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

[Ironsmith]

[Greater Wood Area]

Fortunately, the inscription does, indeed, look familiar to her. While Owena wouldn't have been able to teach her a lot of Maesdan, there are a few basic words and phrases that stand out:

[REST FOREVER]
[LADY] HUELWEN TYARNBAITH
BRADWR GORMESOL [AND] ANONEST

She'll also be able to tell from the door that there's no special trick to opening it; it's just a heavy stone slab, to be pushed into or out of position by anyone strong enough. Fortunately, that was her at this point.

The crow-cawing gets a little more frantic at this point; a few of them have flapped down to meet her and are squaking at her from within arm's reach.

[Deathkeeper]

Greater Wood Area

Oh, of all the times for Owena to be gone! Mina pulls out her phone to call her-
And finds the touch screen doesn’t really work with her big furry fingers. Darn it.
Well if nothing else it finally gives her something to work out her frustrations on: a big muscly activity. So she pulls on the slab. She can’t leave something from her best friend’s homeland untouched!
”Shooo.” she barks at the crows. Luckily only Sai is around to hear her voice crack a bit at that sound. Gotta remember that.

[Ironsmith]

[Greater Wood Area]

Even with as strong as Mina is, this slab is heavy and she's only able to move it a little bit at a time. After a few minutes of struggling, she'll be able to turn it enough to squeeze through, revealing that the "shed" was part of a much larger structure, as evidenced by the polished marble stairs descending into the ground.

This is about the time when the crows start getting to be properly aggressive; one lands on Mina's head and digs in with its feet, pecking at her furiously.

[Deathkeeper]

Greater Wood Area

Mina quickly slips in side as the crows peck at her. Blasted things. Hopefully they don't follow her in, that would be -
STAIRS.
Why did it have to be stairs? Polished stairs.
The single worst thing for someone with hooves and barely knows how to use them.
"I swear if two hours in I break my-" She turns behind her "Yup. Tail. If I break that two hours in I'm gonna be pissed." She's been aware of it for the last few hours but almost felt like if she didn't look at it, she could pretend she didn't have one.
"Sai if I fall it's your fault so please don't laugh." She does her best to advance down the stairs but it's slow going. Going at any amount of speed would be suicide.

[Ironsmith]

[Greater Wood Tomb]

And going at all slow would be murder.

As it turns out, the crows are vindictive enough to follow Mina into the tomb, and they're only getting more aggressive. Worse, after a certain distance, the staircase starts spiraling downward, with one wall giving way to a large, circular chamber, easily fifteen meters deep, with the floor way below Mina. There are large rectangular doors against the other wall at regular intervals down the stairs, as well, with the nearest one being about a meter down.

Oddly, despite being underground, the room is well-lit; a shaft of golden light shoots through the room, coming shy of the stairs but perfectly illuminating a wrought-iron grate on the floor.

[Deathkeeper]

Greater Wood Tomb

Mina scowls and draws Sai.
"I've had enough of these things. Can you handle them for me?" she growls at she raises Sai above her head. A good gust of wind or some sparks should be enough to handle a few birds. If she was steady on her feet she'd just whack them with her staff but she can't really do that when she needs it to move. She can check out the doors when she's not being actively assaulted.
Because if Sai doesn't take care of them she just might slip...

[Ironsmith]

[Greater Wood Tomb]

"All right. One big burst of wind, coming up!"

And up goes the wind gust. Strong enough to blow the crows back out the door.

Also strong enough to blow Sai clear of Mina's hand, over the edge of the stairs and down, down to the floor far below.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

clang

clatter

tink-tink

And, of course, potentially strong enough to throw Mina herself off-balance.

