View source for Log:Feed Me Seymour

{{ Log
| cast = [[Kerrigan_Desrochers|Kerrigan]] [[Dielle_Henner|Dielle]] and [[Byron]] as ST
| summary = Last installment of the [[Plot:Real_Estate|Real Estate]] plot. Two Harvestmen run into a little trouble with a newly revealed cave...
| gamedate = 2017.05.30
| gamedatename = 
| subtitle = 
| location = H07 - Echo's Lament
| categories = 
| log = 

So Byron's been able to sort through most of Jonah's notes and determined there's one area of the Looptrod the Harvestmen haven't looked at yet and determined the last location Jonah had been eyeing and just hadn't gotten to yet was the canyon close by Stoneheart, commonly called Echo's Lament. There were recent rockfalls below the path and deeper into the canyon that might have revealed new locations, and if they check things out before Something Ugly decides to call it home, they might get lucky. So in the case of Dielle and Kerrigan, since there wasn't a full squad of Rambo types available, Byron's asked you both to take a short trip over there, poke around for a bit and see what you can find. Be careful what you run into and if you find something tasty but its occupied and you don't think you can deal with it, just gather info and bring it back and the group as a whole can decide if its worth the effort of clearing it out.

Dielle has shown up early, with her gun and a big-ass kitchen knife, since she doesn't have a sword. She's got a backpack on her back, with things inside just in case and she's wearing boots and jeans and a shirt with a suede vest laced up over it and her cowboy hat. She's evidencing signs of excitement.

Kerrigan and Alocer are there for the long haul. She'd met up with Dielle where it would be easiest to go in. Echoes Lament wasn't the nicest place in the hedge. Not with the blood hungry rocks. But Kerrigan's armored up and has her Hellhound with her. The bow that she uses is currently settled over her shoulder as she takes a look at the terrain. "Well, at least there's not a horde of hobgoblins to start out with." she shakes her head. "Should be home in time for supper." she tells Dielle. "Let's just stick together. Alocer can scout a little ahead if we need to." she states.

The Echo is, well, we wouldn't say common ground for the freehold folks, but its probably not the first time most people have come through here, at least down the canyon path. But even from the path, the two and Alocer can see in the distance what Byron was talking about...quite a bit further (is that north? Maybe) off the path, some of the canyon wall has slid down, creating a pile of debris and leaving a yawning opening of a revealed cave of some kind. Its about 20-30 careful minutes of travel off of the path, and at the moment, doesn't have anything concerning climbing out of it or heading in...

Dielle stands with Kerrigan and Alocer, and says, "That's always a plus. So...that's the site. Doesn't look terribly promising, but what the hell, right?" She makes a face and says, "I need to remember to buy myself hiking boots. But yeah, sticking together sounds good and if Alocer wants to scout, I'm totally game." She glances at Kerrigan and says, "Hey, I don't know what you're good at and that's something we both should know. I can shoot a gun, and I'm pretty good with throwin' things and figuring out how to grab a stick or length of pipe or whatever and beat someone with it. Also good at luck and talkin' to birds. How about you?"

"It doesn't look promising, but we could make it work." The Dusk states with a bit of a smile. "Al usually likes to stretch his legs when he is out here. So that's not a bad thing." she explains. When Dielle explains what she's good at there's a nod, taking it in. "I'm good with archery. Hand to hand and knives are when I can't shoot." she tells her. "If we need things to be quiet I have a contract that can handle that." she adds as they go.

Generally speaking...its quiet. Of course, this IS the Hedge. So as long as the two are paying attention, while they are assessing out their own situation, Alocer might spot awww, a little furry bunny! Well, its probably not cute OR innocent, but it looks like a bunny...scampers its way up on the rocks and darts into the crevice, just in time to miss a small eagle-like predator swooping down. Talons bash onto rocks right where it was, and the birdpredator thing screeches in annoyance and takes back off into the air.

Dielle says, "Oh...yeah. Can do the minor Spring thing, with hangovers or thirst or hunger, too. Everything else I can do is mostly me bein' fighty and shi....oh. Oh, wow. That was a sight." There's quiet awe in her voice at the sight of the predator bird and the fluffy thing. "Daaamn."

Kerrigan watches the predator bird and the fluffy bunny go at it and then there's a shake of her head. "That bunny is going to come out later and try to eat something. Unhinge its jaw like a turkey type shit." she chuckles. "Spring contract is a helpful thing. My medical training just has to do with dealing with dead bodies." she admits.

