Outside: Grass touch place

[Halae]

[The Ruined Observatory]

Khannie gives a nod and heads toward the collapsed portion of the tower that's...

On the ground.

Sort of.

There's a great gash in the side where the stones were ripped free by the impact despite the fact that it's mostly intact. Khannie heads straight for the hole. "Okay so one of the things I DO remember is that gravity is wonky in here. Sometimes it's toward the wall and sometimes it's toward the floor and it'll switch real quick so pay attention to where rubble and stuff is laying."

Stepping inside, our heroes will find a tower laying on its side, much of the furniture near the breach cast about haphazardly in a jumble of books and shelves and scrolls. However, the astronomical equipment dominating the far side of the room is still standing on the floor (now the wall) as if the tower were still upright.

No indescribable horrors attack our heroes.

Yet.

[The Ruined Observatory]

"Mai" strides confidently forward, pushing furniture out of her way.

"Looks like there's some equipment that's still intact. But gravity is obviously being screwy there, so approaching it might get messy."

[The Ruined Observatory]

Skye will move over towards the astronomical equipment curiously, wanting to get a closer look at it. If it's survived this chaos undamaged, chances are it has something special about it. That's important.

[Rebonack]

[The Ruined Observatory]

"Yeah, gravity is really weird in here so you wanna be careful where you-"

Step.

Right as Skye steps over to the astronomical equipment the orientation of 'down' suddenly shifts. Where she's standing is now a wall and where the equipment is standing is now the floor. This will probably result in her getting dumped several feet into the ground.

Considering that she's exalted that probably isn't a HUGE deal but depending on how it happens it might wound her pride a little.

Once the slapstick nonsense is out of the way Skye will be able to see that a lens similar to the one Khannie brought back is installed in the telescope and currently focusing a projected image onto a piece of paper. The surface of the paper has been burned into a blackened smear due to over-exposure. If a fresh sheet were put there instead it would sear an image of whatever the telescope is pointed at.

[Morty]

[The Ruined Observatory]

Hiep follows Skye, hopping down onto the floor when the gravity shifts. She must have got lucky or anticipated the change when she saw Skye.

"Do we have any fresh paper here? We might learn something."

[Shadowcaller]

[Snack Attack==> Finding the Lair]

Mary's eyes doesn't completely register it but one moment she's among her friends at a sunny beach celebrating Thankmas and the next she finds her surroundings to be barely illuminated at all.
Her gaze which a moment ago had watched Asami zoom away now sees only a vast mass of darkness as far as her eyes can see and what's underneath her is definitively not sand. It feels hard and uneven, like she was standing on rubble of some sort.

The fresh ocean air has been replaced by the oppressive smell of something she can't quite place. It feels crisp, clean, even sweet if a bit pungent, like what she might get a whiff of before a summer storm. But this is a lot stronger and after being in this place even for a moment it could better be compared to burning wire or chlorine.

As she stands there with her eyes adjusting to the dark (or she already have dark vision) she will realize that she's standing on what's essentially a lake worth of books and scrolls which has been crammed into the bottom of a wast stone hall without any windows. Or at least not any she can see.

There's a long bridge which have been constructed over this "pool" and she's almost standing right underneath it. Almost as if this place had actually been intended to serve as nothing but a reservoir of written texts.
But perhaps more importantly, there is also a door. A massive door which stretches almost as tall as the ceiling is high. The width, while not as outrageous, is also suggesting that it wasn't just used to allow people inside. This was made for something on a completely different scale.

In addition, its not just her surroundings that have changed she's also wearing different clothes. Wearing a big pink dress and something what feels like a tiara or a crown on her head. Finally, were those high-heels on her feet? She will have some trouble finding pockets but it feels like what she had with her at the beach are somewhere inside this dress. Plus, she was still holding onto the bottle that Asami gave her. Though it feels as if something about it has changed though she can't tell what.

But almost as soon as these things have started to register to Mary it fells as if a small quake goes through the building as a loud noise can be heard outside. Whatever it is the outside of the door appears to suddenly become brightly illuminated as she can see light coming in from a tiny hole in it.

