Underground Grotto
This natural cavern is huge, easily one hundred feet across and just as high. Large deposits of glowing rainbow crystal in the walls and ceiling provide light, as well as a general fairy-land aura. A hot spring bubbles forth from midway up the farther wall, the water cascading down in a series of small waterfalls to a central pool at the bottom of the chamber. Colorful, exotic mineral formations provide the illusion of plants of flowers, giving the entire room a garden-like air. Mists cling to the shallower areas, and hover over the central pond.
Three figures stand in an entryway of smooth-cast stone, the taller one shining a beam of light into a darkened chamber. From the far side, a dazzle of colors reflects back, some slightly off due to the prismatic spectrum of the lamp. After a moment of adjustment, it becomes clear that the circle of illumination is revealing a mosaic of colored glass beads depicting trees. There is clearly more to the scene, but the hallway leading into the chamber is too narrow to reveal more of it.
Zahnrad looks, then looks again. He then turns around and yells down to Olivia, "Hey, Olivia, it's for you! It's some colorblind wall monster, er, picture!"
"Hear anything?" Amy whispers to Pike, to which the Eeee replies by shaking her head.
Olivia looks up from her sketch of the skull that she was drawing. "Oh, you got the door open!" she exclaims. "And what do you mean, it's for me?"
"Well, come up and see!" Zahnrad replies.
Djivan is still busy prodding at the skull. "Vou remin' me of a girl I once knew… " he mutters, "She was too thin' too an had dis really huge mouth… "
"Well, all right – just as long as there aren't any undead minions in there," the Skeek girl quips, then packs up her pencils and pad and goes over to join the others – dragging Djivan along with her, forcing him to leave the skull behind.
"Alas, poor skull, I … vell, okay, I didn' know vou," Djivan laments as he's dragged away from the skull. He grins at Olivia, then remarks, "Aw, don' vou want some undead minions? I always vanted a minion of my very own… "
In the meantime, Pike shines the lamp along the walls and ceiling of the hallway. There are some thick, white panels attached to the ceiling, a five-sided dial with five triangular sections, each a different shade of gray moving counter-clockwise from black to white, and the inside handle of the door itself.
Zahnrad has turned his attention to the odd knob with the gradient pattern. He peers at it, pondering. "Hah, I get it. I think I know what this does," he remarks, then just reaches over and starts to slowly turn the dial, keeping his eyes on the ceiling panels.
"Be care-" Amy starts to say, then stops as the hallway brightens with each turn of the dial. There is a 'click' sound for each shade, which lets in more white light from the panels.
Olivia comes in behind the others and gives a low whistle. "How wonderful!" she breathes. "Goodness knows how long it took to make the trees out of those beads! Wish I had such a large palette to create upon. Canvases are about as good as it gets with me."
Zahnrad grins smugly. "Yes, it does what I expected," he remarks with a glance to Amelia. "I'll explain why I expected it later. I, well, recognized something." He turns the dial to maximum brightness.
The clearer light illuminates more than the rainbow lantern did. The hallway extends about ten feet and then opens up on one side into a larger room, now lit. It's clearer that the far wall is made up a large pane of glass, with the beads suspended behind it to form a pastoral scene. Another dial is on the wall next to it.
"Ooooo," Djivan remarks, then just walks right into the hallway and goes toward the room. "I vish I had a pace like dis."
"Be careful!" Amelia warns again, and hurries to check the room before the Skreek just blunders into something. But… the room turns out to be empty, except for more panels in the ceiling surrounding a circle area made up of small holes.
Olivia looks between the two scenes on the walls. "Just decoration, d'you think? Or are they supposed to illustrate an event, like a mural or something?"
Zahnrad follows suit into the passage. "Don't know. Perhaps the other knob makes them light up. Now, that would be something. Or, maybe the scene changes?" And with that, Djivan says, "Oooo, let's see!" And he turns the knob.
The dial next to the large 'window' is slightly different. While still five-sided, it has a single dark line from the center to one edge, currently pointed straight up at an engraving of an empty square. A sequence of engravings wind around the dial though, each of a horizontal line with a circle, or part of one, above it. The first has the circle as an arch peaking above the line on the left side, the second has the circle sitting on the line closer to the center, and the third, opposite the square, has it hovering over the center of the line. The next two repeat mirror the first, with the circle sinking to the right into the line.
At the first symbol, the bead-wall begins to light up, making the scene look like the breaking of dawn over the countryside.
"Ah, of course," Pike says, hunched over slightly as her wings are too tall for the ceiling.
Zahnrad considers the dial, then grins. "It's a sunrise to sunset fake scene. That's … really impressive," he remarks in awe.
"Wow… it must have been awfully expensive though. Why not just have a painting?" Amelia asks.
Olivia murmurs her agreement. "Very pretty. Whoever made this has some serious smarts!"
"Because this is better," Zahnrad remarks as if that should answer everything.
"For people living underground, who might not see the sky for long periods, it would serve as a psychological comfort," Dr. Pike opines.
Djivan just walks a slow circle in the room, examining the walls closely. "I vonder if dey have secret doors… " he muses.
The large room opens into several areas. The wall opposite the mural has a small closet space right next to the hallway, and to the left (as one looks at it) is a wide opening into a room full of strange appliances. The left wall has an opening into another hallway as well.
Attracted to stuff as many gypsies are … Djivan goes into the room with strange stuff. And Zahnrad, seeing … GADGETS! makes a dash toward that room, pushing Djivan out of the way. "Hey!" Djivan grumbles.
"Don't touch anything," Amy warns as everyone flocks forward, knowing in her heart that they'll try to touch everything.
Olivia comes up to the gypsy and takes his hand comfortingly. "Never mind Zahn, he's always been like that with machines," she says with a rueful grin.
Djivan snorts indignantly.
And there are many things to touch. Another small closet area sits behind the one in the main room, full of valves and pipes and strange shapes that seem to be fused to or extruded directly from the walls. The furnishings in the room itself are amazing – nobody from Stonebarrow has every seen so much clear glass and shiny surfaces…
Zahnrad goes straight to the valves and pipes. He puts his head up against then and taps gently, listening. Looks like the Kadie didn't hear Amy. "Let's see what the valves do… " he says, the expression on his face … well … worrying.
