Searching for the Others
In the Mercenary Posts of Aggrazzat
158th Layer of the Abyss

Part 4 of the Purple Vortex Campaign

From The Abyss
Entered from The Slaving Caravan

To Part 5: Escape from Aggrazzat



Characters:
[Angel Dreamer] - Angel Dreamer char
[BadCat] - BadCat Char
[buddha_mjs] - as himself
[Kim_Lundin] - Kim char
[Klyle] - as himself
[medianduel] - Aramil Nightbreeze (Medi)

Game Moderators:
[xido] - Vulcarisksk, Buddha Mahjdahaus of Downriver (partial, with [buddha_mjs]), Demons, Imorphixius, Brother Deren
[Nightshadow] (resigned) - Caylandra, Brother Deren



     As the empty wagon-cart heads into the roaring tunnel, the lamia cries out with a gesture of his own, and his words are nearly indistinguishable, but his lips speak words of revenge. To what it is he feels he must avenge... Well, some creatures will never get it. Afterwards, his wagon disappears as well, and the lamia, along with the hags, find themselves inside the tunnel. Nearing the end of the caravan, the wagon line is nearly lost to the darkness and noise.
Ahead of the group, the open tunnel seems to have no more grated holes in its walls, but instead has unlit torches sitting placidly against the walls in bracers. The tunnel is relatively quiet, except for the sound of running water and dripping, mixed with the occasional scurry of a large rat. The darkness of the tunnel makes it hard to see more than a little ways except for Medi, whose keen sight shows him an empty tunnel for quite some way, with his elven-dragon sight. Stone paths line both walls, and wagon-treads line the dirt path between them, extending far below the city above.
The back of Kim's head still itches.

The smell of sewage rises up from somewhere near, as well as the faint odor of acid, sulfur, and methane. Above you somewhere, the clinking of metal on metal can be heard from some demonic blacksmith's work. Feet constantly pound against the ground, the roars and howls of the city's denizens creating a muffled caulor above your heads.

Angel takes off down the tunnel, acting like she knew where she was going. The only thing she was sure of was that her husband was in that direction, though above ground. Investigating the bag, she grins and offers some of the food to the guys after taking a bite of the stuff.

Kim quietly thanks for the food and takes it to his mouth. He stops bare inches from taking a chew from it "... You think it's safe to eat it?" he asks "Who knows what can be in this stuff? We ARE in a really unhealthy place after all."

Angel shrugs and gives Kim a grin around a second mouthfull of the stuff. Swallowing, she continues down the tunnel and calls back, "What doesnt kill you gives you strength to fry bugs..."

Kim looks after the dissapearing Angel "Yeah... that's right" he sais and eats some of the food. He puts the rest in a small bag, for later use. Then he follows after Angel into the tunnel.

Medi takes a bite of the food, and starts walking after the other two, constantly turning around to make sure that they are not being followed.

As he looks back, Medi can see the final wagons being pulled into the small tunnel, and a heavy iron grate falls into place, sealing off the tunnel's entrance. No other movement is noticed, and as the caravan is pulled away, the silence is a bit disorienting. In fact, disorientation seems to slowly creep over all of you. A woozy, unbalanced feeling comes over the group, like spinning around quickly, and within a few moments, the pattern of bricks on the walls begins to wobble and wave, breaking up and intertwining in upon itself then rippling away. The hallucinations come on quickly, then slowly fade away, causing no harm to all of you, but throwing you off at first onset. They affect you lightly thereafter, and all of you are willing to move on more quickly. Your hunger, however, is no longer apparent, so the rations did their job....despite the hallucinations.

Angel blinks and just catches herself from shaking her head to clear it, realizing that that would make the feeling worse. "Ok, Kim, you can say 'I told you so' any time," she muttered after it passed. Trailing her hand lightly on the wall, she stops when she finds one of the unlit torches. Pulling it out, she turned to the others. "Got a light? It looks pretty dark down there."

Kim smiles a faint smile "I could never DREAM of saying that..." he begins to search his pockets after some flint and steel.

Kim stops his search for a while to scratch his head "Damn! I think those imps had some kind of demonic fleas or something like that!" he sais angrily and mumbles something about dirty demons.

Angel laughs softly as she watches Kim scratch before she gives in to the urge to find Buddha and continues down the tunnel.

The dark tunnels are difficult to see with human vision as she heads off without a lit torch. Medi, however, can see the tunnel extending downward, then turning upward a little about 300 paces or so, and a couple more iron grates in the sidewall, as well as an odd chapel-like ceiling to the low tunnel, slanting down to both sides. The sound of water running down the ceiling above can be heard beneath the shuffle of feet....or paws.

Caught in the adrenaline push to find her husband, Angel feels the urge to focus her power once more to light the torch, an odd tingling of mana caressing the length of her spine.
Are you underground? I can feel the earth around you. Angel? I'm here... Can you hear me? she hears aloud in her mind. She then realizes that Buddha is beginning to link with her, and the adrenaline is partially his effort. She feels a new sensation; an elevated sense of mentality that draws together the forces of two beings in sync with one another. Buddha's sense of the new sensation pulls through to her as well. He feels giddy, like a child. His surge of strength flares up, alerting Angel of the presence of opponents where he is.

Angel stares towards where Buddha is, worry crossing her face and trickling down their link. What's goning on? Buddha? She bites her lip and speeds further down the tunnel, looking for an exit to the surface.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Kim asks Angel "Did you hear something?"

"Buddha...he's fighting something. I need to find him..."

Medi launches into the air and flies over Angel, "That's all I needed to hear, I've been waiting to get some revenge on the bastard bugs."

From an almost completely westward direction, Angel can feel the sensation of Buddha's mental beacon, homing in slowly on his location. He keeps his concentration steady despite the attacks from the formian opponents he shows Angel in her mind's eye; he and the other adventurers he's with atop a building roof, high above the ground.

Attackers, love. More of those damned bugs. There are others here with me. That yellow-skinned guy, too. he sends to Angel's mind, as an image of Vulc appears in her vision.
I have an idea, Angel. he says hastily as he connects to her mind in that deeper way he attempted before being attacked.

Angel grabs Medi's wrist. "I need a power boost, if you would Medi. I can get us there faster." She holds her other hand out for Kim as she begins focusing on the room Buddha had pictured for her.

Kim grabs Angel's hand while he's sratching his head with the other one.

Medi concentrates and brings a surge of energy into his body.

Seeing the building-top through Buddha's eyes in her mind, Angel's focus draws deep. Medi's power surge crackles through the bodies of the three, raising the hair up all over you, and temporarily alleviating Kim's itch. The intense energy flow brings a bit of higher awareness to all of you, and you can all feel the sensation of being dragged across space, however short. Where your bodies once stood, there is now nothing but whisps of green and purple flame, as the group falls flat on their feet atop the building next to the once-existing Green-fire Oven2.

A trap is set off by the surge, and a stone opens in the floor to slather a thick layer of ice and snow across the walls in a quick and violent spray. It freezes the entire area where you once stood, while your bodies vortex themselves away.



Back to Purple Vortex
Back to The Slaving Caravan
Forward to Part 5: Escape from Aggrazzat