Log Date: 3/24/98 Log Cast: Paul Nighman, Shenneret Veery, Dane Noth, Kairne, Urio'kosh Log Intro: The small band consisting of three Mandalorians and two humans -- one of which is a very young, very exhausted, and very frightened former street thief and pickpocket -- has finally reached the crypt which is their destination. But the achievement has not been without cost. Shenner has felt herself not only growing steadily more panicked by the place, she's found herself starting to see things, too, and furthermore has found her irrational fears locking on Urio'kosh as well as the site of their search. Moreover, they have discovered that the place is riddled with traps -- and Shen and Paul have fallen into a deep dark pit beneath one of the corridors. There, Shenner has discovered to her horror that there are things in the galaxy that can reduce her beloved Paul to a state of gibbering panic as well, and she's found herself forced to conquer her bizarre fits of fear to help herself and the Corellian to escape from the trap, just before the pits walls closed in -- and the route of their escape has taken them through a tight stone tunnel filled with fire. But although they wind up reunited with their companions, their troubles continue. The new place in which they find themselves includes Kairne and Dane, but it also includes Urio'kosh, standing before a globe of some kind, his hands affixed upon it. Both globe and Mandalorian are engulfed in a giant red flame, and although Urio'kosh does not appear to burn, the fire feels to the girl and the xenoarchaeologist like a giant bonfire. Urio'kosh's robes and hair flow through the flame like water. The walls and floors of the new room are getting hotter as well, and weird shadows line the walls.... ---------- Paul Nighman crawls ahead of you toward the crackling fire in the small enclosure. Paul Nighman has left. You crawl through the tight stone enclosure, the heat searing your hands and knees. The flames, however, seem to have abated. Then suddenly the ground beneath you pivots and you hurtle headlong down the tunnel, bursting out into a different room. Crypt - Fire This strange room seems to be made entirely out of the same black stone that the markers were made out of, smooth and seamless with no apparent way out ... not even the way you arrived is evident. The room is shaped in the form of a column, the shaft of which rises high above. In the center of the room is a pillar with a circular globe seated upon it's surface. It seems responsive to your presence, colors and light levels shifting in accordance with proximity and noise levels. The entire room seems uncomfortablly warm, and the temperature seems to be rising steadily. Contents: Paul Nighman Dane Urio'kosh Kairne Paul hits the floor and somehow manages a half decent roll, barking out sharply as he jostles his broken arm. Crouched on the floor, his eyes dazed and frantic, his clothes seared, burnt, and covered in dirt, the Corellian doesn't respond at first. He blinks, turning around, and tries to rise, but his legs don't seem to want to support him. He takes in the people in the room, but his first word is, "Shennnnnn!!" It's enough to make Paul scramble to his feet. Scrambling awkwardly after Paul, as quickly as she can manage on fire-seared palms and only slightly better protected knees, Shenner falls into view shortly after the Corellian. She lets out a breathless shriek, that cuts off abruptly when she collides with the floor. Paul is actively shaking ... but from relief or something else is uncertain. He starts toward Shen then shields himself, looking into the blazing fire and noticing for the first time what is within it. "...Seven -Hells- ....." Dane reaches down to gently lift Shenner up, "Where have you two been?" "Paul," Shenner croaks, her head snapping up, her gaze instinctively seeking the Corellian. As Dane moves to her side, the girl fumbles to grasp his arm, then hisses softly as over-tender, reddened palms brush against the warrior's limb. She, too, is shaking. Her ragged clothes are streaked and blackened all over, singed threads already splitting apart to make holes. But as she takes in the sight of the room, the girl stops cold. Dane gently lifts Shenner up and looks to Paul, "So what now kids?" he smiles slightly and looks to Urio, "We need to get -him- out of there ...whatever there is exactly." There are a million questions, thoughts, images, pouring through Paul's mind ... and he can't seem to utter a single one of them. Taking a deep breath, he closes his eyes for a moment and then opens them again. "What