One tabletop in particular catches Amy's notice, since it has five discs of the glassy-metallic alloy that coated the claw they found in the dungeon of Pike's castle.
The pipes are silent at the moment, with no sounds of hissing steam or running water. All of the valves seem to be in the 'closed' positions.
Olivia comes in behind the Kadie boy and eyes the pipes thoughtfully. "Went right for these, I see," she comments. "They look something like the pipes we found in the castle, don't they? Or am I far wrong?"
"Probably," Zahnrad notes absently. He tries to turn one of the valves slowly, keeping an ear to the pipe.
There is a definite gurgling sound in the pipe as the valve is turned.
Djivan just whistles as he looks around the room … and then makes a beeline for the metallic disks. "Shiny," he declares, and reaches for one…
"Don't!" Amelia snaps, and grabs Djivan's hand. "It's a stove of some kind. You don't grab the tops of stoves!"
"They're active," Zahnrad notes to no one in particular. He turns the valve a bit more.
"It no hot right now," Djivan insists.
The gurgling in the pipe dwindles slightly, as more water begins to flow and force out the air.
Zahn, fascinated, turns the valve as far as it will go without forcing it. "My place isn't this neat," he notes, sounding a bit depressed about that.
"Okay then," Amelia says, standing back after releasing Djivan's hand. "Go ahead and touch it." She watches closely to see if anything nasty happens.
Olivia ums… "If that pipe is active, then where is the water flowing through it going to? Back into the water ride we came in on?"
Djivan licks his hand (just in case), and reaches down to tap one of the plates experimentally.
With the valve fully opened, the gurgling in the pipe stops… but starts up in a boxlike structure near the floor.
Zahnrad considers the question, then points a the box and says, "Probably there." Which he goes to check out, of course.
The metallic disks are cool to the touch. There is a set of six dials on the front of the boxlike table, just above a glass door.
While Zahn checks out the boxlike thing, Olivia goes over to the pipe herself, ready to twist it to the 'off' position if need be.
"I t'ink I let de rat wit de huge tail turn de knobs dis time," Djivan comments and motions toward Zahnrad, whom is checking out a gurgling box.
It isn't immediately clear what the box does. There are several smaller pipes that run from it, one up into the ceiling and one back into the wall towards the appliances.
"I wonder if this is like the dish washing thing we're working on at the compound," Zahnrad considers and touches the outside of the box to check its temperature.
Ears perked, Pike begins to move around, leaning in towards the walls and looking at the ceiling every so often, as if listening to the flow of water.
The outer door of the 'stove' is cold, and hinged to swing open. Through the glass can be seen a boxy area with glass shelves in grooves, and more strips of the shiny metal-glass running up and down along the back, sides, top and bottom.
Djivan slinks over to Olivia and whispers to her, "Hey, I bet de hallway goes to de bedroom. Vant to check it out … together?"
"Hmm," Zahnrad says and stands up. He peers at the collection of knobs on the top. "Eenie, meanie, er, oh what the heck," he says, picking the second knob and just turning it a half-turn.
Nothing happens when the knob is turned, other than Amelia flinching nervously.
Olivia grins and swats the Skreek playfully. "You are a bad, bad boy," she says to him in an undertone. "Must be why I like you. We could… it's not that far from the others… "
"Aw man," Zahnrad grouses. He turns it more. And for good measure, turns another one!
Djivan griiiiins. "Now vour talkin'. I bet dey have some fancy Skeek clothing, prolly all sparkly … you coul' model it… " he says and starts nudging Olivia towards the door.
On her hands and knees now, Pike hunkers down by a clear area at the back wall, where another collection of small holes is visible. "Aha… does anyone notice the air in here?" she asks.
Zahnrad sniffs. "Didn't really think about it," he remarks.
"It doesn't seem stuffy anymore," Amelia concedes, and eyes the cluster of holes in the ceiling suspiciously.
Olivia gives the others a quick look, making sure they are fully occupied by the knobs and the pipes and such before edging out of the door with Djivan.
Sneak sneak sneak, and out the Skreek and Skeek go. And towards the other hallway!
"Well, if they had water impellers driving some fans, it could be powering an air circulation system. Given we're underground, that would be advisable in order to keep the air fresh," Zahnrad says, peering at the holes. He goes over, licks a finger, then holds it over the hole.
Sure enough, air is moving in from the ceiling holes and flowing out through the wall holes. "It's so quiet, I can barely hear the fans," Pike notes. "There's also something going on behind that," she adds, and points to a large boxy cabinet that seems to be the only thing without a transparent glass door.
"Yes, air circulation system. And the fans may be a fair distance away, to keep them quiet," Zahnrad remarks and wipes his finger on his pants. His attention turns to the box. The Kadie goes over to it and immediately starts looking for a way to open it.
The front of the cast-stone cabinet appears to be a single, thick door which opens easily enough. Inside are more glass shelves and shiny strips, but more noticeable is that the air inside is chilly, and getting chillier.
"Heh, a cooling cabinet of sorts," Zahnrad says, "And that makes sense!" He walks around a bit, waving his hands and explains, "Water underground is often very cold … except for hot springs, of course. So, if you want to keep something cool, an easy way to do it is to pipe cold water around in a contained enclosure, and allow it to cool down the interior, And as long as it keeps flowing, it'll stay cool. Clever. I wonder how they're powering the movement of the water. Either pressure pumps or just water weight in a storage tank.""
"Perhaps that device in the pipe closet is a pump," Pike guesses. "If the metal transfers heat, then there must be a source of hot water or steam to power the stove and oven."
"I don't think the closet itself is the main pump. It's too quiet. I suspect it's the distribution point. Or maybe just a small pump to help boost pressure," Zahnrad remarks. He goes back and closes the cooling cabinet, then returns to the closet. "As for hot water, they could be tapping into the hot springs. Free heat."
"It sounds complicated," Amy notes. "A lot of trouble just to live underground." Emboldened by the others, she tries the dials behind a basin and gets a stream of cold water from a sculpted spigot.
