[Last Time, on El WHAT?!: Shiho, Cara, and Ichi all plushified just as they arrived at the ruins. Luckily for them, Amy had the animals wrapped around her little finger, so they didn't mind that thier riders had suddenly vanished. Daphne and Amy were forced to dig down to a trapdoor with thier bare hands, since they had no digging implements, and once they gained entrance they were beaten down by a stupid trap. Cara deplushified, and they figured out the trap, opened a door, and proceeded to the next door. They opened it, after a bit of fumbling about, and were attacked by three zombies. Daphne pulled a Resident Evil and punched out a pair of zombies, while Cara discovered that destroying things with magic, even zombies, is a REALLY bad idea. They won, though, and began the process of winding down from the fight.] [Cara's head is still pounding, though the pounding is starting to recede a bit.] [Session Start] * Daphne starts glowing, then strobing, and then she flashes and is a plushie. * Cara and Amy are left all alone. * Well, Spike is there, too, but he's asleep. * Cara doesn't really notice, since her eyes are still clenched shut and she's holding her head. ... Uh-oh. * Amy grabs the Daphneplushie and puts it somewhere safe. * Daphne is apparently trying to annoy Amy, since just as Amy is tucking the plushie away, it starts flashing, right in her eyes. * Amy gwahs and drops the plushie. * Daphne deplushifies right underneath Amy. * Amy stares down at Daphne. "Now why'd ya do that?" * Daphne deplushifies right undernearh Amy. * Daphne blinks. "Do what? And why am I on the floor?" You turned into a plushie! * Cara slowly opens her eyes. "Ugh...what are you two DOING?" * Daphne blinks, and then scowls. "Shit. How long was I out?" Uh.. 2 seconds? * Cara stares, kinda groggily. "Oh. She plushified, right?" Yep. * Cara walks over, wobbling somewhat. "You...you beat them, right?" * Daphne blinks. "Two seconds?" * Daphne gets to her feet. "Ur, yeah, we beat 'em, Cara. You okay?" Mostly. But I'm never gonna try to do something stupid like that again. I need to remember my lessons better. ^^; Heh. Ouch. Want some help up? * Cara IS up. * Shiho's plushie starts glowing from where Amy has it stashed. * Amy quickly puts the Shiho plushie down. Wow. This is weird. Well, yeah. * In a flash of residential light and magic, Shiho deplushifies. 'Mornin', Shiho. 'lo Shiho. ^_^ * Cara winces and shields her eyes. "Hi Shiho." * Shiho looks around. "Where... Hmm... We made it to the dungeon, then?" Yep. ^_^ Yup. I've been having a great time here, too. * Cara nods. * There are two headless zombies and a bunch of zombie parts in the doorway. * Cara then regrets nodding, because moving her head still hurts. * Daphne pulls out her nectar skin and has a sip from it before putting it back. I wish they had tylenol here... * Shiho stands up. "What happened while I was gone? How far in are we? Cara, are you feeling alright?" I'm...mostly alright. Just a bad headache from a spell. * Cara smiles weakly at Shiho. * Shiho eyes the zombies. "I think I get the picture." Uhm, lessee. I got shot and fought a bunch of zombies. I was trying to keep up with where we were going, but I think I lost my bearings somewhere. I still have my map. Glad to have you back. * Daphne glances into the room the zombies came out of. Yeah. Let me see the map a sec., Cara? * Cara hands her map over to Shiho. * Shiho peruses the map in thought. * Shiho finishes and hands the map back to Cara. "It's probably best if we check this room first." * Cara takes the map back. "Okay." * Daphne looks into the room again. * Rocky grins at Daphne. "You go first." ^^ * The room doesn't appear to have any more occupants, thankfully. All you can see without going in is what I described before, unfortunately. No thanks, Rocky. I've already been shot once today. But you've got the torch. * A door on the south wall, the bare east wall, and darkness to the north. Lots of litter on the floor. Yes, well, I'll happily pass it to anyone who wants it. Shiho, I don't suppose you're any good at spotting traps before they're throwing arrows at you? * Shiho sighs. "I'll do it, Daphne. Give me the torch." * Daphne eyes