Log:Once Upon a Time, Scene 5

Once Upon a Time 2010/04/16 	 Flux Lorelei Riot Titan 5

Lorelei returns to the rooms we're staying in after her excursion to talk to people, a guardsman with her.

Titan is standing in the hallway, looking out the window at the end of the hall when Lorelei gets back.

Lorelei says to Titan, "Well, that was informative. But not reassuring. And I've upset someone, too."

Titan chuckles. "Uh oh. What happened?"

Lorelei shakes her head. "Not here," she says quietly. "Maybe in one of the rooms. The less chance I'm overheard, the better."

Titan raises a brow. "Allllllrighty. Pick a room."

Lorelei says, "Well, let's get everyone together. Best if everyone hears."

And, just because silence is needed, the doors slam open. Loudly. "What up?" Shouts The Riot, Strolling.

Lorelei says, "Sh! Come on, let's get everyone together. I'll tell you what I found out."

Titan nods again.

Riot pauses, blinking behind his mask, and looking between the two. "Oh -dayumn-. Big T got ya'll preggers? Hell, baby, dat ain't no-thang to hide." And he laughs. At Titan and Lei.

[To Riot] Lorelei says, "Are you a *complete* idiot? The situation here is messy enough without you trying to start rumours!"

Lorelei is evidently genuinely annoyed. Uncharacteristically so.

Lorelei says, "Ok - let's get everyone into your room, I guess - I'll try to explain what I've worked out of this mess."

Titan furrows his brow...first at Riot's comment, wondering where the hell it came from. Then Lorelei's reaction gets a similar response. He does however take the lesson that Riot may or may not have learned...and keeps quiet, since Lorelei is starting to look annoyed.

Lorelei paces while waiting for people to gather. "Ok, this is what I've pieced together. Mum was apparently engaged to this Palanir for - I don't know, a long time. But at some point she took a trip to Earth, and met my dad."

Riot rolls his shoulders, and grunts. Then glances aside to Titan, and gestures at Lorelei. One of those 'what the.' gestures.

Lorelei says, "Mum and dad were married, and I was born. Seven years later Palanir caught up with mum, in London. Somehow he got her to go back with him, leaving me and dad thinking she was dead. No one here seems to have known about me or dad."

Riot huhs. "So, yo mama was some other folk wimmen, and she got all happy wit' yo Earth daddy? And den she run off?" He pauses. "Dayumn, dat's cold."

Titan walks into the room to listen. He glances at Riot, but doesn't make any other gestures to him before looking back to Lorelei, "Ah. That makes sense. I'm going to guess that she pined to see you again. It fits with the other stuff we already knew."

Lorelei says, "MUM'S NOT COLD! Or, at least, she wasn't.... They say she is now...."

Riot scratches his skull "A'ight, so why she up an' leave ya'll? I mean, she be happy down on de planet, right?"

Lorelei says, exasperated, "I don't know! No one seems to know!"

Titan nods, and takes a deep breath..."It's okay, we'll figure it out. What else were you able to learn, Lorelei?"

Riot huhs, and rolls his shoulder. "A'ight. SO. Pally gits her t'dump ya'll and run back t' Orlando land. Den?"

Lorelei takes a deep breath. "Look. For whatever reason, she came back here. She was married to Palanir. Pretty much immediately she goes to live by herself in the swamp. THey say her heart turned cold and the whole corruption things was.... anyway. I have another theory. It may be crazy, but..."

Riot points a finger. "Pally told her, 'git back o' else', den she went nuts and bad 'cause she ain't got her baby o' her baby daddy no mo'?"

Lorelei lowers her voice. "That's one possibility, Riot. Another... look, this is pure supposition, but I don't trust Palanir. He doesn't seem really to care for mum.... He talks about duty - but I think maybe he wants to be king himself. What if he found out about Dad - that mum married him first? Maybe then he has to discredit her, while still being married so there's the blood link, and this whole magical corruption thing is his doing somehow.... Oh, I don't know, maybe that doesn't make sense. Maybe it's someone else trying to wipe out the whole royal line...

Lorelei says, "Darn, I haven't told you about the succession yet."

Lorelei says, "This is the important - and scary - thing."

Titan nods again slowly. "Sound like a reasonable guess, Lorelei."

