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Feytower - Side Entrance (Glen, Sithani)

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1Feytower - Side Entrance (Glen, Sithani) Empty Feytower - Side Entrance (Glen, Sithani) Thu Jun 21, 2018 12:39 pm

Songbird

Songbird
Admin
The summons said the 7th of Eleint, but didn't say where to show up for admission. This is problematic, as the Feytower is a sprawling castle construct: half-university, half-home for most of the city's magical population and (in some cases) their families and children as well.

Glen and Sithani arrive around the same time but find, to their vexation, that the imposing front door is locked and apparently unattended. Shoddy workmanship around here, one might think, but then wizards have never been known for their practical nature. Ignoring each other for the moment, they end up walking around the side of the building looking for another means of entrance and hoping the other stranger knows what he or she is doing.

The walk is a long one. There are doors cut into the sides of the stone structure, but none of them appear to be open. There are ways around a closed door, of course, but both judge it would be wisest to not begin their day trying to break and enter into the most magical structure in the city. Instead, they continue their search until--jackpot!--finding a door which hasn't closed all the way. They slip inside, and jump in place when the door clicks locked behind them. Oops.

It takes a long moment for their eyes to adjust from the blinding morning sun to the torches lining the hall which stretches out around them. Plain wood and gray stone make up this hall; not rich or exciting but serviceable. They must be in a side passage from the main ones, given how lovely the Feytower is supposed to be on the inside. Presumably the apprentices and acolytes travel different corridors as part of their duties; no one, after all, wants to track mud on the nice visitor carpets or spill a tureen of soup on the wall paintings.

None of this helps them, however. They need to find Laerdya Siannodel, and it would be best to not be caught loitering in the servant halls. One of them picks a direction and the other, deciding there is strength in (and shared blame in) numbers, follows.

This seems, however, to not be the right direction. The torchlights become set farther and farther apart and the few windows stop as they trudge along. The hall seems darker and colder as they walk, but they've come too far to go back and the side halls seem even less likely to take them where they want. So they walk on, and if each quietly blames the other for this state of events, that just keeps them focused on walking instead of talking.

Until they reach something that demands attention.

A tank cut into the wall, a glass tank but anything so large and full of water cannot be normal glass. At least, they think it's water; it's so murky and foul looking, the liquid could be anything at all. Runes have been etched in the glass--many of which Sithani has never seen--and these glow with a faint ominous green light. How far back the tank extends into the wall is impossible to tell, but if it's as wide as it is long and tall, Glen could fit his house ten times over inside.

Something moves in those grimy depths, something big. There is an impression of fins, of tentacles, of eyes where eyes ought not be. Then, so quickly they both jump back, an alien face slams against the glass. Eyes, three of them, one on top of another, burning with intelligence and hate. Teeth, rows and rows of them, in a circle inside a circle inside a circle, like a perverse nesting doll. The creature stares at them with malevolence and the green runes flare brightly enough to leave an after-image on the eye. It cannot reach them, but it would plainly like to--and neither are so arrogant as to believe they would survive the meeting.

[Reaction to Glen and Sithani.]

fruitbat


"Mother of storms," Sithani whispers under her breath. "What are you, gorgeous thing?"

If the leviathan can speak any language (and if the runes on the glass don't block thoughts), it will hear in its mind Sithani's voice, distorted slightly by buzzing, croaking undertones: <Are you a person?>

beardyblue

beardyblue
Glynlen dutifully arrives at the Feytower on the 7th of Eleint, as instructed by his Vice-Captain. Somewhat surprisingly, he arrives wearing a fine, new set of studded leather and with his longbow slung over his shoulder, carrying most of his worldly possessions on his back. As far as he is concerned, this is another military assignment, and he did not want to show up unprepared for whatever Laerdya Siannodel may ask.

As they approached the tower, he noticed the woman and her elven features, but mostly kept to himself, assuming that she was headed into the building on her own personal business. However, she looked much more like she belonged here than he did, so he mostly followed her, hoping that she had some idea of the way to a more populated area. When they got lost, he figured that maybe just hadn't visited in a while and decided not to bother her.

At the sound of the face slamming into the glass, he remains calm and quite even-faced, but deftly takes a noticeable step backward, away from the tank. Being recently murdered will make one little more cautious, especially when it comes to enormous-sized tanks full of horrifying nightmare beasts. Glen does not hear what she is whispering to the tank, but believes that she must know where she is, given that she seems totally unbothered and, in fact, in awe of the creature.

Glynlen squints at the glass, trying to see if the creature resembles anything he has seen before - although he is quite sure he has never seen one of this particular creature.

Nature check:

Songbird

Songbird
Admin
< -LEASE ME RELEASE ME RELEASE ME RELEASE ME RELEASE- >

The pounding words slam into Sithani's mind when she opens the link, and there is a strong sense that the mantra has been shouted for awhile but can only now be heard. When her words touch its mind, there is movement in the murky water as though a tail has violently swished. The words halt and three eyes peer at her with unsettling intelligence. Then her mind cracks open like a nut. She feels it plundering her, consuming the very depths of her mind, and she is powerless to stop it; there is no breaking the connection she has opened.

