2017-02-19: Berry Great Success

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<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

The caravan is still on its way to Adlehyde, and it stopped for the night in a town that doesn't seem to get much non-caravan traffic these days. Ida was all too glad to get the chance to bed down, even if the bed was lumpy and the inn didn't have indoor plumbing /or/ electric lighting. As it so happens, she overheard a rumor in the tavern next door to the inn (as she promised, she went over with Talise to get a drink) about a cave with interesting botanical specimens. It's out of the way, but there is just enough time for some exploration before the caravan gets moving again.

Presently, Ida kneels behind a boulder as she takes stock of the situation--the cave entrance is right there, but there is a guard in front of it, and this is a problem. "Is this the only entrance...?" she wonders, aloud. She pulls out a weather-beaten notebook, frowns, and studies a dog-eared page. Moving slowly and carefully, she creeps around to the side of the cliff face, looking for something that might lead inwards. "There might be a draft if there's another way in," Ida says. "Use your hands to try and feel for it." 

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

'Interesting botanical specimens?' Do you mean: 'DELICIOUS AND NUTRITIOUS FRUIT!?' Because that's definitely the thing that Zed heard. What more, he also heard that this cave is home to a special kind of berry that locals use to heal wounds and cure poisons and diseases. What better for a Metal Demon to do than to get in there and EAT IT ALL before anyone has any say otherwise!?

Yes. Zed is confident in this, his master plan.

But before they can get into the cave to look, they run into... A guard!? Oh no! Too bad! Too bad for the guard. Zed's hand is already twitching before Ida suggests an alternate course of action, whereupon the strange bescarfed traveller huffs and shrugs his shoulders. "Well, of course! Everyone knows that caves have their own wind!"

He begins standing next to suspicious rocks, waiting for his scarf to flutter more than it always does already. 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Talise spent the night in town hanging out in the tavern, it's true. She probably tried to drink Ida under the table. Turns out Tal can hold her liquor like an old sea-dog. Probably because she is one.

Well, okay, not an old one.

She's a little hung over, rubbing at one eye before sliding her hand back into her gauntlet. She bears it. She's used to that sort of thing. Biting down to her bottom lip, she kneels behind the same boulder as Ida, peering past it at the guard keeping an eye on the place. "I mean, I don't want to just knock him out," she whispers, her cheeks colouring slightly. "There's gotta be a way to dip and dodge around him somehow."

She glances off to her right; she'd spent time with Lyn, of course, enough to know that the other woman is probably quite a bit brighter than she is. "...Any ideas?" she asks as she begins to feel along the rock face, tucking her gauntlets under her arms for the moment and beginning to grope around for some other way in. "Trick him somehow...? Anyone got a good distraction...?" 

<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.

Lyn also hung around for a drink. Because she's that kind of person.

And now she's with the group, again. Lynnai seems none the worse for wear, because she did not try to drink anyone under the table and stopped at just one drink. "I'd look for another way in if one is possible," Lyn agrees with Ida. "I'm a little less familiar with the natural caverns, but we can look around. Keep an eye out for differences in the stone; there may be a crack we can squeeze through with some work, or a smaller entrance near the ground, a slanted route. But we'd need to make sure it goes all the way through."

Lyn, like Ida, seems to think looking around is a good idea. She stays away from the guard at first, though keeping an eye on him at a distance; she checks low, checking the craggy ground for crevices that are deeper than the others and have a possibility of going all the way in. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia is proud. Not only did she spot the group of fascinating-looking individuals heading clearly somewhere interesting, but she has managed to follow them without being spotted at all!

Of course, this has left her now with the dilemma that she has to avoid both the man on guard and find a way in that's probably quite well concealed. And so, she's crouching just out of sight to the guard, one finger tapping her nose thoughtfully as she considers the best way to proceed. 

<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.

Even a soggy, bad bed was better than the night he's had in the last few days since his first arrival here. Sure, it's probably not the best places, but it beats using rocks for a pillow. He came down for a drink, following the same rumors. If he want a pretty good idea of the local fauna beyond what he spent the time to analysis... well, something that's being protected like that seems like a mighty good thing to check, especially if it can 'heal'.

Arleph follows along the botanis, keeping himself calm and cool by looking around. They want to stay away from the entrance where the sleeping guard is at, but they DO need to find a way in. He don't have his gloves to the wall, mumbling to himself as he looks around, subtly lifting a hand to the sides of his glasses. They lights up on his side, the OS opwering up as he gives the area around them a glance, scanning along the sides of the wall for something that seems out of ordinary for this sort of sedimentary rocks surface, or unnatural fractures.

This also causes him to act as a look out. This includes spotting a young girl not too far from here. For her credit, she's hidden pretty well. Arleph's just cheating.

"We've got a follower. Hiding over back there. I... don't think it's a local." The be-hatted man comments, then waving at a section of the wall. "I'm feelin' some wind there, try over there." 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Zed's cape flutters, moreso than usual. Ida notices this after a few moments of studying the cliff face, wiping her brow with her arm. She did not get as much sleep as she hoped to, and she's starting to feel it now, but she's got a job to do. Collectively, the group follows the wind to its source--an opening, mostly-hidden behind a dislodged boulder, that's big enough to squeeze through if you clear away some dirt. Oddly, it looks like it was dislodged very recently, perhaps by some sort of disturbance deeper in.

"I'll watch the rear," she says to Arleph, as the group squeezes through. 

<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.

When Arleph draws her attention, Lyn looks straight at Sephilia too. FOUND OUT...?