Lorelei says, "The king has two daughter, and mum is the *elder* daugher. So the throne would go to her and Palanir - if she hadn't gone off to the swamp. But the thing is, I'm her daughter - daugher of the eldest daughter - which means, if I've got this right, my claim to the throne is stronger than I thought. And there's more than that:"

Riot scratches his head again. "Dis gettin' complicated." But doesn't make his usual remarks. YET

Lorelei says, "As far as I can make out, women don't rule in their own right here. At least, Merilwen talked about the throne coming to her and Delanu, or mum and Palanir."

Riot snaps his fingers. "SO, fo' ya'll t' git de throne, ya'll gotta git hitched." A pause. "Uh, I'm taken."

Titan nods again slowly. "I assume that the details of who was married to whom needs to be actually worked out to determine actual succession, though. Does succession usually follow the female bloodline? Or the male's?"

Lorelei says, "Yeah. And who gets the throne is determined by a vote of nobles. One of who is married to Merilwen. All the more reason to vote for a candidate who's still available. I may be readng this wrong, but We really need to recued the king!"

Lorelei says, "It *can* follow the female bloodline anway. And as the king has no sons...."

Titan nods. "Which brings us to the question of: Who did you manage to annoy?

Lorelei turns to Riot. "So you'll understand why I don't considered joke about who's haveing relationships with whom - and certainly not who's pregnant - to be a laughing matter. Even a rumour about such things could shake up the situation."

Riot shrug. "A'ight. But ya'll ain't wantin' no part o' dis, right? All ya'll fo' is gittin' ya'll mom, and dengettin' dat cure. Copa?"

Titan says, "And...recovering the prince, right?"

Lorelei says, "And saving my cousin."

[To Titan] Lorelei says, "It was Palanir. He got a bit upset when I pressed for details of under what circumstances mum came back with him. And then I pretty much accused him of abandoning her to the swamp."

Titan smiles. "Ah. Taking diplomatic lessons from me, clearly." He's clearly just teasing, though.

Lorelei says, "I guess the theory that mum's gone... crazy, I suppose... from being broguht back here has got to be the most likely, as people seem to agree on that story. BUt it's possible it's all some trick too. That's all I'm saying. Bear it in mind."

A bird flaps up onto the windowsill from outside. It's a canary. It's feathers are mostly white, with bunch of yellow ones on its head.

Lorelei glances at the canary, curious. Also aware that things aren't always as they seem here.

Lorelei says, "The swamp, still."

Riot looks hopeful "And -den- I gitta shake de castle?"

Titan shrugs a bit. "Well, it's clear what needs to be done. I'd say off to the swamp...but we need a way to find what it is we're looking for. Do we have a map or something to this cure? I'm assuming that when we go looking for that, we'll find either or both of our other goals."

Lorelei says, "Oh - they said Canador, when he went to the swamp, had all sorts of magical protection, and still didn't make it back. I'm hoping that the key word is magical."

The canary shifts on the window sill. It observes the people in the room, first with one eye and then the other, turning its head quickly. The canary begins to tweet.

Lorelei says, "I didn't ask about maps. I didn't want to tip anyone off about what we planned - though Palanir guessed anyway."

Lorelei goes over to the bird, listening to its song.

Titan looks over to the bird. Well, he's watching Lorelei more than the bird, actually.

Riot is busy looking for a mirror. He's just so damn pretty. Well, no, not really. But he does have his arms crossed.

''Lorelei understands the bird as saying: "It is I.. Merilwen. Edhelnes told me about your plan to visit the swamp. She also told me that your mind is set on it despite the danger. I wish you good luck, and I offer whatever support I can provide."''

"Huh.. how much meat ya'll reckon in dem boirds?"

Lorelei nods to the bird. "Thank you! But is there a reason you came in this form?"

Riot glances at Titan, and flips another silent thumb towards Lorelei. ANOTHER 'what the' gestures..

The canary tweets some more.

''Lorelei understands the bird as saying: "Right now, only a few people of my plan. Myself, Edhelnes, and Lothven. I suspect that Palanir knows as well. It's best to disguise your intentions for as long as possible. I'm not sure if the Regent would allow you to leave or not." ''

Titan shrugs, looking to Riot, "She's part fae. Perhaps that means you get the powers of Snow White."

Titan chuckles. "More the 'talking to animals' part.

Riot shrugs. "Damn shame. Dem midgits had dey selves a badass organ pipe."

Lorelei says, "I thought keeping it quiet was probably good. Can you tell me anything about the swamp? Where exactly it is, for a start? Where in it Canador and this cure for the king might be? What dangers exactly there might be there?"

The bird sings some more.