<A person? No. I am not a person.> The words are angry, almost spat. <I am a god. Release me, little one. Release me and I will give you what you most desire. Yes, I can overthrow them for you. Yes, you will walk planes of existence you cannot even dream of. YES, you will have pleasures beyond all imaginings. The most beautiful of women at your feet, yes. Release me, for I am power and can grant you a fraction of mine.>

Glen hears none of this, though he sees the runes pulsing wildly now in a panicked rhythm. He has never seen the creature before, nor ever heard of it, but there are things he can well note: it breathes the water, undisturbed by the murk which he guesses now comes from the creature. The three eyes in front suggest it is a predator animal, not prey. There is intelligence there as well, which tends to indicate smaller numbers in the wild--low breeding cycles are one of the only things keeping intelligent predators from eating all the prey.

It is almost certainly a deep sea creature--anything this big nests deep--which means it is likely miserable in its tank. Despite its intelligence, it has not attempted to speak or communicate, which suggests it does not talk. Since those runes are probably doing something (given the way they flicker), Glen hazards that telepathy or some other mind connection may be possible--and may be being blocked. At least, he hopes so. He does not want this creature in his mind.

fruitbat


"Now that's just impolite." Sithani steps back from the tank and absent-mindedly fingers the rod at her belt. <My thoughts are not for you. I understand you're upset, and if it's safe I will try and get you out of here, but for now we're done conversing.>

She turns to the elf behind her. "Well, that doesn't seem promising. Any idea where to now?"

beardyblue

beardyblue
Glynlen looks at the creature for a moment more. It's horrifying and likely very dangerous, but the tank seems sturdy and the runes seem to be doing... well, whatever it is they are doing. He looks over, slightly surprised that she is speaking to her after being so fascinated by the creature.

"Impolite?" He cannot fathom what he has done to offend her. Is she friends with the creature and his step back offended her? "I'm sorry if I did something to offend you or, uh, that."

He realizes that she is actually asking him for directions. "Do I have any idea? I've been following you! You looked like you knew your way around. Usually, I have a pretty good sense of direction, but this place..." He looks around and shrugs, chalking it up to this place and inhabitants.

"Maybe we're headed in a similar direction. I'm Glenlyn, he of the Silverwoods. Eighth Division. I was ordered by my vice-captain to meet with Laerdya Siannodel. Where are you headed?"
--
((OOC: hey fruitbat, i'm good to keep going ana -> you -> me if that works for you. i just don't want to get tripped up, since i know we're both online rn, at least afaik))

fruitbat


(OOC: that's fine with me - is the fish-god doing anything?)

Songbird

Songbird
Admin
The creature resumes its pounding mental scream of <RELEASE ME> which is unheard by Glen. Sithani cannot cut the telepathic bond this physically close to the creature, but she is not compelled to obey.

fruitbat


"Hmm? Oh, I'm sorry, I was commenting on our friend here's behaviour." She extends her hand to Glynlen. "My name's Sithani Molana. It seems we both have an appointment with the same person, and I hope you have an idea of what it's about."

beardyblue

beardyblue
"Oh. Yes, the pounding on the glass was rather startling." Glynlen is more than happy to talk to Sithani instead of... that.

He clasps her hand firmly, but not overly so. "Good to meet you, Sithani. You can feel free to call me Glen if you like."

"Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to be any more help with the reason for our meeting than I am with finding where we are going. My vice-captain just told me to meet Laerdya Siannodel and do whatever she orders me to. As far as my understanding goes, she's my commanding officer for the foreseeable future."

Glen looks around for obvious exits. "Have you ever been here before? Any idea which way we should go?"

fruitbat


"Not at all. It feels appropriate for a great wizard to live either in a tower or deep in the bowels of the earth, but people do sometimes tell me my intuitions aren't exactly parallel to the real world." She smiles wryly. "So beyond asking the alleged god back there if it knows the way - and it would be so embarrassing to do that just as I'd established boundaries - I suspect we either go in search of someone native to this place or hope there's magic here that overhears us when we say WE HAVE AN APPOINTMENT WITH LAERDYA SIANNODEL!"

beardyblue

beardyblue
"A god?" This is the first Glen is hearing of any gods besides the Blessed Eighteen. Perhaps she worships some lesser-known deity? "Boundaries?"

If no one responds to her call, Glen nods. "Well, even if that doesn't work, I do agree that we should be looking for other people who might be able to point us in the right direction."

Glen takes a moment and scans the area carefully, listening for any sounds that might indicate the presence of any friendly faces, or any doors that might have candlelight coming from beneath them.

