There never seems to be enough time for romance, alas. Or at least romance when a knight is involved that absolutely insists on being proper .. even in the face of almost certain Golden Hawk temptation. The next hour passes with Hannah finishing her bathing, then giving the pool over to Tristan so he may bathe while she dries, dresses, and brushes her hair (In between potentially trying to sneak a peak!).
"It's strange, I must admit," wrote Feezle in an apparent diary of his journey, "With each step I take, the more I feel as if I simply know where I am going. It is almost as if I belong here no, that's not quite right something calls to me here. If my research has been right, then I should find a series of caves ahead. An old lair of the famous Bandit Queen, perhaps? Or perhaps just a place travelers have long used as rest point. Regardless, that is where I must now go. I just hope I will find more answers there and not simply more vague feelings. Still even vague feelings are better than Greedle! They never gave me even a moments' rest. If I had to show one more goblin how to use an outhouse why I ... "
The note ends there, as if for some reason he was interrupted mid-sentence. The rest of the pack is full of more maps and sketches of the flora and fauna of these woods. One of the maps seems to direct readers towards a cave right in the center of the woods. It's circled in heavy ink.
"Hey-hey-hey!" Rosy barks, hopping up and down. "It's a map!" she points out.
"Indeed." Tristan absently pats Rosy for the information, and looks to Hannah. "Do we follow it, m'lady?"
The old faerie nods wisely. "Yes, yes, it's a map. Why don't you folks look it over while I take care of my ablutions? Dinner's still warming by the fire, too." So saying, Sam goes to handle his wash-up - goblins might appreciate it if he didn't, but that's not his intended target audience.
Hannah wanders over and sits down near Tristan at the cooking fire. She takes a little dinner for herself before picking up Feezle's map and examining it. "Well, it is the best lead we have as to where the Prince may have gone...but if he left his belongings here in such haste - including his map - he could be anywhere by now."
Hannah also calls after the minstrel as he goes, "Thank you for the meal, Sam! Sorry I was a little late in getting to it."
The doglin wags her tail as Tristan pets her. "I can take us to this cave if you want," she notes, a little more calmly now. "Maybe you can find Feezle there!"
"It's all right, you had to work up an appetite," cackles old Sam. He hangs a towel over a convenient root and splooshes without ceremony.
"True." Tristan turns to Rosy. "I know you have a good nose, Miss Nose. Can you pick up Feezle's scent from these belongings and tell where he's gone? For that matter, does the scent on this match what was on the earlier note from him?"
Rosy uses her nose. "Well, it's the same paper and ink," she reports.
While this is going on, Hannah inspects Feezle's notes on the plants and animals of the area, just in case he's already spotted something dangerous that she should be aware of.
Nothing in the collection of rocks and plants seems especially dangerous. It mainly just seems to be a collection of things that looked interesting ... like the rock shaped like a goblin's nose, complete with huge nostrils.
Tristan ahs. "Well, that's good to know."
"It is?" Rosy asks. "Oh, of course it is!" she then agrees, nodding until her ears flap.
Hannah chuckles at the oddly-shaped rock as she eats her kabob. Then she turns her attention back to the others. "Well then, these caves should be our next stop. I wonder if they really were an old lair of the Bandit Queen...and if so, we should be on our guard. No telling what kind of traps could be in there."
"I didn't even realize paper and ink had distinct smells." The knight turns back to Hannah. "Understood, m'lady. I'll keep the monocle on."
"Oh sure, on account of the rags and urine!" Rosy notes.
Hannah nods at Tristan. "Good idea on the monocles. Thanks for reminding me! Guess I forgot about those in the middle of, ah, everything else that has been going on..." She smiles and gives the knight a mischievious sideways glance.
Tristan eyes the map and diary that Hannah had just picked up to examine a few moments earlier. "Of course. That might be more than I needed to know."
Then Tristan glances back at Hannah and smiles quickly, before ducking his head, face reddened.
Rosy taps on the circled are of the map, saying, "Yeah! Gotta be careful, cuz this is Off The Path."