"You can keep an eye on her," she says to the older man (well, older than her). She doesn't know who Sephilia is - just a youth out to explore? But it's better to make sure she doesn't get the attention of the guard, after all. She doesn't seem like she's going to give them away. And then they're into the cave! Only to find...

Hey, look, berries! That's what they're looking for, isn't it?

"That was way too easy," Lyn says. She'd heard that this was a larger cavern, that they needed to actually go deep into it to get any useful berries, and this is right out front. And, indeed, she sees a path further in. "I think we should keep going," she says, thoughtfully. "Rather than staying here, that is."

Lyn pulls out a book from an inside pocket of her jacket, bending down to investigate one of the berries. She pages through it rapidly, trying to find some information - /are/ this the berries they're looking for? If they are, they can swipe some on the way out, she figures. But past that it's just picking through them to get to the other side. 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Maybe I should've jumped in a river or something," Talise mutters to herself, pausing to rub her temples. She gives herself a vigorous shake.

Then Arleph points something out. "Huh? Oh," she says with a blink as she realizes that, yes, someone else is back there. She rubs the back of her neck with a hand, not seeming all that bothered by the idea of someone following them. "Who is it? Not a critter, I hope."

Then there are berries. Talise gives them a suspicious look, sliding her hands back into her gauntlets and crossing her arms tightly under her breasts. "...I hope those are the berries we're looking for," she mutters, scowling at them as if she could force them to reveal their secrets.

She heitates for a minute, then reaches out to pick one. She holds it up.

Between her gauntleted fingers.

Well away from her mouth.

Somehow this is going to translate to her failing the challenge, of course. 

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

Zed's cape flutters in the breeze. He looks nonplussed, probably because he hasn't had the chance to start stabbing things with his sword yet. His mood noticably improves once it's revealed that his BILLOWING SCARF was in fact hiding another entrance into the mysterious BERRY CAVE. "Onwards, friends!" Zed grins and points heroically into the darkness!

Darkness that he charges boldly, head-first, into.

...And right into a whole bunch of... berries!? "C-could this be-- it couldn't be so easy, could it?" Zed scrubs furiously at his chin, narrowing his brow. "...Nnnnn. Yes. Yes perhaps it could. Perhaps these berries are indeed the ones that we were looking for. THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO KNOW FOR SURE!"

IE: Stuff one's face with them.

Hopefully Zed's Metal Demon physiology will take care of... most of this. 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

At last: Berries. But Lynnai is right, these don't seem to be in the right place. Ida sets her journal down, lights a match, and then inspects the vines. A few minutes into this, she opens a separate journal--the notebook she used to collect the sample yesterday--and takes more notes. The whole process is meticulous, since technically this /is/ a sample, and she would be remiss in--

Ida looks over and sees Zed just stuffing his mouth. Her jaw falls open. 


<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.

It is times likes this, Arlpeh wishes he had the Symbology of Telepathy up on his practiced symbols. It would be useful. /INCREDIBLY/ invasive, sure, but useful.

"Right. I'll keep an eye on her." The 'older' man comments, rubbing his chin as they go inside, last in the row of their little incognito expedition. He lingers a few moments behind the group, looking back subtly with a long, wide glance behind them, before ducking inside after the group.

Where they are faced with the greatest danger of all: unknown fruits to eat. Unfortunately, even if he WAS a native of this place, this would make picking out the berries rather uncomfortable. Still, he's prudent. "We probably shouldn't stuff our faces with these until--"

Arleph gives a long, deep sigh, rubbing his face as Zed goes for the ol' russian roulette theory verification. "I reckon' if them were the berries we're lookin' for, this early in the caves, they'd be already bare, y'know?"

He taps the sides of his glasses, adjusting them. No real use to pick them up right now and check 'em. He have no data anyway. He peers at Ida and Lynnai in particular, tilting his head. "So, what them books says?" 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephy creeps along behind the group, quietly putting a finger to her lips to warn Chauncey to be quiet. It wouldn't do to be spotte--is that guy just EATING the berries?!

He is. He's eating the berries. That's...something Sephy's never seen before, at least.

Standing around gawping at the recklessness isn't the way not to be spotted, though, and that's probably what gets her finally spotted. And after she's been so good at staying out of sight so far! 

<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.

Arleph cranes his neck back. Well, /that/ was fast. "And I reckon if the lil' missy that's shadowin' us have somethin' to share with the class, that she just come up already. We ain't gonna eat ya, girly." 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're not to my taste anyway," Talise puts in from over where she's eyeing that berry. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephy lets out a little "eep!" of surprise and, head hanging in shame, comes forward. 

<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.

"That you shouldn't put them in your mouth," Lynnai says, while very deliberately looking straight at Zed. Maybe he'll spit them out?

She kind of hopes he does. She does not want to try the Heimlich on him.

Either way, she closes the book and tucks it back in her jacket pocket. "Just some tips," she explains to Arleph. "Much of it was compiled by my mentor; the rest I've done myself. I actually have a few, but this is the one on things in this region - I didn't think I'd need the historical book today."

Having identified the berries to her satisfaction, Lyn picks her way across the berry patch (don't step on them; they kick up a cloud of gross juice and mist, which may be an /alternate way to fail/) and to the other side. She pauses, once, to look at Sephilia again. "Don't worry," she says, perhaps misguessing why she's here. "If you snuck in from the village, we're not sending you back..."

Not until they're done in here. Nobody wants the guard alerted, after all. 

<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.

