The Crossing
Isla struck true, her quick reaction catching the gorgon by surprise. It wasn’t ready for the tiny morsel to dodge towards it, and it howled in shock and pain and rage as her knives hits its stomach. Its scales protected it somewhat, the blow not a killing one on its own – but it was certainly debilitating and, more importantly, thoroughly distracted the creature from her more heavily-armed companions.
When Remi and
The fall of the gorgon’s body echoed eerily in the clearing as it bounced off of shields and stone. Jigano rushed to close its eyes – eye? There was only one, as he reached blindly out and his fingers brushed still-warm skin and delicate scales. The other socket was scarred and empty, but he had little time to think about it. A piece of cloth torn from a nearby statue was secured around the creature’s head – just in case. Only afterwards did he realize he should be concerned about someone waking up without pants—but stone remained unchanged, even at the monster’s death. The bard – mage? Sorceress? – sighed and stood, dusting his – her? – knees off and trying to deal with the way her weight had shifted definitively forward. ”Well. We know where the missing people are, now. And we know what to expect if we need to come back for them. If they were dead, they should have already left the book, so I suppose they’re alive in those stone shells. But I’m not sure how to change them back.” He shook his head in frustration, then raised her gaze to meet those of his companions, maintaining a dignified pretense of not being bothered by her new… attributes. ”I think our best bet now is to keep moving forward. Hopefully if we can complete the story successfully, all of those who don’t belong will be returned to the library. And, ah, to their – and our – proper bodies. Staff sizes notwithstanding,” he added dryly, glancing to Isla with a hint of his usual wry grin. If not, there might have to be a second expedition, but Jigano was cautiously optimistic that he was learning the rules of these strange, living books.
”Last time the scenery changed as we started walking, taking us to where we needed to be so… follow me, I suppose.” With a wry smile for his team the lovely sorceress strode off towards the trees, heading straight for the darkest, thickest tangle of twisted branches—
And, as they approached them, the colors did, indeed, melt around them, subtly shifting as the world reorganized itself so that the trees were surrounding them, beside them, behind them – but thinning in front. As they stepped out from the edge of the miserable forest they were met by a scene that had Jigano’s jaw tightening. A small tower of dark grey stone, weighted with age and an underlying sense of danger, stood at the center of a flat plain.
As they approached, each step taking them farther than it should have, the area around the tower resolved, the plain breaking into rougher cracks, sharp edged like black glass. The ground dipped just before the upthrust building, hiding in its roll a chasm that dropped away into darkness, surrounding the tor like an empty moat twenty feet wide. Luckily for the adventurers, a bridge spanned the echoing depths at one point, leading to a large door in the tower’s side.
Unluckily, the central portion of the span was missing, creating a gap roughly six feet wide that would challenge most of the party in crossing unaided.
”Across that bridge lies our goal, I suspect,” Jigano said, dryly amused, aware that she was stating the obvious but unable to let the narrative moment pass. ”I can probably leap it with this staff but…” She looked to her companions – particularly those in heavy armor and the generally unathletic Sam, and bit her lip fetchingly. ”This… is going to require some teamwork.
1. Samuel
2. Isla
3. Kalt
4. Remi
((Please remember to write your actions as attempts, not declaratives, in case something happens to alter the execution between where your character starts and where they're hoping to end up ))