Hannah eyes Rosy with interest. "Have you been, uh, 'Off The Path' much? And if so, what usually happens then?"
"Oh, if you go Off The Path, the forest gets you," the doglin says, making a strangling gesture. "It tricks you! And eats you up!"
"The trees do this?" Tristan asks.
Hannah thinks back on her own treacherous journey to Hawksmoor for the first time and murmurs, "That certainly sounds familiar..."
"I dunno!" Rosy whines. "Nobody ever comes back... normal."
"Do they go insane?" Hannah wonders next. "Or are their bodies changed?"
Tristan gives Hannah a wry smile. "Does your prior experience give you any useful insights on the matter, m'lady?"
"Yes," Hannah replies immediately. "Every step must be examined. And nothing is to be taken for granted." The smile she returns to the knight is just as wry. "So you can see we will be travelling slowly."
"Well.. they aren't usually sane, no," Rosy admits.
Odd singing comes from the direction of the water where Sam's washing up - well, odd until you take into account the soap and water.
o/ Well, you walk, walk, walk and I say, "Wait a min,"
You go over the hill and a troll gets wakin',
Pump your heels 'cause it wants your knees.
Why didn't you do the sit-down-and-rest with me. o/
Tristan chuckles. "I think that's a reminder from our minstrel friend to rest here the night and not rush off to investigate in the dark. Which is a fine enough plan, I daresay."
"Are you sure it doesn't mean he wants to take me walkies?" Rosy asks Tristan in a whisper.
"It might. You could always ask him." Tristan fluffs up the blanket for his bedroll a bit.
"True enough," Hannah replies, then quickly packs up Feezle's belongings again. His map, however, she puts into one of her own pouches. "We should put out our bedrolls and take that advice."
The odd song continues as best as it can when the old fae is rubbing plenty of soap into his scalp and then rinsing it off. Which is to say, cheerfully at the edge of intelligibility.
o/ Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and feet
These are what trolls cut up for meat,
and eyes and ears and mouth and nose,
These are what trolls most like to eat. o/
As the song goes on, Hannah arranges her own sleeping place and bids everyone good night. Now she just tries to sleep through the sound...
The wonderful thing about magical springs is somehow you always manage to sleep fitfully near them. Well, except the kind that tend to attract nymphs and other such creatures that delight in physical pleasures. Anyway, this was fortunately not such a spring and the night passes peacefully. Morning comes and everyone awakens refreshed and ready to go. Even Sam finds he doesn't feel stiff for a change.
Travel resumes in the early dawn light and moves quickly enough for a time. However, when the map finally leads them off the path, things slow down considerably. Not only that, but the rough the monocle, the entire wood takes on this eerie blue glow. Everything looks indistinct. There must be heavy magic at work here. Even Hnnah finds following the guide marks on the map extremely difficult.
Not surprisingly, though, the two Golden Hawks fare the best in these strange woods. Even the smallest sign of the map trail doesn't seem to escape either of their sight. Tristan, unfortunately, isn't faring as well. In fact, he's walked face first into at least two trees that he could have sworn weren't there just a moment earlier.
"Gee, maybe it's true what they say about blonds," Rosy whispers to Sam after Tristan has another accident.
The fey knight dusts himself off after the latest collision, and shakes off his monocle before putting it back on. "Not that it's doing me much good in here. I'm glad you're not having trouble finding the track, Lady Hannah."
"You're looking kind of dreamy-eyed there," Minstrel Sam comments to Sir Tristan with a grin. "Sleep well last night?"
After Tristan rebounds from the second tree, Hannah drops back a bit to bring Tristan and Souhait forward with her and the Princess. "Maybe you should stay closer to me, then?" she suggests gently.
Lacking a magic monocle, Rosy sticks to trusting her nose.
"If you're not afraid of me running you over," Tristan answers her, with a mischevious smile. Souhait edges closer to Peaches, striding alongside.
Peaches wuffles to Souhait, You clean up well.
"And have you trip and fall on me?" the girl murmurs so only Tristan can hear. "Oh, the horror."
Souhait gives Peaches a sidelong look. And you are lovely, with or without ministrations.