Meanwhile, in the distance:

"knuckle burst"

  • bangbangbang*

"dragon's howl"

  • pause*

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH" 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Talise squeezes her berry a little too hard and gets some juice in her eye.

She just scowls for several seconds.

"I hate this place," she says flatly.

The tall woman rub at her eyes with a grimace; it stings a lot, and she pauses to rub it out about as vigorously as she possibly can under the circumstances. She's still none too pleased with this, muttering curses under her breath as she slips past the worst of the berry patch -

Only to pause at the sound of a scream in the distance. "...That does not sound good," she mutters. She quickly turns a corner.

Backpedaly quickly. Bouncing around in the cave ahead are seven or eight bloated red crimson jellyfish-looking things. Quickly, the little horde of Balloons begin to bobble towards the group, tendrils extended, crimson masses wobbling in the air as they come hurtling in, no doubt packing stinging doom for our motley crew of heroes!!

Talise, for her part, promptly draws her sword and takes a step back to put distance between herself and the flock of Balloons rushing /right at/ our heroes. "I /really/ don't want those tendrils touching me!" she shouts as she fishes into her belt. She comes up with a large dagger. It has a number of runes etched into the hilt.

With a sidearm throw, Tal wings the dagger towards the centre of the Balloon horde. it doesn't hit one but does land in the middle of the pack, the blade actually sinking a few inches into the rock.

Before the Balloons can even enter melee range, there's a flash - and a blast of lighting rips through the Balloon horde, bolts lancing out to strike a group of them in the hopes of thinning out the pack! 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

"Oh I'm not from the village," Sephilia says, her shameful pose evaporating. "My name's Sephilia, and this is Chauncey!" She holds up the battered doll she's holding. "We can be useful, you'll see!"

Then the Balloons float into view, and Sephy brightens even further, seeing an opportunity to prove the usefulness she was just attesting to. "Monsters! Let's smash 'em, Chauncey!" The doll in Sephilia's arms swells and grows, until Sephilia is riding piggy-back instead of being the one holding the doll up.

"Swift Fox Clothesline!" Sephy orders, and Chauncey, holding one arm out, charges forward and clotheslines one of the critters. It doesn't look like the Balloon much cares for that treatment! 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Oh my goddess, she has a giant fox!" Talise can't help but gush even as she switches to her sword to start stabbing Balloons. 

<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.

"Chauncey," Lyn repeats, looking at Sephilia with mild disbelief. She revises her guess about Sephi's age downward slightly.

Lyn lets Talise lead the way because, although Lyn may be a historian, she doesn't actually normally have very much to do with /natural/ caves and she also doesn't want to be in front when something inevitably jumps out and attacks.

Something like... SOMETHING SCREAMING IN THE DISTANCE! But she can't figure out what's causing it, as Claude is not currently in view. There is, however, another threat shortly... A BALLOON!

Or, rather, a bunch of Balloons. This is more familiar to her than it's likely to be to Talise, if only because she has a better knowledge of Filgaian monsters (but just wait until she has to identify Lunar monsters). 'Familiar' does not mean 'comfortable', though; Lyn does not really want to let the Balloons get anywhere near her, or the rest of her group, minus perhaps the ones with swords (Zed and Talise can handle themselves in melee, right?)

"Bother," Lyn says, shaking out her hands to loosen up a little. She traces a line in an arc in front of her with two fingers, leaving a trail of sparks that resolve into runes; Arleph and least is likely to recognize Symbology at work, especially when she finishes the loop, leaving a full rune circle behind.

Greenish spikes form out of the air, one over each of Lynnai's shoulders, and she flicks her fingers forward, sending the air blades rocketing into the Balloon cluster! The spikes explode into blasts of air, helpfully pushing them away before they explode. 

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

Zed looks up right when Lynnai mentions that maybe, just maybe, Zed shouldn't eat something he picked up off the ground. Zed gives her a look like she'd grown a second head. It quickly becomes abundantly clear that this isn't because he thinks she's crazy. Instead, it's all because of the very same reason that Zed's presently stumbling around like the cave had suddenly turned into a hall of mirrors.

"W-woah--" Zed blinks, waving his hands through the hazy images occupying his peripheral vision. "T-this... Is this the power of Filgaia's berries? What terrible power indeed--"

But

Wait!

WHAT IS THAT NOISE HE HEARS!?

Is it... Could it be... HIS SWORN RIVAL!? OR IS IT JUST A FEVER BERRY DREAM!?

Zed doesn't care. Zed does not think, ZED ACTS.

"What!! Claude!?" Zed yells, unsheathing his mighty blade. "I'M COMING, FRIEND!!" But there are things in his way! Strange, puffy, floaty things! A feral growl froths out of the metal demon's clenched teeth. He hurls forth a cluster of small, white marbles, which then EXPLODE INTO CLOUDS OF WHITE SMOKE. "You there! Strange floating creatures! Normally this is the part where you would be regaled by one of yours truly's epic speeches, but ZED DOES NOT HAVE THE TIME RIGHT NOW."

"SO INSTEAD, I WILL SHOW YOU--"

Zed winds up. He swings! He... doesn't stop. He's literally become a one-man sword tornado as he tears through his own smoke cloud. "MY PEERLESS TECHNIQUE! YOU ARE ALL LUCKY! LUCKY BALLOONS! AHAHAHAHA!" 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

"Oh my goodness!" Ida says, as Talise rubs at her eye. "Are you all r--"

An echoing scream. A chill settles in Ida's bones. "I'm beginning to agree with you," she murmurs under her breath. And then, suddenly: Balloons. Ida lets out a breath, her hands flashing through a well-practiced draw motion--she reaches into her coat, and comes up with a revolver in each hand. As complete mayhem erupts, she focuses on her breathing, shooting at the Ballons as if this were nothing more than target practice. 

