Tobuka Islands - Pathfinder IC thread (CLOSED)

[Zephyr42]

Father Quigo leans back as Taizee asks her question. "Don't worry," he tells her, "it usually takes a few days and a ship should be there before then. Although I have seen it happen after a few hours before, especially when someone eats so much of our magically grown food..." As he speaks, the corners of his mouth turn up and it's obvious he's trying not to laugh at Taizee's impending panic attack.

As soon as the conversation in the hall turns to the attack, Cadrick breaks out of his silence with a quick and harsh "SSH!" He motions for everyone to keep their voices down, then he moves closer to them. "Not a word," he hisses under his breath. "There are things going on here, and if word gets out, they are going to kill everyone here! And no, I don't know who they are. That's all that Father Quigo told me."

[Netjak]

She had by this point put away a good two hundred kilos of breakfast, and though she was a big, long girl, it was clearly showing. The sides of her tail was swollen with food, and her supple human tummy bloated nice and round, as if she was already quite heavily pregnant, making for a satisfying place to keep her hands, as she stared down at it in shock. After shaking it about for a few seconds, producing a loud, audible slosh, Tai turned back to Quigo, blushing quite fiercly as she asked, "Y-you couldn't have said that a little s-sooner?!", with half a frown on her face. Still, she didn't seem upset enough to vomit up breakfast and waste perfectly good food either, instead, she got up and quite adamantly asked, "So, where is the closest body of water without residual magic in it?!"

Upon her question's reply, Taizee would throw on her amulet of speed and slither out in search of water she could guzzle down on and try to wash the excess fertility magic out of her system!

[Anime_Chaos]

Before Taizee is completely gone Lang adds in. "I'd be glad to help you with a plan B option to get pregnant naturally before it has a chance to kick in. I have enough experience in the matter to be certain of interspecies compatibility." Might wind up loud enough to be heard in the hall. A reason she's limited herself to a normally portioned meal this morning revealed. While she lacks the biology to get pregnant herself, who knows what an overdose could do.

[Trr9896]

Ter'ra would be taken aback by brother Cadrick's visceral response, looking at him "We already slew what they sent after us, I'm not particularly worried at the moment." She says a bit dismissively, the former matriarch rather imperious in her stance and tone. She listens to Celara and comes to a similar conclusion, a bit uncertain how to feel about what this temple might be doing in the plot.

Ter'ra would nod to Abby, eventually running after her, following the changeling along "So why is it that you want to learn this magic? Do you have a sudden urge to have children or something?" She asks perhaps a bit bluntly for the usually more eloquent elf. Her tone is surprisingly casual for something usually kept private.

[Voidrazor]

Abby would only faintly hear brother Cadrick due to her wanderlust taking her away and though it would confuse her she did very much wish to find out about the magic here. She would keep on exploring until Ter'ra caught up with her and then she would explore some more. Fertility and growth magic had more applications than just growing food or making people pregnant after all. Upon getting asked why she wishes to learn though, Abby pauses. Her skin tinges pink again and she gives an audible sigh. "W-Well... I likely already am pregnant or am going to become pregnant from when me and Lang went into the cell together... I mostly just want to learn so that I can replicate it myself. Alchemy is the study of change really and I do wanna know how they change stuff to be more fertile. Plus such magic has other uses too. If you make something grow quickly you could produce a lot of food like they do here, but you could also use it to grow things in an offense way. Plant a seed in the crack of a stone and pour the magic into it and maybe the growing plant might be able to split the rock. It is just a theory but I'll never get to test it if we don't learn how the magic works." She rubs over her middle and sighs. "Though honestly yes... I do want to have children. Back in underdark I thought I was going to be slated as a breeder, not an explorer. I prepared myself to have lots of children. I'm just glad I found someone quickly who was so willing to oblige in getting me pregnant. I am curious now though, why exactly do you want to learn it?"

