First Ones 15, 6099 RTR (31 Aug 1999) Lochinvar finally discovers Glot the Titanian.
(Lochinvar) (Space)
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Arcadia
The Planet of Life very much lives up to its name. Fish and plants thrive in the streams, grass is so thick that it could be mistaken for a tough carpet, trees in multitudes of styles and colors wave in the ever-present breeze, and off in the distance the calls of familiar birds and forest creatures can be heard. The sky is clear and sunny, although the cast of the sky is strange – it looks as though someone swirled many colors of paint together and splattered the mixture across the sky; only the occasional white cloud breaks up the colorful scene.

The flight back to camp revealed a few interesting things in the forest. In some places it looked as though the trees were melted away by acid or burned by some intensely hot flame, and in the clearings the scattered shells of more of those white things can be see lying lifeless on the ground below.

Back at camp, Tock and Matchstick haven't headed out quite yet and are still breaking down the larger pieces on the grounds. The Jupani is hard at work rolling the tent up while Tock scrubs the plates from the morning's breakfast. Unfortunately the poor raccoon's progress appears to be somewhat hindered by one of those 'Hoo-Kah' creatures following him diligently from behind like a puppy.

Matchstick waves up to Lochinvar as he circles overhead. It looks like Tock's about to follow suit when the Hoo-Kah suddenly snorts up half the length of the 'coon's tail into its snout before noisily sneezing it out again. The raccoon lets out a yelp and sends the chitin dishes flying.

The Hekoye circles a couple more times, and lands in a clear spot just a short way away from his companions. After looking over each shoulder, he folds his wings back against himself, and walks on over to the others.

Tock madly tries to gather dishes back up. "Ack… and for a moment I thought it was about to devour me!"

"Yer back awfully quick. See anything?" The wolf's head tilts sideways.

Lochinvar nods in reply to Matchstick. "I did, yes," he says, "and it's not good news for our intended path."

The Hookah now seems intent on inhaling Tock's hat while the raccoon tries madly to straighten his tail back out.

"I see." The wolf shoulders one of the backpacks. "What did you spy?"

"I'm not altogether sure," the coyote answers, wrinkling his brow a little as he thinks back. "Something on the path. Something dark, maybe black, so I couldn't make out what. Seems to have a taste for our friends here." He gestures at the creature giving Tock attention.

The raccoon perks up. "A predator? There were no reports about predators earlier." He grabs his hat and pulls it down over his ears.

Matchstick licks his lip. "So what do you say we do? Pack it up and head back now, or were you able to find an alternate route?"

Nodding to the Rath'ani, Lochinvar says, "Looked that way, yes, and there's always the possibility it could try and expand its menu." The Hekoye looks over to the wolf. "There's no other visible path around it… "

"Damn. So much for fame and glory." The Jupani growls, "Hopefully we won't have to wait very long for an airship to pick us up once we shoot back through the portal."

The winged coyote looks thoughtful for a moment. "We don't have to go back yet," he says slowly, slightly unsure of his idea.

"WHONK!" The hookah lightly butts Tock's side and tries to snatch at his hat again.

"You have another option? I'm ready to fight the beastie if need be, but I get the feeling I might be outnumbered." The wolf folds his arms.

Lochinvar nods slowly to the Jupani. "I believe I could carry each of you, one at a time, and fly past the danger."

Matchstick rubs his chin thoughtfully. "I see. Although this would also mean that one of us would be alone for a bit while you went to pick up your second passenger. Still, the campground is safe and I'm no slouch at fighting."

"Tock?" Lochinvar asks, looking at the raccoon.

The raccoon looks up, momentarily distracted by the soft hooting noises his Hookah companion makes when it gets its chin rubbed. "I'd rather keep going, myself. It can't beany worse than the Diagnostitorium!"

"Diagnostitorium?" asks the coyote. "No, never mind. Anyway, we should sort out the rest of our pack and move on."

