OOC: From the In Yenth thread.

Here is the last mark in the trail you followed.  The chasm lies not far beyond, dark in the forest's late afternoon shadows.

Thar has kept closely to his papers and compass. Carefully dotting the caravan's steps in his map; and marking down any points of vague interest he can spot in the geography.

When the caravan stops, he strides up to the front, spotting the last mask.
"So, this it ? This is where we're going to set up ? I wasn't expecting this much vegetation."

"That's very interesting." he says, peering down toward the chasm. "That can be the first thing we look into."
"Though, we'd have to wait until next noon to get a good look inside."

Zalbane will defer to their organized one, Nalla, for any specifics, but will help unload the wagons and get people into their temporary shelters.  With simple shelters and facilities up, she'll help unload the larger building materials and whatnot.

"Well, the vegetation is sort of good," she says to Thar.  "With all the trees so close we'll have some other things to build with.  That's not bad at all.  Though I'd like to see where that machine has wandered off to.  If something that big comes through here again it could squash us.  Oh hey, did anyone see a good water source nearby?"

The caravan crossed a small stream about a quarter mile back.  For anything more, additional reconnaissance would need to be done.

"Hmm... It's not that far to water, but could we cut a channel or make a water wheel or get a pump or something of the sort to make things easier?  Listran, any notions?" Zalban asks.  Water would be crucial for the community, and a quick source of water would be better for the nonce.  She could circle the area and seek out more, but for now they had a good number of people that needed water for drinking and washing, not to mention the livestock and possible farmland irrigation.

"Once we get our first shelters and all set up, in the next few days I'll search about for anything else useful: other water sources, plants for eating or other uses, beasts for hunting or avoiding.  And watching for what comes out of the gorge, of course," she adds.

The lead carpenter, Lemuel, looks back over the path from the stream to your present location.  "We'd need a lot of pipes to make that work at all."  He shakes his head and looks back at Zalbane.  "We'll see how much water we need, how much time we waste trucking it back and forth.  In the meantime, where do you want the first shelters built?  We can't get them built today, but we can at least unload the lumber in the right spots."

"Well, it was an idea.  Perhaps will come up with something later, once we have a better chance to find materials and come up with plans.  Perhaps there's some clever device that can be built to make bringing water easier.  But these are things for another day."

Zalbane will check with Nalla when the questions are posed about where things will go, as she likely had a layout and maps all ready.  Those in hand, Zalbane will lend her aid to staking out where the shelters will go, and then aid in removing the lumber.

By nightfall, Zalbane will take first watch so she can settle her nerves after long days of being alert.

Listran and Thar move the still-sleeping form of the late-comer off the back of the last wagon and help with the unloading process.  Tent sites are identified, as well as storage locations for the building materials.

The camp is neat, orderly, and functional, although not particularly defensible at this point.  The shadows of the canopy bring night quickly to the forest floor.

Zalbane will have two of her lights available to help illuminate the perimeter of the camp for those on watch.  She will take the last watch, as she likes to watch light return to the world with the dawn.

Having scripted the unloading process in advance Nalla leaves that to effectively run itself while she scouts the area for where everything needs to end up.

The site is at one end of the narrow gorge, which opens up to the east.  The northern side rises to a low hill.  The ground slopes away a bit from the gorge opening before resuming the rolling surface of the forest itself.  With the removal of a few trees, the main construction should easily fit in this area, and the ground seems stable, at least upon first inspection.

In the deepening gloom of twilight, the gorge itself is a black maw in the forest, swallowing all light and revealing nothing of its depths.

The carpenters set up the tents and stockpiles according to Nalla's plan, along the perimeter of the open area where the main building is intended.

The night passes quietly, and those on watch note no strange noises or movements or lights.  The gorge remains a pool of deeper blackness beneath the trees.

Still, in the light of morning, one of the carpenters is found to be gone.  He and his bedroll are simply missing from his tent.

Zalbane goes to find her fellows, Nalla, Thar, and Listran, to report the missing carpenter.  "The watch reported nothing all night, but now someone is missing!  I was going to see if they could be tracked; maybe they just didn't want to be here as much as they said."

Zalbane will go to talk to those who were around the missing carpenter, seeing if anyone saw them leave, and then try to see if there are any tracks from their place of rest, and if any in what direction they go.

OOC: Taking flex skill of tracking today.
08:20, Today: Zalbane rolled 9 using 1d20.  Tracking (T).
08:20, Today: Zalbane rolled 9 using 1d20.  Perception (S).

The ground around the tent that the carpenter slept in is littered with fresh footprints from yesterday's activity.  No tracks seem to lead away from the campsite, neither human nor otherwise.

Acting on a hunch, Zalbane moves to the gorge with care.  Using one of her lights, she examines anything she can about the gorge.

OOC: Perception (S), 1 level of Effort for free (being as I have 3 Edge) -
02:44, Today: Zalbane rolled 10 using 1d20.  Perception (S).

Again there are no fresh footprints here, although the ground is much rockier, so it might be more difficult to tell.  There does seem to be a passable trail (an intentional path?) along the northern side of the gorge, that leads down well below the precipice.  The gorge itself seems to be silent at this time however there is a sense of ... energy?  Zalbane can only just notice it on the edges of perception, and is at a loss to define it, but there is ... something ... that seems to permeate the area.

Zalbane backs away and quickly reports to the others.  "I know we haven't had time to explore much, but considering what we know, I thought it prudent to check the gorge.  There is a trail on the north side, and there's a energy within it I believe.  I can't get more specific than that, but I do believe something is there.  I'd like to examine it further, but I don't want to leave the camp undefended."

She looks to Nalla and the others for their ideas and opinions.

Fallen ill during the journey, it was only now that Tacita awoke from what seemed like a coma. Having been put into one of the carpenters tents she quickly awoke from her 'coma'. Now, after another day, the delve was finally feeling better. Very good actually, far better than she would have thought. Curious how that worked.

Now she was standing in front of the tent with the people nurturing her.

She created a rose in her hand, small and bright rose. Then she let go, letting it float in the air, and let it grow. Larger and larger the rose grew, now with mists of colours swirling around it. Then at the height of it's growth, it burst open into hundreds of butterflies of all colours. As a stream of them fluttered low around her, she did a backflip right over them. The swarm surrounded the carpenters swirling in an intricate dance around them.

Suddenly it was all over. The young woman bowed in gratitude, the carpenters applauded with joy and they all took their leave. It was the least and the most she could do, having little resources left after delve Airk let her go to join the expedition. Then she left to approach the arriving mutant and the awaiting group.

As she walked, her clothing changed from the bright but practical clothing that was her adventure gear to a bright yellow wide tunic of an very light fabric. The fabric flowing as she moved, yet not always obeying known laws physics.

Now that she was finally joining the group Prelate Mez had organised, her mist swirling in exciting colours, blue, purple and red.

As an answer a translucent cube of mist appeared in Tacita's hand. Then an scene appears, with a small camp and a gorge not far from it. Silhouettes formed, dark and unrecognizable with four near the gorge, a couple more around the encampment. Then two of those silhouettes near the gorge changed; one changed into a young woman with swirling colours around her and a spear in hand. The other changed into a mutant woman with deep rose skin.

It appeared the young woman was proposing that a small scouting party went ahead and the rest defend the encampment. With an exciting look she turned towards the mutant woman, looking for her approval. Then she turned to the rest of the group to look for suggestions.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
I am taking over Celeste's spot on the expedition, please don't mind any continuity errors.

---

Momentarily distracted by Tacita's show, the carpenters return to their inspection of the camp, looking for signs of their missing comrade.  Soon, one of them turns with a curious expression on his face and walks toward Tacita.  He taps her solidly on the shoulder with a sausage-sized finger on a hand that dwarfs her own.

