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Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 4:40 am Post subject: Scene 2.1 - Hellride to Greymoor

On the path down to Arden, just as Finn is about to commence shifting, a small garrison of mounted rangers pulls aside as they ride by. As Finn trots by, he recognizes the men he led in Arden for some time. They are well equipped and ready for an expedition.

The path is dark and the half moon can barely light the dirt they ride on. As the trees begin to thin, the lot of them can feel Shadow shifting around them, slowly at first, then the moon's light becomes more intense and they can see enough of the path to increase their speed.

Finn concentrates on the destination, shifting things to ease their passage at first. Less trees... A clear path... A downward valley...
Then changes begin to occur naturally as the four travelers are increasing the speed of their mount again. White and grey rocks begin to pop up on the horizon.

Grey rocks... The scenery changes dramatically as Finn concentrates on a single element. Wind picks up and blows autumn leaves everywhere... The grassy fields have yellowed... The moon's light changes to a heavy blue hue... The sound of hoofbeats dulls out as the path changes to looser dirt...

Grey rocks again... A blue moon and a harder riding surface... The winds turn against them it seems and leaves have disappeared. A dozen golden swords of dawn on the horizon. Hills grow on either side and the valley flattens...

A turn around grey rocks and the sun's light increases while the moon fades away... A river and bat-creatures resting nearby. No black road yet.

The horses begin to sweat but keep their composure throughout the changes. It seems that even Poppins and Sha'lee have been through this before, or are handling well enough.

The wind now... Hot in the vale of grey rocks, much too hot. The path is blocked up by a large mossy boulder ahead.
A flurry of leaves pass and it is gone... Along with the river and the bats and the rocks.

A pale rocky desert. Thorny bushes break up the flatlands. Hot winds assail them even more and they are forced to cover their eyes for an instant as sand and dust is thrown at them violently.

The Black Road appears to their right when they look again. Fifty miles maybe. The sun does not seem to shine down on it. Floating birds in the distance.

Birds, up and up, turning and tossing in the cool winds. Violent and refreshing. Steppes of ragged yellow grass with rocky outcroppings. The sun is hidden by a filtering yellowish cloud. A city in the distance.
The Black Road remains.

A bit further. The horses continue to gallop through all of the changes and only Poppins seems to be showing signs of slowing.

As Finn pushes the changes, the Black Road gets closer.

Finn · Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 124

Finn curses somewhere behind his eyes. He is beginning to hate The Black Road, the blot upon his land. His Land, he fought and bled for it, it was as much his as anyone else's, and just as much his men's. He had been pleased to see them, and would be again when they finally rendezvoused in Greymoor. His problems were more immediate currently. He lifts his head once to gauge the distance to the Road, and turns them away from it. The Road brought trouble, and it seemed the right time to find their weapons cache of firearms, before trouble from the Road found them.

He would push Poppins a little further, and take their break where they find his firearms. He glanced to Rebecca and made a sign to indicate they'd take their rest soon. Finn knew she'd been out with the troops, she'd know the standard signals. He alters his focus, taking them to the cache now, before they continued their Hellride.

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 5:47 am Post subject:

As the groups turns away from the Black Road, Finn continues shifting through Shadow quickly.

They are comforted to see the Black Road disappear behind a red mountain range. In fact, everything runs red around them. Rusty-colored road cutting across a red desert. The sky is a fire of colors as they ride into the sunset.

The sunset remains, but the road widens, giving them room enough to ride abreast. The mountains seem to dance around them, and when they look over their shoulders, they see the Black Road creeping closer with every change in Shadow, as if it were stalking them.

The mountains move closer to them and they find themselves riding a rusty dried creek bed. As they ride further down the gulch, the sun lights up above them, and the Black Road has disappeared.

Behind every turn, the color and shape of the rock changes as Finn continues towards his goal. They are now at the bottom of a canyon and their pace is quite slowed.

They come upon an overturned wagon covered in yellow glittering dust sitting against a large fallen boulder. Finn's treasure is there.
The faint, low sound of shifting rock can be heard echoing against the canyon walls...

Arden · Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 543 Location: Oklahoma

Rebecca nodded to Finn to let him know she understood. She kept an eye on Poppins, checking over her shoulder as she listened to the horses.

The landscape took on touches of the familiar, yet different. The Black Road sets her on edge. The wide open spaces so like Cimarron should not be so marred.

As they are forced to slow, she draws her sidearm, but doesn't fire it as she eyes the canyon walls around them. Demon's ears flick forward, swiveling to try and catch the source of the noise. Canyons were rarely ever silent, and dirt and pebbles could naturally come loose in the wind. But the creeping Road added an unknown to the mix.

sandrayln · Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 190

Faylinn is a quiet rider, letting Poppins have her head so long as she stays with and within the group. She watches the Black Road come and go and come again with interest, marking the phenomenon. The twisted things and the blight on the land bothered her in a way she wasn't sure she could have explained to anyone else that rode with her, not even Finn; it was fundamentally wrong in ways she didn't have words for.

As the pace trickles to a walk, she looks up at the rock faces around them. The arid landscapes remind her strongly of the Shadow of her birth, and as that thought flows into another, she softly whispers a spell to try and get a sense of what is natural and what might not be in the canyon.

