Underside Chapter 2: Clockwork Fronds

Richard meets his first inhabitants of the underside.

Time: Unknown

Date: 17338, Unthiar, 87th [Taken from Sky Skimmer standard calendar]

Location: Outside of Bulwark Town Jesico, on the edge of the Sea of Golden Towers

Document: Continued from X’alen Shinfar’s He Who Lit the Darkness

 

He became aware that something was pressing against his face. Something that felt oddly slick yet firm, and gave an overall unpleasant sensation when touched. It combined with the burning pain shooting up and down his arm forced him from his dream state and back into some semblance of reality. Richard opened his eyes to find his face was pressed against some kind of yellow foliage, and when he turned his head towards the shoulder that was hurting so badly he saw more of the molted fronds, though these were stained with red. The plants curled and uncurled to flake off the drying blood making the entire area around his arm ungulate oddly. Turning his further to look at the injured arm he saw the plants had stuck to it, and their leaves formed a near perfect barrier and the bleeding had almost stopped. They were slowly moving on the wound, fighting one another for the largest spot. His eyes widened with horror as he saw the stems of the odd plants that were attached to his arms bulging, and some leaking with blood, his blood. He tried to roll off the plants held him fast and all he could manage was to move his other arm to try and claw the carnivorous grass away, but for every frond he ripped off another spread to replace it. Though after some time he seemed to be making progress, but was still weakening from the lack of blood, and now that he had exposed some of his arm the wound was bleeding freely back onto the grass.

Finally he pulled up enough that he could rip the rest out as he sat up, but as he did near blinding pain ran through his arm and his head swam from the sudden change in altitude. His whole body felt as if it was made of iron and each movement taxed him. Using his other arm to try and stem the bleeding, he opened his eyes and turned them towards the sky. 

“What the hell!” There was a ceiling in the sky. Miles into the air he could see a surface opposite him. His eyes trailed down as he realized the scale of what he was seeing. It couldn’t be just a few miles, it had to be hundreds. The landscape slopes up away from him so there was no horizon, and the yellow field he was in extended miles in either direction. Vertigo gripped him, and along with the pain in his shoulder, it caused him to wretch. Out of his stomach poured all those expensive finger foods and expensive wines. The fronds gathered around the vomit and began to suck the moisture from it as well. Richard tried to grasp what was around him, but couldn’t, it was all to different, and to fast. One minute he was falling to his death, then this, or maybe he was dead, but if he was dead this was one crappy afterlife and his shoulder shouldn’t still be bloodied.

In was seemed like the center between where he was and the opposite surface was what looked like a sun, though it was partially obscured by an enormous metal object. He blinked and tried to focus on the opposite side, but the most detailed thing he could pick out was a few mountains. Instead he focused on what was attached to the false sun. On either side was a tower going away on opposite side to what had to be the poles, which made where he was sitting around the equator. 

He decided that looking at it wouldn’t make it go away, so instead he focused on what was around him. The plants were attempting to find some more exposed skin, going so far as to invade his pockets and attempt to slide under his waste band. He felt several pricks on his ankle and reached down with his good arm to pull up the cuff of his pants. The plants had latched onto the exposed skin and were drawing blood. He pulled them off quickly to reveal small welts under where the leaves had been. Touching his face he realized that it to was covered in the small welts.

Around him was nothing but the vampire grass, except for a few rocks directly behind him, and after spending five minutes working his way onto his feet and stumbling towards them he was sitting on top of one of the larger ones.

From the other side of the rocks he heard clanking. He peered over it and saw what had been hidden from him before. Maybe a hundred yards away was a small caravan. The motor attached to the front lead vehicle belched steam and on the side was a hopper that lead to a pile of coal dominating the first car. Atop this pile sat a parson, who was with one hand holding the reigns and with the other was pushing coal so it would load into the chute properly. The engine was covered in small smoke stacks and pipes, and ever few feet a valve on the front would whistle and expel steam in a tiny cloud. The other cars, which were all hooked to the first, were covered in metal ware. Everything from pots and pans to gardening tools, with the occasional sword hanging from a stand. All this was causing rhythmic clacking, which continued to get louder as the cars got closer. These people were a good as bet as any, and if he didn’t get help soon he would pass out from the blood loss, and then he was nothing but food for the vampire grass.

“Help!” he yelled with as much force as he could over the roar of metal on metal. For a moment he thought nothing had happened, but then the person on top of the coal pile slid towards the engine and pulled a lever. Which in turn caused a brake to slot into place and the entire machine ground to a halt.