You hadn't noticed before? Peaches replies to Souhait. Even among horses, females can ask loaded questions.
It's funny Tristan should comment about falling on Hannah, because only a few more steps and he, in fact, trips and falls on her. Well ... into her arms, at least as Hannah has pretty good footing.
"Hey Hey Hey!" Rosy barks, running around Tristan and Hannah. "Did you twist your ankle? Did you hurt your hair?"
Tristan attempts to recover his balance, and succeeds only in getting an arm around Hannah's shoulders. Blue eyes, all innocence, look into hers. "Ooops."
Minstrel Sam whistles innocently.
"Whoah!" Hannah braces the two of them as best she can and looks Tristan over. "Are you all right?" Then she takes his meaning and grins, slowly. "Ah. Quite."
To Rosy, she says, "Yes, Tristan is fine. None of his hairs have been harmed."
Lord Thomas and Lady Redmane would never act like this, Peaches whickers to Souhait, and shakes out her mane.
The knight doesn't appear to be in a tremendous hurry to straighten up, although Hannah notices that he's shifted his weight back onto his feet so he's not resting it all on her. "I'm sure I'm fine. I just need a moment to ... regain my bearings. Yes."
Good. If they start acting like Lord Thomas and Lady Redmane, I'm leaving, Souhait replies.
"Don't get dizzy!" Rosy warns. "Don't get turned around! Keep your feet true to your path!"
The old fae makes a show of studying the map.
"Take all the time you need," the girl replies. "There aren't any mosnters chasing us now. Well, at least for the moment, anyway."
"See? Very important that I regain my bearings." Tristan straightens up, but tightens his hold on Hannah, ostensibly for support. Or something.
"Caves are better for playing stumble and grope," Rosy notes. "Shouldn't dawdle out here in the evil nasty forest!"
"I'll just check behind us for monsters, then." Tristan hugs Hannah to him, looking over her shoulder conspicuously.
Peaches looks Tristan in the eye and snaps her teeth in warning.
For her part, Hannah just smiles and nestles into the knight's embrace while he "checks."
"I've met more caves filled with evil nasty things than forests," Sam comments cheerily. "Let's see now, aren't we getting up into the area where we can expect to find tricksy ice kitties?"
"No, that's waaaaay on the other side of the woods," Rosy tells Sam. "Does your shaman lens see anything strange? Is there a spell on the elves?"
"All clear?" Hannah murmurs into the knight's ear, teasingly.
Sam checks, just in case. They do seem a little lovey-dovey.
The knight chuckles at Peaches's threat display. He dips his head for a moment to inhale the scent of Hannah's hair, and then releases her reluctantly. "Thank you for your able assistance, m'lady. I'll try not to require it ... too many more times."
Sam replies to Rosy, "It's one hundred percent natural romance. Doesn't make it any less sickening, but it's not a spell." He winks.
"That's romance?" Rosy asks, looking shocked. "He isn't even sniffing her in the right place!"
The minstrel chuckles, "Well, give them time."
"Sir Tristan had some very... courtly... notions about romance going on this trip," Sam whispers explanatively to Rosy. "Like most Explorers however, Hannah's pretty impatient with all that sort of thing. She'd rather cut to the chase."
"Well, I certainly wouldn't mind it if you did," Hannah says to Tristan, then turns to continue on her way.
Tristan does honestly need a few more moments of help over the next hour of the long trek through the woods. On the good side, no monsters leap up and grab them. On the bad side, they've reached the cave. Why is it that every cave adventurers have to go into looks like some mouth of a horrible monster rising up out of the ground, ready to swallow them? It's dark and the low-hanging stalagmites look like teeth. The occasional gusts of cold wind that roll out of it like it was breathing doesn't help, either.
"I like chasing things, it's fun!" Rosy says, as if now understanding it all.
The minstrel nods wisely. "See? I told you, more caves that are just plain evil and nasty than forests."
"Hey, it's like the Icejaw Pit!" Rosy notes, wagging her tail. "Just smaller and in the woods!"
