>>41326952
You see a hooded figure lying facedown next to a large, strange-looking crystal. It's an off yellow color, incredibly bright, and it appears to have a few cracks in it. This one almost appears to be losing its shine, compared to the other crystals. Earka's gathering knife is lying a good ways away from his hand. You're really unsure of what happened here, and there's not too much time left to really try and figure it out. But...

>...you hurry and carry Earka out of there, shouting that you've found him.
>...you check Earka and try to get him up, but leave him if he won't.
>...you leave that bastard where he is and get the fuck out with Teomo.

>>41327000
Damn. It probably isn't a trap? But still. Grab his knife and shout for help before going near him?

>>...you hurry and carry Earka out of there, shouting that you've found him.

>>41327000
>...you hurry and carry Earka out of there, shouting that you've found him.

>>41327000
>>...you hurry and carry Earka out of there, shouting that you've found him.

>>41328392
>>41329700
>>41329725
You approach him cautiously, watching him for movements the entire time'
"Teomo, I found him! He's unconscious!"
You hope he can hear you from this distance.

Reaching down, you grab his knife, and look it over. Nothing strange. It's got a bit of fluid from the mushrooms on it, though. You pocket it and reach down to pick him up, but as you do, you hear a shout from the distance. "I'm coming!" You turn to look for him, and you can pick him out in the distance, running towards you as fast as he can. Good.

As you turn around to pick Earka up, you hear a grunt. Before you can see what he's doing, you hear a shifting noise from his direction, and instinctively jump away, and as a result, something hits you across the face. "Agh!" Reeling from pain, you try to get to your feet. You touch your face, and find that you're bleeding a little.

"I only wanted to have to hit you once, kid. Hold still." Earka is standing at this point, and looks directly at you. He's wearing a thick, black gas mask that covers the majority of his face, and his hood is off, revealing long, flowing blonde hair. "Hold still or I'm going to keep missing."

Of course, you try to scramble away, but you end up backing into a mushroom. It's at this point that you realize that the room is getting very bright, and you're not covering your face anymore. Everything's starting to get fuzzy, and you can't get a firm enough grip on the knife in your pocket to try and stab him.

"Ah, the gas is working." As your vision starts to blur, and your consciousness wanes, he steps closer and closer, and drops the rock to his side. "I'd let it do its job, but I really cannot be too safe with you. Or the other kid, for that matter." The last thing you see before you black out is his foot flying towards the side of your head.

[cont.]

>>41330720
When you wake up, you find yourself in a dimly lit room with a simple, fourlegged round wooden table in the center. The only familiar sight in there is the bottle Earka gifted to you. Looking around, you can see a door with a barred window-hole at face-height. You also notice that you're tied to a chair and your head hurts like crazy.

>Struggle. [1d20]
>Wait.
>Shout for help.

>>41330748
The only familiar sight in there is the bottle Earka gifted to you, placed in the table's center.*

>>41330748
That fucker.

>Wait

What'd we accomplish once rope-free, knock on the locked door?

Rolled 9 (1d20)

>>41330748
>>Struggle. [1d20]

>>41330748
>>Wait.
Feign still being asleep.

Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>41330748
>Struggle. [1d20]

Rolled 1 (1d2)

1
>>41330837
>>41331164

2
>>41331000
>>41331365

ROLLING

>>41331365
>>41331164
>>41331000
>>41330837
>Wait.

You wait, and pretend to still be asleep. It's about ten, maybe fifteen minutes that you sit there all y yourself. Everything's quiet, until you start to hear footsteps coming from the distance. It sounds like someone walking on a metal floor. Wherever you are, you clearly haven't been here before. The door creaks open, and the footsteps stop. "Hello, Ilafi." It's Earka. "You're not asleep." Says who, though? You elect to keep your eyes shut, head tilted to the side.

"Fine, be that way." He steps closer, and you can sense him standing close-sh to you. Maybe just out of arm's reach? "I know you have questions, boy. Stop with the act and talk to me."

>Remain uncooperatively unconscious.
>Open your eyes, but only to glare at him.
>"Where's Teomo?"
>"Where are we?"
>Write in.

>>41332187
>>Remain uncooperatively unconscious.

>>41332187
>>Open your eyes, but only to glare at him.

>>41332187
>Remain uncooperatively unconscious.

Currently eating. Next post in a bit.

>>41332253
>>41332726
>>41332795
>Remain uncooperatively unconscious.

You continue to appear asleep. He's probably not falling for it, but at least he's not going to get much out of you. "Fine, be that way. You're not fooling anybody, you know. But I assume you know that."

You hear a rustling noise, and then the sound of something being slapped onto the table. The room's immediately filled with the smell of delicious meat. It's not spider, though. What the hell is that?

"You've been out for quite a few hours. You're probably hungry." Now that he mentions it, you realize he's not wrong. "I'll let you eat if you cooperate." The offer is tempting, but if you weren't pretending to be asleep, you'd be telling him to fuck off about now. Teomo knew how to pull the tough guy routine well enough for you to pick it up. Emulating wouldn't be too hard, right?

"There's plenty more where this comes from." You can hear the sound of the meat thrown back into the bag. "I'll be back later." He walks away, and the door closes. His footsteps echo through the hall again, until they fade into inaudibility. It's such a hard choice, really. You need to eat. When you're hungry, you're more likely to hallucinate. But you really, REALLY don't want to cooperate with this guy. Decisions, decisions. You open your eyes, and you can see the bottle still sitting on the table, and a greasy stain next to it. That steak must taste really good. Sure smelled that way.

>Shout for Earka to return.
>Struggle and break free of your ropes. [1d20]
>Wait for him to return, and pretend to be asleep.
>Write in.

Rolled 18 (1d20)

>>41335683
Oh that's how it is.
>>Struggle and break free of your ropes. [1d20]

>>41335683
>>Struggle and break free of your ropes. [1d20]

File: below-sepia.png (914 KB, 1100x900)

914 KB PNG

>>41335988
>>41336425
You tug and pull at the ropes that bind you, and eventually something gives way. Quickly rising to your feet, you stretch a bit, slightly dazed but not completely out of it. And then you start to wobble, clutching your head and the table, pushing it to the side a bit as you struggle to stand upright. Standing up that fast was a bad idea. "Ugh..."

Once the room stops spinning, you look around. The door is clearly not going to budge, and you've no means of opening it. The table's not sturdy enough to break the door down, and in all honesty, you doubt that you've the strength to start swinging furniture around with murderous intent. You continue to weigh your options until your stomach grumbles again. You have got to get out of here.

Is Teomo in this place? Is he even alive? Why did Earka bring you here? What does he want? What's this bottle about? How did he even follow you to the mines? Was Teomo a part of it? Is anybody looking for you? All these thoughts spin around in your head until you start to feel a tad nauseous. You sit back down and try to calm down and think. What's the best plan of action for you right now? What'll serve you best in the long run?

Now that you're free, you give the room another look-over. The walls and floor are made of some kind of metal. Iron, you think? Parts of it look a tad rusty, but other parts appear to be sanded- so it's likely iron. You're definitely not going to have much luck beating away at the door. You're weak. The room is lit by thick crystals on the wall, held in place by metal brackets welded to the sides of the room. You can't see any kind of escape route anywhere but the door- and you're not sure at all about what might be on the other side. In any case, you've got to do something.

-

Thank you all for participating in this thread!
I sincerely apologize for how the last few threads have ended so abruptly.
Below #11 will be announced on Twitter, the link to it is in the OP.
Until then, take care.

>>41337837
Thanks for running.

>rescue teomo in distress arc
Oh who am I kidding everyone we love dies