<@Dreol> [Cumbria, Helvellyn August 7th 1251, 2:00 AM] <@Dreol> [After patiently waiting more than one whole day for the door to open, you all have entered a large, circular dark room. There is a hole in the center of the domed ceiling, and sand has begun to pour from that hole into the room that you now stand in. The door is, once again, shut and inaccessible.] <@Dreol> [Begin] #06* Eliana 's eyes widen in the dim light, and she glances around, trying to do some quick mental calculations. #06* Cosimo looks at the stream of sand and frowns slightly. #06* Rolf groans and says, "I don't get none of this. It ain't like we're gonna drown." #06* Thalaba looks towards the sand and frowns. "What's not good at all." She moves around the outer edge of the room to see if there is an on or off switch. #06* Cosimo nods at Rolf. "true. but it does take a bit of time to get the sand out of your... clothes." S'like they're just tryin' to annoy me. <@Dreol> [The hole, for the record, is probably about four feet in diameter, and the room is very large. probably seventy-five feet in diameter] #01 Rolf, see if there are any exits. #06* Rolf growls as he works his way around the outside of the room, peering and/or knocking and/or pushing on things. He might even have to wade through sand. rolf :( #06* Eliana just stands there at the entrance, thinking. #06* Cosimo runs his fingers through the falling sand thoughtfully. #06* @Rolf shakes his head and says, over the sound of the falling sand, "Ain't findin' nothin'. More like a cave than a buildin'." #06* Eliana finally speaks up, after fifteen minutes goes by: "A quarter day to fill the room. And, perhaps, flip it." #01 If there's truly no exit on the floor or walls, perhaps she expects us to remain atop it until then, but the fall would be difficult. #06* Eliana tries to peer up and see if there's a latch, but everything's too high, so of course she can't. She starts pacing, then, looking for anything beyond smooth stone and sand. <@Dreol> [After about half an hour the sand has become a mountain, and the base of that mountain is roughly three feet deep and you all need to do something to stay atop it.] #06* Cosimo calmly paces around the surface of the sand, keeping himself on top of its surface. When he notices Thalaba starting to be buried, he silently hooks an arm around her waist as he passes and lifts her out of the sand and then gently sets her down on top of the sand. #06* Eliana moves as the sand does, timing and moving carefully so as not to overly exert herself. She manages to stay above it without too much trouble, at least so far. She also busies herself by continuing to look around; no sense in giving up. #06* Rolf also seems to be doing a decent job of staying above the sand, despite his size. He doesn't seem particularly concerned, what with them not being able to drown. so do you really think it will flip? #06* Cosimo isn't really looking at anything but the column of sand as he says that. #01 It's a reasonable possibility. That's what you do when your timeglass runs out, isn't it? <@Dreol> [After two more hours, the mountain has gotten substantial. The room is now half-full and the mountain is roughly twenty feet away from the hole at the top.] #06* Eliana remains above the sand, keeping her balance steady. #06* Thalaba manages to remain not buried this time though. #06* Cosimo walks around the top of the sand, still looking at the column thoughtfully. so if it were to flip... im guessing there would be some concern about falling... <@Dreol> [Two more hours go by and by this time, the peak of the mountain of sand is within five feet of the hole at the top of the ceiling.] #06* Moriel keeps shifting his feet as the sand slides beneath him. He's not especially graceful about it, but he manages to avoid getting buried semi-alive. #06* Cosimo manages to stay on top of the sand, though he seems a bit more distracted and considerably less graceful about it now that the ceiling is considerably closer than it was #06* Eliana continues to move, as she always has, and remains on top. She looks up to the sand - is it slowing? #06* Cosimo removes a scarf from beneath his tunic and begins to wrap it like a turban around his head, leaving only a small slit for his eyes. He then attempts to enter the column of sand, but its force proves to be greater than expected and he is unable to do much more than get sand in his boots. and clothes. and pants. and... pockets. #06* Eliana scrambles up to the center. She has some trouble - the heavy cloak gets in the way - and she unfastens it, letting it fall back on the sand. The bag, however, stays over her shoulder, and she barely manages to get to the top. #06* Moriel concentrates for a moment, and suddenly his movements go fluid. Now instead of barely staying above the sand, he steps with apparent ease up the side of the growing mountain to the top. He looks up at the hole and the ceiling around it, and absent-mindedly offers a hand to steady Eliana. <@Dreol> [Eliana and Moriel manage to fight through the sand and can see through to the upper