"You can do fancy tricks, girl.  Did you make Mustane disappear?  He got a family back in Yenth.  A wife 'n kids.  He ain't leavin' them, not for nothin'.  But he ain't here.  No sign he went anywhere.  So where is he?  Did you have something to do with it?"

The other carpenter pipes up from across the camp.  "Did she fake her napping so she could make him disappear in the night?"

Zalbane had been talking when Tacita finally woke up, and became alarmed as the workers turned hostile.  One of their own was missing, someone with particularly unusual powers had suddenly awakened, they were scared.

"Tacita!  You're better!  I found tracks near the gorge, and a path.  I think there's something worth investigating down there, maybe some more clues about Mustane's disappearance.  Gentlebeings, please, Tacita is not a kidnapper, she's just a show-off.  She didn't know Mustane was missing," Zalbane says.

Completely taken off-guard by the suspicion. With widening eyes Tacita holds up her hands and waves them front of her while shaking her head in an attempt signal that she has nothing to do with this.

She then moves closer to Zalbane, pointing at her while fiercely nodding in agreement. Eyeing the mutant, she sought eye contact and nudged her head in the direction of the gorge, probably signalling to go and investigate.

Or to get away from the suspicious workers...
This message was last edited by the player at 11:02, Fri 17 Jan 2020.

The craftsman raised one thick eyebrow.  "We're watchin'.  And we're lookin' for Mustane.  And we ain't building nothin' 'til we knows what happened to 'im.  So you best be looking for him, too."

He scowled at Tacita and Zalbane for a few moments more before heading back to his examinations of the camp for clues.  "You think the trees, maybe?" you hear him ask his peer.

The young delve stuck out her tongue the moment the craftsmen turned around and went about their business. She understood their apprehension because of their missing comrade, but she could fault them for their suspicious treatment of her. Especially since she was obviously sick throughout the night.

She turned towards Zalbane, shrug her shoulders and held up her arms in a 'what can you do' gesture. Another illusion appeared in her hand, a curved line with a question mark at the end.

Tacita seemed to be ready and eager to follow the other woman.

Zalbane heaves a small sigh of relief and turns to Tacita.  "We better work fast.  I didn't quite see any tracks, but I want to follow the path into the gorge at least a little way and see if there's any recent disturbances.  If not, we can backtrack.  There was a strange path through part of the trees like some great machine passed by somewhat recently, so we could see if that has any signs of Mustane's passage either.  Come on, let's go check the path first!"

If Tacita is agreeable, Zalbane will return to the path of the gorge and begin to slowly make her way along it, a light gleaming on the collar of her tunic for light, eyeing the path and the surroundings for signs of Mustane's passage... or the recent passage of anything or anyone else.

Tacita falls besides Zalbane as she explains. She is eager to get moving and she wants to shake the down feeling she had after the encounter with the craftsmen. As she leaves the campsite, her tunic reverts back to her practical clothing, a purple trousers and a yellow jacket.

Using her spear in her right hand as a walking stick she toys with a throwing knife in the other. She gazes about in search for the craftsman Mustane, but is otherwise unconcerned about any danger.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:59, Sun 19 Jan 2020.

The ledge is narrow, but passable, and there seem to be many handholds.  Below the "walkway" the rent in the earth's crust opens precipitously and disappears in the darkness below.  The gap to the far wall widens to perhaps 30 or 40 feet as the path continues to hug the northern side.  The ledge also drops down, albeit slowly, and only seems to level off when the path is 50 feet or more below the surface.  The light here is dim, but enough to see somewhat ahead and behind.  The gorge itself traces a sinewy path, so only so much can be observed at a time from the ledge.

From very nearly the moment the caravan stopped in the gorge Nalla had been absorbed in the process of mapping the area, first at a distance, then for more detail as a closer inspection in person, even going so far as to poke and prod the occasional stone or plant out of the way.

Returning now to where the caravan is she finds that many people have wandered off without even starting to set camp, and heads after them to figure out why, leaving those behind a detailed set of instructions on where to deploy construction supplies and equipment for when the real work will begin.

At the ledge she catches up to the others ”Taking a look around is fine, but we don't want to get to far away from the site until we have some kind of defenses built to fall back on when something unfriendly is discovered.”

On the ledge, Tacita peered down and let a pebble drop, counting the moments it takes to reach the bottom. Here she was in her element, and here eyes twinkled with excitement.

The young delve greeted Nalla with a smile and a wave. In response to wright, she held up her hand.
A misty image formed, with the campsite at it's centre. The two craftsmen were sitting on the ground facing each other. They were sulking, with their arm's crossed and  dark thunderclouds over their heads. Besides the image of the campsite, a new image formed. The trio could be seen walking on the ledge, then into a cave and finally out of a cave into a field. There they found the other carpenter, bending over to pick up a daisy. Only when they return with the craftsman, do the others stand-up and get back to work.

The young woman, shrugged in a 'what-can-you-do' kind of way, but was at the same time visibly excited to continue. She strapped her spear on her back and moved onto the ledge, following it wherever it led.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:46, Tue 21 Jan 2020.

Zalbane shakes her head.  "The carpenters won't work until we find Mustane, so we're in a bind.  There's a path here, and some kind of old bones at the bottom of the gorge, but I can't tell what sorts of creatures they're from.  There weren't tracks from Mustane's tent to here, but I thought we should check it out either way.  I want to go further down, no more than a half-hour down and back, to see if there's any trace.  If not, I'll be back up to help search the woods where the rest of the carpenters went," she says.

Zalbane, with Tacita's help if she wishes, will do just that.  A half-hour's careful exploration of the path down the gorge for any sign of Mustane.  If there is nothing, return to the surface and seek another route.

Tacita paused and nodded hesitantly at Zalbane's suggestion, though she was a bit disappointed. She then held up one finger up for a moment and made a full round with that finger. After which she cocked her head and waiting expectingly. Perhaps she is suggestion one full hour?
This message was last edited by the player at 14:28, Tue 21 Jan 2020.

"That couldn't hurt.  I just hope he didn't wander in here, as I think something is or was living here..." Zalbane says, nodding in agreement.

As the trio edges along the path, they are sometimes startled by flying creatures from the opposite wall that scream as they flee their roosts.  With wingspans no greater than an arm's length, the birds are no threat by themselves.

The going is slow, due to the narrowness of the ledge and scarcity of handholds, as well as loose rocks that can make for slippery footing.  But as the group is nearing the half hour mark in their trek, a change in the path can be seen ahead.  The path widens, not out into the gorge, but deeper into the rock.  The beginnings of a larger cave can be seen, with the "ceiling" at least seven feet above the surface of the ledge.  Due to the curving of the gorge, little more is evident from this vantage point.

OOC: I understand the "marching order" along the ledge to be first Zalbane, Tacita, and Nalla bringing up the rear.  Correct?

Zalbane points.  "Well, that's a likely place, if Mustane was taken, lured, or for some reason decided to come here on his own.  I'd like to check inside."  She looks back at her companions and says, "I can make an object of light, a sword, a simple tool, a shield, any single solid object no bigger than me.  Would anyone like anything before we go in?"

Tacita gives a pondering nod at Zalbane's suggestion, thinks for a moment but then shakes her head. For a moment, a misty hourglass appears, which then fizzles into thin air

The young delve then steps forward, in front of Zalbane. She then seeks eye-contact, as if to seek approval of this arrangement. Reaching back, the young woman retrieves her spear from her back and holds it in her hand, ready to proceed.

OOC: Tacita whishes to be in front of the group

Content to hang back and be in the better position to see anything that happens Nalla doesn't see any reason to engage in the contest for taking point.  ”We need to get this done, and get back to what matters, don't make a lot of noise but we don't have time to sneak through here slowly.”