''Lorelei understands the bird as saying: "The danger of the swamp is that it corrupts all who enter it, mind, body, and soul, turning them into violent monsters. Beyond the danger of the swamp itself, its populated with these monsters. < She give directions to the swamp -- it's south east about a day's travel by wings.> I don't know where Canador is in the swamp, but her was following a compass to the location of the plant cure for the king. Lothven has provided a similar compass to the twins."''

Titan listens quietly to the discussion. Much like hearing only one end of a telephone conversation.

Riot doesn't. He's busy quietly adjusting his mask. "Hey, T. Ya'll got any duct tape?"

Lorelei says, "How large is the swamp?"

''Lorelei understands the bird as saying: The bird describes a location about the size of a large city park, like Central Park.''

Lorelei thinks. o O (If it's that corrupting, how can we do this?)

Titan shakes his head. "Nope. Sorry. Need it for your mask? You might be able to use string or something."

Lorelei says, "Oh - have you seen Central Park? If it's that far, there's no way we can do it before the test of blood that was spoken of. Will it cause a problem if I'm not here for that?"

Riot shrugs. "Ain't dat worried 'bout it. Hell, mostly fo' looks anymo'. Ain't like I gotta secret life t' worry 'bout." A barked laugh. "What I do is what I is." He then glances back to Lorelei. "Talkative bird."

Titan shrugs, "Lorelei...keep in mind, I bet Riot and I can get us to the swamp quickly. Leaping would allow us to cover a lot of ground."

Lorelei says, "Thank you!"

Lorelei says, "I'm not sure what else to ask - there's so much I don't know. I wish I understood more about magic!"

''Lorelei understands the bird as saying: "And... if you're able... I would appreciate any information you are able to uncover about Canador's fate." ''

Lorelei says, "Of course - if we can rescue him, of course, we will!"

''Lorelei understands the bird as saying: "Soon, the guard will be relieved with a pair of Lothven's trusted men. They'll allow you to go where you need to go." ''

The bird flaps its wings and begins to fly off.

The bird flaps its wings and begins to fly off.

Lorelei says, "Thanks again!"

Lorelei turns back to the others. "How much of that did you follow?"

Riot levels a finger. "So, uh.. tweety gitta lot t' jaw on?"

Titan sheaks head, "Not much"

Lorelei says, "Well we have directions to the swamp. About a day away as the canary flies, it seems. The dangers, as we thought, are that the swamp corrupts anyone, 'body, mind and spirit' - and the monsters which are people or things already corrupted."

Riot pssh. "So, we don't stay long. Jes' pile on me an' T, we'll jump fastah dan any Canary, and BOOM. In, out, s'alright."

Titan nods. "The shorter the time we're in there, the less that can happen, right?"

Lorelei says, "There will be a change of guard in a while - then we can sneak out. The new guards will be posted here by Lothven just for thos."

Titan says, "We could also just go out a window."

Riot grins. "Why we worry 'bout de guards? Hell, je's walk out."

Lorelei says, "No!"

Lorelei says, "For heaven's sake, we need to keep this quiet!"

Lorelei says, "Almost not one knows we're doing this. The more people find out, the more complicated it gets. Possibly the more difficult too."

Titan raises a brow. "Why?"

Riot rolls his shoulders, and compliments Titan's comment with his own. "Yeah. Ain't dey wantin' de 'dirty earth monkies' off dey turf?"

Lorelei says, "Because people will try to stop us going, mostly likely. Me, at least. And worse, if there is something more sinister going on here, we don't need to add more enemies to the opposition."

Titan smiles. "That was my point. If we leave via a window, we merely leap away. How would they catch us? I'm sure they wouldn't be expecting it."

Lorelei says, "Firstly - have you heard Riot's leaps? We want to be at least a mile away before we try that."

Titan chuckles. "I could carry him too. And I bet I'm not quite as loud as he is."

Lorelei says, "I'd sooner not make any assumptions about their capabilities, either. At the very least, someone here might be able to warn someone in the swamp."

Titan raises a brow. "You mean the swamp that no one goes to? And effectively has a curtain around it?"

Lorelei says, "Allegedly."

Titan sighs. "This feels silly. I hate waiting." He then chuckles. "And I hate sneaking about, too."

Lorelei says, "Look, all I'm saying is we don't know what we're dealing with, so I'm inclined to take the advice of the locals who are friendly."

[To Riot] Lorelei says, "If when people casually discuss eating them."

Riot grins. "Hell, bird all boney anyways."

Titan quietly steps over to the window of the room, and resumes the position he was in out in the hallway - He folds his arms, and leans against the side frame of the window, and looks outside.

