Dionysus: You stumble on a scrap of rock & realize you are alone. You smell some large animal nearby.

Taka looks around for the others, then sniffs to see if there's any trace of them...and to see if she cna ID the animal.

Dionysus: You've never smelled it before, but it is a huge predator of some sort. You can smell old blood of other lage animasl.

Taka flattens her ears and tries to be inconspicuous as she looks for any sign of the others.

Dionysus: None. Not a scent.

Taka: "..." she tries to backtrack.

Dionysus: Backtracking brings you quickly to a wall of solid stone.

Taka: "..." starting to get worried now, she does the only thing she can do and proceeds. Very carefully.

Taka: [can I see at all?]

Dionysus: Did you have a lantern? If so, it's still with you.

Taka: Ah, good.

Taka will, having had an idea, pull out her moonstone and check on the others in the party.

Dionysus: Viollca is walking in a trance near the entrance to the mine. Caspian is in an underground lake near a silver skinned woman. Paul is talkin ot men in Imperial army gear. Aldo is talking to some dwarves, one of which looks like him. Do you chekc on Albert?

Dionysus: Jean Luc is fighting his way past a bat swarm.

Dionysus: Charlie is fighting some sort of undead beasts.

Dionysus: Dionysus is sitting in a cave, seeming to be singing his way through. His lantern is busted.

Taka: Since albert wasn't with us in the mine - I assume - then no, she doesn't check on him. She does, however, try to get a look at the large predator she smelled.

Dionysus: It's around the bend a ways in a vast, huge cavern. It is a great behemoth.

Taka looks for a moment, then puts the moonstone away and heads for it...still cautiously, but she has nowhere else to go.

Dionysus: As you approach, you hera a rustling, then a rumble, then a snort. It's awake.

Taka thinks 'Ack...' and pauses again, pulling out the moonstone and checking for some way out that's not past the behemoth.

Dionysus: None. Though about five exist past it.

Taka puts the moonstone away again, resignedly, and starts forward again, hoping she can get past without incident.

Dionysus: You see it in the flesh for the first time. It is... IMMENSE.

Dionysus: It's bigger than you can measure with your eyes.

Dionysus: It breathes heavily, & you realize after a moment, you can read its body language. It is saying, "What do I smell?"

Taka stares in awe, then remembers herself and tries not to. "Er...Tren...I just want to find my friends..." As she's trying to be as unthreatening as possible...though let's face it, she wouldn't pose much of a threat even if she tried.

Dionysus: It turns to face you.

Dionysus: That in itself is like watching a fast moving glacier

Dionysus: Its head is bigger than your house.

Dionysus: Its body langauge says, "There are others neaby?"

Taka doesn't move, ears completely flat in a submissive pose. "Er...not exactly...I don't know where they are. that's why I want to find them."

Dionysus: "You smell... familiar."

Taka: [waaait. didn't I at least attempt to free one of these in Maraddon city?

Dionysus: [That wa sa swmap behemoth]

Taka: [ah, ok.]

Taka: "...I do?"

Dionysus: "You... Are marked. Yes."

Taka: "Marked...?" she recalls what she was told about Radagast's mark and blinks. "Oh...er...yes, so I've been told."

Dionysus: "Tell me, what do you serve?"

Taka: "I...serve the Fox-father, and I serve Berellia..." she draws herself up slightly proudly. "and I serve the Alpha Wolf."

Dionysus: "In that order?"

Taka opens her mouth to answer, then stops, looking surprised. finally she speaks in a soft voice. "...no..."

Dionysus: "In what order?"

Taka speaks as though she only just realized this. "First the Fox-father. Second the Alpha Wolf. Third Berellia."

Dionysus: You would swear the behemoth smiles.

Dionysus: "But the Fox-Father first?"

Taka: "Always."

Dionysus: The behemoth nods.

Dionysus: A voice behind you says, "Well done. Sleep my friend." And the behemoth sleeps.

Taka blinks and spins at the voice.

Dionysus: Radagast Simon stands there, translucently.

Dionysus: [What's Taka's real name?]

Taka: [I'ii'a...*wry grin* She was behind the door when the consonants were handed out.]

Taka: [it means 'sunset']

Dionysus: "I'ii'a, you are doing well, I hear."

Taka nods her head in a slight bow. "I am doing the best I can."

Dionysus: "You have heard from St. Theresa, I understand. Indirectly, anyway, through the Alpha Wolf's journal."

Taka: "I...suppose so, yes. He never said who he was writing to...not to me, anyway."

Dionysus: "I doubt he knew, exactly. But you understand... part of the greater scheme of things."

Taka: "I think so, yes."

Dionysus: He gestures for you to follow him as he leads you around the behemoth. "The Gods are... struggling. They war with Immortals."

Taka follows, nodding slightly. "The Immortals want to supplant the Gods?"

Dionysus: "Some of them. The Fox-Father is amongst those... endangered. You must seek to stop the Third Brother at all costs, first & foremost. If you succeed there... Well, the Order has work for you."

Taka flattens her ears in shock and worry, but she nods. "I will."

Dionysus: "Frankly, this was all a test to see which agent proved most worthy. We need more like you, Taka. If you can... well, if you can stop the Third Brother, we'll be proud to count you amongst us. But don't talk of the Order. I understand you have a handicap in that area, but therre's not much I can do about that now. Ask Christopher when you see him."

Dionysus: He flickers, then vanishes.

Dionysus: You're at the entrance to the mine.

Taka blinks and looks very confused, then recalls Viollca was wandering around somewhere near here and looks around for her.

Dionysus: You can smell her nearby.

Dionysus: And Paul & five others.

Taka will go join them, then.