Sime~Gen Roleplaying: Two Roads Diverged Scenario
Episode #56: Mud is Thicker than Barter (8/7/98)
Bum Bum finishes up with yet another patient.
Bum Bum is bored to tears.
Bum Bum: You be careful now, okay?
Navv: Yeah, man.
Linn tries to ignore the assault on her nose from the guy's primitive bathing habits.
Bum Bum sends the young spoon-jockey off to find some more dope.
Bum Bum turns to Linn.
Linn looks after Navv.
Linn: He seems rather unsteady.
Bum Bum looks indignant.
Bum Bum: He's doing pretty good considering where he was about a half hour ago.
Linn lifts a placating hand.
Linn: Yes, I know. You did a very good job.
Linn: ~~ sincerity ~~
Linn: He's still staggering, though.
Bum Bum is cranky due to doing nothing but healing work all day, and also exhausted from working like a dog.
Bum Bum: I'm staggering myself.
Bum Bum: Could you give me just a minute to sit here and recover?
Bum Bum was hoping for more like 20 minutes.
Linn: Of course.
Linn sits next to Bum Bum.
Linn: ~~ soothing support ~~
Bum Bum thinks this woman lived with Snake too long... expects him to flog himself like a Farris.
Bum Bum's irritation fades as her support bolsters him.
Bum Bum: Ah... that's much better.
Bum Bum leans on Linn, the better to feel her nager.
Bum Bum: [also, the upside down trash can he's sitting on doesn't have a back to lean on]
Vaad, foiled in his attempt to have a Torn By Tentacles transfer off The Man, Buggfa Lube himself, roams through the crowd, looking for alternatives.
Linn doesn't quite have the heart at the moment to tell Bum Bum to keep his distance.
Vaad zlins something atypical.
Bum Bum at least is cleaner than the average concert-goer, due to no little effort on his part.
Vaad looks, and sees two individuals who definitely don't belong.
Bum Bum notices Vaad.
Vaad thinks they're way too clean, they zlin like it's been forever since they got stoned, and the Gen looks like a schoolteacher.
Bum Bum notices Vaad is in need.
Bum Bum: Now there's some real work.
Bum Bum: Come on, let me do just one transfer, please?
Bum Bum: That renSime right there.
Linn looks at the renSime.
Linn: He does look a little--peaked.
Vaad zlins Linn's attention, and drifts closer.
Vaad thinks Linn looks just like one of Buggfa's songs--the one about the...
Vaad: Teacher!
Vaad's laterals extend as he starts to stalk Linn.
Linn: Bum Bum, what is he doing?
Linn has a bad feeling about this.
Bum Bum: Now Linn, stay calm and don't panic. I'll take care of this.
Bum Bum gets up and puts himself between Linn and Vaad.
Linn moves to put Bum Bum between herself and Vaad.
Bum Bum holds out his arms.
Bum Bum: ~~Gen offering~~
Bum Bum extends his field to obscure Linn's.
Vaad is ~~ indignant ~~ at being cut off from his prey.
Vaad: Hey! She's mine!
Bum Bum: ~~hot raunchy Gen with a desire to give and promise of Much to Cum afterward~~
Bum Bum thinks Vaad must have a mental illness if he can come out of hyperconsciousness at this late stage.
Bum Bum had thought he was done dealing with crazy people when he left Bender Cove.
Bum Bum: Think with your laterals, not your eyes, man!
Bum Bum moves forward, continuing to project ~~Gen~~
Vaad wants a nervous schoolteacher type, not a hot raunchy Gen.
Bum Bum thinks this guy has unusual self-control for a renSime.
Linn sees that Bum Bum seems to be having some difficulty, so she does the only thing she can thing of to help.
Bum Bum: Come on... I can give you the selyn you need. ~~come on... willing/offering~~
Vaad is still half-fixed on Linn.
Linn: ~~ nervous support ~~
Bum Bum isn't sure how this guy can zlin Linn through him.
Bum Bum: ~~Gen/full of selyn~~
Bum Bum edges closer to Vaad, hands getting closer to Vaad's.
Vaad breaks and snatches at Bum Bum.
Vaad: ~~ NEED ~~
Vaad grabs for the selyn.
Vaad draws greedily, seeking something at least a little bit reminiscent of Torn By Tentacles.
