[SRP] Gathering Intel (Adar'Malik & Satsumaimo)

[Epine de Rose]

Roll #1 - Satsumaimo

 

[Epine de Rose]

Roll #2 - Adar'Malik

Adar'Malik had not anticipated that he would be accompanied by several individuals in this endeavour, but Destati had wisely pointed out that on this occasion it was better than he moved in a party. More importantly, it was a party that had been deliberately made up of lions from all walks of life in order to dispel any rumours that they were anything but a group of researchers accompanied by a number of guards to ensure their safety. The black lion had to concede that it made sense, but as they approached the Lake of Sighs he couldn't help but release a sigh... He worked better on his own and with so many others in the mix, things became more unpredictable than he would have preferred.

...Civilians had a tendency to be too curious sometimes and he could only hope that those who had been chosen weren't completely ridiculous. Conveniently, the guards had been briefed accordingly and based on the officer that had sent them, he was reassured that they would remain reliably stoic for the duration of their time out here. They wouldn't poke and prod at things that they shouldn't, so that only left the splunkers who were more akin to treasure hunters than cartographers to worry about. If they were cartographers then things might go all right, but given he didn't know any of the individuals here, he couldn't vouch for them.

"Ooookay, let's just park it here for a moment." Satsumaimo spoke as he raised his paw and came to a halt. The closer they had come to the vicinity of this crater the more unusual the team's experiences had become. They had started to hear voices, there had been light shows in the sky, and some had even sworn they had seen flickers of light more close to the grounds. All in all, what had started as a 'normal' exploration had turned into something that was quickly becoming more unusual. To say the spotted lion wasn't comfortable was an understatement but he'd been into more winding and peculiar regions than this at home... they just hadn't spoken to him during that time period.

His call for a break had come at a good time though, as the vast majority of the lions in question seemed to need a moment or two to collect themselves.

Even Adar'Malik needed a moment to close his eyes and gather his thoughts. He wasn't immune to these whispers, to the unusual happenings around him, and while he wasn't quite as easily spooked he had considerable cause for concern. What might have been an improbable but possible event was quickly transforming into something else.

...Perhaps what they would see wasn't water after all.

"Take a couple of moments to you know, put the whispering wind to one side then we can move a little further in," Satsu advised. His smile was warm despite the tension in his eyes, he'd been selected as the leader in this expedition, for good reason too, as no one would have followed Adar given his coat colour.

It was a set of instructions that were greeted with sighs of relief, though Adar chose to wander further head on his own for a time to scout the area, he hadn't yet reached the edge, but he was drawing near.

Words: 553

 

[Epine de Rose]

Roll #3 - Adar'Malik (1d4)

"The sound is unlike anything I've ever heard before," Satsu shook his head as they began to progress towards the crater's edge once more. He came to a safe distance from the edge and peered down into the depths. Sure enough there was water as had been reported, but it didn't seem normal, even the water in the depths of the cave networks hadn't looked quite like this.

"You have never been within the monestaries of the priests?" Adar'Malik shook his head. These bizarre whispers, incoherent at best, reminded him of the unusual chants that the Dragon Priests adopted to pay homage to their draconic deities. They were hymns of a sort but he had never given much credence to them, at best he was an agnostic and at worst he considered much of his homeland's mythos to be complete horseshit. Not that he would say this, he did have enough tact to keep that to himself, but he'd be the last one to kneel towards any false deity.

...Especially those who had splintered a pride and caused generations of neverending wars.

"Can't say it's my scene," Satsu admitted and wrinkled his nose. "It's bloody weird though, I'll tell you that," he added. He'd go so far as to childishly point out that it was creepy and the strange voices made his skin crawl. Perhaps if he'd had the capacity to understand them a little more then maybe he'd have been able to settle a bit more. Logically he would have blamed the wind for it but unfortunately there hadn't been a breeze for ages.

"The voices are the least of our concerns," Adar'Malik strode closer to the edge to peer down at the liquid that both Auberon and Tanith had mentioned. They were right, it didn't look normal and it certainly didn't move in the expected manner. Beyond looking at the crystalline surface, the lion hadn't been expecting much, it was only when he saw something rippling underneath that he started. On such unstable ground this proved to be his undoing as no sooner had he flinched back than the ground gave way beneath him and he fell.

Satsu barely had time to make a cry of alarm as the black lion slide into the depths and proceeded to tumble form a seemingly endless amount of time. If he managed to survive the fall he'd have a considerable number of bruises, but if he fell in... It was with baited breath that the party watched as the black lion continued to roll and slide. He'd already rolled into a ball to limit the impact damage and only when he seemed to catch sight of an outcropping did he finally act.

It was with a flash of claws that he lunged out to grapple at the outcropping and halt his fall, catching himself well, but not before a fair chunk of his body had slid into the 'water' at the depths of the crater.

On the plus side...Adar noted he wasn't dissolving so it wasn't acidic, but he definitely wasn't going to start drinking the liquid to try his luck. He'd count his luck stars on this one, but rather than delay it for any longer he began to make his way back out of the water. Or he tried, whatever he had seen had been real and it had promptly clamped its jaws around his front paw. He'd been used to injuries in his line of work, but the searing pain was enough for him to cry out.

No sooner had it happened than he was released.

...And he immediately hauled himself out and onto the 'shore'. With his paw still pulsing though, he needed a moment to recover his composure and consider how best to get up to the safety of the edge again.

"Stay back!" he ordered to those who had poked their head's over the edge.

"Are you all right?" Satsu called back down, alarmed as he was reasonably allowed to be.

"I will be," Adar'Malik replied flatly as he regarded the circumstances he found himself in with exasperation. He'd take a breather first, then he'd see about getting back up there.

Unbeknownst to him Satsu was already in the process of hatching a rescue plan and those stoic guards that Adar'Malik had relied upon to nod meddle would be on their way (carefully) to aid him back up in time...

"Just give me a few moments," Adar added and shook his head. "Then I will begin the climb."

"All right," Satsu replied, even though he was already in the process of organising the group to assist in hauling their veteran 'cartgographer' back to safety. Suffice it to say that they wouldn't be testing the waters further at this moment in time, but they had at least identified that what they were looking at definitely wasn't like the sulphur pools in some of the deepest warrens they have delved in to.

Words: 825
Total Words: 1,378