exactly -happened- to him." There is a rough rasp to his voice .... and a slight tremor to his frame. Dane shakes his head slowly and inhales, "I have -no- idea.." he trails off, a look of confusion crossing his face, "Kairne..do you?" Urio'kosh Urio'kosh stands cooly at a height of 5'9". He has long, light brown hair, combed back to form a pony tail. The pony tail is held by a silver plated emblem with some strange archaic etchings upon it. His facial features are pretty much unremarkable, except for his eyes. Large, penetrating, almost mesmerizing, and of an uncanny green coloration, they quickly scan and surmise the area about him. His expression, on most occasions, is of a serious nature. His lips are set firmly, neither in a friendly grin nor in a menacing scowl. A small, well-groomed goatee further accentuates his facial characteristics and expression.$r$tHe wears a white, loose-fitting, long sleeved shirt tucked neatly into a pristine, well pressed pair of white comfortable slacks. The shirt is soft collared and has only three buttons near the top, the top most left puposely unbuttoned. Around his waist he carries a slim black leather belt, fastened together by a sliver buckle. The buckle, upon close inspection, would appear to have the same style etchings as the piece holding his ponytail. Upon his feet, he wears a pair of black, well-polished hard leather boots, the edge of this white pants legs draped fashionably over them. Draped upon his shoulders is a white, large cloack with the cowl pulled back, fastened together over his collar with a small golden chain. Strangely, only on his right hand does he wear a glove. The glove is made of a soft leathery material and is red in color. A small satchel hangs from his right shoulder. His movements as he walks are extremely swift, fluid and purposeful, not one movement unnecessarily wasted. He walks with his head held up, never once looking downwards or to those around him. His stride and walk help to further define his serious nature and no-nonsense attitude. Kairne turns to Dane, "Idea?? ... It resembles the caamora of stories legends past.. But I don't remember clearly those tales..." Dane glances at Kairne, loosening his grip on Shenner a bit to see if the young woman is stable enough to stand on her own, "Well try..we don't seem to have many options here.." Despite the fact that the wall is almost too hot to touch now, Paul leans against it, staring into the flames. "Gods ... out of the frying pan and into the fire ..." he rasps softly to himself. "This is definitely -not- good," announces the Corellian, showing a massive aptitude for stating the obvious. His eyes are then drawn to the shadows on the wall, narrowing as he begins to see something ... almost .... Shenner seems to have her feet, but she barely notices Dane's slackening grasp, gaping as she is at Urio'kosh's flame-enwrapped form. Not liking this in the slightest, she swallows hard, feeling a knot of fear threaten to coalesce in her knot. "Paul," she croaks again, and turns to move to him, needing to hold him, and whoever sees her be damned. Kairne stares at Dane, "It was so long ago.. it was the trial of flesh and spirit against fire through grief.... But this is so.. different.." Kairne tries to focus on Urio, not sure what has become of the man." Without even realizing it, the Corellian starts to walk forward, oblivious to Shen's approach, as he stares at the shadows. He steps closer and closer to the red flame, as if looking through it to the shadows on the other side, his attention sharp and fixed intently. Softly he rasps, "Fire and -flesh- ...." as if discovering hidden treasure, and one hand reaches out toward the flame. Shen stumbles to an uncertain halt by Paul, frowning, muttering, "Paul... what is it? Hey, Paul...?" She squints exhaustedly up at the man, then follows his gaze's path, trying to figure out what he's talking about, and reeling. One moment they were about to get crushed in that trap back there, and now...? Dane shakes his head and follows behind the two, "Damn it..I knew this was going to get worse.." he starts to look at the shapes the flames are making again and look to Kairne, "Why is it different?" You feel an irrestible urge drawing you to the orb, which glows cooly, gently, beckoning you like a waterfall or a still perfect pond... Paul hisses and withdraws his hand from the burning heat, taking several steps back from the flame. His gaze shifts to Kairne and Dane, their words having penetrated his conciousness. "Yes ... yes that's it," he murmurs with an emphatic nod. Shenner's green gaze slides inexorably towards the orb which has transfixed Urio'kosh, her expression beginning to shift; uncertainty flickers across her eyes, but oddly, so does a bit of yearning. "What is that thing...?" she whispers. The room about you grows hazy, soft, the others fading into the background and the globe urges you to come ... a cooling balm against the heat burning your slender frame. *Come .... come .... touch ..... safe .....