Lost Knife Playground Options

[King Coin]

Darnand placed Kayla’s pack on the ground near them. Aravi dug into it until she found one of the larger vials marked with a healing symbol.

She showed it to Kayla. “Will this one be adequate? I think I saw a larger one towards the bottom.” She dug into the pack more.

[Elisabeth Hollow]

"That's fine, that's fine. Look for a warming potion. I'd say it resembles green sludge, but my potions usually do. It has a red cork." Kayla's teeth chattered before she drank the healing potion.

[King Coin]

Red cork? She saw a bunch of potions in irregularly shaped vials. Even with her improved vision, it was difficult for her to see with the deep shadows cast by the fire.

"I don't see any with a red cork, but this one is orange." She held the potion out.

[Elisabeth Hollow]

Kayla gave Aravi a mock irritated look before taking the bottle.

"That's the one. Thanks Aravi." She held it up to the fire to better are the cork.

"Huh. Maybe it is orange." She pulled the cork off and smelled it. "Yeah, this is the one." She guzzled it's contents quickly. It would take a few minutes for the potion to start working, but at the moment they were out of danger.

For the moment.

[King Coin]

Aravi watched and waited, seated quietly at the fire next to Kayla.

Inside though, she was far from calm. Kayla's alive! Aravi felt energized, it was like her friend was back from the dead. Her tail was twitching with nervous energy.

Kayla seemed to be recovering well, so she started to pay more attention to her surroundings. "How soon do you think you will be ready to move?"

[Elisabeth Hollow]

"Physically, in the next twenty minutes. My armor is still wet." She felt on the inside of her armor for a moment. "With my armor still wet, the next hour or so." She stretched her long arms and arched her back, popping her shoulders and spine. She looked down at her left breast and sighed.

"If only it were true that scars were greatly revered in Skyrim. I'd be having men throw themselves at me. Look at this!" She pointed to the angry red splotch where the arrow had exited.
"Right next to the damn werewolf wound. I don't know how in Meridia's name I'm still alive."

[King Coin]

“We aren’t leaving until your armor is in good shape.” Another hour. Not bad. She didn’t relish the idea of sitting in this cave for any longer than needed, but she wasn’t going to have Kayla walk around in this dangerous cave almost naked. None of her clothing would fit the much larger Altmer either.

Kayla examined her new wound and commented on its proximity to a werewolf wound.

Something deep within her stirred, as if it heard Kayla’s words. Gods. Not now.

Her own curse had been largely dormant, but every now and then, it had its way. It started pushing. It’s going to come out soon. Within a week, she would have to find somewhere to give in, or risk transforming and killing friends or bystanders.

Driven by morbid curiosity, she asked, “A werewolf wound? How did you survive something like that?”

She watched behind the eyes of her own beast. She didn’t know how someone could manage to survive something like it.

[Elisabeth Hollow]

Kayla looked over at Aravi, noting the Khajiit's face was unreadable. Her tail was still, the end twitching ever so slightly. She was waiting for something. Probably her answer.

"Boring story. A boy I grew up with had gotten bitten. The moons came out one night when we were sixteen, and he tore up the town we lived in. He'd eaten women, children, men, cattle..." She sighed. "He was about to eat an infant after killing its mother, but I shot a fireball at him. He gave me this wound in turn. When I fell back, I had fallen next to a guard he'd killed, and by some stroke of luck, was able to get the sword out in time to put it through his chest. We were sixteen." She sighed again and pushed a log further into the fire with a bare foot, avoiding the flames.

"Call me crazy, or stupid, but had he told me he was infected, or he was already turned, I would've still been his friend. I was there when he got arrested for beating up a guard." She shook her head

"Nevermind me. I'm just talking. There's no sense in carrying around that story any longer. There's a huge difference in beating up a guard and maiming children." she pulled her knees to her chest and let out a frustrated breath.

Now they're going to get angry with me.

[Colonel Mustard]

"Call me crazy, or stupid, but had he told me he was infected, or he was already turned, I would've still been his friend."

"I think I understand that," Salyan said once Kayla had finished speaking. "You look out for those close to you even if it's sometimes against your better judgement; just what people do."

Compared to Kayla's accidental lycanthrope friend, Salyan's own company approached normal, though the Shivering Isles meant that you couldn't exactly be choosy with your companions unless you wanted to be alone. As bold as Kayla's confession was, however, Salyan decided not to disclose some of the people she had made friends with; none of them would probably react favourably to the revelation that the woman who was her best friend practised cannibalism.

