Re: The Game: Chapter 01
In reply to Keef (msg # 391):
The Southern Path
[Private to Keef: You can actually make a Knowledge (Arcana) check, if you'd like. Perhaps you recognize this particular creature...]
With the strange creature seemingly content to remain in the cave with its prize, you are forced to approach the opening yourselves.
Giles tromps toward the opening without a second thought, bow at the ready, followed closely by Zuriel and, at a slight distance, Keef.
The cave is quite shallow, all things considered -- a small chunk carved out of the hillside like a calculated bite taken out of an apple. It also appears to be inhabited.
The walls are lined with shelves which seem built into the stone itself, each cluttered with vials, jars, and the occasional sheet of parchment. Dried herbs and the carcasses of various small animals hang from the ceiling.
Luminescent moss and lichens carpet the cavern floor, and a stone table with two benches has been built into the far wall. On top of this table is a cast-iron cauldron and several beakers, all connected through a series of tubes. These each contain bubbling liquids of various shades, none of which seem particularly natural.
The overall affect reminds you of a kitchen [Private to Keef: or laboratory], albeit in a far less sterile setting than you'd expect.
The strangest feature is the one that arrests your immediate attention. Against the far side of the room, between the shelves and the table, two animals lay chained to the wall by iron collars.
The first is a black bear, while the second is the wolf you saw earlier. Both seem to have sustained puncture wounds in various places, with blood matting their fur, and neither seem to be conscious - though the agonizingly slow rise and fall of their chest indicates that they yet live.
Stranger still, the bear has what appears to be an upside-down flask jammed into the back of its neck, half-filled with a sparkling liquid.
The toad-like thing is hopping around near the animals, flapping its fleshy wings uselessly as it takes advantage of your slackjawed expressions to click the wolf's collar into place. It then turns to face you, flashing another hideous grin, but utters no sound whatsoever. Instead, it points insistently toward the cave's exit with one of its fingers.
Whatever this place is, the creature clearly wants you to leave it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:49, Tue 01 Oct 2013.