Shiho, then shrugs. "Sure, if you want. Just a question." * Daphne hands Shiho the torch. I've never had to look for traps before, so I don't know. * Shiho moves into the room. * Rocky hops off Shiho's shoulder to the ground. Ah. In that case, I'll go first if you want. * Shiho shrugs and offers the torch back. * As Shiho steps into the room, the litter on the floor becomes easier to see. Sadly, it is still unrecognizable, having rotted beyond recognition. It is arranged in a series of roughly rectangular areas. The area to the north is still shrouded in darkness beyond the torch's flame, indicating that the wall is still further north. But you know, Shiho won't be able to use her bow if she has to carry the torch. A point. * Daphne accepts Shiho's offer of the torch, then, heading into the room and once again using the Adventurer's Stomp. Which probably won't really save her, but she's doing it anyway, just to feel better. Now if I were Shiho, I'd have Daphne go first, since she likes to beat things up with her hands. I'd go next so I could fire over her shoulder, and Amy and Cara last because of their magic. * I already said what you see. If you go north, let me know. * Rocky grins. "If I was Shiho, that is." * Daphne keeps heading north! * Shiho glares at Rocky, picks him up and puts him on her shoulder. Slow down, Daphne! * Daphne isn't moving very fast! * Amy slowly follows after the others. * Shiho moves north after Daphne. * Cara follows at the back, counting the floor tiles leading north. * Daphne has to go a fair distance before the north wall comes into sight, a tad bit over fifteen feet. The whole room appears to be about forty feet long by twenty wide, and rectangular. There's another door out of the room, in the northwest corner, going west. * The entire floor of the room plays host to those same semi-rectangular piles of rotted debris. Hm. * Rocky eyes the floor. "Glad I don't have to walk in that... whatever it is." * There are clear paths between the rubbish, raccoon-boy. * Cara scribbles down more details of the layout. * Rocky is glad he doesn't have to walk in it, whether there's paths or not. So. Shall we head through here, or head back to the hallway and see where that leads? This way first. The less we have to double back, the better. Okie. Keep an eye out for wires and things near the door for me, please. * Daphne Advanture-stomps up to the door and gives it a look. * Shiho is keeping an eye out for traps at all times. Whether that helps or not remains to be seen. * Daphne picks the one in the NW corner on a random impulse. Daphne, wait. * Daphne stops moving abruptly. Anyone else hear that? * Shiho nods. * Cara shakes her head. * Daphne carefully steps back. * Cara stays far away. Hear.. what? * Shiho moves up to the spot just before the door, without actually stepping on it. * The door does not respond. * Daphne looks at the spot without standing too near to it. * Shiho stomps on the spot, bringing her foot away quickly. * The stone floor responds with a hollow, somewhat metallic thud. ... That's odd. Could it be a door? Maybe. * Shiho crouches and inspects the spot. Doesn't seem to be a trap. At least, nothing's happened yet. * It appears to be a stone flagstone, just like the others that make up the floor. * It's five feet square. Right. I'm still not too sure about it, tho. * Shiho checks to see if it's loose at all. * It's not. * Daphne looks for a hidden handhold or something, just out of curiosity. If it activated a trap, it's likely behind the door. Maybe. Or else it ran out of ammo. * There is no handhold. * Cara gets down and examines the tile as well. * Shiho shakes her head. "But it probably wasn't a trap." It's not a plate. It's just metallic and hollow. * Amy stays away. She'd be likly to set it off or something silly like that. Maybe it's a trap door Or a buried treasure chest or something. So there's got to be something beneath it. Well, yeah. Or it's a sewer pipe. Either way... Anyone have any ideas on how to open it? Nope. I've used up my daily supply of big-rock-moving. Uh.. we could.. uh.. Maybe Cara could draw a picture of it opening! Maybe it's just hollow. Perhaps a covered pitfall, or