[Taocow PBEM] Re [Alex, Vesper, Louissa and Ted????] Book 3 - Chapter X - The Quest For Louissa

[Aaron Clausen]

OOC: Resending, don't think the first one went out.

>> [Louissa]
>> Louissa shrugs. "Alright, I guess I'm still driving." She hops back
>> into the drivers seat and restarts the ATV, and steers at moderate
>> speeds [OOC: 35mph] towards the pile of stones that had been pointed
>> out to her.
>>
>> She slows down as the ATV approaches the wall of mist.
>>
>> "Okay!" she says. "Somebody said something about a flashlight or
>> lantern or torch or something. I was unconscious when they brought me
>> here, so I have no idea."
>> [/Louissa]

>> [GM]
>> As she speaks, the party hears a distant series of explosions that
>> sound a lot like heavy weapons fire, followed by what sounds like a
>> large amount of rock and dirt collapsing in a landslide. The direction
>> is impossible to tell, however.
>> [/GM]

> [Alex]
> As soon as she gets a moment (probably just before the explosion), Alex
> will call on her armor radio to everybody else, "Hawk to nestlings, I am
> with our two lost friends."
> [/Alex]

[GM]
All Alex receives for her troubles is static.
[/GM]

> [Alex]
> When she hears the explosion, "What is that?"
> [/Alex]

> [Vesper]
> Vesper describes the way to the lantern to Louissa.
> [/Vesper]

[Louissa]
Louissa nods.
[/Louissa]

> [Vesper]
> He then hears the explosions and Alex question.
>
> "I don't know." He looks out the window to see if he can see anything.
> [/Vesper]

[GM]
All Vesper can see is the wall of mist looming.

Louissa steers towards where the lantern should be and shouts out
"Someone grab that!"
[/GM]

OOC: Apologies to Ted's player, but he can be errand-lizard for this one.

[Ted]
Ted jumps down from the rail gun and grabs the lantern.

The lantern looks relatively ordinary, save it's made out of silver
and where the flame should be there looks to be some clear gemstone.
As Ted hefts it, the mist seems to pull back in front of them,
revealing a path forward. Ted also notices a metal bar welded to the
grill that seems to fit a hook on the top of the lantern. He places
the lantern on the hook and then hops back into the ATV and back to
the railgun.
[/Ted]

[GM]
Louissa pushes ahead, and the lantern does its job, revealing a path
through the mist that might otherwise be an impenetrable maze. Behind
them they can hear the pursuing ATV, but then sometimes it's beside
them, or in front of them, and once it sounds like it's above them.
After a few minutes, however, it is back to being behind them, and in
the distance they can the "anti-light" of another lantern approaching
them. Rail gun fire can be heard, but the shots seem to hit several
feet away, the space-altering nature of the mist making ranged weapons
fire almost useless.

And then there's a subtle shift in the air, almost like a stiff
breeze, though the mist remains all around them. Vesper can sense it
most clearly, there is something ahead. The path they are driving on
widens, and then, in a dome of clear fog-less air, they see a tall
spire of black rock. It looks like it has been melted, almost like a
candle. A narrow stairway leads up towards the top, though the top of
the spire cannot be seen. What can be seen dimly are great swirling
gouts of mist pouring forth and spreading overhead.

Vesper's keen dimensional senses know this to be a substantial
dimensional anomaly, and there's a vibration in the air, as if some
power is being built up.

Behind them the pursuing ATV can now be clearly heard.
[/GM]

--
Aaron Clausen
mightymartianca at gmail.com