Stonebarrow Armory
The bunker holding the town's heavy weapons is buried underground, with only the heavy iron-clad double doors showing aboveground. It sets in a small clearing midway between the Blacktail territory and that of the witches, along a barely visible path that branches eastward from the Mint Road.

The area is quiet when Olivia and Djivan arrive, with the only sounds being the breeze through the leaves. At least they don't have trouble finding Amelia, since the Kadie is sitting on the top of the bunker door waiting for them.

"I'm tellin' ya, we should use the rope t' tie up Amelia and torture her all night," Djivan is telling Olivia as the two approach the bunker. "Oh, hi dere, Amelia."

Olivia settles her backpack more firmly across her shoulder and waves to Amelia in greeting. To Djivan, however, she says in an aside, "Now be nice to Amy this time, okay? Do you really want her to lead you blindfolded into a gorge or something?"

"Speaking of which," Amy says, hopping down to the ground, "it's time to play 'trust Olivia with your life', Djivan!" The Kadie produces a piece of heavy cloth from her pack, and says, "You get to wear this as a blindfold."

"I trust 'er just fine. It be you I don' trust," Djivan points out in a rather matter-of-factly way.

Olivia sighs at the Skreek and asks Amelia, "Do you want me to put that on him? I'm afraid you might be tempted to bite him if you do it… "

Amelia tosses the sack-cloth to Olivia to do the honors. "Eww, why would I bite him? I'm not here to torment Djivan," she claims.

"She prolly afraid I snog 'er and she like it. I gots t' be better den dat boyfriend o' hers," Djivan says with another grin.

Olivia grins at her friend as she catches the tossed cloth. "Okay, tail-whap him, then. I guess Skreeks aren't tasty to Kadies!" Then she proceeds to 'sneak' up behind Djivan in a very obvious way and say in a mock-dangerous voice, "Now hold still, dear, this won't hurt a bit… "

"But all de best fun pastimes hurt a lil' bit," Djivan complains with a rather melodramatic sigh. He even puts his hand over his heart.

"Well, okay, if you want me to hurt you… " Olivia says, poking the gypsy in the sides repeatedly with her fingernails until he squirms. Then she laughs and finally ties the blindfold firmly over his eyes. "How's that? Can you see anything?"

After several fits of giggling and thwacking Olivia with his tail, the rat eventually settles down. "I kin see lots! Lots an lots of dark," Djivan says.

"Then that's what we want," Olivia replies, rolling her eyes and grinning at Amelia over Djivan's head.

Just to make sure the blindfold is effective, Amy says, "Okay, now we can take our clothes off for the next part of the journey, Olivia." She watches to see if Djivan suddenly complains about not being able to see, or if he keeps quiet.

"I guess I'll just haf t' grope t' find my way," the Skreek says with a rather lewd smirk. "Both of yas just come a little closer an I'll help yas undress an keep yas warm… "

"Eh, I guess the blindfold is tight enough then," Amy says. "Grab his paw, Olivia, we're heading out!"

Olivia takes the Skreek's hand and whispers evilly to him, "Now hold on tight and maybe I won't lead you into any sticker-bushes."

"If I fall in one, vou comin' vith me," Djivan whispers back, then tries to nip at her ear.

Olivia squeaks softly and laughs, then says to Amelia, "We're ready. Lead on!"

Amelia leads the pair further east, skirting around the edge of her clan's property until they reach the edge of the Gnarly Wood. She turns north there, until they come upon the fallen trunk of one of the forest giants. At the uprooted end, amidst the tangle of roots the size of a normal tree's trunk, the Kadie starts to uncover a makeshift door left in the pit. "Once we're inside, you can take off the blindfold," she says.

Djivan reaches out to steady himself against something as he waits. Unfortunately, he's rather close to Amelia and his hand lands right on her backside as she's bent over and going for the door. "Man, dis tree is rather mossy and squishy," he comments, "Vhere de heck are ve?"

Olivia's eyes widen, then she says, "Uh-oh… " softly and moves out of the way!

