Variorum of Victoria: Chapter the First: A Twisted Schema

[Arahira]

When I start feeling the heat and then see it out of the corner of my eye I cringe and keep thinking over and over 'I'm gonna die I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die, away from home, in a strange land full of strange creatures.' but I still run as hard as I can. When I strike the tree and go stumbling I think 'this is it, what a crappy way to die' then I realize its quiet and I'm not dead. I freeze for a moment as I watch the thing inside the construct try to continue and kind of feel sorry for whoever it had once been as it struggles. The sound of the monkeys brings me back from my thoughts and also the awareness that the burning smell is not dissipating.

"Oh no! My hair! Not my hair!" I quietly whine to myself and cringe when I touch the skin on the back of my neck. I also stop to check my dress. It was made of a far more durable material then usual, yes, but it had also been through a lot already and that light beam was nasty.

If I'm not awkwardly exposing my back to the world, or burning, I make my way over to the construct. If I am I put out the last of the flames if need be and just clutch the back of the dress shut the best I can and still head toward the machine. If it's no longer a threat then I attempt to get to where the creature inside the machine is and, since I have no spells left, I just remove its' head or pull cables until the poor thing finally stops moving.

[nijineko]

The back part of your hair is definitely singed off, though the top back part is still somewhat intact. Your dress has gained a few more scorched and melted parts. There are some small fires which need attending. After that is taken care of you turn your attention to the construct. The surviving monkeys gather around you as you approach.

The construct is still twitching and thrashing about somewhat, though still on it's side. As you reach in and start to rip out cables and anything else that seems breakable, there is some crackling sound and sparks begin to fly out of the various controls. The monkeys do their wordless chanting and perform precision strikes upon the joints and damaged spots of the construct. Between all of your efforts, the construct finally stops moving about.

There is a long silence, broken only by the wind. Suddenly there is an eruption of fire from the downed construct, and several segments of it break away. Something shoots out of top, traveling rapidly across the ground. It begins to arc upward, and strikes a tree squarely. The trailing flames engulf a couple of monkeys, which does not end well. Falling to the ground, the fire sputters out, revealing the metal adorned skeleton upon some kind of throne. The skeleton is crushed from the impact with the tree, and lies askew of the throne, itself toppled over onto one side. A few last flickering flames are visible in the base of the throne. The smell of burned fur joins that of burned hair.

Silence falls again.

[Arahira]

I cringe at my hair, that's gonna take a lot to fix. At least my dress is still decent, though I will definitely have to buy a new one soon if this keeps up. I quickly roll on the ground to finish off the little fires before heading over to the construct.

I'm just letting out a sigh of relief as the construct finally stops moving when it suddenly bursts into flames. I leap out of the way and go to yell at the monkeys to do the same but for the ones near the tree it's already too late. I don't even have time to try to save them before its all over. I look around sadly then sigh once again. At least it appeared to be over now.

I leave the monkeys to deal with their dead comrades and flop to ground, lay back and just stare up at the sky, if I could see it through the trees. If some of the monkeys come over to check me out I tell them I'm fine and apologize that I couldn't save their friends.

[nijineko]

The sky consists of the green-black canopy of knotted branches, vines, and leaves. Despite this, it is restful to the eyes. Your nose and ears are having trouble agreeing with your eyes, however. There are some close stirrings, and the spokesmonkey edges into your view. He seems disposed to waiting. When you eventually look around, you see that the surviving monkeys have all gathered into two lines leading into the dark. There is a few feet in between the two lines. They are facing you, and waiting patiently.

[Arahira]

I lay there fascinated by the twisting vines and knotted branches until the Spokesmonkey appears in in my view. I sigh and stand up then look at the monkeys oddly as I notice the pathway they've made for me. I shrug and walk down the isle and into the darkness.

[nijineko]

The dappled green sunlight streams off your shoulders and puddles at your feet as you pass between the lines of monkeys. The cool darkness opens its mouth and swallows you whole. The monkeys fall into procession behind you, one line just to your left, the other just to your right... and follow you into the darkness. At first it is hard to see as the canopy seems to determined to choke out any possible stream of light. Other than the trees, there seems to be a distinct lack of any other vegetation, nor does there seem to be any animals, or even insects. There seem to be more and more rocks in the ground as well.

