How deep the rabbit hole

Spears. Wings. Bright light spilling through the boughs of many trees. Garbled language. Shouts. Grunts. Disagreement. Disoriented, Roana finds herself being suddenly bound; her ankles tied as well as her hands, and suddenly lifted onto the backs of many much smaller human-like looking creatures... The sky above is bright blue. The air fresh and sweet, the leaves large and vibrant. You are no longer within the barrier. Random Event

The light is blinding. Beautiful, warm, crisp... And the ground is hard and unforgiving as always. Roana lost her footing, crashing into the dirt shoulder first, only years of trained reflex sheathing her blade safely seconds before to prevent her impaling herself. She rolled to her back, gasping, sputtering, willing her lungs to fill and deflate despite protest. Everything hurt. Too sharp. Too bright. Once again, death had assuredly come for her and she yet lived. Voices, indistinct, muddled surround her. Was that...yelling? Her hands and feet are suddenly bound and she is hoisted up onto the backs of...something. Blue eyes squint against the light, looking for the voices trying to understand. "Let me go I can walk, I can walk..." she said, voice hoarse and painful. Certainly in her state she didn't present a threat?? "Who are you?" Roana 'Cause it makes me that much stronger Makes me work a little bit harder It makes me that much wiser So thanks for making me a fighter

As Roana's senses slowly return to her, she can hear that there are a number of voices now. Some sound older, some younger, but all in a language that she doesn't recognize. At her question, one of them nudges her in the butt with its spear. As her eyes open she can tell that although she is being held in the air, she's actually not that far off the ground ... the creatures below her seem to be quite short. And were those wings? "The real question is, who are you?" A voice demands suddenly. It sounds female and has a strange musical quality to it, though at the same time sounds quite wary and angry. Random Event

Roana grunted as she was prodded with the end of a spear, it hitting on a particularly sore patch of muscle as the toxins continued to work through her system. But slowly things became more clear. Blue eyes open wide, scanning her surroundings, trying to find the source of the voices. Young, old, male, female – a village of some sort? Or at least its inhabitants? Her brow furrows slightly, seeing how close the ground actually is. What – or who – was carrying her? The sound of the stronger female voice caught her off guard. The musical quality seemed particularly familiar – hadn’t Safrin’s voice sounded somewhat similar? Again, eyes searched, trying to find the woman who spoke. ”I am Roana Steadman, former Captain of the Northwind Army, though as of late a resident of the Hollowed Grounds in Caido.” she said calmly. Had the light been another portal? Was she in a different dimension again? ”Please…I mean no harm or ill-will, and apologize if I have offended you.” Roana 'Cause it makes me that much stronger Makes me work a little bit harder It makes me that much wiser So thanks for making me a fighter

As she says Hollowed Grounds they abruptly halt. There are whispers that sound worried. With a bark they are all silenced and Roana is dropped to the ground, a ring of spears pointed suddenly at her neck. When she looks up, she will be looking into a shockingly youthful face, though they eyes appear wizened and knowledgeable. This Fae too is a captain of an army, and something inside of her feels respect for a fellow leader. But still she does not waiver. She is dark skinned with graceful wings sloping from her shoulders. With the proportions of a child almost, she stands stern and strong, her eyes a deep lilac colour and her ears slanted and elongated. "How is it you came to be in the Hollowed Grounds." She asks in a voice low and with eyes narrowed. Random Event

Well, at least she was on the ground now. Roana made a small ’oof’ noise as she was dropped, rolling to her back immediately to look up. Her eyes widened in surprise to behold the people…creatures…people she decided. They were foreign yet beautiful, but she would not be deceived by their childlike appearance. In hopes of earning trust and favor – since clearly she had upset them with how they pointed their spears at her – she flexed her fingers wide as if she were proving innocence. ”Your guess is as good as mine, but I will tell you all I know.” she said, complying with the woman’s questions. She had nothing to hide after all. ”I was in my home, in a different world, and one day, two seasons ago, appeared there inexplicably. Many that are there now found themselves there much the same.” she said, carefully talking around the phrase Hallowed Grounds which was apparently a trigger word of some sort. ”The deities that reside there do not seem to understand how or why people like myself arrived there either – or if they do I had not heard of any saying so. The people born there similarly did not understand it. I am sorry I do not know more.” Roana 'Cause it makes me that much stronger Makes me work a little bit harder It makes me that much wiser So thanks for making me a fighter

