The earth wraps around them both for what seems like an impossible amount of time, and about the moment Chago thinks his lungs might burst, they're spit out of the vortex, landing hip deep in snow.
Shova lands on his back, the first few inches of powder breaking the fall. He's quiet for a minute and then starts laughing like a mad man. "HAH! HAH! HAH! HAH! It worked!" Well, at least as far as getting them somewhere that isn't dead. Question is if it's the right where.
Chago sits up and growls as he shakes snow from his face and hair, his hands scrabbling to grab his hat and jam it back on. "This is worked? The hell is all the snow? What happened to f-ing warm?" he growls. When the scrying said the machine was far away, he expected far away and south back to a hell hole Genny had once told him about. Not far away and…wherever this is. Then he takes a deep breath and focuses on the most foul taste he knows. Well... second most foul. The most would be when it came back. Fruit does not improve every flavor.
His hand shifts to point as his eye almost closes. "That way." He mutters, trying to get an idea of how far.
"I didn't promise warm. I just got us here." Shova pushes to his feet, giving a shake to get the snow off of his fur and then digging in his pack for a jacket. "Though I ain't no Mister Tumnus and it'll take more than a scarf to keep me warm."
Once attired he moves closer, looking down the way. Upright they both may realize how fortunate they are that they dropped where they did since a few feet either direction would have dropped them on pine trees instead of in a clearing.
The location that tugs at Chago isn't far, maybe a mile or so.
Chago nods and then looks around some more. "Well, lets get movin'. I ain't carryin' snow gear." he grumbles as he starts out, pushing forward. "Don't feel far now. You done good." As he speaks, he looks up at the first real pine he passes, not just some little sapling at the edge of the clearing. "Damn good. That woulda hurt goin' up your ass."
Shova looks up at the tree and whistles lowly. "Don't care what kind of fetish you've got, that would be painful." He shakes his head, pulling his jacket tighter and moving up to break trail. Another place where hooves are useful, pushing through the snow and through the trees to where the cover isn't so deep. Once there he lets Chago take back over, the taste of the metal leading towards a gully between two hills, the area iced over, but ruins of a palace visible as they draw nearer. Figures move about on the ramparts, the building apparently no longer serving as it once did but not forgotten or uninhabited.
"You got any iceskates in that thing?" Chago asks as he sees the ice and the open area. "This ain't gonna be easy. Don't wanna screw this gizmo up, so I can't do what I wanna..." He goes thoughtful then smirks and kneels, blowing on the thickest piece of ice he can find and then polishing it with a shirttail to try and get the ice reflective.
Once there, he's tries to scry the distant ramparts in the made mirror, to get a closer view. "Watch out asses Shova. And not mine like that. I don't swing that way."
Can't be too sure with a satyr.
Shova arches both eyebrows and then smirks. "But you have such cute -ass-ets." He moves away before he can be kicked, taking up a stance of watching, but he's amused with himself. He may also still be a little drunk off of the magic he pulled off.
It takes a bit to get the ice to really shine, but once it does, he can see some kind of trolls on the ramparts. Three of them, dressed in winter gear. Below the grounds show others, more trolls, all in training formations.
Chago doesn't look from the polished ice mirror. He knew it wasn't going to be easy, and he has to be careful of his breathing to avoid fogging it, but that just makes it an even better bunk to have made his own mirror, right? In the softest voice Shova is likely to have ever heard, the redcap says "Try it and I'll give ya the last blowjob you'll ever want." then his teeth click together to make sure the satyr gets the point. Or is that points?
His eye scans the trolls in the reflection, watching and timing the patrol then he nods and with his right hand starts snow scuplting the wall he sees, including a bit of drippy stuff that represents the ice clinging to the wall. When one of the trolls walks under the right place, he taps the hanging bit to knock it off and sends a bit of sympathetic magic into the bricks of the wall to create the same effect. Let's see if the trolls are dumb enough to start arguing over 'who did that?' and give them a chance to sneak closer.