Vaad came to this concert in need because he'd heard that there were non-Tecton type transfer adventures available.
Bum Bum wouldn't know a Tecton-type transfer from a hole in the ground.
Bum Bum: ~~hot/raw/ecstatic LIFE~~
Bum Bum also wouldn't know a "TBT transfer" from a hole in the ground.
Vaad seeks something closer to "edge of death".
Vaad is unwillingly caught up in the immediacy of Bum Bum's projection.
Vaad: ~~ living ecstatically ~~
Bum Bum senses the change of inflection marking a peak and pushes ~~~raging exultation~~
Vaad has actually been too stoned to live at all, lately.
Vaad ends the transfer on a surge of exaltation; not at all a Torn By Tentacles type of experience.
Bum Bum releases Vaad when the renSime is finished.
Vaad: ~~ exulting in life ~~
Vaad realizes that his dream of a Torn By Tentacles transfer, at the concert itself, is history.
Bum Bum grins; too bad he couldn't do this all day instead of dealing with puking kids and young adults with brains resembling a bowl of petunias.
Vaad: ~~ crushing disappointment/exaltation ~~
Vaad: What'd you do that for, man?
Bum Bum: There there, let it all out.
Bum Bum pats Vaad on the back.
Vaad: It was her I wanted!
Vaad points to Linn.
Bum Bum: Well I couldn't let you attack my Companion!
Bum Bum: I mean, there has to be a certain amount of trust between coworkers you know.
Linn backs a little further away from Vaad.
Bum Bum knows Snake would have had his guts for garters if the pristine Linn were besmirched by some nameless renSime without Snake being there to zlin every dynopter coming out.
Vaad's face twists in disgust.
Vaad: Miser! Keeping the decent Gens for yourself.
Bum Bum: Just be glad you didn't manage to get your hands on her. There's an insane Farris who would have come after you with a meat cleaver if you'd managed it.
Bum Bum has actually seen Snake's knife and it's nowhere near the size of a meat cleaver, although it sure seemed that way at the time.
Bum Bum: And she's not mine anyway. I'm keeping her for somebody else.
Bum Bum sees that Vaad's nose is running and offers him a kerchief.
Vaad: Oh? Who?
Vaad thinks that Linn's owner might be more amenable to reason, for next month.
Bum Bum: Snake Farris. I wouldn't recommend approaching her about it. [adds]
Vaad: Farris?
Vaad laughs.
Vaad: Gone back to their Genfarming roots, have they?
Bum Bum: Well, I don't know about that.
Bum Bum: It's more herding than farming.,
Bum Bum hasn't heard that Snake planned on getting Eliza and Linn pregnant, but you can never tell with her.
Vaad: Still, if she's for sale....
Vaad forces himself duo to zlin Linn.
Bum Bum: On second thought, maybe you should talk to Snake after all. Just make sure you do it when I'm there to watch, OK?
Linn: ~~ distaste ~~
Bum Bum: ~~heh heh~~
Vaad, having given up on his attempt to zlin, misses the "heh heh".
Vaad: Sure. Where is she?
Vaad: I got cash. She'll be interested.
Bum Bum: I dunno, she's somewhere around here.
Bum Bum: Just keep asking every dangerous, deranged unclean looking Sime you see until you find her.
Bum Bum: The more deranged and scary looking, the more likely it's her.
Vaad: Is that the best you can do for a description?
Bum Bum may not be looking out for his client's best interests here.
Bum Bum: No.. she's kinda... yay tall. [wavers hand around between 5'1" and 5'6"]
Vaad: That could be half the Simes here, and the other half are male.
Bum Bum: And weighs maybe 80 to 120 pounds.
Bum Bum: Black hair...
Bum Bum: Wicked tongue,
Bum Bum: Oh and, her nager is pretty easy to spot if you have ever zlinned an insane Farris.
Vaad: The girls all have their hair dyed black. Can't you come up with something distinctive?
Vaad wouldn't know an insane Farris from the Sectuib in Zeor. Of course, many would contend that they are one and the same....
Bum Bum scratches his head.
Vaad: Look, Buddy. You already spoiled my chance for a Torn By Tentacles transfer this month.
Vaad: Why don't you make up for it by showing me the...er....Gen "herder" personally?
