2021-04-07: Better than a Ladder Made of Thorns
- Log: 2021-04-07: Better than a Ladder Made of Thorns
- Cast: Xander Lovell, Riley Arwell, Margaret
- Where: Remiem Temple
- Date: April 09, 2021
- Summary: Riley and Xander fall into a chasm and are offered rescue by Margaret for a nominal fee.
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
"Maybe," Xander had said sarcastically, "We could try exploring some ruins and run into a group of overly trusting Drifters."
But leave it to Xander's luck that they would run into people exactly when he didn't want to, and run into no one once he finally did.
Hallways of dark green stone spiral into winding pathways. The only light inside is provided by fixtures of ancient machina along the walls, but age makes them flicker and dim, leaving, ultimately, little to go by. Between that and the slick, overgrown moss, it's quite easy for one to lose their footing. And with the temple in ruins, crevasses cut through the halls and create precarious chasms to fall through.
A tangle of thorny vines -- flowering with bright, red blossoms -- dangles off the edge of one such chasm. Xander growls more like a beast than a man, fanged jaw clenched, as he tries to squint through the darkness. The vines he summoned had snapped somewhere on the way down, and though he and Riley still fell, at least they hadn't been badly injured. It's difficult to see down into the pit, but it isn't difficult to hear their voices.
Especially when Xander swears openly, his foul language echoing through the temple.
But even his sigh is loud enough to travel above. "I guess we could try that again," he says with reluctance. His arm's still bleeding from the makeshift rope of thorns digging into his skin, and he can't quite see the top to judge how uncomfortable that's going to be.
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
"We're still alive!" Riley announces, emphatically enough that it sounds as though he doesn't quite believe it. He is sprawled dramatically on the ground still recovering from their harrowing fall -- the vines that saved their lives last time can SNAP?!? -- while Xander curses and plots how to get them out of here.
When he realizes what Xander is thinking of, he props himself up on an elbow, eyeing Xander's already-bleeding arm. That's twice he's saved them at the expense of his skin...
"Don't do it again, I can do it this time. Just... give me a little while to work up the nerve."
Then he flops back down again, apparently in no hurry to do so. "Or maybe we could just live down here..."
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.
Dark growls and foul language emerge from the void. Along with a single, heartsore, emphatic sigh.
The question of accepting a subterranean life within the bowels of Spira, joining the nameless things that gnaw at the bones of the Earth and/or the dwarves, is raised.
And as if on cue, a pale face peeks over the edge of the crevasse, peering downwards. Featureless, a ghastly white, with a fringe of dark hair and wide, staring eyes, it is surely a harbinger of d--
"Hallo down there! Do you have any broken bones or anything?"
The ghastly-white face is soon enough joined by a different head with elven ears and a dense black hairstyle, and on the other side, a face that is generic enough to be unremarkable.
"Looks like they grabbed those vines and fell to their deaths!" says Unnamed Hound F.
"Hm," says Margaret. "Fetch a rope and some pitons or something, would you?"
* Unnamed Hound F has departed the scenario.
Margaret cups a hand and calls down, "Hallo down there! We're willing to help you out! How many are you, down there?" She has a much better shoutin' voice than the pale-faced woman, who withdraws from immediate view as well.
"Are you Unsent? You have to tell me if you're Unsent," Margaret continues.
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Xander looks to Riley. "It doesn't bother m--" But he interrupts himself with a cough, being his hand over his mouth to cover it with a wince. Maybe he shouldn't be pushing it...
Riley flops, however, and the hair on the back of Xander's neck goes up. "You're already giving up?! ... We can camp here for one night, but that's it!"
Why are you already giving in to negotiation, Xander?!
Then DEATH ARRIVES
Perhaps not Death. Xander looks back up at the pale face with a start. That help is coming is... good?? Is it good? Just who are these people? "Uh."
Eloquent.
"Thanks?" Realizing belatedly they're being asked questions, he shares a glance with Riley and then calls back up. "There's two of us. And... what the hell's an Unsent?"
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
... We can camp here for one night, but that's it!
"One night should be long enough to get my nerve up for climbing..." It's so nice of Xander when he decides to give in to Riley's arguments before he even has to make them. But he should probably just get it over quickly so it doesn't hang over him all night. Thorns and heights at once are going to be a lot, especially now that the thorns have a precedent of betraying them...
