Turtle Soup (Planescape 3.5e)

Andarin opens the door on the left, which noiselessly opens into a large dark space. Within is a hovering illusory image of the World-Serpent's Womb, translucent on the outside to allow observation of the many tiny figures moving about within. Rhinnishar is here, flexing her gossamer dragon-wings beneath the image, peering at it with tremendous curiousity. The room is otherwise empty.

Sun and Sea are curious as well, and say something to the little dragon in a strange tongue. (Draconic)[sblock]What did you find? What is this?[/sblock]Rhinnishar looks at them to make a quizzical trilling sound and then goes back to the glowing image, entranced by the tiny people and dancing lights.

Jurden hears many voices through the double doors, talking excitedly. He recognizes several of the voices as belonging to cutters from the storeroom, but there are many other voices as well. There are too many voices within to make out any meaningful conversation.
 

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"Hey, Blue! Here they are, in here."

The803 said:
Sun and Sea are curious as well, and say something to the little dragon in a strange tongue. (Draconic)
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"Hmm, all these conversations going on in strange languages. A body'd be well served by learning a new tongue or two!"

"Say, cutters, where's Sysente and her crew?"
 

Jurden pauses at the door, confused at Andarin's words. If they're all in there with him, then who's in here making all this racket?

"Are you sure about that Andarin?" He opens the double doors to take in the view. Should he not recognize anyone, he'll go back to the room that Andarin is in.
 

Meenah follows Andarin at the threshold of the left-side room, and sees the illusory image.

"What do you think this is? Some sort of map?", then taking a more careful look from the threshold "What about those tiny figures..."
 

Traore enters hesitantly the room where Andarin is. He looks around, seeing the dragon and Sun and Sea. He approach the illusion and starts to take a close looks at it. "Map?" He looks even more closely to the tiny dots that qre movong, trying to understand what they are.
 

Andarin moves over to examine the globe. He peers at the tiny figures, looking for any recognizable ones. "I'd say it's a way of keeping tabs on what's happening, cutters - but who is it who wants to monitor the womb?" He looks around the room, trying to make out any other features of the place.

"Ah, Meenah - can you ask these two what it was that caught the First's attention back in the cellar? I guess just about anything is fascinating to her at the moment - but it seemed like something particular enticed her to this spot."
 

Meenah asks in Draconic the two turtle folks:

[sblock]"Excuse me sir, what is this... wondrous picture we're looking at? And why did the dragon come here so excited?"[/sblock]
 
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The Dragon Rhinnishar replies to Meenah in Draconic:
[sblock]It is the ley of creation.[/sblock]

The turtles seem very surprised that the dragon can speak already.

The tiny figures in the image seem to correspond with the people, but they are moving at great speed. As you watch, you realize that the image is playing and re-playing the entire party within the spheres that you just attended. Andarin laughs aloud as he finds the image of himself, zipping about between the spheres. The whole event takes about five minutes to play through, and then abruptly starts over. You notice that it seems a little faster as it replays itself, and that watching it is giving you a splitting headache.

Meanwhile, Jurden has opened the doors onto what appears to be a grand ballroom filled with what appear to be ornate circular canopy beds. The room is perhaps 80 feet on a side, and the double doors open onto a wide staircase that descends to the floor. People are milling about and moving between the shrouded beds, which you suddenly realize are on wheels as one of them is pushed past you. Several folk shout greetings up to you as the doors open; Anthaze is among them. Again, the room is lit by sunflies cavorting in the air above the beds.

Everyone present is wearing strangely-decorated pajamas, and Jurden is startled to find himself wearing them as well; his possessions have vanished, although they are still visible as colored cloth patches sewn to the new sleep-clothes. He staggers back through the doors into the hallway and is, just as abruptly, exactly as he was before entering, possessions and all. Friendly laughter spills into the hall from the bed-floor below.

Don't worry 'bout your things, berk! Happens to everyone in here...
 

Like the others in the group, Rhys views the sphere with both interest and confusion. “It seems odd that they are strictly focused on the events in the womb when the more important events occurred in the room back there."

"Who do you think would monitor such a thing and to what purpose? Andarin, you have heard of the World Serpent before, has anyone ever mentioned anything like this? Are there any tales of Guardians of this place?”

Looking about, the Fey-Touched adds, “I must confess this place isn’t at all what I expected when I first entered the Gibbous Portal.”

Focusing his attention back at the revelry being displayed in the globe, Rhys decides on a whim to see if he can mentally direct the image to view something else, like the birth of the Rhinnishar or the present location of Jurden.
 

Rhys' efforts give him a splitting headache. It is extremely uncomfortable to stay in the room with the map for more than one "cycle." You stagger out of the room. Rhinnishar and the turtles seem immune to this and stay behind, enthralled, but Sysente and her companions are similarly effected.

You will have to exert your Will to re-enter. The Angel tries this and staggers out moments later, his nose bleeding. Sysente, Aphnan, and the clockwork child move to his aid; he is fine, but advises against trying to hard.

The crowd in the ballrooms seems momentarily stirred by Jurden's entrance. A tiny gnome woman in green pajamas bounds to the top of the stairs of the ballroom to the verge of the passage and shouts into the hall.

HEY! You boys finally made it! C'mon, the dark of this whole party business is in here. I hope you held on to those shells I gave you.

(for Rhys, Jurden, and Andarin)
[SBLOCK]It's Bi. She's hard to recognize in her pajamas, but the voice is hard to miss.[/SBLOCK]
 

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