Silly Plots 4: It's not particularly silly, is it?

[Deathkeeper]

[The House that was Won]

Edgar would blush if he could. Aethiir just put her hands all over him and she's acting like that's totally normal!
"Y-yeah, well, you don't go getting any ideas just because you just saw me with my pants down." Well really it's more of a skirt, so he had to raise it.
"B-But uh. Thanks. You did great, too. You can take a bunch of the crystals for your pile if you want."

[bc56]

The House that was Won

"Maybe later. I don't have anything to carry them with. Shall we go tell everyone that the mines are clear?" She begins carefully picking her way over the crystals back towards the entrance they came through.

[Deathkeeper]

[The House that was Won]

Edgar picks up his club and a sample of the crystal.
"Fair enough. This skirt doesn't exactly have any pockets and I left my bag with the palanquin." Edgar isn't totally excited to squeeze through those passages again, but he follows Aethiir out regardless. Now that they're one he has no interest in staying in this horrid place any longer than necessary.

[bc56]

The House that was Won

Our protagonists can escape the mines and head back to the town, where they are hailed as heroes. The townsfolk are sure that with that menace removed, prosperity will soon be restored. They now have confidence in their new Count to know how to solve these problems and isn't afraid to get his hands dirty on their behalf.

[Murkus]

[The Enchanted Forest]

The horse gives a deep sigh when Adir claims the bridle.

This just isn't going to stop being an unpleasant day for him, is it? At least with Owlteeth gone there's SOME change he'll get his freedom again.

An awful retching noise comes from the horse as a huge lump travels up his neck and his jaw unhinges impossibly wide.

*BLEGH!*

A massive blob of dark colored mud, murky water, and water weeds splats against the road. Then the horse takes a deep breath and blasts the mud heap with a stream of water from his mouth. Just hosing that mud down. And as it gets hosed there is revealed a young human boy! Maybe six years old with dark hair, a few pond weeds still draped across him. He's wearing a green tunic and trousers with a little silver amulet around his neck. He coughs a few times, dripping wet.

"There now, see? Right as rain," the horse says amiably. "Now if you could just give me my bridle back I'll be on my merry way."

What a helpful carnivorous horse.

[The Enchanted Forest]

Adir gets as close as he dares to this sickening display and waits for the water to stop. He tries to scoop the kid up and back away a couple steps.

He holds the bridle out at the monster like a totem to ward off a vampire. "Tell me how the cages open." Like hell is he gonna give the bridle back first if it genuinely gives him the ability to command this thing.

[Rebonack]

[The Enchanted Forest]

Will is successfully scooped. He's soaking wet but he appears unharmed? The child coughs a few more times. "I feel funny..." he mutters. Adir might note that the boy has horse hooves in place of normal human feet. But considering what a few of Adir's children are like that might not strike him as particularly unusual.

Then?

Adir brandishes the bridle and makes a demand!

The horse sighs again.

"Touch a bit of iron to the cage and say 'Please'," the kelpie replies.

Should Adir do so?

He'll find the cages swing right open. Two children back away from him, frightened. Two more cautiously climb out and stick close. One looks confused and the last takes off at a run toward the forest beyond the edge of the road.

"Ah, don't let the kiddos get too far off the path!" the helpful carnivorous horse warns.

[Recaiden]

Mia will follow them up, not wondering while Spot can dig so well or at least not showing. Those good demons are still somewhat strange.

Inside Mia will examine the computers. she wants to find out where to look next for the powetr source. She sure got a small one at hand, so in case she can't make it out by studiying the electronics she has to awake one of the terminals.

They are even stranger than Mia knows. Not being surprised by small things like good digging ability is probably a good idea.

Power came from somewhere near the center of the ship, coming in through cables that ran under the floor.
Of course, the main power is not working. And after all this time and all the destruction, the batteries here are drained.

[Zefir]

[The Underground]

That is no suprise at all. She knows that energy is still a resource you can't store in other worlds. The nexus already taught her that. But befor she wasts the low energy she got with her she seeks for the cabels and tries to lead a path.

"This must be the main energy line." she says. "If we follow we should find the core. Even if it isn't there or broken we might find some remote energy or anything to get a part of the ship running. I like to reach the bridge or any kind of important rooms from high class members."