Fortunately (??) a series of faces appears far above, seemingly offering aid.
"You can help us?? You're the best, whoever you are!!"
You have to tell me if you're Unsent.
"No one sent us, we're here on our honeymoon!" Riley stop telling people you're married!
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.
The elf head shifts around a little and comes very slightly closer as Margaret lays on her belly in order to continue her conversation.
"So you're from Filgaia, then," Margaret answers Xander: "At least, so I assume?"
She gives Riley a wink and a blown kiss. (It produces a passing violet-pink heart. This is magic.)
She is too high up for any of that to make it all the way down. "Oh," Margaret says, blinking slowly, like a startled but affectionate cat. "Well," she continues. "Congratulations. Not where I'd honeymoon but it's certainly a distinctive spot. Tell you what - if you're trapped, I can set you up with a rope, so you'll be able to leave whenever you like, how does that sound?"
"Of course, this might not be free," Margaret continues, "especially if you're here by your own will... oh, I should introduce myself. I am Margaret, the Black Pearl of..."
There is a long pause here.
"Just the Black Pearl, I guess," she says, with a visible droop of the ears. "The one who found you was Dolly - she's a healer, which is why she had an especial concern if you were all about to die or anything."
"Do you really not know what Unsent are?" Margaret continues. "I can explain, if you like........"
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Yeah Riley stop telling people you're married. Xander gives him an affronted look and grabs Riley aggressively by the collar because he's operating under the belief their saviors can't see them from up there, and hisses at him in a lower whisper for Riley's ears only: "Riley I swear--"
But they are not actually alone, and Xander has to weigh the possibility of being rescued with picking a fight about this right here and now.
Ffffffine getting rescued wins.
"It's not my first pick either," he says through grit teeth as he lets Riley go.
He sighs (again!!) and looks up at Margaret. The blown kiss makes him flinch. (Why is there a heart!) "...The Black Pearl," he repeats. That has no meaning to him right now, but it sounds like a title to be wary of. "So what's a rope going to cost us? And how much is the explanation going to cost us?"
Xander doesn't introduce them, but maybe Riley will cover that.
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
Riley's collar is seized and he gives Xander an innocent smile. If Xander doesn't want him to make up lies about their relationship, he shouldn't make it such a fun thing to do!
Not where I'd honeymoon but it's certainly a distinctive spot.
"Well, I mean, not in this crevasse, specifically," he clarifies.
So you're from Filgaia, then.
"You know about Filgaia too? It seems like we were the last ones to find out about the interplanetary travel!"
Riley marvels briefly at the magic heart. The woman introduces herself with a name and a title -- a title that seems to dissappoint her?
"I'm Riley... and this is Xander. No titles for us, unfortunately. What does it mean to be the Black Pearl?"
So what's a rope going to cost us?
"We can pay you in mangos!" Riley offers upward. "Not a lot of mangos, though, they're very precious to me."
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.
The heart is visible because Margaret has made decisions in her life which she has committed to. These include blowing kisses to people and wearing too much eye makeup.
"Well, the information is free," Margaret says. "'Unsent' are essentially revenants, people who died with their lives unfulfilled. I'm told that they have prominence in the local religious hierarchy but you can't really tell them from regular people at a glance, except that they might be immortal. It's subtle, isn't it?"
"As for the rope," she says, twirling a lock of hair round a finger, "why don't you make me an offer~?"
"Well," Margaret says to Riley then, folding her arms, "to answer you about Filgaia, I and my fellows are interplanetary adventurers, so we've known about things for quite some time. That's about what I'd like to say about that, but I will say we have been to Filgaia for quite some time, and hope to settle down there in the end. I love your trains, they're very inspiring!"
"And, well... hm... how to put this: You know how pearls are gems of great beauty, naturally formed and perfect from the beginning? And you see how my hair is black? You should be getting the idea," Margaret continues. A moment passes.
"Tell me more about the mangos."
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Xander squints his eye at Margaret's description of Unsent. This sounds like a moon thing, specifically, or they'd probably have heard of it now. Dying unfulfilled... "Sounds, uh... unpleasant?" There's a dangerous question in his gaze that is maybe wondering if it is all that unpleasant to live an immortal undead life.