Bum Bum: You know, I think that might actually open me up for a charge of aiding and abetting a murder.
Bum Bum: Ah... I know, she's got this ring. Big blue stone, can't miss it.
Vaad: Blue ring?
Bum Bum: Worth a pretty penny, too.
Bum Bum hopes the guy tries to pinch the ring and gets caught.
Vaad goes off in search of a blue ring.
Bum Bum shakes his head.
Bum Bum turns to Linn.
Bum Bum: What an idiot, eh?
Linn, having held together rather well during the incident, starts shaking now that it's over.
Bum Bum looks very surprised.
Bum Bum grabs Linn's hands in his.
Bum Bum: Linn?
Linn: He... he was going to attack me.
Bum Bum: Well, he was thinking about it, but I was here the whole time.
Linn clutches at Bum Bum's hands.
Linn would actually feel a lot safer if Snake were there, but she has to make do.
Bum Bum wraps his tentacles around to seal their grip firmly.
Bum Bum: And I am sure that you would have handled it just fine even if I hadn't been here. You did a great job.
Bum Bum isn't that sure but it sounds like the right thing to say at the moment.
Linn: ~~ delayed hysteria ~~
Bum Bum wonders what he said.
Bum Bum: Calm down, Linn. Nothing's happened. Look - he's gone anyway. See him anywhere?
Linn takes several deep breaths, searching for control.
Bum Bum wonders why Linn is freaking out, not that much happened.
Linn gradually calms, thinking that it's truly amazing how much less scared she was today than she would have been a few short months before.
Linn: That was just... a little closer than I prefer.
Vaad wanders through the crowd, seeking an insane Farris channel somewhere between 5' 1" and 5'6", and 80-120 pounds.
Wise Snake wanders through the crowd, seeking a large handsome Gen somewhere between 6'3" and 6'3.000002".
Wise Snake: Where in shen did he go now?
Wise Snake holds her hands up, jumping to get better zlinnage.
Wise Snake: And he says I disappear!
Nick comes out of the porta potty.
Wise Snake finally zlins Nick some three hundred yards away, emerging from a small box.
Wise Snake: Good grief. The bathroom again??
Wise Snake thinks that has to be the third time in as many days.
Nick looks around for his channel.
Nick: Snake?
Wise Snake starts making her way through the crowd in that direction.
Vaad zlins something really weird, even for a TBT concert.
Vaad traces the weird nager to a woman meeting his search parameters, at least as far as build and appearance go.
Vaad pushes his way through the crowd towards her.
Nick sees an eddy in the crowd, and goes towards it.
Wise Snake tries to find her way through a large crowd of Gens wearing lead vests, apparently some sort of fad in Gen Territory at the moment, something to do with the armed forces.
Wise Snake: Can't zlin a thing through those shenned... aha, here we go.
Wise Snake manages to get past them, then zlins for Nick where he'd been last.
Vaad is distracted by another spectacularly interesting Gen.
Nick sees the renSime zlinning him, and decides that he looks a bit less spaced out than average, just now.
Nick: Hey, have you zlinned a Farris channel?
Nick holds his hand out.
Nick: About this tall?
Nick is starting to get worried.
Wise Snake hurries toward them, having emerged from a swarm of local Girl Scouts.
Vaad tries to determine if Nick's hand is between 5'1" and 5'6" off the ground.
Nick looks up and sees Snake.
Nick: Ah, never mind.
Nick: ~~ relief ~~
Wise Snake: Where have you been!!
Wise Snake: ~~possessive~~
Wise Snake hovers around Nick, zlinning to make sure every cell is still in working order.
Wise Snake: Why do you keep disappearing on me like that?
Vaad zlins with interest.
Vaad: Hey, is he your Gen, lady?
Nick: Snake, I do have to use the facilities every so often.
Wise Snake looks at Nick, then at Vaad.
Wise Snake: Him? Yes. ~~firmly~~
Nick: Particularly after eating that greasy mess available from the food vendors.
Tanzarra is having trouble squeezing through a group of Gens, all as high as a kite.
Vaad inspects Snake's hand for blue rings.
Eliza hangs on to the back of Zarra's jacket so they won't get separated.
Eliza really doesn't like crowds.
