Six From Gate Pass - Chapter 2: The Indomitable Fire Forest of Innenotdar

[Gregor]

Gwenvere appears to be getting quite annoyed at this point.

"I care for nothing in that false shrine to my love, especially not for some stupid Elf from the lands you call Shahalesti. I have all that matters now and the real shrine is here. As it always should have been. Why should I give up what belongs to me? Why would I give up my only physical memory of my sweet Anyariel? So you can take it over to her? So that she may have it and be happy?"

The twisted nymph pouts in the flaming reeds for a few moments before adding, almost as a whisper.

"Are you sure you can break the curse in this place? Can you promise that I will be beautiful again?"

 

[funkmamagoat]

Kirio smiles sadly at Gwenvere "My dear Gwenvere, I can promise you that ending the curse is our only hope of survival. I assure you survival is utmost on my list of priorities. If we are successful, the curse will end, and your pond, and so you, can be renewed. To do this however, we will need the lock of Anyariel's hair... if at all possible, we will return it to you, where it belongs."

OOC: the rolls can be so nasty sometimes... but then, so can Kirio

 

[Gregor]

Gwenvere raises out of the water slightly, revealing similarly pocked shoulders. She curls her hands into fists and says: "No! I do not believe you Elf. You pretend. I will not give you anything so that you can take it to her. You cannot end the curse and you cannot promise me anything. You will leave now!"

 

[funkmamagoat]

You will leave now!

Kirio smiling expression instantly becomes dangerously neutral; his green eyes seem to glow briefly as he fixes the nymph with a cold stare "You listen to me nymph! You may be happy to wallow in your own filth here ready to die, but I am NOT! You will hand over that lock, and then you will thank us for trying to save you and this place, or you will find your ability to feel pain and misery has only just begun, clear?" he readies his bow to emphasize his point...

OOC: intimidate roll coming up.

 

[Adjuntive]

Seeing the conversation turning to a different tone and becoming dangerously tenuous Alric walks into the pool alongside Kirio. Alric is a comrade to Kirio in all things and intimidation is something Alric has a little skill in.

Glaring at the mad, self-indulgent nymph, Alric attempts makes a show of the imposing figure he makes in his armor and fingering the pommel of his sword.

"Nymph! I have had enough of your self-indulgent wallowing. You will hand over the lock as Kirio has stated and aid us in ending this curse. Do not and I promise that the violence that Kirio has suggested will be as indomitable as the flames of this forest and far more furious."

OOC: Kirio has a +2 to his intimidate result if this additional dialog is accepted.

 

[Gregor]

Gwenvere shrieks and backs away in fear, clutching at her greasy hair. "Knaves! Do not hurt me ... I will do as you ask."

She sobs weakly to herself as she swims over to the cave entrance and then hobbles along the submerged stone floor. Her crying echoes in the cave and she returns to the pool carrying a long, thick band of bright golden hair tied up in a red ribbon. She holds it above her head and out of the water as she swims up to the island in the middle of the pool. Laying it down on a dry patch, away from the burning flowers, she backs away to the cave.

With tears streaming down her mostly hidden features, she cries out: "Take it! Take what is left of my heart and leave. Never return. You have forever sundered my wounded heart. Villains! Scoundrels! LEAVE!" With a final scream, she retreats to the cave, wailing uncontrollably.

 

[fromage67]

Lars nods appreciatively from his vantage point on the shore of the pool. "Well done, lads. Let's take this to Timbre."

 

[funkmamagoat]

Kirio shakes his head laughs lightly under his breath as he wades over to the island to retrieve the lock of hair "Honestly, the stubbornness of some creatures... you bend over backwards to help them and they spit in your face" prior to picking up the lock, he casts detect magic to see if there is anything special about it, that is other than being 40 year old hair at the heart of an interspecies lesbian love triangle...

 

[Gregor]

[sblock="for Kirio"]There does not appear to be anything magical about the hair. [/sblock]

Picking up the lock of beautiful golden hair, you set off towards the Seela village. The sounds of Gwenvere's sobs trail behind you for a while and then quiet as you hike off into the distance. Your wet clothes steam dry in the heat and after another two hours, you return to the village around high noon.

After asking around, you locate the small hiking trail that leads to Timbre and the First Tree, up through the cliffs and into the burning woods beyond. Kirio, and whoever follows, climbs the trail and then sets off down a narrow path choked with burning brush and dangling tree branches ablaze and weeping ash. Eventually the path leads onto a small dried riverbed within a small gorge. No further than a mile out of the village does the gorge end with a beautiful stone staircase that leads up to a clearing surrounded by burning roses and thick trees. Beyond the clearing is a hill, completely engulfed in fire. The hill is maybe 40 feet in diameter, atop which sits an ancient and gnarled willow tree almost identical to the statue-fountain at the Shrine of Anyariel.

Curled beneath the tree is an elven-looking woman whose wooden flesh and leaf hair flares with horrible fire. At the end of the clearing stand a pair of old-looking boars, wreathed in flames, that are similar in size to bears. The animals bristle as you crest the staircase and the burning woman raises her head and digs her hands into the scorched earth near the base of the tree. In a voice that sounds as ancient as the world itself, she speaks:

"Who comes!? Who has come forth to visit me? Have you come to end it? End it all? The burning? This forest? Always burning! Never ends....never ends....never ends..."

 

[funkmamagoat]

Kirio sighs to himself...

			Another one, everyone here is insane... not surprising I suppose... still.

"Timbre I presume? I am Kirio, the effusive. We come bearing a gift, one we hope you will cherish. All we ask in return is that you talk with us; help us understand the struggle that is happening here, and then perhaps ending this curse is indeed what we will do." He holds up the lock of hair for timbre to see...