[Nexus] Random Places and Plots 5

[Earl of Purple]

Necanth Prison

"They didn't die- they were killed. There's a difference; being killed requires action on the part of another, and dying does not. Although it's possible to die of thirst or starvation, or drown. But there's no ageing, so no natural deaths. No births, either; no ageing means no conception." And anybody here that's pregnant stay pregnant, as the baby doesn't age either. "I wasn't as clear as I should have been, sorry."

[Eadin]

Prison

Well, aging in here is probably the least of Cat's worries.
No conception must probably be useful for the whores around here.
'' Right, so what can we expect when we try to get out? A maze, mosters,...?''
Or both.
Or worse.

[Rebonack]

[Prison]

Oh!

So they CAN die!

That means Freddy can totally nom people here! And he has the uncanny feeling that no one would know how to deal with a Huldra.

...

No!

Bad!

Bad thoughts! Go away!

"I guess we should probably wait for tomorrow's map then...?" Freddy replies tentatively. "And what would be a good way to avoid getting killed?"

[Devixer]

[Cave on Mount Anthor]

Hildur grabs the focus! As soon as she touches it she can feel the air flowing through the cave. Tugging at her. Pulling at her. She shouldn't be in here, buried below the earth! Stuffed down deep within the mountain where she can't see the sky!

Follow the breeze!

Follow it back to the wide embrace of the heavens and dance with it among the clouds.

But at the same time...

There's something else. Something else deeper within the mountain.

Something calling.

Pleading.

Help me...

Hildur is a little conflicted by what she should do. She definitely wants to go back out into the wind and fresh air, but that plea certainly gets to her as well. She stands in that spot for some time.

Eventually, though, she turns from the breeze, almost apologetically, and heads deeper into the mountain. No doubt her connection with the air will lessen the further she walks.

[Zefir]

Necanth Prison

Zefir will see the door made of odds and ends, including part of a cart's wheel and a table, complete with a leg-stump for a handle. Beyond it, he might catch Cat and Freddy before they leave into the bar beyond.

The barkeep is a grizzled human male, wearing a battered breastplate of boiled leather. He looks to be about forty, and his left arm ends in a stump about halfway between the shoulder and the elbow. The goblin prostitute won't stop staring at Freddy so long as he's here.

Necanth Prison Bar

"Oh man low tech, that's hard means low society."

Zefir notice while shaking his head.He goes into the bar following the last newcomers. He won't interrupt them while talking with the barkeeper and listens.

[Earl of Purple]

Necanth Prison

"Outside this pub, it's quite a labyrinth, yes. Not so much monsters, at least not in the traditional sense- aside from a few undead, everything here is capable of committing crimes motivated by more than pure instinct." He then turns to Freddy. "To stay alive, you should keep away from the Warden, don't start fights, avoid the settlements, keep away from prostitutes, don't touch anything you haven't paid for, run away from anyone trying to start a fight with you, accept that anything stolen is gone even if you felt the thief take it, and it's probably best to find an air vent and climb inside and live as a hermit. Although no matter what, you can still starve, and there's no food in the vents unless you are lucky enough to find an old guard stash or a new one that has grown in place since the riots."

Then Zefir says something and the barkeep looks up. "No, not low-tech. We're high-tech without the resources for most of the decent stuff. There's a gun factory in New London, and all sorts of workshops in the Scrapyards. Swords are more common because a sword doesn't run out of ammunition."

[Eadin]

Necanth Prison

"So, who is this Warden anyway?"
This whole thing seems to get worse and worse.
She turns to Freddy. "Yeah, that'd be the best. No need to make it harder for ourselves."

And then there's the other guy from the bar.
"Seems like those light balls got us into some serious mess." She tells him.

[Zefir]

Necanth Prison

"Yeah." he comments the barkeeper. I assume we have our equipment?

Then a person or something else I don't know right now speaks up to him.
"Thanks captain Obviouse." obiously he isn't happy about the situation and in that case not a good man for small talk.
"Any ideas how to blew this whole thing up or escape?"