The overhang deepens into a cave and the ledge does not go past it, at least not in any traverse-able way.  There are occasional marks in the dirt that might have been footprints at one point, but they've been scoured by wind and dripping water and the occasional passage of small creatures scuttling in the dark.

The cave narrows some as it leads deeper into the rock, but there it is still easy for the trio to pass one at a time.  The path is largely level.  If it slopes at all, it slopes upward just barely.  From their current vantage point, there is only darkness ahead and the tunnel bends a bit to the left, obscuring the view.

Zalbane raises her light to illuminate the way further, and urges Tacita to go on so they can see more and what might be lurking.  "Aye, let's quickly check out what we can, then we can return.  A few bends more, to see if there is a place of interest or intrigue or danger where Mustane might have wandered," she says to Nalla.

Tacita moved on.

Being completely in her element, and absorbed by the rush of exploration and discovery, she was unconcerned with sneaking or being careful. Instead she looked around as if on a tour, feeling the excitement of being somewhere she never threaded before.

As the group moves deeper into the cave, they encounter a few more twists in the passage, but no apparent dangers, side tunnels, nor signs of recent activity.  After several minutes of exploration the group does encounter something that seems very out of place.

Before them, filling the entire passage, is a transparent barrier of glowing energy.  Beyond it is a room that is manufactured and well lit.  On the far side of the room, perhaps twenty feet beyond the barrier, appears to be a door that is closed and seems to have no handle or control panel.

"Oh ho ho, what have we here?" Zalbane says, eyeing the glowing wall with interest.  She idly slaps a small ocher patch on her skin, releasing more knowledge into her mind.  She examines the wall carefully, trying to find a way to shut it down or bypass it safely.

OOC: Activating cypher to give me training in Understanding Numenera, now making me specialized in that skill.
18:42, Today: Zalbane rolled 7 using 1d20.  Understanding Numenera (S) 1E. (1E is for free due to having 3 Edge in Intellect)
This message was last edited by the player at 00:43, Sun 26 Jan 2020.

There is no switch or trigger that Zalbane can see, although there could easily be one in the room on the other side, out of view.  That would suggest that the room can only be accessed (and exited) by people already inside it, or who come from the other side of the door on the far side.

As the others come to a stop Nalla closes the distance to the obstruction that stopped them, then takes a look at the wall of energy and surrounding contraptions.  ”Lets try the easy way.”  Without so much as an indication of what that might be she sticks her hand into the field of energy.

Nalla is able to reach out and touch the field.  The tactile sensation is like that of warm, glazed tiles: smooth and unyielding.  The transparency of the barrier clouds to a milky orange tone around where she makes contact.  While she is able to absorb energy from the door, there is no change in the permeability of the field, nor in its overall energy level, as much as she is able to tell.

Tacita approached the barrier with curiosity. At first the poked the barrier with her spear, lightly at first, then with a bit more force. Then she threw a knife at it, curious what the effect would be.

She then turned to her companions and pointed at a wristband she wore on her left arm.
A misty image formed. It showed Tacita manipulating the wristband in front of the barrier. Suddenly she shifts, leaving a cloud behind. Then she reappears behind the barrier.

The delve looked at her companions, almost asking for their input.

Tacita's explorations find a rigid, impermeable surface.  Where physical contact is made, the same change in color/brightness as Nalla found is noticed.  The thrown knife merely bounces off and clatters to the cave floor.

re: Alberic

Alberic leaps through the shimmering silver portal, a sensation akin to the finest silk gently caressing.  This does not prepare him, at all, to slam face-first into a large tree trunk.


Looking around as he uses his fingers to check if his nose is bleeding, Alberic quickly finds Mustane (rubbing a scuffed cheek), squatted down in the leaf litter and looking around.  He smiles (almost failing to stifle an outright laugh) and waves Alberic over to him.  Even as he looks around, Alberic sees the last remnants of the portal he just exited disappear.

"We need to wait here a few minutes.  Them exys has some such they need to finish before we can go."

"Oooph!" Alberic crumples onto the floor as he reels back from the tree. He gingerly feels his nose, and finds not blood but thick black fluid on his fingers. He sighs, crudely prods the side of his nose back into place with an unpleasant mechanical crunch, then picks up his clock hand crutch, and stumbles to his feet. He limps over to Mustane. "Fair enough. 'Tis good to be back in our home dimension. Er, what did you agree with the Exigen, exactly?"

At the camp...

Mustane just holds a finger in front of his lips.  "Sshhhhh..."  He waits and listens.  He touches the leaves, sticks, and pebbles of the forest floor and smiles.

Beyond the newly arrived pair, Alberic can hear the sounds of the forest.  Birds and bugs chirping and clicking.  Small animals leaping from branch to leafy branch in the canopy.  Alberic is no naturalist, but judging by the season, he's been away from the Steadfast for at least six months, maybe longer.

Suddenly, from about 100 yards away, there is a brief shout of surprise.  A tiny ripple of silver forms in the air between Alberic and Mustane.  From it, a small lavendar crystal falls.  The shimmer vanishes.

Mustane picks up the crystal.  "There.  It's done.  Let's go to camp.  I'll introduce ya to me pals."  He stands and begins to walk in the direction the shout came from.

- - - - - - - - -

In the cave ...

Tacita awaits her companions input on her suggestion of using a cypher to teleport beyond the barrier.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:57, Thu 30 Jan 2020.

In the gorge in the cave



Zalbane nods enthusiastically.  "That sounds perfect!  Give it a try!"

At the Camp.



At Mustane's urging, Alberic falls silent, waiting - he starts as the crystal appears, then watches it fall with interest. "Fascinating. Do you mind my asking what it is? And yes - do lead on, I look forward to meeting your friends. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure where or when we are. Are we near Yenth? What time of year is it? I'm starting to think I may be in breach of contract back in Jargolamis, though I have to say it wouldn't be the first time I lost a job by getting catapulted into another dimension..."

Alberic continues in this fashion - apparently having forgotten the questions he started with in favour of a rambling monologue with little regard for whether the other is listening. The charitable interpretation would be that of a man who has been starved for company for a long time...

When Zalbane encouraged her, Tacita's eyes lit up. Without any hesitation she reached for and activated the wristband cypher. She aimed about 2 meters in front of her, into the sealed room, leaving behind a ghostly, fading image of the delve.

OOC: Cypher is a Bounder Teleporter (Discovery pg. 289)

At the camp...

Mustane tries to answer Alberic's as they go, but Alberic seems to talk over the answers, and eventually Mustane just stops trying.  "Well, it's just a-" ... "Yeah, we're north of-" ... "What time?  When I left it- "

He focuses on finding his fellow carpenters, shouting their names when they aren't immediately visible.  Soon two men come running from the forest, one broad and muscled like Mustane, the other shorter and leaner, sporting a goatee and cybernetic eye.  They both smile and whoop when they see Mustane, although the larger man's glee soon turns to anger.  "That was a cruel trick to pull, you blasted bullymong!  We was worried sick, us.  Ain't no trace of you to be found no where.  How'd you manage that?"

Mustane smiles as he explains.  "The trick was on me, you bastard.  I got pulled into an exy-pocket.  That's where I found this'n, Alberic.  He been there a while.  Said them exys fancied chattin' but had stopped chattin' with him."  He grins.  "I convinced 'em what carpenters ain't good at talkin' and such, said I'd show 'em where some good talkers was if they set the two of us free.  They lost two and got back three, s'what I agreed to."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In the cave ...

