Solo Ancient

[UserClone]

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oh, that's weird, my subscription didn't update from your last post.

Mustering his courage (and retrieving the coin), Merrick strikes off to the southwest, after a brief prayer of thanks.

[Gorgondantess]

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oh, that's weird, my subscription didn't update from your last post.

Mustering his courage (and retrieving the coin), Merrick strikes off to the southwest, after a brief prayer of thanks.

You head off into the southeast, and come across a sort of natural path, the trees in this area simply being spread apart, in one long stretch. You head down, and soon can see a clearing in the trees, leading to the outside; on top of that, there's a vine running up a tree covered in large, yellow fruits. Trying one, it is juicy and tart, and definitely edible. There are about 15, each one the size of a fist. There is also a small, clear pool of water at the base of the tree.

[UserClone]

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Did you mean Southeast or Southwest?

Merrick decides to take only a few of the fruits, eating one now and saving four for later. He understands that to take all of them would be potentially disastrous for the vine. He also takes this time to fill as many of his waterskins as he can. After a brief rest, Merrick continues Southwest, relying on the Cunning of Sain to provide for him.

[Gorgondantess]

You can see the wastes from the tree and pool of water. Yes, I meant southwest. Sorry for taking so long.

[UserClone]

Hey, welcome back!

Anyway, Merrick will trust in the wisdom of Sain, and continue Southwest into the wastes.

[Gorgondantess]

Emmm... so are you trying to head back to the village? Or just striking off into the wastes?

[UserClone]

Well, whichever is the direction Sain told him to go via the augury. Merrick simply has a hunch that there is more to find than just this one fruit tree, so he'll continue on towards the same direction.

[Gorgondantess]

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Em, ok. You interpreted this in a way different than I intended, but I suppose that's just how these things work.

You continue out into the wasteland, for about a day; the night is clear, and there is not so much heat as before. At morining, you set out, and come across the pack you had left behind, now coated in dust. As you wank over to it, you stumble, and fall into darkness... you can't breathe, and it is very, very cold. Pushing up, you find yourself in a stony, manmade underwater cavern. There is no way to surface, as the water is up to the ceiling- no air. There is a moss covered iron grate to your right, and a small hole to your left- about 1.5 feet wide.

[UserClone]

With all his might, and a silent prayer to Sain for luck, Merrick grabs the grate and tugs on it.

[Gorgondantess]

You grab the grate, and pull with all your might; it groans, and creaks, and won't budge. You see stars, and start to black out- and finally it moves. There is a small gap at the bottom, and you can move it no further. Beyond there is a submerged staircase, going to wherever.

[UserClone]

If the staircase is leading down, I'm going to need to know how much longer I can hold my breath. If I've a couple precious minutes or less, Merrick retreats to the small foot-and-a-half wide hole, hoping beyond hope that there is a source of air beyond it. If the staircase leads up he'll go there instead, same thing. If he can't find air, with his final few moments remaining, Merrick will request divine intervention to allow him to breathe underwater.

[Gorgondantess]

You swim down, awkwardly, and manage to squeeze through the grate. Even though things are easier because of the lack of strenuous activity, your vision is fading... you can barely see through the murky, green water, to the stairs... and you can feel it on your hands. You pull yourself up through the water, periodically slipping from the algaes growing all over. You think you're near the top, but can't tell because of your vision being almost completely obscured... then you hear a chuckle, a deep, masculine chuckle... you've heard it before. You pass out........

Waking up at the top of the stairs, your top half out of the water. Everything is dim, and blurry, and you can't think straight and can barely walk... but you're alive. There is a torch, the smell of fire... you walk over to it, desperate for warmth, then stumble and put it out. There is a chuckle- this time rapsy, throaty. You move over to the next torch, and get your bearings... there is almost no light. It's just a stone chamber, like the submerged one but lacking algae. At the end are two doors- one with pictures of death, flames, people burning etched on it, a black, reddish wood. The other is white wood, with pictures of birds and fields. Between the doors in a brazier, on top of smoking but heatless coals, is a rat; huge, hairless and corpulent, barely able to move. The chuckling voice comes from it, ugly and nasty. " One door leads out of here. The other to certain death. If you ask me, I may tell you- but it will be a lie. I want to see you die-it's boring down here. Of course, if you were to ask me, you would know that I would be lying, so you would choose the other door. In which case, I must tell you the truth, on account that you would take it to be a lie. However, now that I've told you this, you'll know it was the truth, and so be safe. Which is not good. As such..."
The rat goes on in his horrible voice, penetrating each layer of the "I know you know I know you know I know...." thing. As you sit there, waterlogged, he interrupts his speech, then pulls a before unnoticed chain from thge ceiling. A grate comes out and blocks your exit, this one new and nice. He chuckles, then continues from where he left off.

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Ah, a classic with a twist. Be smart, be tricky (WWSD?), don't overlook the obvious, and don't go without being sure you're right. Anyhow, your stats have taken some nonpermanent damage due to the waterlogging. It'll be gone by the time you leave.

[UserClone]

"Very well. If I were to ask you whether the white door was the door leading to certain death, would the answer to that question be the same as the answer to this question?"

[Gorgondantess]

The rat stares at you, blinking for a few seconds. It then busts out into peals of screeching laughter, and then resumes its quietude, staring at you with a perverse smile.