[Rebonack]

[Cave on Mount Anthor]

Deeper into the darkness.

The sky will plead with Hildur not to go, but none the less she journeys deeper into the heart of the mountain. Deeper into the earth. Deeper into the darkness.

The air grow still and stale.

The chill of the high mountain replaced by a warm, muggy feeling of claustrophobia.

And then all at once the cavern opens up before her.

A vast panorama of roiling, seething something. Or maybe nothing. It has no form, and yet she sees it. Has no substance, and yet she feels it. Has no voice, and yet it whispers.

help me

[Prison]

Well.

That's a long list of things to avoid. No doubt Cat will give Freddy an 'I told you so' look when the prostitute is mentioned.

"Thanks for the information, sir," the currently attractive male Huldra replies honestly. He'll then turn to Cat, "So now what? Find an air-vent to huddle in while waiting for tomorrow?"

And mister explosives guy is given a sour look. "You understand that 'blowing the whole thing up' would include us since we're inside 'the whole thing', yes?"

[Earl of Purple]

Necanth Prison

"The Prison Warden. If you thought Necromancy was the scariest school of magic, you haven't met the Warden. It specialises in Alteration. During the riots, all the guards were killed and the cell door machinery was smashed. When we tried to kill the Warden, most of us were turned into mushrooms; the rest were turned to stone from the waist down and one by one they were carted into the Warden's Office by the Warden. A few escaped, such as myself, but not many. Rumour has it that anybody that voluntarily submits to the Warden is released, and it's true that everybody that has submitted hasn't been seen again, and the Warden does have a way out in its Office because it used to send reports out. Maybe still does. Dunno; if it ever was human, it's not any more." The barkeep shivers at the memory and scratches at his stump.

[Eadin]

[Prison]

"Right... Thanks for that, sir. We'll come back tomorrow for that map.."

Surprisingly, she's not giving Freddy that look. Seems to care more for getting out of here and devising a plan to make sure they don't become zombie meals. Or stone, after the barkeep's story.

"Well, something like that, yes. Maybe something to eat.. " Though she can probably go without a while, divine beings don't need as much nutrition as humans.

And Catherine looks like a normal human girl at this stage. But that might change if Zefir keeps being rude to her. Angry Cat is Bad Cat.
So she'll just glare at him. Fred has said enough.

[Rebonack]

[Prison]

Or mushrooms.

Most people probably don't like getting turned into mushrooms. That wouldn't be a problem for Freddy, though. Like most shape-changers he would be able to simply revert to his natural shape if he were transformed into a toadstool. He's not aware of this, though. Mostly because transmutation magic is very uncommon in his world.

The realm of Warlocks and Witches.

Which means this Warden guy sounds evil and scary to the Huldra.

At the mention of something to eat Freddy coughs slightly. "Yeah. Something to eat would be nice."

Granted, his 'something to eat' is a bit different from Cat's no doubt.

"Where would we find something to eat?" he asks of the barkeep.

[Devixer]

[Cave on Mount Anthor]

"I don't understand..." Hildur mutters. And she couldn't be more honest. How could she help something if she wasn't even sure what it is?

The lack of any moving wind is starting to get to her. She finds herself wanting more and more to go outside into the wind.

[Zefir]

[Prison]

Well.

That's a long list of things to avoid. No doubt Cat will give Freddy an 'I told you so' look when the prostitute is mentioned.

"Thanks for the information, sir," the currently attractive male Huldra replies honestly. He'll then turn to Cat, "So now what? Find an air-vent to huddle in while waiting for tomorrow?"

And mister explosives guy is given a sour look. "You understand that 'blowing the whole thing up' would include us since we're inside 'the whole thing', yes?"

Necanth Prison

"I'm not dump. I would first look for an escape way and then blew this up. Noone should land in such a place after us. Right?"

Zefir just glares back at ther. Beeing teleported into a prision and all makes people mad.