Tacita finds herself in a room of while metal.  There is a slight texture to the surface and warmth in the room.  There are no sounds here, besides those of her own breathing, and the quiet feels deeper than even that of the cave.  The back wall is just as she saw it from the other side of the barrier, with light fixtures in the ceiling at regular intervals.  The wall nearest Zalbane and Nalla is composed of the same metal as the rest.  Beside the gap occupied by the force field, there is a small black panel, just slightly larger than her hand.

The young woman takes a second to get to bearings and then turns around to the transparent barrier and makes a quick curtsy while smiling from ear to ear. Tacita then takes a moment to listen, even tapping the floor with her spear a moment later, to make sure the cypher did not made her deaf.

Switching her attention towards the panel she steps towards it to inspect it in more detail.

At the Camp...

"Pleased to meet you." Alberic tips his hat to the carpenters as his name is mentioned, revealing a badly scarred left eye socket, filled with an orb of blue crystal in lieu of the eyeball. "I must say, Mustane here did a marvellous job of getting us out of there. I was starting to think I might rot in that pocket dimension. Well, I hope whoever you sent out to them are jam-packed with interesting stories, for their sakes." He cheerfully pulls his pipe from his pocket, and jams it into his mouth, saying round it: "It is good to be back in the Steadfast. So, what are you chaps doing out here? I think you said something about being hired by the Order of Truth to do some building work?" A cloud of blue smoke, smelling faintly of sea salt and ozone drifts from the barrel. "Actually, what date is it? I suppose I should probably establish how long I was actually away for..." He gives an apologetic cough. "I'm supposed to be working a contract in for Limech back in Jargolamis."

At the camp...

Artane looks at Alberic.  "Pocket what?" and "Yeah, we're building a-" and "It's spring, 'bout two weeks past the equinox.  We still go the rains to deal with."  and "Who's Limech?"

Eventually he turns to Mustane.  "Where was yous again?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In the cave ...

The sound of Tacita's spear and steps are heard, but muffled and quickly absorbed.  The room does not echo as one might think from the surfaces.

The panel itself just seems to be a square of black glass with rounded corners.  It lies flush with the wall.

Tacita glanced at the panel, dark as it was. She created an illusory representation of it, about 2 meters on the other side of the barrier, facing her, so that the others could see it, and she could see their directions.

Then, almost theatrically, she poked at it with her right index finger.

In the cave ...

At her touch, the panel lights up with a blue square toward the bottom and a red laser emitter at the top.  The laser runs a beam over Tacita's hand (harmlessly) before the panel light changes to a yellow square.  The panel then goes dark.  Nothing else happens.

Quickly, Tacita retracts her finger and examines it for any markings. She cocks her head to the side and examines the panel again. Then, tentatively, she lays her full right hand on the panel.

In the cave ...

Tacita's hand is unmarked and undamaged.  Placing her full hand on the dark glass yields the same response from the panel as before: blue light, red laser scan, yellow light, return to black.

Her illusion shows all interactions with the panel and the results.

With a sigh the delve leaves the panel alone, but not before crafting an illusion of an hand performing a rude gesture at the panel. To ease her frustration, she moves with a cartwheel towards the door on the back wall. Using the blunt back part of her spear, she pushes against it.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:31, Sat 01 Feb 2020.

Although she doesn't look any different when charged with the energy of the door Nalla does seem to be refreshed by it in much the same way a short nap would.  After letting Tacita try to bypass the security more politely she shakes her head sadly and mumbles to herself ”I suppose it is going to be the hard way.”

Pointing her hand at the wall near the doorway on the side opposite of the security panel Nalla unleashes all the energy she has stored up, blasting it into the rock with enough force to leave scorch marks or even a few cracks in softer material, then she places her other hand on the energy barrier again and absorbs more of its power, which she begins to channel directly into the wall.

In the cave ...

Nalla's blasts of kinetic energy, now coming in rapid succession, begin to show an effect on the rock.  Bit by crumbly bit, an area about the size of her outstretched hand begins to wear into the stone.  A small pile of dust and sand begins to accumulate at the bottom of the irregular stone wall.  If she continues at this for a little while, she'll be able to "mine" a path to the back side of the wall that the control panel is in.

The energy field remains as solid and unyielding as ever, despite Nalla's draining of the forces maintaining it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:00, Sun 02 Feb 2020.

In the cave ...

Meanwhile, inside the chamber, Tacita finds that the door is quite solid, opaque, and has no apparent controls or handles on this side.  Only its shape, as compared to the rest of the walls, marks it as a door.  Likely it has controls on the other side, although perhaps it is activated by some other mechanism.

From the other side of the barrier, she can here the muted sounds of Nalla's force blasts striking the stone of the passageway.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:01, Sun 02 Feb 2020.

Zalbane squints at the panel as Nalla does her energetic mining and tries to think of another way of activating it.  Zalbane holds up her hand, one finger extended, and acts like she's drawing a circle on the panel.  A square.  A checkmark.  And various other forms for Tacita to try, just to see if that might do anything.

Notified by the noise of Nalla's blasts, Tacita turns around and sees Zalbane's suggestions. The young woman taps herself lightly on the for-head and jogs over to the panel to try the forms suggested by the jack.

At the camp...

"Spring? Oh dear. I've been gone..." He holds up his mitted left hand, and stares at it for a moment as if counting the hidden fingers. "Six months. Eeepp... you know, I probably shouldn't head back to Jargolamis. I'm pretty certain I'm well past my notice period, and I didn't buy myself out of the contract. Limech's the head honcho building up that new bridge between Jargolamis and Luigolamis. He can be quite hardball, especially on, er, matters of contract. Anyway, something'll turn up. The place we were was a pocket dimension. Fascinating place. Quite an experience, I highly recommend it, though only if you have a way back!" He gives a hearty laugh, which trails off as he realises belatedly that the others are not sharing his interest in the conversation. He finishes, rather lamely: "Ahem. Well, er, Carpenters, eh? You guys are working for the Order of Truth, yes? You er, don't happen to know if they're in need of a handy engineer?"

At the camp ...

Mustane laughs at the last question.  "Heh.  Mayhaps they might now.  Have to see who's left.  Some o' them Order folks have already gone on that holiday you recommended.  Have to find their own way back, though."  He winks to his fellow builders and they join in the joke.  "Come to speak of it, where is the lot of 'em?  Out looking for me, I 'ope."

"That one that fell asleep on the wagon finally woke up," explains Artane.  "An odd one she is.  Quiet like.  She, the ugly one, and the cranky woman went down in that big hole over there.  Was a bit ago.  Ain't heard much since.  S'pose they coulda falled in."

Pik jumps in, "The others, yeah, they was fanned out in the woods.  Dunno if they was more concerned about findin' you or killin' whatever took ya, but they was lookin' all the same."

- - - - - - - - - -

In the cave ...

As Nalla continues to bore a hole in the stone, Tacita tries all manner of manual configurations on the scanner, checking both hands just in case.  Nothing seems to change the response.  Blue light, red scan, yellow light, shut down.  At least the panel continues to function, and no lock-out has affected it.  So far, at least."

In the cave ...

Zalbane, watching Tacita's movements (directly or via illusions) wonders if the scanner is checking something more subtle or even something visual at all.  Perhaps a tattoo or pattern or crystal or chip ... some other means of identification.

And the only place Zalbane can think of where there might be an example ... is at the bottom of the gorge.

At the camp...

"Big hole..." Alberic repeats. "Could have fallen in..." He frowns. "I'm not sure who these people are, but if their potential demise stands between me and potential gainful employment, then perhaps we had better go and see if they're alright." He pauses, taking another puff from his pipe, which comes out black and smelling of charcoal. He grimaces. "Also from concern for their wellbeing, naturally. Er, which way did you say they went?"

He turns as if to start walking, but pauses, waiting to see if the carpenters are also willing to come.

