Just having one update was great: two is amazing! Thanks, Sagiro.
What about three?
Sagiro’s Story Hour, Part 346
The Girl Who Has Been Waiting
“I think we’re here,” Morningstar says to the others.
Dranko gestures to the banquet table. “But we still have a hundred courses left to eat!”
Morningstar casts
dream anchor and brings the three wizards into
Ava Dormo with her, taking them directly to the beach nearest the cleft in the cliff. They study the location for a few minutes, return to their bodies in the mansion, and the party prepares to
teleport. Flicker stuffs one last cinnamon roll into his mouth before the party dangles themselves outside the mansion for a group translation.
One drawback of using
Ava Dormo for scouting is that transient objects are not reflected in the Dreamscape. So it is that the party is unpleasantly surprised to find the beach strewn with bodies poking out of the sand. A small population of gulls is pecking at the briny flesh rotting upon their skeletons. They were humanoid but not human – tall, four-armed, muscular and with thick skin. They’ve likely been dead about six months. None in the party recognize their race, but it hardly matters now. There are fourteen bodies here, and every one of them has a charred hole burned into the center of its chest.
“I hate playing catch-up,” Dranko grumbles.
Beyond the smell of ordinary decay, the Company can detect the faintest whiff of Essence permeating the scene of carnage. Grey Wolf casts
enhanced senses and finds that among the unpleasant odors, he detects the scent of dead
human. Flicker notices a skeletonized human hand sticking poking its fingers up through the sand, and when he pulls, an entire human arm comes out, ripped from the socket of its absent owner. They’re not sure, but they think it’s a woman’s arm.
Dranko smiles. “Looks like Meledien’s been disarmed.” He takes the arm and drops it into a
bag of holding.
There are two other objects that catch the party’s collective eye: at the base of the fissure, one on either side of its opening, are two enormous Divination Sinks, huge stone barrels glowing blue from within.
/*/
With
mass darkvision applied, the Company enters the cracked opening in the side of the cliff. It leads to a long, narrow tunnel, straight as an arrow, boring through the mountainside. The floor is flat and polished, though the walls are rough-hewn, and the ceiling starts to descend as they progress. The minutes pass, marked only by the muffled echoes of their footsteps.
After a mile of this monotony, long after the pinpoint of light marking the entrance has disappeared behind them, the tunnel abruptly ends. The ceiling has come down to only eight feet, and the passage has narrowed to little more than five feet wide. In the floor, just short of the wall that marks the end of the tunnel, is a perfectly round hole. It starts a cylindrical shaft that plummets straight down into the darkness, past the range of their
darkvision.
They tie a sunrod to the end of a long length of rope and slowly lower it into the shaft. The illuminated curved walls are a smooth, glistening stone. Down goes the sunrod into that perfect well, until the light is so dim it seems no more than the glimmer of a distant candle. Only after they have paid out some two hundred feet of rope does Dranko feel it touch the ground, the rope going slightly slack.
Something tugs on the rope, gently, three times. Dranko is so startled he nearly lets go.
“Who’s there?” he calls, but no answer rises up to meet his question.
He starts to pull the rope back up, and just for a second it resists, as if someone has grabbed the far end, but then it pulls free.
“Don’t pull it all the way back,” says Kibi. “Leave it most of the way down. I’m going to scout.”
The dwarf casts
xorn movement and sinks into the floor. With Scree at his side, the two descend straight down parallel to the round shaft, offset by a few feet. He realizes that the Divination Sinks have cut off the
telepathic bond he usually enjoys with his comrades, though he can still communicate mentally with Scree.
Still twenty feet short of the depth where the sunrod touched bottom, Kibi finds he can go no further. He has come against an impervious “floor” of blue marble, though ordinarily such stone would prove no barrier to him. Perhaps he has reached some sort of underground prison?
“Scree, I’m going to stick my head into the shaft and see what’s below us.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” asks Scree nervously. “If I volunteered to do that, you’d probably tell me not to.”
“Maybe,” admits Kibi. “But I need to learn what we’re dealing with.”
Kibi slowly sticks his head out of the solid rock and into the shaft, while effectively lying on his stomach atop the marble layer. He cranes his neck out and downward, and finds himself looking into a large round chamber. No, not entirely round – it’s a ten-sided room, and on each wall is a large symbol inlaid in gems. But before Kibi can focus on these symbols, he notices that directly below him, staring up and watching him intently, is a human girl, maybe nine years old. She’s wearing a simple blue dress, and her long brown hair hangs straight to her scrawny shoulders.
“Hi,” says Kibi, taken aback. “Are you… are you friendly?”
“Hey mister, that’s a neat trick!” says the girl.
“Thanks,” says Kibi. “So, uh, what are you doing down here?”
The girl smiles. “Waiting.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know! Maybe you?” Then she frowns. “You’re not with those other three people, are you?”
“No,” says Kibi quickly. “Are you?”
The girl makes a face, like she’s eaten something rotten. “Me? Of course not!”