There's more screeching in the distance of what sounds like similar birds trying to find dinner...which, fortunately the group is a LITTLE Big for them, so there's probably not much chance of getting pounced on by a hungry eaglething. With the near miss murder over, the canyon resumes its being quiet, and for what it's worth Little Bunnikins does not re-emerge just yet. Maybe he likes hiding. Or maybe something else ate him...

Dielle says, "I think we definitely want your friend to go scouting, if he don't mind." She's looking at the sky for more of those birds, and adds, "Shall we start walkin' that way?" For what it's worth, she's asking, not telling. She's real clear about it.

====-> >> Kerrigan to Here << <-==============================================
    Rolled 1 Success 
    < 2 5 6 7 8 >
===============================================-> >> 2 + 3 [9-Again] << <-====

Kerrigan crouches down and gives Al's fiery mane a rub, "You go ahead of us and let me know if you find anything." she tells him. Then she stands back up and there's a look to Dielle, "Yeah, let's see if he gives us a warning before we get too far." she states with a nod to her.

Alocer seems quite agreeable to go check things out...the path is pretty clear, if narrow for human sized folks, so something his size has no issues whatsoever. There's the obligatory sniffing of the air as he gets closer, and offers, "Something stinks..." He makes it up to right about where teh bunny disappeara and peeeeers, "Its really dark. I can see some glowing patches, like whatever that stuff is in caves? But...I mean, DARK..."

Dielle looks /very/ wary, now. "Ok, so dark and stinky. I got a flashlight, although I ain't real sure it'll work here. Maybe...a torch? Do you know how to make those? Or we could find a stick and set it on fire and toss it in, but that might really piss somethin' off." She's not happy, but she's game. "What does it smell like, besides stinky? Is it rotted meat stinky or too much shit stinky?"

Kerrigan listens to Alocer when he reports back and there's a frown, "Maybe you're going to have to practice your Inferno trick if we go in then." she tells him with a chuckle. There's a look to Dielle, "You still want to go in?" she asks her. "Because I'm completely understanding if it's a chance you don't want to take with just two of us." she adds. Because she wasn't insane sometimes. "I've got some glowsticks, that might help." she tells Dielle. Then a look back to Al, "What's it smell like, darlin'?" she asks him.

Alocer takes a moment. There's probably nose wrinkling going on, "Like...really sweet, and musty. Like its been closed up for a while and the air is all stale?" He pads closer and leens his snout in and takes another sniff, "And wet. But I guess...cave...wet isn't surprising?"

Kerrigan rubs her chin, "Really sweet and musty...is Nana in the cave?" she chuckles. Then she sobers, "Well, lets go in. I'll go first. Just in case." she tells them.

Dielle snickers, then looks thoughtful. "Sweet...I'm tryin' to remember what would give off a sweet scent that's still musty. Aside from some fairly nasty plants, that is." She nods at Kerrigan and says, "You got it! Hey, Kerrigan, assumin' we end up comin' out of this exploratory trip whole, you wanna hang out sometime? You seem sensible with a sense of humor and there ain't quite enough of that in my life."

"Nana's a good sport." Kerrigan chuckles. She might have been Ker's grandmother for real. Then there's a look towards the cave, "Well, it might be plants. The thing to watch is the rocks. They like blood." she muses. There's a look to Dielle once she starts off down the path and there's a nod, "Sure. Sounds like we've got some stuff in common as well...and I can always use friends." she admits as she continues on.

Alocer follows behind the group, tracking the two and keeping an eye out for ambushes.

Alocer offers a final, "I can't smell the bunny because of it." And sure enough as the two get closer, they can catch a whiff...that sickly sweet musty smell like a huge amount of honey that's been locked up in a warehouse and hasn't quite started breaking down yet. The space inside the crevice does seem to open up into a large cave like area, but its hard to see very far - the rocks and walls seem to actually be colored dark, almost black, like some kind of carbon formation, and they glisten a bit, like the cave might have had liquid in it before it cracked open. Eew.

Dielle shudders at the scent. "Nana's kind of awesome, I'd like to be her when I grow up...well, old, anyway. That's...not plants. I think that might be bugs. Either very big bugs or a lot of bugs, but bugs. Shit, where's that bunny, we could toss it in and find out!"

Kerrigan's nose wrinkles at the smell, her eyes closing for a moment and then opening again. Her eyes glow, so it's like some weird to go light. "That's so gross..." she whispers. "I'm fine with bugs. Bugs are fine. If we find any weirdness we might have issues." she laughs softly. Then there's a look to Dielle, "Tossing the bunny in would have been a good idea...too late now." she sighs softly as she touches her bow to make sure is still there.

