Fantasy The Deadlands

[ArcticFox]

"You saved us again, Helen. Thank you." Dynis gave a gentle smile and squeezed her shoulder, before turning to help Manir up. "You alright?" She asked, taking a hold of his arm and trying to pull him up from ground. "We need to get out of here, fast." She threw an anxious look at the snake.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Nodding but looking more guilty than anything, Helen said nothing as Dynis thanked her and went to help Manir. The swordsman winced as he stood up. "Hurts, but I'm in one piece," he looked across the ditch at the snake, too. Stuck his tongue out. "Nasty bastard... let's go."

***

And so, the trio made their way back to the elevator shaft and rode up to the sunlight. It hurt their eyes after being underground for so long. Helen stepped forward and dug around in the sand a little before gripping something and yanking it. Sand fell away to reveal all of their equipment, hidden under Dynis' tarp. She smiled weakly at the two. "Um... I figured I would hide our things, just in case."

"Smart," Manir didn't give her grief for what happened underground, but he by no means sounded friendly.

"Let me see your wound-"

"No," he held up a hand to stop her. Helen's face fell. "You've done enough, thanks."

"Right, well... okay." Helen stepped away from the two and went to collect her things. Things were tense between them, to say the least.

Before Dynis could say anything about it, though, should she have chosen to do so, Manir shot her a cheeky grin. From his deep pocket he pulled a golden scroll, the handles embedded with sparkling gems. He handed it to Dynis. "Sometimes I'm glad I don't always listen to you; those kobolds were loaded."

- Open the scroll
- Pack up the scroll
- Scold him for stealing
- Praise him for stealing
- Do something else

 

[ArcticFox]

Dynis opened her mouth to butt in, to reassure Manir and help out Helen. But then she was cut off before getting a chance to speak and greeted with a cheeky grin. She met it with a disapproving frown. But it was not intended for Manir.

"If I knew how things would turn out back in the tunnels, I would have stuffed my pockets too. And killed that damn snake." She shook her head, but soon just shrugged, not wanting to dwell on what could have been. Then she stepped a bit closer to Manir, voice a little softer. "Would you let me look at your wounds? From here your throat looks pretty bruised."

 

[Cartoonicat]

"No kidding, but we got the scroll at least," Manir said. "Ought to be worth some good coin somewhere." When she didn't take the item from him, he tossed it by their pile of equipment, likely to be dealt with later. Helen had moved her stuff closer to the mouth of the entrance, a decent ways away from them.

At Dynis' question, Manir glanced at Helen briefly. Spoke quietly, even though it was unlikely the mage could hear them: "Yeah, you can... but what the hell happened back there, with Helen? Are all mages psycho or is it just her and her brother?" Carefully, and not without a grimace, he lifted up his shirt to reveal a torso blackened with quickly forming dark purple bruises. He scowled.

- Defend the mages
- Heal Manir
- Agree with him about the
- Do something else

 

[ArcticFox]

"I... don't know." Dynis said, approaching him to absentmindedly trace a finger over the bruises as she spoke. "It is not like this in Napari. The Mothers are in perfect control. Our men are forbidden from using the magic, which is how it should be. Perhaps Helen is on a Pilgrimage of her own." She finished, her thoughts wandering to her homeland again, as she tried to heal Manir. To the green forest and colourfull insects, so different from this desert, so far away.

 

[Cartoonicat]

"Well, she-..." Manir inhaled quietly at the touch, expression turning soft. After a while, he continued speaking. "Well... she is clearly dangerous. If you want to keep her around I won't argue with you, but I don't think it's a good idea."

He took her hand after a while and held it away from him. A lot of Manir's bruising had faded, but were not completely gone. "Don't tire yourself out."

- Insist on healing him more
- Agree to kick out Helen
- Disagree to kick out Helen
- Tell him you'll think about it (Helen)
- Leave the mines
- Do something else

 

[ArcticFox]

"Alright." She said, nodding and stepped away from him. She did not want to tire herself out too, they had a long way to go yet. "But, we are currently headed to help Helen out. Remember, we both owe her a lot." She smiled at him teasingly. "Don't tell me you are afraid of her. Look at you, so strong and capable, how can you possible fear anything." She snickered.

 

[Cartoonicat]

"But... thank you," he said after a beat. Offered her a small smile. Then Dynis spoke of Helen; Manir went from looking shameful of his words to downright supercilious in seconds. "Pfft. Scared. I only suggested the idea to make you feel better, should you want have agreed," he said, pointedly not looking in the mage's direction. He cleared his throat and went to pick up his equipment, speaking the next bit loudly: "Anywho, I believe it's time to head out. We're on a tight schedule." Clapped his hands several times, which garnered Helen's attention and prompted her to stand.. "Up, up, up! We're wasting daylight just standing here. Which might be a good thing, considering the heat, but..."