<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.

Arleph's eyebrows raises as the MYSTERIOUS GIRL turns out to be, like, 15, feel more like an old man than ever after calling her out like an grumpy old teacher. He flicks an surprised eyebrow at Talise. He hopes that was a joke. It must've been a joke. Yeah? Yeah. Obviously.

It's in these moments he, too, get a little bit of that poison berry squirt into his face. Arleph stands there for a few moment, lets out a long, deep sigh and wave in the general vincinity of his face. A faint mist of water waves off, washing the stinging juice away. "Blood Hells." He mutters, moving on. Keeping his grumpiness in check, he still smiles. "Nice t'meetcha, then, Sephilia and... uh. And Chauncey." He says, with some level of disbelief.

Then there is sounds. The stinging juice still burns despite his efforts, his attention perking up. The monsters comes in sight, the Symbologist lifts back his arms. "Everyone, attention up! I'll prepare some protect--"

'Chauncey' grows into a tall fox, launching itself into a frenzy against the balloons. This gives Arleph due pause, even failing to notice Lyn's initial use of Symbology.

He snaps out of it pretty fast. Ends up poison berry burns like hell.

Symbology glows from his arms beneath his sleeves, barely visible as he swing his arms up, pointing two fingers at the Balloons. He swings his left arm back, then forward like a weapon -- an extending arc of flexible water shoots out, to whip and cut at the strange creatures. He's seen alien natives before. That, that's just strange. 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

The blast of the knife clears out a number of the Balloons; as they erupt, they cause a little chain reaction, taking out a number of them. Ida's shooting slows them down, one popping in an explosive burst, spewing a few tendrils everywhere. Zed's sword scatters them; two of them swoop in on Arleph, tendrils wriggling meaningfully, one managing to latch on to his left arm for a moment and start zapping before he soaks them down and disposes of the problem.

Lyn's spikes tie up the last one - and Chauncey finishes it with the world's foxiest clothesline.

Exhaling, Talise lowers her weapon, sauntering forward to collect her knife and tuck it back into her belt to recharge. "Explosive little buggers," she mutters before looking back over her shoulder. "Everyone alright back there?" she calls, a little more steady now. Lyn and Ida in particular get a smile from her, and a wink with her berry-eye.

She swings her sword into both hands, then, beginning to sprint forward. "Let's hurry," she says. "Sounds like someone might be in trouble up ahead." 

<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.

MEANWHILE, IN THE DISTANCE

Way up atop the cliff, a man in a fantastic cowboy hat is running back along a ledge the general direction of the entrance. Following a few steps behind him is Claude C. Kenny, who has an elf girl over one shoulder and a dog over the other.

At some point in the last several minutes, one of them vomited over the back of his jacket.

Being an adventurer is great. 

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

The scattered and broken remains of shredded balloons flutter down all around them like particularly grisly confetti. Zed can't stop to admire his handywork, he hears a friend in need! Also there's the fact that Zed can't actually stop moving at this point, because between the whirling and the hallucinogenic (???) berries, Zed is pretty sure that stopping means that he'd lose his lunch all over the cave floor.

For a Metal Demon, that probably means 'liquid metal spew' and if that happens, then the jig really is up!

But fortunately, this next obstacle doesn't actually require him to stop moving, start thinking, or anything of the sort. Instead, there is just... A sheer cliff face. And Claude is on top of it!? ALREADY!? /AHEAD OF ZED!?/ This cannot stand. The cliff is covered in vines, thick with ripe, juicy berries in several spots. Berry vines!? YES, THAT'S THE SOLUTION.

"With me, friends!" Zed yells, yanking his scarf from around his neck. He whirls it around like a lasso, and hurls it towards the top of the cliff. It catches on a boulder, and Zed immediately starts his ascent!

All the while trying to reach for tasty berries that may or may not help clear his head of whatever the heck it was he ate a few minutes ago. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia stares. "He's eating the berries again," she says, pointing at Zed. 

<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.

Oh look, a cliff.

Lyn spares a glance to make sure everyone is okay after the Balloons - the sudden casting took more out of her than she wants to admit, but she's recovering fast at least. And she's not really hurt, just a little stiff from the exertion. (So far, anyway.) "Fine," she says to Talise, with a faint thumbs-up.

"I wasn't expecting that," she admits to Sephi, too. This is her way of apologizing. She thought the fox was decorative, or some sort of luck charm. Or safety blanket. She's still a little vague on Sephilia's age.

But they have to climb the vines. Fortunately, this is where Lyn shines, or at least is much better than expected. "Do you see the orange ones?" she says. "Those ones are safe to eat, almost certainly - I'll take another look once we're up there. But in the meantime..."

Lyn backs up. (This lets her see Claude, but only as a silhouette Way Up There somewhere.) Then she makes a flying leap at the wall. Her coat billows in a way that isn't entirely natural, and she starts to half-climb, half-toss herself up, as if she was getting propulsion from somewhere.

Also, the path where she climbed/jumped has a faint haze in the air, and an updraft - it actively helps you climb. Convenient! 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

The sound of shouting and running from up above draws Tal's attention instantly. The tall woman looks up, blinking a couple times, then widening her eyes. "Hey... hey, there's a couple of girls up there!" she exclaims, jumping ever so slightly.

