficulty of 7, using her Force plus BLD-OB. Deirdre succeeds.
Deirdre gives Kai a hand, her concern returning as the noises start to emanate from the door.
The next door spins open, to reveal a control room up ahead. It's full of flashing lights, control panels, and no driver at all.
Kai looks simultaneously relieved and terrified - which is odd, because he didn't look terrified at all with the monsters. "Er. I'm letting you handle this, princess. You don't want me at the controls. Really. Take my word for it."
Deirdre seems more intent on closing the door behind her. She turns, shrugging, "I'm not the best at this, but let me see, they usually make these kinds of tasks quite simple."
Kai holds his sword to his chest like a teddybear, hugging it and very pointedly Not Touching Anything.
RPG: Deirdre declares she has Shadow lore of at least level 5.
Deirdre looks it over, nibbling at her lower lip, "Well, that's our problem." She reaches for a level and pushes it forward.
The train surges forward in a sudden, jolting burst of speed, as if it's been chugging along with the brakes on this entire time.
Kai sways, but catches himself. "Oh, good. Maybe it'll shake those things off as well."
Deirdre says, "It's our best chance at the moment to actually make it to the Temple."
Kai nods, looking for a safe place to hang on. "Here's hoping! Oh, er, by the way. Kai Feldane. Terribly rude of me, remiss of me not to've mentioned sooner. How d'you do?"
Deirdre says, "Now that we've saved each other from horrible fates you'll call me Deirdre. Unless there's a brother around that might make you rethink that."
The lights in the control room switch off. A moment later, the train emerges from the tunnel in a roaring splash of water, speeding towards the final stop. Dark shadows swarm about the train a moment longer in the water, falling quickly behind as the tracks move through shallower channels. Up ahead, an ornate temple wtih a domed roof perches atop a hill. Below, the canal ends at an open train platform, a narrow set of stairs leading from the platform to the temple above.
Deirdre starts slowing the train down again, just in case.
Kai grins cheerfully. "I'll duck brothers whenever I can. Wouldn't be the first time. Er - pretend I didn't say that." He eyes the windows. "Think we brought any hitchhikers?"
Deirdre says, "Likely, but now that we're here, hopefully we can manage to find a solution."
Kai nods. "Don't suppose there's an 'electrocute shell' command button there." He looks wistful. "Flash-fried monsters."
Deirdre says, "I don't think those come standard."
The train groans and rattles wildly as it attempts to slow down quickly. A red light begins flashing on the control panel. The platform nears very quickly--and then thuds into the front car with a crackle of glass, not fast enough to do much more than dent the sides.
Kai says philosophically, "Ah well. Pity." He braces himself as the light begins to flash, though he's still shaken off balance a bit by the impact. Flailing, he does his level best NOT to accidentally grope Deirdre as his cousin once did to a duchess.
Deirdre braces herself as best she can and then starts to open the door again.
The door opens easily, unlocking automatically as the train begins to power itself down. In the canal outside, there's only a foot of water over the tracks, and no sign of the creatures.
Deirdre jumps out and immediately begins looking around.
"Well, that's encouraging," Kai remarks, following Deirdre out. "Unless the thingummies are afraid of whatever's here."
The air is very still, and smells of sweet flowers. It also smells, more faintly, of decay. There's no sign of animal life or any people, though the hill is coated in bright green plants that give shade to the stairs up.
Kai looks interestedly at the plants, moving to pluck one.
Deirdre follows the stairs, more intent on the possibility of religious iconography.
RPG: Kai challenges a difficulty of 8, using his Resolve plus BLD-FE. Kai almost succeeds.
The stairs switch back and forth on the way up, past murals depicting scenes of a four-armed woman who sits by the side of a river, playing a lute. In some of the images, she plays with two hands while her other two hands pour water into the river.
Deirdre spends her time on the murals, slowing to consider each as she climbs the stairs.
Kai winces, dropping the plant. "Ugh. Steer away from this stuff." He wipes his hand carefully, swearing under his breath as he moves to follow Deirdre. The murals get his attention, and he stares with interest.
Deirdre says, "Oh?" She looks back at the walls, "I think something may have twisted things here. Pretty sure it's the right spot."
Kai hms. "Goddess of rivers, music - possibly also of art. She seems to be the source of the water, if you look here," he points to one of the murals. "It's actually a not uncommon theme - water and creativity are linked, after all, in a lot of mythos. Maybe she's dying? Or, er. maybe a rock fell and is blocking something."
