From the logs of Havarti Quickquill:
We arrived at Endkeep Station mid-morning on a Sunday. We unloaded our bags at the station, taking in the rustic view of the small town. The railroad workers loaded up afterwards and the train started on its next leg, to the end of the Royal Rail about 30 some miles further along.
Too early to check into the Eastern Hostel, Mr. Templesmith, Mr. Dusttail and Mr. Wensleydale took in the town. Having been in Endkeep Station before, I stayed by the bags at the station to rest a bit. I was still a bit harried from that drgaonfly attack in the middle of the night. Though Mr. Wensleydale had an excellent accounting of himself - took one of those monsters down in a single shot. Mr. Dusttail and Ms. Smokeveil took the other mechanical thing down, with Mr. Templesmith bravely ready for handing out more ammo. I'll admit to hiding under the seat.
After their tour of the town, we were checking in. Two others seemed to join our group at this point: a meadow jumping mouse gong by the name of John Roquefort, and a sugar glider by the name of Vishy. Mr. Dusttail, in his normal somewhat belligerent manner, invited the two to aid us. As I have some discretionary spending thanks to Gouda Parsnip's family, they were hired on the spot as well. I've not mentioned the Gouda's family involvement with this journey yet. Mr. Roquefort seems to be on some sort of journey of self-discovery, his pack well-worn. I am not certain about Mr. Vishy. He speaks with an accent I am unfamiliar with, but as he is the first sugar glider I have met, perhaps that is just the way they speak.
Knowing the trip would require transportation, we hiked out to Pinky's Ornithopters. He was working under a larger, cargo ornithopter, banging on some pipes. We spoke briefly and set up the time to show up at about half an hour after sunrise for the 2–3 hour journey to the Forerunner ruins.
We slept well at the hostel, and awoke with our wake-up call. The ever delightful Mrs. Longtail had made us some fried cheese curds for breakfast, and I am fairly certain she cast an appraising eye towards Mr. Dusttail. Mr. Longtail had perished a few years before apparently. From the conversations I've picked up, our Mr. Dusttail has apparently been in some 12 or 13 relationships with our better halves. He is rather old, so perhaps it is true. We made the journey to Pinky's in the dark, with the sun starting to rise above the rings behind us.
Loading our bags, with steam blowing out of the engine, the great wings of the ornithopter started beating and we lifted into the sky. Mr. Vishy was on a tow-rope and seemed to enjoy gliding along behind the craft. We passed over a large pond, Pinky letting us know that both killer koi and red-eared sliders inhabit that body of water. And that he has seen at least one black snake near the ruins. Which is apparently why Bucky and Miss Fay did not camp out there. For a reason I've yet to ascertain, Mr. Roquefort decided to see if he could "ride" Mr. Vishy to the ground as we were approaching the ruins. They managed to that feat - perhaps they are getting ready to use that in some sort of emergency.
The tunnel to the ruins was large enough for a mouse, but Mr. Dusttail and Mr. Vishy may have a hard time fitting. Fortunately, the team had bought some additional supplies at Miss Ophelia Whisker's General Store. Mr. Templesmith is an excellent digger - the entrance was enlarged quite quickly. I did notice Pinky had set up a hammock and was resting in the shade under the ornithopter, sipping from a flask.
We noticed that there were mouse footprints, but also the divots in the dirt that indicated those horrible spider-mechanicals were also around here. Perhaps that is what happened to Bucky & Miss Fay! I'll admit my paws shook a bit as we entered the tunnel, checking the map that Bucky & Miss Fay had left behind. Which does beg the question - did they leave this behind or is this an out-of-date map, and they kept two for redundancy?
Fortunately, I had brough along a hand-torch as we entered the tunnel. Reviewing the map, we were trying to ascertain what "avoid the red line" meant when we found a glowing red line, just below a Y-junction in the tunnels. While us smaller mice could probably jump over it, Mr. Dusttail , Mr. Templesmith and Mr. Vishy would probably touch that odd line. Mr. Roquefort ran back to where there was some dirt and tossed it on the line. Then we heard the horrifying sounds of mechanical spider legs scurrying down the tunnel, towards us!
And that is where we left things. I still need to draw the map - I tried a few electronic ones and was not satisfied. Last night I drew one and also have almost a page of notes. Not entirely sure I'll keep that one yet, but it is a start at least.
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| spiders! |
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| a different spider! |
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| cargo ornithopter |
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| 2 rodent ornithopter |
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