Clenching her teeth, Tal darts toward, grasping the vines in her gauntleted hands. She kicks an armoured toe against the cliff wall, looking around fot a foothold and digging in as best she possibly can. "You'd think I'd have thought to bring a coil of rope," she grumbles to herself, settling for grasping the vines - she's careful, giving each vine an experimental tug to ensure it can bear her weight before she switches over to it, preferring to grab outcroppings in the rock wherever possible. This isn't her first time scaling a wall, but it's always exhausting.

She lets her breath out in a heavy puff, pausing to look down toward Lyn. "You managing okay, Lyn?" she calls down.

Lyn pulls off a great big coat jump. Tal stares at her for a minute.

"Hey, wait for me, Lyn!" she shouts as she clambers up the vines a little faster. 

<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.

Arleph blames the booze for getting himself snagged by the tendrils, before slicing them apart with his water whip.

The be-hatted man's teeth chatters, grabbing his shuddering arm with his other hand, forcing himself to grit his teeth. "I'm-m-m fi-f--fine." He grunts at Talise' question, shaking his head to clear it. Bloody hell. Crazy world. Giant doll foxes and floating fleshy land man'o'wars. Well! This is off to a grand o' start. "'v had worse. Nice showing, people. They didn't stand a chance. Particularly you, lil' Missy." He motion at Sephilia. "Didn't expect that."

He looks up at the sound, looking up ahead at the other cliff, furrowing his brows. "Is that...?" He begins to say, then shaking it. No wonders the aliens are worked up, then!

Of course this have the predictable result of Zed being spurred into things. He looks up the vines, taking in a deep breath... and Lyn goes up, along with Zed. "I'm gonna have t'get one of theses." He declares. Maybe it's Symbological? Maybe not. Things been such a blurr of activity lately that he barely had time to sit down and think. With a grunt, he launches himself at the vines, starting to climb up, aided. 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida feels like she understands Kalve just a little bit more, now.

She follows after Zed, and the fact that she's managing this while reloading her pistols and trying not to trip over the broken ground is testament to her focus. Once both ARMs are reloaded, she stows them back in her holsters, and resumes. "Well enough," Ida says, though her shoulder is starting to bother her--an old injury that might never stop bothering her during exertion like this. The group rounds a corner, and then--

"Oh. Oh my," Ida says, as the other party flees. "Something's after them." Which means that /something/ is in here with them, something probably more dangerous than just Balloons. Wincing from the strain, she starts climbing up after Zed, using the trail left by Lyn's coat to help make the job easier. When she can, she takes stops--both to rest, and to pick berries. She has a feeling she's going to need them. 

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

Let it be known: Nothing shall get between Zed and his desire for treasure. Or his rivals. In this case, though, Zed has had a mouthful of berries or two already by the time he makes his way to the top of the cliff. But by then, Claude is... Where? There's no Claude up here! Just a migratory giant monster stomping its way through the caves. Zed 'huhs' at the sight of the enormous thing running by. Apparently, it's too busy hunting to notice him?

Or maybe it's just... Scared off by the team's INTIMIDATING PRESENCE! Ha-hah! "Well done, people!" Zed laughs, holding his scarf fast for others to scramble up even if they've fallen. "It looks like there WAS a monster here, but it was obviously too frightened to face us like a man! EXCELLENT WORK! Clearly what we thought was Claude was merely a trick of the wind, an illusion of the mind, and maybe a bit of bad monster gas. Now... Let us PROCEED ONWARDS! TO GLORY!"

Or rather... TO BERRIES! There is a room past where the monster had stomped out from, and it is positively stuffed to the brim... With delicious, nutritious eatables. Zed's eyes sparkle at the sight. "There are... So many. I must try them all!"

Someone... Someone should probably stop him. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia stares. "He's going to eat the berries again!!" Her tone is incredulous. 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida's shoulder, which has been protesting mightily this entire time, finally seizes up. Her face twists, but despite everything, she cannot maintain her grip. Ida falls, letting out an embarrassingly high-pitched scream as she tumbles right towards Arleph, who is bringing up the rear. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

"You probably shouldn't keep eating all the berries. They might do something crazy if they're all mixed. Like...turn you purple, or make you really really sick." Sephilia is looking at Zed with more than a little curiosity and concern. Can anyone really be that reckless? 

<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.

Arleph, who have his own problems with his arm that was stung by the Balloon, barely have time to lookup. Several things goes through his mind as he watches the woman plummet down at him. He should catch her, or else she'll die.

Unfortunately, his mind didn't have time to finish his thought when he shoots out his arm to grab her, stop her from falling.

'If we catch her, we're gonna fall, too!'

"Crrrrrraaaaaaaaaaap!" Arleph hisses out, Ida crashing into him as he had an arm out to grasp her, holding on tight to the vines before they snaps beneath his fingers. His hat plummets off his head to the ground they came from. OH NO! 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Don't even think of eating those," Talise shouts up at Zed as she climbs to the ledge. "The resale value is probably huge!"

Then there's a girlish squeal from a little ways below her. Tal looks back over her shoulder, her eyes widening.

Instantly she lets go of her vine. Like the other two, Tal goes plunging down the cliff face - but she keeps her thighs around a nest of vines. A few berries slough off as she dives, swinging her upper body down, sword sheathed for now. She extends her arms --

A steel-clad hand suddenly latches on to Ida's leg. Another one clutches Arleph's good arm.

