Muffins in the Dungeon

"...they've found the disease sstops progressing here, sser." Chay walks alongside Menel. The sith-makar wears a hunter's trim, though his weapons are packed away. "Ssome of the rooms are now sset aside for the cursed, sser. They wait here, hoping one day there may be a cure."

Except, there is a cure. It just isn't...isn't a /certain/ cure, all of the time. Which is why he's been speaking with the Altheans. Quietly. And well, Menel knows.

Two of the cell's three cots are unoccupied. The third contains a wee lump under the blanket that looks suspiciously like a Gobbo all curled up. Even the pillow is covered by the blanket. It looks fairly new, compared to the other things. And the other two cots also contain brand new blankets, all neatly folded and awaiting someone to snuggle in. If one listens, once might hear the light, raspy snore of someone deep asleep.

Menel walks alongside Chay companionably, dressed in his leathers and carrying... well they hadn't allowed his weapons down here so all he's carrying is his own hands. The discomfort of being parted from his weapons shows in how the swordsman carries himself, but he hadn't argued the fact. In fact he's been rather okay with the whole process of the thought of living down here. Something about the stone walls surrounding them has him on edge however, and as they round the corner to where the beds are he stops, his eyes on the cots. His hand touches the cold stone wall and he shudders.

"I don't know... I don't know if I can do this Chay. Staying down here. It's..." Menel shakes his head, his voice quiet in spite of the small tinge of fear that touches it. He clearly doesn't want to rouse the inhabitants.

"There is no need to be here long, sser. Only long enough if you notisse a feeling of being watched, less. Or...any other feeling, sser. ...just a moment, sser. There is someone you may wissh to meet," the rustscale says. He stops nearby a door--sith-makar flank it on either side. These, these sith are armed.

He looks past them into the room. "Acedia? Sser? This one has brought one for you to sshare words with," he says. The tail flickers, flickers.

The snoring ceases, and it is followed by a snort and a yawn. "Mmmph. Did you bring any breakfast?", a scratch little voice asks. There's a crackle of static electricity, and a huff of annoyance at it, and Acedia's head pops out the top of the bed. She blinks blearily at Chay, and smiles then. "Hello Chay! Have you been out and about? Ah. Who.. who is your friend?" The blanket gets pulled in close as she sits up.

Menel nods a few times at Chay's words, silently agreeing though he clearly doesn't like the prospect of being down here for any length of time. He stops shy of the sith-makar guards, eyeing them just a little. Weighs them with his eyes and then offers them a smile that isn't returned. He doesn't seem bothered by this, but he nods to them each before following Chay to where he's talking to someone... A woman it turns out, and Menel's face spreads out into a broader more friendly grin. "Hello. I'm Menel. Menel Dinmorin." He offers a half wave.

Mikilos plods his way down to the guarded room, a small basket in his hands. The wizard is tired, as he often is, and this place doesn't help. He runs on magic, almost literally, and with this place having it blocked, well, he seldom lingers long. But he does visit. "Hello, Acedia? You awake?" He peers in, nodding at the trio. "Ah, hello."

"Menel, thiss is Acedia. Acedia--thiss is Menel. I...may we come in?" Chay asks. "This one has--" and then Mikilos is there. The sith-makar goes quiet for a moment, barely perceptible. "News, sser. Mikilos, peasse to your nesst," he says. The tail moves uncertainly behind him. Side to side, in a continually moving S-pattern.

The Gobbo peers at Chay, "You don't have to ask to come in, you are staying here too, aren't you?" She nods then at Menel, and grins toothily. "I have heard of you, you're the person who's going to help us out, right?" She blinks as Mikilos arrives also. "He's the one who rescued you! Hello Mikilos." Acedia vanishes under the blanket and a small arm is seen reaching out the other side of the cot, pulling some things under.

Menel smiles at Mikilos and nods his head to the other man, shifting his hand so he can wave at him too. "Mikilos! Good to see you. How have you been? Chay..." Menel glances over at the sith-makar and then at the cells. "Thought maybe I should stay here a while."

Mikilos nods, and takes a seat, opening up the basket. The smell that emerges is best described as delicious. "I've been busy. Tired. But think have made at least some progress. I brought fresh blueberry muffins. There should be enough for everyone." He looks to Chay. "You said you have news?"