[Murkus]

[The Enchanted Forest]

It's true, Adir doesn't know what to think of the hooves. Solving that mystery drops low on his list of priorities as he tries to lift Will and place him over by the side of the carriage. One by one he'll try the kelpie's method on the cages, using one of his swords for the iron. He's just getting ready to try to coax the scared kids out of their cages when one of them takes off toward the woods. He grits his teeth over a curse and hurtles in that direction, his legs eating up the distance.

He might be able to catch the kid, he might not. Either way he doesn't wanna risk it, and he uses his Dad Voice. You know the sound. In the kind of tone that means you're in serious trouble, he shouts, "Don't you take another step!"

If his lunge or his voice works, he tries to grab the kid up and hold them. "You gotta stop! You can't go out there!" He'll say, this time with a lot less volume. "You can't go out there. I'm gonna take you out of this place a different way. Please just come back over with the others."

[Rebonack]

[The Enchanted Forest]

The mystery of the hooves will remain unsolved for now, for their is a small child running off the trail.

You never realize just how fast children are until they're running headlong into danger.

Toward the raging river.

Toward the edge of that precipice.

Toward a busy street.

Or toward the edge of the Lord's Road.

Adir's voice causes the child to pause just long enough for Adir to snatch her up before she can get more than a single foot off the edge of the road. She immediately begins kicking and screaming. "LET ME GO LET ME GO OOWWIE OWWIE NO LET ME GO!"

The crying will probably come next. It's going to upset all the children. It's going to make everything worse.

Then the horse starts singing.

It's the most beautiful tenor voice that Adir has likely every heard. Enchanting. Enthralling. The children all fall silent to listen to the horse.

Adir, holding the bridle as he is, will find himself unaffected by the enrapturing charm. One by one the children begin falling into a deep slumber save, oddly, for Will. The little girl who was squirming and fighting in Adir's grip is now breathing deep, her eyes closed.

[Recaiden]

That is no suprise at all. She knows that energy is still a resource you can't store in other worlds. The nexus already taught her that. But befor she wasts the low energy she got with her she seeks for the cabels and tries to lead a path.

"This must be the main energy line." she says. "If we follow we should find the core. Even if it isn't there or broken we might find some remote energy or anything to get a part of the ship running. I like to reach the bridge or any kind of important rooms from high class members."

Mia shouldn't have much trouble tracing the power cables inwards. It's about 100 meters of hallways, empty and dark, with the occasional scrap of twisted metal or broken glass, and one scattered human skeleton beneath a stained bulkhead; someone aboard who did not survive the crash, long ago.
They eventually come to a big circular room with its door sealed shut.

PORT AUXILIARY POWER
☢RADIATION HAZARD☢
AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY

[Murkus]

[The Enchanted Forest]

Adir breathes a sigh of relief, and shoots the kelpie a look that could be described as something other than hostile. Kicking and screaming and crying isn't so bad. He can deal with kids freaking out. He has a billion of his own. Just thinking of one of Laurie's little tantrums makes him feel a bit sick.

Astonished by the horse, Adir carries his newest burden back to the main group. He tries to set her down with them. "I'm sorry," he whispers, watching the kids start to drift off. Damn it. He was hoping they'd be able to climb the stairs back to his house themselves. Now he'll have to carry them up.

He intends to do just that, but he wheels on the kelpie first. "Are you bound by your word?" He holds up the bridle in his fist, clear to see. "Tell me you won't eat kids any more. Swear by this thing. Your promise for your freedom." And if it does... well, he chucks the bridle over.

[Rebonack]

[Enchanted Forest]

"You want an oath? I reckon I can do that," the strange horse replies, eyeing the bridle. "By sun and moon, by stars and stones, may my words endure, though all else fades away. Y'got my word that I won't eat any kiddos."

Something shifts.

To Adir's eyes the horse will seem in some indescribable way better defined than he was a few moments ago.

That oath was binding.

When Adir tosses the bridle at the kelpie he somehow manages to catch it on his nose, the silver chains slipping over his long face perfectly. And as soon as that's done?