[bc56]

The Lair
Mary blinks and squints into the darkness, her eyes adjusting.
"... the Hell?" She starts to see her surroundings. "Where the Hell am I?"
A moment later she starts to take a step, wobbles unsteadily, and quickly puts her foot back down. That didn't feel right at all. "What the Hell am I wearing?" She takes a closer look at her dress. It looks like something Bella would wear to a formal event; she herself has always preferred clothes she can move in. And the high heels are downright dangerous on this uneven ground.
"Why is there a lake of books?" She looks more closely at the bottle. "Didn't I set this down?"
She starts to carefully bend over to remove her shoes and maybe tear most of the heavy skirts off her dress when the bright light appears through the door and startles her, causing her to topple over onto her rear end. "Ow!" The bottle falls out of her hand onto the ground next to her.

[Shadowcaller]

The Lair

There's no immediate response to Mary's questions but soon enough she can hear a sound on the other side of the door.
An deafeningly loud vocalization that echoes through the hall.

Not quite a roar but more the kind of sound that bird would make. A gigantic bird.

The tiny light that Mary had is suddenly taken away as the sound draws closer though at a lower pitch. Whatever is out there sounds upset.

[bc56]

The Lair
Oh crap. That sounded like a big monster. Mary scrambles on hands and knees across the pile of books (grabbing the bottle and dragging it with her, she doesn't want to leave evidence of her presence) looking for any sort of cover in the large room. Once she's found a hiding place (or determined that there are none), she starts searching for her magic mirror. It's got to be somewhere in these oversized skirts but she can't feel any pockets... Where is it?

[Shadowcaller]

The Lair

There are piles of books raising from the pool, some as large as small hills, Mary wouldn't have any problem hiding behind one of those.
As she's feeling around she can make out what feels like her mirror in a pocket. Yet it seems to be in a inner pocket near her chest, meaning she would have to either reach into the dress to pull it out or just tear it open.

But then she can hear the sound of the massive door opening and that strange vocalization again.
This time it is accompanied by the intense feeling of heat and more of that now almost overwhelming smell of what she now has determined to be ozone from what she half-remembers from science class.

But with the door opening also comes bright light which casts a shadow of the massive creature which is now in the room with her. She can hear its massive body move across the room and then there's a sudden shake as the books she's standing on start to shift as a ripple effect goes through their mass.

Judging by the light now coming from the open door the creature is suddenly gone, or at least its shadow is. Yet Mary can feel where it is now by the slight shifts underneath her body. The monster has somehow dived into the book pool and is moving around down there just below her feet.

[bc56]

The Lair
Mary remembers the smell of ozone more from the one time she got struck by lightning than any class at school.

That thing is huge!
And where did it go? Is it... Swimming in the books?
Mary hunkers down behind the pile of books she's using as cover, trying to hold still while she reaches down the neck of her dress to try and extricate her mirror. Why would there be an interior pocket there of all places? She can just do the same thing with succubus magic except it's much more comfortable and easily accessible.

[Shadowcaller]

The Lair

As Mary is reaching into her dress to retrieve the mirror she can hear the sound of the creature even through all the books. Though for a moment the sound comes to a halt only to then suddenly erupt into the closest thing to a roar that Mary has heard so far.

It sounds that whatever it found down there, it didn't like it.
Furthermore, the way the books starts to shift against suggests that its coming up again.

[bc56]

The Lair
Oh crap it's coming back up and it sounds angry

Screw it, if Mary wants her mirror quickly enough to call for help, she's going to have to tear the dress. So she does so, using her claws to rip the small makeup compact free (badly damaging the top part of her dress in the process) and scrambling away from where it seems the giant creature might emerge so that it doesn't kill her just by coming out of the pile of books. Hoping she still hasn't been noticed she waits with bated breath for whatever comes next.

[Shadowcaller]

The Lair

It's difficult to determine exactly where it will emerge as Mary can feel the books rumbling underneath her feet wherever she goes and they're only getting stronger and stronger.
She moves away from her position and not a second too late as the pile she was hiding behind suddenly collapses behind her when the creature emerges right next to it.

If Mary turns around she will be able to see two things.
The books that are about to fall on her and the back of the creature as it raises from the pool.
It's long and serpentine in form with indigo colored scales covering its body. A long mane of whats either feathers or hair going along its back.
The books are a slightly more immediate concern however.

[bc56]

The Laif
Oh. It's a dragon.
So the books are its hoard?

That's only barely noticed because Mary can't really crawl away from the wave of books fast enough. Instead she raises her wings to shield herself from the worst of it and gets buried.

Underneath the books, she takes a deep breath. She's trying to keep her growing panic contained. She's in a strange place in unfamiliar clothes and there's a dragon, probably a very dangerous one, in the room with her. She's trapped under a mountain of books and has nothing besides her clothes, her mirror, and a bottle of coke.

She snaps the mirror open and whispers a name into its surface. It begins to glow.
"Mum, I'm trapped somewhere and there's a dragon please find me!" She also uses the light emitted by the mirror's surface to examine the bottle. Something felt different about it and she wants to know what. Especially since she's pretty sure she set it down after Asami gave it to her so she wants to know why she has it now.

[Shadowcaller]

The Lair

The dragon looks like its about to continue out the open door when it suddenly stops and turns its head in her direction. Two eyes glowing aggressively red in the darkness of the hall.
Then the books she's been trapped by suddenly start to move on their own accord. From underneath she can feel that they're stacking up, building a pile right underneath her. All by shifting just ever so slightly. The books near her head fall away as the pile below her grows.

Smoke raises from the dragons nostrils as it approaches. The stench of ozone getting only more palpable as its jaws get uncomfortably close.
At this point the full size of the creature is all too clear. Clearly able to swallow her whole should it only open up its maw.

But it doesn't.
Instead a deep booming voice materializes in her mind.
WHERE IS YOUR MASTER TAKING IT?
It speaks with the cold kind of rage that suggests an eruption of violence at the barest hint of disrespect.
I WILL FIND OUT SOON ANYWAY, SO YOU MIGHT AS WELL TELL ME. PERHAPS I WILL BE MERCIFUL IF YOU BEG.

[bc56]

The Lair
She was so close to not being seen.
"I'm gonna hafta call you back. Find me quickly!" Mary snaps the mirror closed as the dragon turns to face her. The demon princess is, quite naturally, quaking in fear.
"I didn't do it please don't eat me." she manages to croak out.
If she wasn't so badly injured she could use her magic to shapeshift into another dragon and hope that she would be strong enough to escape or just distracting enough to disrupt the murderous rage. "I don't even know how I got here. In these clothes..." she hits on an idea and glares out into space. "This is a 'dragons eat princesses' thing isn't it? It's not funny! Killing me isn't funny! Put me back at the party right now!"
Of course yelling at unseen people probably makes her look crazy.

[Shadowcaller]

The Lair

"LIAR!" The dragon shouts back in her head as its tails movements causes several nearby book-piles to collapse as more smoke now raises from both its mouth and nostrils.

"I WILL GIVE YOU ONE LAST CHANCE TO TELL THE TRUTH BEFORE I START EATING YOU ALIVE, LIMB BY LIMB."

[bc56]

The Lair
"Please don't do that it hurts to grow limbs back," Mary replies with as much courage as she can muster (which isn't much). "I was at a Thanksmas party. I offended this weird star lady by not accepting her help. Next thing I know I'm here. That's the truth." She doesn't know enough about what's going on to fabricate a convincing lie.

[Ironsmith]

Little Sattleborough

Earl forgot there was sound as well! The whole vision is accompanied by a ghastly roar and a constant rumble. The other patrons of the Priest's Head get up and some of them nearly start to panic, before they realise it's not an actual Juggernaut approaching the town. Some of them are still a bit jumpy- the bikers especially, though it all seems to calm down once the fire is snuffed and the noise stops.

Either way, Samantha waves at her brother before following Jubilee.

[Little Sattleborough]

Once back outside, Jubilee wastes no time returning to her carriage, and by the time Samantha gets inside she'll already be leaning back in her seat, head against the cushion, apparently attempting to get in a quick nap before going to face off against the self-propelled war machine.

Whether Samantha allows her to sleep, however, is entirely up in the air.

[Silent Sepulcher]

The shrine offers no explanation for the vision Tahara sees in the reflection pool.

But that's how this place seems to be, isn't it?

Big on mysteries and light on explanations.

[Silent Sepulcher]

...

Tahara can't quite help it. Despite the lack of explanation, the lack of any information that might contextualize what she's seeing as part of the greater riddle that forms this place, seeing herself like this...

She isn't sure how she would describe it. It's... saddening, but cathartic. Upsetting, but calming. Like finding a childhood favorite toy in the back of the closet, when she thought it was lost forever.

She reaches out to her reflection and gently touches together her palm with her own, staring at the girl smiling wistfully back up at her.

...

She should stand up.

She doesn't want to leave the reflection behind. But there's still more to do, and not much time left to do it.

Tahara straightens and turns her attention to the second door, "Silence Below". Based on how the first one went, she's assuming it opens to the bottom of the ocean, and as such, is ready to bend water immediately as soon as she pulls open the door.

[Shadowcaller]

The Lair
"Please don't do that it hurts to grow limbs back," Mary replies with as much courage as she can muster (which isn't much). "I was at a Thanksmas party. I offended this weird star lady by not accepting her help. Next thing I know I'm here. That's the truth." She doesn't know enough about what's going on to fabricate a convincing lie.

The Lair

"SO MORE LIMBS FOR ME UNTIL I GET THE TRUTH."

Is the dragon's cold reply, before its maw opens and is just about to snap off one of Mary's legs when-

[Morty]

[The Lair]

It's at this point that a very large, bipedal, horned sabertooth cat-person comes in running on all fours. She straightens up when she sees Ambrosia hold... a teenage tiefling girl.

"Ambrosia, wait! Don't hurt her!"

[Shadowcaller]

[The Lair]

To be clear, the dragon isn't holding the girl teenager.
She's laying on top a large pile of books which are also holding her in place.

Mary wouldn't even be able to see the sabertooth person from her position yet she can still hear her voice echo across the massive hall. And so does the dragon apparently as it suddenly stops mid-bite. Its red eyes widening for a moment, Mary able to read real surprise on its face despite its inhumanoid features.

There's a moment of stillness before its gaze and, perhaps more comfortingly, its maw turns away from her as its ire suddenly seems directed towards the unseen speaker. Leaving Mary with some breathing room as the smell of ozone that the dragon seems to exude from its maw is no longer as overwhelming.

"YOU DARE?!"
The beast mentally shouts but this time it doesn't sound like they're directed to her, though she can still hear them quite well.
The dragon once again makes the strange bird-like vocalization which seems like some sort of threat or warning.

"COMMANDING ME WITHIN MY OWN LAIR."
Turning fully towards the source of the voice, the dragon spreads the raven-like wings on its back which turns out to be huge even compared to the rest of the dragons body.

[Earl of Purple]

Little Sattleborough --> Greater Sattleborough

Samantha doesn't try to wake Jubilee from her nap, instead taking the opportunity to try summoning her own fire using what she was told earlier. This might not be a great idea, but then again she's never done it before.

The road to Greater Sattleborough does require going through a river, though the collapsed bridge might work as a decent ford. Or the dullahans might have some supernatural trick that'd help get them across. When arriving, the rumble of the Juggernaut steadily gets louder and more intimidating. The town looks abandoned; neglect- and a rampaging warmachine- have left scars, but... A lot of the wall around the town remains standing. It might not be a good idea to enter Greater Sattleborough, just in case the Juggernaut takes a dislike to their carriage and decides to crush it under its wheels and rollers.

[bc56]

The Lair
Mary wastes no time in using this distraction to crawl away as quickly as she can. Whether or not mystery voice will successfully rescue her, she doesn't want to wait to find out. She can't trust that mystery voice to be an ally. She's probably just a less overtly hostile enemy.
She needs... Something.
She carefully opens the soda bottle. Someone enchanted it and then gave it to her (she's pretty sure it wasn't enchanted when Asami originally gave it to her). Hopefully it will help.

[Morty]

[The Lair]

A growl, much quieter, answers Ambrosia. It seems the other speaker isn't cowed by her.

"I'm not commanding you, I'm advising you. Think about what you're doing before you do something you'll regret. Are you sure she's the thief? Consider the facts instead of issuing threats."

[Shadowcaller]

The Lair

THE FACTS? I WAS STOLEN FROM AND SHE'S HERE.

The dragon replies as it turns its attention towards Mary again, or rather where she was a moment ago.

But Mary hasn't able to get far so she's clearly visible as she's opening the bottle.

But the moment she does it disappears from her hands. Leaving her standing there alone in a place where not even her mother can reach her.