Now that they were closer he could tell fully what the cars had. Six in total, and each were piled high with good. From the side of one were glass jars and wooden boxes overflowing with different small plants and flowers, and from another were can after can of some viscous liquid. Rope, candles, spare wood, metal parts, cages full of different birds, tools, everything someone could possibly need was contained on the side of this thing.

From the side of the cart covered in herbs shot out a head of an old man. “Why in Ulvick’s name have stopped Chigala, we don’t have all day. If we don’t make Jesico by morning we are going to have to miss the open market.” Now that the banging had stopped Richard tried to call again.

“Help me, I’ve been injured and won’t last long without help. Please help me.” The person who had been driving the car turned their head towards where he was. A thick mask covered their face and goggles so blurred that he couldn’t see past them, and like the car themselves the person’s clothes were covered in item. Silverware tied together with string, even small cages with rodent like animals looking out at him with squinted black eyes, and pouches covered every square inch of thick green material. After unclipping several buckles along the neck line the person pulled off the helmeted headpiece. Before every inch of skin had been covered completely by the shapeless green material, but now he saw the pale ivory skin and freckled face of a woman. She couldn’t be very old, early twenties, twenty-five at the maximum. What astonished him the most was how she could have managed to stuff all that hair inside the headpiece. The red curls threatened to break the bonds of the tie they were held up with and spill down her back.

“Well, what do have we here.” Her voice was thick with an accent he couldn’t place, but was not unlike the old man who had shouted earlier. “I’m surprised someone out here would be smart enough to know Togoli, but stupid enough to almost let himself get eaten by Huhu grass.” She hoisted herself back over the rock and back to the caravan. Richard was able to move himself in a better position to see, despite the roaring pain in his shoulder. More people have come out of the cars, and totaled in seven different people. Two young girls had come out of the back car, which had been laden with clothing, and an older woman, probably their mother, was fast after them. The old man was out of his room in the apothecary cart and was supporting himself with a long walking stick. Two men, one old enough to be the Richard’s father, the other in his late thirties. The girl with the red curls started to tell them about Richard, and though he could only hear snatches of conversation it sounded good.

“We can’t just leave him here... He won’t last another hour... Bullfrog can take care of him... We can just drop him off in the next town, who knows he might live there anyway.” The woman broke off of the huddled group along with the younger man and approached him once again.

“We have decided to patch you up and take you to the next town. You will have to work for us while we are there so you can pay off the debt of us saving your hide, or just pass some gold to us, we don’t care which,” Said the man as he bent down to pick up Richard by his good shoulder, and as he did Richards injured shoulder panged with another stab of agony. It was indeed a deep wound, but hopefully not life threatening once they fixed him. The man looked back over at him and smiled, revealing a jaw full of silver teeth “Other then that nice to meet ya though.”

They took him inside the old man’s cart and laid him on a bed that took up the entire back wall. Then the old man set to work on him, cutting off the bloodied shirt and selecting different herbs and flowers from around him to crush into balms. Over the next hour he lost count of the number of things he was forced to drink and incenses he had to smell, but on a whole he was feeling better, or at least the old man had used something to deaden the pain.

“I am going to have to put you to sleep for the next part. It is extremely painful to have Huhu seedlings taken out of an open wound, and you must have been there a long time because they’ve planted a rather large amount of buds in you.” He struck a flint over a pile of pale pink flowers, the turned to embers in seconds. Then he pushed the crumbling plants into a metal facemask, which he slotted over Richard’s mouth, and after a few seconds of breathing in the mind muddling mixture Richard was out cold.

 

Document: Minutes from interview with Ikrin Hinvula, approximately four months after Richard Krenner solved the “little problem”

Purpose: To provide a more detailed account of Richard’s first encounter with people of the Underside.

 

Investigator: Why did you allow Chigala to take him in?

 

Ikrin: We take in people every so often anyway, someone needs something and we let them borrow it, and they stay with us while they work off the debt, come to think of it I don’t think Golgus ever worked off the debt for those teeth of his, but anyway. If they are good at what they do we might offer them a job.

 

Investigator: You mean taking people into your caravan was a normal occurrence?

 

Ikrin: I wouldn’t say normal; she was the only one to ever let it happen. She picked and chose ever one who came with us. I asked her why on several occasions, but the only answer she gave me what “I know they will pay us back”.

 

Investigator: At the time did you have any idea of what Richard could do?

