The Cult of Arclesia Mountain (Kuragari)

[jondude]

You head to the right, doing your best to wrap the cloak around though it seems to small to fully close, leaving the middle strip of your front end exposed at the best of times. As you pass by more cells you give each a short examination as you go by, but nothing really of note. Each is equipped in a similar manner to your own room, however you don't find anyone else in any of the cells. That alone was sort of spooky, given this was a dungeon and all.

Eventually you come to a short set of stairs, and with no where else to go you go up, tiptoeing quietly. When you get to the top it appears to be a small guard station. There only seems to be one guard, and it's a goblin of all things, dressed as one might usually find a goblin. He wears a ratty loincloth and holds a crude spear, and as of right now was currently fast asleep on top of a table in front of some weapon racks. In this room there are three doors. One directly ahead, which presumably keeps leading out, and two to the right directly behind the sleeping goblin, slightly spaced apart. You could try to keep going, but it strikes you as a good chance that your equipment might be in one of those two other doors.

[Kuragari]

The absence of other prisoners makes Kayin shiver. What had happened to them? Had they experienced things similar to what she had, or had they suffered other fates? She pushes such thoughts aside as she climbs a set of stairs and is presented with her first practical obstacle. A goblin, especially an asleep one, wouldn't be a problem for her to deal with even unarmed. But she was more concerned with trying to find her things and get out of here. So after a moment, she continued her quite tip toeing towards the doors by the sleeping goblin. She wants her gear back, or to at least make an attempt at retrieving them. Her swords were gifts from her father after all, damnit!

Though, if she didn't have any luck finding her gear, she might get lucky and at least find things to replace them with.

[jondude]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Roll! Easy event. Needs 25 or more. Result... 35... passed!

Tiptoeing quietly you manage to not rouse the soundly sleeping goblin, leaving him be for now. You manage to get to the first door and gently open it, peering inside. What you find is rows upon rows of weapons. A promising sign!

Heading inside you begin to peruse the racks, but the far majority of the weapons you find are mundane in nature. The are certainly various styles and methods, but most definitely have a mass produced nature to them. There are certainly many types to, from daggers to great swords, spears and halberds, hand crossbows to large long bows. You were certainly spoiled for choice, but still no sign of your own swords.

Barely after having that though though you see what looks like a glass cabinet in the back. Heading over your skips a beat and relief fills you when you see your swords, tucked away in their own special case on top of a special velvet pillow. When you go to open it though it doesn't give, and looking a little closer you see a keyhole on the front. It was locked. Typical! At least you were pretty sure who had the key...

Still you had a couple ways to go about this. You could try and sneak the key away from the goblin, use one of the many unsecured weapons and simply kill the goblin, or maybe trying to use how of the other weapons here to smash the glass and get your swords, presuming the case wasn't magically reinforced, which was certainly possible. If you did that then you'd have to fight the goblin, but it was just one goblin. Hardly a concern for someone of your skill, especially so once you had your own weapons... in normal circumstances.

[Kuragari]

At first with no immediate sign of her weapons, Kayin was inclined to just grab two long-swords and call it a day. Better to be armed than not. But when she spotted her swords in the case she all but rushed over. Then pouted in annoyance as she found that it was locked up. Well, time for some careful and quiet violence. Without a second thought, she went and grabbed one of the more mundane weapons and went off to slice the goblin's throat and grab the keys. Sure, she could have tried to simply break the thing open. But she had a feeling it might be magical. And even if not... breaking it open that way would have roused the goblin anyways.

Once the Goblin was dealt with though and she had the keys, she'd hurry back to unlock it, retrieve her swords, and then check out the other area to see if the rest of her gear was there too.

[jondude]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Roll! Easy event. Needs 30 or more. Result... 96... passed!

It's easy enough for you to find a short sword that will do the job nicely. Taking it up and heading back toward the door and the sleeping goblin. Treading quietly and get up close, and give him a quick study. There was generally two kinds of goblins in the world, but it probably be more apt to call them two separate species since they were nothing alike. The first were fairly standard, and much nicer on the eyes. Sort of like thin dwarves with big ears and green skin, and like many species had integrated fully with society.

This goblin though? He was the other kind.

