Goldfish and Mushrooms - RPLOG
Participants
Date
13/6/477
Log
At the entrance to the deep quarry, a lone man, a goldfish of a man stands, proud stance and wide shoulders on this heavy clanner make him quite fearsome, as do a strangely edged sword at his side as he gazes about for rock spiders or something coming from deeper in the tunnel. His wide lips in a scowl as he waits for his aid, where could they be?
Bambsi humms gently as she marches her way through the quarry, spear in hand along with a backpack with a healer's insiginia upon it on her back, a satchel of herbs at her hip, and small pouches fitted all along the length of her belt with what could be assumed to be more medical supplies. The Gazelle's hood pulled up slightly to cause her face to be slightly shadowed, and as she approaches, she bows gently to the employer. "Good fortune sir!"
Pyra makes her way through the quarry, a frown on her face as she comes to the agreed upon spot. A goldfish and a lot of rocks. She was tempted to just leave again, but he was paying. If this was worth it then who cares what he is. Could be a rainbow colored platypus for all she cared. "So what the hell does a fish want with a rock pile?" She says a hand on her sword. The fire skink standing in the sun, yet it still looked like she was staying in the shadows with the mist surrounding her.
Cassidy shuffles up towards the entrance to the tunnel with the others heeding the call, hood drawn and mask on, as per usual. She brushes her gloved hands down her scaled robe before folding them behind her back. "What seems to be the problem today?"
Fenris saunters through the quarry with his hands in the pockets of his long, dark coat. He seems to have acquired a new spear somewhere, which he is currently using as a walking stick. Alongside him shambles one of his golems, this one a large bronze hedgehog he has affectionately named Speedy McShieldman. They can't all be gems.
He gives a casual salute to the goldfish as he joins the others. "Fenris," he introduces himself, "Here to help if I can." The tiger nods to his fellow freeswords, and salutes his superior officer, though there doesn't seem to be anything especially formal in it.
As a rock spider approaches the goldfish he shows his sword and physical prowess off, by cleaving it once, the creature near death after a single blow, he then nudges it aside. "Hello! I trust you have brought your highest game? This place is new and dangerous, mushrooms! The mushrooms. I've been sent to take a documented description of all the area and report back to my superiors, BUT, something odd occured when I was poking. I feel like I'm being watched, and it's not the fauna, I swear it. It was all distorted... I'm not helping myself am I? I feel I need a little extra help and some eyes to complete my job, so I've asked you all here! Aren't we grand? So, are you all in on this venture?"
Bambsi blinks gently as she tilts her head while looking over the group, quite diverse indeed! All the same she smiles to each individual before looking to the Goldfish, her spear being tapped once on the ground as she nods. "I will most certainly join you! To leave you to face such a situation alone would be rather terrible of me... But, you did say Mushrooms correct? I've not heard much of dangerous mushrooms less one attempt to consume one!" The Gazelle snickering slightly as she peers at the rock spider.
Pyra shrugs rather unimpressed. "So there are some weird mushrooms in a cave underneath a pit full of living rocks and stony arachnids. Why can't you go in and just look around. S'not like mushrooms are gonna rear up and try to bite you." She shakes her head, moving to a more shadowy spot so she didn't look like some kind of demented painting. "You want something done, your paying, lets get this over with hmm? delaying isn't gonna help."
Cassidy peers at Pyra for a moment, wrinkling her nose underneath her mask. "The flora in here can be... Rather dangerous, I've noticed, the few times I've been out this way. It's not a friendly place. But I am bored, so why not! If I didn't want to go I wouldn't have arrived, hmm?"
Fenris raises an eyebrow as the fish man casually dispatches the rock spider. Why should someone like that need backup? Still, the tiger grins, eyes sparkling. "I'm always up for a bit of exploring," he says, "And if it is something strange you have to deal with, well, strange is what I do best!" The tiger pats his lumbering golem on the head. "And Speedy here is always a big help," he offers.
Bite gives Pyra a look and shakes his head. "You must not be familiar with the fungus, or you'd be shaking in your boots to know what it could do to you in a bad situation. It can really kill you, the mushrooms alone, the moss will irritate and hurt you, worse if you've got open wounds, and then the mushrooms and the gops have a pretty strange thing going on, it's like they found some miracle tonic. They're stronger than ever. They hold me back from easy searching but what I really need is more eyes, I just can't find whatever is watching me. It's more frequent when I'm taking a breather from all of the earthy scents and... other things getting to me. Forbid I get close to passing out, it jolts me awake to know something is watching me, I'd rather sleep in the deepest reaches of our average quarry. So, shall we go?" he says with a bit of a long winded qualitiy, leading on into the tunnel. As he proceeds the fungus picks up heavily, irritations when touched or disturbed are the least of the parties worries. "It happens most up there." he says as he points towards a destination point.