area. Sand is pouring on top of them, but once they can peak into the upper level it is clear that there is very little sand left. The upper area is exactly the mirror image of the lower one, but there does appear to be a doorway on the far side of the room, which is currently reachable from the floor on the upper level.] ...perhaps we won't be flipped after all. Or perhaps we'd best hurry. #06* Eliana moves one hand to shield her head from the sand. "We have some time," she says. That done, she reaches up and tries to pull herself up through the hole, against the sand. #06* @Rolf tromps up to near the top and yells up, "You see anything?" #06* Moriel calls back down, "There's a door in the upper part." #06* Moriel steps closer to Eliana once he sees what she's doing and offers a hand/shoulder/knee/whatever seems useful to help her get up. #06* Eliana accepts Moriel's help, sending a chill through him in the process, and reaches up through the hole. She shuts her eyes tightly and, sand pouring over and around her, pulls herself up and through. #06* Eliana scrambles across the bowl of a floor on the other side, coughing sand out of her lungs and wiping it out of her eyes and hair. After a few minutes to find purchase and brace herself, she reaches a hand down to help the next person up. #06* Moriel closes his eyes tightly and steps under the falling sand, reaching up one hand to Eliana and one hand to the upper rim to pull himself up. #06* Eliana has an uncomfortably cold grip, but it is reasonably strong, and she helps pull Moriel through the ceiling. #06* Thalaba struggles her way through the sand to the upper room. #06* Moriel shakes a little of the sand out of his face and brushes himself off a bit. Then he just leaves the rest of it, because he's not going to be getting it off any time soon. "Thank you." #06* Moriel returns to the hole to help with pulling people up himself. He's not quite as cold as Eliana, at least. #06* Cosimo looks at Rolf and motions to him to go first. #06* Rolf gets his hands up inside the room, along with his head, and then scrabbles his way up. If anything, it's more awkward because he's taller than the hole. A little feet flailing, though, and he manages. #06* Cosimo backs up a bit and then runs at the column of sand, jumping as he plunges into it and grasping at the edge of the hole as he does so. with a bit of difficulty, he manages to pull himself up. #06* Cosimo makes his way out of the sand and then stops to dust himself off, empty his boots of sand and then look around. #06* Eliana starts moving to the door, now that Moriel's helping people. <@Dreol> [Through the doorway is a spiral staircase. You all get there just as the last of the sand is sliding through the hole.] <@Dreol> [Ysabeau also got up and through the hole and heads over to the door.] #06* Eliana steps through and - assuming nothing crazy happens - takes a little bit of time to pour sand out of her boots and bag and try to get as much out of her clothes as possible. #06* @Rolf shakes off like he was getting out of water, growling. "And I thought waitin' for noble types was bad." #06* Cosimo peers down through the hole to see if the tower's owner had decided to taunt them again #06* Moriel smiles narrowly at Rolf. "Apparently she values her privacy. I can hardly fault her for it." #06* Rolf heads up through the door too. #06* Eliana 's fire is dancing on her shoulder now, as she pulls her boots back on. #06* Cosimo shakes his head, turns and then walks towards the door <@Dreol> [After everyone moves through the door, the last of the sand falls down into the lower level and the door slams shut behind you all.] #06* Eliana runs her gloved hand through her hair, shaking more sand out. #01 I did not enjoy that. #06* Eliana moves on up, then. Staircase time! Hopefully it doesn't turn into a slide. #06* Moriel follows along behind Eliana silently. #06* Cosimo approaches the stair and begins to climb #06* Thalaba follows the party up the stairs <@Dreol> [The staircase spirals up for quite a while before coming to another doorway. Through the doorway is a small circular room. There is a large water clock on the wall in the back, and in the center of the room on the floor is a large sun- dial (though there is no sun) and kneeling in front of the sun dial is a pale kindred woman. She is dressed in black robes, with long, tangled dark hair and she is writing in a book without looking at it. Her eyes look almost empty as she stares straight ahead at the doorway as you enter.] #06* @Rolf squints as he looks around, then says, "All 'bout clocks." #06* Moriel steps just inside and to one side to leave the doorway clear. He studies the woman warily. #06* Cosimo surveys the room, nodding at Rolf's comment. "there are many who are obsessed with time, though one of our kind who is... is interesting." #06* Eliana just sizes her up. #06* Eliana 's hands are clenched into fists, and she stares at the woman. #06* Moriel glances at his companions, frowning. After a moment he steps forward and says quietly, "Good evening, lady." <@Dreol> [Session End]