[Game Thread] Chapter 1: The Spider Farm

[MossStone]

Tryanne freezes as Sheryllin wraps her arms around her, trying not to shutter at the thought of being wrestled, beaten or crushed to death. Yet the woman makes no move if aggression with that unfrimulre gesture, wich feels oddly warm and gentle despite being extreamly terrfying . "F-f-friends." Is all the free woman says.
"If you want to, perhaps." Tryanne says softly, unsure of what to say or if she is allowed to move.

[Lexkat]

Sheryllin pulls back, surprised. She was sure she'd hugged Shortie. "BIrdie?" she asks, then looks to where Dal stood, then back to Birdie. "Yes. Yes! Friends." She then runs to her original target, and hugs him as well. "Friends!"

[Huhart]

Sheryllin wrapped her arms around Dal for a big hug. Surprised, Dal gave out a little squeak. His eyes went wide and he waved his arms around, not knowing what to do with them. He gave Korin a pleading look as if to ask "What do I do now?" All he had expected was a hand shake.

He felt her trembling. This was difficult for her as well. Dal allowed himself to relax and patted her gently on the back. "Yes, friends..we are all friends here..." he said softly. A feeling of warmth came over him. He needed this hug as much as she did. How long had it been since he last had any true physical contact...years? Not wanting it to end, he pulled her closer.

She was soft and warm; her silk gown smooth against his touch. His sensitive nose picked up her aroma. The places they had been lingered on her; the smelly warehouse, the vat of chemicals, and the odor of battle all were intermixed with a scent that was uniquely hers.

His heart started racing. Dark, baser thoughts came unbidden to Dalwinkle's mind. So, he reluctantly released her, not wanting to cheapen the moment.

"Now, tell us what is wrong, dear," Dalwinkle said, holding her gaze, "Let us help you."

The words came unbidden from his mouth. He was a selfish little gnome, only thinking of himself. Why did he suddenly offer to help someone else? He wondered...

[Nade]

Korin turns around just in time to see Sheryllin run over to Dal and wrap her arms around him in a big hug. His mouth drops for a second as he watches the exchange between them, and first the look that Dal gives him, and the look that he then gives her as he loses himself in the embrace. A strange feeling crosses Korin as he watches them, and watches as Sheryllin calls him friend. Dal is her friend, not you. The thought comes to him unbidden as his expression drops, and a feeling of sadness hits him in waves. He smiles slightly, but the smile does not reach his eyes as he murmurs, "Yes.....friends. You'll make great friends with each other." Suddenly turning around, Korin feels the instinctive urge to flee away from the sight. At least they have each other. He turns and moves away from the group, feeling a sudden lump in his throat. As he moved, his mind was a-whirl with thoughts. It was foolish of me to ever think somebody like her could like someone like me..... At least she's got her friend now. Walking away from the others, Korin moved as fast as he could. Right now he didn't want to be around them, couldn't even stand the thought of being near them. He just wanted to be alone with his thoughts, no matter what danger that might put him in. And truth be told, the thought of danger was the last thing on his mind right now. Walking to a building away from the others, Korin shakes his head as he stares at it up and down. He draws his sword and whispers to himself. "Well, I might as well see what's inside. Its not like I'm worth being around at the moment." Without a second look back and without checking for traps, Korin simply opens the door and walks inside, without a care as to whether something was waiting behind the door to attack him or not.   Heading to building at K5 and going in.

[Lexkat]

Sheryllin inhales sharply as Shortie pats her on the back, but she perseveres, and doesn't let the fear inside her take over.

But then he makes a mistake. He pulls her in tighter. She stiffens at this, realizing her mistake. ~This one's mistake. Men, they all want one thing. All of them!! Her natural fear reaction had been beaten from her long ago, and she allows him to continue to hug her. But upon release, she scurries away to hide behind Birdie. "No. Bad touchie. No more touchie!"