"...Trains are all right," Xander concedes. "And, yeah, all right. I get the idea. Black Pearl. Not a bad choice." A completely serious compliment coming from Xander despite his apparent dull tone. There's a bit of poetry in that...
"She's not going to want mangos," Xander whispers to Riley. Pause. Blink. Wait. Is she considering payment in mangos?!
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
'Unsent' are essentially revenants, people who died with their lives unfulfilled.
"In that case, no, I can confirm we aren't ghosts." Though they are living an afterlife of sorts... He glances to Xander. They have immortal ghosts on this world?
I love your trains, they're very inspiring!
"Thank you, I'm glad you enjoy them!" Riley has no particular reason to take credit for trains, but does so nonetheless.
Margaret explains her Black Pearl moniker.
"Ah, yes, it makes sense, sorry for making you explain it, I thought it might be a job! It's a very nice title, in any case. I'm sure it's very fitting!"
Tell me more about the mangos.
"They are so delicious. Have you ever had one? They're sweet and juicy and taste just a little bit like a tree -- but in a good way."
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.
"Yes, but it raises a number of theological questions," Margaret says. "Have you been to Guadosalam? I don't know if they're taking tourists lately, but apparently you can go and visit your dead ancestors there! I haven't been there myself. Bad memories, wot."
She rolls slightly to her side. "Thank you," she says, more authentically, before adding, "Don't decide FOR me, I'm an enormous mango fan." She addresses someone off stage: "You all love mangos, don't you?"
"ya" "right" "love 'em" "i don't think i've ever had a mango but i'm sure i'd love to get a manstop"
That last one makes Margaret roll her eyes, but then she looks downwards. "Oh it's fine. Listen, I have a magic trick - would you like me to join you down there? And, I can tell you that if it's the same fruit I'm thinking of, we do have them, but they're not terribly common. They mostly grew far down south and there was this one island that probably had a lot of them that got devastated - ugh! Terrible business."
"By the way," Margaret says casually, "did you run into anyone on your way in here? Short woman, bad teeth, ears like mine? Probably had at least one knife?" This is a very deliberately casual question, so casual in fact as to perhaps be telling.
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Xander is no stranger to theological questions these days, but for an entirely different religion. He's not anyone who can raise a fuss about heresy either. "I -- see. Thanks for the warning," he says, a little grimmer for it. Seeing dead ancestors... Not like their souls are on this dead planet for that to work either way.
But Margaret and her whole group express their affinity for mangos and Xander's mouth hangs open. He slowly turns to Riley, giving a vague, helpless gesture and an incredulous stare that seems to ask, Why is the world a vortex of agreeing with everything you do?!
Xander buries his face in his hands with a groan to try and accept this reality with mangos as payment for rescue from spooky elven women who can make kiss hearts.
"Sure. Why not?" he says of magic tricks, already too exasperated to know or care what bizarre experiences he may be inviting next.
SIGH.
"Ah, no." He pauses, brow furrowed as he tries to think about anyone with what Xander translates to mean a cargo train's worth amount of knives. "Not that I remember? ...Why?" Does he want the answer to that?
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
Have you been to Guadosalam?
"I wouldn't expect any of our ancestors to be there, but it would be interesting to meet a ghost..." So long as it isn't a ghost he had a hand in making, himself.
Rather than being delighted that the universe is agreeing with his nonsense again, Riley silently counts the number of people expressing an interest in mangos with increasing concern. He whispers to Xander. "I don't know if it's worth it. Maybe we should climb the thorns after all." Especially if they are rare, it will be harder than he thought to find more of them...
There is some discussion of a woman with knives, but as Xander notes, they haven't seen her.
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.
"Oh you're quite welcome," Margaret answers Xander. And then she says, "Allez-oup!" and
jumps into the hole.
Not quite jumps because she lashes out with some kind of sickle against the wall and scrapes against it with boot heels and blade, throwing sparks everywhere! "This part isn't magiiiiiic" she explains as she brakes herself before she shakes herself, coming down to a three-point landing with a billow of burnt-stone and ylang-ylang fragrance.