Amelia growls in warning, her hands occupied with opening the door. "Olivia," she grumbles. "Don't make me insist on a leash… "

Olivia seems to fight off a sudden coughing spell for a minute, then walks back over to the gypsy and firmly guides him away from Amelia. "You'll be safer over here," she insists.

Djivan keeps feeling. "Hey, dis tree gots a branch," he observes when he grabs ahold of Amelia's tail. It's also about then he realizes what he has ahold of. So … he lets go and just grins. "Vell, dat's definitely a different side o' you, Amelia," he quips as Olivia pulls him away.

The Kadie finishes with the door, revealing a sunken tunnel with rough stone steps. She takes off her pack and pulls out a lantern, which she busies herself lighting to take her mind off of all the ways Djivan could have an accident…

"You've really got to learn how to control those roving hands of yours," Olivia observes to Djivan with a sigh. "Well, unless it's me they're roving over, not some other girl!"

"How am I supposed t' know?" Djivan asks, "Coulda been vour bum fer all I know! Cept, well, vour bum ain't dat wide, I guess."

"Don't let him trip and fall on me," Amy warns, once the lamp is lit. She starts down the narrow stairs, saying, "It's about thirty feet down, then the blindfold comes off."

"I guess I rattled, her, huh?" Djivan whispers to Olivia.

Olivia thinks about this for a minute, then puts herself ahead of Djivan with his hands on her shoulders for balance. "Okay, I'll go slowly so you don't trip on these stairs," she tells him, pointedly ignoring his 'wide-butt' comments.

"Right. Lead on my diminutive mousie of seduction!" Djivan declares and follows along. "Pity I can't see, cuz de view vould be nice."

Olivia just shakes her head as she follows after Amelia, taking the stairs very, very carefully.

To help things along, Djivan starts whistling dark and foreboding tunes often used when telling scary tales around the campfire.

The stairs bottom out into a chamber filled with giant tree roots, which are probably all that holds the crumbling stone roof up. "Okay, you can take the blindfold off now if you want."

And off the blindfold comes. "Ahh, ahh, a troll!" goes Djivan as he hops backwards. "Oh, vait, it just be Amelia."

"Hrrmph," the Kadie snorts. "Come on then," she says, and starts to weave a path through the roots. "Don't fall behind."

"You know, it's a testament to Amy's self-control that she isn't thumping you from here to the Mint Dam right now," Olivia tells the Skreek, getting a little exasperated now.

"Oh, come on, Amelia. I just be messin' vith you. Don' vou haf a sense of humor?" the Skreek calls out after Amelia. He takes Olivia's hand and follows after the Kadie.

The path leads to another tunnel, this one with straighter walls. Most of the ceiling has fallen in though, covering the floor with uneven mounds of debris. The remains of wide, ceramic pipes can be seen where the clutter is thin though.

"Looks like dis place has gone down de tubes," Djivan observes. "Now I know vhere dat phrase came from. Fer a date place, dis isn't dat romantic."

Olivia examines the pipes as they pass through the tunnel, noting that they look rather familiar. Could they be like the pipes we saw in the castle when we explored its basements that one day? she thinks.

The hall ends in sort of junction, where a second one crosses it. Where the two meet, though, is a very deep shaft. The pipes of the halls flow down into it, and the only way across is a sturdy wooden plank. The width of the shaft is only about five feet though, at least.

"Bleh, how far does dat go down?" Djivan wonders as he peers over the edge. "Vonder if I spit, woul' I hear it hit the bottom… "

"I doubt it," Amy says. "Not even with those ears of yours."

"Okay, vant to jump down and see if I kin hear dat?" Djivan asks Amelia next and grins to her.

"Perhaps we should just walk down," Olivia declares, with a glare at the Skreek. "Carefully."

"It's really deep and there's hot water at the bottom," Amy notes, and then scurries across the plank to the far side of the shaft. "And besides, there are more interesting things up ahead."

Olivia takes this as her cue and goes after the Kadie girl, although a bit more slowly.

Djivan saunters his way across the plank with his hands tucked into his pockets and slouching. "Lead on, squirrel 'o doom," he says. 

The tunnel beyond the shaft is in better shape than the first one. The floor is made up of unbroken pipes and the walls and ceiling are still intact. Amy heads down it at a jog, sure of her footing.