She cowers behind Birdie, not even noticing that Fish had gone. She had wanted to hug him next, but now, now she's worried about Shortie and his tighter hug. She doesn't even care about all the names they've been throwing about. She'll stick to the ones she knows.

 

Half-Elven Thief- 1

[MossStone]

Tryanne baffled by this whole interaction, blinks for several moments. The Grils was not being beaten or tormented so why the fuss? Then again being grabbed and squeezed was disconserting, as she had found out a few moments ago. Disconcerting but not bad per say. "Then let us do something else. Let us work now." Work cured all ills. But the woman was afraid again, that would slow them down, she had to be stoped. Killing her was not an option- she was not her master's property that she could get permission to do so, and truly she was useful- more useful than Tryanne herself had been. She though back to the times she had been scared. Most of them were when she had angered her master- fear well deserved was fear you kept. On the other hand some the prisoners and visitors to he masters holding had terrified her-to the point that she did not know if she could do her job. Once she had broken down stammering in front of a mage and... she suddenly remembered her masters advice. If it was good enough for her, maybe it would be good enough for Sherillyn as well.

"And then if you like I can help you with your diction. People obey you quicker if your words are precise and your tone neutral and unaffected. If you show fear doubt or uncertainty, you lose your power over them. If you speak in fragments or with week vocabulary the same thing happens. If we fix how you speak, we grant you power. "

[ArionNaomi]

Siren was happy Shelly was opening up, but half ashamed for confusing her by giving everyone nicknames. She was shocked when the young woman hugged Dal, and glad it hadn't been Korin. She did have to chuckle at the "No touchie" comment.

"Behave, Shortie, she's fragile when it comes to trust."

She turned to look for Korin, only to see him walking away fast. Her heart stopped as she realized what was happening. He was jealous of Dal. Her heart squeezed tight, she was short of breath. He was jealous. He did like Sheryllin. He liked Sheryllin more than he liked her... Or at least romantically. Her best friend was hurt, and now he was being reckless.

"Dangit! Fish!" she called out but he didn't stop. She looked back at the others. Siren just wanted her best friend to be happy, even if it wasn't with her. Seeing him hurt hurt her too. Her poor heart was confused. She looked at the half elf, her rival, the breaker of her friends heart and possibly her friend. "Shoot... He's going to get himself killed. Come on guys! Follow when you can!" she said, then she took off after Korin at a sprint, charging in right after him, every bit as reckless as him.

 

Fish = Korin
Amazon = Raza
Shortie = Dalwinkle
Birdie = Tryanne
Red = Thorin
Shelly = Sheryllin

[Huhart]

Dalwinkle blushed profusely. "Okay, okay. No more touchie. I'll behave. I guess I got carried away." He giggled, still feeling the warm fuzzy from the hug fest.

Tryanne's idea was a good one. I'd be happy to help you with your vocabulary, Dal tells Sherilyn in excited tones. "I could teach you some other stuff too. Like jokes, and juggling, and doing cartwheels!"

He turned toward Siren. "And please stop calling me Shortie! That's really condescending. I'm actually quite tall by gnome standards."

But Squirrel-girl wasn't listening. She was running after Korin. Dal was confused to see that Korin wasn't standing there next to him. The gnome had been a bit preoccupied with Sherilyn to notice Korin running away in a fit of jealousy. "Hey, where is he going? ...Maybe he saw Raza and when to get her." Dal started walking fast, following Siren.

[MossStone]

"Jokes and juggling and - the wheels of carts will not bring her power Master Dalwinkle." Tryanne says unable to keep the scorn from her voice. "If you got rid of the jokes I am sure no one would dare give you such a condescending by-name. " She adds more politly.

Then notices where he is looking. Finally they were getting back to work. She fallows the others.

[Lexkat]

Sheryllin follows after Birdie, after Shortie, after Squirrel, after Fish. She doesn't know, nor want to know who this Dal Win Kell people were, or why Birdie was calling for them. There were already too many anyway. "Fish shouldn't be carefulless. They are likely trapped."

