The Dangers of Hauteflamme Volcano

[The Mood is Write]

For two months, Hauteflamme Volcano's crater has glowed red against swirling dark clouds. Now, after multiple others have died entering this place, another group makes ready to try to solve its mysteries. Is the staff used by the Hero of Light to seal the Great Evil breaking? Are the local monsters doing something horrific?

It's up to a disgraced servant, a pudgy bard hidden under a hood, and a mysterious older lightblood healer woman to solve its mysteries, flee in shame, or die trying.

Spoiler

Make a profile for the bard and lightblood.

 

[EquinoxSol]

Thierry Baudin

Character Sheet

 

[The Mood is Write]

"We're nearly there." The pudgy scholar puffed as he scrambled onto the ledge above. He was round, with a face hidden by a deep hood, though occasionally blond hair peeked out from it. He wore primarily dark reds, in a combination of fashionable and utility wear, and wasted no time on silly things like frills. Instead, he invested in a sturdy back-pack, on which was strapped many water skins. He looked around at the entrance to the most foreboding-looking cave on the mountain, then forcibly pulled his eyes away from some clearly-human remains with a soft mutter of disgust and sadness.

He took a long breath, then let it out with a shudder. "Are you ready? We can't rest now that we're here. It's too dangerous..." He trailed off as he heard a howl from some distance.

"I know." The older woman said. "It's more dangerous here than it's ever been." She squinted up at the clouds above with pale blue eyes; the clouds were lit by pulsing red light from the volcanic crater. "Are you sure you want to come? I've been here before too, and I can guide just as well as you can." She spoke with gentle words to the pudgy man who bent over, resting hands on knees as he caught his breath. "It's not too late for you to turn back."

"No-" He sighed. "I need to do this." He forced a smile. "I'll be fine, Mademoiselle."

The woman's voice went cold. "You will be the first to die, you know." She absently ran a hand along her book.

"Then I'll just have to buy you some time, won't I?"

She shot him a disapproving glance, then looked toward Thierry. "You try convincing his royal lardship."

The fat man rolled his eyes. "If we have time to be noisy, we have time to advance." He stepped toward the cave entrance, then looked in, only to yelp and withdraw, eyes wide as he stared at a corpse that was just inside. Unlike the others, it wasn't gnawed. Her face, hair, and even the white robes and her magic book were intact. Her backpack was still strapped to her back, and she stared forward with dead eyes.

"Oh, Light... That's Irena..." The man choked.

 

[EquinoxSol]

It had been quite the trip to the cave's entrance, but Thierry and his companions had gotten there nearly unscathed. Now, as they stood at the cave's mouth, their objective felt more real than it ever had before. They were going into a cave within the Hauteflamme volcano. There was a possibility that none of them would survive this. And, if they did fail, what if the seal the Hero of Light had left broke?

As the man and the woman argued for a moment, Thierry took it as a chance to sit down and catch his breath. He had never had to climb a mountain like this before, and it was taking the wind out of him. He shook his head when the woman suggested that he try and reason with the bard, not about to get into that argument again. If the man wanted to come and get himself killed, it was his choice. At least, his death would buy him and the woman some time to get away. Grim, perhaps, but they didn't have much of a choice when they were going into a cave with bones decorating its mouth.

Thierry stood up, turning to watch the man as he approached the cave. He didn't get far, however. "Who's Irena?" Thierry asked, moving so that he was standing next to the other man. "Oh..." he mumbled when he saw the body. "Was...she your wife...?" He looked up at the man, hoping that this wouldn't ruin their chances of surviving.

Tearing his gaze away from the body, he said, "We've got to...keep going. It's too dangerous to stay here..." He looked up at the man, hoping that he saw reason and agreed to keep going.