Tock simply grins. "I should probably be your second trip. Besides, it gives me a chance to make nice with the locals while you're traveling."

"Whichever you prefer, Lochinvar. I'll trust your wings, since the Temple seems to." There's a certain tone to the wolf's voice that sounds slightly like he's trying to convince himself.

Lochinvar simply nods again to Matchstick. "Very well then. Let's finish getting our equipment together."

"Righty… " the wolf nods and starts collapsing the chitin tent poles.


After all the equipment has been packed up, Lochinvar takes a good hold of the Jupani, Matchstick, stretches out his wings, then beats them until getting off of the ground. It takes a little longer than usual to get past this step, but as he gains height, it's slightly easier.

"You've never dropped anyone, right?" The Jupani's tail tucks itself between his legs.

Below, the raccoon waves up to the departing pair.

There's a moment's pause until the coyote answers, as his concentration is mostly on flying. "Never," he replies succinctly.

Lochinvar flies onward, following the path, though this time doesn't go as high as he did when he was just scouting ahead.

Matchstick mmmpfs to himself and draws his feet up as though he were afraid that he might lose one against the treetops. The forest canopy zooms underneath and the snow-capped mountain ahead starts to slowly creep closer. The damage done in the forest hasn't changed much. At least whatever's causing it seems to be doing it slowly.

The Hekoye's keen eye manages to catch the occasional flicker of something black oozing through the trees, but it seems to be hiding for now and soon is left behind. The base of the mountain comes into view along with a clearing of perfectly carpeted grass and several sweet smelling flowers. Nothing dangerous here at first glance at the very least.

"Hold on," Lochinvar tells the wolf as they approach the clearing, as he begins a few brief circles checking out his intended landing site.

Matchstick's body tenses up. "Just don't drop me against a rock," he grits out. Thankfully the grass here looks perfect for landing. There aren't even any signs of dew to slick it up.

The winged coyote certainly shows no signs of dropping his passenger against a rock, instead making a good landing – maybe a little harder than he's used to – on the grass.

Lochinvar takes a few deep breaths and asks the Jupani, "Alright?"

The wolf gives the ground a few pats. "Guh. Fine… fine." He stands up and pulls a chitin dagger from his belt. "Do you need to rest before you go after Tock?"

A few more deep breaths, then Lochinvar shakes his head. "No," he says. "You'll be okay here?"

Matchstick shakes himself out. "I'll be fine. If something pops out, I'll make a run for it or hold my own, depending on how big it is."

The winged Hekoye nods, then turns, outstretches his wings again – taking to the air in a moment.

The flight back is more of the same. Lochinvar's wings start to feel a twinge or so of strain after not seeing use in several days and then being put upon so suddenly, but the Hekoye knows his limits and he's not reached them yet.

Back at the camp, Tock has gathered up the last few scraps and sits patiently in the rock circle of the campsite. Perched next to him is his Hookah companion.

Lochinvar lands in front of Tock, and takes a few more deep breaths. "Ready?" he asks the Rath'ani.

The raccoon pats the Hookah's head and pulls himself up to his feet. "All set, although I'm a bit sad to leave my companion. Still… I'm sure we'll meet again on the trip back." He pulls off his hat and glasses and tucks them into the front of his shirt. "Should I crunch my legs up or cling to your back? Anything I can do to make the trip easier?"

"Clinging to my back would not be a good idea," the coyote replies. "I'll carry you. That's how I did it with Matchstick."

"Very well then." The Technopriest pulls off his backpack and then secures it to his front. His back now sports two convenient "handles". "Ready whenever you are!"

Lochinvar notices the "handles", but opts not to use them, instead putting his arms under Tock's, and gripping his hands together (under the pack) in front of the Rath'ani's chest. Before the raccoon can protest, the Hekoye takes to the air.

