October Guided Quest Group A: In the Hall of the Mountain King

[Skie and Avery]

It is said that deep within the mountains around Kachuk, the tombs of ancient dwarven kings are filled with riches - both gold and magic. These catacombs were dug before the War of the Tap in ancient times, before brutal magics and legendary foes were unleashed and sealed again by the hands of the Alerian people. It is also said that if you dig deep enough, you might once more hit a wellspring of the Tap that could bring fortune and fame galore.

A flyer had gone around, littering the streets of major cities and posted in taverns for weeks now. "In search of adventurers," it said. "Handsome reward for return of family heirloom. All travel expenses paid."

While hundreds of sellswords had answered the call, only two had been chosen, a curious pair. First, there was Kalanit Chulda. The medium was close enough to the place where the benefactor had last tracked the item: a mahogany jewelry box that held a silver and sapphire ring. Then there was Iris Weatherbird. Who could say why the girl was chosen, but her trip to Alerar had been paid, and now she and Kalanit found themselves in a hotel room with the letters that they had been sent with. It explained concisely what they were looking for, and that it was last seen in an underground marketplace in the mountains. The market was mainly used as a trade depot for dwarves and dark elves, but had a nasty reputation for passing along illegal goods and services. It would be the place to start. They had both been given a backpack filled with a water skin, compass, and a collection of strange crystals. The note had been mainly unhelpful in explaining the crystal's purpose. It simply said that they would help to ensure that the correct ring was found.

Deep beneath the small town and the mines that granted it's livelihood, Alicia was just coming to her senses. When she tried to think of how she had gotten here, in a small, dark cavern lit with a single torch, her memory faded. It was as if there was simply no explanation and she'd been plucked up and placed by an unseen force. The room of the cavern was musty, a chill breeze sweeping from one of three tunnel openings that opened up to it. The smallest of these openings, in the middle, had the torch next to it. It was mounted in an iron sconce. The flickering firelight that glowed from it showed that down the tunnels, there were regular intervals of torches, unlit and waiting for a flame, at least as far as could be seen by the firelight.

Upon Alicia's finger was a simple ring. It shone in the light, bright and white, with several brilliant blue stones set into it. It felt comfortable, and almost warm. When her fingertips passed over it, it was almost as if on the very edge of her mind she could hear a haunting song reverberating down one of the tunnels. It was sad and full of longing, a lonely chord searching for a return refrain.


I'd really like to see you guys delve into your characters with your first posts. Show me their personality, the way they feel, their thoughts, and motivations. Kalanit and Moonberrycat, why did they answer the ads? Was the primary motivation money, travel, or something else? TheOnlyGhost, how does Alicia feel about suddenly being trapped in the catacombs, with the strange ring? Show me the driving force behind your characters. Welcome to October's Guided Quest!

[TheOnlyGhost]

Alicia, now wide and awake in the ungodly of all places, a catacomb no doubt. The only thing of importance she could find around her was a lonely torch, but as she got closer to it she noticed a strange ring on her finger.

This isn't mine. Who's ring is this, and how was it given to me? Or did I find it somewhere? Did I win it?

Quickly taking it off, she was about to throw it into an abyss but realized ... What if I need this somehow? Shaking her head "no" not to do it, she reluctantly put the strange ring back on her finger, at least for now. Getting ancy, she felt annoyed and confused that she couldn't remember anything, but it strangely felt calmer.

She took the torch and peered down each of the three tunnels shouting the same thing down each one ...

"ANYONE DOWN THERE! HELLO?!"

...nothing but echoes of her own voice.

Either I'm alone, or no one heard me. Let's hope it's the second one.

The middle tunnel seemed to endlessly narrow, the right was close to a large abyss with poor footing, as for the left it was hazardously rocky. Alicia picked the left path as she hovered over the spiky sharp rocks keeping her torch in front of her the whole time trying to find anything, or anyone, of use to her. She made sure her trusty blade was always at the ready position when need be.

[Skie and Avery]

As Alicia moved through the hazardous corridor, the path began to smooth before her. Water dripped from the ceiling, droplets forming at the tips of stalactites. They echoed as they hit the ground, forming shallow puddles that seeped rivulets across the stone. Dark red moss had begun to carpet the damp lines, and the footing of the hall became slick even as it took more form of smooth and worked stone than the dangerous cave.