 

[The Mood is Write]

"No, not my wife..." He took a shaky breath. "Remember how I said I came here before? She's one of the ones who came with me..." The tubby scholar hugged himself and shook his head. "Right. Let's go. It's no safer in there than out here, but the quicker we are, the less chance of... of horrible things happening, I think." He began to lead the way inside. "The way there is pretty straightforward." The young man's voice shook, but he walked past the dead woman. "After we've seen what the problem is, we can..." He swallowed. "We can collect at least the body of the Baron who came with me the first time."

Though he trembled, he entered the cave, and it felt like a noose closed around his neck. The heat was worse than before, and he was thankful he brought boots with such thick soles.

The older woman sighed. "At least tell Thierry who you are before we go any further."

The scholar paused, then shook his head. "No." He continued deeper, and the woman hurried to catch up with a quiet curse.

"You're as stubborn as-" She cut off, then grumbled quietly.

The inside of the cave opened up quickly, leaving only a thin walkway towards a dark doorway ahead. Below, all was darkness.

"Remember, no lights." The scholar murmured.

 

[EquinoxSol]

Thierry followed the two inside, quickly feeling the cloistering heat suffocating him. He focused on taking deep breaths as he tugged at the collar of his tunic, sweat beading on his forehead. Wiping at it with his sleeve, he placed a hand on the wall of the cave, even as it heated his hand to an uncomfortable temperature. Still, it gave him something tangible to hold on to.

He glanced up when the woman told the man to tell him who he was, his dark eyes scanning over the both of them for a long second. Now, he was curious. Scowling when the pudgy man told them no, he shook his head and continued forward, his clothes sticking to his skin already.

As they walked, the cave soon opened up, and Thierry found himself peering into the darkness for a couple seconds, trying to see what it was in the cave beyond the walkway. He eventually closed his eyes for a long moment before he kept walking, feeling himself pale a bit, even with the heat, when he saw the doorway.

Thierry looked behind him for a second, towards the cave's entrance. It was a final, last chance to back out, to run away to the city once more and get some job on the docks or even become a beggar if he had to--anything besides dying inside some dark door in a cave in the volcano.

Still, he forced himself to face forwards, to step towards the door again. Feeling a bit sick to his stomach, he echoed the woman's reminder, "No lights..." He took a deep breath, shivering despite the stifling heat. "There...isn't any turning back now..."

 

[The Mood is Write]

The pudgy man grunted quietly, then stepped through the maw of a doorway, into a larger room that tilted downward. At the bottom, a chasm glowed. There was no visible way forward from this angle, but the scholar didn't hesitate. "Watch your footing." He murmured as he moved carefully forward. "One wrong step, and you'll fall." The very word 'fall' sounded like a death sentence, especially with the glow from below, like they were entering some sort of hell.

The woman frowned as she stared out over the chasm. "There used to be a bridge..." She sighed, then shook her head. "And this room was lined with torches... but I guess it's not safe enough even this close to the entrance." She hugged herself, then waited for Thierry to take the middle position. "You go ahead. I'll take the back so I can see you both if I need to use my book."

As she spoke, the scholar reached the edge, then turned around a corner before he looked back.

Even in the dim light, it was hard to miss that he was already sweating, and his clothes were wilting against his body. "Are you coming?" His voice shook with fear, despite how certain he had been until now.

 

[EquinoxSol]

Thierry stared apprehensively down at the glow that illuminated the chamber, swallowing thickly. He wiped his brow as he watched the larger man approach the edge, thinking, 'At least if he goes without trouble, I know that my weight won't make it break...'

At the woman's prompting, he took the middle position, shaking just a little bit. He took deep, slow breaths, tugging nervously at his collar in an attempt to cool himself down. "C-coming," he said, stepping behind the man. Still, there was no way he would get on that tiny walkway with him; what if it crumbled under their combined weight and he fell to his death? Thierry didn't know much about volcanoes, but he knew enough to understand that a red glow inside one probably was lava.

"You...you go across first," he told the man. "So we know how much weight this holds. I-it...makes sense, right? If it holds you than it must hold me and the mage? And...if it doesn't, then...then only one of us dies...?" He glanced back at the woman, hoping that she would support him. "Right?"'