[zeusthunder]

Celara nods along quietly as Brother Cadrick hushes the inquisitive pair asks about the attack. "That is more or less what I was told as well," she whispers after the priest's warning. "Whoever's behind this seems content to let things be so long as we don't speak of it, but nobody knows who 'they' are. Just don't go around blabbing about it and you should be fine."

When Abby and Ter'ra wander off, the half-elemental rests her hands atop her swollen belly and watches them head off. "Better be careful, Cadrick, or you might run out of food before the next harvest with so many big eaters around," she teases, trying to lighten the mood now that talk of the attack has passed. Rather than continue on the route that they'd been on when leaving the room, though, Celara continues to stand there and idly rub her stomach as she thinks. The idea of taking part in the spells that were being used to grow the temple's bountiful crop had never occurred to her until the other women brought it up, but now she can't get it out of her mind. With a slightly pleading look she glances over to her companion and asks, "You wouldn't be too offended if I meet you at the baths in a minute, would you? I want to see what the answer they get is, and then I'll be right with you."

[Zephyr42]

Quigo continues to smile as Taizee begins to freak out. "Well, there's the well right out back, but that's right next to the magic. The closest thing I can think of is the river, but that's three hours down the mountain. Oh, and if we're really experimenting, as we are now, the magic can run down into the source of the river. In that case, drinking from the closest possible point would just put even more magic inside you, so you'd have to go another, oh, three hours downstream." At this point, he winks at Lang.

Cadrick's face doesn't ease up after Celara's joke, but his body seems to relax just a bit. When the two newcomers head off and Celara asks to take her leave, Cadrick pauses for a moment, then nods with a smile. "I'll see if I can warm up some water for us," he tells her. Then he walks over to her, gives her a quick peck on the cheek and rub to the gut before heading down the hall to the baths.

Mother Dalyn's room is just down the hall. She is an elf in the same brown robes as the others, and ancient enough to look it, with silver hair and wrinkles. Her door is open, and she is seated and reading a book, pince-nez pinched onto her short nose. As the three enter, though, she looks up and sets the book to one side. "May I help you?" she asks evenly. She then looks at Celara. "I assume this isn't a medical examination?"

[Netjak]

At first, it seemed like the stuffed mermaid was taking Lang's comment as a simple, teasing quip, wasting no time on replying to it as she rushed for the door, but the naive fishwoman thouroughly trusted Quigo, who probably was embellishing the extent of the magics influence, especially considering how there usually are very, very limited ground water up atop mountains and large hills, and their well would probably be situated so it catches most of the rainwater falling on the mountaintop, and thus, very little tainted water would actually flow down the mountainside to any other possible bodies of water in it's path.

Taizee didn't know about any of these things though, and would seemingly trip and 'fall' forwards, stopping herself with her hands before her head smacked into the ground. She remained there, staring and blinking into the floor for a good few seconds, before finally replying, "T-thank you f-for the offer Lang, b-but that isn't the problem. I-i just really don't want to be pregnant a-already...", drawing in a soft sigh as she pushed herself back up, and actually headed for her room this time, the mermaid continued, "I-i will be gone four to six hours then, m-maybe eight. If i take l-longer than that to return, assume the worst I suppose. S-so, what and where is this second body of water?", with a pair of tiny tears seemingly being frozen in the process of forming in each of her eyes.

Once back in the bedroom with all of her stuff, naturally, she would equip the amulet of swiftness, strap her sword and scabbard to her waist, stow her shield and javelins away on her back, before hurriedly exiting the room and heading for the front doors, leaving her backpack and damaged chainmail behind, as she didn't want to be slowed down by anything. If nothing or no one stopped her on the way out, she would be jogging down the mountainside soon enough, planning to use the river to swim down through atleast some distances towards the untouched body of water.