"Only a ssmall while, sser. This one only intended for you to use it as a...as an answer to a question you have not ssaid aloud, sser. From what you have ssaid to this one, one ssuggests that our problems sstem from a person or perssons with great powers of enchantment, and influence within the realm of undeath, ssers.

"Had you wondered if you sstill ssuffered effects from Her enchantmentss, sser?" Chay asks Menel. "If you were sser, it would ssease to function here." The tail moves in an s-pattern. "There is more ssers, but one thought that ...this may also be important, ssers."

At the mention of food, the Gobbo is out in a flash, still pulling one leg of her leather armor up. She moves right to the basket and pulls free a blueberry muffin. "Thanks!", she says to Mikilos. Her stomach growls noisily and she takes a huge bite. Filling her mouth to the brim, she works on chewing and swallowing... which takes a bit of time. Meanwhile, she regards Menel for a bit, and then looks to Chay. She coughs a moment, still swallowing something too big for her esophagus. "Uh." Acedia hiccups. "Did I hear someone saying.." Another hiccup. "S.something about a cure?", she asks of Chay, a very hopeful look on her face.

"I hadn't thought of that no." Menel answers Chay, looking a bit unhappy now, enough so that he doesn't take Mikilos up on the offer of food though the growl of his stomach can be heard by everyone nearby. The smell is after all... delicious. Menel does however take a seat on one of the beds, offering Chay more space.

Mikilos nods to Menel. "Well it was you who pointed out her Mark to me." He pushes up his sleeve, the snowflake scar on his arm obvious. "I haven't checked all of them, but mine at least has magic behind the Mark. It's a variation of a fairly simple spell, marks an object as owned by a wizard. I suppose it can be used on people. I'm not sure if the scarification makes it stronger. I'm pretty sure she can use the magic to find, and observe, whatever has been Marked." He waves vaguely. "Not in here, of course, but typically. I think the Mark could be used to trace a spell -back- to the Mistress, but whatever magics she has protecting her are too strong. My spells haven't been able to get through." He holds out a muffin to Menel. "Eat. Does none of us good if you end up starving yourself."

"...where did you hear that, sser?" Chay asks, carefully to Acedia. "...word will sspread, ssers," he says eventually, and seems to steel himself. "It will sspread ssers. I--ssa, what you are ssaying fits, sser," to Mikilos. "When plague victims are sstripped of magic, the plague sseases to work, sser. It is why the plague itself has ssuch a sstrong reaction to antimagic, ssers. It is also how one was able to--able to cure it, ssers, with much difficulty and rissk."

He looks to Acedia, the tone gentle, exhausted. "There iss an ability ssome hunters have, sser--it removes enchantment, and magic from a person. It is used in the case of possessions, sser. It is a...rare...magic, and one was quite lucky. It iss a sstart. On ssuspects now, those Marked will require a ssimilar treatment."

Acedia looks from Menel to Mikilos and back. "She tattooed you with something?" She eyes the snowflake on his arm, and makes some sort of sign with her fingers. "I am glad this place is protected... but if she was paying attention to you or Menel here, she knows that you're here." She lets out a long huff of breath. "It looks more and more like we have to get to the tower and search for answers there." She pauses, about to take another bite of the muffin, and looks to Chay. "The rumours are already spreading. The charlatans spread them. But... you just said right now that you've cured it. How? Is it permanent?" Now she starts to quickly chew through the muffin, looking hopefully at the basket that there might be another for her to scarf.

Menel takes the proffered muffin with a slight smile. "Thanks. Honestly I don't understand any of this magical stuff. But... It does unnerve me to think She might be watching. Even here where magic does not work? She has the power for that certainly but no one is all-powerful. If that was true, none of us would be alive now." Menel looks at Chay. "If you've cured one person, we have hope. It /can/ be cured and that isn't nothing"

Mikilos has plenty of muffins. Well, hopefully it's plenty, several for everyone. "The Guild has been helping on the Tower itself. As it moves though both space and time, finding when, and where, it's going to be is no small task. But, we have a source that may have some insight. But securing payment for such valued information won't be easy." He considers a few moments, and shrugs to Menel. "There's no magic that can see us here. Power other than magic?" He shrugs. "They exist, but are rare, and typically unwieldy and difficult. Someplace like this is as safe as can be reasonably expected."

