The Muck Pond

[Snake_byte]

"Waste my time Garob!" I make my way to the entrance as well.

[AngelSpice]

"Hello, I'm Audirda. I like your anemone garden - it's beautiful. I just arose from the muck pond on land not too long ago. I've met Deitris and Nioss and another creature from the muck pond called Devrim. I've also seen all these artifacts laying around and this one caught my eye. It looks like it's missing a piece. Deitris said you knew more about the artifacts than she did and recommended I come talk to you if I wanted to find out more." She removes the artifact from the net and extends it towards Losom.

[edit] Audirda starts looking around at all the other artifacts in Losom's cave while he studies the one she brought

[Debsy]

Erake looked around at all the creatures that were here. "Geez...there's too many here. Time to go somewhere else." With that she leapt into the air, stretching her long wings out, and just sat there for a minute, suspended in the air, looking around. "That forest looks nice..." She started heading towards the forest, looking for somewhere to land...Spotting the big clearing, she made her way towards it.

[Schme]

By now, MushBall was thoroughly enjoying himself. “Wine and women.” He thought. “The pastime of the gods, quite literally. And if it is good enough for them, who am I too complain?”

He was not at all surprised that at the wonderful treatment he was getting, as to him, to have people desire his company and to want to give him gifts was the norm. In his short life, it was all he’d ever known, and so, the thought that he’d get treated like royalty. “Even the gods want a piece of MushBall.” Was what was in his head.

He found that he liked the Lesser God of the Forest very much. Whoever the greater god of the forest was, he was missing all of the fun.

He also found that the berry wine was growing on him. The more he drank, the less he could taste of the bitterness of the alcohol, and the more calm, at ease and self assured he became (if it was possible for him to become moreso.)

“I have taken a liking to her too, to all of you! What a wonderful bunch! Why, I’ve not had this much fun since me and Kitty went to the Old Temple. Do you remember that, Kitty?” he said, turning to her. “Good times, good times.”

Before answering Bassus, he first took a large gulp of wine.

“Oh, questions, yes indeed! Don’t we, Kitty? Well, for some reason, it’s become a bit hard to think, but I can remember a few. Let’s see, let’s see….”

He went on to gurgle out a few questions, seeming thirsty for information, in addition to being thirsty for wine. His gurgles, however, were becoming even more slurred as his drank cupfuls of wine, and even more difficult to comprehend.

“Well now….Tell us about yourself, and your forest? What does the great and divine Bassus occupy himself with? How are things run in your domain?”

“We’ve heard of a town of heretics that exist near here. Who are these awful people who would defy the gods, and why do you not, in all your might and wisdom, smite them, as they deserve to be smitten?”

“What other places of the world are their? What is the way of things?”


He then turned to Kitty. “I’m sure you’ve many questions for the great and wise Bassus aswell, no Kitty? And maybe you can remember them a bit better than me. At present, I’m feeling a bit muddled.” Then, gesturing to his cup of wine, he said to Bassus and his entourage. “Good stuff, this reeeeaaal go’eod stawfnmhwnglugluglu…….”

He then let out a gurgle which sounded a lot like a hiccup.

[Fleegle]

(For AngelSpice)

Losom carefully inspected Audirda's artefact, picking up a crude magnifying glass to explore the nooks and crannies more intimately. He kept making "mmm" and "ahh" noises as he examined it.
"Well, from what I can make of it, it's some kind of tool. The inscription is one of a later dialect, and I can only see half of it, of course. It says, 'under light of...' under the light of what, it doesn't say. I presume it says on the other half. And there seems to be a button here on the underside."
Losom pressed the button, a dumb thing to do considering that he didn't know what it did. However, nothing happened.
"Well, I suspect whatever it does, it will work once you find the other piece. I have seen similar things up north, under the sea of course, just where the river spills out into the sea. You could try up there. Just beware of the pink surface creatures. I have seen them swimming up around there, and they tend to be paranoid of anything different from them. Just be careful, and try to stay out of sight. Oh, and if you decide to go, take one of these with you."
Losom tossed Audirda an oyster. "If you find yourself in serious trouble, you can use that to call on the power of Dietris, the power of the sea. But use it wisely, for you can only use it once. And you must be near a body of water that connects in some way to the sea. To use it, break open the oyster and rub the pearl inside."
Losom slid the artefact Audirda had found off to the side of the table. "You may take this back too, if you like."

(For 3shyof30rats)

Upon landing in the clearing, Erake was presented with three options. One exit seemed to go off in the direction of the ocean, and the other two faced the opposite direction. The one on her left was at the bottom of a decline in the land, and the other was directly across from the path leading back toward the ocean. The sound of loud bird chirping could be heard coming from the left path.

[Debsy]

Erake looked around at the exits. "Is every place out here as boring as the next??" Looking down the exits she decides to take the one to the left. "Might as well figure out what's making that hideous noise..."

[Razorlance]

Tek continues to follow Kikkik, wondering how far this temple is and how long it will take them to reach it, when he notices a stone building up ahead. Ah that must be it he thought, he focuses on Kikkik and says "If that is the temple I can make my own way okay, thank you for the guide and the lesson in mind speech" And with that he lumbered away somewhat quicker until he reached the building and entered it.

(Don't know if you'd forgotten or Kikkik really was travelling slowly but thought I'd speed things up a bit, if that's okay)

[Fleegle]

(For Schme)

Bassus laughed heartily. "Oh ho! So many questions! Where to begin? Ha ha ha!"
The girls, of which MushBall thought he counted six, giggled in concert. Yanisha rubbed his "shoulder". "Oh you are just precious!" she exclaimed.
Bassus had obviously been drinking a lot of wine, if indeed he ever stopped drinking the stuff. He wiped a tear of joy from his eye and attempted to answer some of MushBall's questions.
"You asked 'bout me an my forest, huh? Yes, well, what can I say... I'm Bassus, this is my domain... these are the nymphs!" He gestured at the beautiful women around him. "Oh, there is no Greater God of the Forest, I'm the only one here. They call me a lesser god because I don't have as much 'influence' or 'power'. Bah! Who needs it? As I said, I have everything I want right here. The others, with their 'principles' and their 'obligations'... all a lot of hooey. Lemme tell you, stay here as long as you want... the girls will entertain you, and you can drink as much wine as you like! And food! Oh I have a wonderful roasted pheasant you simply must try."
Bassus swirled his head about in drunkeness. "C'mere Jilly, gimme a lil' kiss!" he said, leaning over towards the berry-girl. Jilly bent over and gave him a peck on his lips.
"Ah, yes, where was.. were we... now... yes? Oh, the way things are run. Well... really, anything goes... I just, sit here, and I drink, and I play with the nymphs. I haven't had time to make up any rules!" He chortled. "Ah.. other places... well... you know *hiccup* the... Village there... with the pink things... yeah. Nah, we leave 'em 'lone an they.. they jus.. just don't come near us... an they 'specially not... don't c'mere mush... scared I think... donno why! Do I scare you, Mushy? You, Kitty?"
Bassus stumbled out of his chair. "Tired of questions! Let us dance! Dance!" He began to dance very badly, even before any music had begun. A couple of the girls picked up some odd wind-instruments and began to play them. The birds sang a chorus consisting of harmonious chirps, and some toads croaked the bass lines. Jilly approached Bassus, took him by his little hands, and began to dance with him. The top of Bassus' head barely reached above Jilly's midrif.
Yanisha filled up MushBall's cup again, and gave him a little peck on his "cheek".

(For 3shyof30rats)

As the dance begun, Erake wandered upon the scene. Bassus caught sight of her and let go of Jilly's hands. Dizzy from drink and dancing, he zigzagged towards her, and gazed up into her deep, black eyes. "Wonder..." he started, beneath his breath, then louder, "Welcome! Welc... *hiccup*... ome. Won you have a drink, dance! Yanisha! C'mere!"
He leaned in closer to Erake, looking her up and down. "And who might you be, lovely creature?"
Yanisha skipped over with her decanter and a cup, poured some wine, and handed the cup to Erake.

[Snake_byte]

(what's going on outside the cave near the muck pond? I got lost in all the posts...)

[Fleegle]

(Ok, hold the phones... I think there's been a bit of a mix-up. Okay, Razorlance, I was actually hoping that Nixit would reply and then I could write a response for the three of you... but, seeing as he has not replied in some time, I'm going to go ahead and just do your bit... Nixit can catch up I'm sure. Snake_byte, presently there is nobody at the Pond besides Briker. Tek and Ao have gone off to the Old Temple to see Ilosep with Kikkik. As far as I know, your character hasn't met any of these guys yet.)

[Fleegle]

(For Razorlance and AoM)

Tek arrived at the Old Temple, Ao and Kikkik still a little ways behind him. Kikkik sped up to try to catch up with Tek. Ilosep sat on the grand steps leading down from the Temple, watching these strange creatures come towards his Temple (he did not notice the plain-looking beetle, being a fair distance away still, and being very small). He waved, but did not say anything until Tek was nearly upon him.
"Greetings. Good, there's a couple of you. I can kill two birds with one stone. No offense to Urdast, of course."
Kikkik chose this time to announce his presence, mind-speaking to Ilosep as he approached. "Ilosep! I bring greetings from mighty Eriadina! And I have directed these two to come and see you. There was another with me, a little ant, but I'm not sure if he's decided to follow us or not."
"Ah, Kikkik, servant of the Earth! Good to see you again. It's been some time, has it not been?"
"Indeed, it has."
"Ok then, well won't you, er, gentlemen, follow me inside." He eyed the big stone man. "And uh, mind the archway as you're coming in. I know the place is falling apart, but I'd rather not speed up the process."
Ilosep and Kikkik led the way into the Temple.

[Schme]

MushBall made sort of a cooing happy mumble as Yanisha rubbed his shoulders (or where they ought to have been.) and then took another slurp from his cup. He was by now in a state of blissful ecstasy, brought on by the wine and the company.

He became even more contented when Bassus reavealed the answer to his questions. Although finding Bassus style of rule a bit disorganized and soft, it seemed to him to be working perfectly, and so he saw no place for criticism. Although power and influence were things that MushBall aspired too, he greatly admired Bassus making do with what he had. Of course, what Bassus had was a great deal, and the God of the Forest was in fact the most wealthy person that MushBall had ever met, as far as he knew, anyways.

Yes, this place was a true libertarian utopia, and that combined with the women and the wine, well, MushBall now felt very strongly that this was the greatest place on earth, and that Bassus was the wisest ruler in the world. “This person is almost as smart as myself!” he thought.

And such hospitality! As long as they liked, with such wonderful company, and all the wine they could drink!

He turned towards his friend, and said happily “What a wonderful idea you had in coming here, Kitty! You’re truly ah genemusl-Genicus-Genus-….real smart.”

Although he had now consumed a large amount of wine, he took in carefully all the god told.

“Aye, here here!” said MushBall when Bassus deplored those with principles and obligations.

MushBall too had become tired of the questions, and had become a bit annoyed at whoever it was who had been asking them. “What a buffoon, to be interrogating this…guy. Why be talking when is dancing to be done?” He kept these thoughts to himself, for fear of insulting the poser of the questions and putting a damper on the festivities.

He thought the music an amazingly genial thing, and he bobbed up and down to the beat and pace of the musicians (or tried to, as best he could in that stage of inebriation.). He did this only in between his gulps of wine, of course.

The dancing too, delighted him, and he cheered Bassus on drunkenly.

As Yanisha filled his cup yet again, MushBall could harldly contain his ferverish glee. When she kissed him, he, in his drunkenness, planted a “kiss” on her in turn, although it was more just pressing his face to hers, as he had no mouth, and also as he had drank a large amount of Bassus’s wine. “Yer a’ great lass, yaow.” He said, in gurgles that had become, by now, extremely difficult to decipher. “Always bein’ all nice and refillin’ this cup…Right grand of yah…Wamphaniminumblurrrr…..Mmmmhum………”
He was now swaying back and fourth, having drunk perhaps a bit more than was healthy.

He took another long drink from the cup of wine, and then turned to see what it was that the god of the forest was addressing. “Why hellooo!” he said to Erake, semicoherently.

“Nice to say here! I’m Mush’all, and is over there Kaytay, my good friend Kaytay. No, not Kaytay…Kitty! Yes!…Blurrrrmmmh…Great this place! Much great! I say, look at those wings! Large wings……..”

[Fleegle]

(Schme, I'll let 3shyof30rats respond before I respond to you... Varrius, you'll have lots of time to write a response since I am going to be away most of the weekend, once again.)

[Debsy]

Erake looked around taking in everything she saw. She looked oddly at the two creatures who'd addressed her...Clearly something was wrong with their heads or something. She approached cautiously and gave a half smile. "Hi...I'm Erake...Who are you?" She took the cup from Yanisha, and eyed it suspiciously. "What's in it?"

[Fleegle]

(For Erake and Schme)

Yanisha was taken aback by Erake's hesitation. "It's..."
She was interupted by the drunken Bassus. "Ish, ish wine! Very good! Look, ish safe..."
He grabbed the decanter and drank straight from it, drinking so quickly that he got more on him than in him. The red fluid dripped down his face. He roughly passed the decanter back into Yanisha's waiting hands. He grinned very widely and began to dance wildly on the spot, seeming to block out everything around him but the music. He just about crashed headlong into Erake, but stopped in time and began to dance in the other direction. Jilly returned to his side and continued their dance.
Yanisha bowed slightly to Erake and walked over to MushBall, taking him by his mushy "hands" to dance.