[Deathkeeper]

Greater Wood Tomb

Mina finds that the wind is significantly stronger than Sai's earlier demonstration (and actually probably the same as when she was entering the first tomb, but she had sneakers then) and slips on the slick stairs, tumbling down several stairs. Now, she doesn't fall as far as Sai (because falling down that many stairs in a row would certainly break something) but falling down several stairs will still leave her with a nasty bruise.
Needless to say, between the screaming magic weapon, the crows screeching, and the quarter-ton bovine grunting in pain, there is a decent racket being made.

[Ironsmith]

[Greater Wood Tomb]

And this room is a perfect echo chamber.

So when one of the doors near the bottom of the stairs slams open and a set of heavy footsteps starts making its way up the stairs, Mina can hear it perfectly.

That is a big something, whatever it is.

[Deathkeeper]

Greater Wood Tomb

Mina is not one to flee at the first sign of trouble!
Well, she might have been but the giant pile of muscle and dramatic destiny dissuade her a little.
Besides. She shouldn’t let Sai get captured two hours after freeing him from six millennia of silence. She isn’t that cruel.
So she does her best to rise and hobble her way down the stairs like a very confident, if bruised lady. If all else fails she can make a mad dash to where Sai fell and see if he can get them out of here.

[Ironsmith]

[Greater Wood Tomb]

And that's when sign number two buries itself in the wall in front of Mina.

And it is an actual sign, sort of. A signpost at least. A thick, long, sharpened piece of wood that looked like it was just missing a plank pointing in the direction of the nearest major highway, replaced with a trio of carefully-cropped feather fletchings on the back.

And if Mina cares to look, she'll see the massive silhouette of the offending archer loading up another oversized arrow.

[Deathkeeper]

Greater Wood Tomb

Oh, that’s exactly what she needs today. She scowls. There’s really not much else she can do- dodging arrows is hard enough when you’re on good footing. She’s not, and jumping around is only likely to get her tossed down the stairs to her death.
”If you want me to go, I’ll go. But let me fetch my talking blade. If I don’t he’ll spend the next century screaming at you.” Well if they’re from Owena’s world they might just eat them like she implied. But they don’t know that.

[Ironsmith]

[Greater Wood Tomb]

"It's true! I've been very pent up the past few millenia! Got a lot of talking to do!"

The archer shuffles slowly up the stairs, keeping his bow trained on Mina the whole time. "I don't think so." He rumbles. "I have all sorts of questions for you. Let's start with, 'What in Absum's name are you doing in the Oubliette?'."

[Deathkeeper]

Greater Wood Tomb

”I am in these woods because I had business with a past life. I’m in here because I recognized the language on the door- and your swear, coincidentally. You’re from the same realm as a friend of mine. And judging by the swear, maybe the same folk. Did you know that this whole building had moved location?” Mina answers.
”Also uh. You kind of forgot to lock the gate.”

[Ironsmith]

[Greater Wood Area]

The archer lowers his bow. "...You've picked a bizarre set of details to mention." He rumbles. "Of course you recognize the language, and Absum. Even the fiendlings know those. Yet you say it like it's some kind of accomplishment and not something every mother's child knows." He steps forward, his horns casting a menacing shadow on the wall. "Where are you from? Redmont? Brefaisil? Lesserwood? Saltfrost?"

[Deathkeeper]

Greater Wood Tomb

”I’m from the city of Inside, though I have friends from Redmont.” She’s almost sure she remembers Owena mentioning that name in reference to her uncle when Mina asked about where they’re from.
Mina tries to squint but still can’t make out any real details about the guy.
”Were you aware this place is now situated in a green forest near the coast? Monument of a pair of horns about a half mile away? I doubt it, because it wasn’t there on my way there. Your Oubliette just got spat out in a different plane entirely. Good news for you. Owena said your world wasn’t terribly pleasant.”

[Ironsmith]

[Greater Wood Tomb]

"Your friend isn't wrong. Maesda has been... unpleasant, the past few years." He scowls and raises his bow again. "You keep saying the building has moved. How is that possible? Surely, I would have felt something. How do I know you aren't just a grave robber, plumbing the wrongest tomb imaginable?"