“What did you think of them?” asks Kibi.
“Not very nice,” says the girl. “Oh, and I like your beard. It’s so fuzzy!”
“Thank you,” says Kibi again. “Have you always lived here?”
“Yes.”
“How old are you?”
The girl shrugs, lifting and lowering her dress a few inches. “I don’t know. I was asleep for a long time.”
“What woke you up then?”
The girl’s voice sounds a little unsure as she answers. “The people on the ships. And Posada. And the other one.”
“Did the people on the ships come here, then?” asks Kibi.
“No.”
“But you woke up once Posada’s Boundary came down?”
She scrunches up her face like she’s trying hard to remember something. “Yes. That sounds right.”
When Kibi doesn’t immediately offer another question, the girl poses the dwarf one of her own.
“Are you ready?”
“For what?” asks Kibi.
“To go into the Depths. That’s why you’re here, right?”
Kibi gulps. “You mean… underwater?”
The girl giggles. “Part of it probably is. I don’t know. I’ve never been there. I’m not allowed. I can only let people in.”
Kibi frowns. “Those people who came before us… did you let them in?”
The girl makes her sour-milk face again. “Them? No. I hid from them. But you know what’s weird? They let
themselves in. And they’re not allowed to
do that!”
“Can only Divine beings let others through, then?” asks Kibi.
“No, only me. That’s why Yulan put me here.”
Kibi recalls that Yulan is the Kivian God of Time and Reality, and Father of all the Kivian Gods.
“So, mister beardy, is it just you?”
“No, I have friends up there. We lowered the light down on a rope, and wondered who was down here when you tugged on it.”
“Oh, it’s just me. My name’s Ula.”
“My name is Kibilhathur Bimson,” says Kibi.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Bimson. Why are you in the rock like that?
“I don’t like climbing down ropes,” says Kibi. “It makes me nervous.”
“Oh,” says Ula. She peers upward into the well. “It looks like fun!”
“So,” says Kibi, “Those people who came before and let themselves in even though they weren’t supposed to. Did they take anything out when they left?”
Ula seems surprised at the question. “Oh, they didn’t come out. They
can’t come out. It’s one-way.”
“So once you’re in the… the Depths… you’re in there forever?”
“As far I as I know. That’s the whole point of the Iron Barrier. No one goes in, no one goes out.” She gives Kibi a look of surprise that he didn’t know something so obvious.
“So what’s in the Depths?” asks Kibi.
“I don’t know exactly. A whole world. Like you have up there. Cities, civilizations, creatures… stuff like that. I’ve never actually been there.”
“Is there someone down in the Depths that can let people back up?”
“I doubt it. It would be against the rules!”
Kibi decides it’s time for the others to join the conversation. “Do you mind if my friends come down too?”
“Sure. I think you won’t hurt me. Not like those other people would have. There was something very wrong with them, you know. And they killed all the guardians! Can you imagine? I didn’t think they could do that, either. There’s something not right, here. But you’re right. Right?”
Kibi nods, smiles, and swims back up through the rock to join the rest of the Company. He relays everything about his encounter with Ula.
/*/
Soon enough, all seven of them are down in the ten-sided room. It’s spacious, some fifty feet across, with blue marble walls, floor and ceiling. Two metal rings, like handles, protrude from the center of the floor, directly beneath where the tunnel opens into the ceiling.
On each wall of the room is a symbol, set in silver gemstones: a loom; a tear-drop; a man on fire; a sword blade; a sun; a wave; a shield; a bloody crescent; a tree; and the Rune of Drosh. They are the symbols of each of the ten primary Deities of Kivia: in order, Manisette, Goddess of Creation; Heros, Goddess of Mercy; Nifi, God of Fire; Tiria, Goddess of Chaos; Kemma, God of the Sun; Posada, God of the Ocean; Palamir, God of Soliders; Dralla, Goddess of the Night; Quarrol, God of Nature; and Drosh, God of Death. Yulan himself is indicated with an hourglass symbol on Ula’s forehead.
“What about the ones who died?” asks Ernie.
“I think the room had more walls while I was sleeping,” says Ula. “I’m not sure, though.”
Ernie looks at the thin girl, slightly taller than himself. “Are you hungry?” he asks. “You’ve been here a long time…”
Ula smiles at him. “No, but thanks. Say, what’s your name?”
All of Kibi’s companions introduce themselves one at a time, and Ula nods politely at each until Dranko’s turn.
“Dranko? That’s a funny sounding name. Can you say it again?”
Dranko looks at Ula warily. “Dranko.”
“Dranko!” says Ula. “Dranko Dranko Dranko Dranko Dranko…”
“Do you get bored?” Dranko interrupts.
“No.”
“How did you hide from the others?” asks Grey Wolf, looking around the room. He doesn’t see any cover or other exits.
“Oh. Like this!”
Ula vanishes. A few seconds later she appears on the far side of the room.
“Where did you just go?” asks Ernie.
