Metric vs. British, Which Way Now?
Subject: Re: Looking for H'rugda
Mission nods, and follows Rennick up the rope.
From: Karl
Subject: Re: Looking for H'rugda
Farron numbly nodds his agreement
From: Ty
Subject: Back in the jungle
Rennik moves swiftly up the rope and disappears through the hole. Mission climbs even faster, and doesn't use his legs at all, climbing with only his arms. In anyone else but the monk, it would look like showing off.
A few moments after Mission has gone through the hole, there is a high pitched whistle, and the wizards begin to climb. Cadfael follows, the glittering ring on his now bare left hand the only reminder of what has transpired in the last few hours. Finally, breathing a sigh of relief that they are all out of the hole and no one killed anyone else, Garyth climbs the rope.
Outside, the group gathers behind the clump of stones from a long collapsed building on the far side of the clearing. The H'rugda keep their distance, though the male looks at the group with wild eyed fear. Clearly, whatever happened when everything went dark has left the animals panicked. Something occurs to Farron, and he turns to Rennik with a question on his mouth. Before he can even ask, Rennik nods assent. "Yes. The swamp dragons are probably panicked too. The only difference is, when H'rugda panick, they hide their babies on go on the defensive. When swamp dragons panic, they kill everything within reach. If we go through the jungle, it will not be pleasant."
Everyone falls silent at that, and looks off in the direction of the mountain. Rennik finally says, "Nearly fifty miles of open jungle between us and that mountain. Every inch of it designed to kill you. People have crossed it before, and will do so again I'm sure, so it isn't impossible." He stops to spit, "But it is dumb. And it is what the tunnel collapse was intended to force us to do. We go where our enemy wishes us to go."
Mission shakes his head, and says simply, "I have three days to cross it. I will not stop now." He looks irritated when Cadfael chuckles at this. "Indeed, redoubtable monk. We'll none of us be stopped, will we? That's not the plan." The priest looks up once at the sun after speaking, then looks away.
[What now? You are fairly close to the map marker, if you want to try and find other landmarks. Also, you know pretty much where the temple is, so could just set off through the jungle toward it. It's entirely up to you. You can discuss as much as you like, but when you're ready, everyone check in with an action, please.]
From: Scott
Subject: Re: Back in the jungle
:whine: Why can't I find the walkthrough and cheats for this dumb game?
:)
From: Karl
Subject: Re: Back in the jungle
(OOC- Ty, I'm going to be out of state attending a family wedding until next Monday. Sa'id, can you play Farron until then? I may be able to check in here or there, but nothing regular until next week.)
From: Raja
Subject: Re: Back in the jungle
OOC:
Sure. This will provide me with the perfect opportunity to pilfer the goodies you stole from those nice men we so obligingly slaughtered. ;)
But seriously, no problem. :)
From: Scott
Subject: Re: Back in the jungle
Mission presses his wide brimmed hat over his head to shade himself from the sun's glare. After the dank sewer-hole, he has to squint for a minute or two until the world returns to normal.
Fifty miles. Three days. Like a little, rhythmic, mantra. Fifty miles, three days.
He will look around to see if there are any sink holes that may have been created by the cave-in.
What with all the quicksand and mudpits, it would not be an easy task walking through this jungle, much less running. Mission frowns. Otherwise. . .
Otherwise, he could abandon this lot of fools, and retrieve his son on his own.
And while he was wishing, why not wish for Promise safe in his arms right now, and both of them back in Bannock's Ire, encircled by the Mossground, and his redemption assured?
Right. That's what he was working toward. So no matter how many mosquitoes, swamp dragons, dead women, fallen knights, cursed halflings, and raging wereboars he had kill to get to that point. . . well, let them come on.
"Garyth, Rennick, Farron-- you are the only ones of us who have ranged weapons." He smiles apologetically at Farron. "Farron, it might be better for everyone if you gave your crossbow to me or Garyth-- not that you're not competant with it, I'm sure you are. But we may need your magery more than your crossbow bolts."
His tongue feels thick in his mouth as he admits that. But once said, it is a difficult thing to call compromise back. "Rennick, how effective would the bottles of. . . mage-fire that we picked out of the tower be against the swamp dragons?"