 

Ikrin: By Sithala no I did not. If I had known I would have probably been more helpful in the first few days he was with us. Frankly none of the rest of us liked it when Chigala took in people. It was like bringing a wolf into the flock and expecting it to behave, and until we can figure out if it will for ourselves everyone is a little on edge.

  

Time: approximately 4:78 Halfturn

Date: 17338, Unthiar, 88th

Location: Inside Bulwark Town Jesico, on the edge of the Sea of Golden Towers

Document: Continued from X’alen Shinfar’s He Who Lit the Darkness

 

He woke up to the shrill cry of a young child. Turning his head away from the wall full of shelves he saw the old man sitting cross-legged in front of an incense table. Different oils and mixtures were burning in the tray and he was muttering something under his breath. Richard reached over to put a hand on his injured shoulder; it was covered in a thick white shell. The old man opened one eye.

“I removed over forty bulbs from you, and I must say thank you for being infected with so many. Normally to collect a new stock of them I have to let them feed on me first, but you acquired me enough to keep my business going for months yet.” His finger traced the deep wrinkles on top of his baldhead as he spoke, and slowly trailed down his face and down his beard, which was braded with a multi colored ribbons. From his pocket he retrieved a long wooden pipe, and from another a tuft of red cotton like fiber.  After lighting, and taking a long draw from funnel he blew a deep purple smoke ring across the room.

“By the way, my name is Ikrin, Ikrin Hinvula, and you have caused me to open nearly an hour late for the market. So if you don’t mind please go find Chigala so you can get your assignment.” With one hand he unlatched the large pane that sprung up into an awning. Outside were hundreds of people bustling from stand to stand. The other cars of their caravan flanked them on either side, and people were crowding the storefronts. When the mob of people noticed the apothecary had finally opened a small cheer ran out, but was silenced with the rush to be first in line. 

“Just head for the for the engine, she will probably be working on that,” said the old man as he passed a woman a small paper bag bound with twine. Richard pushed himself up on the bed and was surprised to find he head didn’t pound, and though his shoulder was extremely stiff the white shell proved flexible enough to allow him movement. Someone had gotten him out of the tuxedo while he slept, and instead he wore a long gray shirt over baggy trousers kept up by another length of string, and his feet were now bare. The room was barely large enough for him and Ikrin, and with the floundering arms of a dozen customers Richard was beginning to feel twitchy once again. He crossed the two steps to the door leading outside in a hurry and opened it to reveal a cobbled street. Stone buildings blocked his view of the inverted horizon, and a clouded sky stopped him from seeing the opposite side of the world, so for a little while he could pretend that this place was normal.

Luckily it seemed there weren’t any horses around and the ground was relatively clean. He picked his way through the people and past the two cars between him and the front where indeed Chigala was. Instead of the ultra bulky suit she had been wearing before she was in garb much like his, except she was wearing shoes, his shoes.

“What are you doing with my shoes?” he asked with a little more anger in his tone than he had meant to put there, but she ignored him and continued to work on the engine. Tightening things here and there and draining out the old lubricant. “Hello? Are you going to answer me?”

“I only answer questions that deserve an answer. I took your foot wear because you have a debt to us, and this is working towards paying that debt.” He was starting to regret wearing his extra pair of working boots to the formal. If he had worn those uncomfortable things Josephine had insisted he worn instead of nice polished pair of working shoes she would probably not have taken them.

“Ikrin told me to ask you what I can do, but there are some things I need to ask first. First of all, where the hell am I?” She ignored him for a moment while unscrewing the cap of a boiler before answering.

“You are inside Jesico,” she answered without looking at him.

“Ok, but where is Jesico? Why is the horizon backwards, and what the heck is that in the sky.” Indignation filled is voice. Not having the faintest idea of what was going on was beginning to get to him, and the lack of answers was only making him angry.

“What do you mean backwards? And do you mean the twin spires? You must have been hit on the head pretty hard when you got the scratch on your shoulder to forget those. And for your information Jesico is on the edge of the Sea of Golden Towers.” His hands twitched, they needed something to do while he worked out his thoughts into something coherent or he was going to explode. What was happening was just too weird at the moment.

“Let me see the engine,” he said at last. In response she just starred at him. “Just let me see the engine, I know how fix these kinds of things, and something if obviously wrong for you to be doing this much work. I was told I had to work so just let me work.”