[Trr9896]

The drow would cross her arms at Abby's first explanation "You know it takes quite a bit more than once normally to get knocked up." She would relent a bit in her stern, almost bitchy expression when the changeling gives more practical reasons and looks almost sad when she explains herself being a breeder "Did... were you a slave of the drow?" She would ask a bit worrisomely.

Ter'ra would be caught a bit off guard as she is asked why "Being kicked out of my home has me a bit sour. Having a powerful bloodline could help in my claim to my matriarchal position, and making matriarchs suddenly massively pregnant with something that would kill them, or perhaps a bastard of my bloodline, would grant me a good amount of control and ability to change my home for the better. Not to mention the drow lack the food supply needed to thrive underground, so fertile plants that could be harvested would be a major boon." She doesn't speak to her deep personal desire to swell with powerful children.

Upon making it to Mother Dayln, the drow would hide her disdain for her fairer kin, or at least she hoped she did well enough "We were all seeking your permission to learn the magics being used here. Us being aspiring magic users would like access to the notes and details of the spell, and myself being a sorceress would like to witness the spell casting in person, and perhaps help hone my skills through my own participation. It is perfectly understandable that you would like to keep such things secret, but while I cannot speak for the others, I'd gladly do anything you desire for such access." She would speak evenly and eloquently, her tone trying to stay away from demanding.

[Anime_Chaos]

Lang would have discreetly thanked Quigo for being her wingman later if it had worked. Too bad it seems to have backfired so hard it set the mermaid onto a suicidal course. Sure, Lang can't get pregnant. But that doesn't stop her from rubbing her temples in exasperation over why someone would choose a potentially fatal course over dealing with an immaculate conception for some months. "So much for 'Plan B.' Let's go Quigo. You're going to have to help me with this one. By the look of things she'll probably just think I'm trying to push that option on her if I go alone. I'd rather not be accused of heresy like that." Dragontaur intercept course engage.

[Netjak]

Quigo and Lang basically didn't even need to go anywhere to catch the upset mermaid, as she would have to walk right by them to exit through the main entrance, which she would try to do after preparing herself. Taizee was after all very naive, and not only didn't she beleive that Quigo would embelish the truth, much less lie, she also had great confidence in herself, saw no reason why more humanoid or shadowy imp attackers would assail her on the trip, and certainly beleived she could make it back before nightfall, as long as she hustled along.

The primary reason she was so upset about the possibility of having gotten herself impregnated already was mostly because she knew what would happen if she got pregnant. With her womb located in her human torso, as with the rest of her female kin, and the merfolk's much greater than human frequency of birthing twins, triplets and quadruplets, coupled with their long meaty tails of even their babies, a pregnancy could make one's belly swell to very impractical degrees, if you were unlucky. But most importantly in the case of an accidental pregnancy, Tai didn't think she could push herself onwards on her adventure, and risk the lives of her children as well as her own. And, to give her kids as good an upbringing as possible, in their natural enviroment, she was certain she would have to dive back down to the depths, find her kin and home, give birth there and leave the kids in their care, before receiving any punishment the elders and priests deemed just, and probably never return from the terrifying darkness again.

[zeusthunder]

Celara smiled at Cadrick's touch and gave him a quick peck on the cheek in return before hurrying down the hall after the other two. In her current state "hurrying" still didn't quite result in moving that fast and involved a lot of bobbing up and down of various parts of her body, but fortunately the distance was short and she was able to catch up with them as they crowded around the doorway.

The drow's explanation quickly makes their intentions known to Mother Dalyn, but the half elemental speaks up as the other woman finishes so that she my provide her own motivation as well. "I believe your leg just needs rest until it mends, Mother Dalyn, so I'll check on it again in a few days but not at the moment. The reason we're here has been explained fairly well by Ter'ra. There's a fair bit of curiosity on all our parts, but I'd also like to be able to contribute something more than just healing if I'm going to be staying here for a while. It seems that in general the temple is good at avoiding injuries apart from a few extenuating circumstances, so if I could help with the spells then it would give me a bit more to do around here on a daily basis."

