queenoflogs | the power of friendship.

The Caves of the Arimoi are an extensive network of caverns, winding through the earth. Who maintains the torches which light each passage with a dim and flickering luminescence? Who placed here these treasure chest, filled with artifacts both ancient and obscure? What is it even doing here, as it is clearly not part of the Queen's domain? Nobody knows, or at least nobody is answering. But here it is nonetheless, and it is both ancient and strangely beautiful.

You are not alone in these caves, however. Echidna's children lurk, jealously guarding treasures and preying on unprepared explorers. Here a woman with the lower boidy of a dragon lurks, vicious teeth dripping with venom. There, a formless, shapeshiting mass strikes out with its terrible barbed whip. There, hydras and chimaerae patrol, and in some places the beautiful woman you stumble across may not be what she seems...

How are you supposed to make nice with creatures like these? That's up to you to figure out.

[ooc: A more detailed description of the Caves and Monsters can be found on the setting page. We will be tagging into threads with NPC monsters, if you have a specific monster you would like to encounter please leave a note in your thread.]

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Jessica is so not a spelunker. (Jessica is so not anything that requires a lot of physical activity.) However, she's hesitating at the threshold for another reason: given what she's heard about the cave ladies, she doesn't want to go barging in rudely. Even if she weren't generally polite, that'd just mess up the whole reason for being there.

So, she shines her flashlight into the depths, and calls out: "Hello? We were told we should come to do some, um, diplomacy. Does anyone mind if we go in?"

To her caving-buddy, she adds, "I really hope this doesn't get messy."

Japan doesn't like the word "messy" for a whole host of reasons, to the point where her only immediate reaction is to hold her hands closer to her chest, also clutching a flashlight, and nod.

She looks around as well, following the flashlight's beam. It's not that she's scared, mind you! She's not at all scared. She's just... cautious. That's right. Cautious. It's only prudent in this situation. When she speaks, her voice is lowered slightly.

"I hope so as well. I am... not certain what to expect."

"We'll have to be careful, at least. Even without monsters, places like this aren't exactly safe." She decides to hazard a few steps in, waiting for Japan to follow.

"Aa, yes. We should proceed carefully." Perhaps she should have worn something else, though she actually has yet to procure anything other than the dress she's wearing and the dress she arrived in. "And quietly, one would assume," she adds this after it becomes apparent that her voice was echoing.

This should be quite the adventure.

"Well, other than hoping not to bother anyone... we don't need to sneak or anything. I mean, we're supposed to be here."

The flashlights are a helpful addition to the barely-sufficient torches, although they do make the whole place a bit spookier. Jessica takes a few deep breaths, trying to steady her nerves.

"Hello? Outsiders trying not to intrude too much."

Japan stands up a little straighter, slightly less stealthily.

"Aa, that is true. [ ... ] There is something about this place which makes one think otherwise though, is there not?" Like they're trespassing somehow? She's not sure why, it's just a feeling she's getting.

With that said, she starts to train her light around as well, keeping an eye out for... well, everything, pretty much.

There's a hissing sound from deep in the caves--but not exactly of warning, more of surprise. If they wait a minute or so, a chimera will step out in front of them. It seems on guard, but its ears perk up as if it's waiting for them to speak. The chimerae were the more obedient of the monsters, and listening is what they had been told to do.

"Oh, um, good morning." Jessica steps forward, trying not to betray her tension; this thing looks like it could kill them both pretty easily.

"We're from the Gardens outside, um, obviously. And your, uh, queen wanted us to come in and apologise. I'm pretty sure neither of us personally has done anything bad, since this is the first time we've been in here, but... y'know, I'm OK with doing the spokesperson thing here, and if there's anything we've screwed up on, um, sorry about that, too. We're pretty clueless here."

As an afterthought, she adds: "Anything we can do to help, um, relations here? I mean, if we're neighbours, we might as well try to help each other out."

Japan starts only very slightly when the creature appears, composing herself shortly afterward. Clearly, she should have expected that. Looking between the creature and her companion when the latter speaks, she then looks back to the creature and nods a little.

"Yes... of course... if there is something within our power to do, we certainly will." She seems a bit uncomfortable there, largely because she's speaking for other people, but it's probably their best avenue of action at the moment, right?

Hopefully.

Gal puts a hand on her shoulder, trying to be reassuring.

"If it does, don't worry, I'll protect you." She'd brought her sword just in case, and though she's aware being armed isn't the best goodwill gesture, she'd rather risk it than be caught without it.

She's used to dealing with monsters. But fighting them, not talking to them. She's pretty out of her league here.

She smiles in spite of herself. "Unless they have ghosts in here, I'm not... all that worried about myself. Other than maybe getting stuck. Part of the whole, um, ghost thing is I can get out of fights with just my, uh, dignity hurt.

"I'm pretty good at running away, though."

"Now that you mention it, that's pretty handy for not getting hurt...but I can see how it would be embarrassing. You can't turn completely invisible or anything, can you?"

She returns the smile. "But I'm no pushover in a fight, promise. Hopefully it won't come to that, though."

Edited 2012-03-29 05:30 (UTC)

"...not as far as I know... I try to avoid it where people can see, but probably all I could do would be... hiding, I guess. I mean, I could maybe go in a wall or something, but I'd really rather not risk suddenly getting, um, solid."

At the very least, it'd be a physics nightmare.

"I'm definitely not doubting you there. You're the world-saver. But yeah, the idea here is diplomacy, so hopefully we won't have to, uh, continue that by other means." Oh yeah, something Gal might not know. "Sorry, that was a quote about war from a guy back home."

Gal winces at the thought of turning solid within something solid. "I....see your point there."

"Diplomacy all depends on cooperation, so let's hope these guys are willing to listen..." She nods, starting down the tunnel before them, trying not to let her hand stray to her hip. As wary as she was, it was probably better not to look aggressive.

"Well, since we're... sort of invited..." Jessica isn't totally convinced that this will be considered OK, but she's not backing out of this.

the power of friendship.

Jessica + Gal / Jessica + Japan / Jessica + p. much anyone who adheres to the buddy system

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