Hawaii:Sessions:19910427: Healing Mud Pits and Ruins
HEALING MUD PITS AND RUINS
The team now entered the healing mud-pits. After riding into them a little way, they encountered some ruins. Seeing these, they decided it was a good time to rest. Upon reaching the ruins, the party dismounted. Ambrose placed the lady in the mud to heal. Brandon placed mud on his buttocks, which had been injured in the battle and aggravated by the ride.
Hyllar found a flat wall and put up his Black Hole. Jake did the same thing on an adjoining wall. However, the Hole expanded to full size and vanished. Jake felt for it on the wall and his hand went through, so he stepped in. Darr, who had been standing behind them as they put up their Holes, saw this entire sequence of events and immediately followed Jake through... into total darkness. Darr found the flashlight on his belt with his left hand and flicked it on. As soon as he did this, the chamber was flooded with light.
This new light revealed that they were in a large chamber. Darr sent Ariel back for the others. As she flew out, Jake and Darr advanced into the room. About forty yards straight in front of the door was a small, one-foot-high platform. On the wall were two fifteen-foot-high doors. They went over and examined them. They weren't really doors; they were carvings of doors. Jake gave them a half-hearted push to see if they would open. They didn't. They continued to lightly examine the cavern.
As Ariel exited the Hole she encountered Hyllar, who was just coming out of his Hole. She informed him about what had occurred. Black, who had just approached, also heard. They quickly informed the rest of the team. Hyllar, Laura, Durathil, Thurladeem, and Xumbala followed Ariel back into the Hole. The cavern was quickly explored. The cavern curved around behind the doors carved on the wall but were dead ends. The mages converged on the doors and began to examine them carefully. Darr took up a guard stance about ten yards behind the door to the right, while Laura did the same to the left. Jake began to get bored and began juggling his knives. He had impressed Darr and gotten up to seven knives before he decided that he had had enough waiting. He asked Darr if anyone had fed the mounts. When Darr said he didn't think so, Jake said he'd go feed them. Xumbala volunteered to go with him. The examination of the doors continued.
Many minutes later, Darr decided to stick his head out of the Hole to see how the others were doing. Just as he got out of the Hole, he met Xumbala leading two people in. Xumbala turned them over to Darr to lead them the rest of the way in. They had approached Xumbala and Jake, telling them that they were expected. They were Kemoc and Kireil of the Green Silences. Darr led them in and performed the introductions to the rest of the team who were inside.
The examination continued until with a loud clap Durathil disappeared. Ariel and the other two mages intensified their search to determine what Durithil had done so they could duplicate it. Then, with a smaller clap, Ariel disappeared. Thurladeem thought he'd seen what Ariel had done.
However, before he could put his theory into practice, just as he was about to knock on the door, Ariel appeared between his fist and the door. He stopped his knock just in time. Moments later, Durithil also rejoined their ranks. She told them to gather the rest of the team, and to be sure to get Brandon. Hyllar went out after them. He got all of the others. with Xumbala's help, Hyllar brought Brandon in. Ambrose and one of his people finally followed them in. Black, who had treated his leg with the healing mud, also hobbled in.
When Durithil reappeared, Darr instinctively placed himself at her back a little to the left. Once everyone was in, Durithil said they could now enter. She told Darr to go ahead and knock, and with no hesitation, he did. Soon the rest followed. They all found themselves in another cavern which was half the size of the first one. At the end of the chamber was a faceless statue wearing armor; in front of it in the rock was a broadsword. Then a voice in their heads asked them if they had decided. No one understood, so Durithil explained by telling them what she had been told the first time she entered. It seems that they were to choose the Champion of the Rose and make their secondary decision. Durithil said that Brandon was the one. While Brandon was standing there, the hardened mud fell off of his buttock, revealing a black rose-shaped birthmark. Everyone saw it before Brandon was able to completely pull his pants up. Brandon then walked up to the statue and touched it, causing all that it had been wearing to transfer to him.
The voice, which Hyllar and Thurladeem recognized as that of the Scholar, then said that they could leave now with no danger, or they could decide to assist the Champion. Ambrose and his companion knocked and left. Then eleven suits of armor appeared at the end of the chamber. Each set was composed of the following:
- silverish chain-mail shirt
- dart gun with four extra clips (20 shots each); two red-dotted
- 1.5 foot rod (force whip)
- wristband
The mages saw that these were enchanted.
One by one, each member touched a set of armor and had it transferred to them and shrunk or expanded to fit. After Darr touched, only Xumbala and Jake were left. Jake watched, and prompted Darr to examine his equipment. While this was going on, Xumbala went ahead and touched. Finally, Jake did also. However, the armor did not shrink to fit him, so it hung very loosely on him. Xumbala wanted nothing to do with the gun, so he gave it and its ammo away to Jake. Jake used the extra ammo to do a little practice with the gun. Once he found out what it was, he also gave away the force whip. Then, in a rush, they were all back outside. Brandon said they were to leave in the morning and move off to the southwest. (By placing the band around his wrist and thinking 'FILAMENT', Darr activated a force shield.)
While they were sitting there, Jake was playing fetch with Daisy. Jake and Xumbala saw a gray one head out of a pit and move away. All the party, except Darr and Jake, were under a compulsion not to hurt anything in the pool's area. For Darr it had been a suggestion; for Jake it had been a polite plea. However, since he didn't want to piss off whoever their host was, Jake followed the gray one until they were outside the compulsion zone (about a half-mile). Jake then attacked it and dispatched it after a short but fierce fight. When Jake returned to camp, he went over to Darr and Durithil. They deduced what he'd done and approved.
Finally the watch schedule was set: Jake, Ariel, Laura, Hyllar, Durathil, Xumbala, Brodie, Thurladeem, Black, and Darr. Sleeping quarters were arranged. Darr told Durithil about the guest quarters in the main Black Hole. He then guided her there and briefed her on the use of the autochef and autodoc before leaving her for the night. The rest of the night passed uneventfully.