She had been wondering if it would be safe to tell anyone in this small group of Mundus-inhabitants she had met. She was pretty sure Aravi would react disfavourably, and that Kayla would be at best cool and cautious about it. Vera was still a struggle to read, and Darnand was the only one Salyan felt would be at all relaxed about such a thing, though only because he'd be too curious about the Isles to bother with being upset.

"Darnand," she said. "How are we doing for soul gems?"

[King Coin]

"Call me crazy, or stupid, but had he told me he was infected, or he was already turned, I would've still been his friend."

"I think I understand that," Salyan said once Kayla had finished speaking. "You look out for those close to you even if it's sometimes against your better judgement; just what people do."

Aravi heard these words, but she wasn’t sure she believed them. She didn’t know Salyan well enough to know if she was being honest, or if she was just going along with Kayla.

Kayla… Aravi wanted to believe her. She wasn’t just talk, was she? The scars that covered the other woman’s body proved that she’s seen the ugly side of life. She knows what werewolves do. She’s always been so open… unless she’s an excellent liar… No. This secret says with me. The only other person that knows is Kharjo. She’s never told anyone else. And anyone that’s seen her wolf is likely dead.

[Grits]

Another hour. Perhaps I might take the time to examine those bat-creatures. Darnand did not recall a description that would match them in his Field Guide to Wildlife of the Southern Holds. He had to admit that such texts were sometimes incomplete, the authors’ intellectual curiosity often leading to their early demise.

From the look of the broken furnishings they had passed Darnand hypothesized that the Falmer had taken over this cavern system fairly recently. There had been no buildup of scat under the flyers’ roosting spot, and the large number of spider nestlings indicated a new colony whose population had not adjusted to match incoming prey species.

Kayla reclaimed Darnand’s attention as she recounted her killing of a friend-turned-werewolf. She seemed distressed by the recollection. Darnand felt the urge to press on alone into the Falmer hive rather than attempting to console a mostly naked female who had just kissed him. Such matters were far outside his area of expertise. He shifted his feet.

Salyan spoke to Kayla, earning Darnand’s gratitude. “You look out for those close to you even if it’s sometimes against your better judgement; just what people do.”

Darnand found himself slowly nodding his agreement. “One’s friends are the family one makes for oneself,” he murmured. “Affection and discernment do not always coincide.” Memories of dark deeds and impossible decisions shifted in that hollow place where he kept them quiet. With an effort he left them sleeping. He wondered if Kayla had lost anyone close to her when her friend rampaged through their village. Other than the involuntary werewolf himself.

Salyan spoke again.

“Hmm?” Darnand replied. “Yes, soul gems.” He patted the shoulder bag. “We have collected a fair amount of energy, but I am equipped to capture twice what we have acquired thus far. I should like to continue, when we are ready.” He glanced at Aravi for confirmation.

.

This post has been edited by Grits: Nov 27 2013, 11:30 PM

[King Coin]

Darnand caught her eye.

“Yes, we should make the most of this expedition. As much as I would like to turn around and go to the surface, if we don’t fill those we would just have to go somewhere else.” With less help probably.

Finding Kayla alive relieved a great deal of her worry, but Vera’s eye still weighed on her mind.

[Colonel Mustard]

"There's no point backing out now," Salyan nodded with agreement with Aravi. "Though I think that as soon as we've got enough soul gems we should call it quits; most of this expedition seems to have been nothing more than an exercise in us getting our backsides kicked. Though I suppose that, if nothing else, this cave might have run out of unpleasant surprises."

[Elisabeth Hollow]

Kayla felt guilty. She stared at the fire, sparks flying up as a log shifted. If it wasn't for her being slow and getting shot, the expedition might have gone better. She frowned at her armor, deep in thought.

The chitin on the armor itself is very strong, but the arrow had just happened to pierce between the seams...any heavier and I'll have to wear steel, and I can't do steel. I need flexibility. But if I'm so clumsy, why not hide behind a wall of armor?

Another log shifted, snapping Kayla back to the present. She scooted Dawnbreaker closer and thought back to the Wobbly Goblet. She wondered how well Irvana was getting along, and if Westley and Ylenno had stuck around. She'd missed both Westley and Ylenno, and Irvana was a new friend she was glad to have. Abiene was very kind as well, and Kayla looked forward to getting to know her better. Salyan seemed nice enough as well, if not a bit quiet and guarded. But Kayla understood that. She was among strangers, in a cave, and there had been injuries. She was serious as well.