"Let me take a look at the mangos," Margaret says to Riley, straightening up and wiping off her sickle with a piece of scrap cloth. She seems amiable enough. "We'll get the rope down here presently. How many mangos can you spare?"
Margaret looks upwards. "I was thinking, if neither of you need medical AID, then I would just charge you for the rope and the pitons and perhaps a mango or two. Or if you have a crateful, perhaps fair is fair? Hm?" She looks hopeful.
"One of our comrades," Margaret explains to Xander. "She... well, she's had a difficult time and we thought she might be in the area here. This is the kind of place she might find familiar and we wanted to get in touch with her." She then cocks her head for a moment, gazing at Xander in thought.
"You're not getting over poisoning or anything, are you?"
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Xander double takes, staring at Riley with an entirely brand new level of confusion. Paying for a rescue in mangos, and now Riley doesn't want to part with those mangos. Because the mangos are too precious.
While they're at the bottom of a hole.
He brings his hand to his head with the most beleaguered sigh of beleaguered sighs. "...Fine. I'll... conjure thorns..."
But before he can call off the deal (over mangos!!) Margaret leaps down and Xander stares at her. "Are you sure that's not magic?!"
"Ah," Xander says of Margaret's explanation like he understands, although he's not entirely certain that he does. "Well I'll -- let her know you're worried if I see her?" Assuming they get out of this hole first.
Her other question makes him sigh and shake his head. "No, but I can't even be mad you'd assume that." Xander doesn't look fantastic, dark circle under his eye, pale complexion, and that occasional cough and all.
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
Margaret makes her way down the crevasse wall in an amazing display, trailing sparks.
"How did you learn to do that that without killing yourself?" Riley breathes in disbelief. It can't have been a safe thing to practice.
Margaret starts talking mangos. "A crateful??" Does he look like he's made of mangos?? "You know, I'm not sure anymore that I want to trade. I mean, I can spare one because you seem to have a sincere appreciation for them, but..."
...Fine. I'll... conjure thorns...
"Xander, no!" he hisses under his breath. "I said I'd do it this time..."
Riley offers Margaret a single mango, double checking first to make sure it isn't the one he poisoned. The only thing worse than being trapped at the bottom of a crevasse would probably be being trapped at the bottom of a crevasse where an unknown number of adventurers at the top of the hole just watched them kill their boss.
Margaret asks Xander if he was recently poisoned.
Riley grimaces and looks back at him to make sure he hasn't taken a turn for the worse. He seems like his regular self, which hasn't been great since the thorns sprouted in his chest. "This turned out to be a less relaxing vacation for Xander than we were hoping," he explains, cryptically but truthfully.
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.
Margaret veils her lips with her wrist and lets out a ringing laugh suitable for a woman with sixteen times her probable annual income. "Believe it or not - no! But the magic gives me *confidence* - confidence that if I had erred or broken loose, I would be able to catch myself. And with that little bit of confidence in yourself, miracles ARE possible!"
She sweeps her hair back. "... Thank you," she tells Xander. "Her name's Silf, if you do come across her." Enigmatic!
"Hm, well... try to get some sun, if you can. It IS a little nicer out here than it is on Filgaia, isn't it? Though not quite this far north. It's nicer down south if you can manage it. Kilika's pleasant, but the beach is better, qua 'beach', on Besaid Island. Do you know, that's not actually a word? I was surprised, it's a name, not a term - you'd think it would be like the present tense of 'bespoke,' but no!"
"No," Margaret says.
She accepts the mango and examines it, thoroughly. "Seems good... well fleshed... reasonable ripeness... do you have a second, of similar condition? I'll say five hundred gil if you do, six hundred if you don't; and you can keep the rope and the pitons if you want, or just leave it here out of public mindedness if you don't," Margaret concludes.
"I don't think I caught your names, by the way!" She adds, conspiratorially, "If you want to give romantic aliases, I'll accept those too."
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
"That... actually makes sense," Xander says. He seems almost frustrated by that fact. But it was impressive. He sighs and nods with her words. Silf. Sure. He doubts it'll be relevant, though.
Margaret muses on the nature of Besaid and Xander shrugs. "I never thought of it that way. Mostly I'm just trying to figure out why everyone speaks the same language enough that being confused by that seems reasonable." The people on the island they arrived on hadn't, and then, Xander realized, oh that makes sense. Different planets. But then actually no, everyone does live in a place where Besaid may reasonably have been Bespoke. (But isn't.)