There's a man standing there in a green outfit, a silver chain about his neck. His hair is damp and full of water weeds. His feet are horse's hooves, but somehow the eye seems to slide away from that feature.

"Much obliged," the kelpie says. "You want any help getting the little ones out of the forest? I can carry them through the threshold if you like. Then you can get to searching for your daughter since that's why you're here."

What a helpful carnivorous horse.

[Murkus]

[Enchanted Forest]

"...Together. And then I need to go, yeah," Adir agrees. He tries to scoop up some of the kiddies with the kelpie helping and quickly hustle them toward the stairs. Once he's up there, he tries to make sure at least the oldest kids are awake. He intends to leave them a phone and instructs them to call VIGIL and ask for a miss Cessie. This is assuming, of course, that the kids are native to a tech level that understands cell phones. He tries to comfort them as best he can in the couple of minutes he allows for this.

Then it's back down the stairs and off the road into the haunted wood, assuming the kelpie continues to behave himself.

[Zefir]

Mia shouldn't have much trouble tracing the power cables inwards. It's about 100 meters of hallways, empty and dark, with the occasional scrap of twisted metal or broken glass, and one scattered human skeleton beneath a stained bulkhead; someone aboard who did not survive the crash, long ago.
They eventually come to a big circular room with its door sealed shut.

Mia will look at the corpse with some concern, but at the end this is quiet normal if you remember how long it is ago since this ship landed here. Then they reach that door. Mia appears sad,and confused at the same time, while she starts to worry. She turns to her devices and pulls out a Geiger counter, holding it up against the general surounding and then directly at the door. She's afraid this whole place can be radiatedand she forgot to bring a hazmat suit. She didn't really assumed such a technologie in a ship. In her world they didn't build any space ships unless someone finds a secure and long lasting source of power.

"I hope this things shut in there, otherwise we might be in a bit of a trouble since we entered." she comments.

[Recaiden]

[The Underground]

The radiation out here is pretty normal. Low even, deep underground they are shielded from even slight sources.
But right at the door, it ticks up faster. Still not dangerous to stand near, but unsealing the door and going in would be another thing. But surely, if this was to accessed, there must have been radiation suits somewhere on the ship. Maybe they can find one that's still intact.
From here, they could go around towards the center of the ship, turn right to head toward the thrusters, or go down a ramp towards the hangars.

[Zefir]

[The Underground]

Mia sights as she get's the readings. as expected. But on the other hand it's good that she's not radiated yet. She looks around to see if a suit is nearby, but as allways there is non. She looks at her pad were she got a map of hthe area they already passed by. It's mostly like those in videogames. just showing what she already visited.

"Let us head for the hangar first." she says. "If there is no suit, there might be something worth. Any ship they left also got an energy source."

With that she heads down, not telling them that the risk of finding intruders is also higher. After all a Hangar mostly has an exit.

[Recaiden]

Does Mia's minimap show her other creatures nearby?

They proceed down the ramp in quiet.
The hangar, it seems, is more wrecked than the weapons battery of the port reactor. You see, it got crushed beneath the weight of the ship pretty well. About 3/4 of it are a mess of torn and scrunched up metal, with shattered ships mixed in.
But that doesn't mean it's useless.
To the right of the entrance ramp is a locker full of space-suits, for dealing with boats that couldn't be brought in, or repairs to the outside of the ship. Bulky, slow, one-size-fits-all, but they'll protect you from radiation, vacuum, heat, cold, and even weak psychic attacks.
And a little distance along the launch deck, there's a mostly-intact fighter ship. It is upside down, but it doesn't look very broken at all.

Spot - the hound - jumps forward, looking into the dark in the crumpled aft end of the hangar. They sensed a movement, a living thing.
"There is something here. Hopefully just an animal." Spike warns.

[Rebonack]

[The Enchanted Forest]

And thus, the children are spirited back up the stairs and out from under a little girl's bed. Surely Sakura won't mind a few more children hanging around until their parents can be contacted, right? The kelpie helps carry the children out as well. Most of them are pretty zonked thanks to the horse's charming song. Adir will see a brief look of longing on the kelpie's face when he stands briefly in the girls' room, but he'll follow Adir back down the stairs again.