* Kairne moves about the room to where Paul is, "Could it be?" His eyes turn to Dane, seeking an answer from him. Dane shakes his head, "I have no idea Shenner.." The redheaded girl stands there for a few moments, her gaze still on the orb and the young Mandalorian still touching it, along with the eldritch flames blazing about him. As Kairne and Dane speak, she doesn't seem to catch their exchange; instead, a kind of tranquility beginning to steal over her dirty face, she steps towards the orb. "It's the door," Paul rasps ... each room so far is a test ... where Shen and I just were and now this ..." The Corellian's voice trails off uncertainly as he watches Shen slowly walking forward. When she enters into the flame unflinchingly, Paul hollers, "No!" and surges forward. The peace is only a arms length away ... the orb swirling and offering relief. *Come ... touch .... escape ... be free .....* She'd... been frightened, before, hadn't she? Shenner passingly considers this, acknowledging the memory, even as it fades in importance and immediacy. Somewhere in the back of her mind she registers Paul's voice shouting, but that, too, seems strangely distant. Her eyes taking on a dreamy vacancy, she lifts her scorched palms, oblivious to their still stinging pain, and reaches out for the fascinatingly glowing object before her. It's... pretty.... Dane blinks as Shenner starts into the orb, a hand reaching for her in an attempt to stop her before she goes in.. Kairne turns to where Paul is screaming, seeing Shenner inside the flame, grabbing for the mysterious orb. "Shenner..." As the girls hand's make contact, it causes an unexpected reaction ... Urio's gaze shifts, his eyes silver. His mouth opens to speak, his hands lifting from the orb and reaching for Shen when suddenly there is a tremendous explosion. The flame goes ice white, Urio being thrown from the center along with everyone else and the blast waves shoots from the orb in a circle, leaving only Shen unaffected. Dane gets flung back from near the fire and tumbles across the floor for a few feet. For a moment he just lays there singed and in pain alowing his vision to clear. Slowly he looks up and tries to guage the condition of everyone else..namely Shenner... As you touch the globe, you feel calm, safe, and peaceful ... but after a moment there is a strange stain to the image, as if blood were leaking into a pool of water, darkening and disturbing the water. There is suddenly a surge of power beneath your hands which as nothing to do with you, but surrounds you, engulfs you ... it's a pure and bloody rage and explodes, and you sense everyone around you being scattered about in all directions. Shenner stirs, blinking a few times, her dreamy expression yielding to a worried frown. "Paul?!" she calls out, her hands lifting up off the orb. She looks around wildly, left, right, and then left again. For the moment, Shenner is hidden in the blaze of the flame. Urio's form is crumpled, unmoving, against one wall. Paul is also lying against the opposite wall, still as death, Kairne next to him, lying in a silent lump. You see the figures scattered about, Dane rising up the rest on the ground. The line of Paul's form looks frighteningly unnatural. Dane pushes himself up to his knees and takes a painful breath...for a the next few moments he simply watches Shenner. "Paul?!" Shenner shrieks again, abruptly stumbling forth out of the flame that had surrounded her, her eyes wide and wild, her face turning ashen. "K'chaiya? Ke awen maxx? PAUL!" She immediately staggers to Paul's silent form. As you draw closer to Paul, gazing down at him, you see his eyes ... hazel and open .... and as still as his frame. Their unseeing gaze pinions you, the light within them gone. Dane pushes to his feet, using his rifle as a lever and starts over to Kairne..his gaze drifting between his fallen friends and the miraculously unhurt woman tending to Paul. Gently he check Kairne's pulse and murmurs, "Time to wake up old friend." Shenner stops dead before she kneels by Paul, her hands flying up to press her knuckles to her mouth in a look of abject horror. She starts shaking her