The raccoon lets out a small grunt as the Hekoye takes tothe air, and throws his arms around the front of his pack, but manages to stay still enough. "Ohh… I wish I didn't have to worry about my glasses falling off. I bet the trees look beautiful from up here!"

The Hekoye flies on towards the clearing again, doing his best to ignore Tock's rambling about what scenery he's missing.

Wings protesting all the more (although Tock is a great deal lighter than the Jupani… even with his supplies) the clearing comes into view. Matchstick has moved out a bit and seems awfully fascinated with the ground at the moment.

Knowing that he can make it, Lochinvar endures the burden of a passenger just a little longer, and shortly has the raccoon on the ground – at which point he takes a few well deserved moments to catch his strength back before going over to inquire as to what the wolf had found.

The raccoon busies himself with getting his hat and glasses back on while Matchstick points to a dent in the ground. "It looks like a footprint," he remarks.

"Made by one of the local creatures, perhaps?" the coyote asks, still not quite having gotten his breath back.

"I thought that too, then I took a whiff of it." The wolf taps his nose. "Smells like a Titanian."

"Meaning Glot," concludes Lochinvar. "Well, at least we know we're on his trail."

The wolf stands and brushes himself off, offering the Hekoye his canteen. "I bet we could trail him. You seem to have a good sniffer as well. Want to try and seek him out?"

Lochinvar crouches down on one knee, resting an arm on his other leg, and takes a sniff at the footprint.

Definitely smells like a Titanian. There's also a mixture of fresh grease and a few other odd chemicals.

The coyote thinks for a moment, then turns to look at Matchstick. "I could see how far his trail goes, certainly," he says. "How about you and Tock? I'd say either all of us go, or else just myself and leave you two to set up a camp here."

the Jupani glances sidelong at Tock, who has busied himself gathering "samples" again. "I think it might be best for us to tuck in here. The rocks give a good place to hide if that thing you saw decides to pop out of the trees, and if something jumps out while searching for the Titanian, you have the luxury of flying."

Indeed, the little raccoon seems intent on studying a butterfly perched on a flower in the grass. Its wings slowly shift color.

The Hekoye nods in agreement. "True," he notes, and turns his attention to the scent again, adding, "Wherever this leads, I'll return by nightfall."

"Happy hunting, or babysitting, or whatever the case may be." Matchstick gives Lochinvar a tongue-lolling grin before pulling out a set of tent pegs.

The footprints (and the scent) seem to slowly wind through the meadow and probably around the side of the mountain.

The coyote follows the trail along, mostly by sight of the footprints, but occasionally bending down and checking the scent. It's not that hard of a trail to follow, but it's old enough to have given Glot a good head start. The hardest part, Lochinvar notes to himself, is tracking through this thick foliage.

There are also a few signs of damage to the land, black wounds in the grass here and there as though someone had poured acid across the meadow in long wiggly trails. There's also some bits of Hookah shell, although they're tiny and look almost as though they were burst open from the inside by something. The scent starts to change direction and it looks like Glot perhaps went up the mountain.

Lochinvar pauses on his way and inspects one of these "wounds" closely, but not too closely, as the memory of what he saw from the sky is still fresh in his mind, and this kind of reminds him of that.

A scent of decay rises up from the black gash. The way the bits of rotten grass bend along the trail it looks like something pushed through and burned it, perhaps. It's slick with moisture and rot, which eliminates it being burnt by fire, and doesn't quite sting the nose the way acid does.

The coyote's nose wrinkles up at the scent, and he decides that's as much investigating of this thing as he cares for at the moment, and turns back to following the trail of the Titanian.

The soft grass quickly gives way to moss-covered rocks, which still hold the scent of the large wolf as the trail leads the Hekoye upwards. There's a faint noise in the air that sounds like howling, or honking. The ground under Lochinvar's footpads feels oddly warm.

Lochinvar tilts his head a little at the sound, looking up the mountain just in case he can see the source of the sound. He's not expecting to, but it's just a reflex. He pauses for a moment, then continues onwards and upwards.

