Post by Young Grimwold on Dec 18, 2013 18:45:00 GMT
[OOC: Continued from Young Dreamworld.]
*Someone is calling Young Grimwold's name. He looks up and is shocked to realise that he's not in the Crazed Heifer any more. He stands up. This is the Knightmare Dungeon. Not quite as he's ever seen it, but it must be.*
Voice: Young Grimwold!
*The owner of the voice bounds into YG's field of vision. The man's unusual fur-trimmed jerkin is at odds with his hairless head.*
Bald Man: Young Grimwold to play a Physical game!
The man skips across the grey stone room, kicking up dust. YG is obliged to follow. They reach a wall and stop, YG fighting a strange urge to jog on the spot.*
Bald Man: I said this was a Physical game. It's also a Mental and a Skill. Just the game for thee! You have two minutes from the very second you're through the door.
What d-
*With a wave of the man's head, a portal appears in the wall. YG tries to take a step back but the man pats him on the back, causing a strange tingling. As YG stumbles through the doorway, he hears the man's voice over the whoosh.*
Bald Man: Oh, and bless you!
*YG is in a small room. On the far side is a portal blocked by a portcullis. On the floor is a pile of sand. Almost immediately, YG gives in to an almighty sneeze (or as ogres call it, a sneeze). He opens his eyes to see the sand flying up and hanging in the air. Clumping together and growing into chunks of stone, the pieces float to the floor. There are at least two dozen, some very large and heavy, and YG notices patterns on each piece. Picking up two, he holds them together, one flat side against another, and sees that the pattern continues across both pieces. For a moment he frowns. Then he drops the stone chunks on the floor. Turning around, he shouts at the wall.*
I beg your pardon, but why have you summoned me here against my will to do a jigsaw?
*From beyond the windowless walls, the man's voices enters the room.*
Bald Man: One minute thirty seconds!
THAT'S NOT AN ANSWER!
*YG storms towards the portcullis, ready to wrench it open and leave this rocky horror behind. If that fails, he'll use one of the lumps of stone to smash it in. Given what the man called this, it's only a game, isn-*
Bald Man: Don't waste time! This chance might not come again. Hordriss recommended thee, alright? Now go, go like the clappers!
*YG sighs. He must trust that Hordriss wouldn't have got him into this unless it were important. He sets about matching up the pieces.*
Bald Man: Leave no stone unturned!
*YG grimaces, but soon discovers that some of the pieces have a pattern carved on both sides, as if the artisan responsible had made a first attempt before perfecting the design. YG even starts to enjoy the challenge, a rare opportunity for his brawn and his brain to work in concert. It's made no easier, though, by the metallic tune filtering into the room. Presumably the man, the wizard, is messing about with a musical instrument. If this is such a precious chance, how can he be so frivolous? YG starts to think of another magician who had an instrument, a flute or recorder, but he can't quite remember Who.*
Bald Man: One minute left!
*YG begins to panic, dropping one piece and almost crushing his foot. Did he chip it? He didn't chip it. This is ludicrous.*
Can't I have more time?
Bald Man: If room stays uncloaked for longer than two minutes, the Opposition will detect it and then the game's really up. Keep at it!
*The Opposition? Oh this is too much. Three pieces to place. He's decided by now that this is too contrived to be real and he resents the stress but he'll be damned if he's going to wake up with failure. That much is crystal clear. Two pieces left to place. Then one piece, in the middle. As the portcullis rises, YG stands back and looks at the design on the shield-shaped artefact in its entirety. A knight on horseback, a winding path to a mountaintop castle, a Latin inscription across the breadth of the stone that had been key to YG's solving of the puzzle.*
Bald Man: Ten seconds! Nine, eight...
*The walls are starting to sparkle blue. YG bolts for the doorway and throws himself into the darkness beyond.
Bald Man: Well done! I knew thee could do it.