So right there at the entrance, Kerrigan's light shines a little illumination into the cave and it does INDEED seem to be large, like almost the size of a high school auditorium or basketball gym. The walls are lightly curved, giving the space the vague shape of a lightly flattened sphere. The walls closest to them are indeed black and slick, almost as if with oil, though without touching them, its hard to tell what it is, and the floor seems to be of a similar consistency. Sort of like peeking into an oil tanker after it's been emptied. Careful, it probably stains.

No sign of Bunnikins, though.

Dielle peers in, looks around and then has an idea. She picks up a rock from under her feet and touches it to the stuff on the walls, getting a good smear on the rock and none on her hand. Then she steps back to see what it is, in actual light.

Kerrigan gives a look around for a moment, "I'm sure H. R. Geiger is a Keeper or helped designed the fucking hedge." she shakes her head at their surroundings. She moves a bit further in and she gives a look to the wall. When Dielle gets some on a rock there's a bit of a look to it, to see if it does light.

Out in the light of the Hedge, the stuff just looks back, and while it isnt QUITE as viscous as oil, its...chunkier. Like completely saturated moss, that squishes and oozes when pushed on, and slowly drips onto the ground from where Dielle' is holding it. For Kerrigan, she can HEAR the 'squish' sounds when she steps in, and feel the eew underfoot, which of course has Alocer eyeing the ground with some trepidation, "Gross. If I light up, is this place going to explode?"

====-> >> Kerrigan to Here << <-==============================================
    Rolled 7 Successes for an exceptional success.
    < 2 2 4 4 4 5 5 7 7 8 8 8 9 9 9 10 >
================-> >> Dexterity + Firearms.Adroitness + 4 [No Flags] << <-====

"Welp, light it and lets hope it's just a small explosion if there is one." the Dusk laughs. Kerrigan gives a bit of a curious look down to her feet and there's an arrow that she brings out and nocks it. "Dielle, if this goes badly...just run." she tells her fellow Harvestman. Then that nocked arrow is aimed at the ground underneath her feet and loosed. Because she's seen Star Wars....and remembers that 'cave'.

Kerrigan draws and lets an arrow fly down at the ground. There's a satisfying squelch of it impaling in the gooish nature of the floor, and then a squeal echoes from around the chamber. For Dielle, a few things happen all at once. At her feet, right between Kerrigan and her, right there at the entrance to the cave, a black tendriled mass drops Bunnikins to the stones, half dissolved, showing part of his widdy bitty skull, flesh and bone half eaten away. The tendrils IMMEDIATELY latch onto Kerrigan...the same color as her hair, which makes it look like for the moment, she's just having a bad hair day, but no, those tentrils are pulling and grasping and tearing...no, eating through her clothes as it tries to drag her whole body deeper into the cave.

Dielle is making a face. "Hey...do we have the /ability/ to clean this stuff up? We are scouting, there's other places to look a...oh, holy HELL." Running isn't happening. Instead, she whips out the chef's knife she brought and starts cutting at one of the tentacles. She probably should have run, but she can't just abandon a companion. Chop chop choppity chop chop!

====-> >> Kerrigan to Here << <-==============================================
    Rolled 4 Successes 
    < 1 1 1 5 5 5 6 7 7 7 8 8 9 10 >
====================-> >> Dexterity + Weaponry.Knives + 4 [No Flags] << <-====

====-> >> Dielle to Here << <-================================================
    Rolled 2 Successes 
    < 1 3 6 6 7 7 9 10 >
===============================-> >> Dexterity + Weaponry [No Flags] << <-====

Kerrigan's face immediately goes stoic and there's a bit of a hiss as the tendrils start to latch onto her, "If I'm not getting a bad ass venom suit then you can get off me!" the Nightsinger howls as she tries to get to her knife. The bow is dropped and she secures the knife, "This is a definite no on the house list!" the Dusk shouts at the Dawn as she takes a stab at one of the tendrils.

====-> >> Kerrigan to Here << <-==============================================
    Rolled 1 Success 
    < 5 9 >
===========================================-> >> Strength [No Flags] << <-====

Perhaps thankfully, the tendrils DO tend to slice like room temperature buttah (yes, in THAT voice), but every time one is cut, another one or two latch out from the nearest rock to grab hold...most onto Kerrigan, but after a good hack, one lashes out to try grabbing at Dielle's wrist. The hissing sound they hear is the acid the tendrils begin emitting that starts eating through clothing and burning skin it touches...give it long enough and it will start dissolving living flesh. Kerrigan's clothes are starting to look awfully shredded, and if this wasn't such a nightmare sort of scenario, you could start hearing bad disco music in the background, but no...slowly, steadily, they are pulling Kerrigan further into the dark back of the cave.