Bambsi reaches into her bag to withdraw a brass muzzle cover with cloth airholes, slipping it on quickly then as she nods and pats her bags. "I have brought plenty of disinfectant, and should hopefully be able to help any whom have wounds." The Gazelle following with dutifully as she holds her spear in a ready grip, gaze flicking around eagerly to take in the new sights, and more importantly check for familiar looking fungus!
Pyra hrmphs. "Its fungus..." She shakes her head following after the others. She should be alright... The divine healers still had her on some serious herbs. Still she uses her collar to keep most of the dust out of her snout.
Cassidy tugs her dagger from its scabbard on her back hip, flipping it around to hold in a reverse grip, just in case. She doesn't do much else, though, following quietly along, bobbing her head softly as if to some unheard rhythm.
Fenris produces a large, white handkerchief from a pocket within his coat and ties it carefully around his face. It wouldn't keep everything out, but it would keep the larger particles away from his windpipe! He follows cautiously, alert for anything out of the ordinary. Well. More out of the ordinary than giant mushrooms, at least. His spear is loose in his hand, ready for action should it be needed.
The party ventures deeper into the quarry, the occasional gang of gop being narrowly avoided, the caps and the moss tred by but not disturbed by outside influence. Soon the party approaches a group of yellow mushrooms, which get a passing glance from the goldfish. He taps his sword and points to the area around him. "This seemed the heaviest, I did find a strange deep pool somewhere in but that wasn't near as unnerving. Keep an eye out, I'm going to re-document the area." he says as he starts surveyin.
Bambsi blinks as they come to the spot, the Gazelle looking around for a moment before she catches the Goldfish's gaze to the yellow mushrooms. Slowly walking over to them as she peers at them for a moment before crouching some. "Alright sir, hopefully it is nothing indeed..." Her gaze turning to the mushrooms as she tries to look one over without touching it at first.
Pyra looks about the weird cavern, her sword having been drawn a little ways back. Nothing seemed unusual, at least not unusual for this place. She just glances about. Willing to kill whatever decides she looks tasty. She didn't say much the way down here, and she isn't going to say much now. She had her goal, don't let the fish get filleted, no matter how much she wanted to do it herself.
Cassidy wanders over near Bambsi, leaning over to look at the mushroom with her. "Strange place, isn't it? Have you been down here before? I ate one of these, once. Quite unusual indeed. I don't recommend trying one, though. At least... Not here. Better to take it home with you." Occasionally one of her ears twitches under the hood at something, but she doesn't seem to pay it much mind.
Fenris looks askance at the yellow mushrooms. He had run afoul of them before. Maybe. They looked like they might be the same kind of mushroom. He still wasn't sure how he felt about the things. The tiger scans the area carefully, watching for possible vantage points for this 'watcher' that Carlos had sensed. It didn't do to ignore the paranoia of a seasoned explorer. Thinking about some of his prior experiences down here, the tiger sniffs about for any sign of Spirit activity. After so many run-ins, he had acquired a sort of sense for the modus operandi of certain Spirits and Old Ones.
The Gazelle adjusts her positioning slightly, catching something out of the corner of her eye as she turns to look at something. A smirk crossing her hidden features as she nods to Cassidy. "I shall make note to do such, later most likely... Best not to indulge while working." The Gazelle standing as she reaches into her pockets to pull out a shiny metal clip for a brace that she sets a little ways infront of the stationary gop she had spotted, the creature clever enough to remain perfectly still so as to blend in with the environment. "Hello there, do not worry I won't hurt you if you behave. Are you the wandering eyes our friend has fealt?" The Gazelle still giving ample birth so she could react if the gop became violent, but for the most part seemed to be trying the peaceful route first!
Pyra hmms, turning to the gop Bambsi was trying to tempt closer. She didn't trust it, but it wasn't attacking. So she didn't want to utterly ruin any chance she had of finding out what was happening... She hmmmms. "Well... A gop?"
Cassidy leans back, canting her head to the side to watch the gop. "Unusual. I don't often get this close to those things without them either attacking or running away. Hmm." She leans back even further, turning her eyes upwards to glance around. "I think the eyes came from something else. Unless... The something else is that." With one fluid motion like a stalk of wheat in the wind, she leans back forward and looks at the gop. "Are you the something else?"
Fenris blinks as he scans the cave. "There is a spirit at work here," he says, suddenly much less interested in the physical appearance of the cave, "Can't anyone else FEEL that?" The tiger has a vague memory here. Something about that strange run in with these mushrooms. "Some sort of dream Spirit," he says, pulling the handkerchief from his face, "I think I have spoken to it before. . ." The tiger's brow furrows and a vivid green question mark appears on the white fur of his throat.