something. * Shiho thinks about it for a minute. She takes out one of the arrows made from Spike's scale, and tries to make a small scratch in the plate. I could try to move it, yeah... You feel up to that, Cara? You could be right. It'd be strange to have a door in front of a door. * The scale leaves a small blemish in the 'stone.' The sound is the sound of scale scraping on metal. Right. A trap in front of a... hello. That... is some really nice metalwork. Or else some kind of illusion magic. Hmm... Well, I can't think of another way to open it. But are you sure you want to use your energy on it, Cara? I think I can maybe cast one more spell today. * Shiho frowns. "Then don't use it here." Mark it on the map; we'll come back to it. Okay. * Daphne blinks and slaps her forehead. "Bleh. Correction, I do have some more stone-moving strength left. Not sure if I wanna waste it on this, tho." Marked. ^_^ Don't use anything you think you might need. 'Xactly. Alright. So for now, let us move *around* the mystery plate. * Shiho nods. "Be careful opening that door." * Sadly, the mystery plate is right in front of the door, making it hard to get to the door without being on it. If you've got a way to open it from a distance, use it. Uhm. Correction; let's take the other door. If that's a dead end, then we get to figure out this cute little puzzle. Very well. * Just like the other doors you've seen here, it's sturdy iron-bound wood. This particular one opens toward you, as you can see the hinges. I suspect that this one just leads to the hallway, though. I dunno...it doesn't line up on my map. Maybe. Prolly won't be able to find out without trying. At any rate, let's look at the other door. And be ready for anything. * Amy nods and follows along. * The south door also opens inwards, and has a handy knob, too. The floor doesn't seem to respond at all to the Adventurer's Stomp. * Cara follows to the other door and takes down details, once again. * Daphne tries to open the door as cautiously as she can manage, doing everything gingerly so she can jump back at a moment's notice. * The door refuses to open easily. The knob turns, but once again, the door appears to be stuck in the frame. * Daphne sighs. * Amy peerpeers closely at the door. Hunh. Not rusted shut. * The door does not respond to Amy's peering. It is a very cute door. * Cara examines the edge of the door. * Daphne looks for a keyhole. * There is no keyhole. There is a doorknob that turns. It doesn't look like it's locked. * Amy knocks on the door. "I wonder why it's like this." We can try to break it down, but I don't see any other options right now. The last door...didn't it seem like it was bigger than the frame, somehow? That's... hm. Maybe there is a trick? * Daphne tries opening the door again, and puts a little elbow grease in it this time. That or the architect didn't know what he was doing. * Daphne falls flat on her ass as the door suddenly decides to give way and open. ...Well. There we go. That worked. ^_^ * Beyond the door is *gasp* another hallway. This particular hallway proceeds immediately to the east. There we go. ^_^ Wood must've swolen, or something. Yeah. Though I don't know where it would've gotten enough moisture for that... * Shiho peeks at the hall. Neither do I. Although if there's one place moisture could last around here, it's probably underground where the sun can't get it. ) We should check the other door. Make sure we've checked everything here before moving down a hallway. * Daphne tries to check the immediate area around the doorway for anything trappy. * Amy stays out of the way and tries to avoid trouble. * There are no hollow thumps or similar trouble. We should check the other door. Make sure we've checked everything here before moving down a hallway. * Cara hangs around at the back and takes down all the details she can. * As nearly as you can see, the hall vanishes into darkness beyond the range of your torch without turning. I guess we could check the other door, yeah. Uhm. How do you propose to check the other door? ... Uh.. Open it. I mean, besides just stepping on the mystery plate and turning the knob. Maybe we could use a rope and.. no, that wouldn't