The stairs at top open onto a flower-filled garden; the scent is so sweet it's nearly overpowering. In the center of a pavilion placed there, an ornate throne cascades water down its sides into a wide, deep pool. The cloudy surface of the water ripples constantly from the fountain's flow.
Deirdre says, "Or the beings below are stealing her gift."
Kai frowns a bit. "Well, the goddess normally would sit on the throne. Er. Depending on the magical effect, I'd guess offerings placed anywhere in the river possibly would show up here."
Deirdre frowns as well, "I wonder if they've lost her. Perhaps there's something of a reflection with the River Kings."
A flower bobs across the surface of the pool, spinning about on a fat, egg-shaped stem.
Kai hms. "Well... I could try climbing up there." He pauses, looking at the flower.
Deirdre says, "Grab that."
Deirdre says, "That is how they are meant to be."
Kai goes to grab the flower obediently. "Er. Sure?"
When picked up, the flower bursts apart in Kai's hand, the bulbous stem splitting open. It deposits a slimy gray creature in his palm: a tiny snake with rows of tinier arms, its hands studded with miniscule claws.
Deirdre says, "Well, no, that cannot be right."
Kai's eyes open wide. "Yeeegh!" The snake goes flying to the ground and he stomps on it. Instinct appears to have taken over.
The snake turns into a tiny sticky smear on the beautiful tile floor of the pavilion. In the pool, there are other shapes bobbing gently beneath the cloudy water.
Deirdre leans over the pool to see what lies beneath.
Three hands, not attached to anything else, spin about slowly underwater. More grey snakes slip back and forth between the fingers, nearly invisible through the haze in the water.
Deirdre says, "The corruption begins here."
Kai asks uncertainly, "So what do we do?"
Deirdre says, "What did you learn from the plants?"
Kai answers promptly, "Poisonous. - Oh." He nods, cognition dawning. "Right. Poisonous plants, corruption. Makes sense. Want me to go back down and do something about those?"
Deirdre says, "I think these up here would be the right place to start."
Kai nods, turning to head down the stairs again. "Right. Back in half a tick."
Deirdre paces around the garden, waiting for Kai's return.
There's a faint sound of falling vegetation as Kai's sword sweeps through leaves and flowers. Slowly, the scent of the flowers begins to ebb.
Deirdre calls down the hill, "Need any help?"
Deirdre frowns at something she spies, leaning closer to brush a few flowers aside.
Kai calls from below, "Seems all right so far! How about you?"
Deirdre lets forth a string of very unladylike expletives. Removing a be-ringed hand from between the flowers.
Kai trots up the steps at the cursing. "What's up?"
Deirdre holds out a feminine hand, not her own. Water trickles from the palm. "I've found their goddess. At least one of the important parts."
Kai winces. "Well, there were the other three hands - she had four. Let's see if she's, er, reassemblyable."
Deirdre moves to set the hand upon the throne, palm up.
Kai moves to where the other hands had been.
The water pouring from the throne clears slightly, and down in the pool the infant snakes wriggle in some mild distress around the fingers of the three remaining hands.
Kai hms. "I think I'll go cut down more flowers," he decides. "Let me know if you see any other changes."
Deirdre shakes her head, "Wait here for a moment." She then plunges her hand into the pool, reaching for the hands.
Kai obligingly waits, sword held at the ready.
Tiny snakes dart away from Deirdre's hand when she reaches in, leaving the other hands easily acquired.
Deirdre passes the hands to Kai as she extracts them, nodding toward the throne.
Kai does not seem too squeamish about handling, er, hands; he puts them with the other hands, examining them for a moment.
Deirdre says, "Palm up. She still needs to provide for her people."
Water flows from the palms of the hands, faster and stronger as each additional piece of the goddess joins them on the throne. In the pool, the infant snakes begin piping shrilly in pain as the water clears.
Kai frowns. "There's no spirit left, not right now. It does seem to be working, but - do you see any more parts in there? Right now, it's more of a relic than, er, a goddess."
Deirdre says, "Goddesses are often spirits of their people rather than actual beings. Physical forms aren't always necessary." She nods toward the throne as she wipes her hands on her pants. "She'll care for her people, even beyond death."
Kai exhales. "Well. Hopefully that'll do it, then."