Djivan takes Olivia's hand and walks along after Amelia again. "Are vou really sure about dis place?" he whispers to the Skeek. "I kinna gots a bad feeling now."

"Well… no, not entirely," the Skeek admits. "But Amy said she and Zahn spent some time here together, and they came out alive! So I'm willing to give it a chance. Besides, you were warned ahead of time about the conditions and dangers. You could've said no and I would've been fine with that."

About a hundred yards down the tunnel, Amelia leads into a side passage – which is narrower and low-roofed, but not enough to bother anyone of Kadie or Skeek stature. It opens into a small, bare chamber. A larger door in the opposite walls leads out to… an underground road?

"Yeah, vell. Dat was before I got de vibes about jus' how much Amelia hates me, y'know?" Djivan admits to the Skeek as they walk. "Dun think I've ever seen any place like dis before. It's like a sunken city or something."

Olivia pulls Djivan forward a little more hurriedly now, so they won't lose Amelia in the distance. "Then why do you antagonize her if you know she isn't that fond of you?" she teases with a lopsided half-smile.

The road is twenty feet wide and high, with two levels of cubbyholes along each side that are large enough to have housed small shops or rooms. The rotted remains of ancient wood walls and walkways litter the sides, and there is some dim light coming from a quartz panel high in the ceiling. The light is brighter along one direction, as the panels march up and down the roadway.

"Tryin' t' ge her to lighten up already," Djivan tells Olivia as he has to nearly job now. "I pick on Lili too, y'know. S'how I treat friends. If I hated 'er I'd ignore 'er."

"Perhaps you ought to tell her that sometime," Olivia says gently, thinking, Or maybe I'll get to beat you to it. Then she starts noticing her surroundings again and staring at them with interest.

"Hey, glowie t'ings. Wonder iffin I could get em," Djivan comments as he's now distracted by the ceiling lights. So … he starts looking for ways to get to the ceiling.

"They don't glow on their own," Amy reports, noting Djivan's interest. "The road is flooded back that way," she says, pointing to the darker direction, and then starts walking towards the brighter area. "Just up ahead is something really neat."

"Oh, vell, I'll haf to take what makes em glow too," Djivan reasons. "Bet I coul' sell it to de otters fer a tidy sum."

"You know, if you take out all of the panels and their light-sources, we won't have anything to see by on our way back," Olivia notes with a grin.

"Details," Djivan counters.

"Yet important ones," Olivia shoots back.

"Piffle," says Djivan, grinning.

Olivia laughs now and pokes the Skreek again, just to annoy him.

"Ow, I be wounded!" Djivan declares. After a bit of dramatic moping, he finally heads off after Amelia again.

Up ahead is a brighter pool of light spilling out of a side passage. Amy turns into it, leading the others into the base of some kind of tower. A slender pole rises up from the center and supports a prism about twenty overhead which beams a shaft of sunlight into a dark opening leading back towards the roadway. A circle of bright daylight appears about three hundred feet overhead, with a spiraling set of transparent stairs leading up to it. There's no sign of decay or weathering, and the material of the walls and stairs is seamless and a bright gold color. An inscription on the wall reads 'HELIOSTAT 53' in Skeek.

Olivia drops Djivan's hand suddenly and just stares up at the transparent stairway, marveling with her mouth partway open. Then she flings down her pack and takes off her flowered hat, pulls a pencil and pad out of its secret inside pocket, and starts sketching a rough detail of the place. "This is amazing!" she breathes as she works.

"Eh, I seen better," Djivan says with a wave of his hand. Of course the Skreek is lying, but hey. He can't bring himself to admit to Amelia the place is 'cool'. "What de heck is a Heliostat?"

"This whole thing is, apparently," Amy says, and starts up the stairs. "Come on, the top is where the safe spot is for the night."

"I bets if vou had a nice slick blanket, sliding down dese stairs vould be fun," Djivan observes as he starts up the staircase. "Butt-bump, butt-bump, butt-bump!"

"Sounds good, Djivan," Amy comments. "Olivia and I will ride down on your back. You can be our sled!"

"Works fer me," Djivan actually agrees. "And aftervard, de orgy."