Talise has tightened her legs around her vines. She's hanging upside-down from the cliff, holding on to Ida in one hand and Arleph in the other - and she seems to be doing it with zero effort. A subtle vibration of magic traces through her gauntlets, steadying her grip. If bearing the weight of two /full-sized people/ is burdening her at all, the upside-down smile she offers the pair doesn't show it.

"You two might want to grab onto a vine," she suggests. "I could hold you like this for awhile but I'd rather the vine not rip out from under me." 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

"Nghk," Ida says, eloquently, as something arrests her fall. She looks down, and then up, and finally--once her vision stops swimming, sickeningly--sees Talise, holding her. Ida nods once, and grabs hold of the wall again, dragging herself upright with considerable effort. Her shoulder is burning. Somehow, she manages to work her way up to the top, though the interim is a horrible mixture of pain and terror. She flops unceremoniously onto the cliff edge, and gasps for breath, clutching her shoulder.

"...thank... you..." she manages to get out. 

<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.

Arleph lets out a grunt as suddenly Gravity is prevented from doing it's dirty work. The next thing he knews, he dangles in the air, something having grabbed into him. He dares to open his eyes again.

His arm hurts. He breath in, as he stopped breathing he just noticed from the anticipation of pain, exhaling out with relief. "Ri-right." he replies, grabbing on the vines, climbing the rest of the cliff. He falls on his back, rubbing his face a few times, just glad to be alive. "Yeah. Okay. Let's not do that again." He gasps out, sitting up, the adrenaline dying down. "Thanks, Talise."

He looks at Ida. "Hey, you're okay?" 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

"You better hurry if you don't want this cape guy to eat all the berries," Sephilia's voice floats down from above. 

<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.

Lyn is a very good climber, especially when buttressed by her coat. (Which is not itself automatically Symbolic, as Arleph can tell when he gets a better look; it doesn't produce winds all on its own. But it does have Symbols concealed somewhere in the lining - it's built to be good at catching the wind of Lyn's other Symbology, with some reinforcement around the edges and some careful attention paid to its seams.)

She pulls herself up to the top, leaving the billowing trail behind her for others to pick their way up through. There's a disturbance, and Lyn looks down, worried - but Talise has got them. Lyn intensifies the pull of the wind to lessen their weight as best she can, making it easier to climb the rest of the way back up. Maybe she can help with that -

"Hey!" That was to Zed, even though Lyn isn't looking at him at all; she's looking down the cliff, worriedly. "Don't eat them. Do you have any idea how much those will be worth if we can bring them to Adlehyde? It's festival money for everybody." 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

"Fine," Ida says. She sits up, then forces herself to her feet. "Wound acting up. It will pass." Then Sephy's shouting finally takes hold, and something approaching indignant rage grips her as she sees what Zed is about to do. "Don't eat those!" she cries. "Those are my /samples!/" Though, as Lyn pointed out, there's enough for more than just that. 

<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.

"Okay." Arleph says, rubbing his face. The rush of adrenaline, now gone, leaves a headach. "Good. Good--" That's when it registers that there is other things going on than their precarious save from death by gravity. "Hey!" The cowboy shouts up, apparently his accent vanishing for a few precious words. "Yeah! We've came here for this stuff, not to gorge on it! I need them for some samples, too! They're a huge fortune!" 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Hey," Talise urges Ida with a sympathetic smile, releasing the woman once she's got a solid hold on the vine. "Hang in there, okay? We're almost to the top. We'll get you some help." It takes her a moment more to let go of Arleph; he seems to be rather more hurt, but she soon feels confident he's got his footing.

Her arms ache; so does her eye. She nevertheless gives her head a shake and climbs up after the pair. She's breathing heavily, but she reaches the top with a heavy thump of bootheels, coming to her feet and squaring her shoulders. "C'mon, you two," she urges Arleph and Ida. "If these berries really do have healing properties, maybe we can get you taken care of right here."

Assuming Zed doesn't eat everything, that is.

"Hey, /guy!/" Talise says shortly, taking a few purposeful steps forward. "Save some of those for the rest of the group! It's not for food!" 

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

Zed looks straight at the others. He has two handfuls of berries and a wide, gaping mouth. You can practically see the questionmarks popping into being over his head.

Dot.

Dot.

Dot.

"...You mean... These are..." Zed squints, "Valuable?" 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia continues to stare. "Yes?" she says, raising intonation at the end making it a question. She shakes her head. "Do you just...eat things without thinking about it? Even Chauncey doesn't do that!" She holds up her doll, facing towards her. "Do you, Chauncey?" A twist of her wrist and the doll's head shakes 'no.' 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

"Those are the healing berries!" Ida insists. "They have to be! Arleph is /hurt/, and--" Ida is, too, but she doubts the berries could have any meaningful impact on an injury that just sort of healed half-right. "We are going to divide them up amongst ourselves in fair shares. You can do whatever you want with your share." 

<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.

Lyn confirms, "They are the healing berries. The blue ones are stronger." They also look suspiciously like the poison berries from before, but Lyn seems pretty sure about this this time. "I figured that we could take some - not all! We don't want to look suspicious, nor do we want to depopulate the area of berries."

"But if we took /some/, we would have something to bring to the Festival for spending money. And we can use some of the orange ones on our wounds, here," Lyn adds, glancing at the others - not everyone is in great shape, after all. "Well, those of us who are going to the festival." She's not sure Sephi is. 

<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.

Arleph is pulled up, smiling at Talise and tapping her arm. There's something embarassing to be saved by a lady that's still shorter than him, but can apparently lift two bodies at once. "I guess we'll find out if it does heal, yeah."