work. Can't see much to tie it to. Maybe we could find a way to trigger the might-be-a-trap without falling in, or getting shot, or whatever it does. Or maybe I'm just being paranoid. That's the other possibility. If it's a trap, it'll probably just be a pit. A pit with spikes. Or maybe a pit with snakes. There wasn't a plate, so it can't be a trigger. Or maybe a pit with snakes with spikes on them. Amy...please don't talk about things like that. ^^;; Why? Snakes are cute. Prolly a pit, yeah. But spikes aren't. Well, Spike is cute. ^_^ Well, we could have someone jump up and down on it while being held on the sides by everyone else. Heh. Perhaps we can cover it with something first. * Cara sweatdrops. Maybe we should tie a rope to whoever steps on it. Then we can stand back, so if they DO fall, we'll just catch them. I thought about that, but it doesn't work if the pit is only a foot deep with spikes, like you said. Well.. Maybe if we find something heavy enough to put on it... Hurm. We need to find something to support our weight. * Daphne looks around for anything of that nature. * Daphne eyes the debris all over the floor, while she's at it. * Sadly, the debris is just that. There aren't any chunks big enough to bridge the spot, let alone sturdy enough to hold you. * It looks like it used to be wood of some sort, though there are bits of other substances occasionally. * Daphne shakes her head. Well, we could try to charge the door, too. But if there's something behind it, we'll have problems. Hum. Well, I suppose I could just go open the door and hope I don't die. But I don't like my odds there. * Shiho nods. "Neither do I. Let's go another way. I could spell it open. * Amy starts flashing with light. Oh... Oh, hell. * Amy goes all plush. * Cara picks up the plushie and tucks it under her arm. ... I hope Ichi doesn't come back while she's like that. * Cara blinks. "That'd be bad." * Daphne sighs and pops her neck. "Well. This leaves us without most of our supplies." Weren't they on the kank? Alright, I'll be more speciffic; most of the supplies we don't have to go back to the kank for. Oh. Well, it's not like we're all that deep... True. Hmmm... We'll be okay. ^_^ This also leaves us without her handy healing spells and, of course, her cheerful enthusiasm. I can make up for the cheerful enthusiasm part! We're not getting anywhere just standing around. Heh. * Cara giggles at Rocky. That's obvious, yes. I say we go down the hall and look for something to cover the plate with * Daphne shrugs. "Sure." * Cara nods. "If that doesn't work, there's still that other hall outside this room." * Shiho nods. * Daphne heads back to the southish door that she'd just recently opened. * Cara follows Daphne. * The door resolutely remains in place. * Shiho follows too. Ahead of Cara, preferrably. * Cara allows Shiho to go ahead of her. :P * The hallway calls. Not literally. * Daphne goes through the door and looks around inside. * The hallway proceeds off into the darkness beyond the range of your torch. As far as you can see from the door, it doesn't turn. * Daphne starts cautiously a-stomping down the hall. * Cara grins at Daphne's odd manner of walking. * As you proceed farther down the hall, it becomes apparent that there are two corners, both to the south. Hm. I say we take the farthest one down, then come back. * Cara nods absently as she takes these new details down. I suppose. * Daphne a-stomps off that way, then. * Shiho follows. I wonder if it's all one level like this... * Rocky rides on Shiho's shoulder. * Cara follows behind. Not if the plate back there really is a pit. Maybe... * Daphne takes that last step into the corner and it proves to be a bad one. She's gotten complacent in her stomping and when the floor gives way beneath her leading foot, she tumbles into the pit flailing wildly. * There's the crack of bones breaking as she lands. * Cara looks up. "Daphne!" Daphne? ....hey guys? * Shiho looks almost like she's ready to jump down after, but thinks better of it. "Daphne? Can you hear me?" * Light flickers from within the pit. I got a teriffic idea. Howzabout someone else leads? * The pit isn't that deep. When Shiho looks in, she