Olivia hides her smile behind one hand and just pulls Djivan up the staircase with her – once she stows her sketching materials away again. For the time being, anyway.

The stairs wind round and round, and it takes a few minutes to reach the top. The stairs open onto a platform with an arch going overhead to support a faceted crystal that catches the light and beams it down to the mirror-prism below. More noticeable though is that the tower is surrounded by a giant tree that apparently grew up around the structure over the years. The canopy stretches out above and the beyond the top of the tower.

"Hey look! A tree! Inna forest! Whoda thought?" Djivan comments helpfully. Taking time to be a bit more serious, he asks, "Say, how did ya find dis place? I know some people dat would nearly kill t' see this. Dere was dis weird explorer I fleec, er, beat at cards a while back dat just loved dis sorta stuff."

"I find things, that's how," Amy says, and then hops up onto one of the giant branches that splay out from the tower-tree. "Anyway, don't try to steal that crystal, and follow me unless you're all tuckered out from the climb."

"Why no try and take the crystal?" Djivan asks.

"There's a magical barrier that probably wouldn't react well to the attempt," Amy warns. "Snap-crackle-pop goes the Skreek, you know?"

Olivia's ears twitch when she hears about this 'explorer.' "Um, this guy you played cards with wasn't an otter by the name of 'Sylvania Jack,' was it?" she whispers as she looks for the best way to climb up after Amelia.

"Hah! Sylvania Jack Mushbutt or something, yeah," Djivan says with a grin. "Good at cheatin', but I be better." To Amelia he salutes, and adds, "Got it! Right, get Natasha to dispel it first."

Amy just rolls her eyes at the rat's 'solution' and heads out along the branch. "Hurry up!"

"Great, I gots to go out on a limb t' be wit' a squirrel dat hates me," Djivan mutters. Still, he does try to climb up.

From the end of the branch, the vista is immense. The forest canopy slopes down to the west like a green mountainside, until it washes up against the more domesticated trees of the Kadie farms. To the northwest, the silver scar of the Mint Dam's reservoir flickers through the trees, and below it the buildings of the town spill out to the south, leading to the mangroves and the swamp itself. Further west, the farmlands of the Rootrunners form geometric shapes, running up against the bulge of the Chalk pastures. North of those, the skeleton of the old manor and the lone tower of the castle poke up through the trees. "It's like being Lili, up in the air!" Amy says.

"Vell … if it vas really like bein' Lili, dere would be some snoggin' involved too," the Skreek observes with one of his telltale grins. "Still, has to admit, it be pretty impressive."

Olivia simply marvels at the view. "You're right, Amy – this is a neat place!" she enthuses. "I can see I'm going to be doing a lot of sketching here in the morning, when the light is best!"

"Might be a bit too busy t' sketch," Djivan mutters.

"I'm talking about in the morning, not at night!" Olivia answers with a grin.

"Might be a bit too busy t' sketch," Djivan repeats. He smiles sweetly.

"You've got all night to be smoochy," Amy says, and starts heading back to the tower. "There's one last place, my secret garden."

"Too secret fer us to go?" Djivan asks.

The insides of Olivia's ears turn very pink now and she clears her throat, embarrassed. At the mention of a garden, however, she looks interested.

Back at the bottom of the tower, Amy leads the love-birds further up the road. The overhead lights get dimmer the further they go, but the road ends in a well-lit chamber.

Sunken Amphitheater
The high stone walls of this wide chamber are almost completely covered in vegetation. Giant tree roots curl down from the upper rim like the claws of giants, while lianas, lichens and mosses hang down like green curtains. A channel has been worn in the north wall by a small stream that's eaten it away over the centuries. This feeds a clear pool that covers the stage for several feet, and drains out through two flooded passageways. The stone slab stadium seats are worn and weathered, and largely covered with layers of soil. Where part of the outer wall has collapsed and created a mound, a small stand of rubber trees has taken root, clustering close together. High above, the forest canopy tries to cover the sky, but even the giants of the Gnarly Wood are unable to completely block out the light.

"This my favorite place, so don't make a big mess," Amelia warns Djivan.

"Vould I make a mess?" Djivan asks with an innocent grin.