"You be careful of yourself out there, mister," the kelpie says. "The wilds ain't no kind place. I hope you find your girl. And I hope she's still your girl when you find her."

Well.

That's ominous.

As soon as Adir is a few steps off the road the fog thickens into a hazy white blanket that reduces vision beyond arms length to a vague grey haze.

When it lifts the character of the forest has changed.

Adir finds himself standing in a pumpkin patch growing amidst a stand of gnarled, leafless oak trees. Vines have climbed their way up the dead trees and bloated orange fruit dangle like hanged men. Here and there effigies of sticks have been erected, leering jack-o-lanterns set on their shoulders burning with eerie blue flame. The fog is still thick here, limiting vision to one hundred feet or so. But, at the very least, Adir can still see. The road is nowhere in sight.

Just at the edge of vision is a flight of stairs leading to nowhere. Off to Adir's right the pumpkin vines grow thicken, the air darker, and a pair of burning blue eyes watch him from a thicket. A raven lands on one of the jack-o-lanterns and begins pecking at it, pulling away strands of pumpkin guts and seeds.

What shall Adir do?

[Murkus]

[The Enchanted Forest]

Adir tries not to pay too much attention to what the kelpie says. He appreciates the thought, though, just a little.

The fog makes him sweat. Being completely blind except for what his (admittedly powerful) ears can tell him is nerve wracking. The place he can see when it clears back, even if it looks like bad news, is better than no news at all.

He tries to think. This whole place has gotta run on nonsense logic, right? Dream logic. So he decides to ignore the glowing eyes, stroll right up to the raven and ask it directly, "Hey, seen any little girls running through here? 'Bout yay high and cuter than puppies."

Maybe he'll try the pumpkins next.

[Deathkeeper]

The Golden Kettle

There have been developments at the Golden Kettle. Not even two days after Nahira created the whole place, her guardian Edgar disappeared for several days with a glittering jewel-encrusted suit of armor in the lobby.
And now judging from the loud noises coming from the front door, he has reappeared upon a fine wooden palanquin.
At least he was. Nahira’s guardian seems to have adopted the shape she bestowed upon him with his first wish and then was scaled up to three whopping meters of height. The resulting height of him and the floating palanquin was far too much for the doorway, forcing Edgar to drag it through the double-doors.
These things, and the fact that he’s only wearing a bedsheet tied around his waist, might seem odd.

[Hattish Thing]

The Golden Kettle

The third floor of the teahouse is quiet, and dimly lit.

At the farthest end of the floor, a comfortable wooden throne rises up atop a raised area. It's cushions have been piled about haphazardly, and takeout boxes litter the ground on either side - very much at odds with the almost ceremonial aesthetic of the grand hall. Shadows flicker eerily in all corners of the room, forming feminine silhouettes for seconds at a time.

Several arches allow access into siderooms, the contents of which are hidden beneath curtains of scintillating beads. At either side of every arch, incense burns within a golden sconce.

Beyond the farthest arch, faint music can be heard.

[Deathkeeper]

The Golden Kettle

Well. Edgar went back to his old apartment to get things taken care of the first day Nahira made the Kettle, and then he got distracted going to Arletane. He realizes he hasn't seen the room Nahira made for him.
He knows he will have to explain everything eventually but he really doesn't want to do it now. Maybe if he's careful he can get to his room without her knowing. Given his supernatural grace and the fact that he is a tiger, he is surprisingly sneaky for someone of his size...
Unfortunately, he's hampered by the fact that he doesn't know where he's going and the fact that if Nahira made any of the arches too small, he very well may get stuck.

[Zefir]

Does Mia's minimap show her other creatures nearby?

They proceed down the ramp in quiet.
The hangar, it seems, is more wrecked than the weapons battery of the port reactor. You see, it got crushed beneath the weight of the ship pretty well. About 3/4 of it are a mess of torn and scrunched up metal, with shattered ships mixed in.
But that doesn't mean it's useless.
To the right of the entrance ramp is a locker full of space-suits, for dealing with boats that couldn't be brought in, or repairs to the outside of the ship. Bulky, slow, one-size-fits-all, but they'll protect you from radiation, vacuum, heat, cold, and even weak psychic attacks.
And a little distance along the launch deck, there's a mostly-intact fighter ship. It is upside down, but it doesn't look very broken at all.