[Deathkeeper]

Greater Wood Tomb

”Dude. I can’t even walk well right now. I just came to get some information about Maesda for my native friends.” she twirls her tail with her free hand. Owena made it sound like they don’t have minotaurs where she is. They have folks like her uncle but he doesn’t have a tail until he got one magically.
”The Nexus pulls things in all the time. Like Sai and the tomb of Tarr. Oh right, you don’t have any tech.” Mina lets go of her tail and pulls out her electric light, flipping it on. It should let her show off the advanced technology of electricity she has - and show her who she’s talking to without burning him. She knows this late was safe around Owena.

[Ironsmith]

[Greater Wood Area]

"Ah, geez!" The bull-man snaps, throwing up a hand to shield his eyes from Mina's flashlight. "Okay, okay! Fine! I believe you! Put that away now, please!" As a show of good faith, the red-furred not-quite-a-minotaur slings his massive bow over his back. Mina will also notice by now that he's barely dressed; aside from the golf-bag-sized quiver strapped to his back, the bull-man is clad only in a cotton undergarment that covers his naughty parts. One could reasonably assume he hadn't had time to get properly dressed before rushing out to confront Mina.

[Deathkeeper]

Greater Wood Tomb

Mina has too much hair to go red, but her ears definitely do. She flicks off the light.
”Why aren’t you wearing clothes? What kind of guy just goes around in their underwear?!” Codebreaker, actually. But Mina hasn’t met Owena’s employer.
”Look just let me get Sai, okay? I can even help you out. You’re going to need to leave eventually to get something to drink and you don’t know the land anymore.” She’s trying so hard to recover her composure. Is he red because he’s a vampire too? Does their species have theming like that?
She’s also not sure at all how often strigoi have to feed but it seems somewhat frequent?

[Ironsmith]

[Greater Wood Tomb]

"Not my idea." The vampire-bull replies indignantly. "Back around dusk, we had a robber attack our tomb. He was a moroi, I think; nearly mindless, but fast. He killed my master and made off with Huelwen's wand-blade... I thought he might have come back to finish the job. Modesty wasn't exactly a priorit-"

The bull-man is cut off by the sound of furious screaming down below, as well as the rattling of chains and something heavy.

"Don't mind her. She does that sometimes." The bull-man shrugs. "...I'm Gwas. At least, that's what my master always called me." He extends his hand to Mina, partly as a gesture of friendship and partly to help her down the stairs.

[Deathkeeper]

Greater Wood Tomb

Mina accepts the hand. It's likely a firm handshake on both sides. Mina tries REALLY hard not to stare this close-up. But the guy's huge. Well. They're both pretty huge, but he's built like a brick wall, is the point.
"My name's Mina. I'm sorry about your master." She will also gladly be led down the stairs so she can retrieve Sai.
"Um. If you'd like I could help you track down your moroi. I think by next dusk I should be- ah, my ankles should be all better." Her eyes sink to their feet, to check what sort he has. Honestly this staircase seems like it'd be just as dangerous with hooves or human feet covered in bull's hide.
”Wait no if the nexus shift happened an hour ago it’s probably back in your world…”

[Ironsmith]

[Greater Wood Tomb]

Now that Mina gets a better look at him, it becomes even more apparent that he's not quite a minotaur. He still has ten fingers and toes, all of which are swollen and calloused over with black, hairless skin, such that his hands at least resemble hooves when balled up. Unlike Mina, he doesn't have a tail, and the curvature of his horns is such that they look more like a bad hair day frozen for eternity than actual horns.

But he is pretty big, yes. And judging from the draw weight of his signpost-launcher, Gwas is every bit as strong as he looks, too. And surprisingly, a little more graceful; he's able to move down the stairs with no trouble at all, even dragging a minotaur behind him.

Gwas nods. "It is very considerate of you to ask, miss." He says, briefly exposing a mouth full of very-un-bovine fangs. "But if we've moved, as you said, and the sun rises and sets again, he is either away or dead."