Brutish, ugly, and wicked. These were the kinds that were twisted by some dark magic long long ago. While capable of some reason, by and large they existed simply be raiding and pillaging from others. They also didn't naturally produce females so had to "borrow" from other races in order to reproduce. Another part of the magic that had twisted them how many hundreds, if not thousands of years ago. If given the opportunity, this goblin would've probably knocked you out and raped you, and not necessarily in that order. You don't feel much in the way of guilt as you briefly steady the sword before slashing at his neck, silencing him before he has a chance to scream. You do however grab some of your cloak and shove over it his mouth to silence his gurgles. The last thing it gets to see though is a nice full frontal of you as you keep the thing quiet till it dies.

Once it's dead you promptly grab some keys from him mangy loincloth... which you suppose you could also wear if you want to. As you grab the keys though you wonder how this cult is controlling these more feral kind of goblins. By and large they were nuisance creatures at best in the grand scheme of the world, but be that as it may they were also very difficult to control. They were typically viewed as too much of a hassle even by villains to use as minions, so either this cult had gone through enormous efforts to do it... or found an easier way.

Given what you just went through earlier, you have a fairly strong theory what it was.

[Kuragari]

Slicing the goblins throat was easy peasy. However after taking a better look at the thing, she found herself with more questions. She quickly had her own theories, ranging from whatever mind magic had been used on her to that maybe they were just offering women to these goblins in exchange for their service. There could also be more to it than either of those. In any case, with the goblin dead and the keys her, she hurried to the case, unlocked it, retrieved her swords, and then moved to try the other path. Now much better armed, if still not armored to truly protect herself against any surprises or guards who crossed her path.

[jondude]

With the goblin guard dealt with Kayin is free to check the other two doors, so naturally checks the one that been right next to the one she been in. The door opens without difficulty, and within appears to be a small bunk room that normally might house more guards. Four specifically, after counting the beds. The room however is in rather rough shape and dilapidated, all the furniture askew and looking worse for wear. Honestly it did sort of look like a bunch of feral goblins were living were... but where were the rest?

You examine the room for anything useful, and don't much beyond some torn up sheets that could only be useful as basic cleaning rags now, and that was assuming you were willing to wash them first. During your scan of the room however you hear the slight noise of running water, and in the corner of the room you find an iron gate. Down below you can see what appears to be a drainage or maybe a sewer tunnel. It's a lightly cramped tunnel, but large enough for you to stand up in, the tunnel lit up in a soft blue glow by the resident cave fungus that was common to caves or humid environments. Testing the grate sees it open with a minor squeal of the hinges, but nothing overly loud... usually where there was flowing water there was a way out... usually.

It was certainly something to consider anyway. You could try exploring it, or you could keep going through the dungeon and maybe hope to find your clothing. Worst comes to worst if you were discovered and chased, it could serve as an alternate escape route.

[Kuragari]

Swords retrieved, she makes for the other room. She tensed briefly when she opened the door and saw beds, even if they were dilapidated. But the room was empty of occupants, and soon enough she found what could prove to be another way out of the place. Course, in the clothes she was currently in, she didn't really want to head into the sewers or whatever they were where it could be cold and damp. She'd prefer to do so fully clothed, thank you very much.

For now, with her precious swords reclaimed, she would continue onwards, searching for the rest of her gear if able and if not, for some other way out of this place. That grate would be... a good fallback option, if the need arose.

[jondude]

Continuing on the third door leads to a set of stairs. It goes about a story before turning to the left, going another story again before coming to a crossroads. Once you were here there was three options: a staircase to your left that went downward. A stair case directly ahead that went downward. And a hall the went off to the left. Examining further reveals contentment signs however! You had just come from Cell Block 2. While the stairs directly across from you lead to Cell Block 1. The stairs your say Storage / Boiler. The hall to your right doesn't say anything, but presumably leads toward the entrance.

Storage seems promising for your gear. The boiler was also interesting since it needed water, which mean it might be connected to that earlier tunnel. It implied that their might be whole network of tertiary tunnels to explore... but such tunnels usually had their own pests and challenges. It might be easier then trying to fight your way through the cultists, but crazy folks like these? They tended to put monsters and beasts in those tunnels sometimes. Usually nothing too dangerous but... well there could be lots of things potentially.

It's at this moment of your contemplation though you suddenly hear... moaning. And quite a lot of it at that. It's distant, but with so many voices mixed together it turns into a sort of white noise that reminds you of wind or a distant waterfall. It seems to be coming from the hall to the right...