Eliza: ~ nervous ~
Wise Snake is wearing a Zeor ring.
Tanzarra: Hold on, it thins out a bit over here.
Vaad: The guy said a blue ring, but he didn't mention all that carving on it.
Wise Snake: Ummh.
Wise Snake wonders what this guy is on.
Wise Snake zlins Vaad to find out.
Vaad: You the one who owns that schoolteacher Gen?
Wise Snake: Yeah, what of it?
Wise Snake's eyes narrow suspiciously as she notices he just had transfer.
Wise Snake takes a semi-threatening step toward Vaad as she begins to wonder if he has done something to Linn.
Vaad: I noticed you rented her out.
Tanzarra makes her way to the clearing and pauses for some relatively fresh air.
Vaad: I want her next month.
Wise Snake looks lost for just a moment.
Vaad: For a real Torn By Tentacles transfer.
Tanzarra: This is ridiculous, what do they find enjoyable about this?
Wise Snake: Who do you think I rented her to?
Eliza: I don't know. I wonder where Griff is?
Vaad: That guy with the fancy duds and the shifty face.
Eliza hopes he isn't doing anything stupid, like trying any of the "bodacious" stuff they have been offered, but realises that being Griff, he probably has.
Vaad: Wouldn't let me near her, and wouldn't give me decent transfer, either.
Wise Snake: A channel?
Wise Snake: Ah, that is Bum Bum.
Wise Snake: I'm sorry, I believe you misread the situation. I didn't rent Linn to Bum Bum.
Vaad: Oh? He sure seemed to think he owned her, but then he said she belongs to you.
Vaad: Whichever, I want her.
Vaad: For next month.
Wise Snake: No, no. They both are mine.
Wise Snake: I just put them together to see how they worked out.
Wise Snake shrugs.
Wise Snake: In any case, we won't be here next month. You'll have to look elsewhere.
Eliza: Zlin Snake yet?
Wise Snake glances at him again.
Vaad: What?
Wise Snake: And, I doubt you could afford her.
Vaad: ~~ put upon ~~
Tanzarra: No, not yet.
Tanzarra: It's a bit hard through all this ambient.
Vaad sneers and pulls out a huge wad.
Vaad: Think again.
Wise Snake looks at the wad.
Wise Snake: All right... if you pay in advance, I'll bring her to you in one month.
Vaad's daddy is rich; that's why he can afford to waste his time following TBT instead of working for a living.
Wise Snake reaches for the wad.
Vaad zlins Snake to judge her sincerity.
Wise Snake: ~~oh yeah... 100% sincere showfield~~
Vaad pauses, and puts the wad behind his back.
Wise Snake: ~~ honesty that would make a saint weep ~~
Vaad: No, how do I know you'll actually show up?
Wise Snake: I never tell a lie and I always keep my promises.
Tanzarra: I really think we should try over there.[points to her left]
Wise Snake avoids looking him directly in the eye (although this looks dishonest, it's better than scaring the crap out of him) and tries to look sweet and innocent.
Vaad: Tell you what. Just to be sure, I'll stick close.
Wise Snake: No.
Wise Snake: I can't allow that, you'll cramp my style.
Wise Snake: Anyway, I'll have to use her for Bum Bum until her time comes again.
Wise Snake frowns as that sentence comes out all wrong.
Wise Snake: Until your time comes again.
Vaad: Well then, tell you what.
Vaad: You say you're traveling.
Wise Snake: Did I say that?
Wise Snake hadn't said that.
Wise Snake: I just said we won't be here next month.
Vaad: Whatever.
Vaad: I give you one of these....
Tanzarra is surprised so many people like all this, weirdness and danger.
Vaad holds up a bill of large denomination.
Vaad: Every day, until it's time.
Wise Snake: No.
Wise Snake knows Linn would die of shock rather than serve a renSime and has no intention of ever following through with this guy.
Wise Snake: No deal.
Wise Snake turns away.
Vaad: ~~ rage ~~
Vaad: You can't!
Vaad leaps for Snake, fists clenched and tentacles waving.
Wise Snake dives for cover instinctively [behind a couple of passing renSimes]
Wise Snake: What the...!
Vaad barrels into the renSimes, searching for the target of his fury.
Wise Snake thinks this guy is a few bricks shy of a load.
