surviving felarya

“So, any particular place you want to go, Narin? I’m wide open to suggestions,” Lenarei asked as she flew alongside Narin.

Inside the pouch, Trav hastily sheathed his sword. “Forgive me, Adam, I would never dream o’ strikin’ at yeh! That naga I talked about be a giant one who tried to eat me.”

"No, not really. I mean, you said something about that place by the river with no mermaids, so I was just going to go with that." Narin said, continuing her flight.

Adam smiled happily as quarus hugged her he saw that rose was lauging at this

Rose smiled at the scene and says to them "so how are you two lovers doing"she says to adam and quarus

“There it is!” Lenarei called out, diving down toward the ground. She flared her wings, halting her descent, and skillfully landed on the riverbank. The river was meandering at a slow pace, in between the tropical trees. “Well, here it is. Not much to look at, but it’s quiet. We shouldn’t have any trouble…here…” Lenarei trailed off as she turned around to look into the forest. She stared slack jawed.

There was a building there, a rough stone construct, standing among the huge trees. It was hidden by the canopy, and dwarfed even Lenarei and Narin. It was in the shape of a rough, angular pyramid, and was covered in a myriad of vines and mosses. There was an open doorway on one side, leading to a darkened tunnel heading down into the earth.

“That…was not here the last time I was here…” Lenarei mumbled, after finding her voice. “Everyone, you’ve got to see this…”

Quarus merely replied by smiling at Rose and bringing Adam to her face, nuzzling him with her cheek. When Lenarei said that there was something they needed to see, she curled her fingers around Adam's upper half into a fist, holding him gently and leaving his arms open, and attempted to wrap his lower half around her wrist. She looked outside and pulled the hand that was holding Adam out as well so he could look too. When she saw the pyramid, she looked at it in awe, dumbstruck that it wasn't there before.

Narin was looking at it in an awestruck fashion as well, saying, "Oy vey. So...what do you think's in there?"

Adam smiled at the suroundings as quarus lifted him up he looked at the pyramid he thought he had seen it somewere before
Rose sighed "so are we landing yet"she says smiling

“Faith, ‘ow was such a monument be built so quickly?” Trav asked, peering out of Lenarei’s pouch. “Twould take thousands o’ laborers and caravans o’ stone…”

“Trav, there’s something about this place,” Lenarei said, looking over the strange temple-like structure. “There’s the air of magic over it. I don’t think it was built with simple tools…”

“Well, what do we do?” Trav asked. “Do we leave fer less enchanted grounds or simply ignore it?”

“Well, I was thinking we could do a little exploring,” Lenarei suggested. “What do you think?”

Narin just shrugged and said, "I'm fair game. I'm kind of wandering what's in there as well."

Quarus looked to the humongous pyramid, then looked back at Lenarei and nodded, signifying she wanted to check it out.

Adam smiled "cool i would like to check out the inside as well"
Rose sighed "are you forgetting how dangerous it could be"she says nervously while atempting to climb out of the pouch lenarei had put her in

“I must agree with Rose, this be a dangerous endeavor,” Trav said as Lenarei set them down onto the ground. “Magic be a risky business.”

“Oh, you’ve got two big harpies to protect you,” Lenarei said. “Besides, this place doesn’t feel evil or anything. Just really old. Get out your lantern Trav, we’re going to need it.” Lenarei said, walking down into the tunnel. With a sigh, Tuc fished out his lantern from his pack and lit it up. He began following after Lenarei.

As he walked, he saw strange engravings on the wall. Engravings of nagas, of dridders, and of humans, nekos, neeras and the like. He saw carvings of suns, moons, comets, and stars. There were also carvings of geometric shapes, and constellations of stars, almost appearing like a map of sorts.

Rose smiled she stood close to trav as she walked down the tunnel she looked in awe at the carvings she felt something brush against her legs but it was too dark fo her to see so she stopped "ok who's doing that,who's touching me adam is that you"she says nervously as she feels her legs get pinned togethor by something that moved around her "seriouly whoever's doing that please stop its scaring me"

Adam felt something simaler he guessed quarus must be feeling it as well as she was still carrying him

Narin whistled impressively as they walked through the tunnel. "Wooooow. What do you think's going to be at the end of this tunnel?" she asked. When Rose asked what was going on, Narin said, "It isn't me. Besides, Quarus is holding Adam."