Zalbane taps Nalla's shoulder and waves to Tacita.  "It might be that the glass is trying to detect something that we don't have.  And the only example we might have of that is in the bones in the bottom of the gorge."  She looks behind her at the way they've come.  "I am interested in what's in there, but should we pursue this path and hope that Mustane is as its end?  Or assume he didn't come this way, look elsewhere, and come back to this as soon as we've found him?"

At the camp ...

Artane and Pik both point to the "entrance" to the gorge, which is fairly apparent once they've pointed it out.  "They went that way," Artane explains.  "I'm sure you'll find 'em one way or another.  But we's got work to do.  Wasted our whole morning looking for this lump."  He smacks Mustane on the chest.  "Gotta catch up now.  Camp to set up.  The grumpy one's got plans.  Good ones, by the looks of it.  Readable.  Workable.  I like a good plan, I does."

He claps Aberic on his metal shoulder, indifferent to the hard material beneath his clothing.  "Good luck."  The trio turn and walk toward one of the piles covered in a tarp that rests beside a tent.  They commiserate about Mustane's experience while taking off the tarp and getting to task.

At the camp...

"Thank you. A real pleasure to make your acquaintance." Alberic says absently, then begins to muse to himself: "An odd one, a cranky one, a hideous one. The grumpy one - presumably the cranky one - has plans." Then, louder, he declares: "Well, I'll let you know if I find anything. And I'll try to scream loudly should I fall down any large holes, or otherwise be in the process of getting killed by something. Just to let you know." He offers a broad grin - revealing that the teeth at the left corner of his mouth are all metallic - a cheery wave, and sets off into the gorge, a plume of maroon-coloured smoke flaring out behind him from his pipe.

It is only once he has moved out of sight of the camp that he abruptly stops and claps a hand to his head. "Ach! I should probably have asked for names. And descriptions, for that matter." Then he shrugs. "Oh well. I suppose I could just call for Order of Truth people."

Apparently satisfied with this idea, he resumes his trip into the gorge.

Nalla takes a break from blasting the rock to reply, and inspect the progress of her work, using the break to reply.  ”In part that depends on if we can get our scout out of the room at all.
In any case I doubt that Mustane was able to come this way.

Along the ledge ...

Turning in the pointed direction, Alberic sees a hill to his left and a flatter area to the right.  As he moves between a par of larger rocks into the gorge (the gap between the hill and the flatter area), he finds a narrow ledge along the left hand side.  It descends slowly as it follows the wall of the crevasse.  The gorge is quite deep, fairly narrow (although he has no hope of touching both sides at once), and twists a bit, so he cannot see too far ahead.  Luckily, there seem to be plenty of handholds along the way.


- - - - - - - - -

In the cave ...

Nalla has managed to bore several inches into the rock, but isn't to the opposite side of the panel(?) yet.

Oblivious to the discussion outside, Tacita stopped inputting more figures, her arm was getting tired and it didn't seem much use anyway. Without much enthusiasm she touches  the barrier with her spear, hoping that touching it from the other side might end in a different result.

After that she surveys the room again, while performing some stretch exercises. She checked then panel, barrier and door, now she is looking for anything she hadn't tried yet.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:55, Wed 05 Feb 2020.

Along the ledge...

Alberic regarded the ledge, thoughtfully, glancing between it and the large clock-hand he is using as a crutch. "Looks like a two-hand job." He grunts.

He shrugs off his pack, rummages for his length of rope, then rapidly fashions a harness to lash the crutch to his back. Having secured it thus, he dons his pack over it, and carefully remvoes the mitt from his left hand to reveal an unpleasant mass of mechanical joints and linkages, that with a bit of effort, he separates into three crude digits. With this and his conventional right hand, he begins to cautiously make his way onto the ledge. His left is stiff, but strong, and he soon begins to adopt a loping rhythm to move himself along.

In the cave ...

Tacita's investigation doesn't yield much new.  The walls, floors, and ceiling are made of the same whitish material.  It's difficult to tell if it is metal, some kind of fabricated stone, perhaps a ceramic, or something else.  It is quite hard and seems to absorb sound to some extent.  It is not patterned or decorated, except for the tessellation of the "tiles", which are tight enough that not even your knife point will intrude in the gaps.  The light fixtures are flush with the ceiling, and while none of them is particularly bright, there are enough to provide good lighting within the space.

The room seems designed for humans, or at least human-sized beings.  The doorways are roughly dimensions you are familiar with.  The ceiling is neither very low nor overly high.  The control panel is at an easy height to access.

- - - - - - - - -

On the ledge ...

Alberic's path along the ledge is tense, but manageable.  Although his feet slip once or twice, there are good places to grip that remain firm under his fingers.  After what feels like a long time on the edge of a deadly precipice, the the ledge seems to widen as it enters a cave.  Just beyond the cave, but within the gorge, the ledge quickly diminishes to an impassible lip.

While the cave is shadowy, Alberic is able to hear occasional voices within.

With a sigh of relief, Alberic swings himself into the cave: if there is to be trouble, he'd rather not face it on a ledge. He places a hand on the harness lashing his clock hand crutch to his back, ready to loosen it, but does not release it... yet. Instead, he rests his left hand against the wall, and calls into the cave: "Er, hello...? Order of Truth people?"
This message was last edited by the player at 08:28, Fri 07 Feb 2020.

Worry was now knocking on the door of Tacita's mind. Something she was not used to, but now she was stuck in this room.

She
Was
Stuck

She was attached to her freedom, she really liked it and was starting to feel uncomfortable over it's loss.

The young delve sat down in front of the barrier with a sigh, started poking it with the blunt end of her spear and started to think what more she could do.

In the cave ...

Nalla and Zalbane hear an unfamiliar male voice from the direction of the gorge.  It is a bit faint, but that's likely due to the intervening tunnels.

"Er, hello...? Order of Truth people?"

The sound does not reach Tacita's ears, the barrier dampening sound as well as the rest of the walls.

Unaware of the visitor, Tacita stood up and waved at the two woman on the other side of the barrier, then pointed at her panel illusion.

The panel was in it's clean active state, a blue square to the bottom, and a red laser emitter on the top. The, slightly in front of the panel, there were now shapes forming, first a cube, then a crystal, a key, and some other forms.

The mute woman stood in front of the barrier with a tilted head looking in concentration at her illusory image shifting.

OOC: 21:47, Today: Tacita rolled 19 using 1d20 with rolls of 19.  Int test +1 Effort.

As Tacita cycles through various shapes with her illusions, she notices that some of the crystalline forms take longer for the scanner to read.  A few even are even read twice before being rejected.  As the scanner appears to not have any lock-out mechanism for repeated attempts, Tacita is able to experiment and refine her illusions in an attempt to find something closest to what it's looking for.

After many, many iterations Tacita finds that a crystalline shape resembling a faceted disk, a heptagon from above or below, barely a few millimeters thick and roughly the diameter of a small coin is the "best received".  The scanner reads it three times slowly before flashing yellow and turning off.

Still somewhat surprised at her success, Tacita stand still looking at the weird disk for a moment. Then she enlarges the disk illusion, retrieves her bag from her shoulders, and starts rummage. Finally she retrieves some Responsive Synth and starts to shape it into a copy of the illusion.

Looking extremely satisfied, the young woman places the newly crafted disk in front of the panel, anxious to see it's reaction.

OOC: Using Right Tool for the Job with 1 unit of Responsive Synth. 1 Intellect is converted to 1 Speed via Quick Wits, which my Speed Edge of 3 will cover.

Tacita carefully shapes and molds the iotum into a physical form identical to the odd crystal.  She tries her best to replicate the translucence, the refractivity she believes the crystal will have.  Holding forth the precious material, she presses the panel.

The blue light appears.  The red laser scans the makeshift "key".