head back and forth, slowly at first, then vehemently. A moan begins to build in her throat. "NoooOoOooooo..." Urio's eyes flicker open, but the younger Mandalorian simply lies there, his pale gaze confused and disoriented. He slowly tries to sit up, but can't seem to focus himself beyond that simple effort. Dane sighs and checks Kairne over for any wounds, glancing up at Urio, "Still alive?" Blinking dazedly, Urio peers at Dane, but is clearly distracted by the anguished keening emanating from the girl. He shifts, getting to his hands and knees before raising up slowly, using the wall to support him, hissing softly at the burning heat at his back. "W-where the hell are we?" Shenner seems to hear nothing of Dane's murmurs to the others; she seems to see nothing of either his stirrings or those of Urio'kosh. Heartsick, horrorstruck, the redheaded girl falls to her knees by Paul's silent form. She awkwardly moves first his right leg and then his unbound arm, apparently in an effort to straighten out his body, and then she passes a trembling hand over his eyes. Then she begins to rock back and forth on her heels, shaking her head violently all the while, moaning, "No.... noooOOoOooo... NOOOOO!" Blood trickles from Paul's mouth and nose, the angle of his neck suspiciously unnatural. The heat continues to rise all about you, licking at your flesh and soul. Dane slowly stands again after making sure Kairne is on his back, "In a trap..." he starts over towards Paul and Shenner, the wailing he's heard before and many a time at that but he can't hide the concern on his face as he approaches the fallen man. Paul appears to be unconcious, but if there is anything else wrong with him, it's certainly not apparent. There are no twisted limbs or obvious bleeding. Dane kneels and examines Paul for a few moments, not letting the cries of the girl distract him. After a bit he shakes his head, "He's just knocked out Shenner..quiet yourself.." Dane approaches and crouches next to you and Paul's still form. Looking down in horror, Dane's eyes raise to yours as he whispers in a horrified tone, "What have you done??" Still, Shenner reaches with frantically trembling hands to clumsily move the Corellian's head in the same way she'd done his limbs. Tenderness and anguish, razor-edged and searing, blaze out of her expression; her mouth moves in a barely audible mutter of "I-isa... isa chaiya ke amor" -- before Dane's arrival makes her look up. And horror slashes anew across her features. In Basic, she blurts out in panic, "I... I didn't...!" Dane looks into the young woman's eyes some sympathy there in but also a hardened resolve to survie this hell spawned trip, "You didn't what?" Dane's eyes narrow to cruel slits. "You did Shen ... you -killed- him ... when you stepped into the light, you triggered an explosion ... it's just a miracle you didn't kill -all- of us." He turns to Paul then, sighing deeply as pushes your hands away. "Just ... just don't touch him, alright? You've done enough." "NOOOOOOO!" Shenner howls in what can only be terror, desperately flailing her hands more or less in Dane's direction. "I... no! It's not my fault! I-I didn't mean it, oh gods no, Paul...! PAUL!" She flings herself towards the Corellian's chest, then. Dane grabs Shenner's shoulder and pushes her back upm, "Careful!..he's still hurt from before you can't lay on him like that Shenner." he keeps a firm hold on her "Now tell me what you're talking about...." Urio'kosh slowly staggers over toward the clustered group, his gaze strangely innocent and open. He slowly levers himself down, peering at Shen in confusion, but noting, "She sounds delusional ..." Dane nods in agreement, "Still..after all of the wierd things I've seen today I want her to answer me..." Dane grabs you roughly, one hand cracking sharply across your features, you cheek stinging from the abuse and your head reeling. "Oh stop it ... it's a little too late to be sorry -now-, isn't it?" Suddenly Urio'kosh, with pale green eyes and a vicious face not his own snarls, "You stupid little bitch ... I -knew- we shouldn't have brought you along ... I almost had us free of this trap before you ruined everything. Now it's too late ... we're gonna die. We're all gonna die!" Shenner's head snaps back for no apparent reason, almost as if she's been struck. "NooOOOoooo... it's not my fault... not my fault... Paul..." Her voic starts dropping in volume and she starts curling up into a ball, shying back from Dane's hands, shuddering frenetically. Urio'kosh touches Shen's shoulder in a surprisingly gentle gesture. "Shhhh, girl, control