Quarus, who was now holding Adam in her palm, looked at Rose in concern, and began to bring Adam closer to herself so no harm would come to him, as she felt something move around her as well.

“Tis not I,” Trav said, holding the lantern. It’s light was feeble compared to the vastness of the corridor. As they walked, a dim light became apparent up ahead. It was very dim, but very gradually grew stronger. At length, the corridor came to an end, opening into a vast chamber. Or rather, a vast courtyard. Impossibly, the walls of the courtyard seemed to end after they got so high, opening to an empty night sky filled with stars and a large crescent moon.

The floor of the chamber was covered with grass, with a few trees with silver leaves. A stone pathway from the door led down the middle of the grass to a central patio of stone. Set in the stone paving, were several large crystals. One had a silver sheen, another gold, another blue, and one was clear.

"...Wow. These crystals are beautiful." Narin said, unsure of what else to say.

Quarus walked up to the blue crystal, staring at it in awe. She would've touched it, but she didn't want to make anything bad happen if she did touch it.

(Hopefully it's no trouble if I hop in, but this looks interesting. Bio's in spoiler (If the infamous pair need any introduction... )

Spoiler:

Grip lay on his bed inside the Travel Sphere, trying to sleep. He hadn't gotten much shuteye last night and was trying to make up for it. While he drifted in and out, he was suddenly brought to full attention when Fenja, his Jotun partner, called out to him.

"Uhm. Grip. What's that?"

"Is it another Kensha Beast? Look, I told you already that those aren't puppies..."

"Hey! That was an honest mistake...and anyways, yah scrawny midget, this ain't any sort of beast."

Grip shuffled over the the window and drew up the cover. He blinked a bit, putting on his darkened goggles. What looked like a gigantic stone edifice towered above them.

"Huh. Uhm. I don't really now what that is...that is...ah...very impressive."

"Do you think it has treasure inside?"

"Well...that is a possibility. I've never heard of anything like this though...I think I should look this up. It could be quite dangerous..."

"There might be treasure? Alright, let's get going!"

"Wait!...oh, fine. Get yourself killed. See if I care."

"Don't worry. If there's anything really scary in there I'll throw you at it while I escape."

"Very funny. Well, here goes nothing..." Grip flicked on the lights on the Sphere. Fenja held the Sphere in front of her, while walking steadily down the tunnel.

"Hey..." she whispered. "Do you hear something?"

"Hmm...yes...sounds like voices..." he said, looking out the window into the gloom illuminated by the lamps. "I advise that we sneak ahead and see what..."

"Heya! Anyone down there!" shouted Fenja into the blackness.

Rose strared in awe at the crystals "wow this is amazing i wonder who built hmm looks like there are three paths we can go down"she says pointing to three separate doors "so do you think we should split up"she says smiling

Adam smiles at quarus's action and simply stayed were he was in quarus's arms

Quarus nervously hid behind Narin's foot, holding Adam in a secure fashion.

Narin looked to see Quarus hide behind her foot, Narin shouted out to where the voice came from, saying, "As a matter of fact, yes! Would you care to join us? It'd be kind of nice to see who I'm talking to!"

Fenja lightly padded up to where the two harpies were.

"Heya! I'm Fenja! And this is Grip!" she said, holding up the Travel Sphere. Grip bowed slightly from within.

"We just saw this big thingie in the jungle...and usually this sort of thing means treasure!" She noticed the crystals.

"Hey! Neat! Any idea what those are?"

"Whatever they are, I wouldn't touch them." muttered Grip.

Rose smiled and stood infront of fenja smiling "well hello fenja im rose its nice to meet you" she says with a slight bow she straightens herself and looks directly up at Fenja and gave her a small nervous wave

"Hello, Fenja and Grip! Pleasure to meet you! I'm Narin!" the vulture harpy said happily.

Quarus nervously peeked out from behind Narin's foot, and used her free hand to timidly wave hello. "And the neera hiding behind me is Quarus, and the naga she's holding is Adam. As for those, they're crystals. They obviously carry a purpose. Don't know what for, though." Narin continued.

