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 Out
of the Freezer and onto the Beach
Lurker Wyrm - 11 Aug 2006
A week after the death of Rurik, it was time for the nudist entourage to
continue their quest for the shelter and refuge of Kryta. And a warm climate.
hey
had been planning to stay in Beacon's Perch for no more than a few days. After
the death of Rurik they found it harder to go on than any of them had thought
it would be, so they wound up staying there for almost a week. Not that they just
sat around doing nothing, but they all needed a bit of R&R before continuing
on. Yes, they were close to Kryta, but the Wintersday festivals were still going
on so it would be cold there as well. And loud. And obnoxious. The Dwaynas would
be spreading Wintersday cheer and the Grentches would be trying to sit on their
faces. The Lion's Arch festival was famous for that sort of thing. It was much
too flashy for the simple Ascalonians. Most
of them, anyway. "I
wanna go I wanna go I wanna gooooooooooo!!!!" said Buffy. "But
we still have responsibilities here," said Sanskirt in an attempt to get
some rationality and reasoning across to Buffy. This was a first for both of them.
Sanskirt was the one normally acting like a kid and Buffy the one trying to be
reasonable. But then again, stranger things have happened. "Just
let her go, we can manage without her for a bit," said Angela. No one was
sure whether she was saying that as a vote of confidence for the team, an insult
to Buffy's usefulness (or lack thereof), or that she was just too tired/lazy to
try and argue with someone set in their ways. It was hard to tell with her. "I
just wanna blow stuff up," said Arty for no particular reason. He did that
a lot. "Oh,
ok, fine, have it your way," said Sanskirt, giving in to the peer pressure. "Yay!"
said Buffy, already running for the gate with her faithful Buffycat in tow. "Onward,
Buffycat!" she said as she jumped on the cat's back and flew towards Lion's
Arch. "Will
she even be able to get in?" asked Stargazer, watching Buffy disappear into
the distance. "Sure,
Lion's Arch is left wide open during the Wintersday celebrations, anyone can get
in," said Angela. "My brother Andras used to make the trek there every
year before the Searing happened." "Ok.
Hmm... I wonder why Saberlin's waving at us..." "He
probably wants something. He always wants something," said Sanskirt, sneering
at the commander of the guards. She was right, Saberlin needed their help. "I
need your help," he said. "Joe's been eating all of our food stores.
Since you dealt with Mac's last pet, I was hoping you might deal with this one
as well." Reluctantly
accepting, the team moseys on out to pay Mac and Joe a visit. When they found
him, they discovered he had been expecting them. "I've
been expecting you," said Mac, "and I won't let you go and kill Joe
like you did Bill." "Who
said anything about killing?" Sanskirt replied. "We're just here to
stop a supply thief." "Oh?
Is that so?" "Yeah,
seems as though someone's been taking more than their fair share of meat, causing
some worry among the quartermasters." "Really.
You don't say..." Sanskirt
was enjoying the back and forth that she and Mac had going, and could have kept
going for a good few hours. Vex, on the other hand, had already had enough and
wanted them to stop. "Stop
stop stop stop stop!!!" she said, "why's everyone always gotta do this?" Blank
stares ensued, followed by moments of uncomfortable silence. "I
like fire," Arty said. "Look,"
Mac said, "Joe needs his meat, you know; he's a growing boy and needs all
that protein." "...Ascalonians
don't matter then, as long as your beast gets fed?" asked Angela. "Well,
er, no. That's not what I meant. Aww gee, now you guys have gone done and made
me sad," said Mac, lowering his head as he started to pout. Although it was
hard to tell, even Joe started looking sad, if devourers are capable of such an
emotion. "Is
anyone buying this?" Everyone
within hearing distance shook their head no, including Joe, if devourers are capable
of such a movement. "Ok.