The gop jolts violently and as it does a strange haze wafts through the air, as it rushes the shiny object with pure intent of taking it. Tempting a gop is like throwing crown into shanty town, it just doesn't end well. This paticular gop seems to be covered in mushrooms similar to the yellow ones that gained the goldfishes gaze before, and as he stands off to the side surveying the gop has put itself in the middle of the group, spreading a strange haze as it moves overtop of the pretty strap.
Oh no... Oh no no no! The Gazelle panics as the Gop begins to rush, falling on her back as the haze spreads over her. The cloth air holes on her muzzle guard doing little in their dry state to help her as she's left to begin coughing and trying to cover her eyes. "C-Crap!"
Pyra dives backwards, hurling a throwing knife at the fungus covered gop, hitting the thing dead center. "What the fuck?!" She tries to make sure she wasn't in range of that thing, nor the rest of the mushrooms "What the fuck did you do that for you idiot?!" She crawls away some before picking herself up and readying another knife, just incase the thing wasn't dead yet. "Holy hell... I don't know about you, or this spirit shit, but I do know that we are KILLING every other mushroomed gop we see, no questions asked."
Cassidy tilts her head, wrinkling her nose as the gop starts to spread that haze. She doesn't seem to terribly alarmed though, bringing a hand to her mask and coughing a few times. She does give a bit of a look to Pyra. "So quick to jump to violence, aren't you? I suppose I should not be surprised," she murmurs before trying to kick up a bit of a breeze to blow away the haze.
Fenris is too distracted to worry much about the gop, his eyes unfocused as they try to plumb a spectrum different from ordinary sight. "Something with a 'Z' I think it was," he mutters as a violet question mark inscribes itself on his left cheek. His focus snaps back to the here and now as he hears Bambsi cry out, but it is too late to do much as the haze from the mushroom infested gop fills the area. "Uh-oh," the tiger murmurs, praying that the thing isn't poisonous, "I don't think the gop itself was the biggest problem."
The gop recoils, and as the haze clears Carlos leaps in, an upward stroke of his sword driving the gop back. He eyes the others, unsure what he should be doing now. "Are you all alright? No one clock out, take a breather." he says as he thinks. "Come on lets move towards the little grouping over yonder and take a break, you'll all be okay." Those in the cloud might be finding themselves rather sleepy, strange effects swirling into existance.
Bambsi reaches up to fumble with her muzzle cover, ripping it free as she continues to cough before finally finding her lungs. The haze working over her as she feels the effects begin to take hold, her muscles becoming sluggish as she attempts to shake her head awake. Her eyes locking on something far away that only she could see, and her appearance became one of dulled alarm as she reached up for her soul pendant as if to reassure herself. "N-No! What's happening?!"
The skink's eyes go a blood red. She coughs, still hit by the gas it seems. She seems to reach for something, her gaze very much locked on to something else. Its hard to tell. But to her its clear, taking one of the weapons so proudly made by that noble, sneaking behind him, and running him through with the blade. Leaving the poorer smith, not to be accused but to have the forge himself, no noble. She leaves, letting him work none the wiser. It matters not to her who the noble is, just that he dies, and the lizard is rewarded for his work.
Cassidy flips her dagger around, taking a deep breath. This was going to be quite a thrill! Whatever 'this' was. To an on looker, she'd largely just be standing there, staring off at something in the distance, muscles tensing as she prepared for... Something. Stowing the blade, she reaches back for her longbow and idly tests the string.
Fenris stares off into the distance, his features a mix of empathetic sorrow and dazed fear. After a moment of staring, the tiger sets his jaw, plants his feet and begins. . . singing? What on Promise? It seems to be an old creator song. Something about courage, maybe? The words are not in a familiar language. But there he is, singing to make a bone dragon weep in the middle of the cave.
The goldfish man carries his quarries as swiftly to refuge as he can, their actions bothering him, most of all Pyra who winds up stabbing his back with their hand, prompting him to give a look to them. "Hey! You're all right here." He attempts to suggest, but he doesn't seem to get through to the still muddled party.
Bambsi whimpers some as she damn near claws at her chest, nails raking against the thin chain vest below her coat as she's carried off to refuge. The Gazelle taking a shakey breath as all at once it seemed to have shifted from the nightmarish representation for her, as she's left to stare at a new spot on the ground. Her mouth moving for a few moments with pointless motions before she finally finds a shakey voice. "W-Who are you...?"
Pyra hmphs, like names mean much to her. But the scene was already unfavorable, she can't stay there. Seeing some kind of oppritunity, she jumps again, hitting the floor hard. She stares, looking at this... She doesn't even know how to describe it. "Who are you?" She asks, trying to recompose herself once she was sure she was out of the supposed line of fire...