Shova snorts, muttering something about how Kiersten would geld him first and continues to watch the way around them.
It takes a second for the echo to kick in and the piece of snow tumbles, catching the shoulder of the troll beneath. He turns and looks up, frowning before snapping at the one who passed just before him about watching what he's doing. It doesn't turn into a full on fist fight, but they do bicker.
Chago nods and grins then waves to Shova to get the satyr's attention as the bickering starts., Without words, he tries to indicate the fight first, then the best place of cover that's on the way to the guards. Hopefully the satyr will understand 'get there and hide' from it.
Whether he does or not, Chago moves out as well, along a different direction, planning not be the focus when the trolls finally notice, after getting as close as he can sneak. Maybe he should have asked if Shova had any offensive cantrips hidden away somewhere. Never know when one might need the help.
Shova isn't completely dumb, and in fact is smart enough to get the gist of the message. He creeps out, hooves sinking into the snow as he goes and skitters forward into the cover. He looks back, waiting for Chago to give him some kind of clue as to what he's doing.
In the tower the trolls' arguing falls off after a minute and a few shoves and more fallen ice that actually was their fault this time.
Chago took the riskier path, half skating on the ice as he rushed to closer cover. There he's at it again, bending and laying out a piece of cloth. That done he starts using a knife on some ice to carve a quick image of the area before him, but with the trolls up to their necks in some block. The cloth is below the ice to catch the shavings. Once the sketch is finished and the fights are over, he rises and tosses the icy shavings toward the trolls nearest the doorway with a wave of Glamour.
It's an icy entangle that definitely won't last long, but hopefully it won't have to. Just long enough to get inside so he can fight them where they can't all get to him ans he can protect Shova. The cantrip thrown, he charges the ramparts, readying the next one and saving his glamour for the big effects, relying just on bunks still for the current effects.
From his hiding place Shova looks both impressed and really confused. Maybe he was pondering talking to the trolls and seeing if they might just let them in. That thought, if it was on his goatly brain, is gone now replaced by running to catch up. He catches up, breathing evenly. "Do we actually have a plan here?"
Chago nods. "Yeah. First, we get past the damn wall and find a place where this shitload of trolls can't reach us all at once. You don't guard a place like this and then just let something like me walk in and grab something." he tells before gesturing. "Follow me. Miss a step and you deal with these dipshits on your own." And with that he heads for a troll, stepping on the momentarily frozen leg that was in mid step, then jumping to his shoulder and then -leaping- with an "Alley oop!" cry, using the accidently boost as a quick hopscotch bunk and trying to spread it enough to include the satyr.
Yes, it's a blind jump to clear the wall. Hopefully not into worse than the trolls. Maybe he doesn't have as much of a plan as he's trying to convince Shova.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Right. Plan. We don't need no steenkin' plan. Shova doesn't argue, it won't do any good but follows closely. Not quite on Chago's heels since he doesn't want to be stepped on or growled at much more, but plenty close to use the bunk and propel himself up.
They both come over the wall quickly into what might be a decent landing if there were snow drifts. Unfortunately the inner yard is kept clean and the landing is slick, dropping them both on their butt. They do manage to land without bringing everyone down on their heads, at least not at the moment. Though Shova 'oofs' as he lands on his butt. Maybe he needs snow tires on his hooves.
Plans are overrated anyway. You always have to abandon them when the action starts, right? Chago shakes off the slightly rough landing with a small snarl and his head turns, trying to track those handcuffs to the storehouse he needs to get into as well as looking for a good doorway they can head for along the same line if they have to fight. Like he didn't pretty much guarentee that by breaking in. Ahem.
"This way." he growls, once he's got a line.
