Let's Go Steal a Dungeon (MotBM IC/Campaign Log)

"Uh, I'll come grab it, actually," Alabaster says, "I should probably take a moment to sit and catch my breath, anyways."

 

Lyriae pinches the bridge of her nose. "Okay, I may be misunderstanding here," she says slowly. "Are you guys just going into the prison room to study it or what the fuck ever? 'Cause that's probably safe, so yeah, you wouldn't need anything. But I thought Alabaster was suggesting you go through the open door—" she points at the painting to indicate exactly which one she means— "and into the Maze full of monsters. Which is not safe, at least not for spur-of-the-moment magical exploration."

 

"Well, I'm sure there's a lot to study in the maze, too." Liron said as she went to the corner where she'd put her pack and opened it to check that everything was still there. "But we probably should work out a set of procedures and general plan for that part. Presuming that it's name isn't being figurative about calling it a maze, I'd suggest using the right hand rule for navigating it, unless or until we find a map."

 

As Lyriae and Liron argue, something flutters into the prison through the open door.

Those on the other side of the painting only see a moving dot, if they take note of it at all. Alabaster sees a gleaming, scintillating hummingbird. It's a surreal sight, as if some dwarven masterwork had taken flight and developed a taste for nectar. It hovers in the doorway, beating wings of emerald and sapphire, flashing its rubied throat.

 

Alabaster the eternally optimistic about hummingbirds offers it an extended finger if it wants to perch.

 

The hummingbird swoops in closer -- close enough for the paladin to see that no, that can't be colored glass, it seems to be made of impossibly thin layers of actual gemstones -- then just as rapidly darts out of reach, zipping back and forth through the doorway.

 

The moment Alabaster spoke up in favor of more exploration, Sarnai squealed in excitement and ran off to grab those extra supplies before anybody got cold feet. Colder feet. Do dragonborn have cold feet? Easier enough to get her own things, she knew where she'd put them, but Alabaster's...?

 

"...Right," says Lyriae slowly, thinking over what Liron just said. "Okay, well. I suggest we do the Maze planning overnight and wait at least until the morning, but even if you're just going to be in the prison cell, you... probably should have someone standing guard." She reaches for her pack, swings it on in one practiced motion, and draws her left-hand sword. "And fuck knows none of the rest of you would notice if a sodding dragon broke down the cell door, so I'll do it." She reaches out and touches the painting with her right hand.

 

Spoiler: Lyriae

The colors wash over you and vanish. You are standing inside a large room of red stone, looking at Alabaster and a curious hummingbird.

"I can stand watch out here," Chanterelle offers. She glances nervously around. "How safe is this place?"

 

Liron stood, shouldering their pack. "It should be pretty safe! I mean, this is where we came to lay low after stealing you. I mean, stealing your painting. Not stealing you of course, because stealing a person isn't stealing, it's abduction, and that's definitely not what any of us planned to do. By the way, would you be willing to answer some questions about all this once we get back? After spending so long there, your perspective on that pocket dimension would be invaluable for future research!" They pause for a minute and wince at themselves. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to pressure you about it, and you definitely don't have to talk about the imprisonment parts, but anything you could tell me about your observations would be fantastic and- oh! Something found Alabaster!"

 

"Yes, I found Alabaster's pack," Sarnai confirms as she approaches the others still outside the painting, hauling two peoples' worth of things and a little clumsy as a result. She looks to Chanterelle first, and says "You're probably starving after however long you've been in there, and I don't know if there's any viable food in the cabinets here... Would you like a ration to munch on while we look around? They're nothing great, but they're better than moldy crackers!"

 

"I suppose I could," Chanterelle says to Liron. "What is it?"

She turns to look at Sarnai. "Oh, thank you. The workings of my body were suspended somehow in the prison, but now that you mention it, I am hungry."

 

"It looks like a sort of hummingbird, I think. I can't tell if it's an illusion from out here though, so it could just as easily be some sort of monster." Liron looked away from the painting and back at Chanterelle, their interest once again piqued. "Really? Do you know how that worked? Was it a spell on you or your chains, or was it part of prison or even the dimension itself?"

 

Lyriae blinks the colors from her vision, orients herself, and immediately draws her other sword. "Alabaster," she hisses, "what the fuck is that? Please tell me you're magicking it up yourself. Or at least that you know what it is. Shit," she says, mostly to herself, and yells as loudly as she can, "Guys! People outside the painting! There's a weird-ass kinda little bird in here and it looks magical! Do any of you know what it might be?"

 

Alabaster starts towards the door after the hummingbird, reconsiders, then turns towards Lyriae as she enters via the paining. "No idea what it is. Looks jeweled."

 

"Like, made of jewels?" Lyriae repeats dubiously, squinting at it. "Right. So it's magical, then? Don't get closer to it," she adds preemptively; Alabaster's behavior thus far has not left her with a positive impression of their survival instincts.

 

"I have no knowledge of this creature," Chanterelle says. "Would it not be better if I were to answer your questions after you investigate it?"

As if in response to Lyriae's warning, the hummingbird darts through the door and does not reappear.

 

Determined to do all the responsible mannerly things so she can get going without any guilt nagging at her, Sarnai digs around in the packs for a ration. Her own pack, not Alabaster's, of course. By the time she tosses one to Chanterelle, and looks up to see what Lyriae and Alabaster are going on about, the colorful motion at the edge of the painting disappears.

"Oh, no! Some kind of illusion or construct, and I missed it?! That's it, no more dallying around." Sarnai shoulders the packs again, and pushes at the painting in an attempt to enter.

 

Without any fuss, Sarnai joins Lyriae and Alabaster in the prison.

Chanterelle nibbles at a hardtack biscuit with appreciation out of all proportion to the quality of the food. ((Imagine the strawberry scene in the Firefly pilot episode.)) It's reasonably distracting.

 

"Oh, right! Things! Painting! Going! And thank you, Chanterelle, both for your answers and your assistance in standing guard." Liron bows slightly to the woman, pulls out her notes and pen and goes through the portal