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 10:16 pm Post subject:

The noise continues but its source remains unknown. The echoes seem to enhance the noise somewhat, or make it appear to be coming from many directions at once.
~~~
Faylinn's spell, however, reveals to her that the unnatural effects of the Black Road are somehow related to the continued sounds of shifting rock, as if someone or something is influencing the landscape itself. As natural as the canyon is, or was, there is something else at work here, coincidence or not. A more powerful spell may reveal more...
~~~
Arkadios' head begins to thump and ache. It starts when his ears begin to ring for a moment, then it eases nicely into something more... invasive.
~~~
Finn recognizes that this canyon, now partially blocked by the boulder, could become their undoing rapidly if the other way were to be blocked off. It's almost a perfect spot for an ambush.

The horses themselves can sense the ominous feel of the situation they are in and they begin stepping from side to side, ready to take off at a moment's notice.

sandrayln · Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 190

"Something Black is creating that sound," Faylinn says urgently. "I don't know what it's doing yet..." She starts another spell, focusing on the landscape in an attempt to find out just what's being moved.

Arden · Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 543 Location: Oklahoma

Rebecca leans low over Demon's neck and murmurs quietly. "Pass it back amongst them to stay calm and alert."

The horse cranes his neck around to and nickers to Sha'lee and Poppin, though it's loud enough for the first line of troop horses back to hear and understand to pass the instructions back down the line.

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 1:58 am Post subject:

With her new spell, Faylinn now realizes that the rock is eroding unnaturally fast. She can feel a sort of pulse beating from either side of the canyon, resulting in erosion. It seems quite weak. Too weak to break down the rock onto them, but strong enough to produce the low sounds they can all hear.

The horses seem less hesitant and maintain the formation.

Finn · Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 124

Finn's frown seems to be inversely proportional to their speed of travel. The slower their pace became, and the more he began to understand the terrain and lay of the land, the deeper it became. The Road was not visible, but he knew that meant very little. This was not the place he would have specifically chosen, and every sursurous shifting of rubble seemed to be whispering ambush to his ears. He could sense Blake's misgivings as if they were his own. Before they were out of the mouth of the entrance to the canyon, he raised his fist to call a halt, knowing that with Demon and Blake in the lead, the others would stop.

He looks to Rebecca and gestures at the wagon, and makes an easily understood pistol sign with his fingers, and then extends his arm to indicate a rifle. Then he points at the wagon again, all silently. Finn points out the single exit, and various points where he'd place archers or gunmen. His frown seems fixed now. He is about to motion Faylinn forward when she speaks. Finn nods, waiting for her to finish her next spell. He says in a very low voice, "Good thinking, Rebecca. We have a problem. Our proposed resting place is a potential trap. We need that material now, or I make it later, but there's no promise the outlook will improve."

Finn turns to Kade and Faylinn, "Kade, get your sticks out. Be ready for a fight. Fay? I need you and Kade to hold this passage open. If it begins to close by means of rockslide or ambush, hold it or get beyond it, we can be Trumped out, but that will only work if one of us makes it to the outside. So back off a bit while Rebecca and I move forward." His words are kept low, just enough to be heard by his party. "Rebecca, lets go get the guns." He draws a javelin from his quiver, and holds it down alongside his horse. "Your rifle might work here, considering."

Then he gives the Cowgirl Princess a nod, and gets Blake moving forward carefully. Finn's eyes scan for movement as he does so, checking sand and stone for signs of camouflage and attack. "We grab what we need and get out in a hurry."

Arden · Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 543 Location: Oklahoma

"Might. Might not. Depends on the powder an' the physics, don't it?" Rebecca says quietly as they move forward. She still has her pistol drawn and ready to fire. "We'll need to flip ov'r tha wagon and see how much is there. It'll go faster if we pull forward a line o' Rangers to pass the guns back through then if we jest grab a crate an' hope fer the best."

"But I'm with ya on the hurryin'. She eyes the canyon walls again. "I don' feel a vibratin, but there ain't enough breeze ta account for that much shiftin of rock and dirt. If it hits the right fiss're, we could have a probl'm."

Arkadios · Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Posts: 78 Location: Good old Yookay

Somehow managing to grin and frown at the same time Kade nods and replies, "As you wish. " to Finn's instructions.

He loosens his blade in it scabbard and draws forth his bow and strings it as he watches. Once done he concentrates on his surroundings.

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 5:45 pm Post subject:

The sounds continue.

Finn and Rebecca approach the wagon. Nothing camouflaged, nothing out of the ordinary, except perhaps for that fact that there is no sign of the cart's original crew. It's almost as if the cart had rolled from somewhere above and ended upside down from its collision with the rock.

They can see through a few broken planks that there are two large wooden crates stuck underneath the cart. Each crate seems to be about a foot and a half high by four feet by two. Breaking more planks or lifting the cart will be necessary to get to the crates.

Arkadios senses that something is very wrong with the place, but cannot yet pinpoint what it is exactly. His headache is starting to ease back a little.

Finn · Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 124

Finn rides towards the wagon, "Cover me, Rebecca." He dismounts as he draws near, and beckons Blake to stay with him. He eyes the cart for a moment, and then grabs a hold of it and attempts to heave it over on its side. Once he has access to the crates, he'll crack them open to check their contents.

If they're what he expects; he'll arm himself and bundle the rest up into a blanket from his roll, so he can strap it to his horse and they can get out as swiftly as possible.

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 8:53 pm Post subject:

Finn gets a hold of the cart's sides and begins lifting. The cart is heavy and creaks as he raises it from its resting place. After several moments and grunts, Finn demonstrates the prowess of Amberites: the cart is flipped to its side.

After flipping the crates, Finn quickly pries open the two tops using his dirk and raw manpower. The creaking of the wood echoes in the canyon. One of the crates holds many types of firearms to Finn's liking. They are in good condition, brand new in fact. The other crate holds ammunition in small dull-colored heavy paper wrappings.

They all notice that the sounds of shifting rock have left the canyon. Some could assume that Faylinn took care of it, but she knows otherwise.
Faylinn notices that the two stone hearts have ceased their beating. Kade can feel something at work beneath the stone and dirt, creeping towards Finn's position.

Before they have a chance to warn him, the ground begins to sink beneath him at an alarming rate!