"You should recognize that," Zahnrad notes to Amelia. "We had similar in the Kettenrad kitchen." He then returns to examining the closet, looking for valves and labels, if any.
The pipes aren't labeled in any recognizable way. There are just the three valves, one now fully opened and the others still closed.
Zahnrad goes to the next valve and starts to open it slowly.
The pipe makes a slight whistling noise as the valve is turned, which diminishes as it is opened further.
"Steam, I bet," Zahnrad notes and opens it more. He also taps the pipe lightly with a finger to check the temperature.
The pipe is slightly warmer than the still-closed one, and much warmer than the water pipe. The box-cum-pump device gurgles once more, and hot water begins to pour from the open tap at the sink, making Amy jump slightly.
"Found the hot line!" Zahnrad remarks. He looks at the third pipe, then the stove. "I bet that's swamp gas powered," he says flatly. "Hot water isn't great for cooking, but gas flame would be. And, you're really jumpy."
"I feel like I'm in the belly of some sleeping monster," Amelia admits, still looking tense.
"Yes," Pike agrees. "Gas would be more efficient. Perhaps there's even a way to heat the air coming from the air system. I wonder if the castle had a setup like this at one time?"
"Not really. We have some of this at the Kettenrad compound, though not this complex yet," Zahnrad notes and shrugs. He goes back to the stove and turns off the two dials. "Better have this closed before I open the third line." He then nods to Dr. Pike, "I think it had similar. Remember the piping in the cellar? And the smell of gas for that one room?"
"Ummm, this is really old stuff," Amy points out. "I mean, it looks brand new… but… is there any danger of things exploding?"
"Probably," Zahnrad remarks, shrugs, then starts slowly turning the third knob. Though, he is a lot slower with this one and sniffs the air frequently.
There are no telltale odors, and the whistle is even fainter as the valve is opened. The pump-box doesn't react at all.
Zahnrad opens it to about halfway (his guess). The Kadie then heads back over to the stove and stares at it. "Well, shall we see if this explodes?" he asks.
"Are you going to try to make it explode?" Pike asks. One can never be too careful with Kadies…
"Do you want me to?" Zahnrad replies and grins at Dr. Pike. He then goes and just turns the first dial a little bit. Once again, he sniffs the air repeatedly.
There are several clicking sounds, then the familiar whoomp of gas igniting under one of the metal discs. There are no visible signs of flame though, and the air and exhaust must also be hidden in the wall behind the stove.
Zahnrad dusts off his hands, looking smug. "Great, it still works. I need one of these," he says. He waves his hands over the disks, not touching any of them, trying to see which is warm.
"For what? You don't do the cooking," Amelia points out, which causes Pike to cover her muzzle in amusement.
"No, but I do boil rubber, and work with other materials that work better when heated," Zahnrad notes. "And, I'll have you know I do cook occasionally."
"Really?" Amy asks. "Then you'll cook me dinner some night?"
"Ah, sure. I rather figured I'd be doing most of the cooking anyway," Zahnrad remarks, then turns the knob back off. "I never figured you as the type to cook, really. I was going to ask if you wanted me to wash your laundry when I did mine."
"I know how to wash clothes," Amelia says, leaning back against a boxy, glass-faced device that is probably meant for washing clothes.
"Yes, but I didn't know if you liked doing it. You, well, don't seem like the type that does much domestic type stuff. I figured I could just combine it," Zahnrad remarks, then rubs his chin. "I wonder where they stored food they didn't have to keep cool. And I wonder how long this has been vacant. Maybe that skull was the previous owner."
There are plenty of glass-doored, shelved cabinets for extra storage, and even a few drawers. One area seems devoted to just food preparation, with pegs for holding utensils and a large cutting surface.
"Hmmm. If I can find other passages down here, maybe I could move down here," Zahnrad considers.
"Underground?" Amelia asks, looking… well, not pleased with the thought. "I have more Rootrunner blood than you do, and even I don't think I could last long down here before going… squirrelly."
"Eh, doesn't bother me too much," Zahnrad says with a shrug. "But then it would be a real pain to work at the dam. This isn't very close." He goes back into the closet and closes the valve on what he figured was the gas pipe.
Twitching her ears, Dr. Pike taps her chin and hmmms. "And if it were perfectly safe down here, why aren't the rooms still occupied?" she asks.
"Something forced them out ages ago, and they never came back. People forgot this was down here," Zahnrad asserts.
"Maybe we should check the rest of the… house?" Amelia says. "Djivan and Olivia haven't come back yet."
Zahnrad blinks, as if just now realizing they're not here. "Er, when did they leave?" he asks.
"Oh, don't worry about them," Pike says, with a knowing grin. "I can hear water running, so they're probably taking a bath."
"Er, a bath? What? I can't imagine there would be separate baths in … ooooh," Zahnrad says, as the meaning of the grin hits him.
"We can check the other rooms though," Amy suggests, and doesn't grin. "Maybe there'll be something that explains why everyone left."
Zahnrad nods. "All right. I'll shut off the pipes again before we leave the house entirely," he says. Zahn then walks out of the kitchen.
Amelia and Pike follow, with Amy seeming a little more relaxed once she leaves the kitchen. The second hall is dimly lit, and a few sounds come from the central door to indicate activity or talking behind it.
"You're rather twitchy," Zahnrad remarks to Amy as he peers around, then heads into the hallway. "I guess they're to the right. I'm not going to knock. I really don't want to know."
The door at the back of the hall is still opened, and the third one, closest to the entryway, is still shut.
Zahnrad heads towards the closed door. "Well, we should check this one, I guess. It's not like they ran screaming out of the other opened doors. So, probably not much in them," he asserts.
Amelia nods, and Pikes goes to the opposite end of the hall to peer into the open room anyway. "No, it's just an empty room," she reports.
With his usual lack of concern, Zahnrad tries to open the closed door.
The door seems stuck for a moment, then slides smoothly after a brief snapping sound, revealing a dark room and releasing a pungent cloud of stink that the air system hadn't fully cleared.