[Voidrazor]

Abylus listens to Ter'ra fully as they walk down the hallway before speaking up again. Her features shift to be more expressionless but she seems nervous by the way she is playing with her hair. "Well... maybe it might be harder for you to get pregnant... but when your a creature that is designed to become other creatures compatibility ceases to be an issue. My kind are able to reproduce fairly quickly. Though no, I did not think I was slated to be a breeder because I am a slave. I have heard of the drow but never had much interaction with other species until I came to the surface. My kind are isolationist and have a social structure based upon many factors, age being the foremost way to power. I though the elders where going to slate me as a breeder because most women end up doing that. My alchemy must have set me apart enough to have them chose otherwise however."

The arrival to Mother Dalyn's quarters had Ter'ra do most of the talking, and even Celara was able to squeeze past the amalgamite without much problem. From the back however, Abby would chime in. "It would be a great honor if you would let us learn... and I at least would be willing to waive any liability for myself if working with such magic made my tummy swell with children. I was sort of thinking about getting pregnant anyhow."

[Zephyr42]

Quigo's smile disappears as he rushes in front of the crying mermaid. "It's alright, it's alright!" he told her. "You're going to be fine. The only time conception took less than a week, she," he pointed to Lang, "was directly involved. Also, our cooked food doesn't have any fertility magic in it. I didn't want to say anything because I had Lang going for a while, but you'd have to eat pure ingredients to actually have anything. A ship from the next island will be here tomorrow. You can be off this island long before you have a chance to spontaneously get pregnant."

Meanwhile, Mother Dalyn listens to the applicants, nodding to show that she's listening to all of them. "Well, I admire your interest," she said, "and I would love to have you work on our current problem." Her frown remained in place, though. "Unfortunately, I cannot grant you access at this time. There are a great many sensitive processes in progress, and any accident could result in injury to our current researchers. Soon, though."

Then she turns to Celara. "Celara, if you could help me." She turned to a pile of robes next to her desk. "Those need to be washed, and I'm obviously less than capable at the moment. If you wouldn't mind taking those to Brother Cadrick to have them washed, that would be wonderful. Also, I'm fairly sure I left something in there, but my leg will protest if I try to check. If you find it, would you mind giving it back to me by the end of the day? I doubt I'll miss it horribly until then."

Celara

Spoiler: show

You'll notice, as she scratches her shoulder that her neck is now bare.

[Netjak]

Taizee wasn't excactly to the point of crying, as tears were welling up in her eyes, only to be fought back and stopped from streaming down her face, just as every involuntary sob trying to force themselves out of her body was as well. Of course, she still needed to rub her eyes to wipe away some excess tears as Quigo quickly stopped her dead in her tracks to go out on a little solo adventure in the search of pure water. Looking at the man who seemed geniunely sympathetic to her, with Lang by his side, mirroring the sentiment of the monk, the sniffeling mermaid started to calm down, shakily asking, "R-really? S-so I-i will be fine? T-thank you, a-and s-sorry about g-getting worked up over nothing t-then!", before giving them both a releived little smile.

Still, Taizee wad done with breakfast now, and would again excuse herself and retreat to her bedroom to wash up, before instead setting about tinkering with and reforging her damaged chainmail.

[zeusthunder]

Celara nodded quietly in acceptance when Mother Dalyn denied their request to observe the mysterious spells. It was what she'd been expected given the apparent secrecy of what they were doing here. The results of how the magic affected the crops were continually put on prominent display, but it seemed that the actual process that led to them was not something that the temple was willing to make known.

At Dalyn's request, the half-elemental obligingly scooped up the bundle of robes in one arm, although leaning over to pick them up required a bit of effort. "I can do that, you shouldn't be getting out of bed yet anyway. Brother Cadrick will no doubt be dismayed by the chore, but I'll see that he gets it done. And whatever's in here, I'll be sure to get it back to..." Celara pauses for a moment as she watches the priestess scratch her shoulder, wondering in the back of her mind what was missing. The woman had been wearing something around her neck the day before, but was it?