Fine. Don't believe me. Well, if your supplies are so important to you, how about
you do something to help Joe get some meat instead of just complaining about it!" "I
think we've just been suckered." Everyone
within hearing distance nodded their head yes, including Joe, if devourers are
capable of such a movement. Now,
before the story continues, everyone should know that devourers are not very picky
eaters. They'll eat just about anything they can lay their hands on; however,
like all creatures, they have certain foods they're particularly fond of. They
love juniper meat (junipers are small plant-like creatures). As luck would have
it, there was a juniper pack less than a mile away from Beacon's Perch. Needless
to say, Arty had a lot of fun roasting the junipers. Once
Joe had his fill (and then some) of the ever so succulent junipers, he breathed
a happy sigh (if devourers are capable of such an action) and took a nap. "Aww,
look how happy he is," said Joe. "Doesn't he look just like a little
devourer angel?" "Right,
sure he does," said Sanskirt, resuming her normal sarcastic tone. "Hey
look, there's Aidan's pet... what was its name? Snot? Snort? Stupid? Oh well,
it doesn't matter, what's it doing out here?" "I
don't know," said Stargazer, "let's follow it and find out." The
pet led on as they followed, and soon they felt warm air on their skin and the
numbness of their bodies started to fade. They were gaining color once again.
The warmth felt so good that they forgot all about Aidan and his mutt. Were it
not for the crowd of people all around them, they would have forgotten all about
their cares and worries and all that stuff. Seeing the crowd all around them,
they were pulled back down to the reality of the Great Ascalonian Migration. Aidan
had spotted them and was approaching them as though he had something very pressing
on his mind. "You
guys made it? Rats... I mean, that's wonderful!" he said. Unbeknownst to
them, he had a bet with Devona about whether the team would make it or freeze
to death in the mountains. Aidan, being the wilderness savvy ranger that he was,
bet against them. "This works out to our benefit. You see, there's something
very pressing on my mind. We're still finishing preparations for leaving Beacon's
Perch and seeking shelter in Lion's Arch and all that, so we need someone to go
ahead to let them know we're finally almost there. Since you're still alive, it'd
be great if you could do so. Thanks a million guys." And with those words,
he was off. The
entourage stood there stupified for a moment, taking in all that the hapless ranger
had told them. Apparently, while they were out cooking Joe dinner, Saberlin decided
that it was time to move on and get stuff done; stuff being the move to Kryta. Thankfully
leaving the Shiverpeaks behind, they descended the mountains and soon found themselves
on the sandy beaches of Kryta. For most of them, this was the first time they
had felt clean sand and breathed warm, clean air since the Searing. Obviously,
they decided to take a slight pause in their journey and go for a swim and play
in the sand, making castles and watching the waves wash them away. They would
have completely forgotten about their errand to Lion's Arch, but as they least
expected it, they were attacked. At
least they thought they were being attacked. As
it turns out, Buffy was on her way back from the Wintersday festivities and ran
into them. Literally. Arty was knocked out for a good half hour. When
he finally came to, he was lying on the beach with Stargazer sitting nearby, watching
him. "Hey!
He's finally awake!" she said. The rest of the group rejoined their unfortunate
comrade. "Ow..."
he said. "What happened? The last thing I remember, there was this giant
black spot running right at me. I tried to put up some defense, but didn't have
enough time." The move closer to Kryta had been doing him the most good out
of all of them, as he was once again able to form sentences that made sense. Rather,
the warmth had been doing him the most good. Getting clobbered by a teammate who
forgot how to stop her charging pet wasn't doing him much good at all. "Yeah,
I'm really sorry about that one Arty," said Buffy. "Forgive and forget
though, right?" "Now
that he's awake we can get a move on," said Sanskirt. "How much farther
to Lion's Arch is it Buffy?" "Not
too far. But now that the Wintersday celebrations are over, the White Mantle have
resumed their strict watch over the place. We're going to have to get their permission
to enter." "Great.
I'll bet they're stationed inside Lion's Arch as well, making it impossible for
us to get permission to get in, right?" "Well,
yes; but they do have a camp nearby where they've been hunting undead lately.
One of the captains there could write us permission to enter the city." "Oh.
Ok, that should work out then. Let's head over to the encampment then." Everyone
agreed, so they head out to where the White Mantle were hunting undead. Arty was
still having some trouble walking straight, but seemed otherwise fine. | 
