Play@YSDC

Rooter wrote:At the mention of food Vincent searches his pockets. The nearest he has among his equipment is a small skin of wine which he proffers as either an offering should the capitaine require it or bait for the docteur's suggestion.

The giant sniffs the air curiously.

"Me. Smell. Drink. Not. See. Where?"

“Ah, old Lepus sees it,” the wanderer mutters as he warily eyes the giant.

“Thou playest the Altumbers into the Ancient One’s maw so that thou can be freed. Denied this, thou chooses yonder brute even though he be blameless, yesno? Such a thing sits ill with old Lepus.”

He straightens up, coming to a decision.

“Come fae lady, let us introduce ourselves.”

Propping the doll up in his pocket so that she can see out, he grins apologetically at his friends, steps out from his hiding place, walks towards Gog and bows.

“We. Get. Food. If you. Lower. Me. In. Black water.”

Henry observes carefully to see how the giant responds.

Squinting at Lepus, Gog shrugs his shoulders and sniffs at the fellow.

"Me. Think. You. Not. Like. Water. But. Me. Take. You."

He lifts Lepus up as if he were no more than a plaything, with surprising gentleness for one of such stature; evidently he means to do no harm to him. In a few booming steps they reach the edge of the water. Gog peers into its depths. The bridge over the ebon pool creaks, set to rocking by the giant's footsteps.

"Water. Bad. Take. Away. Good. Smell. You. Want. In?"

Lepus peers into the water, looking between it and his friends for inspiration. He has no wish to harm the giant, but he knows double-crossing the doll might also have dire consequences.

“You. Good. Man.” he tells Gog as he fishes Poppy out of his pocket. “Spirit. In. Doll. Want. You. In. Water. I. Say. No! I. Go. Instead.”

William does not sheathe his sword yet, but the giant does not seem hostile - indeed almost innocent in his way - so he keeps the blade low and to his side, making no threatening gestures with it. He does think one obvious possibility has been neglected though: "Would it not be better to simply cast doll and spirit into the water, and giveno man's life to it?"

"Indeed," says Henry. "This large fellow has done no wrong that I can see, and that doll has been nothing but trouble."

Whilst this whispered conversation continues, producing a kind of low, whistling echo within the twisting corridors of the cavern, and as Gog scratches his head with a thick, long, filthy fingernail in an evident state of confusion, much of what Lepus has said to him going far over his head, the surface of the black water grows visibly disturbed, as if it contains a large school of fish, either in search of food or, contrariwise, attempting to flee whatsoever would feed upon them. (This is mere conjecture, to be sure, as no such creatures can actually be detected, only the movement of the water.) Deep in what passes for thought within his shaggy head, Gog absently taps one mighty, unshod foot upon the nearest part of the bridge, sending it swaying back and forth, as well as occasionally splashing into the water (which, by the by, may at least partially explain its disturbed condition.)

"What. Me. Do?" Gog makes inquiry thus, evidently having some dim understanding that the small humans within his domicile possess contradictory opinions as to whether Poppy or Lepus should enter the dark waters of the pool, or, indeed, if some other action be taken.

“Old Lepus knows not the true nature of the doll, save she be a powerful fae. By releasing the young mistresses from her thrall, this fool,” he taps his chest, “hath entered into a compact to release her from her prison. The consequences of reneging on the deal would be bad.”

The wanderer sniffs.

“To throw the doll into the water, thou must take her forcibly from old Lepus. ‘tis a shame my grasp be weak...”

"I too lack strength," says Henry, "and Ivan is waiting outside." He turns to the giant and smiles. "I say, you certainly look strong. Can you take that doll away from my friend and throw it in the water?"

Vincent holds up the skin of wine and adds, "If you can you will have good drink, non?"

With a wide grin that reveals many crooked, yellow teeth of unusual size, Gog reaches for the poppet.

"Me. Strong. Like. Drink."

That declaration of pride and desire completed, the giant grips Poppy in his mighty fingers, the way a person of ordinary stature might seize a pin. With a grunt of surprise, as if this seemingly simple task proves more difficult than presumed, Gog pulls at the doll with all his strength, the object in question apparently reluctant to leave its current owner (if that designation be not, indeed, the reverse of the truth.)
With a final effort, the huge muscles of his arm bulging like newly created hills upon the Earth, Gog manages to wrest the doll away from Lepus; the latter-named experiencing a sensation as if a portion of the skin of his hand had been torn away, although there is no such visible damage. The giant peers at the poppet for a moment, apparently deep in thought.
A dazed look comes into his blazing blue eyes. Gripping Poppy close to his hairy chest, he growls at the adventurers and shakes his fist at them.

"You. Bad. Gog. Hurt!"

Groaning in frustration, Lepus pulls at his beard.

“Nay! Now the fae lady commands yon giant! She will compel him to throw us into the water! Least now our compact is broken and not by my design. Ready your magick le sorcier, ready your potion my lord, ready your fists soldier!”

William makes one attempt to talk the giant down, though he tightens his grip on his sword hilt as he does so. "A few moments ago, she demanded we throw you into that water, Gog - she is the bad one here."

"Instead of fighting," suggests Henry quietly, "we should retreat across the bridge. When he tries to follow us, the bridge may break under his weight. If not, William's sword will cut it free. We can always return through the secret passage later."

Lepus capers a little. “Aye, hehe, a canny notion! If we can save the life of the big man, then all the better!”

William retreats across the bridge as Lord Dunwich suggests.

Henry too crosses the bridge after William, trying to time it so that no more than one of them is on the bridge at the same time in case it cannot support both of their weight. "Alea iacta est," he quotes.

This clever strategy being agreed upon by all, the adventurers, one by one, make their way across the swaying wooden bridge, its surface made slippery by fungal growths and the increasingly frenzied agitation of the water.
It is perhaps surprising that the bold man of arms and the wily Gypsy should happen to lose their footing, whilst the scholar and the enchanter make their way to safety. Such are the whims of the Fates. Let us hope that Atropos does not wield her shears.

The unfortunate pair are able to swim out of the black water, but not before an unseen something thrashes at them from below.
Fortunately, whatever it is that attempted to strike at William and Lepus just barely missed them; so closely did its attack come, in fact, that both men felt something touch their bodies, although they were, understandably, too much concerned with reaching dry land to spend much time meditating upon the exact nature of said experience.

Still in an apparent state of blind rage, Gog makes his way over the slime-covered bridge, sending it rocking and swaying in a most alarming manner.
As soon as he sets one giant foot upon the bridge, it collapses with the sound of many trees falling, sending him into the dark water, soon lost to sight. He emerges a moment later, engaged in a strange battle.
The adventurers observe Gog feebly attempting to beat his fists against what appears to be the head of something between fish and serpent, whose fangs are embedded in the giant's arm.
Although the big fellow roars with pain, his injury does not appear at all serious, there being no blood flowing from his flesh.

Cackling with manic glee, Lepus draws his dagger and attempts to strike the aquatic creature.

DEX15,[dice]0[/dice]