Eventually the trail leads the Hekoye to a hole in the mountainside. Warm moist air wafts up from it, which hints at a hot spring below. The trail leads to the lip of the hole and then stops. It's slightly dark inside, but there are some hints of a light greenish glow from somewhere down there.

The hole looks like it could fit a Titanian. In fact, there's a small wisp of gray fur on the lip of the entrance that might further evidence this.

The winged coyote pauses just outside the entrance, taking a moment to check the scent, then takes a quick glance inside the cave to check if it's safe enough to enter.

The Hekoye's sharp ears pick up the sound of footsteps below, and one of those Hookah things comes into view. It walks below the entrance, glances up at Lochinvar and then continues walking on its way.

Lochinvar continues looking into the cave below for a few more moments, trying to see where the Hookah went, as well as seeing if he can ascertain anything else about it before venturing inside it himself.

Looks like the Hookah walked over to a ledge or step of some sort. It lowers its head and makes an odd *WHOOMPH* noise followed by the sound of something splattering in the ground. It turns and walks back from where it came. Behind it, beyond the ledge, the chirruping noises of several more Hookah, apparently happy about something, is heard. The other voices sound more high pitched – younger perhaps?

Trying to get a better look at what's inside, Lochinvar bends over a little more to look through the opening – now a little more wary of actually entering the cave, just in case there's a mother Hookah that might not take too kindly to a visit.

The Hekoye sighs to himself though, as this is where Glot's scent led.

"Meep?" A miniature Hookah pads underneath the opening and looks up at Lochinvar. It appears to be limping slightly and one of its forearms looks slightly black and shriveled.

The Titanian's scent is rather strong in the caverns, although the caves and stone confuse it around.

Lochinvar decides, on seeing the injured Hookah, to go down into the cave. If something like that can happen to one of these creatures, he realizes, then Glot could be in trouble!

As if sensing the Hekoye's intentions, the baby Hookah backs up. A few more join in the gawking, some of them with various injuries as well.

As the coyote's eyes adjust to the lower light, he looks at the creatures. I have a bad feeling about this, he thinks to himself, and sniffs at the air, trying to work out which direction the Titanian might be in.

Glowing moss lights the caverns dimly, and the ground under Lochinvar's feet looks as though it's been polished smooth by ages of being trod upon. The scent seems a bit stronger in the passageway to the right where the larger Hookah vanished off to instead of the chamber to the left where the babies are.

Lochinvar heads for the passageway to the right. As much as he's not too keen on seeing the Hookah getting injured, he does have an obligation to find Glot.

Another Hookah, a much larger one, nudges past the Hekoye as though having an intruder was a normal thing around these parts. It nudges the curious babies, who seem determined to follow Lochinvar back towards the nest.

Looks like it shouldn't be too hard to find Glot. The noise of distinctly Titanian growling and bellowing echoes from a chamber ahead. Probably a bit of a walk but rather easy to follow.

Fine, the Hekoye muses as the creature passes him. At least it's not stopping me. He continues onwards towards the noises ahead, yet is on his guard – just in case.

A couple more of the Hookahs pass by the explorer. One of them gives him a curious sniff, but he manages to make it down the caverns unmolested. Eventually the air starts to crackle and the smell of ozone grows as sharp as the Titanian's stink. As he rounds a corner, Lochinvar sees an impressive sight: a machine… huge and looming, built into the side of the gigantic chamber. It thrums softly but also shows signs of damage. A stalactite from the cavern roof has fallen and pierced the machine.

Off in the corner is a massive Titanian with burned patches on his rusty gray fur. He hammers madly at a long coil of metal wire.

Lochinvar's attention is first taken by the machine, and he stares at it for a few moments, wondering what something like that is doing here? Then he coughs a little to get the attention of the Titanian.

