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

[untethered]

They could be farther underground.

[ the beam of the flashlight cuts across a massive chamber, irregularly shaped and crumbling, and covered all over with more of those weird bright green glyphs and symbols. directly ahead of them, a small wooden bench draped with green cloth stands before a metallic cage in the center of the southern wall. looking at it for a moment reveals a gaping hole in its side, and the cage stands empty. to their right, in the center of the room is a large firepit. a bedroll lies between it and the wooden bench, lumped up. ]

[bittersweeter]

Okay, so more symbols, maybe an alter looking thing and. [ she makes a face, continuing dryly: ] A cage. [ yay. ] It looks like someone crashed in here. Does anyone read creepy green symbols? [ because she is not going in there if that symbol is going to shoot acid at her or spawn a fire beast to eat her. ]

[uncurse]

[ thaaaat doesn't sound good. emma glances sideways at belle, brow furrowed at lila's description, and then moves to head down to the door she's moved through. ]

[untethered]

[ belle comes to take a look at the symbols, raising her glow stick to examine them more closely right inside the door. ] These seem like a crude version of... of Draconic, actually. They say the same thing over and over... [ realization dawns across her face, and she pales the slightest bit, lips forming into a silent 'oh.' ] It roughly translates to 'Here There Be Dragons.'

[undealt]

[Gold carries his ball of magic light over to the door.] That locked door in the other hall featured a dragon. It's a reoccurring motif. Wynn would be thrilled.

[his eyes light on the cage.] So that might explain what was in here.

[bittersweeter]

[ lila can't decide if she wants to be horrified and throw her light stick at gold because wow, that is the last time she leaves an old man in charge of figuring out if there is any inkling of the bad things they could face or HOLY SHIT THAT IS THE COOLEST THING EVER BECAUSE DRAGONS. she is from the real world, people, where dragons don't exist. this is the best! ]

Dragons? Really? [ okay, so she's landed on excite, what can you do. she shoots into the room, leaping over the bench like a hurdle (jump nat 20), to get a closer look at the cage. ]

[uncurse]

You've gotta be kidding me.

[ LET ME TELL YOU A THING ABOUT DRAGONS EMMA HAS HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH THEM. she trudges into the room, scanning it with her flashlight. everything about her tone reflects NOT THIS SHIT AGAIN. she steps forward to the bedroll and crouches down to rest a hand against the fabric to check for warmth or recent use (investigate 14). ]

[untethered]

[ the cage that lila examines is bent all out of shape, completely unusable now. touching the bedroll immediately makes emma aware that there's something squirming slightly within it, and a sudden whimpering noise of what sounds like terror issues from it as something small starts trying to thrash its way ineffectively out of the bedroll. belle yanks out her sword again, just in case, as a querulous voice entreats: ] "Please! Do not hurt Meepo!"

[unhand]

[Hook has his sword sheathed to hold the flashlight, but he's got a weapon for a left hand so he's got that raised as he approaches, shining his beam next to Emma's.]

I suggest, Meepo, that you don't make any sudden movements.

[uncurse]

[ emma's hand recoils instantly as the bedroll moves under her hand - or rather, something inside of it does. her eye briefly widen, but she collects herself quickly as the voice comes out. she looks up past her shoulder when the additional flashlight beam gets wider and she feels hook draw nearer, barely holding back a roll of her eyes at the unnecessary swagger. ]

Don't you think the menace is kind of redundant? [ she gives him a narrow look to take him down a notch or two, then looks back down at the bedroll. ] We're not here to hurt you.

[untethered]

[ he manages to get the blanket off his head... and they get a good look at 'meepo'. he looks nothing like the goblins they saw dead, but is certainly inhuman - a short, reptilian creature with dark rusty brown scaly skin, two small light-colored horns on his head, blue eyes that glow, a doglike head, and a rat-like tail. he's dressed in ragged clothing and his voice is very similar to a yapping dog, but he does speak english. he's shaking violently, and trains terror filled eyes on hook. ] "Please, please! Meepo has already lost everything!"