Permitted entry, Flux comes into the room, letting her tattoos act as clothing. "Hi guys. Um. Things are pretty quiet in here."

[To Flux] Lorelei says, "We're about to make our move. Are you well rested?"

Flux nods. "Yeah. Um. They're looking kinda antsy out there since you're all in here not making much noise." She motions to Riot, "Irony, I guess."

Titan briefly glances over his shoulder at Flux and nods to her, and then resumes looking out the window.

Riot laughs! "A'ight. Mebee I'll get 'em somethang to ease dey minds."

Lorelei says, "We go when the guard changes, meet up with Jenn and our gear. Then get far enough away they won't hear the jumping."

Flux looks puzzled. "Hear the jumping? You don't think they'll notice us moving around? Cool."

Lorelei says, "The guard captain has assigned guards who'll let us go."

Flux ohs. "That works." She sits down on one of the beds, looking around the room, taking in decor.

The place may be low-tech, but it's pretty luxurious. The bed's extremely comfortable.

Lothven has arranged for the visiting heroes to get a compass; it's an arrow dangled from a cord of silver. It points the way towards the plant that will cure the king. Right now, it points into the swamp.

Lorelei frowns, looking into the swamp - trying to make out anything she can in it, with either sight.

Flux looks thoughtful. "I don't suppose it'd help if I made some kinda big raft or something..."

Titan says, "I guess jumping through the swamp might be problematic with the trees and the soft ground."

The swamp is a dreary place, wet with poor visibility. Pea soup fog hangs in the air, masking out the sun above and obscuring everything beyond 30 meters. Footing is treacherous here most steps are ankle deep in water, and the twisting roots of the trees are easy to trip over. The trees are not especially dense here allowing passage. In the distance, those same trees take on spooky shapes when cloaked in the mist.

Lorelei says, "Just remember - anything you meet in there could be someone transformed by magic. Things are always what they seem, especially here!"

Flux nods. "Yeah. So I won't go setting everything in there on fire. But I can make things all cold and stuff right?"

Titan says, "I assume you mean 'Aren't'."

Flux ohs. "So um. How many of us can't take the cold so well?"

Lorelei says, "I don't like cold myself..."

Flux nods. "So I guess making it cold enough to solidify the ground isn't an option..."

Lorelei says, "Well, I do have a coat, and boots."

Titan shrugs, "I'm fine with it.

Riot huhs. "Cold don' bother me."

Flux looks hopeful. "so... maybe I can do it? I'd rather walk with you guys than fly but um. Icky ground.."

The swamp is a dreary place, wet with poor visibility. Pea soup fog hangs in the air, masking out the sun above and obscuring everything beyond 30 meters. Footing is treacherous here most steps are ankle deep in water, and the twisting roots of the trees are easy to trip over. The trees are not especially dense here allowing passage. In the distance, those same trees take on spooky shapes when cloaked in the mist.

Lorelei says, "I'm glad I brought the camping gear now...."

Titan says, "Well, let's get going."

Lorelei says, "The fog is too thick for flying overhead to serve for scouting. I think we just have to stick together and go in."

Flux suggests, "Flying overhead can help though.. with the compass we can find out how far in we have to go, right..?"

Riot shrugs. "A'ight. Nuder, give us a lil' walking space, huh? But, uh, still all fo' de jumpin', es' so ya'll know."

Lorelei says, "I suppose we can use triangulation to determine the best side to approach from, yes."

Flux, once she has compass, takes to the air and flies toward where it is pointing.

Lorelei waits for Flux to return with the triangulation results. She's still peering into the mist, trying to learn what she can from it.

Riot scratches his head a moment when Flux takes off, and asides to Lorelei. "hey. When she git eat, what we doin' 'bout dat compass?"

[To Riot] Lorelei says, "Pardon?"

Titan has fallen silent, waiting quietly with his arms folded again...and looking grim.

Lorelei says, "Looks like we'll have to be in the swamp to use the compass. So I think it's plan B - go in together and try to be quick about it!"

Lorelei says, "Unless anyone has a better idea?"

Titan shakes his head. "Nope."

Lorelei says, "At least your huge leaps should be able to get us out of there quickly!"

Flux shrugs. "Sorry. I did the best I could."

Lorelei says, "Not your fault - looks like this fog is the edge of things.... Ok.... any idea how we can move fastest in there?"

Flux nods. "Frozen ground."

Lorelei says, "Hm - would that be sheet ice? I haven't brought any ice skates..."

Flux thinks. "I can provide heat while I freeze the ground."