She tries to store in her mind these other things though. Jokes, Juggling. She already knows how to do a cartwheel. She thinks about doing one now, to show Shortie, then remembers they are doing work now, like Birdie said to do.

 

Half-Elven Thief- 1

[PinkFairyArmadilo]

(OOC: As K5 is the same building as L5, the first building the party entered, I'm just going to call this one K10, as it fits the bill of being away from the group, but not ridiculously so. If you'd prefer to stick to the top right corner, E1 and J2 are as of yet unexplored)

Korin bursts through yet another doorway without having anyone listen at the door or check for traps, and again it comes back to bite him in the oddest of ways, as he almost immediately runs into a skinned goat hanging from a hook in the ceiling. There are actually several animals, goats and sheep, hanging in this room, partitioned off from the rest of the building, where you can hear the occasional soft bleating. The smell is, while nothing compared to what Korin had already been through tonight, not pleasant at all. You can almost taste the smell of death intermingled with the livestock smell from just one wall away.

Some of the skinned animals have bite marks and chunks of flesh bitten off. Presumably made by the Lloth worshiping monsters you'd come across earlier, or their ilk, as the mouth size and tooth-marks look about appropriate. You also notice, though it's not immediately apparent in the mid-night darkness, half-buried under straw in the corner, are the bodies of two human men.

 

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[Nade]

"Now I wonder what is inside door number two." Korin mutters to himself as he opens as the door and charges in, even as Siren arrives hot on his heels and the others behind him. And if Korin had thought that what he had seen earlier in the privy was bad, nothing could prepare him for the sight that awaited him behind the door. Charging in headfirst, he runs into something heavy and oddly wet. The stench is horrific as it hits him in the nostrils and he looks up to see the skinned carcass of a goat hanging from the ceiling, and dangling from a hook. A horrified expression crosses his face as he holds his hand up to his nose and mouth. The body just dangles there, swinging back and forth. His eyes scan from left to right, seeing other similar bodies dangling from the ceiling. Paling slightly from the sight, Korin shakes his head, his earlier jealous fit all but forgotten under the circumstances. His voice is barely more than a mangled croak as he whispers, "This.....is.....horrible." Trying to ignore the fact that many of the skinned bodies have pieces missing from them, Korin's eyes glance over to the pile of the straw where he sees........something sticking out from underneath. His heart sinks as he begins to realise what the forms actually were. It was at that moment that Korin becomes aware of the familiar presence of his best friend. Even as his heart constricts at the thought of what he was seeing and what had actually happened here, her presence was a soothing balm to him, keeping him grounded. Looking back to Siren, he smiles tightly as he reaches out for her hand, taking it in his instinctively. "Over there.....I think......bodies." Walking over slowly, leading Siren by the hand, he goes over to where he can see the forms buried under the straw. Letting go, he kneels and takes a deep breath as he begins to clear the obstructing bales of straw from the bodies underneath, all the while trying to ignore the horrible smell in here.

[MossStone]

Tryanne hurryes to catch up- she the smell reaching her even if she's not at the building yet. Dead beasts or people? She hopes it's beasts. The idea of so many dead bodies not put to some useful purpose is almost more than she can bare. But as yet she is still to far away to see.

[Lexkat]

Sheryllin crinkles her nose as she enters behind Birdie. "Fish, why you find all the bad places?" she looks around, then heads over the haystack filled with bodies.

With a look up at Fish, she then turns her attention back to the two dead men and begins to unbury them.

[Huhart]

"If you got rid of the jokes I am sure no one would dare give you such a condescending by-name." said Tryanne. Dalwinkle stopped in his tracks. "A gnome without jokes is like a bird without wings, Miss Birdie!" He retorts.

As usual, Dal is the last to get to the building. He was ready to give Korin the what-for for running ahead again. Then, he saw the bodies that Sheryllin was uncovering. He gasps, "Is that...."<gulp> "Is that Raza?"