Ahead, the hall ended and she was met with a door. A small cog was set into the middle, made of a silvery material. There was a handle jutting out from the cog, a cylinder no thicker than a finger. It was awkward for it's purpose, though seemed important. Pushing or pulling on the door would not move it, and a ripple of magic seemed to drench the very stone it was made of.

[Moonberrycat]

OUT OF CHARECTER: I'm sorry in advance for any major typos, but I have just gotten home from the hospital not very long ago, and my computer is at a very odd angle for using and my fingers (and leg) is extremely sore.

Iris swallowed, and looked around the hotel room, it was small, but nice for she and her compainion. Her eyes darted towards the letter again, she was still suprised that she had been choosen, she had only wanted a nice adventure, and seeing that flyer she couldn't think of a better opertuinity! She had grown excited and signed up, not excpecting to get choosen, but was glad for the idea.

Well, acording to this letter, the underground market is the best place to start looking, I think it would be smart to start looking now.

She turned nervously towards her compainon, and tried to smile, "Um, I was wondering-" Her voice cracked slightly, but she swallowed and composed herself. "-If we should start searching now?"

[TheOnlyGhost]

Drip...drip...drip

Was the sound from the endless stalactites, as the moisture from them was feeding the moss. The moisture was so much, it even started to erode the rock making it more smooth and slippery.

Dangerous. Lucky for me, I don't have to deal with things like that.

Alicia eventually got to a dead end where a single door was the only thing in her way. No matter how hard she tried, the door refused to open until she realized there was an odd cog in the middle with a small opening. She noticed the size of the opening matching the ring she had decided to keep.

Good thing I kept this.

She put the ring into the cog as it glowed a bright blue and started to turn opening the door. It creaked open leading out into an open field with strange surroundings. There were countless wooden ships half way into the ground in vertical positions next to the dock. Others were in the water at a 45 angle half way sunk and broken.

"Some kind of strange battle must have happened here."

Alicia continued to wonder around trying to find out what happened, and if anyone was nearby.



Ships look something like this for a reference:

http://myst5.com/images/myst4pic017.jpg

[Skie and Avery]

I was hoping we could get Kalanit to post before moving to another round. However, it looks as if it's just going to be you two going forward so we are writing Kalanit out.

It didn't take long Iris to become separated from her partner in the maze that was the underground market. Around here were stalls scattered with wares. As was the custom in Alerar, most of the offerings were metallic in some way, from tiny jeweled pins to flintlock guns that were longer and larger than a strong man's arm. The market was at least divided well, with sections set out for specific wares.

___________

The shore Alicia erupted onto was quiet, with only the beating waves against the stones to call to her. As she walked, the gravel beneath her feet scattering before her, the waves birthed up a slab of wood. It was covered in a slick moss, dark and green. Small brown barnacles clung to it, and it was dragged back in the water with the receding tide for a moment before it was once more pushed further onto the shore. There were words, worn and barely visible from the debris of sea growth along the grain of the wood. "The Sea Maid," it said, in letters that may once have shown golden in the sun.

Before her, the mast of what could be The Sea Maid was jutting from the water. Behind Alicia, where the door had been, the wall of the mountain rose high. A few lonely gulls dove from where their nests were buried in the cliff face and flew along the bank of the ocean to curve around the turn of the mountain. Barely visible, a small path of gravel snaked narrowly up the incline, scaling the mountain. It looked dangerous, but not impossible.

[TheOnlyGhost]

Alicia picked up the piece of wood that said "The Sea Maid" and on the back were strange symbols and an ancient language she could not understand. The gravel path that lay ahead of her led to the top of the mountain. Seeing no other option but to proceed, for there was no point in going back to the catacombs, she continued to follow the path.

As she continued upwards, Alicia looked around her surroundings as she could continue to see countless amounts of damaged ships.

Previous travelers trying to get something and failed?

Further along, there were several abandoned tents that had a few skeletons from ones that didn't make it up the mountain. Alicia observed one of the pile of bones as she noticed one of them was wearing a captains hat that had "The Sea Maid" labeled on it, along with more additional symbols and lettering. She decided to take it, to see if it could give her any clues in the future.

Up ahead at the top there was a small forest that had multiple paths to choose from. A sign in front read "Forgotten Forest: Pick the right paths or start from the beginning. For those who succeed, something awaits you."

The first choice was to either continue straight, left, or right ... she decided to go straight as she was now given five options.



I'll let you add a little in yourself with your next post.

