1.3 - The Wyr River: Deeper Darkness

"Well, *I* am going to escort Birtwood outside. You are all welcome to come with me as I won't be coming back into the tunnels until I have rested a bit. Vult, if you can blow the portal, I'm all for it.. As I said, what we're looking for is on this side of the portal... and it'll slow this Queen whoever's progress in obtaining the Heart of nothing else..".. And with that, Tara makes sure her gear is stowed and prepares to head to the surface, pausing a moment to see who all is coming before heading out.

Khoren reluctantly holds out the pretty Gravity Bomb for Vult to use, should he need it in destroying the portal. "I don't think Birtwood will fit up the tiny hole to the surface from which you crawled, Tara. But if you know of another exit, please lead."

"Tara, please wait a few minutes. There's some potentially useful Numenera in the commander that we might be able to use." Vult requests politely. "I'll be glad to join you when I'm done, but did you want me to try and sabotage the portal before we left...?" He leaves the question hanging as he starts pulling out tools and looking at the commander's body.

Vult takes the gravity bomb.

"You can gravity bomb the portal for all I care.." and she glances at the Commander "As for it (indicating the commander), drag it with us and you can work on detaching the numenera in the light of day instead of the darkness of this cavern."

Vult replies, pausing for the moment, "Tara, lugging a 350 some-odd pound body isn't easy. I want to get out with you and Birtwood as much as you do, but a little patience would help. Unless you want to help me lug the body, that is."

Tara shrugs then grabs one of the commanders legs and starts dragging it behind her as she heads towards the exit.

"One minute, Tara." Vult says. "There's still the matter of sabotaging the portal. If we're going to do this, assuming the commander wasn't lying, we need to get most everyone away and be ready to run."

"Do it, don't do it. I hardly care. I'm not going near this portal again unless it's to blow it up. I've stated my position and my concerns. Do what you want. I'll be on the surface if you want to discuss this further." and upon saying that Tara lets go of the commanders leg and starts heading to the surface with Birtwood.. and doesn't look back or stop until she gets there.

[OOC: If you hadn't caught on.. I do thoughts as ~text~ in italics.. This post is almost entirely thought]

~If they think I'm going to stay down there and discuss the portal in front of the portal they have another thing coming. It wasn't so bad.. until I fished Utazo from the other side..~ Tara shudders slightly at the thought. ~My hand feeling like it was detaching from my arm.. the.. pulling.. the cold feeling.. It reminds me of stories told around the campfire at night about death and dying. Sure, Utazo saw some amazing things on the other side.. That's nice. I'd prefer to keep my feet a little more on solid ground for now. Besides, I am still interested in recovering the Captains bounty and finding that Assassins Heart.. whatever the hell that is.~ Tara's mask takes on a determined look. She glances over at Birtwood, and that golden metalic thing we saw a glimmer of in his bark. ~No idea what that is.. but the bigger problem is it's like something jumbles everyones thoughts down there. They didn't even tie up the commander, and then got into a tussle giving him a chance to escape? The only other option is that they are all mental.. which after seeing Yui.. wouldn't really shock me, girl is a tad scary sometimes, but I thought Darazen's head was screwed on a little tighter. Well, once we're on the surface, and Birtwood is more at ease and feeling a little stronger, and I can get a better look at that thing in his.. bark. We'll see if anyone else follows me out.. or if I have to start making alternative plans..~

~Darazen sinks into a deep peaceful sleep. His cocoon-like posture is comforting, much like a baby's fetal position in the womb. He is further comforted by the closeness of Yui, and her soft touch beside him. At the periphery of his senses he thinks he hears an argument, but that is nothing compared to the horrors he's witness over the last couple of hours. It is easy to ignore. Darazen has enjoyed a relatively comfortable life, safe in the confines of academic structure, looked after and cared for by his father Zen and his mother Dara. He feels foolish now that he ran away from home... why exactly? Petulance? And now he's caught up in a nightmare, fighting people with no sense of right and wrong. Evil... that's all he can describe them as.

He is floating, feeling is good. His mind replays conversations, the commander, the subcommander... the queen? The queen unclothed with her tight flesh and shapely form... voluptuous, sexy, insatiable... No...NO!... she is evil. She must be stopped.

His mind drags himself back to more pleasant thoughts... a meadow... flowers... blue skies...

The dream continues as Darazen continues to rest...~

(ooc: adopting Tara's suggestion... also see strategy post)

Khoren glances hard at Tara's back, then at Vult by the portal, then Yui and Darazen, and finally Utazo. With a sigh, he picks up the commander's sword, swings it a couple of times, and then sits near Utazo. "Watch out for the Wizen, we'll follow you when we can," he calls to Tara.

~Go through the portal. Go through the portal. Stop it. You have to go through the portal, it's your only shot. Stop it.~

"Ahh.. sunlight.."

Vult sighs as Tara heads to the surface, muttering under his breath, "Why is everyone so impatient." Setting back to work on the commander, he starts extracting Numenera, and then he'll ask everyone else remaining, "Is everyone ok with sabotaging the portal and possibly needing to run like hell?"