"Guh, what a smell," Zahnrad remarks and waves his hand. He starts looking around for some sort of light switch.
The lighting dial is next to the door, just inside the room. As the light comes up though, it reveals something counter to the cleanliness of the rest of the rooms. Piles of rotted wood and dried up mold may have once been furniture, including a pile right at the threshold of the door. The only things intact and recognizable are a large sponge-like mattress of what must have been a bed, and atop that the mummified corpse of a Skeek. There are some words scrawled on the wall above the bed, revealed mainly as stains in the stone with a dusting of dried mildew.
Zahnrad covers his nose and walks in. "I wonder if he barricaded himself in here," he says, peering around. "How grim. It's been a long time since anyone has been in here."
Pike has her kerchief mask in place, and adjusts her spectacles as she examines the faded writing. Amelia stays outside, looking… jumpy.
Zahn motions to the pile near the door. "Barricade," he suggests. The Kadie then kneels by the corpse, peering at it and trying to determine if it was male or female, and perhaps how old based on size.
The shriveled mummy has shrunken from dehydration over time, and is curled up in a fetal position. There are a few scraps of fabric clinging to it, but the dried and blackened skin doesn't say much about the age of the person at death, and identifying gender would entail a certain amount of prying.
"The person died a long time ago. Probably starved, would be my guess," Zahnrad says, then tries to wave Amelia in. "Want to help me check for wounds?"
"Er, no," Amy says. "I'd rather not. Are you thinking the person was wounded, came here and barricaded the door, then curled up and died after writing… uh, what did he write?" she asks.
"I think it's Olympian," Pike says. "And written in blood, if you're curious. It's faded and some parts have been attacked by mold… hmmm… "
"I have no idea," Zahnrad notes. He reaches over to the corpse and tries to pry it a little out of that position to check for wounds. "I'm surprised this bothers you. I never figured you were squeamish… "
"I'm not squeamish about killing," Amelia says. "But that doesn't mean I want to be around when the results start to stink."
"It's not like it'll ooze. The poor fellow had been dead for years, maybe centuries," Zahnrad points out. "The stench is probably from the wood that's still crumbling."
With a bit of creaking and crackling, the mummy is uncurled without completely falling apart, revealing that it may have been male while alive. Possibly… but not definitely.
Zahnrad looks for any places that may have been wounds. "Can you read that at all, Dr. Pike? Or would you have a reference in your office?" he asks.
After a bit of muttering to herself, Pike says, "I think I have it. It reads, 'Bow not,' – and this next bit could be 'before' or 'under' – 'the machine.' Or, it could be 'master', some of the letters are pretty faded."
"Machine? What machine?" Zahnrad asks and stands up. "And oh, the fellow was probably a male." He rubs his chin, thinking. "Amy, we need to talk later, I have a theory," he then says suddenly.
"What?" Amy says, snapping out of a trance. "A theory about… all this?" she asks.
"Yes. And Dr. Pike, you can correct me, as I think this is your area. Remember the picture of that creature that killed Orifice?" Zahnrad asks and steps away from the corpse and wipes his hands on his pants. "Well, what if … what if those things were slaves to these creatures and rebelled? Or, what if they were Skeeks and mutated. And, after mutating, considered themselves superior. A 'master' race? perhaps."
"I'm sure it would take… well, maybe it wouldn't," Pike says, looking thoughtful. "I suppose it's possible," she finally says.
"Or maybe an invading race. Or, maybe there was a machine down here that was their 'overlord'. Wow, what a machine that would have to be… " Zahnrad says, sounding almost dreamy.
Zahnrad snaps his fingers. "We should find it," he says.
"If it drove everyone out, maybe it doesn't want to be found?" Amelia suggests.
"Piff, it's probably not running anymore. Well, unless it was built like the stove," Zahnrad says, considering. "And … I bet if I could part it, I could build an amazing flying machine… "
Amelia looks from Zahn's dreamy expression to Dr. Pike… and sees no help coming from that direction either. "Uh, maybe we should go check on the boat," she says. "Just in case."
"Are you really that worried? I'll go with you after I shut off the kitchen pipes again. Dr. Pike, you want to fetch the other two?" Zahnrad asks, coming out of his daydream.
"Oh, yes," Pike says, blinking a few times. "I think they're done by now."
Not waiting any longer at the morbid scene, Amelia heads back through the hall to the main room, and stands guard at the light-up mosaic.
"Right then, out all of you and I'll close the door to in here. I don't want to freak them out," Zahn says, then walks out of the decaying room.
Pike steps out, then goes and shuts off the lighting to the other bedroom and closes the door there, before heading to the center door… and listening at it.
Zahnrad goes into the kitchen and closes all the water valves, bringing the miraculous kitchen back to its silence. He looks … well, saddened by it. "I really wish I could take all this with me. What I could learn from it," he says wistfully, then shakes his head.
Amy is getting fidgety, when Dr. Pike enters the room and says, "They're still drying off in there, so will be a few minutes more."
With a forlorn look, Zahn walks out of the kitchen and shuts off the light. He walks back to the others, looking somber and depressed.
"I'm sure you can make all this stuff yourself, now that you've seen it, Zahn," Amelia says, trying to cheer up the other Kadie.
"No. I don't have the same materials," Zahnrad says glumly. "The concepts I understand, but … without the materials it's hopeless.
Skeek and Skreek sneak into the second hallway, which is still dark. A light-control dial is easily found next to the entry into the main room though.
Olivia turns the dial on the wall a bit to get a view of what's inside…
Djivan slinks over to the dial and crouches down near it. He looks around, putting on a grand show of being 'nefarious'. Or perhaps just weird. He's like that. "I t'ink we need de righ' mood lighin'. Pick a low settin'," he suggests.
Olivia give Djivan a wink. "That's what I was thinking," she answers. "Just in case there are a lot more glass beads or crystals in here so we won't get blinded."
With a click, the hallway becomes twilight-lit. It stretches from front to back, with a sliding door in the wall at each end, and one more in the middle.
"Let's check de far room first," Djivan suggests. He slinks down the hallway.