Your eyes strain and search, and abruptly pick out an odd yellowish glow beyond some trees. It is not torch light, nor is it sunlight. It does not flicker or change.

[Arahira]

Usually the lack of sounds of life is a bad thing but I try not to think about it. After risking my life for these creatures why would they try to kill me? Then again it could be said that they had tried already by setting me against that thing. Still even if they did try where would I run to? There were monkeys all around me and I had no spells or gadgets left and I was exhausted. On the other hand if I kept walking maybe I'd get something to eat. Food's always a good bonus and right now I was pretty damned hungry.

The light I saw up ahead was somewhat unsettling but I kept moving forward until someone said to stop or something else happened.

[nijineko]

You stumble a bit over the uneven rocks and roots, round a tree, and come to a halt. You are standing in a small clearing of the trees, though no real light penetrates the leaf choked sky. Some fifty feet or so ahead of you is what appears to be small bank, or sudden upthrust of ground, perhaps a few feet in height, but very wide and leading further into the depths of the wood. The edges around the sides are broken and tip this way and that, especially the edge nearest you; though the top of the upthrust is oddly level and flat. Four, maybe five horses could ride abreast on the top of it. In front of the nearest edge is a skree of broken rock which slopes down and out until it meets the gap between the trees in which you are standing.

A few feet back from the edge, and off to the left side, a tall pole or slender pillar rises at a canted angle to a height well above your head. It is covered in some kind of greenish mold, or fungus. At the top, the mold balloons out into an irregular spherical shape. The eerie glow comes mostly from this, though some also from the lower parts.

You realize that the 'rocks' you have been stumbling over for the last while are the same dark substance from the top of the crumbling upthrust. You detect a faint waif of something bitter and astringent.

[Arahira]

I'm starting to question all of this as I squat down to check out a piece of this dark substance. I stand back up and look up at the eerie glowing fungus and then back up at the 'hill' wondering if I'm supposed to wait here or climb up. I try not wrinkle my nose at the smell in case they find it rude.

[nijineko]

From your brief examination of the some of the dark 'rocks' it is clear to you that it is not a natural substance. You are not certain what magical or alchemical process was used in its formation, but you lean towards the latter, especially given the faint smell.

[nijineko]

There are soft hoots from some of the monkeys, swiftly squelched by a gesture from the spokesmonkey. They seem curiously hesitant to touch the black rocks, and hop from spot to spot. After a few moments pass while the monkeys stare at you, the spokesmonkey points to the black strip, and then gestures towards where it disappears among the trees, and tentatively steps onto the base of the tumbled scree.

[Arahira]

Since the monkeys seem to be avoiding the black rocks I'm not quite sure if I should have been touching them but it was too late for that. I follow the black substance toward the trees where it disappears, assuming the monkeys were trying to give me directions.

It was like being in a different country where you had no idea the culture and no idea the language and no idea how to communicate. What made it worse was that the country I was in hated what I was and almost anything I did could turn out to be a wrong move.Being as tired as I was wasn't really helping matters either.....

[nijineko]

{{{question: are you walking on top of the black substance, or are you attempting to travel another way?}}}

[Arahira]

[[Is unsure of it so attempting to avoid it.]]

[nijineko]

There are many crumbled areas along the side of the ribbon of dark material. You can see where the occasional root has penetrated the side and is hastening the destruction of the substance. Nothing else seems willing to grow nearby, there is no grass, no bushes, not even any vines. Even the fungus you saw on the slender pillar earlier does not grow on the stuff. The ribbed and tangled roots make it difficult to walk too close to the trees, and you feel uncomfortable walking on the ribbon itself, so you end up wandering back and forth in the crumbling area in-between.

You notice other slender pillars along the side of the dark ribbon, one here, another there, with a large amount of distance between them, but all of them are dark. The monkeys trail you in two rough columns, silent save for the scruff and clatter of rubble shifted by footsteps. Time seems to have forgotten you. The ribbon pierces the forest in an unnaturally rigid and unbending line, with no regard for trees or shape of the land. It is almost as if some unimaginably large sword had cleaved deep into the earth, leaving this befouled scab of blackened and deformed substance.

After yet another detour around a giant tree determined to take it's piece of the forest back, you think you hear something. After a pause, and nothing but silence broken only by a shifting foot or tail, you continue on your way.

[[[ please make a listen check. ]]]