Ula shrugs. “I don’t know.”
“And you only appeared here when the sea became crossable?” asks Aravis.
“I think I was here all the time,” says Ula uncertainly. “I was just asleep. I think Yulan put me here not long after he first arrived.”
“And where did he come from?” presses Aravis.
“I don’t know.”
Dranko describes the persons of Tarsos, Meledien and Seven Dark Words. Ula nods. “Yeah, that was them. The greasy hair man was the worst. He’s the one who actually opened the door, and that doesn’t make sense, since I’m the only one who can open it. That’s the whole reason I’m here! Those three went in, but at least I know they can’t come back out. It’s only one way.”
“And how did they open it?” asks Grey Wolf.
“I don’t know. I didn’t see. I was hiding. If they can kill the guardians, they could kill me too!”
“Where is the door they opened?” asks Aravis.
Ula points to the handles set in the middle of the floor.
Aravis considers that if Adversary blood let his enemies pass, his own divine nature might let him succeed as well. “May I try opening them?"
“Sure, but it won’t work.”
She’s right. Aravis grips the rings and pulls, but they don’t budge.
“So,” says Dranko, “tell me about the place beyond this. The Depths.”
“Like I told your beardy friend, I’ve never been there. I think it’s like your world up on the surface, but underground.”
“You mentioned something called the Iron Barrier…?”
“Oh, yes! It’s what Yulan put around the world, to make sure all the people in the Depths wouldn’t come up and wipe out all the people on the surface. Because they could have done that, I think. It’s very big, it goes around the whole world, and it’s very thick.”
Kibi looks alarmed. “Do the people in the Depths
want to destroy the surface?”
“I don’t know,” Ula shrugs. “I’ve never met them. Maybe. No one’s ever come up, so I think it doesn’t matter.”
“And your job is to let people through who want to go?” asks Kibi.
“No, my job is to figure out who
should go through, and then open the door for them if I think they ought to.”
Kibi takes a deep breath. “Do you think
we should go through?”
Ula’s young face breaks into a grin. “Yes, of course! Assuming that you’re ready, and have everything you need.”
“And what do we need?”
“I have no idea,” answers Ula. “But understand, once you go through, you can’t come back. So if you
don’t have everything you need, then once you go, you won’t be able to do whatever it is you need to do. What
do you want to do down there, anyway?”
“Stop those other three people from doing whatever awful thing they’re planning on,” says Kibi.
Dranko eyes the two metal handles in the floor. “I think we have everything we need,” he says.
“What if we need the Watcher’s Kiss?” asks Grey Wolf.
“We could cast a
commune, just to be sure,” says Ernie.
“But what about the Divination Sinks?” asks Kibi.
That’s a problem easily mended. Aravis casts a
rope trick, and Morningstar goes inside to ask questions of her Goddess. Dranko keeps Ula occupied by teaching her how to play cards.
Morningstar sits down in the little extra-dimensional pocket and casts her spell. Ell is with her.
Hi, Ell, Morningstar says with a weary wryness. “Guess where I am now?”
ASK YOUR QUESTIONS, CHILD
Do we need the Watcher’s Kiss before we descend into the Depths?
YES
Is there anything else we need, that we don’t have, before we descend into the Depths?
NO
Is there anything else we might want?
YES
Do you have any sense that Meledien, Tarsos and Seven Dark Words are present on the surface world?
I DON’T THINK THEY ARE
We suspect they’ve already been in the Depths for six months. Are we already too late?
NO
Should we seek the Watcher’s Kiss immediately?
SOONER IS BETTER
The people who were killed in their sleep. Did Octesian kill them?
YES
Should we seek Octesian before seeking the Watcher’s Kiss?
USE YOUR JUDGMENT
The murderers in Sentinel; is it imperative that we deal with that before going into the depths?
THE QUESTION IS TOO VAGUE
Are those murderers connected with a known enemy?
YES
Are they connected with Octesian?
NOT MEANINGFULLY
Are they connected with Meledien or Tarsos or Seven Dark Words?
YES
The task we need to do in the Depths -- does it have anything to do with the Thorn in Abernia’s side?
YES
Will Farazil substantively abuse the trust we’ve placed in him?
PROBABLY NOT, SHORT TERM
Is there a way to send Farazil back to where he came from?
YES, BUT HE WOULD RETURN
Is there a way to confine him to one body?
YES, WITH GREAT EFFORT
Will the dwarves be safer if we move them to Cloud Mountain?
SOME WILL
Will Azhant return?
I DON’T KNOW
Thank you, Dark Goddess
When Morningstar emerges and relays Ell’s answers, a nervous twitter passes through the group, given how close they were to pursuing their Black Circle quarry without first acquiring the Watcher’s Kiss. Having learned everything they’re likely to from Ula, and with a renewed sense of urgency, they bid her a fond farewell.
“Nice meeting you all,” she says with a smile and a wave. “I guess I’ll see you again pretty soon, huh?”
…to be continued…
