duologs | June Catch-All/Quest Log

[ His gaze flits back and forth between the two as not only does Declan speak of this hag, Pinocchio does with similar familiarity. Meanwhile he has none! Knowledge not bequeathed unto him! This is most unfair!

Declan's cheeriness about it does manage to cut most of the indignancy out of him. Softly, ] Please do, that's a tale I'm certain both of us would enjoy hearing.

[ As for the suggestion, he half-clears his throat and rubs his chin. ]

Yes, you mentioned a spell of "Spider Climb" or "Catapult". Or perhaps both could be used in tandem?

[ He doesn't exactly want to volunteer to do any significant amount of physically demanding activity especially when two people would depend on him to do it successfully, but, Bricks looks over Pinocchio's form and frowns, formerly exhausted from already getting them this high. The Penderyn has no such native fantastical spells of his own so a modicum of both envy and guilt negs him to direct is frown at the base of the sky island for having the audacity to not be any closer. He... he lugs satchels and bandoliers and bags around all the time for the Ferrymen! Surely he can carry himself up a sheer cliff wall for dear Declan and Dear Pinocchio! He must! ]

I could... I suppose it's not very far? I could secure a rope once up there.

[Okay the clarification does help, he's pretty damn sure there's no dragons involved with the Baba Yaga. Doesn't match the creepy hut in the woods vibe. He's just so antsy about it all. Where does this world even fit in? Is it a story, or is it outside stories? Is Crane City reality-reality, or is it another even more complex situation? A secret third thing, if you will?

He's not smart enough for this bullshit. Honestly he just wants to chew bubblegum and swing around noisemakers. Is that so wrong?]

You sure, man? [Pinocchio wobbles up to his feet, craning his neck to look between the two.] I guess if we aim the Catapult at something soft, like...hmm.

[The floating island doesn't seem to have much to offer there. Hard to see with all this ash in the air.]

I was thinking of sending Adelaine, actually. Unfortunately the spell doesn't allow me to launch anything very large.

[ Who (or what) is Adelaine, you might ask? Well, Bricks has already met her, but for Pinocchio's sake, he digs a small brass cube from his pocket. In a whirt of parts and the clicking of metal on metal, a small, quadrupedal turret unfolds in the middle of their little platform of space. ]

It may be our best bet, unless one of you has some teleportation magic you've neglected to mention.

Edited 2023-06-24 23:23 (UTC)

Oh, thank goodness... [ He mutters under his breath, shoulders slouching in visible relief. He shan't be catapulted today. No, Adelaine is actually the perfect contender and almost feels a little embarrassed he didn't think of the suggestion himself! —Perhaps he did not want to impose the same way he wouldn't want to on Pinnochio for merely being a construct/non-human. ]

Neglected to mention no such sort. [ He has done experimental things with fire, but, teleporting in a burst of flame any more than a few feet was still a work in progress. Regardless, he's just as excited to see a flying robot. ]

I know Lady Adelaine is more than hardy for the task.

[Pinocchio almost opens his mouth to interject — he does have Dimension Door, but also it doesn't go as far as it ought to anymore, and he's pretty sure the island is just out of reach. He's more likely to send them plummeting to an unfortunate demise than get them to point B.

Also, Declan just pulled out the wildest shit from his pocket.]

What the hell is that? [Half-delighted, all puzzled.] Is she — hi?

[He is immediately enthralled, hands on knees and leaning in to inspect the weird little lady. Too bad he hasn't met Cal and BD-1 yet.]

Hey I'm Pinocchio. Declan didn't say there was four of us. How you doing?

[ Adelaine tips her muzzle in Pinocchio's direction, and seems to give a little nod, though not much else by way of communication. (It might be said that Declan tends to personify his inventions. Surely there's no sad, underlying reason for that. Cough.) ]

Adelaine is an arcane cannon, and one of my most stalwart companions.

[ As he explains, he digs into his bag for some of the rope he brought. Once again, his arm dips in well beyond what the bag looks like it can hold, and he comes up with a rather sizeable length of rope. He offers one end to Bricks, and the other to Pinocchio. ]

If one of you would be so kind as to hold onto that, and the other tie it around Addie, I shall prepare for launch!

[ Despite his prior chastising of the improbable size of a flying skull potentially being used for transport, Bricks seems to make no comment on that bag of improbable holding; not minding what he thinks are just Video Game Physics.

With one and of the rope he exchanges a look with Pinocchio and has the forethought that perhaps the small wooden and lightweight being should not try to provide an anchor of support. Those are just Real Physics to mind.

Wordlessly, he nods and wraps two loops over his palm and wrist, twists and grips it tight. He's ready! ]

Oh. So is she...