Hannah takes a few moments to unpack her lantern as she says, "You may be right about this one, Sam, but we still must have a look."
"I can go first," Tristan offers. "At the rate I'm going, I'll trip, fall on the teeth, and get eaten. At which point it will be full and the rest of you will be safe, right?"
"Although I would be very unhappy about your demise," Hannah says, trying to smile and keep her tone light.
"Oh wait!" Rosy says, rushing past Tristan. "You'll scare the bats!" she says, sniffing at the cave's breath. "We should all go in together, maybe."
Sam rubs his grizzled chin. "Hannah'd be dessert, anyway. I'm pretty sure I'm safe. Rated worst cuisine choice ever by nine out of ten monster chefs."
Peaches nudges Souhait. You go first. It'd choke on something your size.
Souhait snorts, and starts down into the cave.
Well, it hasn't tried to chew on Souhait so far. Then again, maybe it doesn't like horse meat.
Rosy rifles through her pockets, and pulls out a red tube. Another search brings up a match, and then she's soon got a bright red flaming torch. "Lots of critters can't see red light," she explains. "Monsters can though, so... uh.. I forgot my point."
"Well, we can stick together as much as possible, but we will probably need to go in two groups, one behind the other," Hannah muses aloud. "If Tristan wishes to be in the first group, I can go with him. Or Rosy can, so we can make use of her nose as an advance warning system."
"I'll go!" Rosy barks, and rushes ahead, waving her flare before her.
Minstrel Sam volunteers bravely, "I'll bring up the rear!"
"Then you'll be guarding my rear, since it looks like Rosy will be with Tristan in the first group," Hannah laughs.
"With less falling over you, hopefully," Sam opines.
"Don't get more than a few feet ahead, Rosy." Tristan takes Hannah's hand firmly in his and sidles past Souhait to follow Rosy.
In Rosy goes ... and still the cave doesn't try to eat anyone.
The doglin whispers a little tune as she waits. "I like bats. Bats are crunchy. Bats are good with syrup.."
Hannah takes her lantern in one hand and Tristan's hand in the other and carefully follows the doglin inside.
Peaches keeps close to her mistress.
And with brave ... well, the not so brave Sam, taking up the rear, the intrepid group enters. About fifteen feet in and after their eyes adjust, then can make out a stout wooden door in a stone wall about thirty feet ahead. Unfortunately ... they won't get any chance to use it. The cave mouth comes crashing down and swallows them. Not only that, well ... the floor shakes and drops down into a slide! And down, down, goes the group, into the bowels of darkness. They land in a rather unceremonious heap of flailing arms and legs.
"I didn't touch NUFFIN!" Rosy barks as soon as she's able.
"Whoa Nellie!" yelps Sam, landing on the rest of them. Well, good thing he's light.
Hannah arghs and tries to get out from under the pile. "Well, so much for going slowly and carefully and seeing things coming!" she huffs in her exertions.
Peaches whinnies in alarm, and checks that she didn't squash anyone (or any supplies.. like her grooming bag).
Souhait struggles to his feet while Tristan offers Hannah a hand up. "That went well. At least we're all in the trap together."
Sam jokes to Hannah as he untangles himself, "See, everyone's falling for you today. You'd better change your perfume."
Hannah takes the offered hand and looks to see if she's managed to hang onto her lantern - and if so, is it in a million pieces by now. Then she regains her good humor at Sam's joke and laughs. "Or maybe I shouldn't wash anymore? Since the only perfume I'm using now is soap!"
A disturbing cackle ripples through the dark room, "Two little hawks walked into my house, two little hawks feeling like a mouse. Welcome little hawks, welcome to the first room. In just a few more feet, why, you might just find your doom!" Okay, so whomever owns this place has a really bad sense of poetry.
"Is that your Bandit Queen?" Tristan asks.
"She sounds like a witch to me!" Rosy says.
Hannah considers this, remembering a promise from long ago. "Maybe...and maybe not. We may find out as we go further."
The minstrel looks up with surprise. "If I remember what Tom told me about that night aright, she was a master of illusions. Try your lenses," he suggests to the others.