Wise Snake scrambles away, turning to face him.
Eliza follows Tanzarra through the crowd.
Vaad is however granite-headed enough to build a small monument.
Vaad extricates himself from the renSimes and throws himself at Snake once more, not even sparing the effort to zlin his easily-visible victim so soon after transfer.
RenSime: Hey, chill out dudes!
Wise Snake focuses her field narrowly on Vaad and stuns him with her nager, aiming to knock him unconscious without killing him.
Wise Snake of course may have miscalculated slightly, due to various substances in his system.
Vaad isn't zlinning, so much of the effect is lost.
Wise Snake locks onto his field and forces him hyperconscious, then stuns him.
Wise Snake may have miscalculated the force necessary due to being mad as hell.
Vaad drops like a small granite monument.
Vaad: ~~ deep shock ~~
Tanzarra uses the opportunity of the clearing to try zlinning for Snake and Nick again.
Wise Snake: Hmmm.
Nick makes it to Snake's side, and looks down at her erstwhile attacker.
Nick: Is he still alive?
Wise Snake: He's alive. Grab those renSimes over there.
Wise Snake kneels by the body and locates his money and stash, and nicks them.
Nick reaches out with his nager and reels them in.
Wise Snake takes his arms and deep zlins him briefly.
RenSime: What the he....
RenSime: What!
Wise Snake releases him and looks up.
Vaad: ~~ barely alive, mostly because he was so recently post-transfer ~~
Wise Snake: You, you, and you... run to the Tecton emergency tent and grab a channel, tell them it's some kinda emergency.
Wise Snake: And you... [to the last renSime] Go to the fruit stand over there and buy a watermelon frosty.
Wise Snake hands him money.
Wise Snake bends over Vaad again and slides into healing mode.
Nick hopes the renSimes don't confuse the issue by pointing out that Snake is a better channel than any likely to be on duty at the Tecton tent.
RenSime: By Buggfa's lube!
RenSime: Watermelon?
RenSime: Frosty? That's like, cool man!
Vaad slowly responds to Snake's therapy.
Wise Snake works to stabilize Vaad to the extent that the average Tecton channel could be expected to eventually revive him satisfactorily.
Wise Snake plans on being long gone before he becomes conscious, however.
RenSime heads off to buy a watermelon frosty.
Wise Snake keeps a zlin-out for approaching channels.
RenSime then wanders off, eating the frosty.
Nick is a little anxious about sticking around when the Tecton is coming.
Wise Snake resurfaces.
Wise Snake: Ah... hey you. [to a group of guys standing nearby]
Wise Snake: When the channels come, tell them this is the sick guy ok?
Wise Snake: Come on, Nick.
Wise Snake gets up and practically falls into Nick's arms.
Nick holds Snake.
Wise Snake: Ah... give me a sec.
Nick: ~~ steady support ~~
Wise Snake: Ok, it's okay, I'm fine.
Wise Snake pushes herself away from Nick.
Wise Snake: Come on, let's get out of here.
Wise Snake: I'll buy you a frosty-drink.
Nick stays close on Snake's heels, determined not to lose her again. Even if that requires taking her along to the john.
Wise Snake herds Nick from the scene of the crime.
RenSime thinks that the girl with the weird eyes was right, this watermelon frosty is just it.
Tanzarra: Ah ha! There she is!
Tanzarra takes Eliza's hand and guides her through yet another clump of fans.
Eliza: Snake! [waves wildly with her other hand] We are over here!
Tanzarra: This is ridiculous. Excuse us, coming through.
Wise Snake is carrying two frosty-drinks (maple and ginger-root) and looking around her in bewilderment, wondering how Nick could have gone missing again so soon.
Wise Snake: Good grief.
Wise Snake sips at the ginger one.
Wise Snake notices Tanzarra and Eliza and heads over in that direction.
Tanzarra starts pushing people out of her way, not that they notice or react.
Wise Snake is hampered by the fact that half-baked kids with the munchies are hanging on her arms, shoulders and clothes, trying to beg the frosties off her.
Eliza thinks that maybe her hand will come off completely.
Wise Snake finally gives up and lets them have the drinks.
Tanzarra: I can't zlin Nick anywhere.
Eliza: Oh no, not again.