Spot - the hound - jumps forward, looking into the dark in the crumpled aft end of the hangar. They sensed a movement, a living thing.
"There is something here. Hopefully just an animal." Spike warns.

[Spaceship underground]

Well, i thought about it and i think I say yes. mostly because the can is simular to that of a bat so she defnitly notice there is something whcih can move if it does.

Mia would immediatly grab a suit, but since her company notice something she checks the radar. Hard to say what there is. the rubble and trash around makes the reading very bad .

"I hope so too. I'm not prepared for a fight." I think i said she got at least her sword especially since it got a divine focus.

"Can you check it out? We might want to take the shuttle anyways. it seems to be in a rather good shape."

[Rebonack]

[The Enchanted Forest]

Assuming that the Dreamlands run on dream logic isn't a bad conclusion to draw. It gets worse the further one strays from the road. Hopefully Adir's path doesn't lead him too far...

So!

Adir talks to a bird.

The bird ceases its pecking and begins eyeing him. Typically ravens have dark brown eyes, but this one doesn't. They're a nearly luminescent shade of gold. The animal watches him inquisitively, tilting its head this way and that, before flapping its wings in shock!

"Mortal!" the bird croaks. "You're mortal! What are you doing out here?"

That really didn't answer Adir's question at all.

"You're looking for a lost child? Out here in the wilds? Oh ho, what a terrible fate," the bird retorts, but still doesn't answer the question. "You want help? What gift will you give me to pay for such valuable information?"

Then the bird snaps his beak shut and peers at Adir with typical avian intensity. This raven is probably up to no good.

[Murkus]

[The Enchanted Forest]

Adir is inwardly surprised and elated. That actually worked! But now he has to worry about the cost...

"Anything for her. If you can guarantee her back to me. Or I'll shoot you and find another." Adir says plainly.

[Recaiden]

"We will." Spike looks back at the little ship, skeptical.
"You know how to fly it?"

Meanwhile, Spot creeps forwards to investigate the noise.

[Rebonack]

[The Enchanted Forest]

Asking for someone's help and then threatening to shoot them is pretty rude, Adir.

There's an impression of swirling and binding for a moment as the raven ceases to be perched atop one of the scarecrows and is instead slinking around from behind Adir, leering up at him. The pooka is quite a bit bigger now, a great black thing that looks equal parts raven and coyote and cow. Not parts jumbled together, more like the whole was dumped into a blender. His sharp teeth glow like the crescent moon.

"Oh wow, anything? She must be important to you, friend. Of course I'll help you find girl-as-cute-as-puppies," the pooka croons. "I saw a child wandering lost in the wilds not so long ago. Perhaps that was her? My nose is good-"

The creature stretches his neck impossibly to SNORF at Adir's ear.

"Should I expect her to smell a little like you?"

Hmm...

Maybe making a deal with a capricious trickster isn't the best plan of action?

[Murkus]

[The Enchanted Forest]

"You got big quick," Adir tries to follow the thing with his eyes. "But I need a particular girl. Her name's Cassie. She's special. Gotta be the right one. No changelings."

"She's gonna smell like me. Look like me. Got hooves like me." He squints at the thing. He doesn't feel like he has a lot of choice but to take risks. He's gotta get to Cassie now. If he pays for it, so be it.

[Rebonack]

[Enchanted Forest]

"Sometimes I get small quick, too," the pooka adds as his neck snaps back to its original length. The way the creature moves has a comical, cartoony, almost surreal feel to it.

It is without doubt trouble waiting to happen.

"HMM! Well! If she smells a bit like you and looks a bit like you then this should be easy, haha! There aren't many children trotting around the forest with hooves! Unless, of course, they borrowed them from someone else," the pook rambles as he plants his nose against the ground and SNOOOOOOORFS.

Then?

He begins trotting off through the pumpkin patch toward a field of tightly packed scarecrows. The faerie begins weaving between them like the Grinch slithering across the floor.

"Well, come on then! We must be away to find Cassie-Cute-As-Puppies! Oh what an adventure this will be!"

Should Adir follow he'll get a distinctly malevolent feeling of being watched from the scarecrows.