Fenja looked down and smile openly at the Neera and Neko. Normally, she would have considered the two prey. However, they were the wards of the two predators here, who had greeted her with friendship. So, she was able to completly remove the thought of them as prey, a mental feat that those who knew her would assume to be difficult. But it wasn't - Fenja actually had a code on this sort of thing.

"Heya Rose! Heya Quarus! Nice to meet you! Grip would say hi, but he's an antisocial bum."

"I heard that!" protested Grip.

"That's the point, little buddy."

"Don't call me...oh, whatever."

Fenja peered down. She could barely see the naga. "Well, Heya to you to Adam. And to you, Narin. And to the rest of you." she said as she stood back up.

"So...anyone got any idea about what to do with the crystals...?"

"I advise leaving them alone." stated Grip. "Probably a trap. It's important while treasure hunting to keep focused."

"Right!" said Fenja. She looked at the three paths.

"Hmmm....where do we start....?"

Rose sighed and looked down the paths "hmm we could split up and explore that way though it may be very dangerous"she says thoughtfully
Adam smiled nervously at fenja and gave her a small wave

Quarus couldn't help but smile at Fenja and Grip's conversation. Feeling no threat from the Jotun, Quarus stepped out from behind Narin's foot.

Narin just shrugged and said, "You got me. What do you think, Lenarei?"

“Good to meet you both,” Lenarei said. “Just remember these tiny people here aren’t for eating.” She added, clacking her talons against the stone. Trav meanwhile, was too engrossed in his investigations to notice the newcomers.

“By the guardians…” Trav muttered, staring up at the supposed night sky, even though it had been a bright morning when they had entered the tunnel. He could not think how this was possible, unless they had wandered through a portal without their knowing. Trav looked back at the dark tunnel, and saw the comforting glimmer of sunlight at the distant far end. Trav turned his attention to the trees with the silver leaves, he felt one, and to his surprise, the leaf snapped off in his hand. Trav was surprised at it’s weight, far more than a leaf should be. “Faith, it actually be silver,” He murmured.

“Anyway, I don’t like the idea of splitting up. If we pick one of the tunnels, we should all go,” Lenarei said, shuffling over to look at one of the four tunnels leading from the room. Her foot accidentally brushed against the silver crystal.

The moment she touched it with her foot, the crystal reacted. It glowed brightly, and enveloped Lenarei in it’s glow. The harpy screamed and reeled back from the crystal, but the glow still enveloped her. Frantically, she brushed with her wings and clawed with her talons, but the glow refused to come off. There was a blinding flash, and the glow was gone.

Lenarei sat on the grass, propping herself up on her wings. She panted hard, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. “Lenarei! What…what ‘as ‘appened to yeh?” She heard Trav’s anxious voice say. Lenarei turned to look at Trav and reassure him.

She screamed again, a huge giant had come up and knelt beside her! Panicked, she scrambeled backwards, trying to get away from the looming giant. She struck something, halting her panicked flight. The giant stood, concern evident on his face. Lenarei looked up to see what she had run into. It was a tree trunk. A tree trunk of a tree that she once towered over. She gasped as that thought entered her mind. Becoming terrified, she looked at the giant again.

It was Trav.

It was the human she watched over and protected, had carried around in a pouch to the side of her hip. Now he stood just as tall as her. She had shrunk! Shrunk to a mere five feet tall. Lenarei began sobbing as the truth of the situation hit her.

“Oh Trav! What has happened to me! What did that crystal do?” She said, tears running down her face. Trav, gentle as ever, knelt next to her to comfort her. Unable to help herself, Lenarei threw her wings around him and buried her face into his shoulder.

“Easy Lenarei, there be a way to reverse this,” Trav said, holding the shrunken harpy gently as she cried on her shoulder.

Rose gasped as she watched lenarei shrink she knelt next to trav and patted her on the back gently
"why don't we try touching the crystal as this size we could go back to normal size"adam suggests
"or you could shrink into nothing"Rose replys seriously

"we could try for nothing"

"No!"

"hmm well maybe we could try the splitting up and hey whats in there" Adam says as he climbs from quarus he slithers over to a crack that was just a little bigger than he was and without much effort when he was inside he slipped rocks crumble from beneath him and he slid down a long dark tunnel.