Wise Snake uses a low-level repulsive showfield to disgust the Simes away from her, then escapes the Gens by sheer horsepower.
Tanzarra: Snake! Over here!
Tanzarra leers at a renSime as he leers at Eliza.
Wise Snake jumps up, spotting Tanzarra and Eliza over the heads of people who have once again gotten in the way.
Tanzarra: ~~ don't even think about it ~~
Wise Snake is dismayed as the pair seem to be even farther away than before.
Wise Snake darts between a young, love-sick couple, a man wearing a guitar and little else, a fat guy carrying a rubber lawn chair, two renSimes dressed up as Buggfa Lube, and a Gen reeking of booze.
Eliza is distressed to find that her hand is being pulled out of Tanzarra's grip, lubricated by perspiration.
Eliza: Zarra!
Wise Snake adroitly dances around a lumbering behemoth dressed in black leather and plastic studs.
Tanzarra: It's okay, he won't get near you.
Eliza shoves her way through the crowd, stepping on as many toes as she can in the process.
Wise Snake finally comes face to face with Eliza and Tanzarra, with the mud-pit of a tug-of-war game lying directly between them.
Wise Snake looks at them over the rope.
Eliza elbows a woman in the solar plexus when she attempts to shove between her and Tanzarra.
Woman squarks and goes flying into the mud.
Tanzarra stops and pushes Eliza in front of her so she won't get lost.
Eliza waves to Snake across the mud.
Tanzarra: Oh great. How do we get through that lot?
Eliza slips and falls in the mud.
Eliza: Arrk!
Wise Snake winces.
Eliza: Zarra! What you push me for!
Eliza attempts to wipe the mud off her face with hands that are coated in, you guessed it, mud.
Eliza spits out some mud.
Tanzarra: Uhh, I didn't mean to push you, are you all right?
Eliza levers herself up out of the mud, using the woman who "fell" in before her as a base.
Tanzarra tries to get a firm hold of Eliza, to no avail.
Wise Snake looks on, worried, as the heaving and struggling teams pull the heavy rope back and forth over Eliza's and the woman's heads.
Eliza takes Tanzarra's offered hand, and after a few slippery misses, manages to pull her in.
Wise Snake carefully takes a step back.
Eliza: Oh shen.
Eliza helps Tanzarra up.
Eliza: Sorry about that.
Wise Snake frowns as various crowd members start hooting and throwing rotten fruits and assorted undergarments at the muddy figures of Eliza, Tanzarra and the woman.
Tanzarra looks over the mud pit at Snake as she shrugs her shoulders.
Tanzarra: Come on, we have to get over there. [points to where Snake is]
Eliza wades across the mud, ducking under the rope, to where Snake is standing.
Eliza: We fell in.
Wise Snake backs farther away to avoid accidentally helping herself into the mud as well.
Wise Snake: Ah yes, I see that.
Wise Snake winces as the entire team from one side of the tug-of-war is suddenly yanked into the mud pit, in a huge heap between Eliza and Tanzarra.
Eliza falls over under the losing team with a squark.
Tanzarra is knocked off her feet as the winning team lurch backwards.
Wise Snake lunges forward [stopping just short of the bank of the pit] and zlins anxiously for Eliza and Tanzarra.
Wise Snake: [and failing that, anybody who is injured and might require a little healing work]
Eliza claws her way back up towards the top.
Wise Snake: Eliza! Grab onto the rope and use it to pull yourself up the side way.
Eliza coughs and splutters and spits out more mud
Wise Snake points at the muddy, slick rope lying like a mud snake over the rest of the pile.
Tanzarra tries desperately to get up as she feels slowly sucked into the mud.
Eliza looks around and grabs the rope. Unfortunately no one is holding an end....
Eliza holds the rope and looks hopefully at Snake.
Wise Snake sees Eliza's problem and tries to fight her way through the crowd to one end of the rope.
Tanzarra: This is just great!
Wise Snake climbs over three men and two women in a ridiculous pretzel configuration.
Eliza panics briefly as she sees that Snake has disappeared again, then catches sight of her heading towards the winning end of the rope.
Tanzarra finally manages to sit up and has a thick, heavy coating of mud all down her back.