Nothing happens.  Nothing happens for longer than any previous pause during Tacita's testing of the panel.  But the blue light remains.

The laser scans again.  It is slower this time and passes back and forth along the faceted disk in a way Tacita has not seen before.

And again there is no reaction.  No change.  Tacita's lungs begin to burn from the breath she didn't realize she was holding.

Suddenly, the blue light blinks twice and the force field sizzles a moment as it deactivates.  Even as it does, the crystal disk disintegrates, likely an adverse reaction to the intense scanning of the laser.

There is no way to know how long until the barrier reactivates, or what happens if she's crossing the threshold when it does.

Getting no reply, Alberic pauses for a moment, concentrating on the sounds he can hear from further in the cave. He sniffs at the air for a moment, thoughtfully, then nods, with satsifaction. "Numenera." He murmers. "Best proceed with caution."

He loosens the harness holding the enormous clock hand to his back, and grips it firmly in both hands, like a quarterstaff, ready for trouble. Or perhaps more like a punting pole, as he keeps one end on the ground to offset his lopside gait. He moves forwards as quietly as he can - which for Alberic, is not very - alert for danger.

08:50, Today: Alberic rolled 9 using 1d20.  Approaching Stealthily. No Assets.

With a sharp intake of breath, Tacita is completely mesmerized by the panel's scanning process. For the young delve, it almost seems as if the world stops but for the panel. Once, twice, it rejects the disk as a key. When finally the blue light blinks twice, the young woman unconsciously hops, clapping in her hands as she released the air she didn't know she held up.

Quickly Tacita steps towards the barrier and make a dive roll through the opening. Relieved to be on the other side, the mute woman rushes up Nalla and hugs the wright tightly, feet in the air, with elation on her face. She then moves over to the Zalbane and hugs the jack with a wide grin.

Finally releasing herself, Tacita hops from one feet to the other, proudly pointing at the, for now, empty opening.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:26, Tue 11 Feb 2020.

Even as she waves her arm in the direction of the doorway, the trio hears a buzz of energy and the barrier snaps back into place.  Had Tacita been wearing looser clothing, shreds of her dangling sleeve would now be on the floor of the white room.  The barrier now exists as it did before, an impenetrable crackle in the air, just barely visible.

Nalla doesn't seem particularly into the hug, but at least she doesn't squirm.  ”Now that that is over we should return to the camp and see if we can make a move permanent solution.”

Tactica blinks in shock as the barrier snaps in place. She smacks her left palm with her right fist in annoyance. Now they would have to find another way to open it...

But that would be for another time. Tempting as it was to get through the barrier again, she had enough of that room for this day. Turning back towards the entrance, the young delve crafted another illusion. An hourglass appeared, the final grains of sand falling from the top chamber into the bottom pile.

She figured the hour they had agreed upon had passed, and her lust for discovery was sated. For now at least.

Suddenly she stops and lifts an open hand and looks intensely forward. Near the mouth of the cave, glowing yellow footprints appear leading into the cave, with the left side of the footprints double the size of the other. While they might not be accurate in their position or speed, they do signal what she thinks is going on.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:44, Tue 11 Feb 2020.

”I hear them too, let me see the end of your spear for a movement, and be careful who you touch with this thing.”

When she touches the spear it begins to glow with the same radiance as the door behind them, clearly holding that power until something causes it to be released.  Reaching back to touch the wall again Nalla recharges herself as well with another ever so brief flickering of drain on the near inexhaustible wall, then heads off in the direction of the footsteps to see what is trying to find them.

Alberic limps forward with his rapid but uneven gait. Feeling the shift in power around the Numenera, and realising that he has no chance of being quiet, he reverts to his original strategy, pausing in his steps and calling out: "Er, hello? Order of Truth People?"

Tacita looks at her spear with with renewed respect and nods in thanks to Nalla. She is tempted to touch the tip, but can restrain herself from the experiment.

As the intruder announces himself, the young delve grips her spear with both hands. Seemingly in a relaxed stance, her muscles are tense and she could spring into action at any moment. She looks straight at him, as if giving him the opportunity to explain.

Clearly not threatened by one, or even most of a, man Nalla stops a few paces away from him and asks him to be a bit more specific.

”What is your purpose here, and who sent you?”

As Tacita comes through the forcefield, Zalbane smiles at the delve's cleverness and resourcefulness.  Zalbane turns with surprise at the sudden speech from behind her, staring at the stranger with trepidation.  Her light shines brightly on the newcomer, and she prepares to unleash a barrage of painful color if he proves to be a foe!

"Ah, good day!" Alberic nods in a friendly way. He has a travelling pack slung over his shoulders, and wears long, dark brown duster coat that is buttoned up to cover most of his body, and a blue cloak. From the left sleeve, in place of a hand, a mass of mechanical appendages emerge, curling around a six-foot long clock hand that he has been using as a crutch. His right hand - entirely conventional 0 tips his broad-brimmed hat in greeting as he stands before them, revealing a gaunt but cheerful face, lightly bearded, and thinning brown hair atop his head. His left eye is nothing more than a sphere of blue crystal, the socket around it scarred and twisted, as if it had been installed without proper care. His face, however, is opened into a lopsided grin, as if the left side were somehow stiffer than the right. His right eye twinkles cheerfully. "My name is Alberic. Some call me the Half-Consumed, care of a little mishap while I was studying the Iron Wind." He wiggles the mess of digits making up his left hand. "A reckless exaggeration - I assure you, it is a third at most. More to the point, I was sent here by your friend Mustane. We had both had a run in with the Exigen, and had been pulled into a pocket dimension. Mustane kindly managed to negotiate our release, and I find myself out here. I am some distance from where I used to work, and have probably been missing for six months, so I am in some need of work. I am an adherent of the Order of Truth - Mustane tells me that you, too, are with the order, and pointed me in your direction. He, er, seemed in a hurry to get back to his carpentry." He coughs, and looks expectantly at them. "I thought I would bring you the good news of his return, and, er, see if you might have need of a skilled Wright on this expedition."

As always Nalla has an almost painfully detailed plan for just this sort of occasion, and lays it out step by step almost as if reading it off a checklist list.

”I know a Mustane, and lets assume you aren't the reason for this whole distraction.
But we don't know you, and you probably don't want it to stay that way for long, so lets have you toss away anything that looks like a weapon and leave this cave.
If you can lead us back to where Mustane is, and he confirms your identity we will talk about giving you back your stuff.”

Alberic does not seem to take this amiss - indeed, he seems quite thrilled at the prospect of a two way conversation, and proceeds to allow a stream of one-sided conversation gush forth: "Ah, yes! A wise precaution. Afraid it's been a month or two since I had proper conversation with anyone, so I'm perhaps a little rusty on the social niceties. Don't get me wrong, it was nice to speak with Mustane, but he's quite a quiet fellow - not one for conversation, as he put it. Though, ironically, that was precisely how he negotiated our release. What a thought!" He chuckles, then seeing belatedly that the others do not share his amusement, he hurriedly rests the large clock hand he carries against the wall of the cave, and backs away from it, patting at his pockets. "Now then, let's see. I don't carry much by way of weaponry. I'm an engineer, rather than a warrior. Now I have had a few causes to use the old clock hand, so I'll turn that over. I'm afraid I walk a little lop-sided without it, but I can still get around. And to be honest, it wasn't that easy to carry into this cave, so it'll be quite the relief to let someone else deal with it!" He again starts a laugh, then realises that others do not see the funny side. "Now, let's see. I've no weapons in my pack - saving a few tools, you understand, but there's no way of you knowing that without rummaging through it, so let's say I'll just take it off and pop it down here." He shrugs off his pack and places it next to the clock hand. "Now, I do have in my pocket my pipe. Not dangerous you understand, but I realise that you have no way of knowing firstly, what I have in my pockets, and secondly that it isn't some pipe of dangerously explosive dentonating. Which of course, it isn't... although... now that I think about it, it would be quite fascinating to give that a go..." He becomes lost in thought, as if he had quite forgotten his predicament.