sees Daphne lying on her back in a pile of bones. * Cara stops near the edge of the pit. "Daphne!" * Daphne gets to her feet, or at least tries. * Cara sees the bones as well, and sighs in relief. "I thought those were your..." Are you alright? * Shiho leans down and reaches out. "Pass the torch up, then I'll pull you out." Sounds like a plan. * Daphne tries to pass the torch to Shiho. * Shiho glances at Cara. "How many torches are you two carrying?" * Passing the torch up is relatively easy, and once that's done, Daphne is entirely capable of pulling herself out. * Daphne does that. "Ow." * Shiho hands the torch to Cara, and offers a hand to pull Daphne up anyhow. * Cara takes the torch. Uh... Are you injured badly? We can head back to town for a bit if you need to. Er...that wouldn't be a good idea, would it? With the army and all... If you're hurt, we can wait for Amy, though. Not the city. The inn we were teleported to. And waiting for Amy isn't a good idea. We don't know when she might come back. I'll be fine. Just lots of fun bruises and raw skin. * Shiho nods. "Alright. I'll lead from now on. And I don't have any torches on me. I was a plushie when you guys were dividing the supplies, I guess. * Luckily, getting around the pit will be simple, as it's a short jump across one corner of it. But if we don't have any more torches, we'd better go back and get some. Wonder if they have any funky make-you-feel-better magic potions or something. Prolly should've asked around for something like back in town. * Cara scratches her head. "And wasn't the inn we teleported to still in Tyr? Yes, it was. * Daphne has a sip of nectar right after saying that. Then we could camp outside. It doesn't matter. Camping outside sounds splendid. So...should we go back for more torches? Sure. * Shiho nods. "If that's our only one, yes." * Cara hands Shiho her map with a smile. "Lead the way." Yeah. Go for it, Shiho. * Shiho nods. "Stay close to me so I can see, Daphne." * A short trip later, you're back at the entrance, looking up at the afternoon sky. * Cara looks around. "So this is the entrance, huh..." * Shiho looks for the kank. "Where'd you put the mounts?" Uh. Thataway. *points* * The mounts are grazing freely, but have not wandered far. * Shiho blinks. "You didn't tie them? What if they run off?" They told Amy they wouldn't do that. I decided to trust what the animals say to Amy. Hmm... good enough. * Shiho looks for the kank. * The kank is grazing placidly in the middle of the five erdlu. * Daphne moves about halfway from the entrance to the spot where the animals graze, and decides to have a seat on the ground. Amy's always right about animals. That 's good enough for me. ^_^ * Shiho inspects the remaining equipment on the kank. I've been thinking... Huh? If that plate is metal, it would sell for a lot. ... We should salvage it if we can. Yes, it would. I could try to spell it off... Any ideas how we'd accomplish that? Right now? No. * Shiho grabs a torch and a tinderbox, and hands them to Cara. "Here. I want everyone to have a torch, just in case." * Cara nods and takes them. * Shiho then takes one each for herself. Maybe if Ichi reappears we can pry it up with his sword. Or we can just pass it up. * Shiho takes an extra torch, too, just to be safe. * Shiho also hands a torch to Daphne, since the one she has has been burning for a while. We can go back in when you're ready. * Daphne nods and accepts the spare anyway. M'ready. I guess. I'd like to rest a bit longer, but hey. I'm not in a hurry. ^_^ We should go back in now. Whyd'ya say that, Rocko? * Cara blinks at Rocky. "How come?" There could be shiny things. *_* Well, yeah. * Cara giggles. "I don't think the shiny things are going anywhere." Not to mention the sooner you go back in, the sooner you get off this world. Maybe. Maybe. So, who wants to lead? A few hours doesn't make that much of a difference to me. I'll do it. Okay. Lemme sit here a bit longer, then we can head back in. * Shiho nods. 