Saving Summerford - Blue Feathers, Bad Omens - RPLOG
Participants
Date
14/12/478
Log
The sun dawns over the quaint village of Summerford. It has been two days since the great threat of the nearby Krick hive was ended once and for all by the brave actions of the Freeswords. Though ultimately the Freesword contract is one of services exchanged for currency, the people of Summerford have been quick to regard them as saviours and heroes. And yet, despite the great success of defeating the shadow that loomed over this small village, many unanswered questions remain. Still, few of the villagers are willing to prod deeper, and to ask those questions.
One such villager is none other than Clayton Southfoot, the young guardsbeing that volunteered to follow the Freeswords into the heart of the hive. Another is Malachi, the town's alchemist. Ever vigilant and wise beyond his education and his station in life, he is not one to quickly dismiss this threat as resolved, when the root cause has not yet been found and eliminated.
Fenris has stuck around the village for a couple of days, mostly to be sure that the krick are no longer a threat, but now it is time to get to the bottom of things. The big tiger is on his way to the collapsed tunnels to see what he can find with any of the others who might want to help. "Keep up," he says amiably, "And eyes open. I am not sure what we will find."
It was easy enough to recruit Clayton, and with him came two other guardsbeings: Terry Harlow, completely recovered from his wounds thanks to Cara's swift action days before, and Sunny Shelton, Zane Shelton's sister and one of the guardsbeings that lit the bonfires during the offensive into the hive. With them as well is Malachi, the town's alchemist. As always the old salamander has over-prepared, bringing with him several satchels chock full of medicines and helpful herbs just in case something goes wrong.
As the group approaches the tunnels Malachi turns to Fenris, smiling at the big tiger before asking. "So my friend, I have to ask.. what do you believe is the cause of all this? What could we expect to find inside, other than a lot of decomposing Krick bodies?"
Fenris shakes his head. "I am not sure, Malachi," he answers, "With something as remarkably unnatural as that Queen was, my first guess is usually the involvement of a Spirit, but they aren't usually subtle about their presence once the game is up. We will see when we get there, I suppose."
Once they arrive at the cavern entrance, Fenris warns the Salamanders not to wander about too much. "I would still like to see if I can't figure out at least where Tobin was headed," he says, "But I want to check the cave mouth here first." If the palm had hidden something here, it would not have been very far in.
It doesn't take long for the tiger with his four assistants to inspect the area. Two of the guardsbeings move towards where Terry and Brenn had been attacked, while Malachi and Sunny move up to the cave's mouth.
The other point of interest is a faint line, an indentation left behind by Tobin on his way out of the crime scene. His footsteps also follow the intentation, but all three disappear a few hundred feet into the forest, just as the canopy gives way to a clearing.
"Hey, look at this!" Comes Sunny's voice from behind Fenris. He turns to see her pluck something from under a rock, something iridescent blue. "A blue feather!" She tilts her head at it. "Huh... hey Clayton, were there any birdlike beings with you the other day?"
"No," Fenris says to Sunny, "No birds. And no one wearing blue feathers. Hold here for just a second." The tiger slips into the cool shadows of the cave, fully prepared for buggy unpleasantness. With just a touch of fire math, he conjures up an orb of flame to provide some light as he searches for whatever it was Tobin had secreted away here.
The inside of the cave is as dank and foreboding as the tiger remembers it. The flickering light of his orb brings forth some illumination cut by deep, moving shadows that plunge towards the cavern the Queen had nested in. The sense of malaise is accented by the distant scent of something -wrong-, likely brought on by the decomposing remains of all the vermin.
The tiger presses on, and he comes across the large gallery full of stalactites and stalagmites, which plunges into a sloped cliff. Somewhere down there is the Queen's nest, and to the left is the path they used to traverse safely downwards. As the tiger looks to the right he realizes that path had been left unexplored the previous day, and as he moves in that direction yet another flicker of blue color shines in the wavering light. A blue feather. Ahead, the rest of the path remains unexplored, dark and foreboding.
