scotland ♔ yet how the wind revives us here

[untethered]

♬ Presentiment - Manami Kiyota

WHO || Belle, Gold, Emma, Hook, Lila [closed]
WHAT || Several Knights take a secret journey to try to help Amara...
WHERE || Oakhurst, Scotland
WHEN || January 15th, 2014 [forward dated]
HOW || Actionspam

It's probably a very good thing that Gold sweet-talked them a car in the nearby tiny Scottish village of Oakhurst, because it is freezing cold out and snow blankets almost everything around. Walking the seven miles up the Old Road to the ruins would be a bitch and a half.

Instead, they comfortably drove past rocky downs, near stands of old-growth oak covered in snow, and past two farms that looked abandoned. No other travelers were visible on the lonely road, which finally curves, passing east of a narrow ravine. Belle signals for them to pull over here, where, at the road's closest approach to the cleft, several broken pillars jut from the earth where the ravine widens and opens into something akin to more of a deep, but narrow, cavern. Two of the pillars stand straight, but most of them lean against the sloped earth. Others are broken and several have apparently fallen into the darkness-shrouded depths. A few similar pillars are visible on the opposite side of the ravine.

Comments

[sternshield]

Don't understand why you're making deals with these creeps in the first place. [ meepo, who is reaching eagerly for the dragon, snarls at erky. ]

"Nasty furry face gnome knows nothing! Meepo keep his word."

[uncurse]

Yeah, let's just hope the rest of your people do, too. [ emma actually listened to gold's warnings ok. she watches meepo with vague distrust for a moment, but then sighs and turns away. ] I'm gonna try to get that open - [ she points to the chief's chest. ] It might save us the trouble of going downstairs and dealing with that druid. If anyone else finds something, shout. [ approaching the chest now weee. is it locked? ]

[untethered]

[ it's not locked, but the moment she opens it a NEEDLE SHOOTS OUT and strikes her. make a fort save emma. ]

[uncurse]

Ow! [ the needle digs into her neck wow that was rude. she reaches up to pluck it out, muttering. (fort save 12.) ] Dammit.

[untethered]

[ emma takes 3 temporary Constitution damage as she feels the heavy poison coursing powerfully through her veins. (this also reduces her max hit points by 10 for now, so she caps at 16hp instead of 26.)

the chest, at least, is overflowing with gold pieces, on top of which rest two onyx gems, 2 vials of some kind of liquid, an arcane magical scroll, and a potion. ] Emma?

[unhand]

Swan? [Hook moves towards her, looking concerned.] What happened, lass?

[uncurse]

[ you know what con damage looks like in my head? it looks like emma slipping from a squat to falling onto her ass beside the chest, hand raising to her head at the lightheadedness. her skin feels hot, sickly feverish, and dizziness washes over her for a moment. ]

I-I don't know. [ she looks down at the needle (nat 20 wis wow where the fuck was that for my fort save. fuck you random.org) ] There was a trap. It's poison.

[unhand]

[Hook doesn't even take more than a glance at the treasure because he's too busy squatting down next to her, one arm going around her to hold her up. He shoots a glare back at Erky.]

Help her!

[Not that this is remotely Erky's fault... he just gets growly and shouty when he's worried.]

[bittersweeter]

Poison? [ wow, fuck the dragon, have fun meepo, peace out. lila rushes over to emma's side. like mother, like daughter... she immediately kicks the needle a little ways away because they don't need that in the vicinity of emma. she hovers nervously near hook's shoulder, looking worried. ]

[sternshield]

I can't. Even if I had any spells left - which I don't after all that - I'm not powerful enough to do what you're asking.

[bittersweeter]

The apples. They can cure anything, we have to get Emma an apple.

[uncurse]

Guys. [ she uses hook's handy arm of support to get to her feet and try to steady herself, grimacing at the fretting he, belle and lila are all doing. ] It's fine. We'll get the apples, I'll sleep it off on the ship-ride home.

[bittersweeter]

[ lila makes such a mom face because wow emma sounds just like she did. you're aren't pulling a fast one on this girl. she pulls out a water bottle and shoves it at emma. ] Shut up and drink.

[unhand]

[Hook's staying close, ready to catch her if she feels weak again.]

You'll have some of the apple, love. Then we'll get you to one of the castle clerics.

[He wants to suggest that she go hang out with Meepo but between not actually being sure if that's a safer solution and the fact that there's no way in hell she'd agree to sit this out, he just stays where he is. Ready to have her back.]

[uncurse]

[ grumble grumble drinking water grumble. her fort save of 17 has her looking better at least. she's still feeling weak, but the dizzied, staggered feeling has passed and she's able to focus her vision. she hands the water bottle back to lila. ]

There's some stuff in the chest. I couldn't tell you what it is, but it might come in handy once we're in the grove. [ she glances down at it. ]

[undealt]

[Already there. While everyone else is freaking out over Emma's demolished con score, Gold has wandered over to investigate the chest. The scroll he recognizes immediately as a Knock spell, which he pockets. Might come in handy if they find a locked door down there. The potion he has to examine a bit more closely. (Spellcraft 25 and 27)]

Cat's grace. [And just to check to make sure the gems aren't magical, he casts detect magic on them.] As for the rest, well, I'm sure your pockets are never filled enough, Captain. Have at them.

[He does grab the other two unidentifiable elixirs and give them to Belle.] They might help in a pinch. Or kill us all, but we've come this far with minimal damage. I should think luck's been on our side. [Long-suffering look at Emma.]

[untethered]

[ she examines the vials but comes up with nothing. chemistry isn't really her subject. ] I wish we had some idea of how far down the grove was located. There's no saying that we're standing right over it.

[uncurse]

Only one way we're gonna find out.

[ she heads over to the shaft where the tree had sprung from. it's a long climb. BETTER GET STARTED.

wrong.

that was wrong. i've made a terrible mistake. emma's climb check is a whole 4 this is going to be great. this is like watching wipeout but SHE MAKES IT BY SOME MIRACLE. it's just fucking graceless charming behavior. ]

[untethered]

[ belle casts a mildly concerned look in gold's direction. HE MADE IT DOWN A ROPE ONCE, IS HE GONNA GET SO LUCKY TWICE. maybe she will glance very subtly in the direction of where he put that cat's grace potion. now might be a good time, bro.

still, she'll start climbing down the vines as well, taking her time because man she's even worse than emma at this. maybe she wore impossibly high heels today (climb 3, LUCKILY THE DC IS 0, just don't crit fail fuckers) either way, everybody is gonna climb down to a NEW THREAD ON THIS POST WOO ]