'Kay. So... read any good books lately? Not really. I haven't found any books worth reading. "Oh brave new world, that hath such people in it..." Everything I've read was for classes at the university. Confusing. Shakespeare wrote that. It's from the Tempest. Mmm-hmm. No shakespear here. Or so I assume. Um, okay. What brought that to your mind, Shiho? * Cara looks curiously at Shiho. Nothing. Just remembered I haven't written anything for a long time. You write stuff? You write? * Shiho nods. Fiction, I assume? That's neat. Even after being with you this long, I didn't know yet. ^^; Poetry, mostly. Ah. Poetry. I can juggle! * Cara giggles at Rocky. Ready to go yet, Daphne? No. I could do with about a week's worth of sleep, frankly. But if you guys are that anxious to go, I'll follow along and slug whatever decides to hurt us. Yay! Well, that's Rocky's vote that's in. What about you, Cara? Shiho? * Shiho shrugs. "If you're not up to it, we shouldn't go. There's no point in getting yourself killed." I'm ready to go anytime. But if you want to rest, that's okay too. ^_^ I could use a nap. I could actually do for a nap too...using all that magic is tiring. * Daphne nods. "Yeah." * Shiho nods. "I'll keep watch, then." * Eight hours and a lot of boredom for Shiho later... * Daphne wakes up and immediately grabs one of her wineskins. * Daphne sits upright, uncaps the skin, and has a good healthy swig out of it. * Cara yawns and stretches. Feel so much better. ^_^ Same here. Only about half of me aches, now. Are you able to continue? Sure. How long has it been? About eight hours. * Quite a while, as evidenced by the change in the position of the sun. It's early evening, now. Oi. You didn't stand guard that whole time, did you? * Cara blinks at Shiho. Only about half that. Rocky did the rest. * Daphne grins. "Well, good to see him putting in a day's work for once." I do plenty. * Shiho heads to the dungeon. "Come on, let's go." * Daphne keeps grinning, and continues in a joking tone of voice. "Sure you do." * Several minutes later, back where they were before coming out to rest... * Daphne shrugs, gets up, and is segued back to pit area. * You're faced with a choice in paths, here. You can take the east fork, or the west fork, both headed south. * Shiho takes the one we were heading down before. * Daphne follows. * Cara follows, too. * Hopping easily around the corner to get past the pit, you continue bravely down the corridor. It appears quite long. * After quite a distance, a door comes into sight. * Shiho keeps an eye out for traps. * Shiho eyes the door and the area around it for traps. * Shiho tries the door. * The handle does not turn. It also appears that this door opens inwards. Hm... Doesn't work. * Shiho looks for a lock. * There is, indeed, a small keyhole present in the door. * Shiho turns to the others. "It's locked." Oh. Ah. I can maybe get it open... No, save your energy. We'll go another direction. Maybe we'll find the key. We can try the other door if you don't feel up to it. Uh, okay. * Shiho nods. "Still three ways left to check, after all." * Daphne nods. * Shiho heads for the other corridor. * Cara follows. * Daphne follows as well. * Hopping nimbly over the pit once more, you proceed down the other corridor. It turns after only a short distance, going west. * Shiho goes that way. Why not? She keeps looking for traps, of course. * Cara takes all the details down on her map as she goes. * As you turn the corner again, the hallway goes west for only a short distance, quickly turning south again, but as you round this corner, revealing yet _another_ turn, there is also a door on the south wall. * Shiho approaches the door and looks down that direction. This one locked? * There is another door down the hallway within your light's area, but the hallway continues onward to the west without turning. * The door does not appear to have a lock. * The door opens away from you, into whatever room or hallway awaits. * Shiho opens the first door. * Cara scribbles down some more. * The door opens easily, unlike the others of its type. Inside is a relatively small room, just ten feet wide, and twenty wide. At the far end, opposite the door, is a classic treasure chest. Oooh. * Shiho grins. "Well, there's Amy's treasure." Yay! Shiny stuff is bound to be inside! Goodie. Now all we have to do is open it. Without dying, of course. Hope