Cassidy flails her arms in the air for a moment, but quickly comes to a stop as she finds herself moving closer towards that rift, and the tapir within. What a strange thing this all was! She couldn't quite piece together why there was a sudden rift in the ocean, or why she didn't quite feel like she was drowning, but she didn't care much, either! It was all so strange.
Fenris flinches and covers his head with his arms, his song coming to an abrupt halt. It is as if he is trying to block out some sort of horrible sound and watching something that must be falling from a great height. He straightens up and looks sadly into the middle distance before his attention is brought to something very near at hand. He looks thoughtful for a moment, then bursts into a smile. "I remember now," he says, "We've met before, haven't we?" The tiger bows gracefully (bow number 77, for kings and queens with deep pockets). "Welcome, Zimla, Lady of Dreams!" he says. Creators, he hoped this bit wasn't just ordinary hallucinating. Had the rest been an illusion?
The goldfish and surroundings phased out, the group all finds themselves seeing the same thing, a tapir with a warm smile on their face gazing over them. "You know me, do you know yourselves?" they ask, letting that question resonate with the others during their waking shroom induced dream. "Yes, I am Zimla. Tell me, what business do you have in such a state? Are you perhaps seeking something? A way of life?" They watch the others carefully.
Bambsi blinks as she's suddenly not alone anymore, her gaze turning to the others as she purses her lips for a moment. "Y-You're all alright?" The Gazelle still seemed a bit shaken up, before she looks back to the Tapir. "Zimla... I am Bambsi and y-yes I did. I left Shralesta to come and seek spirits to learn and follow..." The Gazelle's ears flicking back at this.
Pyra looks around, still uncertain what exactly happened... "I am Pyra, I know who I am, I've been me and no-one else. Lady Of Dreams?... What in the burning... Wow, Not even the herbs from the Healers are this strong... What am I on?" She rubs her face, shaking her head.
Cassidy raises her brow behind her mask and dusts her robe off. "Hmm. I suppose that explains a few things. Interesting. You are... The second spirit I've met, then, face to face. Quite an interesting trip this turned out to be."
Fenris straitens and smiles at the spirit. "It is always a pleasure to meet another of the Spirits," he says happily, the question marks that adorned his fur vanished now that he knew the source of all this strangeness. "I have already chosen a path, Lady," he says diffidently, removing his broad-brimmed green hat, "But I hope that you will still teach me whatever lesson you think right." The tiger can't get enough of these marvelous beings and the idea of meeting another of them has him elated! Hearing Pyra's complaints, Fenris can't help but smile. Now he can remember his first meeting with Zimla after making the rash choice to taste the yellow mushrooms. He had felt much the same. Perhaps this meeting wouldn't become so hazy.
"I am called many things, but that is for another time. A lesson you say? I believe you have seen with your own eyes the lesson you seek." they offer as their form subtly seemes to weird out, the azure around them shifting a tiny, their height seems to waver. "But it is time for you to wake. Perhaps, we can visit on more comfortable terms, not that there is any choice in the matter. Dream and sway." they say as everything seems to crack around the group, the world outside violently forcing itself upon them as the traces of their waking dream are ruptured and diffused. The goldfish looks the group over slightly worried. "Are you all alright?"
Bambsi blinks as the world changes once more, before the Gazelle is left blinking as she sits on the floor with a dazed look played across her features. "... I... Yes, I'm alright. I'm sorry, I must have caused quite the disruption for your expedition..."
Pyra groans, reality now deciding to punch her in the face... Well at least it was a familliar feeling. "Uurgh... Wow..." She shakes her head again, still unsure what was going on. "Well that was interesting..." Her eyes have normalized again. "What was with the tapir?"
Cassidy scratches at the beck of her neck through her hood, humming thoughtfully. "That was... Brief. Hrm." She looks towards the goldfish and nods. "I am well. Did... You manage to collect your data during our little... Trip
Fenris laughs and replaces his hat jauntily on his head. "Well, we've found your watcher, Carlos," he says with a grin, "You have a spiritual admirer, I think." He laughs, "Or at least you are hanging about in her chosen territory anyway." The tiger dusts himself off. "I wouldn't worry about her too much," he offers, "She seems a good sort, even if meeting her calls for some. . . unexpected visions." He wonders what the spirit had been trying to teach him through his strange vision. The tiger looks around and plucks a few of the omnipresent yellow mushrooms and wraps them in a handkerchief before stowing them away in his apparently bottomless pocket. Who knows? He might need to talk with the strange Spirit again someday. "Dream and sway, friends," he says to the others with a smirk, "And always seek answers." This little trip had been more rewarding than the tiger could have, well, dreamed.
The goldfish collects data from the drugged group themselves before he folds his report up. "Yes I have all I need, thank you, let's get you out of here... I don't like being watched." he adds as he looks around and slips them all a bag of loot. "Thank you for your help, I trust you've had.... an interesting trip."