[bittersweeter]

[ he's darling. by now lila has moved away from the useless cage. (which good, she is anti-cage.) so when meepo appears she gets a pretty good look at the adorable little creature. ]

Hey. [ her voice is soothing and soft, the way one would speak to a skittish animal or a scared child. (diplomacy 32) ] We're not going to hurt you, I promise. We're just trying to find our way in here.

[untethered]

[ he looks to her with wide-eyes, and stops vibrating, at least. ] "Why? Is no place for human peoples. Many goblins here. Kobolds fight them."

[bittersweeter]

[ she doesn't know what a kobold is (wisdom 6) and can't be fussed to ask, choosing to answer his question instead. ] We came for one of the magic apples. We need an apple.

[unhand]

[Kobold? Hook looks confused (int check crit fail) and turns to Emma.] Is that one of those brightly colored beverages with all the lightning bolt imagery? [bc how can that fight a goblin....]

[undealt]

[Gold steps forward. Mr. ARCANE LORE EXPERT and possible reptile soulbonder has all the answers.] Don't listen to it. For starters, where there's one of these beasts, there will undoubtedly be others. And they love their traps.

[His sense motive was ungodly low, so he can tell Meepo's... freaked the fuck out and honest about it, but that doesn't mean anything. He's heartless, okay.]

[untethered]

[ the kobold looks very offended by gold's accusations, puffing up his little chest and protesting: ] "Meepo not an 'it'! You an it!" [ belle gently tries to guide him back to lila's question, at least. (diplomacy 25) ]

Do you know anything about the apples the goblins have? You say your kind was fighting them?

[ he seems sufficiently distracted from gold, and then looks miserable again. ]

"Meepo knows nothing about apples... Meepo had job, and-- and--" [ and suddenly his little eyes fill up with tears and he swipes furiously at them with the back of his scaly little hands ] "Gone! All gone!"

[unhand]

[Hook likes Meepo more now that it's sassing Gold.]

What was your job?

[uncurse]

[ emma's running on like 2% remaining tolerance for the y-chromosome's shit right now, and it's written all over her face as gold snaps at the cowering kobold. her eyes shut briefly, her jaw sets, and she shakes her head. KEEP IT UP, BRO. but belle manages to soothe it, so emma just sets on further answers. gold's warning is plaguing the back of her mind, so she watches the lizard thing carefully - intentionally or not (sense motive 24). ]

What's gone? Can you tell us about what happened? [ because if something went horribly horribly wrong it's better to find out now and turn back right ... (diplomacy 24). ]

[untethered]

[ he likes all these nice ladies. and emma gets the sense that all his weepiness is very real sorrow - the little bugger seems all but heartsick as he explains. ] "Meepo was Keeper of Dragons. Important job! But clan's dragon..." [ he unleashes a tiny wail, shaking his head pitifully and sniffling ] "Filthy goblins steal Calcryx!"

[bittersweeter]

The goblins stole... your dragon? [ she glances back at the cage for a moment before looking at the cute little doodle again. crouching down, she holds out her hand a little like come here little guy, i'll protect you from the douchefaucets over there but she doesn't push because she's super nice. ] That's awful. But I think I have a good guess as to why they needed... him? Is it a him?

[undealt]

[Well, Gold critfailed his wisdom check, so he's still on Team I Didn't Come On This Trip To Be Tortured By Tiny Lizard People.] Well, isn't that convenient.

[Look, he is amnesia Belle right now. He believes that Meepo's feelings are real, but that doesn't make him less sketchy as fuck and for all they know, his friends just weeded out the weak one to get the sympathy vote.]

[unhand]

[Hook shoots Gold an acidic glare. He's sympathetic to the creature's plight at this point, and more than that, he trusts Emma's judgment. Especially in relationship to Gold.]

I'm starting to regret not trying the plan where we split up.

[uncurse]

You're not the only one. [ emma cranes her neck to glower at gold for a moment before turning to lila. ] What's your guess? [ because somehow emma is not on this same page right now did she miss something. ]

[bittersweeter]

What better to guard a stockpile of magic apples than a dragon?