Olivia nods and follows him… but doesn't slink. She only shakes her head as she watches him do so.
Djivan peers around as if he's expecting to get caught at any moment. Once to the door, he tries to open it a crack and peer in.
The door is meant to be slid into the wall, and there are no fancy triggers or dials on the door itself, just a simple handle. It slides open smoothly, revealing… a very dark room.
"Oh look! Dark!" Djivan declares.
Olivia hms and searches the nearby wall for another dial. "Won't be much fun to explore if we can't get a light going somehow," she muses. "Or do I just need to turn up the one I found already?"
Djivan reaches just inside the door and feels the inside wall for a knob. "It prolly has it own source," he says.
Sure enough, the dial is there, in easy reach of the door. A few clicks illuminate the room, which is basically square in shape, and of a decent size for someone of a Skeek's stature. There is a closet space in one wall, some openings in another that look like pipe fittings near the floor, and… nothing else.
Olivia pokes her head in cautiously. "A dressing room?" she wonders aloud. "But if it were, you'd expect some sort of looking glass." Then she steps in and goes to the closet door, reaching out to open it and see what's inside.
"Vell, dis stink. Dey took de bed!" Djivan notes. Curious, though, he heads towards the closet with Olivia. "I hope dey left somet'ing."
There is one thing in the back of the closet… a flat, square mirror.
"Hey! Dere's a handsome guy and a cute girl still in here! Oh, vait, it be us. Ve look goooood," Djivan declares.
Olivia scratches her head as she looks at their reflection. "This is it? Wow, kinda boring. Even if we do look, er, good. Shall we poke around elsewhere?"
"Yah, let's check de other door in de hall," Djivan says. "I vas hopin' for some exotic, slinky, clothing for vou, oh vell," he laments, then heads back towards the entrance.
Olivia rolls her eyes heavenwards as they go out and to the next sliding door.
The center door slides open easily, and even with the interior lighting off there's enough from the hall to hint at many shiny surfaces.
"Bet it be a fancy outhouse," Djivan asserts. He reaches around for the switch to this room.
"That would just be our luck, to find the outhouse instead of what we thought we were going to find," Olivia comments wryly.
Fancy is something of an understatement. The bathroom is covered in a slightly shinier version of the stone used in the rest of the rooms, and sports a long marble counter top with paired sinks, each with metallic-glass fixtures, and a huge single-piece mirror behind them. There is a sculpted toilet like an ornate throne, and fully half of the room is a step-down bathtub with abstract, gargoyle-like spigots and taps, including shower heads.
"Ooooooh," Djivan says and nudges Olivia in … closing the door behind her. "Now, dis is pretty nice … ber it coul' be fun in here, no?" He eyes Olivia … and then grins very, very, widely.
The room is devoid of towels and floor coverings, but there are ample bars and rings for holding things. The bath even has a bench for sitting or laying on, at just below the apparent top water level.
Olivia arches one eyebrow at that comment. "Well… it could be," she says, glancing over at the enormous bathtub. "Although I don't know that the door locks… and how much time do we have for a, um, bath, anyway? Before the others come charging around looking for us?"
Djivan walks over, then past Olivia. He reaches up and trails a fingertip along her ear. "Oh, vou vorry too much," he notes, He circles around her, then looks for a lock on the door.
It looks like there is a simple hook latch on the inside of the door to keep out unwanted visitors.
Olivia grins at that. "I worry because YOU sure won't! And someone has to. Besides, I'd rather not flash the others, thanks. I do have some modesty!"
And the hook is quickly closed by Djivan. He leans against the wall, grinning smugly. "I haf vou now, leetle mousie," he teases.
Olivia's eye go wide in mock-alarm. "Oh no!" she teases. "Whatever shall I do? Oh, I know… look for bubble-bath!" Then she winks at the Skreek and searches around for anything that might be used for such a purpose.
Djivan grins. "An slowly vou fall into my eeeevil trap," he teases again. He slinks over to the tub and examines it, trying to figure out how to make it fill up. "Uhm, fill, inflate, come forth, great vater!" he tells it.
The cabinets under the sink yield two clear glass stoppered bottles with what may have once been soap inside… although time has caused whatever was in them to solidify in to pinkish chalk on the bottom.
Olivia glances at the gypsy in exasperation. "Or you could just turn the taps," she says, pointing to them.
In the tub, below the gargoyle-mouth, are four taps shaped like Creen heads.
"But talkin' to it is more fun," Djivan notes. He reaches down and turns the far left one to see what happens.
It takes a moment to figure out which way the tap turns, but Djivan is soon rewarded by a flow of cool water from the carved mouth… which quickly vanishes down a drain in the center of the tub.
Olivia shakes her head again and picks up one of the glass bottles. She considers the pink stuff in the bottom. "Well, I'll try rinsing the stuff out with hot water first," she mutters. "If that doesn't work, well, I can always break the glass – carefully, of course."
"Drat, thwarted by de lack of a hole plug, er, thinger," Djivan says. He looks around the tub for a cork, or anything else that looks like it would fit.
Nothing presents itself, beyond the Creen-heads.
Djivan, in annoyance, tries turning all the knobs. Maybe one of em makes the hole vanish.
The second knobs adds a stream of hot water to the inflow, and the third knob closes the drain. The fourth one drenches the rat as water bursts from the showerheads above.
Olivia turns around just in time to see a very surprised Djivan get drenched in water from the showerhead. She can't help it – she laughs!
Djivan slowly turns the forth one back and shuts off the spray. "Vou know, I t'ink somewheres, someone is laughin'. I jus' sense it somehow," he remarks dryly – well, as dryly as he can.
The water level is already past the Skreek's ankles as the tub fills up with warm water.
Olivia, still giggling, unstoppers the bottle she's holding and takes it over to the tub. She holds it under the flow of water to hopefully soften the pink chalk. "Well, I was laughing," she says. "But not at you – just near you! Er, yeah… "
Djivan stands up, walks over to stand near Olivia. He then shakeshakeshakes water everywhere! "Oh, dere, I wasn't getting vou wet, I vas getting de area near vou wet," he replies, grinning.