Tristan retrieves his, which fell off during the fall, and puts it back on.
"Wait.. you mean the Lord Explorer?" Rosy asks Sam. "Does that mean this place is meant to trap him?"
Hannah tries to find her lens first in order to take the minstrel's advice!
The room shares the same disturbing eerie blue glow and the forest did. It's hard to make out what is or isn't real down here. From the looks of things, there is no way to climb back up the chute the slid down. Fortunately, Hannah's lantern has gone rolling across the floor and come to rest against another door. The only one in the large stone room it looks like.
Sam shrugs to Rosy, then suggests to Hannah, "Want to try saying hello to our... host?"
Tristan uses his sheathed sword to prod at the nearest walls. "Going the obvious route didn't work that well. Perhaps we could look for an inobvious one next."
Hannah nods to Sam as she steps carefully through the room to retrieve her lantern. "Thank you for your hospitality," she says aloud, "but I thought little Hawks wouldn't be harmed by you, as long as we did not try to imprision you? And I assure you, that is not our intent."
No reply.
"Ah, then we have come to a guessing game to discern the true name of our host," Hannah says to the others and shrugs. "For now."
"What is she talking about?" Rosy whispers to Sam.
Minstrel Sam explains to Rosy, "The Lord Explorer managed to defeat the Witch, which is what the Bandit Queen had become in her old age, and made her promise to be good. Maybe we've run into a trap she'd left for Tom way back when. Or maybe it's something else. Who knows?" He grins over to Hannah. "Good thing it's not my job to figure it out."
As Tristan prods around ... one spot sounds oddly hollow.
"I wonder if there's a goblin-way," Rosy ponders out loud.
Hannah manages to relight the lantern as Tristan pokes around. "Find anything interesting?" she asks him.
"It is your job to help figure it out, though." Tristan grins at Sam, then taps around on the hollow spot further, gauging its size. "Maybe."
Eeeehhh, it's roughly door-sized.
Sam opines, "It's my job to write it up in song when she figures it out."
A bit gingerly and with some care, Tristan edges over to the area he'd been tapping at, and feels around for cracks or any kind of mechanism. Like a concealed latch. Or an obvious door handle.
A chunk of the wall falls away, leaving a dark hole in the wall just a bit larger than a fey's hand.
The knight blinks, and pokes around at the wall surrounding the hole to see if it's equally friable.
Nothing else falls from the wall.
"You found a hole!" Rosy exclaims, then looks back at the big, obvious door. "Why are you looking for holes?" she then asks.
Hannah walks over to Tristan now and holds the light up to the wall so they both can see better.
Sam inquires curiously to Rosy, "What was that about goblin ways?"
"Because the last entrance was a trap?" Tristan offers. "Granted, the hole probably is too, but I like variety."
Once Hannah's brought the lantern over, Tristan ducks to look through the hole.
"Goblins weigh about 70 lbs., but that's not important right now," Rosy tells Sam. "We need to look for little passages that goblins could fit through."
Hannah laughs at this and tries to peer into the hole, too, to see if she can discern anything in the space beyond.
It's pretty hard to see in the hole, even with the lantern. There's a shadowy shape of what looks like ... a pull rope?
"Oh yes. I'm sure that's a trap. Want to pull it?" Tristan asks Hannah.
Sam nods toward Tristan. "You mean like that hole, Rosy?"
"No, not that hole," Rosy says, shaking her head. "It's too small, and doesn't have a swinging flap. Lord Eion always had swinging flaps on them."
"Well, it's either this or the obvious door," Hannah says. "I can pull it if you want to watch over everyone else? I'd say get them away from this wall...but who knows what will happen."
"Ummmm..." Rosy says, as if uncertain if she should make a suggestion.
Sam shrugs. "You're the Explorer, I just write funny songs."
"We needn't pull it while either of us is standing next to it. I'm sure I've got something I could tie around it and use to yank from a distance." Tristan rummages through Souhait's saddlebag for rope.