[UserClone]

"Too difficult for you, eh? Well, which door leads to certain death, then, rat?"

[Gorgondantess]

Oh, that one, obviously" it says, nudging its right hand over to the door with the burning bodies. "See the pretty pictures? Heh. Of course, it could always be the nice door- befitting of a death trap. You'd never guess, would you? Heh. Heheh. Of course, then again, you might realize it was nice just to trick you, so...." it goes off on its speech again. It is obviously quite rehearsed.

EDIT: After a time, the rat sighs, and looks off. "You know, they actually don't have a death trap, either of them. I was just messing with you. I'm sorry." There seems to be genuine sadness, and truth in his voice.

[UserClone]

Merrick, having no idea what to do in this situation, wanders around the room, seeing if there is anything other than the rat, the brazier, the new grate, and the two doors.

[Gorgondantess]

There is nothing. In the distance, you can hear a deep chuckle... the 1st one. This time, it doesn't seem so kind.

EDIT: want a hint?

[UserClone]

((Perhaps a Knowledge: Religion check might be in order...?))

EDIT: w00tNatch20!

[Gorgondantess]

((Perhaps a Knowledge: Religion check might be in order...?))

Nope. Oh, alright, fine. I suppose I can work it in.... but it won't give much, so don't be dissapointed.
(1d20+8)[28]

[UserClone]

"Well how am I supposed to know if that is a lie or not? It isn't fair," whines Kerrick, acting like a spoiled girl in search of her baby brother...or something.

EDIT: My bad, I thought you meant what would Sara do.
This is a very similar situation to one in Labyrinth, a movie whose principal character was named Sara. She basically whined that it wasn't fair right before she figured it out.

[Gorgondantess]

Ok, a 28. That'll help. Let's see what I can work...

You recognize the chuckling as Sain's voice. He has had... some little influence in this, but in the end it wasn't his doing- you just happened to stumble upon what, as far as you can tell, is just one of the stranger things in this world. The second chuckle, however, in the distance, is disapproval. There may be consequences if you call upon him, though it will get you out of here. You're obviously not doing things right, i.e. WWSD? And what- he'd think of something perverse, witty, cruel and tricky. Definitely at the expense of the rat.

EDIT: Ninja'd. (Wait, Sara? Hunh?)
You feel a sharp pain in your side. A black needle is stuck in your skin. You hear the chuckle again, louder and more insidious.

[UserClone]

Retrieving the needle from his side, Merrick decides that enough is enough. If the rat won't tell him what he wants to know, he'll get it out of him the hard way. pocketing the needle, Merrick grabs ahold of the brazier and begins dragging it towards the nasty-looking door. "Sorry, but you've left me no choice," says he callously to the rat, with a mirthless chuckle.

[Gorgondantess]

"Wait, no, you've got it wrong! Please, no!" He panics, breathing heavily, and finally gets up on his hind legs (amazingly, considering how bloated and obese he is) and says proudly: "I'm the familiar of a powerful wizard, and he will surely strike you down if you continue this! I order you to stop!" You can't tell if he's lying or not.

[UserClone]

"I'm sorry but it's too late now. Your words are as useless to you as they are to me. Luckily your screams ought to prove more useful."

Merrick pushes the rat back down so that it falls on its behind again, and continues dragging the brazier towards the door.

[Gorgondantess]

The rat screeches, and screeches, and screeches. It's a rather pitiful sight. Even after you stoip dragging and speaking, it continues screeching. Opening the door, you find a dark corridor behind, with no distinguishing marks.

[UserClone]

Knocking the brazier over, Merrick grabs the screeching wretch by the scruff of the neck and tosses it in.

((I'll be off to bed now, it's almost 4am!))

[Gorgondantess]

The rat skitters across the floor, squealing so pitifully it almost pulls on your heartstrings. Nothing happens- it laughs, relieved. "Oh, gods! You see, I never knew which door led to certain death- I'd been waiting there for eons, just for someone to come by and trigger it for me, so I could finally leave that accursed room. Please forgive me, sir. It's just... I needed to leave. I was going ma-" The room suddenly explodes in flames, for a second- there is a screech, a sigh, for just a split second- when your eys readjust, there is nothing, nothing at all. The front of the brazier is red hot.

[UserClone]

With a second mirthless grin (and a wink to Sain), our intrepid hero confidently strides through the white door.

[Gorgondantess]

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tell me, did you find that amusing, sad, or were you completely indifferent?

You open the white door and find an identical hallway... but after your first step, it turns into a lavish... cave. The walls are hung with tapestries, and there are gorgeous rugs on the floor, golden skeletal hands reaching out to hold green flame in their palms. Nonetheless, this doesn't stop it from being mossy, dank, and cold. There is no door behind you; you simply stand in a circular roomk, leading into a similar but very, very large room. Inside, there is a man... kindof. His skin is dessicated, white hair, chunks of grey flesh missing. He wears an obviously very old, stained, but otherwise extravagant robe. He sits at a huge ebony table, drinking wine slobbishly and eating a chicken. This is odd, as he is somehow able to belch and ingests it even tough it all falls out of a hole in his stomach. There are floating gravel beings, connected by stands of purple light in vaguely man-like forms, waiting on him. There are 2 golden statues behind him. He completely ignores you.