As the water mixes in, the bottle's contents begin to liquefy once more and foam up, overflowing out of the bottle.
Olivia acks! and nearly drops the bottle into the tub! "Hey! I'm going to be soaked in a minute, can't you wait?" she says. Then she dumps a bit of the liquid out of the bottle and holds it under the water once more, to loosen up the rest. She does this a few times to get the water in the tub all nice and bubbly.
Bubbles and water level rise with equal speed, until it becomes hard to even tell how high the water has gotten…
Olivia puts the bottle and the remainder of its contents on the highest step of the bathtub, so it is within fairly easy reach. Then she glances slyly at Djivan. "Sooo… who's getting in first?"
And with that question, Djivan shuts off the water then starts shedding clothing. He's obviously not shy. "Me," he remarks with a smirk.
"Fine with me," Olivia says, watching the Skreek get undressed with something of a smirk playing on her lips.
Djivan is quickly down to just shorts, and then the Skreek slinks into the water. "An vou call me terrible," he notes.
Olivia's smirk gets wider. "Hey, I was just enjoying the view," she says, then starts to take off her own clothing – although with a bit more care and folding them into a somewhat neat pile. Once that's done, Djivan can see that even her underwear is colorful; it's made of silk in something very like a tie-dye pattern.
Djivan seems to watch lazily, chin resting on his arms, which rest on the rim of the tub. "Dat doesn' surprise me at all," he notes, grinning. "Come on in, de water is fine."
Olivia tiptoes over to the tub, so she doesn't slip on all the water the gypsy sprayed around. Then she eases into the water, testing its temperature. "Mmm, nice," she says with a sigh. "Feels good to wash all of that chalk dust off me."
"Hmm, vou say somethin?" Djivan asks as he shakes himself out of his daze. He lounges back and nods, commenting, "Ves, it does. I vas feelin' dried out from de dust."
Olivia pauses in shaking her hair out of its braid so she can wash it, too. "You all right over there?" she asks, noting his glazed expression.
"Oooh, I be fiiine," Djivan notes and slides over to her in the tub. "I got vou outa vour clothing. Hehehheheh."
Olivia smiles and tosses her hairpins on top of her stack of clothes. "And you didn't die from shock afterward. Always a good sign!"
"Oh, dat vould be no fun," Djivan points out then just dunks his head under water and comes up a moment later. "Alas, it no like ve haf a lot of time to haf fun wit it, tho."
Only Olivia can see it, but after coming up, Djivan's fur has a pinkish cast to it, matching the bubbles.
Olivia follows suit and dips her head below the water, too. Then she glides over to the bottle of soap, dumps some out into her hands, and glides back. As she scrubs her hair with the soap, she says, "Yes, I think we'll have to save that for another opportunity. Just time for a wash, really… and a few quick things." With that, she kisses the gypsy quickly before scrubbing her hair a bit more and dunking underwater again to rinse it. She comes back up a bit later, shaking bubbles off her face.
Djivan goes about washing off, pausing for the kiss. He whistles quietly, watching Olivia as she goes under, then comes back up.
The Skeek's fur has a healthy, glossy sheen to it now, while Djivan's just keeps getting… pinker.
Olivia ummms and looks at the gypsy. "Djivan, I think your fur is… turning colors. Look at your arms!"
Djivan pauses to look at his arm. He blinks a few times. "Okay … vhy am I pink?" he asks. The Skreek then stands up. "I t'ink my bath be done, heh."
"You could try rinsing off under the showerhead, see if clean water takes the pink off?" Olivia suggests.
"Righ'" Djivan says, "When vour done." He steps out of the tub to wait.
Olivia rapidly washes the rest of herself, then turns the tap to unplug the tub and steps out. She's clean and looks quite nice now, but her fur is still full of tiny pink bubbles. "Hmm, maybe I should rinse off a bit, too! I think I went overboard on the bubbly stuff."
"Dat be a good idea," Djivan says.
It takes a little while for the last bit of foam to vanish down the drain with a final gurgle.
Olivia turns the water back on, mixing it with both hot and cold, then turns the correct tap to activate the shower. She steps under and starts to wash the bubbles off, pausing only to pull the gypsy in with her.
The water helps to wash out some of the pink film from Djivan's fur, but there's still a faint tint or sheen of it left behind, especially in any lightly colored areas. And his shorts are quite pink, probably for good.
Olivia laughs a little, rubbing the pink out of the fur on Djivan's back as best she can. "Sorry, love, but I can't get all of the color out. I guess that soap was only made for Skeek fur. Ooops."
Djivan can't help but laugh too. "It no vorse dan some of Lily's experiments on me in fur dying," he remarks, grinning. "I'll survive, no worries. If anyone asks, I say you so stunning it made me fur blush!"
Djivan can't see as his back is to Olivia, but the insides of her ears go red. "You do that," she teases. "They won't believe you, but it's a fun story, anyway!" She lets the water sluice over her body one final time before turning all the taps off.
Without the sounds of running water or splashing, the bathroom seems oddly quiet.
Djivan shakes, shakes, then shakes some more, trying to rid himself of much of the excess water. "We don' have towels, so we have to jus' airdry a bit, no?" he says.
Olivia has the presence of mind to step out of the way when the gypsy shakes water out of his fur this time. "Okay, but after that we really should get back to the others. I'll bet they're wondering what's happened to us by now." She wrings water out of her hair, then goes over to the bench in the middle of the tub and stretches out on one half of it.
A light tapping comes from the door, followed by the voice of Dr. Pike. "Helloooo in there? Are you decent?"
"Bah. Vou see how day weird squirrel and de bat were starin at de machines? I doub' de even noticed we gone," Djivan remarks, then jumps! "Er, no, we're not decen' quite yet!"
After a pause, Pike asks, "Just how indecent are you then? We're closing up and getting ready to leave… "
Olivia sighs a little and grins at the Skreek. "Just when I got comfy, too… " she murmurs to him. Then she says in a louder voice, "Sorry for the delay! We found the bathroom in here and couldn't resist washing some of that chalk dust off! Give us a minute!"