But in that moment she hears an all too familiar voice in her mind. Well phooey. At least it's less terrifying than the dragons.
I mean, uh, you just passed the princess test! Yes! Just give me a sec and I'll have your, eh, reward!

SO YOU SPEAK IF YOU CARE ABOUT THIS THIEF SO MUCH.
The dragon continues arguing with the unseen person, seemingly not even concerned that Mary could possibly escape.

[Nathair Intervention]

As Nathair is making his escape from the library something rather unexpected happens. Appear out of thin air right in front of him is a feminine figure that appears as if she was cut out from a star-filled night sky.
She reaches out towards the orb, her hand turning long and claw-like, going through both his forcefield and the orb itself as she seems to swipe something out of it. Her body apparently just as spectral as it appears.

"Sorry, need some of that..." She appears to have collected some of the indigo energy that swirls within the item. Basically like taking a spoonful out of an ocean.
"Bye!"
And the next moment she blinks out of existence. The whole series of event taken barely more than five seconds.

[bc56]

The Lair
The bottle... Disappears? Weird. And unhelpful.

"It was you!" Mary hisses under her breath at Libra. "Is this your revenge for not wanting your help? Getting me killed isn't funny! And I don't want a reward, I want to go home!" It doesn't seem like she has much choice in the matter.

[Morty]

[The Lair]

"That's correlation, not causation, Ambrosia. You should know that." The unseen speaker sounds weary. "There is such a thing as being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Anyway... uh, you there! What's your name? How did you get in here?"

[Shadowcaller]

[The Lair]

The dragon emits one of those vocalizations again, but this is of a lower frequency. Sounding more like a growl than a cry. But whatever the other speaker just said, it seems to have worked to some degree.

She's talking to herself. It observes in a less overwhelming tone. If she's not a thief then she's insane. Possibly both.

No, as I said. This was a test and you passed. Isn't that great? Now let me heal you up and keep that nasty dragon away from you. Just give me a moment.
Lot of voices in Mary's head right now. Maybe she was insane.

[bc56]

The Lair
"Right. A test." Mary's voice drips with sarcasm. She can't fathom what she was being tested on.
She waves to the cat... Lady... Creature. Now things seem to have calmed down to the point where she's no longer in mortal danger. "Not crazy. Just got a weirdo from a Thanksmas party talking in my head. Would you mind telling me where the Hell I am and what's going on? My name's Mary and I have no idea how I got here. Except that someone seems to have put me here because she thinks feeding a princess to a dragon is 'funny.'" Mary does look like a princess. She has a golden crown, a fancy pink dress (the top of which is in tatters) and glittery silver high heels (although not real silver, as that would burn her if she touched it).

[Meowmai]

Overly Adventurous

There's a thunk and a squeak of pain as the hastily fired arrow still finds its mark, embedding itself in the mouse, which falls over on its side, wriggling in pain. For a moment.

As it wriggles, the shadow wriggles. And as the shadow stretches and contorts, so too does the mouse stretch, growing and growing, its little forelegs becoming long grasping claws, its little gnawing teeth becoming long and pointed, its tail now long and thick, swishing back and forth behind it, then snapping against a nearby tree with an audible crack like a whip. That little mouse is now more like the size of a large wolf, and every bit as dangerous.

And suddenly that arrow looks rather small and meek by comparison, that little trickle of blood leaking out of the wound a mild inconvenience rather than a killing blow.

And still the shadow moves independently of the body as both mouse and shadow turn and advance towards Kestrel, the shadow whipping back and forth from side to side as if looking for an opportunity to dart in to slice at her again.

Overly Adventurous

Surprise crosses Kestrel's face as even in her panic her arrow strikes true. But her apparent victory is short-lived. The birdgirl's eyes widen in horror as the mouse starts to horribly transform, twisting and growing despite the arrow embedded in it's body.

Things are looking quite dire.

But Kestrel is still on her feet, and so far only scratched! She continues backing away, eyes now darting rapidly between both the shadow and the "mouse". The mouse didn't seem all that bothered by her arrow, but what about the shadow? So she switched targets, once again juggling the awkward task of aiming her bow while hurriedly moving away from her foe. She fires at the creatures moving shadow, her second shot just as shaky as the first.