*YG catches his breath. He and the wizard are standing at the top of a curved staircase, somewhere other than where they were before. The close walls suggest a tower. He doesn't notice that there is no portal behind him.*
Bald Man: Tell me, what was written on the puzzle?
Latin. 'INTRA HOSPES'.
*The wizard pauses, as if waiting for a translation. As a mage, he must know Latin, so why feign ignorance? YG senses that no good will come of not playing along.*
It's an instruction to come in. Hospes is a host or a guest, as in hospitality, but it wouldn't make sense to invite a host in, so it must mean guest in... in this context.
Bald Man: An unknown guest?
Yes, hospes can imply that. *Is this another test? YG feels himself being led towards a particular translation.* Which would make it 'Enter, Stranger.'
*In the previous room, unseen but definitely not unfelt, the Fliolanshield glows.*
Bald Man: That'll do. Right, I must prepare. Dress down, as it were.
*He claps his hands. His clothes are replaced with the garb of an entertainer and his face and hands are now adorned with the paint of a clown. YG takes a step back. The coxcomb on the man's head is making his ears stick out. YG decides that if this is a dream, he may as well be candid.*
I, I don't like jesters, and your hat looks awful.
*The man touches his ears.*
Bald Man: Oh. Thee may be onto something.
*YG grits his teeth at the inane use of "thee" and "thou", which he can scarcely bear any longer. And he really doesn't want to be stuck in a tower with a jester, even a false one. This dream is becoming a ni... He is distracted by a distant female voice echoing up the stairs. It sounds like she is complaining about dust. When YG looks again at the man, he is wearing a hood.*
Bald Man: I hope the ears are a bit less conspicuous this time.
*A boy is standing next to them. YG didn't notice him appear but recognises the dungeoneering helmet on his head. The boy appears to be looking to the 'jester' for guidance. The jester stares silently at him for a moment, then smiles.*
Bald Man: Run.
*The boy dashes off down the stairs. YG hears a low musical hum, getting louder. Then...*
[OOC: Continued for YG back in Young Dreamworld. Continued seemingly for the dungeoneer in Better than a Dream.]
*Someone is calling Young Grimwold's name. He looks up and is shocked to realise that he's not in the Crazed Heifer any more. He stands up. This is the Knightmare Dungeon. Not quite as he's ever seen it, but it must be.*
Voice: Young Grimwold!
*The owner of the voice bounds into YG's field of vision. The man's unusual fur-trimmed jerkin is at odds with his hairless head.*
Bald Man: Young Grimwold to play a Physical game!
The man skips across the grey stone room, kicking up dust. YG is obliged to follow. They reach a wall and stop, YG fighting a strange urge to jog on the spot.*
Bald Man: I said this was a Physical game. It's also a Mental and a Skill. Just the game for thee! You have two minutes from the very second you're through the door.
What d-
*With a wave of the man's head, a portal appears in the wall. YG tries to take a step back but the man pats him on the back, causing a strange tingling. As YG stumbles through the doorway, he hears the man's voice over the whoosh.*
Bald Man: Oh, and bless you!
*YG is in a small room. On the far side is a portal blocked by a portcullis. On the floor is a pile of sand. Almost immediately, YG gives in to an almighty sneeze (or as ogres call it, a sneeze). He opens his eyes to see the sand flying up and hanging in the air. Clumping together and growing into chunks of stone, the pieces float to the floor. There are at least two dozen, some very large and heavy, and YG notices patterns on each piece. Picking up two, he holds them together, one flat side against another, and sees that the pattern continues across both pieces. For a moment he frowns. Then he drops the stone chunks on the floor. Turning around, he shouts at the wall.*
I beg your pardon, but why have you summoned me here against my will to do a jigsaw?
*From beyond the windowless walls, the man's voices enters the room.*
Bald Man: One minute thirty seconds!
THAT'S NOT AN ANSWER!