[dot dot dot. Most things that looked alive were alive where he came from, but after the shit with the phone he's not so sure what to believe here. Especially when it's made of metal.

No matter. It seems he and Bricks are of a mind. Not wanting to be stuck as the anchor, Pinocchio nods to his new pal and takes his end of the rope to the Lady Adelaine.]

Mi'Lady. [Don't mind him wrapping this big ole rope around you.

With both ends secure, he stands back up straight and salutes Declan.]

All right! Let's fire 'er up!

[ While Bricks and Pinocchio sort out the whole rope situation, Declan shuffles around on their little island of space as much as he’s able, gauging angles and distance and clearly running some mental math. He is definitely doing that thing where he has his thumbs and forefingers held out in front of him as a sort of window to look through as he’s doing this. ]

Hmm. Hmm. I think that ought to do it.

[ With everyone and everything in place, he positions himself behind Adelaine and lets a little clockwork bullfrog out of its pocket. It shuffles around a bit, rears back both of its hind legs, and delivers a mighty kick! In a burst of purple light and energy, Adelaine goes flying through the air, sailing high and arcing toward the base of the island. Her little legs dig into dirt and rock and she begins to shimmy up to the top of the island proper. ]

Oh, that worked out rather well!

[ Bricks coos at the little clockwork bullfrog, immediately wanting to know its name and what it's designed for--the latter is answered very quickly as Adelaine is booted all the way up to the sky island, unwinding rope billowing behind her in the air. He's distracted almost long enough to forget he was very importantly holding on to the other end of the rope but tightens his grip when he feels the weight of it gently shift from the rapidly uncoiling pile.

He brings a flat palm to his forehead to block out the sun as he looks up and squints. With one eye he struggles to see her at all, were it not for the rope still connecting her. ]

She'll secure it up there just fine, yes?

[Frog!

PROJECTILE!]

HIT THE BIG ROCK! HIT THE BIG ROCK!

[She does not hit the big rock. Oh well, she made it safe. Though they should have taken bets on where she landed. What a wasted opportunity.

He joins Bricks in squinting, hand over his eyes. He tilts his head.] I think she's got it now?

[The rope goes taut in Brick's hands. Pinocchio, now more or less recovered, summons one last protrusion of rock from the platform. An anchor, one sturdy ring at the top to tie the rope around.]

All right, we're in business now! Nothing but smooth sailing. Declan! Spider Climb us!

[He waits with arms flung out. Bewitch him, por favor.]

[ PINOCCHIO PLEASE. He was trying to aim away from the big rock. It won't do them any good if poor Addie gets smashed to bits before they make any headway.

Adelaine likely does something similar to anchor her end of the rope. She lacks hands to tie it off, but she can find a sturdy rock or tree to wrap it around and plant her feet and wait. ]

We'll have to go one at a time. I can only hold concentration on one person for this. After that, I'm afraid Spider Climbing anywhere else will be off the table.

[ He has just enough spell slots for this endeavor. With a nod, he swaps his bullfrog for a mechanical spider (of course), who crawls its way over the feet of Pinocchio first, since he seems so eager, spinning threads of purple light over one wooden foot and then the other. And then it's just a matter of walking on up. Bricks can go next, and Declan will bring up the rear. ]

[ Bricks stands grinning with his hands on his hips, as eager to see how it all actually works. Seeing the little spider robot his imagination starts to run a little wild and the grin falters slowly. ]

...Wait this isn't going to um, isn't going to t-transmute or bequeath us with actual spider limbs for— [ His mild anxiety is quelled seeing what actually happens as Pinocchio's feet are spun in the magic with no anarchical arachnid outcomes. ] ooooh.

[ When it's his turn he politely lifts his dress shoes up, one at a time, wobbly but maintaining balance enough for the mechanical spider to do its job. When he puts his spider-spun soles down he can immediately feel the tension difference as he marches in place experimentally, new to this kind of magic. He looks up at Pinocchio ahead of him already up the rope. ]

Simply... up?

[ It's difficult finding confidence in himself for this so at first he tries to climb the rope as one would normally. Once he crosses his thin legs over the rope and tries to hook his ankles around it he struggles, tension bunching and tangling wherever the rope accidentally hits the bottom of his feet like sticky tape. It's quickly impractical and he shuffles his position, kicking in the air a bit and eventually properly plant his feet flat on the rope. He inches along it slowly, hands and feet. Crawling is very unbecoming and also impractical. He looks back down—wouldn't be deadly if he fell from here, just embarrassing, he decides—and slowly releases his palms. ]

Ha— ha ha...! [ Giddy little noises of satisfaction hum from him as he slowly "stands up" with a unbalanced wave of his arms. It's a bit awkward and he keeps his arms out at his sides for extra balance and reassurance while all his hair, loose parts of his clothes and satchels follow gravity and dangle at his back. ]

Truly incredible! Look at this absolute mad defiance of gravity...!

