2/4/02

It seemed like a good idea at the time.  I just wanted to take a look at the thing.  I mean, with the goggles on, it's totally harmless.  Well, I was pretty sure it's harmless.  Hmmm.  To be honest, I didn't think about whether it would be harmless or not.  I just wanted to see it.

So anyway, when it got away, I figured I'd follow it and grab it.  Grrr.  Didn't count on the thing being so fast.  After following it to the dark cave of testing, I was already a bit tired from running to keep up.  When it went inside, I knew I needed help.  Not that I wanted to admit it.

"So that's how it happened," I said. 

I had just explained how I was minding my own business and I saw the Cockatrice walk by.  I instantly recognized it as the school Chancellor's pet.  This particular pet is allegedly being watched over by the Dean of Druidic Studies while the Chancellor is on vacation.  Along with watching the Cockatrice, the Dean has a supply of the goggles that render the cockatrice's gaze harmless.

"So, I followed it to cave where they test the third and fourth year students, then came back here to ask for help.  All we need to do is get some more of the goggles and then go get the little guy from the cave.  So let's go."

It took a few minutes to convince Kayla, the ranger from the village in the north, that it was in her (my) best interest to NOT tell the authorities what happened.  She was on scholarship, and was probably worried about getting in trouble.  After I agreed to take whatever heat was generated, she reluctantly agreed to come along. 

Shigara, the sorcerer, as usual, was ready to go even before I asked for help.  He likes trouble even more than I do.  See, I don't really like trouble, it just seems to. well. it seems to like me. 

I was pretty sure that Skyld was also game, but I'm never really sure what he's saying.  Sometimes he says the opposite of what I think he means, and other times, he just starts humming and jumping.  But, he's usually good at guarding my back. 

Now, if Xuxu were just a little but bigger.  But, if she were, I probably wouldn't have been looking at the cockatrice in the first place.  Is she even a student here?  She never seems to be studying.  Maybe she's just really smart.  Or.  Maybe she's just hanging out.  It's hard to tell with those fairies.  Or, what does she call herself?  Ah.   Seelie.  As opposed to Unseelie.  Which are the things that Kayla hates.  Or something like that, I have a hard time keeping these things straight.

So, we all want off to the dean's office to get the goggles.  Luckily the druidic studies building is only one story, because my magic user friends haven't learned to levitate yet.  Except for Xuxu.  She can fly, but I doubt she's be able to lift a whole box of goggles.

So, I opened the window, which was unexpectedly unlocked, and was about to go in and do battle with the guardian vine.  I felt a hand on my shoulder, and Shigara said, "Wait."

He concentrated, held out his hand and said, "subsum subesse".  Suddenly, the box of goggles was floating in the air towards us.  But, before they reached the edge of the desk, the vine reached down and swatted them out of the air.  Shigara didn't stop concentrating, instead, he reached out again, and one of the goggles shot out of the window into Skyld's waiting hands.  After a minute or so, we had enough goggles to pass around.  We even had one to wrap around Xuxu's head like a helmet.  By this time, the vine had taken a few swipes at me, or at Shigara.  I couldn't tell because I was standing in front of him, trying to intercept any blows coming his way.  I shut the window in relief.

It was off to the cave next.  We grabbed our stuff, I brought a set of gauntlets and my staff.  I didn't want to bring my greataxe in case someone saw us.  You know, Subtlety.  So, I slipped into my chain shirt, grabbed my quarterstaff and gauntlets, and away we went.  We arrived at the dark cave without any problems, and we went inside.  About 40 feet in we came to a statue.  It said something about a password, and we briefly thought about going back and doing some research, but then it swiped at me.  So I grappled it.  Well, let's say, I tackled it's ass to the ground, and held it there.  My friends ran past, and then I let it go and ran.  It was an animated statue after all.  It's best not to stick around after you humiliate it.  Do statues get humiliated?  There weren't any other statues around, but.  Where was I?

Ah yes.  Then we came to another room, and a big giant spider dropped down in front of me.  Now, in hindsight, I should have actually looked at it first, like my martial instructors are always saying.  'Know your Enemy before attacking' they always say.  Well, in this case, I guess they were right.  I whacked it with my staff before thinking, and it exploded into a giant dust cloud.  The dust made Kayla sick, but everyone else was ok.  It usually happens that when we're out making trouble, the worst things happen to Kayla.  And, of course, she reminds us that she didn't even want to come along.  Poor Kayla.  I hear that she has had a hard life.  Her village was so poor that it didn't even have a name.

So, we finally come to a dead end.  A dead end with a glowing circle in it.  We look at it for a while, and discuss what to do.  Skyld starts checking it out.  He knows lots of random things.  Sometimes we're somewhere and he just pops out with a fact about the thing we're looking at.  We ask him, "How did you know that?"  Wait, where was I?  Oh yeah.  Skyld touched the circle and disappears.  I immediately jump on the circle to follow.  I'm not sure what happened exactly to the other three, but they tell me that They tried to lower Xuxu on a rope into the circle, but she just disappeared and the rope was just sitting there.  Then Shigara and Kayla sat around waiting for a half hour or so, then jumped in.

Anyway.  I find myself in a room with a set of scales and some marbles.  I have very little patience for this sort of thing.  So, I put some marbles on the scales, trying to figure out the problem, and the thing locks up on me.  I try to be good at this sort of thing, and I'm ok with math type problems and logic, but sometimes I just don't get it.  So, I broke the door down.  And, there was Skyld and Xuxu.  They had figured out their puzzles.  Skyld had to hold some water in his mouth and Xuxu had to solve a riddle. Or something.  I wasn't really paying attention at this point, I was looking for the little cockatrice.  I figured that it must be in one of these rooms.  So, I started breaking down more doors. 

After a broke down the first one, Skyld and Xuxu heard Shigara and Kayla behind some of the doors.  I didn't hear anything because I was in the middle of punching a door.  Neither Shigara nor Kayla was sharing the room with a cockatrice, so I broke down the rest of the doors.  Nothing.  But, I noticed that the red circles were glowing in the rooms that we didn't pop into.  The circles weren't glowing in the rooms that we did pop into.  I figured that meant that the cockatrice didn't come this way. 

Eventually, I got sick of waiting for Shigara and Kayla to figure out their puzzles, apparently they aren't any better at that sort of puzzle that I am.  So, I broke down their doors.  We all gathered outside the doors, and looked down the one marble hallway that lead away from the doors.  I guess we'll have to go forward, find our way out, then go back in the front way to search the front rooms for the cockatrice. 

Damn, if it's still there. 

Damn, I'm screwed.