The Symbologist, still sore from the ordeals, gets to his feet shakily, waving a gloved hand at Ida. "I'm fine, I'm fine, let's find out if these things are really worth all the trouble and pick out a bunch."

He then lifts a finger, kneeling down to the berry bushes. "But let's not take /all/ of them, yes. That'll be better for everybody. Take what you need, take a bit for a surplus."

He looks back at Lynnai, grabbing one of the motioned berries, popping it in his mouth then looking at Zed meaningfully. "Thanks, by the way. Let's not waste that treasure, yeah?" 

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

"..." Zed stares for a long time at Sephilia. One stare meets another. Both peer into the depths of the other's very soul. And then Zed says, "Well. Not everything! Only things I'm told would make me stronger, you see. I've heard-tell of MYSTERIOUS APPLES that could give me greater strength But, hm, I suppose berries are not apples. You might have a point! While I could just... eat these here, it would be worth much more if they were sold, yes?"

And then maybe, he might find an apple for sale at the market!? 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Yeah! Anything you find in a cave like this is worth money!" Talise fires back at Zed with a planting of one gauntleted hand at her hip. "That's the first rule of cave-diving! Why do you think people /do/ it?"

Making her way towards Lyn, Tal briefly kneels down to pick a couple of the orange berries; one is offered up to Ida. Another is there for Arleph but she realizes he's already got one for himself. "Here, this should help," she says to Ida with a quiet smile.

Her eyes climb to Zed once more. "Yes, they'd be /much/ more worthwhile if you sold a bunch. And then we can /all/ sell a bunch and we can /all/ have a bunch of gold for the festival. It'll be great."

Not wasting another moment, she fishes an empty sack out of one of the pouches at her side and unfolds it, ready for pickin'. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

"There's a festival?!" Sephilia gushes, suddenly realizing what everyone's been saying. "Oooh! I gotta see! Can I come too? Can I please?!" Clinging tightly to Chauncey, Sephy is bouncing up and down in excitement. 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida takes the offered berry, peering at it for a moment before reaching into her pocket for something--a little tin with cotton inside, to keep the precious cargo safe. Ida puts the berry inside, then takes a small representative sample of the berries, stowing the tin away for safekeeping. Once that's done, she carefully pulls off a vine, and puts that in the sample collection, too. Next, she sketches down what she can of the vines' structure--only then does she take one of the potion berries for herself. It bursts between her teeth, a delicious little morsel of berry juice. It does have a noticeable calming effect, she thinks. And her shoulder feels a little better, too.

"Do your parents know where you are, young lady?" Ida says. She looks right at Sephy. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

"Nope!" Sephy says, suddenly looking a bit worried. "I'm not sure where I am, even. I'm sure they're okay though!" Wait, does this girl have her priorities backwards? 

<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.

Well, she asked.

"It's in Adlehyde," Lyn says to Sephy. "The Ancient Culture Exhibition. And you are in - well, near - Surf Village." Because that's where the Berry Cave is, or at least is near; it's not exactly /in/ the town.

She looks a little perplexed, though - which does not stop her from moving toward the berries to pick her share. She doesn't get too many, because she doesn't want to empty the place - the folks in Surf Village might have some rather pointed questions then. So she asks, after a long pause. "Where did you think you were?" 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"...You're supposed to heal," Talise says with a blink as Ida starts storing berries. Then she widens her eyes a little as she realizes what the woman's doing:

. o O ( SCIENCE )

"Oh," she says, cheeks flushing. "--Oh, /oh!/ Oh. Okay. Right."

Cheeks a little red, she takes a berry for herself and nips it down; she lets out a soft sigh as the feeling of calm washes over her, her aches and pains beginning to ebb. That pause aside, she sets to work collecting berries, scooping them into her little sack.

As she collects, she nods towards Lyn and Sephi, flashing a little grin that shows off the sharper-than-normal points of her incisors. "Hey, nothing wrong with wandering when you're her age," she says with good cheer. "I was an explorer when I was that age too!" Eyes snapping towards Sephi, she waves a hand towards her. "What's your name, anyway?" 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida keeps looking at Sephy, clearly used to dealing with this kind of nonsense from younger siblings. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia looks thoughtful, tapping her nose. "Um, somewhere south of Star Dragon Tower? I dunno, where /are/ we? 

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

"Hah! Rebellion!" Zed grins as he stuffs a pouch full of EXPENSIVE BLUE BERRIES. "It's good on occasion, but you must be more well-behaved for your poor Mother. Or so everyone at home tells me." Zed shrugs visibly, but he doesn't seem too perturbed by how often 'everyone at home' have needed to give him a talking to. "But it turned out well enough today, didn't it? Perhaps you should take some of these berries home to show them?" 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephy frowns. "I'm not rebelling or running away. I'm exploring," she explains patiently. "But then there was this flash of light and I was somewhere I didn't know. I figured I'd explore more on my way home. Does anyone know the way to Takkar from here?" 

<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.

Arleph do feel better pretty soon when he eats the berry, letting out a sigh. Gods, he didn't think that it would ALREADY WORK. He's quite surprised, himself, pushing himself up to his feet as it seems to work. He picks out a handful of others for himself, taking in a breath. He shove them into his pockets, carefully. He'll have to give them a closer look later.

Yeah. He'll have to give the chemical properities of this thing a WAY closer look.

"That's... nice." Arleph says, turning around to look at Sephilia, scratching the side of his head. "I guess you might as well come along with the caravan, then. Maybe we'll find some clues."