Eliza has a thick, heavy coating of mud all over her
Wise Snake whoofs as somebody punches her in the stomach; after a confused struggle the guy figures out she had accidentally come between him and his intended target, and shoves her on her way so he can get at that bastard.
Tanzarra slips and slides on the spot before using someone else to climb up on.
Wise Snake staggers the rest of the way to the end of the rope.
Tanzarra zlins Snake but not Eliza.
Wise Snake grabs the rope with both hands and all handling tentacles.
Tanzarra: ~~ panic ~~
Wise Snake braces her feet to get the best leverage.
Eliza keeps hold of the rope, but not her footing as the losing team all struggle to get out at once.
Wise Snake sees Eliza go down in a belly flop in the mud, still clutching the rope.
Wise Snake: Oo... that's got to hurt.
Wise Snake can verify that since Eliza is in zlinning range.
Wise Snake: Hold on Eliza!
Wise Snake starts pulling the rope toward her, hand over hand.
Tanzarra heads toward Snake and the mass of mud coated bodies writhing to get out of the mud pit.
Wise Snake grunts as a bunch of other people decide to grab onto the rope too.
Wise Snake: What the... hey! Let go!
Eliza hangs on.
Wise Snake augments, hauling slowly on the rope.
Wise Snake busts a sweat, something she hates doing.
Wise Snake's eyes bulge and veins pop out as more and more jerks pile onto the rope.
Eliza keeps her eyes and mouth shut, and kicks to try to regain her footing.
Eliza isn't really aware of the people she kicks in the face in consequence.
Tanzarra sees what Snake is doing and goes to the other side to reach Eliza.
Wise Snake: Ffff!!!! Unnnhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! Hnnnn!!!!!!!
Eliza gets close to the side and lets go of the rope to grab at the grassy edge.
Tanzarra manages to get to the rope and joins Snake in trying to pull Eliza out.
Wise Snake augments wildly and drags the squirming mass of people out an inch at a time.
Wise Snake can think of nothing but the time she presided over Alea's labor.
Eliza climbs out and stands, dripping mud, next to the two channels.
Wise Snake lets go of the rope when the two are free, leaving the remaining jerks to slide back in.
Wise Snake: Ah... at last.
Tanzarra puts a hand on Snake's shoulder.
Wise Snake is panting heavily, and red in the face, as well as sweating like a racehorse.
Tanzarra: Are you all right?
Eliza spits out more mud.
Wise Snake: Oh... ugh... hard labor is not my favorite.
Wise Snake puts her hands on her knees and bends over, marshalling her body's resources.
Tanzarra: ~~ support ~~
Tanzarra: And Eliza?
Eliza rubs her arm across her eyes, smearing the mud around.
Eliza tips her head on the side to try and clear the mud out of her ears.
Tanzarra doesn't like this feeling of mud all over her and just wants to get clean.
Tanzarra: I think we should get somewhere out of the throng.
Wise Snake straightens.
Wise Snake: Let's go back to the hotel.
Wise Snake: Shen knows I paid enough for it, we may as well enjoy it.
Tanzarra: Good idea, there's no use hanging around here.
Eliza: What? What?
Tanzarra: Eliza, how about you stay between us until we are out of here?
Eliza: Snake? Zarra? You there?
Eliza feels around with muddy hands.
Tanzarra: ~~ concerned ~~
Wise Snake: She's OK, she just can't see or hear well.
Wise Snake starts leading the way toward the gates.
Eliza keeps spitting out mud.
Tanzarra: ~~ relief ~~
Eliza wasn't that hungry.
Tanzarra: A hot wash will make you feel better.
Wise Snake is pleased to note that she didn't get enough mud on herself to absolutely necessitate a bath ~~shudder~~
Eliza lets them lead her back to the hotel.
Tanzarra is not enjoying this day at all, and the sooner she can have a bath the better.
Tanzarra: Snake, what happened to Nick?
Eliza just keeps focused on the shower.
Eliza: ~ nice hot shower ~
Wise Snake: Nick!
Wise Snake: Shen.
Wise Snake: Excuse me.
Wise Snake rushes out the door.
Tanzarra: ~~ oh yes, nice hot shower ~~
Tanzarra: Oh dear.
Tanzarra: Well, lets get cleaned up shall we?
Eliza nods, splattering mud all over the room.