*YG storms towards the portcullis, ready to wrench it open and leave this rocky horror behind. If that fails, he'll use one of the lumps of stone to smash it in. Given what the man called this, it's only a game, isn-*
Bald Man: Don't waste time! This chance might not come again. Hordriss recommended thee, alright? Now go, go like the clappers!
*YG sighs. He must trust that Hordriss wouldn't have got him into this unless it were important. He sets about matching up the pieces.*
Bald Man: Leave no stone unturned!
*YG grimaces, but soon discovers that some of the pieces have a pattern carved on both sides, as if the artisan responsible had made a first attempt before perfecting the design. YG even starts to enjoy the challenge, a rare opportunity for his brawn and his brain to work in concert. It's made no easier, though, by the metallic tune filtering into the room. Presumably the man, the wizard, is messing about with a musical instrument. If this is such a precious chance, how can he be so frivolous? YG starts to think of another magician who had an instrument, a flute or recorder, but he can't quite remember Who.*
Bald Man: One minute left!
*YG begins to panic, dropping one piece and almost crushing his foot. Did he chip it? He didn't chip it. This is ludicrous.*
Can't I have more time?
Bald Man: If room stays uncloaked for longer than two minutes, the Opposition will detect it and then the game's really up. Keep at it!
*The Opposition? Oh this is too much. Three pieces to place. He's decided by now that this is too contrived to be real and he resents the stress but he'll be damned if he's going to wake up with failure. That much is crystal clear. Two pieces left to place. Then one piece, in the middle. As the portcullis rises, YG stands back and looks at the design on the shield-shaped artefact in its entirety. A knight on horseback, a winding path to a mountaintop castle, a Latin inscription across the breadth of the stone that had been key to YG's solving of the puzzle.*
Bald Man: Ten seconds! Nine, eight...
*The walls are starting to sparkle blue. YG bolts for the doorway and throws himself into the darkness beyond.
Bald Man: Well done! I knew thee could do it.
*YG catches his breath. He and the wizard are standing at the top of a curved staircase, somewhere other than where they were before. The close walls suggest a tower. He doesn't notice that there is no portal behind him.*
Bald Man: Tell me, what was written on the puzzle?
Latin. 'INTRA HOSPES'.
*The wizard pauses, as if waiting for a translation. As a mage, he must know Latin, so why feign ignorance? YG senses that no good will come of not playing along.*
It's an instruction to come in. Hospes is a host or a guest, as in hospitality, but it wouldn't make sense to invite a host in, so it must mean guest in... in this context.
Bald Man: An unknown guest?
Yes, hospes can imply that. *Is this another test? YG feels himself being led towards a particular translation.* Which would make it 'Enter, Stranger.'
*In the previous room, unseen but definitely not unfelt, the Fliolanshield glows.*
Bald Man: That'll do. Right, I must prepare. Dress down, as it were.
*He claps his hands. His clothes are replaced with the garb of an entertainer and his face and hands are now adorned with the paint of a clown. YG takes a step back. The coxcomb on the man's head is making his ears stick out. YG decides that if this is a dream, he may as well be candid.*
I, I don't like jesters, and your hat looks awful.
*The man touches his ears.*
Bald Man: Oh. Thee may be onto something.
*YG grits his teeth at the inane use of "thee" and "thou", which he can scarcely bear any longer. And he really doesn't want to be stuck in a tower with a jester, even a false one. This dream is becoming a ni... He is distracted by a distant female voice echoing up the stairs. It sounds like she is complaining about dust. When YG looks again at the man, he is wearing a hood.*
Bald Man: I hope the ears are a bit less conspicuous this time.
*A boy is standing next to them. YG didn't notice him appear but recognises the dungeoneering helmet on his head. The boy appears to be looking to the 'jester' for guidance. The jester stares silently at him for a moment, then smiles.*
Bald Man: Run.
*The boy dashes off down the stairs. YG hears a low musical hum, getting louder. Then...*
[OOC: Continued for YG back in Young Dreamworld. Continued seemingly for the dungeoneer in Better than a Dream.]