Makara IC

The ant describes the path you took to get here.

The wood elf gives a small 'hm.' Not quite in disappointment, but close.

Ketha nods in contemplation at the translated answers. "Tell the ant we thank it for the information."

The ant does not respond to the thanks in any way.

Steam
The water genasi smiles warmly at the dragonborn wanting to thank the ants, but doesn't say anything directly. She continues walking happily, before asking aloud, "Do ants play games? Like, I know they're busy expanding the hive and getting food and stuff, but c'maaan. There's always some time to relax!"

The ants don't seem to understand what "games" mean, even after Adelinde explains in more detail.

Steam & Parveth
As the group continues following the ant, the water genasi lets out an 'ughhh' in disappointment. "These ants are no fun at all. You'd think with them being so much bigger they'd be that much more interesting, but really they're just barely more interesting." She lolls her head back and lets out another 'bluhhh.'

Parveth gives her a questioning look, but doesn't seem terribly surprised on the whole.

The spell runs out right around the time the group has walked far enough to come to a large room. It's circular and quite wide and not any taller than the tunnels were. Inside there seem to be various collections of stuff. Some identifiable as food, others farther away in the dim light or darkness could be anything. The ants seems to be leading you on a straight path through the room to another tunnel.

Steam & Parveth
"If there's one thing I can't stand, it's a bore. Nothing happens, and you're supposed to just sit there and let it happen. Which I guess is why I can't stand it." She pauses with a grin to let the awful play on words settle, before continuing on. "No, I never really could stand waiting. Walking's not a lot better, and walking in silence is just waiting while moving. So let's liven it up a bit! Who wants to hear the amazing and wonderous tale of me, Steam!"

The wood elf waves a hand in dismissal. "Not interested."

Steam poses with a point at Parveth. "Too bad! Part Four: The Journey Begins!" Parveth mutters something along the lines of 'oh good, the part I lived,' as Steam readies herself to tell what she considers to be her 'saga.'

((Pausing for now in case someone would like to respond in character who's not me. And also to prepare the wall of text that's coming and separate it into mouthfuls of briefly-paused-between talk-y bits.))

"Part four?" asks Ketha, pretty sure that stories usually start at part one...

Adelinde quirks a brow at Steams antics as she pulls out her lyre and decides to improvise around her little story for fun. "Truly, what could the first three parts have been about if part 4 is the beginning? Does this saga perhaps start in a vision of the distant future before coming back?" She asks with a slight chuckle.

At this point you've crossed the large room and walked down the tunnel a bit. Enough to see that it forks and that you are being led down the left path.

Steam
“No no, nothing like that! I just, I like to start with this one and circle around to the other parts. If a story can’t get your interest in the middle, why bother mucking around with the beginning? And admittedly, the title’s kinda misleading; this is only one of many journeys in the chronicle of me! This one’s got it all! Action! Comedy! Romance!”
Parveth immediately shoots the genasi a confused, questioning look.
Steam matches her gaze for a moment, before conceding, “…okay, not romance. Never lets me add the good stuff. But the rest of that stuff, definitely!"

The genasi smiles and clears her throat before beginning. Her voice comes out much more eloquent than her speech had been previously, with words fully enunciated which would have just been rolled through.
“Ahem…we catch up to our cerulean heroine and her now very close friend,” she gestures with a nod to Parveth, “at they make preparations to leave Lf’ern and seek greater adventures in the Anvil. The two loved Lf’ern; it was their home, and they had had so many great times there as detailed in parts one through three. But, the city had begun to lack the excitement that had long held their interest; that they had explored every nook and cranny, nary a reef or hidey-hole had been left unturned in their exploration.”

The wood elf comments dryly. “Was that why? Hmm. Not quite how I remember it.”

Steam continues unhindered, if slightly louder. “ANVIL HELD GREAT PROMISE FOR NEW ADVENTURES, WITH NEW PEOPLE AND NEW PLACES. The trip from Lf’ern to Anvil is long and full of its own share of happenings, however, and necessarily must be encountered first.”

"You don't start harvesting from the middle of the crops," argues Ketha...

Steam
Distracted the genasi stutters in her storytelling. "And they...uh...it was...well, why not?" She seems genuinely curious and as though she has completely forgotten she was saying something else.

Steam & Parveth
"Oh! Well, sure, if you wanted to hear every detail of my life, I could start from the beginning beginning and run through. I'd thought you probably wouldn't be interested in the non-recent events in my life, but since you're interested I'll go from the beginning beginning. IT WAS A BALMY AUTUMN'S EVE..." She begins with a grand sweep of an arm.

The wood elf quickly interrupts, "No. No no no no. No. If you want Steam to regale you with a somewhat disturbingly descriptive tale of her originations, which I doubt you actually are requesting, you are free to pursue that on your own time. For now however, no."

Steam pouts a little, and glances at Ketha hopefully.

The group has now walked down the left fork and now have to make a climb down another shaft.

---

No rolls necessary as there's no possibility of a threat here at the moment.

Ketha thinks carefully about Parveth's warning, and what to say next. After a short silence as she starts to prepare her climbing gear, she looks to Steam and responds with "Twenty words. Say what we'd need to know for the story you wish to tell. Will that do?"

Steam & Parveth
The wood elf eyes Steam warily, adding her to the list of things she's currently watching for dangerous moves.

The water genasi strokes her chin thoughtfully. "Twenty words...I suppose I could condense it down to such a short passage as a mere twenty words enables."
She smiles slightly, amused by her own wordplay, before taking a breath and launching quickly into, "Alright so my parents, a water genasi and an elf long-term relationship blah blah blah, got together one night in the open under the sign of Éredin, the Lovers. Naturally, this set up for me to be birthed under the list of Rhendell, the Scroll. Fortunately for everyone, I was too excited for life to be caught up in that boing old sign and popped on out in the final week that Ihlís, the Cornucopia, hung over head. As such, I am an Ihlís myself, bearer of gifts, ever yearning for celebration and comradery, and pairing well to Éredin and Cönstra, of the other signs..."

quietkal wrote:"...and pairing well to Éredin and Cönstra, of the other signs."

Ketha interjects at the end of this sentence. "Are star signs important to your story?" asks Ketha, her tone balancing between harmless curiosity and light enforcement...

Steam
The genasi nods excitedly. "They're important to all of our stories! They're never the main focus, and a lot of people just sort of ignore them in telling where they come from and how they got to who they are, but their paths are long trodden and I feel we naturally incline to follow them. Like...uh..." She snaps her fingers quickly, as if doing so would help her find the words she was looking for, before possibly giving up and continuing on. "Well, is there a particular god or goddess you like to follow the teachings of?"

After the climb they go down another tunnel, which branches in three directions. They go straight ahead.

"I try to follow the teachings of Sehanine personally." Adelinde chirps helpfully as she takes a moment to tune her lyre. "So what happened next?" She asks after a moment, genuinely kinda interested in how this is going to progress.

Steam & Parveth
The genasi nods quickly at Adelinde. "Yeah yeah, she's cool right?! All about passion and doing your own biz? Well, my point linking back to the stars is that I'm using the signs sort of like how someone might be like 'I was raised in the teachings of Sehanine,' or 'I'm big into Corellon,' and then whoever you're talking to can be like 'oh cool, I know those peeps and what they stand for, so now I can apply some of their stuff to this person I didn't know much about before,' and it's uh...condensed info and such." She just stares at the others for a moment, before clapping her hands together and saying, "Right! Next! I was...wait, next in which part?"

The wood elf continues keeping an eye on the ants, mostly ignoring the genasi's antics. She does give Adelinde a nod of affirmation at the mention of Sehanine, however.