Hannah thinks a bit. "Or, alternately, we could ask Souhait to widen this hole with a kick or two? Dunno if that will be any safer than pulling the rope, but..." She shrugs. "At least we might be able to see through to the other side better!"
"I was gonna say that!" Rosy says, eyes wide in horror. She points to Tristan and accuses, "You can read my mind!"
Sam opines, "Supposing this isn't the kind of cave that's alive, that's probably just how they reset the tunnel entrance."
Maybe it opens the obvious door? Peaches notes to Souhait, not wanting to be left out of the speculation on what the rope does.
"Oh. That's much better than what I was thinking it might be," Tristan comments to Hannah. "Souhait, if you would be so kind as to lend us your strength? And hooves?" He whistles to the knightsteed, and indicates where to kick. The horse obliges.
Peaches looks worried. Perhaps at the prospect of having to carry all the supplies herself if something horrible happens to Souhait.
Wham! Souhait's hooves strike hard and true. In fact, the blow is so hard it makes the room feel like it shakes. For about thirty seconds nothing happens ... and then a large, door shaped, chunk of wall falls backwards into a passageway hidden beyond. There's a broken door latch swinging from a rope now hanging in the center of the new passage.
"Well done, Souhait!" Hannah praises the Knightsteed, then comes forward to examine the new passageway.
"It's a tunnel!" Rosy points out, tail wagging.
"I guess it didn't matter which we did." Tristan pokes with his sheathed sword into the passageway, testing the walls and floor before he attempts to go in. "Yes, thank you, Souhait."
Well, from what Hannah can make out the rope looks like ... it just went to the latch that opened the door. The hallway beyond is long and straight.
"Let's seem what rhymes with kick? Trick, thick, flick..." muses Sam as he follows Hannah and Tristan.
Hannah steps inside carefully, shining the lantern before her as she goes.
Souhait gives Sam a warning look. These hooves will work on you, too.
"Do you wanna check the other door too?" Rosy asks.
Sam whistles innocently.
"Let's stay together, Miss Nose. One door at a time." Tristan follows right behind Hannah.
The hallway seems safe enough to the naked eye. It seems equally save to the monocled eye, as well. The worst of it is the cobwebs Hannah has to brush out of the way.
Rosy scurries forward between Souhait's legs to catch up.
Hannah continues to follow the passage, wiping away cobwebs as she walks. "Trust us to do things the hard way, eh?" she says in a joking tone to the others.
"That's very Tom," Sam says approvingly.
"So, wouldn't that mean this is where the deathtrap will be?" Rosy asks.
Hannah laughs softly. "Luckily, none of us is Tom."
"Deathraps," Tristan says to Rosy. "I'm sure she's got more than one."
"You really only need one," Rosy says. "Just make sure all paths lead to it!"
The hallway continues on for about two hundred feet if Hannah is counting right. It ends at an archway that leads out into a large, circular, room. There are ... yes, ten archways leading out of it.
Hannah quirks an eyebrow at the others. "Eenie, meenie, minee, moe?" she suggests with a bit of a silly grin.
"It's.." Rosy starts to say, then calms down. Maybe she doesn't need to announce everything they find.
"A bunch of archways!" Sam announces.
Tristan pats Rosy. He considers the room. "Ten. Hm. Lady Hannah, Miss Nose -- either of you have any idea where we might be, in relation to the cave entrance we came in at? I was hopelessly turned around by the fall, and I've no idea how far down we are."
Rosy heads for the center of the room, and sniffs the air to see if she can pick up anything.
Hannah leads the rest into the circular chamber and she looks around curiously. "Sorry, Tristan, I've been just as disoriented as you by that fall," she apologizes.
"Are you getting anything?" the girl asks Rosy.
The fey knight nods to Hannah as he follows he in. "Understandable. Anything?" he asks needlessly of Miss Nose, since she'd be sure to report if she scented something.
No sooner has the entire group entered the circular room than doors slide down from each of the archways, sealing them in the circular chamber. There's another cackle of glee ... then a rather disturbing thunk. It sounded mechanical.
Hannah starts at the noises. "That...did not sound good," she comments in a worried voice.