Alocer is not about to stand for this and lunges after her, but almost immediately gets wrapped up by several tendrils. A loud, pained YELP escapes him as he struggles against the grasp.

Dielle slashes at the one tentacle grabbing her, slashes a few more tentacles around Kerrigan, and says, "Can we get enough of these offa you for me to drag you out?" as she slashes. She doesn't even waste breath cussing, which is weird.

Kerrigan was alright until they grabbed her hound and Dielle. "Dielle, get the hell out of here!" she shouts at her. It's an order, not a request. "Get Alocer out and get out of here." she tries to see if she can see where her hound is...but she can't. If it was the Dusks day to go...it was her day to go. That's why they did the crazy shit they did. "Don't let my dog die, Dielle..." she adds after she slices a few of the tendrils off. But it was becoming apparent that there were too many...and that she was gonna get pulled in. She is still working to get things off though.

To Alocer's credit, he's a fierce little fucker, chewing through the things with his own teeth dispite the acid burns he's bound to be taking, struggling and ALMOST able to get himself free. Bteween him and Dielle, the tendrils don't keep up their assault, so assuming Dielle keeps hacking, she might be able to get them both free. Why do they lay off?

Because those glowy bits at the back of the cave finally move and edge closer to the edge of the group's light, where everyone can see they are attached to a giant pod about the size of a Smartecar. With a YANK, Kerrigan is pulled back even further and the pod opens up like something out of Little Shop of Horrors...no teeth, just layers and layers of petals as big as blankets billowing out and reaching out to try to swallow the struggling Dusk up.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Dielle slashes Alocer's tentacles. "Out," she tells the dog and retreats herself to the mouth of the cave. "If you're gonna do something like go up in flames, this'd be a damn good time!" she tells Kerrigan, as she moves her horsey behind. (Yes, that's pronounced bee-hind.)

Once there, she drops the knife at her feet and draws her gun. Time to aim.

====-> >> Kerrigan to Here << <-==============================================
    Rolled 2 Successes 
    < 2 3 4 6 7 8 8 >
===============================-> >> Wits + Investigation [No Flags] << <-====


Kerrigan could feel the burn from the tentacles that were wrapped around her and it indeed hurt like a motherfucker. When Alocer is freed and she sees Dielle and him go to the mouth of the cave there's a bit of a grimaced smile. At least they were going to be safe. "Dielle, I can't set anything on fire. Tell the Captain that this place sucks...literally!" she tries to laugh, but there's a pained sound as one of the tendrils tighten and burn a line around her neck. "Get the hell out of here!" she shouts back towards the mouth of the cave.

====-> >> Dielle to Here << <-================================================
    Rolled 3 Successes 
    < 1 3 5 6 7 8 8 8 >
======================-> >> Dexterity + Firearms.Handguns [No Flags] << <-====

Dielle says, grimly, "Not yet. There's still hope." She's standing with her feet about shoulder-length apart, pointing the gun at what she can see of that fucking plant and wishing like hell that she had some kind of rounds that'd burst into flames. Well, maybe this'll give the fucking thing lead poisoning. "Keep cutting!" Then she fires, BOOM.

Alocer is indeed hauled to safety, and with Dielle back on her feet and out of initial grasp, well, the pod really IS the broadside of a barn at this range, so when she fires, the cave is deafened with the explosion of the report of the gun. The bullet smacks into the side of the pod and blows several petals off with a spray of what must be black blood. The monster surges forward and engulfs Kerrigan at that point, the remaining petals wrapping around her tightly, just a few moments before Dielle can hear a sickening, wet *crunch* and the wrapped body goes still. And perhaps thankfully, since Dielle IS right there at the edge of the cave, she can see the mass of tendrils racing for her and the dog now.

Dielle reaches down, grabs the knife, and moves, her face showing her shock. That...wasn't supposed to happen. She runs from tentacles, and what comes out as she looks over at the Hellhound is "I guess that means we ain't goin' for coffee afterwards. Ummm...Alocer, you mind seein' me to the gate before you decide what you wanna do next?"

The tendrils go as far as the edge of the cave, but seem either unable or unwilling to reach further than that, as if they do not like being out in the 'daylight' of the Hedge. After a few moments of reaching, they will slowly fade into the black and disappear and the cave falls eerily silent again.

As for Alocer, the hound will indeed agree to accompany her back to the gate, intent on heading 'home' himself, though he gives no clarification as to what he intends to do.

}}