Perception check:

fruitbat


"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot you couldn't hear that. In my defence, though, that fish is very loud." Now it's Glen's turn to hear her voice in his head with its alien undertones. <I can do this, you see, and it turns out the prisoner back there can do a bit more. Without, unfortunately, my permission.>

beardyblue

beardyblue
Glen takes a step back, glancing around to see where the voice is coming from. Although he glances briefly at the tank, he quickly realizes the voice is coming from Sithani. Quickly, a look of excitement spreads across his face.

"That's amazing! I have never seen anything like that. Did it hurt you? Are you alright?"

Glen smiles broadly. He thinks to himself, Clearly, Vice-Captain Imokina has steered me well - Siannodel must be assembling quite a team to have an incredible talent such as hers onboard. Wait a moment. He looks at her quizzically. Can you still hear me? He waits to see if she answers out loud or, somehow, in his head again.

fruitbat


"Do you mean the fish or the telepathy? Not exactly and no, it's a lovely feeling stretching one's thoughts out beyond the confines of one's skull." She looks around for any signs of people. (OOC: the same Perception check Glen made, 8.) "Sadly, I can't tell that way if there's anyone but us nearby."

Songbird

Songbird
Admin
Glen and Sithani notice a nearby door in shadows which does in fact have candlelight dancing from under the crack. It is, they suppose, as good a place to try as any.

fruitbat


"On the other hand, there could be someone very hard of hearing through there," she suggests, walking over and testing the door.

beardyblue

beardyblue
"Oh, I meant to ask if the fish hurt you! It's already so unpleasant looking, I can't imagine having it in my head as well." As for Sithani, she seems not to have heard his thoughts, so he assumes she no longer can, if she could at all.

Glen had noticed the lights under the door a moment ago, but was too dumbfounded by Sithani's incredible abilities to do anything but gawk at her in wonder. "Ah! Yes! The lights. I agree, let's try this. At very least it will get us away from the fish... god... monster... thing?" He eyes it self-consciously, wondering now if it can hear his thoughts. "Uh, with all due respect." Glen walks over to the door and listens carefully to see if he can hear anything on the other side.

Perception (if I get another check)::

Songbird

Songbird
Admin
[Ha! Glen hears nothing on the other side of the door.]

The door opens into a dim work lab, on the other side of which they can see someone working. At least, it seems like a 'someone'; the body is wearing a heavy hood over their head as they tend to something in a cage which buzzes loudly. The sound is faint from this side of the room but even so almost maddening; any attempt to get closer feels like Glen and Sithani are being hammered in the head with very large nails from the sound.

beardyblue

beardyblue
Glen's elf eyes easily adjust to the dim light in the room. Wary after the presence of the obviously hostile fish god monster, he cranes his neck and squints to try and see what is going on at the other end of the room.

Perception check to see the figure's hands or what's in the cage:

Nature check if he can see what's in the cage to try and identify it:

Songbird

Songbird
Admin
The figure's hands are heavily gloved. The cage contains what would appear to be a wasp, except that the wasp is the size of one of those small dogs which rich noble ladies like to carry around with them to parties. The wasp does not appear pleased with its lot in life, but the figure is handling it with firm gentle movements and seems to be feeding it from a bottle with a tube snaking out the end.

Glen cannot recall if he's ever seen a wasp so large, but this failure of immediate recollection is probably comforting; most people would not wish to meet an angry giant wasp in the wild.

The figure finishes feeding the wasp and closes the cage carefully before turning to set the bottle down. It is at that point the hooded and gloved person realizes there are two people standing in the laboratory doorway. "HEY. WHO ARE YOU?" they bellow through the hood. Glen and Sithani can hear them, barely, through the muffled hood and over the increased buzz of the agitated wasp.

beardyblue

beardyblue
Glen raises his voice, shouting over the din of the wasp and also trying to make sure the hooded figure (beekeeper?) can hear him.

"GLEN AND SITHANI, WE HAVE AN APPOINTMENT WITH LAERDYA SIANNODEL. WE'RE LOST, CAN YOU HELP US?"

fruitbat


"ALSO THE GIANT FISH OUTSIDE IS QUITE TETCHY; WHY IS IT IMPRISONED HERE?" adds Sithani.

Songbird

Songbird
Admin
"YOU WHAT?" The figure shakes their head, not understanding them. "STAY THERE."

They do a quick check of several cages along the wall, making sure everything is locked up tight, then walk over to the door where Glen and Sithani linger. Marching them back out into the corridor and closing the lab door behind them, the figure pulls off their hood to reveal a soft face, pointed ears, a tumble of black curls, and an annoyed expression.

"You're not supposed to be here. Who are you? I need to see some identification, now."

fruitbat


Sithani pulls her invitation out of a pocket in her dress. "See? Very official. He probably has one too. Now, firstly could you direct us to Laerdya Siannodel, and secondly why is there an angry telepathic fish locked up in the corridor?"

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