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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Carnifex" data-source="post: 879025" data-attributes="member: 227">While making an oversized sun oven for the beast was a tenuous proposition at best, it was the only play the crew had, the only bid for time to keep them all from ending up like Melisande. That was, at least, until a new development arrived. The beast was playing the role of exterminator, right up until he bacame curious, ever ready to fill that need for ego or posession. Kale relaxed inwardly as the beast no longer viewed the mercenaries as mere vermin. As the beholder grumbled on, it became clear his eleven yes now viewed them as... marginally useful vermin? Kale thought hard on what the beholder might be thinking, as the rules of the encounter quickly changed. He would not be tricked into bids for time, distraction, or ambush. Most of the few remaining doors to freedom were sequentially closed by the irritated monster. Oh, how Kale yearned for Sebastion to be freed to seek help from the Iron Hawk Tower. He had never made firebrick or cooked glass before, and despite their ease of make with a big enough heat source, the whole ruse was hardly worth betting lives. "Your offer intrigues me... but how can you provide what you offer?" it mouthed with that terrible maw full of blunt rock-grinding teeth. The time for fast talk was behind them. Kale dared his eyes to meet the gaze, outnumbered. There was no place to be arrogant, but his body protested as he made his desperate bid to seem worth more than the rocks this thing chewed day and night. What was it his father had said about bargaining? And to think that with all the martial trianing, formal and experience that Kale had gone through, all boiling down now to the merchant's lessons he should have learned so long ago. Amegrion was a small house in Iril, and Kale was its black sheep. Somehow, the house managed to survive its enemies and avoid being absorbed by those more powerful... the young mercenary had a few seconds now to learn the lesson. How could they avoid destruction, while still wriggling free from the beast's power? Kale's mind raced, but there was so very precious little room to maneuver. Wolf, at the least, seemed confident, or at least resigned to his efforts. Of course, wolves, and their patron Fenris, were never afraid of the impossible cause. Wolf knew very well that he could be stuck down where he stood, yet he waited, expectant, patient. "I am no glassmaker." Kale stated matter of factly. There was no sense of confession in his tone. "My interests are elsewhere. But let's just say that I've been uniquely... motivated since we stumbled upon your lair. Believe me when I say I have no need or desire to lie to you," Which incredibly, was the truth. Exaggeration and vagueness where necessary, but he had never at any point lied, and remained just as dedicated to finding a way to free his companions. Not that it mattered, though: the gig was up. "Sun ovens are made with dark rock or glass." Kale avoided a lecturing tone as he explained his idea dismissively. The monster was clearly not going for it, yet the mercenary was still risking precious capitol to insure that the thing could not call them liars. Somehow, the murderous beast would think less of them if they were caught untruthful. It was no matter, of course. The monster already knew what he had planned for the crew, and the best Kale could do was meet it on the best terms. He steeled himself and calmed his hands for what was next. They could no longer be lowly worms in the blessed sun-orb's dirt: they had to be of some measure of quality and value. Kale knew the crew posessed these things by the crate, though convincing the beholder would be a difficult prospect indeed. What kind of errand might he have for a band of two-legs? How would he insure cooperation? How would they find to break the rules? Wheels within wheels, the bargain went on. And as they stood in the sun-scorched ravine, the last bits of currency the crew had were evaporating quickly away. "While making clear glass is quite an art, I could wager decent cooked-glass panels could be made right here from sand and heat." Impurities bubbled the glass, and when seared too long without a swipe of the dross, caused the stuff to turn dark and opaque. Useless for windows, but plenty able to warm a huge rock-beast. Of course, the beholder wouldn't care for these details. He already knew what he wanted from the beings trapped before him. Kale would feed him enough to prove his honesty (without saying he honestly wanted the thing's body impaled on the Iron Hawk tower, of course), briefly answer his questions, and wait for the beast to choose. The beholder was too greedy by now, Kale determined. Whether or not he made the oven, some other errand was to be done. So instead of risking lives on his glasscooking abilities, they would just have to go straight for the prize behind the veil. "Where we do not have the great power that you posess, we learn to improvise." Drawing back from the particular 'sun throne' idea to the ridiculous but necessary notion that spawned it, Kale waited for the beast to react. Thoroughly filling in any information he may wish, it was a waiting game to have the other side decide. Gambling for their lives, the crew had very little to bring to the table. A notion of integrity, and the idea of a choice between favors were the only things that could speak of any real value. In the end, they were 'adventurers'- those odd short-lived folk of the stories who strike out and seek the needful things. Capable errand-runners, while hardly the title 'adventurers' would recieve in the stories, was a much more descriptive term. They were just what this thing was looking for. Kale intended to stretch this truth for all it was worth. Now, how in the world do we deal in a way that gets us out of here, on one piece? For the beholder had no regard for the safe return of his vassals, only that his errand be completed. We're assets, not cannon fodder, Kale repeated to himself as he regarded the beholder, hoping perhaps by will that the thing would agree. As Kale continued with his weaseling speeches, Sebastion lost track of exactly what it was that was being suggested. He knew a little of glass-making - he'd watched the glass-blower in town a few times - but not enough to contribute directly to the conversation, and standing ready to shoot was doing no-one any good. So what to do. Combat is not our first option, so what is... escape? With that realisation in mind, he slipped hands free of his belt, and turned to where the healers were at work. "I think Kale is coming to the end of his little charade... we'd best be ready to move." he muttered, quietly, as he slipped his arms under Melisande and lifted her gently from the floor in preparation. The beholderkin listened to the last parts of Kale's explanation, inexplicably occasionally giving odd huffs and snorts that sounded more like the rumble of a far-off earthquake than anything else, looking down on the comparatively diminuitive human before it with baleful eyes. It paused for a little whileafter he finished, then eventually spoke once more. "Glass... cooked from sand into reflectors... an interesting idea. Perhaps one I will consider in my future meditations. I think it'll take too long for you vermin though, and you aren't the right slave-species to be very skilled at it. An interesting idea but not for you to do. No, something more in your meagre capabilities, perhaps." It bobbed and several eyes changed direction to point at a small cave-mouth a little further down the ravine. "There were falls of water a few weeks back, and they poured down to wash through all these caves. At the bottom of the ravine I found some.. pieces of rock, heavy with mineral deposits, broken chunks of stalagmite washed down. They tasted good and were rich with metals." "They came from that cave, washed out. I can smell the mineral tang coming up on the breeze, mixed with the other smells from under the earth. Unfortunately the entrance is too small for me to get into, and I cannot reach them down there. If you small things go in there and get me some more of those rocks as a present... then I will leave you to take your noisome passage down the ravine and leave - leave fast, too. Or the alternative is I'll incinerate you all." Finally, Burl had been able to make some sense out of Kale’s ploy. He had been enticing the beholder with tales of them making a solar oven for the creature. Of course thought Burl as he looked around at the abundance of sand in the ravine. But, the creature is right, it was a bit beyond our capabilities. Although, if we could find materials to build some moulds, we could utilize the creatures own abilities with fire. All it would take is some large stones which could have a block carved out, filled with the sand and the beholder could heat it to crystalline form. After it cooled the blocks could be stacked into a rough oven. Burl had let his mind wander a bit, but was pulled back to reality at the suggestion that their live would be saved if only they could provide it with some specialty rocks from the small cave. Looking toward the cave entrance “That sounds reasonable. Our lives for a few rocks.” sounded Burl, but secretly he could see them becoming permanent miners for the beholder as he developed a taste for the mineral rich rocks.</blockquote>

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