001007 -- Red Prison -- part IV =============================== AUTHOR: dsweet COMPOSED: 10/8/00 UPDATED: 10/8/00 STORY: After the will-be-heroes see the impressive defenses at the prison gate they decide to walk back to Incantifer's Observatory. It is a two day hike, but at this point everyone in the group is becoming quite physically fit. Once back Jake tries his hand at repairing the balloon's platform's diabolical control mechanism. The damage done by the marine was all machanical. The heart of the balloon's magic lies beneath. Luckily the machinery which is in need of repair is similar to that common to Earth's Victorian era and Jake got what little machincal knowledge he posses from the Old West. He does and adequate job connecting up the servos and control rods. The enclosure, which is made of wood, is another matter. Not having exposure to carpentry, he only barely managed to attach a flimsy wooden lid over the gaping hole left by the Marine's blaster action. Atop this he places the assembly which will hold the navigational crytal. There is little left of the assembly, but if someone holds the crystal in place perhaps the balloon will yet fly. Speaking of crystals, the group still needs one. Fortunately, the Uril the Ape Druid might know of the place Incantifer was speaking of before Jay started blasting. Another day and a half of walking brings the group to the entrance of a cave carved out of sand stone at the base of the prison's mountain walls. In front of the cave on both sides are totems with the heads of Malarites attached. The group stands at the entrance and calls in. Rick's keen sense of sight spot three creature meandering along the caves walls towards them. Just out of the site of ordinary men the creatures stop, but Jay can see they are bi-pedal female humanoids covered by mottle fur. Each one has a long tail and cat like facial features. Rick does most of the talking and the closest cat purrs out her companion's wishes. He wants the creatures to step aside so he and the rest of the group can investigate the caves. The kitties don't want that. They agree that the group should come in, but they do not want to step aside. What they want, what they really, really want is to be close to the men of the group. Meanwhile they lick their lips and run their paws across their curveous bodies suductively. Strangley, this doesn't do it for any of the men. The Ape is asked if he detects the cats as being evil. Since he says they are not so the group decides to make every effort to not put the cats down. A plan is hatched and a few of the group wander off to go hunting. Rick presents a couple slain bunnies to the cats as payment for unmolested passage. The cat excepting the gift try to reach past the bunnies to touch Jake but he will have none of that. The cat eventually gives up and takes the bunnies to her gal pals. They eat and then groom themselves. When the group tries to enter again it all starts again. Whatever the cats desire it wasn't satisfied by bunnies. The marine and Jake aim at the cats as Rick approaches the lead cat. When Rick is very close to the lead cat his animal magnetism is too much for her. She leaps at him attempting to wrap her arms around him in a loving embrase. Sadly she is cut in two by blaster fire. The other two scamper off down the second passage way to the left. The cats are scared, but after the members armed with blasters pass the cats they leap out. Armed with hand axes the group defeats them easily, but not before one of the paladin's gets a big kiss on the lips. During the earlier discussion with the cats it is learned that something smelly lives in the alcove furthest from the cave entrance. The group heads that way. The passage way opens into a twenty foot in diameter room. On the farside is a chest. The room indeed smells and the floor is covered with a film of sticky slime. The group decides that it would be best to lasso the chest and drag it to them. Jake and the marine take this time to aim at two of the many holes in the ceiling. Rick manages to a get rope around the chest after many tries. As soon as the chest begins to move a Jar filled with a translucent liquid inside falls from one of the holes not being aimed at. The large wine jug like bottles smashes against the floor depositing a blob on the rope. This slows Rick's prgress. The blob immediately starts to reform in a large bi-pedal creature made up of the clear sticky material that fell from the roof. It starts moving toward the three of them. Jay and the Marine aim at it while Rick pulls on the rope for all he is worth. After a short period of time when the creaure is nearly in striking range Jake fires missing the creature. Was is a warning shot? who knows? The marine is more decisive. He fires a deadly bolt that would have killed any of the will-be-heroes, but the creature still lurches forward. The large hole in the creature's chest begins to reform. The marine fires again. This rocks the creature but it staggers forward anyway. With the creature's large sticky apendages poised only inches from attacking the group, the marine fires a last time. It's enough; the creature drops to the floor into a shapeless mass. Rick drags the chest the rest of the way out of the room and immediately begins to work his lock picking skills. He has it open in no time. Quite a bit of loot is found in the chest: 6 prismatic crystals 50 light blue bells (each wrapped carefully so they do not clang against each other) A scroll A jar of thick milky stuff Some notes A set of thieves' picks The crystals are obviously what they came for but the group doesn't know what to make of the rest. The Ape is asked to determine if anything is magical. Sure enough the bells, the scroll, and the stuff in the jar are. The notes simply state information about spell keys. Apparently divinations must be accompanied by a bloody sacrifice and a wizard must spit on the ground before performing an alteration spell in this world. The day and a half long trip back to the observatory is uneventful other then the recently kissed paladin begins to turn into a female sex starved cat. The gang ties him up while the Druid Ape cures him with magical healing. When they return to the observatory they all sit around with needle and thread sewing the last giant lemur fur into one of the platform's balloons. The marine don's an environmental suit which is attached to the platform via an air hose. He seems facinated by the garment and studies it quite a bit. The marine is going to stand on deck and hold the crystal in place when they launch the balloon platform. Studying incantifer's ballooning instructions Jake loads each crystal into observatory's telescope viewing different heavenly bodies. This encodes the destination into the crystal. He also point the telescope at the valley to encode their present position just in case. When all the work is done the now exhausted will-be-heroes load onto the platform. Each member is eager to regain their freedom. The marine loads the crytsal into the platform's control mechanism. He carefully holds it in place as the balloon's quickly load up with some sort of gas. The rest of the group steps into the platform's storage hold where there will be plenty of air for the trip. The balloon lifts off and as it does so it constantly excelerates. Before long it is traveling at a dizziing speed yet still excelerating. If any one was on deck to attempt to breath without an environmental suit they would realize that long before the balloon reached the tops of the mountains breathable air ceased to exist. Shortly after the balloon travels above the many mile high mountains two time/space portals opens up on the platform. The one the marine sees block the entrance to the down below. The other's see one leading to the top of the platform.