Fenris looks down at the feather, his nose wrinkling against the foetid odor of the decomposing krick. But could there be more at work here? He does his best to attune his senses, feeling for anything that feels like the Spirit courts, and certainly keeping his eyes and ears open for signs of more mundane problems. The tiger moves forward, slowly, cautiously, and most of all with as much stealth as he can manage, dimming his light a bit.
The path forward is perilous, but with a flame to light the way, no smoke to cloud the senses and careful footing, the path is eventually traversed. The thin ledge gives way to a wider platform. The more he walks the more the stench of decay and rot worsens. The platform splits off from the wall and forms a natural 'bridge' of solid rock left behind by erosion.
Another flicker of light draws Fenris' attention to one edge of the bridge. As he reaches the perilous drop he realizes his current position directly overviews the Queen's chamber below, the remnants broken stalactites that felled her are right there a few meters in front and above him.
He peers around once more, looking for signs of the Spirit courts, for that foreboding sense that stays behind, that lingering essence of their presence, but naught is there.
Suddenly his footing changes as he walks. His feet stick to the ground beneath, and as he looks down and lowers his flame he realises, this entire area is covered in spilled blood. Old blood, dried, it has been here a long time. Spilled blood enough to fill many animals or beings. As he paces forward he sees something else - Krick eggs, living ones. And right next to them a felled, dissecated sheep. Its throat slit, its blood spilled, and its skin a patchwork of wounds left behind by the probosces of many Krick.
Fenris frowns at the scene in front of him, then fiddles with the pendant at his throat. Looks like he may need a little firepower. "Definitely a setup," he mutters to himself. This still did not explain how the queen managed to grow so big, but it did help to clarify how the colony had prospered so much so far from their native habitat. The tiger searches for any other clues about Tobin or any sign of this blue feathered being while his mental doors open and close, preparing to burn out this next generation of blood suckers.
As Fenris tinkers with his pendant and makes his preparations, his scanning of the immediate area reveals other small details that indicate this poor farm animal was not alone. More blood spatters, congealed fur and wool stuck to the cavern floor, even the clear scratches left behind by one of these animals as it kicked its hooves in its death throes.
The rock bridge continues forward, past the immediate area of the Queen's chamber and deeper into the mountain, and in the distance the tiger sees that it leads towards another passage. Perhaps a passage with more answers as well.
He finishes aligning mentally with the new soul gems, and turns back to the maturing Krick eggs...
Fenris moves carefully along the stone bridge, avoiding the foul eggs and the offal as best he can. The tiger makes a note to truly burn this place out before he leaves, but decides that a bit of subtlety will serve him better until he knows what might lie ahead. Keeping his light dim as he dares, Fenris presses forward.
The stone bridge leads on and ascends somewhat, and connects to another ledge just further ahead. Much like before this ledge seems the natural continuation of an eroded wall, and the slippery humid flowstone once again requires careful footing to navigate safely. The tiger ascends the incline, away from the large chamber and through a narrow pathway dug by flowing water over many centuries.
The passage leads up into a grotto, and three things are immediately obvious about this area: It is illuminated by natural light, coming in from a fissure a few dozen meters up. It is accessible from above, on account of the knotted rope hanging from somewhere outside of the fissure all the way down to this level. It has been recently inhabited, on account of the small tent set up to the side, complete with a small campsite, firepit and assorted paraphernalia spread around the area. Paraphernalia that's hastily strewn about, as if someone had hurriedly browsed over it and tossed things aside searching for something.
Unlike whoever tossed this place before, Fenris has time. The tiger carfully sifts throught the camp, looking for indications of who had been here and what they had been up to. The tiger frowns at the rope ladder. That will need looking into as well. At least the place seems abandoned.