“Fine then, but if you break something your debt is going to get so high you won’t be able to ever pay it.” She stepped back from the metal monstrosity, leaving her tools and equipment on the small workbench that had been set up next to the engine. The thing looked like the engine to an old coal driven train, but one that had been modified heavily over the years. As things broke, and now nearly nothing from the original mechanism remained. It took him a good ten minutes to figure out the full late out of the machine, and another five to find the problem. It did help that the tools were at least somewhat familiar, and after a detaching a pipe going between the top of one of the coal chutes and the crucible he unclogged the coal residue that had built up in it. The after reattaching it and tightening the number of screws and bolts that had been loosened by the repairing process. Afterwards, now that he was covered in coal dust and grease, he felt a lot better. When he was working on the problem at hand the world focused and allowed him to think mush more clearly, and he come to a conclusion. There were three possibilities.

One, that he had somehow fallen into another world below the Earth that was populated by humans that somehow new English. Two, this was the afterlife, which explained why everyone could understand him and the weird reverse world thing. Three, he had somehow survived the fall into the main shaft and this was all some elaborate coma dream.

No matter the true outcome of what had happened the course of action he should take was the same. Just go along with it until he could somehow make his way back to his reality.

“I fixed it,” he called to the coal pile where Chigala was resting against a pile of the lumps that she had formed into the semblance of a chair. Though her look was skeptical she came down and pulled several levers to start the hopper. Instead of deep grinding whine that the engine had emitted yesterday now it was smooth oscillating pump.

“You really did fix it. Well then, you seem to have earned your keep. Go into the last car, Orry is making breakfast for the two little ones, you can snag yourself something as well.” Her stomach growled as she started to put away the tools and looked up. “On second thought I think I’ll join you.” The two of them went from the engine all the way through the crowds into the back car, which was much larger than the others and seemed to contain most of the living quarters for the band. The crowds outside were darker skinned than him, but had a strange yellow tint that made them all look odd. Indeed yellow was a dominant color among the crowd, the majority of the clothing was some shade of yellow every feature from teeth to eyeballs had a yellow tint. It didn’t look entirely healthy, but they seemed well off enough. Inside the last car was a rickety wooden table where sat the two girls and the man with silver teeth. The children’s mother, who he assumed was Orry, was bending over a stove mixing together some gruel that glooped every so often as a bubble broke the surface.
“Well if it isn’t Mr. Huhu grass awake at last. I thought old Ikrin was going to lose you a few times, but I never seen a shaman as good as him, so you probably had nothing to worry about.” She ladled the mixture into bowls and set one in front of each of them. It was grey, and lumpy, but since the last time he had a real meal was the morning of the dinner party he didn’t care much. It tasted like meat turned into sludge, but went down fairly easily. While they ate the man’s silver teeth rattled with every bite, and the two kids had to have their faces wiped every so often by Orry. When he finished devouring his meal he realized that they were all looking at him.

“What?” he asked nervously.

“Who are you?” asked the silver toothed man as if accusing him.

“My name is Richard Krenner.” This time it was Chigala who asked the question

“Ok, maybe he should have asked what are you. You are lying face down in Huhu grass in what looked like priest’s garb, you speak Togoli perfectly, you were somehow able to fix that engine so it sounds better than I’ve heard it in years, and you survived have forty Huhu bulbs in your arm.” She glared at him with a look that said that nothing less than the truth would get him kicked out on the spot.

“First of all I am not speaking Togoli, I am speaking English.”

“No you are not,” interrupted Chigala.

“Well either our languages are exactly the same or I have somehow learned an entirely new language without my knowledge,” he countered.

“Fine, but that doesn’t matter right now, just tell us who you are.”

“You won’t believe me if I do,” he answered honestly.

“Try me.” Over the next ten minutes he told the story about who he was and where he was from, the entire time the others stayed silent, though their faces grew more and more confused with every passing paragraph. He ended with the collapse of the observation deck and him waking up in that field.

“You’re right, I don’t believe you. Though you don’t seem like you’ve taken a trip with the loons so I’m not really sure what to do about you. If what you’re saying is true then we have someone with no home to go to save for this, ummm... United Rates thing you were talking about, and it doesn’t seem you’ll be able to get back there any time soon. So here is your choice. I saw how well you can repair things, so you’ll definitely earn your keep, so option one is to stay with us while you try to find out just how to get back home, or option two, we part ways here and you probably die of starvation is some alley wondering how this could have happened to you.” She ended with a smile.

“Not giving me much of a choice are you? Sure I’ll come with you.” The man with silver teeth let out a bellowing laugh.