Sam gives Rosy a suspicious look. "So you were saying something about just making sure all passages lead right to the death trap?"
"Well... it's cheaper," Rosy says apologetically.
Hannah now looks abot the room to see if she can find the source of the mechanical noise.
The source makes itself known as the floor lurches beneath their feet and the room starts spinning. It's slow enough at first ... but it quickly builds up speed to the point the party members, horses included, feel increasing pressure pushing them towards the walls.
Hannah aughs and stumbles in the direction that the room is spinning them. "Good thing...I didn't have...a large breakfast!" she shouts, sounding decidedly ill.
Tristan gets out the rope again, and loops one end around the girth of Souhait and the other about Peaches's. "Lean away from each other,
Tristan gets out the rope again, and loops one end around the girth of Souhait and the other about Peaches's. "Lean away from each other," he tells them. "As counter balance to stay in the middle and away from the walls." He does the same for himself and Sam, if the minstrel obliges, and suggests Rosy and Hannah lean against the horses.
"Whoa, whoa, what's with the spin? I feel like we're on a merry-go-round!" yelps Sam as he grabs onto the rope offered him.
Peaches goes down on her knees to be more stable, and Rose clutches the Knightsteed's tail.
Hannah does as directed and clutches Souhait's neck, since Rosy is attached to Peaches.
Souhait and Tristan follow Peaches' lead in kneeling. Especially with how much falling-over Tristan's done already today, and without encouragement.
Good thinking on the part of Tristan. The spinning blades that slide out of thin slots in the walls near the closed archways do not look friendly. They're so rusty that they grind and scrape as they spin, spewing out a shower of sparks to boot.
Hannah whoas and ducks to avoid the very tip-end of one of these blades. "This is either an old trap of the Bandit Queen's, or not one of hers at all!" she shouts. "Or she's forgotten her promise to Tom!"
Sam gulps. "Okay, I give this place points for originality, this is the first 'spin-dry' death trap I've seen yet."
"Awww, spinning blades!" Rosy yelps.
Tristan blanches at the sight of the blades whirling past on the opposite wall before him. "I hope whatever mechanism makes this trap go winds down. I'm short on ideas of how to stop it." He tries to gauge if there's noise from a motor coming from a specific location.
There's no sound of a motor per se, more a sound of rushing water. To go with the sparks, there's a horrible cracking sound; almost like a tree being torn apart in a storm. It ends with a wet snap and the room jerks again, then rapidly grinds to a halt. The blades also cease spinning ... but alas they groups heads feel like they're still spinning. Ugh.
Sam wobbles and falls over. flop "Make it stop," he moans.
Tristan drops his hands to the floor and leans on them. "It did."
"Are you sure? It's still spinning..." Sam squeezes his eyes shut, then opens them again, peering about uncertainly.
"OoooooowwwweeeEEEEE" the doglin howls, her tongue lolling from the side of her mouth. Peaches just closes her eyes to avoid getting dizzier.
Hannah blinks and breathes through her nose rapidly, still trying to avoid being ill. She scans the room as best she can, to see if some other mechanism is going to start up...
The doors blocking the archways groan and slide back up into the ceiling. "No meat pie? Pity," cackles their unseen host. "Ah well. Ten little ways to go. Ten fates to seek. Are they good? Are they bad? Do you even have the courage to find out? Show me some of that Hawk courage, I dare you." It trails off in a demented giggle.
Sam says weakly, "Yeah, you show them that courage, Hannah," as he stares up at the ceiling, uncertain if the room is still moving or not.
"I don't know which one we came in through," Rosy says woozily. "But.. well, unless that door was the way out, I guess it doesn't matter?"
Tristan gets to his feet, unsteadily. He looks at the ceiling and floor. "Or perhaps we should look for another inobvious way. Not that the last one did us any good."
Hannah wobbles to her feet and mutters, "Courage? I'm lucky I still have the contents of my stomach. Still, we can't go back now - if the Prince is in here, we have to find him. And I can guarantee," she adds darkly, "that you've just made sure that I'm going to find you and make you account for all of this, too."