it's not cursed like the last one. ^^; * Shiho inspects the room, 'cause there's bound to be a trap in here. * Cara fidgets while she waits. Yes. If there are gloves inside, I highly recommend not puting them on. * Shiho approaches the chest, since she sees no traps. * Shiho does not suddenly die. * The chest appears to have a lock, though whether or not it is locked remains to be seen. Careful about opening the chest...it's a good place for a trap. * Shiho nods. * Daphne glances around for anything that looks like the auto-arrow-launcher from the first trap. * There do not appear to be any arrow slits in the walls. * Shiho tries to open the chest as carefully as she can. * The chest comes open and a cloud of gas puffs out. * Shiho falls over, unmoving. The chest falls shut without her strength supporting it. SHIHO! * Daphne blinks, then runs up to Shiho, trying to determine if she's still alive. * Cara runs over to Shiho. No breathing... no pulse. Shit! * She's dead, Daphne. D-do you know CPR, or anything like that? * Daphne tries to move Shiho away from the chest. * Shiho is limp, so she's a tad heavy, but she can be easily dragged. No, but I'm sure as hell gonna try to fake it. Do you know CPR or something? * Cara shakes her head. * Cara pulls out her sketchpad and starts drawing Shiho breathing. She focusses on drawing the power slowly. Uhm... uhm... * Daphne tries not to curse a lot so Cara can focus. * Cara starts drawing power, and immediately realizes that this drawing is trying to suck her dry and then some. * Cara throws the sketchbook away from herself. * Make that "and then _a LOT_ * Cara breaks down crying. "I...I'm not strong enough to do it." Okay. My turn, I guess. ...oh, who am I kidding? We...we...*sob* have to get back to Tyr. Yeah... * Daphne frowns. T-t-tithian can do something! Yeah, probably. ...I wanna see what's in that chest. Shit, who knows, maybe some deranged freak put the cure or whatever in there. * Cara gets to her feet and picks up her sketchpad. "Let's go." But...what if the trap is still there? I can't drag you both back by myself! I...I... Uhm. Good point. * Daphne walks up to the chest and scrutinizes it. * The chest sits there innocuously. I...could cast a spell to open it... * Chest is a simple wooden chest with a cheap metal lock. I've half a mind to take the thing apart. But... Daphne, I don't want you to die too! I don't plan on dying. * Daphne looks around for whatever triggered the trap. * Whatever triggered the trap was likely inside the chest. Daphne...please... * Daphne looks around for anything like a pole. * You have no poles. YOu have torches, though, which are _sorta_ pole-like. * Torches are about two feet long. Fuck it. I don't wanna take that risk right now. Let's...let's just take Shiho and go. Where's Rocky? That's... uhm. * Daphne looks around. * Cara looks around. That's an excellent question. * Rocky is laying near Shiho. * Daphne checks Rocky for signs of life. No...th-that means...she's really dead! Eh? H-h-he's her familiar...she died, so he did too! ...Oh. * Cara looks like she's very quickly reaching the state of hysterical. * Daphne gets up. "Alright. Let's get her to Tithian. I'm sure his neato magic can save her. Cara. Calm down." * Cara takes the Amy plushie and shakes it. "Come back, Amy! We need you here!" Where are you when we need you? Where!? * Daphne walks over to Cara and firmly grasps her shoulders. "Cara! Calm down!" * Cara stops. Da...Daphne... Good. That's it. Calm. * Cara grabs Daphne in a hug and burst into tears anew. * Daphne gives a helpless look to whatever gods care to be watching at the moment, and hugs Cara back. "It's okay, Cara. Everything'll be fine. Honest." * Cara nods tearfully, but doesn't let go. I should've cast a spell to open the chest...then we'd all be alright. She's dead cause I'm stupid. I knew the chest would be trapped...it's always like that in games... Yeah, well. There's been lots of should'ves down here. So we'll head back to Tyr, get Tithian to fix up Shiho, and then we can have a nice big meal and talk endlessly about what doofs we are. O...okay. * Cara finally relinquishes her hold on Daphne. * Daphne lets go too. [End Session]