“Well then, good to have ya aboard, and since the only spare bunk is the one in my room we’ll be roommates until you decide to jump ship. My name Golgus,” he pointed at the two young girls. “That is Simmi and Juncy, the guy you saw yesterday is Erond, he’s working the forge right now.” He pulled him to his feet and towards the ladder towards the second floor of cab. While all the others have a single floor this one extended for three stories into the air. They went up the first ladder and past what was obviously Orry and the little girl’s room and up past what was half room have tool shed and into the attic. He had to nearly bend double as they walked through the cramped space.

“Lets get ya settled in,” said his muffled voice as he dug through a pile of what at first glance looked like debris. Out of which he began to throw things at him. “Here is ya sleeping bag, your own cup, shaving things, extra clothes, silverware, teeth fixings, and box for anything you pick up on the way.” With each name other items was thrown at him until he could hardly see from under all the goods. Next Golgus indicated a large chest in one corner. “Dump it all in there for now, you can sort through it later, and if you need anything else just ask me.” Richard began putting the tings in the bottom of the crate as neatly as he could.

 “One more thing though.” He was grabbed by the scruff of his neck and slammed against the wall. Gulgos’s face was just inches away from his. “If you dare try to hurt anyone here I swear you’ll be nothing more than a stain on the ground by the time I am done with you. Chigala may be convinces you aren’t such a bad guy, but not me, I’ve seen too many bad things to trust so easily. You want to know how I lost these teeth of mine? My best friend pulled em out one by one to try and get me to tell him the route to the Northern Spire. I know what betrayal feels like first hand, and it isn’t fun, so don’t even let a single thought along those lines enter you head. Get me?” His face was contorted into a scornful grimace, and the silver teeth flashed in the dim light of the lamp hanging from a hook in the corner.

“Yes yes I get you, now please let me go,” stammered Richard as the Golgus’s knuckles dug into his throat.

“I want you to swear, swear that you will never harm anyone on this caravan.”

“I swear. I promise to never hurt anyone on the caravan, now please let go of me,” he breathed as Golgus’s grip loosened and set him down. They sat there for a moment starring at each other before Golgus smiles broadly.

“That’s good to hear. Sorry I had to get rough with ya, but I needed to get my point across. If you do have a degree in engineering or whatever you said it means you’re good with machines right? Then you’ll want to set up shop down with Erond, he’s back behind all the normal shop fronts.” Golgus said this while lowering himself down to the second level and left Richard sitting there stunned. He had been a nerd all his life and in his youth has been accustomed to beating from the bigger and the stupider, but it was the first time in years he had gotten into physical conflict. He rubbed his neck as he went back to the crate. It seemed that at least one person on this caravan had a few demons in their past, hopefully this was the last time they were focused at him at least.

 

Document: News report immediately after the collapse of Lamp Light.

Purpose: To provide a broader scope of how Richard Krenner affected the world on a whole.

 

Earlier today tragedy struck on Project Mole, a humanitarian endeavor by the Ukiseft Conglomerate to provide clean energy for most of the US. An earthquake caused part of Way Station Lamp Light to collapse. It just so happened that it struck on the very same day as the great charity ball for Ukiseft's primary investors.

 

So far only one casualty has been confirmed, but that causality was world famous inventor Richard Krenner. He was last seen on the observation deck when the freak quake occurred.

 

Though the place was graded for hard earthquake condition this shake was so out of the norm it causes the glass observation deck to crack and splinter. Richard fell into the main shaft, an over two-kilometer drop. His body has yet to be recovered by Ukiseft representatives have assured us that their efforts will continue until it is found and can be given it’s proper respects.

 

[Humorous cartoon of a stylized Richard falling and going splat while a Ukiseft representative in a Sherlock Holmes outfit is looking right next to him with a magnifying glass saying “Nope, can’t find him.]

Author's Note

Sorry, I had to use a word processor that didn't have a spell checker to write this, so bear with me.

Reviews

[Ice QueenJen]

This was a great chapter to read, full of interesting things occurring throughout the story. To have a plant that eats and deposits seeds inside a person is quite different to. I understand that it's hard to edit sometimes, just do your best.

[Daniel Gardner]

The chapters keep on coming, Great job.

[Huggy Bear]

I love it. Very beautiful written.

[trish420]

i LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!! Your characters are so personable and endearing.... I hope you keep up with this... it's great!

[Aggie Skeleton]

That was very, not what I'm used to reading. But it was thouraly enjoyable, and , I love it!