Info sharing

[unsealthecatbox]

[When you have to plan ahead, you need to information. Ange knows she'd like to be told about dangers and stuff when there was still time to prepare, so she decides to share what she found out, in case someone wants to make sure they're in top shape to face danger, or to prepare spells, or anything else they want to do.

Ange places the mirror against a pile of books in the library and once she practiced a bit how to talk quietly and carefully so she doesn't disturb everyone, she clears her throat and starts talking]

So I took the time to find out what kind of danger we're going to stumble into once we're out of here. It'll be a while before we have to leave, but I thought some of would be interested, in case you want to make preparations. Take a look at this map.

[She shows it, remembering everything Tiffany had said]

Unless one of us can make a snow plower appear out of thin air, the mountain pass may not be an option. It's blocked with snow. I'm not saying it would be impossible, but it'd be bothersome, that much is guaranteed.

[Ange examines the map. Mine pass, mine pass, where's the mine pass...dang, she can't find the mines, oh well]

There are some mines somewhere under the mountains. It's filled with murderous orcs, and frankly getting eaten isn't one of my goals in life, so...it'd be unadvisable to go in there. That means the odds we'll have to go in there are not low. [Hero journeys always involve peril, Ange thinks. Whether she's right or not is something that remains to be seen]

Finally, there's a fire demon...somewhere. Can't say exactly where it is, I'm not aware of that detail.

[Ange puts down the map]

I'm researching a bit on useful spells, so if you have magic you think could be useful, please come to me. This weaving spells trick can come rather useful, but that'll require some cooperation from two of you.

That's all.

Comments

[awfulcer]

[Dixon's a little gunshy to use the mirrors after the incident, but he figures that he needs to get his bearings before they proceed. It's one thing to look like you can't play well with others when it's just yelling at people on a mirror network; it's another when the stakes seem to be getting higher and higher, death jumping out more and more aggressively from around the corner. And so he wants to be well armed with information, a feeling he's had pretty rarely in his life.

Ange clearly knows what she's talking about, so he listens intently.]

If there are mines, shouldn't we figure out if any of us know how to detect them so we don't set them off?

[You'd think he'd have picked up on the context Ange gave or from hanging out with the dwarves for the last few days, but nope.]

[unsealthecatbox]

[It actually takes her a moment to realize what he means. Sigh]

Not that kind of mines, Dixon. It's the type of mines you get ore from.

[...]

I think. Can't say I know for sure. But I doubt anything will explode.

[awfulcer]

...I knew that. I was joking.

[He was not.]

But you never know when something will explode. There's forges down there, according to the dwarves, and all kinds of things can go wrong with those.

[unsealthecatbox]

I'll believe you were. [The good ol' 'I was joking' excuse, eh? Ange leans her head on her hand] Forges...that's something I didn't hear about. Mind sharing with the class?

[You got info about forges? Ange's already thinking of foundries, bricks of steel, and lots of molten metal. Maybe not precisely the kind of forges that may be down there in Moria]

[awfulcer]

Just what the dwarves told me, which is that dwarves have forges. [God, he's digging himself in to the role of totally useless. He doesn't even know if there are forges where they're going, just that forges exist, somehow, in the dwarf economy. He looks a little exasperated with himself.] I can ask my buddies tonight at dinner for some details.

[ofnovalue]

Truly? Those are our only options?

[unsealthecatbox]

I doubt those are our only options. I asked what would be the nearby dangerous routes. A heads-up as to what kind of dangers are around doesn't hurt, anyway.

[She sure hopes there's a lot of other options, and that they'll be able to avoid all that stuff, but...yeah. It's not like they have a defined destination right now. It's hard to plan what paths to take!]

[ofnovalue]

Were that it ever certain we could be blessed with a safer journey... -A sad sigh.-

I understand the need to be prepared. My magicks are of the protective sort, and are holy in nature.

[unsealthecatbox]

Really? [Ange looks up. She seems interested][ What kind of holy magic is this? What can you do?

[ofnovalue]

Protective boons, mostly. But I can also use holy light as a weapon, if pushed to do so.

[greyerrant]

[ Loken rumbles in a far deeper tone than he's ever taken while training her. ]

Slaying Demons and orks is something I'm intimately familiar with, should it come to that. As for the mountain pass, I'm no Imperial FIst, or Iron Warrior, but I do know how to dig.

[unsealthecatbox]

We'll be going extremely slow if only one person digs through the snow.

[She doesn't mean to demean your digging abilities, Loken, of course!]

[greyerrant]

Well, we all have arms, don't we?

[ Loken is rather practical about such things. Maybe Dixon will get into shape this way. ]

[unsealthecatbox]

[Good luck getting Dixon into shape, hah!]

Let's...leave that as a possible option.

[Ange isn't eager to start digging through a mountain pass worth of snow, apparently. She hopes that, when they get the meeting with the elves and are told more about their mission, they'll have more options than 'dig through snow' and 'go spelunking where there are murderous orcs']

[greyerrant]

If the choices are a battle, or a lot of digging, I'll take digging every time.