yourself." Dane seems a bit surprised at this -new- Urio...and definitely untrusting as the look on his face suggests, "Shenner..calm down..you couldn't have done this..." Urio whirls you up to your feet and turns you about. "Oh no? Well let me show you the error of your ways .... thought you should come along, help him, protect him? Well job well done, m'dear!" Before your eyes you see yourself, walk into the flames ... as you hands touch the globe, Paul leaps after you, screaming out your name in horror. You turn back, smiling at him as your palms make contact, energy bursting from you in a radius, tossing everyone away like leaves. In agonizing detail, Paul flips slowly back, whirling until he crashes against the wall, ribs snapping and puncturing his lungs. The Corellian would have screamed, but there is no air to do so, just enough to rasp and sputter in anguish, falling to the ground with a sickening *snap* of his neck to end the torment. From Urio'kosh's touch as well Shenner flinches, even as she scrambles to her feet, her gaze whipping around to the orb in the middle of the chamber. She physically jerks, winces, and then crumples to her knees, her arms wrapping about herself in reflexive panic. The denial in her expression drains away, leaving a heartsick void in her eyes, and she whimpers, "'Msorry... s-sorry... 'msorry Paul... I'm sorry...!" Dane looks to Urio and shrugs..this isn't something he's had to deal with before and it's starting to show, quietly he murmurs, "We need to get her to relax and then work on getting us out of here." Rising up Urio turns to Dane, eyes free of their usual malice. "What do you propose? It's getting hotter by the minute ... I can feel the floor burning my shoes ... we're going to cook ourselves to death ..." Dane shakes his head and starts towards the orb, "Well this seems to be the key.." The flame still rises, surrounding the orb and shooting upward, and Urio can only watch in surprise as Dane actually approaches it. The heat is intense, the flame licking the air hungrily. Shenner hunkers over forward, head down, into a fetal, quivering ball. Apparently oblivious to the increasing heat of the floor beneath her, she mumbles over and over, "'Msorry... 'msorry... my fault... stupid stupid street rat.... 'mso sorry k'chaiya... Paul..." Dane frowns and shakes his head...his gaze searching the room again. You hear sizzling, like meat over a fire, and smell the hideous acrid scent of charring flesh. Turning about, you can see that Paul's body has caught, and is ablaze and burning furiously. Shenner lifts her head and peers around at Paul's unmoving form, her features crumpling, eyes beginning to brim with tears. She starts rocking back and forth where she's huddled there on the floor. The only thing strange about the room, other than -everything- are the shadows on the wall. They continue to morph and shift, creating patterns that almost seem to be something more, but the images changes too quickly for the casual eye. Dane looks again at the forms noticing that they seem to form patterns he stares at one particualr one for a while in an attempt to make out what exactly it is...He seems to be focusing on this for now.. Slowly, to the focused gaze, the images coalesce into an image of a circular form and what looks like a hand, reaching through a barrier to make contact. It slips away like smoke, only to repeat itself again. Shenner continues to stare at Paul's silent body, agonized and grief-stricken of expression, eyes blurred with tears. Slowly she wobbles to her knees once more, still mumbling raggedly, "'Msorry... so sorry... so stupid..." And her hand moves mechanically to the blaster holstered on her right thigh. Lifting it. Towards her head. Dane hrms and doesn't like that one bit. He glances at his gloved hand and -hopes- that he's about to do the right thing.."Okay I have an idea.." he glances at Urio and starts towards the orb again..'I only hope I'm right..." he moves up to the orb and reaches out with his off hand, bracing himself against the heat.. Urio'kosh gasps, grabbing the weapon quickly from the girl with one hand and backhanding her with the other. "Go," he barks to Dane, "I'll make sure she's alright ... there's no time to lose!" You lift the weapon to your head and feel a blinding pain fling you down. It's clear now that you're dead, as you lie there. What else could have happened? Dane nods and thrusts his hand into the fire to grasp the orb..taking it into his hand he hopes.. Shen crumples over backwards as Urio'kosh strikes her, her head lolling. As Dane slips