Café de Nuit

Klokulf catches sight of the Gaunt Man slipping away with a book, and follows him to the side room. "Are you being useful?" he asks with a malicious tone.

The fingers on his left hand are tense, as though they expect to be needed at a moment's notice.

“Ah...yes?"
The Gaunt Man closes the book and sullenly trudges back into the main chamber.
Gingerly stepping over one of the eyeless corpses to reach the portal edge, the man fiddles about with chalk and chanting for several minutes.
He then declares,
“It is of no use. I’m too tired. I need to study my books again in the morning, after a nice long sleep.”

Dorgio, stepping up, seizes the Gaunt Man and binds his wrists.
“Oh, you’ll get plenty of rest.” The Morning lord’s cleric eyes Klokulf with a wry grin turning up his—quite undamaged—mustachios. “Let’s gag him again, just in case he tries something else clever.”

"An excellent proposition," says Klokulf, his eyes locking on the heretic priest's mustache for a few moments, "and we should supervise his morning studies when it comes time."

He returns to the unconscious girl from the portal. "Should we try and awaken this one? Ask questions?"

Wolfglide wrote:"An excellent proposition," says Klokulf, his eyes locking on the heretic priest's mustache for a few moments, "and we should supervise his morning studies when it comes time."

He returns to the unconscious girl from the portal. "Should we try and awaken this one? Ask questions?"

''Yes. I'll put our black magician to bed and let you rouse her, eh?"

Dorgio gags the wizard and places him--none too gently-- in the alcove (not the side room with the empty shelf , but the alcove in the curving wall of the main chamber, where a sleeping pallet is pushed against the back).

Meanwhile, Klokulf's ministrations soon waken the girl. She sits up, brushes golden hair from her face, and stares up at the Vaasan with violet eyes.
Her mouth makes a pink O.
''You saved me!"
He can understand her language despite her trilling accent, which does not sound quite like any accent he knows.

Klokulf seems a might taken aback. "I am not sure I would give myself that much credit," he states quickly. "Who are you, and where were you before you were brought here?"

Wolfglide wrote:Klokulf seems a might taken aback. "I am not sure I would give myself that much credit," he states quickly. "Who are you, and where were you before you were brought here?"

''I'm Alwina. I was in the tunnels, running from the submen. I thought they'd get me until I saw a hole open in one of the walls, with fog coming out. It was foggy on the surface when they attacked, so I thought maybe the hole was a passage back up...but it led here. Where am I?"

Raen Speaks in Darkonese and Falkovnian hoping someone will understand what he says without the woman getting it.
"There are ... certain creatures that appear like mamsels in distress to pray on the do-gooders. And they do appear as alluring women. Keep your eyes open and your defenses up."

Bennedict stands in front of the portal, eyeing it warily. "If possible, we should close it. We can't risk waiting. Let me see if I can figure something out..."

Adam wrote:Bennedict stands in front of the portal, eyeing it warily. "If possible, we should close it. We can't risk waiting. Let me see if I can figure something out..."

Dorgio joins Benn, conversing in a low voice. After a little while, the Gundarakite cleric calls over Alain for arcane consultation...

Meanwhile, the Outlander works on dragging and lifting junk to block the portal, with some help from Raen.

Klokulf continues conversing with Alwina. "You are in the city of Pont-a-Museau in the country of Richemulot, but I suspect that means very little if you come from another world as our armored acquaintance has. What do you call your world?"

He points to the dead, eyeless humanoids. "Are those the submen of which you speak?"

Wolfglide wrote:Klokulf continues conversing with Alwina. "You are in the city of Pont-a-Museau in the country of Richemulot, but I suspect that means very little if you come from another world as our armored acquaintance has. What do you call your world?"

He points to the dead, eyeless humanoids. "Are those the submen of which you speak?"

Alwina blinks several times.
''Pontamooosa? Rissoomulo? What strange names!"
She looks at the dead eyeless creatures and wrinkles her nose, lips curling in an expression of clear disgust.
''Wretched things! Yes, those are submen. ''
She shrugs, still staring at the dead enemies, and at the heaps of burned and crushed dead men strewn about the battle site. A little shudder runs through her.
''You asked about what I call the world? The only world I know is my own. It's just...the World. Some inscriptions in our palace and musty old books in the library call the World 'Orbus Tertius', but I don't know why the Ancients used that odd name. ''
She turns her eyes to the masonry, studying the vaulted round chamber for a moment in silent contemplation.
''Below our vales lies the underworld where the submen dwell. Is that what this place is part of, then? More tunnels, dungeons, factories? This city you mentioned--it is a city of the submen, or are the people in it are true humans, like us?"

"This is just a room beneath a rather bleak edifice in the surface city, which is primarily human. As far as I am aware, there are no submen in this world, but I have not been everywhere. In my home country, we call this the False World, which has a deceptive and philosophically depressing sound to it."

Wolfglide wrote:"This is just a room beneath a rather bleak edifice in the surface city, which is primarily human. As far as I am aware, there are no submen in this world, but I have not been everywhere. In my home country, we call this the False World, which has a deceptive and philosophically depressing sound to it."

''Ah...False World?''
She stands and kicks the stone wall.
''It feels real enough to me.''

Klokulf grins, "I believe it is meant to convey inferiority to the prior worlds we supposedly inhabited. For all practical purposes, those worlds are only as real as the words in The Black Trials."

He inhales slowly. I suppose it must be mentioned at some point. "That hole you stepped through was not a true tunnel, at least not in the standard sense. That gate," he points at the growing mound of heavy refuse, "is malfunctioning and drawing things in at random, and it is our intent to seal it shut before it draws something through that cannot be contained. It is rather unlikely we can safely return anything back through it."

Wolfglide wrote:Klokulf grins, "I believe it is meant to convey inferiority to the prior worlds we supposedly inhabited. For all practical purposes, those worlds are only as real as the words in The Black Trials."

He inhales slowly. I suppose it must be mentioned at some point. "That hole you stepped through was not a true tunnel, at least not in the standard sense. That gate," he points at the growing mound of heavy refuse, "is malfunctioning and drawing things in at random, and it is our intent to seal it shut before it draws something through that cannot be contained. It is rather unlikely we can safely return anything back through it."

Alwina says
''Random? So...even if I jumped in, I might end up someplace other than where I left? Not that I want to go back to the tunnels of the submen! If you can help me get home to my own people, I'd be very grateful. But if that's not possible..."
Her eyes seem to water a little, but she doesn't burst into girlish hysterics. She merely frowns, and then shrugs.
"Well, I guess I'll have to make the best of it here with you.''