"Wet and in our undies, t'anks!" Djivan replies. "Give us ten minutes or so an ve can be dressed." The Skreek then goes about trying to squeeze out as much water from his fur as he can.
"Alright," Pike says from the other side of the door.
Olivia gets up from the bench and rubs as much water as she can from her fur, too. Then she gets out of the tub and pulls her clothes back on. "Good thing I wore a lot off loose stuff today. That will help me dry out faster!"
Djivan starts dressing after Olivia. He's glad much of it will cover the pink, at least. "Vell, shorter den I'd like, but it vas nice anyvay," he notes and goes to the latch. "Shall ve go?"
Olivia picks up her pack again. "Sure. It was relaxing, at least!"
Flick, the latch goes up and the door opens. Djivan heads out into the hallway and back towards the others.
Djivan comes walking in, whistling happily. "Enjoy de machines? Dey have a great bathroom," he remarks.
Dr. Pike turns to Olivia and Djivan as they enter from the bathroom, and twitches her nose a bit. "My, Mr. Djivan, I had no idea you'd clean up so well," she says.
"Vell, I am de picture of stunning good looks and perfection," Djivan notes smugly and takes a dramatic 'I'm so cool' pose. "De world wishes it vere me."
Olivia comes in right behind the gypsy, her fur gleaming and looking somewhat relaxed. "Yeah, um, if any of the rest of you go in there, though, just don't use the soap!"
"There was soap?" Amelia asks, showing more interest for the moment than she had when confronted by the clever kitchen machines.
Olivia grins at Amelia. "Yes, but apparently it's only made for Skeek fur. You might, er, look a lot different afterward if you used it!"
"Old soap, but soap. It kinda makes t'inks a bit pink," Djivan notes, then shrugs. Zahnrad looks like he's about to ask about why Djivan's face was looking pinkish, then just stops. "Well, shall we go. Not to worry you too much, but one of the rooms has a dead body in it. Something bad happened here and Amy's a bit nervous. Whatever it was was ages ago, though, as the victim spoke Olympian."
"I'm not nervous," Amy snaps. "Just… cautious." With that, she heads down the hall to the doorway.
Olivia starts and stares at the others. "How do you know the person spoke Olympian? Just what did you find, exactly?"
"They wrote a message on the wall in blood," Zahnrad notes, then heads after Amelia.
Olivia shares a glance with Djivan, then says, "I get the feeling they're not going to talk about this," she says to him in an undertone.
Amelia pauses at the doorway, her tail going stiff. Then, very slowly and deliberately, she grabs the inside handle of the door and closes until only a slit of the outer cavern is visible.
Djivan shrugs and says, "Dey migh' jus' want to get out of here first." Zahnrad comes up behind Amelia, and for once is actually quiet. "What is it?" he whispers."
"Company," Amelia answers, and scoots aside so Zahn can peek through the opening.
Zahnrad peeks though once Amelia moves a bit.
The boat landing is not as the group left it. A half-dozen creatures paw through their supplies, while a seventh, larger one squats nearby holding a crude club made of broken stone. The beasts are broad-shouldered, with long forearms and relatively short legs, and are covered in thick looking pale scales. Oversize heads sport gigantic nostrils, with the eyes being mere bumps covered by permanently sealed lids.
Zahnrad waves behind him and whispers, "Pike, come here." He then moves so she can see.
Olivia tiptoes up close to the rest, obviously alarmed but knowing enough to be as quiet as she can. She wants to ask what's going on, but is afraid to even whisper. She does make room for Pike to see through the opening first.
The Eeee comes forward and peeks through the slit. letting out a squeak of alarm. "Oh my, I think those are… but they couldn't be… " she starts to say, but is then drowned out as the lead creature inflates its throat and lets out a rattling croak of a call: "Gooort! Gooort!". "Or they could be," Pike says. "Gorts."
Zahnrad looks at Amelia, then closes the door as quietly as he can. "Okay, what is a Gort?" he asks, voice still low. "And are they dangerous?"
"Oh, they're simple subterranean creatures, found wherever caverns are deep enough and warm enough throughout Nordika," Pike lectures, sounding almost cheerful. "Just animals, really, and blind. Extremely dangerous, vicious and cannibalistic though."
"Delightful," Djivan says sarcastically. "I guess we hav' to wait till dey move on and we can escape."
"Well, yes, pretty much," Pike agrees. "They have a very acute sense of smell, and what with two of you smelling so clean and fresh now… "
Zahnrad looks at Amelia and suggests, "Or, distract them." He looks sick at an idea, then says, "Still have that bottle of soap? Think we could throw it down another passage and break it? Bet they'd follow it."
"What other passage?" Amy asks. "There's just the one way into the cavern, and they're sitting on it."
"I thought I remembered another passage out of here? Use it there. Then we could sneak to the boat and escape?" Zahnrad says.
Olivia says, "I can go and get the bottle we didn't use up," Olivia murmurs. "There were two, but the one we used was softened up with hot water. I'm sure that would carry a scent further than the dried-up bottle. If you have a good place to toss it, that is… ?""
"Give it t' me. I can try t'lead them off," Djivan suggests.
"There could be other groups in the tunnels that we haven't seen," Amelia says. "It may just be the right time of day for them to be out and about."
"Then should we just wait?" Zahn asks. Djivan waves a hand and says, "I be good at sneakin'. I can do it. 'sides, I don' want Olivia to come into any danger. I don' like dem aroun."
"I say we wait another ten minutes and see if they get bored and leave on their own," Amelia says.
Olivia looks at the gypsy, scared but determined. "I think we'd better both go if we want to do that," she says. "If I leave with Zahn, Pike and Amy, the soap in my fur might lead them back anyway. Or split the group into two and then we all have monsters on our rears."
"All right," Zahnrad says.
Djivan shrugs and looks to Olivia. "Looks like we be stayin'," he says.
"Nobody is going to try and sneak past them," Amelia says firmly. "There are only seven of them. If they don't leave, I can take care of them. In the meantime, does anyone have any food on them?"
Zahn shakes his head. "Only tools," he admits.
Djivan says, "Nuttin' on me bu' pink fur."