Celara's eyes suddenly went wide as she realized just what was lost in the robes and what it implied. "Oh, I see," she said, this time nodding in acknowledgement. "I'll be sure to get it back to you this evening, then, if you're certain that not having it until then won't be too much of an inconvenience." With a quick glance at the others, she added, "I think perhaps we should let Mother Dalyn rest. I'm certain she's done all that's within her power that she can do and there's no sense in bothering her further." Even as she talked, Celara began to search through the pile with her free hand to try and find what she suspected was hidden within.

Once the trio was back out in the hall, Celara glanced up and down the passage to make sure there was nobody nearby to overhear her before she whispered to the other two. "Despite what she said in there, I believe Mother Dalyn just gave us the access we need to observe what spell it is they're working on. Yesterday she was wearing a large steel key around her neck, and I think that might be the item she was talking about. So, if we all stay quiet and don't let anybody notice then we can possibly sneak through those large doors that seem to be blocking off the area where they're experimenting. But we can't let anybody see what we're up to. Agreed?"

[Anime_Chaos]

Lang holds up her hands in protest. "When you say it that way it sounds like even being near me is going to trigger something. Even if I do look the part right now with my balls like this. I still have to do things the old fashioned way even here. It'd be against Chanzui's teachings if I got you pregnant now that you've made it clear you don't want it anyway."

With the situation defused Lang returns to the mess hall. Unlike most of her companions she doesn't have all that much to do without other women around to help relieve her personal burden. Might as well poke about there for the moment. The other guest was due there after all. She's not aware of any detours being taken.

[Trr9896]

Ter'ra would look a bit dejected after mother dalyn denies the trio access to the spell room, and was about to ask about the library and how to get the books when Celara suggests they go. Deciding that she pushed as hard as she should to try and get access, she would nod to the mother reverently and say "Thank you for your time." before leaving the elder.

Upon celara's explanation outside the drow's red eyes would light up, being given some new hope by the more secretive way of entrance. "We should loiter a bit to see who is coming and going before sneaking in." She says, thinking they can enter when they know how many people are in there.

[Voidrazor]

Abylus would also get a bit down in spirit after Mother Dalyn's denial of the their request. She would give a small nod of acceptance before shuffling out of the room with her shoulders slumped. With her companions just behind her she turns to them and listens to their words, her posture improving from excitement. "I think that is a bit fishy... but I won't complain if we get to see the magic! Though it would be a nicer idea to loiter a bit and get an idea of how often people come and go from the room." Abby fidgets in place a bit awkwardly as she looks to the other two, hoping the plan was solidified so they could wander over there.

[Zephyr42]

Quigo nods. "The forge is around the back," he tells Taizee. When she leaves, he goes back to Lang. "Well, I could show you around," he says, "but not much has happened outside of the restricted areas." He smiles at her. "If you get into much more fertility magic, I'm worried you won't be able to walk." His smile says that he's kidding, though he does pause a little when he sees how big Lang's package is.

Indeed, inside the robes is the key that was around Mother Dalyn's neck. The door is easy to locate, especially with Ter'ra's help, and there's no-one outside to guard it. However, there also doesn't seem to be anyone entering or leaving. And worse, the key doesn't even open the lock. It fits, but it's also as if it's not even turning anything, just spinning freely. As time passes, no-one goes in, no-one comes out. The first sign of movement is after an hour, when Cadrick comes walking down the hall, perfectly clean. "Well," he tells Celara, "I've got a whole tub of hot water ready, if you want it." Then he notices the others stacked up on the door, and he turns back to her. "It's no good, I'm pretty sure everyone's been sleeping in there so they wouldn't have to come out."