Olivia looks around in amazement yet again. "You know, I think I'm going to have to come back here several times to get in all the drawing I want to do," she muses wistfully.

"Mess just happens around you, I don't think you even need to make an effort," Amy claims. "So, the water's safe, unless something moved in since last time. I guess I can leave you two alone then and pick you up tomorrow morning?"

"Or vou could become an honorary troll an' move in," Djivan tells Olivia. "Though dat might be bad fer yer hygiene." He nods to Amelia as he says, "Certainly. Ve von't blow de place up or anythin'."

Amy reaches into her pack, and holds out a bundle for Djivan. "I got you a little gift to help you pass the time in here too," she tells the rat.

Olivia tears her gaze away from the plants and nods to Amelia, too, saying, "I think we'll be all right for now. But if Djivan is going to be as good as his word, you should pick us up late tomorrow morning." Then she grins at the Skreek.

Djivan eyes the gift warily. Slowly he unwraps it. "Always fear the Kadie bearing gifts, Mom always said," he quips.

It's a lump of… soap. "It's special virility soap," Amy says. "The more you scrub it in, the more stamina you'll have." The Kadie actually waggles her eyebrows suggestively too.

"Or it be your trick t' get me to bathe. Or it might turn me pink like de last time I used soap in de underground," Djivan comments back with a grin.

"Hey, I'm just trying to help," Amy says, grinning. "Figured you'd need it to keep up the proper pose for Olivia to draw you."

"Eh, not worth drawing," Djivan comments at that particular suggestion.

"What, really?" Amy says, and turns to Olivia. She holds up a hand with the thumb and forefinger close together and looks questioningly at the Skeek.

Olivia's ears turn bright red now as she says in a shocked voice, "Amelia! I don't kiss and tell… or at least, not THAT much!"

Amy laughs, and says, "Well, I'm sure that if you get into the water and lather up, he'll follow!"

The Skreek just shakes his head. He lightly pushes on Amelia and comments, "Vou kin go now. Really." He then leans in quickly and whispers, "An if this is some sort of cruel trick and Olivia gets hurt … I don' care how big vour brothers are and how tough vou are; vou vill get it. If no, den t'anks and I owe you."

"It's just witch soap," Amy whispers back. "I'm doing all of this for Olivia, you know. She needed a break."

For her part, Olivia has gone back to examining the flowers and plants around her and doesn't seem to be paying attention to what the others are saying.

Djivan pats Amelia's shoulder. "Den t'anks. I owe you for dat. Things haven' been easy for a lot for people lately," he whispers. "She needs more friends lookin' out for her."

"Just have fun and don't take any risks at night," Amy says. "I want to find you both in one piece when I come back."

"I know I act like a fool, but I no'. I not about to put her in any real danger," Djivan says as he pulls back. "Road no exactly safe, vou know? I know how t' survive as a family."

Amy shoulders her pack after taking out the second, unlit lantern. "Here's the extra lantern, and… oh, almost forgot!" she says, then runs behind Djivan and squeezes his rear! "That's for earlier!"

At the squeeze, Djivan grins. To Amelia, he says, "Hey, vou know vhat I like. Sure you kin stay vith us fer some fun?" he offers and waggles his eyebrows.

"What, like me and Olivia take a bath together while you have to watch?" Amy teases.

"Exactly," Djivan agrees.

"Not without Zahn here," Amy says apologetically. "Plus I have a few things to organize for tomorrow still."

"Den go. I gots … plans," Djivan says and rubs his hands together.

"Good luck, Olivia!" Amy calls as she heads back down the roadway, leaving the Skeek and Skreek alone.

Olivia turns back just in time to call goodbye to Amelia in response!

Once the two of them are finally alone together, Olivia drops her pack again and stretches languidly. Then she saunters over to the Skreek. Without a word, she backs the gypsy up against one of the enormous tree-roots growing nearby and kisses him, taking her time. When she finishes at last, she pulls back just long enough to note the silly, satisfied grin on Djivan's face. "I think I'll get ready for my bath now," she says, rather suggestively. "We really ought to try out that soap of yours, to see if it does everything that Amy claims."