The assorted paraphernalia is largely related to survival. A few maps of the surrounding area, discarded parchment with the tell-tale grease stains of having been used as food storage, tinder for fire lightning and its accompanying fire-starting supplies. Yet, among the pile of discarded knick-knacks are other objects that seem to not belong: Dissecated vermin, bleached knuckle bones, a femur that might belong to a being, blackened by age.
All of these are off to the side of the improvised tent, in a rough circle that has been disturbed by the knick-knacks being tossed about. Also there is an indentation in the grotto's thin layer of grime, that of a heavy, roughly circular object that used to be at the center of it all but is now gone.
Fenris kicks aside the various foul relics. This certainly stank of certain Corrupt Court spirits. A vibrant, green ? materializes on the tiger's cheek as he extends his senses again, preparing to clean this place with fire as soon as he is done. He searches once more for anything that might point him in the direction Tobin and his unknown feathered friend had gone.
As the tiger extends his senses outwards, peering briefly past the veil of the spirit world, that sense of malaise assaults him again. It was as if he was standing by the rotting corpses of the sheep once again, that palpable scent of decay and rot, along with the taste of ash upon his tongue.
Yet, the presence is distant, indirect. This is not a place where a spirit has been, or has been called, but it is a place where its power has been called forth. It is a place where one of its toys, one of its unspeakable relics has been put to use. And only one spirit has its domain in that which creeps and crawls, that which bleeds life and leaves naught but dust in its wake...
The mark on Fenris' cheek vanishes as quickly as it came. "Well," he says, "One mystery solved. Decay HAS been here. Now for some cleanup." The tiger mutters a bit under his breath, moving his hands in wide arcs through the air as ribbons of flame start to trail from his fingertips, gradually forming into the shape of a large, flaming feline. "Burn it all," Fenris commands his elemental, while going about the same task himself as he walks back through the cavern and over the stone bridge.
The firecat appears once again, but this time his goal is not to produce smoke, but pure, cleansing fire. The feline's flames burn so bright that his mere proximity causes the papers and cloth in the small grotto to ignite, and as he circles the room the fire catches and spreads, easily consuming the entirety of the grotto's contents in its blaze.
Fenris follows along past the stone bridge, and behind him comes the ethereal tiger, a trail of fire behind him.
As Fenris reaches the front chamber of the cave he finds Malachi, the alchemist, still accompanied by Sunny. He's crouched over, examining some object on the ground, illuminated by his own bioluminescent markings that provide weak but all-around illumination around his vicinity.
He turns as he hears Fenris approach, and smiles. "Ah, there you are. Come look at this." He looks back down at the floor, his fingers tracing next to another blue feather. "Don't pick it up. Look what's next to it."
The feather is identical to the ones found so far, but right next to it is a piece of ripped clothing, about a finger in width and a foot in length.
Fenris squats down next to the indicated feather. "What am I looking for, Malachi?" he asks, leaving his elemental to do its work back in the cave for a bit longer, "I think it has become rather more urgent that we find our runaway ranger and any clues would certainly help." The tiger examines the indicated feather and cloth without touching, as instructed.
Malachi points at the feather. "Look at how the feather is against the cloth." The salamander's finger is pointing at the place where the feather intersects the strip of cloth. True enough, the feather isn't set against the cloth, it's going through it. The cloth is ripped apart as if the feather had grown clean through it. "Isn't that curious?" The salamander rubs his chin before standing back up. "I'm not sure if it's relevant, but it's certainly curious." He pauses, then sniffs at the air. "Mm.. something's burning..."
"Hard to be sure, Malachi," Fenris says, "But I am glad you pointed it out. It might be important." The tiger waves back down the tunnel. "Just some cleanup," he says, "See if you can find where the smoke comes out. Tobin had a hidden camp in there, he would come down through a fissure in the cave ceiling. We should be sure he did not leave us any more surprises topside." He waves his hand in a complicated motion to dismiss his elemental, its work done amd heads toward the sunlit world to see what he might do to follow the would-be caller.