his hand closer to the orb, he enters into the flame. The pain is unbelievable. Excrutiating. And while Dane's nerves scream in agony as they burst into flame, it is clear that nothing is actually burning ... no smoke rises, the flesh does not char. But the mind howls that it is on fire fire FIRE! Urio leans over Shen, lifting her up and shaking her hard. "Wake up girl, don't be a fool!" Dane grits his teeth, trying to use the martial training whipped into his mind and body since he was old enough to walk..trying to force himself to continue on despite the searing pain coursing throughout his body..with a growl he perseveres and tries to lift the orb up from it's craddle. There is a cruel and evil laugh, and Shen feels herself lifted up, her emerald gaze meeting Urio's pale green one. His face is twisted and distorted and with vicious ominous tones he hists, "Meddle not with me child, lest I crusy your pathetic soul. If you dare step between what is mine, this nightmare will be yours to cherish, and death will not save you from it!" Shen's only response to Urio'kosh is a faint whimpering groan, her body slack in his grip, her head rolling from side to side as he shakes her. As the globe is touched, there is suddenly a ceasation of pain, a cool soothing balm flowing through Dane's frantic nerves instead, easing the abused passageways. The others, the fire, the heat, all fade away to nothing ... there is only peace and calm and coolness. Urio sighs, glancing up at Dane for a moment, his face wincing as he can feel burns starting to form. "Damnit girl, snap out of it!" he barks, swinging his hand across Shen's face once again. Dane blinks slightly and continues to hold the orb..slowlyit starts to sink in and he starts to concentrate on the orb..his fingers running along it's outer surface..at first he wills the fire to stop..just like those heroes in all the stories he heard as a child..he wills with all his might for the heat to die down so that his friends will survive..continuing to focus on this he lifts the orb into his hands and gazes down at it.. Suddenly you find yourself in Urio'kosh's arms, your mind reeling and exhausted. Your cheeks are burning ... and so, it seems, does the rest of you. The last thing you recall is reaching for Paul ... Shenner's eyes come half-open, and she croaks tinily, "P-paul...?" As Dane stands there, his face knit in deep concentration, the flame about him shifts in hue, from red to blue .... and with it there is a sudden and palpable shift in the temperature of the room. The floor begins to rumble as there is a sudden sound of rushing water, followed immediately by the bright fierce hissing of steam. The floor shimmies and then slowly starts to rise upward along the column of the room. Dane continues to concentrate..hoping to all the gods that this is actually working and not another hallucination..not wanting to open his eyes he keeps them shut tight and waits for the world to stop moving.. Urio'kosh releases the girl, but still keeps a hold on her weapon. He rises up, watching the walls creep by and sitting down in sudden exhaustion. Shen looks disorientedly up, then jerks back away from Urio'kosh, yelping breathlessly in a surge of nervous reaction to him. It then sinks in to her that the floor is... rising, and the next thing that flashes into her thoughts is a frantic _Paul?!_ She looks around wildly, and the moment she spies Paul, she scrambles unsteadily to him. Perhaps it is the motion ... or the change in temperature ... or maybe it's just the passage of time. Paul's eyes blink open, staring muzzily as the ceiling grows closer and closer and then stops. With a groan he rolls over onto his good side and rests for a moment. He honestly wonders how much more his body can handle before it just snaps in two. Dane opens one eye slowly and peers around..then the other as he tries to guage exactly what's happening..what a day... Shenner lets out a soft, strangled little cry, and pulls Paul up into her arms, feeling nothing but an inexplicable frantic urge to hold him that begins to ebb as she touches him. She croaks out his name, and rests her cheek against his hair, trembling. The ceiling is now not only visible, but merely a foot above, should Dane stretch up his hand. Urio is seated on the floor looking dazed and confused, Paul is now concious ... barely, and Shen is pressed against him. Kairne is the only one who remains unmoved. The most noticeable changes are that the room is now cool, and there is an opening in the wall that was out of sight and out of reach before. [To be continued....]