The young delve looks at the organized wright with an almost puzzled look, but then shrugs. Without saying a word, the she walks rather nonchalantly over towards the newcomer using the spear as a walking stick.

Silently, but with a rather friendly smile,she attempts to lifts the clock hand, feels the weight and 'nopes' and shakes her head.

She then kneels besides the pack and opens it to give it a quick look. She slings the pack over her shoulder, slightly awkward half-over her own pack. Finally she holds up her open hand towards the mechanical wright, looking expectingly.

Alberic watches Tacita's activities with some interest. He looks at her extended hand for a moment with some fascination, before realising that she is expecting something from him. "Ah." He says, sheepishly. "My pipe?"

He slowly reaches his right hand into his pocket, and pulls out a large, but plain-looking pipe. He carefully places it in her hand. "Just careful with it. You can get a lot of smoke from that if you're not careful... and you need to be careful about mixing the flavours. There are some less... pleasant combinations."

Nalla doesn't seem to be inclined to repeat herself, but she also does not rush the compliance to her plan, waiting patiently for the next phase to begin and obviously quite sure it will.

For a moment, Alberic looks rather expectantly at the others, before realising that it is he who is supposed to lead them back. "Ah, yes. Shall I?" He gestures over his shoulder, then turns and heads towards the entrance of the cave. Without his crutch, his gait looks quite unstable, but is surprisingly quick. He makes his way out onto the ledge, his mechanical hand splaying out its appendages to dig into the rock, and calls back into the cage: "If you wouldn't mind, would someone bring my clock hand? I got it all the way from a clock out in the Clock of Kala!" He chuckles, and apparently oblivious to the fact that no one shares his amusement, proceeds along the ledge, muttering "Clock hand! Clock of Kala! Ah, me..."

Alberic will wait for the others to come out, and begin to make his way back to the camp.

Zalbane regards the gregarious stranger with a most peculiar feeling.  He had been so absorbed in Nalla's command and Tacita's questions that he hadn't really seemed to register her sickly pink skin, bulbous bronze eyes, lumpy flesh, strange proportions, tiny baby teeth, or wire-like sparse hair.  She picked up the clock arm with trepidation and followed with the others, holding the arm more like a club than anything else...

Nalla nods reassuringly at Zalbane as she picks up the clock hand, then returns her focus to the new guy and follows him out closely.

”Now that we are on our way lets get back to that bit about how you got here, and what it is you think we need?”

Alberic seems thrilled by the opportunity to talk after months of virtual solitude. He appears to take a very broad interpretation of this question, and launches into his life story, fiddling to put his mitten back over his mechanical hand - a slow process given how often he stops to gesticulate. "Well, it's a long story. How familiar are you with Exigen? Or Pocket Dimensions?" He does not wait for answers. "I started out in Far Brohn, you see, when I was just a lad, apprenticing with the Order of Truth. There were so many caravans and I always wanted to see the world, so I signed up with one as a mechanic, and did the run over to Nihliesh. After a few years of that, my employer sponsored an expedition out to the Lambent Fields, and sent me out because of my way with the Numenera. It was incredible! We found huge amounts out there, but in the end we got a bit cocky trying to study the Iron Wind and..." He waves a hand towards his distorted left side. "We got too close. I was the only survivor. It was quite the adventure getting back to the Pythoran Empire - I'll have to tell you about it sometime! A little circuitous - I got all the way into the Clock of Kala before I realised that I had gone in the wrong direction. Still, I picked up this delightful souvenir." He gestures towards the clock arm that Zalbane carries. "And - by the way - thank you for carrying it. " He appears to be unphased by her appearance. "It's a useful counterbalance, and very handy in a fight! Anyway, by the time I got back towards Far Brohn, I ended up pretty much bankrupt, and was a little worried that our sponsor would, erm, expect me to put up their return on investment, so I headed over to Jargolamis in search of work on that newfangled bridge that Limech is putting up. Well! It's quite the fascinating project! A technical marvel and..." He trails off, abruptly realising that he is answering completely the wrong question, and that the life story he finds so fascinating to remenisce on doesn't seem to be gripping his audience in quite the same way.

He coughs, and resumes. "Anyway, long story short, I, er, resumed my association with the Order, ended up on an expedition to the Umbil. It seems my monkeying around with an extradimensional teleporter attracted the attention of the Exigen - they're sort of extradimensional beings. Do you know them? Did I ask that earlier? They're quite fascinated by our dimensions, and often pull people across to study. They snatched me from the Umbil, and well - initially they were quite chatty, in their picture-driven sort of way. They communciate telepathically, you see. Images and concepts... no language barriers there! Anyway, they seemed quite interested in me at first - couldn't get enough of my tales about the Lambent Fields and the Black Riage. My explanation of the Clock of Kala and my clock hand - oh, they were in stitches at that one... heh, heh - at least I think they were. It's hard to tell. I clearly couldn't top that one, because they seemed to lose interest after few months, and, well - left me to my own devices, and picked up your Mustane. He wasn't much of a talker, though, so he persuaded them to let us go. In exchange for some other people, I think? And anyway, here I am. Probably in breach of a second contract, so I'm in sore need of work, and Mustane said you were with the order, so I thought maybe you were in need of a Wright." He offers a lame cough. "Still, I'm an enthusiatic sort. Will work for food and lodging, heh heh! I realise I seem to have baled on two contracts, now, but I assure you, both were force majeure! I have many fulfilled contracts under my belt, and am handy with tools. I mean, I have to be!" He wiggles his mechanical hand. "This stuff doesn't fix itself! So, if I can be of any service... well, I'd be happy to help. I, er, didn't think to ask what you were up to. What are you up to?"

As with so many of Alberic's monologues, he trails off, lamely, as he realises he has said too much.

Zalbane starts when Alberic's ramblings reveals he was touched by the same disaster that had changed her.  "I too was changed by the Iron Wind.  I was the only survivor of the building it destroyed in my village, and it brushed me... I was protected by a great light from dying, though I will forever look very different."

When he begins to speak of pocket dimensions and creatures from other places that liked to pull people away for study, she looks at him sharply.  "We are here because people seemingly foreign to here are appearing from the gorge randomly.  Our Aeon Priest wanted us to establish an enclave here to discern its cause and see what we could learn from it and from the people.  Perhaps your Exigen are the source of this disturbance!"

Alberic is immediately fascinated by Zalbane's encounter with the Iron Wind. "Really? Goodness! You too! How was it? I was fortunate that I was on the edge of the cloud. You can actually see the line where its edge was..." He begins to undo the top button of his shirt to show off the scars, before realising that this is wholly inappropriate, and giving an embarrassed cough. "You said a great light protected you?"


In reponse to the question of the Exigen, he muses: "That's quite possible. I had assumed they returned Mustane and I here because it was Mustane who negotiated our freedom, and this was where they took him from. But perhaps they have other reasons for being interested in this area? After all, they must have been here to take an interest in Mustane. Have you managed to speak to any of these new arrivals? Have there been other disappearances?"

Alberic's urge to undress is inappropriate not least because he is traversing a narrow ledge above a very deep crevasse, and perhaps he should be focusing on surviving while he chats about pocket dimensions.

The shuffle along the arcing wall of the gorge is slow for the quartet, but slightly safer for having passed by so recently.  The weather remains calm and conducive to travel.

OOC: Time for more discussion/banter along the ledge if you want to.