[Earl of Purple]

Necanth Prison

"Have you ever destroyed a world before? Because that's what this prison is- a whole world. We tried to destroy the teleportation circle in the entrance, but failed. Even magic didn't work. We're content here, and the vast majority of people who arrive are guilty of something, even if it's not what they're sentenced for. The last new guy was arrested for public nudity, and since he's arrived he's been trying to rack up the largest kill count recorded, and he doesn't care who he kills. He's the guy over there with the knives and the necklace." The barkeep gestures towards a rather normal-looking chap with two bandoleers across his chest and a belt, each of which is holding ten knives at least. The necklace in question is a piece of string around his neck; it's used to hold a lot of ears of several different races and ages. All the ears are left ears; not one has its opposite number present. "As for something to eat, we have green slop, red slop, yellow slop, orange slop, steak, racks of ribs and two apples. The green slop's free, I bought the apples from somebody that carried them here- they're the only apples I know of in this place. The slop's grown in a vat in the Hunger Prevention Facilities." The source of the steak and ribs is left to the imagination.

[Eadin]

Necanth Prison

Cat makes a disgusted face as he talks about the food. Any hint of hunger is long gone.
She'll make a mental note to stay away from Ear-guy.
"Maybe later." She tell the barkeep.
To Freddy she says, in a hushed voice so only he can hear.
"You might not have to be hungry, with all these murderers around."
As in she'll probably help him get some food, if he needs it.
Murderers deserve to be nommed. Good riddance.

[Rebonack]

[Cave on Mount Anthor]

The formless mists twist and twine and dance and writhe and plead. Above all else they plead. Help me.

Please.

Help me.

Please. Find me.

They aren't what they seem.

Please. Hurry.

SUDDENLY!

Hildur awakes in her bed back at the Abbey!

[Prison]

Freddy gives the ear-guy one distasteful look and decides that he would rather not look at him at all.

Bluh... And Freddy seems keen on the idea of nomming in self-defense! "I can't be violent of my own accord. But if one of them attacks..."

Honest! I only devoured his liver in self-defense!

"I guess that leaves exploration on the table? I don't think it would be hard for me to find my way back here when the time comes," nose and all.

[Devixer]

[Cave on Mount Anthor -> Hildur's Room]

Hildur wakes up, again a little slowly. Still not used to getting up so early. What a weird dream, she thinks. She liked her dreams about snowboarding a lot more than whatever that was.

She gets up and sets about getting dressed. Her clothes could probably use a good washing right now, she remarks.

[Eadin]

[Necanth Prison]

"Well, I could always provoke them into attacking... Or you could seduce them." She adds with a wink.

"We'll probably need that, in case we get lost.."
Which they probably will.
"Yeah, let's explore or something.."

[Earl of Purple]

Necanth Prison

"If you're going to eat people, don't do it here. Go to New London; they'll accept you because you look human. You could be human for all I know or care, but the New Londoners are a bunch of violent xenophobes. A pity- the old Mayor was quite a nice chap." Although most of the people here are criminals so the old Mayor would have certainly also been a criminal.

[Rebonack]

[Prison]

Fredrick gives a somewhat distasteful look. "Ghosts. I eat ghosts. Not people. If someone dies because they assault us then that's their fault."

Woo!

Exploring time!

New London sounds like a decent place to start. Because everyone loves violent xenophobes! Freddy nods before inquiring. "Well, I guess a map wouldn't hurt right now then. Otherwise I'm afraid we might get lost on the way there."

Then attention turns to Cat.

"And I think it would be best if we stick to this fellow's advice and avoid provoking people."

[Abbey Hildur's Room]

That was a weird dream, wasn't it?

Oh well.

It was probably of no consequence what so ever and won't come up again in any way. Best to just forget about it.

The morning will progress much as the previous one did! What shall Hildur do?

[Eadin]

Necanth Prison

Well said, Freddy.

Adventure time!

"Yeah, probably. With all these undead there are probably enough ghosts around, too.."

New London doesn't seem like a fun place to Cat, so she hopes they don't have to go there.