Flux shakes her head. "Just making it solid. The dirt and gunk will keep it from being slippery."

Lorelei says, "Let's hope that works. Ok, lets' go with that."

Flux nods. She floats up a little, bursts into flame, and lowers the temperature significantly ahead in a large area.

Lorelei readies the compass. "Everyone ready?"

Titan nods. "All set. Let's get going."

The heroes travel over the frozen swamp as their best speed. After about five minutes, they come across what looks like the scene of a battle. On the losing side, a giant serpent, lies slain and partially frozen in the murky ice of the swamp.

Titan raises a brow. "Intresting. Which way now?"

The compass points further into the swamp.

Lorelei says, "Keep on - that's just a normal snake, turned monstrous."

Titan nods, "Alright." He then continues moving at a decent clip through the swamp.

"So... things get real big," Flux observes, frowning. "And maybe worse."

Lorelei says, "Well, shows the sort of thing we might be up against... I wonder what killed it."

The serpent seems to have been hacked at and shot with arrows.

Lorelei thinks. o O (I never asked how long since Canador went this way....)

Lorelei thinks. o O (It was weeks ago Canador came here - could have been him.)

Lorelei says, "Looks like my cousin is pretty handy with a bow. At a guess."

Riot shakes his head, grunting a moment. "Damn. Mask gettin' -tight-." There's a slight pop of seams along his sleeves, that he pays no mind too. "How far is dis thang?"

Lorelei says, "No way to know - we just have to keep moving!"

Flux nods. "Yeah. Moving. I don't think anything else is a good idea. Sightseeing bad." She begins to pick up the pace.

Titan is moving along, jumping from solid area to solid area...and trips over a branch jutting from the ice. He ends up rolling, protecting Lorelei as he lands, and slides...and immediately gets back to his feet without missing a beat, and keeps moving. "Sorry about that."

Lorelei says, "No worries, nicely handled..."

Lorelei leeps an eye out for obstacles, as she's not engaged in the running - and can, in some sense, see dangers clearest.

Lorelei says, "That wasn't a branch - it part of some armour!"

Riot takes a moment to laugh at Titan's clumsiness, but even his boisterous chuckles are cut short at Lorelei's comment. "Oh -snap-."

Lorelei says, "I think - check, it could be Canador."

Titan stops, "Wait...yeah, you're right." He moves back to the location.

Flux nods. "Well, I suppose we should be moving then..." she suggests.

Riot shrugs at Flux. "Mebee be kin o' Lei Lei's, dig?"

On closer inspection, it's a finely crafted armor breast plate. It's frozen into the swamp so just that just a bit of it is exposed. There's no sign of the owner of the armor.

Lorelei says, "Never mind, keep moving - maybe he turned into a monster and had to discard it."

Flux nods. "If it is, we can't do much about it. If it isn't, staying here won't do anything helpful. We need to keep moving."

In wider visual sweep, bits of equipment seem discarded about this area, with no real method to how they are laid out.

Titan nods. "That seems likely...let's keep moving." He start back in the direction they were all heading, leaping from location to location.

Flux seems more agitated, and visibly larger, flames brighter, ice colder...

Lorelei thinks. o O (Damn, shouldn't have stopped.)

Lorelei says, "It's Canador's. He's almost certainly a monster....."

Lorelei thinks. o O (The swamp is getting to them - why isn't it to me? Or is it, and I'm just not noticing?)

Titan is actually sweating a bit. His shirt has come untucked, and he's grimacing a bit. He's also mostly fallen silent as the group moves through the swamp...perhaps the concentration of having to make sure he doesn't fall?

As the group pushes ahead more discarded gear can be seen. The trail eventually stops... probably as the previous group run out of gear.

Lorelei checks the compass again and points in the right direction. "That way!"

Lorelei thinks. o O (if it gets too much for them I'll have to have them leap out - but how can I tell when that is?)

Titan nods with a bit of a grunt of exertion, and changes course slightly, heading in the direction Lorelei indicated.

Flux picks up the pace again, liking the situation less and less as time wears on.

Riot grunts, and follows suit. Starting to mutter under his breathe.

The path leads to a small clearing in the swamp, where a single tree is surrounded by a pack of man-wolf-beasts. There are a handful of them, each heavily muscled and covered in hair, with scraps of the clothing that they once wore. The leader of the pack is obvious -- he's a bit bigger than all the rest. He turns towards the heroes and bares his teeth. His mates take notice as well, snarling and beginning to take aggressive positions.

The compass indicates that the flower is beyond this clearing.