Whatever the trolls might have put up with if they hadn't been frozen, and snow drifted and such is pretty much gone. No goodwill for the crazy redap. However, as a unit of trolls rush for the gates they don't even seem to notice the pair, then again Shova's forehead is wrinkled up in concentration and he's got a chunk of ice in his hands, muttering at it. Apparently his dreamcraft works for more tricks than one. He nods at the instructions, but doesn't verbally answer, just following along.
The feeling of the metal is to the right and ahead where there are doors leading into the bigger structure, then...down.
In for a penny, in for the national deficit, right? Chago drops his shoulder and growls at the doors, not slowing in the least as he leads with every bit of temper and determination that Genny being filled with iron gives him.
Whether it's that or his shoulder, he's not planning to stop for one lousy door.
The door isn't much of a problem. Either he's scared it to death, or...more likely...it wasn't latched and was slightly open in the first place. Someone forgot to lock up behind them. When he hits the door, the only resistance is the friction of a door opening over icy ground, which is to say...not much.
The troll and satyr beyond the door look surprised though.
"Stay put Tiny." Chago growls to the troll before spinning to the satyr. "Where is the shit that dipshit of a Knocker built?" he asks, like the satyr should -know- who he's talking about. "I got a goat with iron in her blood and there's a gizmo here'll fix it." he growls to the other before pointing toward the storehouse location. "Down there somewhere. I need it. -Now-."
And somewhere deep inside, the redcap finds the restraint not to start with Browbeating now that it's just two on two, even if he's got no idea how much help Shova is if it becomes a fight. Growling? Yes.
Demanding? Well, D'uh.
The goat seems the calmer of the two, holding up a hand when the Troll would have lunged forward inspite of...or maybe because of...the warning. He's also the older of the two, well into his grump years.
"Why do you think this place guarded, Bloodcap? What was left below is best kept below. The castle came down on his head when we pushed him out, but something remains. Something dark and powerful. We hold it at bay for the good of all. You'd best find another way."
Chago ignores the troll, other than a tightening of his hands when the big guy first got up. "There ain't no other way. She's one of his old victims. From the Horror." He reaches to his ear and taps the ring there that came from her horn. "And she's gonna die without the machine. I don't give a rat's ass what's in the way. I'm getting the machine that'll clean her blood and then me and Shova here are going to take it back to her."
He takes a step closer to the grump then, growling softly. "I'll go through anything that tries to stop me too. I already ate iron to do this. You think I'm scared of something already had a building dropped on it to soften it up?"
The grump moves forward, limping heavily now that he's actually moving. He's dressed in a thick winter vest and fur, who needs much more? He peers at the ring, making no move to touch it. Get his fingers that close to a BloodCap's mouth? I think not. Slowly a breath hisses between his teeth. "I know that ring. Thought she'd have been dead long before now." He frowns... "Iron in the blood is a problem. They used to dose us with it once...to keep us from acting up." He looks towards the door and his brow furrows. Closer it can be felt that the door is warded, and warded good.
"She ain't dead yet, but she's gonna be without that machine." Chago rumbles as he moves about the room once it seems the satyr is listening instead of obstructing. "I'm gonna get it. If you know this ring, you know what it's gotta mean that I'm wearing it, right? I'll swear any oath you want that I didn't eat her to get it." And that pretty much only leaves one other option. Freely given, with all that would imply.
He gives the grump a little to chew on those thoughts then asks "You gonna help me, or do I gotta make my own way?"
"Peace...I'm...thinking." The grump holds up both hands, looking at the door. "If you didn't eat her, she gave it to you by will...not that I can imagine why, but I learned long ago not to question a woman's choice." He chews his lower lip. "I can bring the ward down temporarily. I can give you some warding against what lies beyond. I cannot go with you, and I cannot spare any men for the task. I will have to seal the way again, which means there will be no turning about unless you succeed."