They whisper worriedly. "What deities do you speak of?" The leader demands, though there is a slight shake in her voice though her eyes betray little. Random Event

Shaky ground at best was what was under her. She wasn’t sure how much she could trust this woman and her little band of friends, but she had little choice. ”Ludo, Frey, and Safrin, who I have had the honor of meeting once.” she said in as gentle a tone she could muster. Of course, there was the Voice too but…she knew her to be the enemy of those on the outside and was not about to risk her neck over saying her name. If gods had gone to such lengths to thwart her, she suspected there to be very bad blood amongst them. Perhaps this was her way to earn trust. Roana swallowed, watching them warily. "Do you know of them?" she asked innocently. Roana 'Cause it makes me that much stronger Makes me work a little bit harder It makes me that much wiser So thanks for making me a fighter

The leader narrows her eyes, suspicions confirmed. She whispers something to one of her companions in that strange other-language, before turning back to Roana. "How did you come to be here. On this side?" She asks, ignoring the former-captain's question. Random Event

Confidence dashed. Great. ”The details of how this came to be is a rather long-ish story, but I will tell you if you wish to know it all.” she started with, feeling very much like she was about to seal her fate with this next bit. ”But I jumped into a light found at the bottom of a Spire that was guarded by a snake.” she said quietly, but remaining honest. ”At least, that is what I presume brought me here.” Roana didn’t say more, feeling as though the more she said, the more likely she was to dig herself into a hole. Roana 'Cause it makes me that much stronger Makes me work a little bit harder It makes me that much wiser So thanks for making me a fighter

The whispers stopped abruptly and somewhere behind Roana something very large was dropped onto the ground. The leader's face tightened into a mask of horror and fury. A light. At the bottom of the Spire. A snake. Barking orders, Roana is suddenly hauled to her feet and dragged backwards. The thing she'd heard dropped behind her was a crude cage, and she was being thrown into it. Random Event

She could have swore. On instinct Roana shoved her weight forward against the pull of the surrounding people. Her eyes remained focused on the leader. ”If you do not speak to me, I cannot know what offense I have caused you!” she said, doing her best to not to simply become a rag doll in their hands. First the naturals would say nothing. Now these people would say nothing. It sure as hell made it difficult to function in any respectable manner. ”Help me understand. There is one of me and many of you, and I have complied with all your demands thus far. I am willing to continue to do so but I must know what is going on!” she said, trying to reason with the leader’s clearly militaristic sensibilities. Roana 'Cause it makes me that much stronger Makes me work a little bit harder It makes me that much wiser So thanks for making me a fighter

The group begins to move away. Though they are speaking in another language, presumably one that Roana doesn't understand, still they speak in hushed tones, wanting to put distance between themselves and the interloper. As Roana makes her plea, the leader indeed halts. Her head rises from hunched shoulders, her wings held tightly and stiffly. "You should not be here." She hisses. "And if you do not know how you have been brought here then it is best to let you die." Random Event

Roana stayed near the edge of the cage, looking out at the gathered people. "Why should I not be here?" "I told you how I came here, and it got me put in a cage for my honesty with you." she said, brows furrowing slightly. "If you let me die, you also let knowledge of what is going on in there die too. Or, if you wish me gone, then I will leave and find somewhere else to be. I've no qualms with you, but I don't know what qualm you have with me." she said. "Just...give me a chance to prove I mean no harm. Let us talk and understand each other. With how things were in there..." she paused and shook her head. Things weren't well in the Hollowed Grounds. "I was summoned to Caido for a reason, and I found my way here for a reason, certainly." she said more quietly. Roana 'Cause it makes me that much stronger Makes me work a little bit harder It makes me that much wiser So thanks for making me a fighter