Which was true, in both respects; they'd spent longer in the mines than anticipated and the sun was already going down. With it, the heat. The creatures of the Deadlands would be sleeping soon - most of them, anyway - and their biggest threat would be avoiding bands of slavers. It wouldn't be so difficult if they weren't traveling over sand dunes high enough to hide the flame of their torches; if they weren't careful, they'd walk straight into a horde of them.

Unfortunately, with one day almost gone, they hadn't much time to dawdle if they were to save Helen's father.

- Travel with caution, but slowly
- Travel recklessly, but quick
- Suggest spending the night in the mines
- Do something else

 

[ArcticFox]

Dynis was not that eager to head out into the heat again, but she was not really optimistic about staying near the mines either. They set out to help Helen and they would finish that task. She was a person of her word, sort of.

"I know that time is of the essence, but I don't think either of us is eager for a fight." She said as they set out. "Let's be careful and keep an eye out for possible threats. Better to be safe than sorry."

 

[Cartoonicat]

Spoiler: Map of the Deadlands

Manir seemed to agree with Dynis' plan but Helen looked worried. Despite whatever concerns she may have, however, she did not voice them. Just nodded after a hesitant moment and stepped out into the sunlight, falling into step beside the other two. And then they were off.

With the three of them taking great care, they narrowly avoided tangling with not only a band of hearty raiders, but also a pack of large coyotes out on a dinner hunt. It took longer this way, however; they'd slowed down almost half the time and wouldn't be expected to arrive at the arena for at least another full day. Arriving on the day of the tournament could not have been helped, but they were getting dangerously close to show time.

"How much water do we have left?" Helen asked.

Checking his own reservoir, Manir frowned. "I've got about half by now. Dynis?" Should she check, Dynis would find herself a little less than that. Between the three of them, they hadn't one full water skin and still an entire day of traveling left, nor did they have supplies to well up water from below the sand. They would either have to tough it out and hope the following day would not be so hot as the last, or find a source of water before the end of the night.

Luckily for them, they did just pass a raider camp.

- Tough it out
- Suggest stealing from the raiders
- Suggest another idea
- Do something else

 

[ArcticFox]

"I don't feel like raiding any camps. That would be just pushing our luck by now." Dynis said, although she knew they would go thirsty soon. "We should pick up our pace at least." If they were bound to run out of water at some point, perhaps they could hurry it up and get to the destination in less time.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Helen nodded in agreement, looking apprehensively in the direction of said raider camp. Manir, however, frowned. "We're low on water and it's not like those thugs deserve any," he said.

"Dynis is right; it would be reckless. I-"

Manir glared at her, cutting the woman off short. "Aren't you supposed to hate slavers?" Helen stared at him, appearing a mixture of offended and shameful. Eventually she turned away from him and started walking North. "So you do, but you're just chicken." The mage did not rise to the bait - simply ignored him and adjusted her pack sack across her shoulders with a controlled huff. Sighing indignantly, Manir followed.

They traveled quicker through the night then they had been, making decent progress. Despite their speed and lack of caution as compared to before, they did not run into any trouble. By time the sun rose, all three were exhausted; they'd been awake for nearly a whole day by that point and were running on fumes. To remedy this, they could break for camp and get a few hours of rest, but it would take time out of their already pressed schedule. The tarp was too small for all three of them, too, which would leave at least one person out in the sun.

- Make camp
- Push through
- Do something else

 

[ArcticFox]

Dynis was exhausted as she knew were the two of her companions. She could not stand on her own two feet any longer, not even if the whole band of slavers swept on them right then and there. With a painful sigh she plopped down onto sand.

"We are getting two hours of sleep. Then we can continue on. The tarp is small, but I'm smaller, so I'll sleep on top of Manir so we can all fit." She doubted he would notice, they were all bound to fall asleep in the instant their heads hit the pillows, or at least sand.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Helen nodded and started unpacking her bed roll as Manir helped set up the tarp. "I did not realize travel was so... weary," the mage remarked, rubbing her eyes. She set to work laying out Dynis' bed roll next.

Instead of quip about their sleeping arrangement - specifically his and Dynis' - Manir muffled a yawn with his sleeve. Finished securing the tarp, then dropped down onto Dynis' bedroll almost instantly. "Better than the mountains," he murmured, eyes closing. "The snow would have soaked through our bedding by now."

"I've never seen snow," Helen admitted, tucking herself in. By time Dynis joined Manir, hardly a second later, he'd already begun to doze off.