Maybe he can't guess why on meeting but Chago may well be about to clue him in. He listens and nods, the only sign of impatience being the near constant grinding and crackling of his Gauntlest as the 'caps hands open and close slowly. When the satyr finishes, Chago turns to Shova and nods again. "You. Sit. Rest. Work on what you're gonna do to get us back. If you ain't sure of getting us both there, I'll give you the machine and make my own way. Got it?" No threats. No anger. Well, other than an edge in his tone that says 'and she better be better when I get there'.
Then he turns back to the grump satyr. "There ain't no coming back for me -until- I get that machine." That's right until, not unless for the redcap. "You ain't gotta tell me that. I got no reason to come back without it." he sums up. "Just make sure he rests. I'll get the fecking machine."
The old satyr studies Chago for a brief moment and then nods. He reaches to a pouch at his side, untying it from his belt. "Damn Wanderer said the stars were right for this, and that change was on the wind. Didn’t think it would be in the form of redcap. I'm gonna have to buy her ale from now until the new year." He shakes his head, but there's a certain pleased determination to his features. "When the master of this place was killed his bones were ground to dust. The monsterous remains of his chief jailer wander below, left behind when the torteror had perfected his art. The seers believe that the bones of the master can be used to defeat the walking slave, but no one has ever gotten close enough to know for sure. If you're going to take the risk anyway...might help."
Shova doesn't argue. see how smart he's getting in his old age? He just nods and settles clearing a space to begin drawing his star map.
"And you was gonna tell me that when?" Chago asks with a touch of amusement in his voice. Yeah, he knows how folks feel about redcaps and it doesn't bother him at all. He worked hard to be looked at like that for too long to get upset now. "Did them seers say -how- it could be used?" he asks then, in a tone that says he knows it's too easy to expect an answer. He reaches out for the pouch then as he pops his neck. "At least monsterous remains is something us caps is good at dealing with." he mutters before getting the answer.
"I'm tellin' you now." The satyr is unphased, though a smile plays across his lips. Even at his age he must drive women crazy. Not the look as much as the charm. "And your guess is as good as mine. If I had a feckin' clue how to use it I would have already made someone go down there and use it. Well...maybe asked nicely, but still, you get the point. We aren’t sitting up here for our health."
Chago grins a little toothily. "I like you old man." he rumbles as he weighs the pouch in his hand. He takes a dep breath then and licks his lips. "So... is this all you got? Not hid a flashlight somewhere or anything? I got a feeling it's kinda dark down there." he says as a joke. "Other'n some light, I'm ready if you got nothing else to offer." Then he chuckles coldly. "My girl's been suffering. I been looking forward to giving some of that back."
"If she's got iron poisoning going on, I can empathize." He considers for a moment and then calls one of the trolls. The two of them speak briefly and the troll leaves again only to return after a moment with a chunk of clear stone which is set into a band. The satyr works over it and the thing takes on a glow, easy to wear like a bracelet. "There...some shiny jewlery for the walk."
Chago puts the bracelet on with a nod of thanks. It's worn on the blind side so he won't blind himself when he goes into a boxing stance too. Then he heads for the door, licking his lips and scanning his head to get an idea of where he's going when the door opens. Then he starts forward. "Open it. I'm ready." he rumbles softly. That said, he stalks on, ready to bull through. "I'll be back."
The grump nods and moves to the doorway, touching his fingertips to the four corners and then the thick lock. A small flame leaps from his fingertips into the mechanism working the tumblers in a way no key could. Finally, it clicks open and rolls back a blast of cold fetid air blasting the doorway. The satyr steps back, covering his mouth with his arm. "Go. God speed."
That's all the cap was waiting on. His shoulders roll to drop his pack before he crosses the doorway and then he sets into a light lope, ready to try and get to the sense of those cuffs before running into anything. He's not trying to sneak though. Forget that. Better to make a normal amount of noise and lure the beastie, and whatever else might be down here that they don’t know about, to him. His sharp ears are alert where his vision is limited. Come out, come out, wherever you are....