Riley gives up one of his mangos and Xander actually winces. "Listen -- I've got some health potions that taste like mango. Mostly. Well, beads, not potions -- like, hard candies... Would that work as a substitute?" It's not quite the same as the real thing, but it might be a novel and acceptable replacement so Riley can enjoy the fresh fruit Filgaia so rarely provides.
Xander hesitates, then relents with the names. "Did we not? Xander and Riley." Then he grimaces, like a knife in him were twisting as he forced himself to speak. "... Lovell. Xander and Riley Lovell."
Oh no has he given in?!
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
"We have a few hundred gella..." Riley says, checking his bag. He hasn't the slightest idea what the conversion rate might be, or if there even is one, but considering how many people seem to know about both worlds, maybe there's already a thriving trade.
"Oh, would you take a song?" He nods toward his guitar, which managed to survive the fall somehow or other. Anything but a second mango, apparently. (Riley, why did you offer mangos to begin with if you were going to get so possessive of them!)
Xander unexpectedly joins Riley's pointless marriage ruse and bestows him with his last name. Riley looks at him with delight, putting a hand to his heart.
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.
"Oh but they actually *don't,*" Margaret tells Xander. "You must not have met the Al Bhed yet! They run these Travel Agencies, they're like roadhouses but far cushier. I think they're a little separate from the rack and run of the locals, and they speak a different language." Margaret touches her collarbone with pride. "They have such quaint names. We have a trade relationship with one of them, O'aka, and I heard him refer to me as "dymm yihdea" when he was discussing an order with one of his people."
"Hm," Margaret tells Xander. She scratches her chin in thought. "Four of them to the one fresh mango," Margaret says. "And if you have *Gella* then that's fine too, we bounce back and forth. And OH MY GOODNESS YES, I would LOVE a song. Listen, do you want me to get the lads down here for a performance? We'll be up the rope afterwards, leave you to your privacy."
"i'm throwing the rope down," calls Dolly from above. THEN: SHE DOES. Several pitons have been pre-looped through the rope and Dolly begins sliding down, pausing to hammer the pitons into the rock wall as she goes.
"Well, Xander, Riley," Margaret says, "I'm very happy for both of you and I do hope that I'm not spoiling the mood too much. You understand that hearing someone shout down in a hole is a rather anxious thing and I didn't want to just leave you in the lurch, especially if you were wounded. Minutes can count when you've got a wound to the soft tissues, after all."
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.
Riley's delighted reaction just makes Xander's grimace worse.
He's not the greatest actor, unfortunately.
Xander squints at the strange word. He has no idea what it means. (And he'd still have no idea how to interpret such a nickname it even if he did know it meant.) "That's... good, right?"
He fetches the desired amount of candied medicine from his pouch, bundling them in a small bit of cloth and tying it off with twine to offer to Margaret. "They'll slow bleeding and help heal most minor injuries," he says. "...But if you eat them normally, I have significant evidence suggesting there's no negative side effects." Riley gets a side eye.
Oh, good, songs are a part of the payment now. This might be the strangest transaction Xander's ever been a part of and all he can do is sigh. But there does come the rope, and he waves his thanks because trying to use his words would just sound exhausted at this point.
<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.
Riley 'hmm's at the explanation of the Al Bhed and their unique language. It really doesn't answer any of the questions Xander raised about why most everyone else speaks the same language as the Filgaians. Alas, the universe refuses to make sense sometimes.
...But if you eat them normally, I have significant evidence suggesting there's no negative side effects.
"It's true, you can literally just eat them like candy, if you decided you wanted to do that for some reason."
Riley laughs a little at the repeated assurances that Margaret and her crew will leave them to their privacy in the crevasse, as if they were trying to have a romantic holiday down here in particular. "Don't worry, you weren't interrupting anything besides our regret about falling into a hole. I'd be happy to do a little concert for your group."
How fortunate that they could be saved for the mere price of a song, a mango, some candied medicine, and several hundred gella. Well, all right, it's basically cleaning them out, at least where actual money is concerned. But it's better than climbing a ladder made of thorns... (or giving away all his mangos?)