Spider-limbs?! Nononono wait! I've changed my — [Nothing happens. Pinocchio lifts one foot and sets it on the rope and finds that it sticks. In tandem with Bricks:] oooooh.

[Thank god. He loves Ylfa, but he does not desire to be like Ylfa. Some of those animal forms are truly the stuff of nightmares.

As heart-pounding as the first few steps had been, the following steps are more like strides, and by the time he's hitting the home stretch he's getting cocky. ("GUYS! LOOK! I'M GONNA GO UPSIDE-DOWN!")

Once he's back on solid ground, there's nothing to do but wait for Thing 1 and Thing 2 to follow suit. The slow-burn grin spreading over Bricks' face is infectious.]

You're a straight-up mad-lad now! [He claps and whistles, egging him on.] Do a cartwheel!

[ Declan is a chaotic motherfucker most of the time, so he doesn't mind a bit of silliness — there are still lines he'd rather not see crossed, especially at such great heights. In the face of Pinocchio's shouting, he shouts back: ]

The spell only works on your feet, so I wouldn't recommend it!

[ If Bricks really wants to do a cartwheel, though, that's on him.

Assuming he doesn't and assuming both of his newfound party members make it up the rope without issue, Declan casts the spell on himself (expending the last of his second level spells slots and leaving him a bit weary) and wanders his way up to the island to join them. Once there, he pretty promptly has to find a place to sit down. ]

Gods above, I'm not used to magic taking that much out of me.

[ Bricks chuckles at the suggestion to do a cartwheel, finding Pinocchio's encouragement also as infectious. He half debates trying but he's not sure he'd have enough confidence to do it even if they were on solid ground. Fortunately Declan's friendly warning dissuades any further humoring of such daring do.

Brickston's laugher takes on a more friendly mocking tone. ] You cheeky little rapscallion— you hear that? Were you trying to kill me?

[ All in good nature, and the banter makes the climb to the top go quick. He's not even as exhausted as he thought he would be, but he does also want to sit and rest a moment once they're all safe and secure up there.

He offers Declan a flask of water (not whisky). ] With any luck getting down will be significantly less strenuous.

[ His curiosity is too great to rest for more than a moment as he takes survey of their floating island abode. Sun bleached grasses waft in the wind and provide stark golden contrast to the ash-covered dandelion trees, varying in size from Pinocchio's stature to as tall as trees. He's drawn to one of the smaller plants and tentatively pulls one of the loose ash-covered seeds free. The soot quickly clouds the ground. It's easy to see they'll have plenty of "material" to work with around here, in so far as the ash is concerned. He remembers the medicinal value in the plants and pockets the over-sized seed for later and stands, catching the soot-covered breeze. ]

Furthermore, we'll have to locate the lost little gemwalker first.

[ For what it's worth, this entire time, the smoke and ash seems to have bothered him little to none at all. ]

What?! No! [Excuse the mild spluttering.] I didn't know okay?! I'm not trying to — just get over here!

[Why DOESN'T it work on your hands? Or your ass? Does no one else desire to back-hand spring on a tightrope? Someone needs to come up with an all-encompassing spell immediately.

Pinocchio does wait patiently for both men to join him, brushing his hands through the ashen grass. He rips a few blades loose and idly sets to braiding them together.]

It shouldn't be too hard to find. They're all little rocky guys, right? And if it's stranded it'll be stoked to see us.

[He finishes the braid, thinks a moment. Then ties it on the wee miss Adelaine.]

Y'all good? Shall we?

[With an overly pronounced bow and turn of the heel, Pinocchio marches into the grass. His staff swishes over the rushes, clearing the way and stirring up puffs of ash.]

HELLOO-OOOOOOO! GOLEM GUY, MY MAN! WHERE YOU AT?

[ Once everyone is up top, Adelaine skitters over to Declan so he can untie the rope. He ends up tying it around the rock she’d been using to anchor herself so they can have it if they need it. Adelaine also tips her barrel at Pinocchio in some kind of quiet thank you for the little grass braid. She shall cherish it always. ]

I’m ready when you are! How do you suppose we start l– [ looking. There goes Pinocchio, well ahead of (and like ten times louder than) himself and Bricks. He laughs, taking off after the puppet boy. ]

That’s one way to go about it!

June Catch-All/Quest Log

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