While quite content to let Alberic talk about whatever he wants, and for some ancient history to be shared Nalla makes a very obvious attempt to head off the mention of any information relevant to the current mission.

”I think we will wait on telling you anything about what has been happening in the area until we can at least confirm your story with Mustane, even if that will not give us any way to confirm your identity.”

"Oh. Er, yes. Of course." The problem of actually confirming who he is doesn't seem to have crossed Alberic's mind at all. Indeed, so wrapped up is he in narrating his tale, that he seems to have largely lost track of their surroundings, and is making his way along the ledge without due care and attention. "I hadn't really thought of that. I don't really have any identity papers or the like. If only the order kept a membership database? I suppose you could contact the Aeon Priests back in Jargolamis? I'm a fairly distinctive fellow."

As the group edges their way back to the camp, noises from that direction can be heard.  Objects colliding, likely lumber being stacked, and the relaxed banter of conversation too distant to be made out.

Tacita slows down until she is last in the group. She seems relaxed, but she is curious about what will happen when they reach the craftsmen. She holds off on conversation, simply because it takes her effort to do so, but she likes the half-mechanical man.

Even though he talks way too much...

"Ah, I think we are back at the place." Alberic declares, heading for the noise and calling out. "Ah, Mr Mustane! I think I have found the Order of Truth folks you mentioned!"

The ledge finally resolves again into the steeper, uneven steps leading up between the boulders and out into the clearing where the trail from Yenth ended.  Zalbane has edged along behind Nalla, in front of Tacita, bearing the clock-arm staff in a harness of light on her back.

Back on solid ground and under the canopy of green and purple leaves, the group from the gorge has a clear view of the three carpenters counting lumber and moving it over to an area of bare earth staked out, a perimeter in twine.

"We's gonna run low on lumber soon, if we ain't gonna cut more trees," says the thinnest, Pik.

"Prelate said them's would help us with it," said Mustane, jerking his head toward the group emerging from the grotto.

"Don't look like any axe or saw on 'em.  They gonna chew us some boards?" laughs Artane, with the others joining him.  He calls out, "Welcome back, you lot.  Relief to see you didn't fall in or nothin'.  Hate to think we're building a mausoleum instead of a cabin."
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:21, Thu 27 Feb 2020.

Zalbane had made a harness for herself out of strands of living light to haul the clock hand behind her as they made the trek back up the gorge, brows furrowed at the rapid appearance of this stranger.  They had a tiny part of an answer about the Gorge, but it would take days, even weeks of further exploration to uncover even a part of its secrets.

But as they emerged back into the campsite, Zalbane stared at Mustane with surprise. Alberic had said, but the proof was in the pear, as the saying went.  "Mustane!  How good it is to see you!  Alberic said you had quite a strange experience together."

"Bit strange, yeah, but blessed quick, I think.  For me, at least," he says as he lugs heavy boards across the camp.

"Definitely a blessing. I was in there significantly longer, and for most of that I was getting the cold shoulder treatment." He gives an exasperated. shrug. "I can't think why. Anyway, Mr Mustane - I, er, tracked down your friends, though I think they would like you to verify that I arrived here with you from person."

"Huh?  From Person?"  Mustane stops in his tracks.  "I met you in the exy pocket after they took me.  You came with me when I convinced 'em to trade for more chatty folk."  He shrugs.  "Builders know how to solve problems."  He continues the last few steps to the building site, dumps the lumber in a resounding clatter, and starts going back for more.

"Hmmm... I think I meant in person or from the Pocket Dimension." Alberic strokes his chin, thoughtfully. "A lengthy period without verbal speech will do that."

His demeanour brightens. "Anyway, Mr Mustane's terse demeanour quite saved the day. Anyway, I'm afraid I don't have a saw or an axe handy. We could probably improvise one from my crutch, though..." He looks thoughtfully at his clock hand, tied as it was to Zalbane's back.

This was apparently good enough for Tacita. The young delve shot a look at Nalla, notifying the woman of what she was about to do. Then she young woman moved towards the half mechanical man with his pack and pipe in front of her, handing it over if he so pleased.

She also held back a grin as she looked at the craftsmen again. Although they were quite different from her depictions of them, she thought there was also some truth in her depiction and the thought just made her smile.

Returning Tacita's glance with a nod more like agreement than permission, but surely some of each, Nalla addresses Alberic in a more detailed and descriptive manner.  ”Now that we have that unpleasantness out of the way welcome to our project, we are establishing a base camp at the moment, feel free to engage in the construction of any of the prepared kits around the camp, they all have detailed instructions included for use and placement.”

With what she obviously considers the only required introduction out of the way Nalla begins a tour of the site, stopping at each group of builders to ensure that they are following said instructions closely, more than a few times she adjusts the angle of something or helps level out the foundation of a structure but most of the changes are more cosmetic in nature than strictly required.

"Wonderful! Thank you!" Alberic nods to Nalla, and accepts his pack and pipe gratefully from Tacita. "That's very kind of you."

He slings the pack over his shoulder and clamps the pipe to his mouth, soon, producing a cloud of rose-scented pink smoke. He turns to Zalbane. "Might I recover my crutch I can walk without it, but it doesn't half level my posture out?"

This is true - without the staff, Alberic still walks at a spry speed but the lolloping gait clearly isn't designed to aid the human posture, and is unpleasant to watch. MoreqQuietly he adds to Zalbane: "You know, I really must ask you about your run-in with the Iron Wind when we get the chance. Absolutely  fascinating - I find so few other survivors. Even fewer who are in a fit state to speak..."

He then follows Nalla on the tour, studying the different layouts and instructions, clearly fascinated by them, and enthused by the prospect of work. Mercifully, this fascination means that for the first time, he actually falls silent, studying everything intently.

Zalbane hands over the heavy clock hand to Alberic so he can stand easily.  "Few indeed," she says of the Iron Wind.  As Alberic watches the creation of the camp, she says softly, "I was in the Children's Hall when the Iron Wind passed through our village. Just a touch of it brushed over the roof, turning it into a huge eye that opened into a mouth filled with butterfly wings and shards of glass.  The weight of it collapsed the building. Most of the children were killed.  One survived, with broken limbs, but I was touched by the 'blood' of the eye, and woke up with a shard of glass in my hand." She holds up the shimmering shard she wears around her neck. "It lets me focus my light, and I used that to help my kin rebuild, even though the Iron Wind changed me to look very different."

As the work, introductions, and commiserations continue, a good day's work is done and progress made in following Nalla's well-laid plan.  As the group collects to eat their evening meal together, a glowing light erupts in front of Nalla.  It quickly resolves itself into a hologram of Prelate Mez and begins speaking, audible to all.

"I received a message from Listran.  He used the last of his iotum to build a communication cypher.  He reports that he, Thar, and Kase have fallen into some kind of alternate dimension of crystal and edible corals.  They fled the purplish creatures floating in there and took refuge in a cave.  It is likely exigen, but as their pocket dimensions do not remain fixed in our world, even if they can find their way out, there's no telling where they'll emerge.  Efforts to rescue them have begun in Stirthal.

"In the meantime, you are reduced in skills and labor.  I've made arrangements for another to join your party.  He goes by the name of Lyel Veric and will be coming from Thriest using a travel bubble.  Create some kind of signal that can be seen day or night, so that he can reach you safely by dawn the day after tomorrow.

"Your party continues to have my confidence."

The message blinked out and the chirping silence of evening filled the gap.

"Ah, that is indeed the place we were, Mr Mustane!" Alberic declares. He turns to the others. "But I'm curious... you said many people, had been turning up here from other places? The Exigen might well be an explanation, but I wonder why they would be dumping various people in the same place. Might I ask if that is the purpose of the camp you are setting up here? To invesigate this phenomenon?"