"I've got some dried prunes," Pike offers.
Olivia switches mental gears with a wrench at the change of plans. "I do have some food in my pack, but it was really meant for one or two, since I assumed you'd all bring whatever you liked to eat best. I can make it stretch as best I can, though!"
"Prunes, eh? At leas' dey gots a good toilet in de bathroom," Djivan says, then grins.
"Well, we've got a kitchen," Amy says. "At least, until Zahn tries to take some of it apart. And we've got time. We could turn down the lights and tell ghost stories… "
Zahn simply shrugs at that, "Up to you all." And with that, he wanders towards the central room. "Or, look for a back exit… " Zahn's voice comes a moment later, then the sound of him running for the back room.
Djivan looks at Amelia and asks, "Is he always like dat?"
"I don't know yet," Amy replies, leaning back against the door. "Maybe he can pry one of those shiny cooker discs up though. But you two can go back to snogging now at least. Or dry yourself with some of the heating stuff in the kitchen."
"Ve veren't snogging. No yet, anyway," Djivan notes.
Olivia says gently to Amy, "Give us a little credit. We're not about to have a heavy make-out session with everyone just a few rooms over. We really did just bathe." Brightening, she continues, "Anyway, do you want to hear what food I have? Then we can decide on what we each want to make… "
"Sure!" Amy says, then asks Pike, "Speaking of food… those Gorts have to be scavengers too, right?"
"Hey, vell, maybe Amelia like to join in? An Dr. Pike?" Djivan says suddenly after Olivia, then goes and puts his arm around her. "Coul' be fun, no?"
The Eeee, just nods, fondling her bag of prunes. "Oh yes, they'll eat anything they can."
Eying Djivan for a moment, Amy asks Pike, "What about Skeek jerky, will they eat that?"
Olivia gives the Skreek a hard look before opening her pack. "Fun for you or for the rest of us?" she asks, poking him in the side.
"Oh my, that brings back memories of college… oh, err… yes, I suppose they would eat the mummy, Amelia," Pike says.
Djivan oofs, "Vell, I try to make it fun for everyone!" He then grins goofily and nudges her, saying, "I teasin'. I no' like Lily. She prolly be serious about it."
Zahnrad appears after a few minutes. "Nope, nothing," he remarks, then just settles down on the floor. "Have they left yet?"
Amy cracks open the door and peeks out. "Two are sleeping, one is chewing on the boat… " she reports, then shifts around to see more through the slit. "The rest are sniffing around the cavern. They'll pick up our trails eventually and find the door. But now I have a plan… "
"You're not going to try to beat them up," Zahnrad asserts.
The Kadie girl just blinks at Zahn. "What good would beating them up do? No, I think we should toss out the corpse to get their attention, first."
"Will you actually touch the corpse, or are you expecting me to?" Zahnrad asks, sounding curious. "You wouldn't touch it earlier."
"I'll need someone else to handle it," Amy admits. "I'll have my hands full already, since I have to leave my clothes in here."
"Uh, why do you have to leave your clothes in here?" Zahnrad asks, brow raised.
"Because I don't want them to get all sticky with blood," Amelia says, rolling her eyes. "There's a bath here, I can wash it out of my fur easily."
"So, you are going to attack them. No, I don't think that's a good idea. I'd rather you didn't get hurt. Not that I think you can't take them, but there are a lot of them," Zahnrad says and stands. "I suggest we wait and just see if they leave. We can snack on Olivia's food. If they don't, we use your plan."
Amelia nods. "That was the plan. We just may have to wait a little bit longer. But remember, I'm trained to kill monsters."
While the others were talking, Olivia was pulling out the lunch she had packed – two pieces of hard cheese, a small loaf of nut bread, already sliced, three apples, and a flask of water. After another few moments of rummaging in her pack, she smacks her forehead and takes off her hat – to reveal a pocket sewn into the inside of it, from which she produces a dozen caramels, wrapped in wax paper.
"It doesn't make you invulnerable," Zahnrad asserts, "You worry about me. I can worry about you."
"Now I see why the Skeeks are in charge of the town," Dr. Pike says, as Olivia brings forth the bounty.
"Yeah, dey ain't crazy," Djivan says with a smug grin. "Dey learned dere skills from us Skreeks."
"Then who taught the otters theirs?" Amy asks the Gypsy.
"Eeee," Djivan says flatly.
Olivia looks faintly embarrassed and pleased all at once. "Well, it's not a lot for all five of us, but it'll make do. I'm happy to share!"
Smiling, Amelia says, "I can split an apple with someone."
Zahnrad rubs his neck and says weakly, "I can share with Amelia."
"You know, there are many legends about the sharing of an apple between lovers," Pike says, and pops a dried prune into her mouth.
Olivia waves a hand at the food. "Oh, just help yourselves! Perhaps Amy has one of those nice, thin blades still in her hair, so we can cut the apples with them? Besides, we may soon need all the energy this food can give us, so go ahead and eat."
"Er, legends about sharing an apple? Can you explain?" Zahnrad asks, looking decidedly uncomfortable now. "And we're not exactly lovers. I mean we haven't, er, argh, never mind." He sighs and hangs his head.
Amy produces a dark metal blade seemingly from thin air, and hands it grip first to Olivia. "Never leave home without them," she says.
"I'm sure I have a book about it," Pike says, and pats Zahn's shoulder. "And some others you might find helpful, Zahnrad, if you'd like to borrow them."
Olivia takes the blade with a lopsided grin and proceeds to cut the fruit into slices. "Thought you might not."
"Like what? Books on some flight equations?" Zahnrad asks, looking, well, rather clueless.
"Let's just say they're instructional and leave it at that," the Eeee says to Zahn.
Djivan elbows Zahn and says, "An I'm sure I can give him some good advice. Or Lily. She sure knows lots of stuff. Bet she coul' show you how to make Amelia's tail curl." He grins. Zahnrad suddenly figures out what kind of books, and just what Djivan means. He looks at Amelia, he looks at Djivan. Then something unexpected happens. His eyes roll back and the Kadie suddenly faints from embarrassment. thud.