WHAM! Whong! CLANK! Hmmm… the Titanian pays the Hekoye no mind. Of course from all the noise that hammer makes, it could be because a cough doesn't carry well amidst the sound of iron hammering.

The Hekoye walks over nearer to him, and tries again. "*Ahem* Excuse me?"

"No fires… wrong rock. They always bring back wrong ro-… Urrr?" The massive wolf stops his hammering and turns his head around to look at Lochinvar. "Urrr? You angel? Glot finally kick bucket?" His eyes glance at the Hekoye's wings.

The coyote chuckles a little, and shakes his head. "You're not dead, and I'm not an angel. I'm a Vartan, and like you, a dock-worker from back at Rephidim," he replies.

The Titanian ponders this. It takes a few moments. (Well, he is a Titanian after all!)

"What you do here?" Glot finally asks.

"Same as what you came here for," Lochinvar replies. "Only this time, we were looking for you, also."

Glot pulls a length of golden wire out and leans his head on the butt of his hammer, "Haw! You find Glot's map, didn't you? Glot hope someone find him… "

The Hekoye tilts his head a little. "Map?" he asks. "I just followed the trail you left from a clearing near the base of the mountain here."

"Rrrr." The Titanian droops a little, and the perks back up brightly. "That mean you lucky! Glot need someone lucky right now. Need help fix machine!" He points to the broken thing at the wall of the room.

Lochinvar looks over at the machine. "Why? What's it meant to do?" he asks.

Glot stands up and rests a massive paw on the chink ofbroken rock still in the machine's hulk. "Not quite sure, but know that when rock break it, mother Hookah started sneezing out monsters instead of baby Hookahs. Glot bash lots of them, but there still some in trees. Glot fix a little, but need special rock to fix all the way. And Glot no able to be away from machine long enough to go get it from firemouth."

The winged coyote nods a little. "That sounds like it explains some of the things I saw, then," he says after a moment. "So what's this 'special rock' you need?"

The Titanian drags out a bucket that looks to be fashioned out of some kind of ceramic material. "Melted rock, from river at top of mountain. Some caves reach it too, but Glot too big to fit. All wires Glot make break after he put them in machine, but Glot know how to use melted rock to make good wires! Fix machine and then Glot go home."

"That's why you stayed, then?" Lochinvar asks. "Why didn't you tell the rest of the people in the party? They could have helped."

Glot shakes his head, causing several metal and stone pieces set in his shaggy fur to jungle. "Couldn't go back to tell. If leave, more monsters get born and eat everyone."

"I see," says the coyote, nodding a little. "But with me I have two companions, one of whom is a Technopriest – well, not quite. But technically-minded anyway. He could likely help with the machine while we get this special rock or deal with these 'monsters'?"

The Titanian rubs his chin, "You bring here? Glot show him how to keep machine running."

"Of course," replies the Hekoye. "Once I tell him about this machine, I'm quite sure he won't be able to get here fast enough," he adds with a slight grin, thinking of the Rath'ani's enthusiasm.

"When you done I let you meet Hookah mom. She nice." The big lupine grins happily. "I need to pound more wire. Don't think you friend will be able to make wire himself."

Lochinvar eyes the large hammer, wondering if Tock could even lift that. "Probably right," he comments. "I should go and fetch my colleagues while you do that."

"Glot be here waiting… or you need Glot's help out of hole?" The wolf's shaggy tail wags back and forth. "Glot be happy to throw you!"

"I don't think I'll have a problem," the coyote says with a grin, flexing his wings a little. "I have ways of getting up heights."

The Titanian considers this and pinches himself on the arm asif to double check that he were still in the land of the living. He winces a bit and then takes up his hammer, "I have lots of wire ready! Glot make wire fast."

Eyeing the large hammer again, Lochinvar nods and says, "I don't doubt it," before turning and heading down the passageway to the entry hole to the cavern, feeling somewhat satisfied that two mysteries have been solved today.

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GMed by Zoltan

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