Kahealahana Holt
Encryption 0

The darkness of the cave was near absolute, forcing him to strain his eyes to their widest, this was no job for the blind. Tangled across the cave roof and nearly totally covering the ground, the vines and roots were critical to avoid. Earlier that day, together with his companions, they had slung rocks at a few of the exposed larger vines outside the cave. The vines had reacted by thrashing violently and suddenly, with enough strength to rend the ground and enough sense to surge towards them some distance. Pocza had reacted a fraction later than the others, and been brushed by one of the hairy tendrils, his arm had been numb for hours despite his coat and fur.

Shifting uncomfortably in his own coat, washed with thick grease and smeared further with wax, he picked his way along the exposed ground where available, occasionally having to climb along the walls to avoid the vines. After discussing their plan, they had theorized that the plant couldn’t have been rooted too deeply in the cave, as it seemed to need at least some amount of sunlight. Once the main root was found, they would just need to loop the rope around its base and run the lead back to the cave entrance without triggering the plant to thrash. That would be Ewip’s task, his task was tucked securely at his side in a pair of wax sealed clay pots. Luaro had been typically dismissive of their plan to salt the root, insisting on an extract from ashes that he apparently used to make the soap that scoured his cooking equipment. The stuff burned the nose and peeled the skin, apparently it would be quite deadly to the plant.

Ewip gave a low chirp to halt their progress, pointing to one of the vines up ahead. Unlike the vines nearer the cave entrance, they were pale and bulbous, without the hairs that had proved so dangerous. They inched closer as more of the vines took on this alien appearance, and after completing a full circle, quietly agreed that this must have been the root and began retreading their circle with the rope. These pale vines seemed less sensitive than the exterior ones, where the rope touched they did not move at all, and they easily completed their circle and tied a noose where the ropes met. Logically, the plant could not hear them, but the oppressive stillness of the situation implied an unspoken agreement of silence. Ewip gave him a stiff hug, opening a leather sack of sap and departing without further ceremony, sticking the rope to the cave wall to hold it away from the vines. Locja settled into a dark nook behind the plant wait.

Hours later, he stood, stretching the stiffness from his joints. The plans finale should be arriving soon, and he needed to-

A sharp flute blast signaled only a couple of minutes before the rocks would be tipped.

Locja tore the wax seals with a claw, drawing forth a pot stick like a blade. A loud crack followed the whistle a moment later, and the cave rumbled with the tumble of an avalanche outside. The rope, wetted for strength and greased for smoothness, began to whip any slack out of the line as the great boulder it was tied to made its catastrophic descent.

Locja flinched as the line went taut, the rope heaved at the root of the plant beast, the gravely floor of the cave churning as the weight of the competing forces brutalized the line that connected them. The second or two of the contest seemed to last minutes, before the taproot heaved out of the ground bouncing along the cave violently for a dozen meters before the rope snapped.

Vines nearer the entrance of the cave thrashed in a pained frenzy, foul smelling sap squirting out, bringing Locja to the brink of puking, but positioned as he was well behind the plant, he was at least safe from the vines. He recovered from his stunned state and surged forward, using the ladle to flick globs of the runny paste across the now exposed root. He was half expecting alien screams or further thrashing to occur, but the plant defied that, the taproot and fleshy roots remaining still and inert even as it was poisoned. Outside, the exterior vines continued to thrash and twist, but already their vigor was shrinking. The first jar empty, Locja closed in further, using the stick to smear in more paste anywhere the skin of the root had been broken during the extraction. Small roots began growing from the bottom of the root, fast enough that he could see the progress, and he slashed at those with his dive knife, smearing more paste on the weeping stumps. Eventually his second jar was empty, and he settled into chopping at the new shoots with his knife. At one point one of the predator vines somehow thrashed its way into the back of the cave, but the grease and wax on his coat was enough to protect him from the poison, and he dodged around and chopped it apart too.

An hour later, the thrashing had stopped enough for Locja to clamber out of the cave. Ewip and Pocza were at the pond where the boulder had crashed, swimming around it to retrieve the rope. The vines still twitched here and there, but the predatory danger was gone, nothing left but a wounded beast slowly dying. The island was theirs, and for this symbolic victory, Locja intended to stay.

Players

The Children of the Sun
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A done deal then, though if there is a combination that will secure 3 craftsmen instead of 2 we would happily take it.

The Urkit Council of Kahealahana


The Endless Gaze
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Apologies for the update on our offer, upon discussion with our dream lodge we realized an error in our message, having requested traders instead of the actually desired craftsmen.

The Urkit Council of Kahealahana