[Devixer]

[Abbey - Hildur's Room]

Hildur will help with the chores, of course, but she spends as much of the day as she can outside, playing with the wind and getting used to it almost talking to her. She almost wants to go further out and use her focus to do some snowboarding, but decides against it.

[Earl of Purple]

Necanth Prison

"I have no idea how one would eat a ghost, but if that's the case there's lots of undead at the Graveyard. It's where the guards used to dump the corpses of anybody killed. The undead former prisoners have made it their home. Be careful; it's near some of the old Solitary cells, and some of the Solitary Confinees went mad before the Rebellion. It's worse that they had the longest life expectancy- only way they were dying is if they did it deliberately, as they didn't see anybody, often for hundreds of years. No ageing, but there's still time." Cat's very lucky they did have a rebellion, otherwise she'd spend the rest of time in a small, soundproofed cell furnished only by a toilet, a light and a bed.

[Rebonack]

[Prison]

Ghosts are eaten by going om nom nom!

Clearly.

Poking around in a graveyard sounds even less safe than poking around in a city full of people who hate anyone who isn't human. Freddy is totally okay with that second one. Given that his Beguiling Illusions were only meant to fool humans he can't really look like anything else.

Well... Maybe a dwarf or an elf. But that would depend on how human-like a given setting's dwarves and elves are, really.

The disguised Huldra glances over at Cat.

"Well? Where to?"

[Abbey]

And so the routine will continue much the same. Chores, rituals, and daily practice increasing her skill with the art of Air Shaping. And each night? Each night that same strange dream will happen again. And each time Hildur will begin a little closer to the entrance of the cave. A little closer until at last she will be standing at its mouth and looking down on the Abbey below.

Find me.

Please.

Hurry.

[Devixer]

[Abbey]

Though at first, Hildur pays little attention to her weird dreams, eventually she gets fed up with them and decides to at least try and find out what's going on. So, she puts her goggles on, wraps herself as well as she could, and starts to head further up the mountain until she finds the cave.

[Zefir]

Necanth Prison

"Have you ever destroyed a world before? Because that's what this prison is- a whole world. We tried to destroy the teleportation circle in the entrance, but failed. Even magic didn't work. We're content here, and the vast majority of people who arrive are guilty of something, even if it's not what they're sentenced for. The last new guy was arrested for public nudity, and since he's arrived he's been trying to rack up the largest kill count recorded, and he doesn't care who he kills. He's the guy over there with the knives and the necklace." The barkeep gestures towards a rather normal-looking chap with two bandoleers across his chest and a belt, each of which is holding ten knives at least. The necklace in question is a piece of string around his neck; it's used to hold a lot of ears of several different races and ages. All the ears are left ears; not one has its opposite number present. "As for something to eat, we have green slop, red slop, yellow slop, orange slop, steak, racks of ribs and two apples. The green slop's free, I bought the apples from somebody that carried them here- they're the only apples I know of in this place. The slop's grown in a vat in the Hunger Prevention Facilities." The source of the steak and ribs is left to the imagination.

Necanth Prison

Zefir shakes his head and waves with his hand.

"Let's drop that. I didn't even assume there is any way to do so here."

After that Zefir keeps listening to the conversation. He just wants to escape here, but the other two seem more intressed in staying. Better wait and see how far this get's. Oh and the knife guy only gets a short look, nothing more.

[Eadin]

Necanth Prison

Not sure why Cat would end up in a padded cell, since her biggest crime in the Nexus until now is ruining a hair creature's hairdo. Went all poof!

To Freddy, she says:" Well, probably find a place to safely rest until the new map arrives tomorrow."

[Rebonack]

[Abbey ==> Cave]

Off on adventure!

But what kind of adventure?

We'll soon find out!

Finding the cave won't be very hard. Hildur got a pretty decent look at where it should be. And sure enough it's right there!

It looks exactly like it did in her dream.

Smells the same.

Feels the same.

But the one thing missing is the voice...

[Devixer]

[Cave]

Taking a deep breath of the cool air, Hildur steps inside the cave. What horrors shall she find during this adventure?

She can't help but be a little chilled by the feeling, even though the voice is now gone.