Crystal Caves Campaign: Penny's Adventure: Falling into the Heart of the Mountian

"My magic could make this so much easier." This was not the first time these words had come to Penny's mind that day. The thought first rose as she and Leslie stared down into the abyss of the tunnel carved by the Crystal Wyrm. It was steep, almost a vertical drop into the dark stone heart of the mountain, and they had to reach the bottom. Penny's main two eyes peered down into it as she leaned over the unstable edge; her higher pair of red watched Leslie to see what he would do. He had hung back from the edge and was looking around for something. Maybe he was looking for another sign to show him how to safely desend the path. Penny's gaze returned to the problem. Ever the intuitive type, she already had an idea. If she used her magic to make an earthen rope they could use it to climb down. It would be a long climb, but it would be safer than clutching the loose earth wall. She turned to tell Leslie of her idea, but in the short time she had left her sight he was already gone.

"How did he move so quietly with all these crystals around?" Penny thought as she turned to look for him. Luckily for her he did not move very far, but the moment reminded her that she did not know him well and it would be in her best interest to keep a watchful eye on him. Town destroyer or not, he was still a stranger and strangers have to earn their trust. Keeping these thought to herself she walked towards him. Leslie had that smile again, and Penny figured that meant he had something to say. Choosing to not interupt she crossed her arms and waited for him to speak.

"Look over there." He said brightly as he gestured towards the hole. Penny leaned over to see what he was refering to and was suprised to see a clear path spiraling into the Wyrm tunnel. It seemed that the Wyrms horns or spikes had cleared a space large enough for the two of them to walk down.

"Well that's convinent." Penny said nonchalantly before they started down the blazed trail. Crunching crystals marked their footsteps, and as they desended deeper and deeper the hole started echoing the noise. Penny's mind wandered to the ironic beauty that filled the void. It was not uncommon for her mind to wander as she took in her surroundings, but knowing the very recent history of the place shed a new light on her thoughts. Sunlight bounced off the omnipresent crystals casting glittering rainbows everywhere. It even reached the lower depths of the hole, but it did not reach far enough to reveal the bottom. As the wyrm had crashed around it dislodged pillars with widths that easily rivaled the length of a tall human. In a way the pillars looked like teeth in the mouth of the cave; the kind of teeth that would warrent an immediate trip to the dentist. Smaller crystals were strewn along the path and were not terribly dissimilar to the ones on the mountain's paths. They were looser and footing did not come easily. The wyrm had gouged rough cuts into the walls and shattered crystals were everywhere, but somehow that just added to the beauty. Why was the damage so pretty? Destruction shouldn't be pretty. Penny shook her head and focused on her footing. She was grateful that the main tunnel was sturdy... well sturdier than the smaller tunnels she and Leslie had considered. Being a pumpkin person meant she was already a squash; she didn't feel the need to be physically squashed by a collapsing tunnel.

A flittering noise rose up from the depth. It sounded like flapping wings and fear started fluttering in Penny's heart. "What was that?"

"Wyrmlings!" Leslie answered with excitement, but Penny saw no reason for why he would be excited. If there were smaller versions of the Crystal Wyrm then that was not a reason to be excited. Penny had already been thrown into the air by a rouge flying noodle of a creature and she was not keen to experience that again. "Are they the same type of wyrm as the last one?"

Leslie shook his head and explained that these were a different type of wyrm entirely, and then went on to talk about them which was a topic Penny was not interested in and did not fully listen to. So long as the flittering foot-long noodles left her alone she was going to leave them alone.

When Leslie had finished speaking he offered his hand to help Penny walk the path. Her initial reaction was to refuse and she was about to polietly decline the aid, but a shifting of crystals beneath her feet made her change her mind. It took two to travel safely here. When she grabbed his hand she could feel its warmth through her glove and between her fingers. "Weird," she thought before she remembered that humans, like most creatures in the Paperverse that Penny had met so far, are warm-blooded.

A pleasant noise similar to a wind chime or a music box sounded from above. Penny wasn't sure what it was but she liked the sound; she did not like how it was growing louder at an alarming rate. It stopped sounding like the plinking of a wind chime and developed a harsh crashing quality. Something was wrong. Out of the corner of her top pair of eyes Penny saw movement and her head snapped up to see what was going on.

"ACK!" was her started yelp as she moved her back to the wall. The sudden pull on his arm caught Leslie by suprise and he looked at her to see what was wrong. He missed the danger, or rather the danger missed him by an inch. A shower of crystals heralded the fall of a mammoth sized crystal pillar that crashed onto the side of the path. Crystals that were already loose rained down as the edge broke off, and since Leslie was right next to the point of imact he fell off the edge. His footing faltered, but his grip did not: Penny was pulled towards the edge with him. Panic speeding her movement Penny clutched one of the crystals lodged in the wall for support. It shifted and broke away from the wall. A cold dread seized her heart as her feet left the path but by some miracle the crystal jolted to a halt. The stop caused Leslie's entire weight to pull the fibers of her shoulder. It hurt. Crystals continued to pour down past them, their echos clattering on seeming to never hit the end of the tunnel, until their noise was too soft to hear and only the sound of Penny and Leslie's panicked breathing broke the silence.

This was not a good predicament to be in. The lodged crystal was the only thing preventing a lethal fall. Penny's shoulder hurt and her face reflected the pain. That injury made pulling Leslie and herself up improbable, so they hung for a second too stunned to speak. Leslie was still holding on tight, but his feet dangled over the abyss and his sword was useless against the threat of gravity.

"What to do what to do?" she thought through the pain. Then an idea came to her. and she thought, "My magic could make this so much easier."

"Hey Leslie?"

"Yes?"

"I've got an idea." Then Penny blew a magical leaf towards a nearby crystal. It didn't reach and started drifting down. Leslie watched it fall and was very confused as to how a glowing leaf got there. Penny tried again. The leaf got closer but still didn't reach the crystal.

"Uhm?" Leslie was even more confused.

"Okay, I have a dumb idea." Penny blew another leaf without checking Leslie's reaction, but this time it was aimed at the crystal in her hand. The golden leaf reached the crystal and stuck to it, and a vapor of magical vines formed around the crystal. Penny smiled, but quickly regretted the action as the crystal shifted and gravity took hold. Leslie looked back and forth from the darkness and the glowing light feeling the shift and dreading what was coming next. Penny focused, she had to focus, but she knew this was not going to be as easy as she had hoped. The crystal dislodged and they fell, but her magic was now imbuded in the prism. Gravity was strong, and her pain weakened her, but she was not going to die here. Feeling the magic corse through her arm Penny forced the crystaline earth to slow down as she tried to levatate it. At first this did not seem to work as they plummeted deeper down, the other gigantic crystals rushing past in a blur, but the more Penny focused the slower the descent became. They were still moving too fast, so she moved them both sideways until they were right next to the wall. They crashed onto the lower path, fast enough to hurt, but not fast enough to cause any serious damage.

Penny and Leslie lied there catching their breath. Then Leslie looked over and chuckled, "Just started and already falling."

Penny sat up clutching her arm before stretching out and popping her neck. She didn't hear him through the pounding of her heart. "Did you say something?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing."