Just Do It.

[Gen-Gora]

Descending Fire 19



*He waved his hand around on the top side trying to get his arm at an angle that would allow him to grip down on the edge. When he had it, he pushed his other arm through the hole and attempted to slither through headfirst like some intestinal parasite. All this jumping and climbing business was really not his usual cup of tea; he wished he had some supplies, he knew of at least a couple ways he could have just made something that would force this opening to dilate or relax and let him through.*

[Arachnia of the Hour]

Descending Fire 19,

*As he reached in and the heat of his body hit the inside of the contraption, the hole did a swift contraction and opened wide enough to avoid his body as much as possible. The walls had ridges on them thick enough to make a ledge wide enough to climb, though they were still somewhat smooth. Above him was a wide space that let off a yellow light that looked like day from down at his position. The tunnel/wall itself went up for another ten feet before it appeared to open up into somewhere else*

[Gen-Gora]

Descending Fire 19



*And so the cantankerous crab man climbed the slick walls, digging his long fingernails into the oozing flesh wall. His own obstinacy was such that it blinded him from any other thought that he might not be going about this the right way, up and up he went in spite of it. When he reached the top, he peered around, scowling in the brighter light... When his eyes adjusted he gave a look around.*

(3 sxs visual investigation)

[Arachnia of the Hour]

Descending Fire 19,

*As Gen-Gora looks around, clinging to the fleshy chamber, he can see a room filled with glittering gold statues, coins, and jewelry, as well as art and sculptures of marble and other stones. The room itself looked to be more square than circular, with rounded corners and straight walls made of the same substance to which he was clinging*

[Gen-Gora]

*As soon as Gen saw the overwhelming selection of important looking statues he felt the urge to bury himself in a muddy hole somewhere and forget about all this mystical right of passage nonsense.

He amused himself with the idea that if he just plopped down and waited long enough, he could get Arachnia to crawl through these creeping, innards herself, his lips stretched to a sneer behind damp mustache. The idea of one so prim and proper showing up down here covered in all the wonderful goo and ooze he was enjoying so thoroughly. The look he imagined on her face... Priceless.


He then imagined her suddenly furious retribution after she realized he was just being lazy, and the thought of being chased through the bowels of this beast by an enormous Spider lady would be less amusing. He heaved himself up out of the gullet and moved around the room inspecting the statues, searching for any that stood out from the rest. He wondered if the pretentious queen took him for a scheming rat that couldn't keep his hands off a shiny trinket. She might have been right, if he didn't suspect her of presumption. He also had the advantage of hermitism and disinterest in the corrupting avarice of man kind.*

"Hmph! Peace and quiet are the only treasures I hold dear... Probably booby-trapped anyway... Big-boobed-bug would think she could trick clever me with traps!"

{6 sxs Check for evidence of traps in the room, potential reactions to disturbing the artifacts.
5 sxs categorical investigation of candidate statues to locate the one Arachnia intended for him to bring her.

8 SXS Int:craft water Roll -6m}

[Arachnia of the Hour]

*Descending Fire 19,

*As Gen looked around, he would not find any triggers or booby-traps, but he would find that the fleshy substance that made up the walls and ground was rock hard around any of the objects it touched, securing them firmly down. Upon testing the material, it would be apparent that it was soluble through salt, but would release some sort of gas when it dissolved. The various statues were of famous historical people, and of animals such as elephants and other exotic beasts. The most apparent of the statues came down to one of black wood in the shape of a black widow spider, though far larger than life (around two feet for the spider, three feet tall with its web and stand included), inset with dark nearly-black garnets for eyes and a large sculpted ruby as the hourglass shape on its abdomen. The other one was a circular disc in silver with etchings in Old Realm done in Moonsilver. When the light hit it at different angles, it showed the different guises of Luna in the different phases of the moon-mirror that was being held in the claw and beak of a statuesque marble gryphon*

[Gen-Gora]

*Gen glared at the statue of the black widow, his eyes meeting with the black garnet eyes long enough for him to get the sense that it was watching him. He shuttered to think of carrying such a thing back out of this hole, and assumed arachnia knew about his arachnophobia and would of course send him in after such a thing.

The oldrealm etchings drew his attention to investigate and so he got closer so that he could read it. Having been well versed in old realm at his college in An-Teng it was easy for him.*

[Arachnia of the Hour]

Descending Fire 19,

*In Old Realm, the words translated to:

Beauty is a form of genius - is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no explanation. It is of the great facts in the world like sunlight, or springtime, or the reflection in dark water of that silver shell we call the moon. *

[Gen-Gora]

Descending fire 19



"Bah what garbage! If anything, genius is a form of beauty, capable of creating wonders that stand the test of time! While all else fades and rots!"

*He would have gone on but realized he was arguing with words on a fancy mirror. He resumed grumbling to himself and attempted to look at the task presented to him. He would only have time to retrieve one of these objects before the Gas filled the room, granting himself that he was highly resistant to most toxins, the unknown gas could be something his body wasn't prepared for. He looked at it from the perspective Arachnia might; A choice between facing his fear, or battling with his own ego.

He reasoned further that the moonsilver disk appeared to have more potential value, and power, while the wooden spider did not contain any obvious magical materials. He also considered the possibility to at least argue the statement on the disk; possibly salving his own ego.


Firstly, he had to sort out the dilemma of not having remember to fill his pockets with salt in the morning in the unlikely case that it would somehow come in handy. He sighed and began looking around the room hoping that he could find a supply that had perhaps been stashed by whoever put these objects in here He would also investigate the spider further to ensure that it was indeed mundane despite it's coincidental shape.*

(8 sxs Investigation of spider statue and search for adequate sources of salt -7m.)

[Arachnia of the Hour]

Descending Fire 19,

*the spider statue was made very well, with only one or two barely-noticeable flaws on the undersides in little nooks where it would be difficult to make perfect. The web and stand were of equal quality, and he could see that there were no artificial colors used. There were no signs of magick involved with the statue, however well-made it was.
Toward the back of the room, sitting in a bowl of pure gold, was a small bag of salt around 3 grams in weight*

[Gen-Gora]

Descending fire 19



*Gen sighed, knowing that his hunch was most likely correct, what would a black widow need with a figurine when it could simply look at itself in a mirror designed to flatter the exceedingly vain. He needed to plan the way out, hauling this thing through the same way he had come would be a tiresome effort, moreover when foul gas would be following in his wake. Getting out required plan, and so he set to plotting out in his memory the way he had come, and what he had experienced along the way. He closed his eyes and recalled everything he'd seen along the way with perfect clarity, another gift of his incredible mind.

As if he were watching a recording from his perspective backward and forward several times over he even notice things he wasn't previously focused on. His mind raced he fought to put all the pieces together and concoct the perfect escape.*

(10 sxs investigation of memory; everything he had seen from the point he arrived at the lake with Arachnia, perfect visual memory and average recollection of other senses. If there was evidence of an easier way out, where he would be in association with the surface, suspicious subjects of note such as the dim lights and sweet smelling gas in the previous rooms. attempting to plot a perfect escape.)

[Arachnia of the Hour]

Descending Fire 19,


*the way in had no other doors or openings, though when thinking back to his investigation of the statues, he would recall a small warp in the floor of the chamber near the corner of a jeweled peacock-inspired chair. He would also note that there seemed to be a depression there, as if something had been occupying that space for a long time*

[Gen-Gora]

Descending fire 19



*Frustrated that nothing else presented itself in his recollection, he shook his head and wandered over to the depression to check it out. Perhaps it had some significance... It could be some means of opening the orifice in the ground, perhaps it was a sort of pressure point connected to a nerve cluster. He observed the shape on the ground, attempting to distinguish if anything in the room fit the size of the depression. *

[Arachnia of the Hour]

Descending Fire 19,

*upon inspection of the depression, he would see that there is a hole mostly covered by a fallen banquet platter-style plate, the edges of the hole spreading around five feet wide in a rough circle and somewhat warped. Looking down through it, Gen would see another tunnel and could hear the lapping of water in the distance*

[Gen-Gora]

Descending fire 19




* He stood up after sticking his head down the hole to investigate, and decided. He walked over and grabbed the bag of salt, ripped it open, and poured it around the base of the moon silver mirror and held his breath as gas began to release into the room. He nudged it back and forth trying to loosen the statue as quickly as possible without causing it damage.

It was fortunate he had an easy time holding his breath for long periods of time, but he was concerned the gas may still be absorbed through his skin or eyes. He continuously attempted to extract the statue as it was released and the moment he could, he would lift it out and hop down the hole he had discovered in the back.*