"So far as one knows, sser. A powerful, and lucky casting to remove enchantment and magic sser--as the ssort used in exorcisms, ssers. It--Sshe has the power to ssee even here?" he asks, Chay does. He looks to Menel. "What ssort of creature iss sshe? Sser--this is the anti-magic dungeon sser, of one of the most powerful arcane guilds in the world." He looks to Mikilos then, and back to Menel. He seems to believe it might be? Best ask. And then, and then...the rest of Mikilos' words filter through and he goes as still as... "A ssource. Sser," he says, his voice curiously flat.

Acedia wolfs down the last remnants of her first muffin, and licks at her hands. A second muffin is quickly taken up, and she looks to Chay and nods. "Can... can you try to cure me, then? Or ask whomever cast the spell on you to try me next? I am... really tired of being sick and tired all the time. This place is dark and moody and I feel lonely being here." She bites into the muffin, working on it as quickly as she did the first.

Menel shakes his head and holds up his hand. "I said that I was worried that She might. She is not all-powerful. If She were we would all be dead now. No. I would like to think that She can not see us here." He cuts the muffin in half with his fingers. "If someone can cure the... sickness then more can do the same. Tell the world whatever was used and keep doing it until it sticks." Suddenly stops and looks up at Chay. "You know that it is not natural right? That She made it?"

Mikilos nods, neutrally. "A source." He turns focus to Menel. "Part of why I want to get into the Tower. Maybe find some details on how it was made, have a better idea of how to treat it, make sure nothing like it is used again."

"This one iss...ssurprised. Ser." The inner lids flicker. Chay doesn't--doesn't quite control his reaction. The sith-makar's shoulders have gone stiff. Stiff and...he begins to swing his arms. Back, forth, to the front. Back, forth, to the front. As he does, he looks to Acedia, "One will try one's best. I...this one would have offered ssooner. I had hoped to find a way to make it less ..."

"To make it more easily ssuccessful, sser. But you have been through sso much. One is ssorry, sser. Perhapss we sshould begin trialss tonight?" And then he shakes his head to Menel. He did not know. The shoulders are stiff, again.

The Gobbo's ears perk up a little and she nods to Chay. "I am prepared to go whenever you are ready." She lets out a huff of breath. "Will more slimes crawl out if it is unsuccessful?" She looks to Menel and shrugs. "It is not surprising that it was created... if that were natural, I think the world would be dead by now." Acedia shoves the last of her second muffin into her mouth, and quickly reaches for a third. Before anyone can stop her.

Menel sets the muffin in his hand aside, shaking his head now. "I'm sorry Chay. I didn't mean to... Unsettle you." Menel's blue eyes search for Chay's and the young man has a complicated look on his face. "What do you mean by slimes crawling out? Isn't the cure just... a spell?"

Mikilos tsks, and shakes his head. "If the cure doesn't work, the plague.... gets irate. And let's it's displeasure be known in no uncertain terms. having one come at your face is awful. I try not to think about what it's like having one come -out- of you."

"...in Charn, demons roamed the streets, sser. They attended parties, sser--they--" Chay's voice cracks at its edge, and he stares at nothing, nothing for a while. ...and after a while, takes in a breath as though coming back to the world. "In Alexandria--at leasst they keep ssuch dealings ssecret. They refer to them obliquely. Ssers."

Chay looks over to Acedia. "This one will...gather his things, sser. And yes, sser. One apologizes. We will need to...need to go to a ssertain area." She probably is familiar. And he would like out of here. Now.

Acedia takes up the basket of muffins. Cause if she's puking up slimes tonight, she wants something tasty to cover up the ... slime taste. "It is just what Mikilos said, Menel. The slimes force their way out. I cannot describe it except to say that it is terrible. Horrible. And IF I get a chance, I'm going to smack the creator of this ... plague..", the Gobbo practically spits the word out, "Smack them really good." She straightens and follows Chay out of the cell.

Menel gives a little unpleasant shudder, his face scrunching up at the thought of whatever he's imagining coming out of someone in the form of a plague. More serious are Chay's words which make him shake his head again. "I have never seen Her consorting with demons if that brings you any comfort." Menel lifts a hand and scrubs it through his hair. "Thank you Chay, for everything. I appreciate you helping me get settled; even if it's into a place like this."

Mikilos sighs, and nods, rising. "Demons seldom work together willingly. They betray each other as a matter of course. It helps to keep them in check."

-End