[Kuragari]

The crossroads briefly gave Kayin pause. Only briefly. As soon as she saw the one saying storage, she was very much prepared to start going that way. If the rest of her gear was anywhere, it'd be there. And well... Worst case she could find some other clothes and or armor to wear! Be better than nothing at least. She is given pause instead however by the sound of moaning to her right. Curiosity half wants her to go check it out...

But then she shakes her head. No, even if by chance it turned out to be someone in help, she was only just now in a position really to help herself. She needed to find her gear, or any other gear, and get out of here. The longer she lingered in this place, the more time there'd be for them to recapture her. So instead she starts heading for the storage and boiler... Though she makes a note of the sounds from that right hall. Maybe if she had to come back this way she could check it out...

[jondude]

You resist the urge to go check out the moaning, knowing that finding your gear is more important. You head to the stairs on the right and descent into a short dimly lit corridor that ends in large wooden double doors. Without much choice to proceed you come up to the doors and gingerly open one of them, peering inside.

The first thing you notice is the sudden wave of hot air, which definitely implies the presence of a boiler and a rather large one at that. Visually though the room is massive. Large enough that support pillars are needed to keep everything structurally sound. Huge piles of crates, sacks, and chests seem to line the walls in a somewhat organized manner, very little of it taking up the central hall to allow bringing things in an out to be a relatively simple task. Near the middle of the room you spot a large square whole in the ceiling, which you quickly surmise to be a kind of cargo lift, though the lift seemed to be at the other end of it since you so no accessible platform.

Near the back of the room though you see a truly large iron and brass boiler, a grated entrance below it roaring with flames as the odd puff of steam came from a pressure release valve along it's various pipes. On either side of it was large piles of timber or charcoal fuel, but most curiously where the large barred windows on the wall behind it. When you go to check it out, you'd discover that they lead to an underground pool or spring of sorts, connected to some kind of cave network. There was also a small door directly behind the boiler that accesses this area, but further investigation shows it to be locked. Looking at that lock more closely shows that is simple and crude in nature however. You could feasibly break it with a few pommel smashes of your sword. That would be kind of loud, but you had the hissing of the boiler to partially mask the sound, but... nobody seemed to be around anyway.

[Kuragari]

"Where is everyone?" Was Kayin's first thought as she surveyed the large room that was both boiler-room and storage area. Aside from the goblin... and well the moaning she'd heard, she hadn't seen anyone. Not that such was entirely a problem since it meant she could come and go as she pleased, but it was still putting her on edge. She quickly decided to slip in and first do a sweep of the room, noting the path to an underground spring or pool. Seemed increasingly likely her path out of this place would involve dealing with water in some capacity.

Still, before seeking to smash the lock off, she decided to do a search of the room for her gear. It took the better part of ten minutes, but she finally managed to find a chest which contained her old gear. Hurriedly, she slipped into it, feeling much more complete and ready to face any obstacles that might be in her path. Though for some reason she stopped a moment and admired how she looked in it. Especially the teasing bit of opening that gave a glimpse of her bosom. She then blinked and shook her head, before moving off to see about dealing with that damned lock

[jondude]

It takes sometime of seeking around chests, but eventually after opening a slow of containers containing mundane items or food stuffs you finally catch a small cache of chests in the corner that, after a few attempts, yields what you seek. Clothed again you feel much better to have all your gear, and now you were ready to bust out of this place. Violently if need be.

You head toward the door behind the boiler that access the cave system in which the this place seemed to draw water from. However on your way to the door a sudden mechanical noise draws your intention. You look to the ceiling and the large square opening there, and quickly surmise that someone must be coming down! Not wanting to get caught in the open you quickly take cover behind a set of crates in the dim lighting near a wall and slightly peak out, curious as to what you're going to see.

Sure enough a large wooden platform soon descends from the hole, carried at each corner by thick iron chains that explain the noise as the clinking mechanical noise was those chains coming from their spools above by the lifting mechanism. On the lift seemed to be a myriad of iron carts filled with coal, and several figures. Most of these figures where dressed in shabby black rags, but two of them were wearing extensive cultist uniforms, similar to what you say the cultist that hypnotized you wearing. Both carry whips in their hands, and quickly make use of them. "Unload the carts into the fuel stockpile. Quickly now!", one says, cracking out with the hip and hitting one of the laborers in the back. He winces, but his expression is... empty looking. "Once the carts are empty return them here, and then refuel the boiler!", the second then says, before likewise striking out at a random worker.