[secondnature]

What if we find the fire demon and lead it to the mountain pass? That sounds like our best bet.

[Never mind that they won't have a means of handling the fire demon afterward. They can come up against that when it's time.]

[unsealthecatbox]

Oh? [Well that's an interesting proposal!] And how would we do such a thing?

[She's already imagining everyone waving their arms at the demon and then run away as fast as possible aaaaaall the way to the mountain pass. That's bound to go well, Ange, good imagination]

[secondnature]

Fire melts snow.

[That's it. That's what he has to offer to this planning session.]

[wherenoonegoes]

This plan feels like it's just asking for an avalanche to happen.

[secondnature]

Maybe.

But done well, it might be the safest way out.

[wherenoonegoes]

Not really. If it's sitting right outside the door, mayhe, but odds are it's probably deeper in the mines. Even if we managed to sneak that far, getting it to chase after us would probably alert every guard in that place. At that point we might as well just go out the other end instead of doubling back.

[secondnature]

Wait, the demon's in the mines? Why didn't anyone say that?

[wherenoonegoes]

Technically, nobody did, but given our luck so far and the tendency of demons to make their lairs in deep dark caverns that no light can enter? It's a safe bet that it's in the mines.

At least that's the way it works in all the stories. And while i'm not exactly the type to believe everything I hear or read, especially when it comes to legends? There's usually an element of truth to them, and if any part is going to be accurate about them, it's probably going to be the one about where they live. If only to make sure people avoid those places.

[unsealthecatbox]

There are orcs in those mines. Do you think they could be allied with the demon, if it's there too?

[Evil supernatural beings united to fight against the hero group? That's...rather likely, all things considered]

[secondnature]

If you're right, we'll go into the mine and run into the orcs and the fire demon.

Do you really think that's safest?

[wherenoonegoes]

Things we can fight, hide, or run away from versus something we very definitely can't? Speaking as someone who's managed to survive an avalanche I'll vote for the former.

[secondnature]

I've been told that fighting isn't going that well.

[wherenoonegoes]

To be fair, that was because we were fighting things that were impossible to kill, while some of us were underdressed and unarmed. Toothless fired point blank plasma blasts at these things and they just kept coming.

[secondnature]

All right ... so what's changed?

If there's a fire demon out there, how are we prepared to fight it in those caves?

[wherenoonegoes]

That would be what the running and hiding are for. Or causing a cave in so it can't follow us. Or just plain making an effort to not attract its attention in the first place. You can outthink a demon. You can't outthink a mountain.

[secondnature]

Without scouts, it's risky. I'm not saying that we have to go up the mountain, but we need to think this through. You're so sure your plan is the right one.

I don't think that it is.

[therevanchist]

[Revan's laughing, but it's good-natured.]

I like the way you think, but implementing that one might be a problem.

[secondnature]

Well, yeah, if the demon's apparently where we're trying to avoid in the first place.

[That whole "can't separate thing" is really annoying. Keith is pretty sure that he'd be able to get in and out with his wolf, but ...]

[therevanchist]

I think that's probably an assumption on Hiccup's part. Granted, I'm not sure where else you'd stick a fire demon without burning something down.

[What Revan knows about demons: nothing. What Revan knows about mining: next to nothing.]

[secondnature]

Okay ... so the real problem is that we don't know anything about the demon.

[A beat.]

Fire aside.

[therevanchist]

Oh, we have more problems than that.

[She says with grin. Welcome to the party, new guy.]

[secondnature]

I didn't say it was the only problem.

[Keith "what is a sense of humor" Paladin of Voltron.]

[therevanchist]

Duly noted.

[Are you kidding, she loves having a straight man.]

[therevanchist]

Rule out the pass. Meaning no disrespect to our hosts, but any survival gear they can supply us will be substandard. Altitude combined with cold is as lethal as any sword fight, and you can't disengage.

[If it were a more experienced party, she might be willing to try, but they've got a lot of people without the endurance or judgment to live through that trip.]

[wherenoonegoes]

That's not even getting into the other potential problems. We can outrun orcs. We can't outrun snowstorms. Or avalanches, for that matter.

[cleansingstrike]

One would think that the choice has already been made for us.

[wherenoonegoes]

Not necessarily, but given our luck so far? Would you really be surprised if we do have to go through the demon infested tunnels?

[cleansingstrike]

Surprise in my travels does not come easy to me, friend.

[Except for Candy Land.]

Demons can be cut down much like any other man.

[wherenoonegoes]

It gets a little harder when they can set themselves on fire, though. We might want to figure out how to douse the demln if we do end up running into it.

[cleansingstrike]

Or perhaps we are to strike from a distance.

[unsealthecatbox]

I will work on that. Magic is said to be versatile, there must be something that can be done on that regard.

[Magic circle crafting time, yep]