"If everyone agrees, then I'm with you on heading back as soon as we have enough soul gems. I think we all could use a hot bath." She made a groaning noise. "Gods, a hot bath would be fantastic. I will never take them for granted again." She pulled her knees closer and rubbed her calves.

[Darkness Eternal]

The mention of werewolves had caught Vera's attention easily like a roasting piece of meat or the prospect of money. Apparently Kayla had encountered a werewolf and lived to tell about it, and even had scars as evidence. Vera could related. She's faced werewolves before, and had invisible scars. Not all wounds were physical.

Lycanthropic legends were just that. Legends. They were creatures so rare that most who tried looking for them never found what they were searching for. When one tends to transform into a giant murderous hound, there is no choice but to keep such fact a secret.

Kayla's friend was sixteen when it happened. It was rare. A good number of the infected are adults. Young adolescents and children typically die in an encounter. Her first transformation came at the age seventeen in her family's crypt countless years ago. It was a curse to become such thing as a young age.

As if I didn't have a thousand pounds of burden on my shoulders already.

The altmer explained what occurred between her and her friend and the aftermath of his rampage through the village. She's been through a lot and Vera could see it. The scars weren't just the ones decorating her exterior. Life screwed her over and she fights every day to defy it. Her grandfather's words echoed true: Grab life by the throat and make it squeal.

"Call me crazy, or stupid, but had he told me he was infected, or he was already turned, I would've still been his friend. I was there when he got arrested for beating up a guard."

Vera wished she never heard those words, for they forced her down and back through the wilderness of memories. Lycus had people who still tried to help him, to befriend him, only to be six feet under after their lives ended at the tip of claws and fangs. She wasn't any different. The truth was that those who try to tame fire will get burned, and those who try to befriend the force of nature will surrender to its whims, no matter how deadly.

Precisely the reason she makes no friends and forms no attachments. She wouldn't experience what she experienced the first year she was a werewolf. Never again. She wouldn't handle it.

“One’s friends are the family one makes for oneself."

Lycus was her only family. Her only friend. He's been a victim of pain and horror. He's had a broken youth and yet even though he was dragged to the depths of the despair he clawed inch by inch to the surface for that one breath of respite. He's been there and he's done that. Only he understands what she's been through and how to avoid repeating the same history again. Or try.

She looked at everyone and nodded, rising to her feet. "Lets press forward," she said. "No sense in overstaying our welcome where we're food to those who live here." Behind her helmet, she smiled as she walked off into the deeper areas of the cave. "Lets get this movable feast on its way."

[King Coin]

"If everyone agrees, then I'm with you on heading back as soon as we have enough soul gems. I think we all could use a hot bath." She made a groaning noise. "Gods, a hot bath would be fantastic. I will never take them for granted again."

“You will have to fight me for the first bath,” Aravi said with a smile. “We are leaving after this, whether or not we fill all of Darnand’s soul gems.” She had intended on filling all of them, but after everything that has befallen them, she was eager to leave as well.

An hour passed quickly and Kayla announced her armor was dry.

"Lets press forward," Vera said. "No sense in overstaying our welcome where we're food to those who live here."

Vera lead the way and said something behind her helmet that Aravi didn’t catch. She didn’t ask the mercenary to repeat herself either.

They took the high path this time, which curved back towards the large chamber with the waterfall. They passed through another narrow passage, and found themselves in an area that looked like an old Imperial fortress. Cut stone made up the walls. A path lead forward and another turned right.

Keeping her voice low, Aravi said to the others, “The path forward goes nowhere. There is a timber bridge that spans across the dead end. I don’t see anything moving.”

That doesn’t mean there aren’t any.

[Grits]

Darnand followed Aravi and Vera, keeping his soul trap spell at the ready. If this was to be their last chance to capture energy he did not wish to miss any opportunity.

They reached an open area where a wall of dressed stone had been broken through. Darnand silently agreed with Aravi’s assessment. The foundation of an old fort. Someone has connected this cave system to the Imperial structure.

Darnand turned his attention to the building’s interior. A long bar stood along one side, and tables and chairs lay in disarray down the center. He saw no sign of spider webs, chaurus eggs, or the bizarre totems that the Falmer placed about their dwellings.

Aravi spoke. “The path forward goes nowhere. There is a timber bridge that spans across the dead end. I don’t see anything moving.”

Darnand supposed that Aravi would not be satisfied until she checked the dead end. Leadership came with responsibility, and Aravi seemed to be feeling its weight. He stepped into the ruined structure, glancing around and careful of his footing.

