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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The803" data-source="post: 1997079" data-attributes="member: 23183">On this side, the portal looks like an ordanary well with a stone sculpture of Gibbous the Nethling wrapped around it.  The room is a warehouse-like space of grey fieldstone walls, slate floors, and a ceiling of thick wood planks.  The place is stacked high with crates and barrels, all filled with perfectly preserved food and drink, mostly sour bread, sharp cheeses, hard cider, ale, and mead.  About two or three dozen bubbers from through the well-portal are here, making for a fairly small and casual gathering; none of the other Nethling portals out of the Sarphidian's egg chamber seem to open into this room.  A single wide staircase cuts up through one wall, and a golden light glows down from above.The bariaur, who is called Anthaze, is apparently from the World Serpent, (or at least acts like he is) and seems rather pleased at this whole turn of events, despite his gruff demeanor.  A large number of sunflies that have somehow gotten through the well-portal cluster around him as he assures bashers to help themselves to the food and drink and gives them the same rough welcome given to Jurden and Wysele (the tiefling on his shoulders).Andarin and his new cohorts clamber out of the well, followed by a Sarphidian and a pair of man-sized turtle-folk.  There is a bit of an awkward moment for those holding shells, but the two do not seem bothered by the use of their tiny cousins as drinking vessels.  Both are curious about this new place, asking polite questions in quiet, baritone Sylvan.  They are utterly clueless, fascinated by everything from metal tools to cheese.The Sarphidian buzzes about the room curiously, warning people that the Gibbous well-portal will close soon, in case anyone wants to return to the womb.  A few berks head back down the well, but more come up it every few minutes.  Apparently, the womb-spheres have been divided between Law and Chaos, with githzerai and sarphidians maintaining something of a balance.  The sarphidian seems confident that at least one nethling-portal to the womb will remain open somewhere in the World Serpent until "gestation is complete," but has no idea how long that will take or how to find such a portal.The sarphidian perches on the head of the Gibbous statue and addresses the turtle-folk in Sylvan, You have made the first step, young beetles.  I must follow you now.  With this, the Sarphidian scrunches into a ball and hardens, seeming to gradually exchange textures with the Gibbous well-portal.  The sarphidian's exoskeleton becomes hard and brittle; Gibbous and the well in its clutches reassume a fleshy texture and begin to stretch and move as if waking from sleep.Tzelze addresses Gibbous as it awakens; Going back?  Gibbous nods.  See you in there, then; I'm sticking with you, big fella...  Gibbous cocks its head at her curiously as the turtle-folk carefully remove the now-hardened sarphidian chrysalis from its back.  She glances back over her shoulder, surveying the scene for a moment, and then dives below.  Gibbous droops foward into the well and slithers down after her.  As the nethling vanishes from sight, Rhys' turtle shell bobs up in the pool portal, which is now only a slowly-closing fleshy pore in the World Serpent's slate floor.By this time, there are about forty people milling about in the storeroom, stuffing themselves with sampled food and drink and exploring the contents of each new container with eager, snitching fingers.  Many are hivers, and this place is indeed a paradise by comparison.   Others have drifted off up the flight of stairs, the only apparent exit other than the pore in the floor.</blockquote>

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