From: Raja
Subject: Re: Back in the jungle
Sa'id interjects: "Mission, if you think a crossbow would be of use, take mine, not Farron's. Farron is more likely to use his crossbow in battle than I am; if it comes to that, I'll be busy conjuring fire." With a wink and a grin, he adds: "...and I have more than enough fire to burn this jungle down. It might even make the climate more to my liking."
OOC: If Mission or Garyth wants it, Sa'id will willingly give his crossbow and bolts to either of them.
From: Dan
Subject: Re: Back in the jungle
Stupid Americans. I mean, really. Miles? Who uses miles. I have absolutely no conception of how far a mile is. 50 of them *sounds* like a walk in the park.
I'm sure that the people of Overlook and the surrounding are use the metric system like everyone on earth who ISN'T on crack. I'd encourage Ty to remember this in future turns.
From: Mike
Subject: Re: Back in the jungle
50 miles is about 80 km. And however much I think that the metric system makes much more sense when doing engineering calculations, you would be surprised how many products in the world are made to AES dimensions. Also, it's been my experience that most people in the UK still know what a mile, a pound of weight, and a gallon are.
From: Ty
Subject: Re: Back in the jungle
50 miles is about 80 kilometers. I would remind Daniel that the metric system is a relatively recent invention, and that miles has a long and storied history going back hundreds of years. It seems more likely that a medieval culture is using a medieval measurement system like miles, yards, feet, inches, than a nice shiny modern one like metrics.
From: Mike
Subject: Re: Back in the jungle
Garyth nods and accepts Sa'id's crossbow. "Thank you," he says. "Hopefully I won't have to make use of it." The expression on his face leaves no doubt what Garyth thinks the odds are of that, though.
He looks up toward the mountain, squinting in the light. Fifty miles. Through thick jungle. He sighs. Well, if they were going to make it in three days, they had better quit wasting time.
He looks over to Rennik. "Can you lead us to the temple?"
OOC: My proposed marching order, from front to back: Rennik, Mission, Sa'id, Farron, Cadfael, Garyth.
From: Matt
Subject: Re: Back in the jungle
"Yes. But as I said, it's dumb. Trying to trek 50 miles through this jungle in three days and hoping to emerge in fighting condition is like trekking across a desert with no water and hoping to put out a fire with your piss."
Then with a wry grin, "Not to say that it *can't* be done, of course."
"This can't be the only sewer. This was an ancient city, and the walls in the tunnel looked very strong. Other sewers must exist. These may be dry or filled with water - I don't know. But I think it might be worth taking another look at that map. If only to see if we can follow the course of *this* tunnel, and hopefully get back down into it at some point."
"As for mage fire and swamp dragons... you could try it, but I think it would only make them angry. Worse, if the moss on their snouts catches fire, their bite is even more likely to kill you. Then again, perhaps a burst of fire in their path might make them think twice about attacking. The best bet would be to get into the trees - attacking from range only if absolutely necessary."
"We should return to the map and decide our course from there."
(OOC: The marching order sounds groovy to me)
From: Mike
Subject: Re: Back in the jungle
Every second they spend talking about this is a second lost in which they could be travelling. Garyth's first instinct is to start marching. But if this journey has taught him anything, it's that his first instinct is not always to be trusted.
"I don't think we can afford to spend much time looking for other sewer routes. As you said, the walls looked strong; it seems too much to hope that we will find another hole. But it could make the difference between getting there and dying on the way. The marker is not far behind us, so the time we lose checking it again my be worth what we have to gain."
From: Scott
Subject: Re: Back in the jungle
"What are the odds that you can still read that map, Farron?" Mission swallows. Why does his throat taste like iron suddenly? "Does your magery last this long?"
He can't keep his eyes off the jungle leading east, and the mountain there. A mountain like those in his home, in Bannock's Ire. But not, somehow. There were no jungles in Bannock's Ire, and no dead cities. No--the mountains there weren't. . . malicious, like this thing in the center of the island was.
Mountain of Sand, that's what Kessel was.
And Promise lay beneath it.
Mission taps his staff on the ground impatiently. "Better informed than dead. Let's take another look at the map, and then move on."
OOC: Mission is fine with the marching order put forth. I think Garyth already has MY crossbow-- but if he wants to give it back to take Sa'id's that's fine.