[Skie and Avery]

I will be bunnying Kalanit for the remainder of the quest, for story purposes.

The market was awash with voices as the medium stepped between stalls, her eyes searching wares laid out on tables and kept beneath glass. She paused once and a while to inspect a great many rings, yet always there was one detail off. Finally, she moved past an antiques dealer, barely giving the items he hawked a second glance until the hair on the back of her neck stood at attention. Turning around, she saw placed on the table a simple box, dark auburn and luxuriously finished. She moved closer, waiting for a patron to shift along the wares before she could reach out and touch it. Ignoring what the customer beside her was saying to the merchant, her eyes focused on a dark sigil burned into the top of the box. She didn't need to lift the lid to know that she would find the inside to be a perfectly fitted nest for a single ring. This was the box that she was looking for.

Before she could say a word, her hand was swatted away as the merchant lifted it up, taking a dangling purse from the man at her left before handing him the box. She watched wordlessly for a moment as her quarry was taken away through the crowds. After the initial shock, her brow furrowed and she scurried into the throng of patrons, intent on finding a way to reclaim that box.

__________________________________________

The forest path that Alicia walked was rocky, the same sandy slate that had graced the halls beneath the mountain. Here and there along the forest path, the faint traces of animal tracks moved across the worn stone and disappeared into the foliage. Somehow in the soil that was more rock than anything else hardy ferns and creeping vines managed to make purchase and flourished in the shade between the trees. The trees themselves were just sparse enough that the path remained well lit and there was a reasonable space that Alicia could see before her.

After a few minutes of continuing the path, ruins of some ancient court began to break the line of green between the trees. Stones and pillars jutted up at angles, as if they were strange teeth erupting from the maw of a forgotten mouth. As Alicia came up to yet another fork in the path one of the stone walls, sun-bleached bricks crumbling from the tops and edges, had a strange sigil scrawled over it. It appeared to be a shield, though the details of the markings were long faded from the facade. Underneath it, in a rich brown that appeared the be flaking but still legible, words were haphazardly and quickly painted. "dont trust theritters" it said, words stacked one on top of the other as it leaned. Thick lines from "dont" and "trust" had bled down, almost obscuring the hasty scribbles below.

[TheOnlyGhost]

The ancient court had various stones in various conditions from what seemed to be brand new to almost a pile of dust. All of them peaked her interest, but one i particular was much more fascinating. Looking at the strange shield symbol, she realized that the same shield was in the arms of the captains' corpse of "The Sea Maid". Desperately trying to remember it, she re-imagined what it looked like on the back...


http://0.tqn.com/d/presentationsoft/1/0/2/H/-/-/musical_notes.gif

With this image in her head she read what it said in the stone...

"Don't trust theritters" Don't trust the writers maybe? Could it mean the ones that had written the sign at the beginning? That would make the most sense.

Going a little bit further she could hear faint whistles in the background, getting closer and closer they got louder and louder as she realized that the sounds were coming from the stone. Putting her ear next to each one, each stone made a different sound.

"A different note of music!"

She also noticed that each of the musical stones had a large circular stone button in the center.

"A puzzle!"

Putting her ear to each stone very carefully listening to each of the pitches and remembering the order of the notes written on the back of the shield, she pressed the buttons in order of the notes as the ground began to shake.

A giant staircase that lay hidden underground rose upward that led some 50 feet into the air. As she climbed them, it led to a large three story palace made out of marble and mirrors.

"The Palace Of Mirrors! I heard of this place in legend, I never thought it existed. If the legends are indeed true, there are some additional puzzles and fears in the palace to get to the goods."

She entered the palace......



I'll let you go from there, let me know what you think.

;)

[Skie and Avery]

As she rose higher on the staircase, the hidden palace emerged from the clouds. Here, the air was thin and cold, the wind buffeting the staircase. The way had been treacherous without a rail to hold onto, the cool, damp stone beneath her the only pathway to the glittering building above.

Once inside, a floor of tiles stretched before her. The stones were colored, some blue, some rose, and some the same white marble as the exterior. The pattern seemed random, though here and there it looked as if the like colored stones curled and spiraled across the floor in a trail. All around the room, mirrors lined the wall from floor to ceiling. There was the reflection of those patterns and stones, as if the floor went on forever. Though, that couldn't possibly be it.

As Alicia stepped forward, her foot gingerly moving onto a white marble stone, she could hear the faint tones of music and a heavy lurch from somewhere far away.