Rested, the companions journeyed forth. Leaving the putrid stench of rotting ghouls behind, they ascended a short flight of steps and cautiously made their way along the hall, wondering what manner of terror the mountain would unleash upon them next.
They wouldn't have to wonder long...
The corridor hit a dead end, an iron bound, wooden door set within the southern wall beckoned them with a silent invitation. Opening it revealed a room unlike anything they'd ever seen. A narrow landing stretched the width of the room, hugging a wide pit lined with serrated blades and rusty iron spikes. Another pit lay open on the far side of the room, mirroring the one upon which they stared. This however, was not so unusual. They had seen all manners of pits prior to this day. It was the eighty feet or so of space between the pits that caused eyebrows to raise.
The floor, walls and ceiling were crafted from one seamless sheet of metal, upon which various bits of debris were acting strangely. Frayed bits of rope slid across the floor at a snail's pace. A broken chunk of wood spun rapidly in place. Drops of crimson seemed to vibrate, separating before coalescing again to continue their haphazard and seemingly random movement.
Seeing no other option, the majority of the party hesitantly entered the room, keeping as much distance as possible from the edge of the pit by hugging the back wall. Ayas held back, pruportedly to watch their back, though I personally believe he expected the room to come alive and devour his friends at any moment. As it turns out. He was half right...
Dandelion was the first to notice. As the party members huddled to devise a plan, a woman's voice, unseen but clearly audible, washed over them. To most, the horrid screeching was painful at best, but to Dandelion, it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever heard.
"Do you hear that lads?" he asked with exuberance. "By the gods, it's an angel come to show us home!" He looked to Wotan, who, desperate to muffle the ear-splitting shriek was too busy covering his ears to notice.
Oblivious to his friend's discomfort, Dandelion continued, "Where is she?" Looking to the far end of the room, he repeated himself, "Where is she!?!" he shouted, a slight tinge of panic in his voice. And with that, Dande launched himself passionately, if not gracefully, into the pit. A desperate act by a desperate man, eager to close the gap with the love of his life.
As it turns out, the strange metal between the pits was, as the title of this entry alludes, utterly and completely frictionless. As you can imagine, it presented Fate's Hammer quite a problem. There were slips and falls and plenty of cussing. It would have been comedic if it hadn't been so perilous. In the end, their perserverance and ingenuity won the day and the battle with the unseen harpy was not at all difficult once they closed the gap.
And so, the companions pressed on. Terik with a headache after his head first slide into a pit. Kai with sore legs after running in place on the frictionless surface for far too long. Ayas with a bruised shoulder after his summoned pegasus dumped him rudely to the floor. Wotan, more angry than anything else because, well, that's the way the warlock reacts to most things. And lastly, Dandelion, with broken heart and tear stained checks, as Nine consoled him with empty promises, "Come now Vistani. There'll be plenty more hags for you..."
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