He craft a carefully blank face at the mention of Star Dragon Tower. That's where he remembers his accent, too, slowly flowing it back in. "I... reckon I ain't heard of it, before." He says, looking at the Adults(aledgeddly adults) present. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia nods, suddenly looking largely unconcerned again. "Anyway, my names Sephilia, and like I said before, this is Chauncey--what are all your names?" 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Star Dragon Tower," Talise murmurs, her voice distant with thought as she looks down into her bag.

When she looks up once more, it's with a broad, cheery smile for the wandering girlchild and her stuffed fox. It breaks, though, at Sephilia's mention of the town of Takkar. Biting down to her bottom lip, she gives Lyn a sidelong glance - a meaningful little look, as if to let her in on some wordless secret.

"Takkar's a pretty long way off, I think," she says delicately as she looks back to Sephi, smiling a little more easily. "I'm Talise. Nice to meet you, Sephilia. Can I call you Sephy?" 

<Pose Tracker> Lynnai Albrek has posed.

Takkar, Takkar... Lyn hmms. Not familiar.

Lynnai digs in her coat again and pulls out a book (it's not the same one as before; the binding is different and apparently hand-stitched), flipping through it carefully to avoid tearing any pages. The reason for the hand-stitching becomes clear; this is a map book, made of folded maps sewn into the book backing along with pages of notes. She unfolds a sketchy map of Ignas, then folds it, flipping past it. Surely there's going to be a reference to it somewhere, even if it's just as directions from somewhere else, or as a name on the map.

But she can't find it.

Talise helps her put that straight; she looks at the other woman for a long moment, then at Sephi, thoughtfully. Hmm. "I think you might want to talk with Talise when we get back to town," she says, closing the book again. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephy beams at Talise. "Yup! Nice to meet you too, Talise!" She pauses, apparently listening to Chauncey--or pretending to. "Chauncey says I'm supposed to introduce him by his full name, Lord Chauncey of Foxington." 

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

"Ta...kkar?" Zed inclines his head, clearly having no apparent idea of where in the devil that is. But someone here does seem to know, which is good! A child should always know how to get home, no matter how old they are! "I am--" But now, it's time for introductions. Zed poses as if he were being drawn by Hirohiko Araki. "The ultimate macho man. The Grim Reaper's pen-pal. You can call me... Zed." 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

"Zed the cape guy," Sephilia confirms, nodding. 

<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.

"Arleph." He says, reaching up for his hat... which is not longer there. He grunts, shaking his head and smiling anyway. "Well. Let's grab what you need, then let's get out of here before them locals realizes what happened, yeah?" 

<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.

Arleph looks at Zed, tilting his head. "And where y'bought that?" 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Now that Ida has her sample berries, her berries for later, and her berries for sale, she turns her attention to the problem at hand. (There are still plenty of berries left, because Ida is considerate.) "You know where that is?" she says to Talise, looking quietly relieved. She certainly doesn't. "Ida Everstead-Rey, of Guild Galad. And I think we'd better get you somewhere safe for now. Your parents must be worried sick." Ida gives Zed a vaguely pointed /look/, because he is being a terrible influence. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

"Pfff, school. I learned all I needed to from my Dad! He's a great explorer too." Sephilia stuffs her satchel with berries as she speaks. "That's why I'm sure they're okay! I miss Mom's lunches, though." She frowns. "How come everyone's so worried about my parents anyway?" she asks, completely unaware. 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Talise holds Lyn's eyes for that moment before turning her smile on Sephy once more, sliding another handful of berries into her bag. "You can call me Tal," she assures the younger girl. And then the fox is introduced.

She doesn't so much as bat an eyelash as she bows her head shallwoly, though she is grinning toothily. "It's an honour to meet you, Lord Chauncey of Foxington." Then, "He was very helpful back there. Both of you were. Thank you for helping us get this far."

She fixes Zed with a long, curious look.

Then she nods as Ida makes that suggestion. "Absolutely," she says. "We should bring Sephy along when we head into town. She'll be safe with all of us around." 

<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.

Arleph looks back, furrowing his brows. The subject of school IS rather touchy, for him. But maybe this girl... just didn't have a chance to go to school? Good lord, this planet. "Right. Right." He adjusts his spectacles, smiling at the girl, then at Ida. Well, she seems compassionate enough. "Well, nice to meet YOU and Chauncey, Sephilia. I'm Arleph Ardan."

He kneel down, smiling. "So, let's just get out to actually somewhere that's not dangerous, yeah?" 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

"Yes," Ida says. "I could've sworn I heard /something/ chasing that other group. Let's get out of here before it comes back, and catch up with the caravan." 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

"OK!" Sephilia beams. "Nice to meet you too, Arleph," she adds belatedly. 

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

Zed is the BEST influence, excuse YOU. He nods sagely at this relevation that Sephilia is approximately as truant as he, himself, happens to be. "Yes. This is good. Learning from the world is the best way, as they say. You cannot grow if you're cooped up in a cage, right? RIGHT!?"

"As for where I got my scarf--" Zed poses again, IT FLUTTERS DRAMATICALLY. Notably, there is no wind. "I found it in a closet." 

<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.

"Y'think they're gonna be alright?" Arleph asks, in Ida's direction, before turning a finger at Zed. "And WHERE did you buy that scarf, huh?" 

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

"Like I said! I found it in a closet!" Zed huffs. "I didn't spend one cent on this magnificent muffler!" 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"yeah... maybe we should make sure they didn't get eaten or something," Talise muses, squinting off to the outside of the berry room. "I think I even recognized one of those people from the caravan."

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