The chamber continued beyond, he could not see how far. Darnand stopped. It would be foolish to— “Hurk!” The breath left his body in a rush as he hit the stone floor. Something was dragging him toward the next chamber by the legs. Rolling simply pinned his arms in a sticky mesh. It had come from thin air and somehow trapped him. What the f—

When he spotted the creature, even his thoughts ceased for an instant. It was a chaurus. A big one. And he was being rapidly drawn toward its mandibles.

“Gods,” he gasped, flopping like a fish. “Look at those maxillae!”

Juice drooled from its maw and dripped over the jagged, chitinous fangs.

“Help!,” Darnand yelped. “Anyone, help!”

[Darkness Eternal]

Vera didn't see anything moving either but she was alert for the slightest movement. What she saw of the Falmer earlier she saw none of it here. In the thick darkness the chamber was barren and seemingly lifeless and quiet as the grave.

This is pointless. Not even a bug to soul capture.

She held her tongue. She wouldn't give the group an earful of complaints. Some of them disliked her already. Rubbing salt in the small wounds wouldn't help. She looked around, and sighed with growing impatience. She stopped at her tracks and searched around. Darnand and Aravi were behind her, as was Salyan and Kayla.

This is going nowhere.

"Hurk!"

Vera heard the sound as soon as it hit her ears and she whirled behind her. It took seconds for her vision to adjust to the darkness and what she saw prompted her to unsheathe the blade from her boot; Darnand was being dragged away to another chamber by a chitinous creature. She only saw the front of the legs pulling the frightened Breton away.

The huntress took to foot. Frustration, annoyance, pain from her wound had inspired her to run faster than she should have. Even though she was cased in armor, she ran as fast as a person who was wearing a layer of cloth. Her boots rang and echoed through the chamber walls, bouncing off of them along with Darnand's scream. She pounced into the chamber to where the creature was.

She's just about had it with these pests. Anymore and she would go crazy. As if she wasn't already . . .

Vera tailed Darnand's flailing hands and jumped. Her leap took her over the Breton and right above the over-sized charrus. She wasn't strong enough to bring it down entirely but she stabbed away at the creature with violent abandon. Her combat dagger digging into the creature's shell, though her primary aim was the eyes.

She poked through the eyes and tried to dig her dagger into its jaws. Maybe she could ruin its appetite.

The charrus, having enough, released Darnand and moved with such quickness that Vera was flung off its back and to the sticky floor nearby. Her blade wasn't in her hands. It was still stuck in the flesh of the charrus just near its mouth.

Vera searched for her spare knives as she confronted the growing pain in her eye and the blow the impact her done to her.

[Colonel Mustard]

The time needed for Kayla's armour to dry out passed quickly, and they set out once more. Salyan stayed towards the rear as they traversed the narrow passages and entered what looked like subterranean ruins. A cellar that had broken through into the caves, perhaps? It had to be; the alternative, that the caves had grown up around this ruin, was too far fetched for Mundus.

They stopped by a rope bridge, and as Aravi tested its weight something grabbed Darnand from nowhere, a sticky organic net that dragged him to the floor. Salyan gave a gasp of shock as she saw the stuff attached to the mandibles of another Chaurus, a gigantic specimen of razor fangs, chitin hide gleaming slick in the light.

Vera leapt forwards in a split second, stabbing her dagger into the beast's head. That was enough for it to release its hold and a jerk of its head sent Vera flying away. Enraged by its injuries, the creature turned to pounce on the prone huntress.

Plucking the correct strings on her lyre, Salyan sent a fear spell racing towards it, a bolt of noise that sounded like a pressed scream and a whimper. It hit the Chaurus, and it jerked bolt upright as if hit by lightning, casting about it as if only just seen some hitherto unknown threat and scuttling back into the darkness.

Salyan hurried forwards, drawing her knife and beginning to cut Darnand free of the sticky web.

"That fear spell won't last forever," she said. "As soon as it wears off it'll be back; we need to get ready."

[King Coin]

Aravi eased the tension on her bow. It’s gone.

“That fear spell won't last forever. As soon as it wears off it'll be back; we need to get ready.”

She brought the bow back up, pointed in the direction the beast went. “Anyone hurt?” Her question was directed more towards Vera. Darnand seemed to have been lucky.

Why does it always have to be spiders and chaurus?

She heard a sound and she drew the arrow to its full extension. "I think it's coming back, get ready!"