Looking closely it seems the laborers, mostly young men with a woman or two mixed in, seem dazed but wordlessly follow the commands laid out by the cultists. They don't fight at all, so either they had been here long and accepted their role, or had some manner of suggestion magic used on them as well. If that was the case then these two cultists where using their whips for no reason other then their own sick pleasure.

[Kuragari]

The sound of machinery had Kayin curse, but she moved quickly. Just because she was ready to fight for her freedom didn't mean she was just going to draw blood at the earliest opportunity. Hiding behind some crates, she peeks out around to watch and see what is coming down. She scowls at the sight of cultists and what clearly is meant to be slave laborers... Though the empty look in their eyes gives her brief pause. Then she remembers the mental magic used on her, and figures they likely did something similar. Though if that was the case, why bother with the whips? Maybe they were just sadists.

Shaking her head at this, she turns and tries to see if she can get to the door and break the lock open without being seen or heard. With all the noise of these folks moving about and unloading their cargo and filling the boiler, she should be able to break the lock and slip out. Though... if that wasn't an option, perhaps she'd see if she could instead skirt her way back towards the door she came in from. She could always seek the other water route after all!

[jondude]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Roll! Medium event. Needs 50 or more. Result... 71... passed!

Deciding to focus more on escape you turn away from the scene of cruel cultist and the laboring slaves. As much as you'd like to free them, you can't guarantee you'd be able to take out the cultist overseers without them being forced to try and attack you or shield them. Good as it might feel to strike down those bastards here and now, you'd rather not have to potentially hurt anyone innocent to do it.

You head to the door, timing your movements precisely as the slaves and cultists move about. It takes a few minutes, but before you know it your at the door again, but you'd have to act fast. The massive boiler was covering you for now, but there was no other cover nearby. As you examine the simple iron padlock though a sudden crashing of a coal cart getting dumped into a pile fills your ears, and gives you an excellent idea. Positioning your sword for a pommel smash you patiently wait, then when you hear the loud noise of another cart being dumped you hit the lock with all your strength. The loud metal bang is completely drown out by the racket of coal being dumped, and the lock breaks in a single hard strike, the ring snapping off from the pad.

That dealt with you open the door and find it leads to a sort of small stone pier that goes along the underground pool. It seems the water bubbles from underground somewhere, along with a few random smaller cave streams. There is one large cave off to the right though where excess water seems to drain out, the sound of water gently running water suggesting a mild decline. The cave is also pretty dark... but it is dimly lit with the odd colony of luminescent mushrooms... of course you could always try to grab a torch from the walls, but to do so now would be to take a risk of getting seen.

[Kuragari]

Doing her best not to think about the poor slaves, and soon hearing the opportunity she needs, Kayin contains her joy at the lock breaking on the first try. She hadn't been keen on having to wait again to keep striking at it. They'd run out of carts eventually and there was always the chance someone might hear something and point it out to their masters. Assuming they had the ability to do that in their current state. With the lock smashed off though, she opened the door and hurried inside, closing it as quietly as she could behind her as she took in the rest of the area.

A pier. And she spotted what looked like a rowboat of some sort. No one nearby it. But there was no torch or lantern on it. And none on this side. If she wanted one, she'd have to slip back in and try to make off with one. No... too risky at this point. With a groan, wishing she had been able to get somewhere with magic even if only a little bit so she'd know a light spell or some such, she resigns herself to what could be a risky ride.

Climbing into the boat, she unmoors it and uses the paddle to steer herself towards the larger cave with the water moving out. Using the light that comes from some of the mushrooms to guide her as best as she can.

[jondude]

As you decide it's too risky to try and grab a torch quick you find yourself regretting not learning some simple magic at any point, as your swords and raw athletic prowess and smarts had been enough to make a near top tier adventurer already. Still it was never too late to start! First though, you had to get out of here.

You unmoor the simple boat and cast off, eager to start making your way while the rest of the cult was still unaware of you slipping free. Grabbing a paddle you then steer yourself toward the large cave, and soon you slip off into the dark chasm, gently steering while the modest current does the work of propelling you forward. The lighting is dim... but workable. You find yourself squinting a lot to make sure you don't bang your rickety wooden boat into the side of the cave or a stray rock.