Quickly, they fell asleep.

***

Dynis woke first with crusted eyes and a dry mouth. Beneath her, Manir hardly stirred. Her head pounded lightly and her body felt warm, sluggish. Dehydration had set in while they slept. The heat and lack of water lulled her eyes closed again. Yet, just as she was about to fall asleep, a rough snort sounded nearby.

At the entrance to the slanted tarp was the face of a desert bear.

- Stay still
- Wake the others
- Try to attack with one of Manir's swords
- Try to scare it away
- Go back to sleep
- Talk to it
- Do something else

 

[ArcticFox]

"Bear?" Dynis spoke, her throat raw. "You've god any water, bear?" She asked, still half asleep. At that point she was sure if she had hallucinated or dreamt up the bear, or it was all a reality. She was more inclined to believe the former, otherwise she would have been on her feet already, screaming her lungs out.

 

[Cartoonicat]

The bear snuffed, sounding almost indignant, before disappearing from view. It reappeared a moment later holding the string of Dynis' waterskin between its teeth. Tossed it towards her, the container dropping into her lap. It felt no heavier than before they'd stopped for camp. Then it stepped away from the tarp and, within the next blink, disappeared.

- Drink a little water
- Drink a lot of water
- Do not drink the water
- Do something else

 

[ArcticFox]

"Thanks?" Dynis stood up, confused and dizzy and drank one small swallow of the warm water. "Hey, bear!" She called then, though it was still only a sharp whisper, looking around to see if she could see the tracks the bear had left.

 

[Cartoonicat]

There were indeed bear tracks in the sand and they lead North, towards the arena and Magdarene city, but no sight of the bear itself. She could choose to follow the tracks immediately in hopes of catching up to the creature or stay with the group. Manir and Helen were still soundly sleeping, neither one looking much better than Dynis had when she first woke.

- Follow the bear tracks
- Wake up Helen and Manir
- Do something else

 

[ArcticFox]

Despite reason, Dynis gathered her staff and pack and rushed after the bear. She wanted to leave a note, but she could not bear to waster any time. There was something about that creature, she simply needed to go after it.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Traversing the Deadlands in such a state, as she soon found, seemed a horrible idea; the sun blared overhead with as intense of a heat as the day prior, for it was nearing midday by that point, and the loose sand underfoot depleted what little energy she had very quickly. Stumbling through the desert as fast as she could, Dynis did not run into more of the bear than its mere paw prints. Several minutes in and she felt her body aching. Her legs trembled and, in one fluid motion, she collapsed.

Dynis lay in the sand, unable to muster the strength to move. It was hard to keep her eyes open. Eventually they drooped closed, but not before she caught glimpse of a figure walking towards her.

***​

She woke in a cool, dark place. Her wrists had been bound together, leashed to a metal post by a short linked chain. Looking around, she noticed a clay bowl of liquid - presumably water, for it had no odor and was clear - and nothing but wooden walls. There was nobody else in the room but her, yet the door across the room remained slightly ajar.

- Drink the water
- Try to escape the chains
- Call out for someone
- Do something else

 

[ArcticFox]

It was her own damn fault for wanting to follow a stupid hallucination. Dynis was so mad at herself, she wanted to rip out that post and beat herself with it. But she was too weak for that. So she took the bowl of water and sniffed it carefully just in case, before drinking it. Then she scanned the room for more information, especially so she could see if her staff was around.

 

[Cartoonicat]

The water tasted icy cold on her tongue. Immediately, Dynis felt refreshed. It was definitely water, unless someone had put an odorless and tasteless drug in it - though, after a few moments waiting, that did not seem to be the case. Upon looking for her staff, next, Dynis would not be able to find it. Not even her pack of equipment was there.

Alone she was with nothing but the clay bowl and her chains to keep her company. Yet, somehow, the sense of being watched pricked at her skin.

- Try to escape
- Call out for someone
- Do something else

 

[ArcticFox]

She rattled the chains, trying to see how sturdy they were, or if she could dislodge them. Someone took her staff and all of the anger she felt toward herself was now immediately transferred to that person.

 

[Cartoonicat]

"That won't work," came a disembodied voice. It sounded close to the door. Deep, like a man's. While rusty in spots, the chains were strong and had no hope of bending; whoever - or whatever - had spoken to Dynis was right.

- Introduce yourself
- Ask who they are
- Ask about missing items
- Yell at them
- Do something else

 

[ArcticFox]

"Who are you?" Dynis scowled, looking around. She tugged on the chains again in frustration, before letting out a hissed breath. "Where am I?"