Summary Game #44:
Players: Vincent, Stephane, Christian :: 2023-03-30
They met Pyne. After she got dressed, she thanked them for scaring the Creepzan away.
They asked how she was able to get up so much without feeling the curse and she told them she was used to it and she had great endurance.
She offered to walk with them to camp Miracle, which was about 20 minutes further down the path.
Camp Miracle was located 200 feet above ground and used some elevator to go up, but Pyne explained the location was a spot where the curse was almost null.
They also met with Miracle, the guardian of the camp, hens the name of the camp.
All along, Pyne explained a few things about the effect of the meat, and the fact that it could become permanent. She did explain about the 48 hours delay to eat those special meat, and after which the effect wouldn't work, but she did not explain how to make any of those things permanent. A secret, she said, worth more than the help they provided by distracting the Creepzans.
She said she was on a mission for Kromm, bringing some relics back up to Kounaxy and that she was going up there to recruit people who'd want to become 'heroes' or actually guinea pigs / victims of Kromm's experiments and attempts to send someone down to 6th layer and come back up unscathed. Pyne said he was very much obsessed with "finding a way" and he had been at it for many centuries without respite.
They also learned a little about the cave raiders who live in Camp Miracle. They go down into the Great Fault, exploring the caves and looking for relics, leaving for 1 to 2 weeks at a time and coming back to Camp Miracle for a few days then back at it again.
They told Pyne they were from above Kounaxy, so she was very interested to go there, but they said they were trapped down here and that's why they wanted to go find Kromm, who definitely has a way to go back up.
Knowing they weren't from Kounaxy, she got interested in asking how fertile people were in what she now calls: Layer -1.
Learning everyone makes babies every year or so, she asked Vumpek to mate with her, so they left for a hut and had sex all night long.
The next morning, they said fairwell and kept on going down. Pyne said she'd wait 1 or 2 days for another cave raider who'd want her to bring relics back up, while they left to continue their journey down what Pyne said, was the harshest of all layers.
They began their descent and explore the 6th entrance away from Camp Miracle, walking down and up and down into a whole set of tunnels with nothing but dead ends, although no creatures, until they had to come all the way back up, which all took about 8 hours.
They then went to the 7th entrance and after 4 hours, they came out a small hole into the Great Fault after fighting a Flying Poisonous Snake with tentacles that almost took off with Thorgred. But they killed and made it out unscathed due to great team work.
They were about 150 meters down (in straight line) from the top, on a 4.6 KM long hole. Having no other passages from that tunnel, they'd have to go back up to the top, or they decided to try and climb down the Great Fault instead, using ropes to reach as far down as possible, from where they could try to reach another hole.
During the day, there was a lot of gigantic birds (Kohond) and a lot of those flying snakes (Orb Piercer). They did a test with 5 pounds of Strox meet on the rope and a flying snake came soon enough. They thought it may not be such a good idea, until the night settled. Almost all the birds and snakes went to sleep. They decided they could do it by being careful and silent.
Thorgred held the rope, Vumpek went first.
Vumpek made it to another hole some 60 meters (200 feet) down, and 40 meters (140 feet) to the left. Hanging by the rope and walking along the cliff edge, which is very much smooth surface with an inward curve, it wasn't that hard to dangle and gain enough speed to reach the whole.
He entered the hole and saw a flying snake, sleeping.
He told the others to come.
MMandy went down, but on the way, a Kohond came at her when she was about 50 meters down. She was swift enough to cast Polymorph on the creature and turned it into a small rodent. The small rodent fell down the shaft and out of sight.
MMandy dangled and reached the whole silently enough to not wake the snake.
(Then Mithran would have gone down) and made it safely and silently.
Elanil went next and this is when things went sideways.
An Orb Piercer snatched her when she was down about 10 meters, and brought her back up 10 meters higher than the starting point, where the rope reached its end as Thorgred tried to yank and pull her back.
Elanil fell back down, was hit by the snake again and pulled back up by Thorgred, only to be grabbed by the snake's tentacles and heaved out of the hole again going upwards, but not without Thorgred tossing two of his throwing axes at it, hurting it badly.
Thorgred yanked her back down once more and finally brought her to his side. The snake attacked him, then fled.
Meanwhile, due to all of Elanil's screams of pain, the sleeping snake woke.
Vumpek shot it, but the snake was too fast and snatched MMandy with its tentacles and heaved her out of the hole, going dowward.
MMandy polymorphed herself into the Floating Shark they had killed back in the jungle and the snake fled from her.
MMandy was floating, both snakes had fled, so she decided to try going back up, facing the curse without caring. She made it back to Thorgred and Elanil, where Elanil was saved by Thorgred with a Snapper, and then placed in MMandy's Shark mouth, while Thorgred sat on MMandy's back, strapping himself with ropes.
MMandy was strongly affected by the curse, but they made it back into the hole, joining with the others, where MMandy returned to her natural form, feeling the full effect of the curse upon her much lesser Constitution.
Vumpek gave MMandy some Ghoshelty drugs, which would help her sleep ... or so he thought.
The effect of the curse, causing hallucinations of the bad kind, cause the Ghoshelty nice dreams to become Night Terrors, where MMandy screamed almost all night, although muffled and secured with enough ropes to hold her still, and Elanil suffering from hallucination as well, prevented everyone from sleeping.
The next day, MMandy decided to use on of her ability to enter a trance that would last anywhere between 2 and 19 hours, but after which she said, she'd return as good as new and in full shape.
Elanil's condition allowed her to sleep from that point, as long as someone would care for her and comfort her, every time she'd hallucinate something dangerous.
So with Vumpek, Thorgred and Mithran taking turns to keep watch, the group finally managed to get some rest.