After a few minutes you go around a couple of bends, but your sharp eyes identify some strange lines or threads in the dark. They come from large pods that seem to cling to the ceiling and the walls, fleshy in nature but looking like an unbloomed flower. Emerging from each though is a singly long limb, about as thick as your arm, that reach down into the water. You've never seen anything like it before, and the more you look the more of these things dot the cave, almost like a series of trip wires or something. Still there is not so many that you can't steer around them, but enough that doing so would be a challenge. Besides, these things might not even need touch as far you know. They could feasibly respond to just your proximity too!

Might be best to keep at least one of your swords ready, just in case.

[Kuragari]

Riding along the current and only occasionally needing to use the paddle, Kayin finds herself taking more note of her surroundings as she sailed down the underground stream. When she saw the first pod, she didn't pay it much mind or heed, but after spotting a few more, she soon took one of her swords in hand. She wasn't sure if this was some sort of trap or defense set up by the cultists, or some sort of life native to the cave. It might not matter much in either case, since even if the cult hadn't set them up they could still prove a natural means of dealing with folks trying to escape... or sneak in.

"Don't want to find out what those things do..." She muttered aloud to herself as she kept herself alert and ready. Sword primed to lash out at any of them if they tried anything as she continued to ride the boat to what she hoped would turn out to be a way out. She definitely didn't want to find out it lead to a dead end or something like that. It'd be a major pain having to try and paddle back!

Course, that earlier thought of magic training did serve as a minor distraction. She might need the aid of magic if she wanted to deal with these cultists, given their screwy mind magic stuff they seemed to possess. She shivered, cheeks heating as that just made her remember the little orgy that followed after the little thing that one cultist with the medallion had done to her.

[jondude]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Roll! Hard event. Needs 70 or more. Result... 86... passed!

The next five or minutes or so are relatively uneventful, though it seems the further you go on the more dense these strange tentacled pods become. Luckily the current hasn't really picked up at all yet, still allowing you time to pick your route and avoid the tentacle that hand from the walls and ceiling and dip into the water. However you eventually come across one particularly dense spot, and while you do your best to dodge a descent spread of them the boat ends up brushing along one of the tentacles. With a sudden burst of movement the main tentacle retracts before the pod it's attached too opens up like a flower and reveals a slew of smaller tentacles, just as long but not as thick as the main central one. The dive toward the boat, eager to capture the prey that had fallen into it's grasp.

Alas for it though, Kayin Dreemurr was no easy prey.

Anticipating this ahead of time by reading the situation you had been sure to have one of your swords ready, even if you weren't quite sure what to expect. When it reveals itself though you keep calm and quickly adapt, tossing your paddle toward the incoming tentacles. The tentacles wrap around it, the sightless creature believing it be their prey, but as their momentum still carries them forward they still move within your reach. With all the tentacles, including the main one, now wrapped around the paddle in an attempt to constrict it they offer themselves as an easy target for your blade, and so without hesitation you strike, essentially severing the tips of all the tentacles with a spray of bluish teal blood. The creature has no voice so does not make a sound, but quickly retreats, the pod snapping back up closed as your paddle and a twitching pile of severed tentacles land back in the boat.

All the while the boat barely even rocks. Moments like these was were you definitely proved you were your daddy's daughter.

Still you were not out of it quite yet. There was more pods and the river kept going for the time being, and it was starting to get a little darker... and the current a litter faster.

[Kuragari]

Navigating through the increasingly dense maze of tentacle pod things, Kayin finally gets a moment to see what the pods are like on the inside. She uses the paddle as a sort of distraction, and then when more tendrils snake down to try and grasp her... *SLASH* One simple swing of her sword and the paddle is hers again and she's got some tentacle tips in her boat. And a bit of bluish teal blood that almost seems to glow in the dim light from the glowing mushrooms.

She smiled grimly, feeling that confidence return to her. In her earlier days of adventuring, she might have panicked a bit, maybe even yelped at such a sight. As it was, she didn't let it phase her any. Though... Strangely as the boat sailed on, a small part of her briefly found itself glancing to the many other tentacles dangling from above. And thinking about the ones that had been inside the pod.

For some reason, an errant thought flittered through her head. An imagining of one of the pods grabbing her and doing... Perverse, lewd things to her with those tentacles. She blushed, squirmed, then shook her head so as to focus on the river and the other tendrils.

"Just gotta get through this... It better lead to someplace I can get out of this underground cavern." She muttered to herself, focusing more as the current picked up speed.