[Deathkeeper]

Greater Wood Tomb

Oof. He’s definitely like Kyrie’s uncle. That just looks painful.
”Well, what are you going to do? I assume you’re here for a reason. I’m not saying that you should abandon it but you’re going to need to eat something. At least there’s more food in the Nexus that works as blood substitutes.”
She stoops down to pick up Sai as they finally reach where he lay.
See, THIS guy is the one who probably needed the cowperson ray. He just looks kinda sick.
”Well, Owena and I left at dusk and we weren’t in Tarr’s tomb for very long. It shouldn’t have been Dawn but apparently it was. Time is funky around here sometimes. But dusk will come again soon enough. Um. Do you have anything valuable here that you might be able to trade with? I can’t spot you anything.”

[Ironsmith]

[Greater Wood Tomb]

Gwas sees Mina go out into the lit section of the floor and briefly panics. "Wait! Don't!"

...But panic gives way to bewilderment as Mina is able to retrieve Sai without suffering at all from the light's effects. If she were another strigoi, like him, she'd be burning up right now.

"...What exactly are you?" He asks cautiously, eying her with something between curiosity and suspicion, momentarily forgetting his manners.

If and when he gets a satisfactory answer, he'll go back and answer Mina's question. "No, we don't have any valuables here. We tomb guards are not big on opulence. There's nobody around to impress, and having treasure of any form here just invites raiders. We have enough problems with fiendling incursions as it is."

[Deathkeeper]

Greater Wood Tomb

"I'm a minotaur." Mina tells him, managing to bite down adding "thanks, Sai."
"We're naturally like this. Promise not to laugh, ok? My clothes are hand-me-down and they're all I've got." She turns around and slips out of her robe for a moment so she can show him her straight, not-terribly-messed-up back. Of course even with her juvenile clothes under her robe she's still covered more than he is.
"Well, you seem pretty strong. I'm sure you can do something. You seem to have living space worked out if nothing else."

[Ironsmith]

[Greater Wood Tomb]

Gwas nods slowly. "Right. Minotaur. Okay." He looks a bit confused at her sliding down her robe. What was she doing? Did minotaurs have a habit of removing their clothes around strangers?

Speaking of which, he was still in his underwear. He probably ought to do something about that.

"...I'm... going to go get dressed." Gwas says, opening the door he came out through. "We'll continue this conversation in a moment."

Oh, he fancies you. Sai teases.

[Deathkeeper]

Greater Wood Tomb

"Okay I'll be here." she tells him as she slides her robe back on. Hopefully there's a place for her to sit.
Oh, shush you. We met two minutes ago. He's just staring because he's never seen someone who isn't a human-vampire or a mutant-vampire before. Unless he has a thing for toned backs. She hasn't seen hers but she's pretty sure it's toned. She'd only been trying to prove she wasn't mutated via curse like his people but that might have been a bit forward. Then again he'd been almost naked so maybe it's not a big deal. If he gets out more he'll probably be happy to hear that it's not that weird to look like they do in the Nexus. Even if he can only get out at night. She wishes she could do something about that.

[Ironsmith]

[Greater Wood Tomb]

Oh, I'm sure he was. Only... I picked up some level of infatuation between the two of you. Did I get the source and destination reversed? Sai shakes in her hand, ringing out in a way resembling a low chuckle. You saw him in his unmentionables for two minutes and couldn't wait to get your robe off.

Heh.

And here you were complaining you wouldn't be able to get a date, yet later the same day one very nearly drops in your lap. It's ironic, don't you think?

[Deathkeeper]

Greater Wood Tomb

"You're a magic stick with weather control, not an emotional radar!" Mina grumbles.
and I AM dying to get this robe off because it's hot and itchy. And I was complaining about being type-cast for only dating bull-dudes! If her heart was beating fast it was because she was almost skewered by an arrow.