Say, what fine weather we're having today! [Eridanus / Open]

by **Pash'nar** on May 31st, 2012, 3:10 am

Pash'nar attempted to carry more of his own weight through the terrifying streets once they took on an additional straggler. Maybe it was some second, exhausting burst of adrenaline, or maybe it was just bravado, but the tattooed sailor knew that dragging two struggling bodies around instead of just one wouldn't help Eridanus find any form of safety for himself and his charges. The disintegrating buildings and horrible chaos were terrifying enough to numb the aches that dug deep into his half-drowned body. He just moved, willing himself to duck and roll and avoid things to the best of his abilities, making sure he took his cues from the obviously more physically talented ethaefal.

Ah, it was nice to run into another one, especially a familiar one. It'd been a while, indeed, but it always felt like a piece of home. Right now, that piece of home was good to cling to.

The Vantha who'd joined them wasn't really in much better shape than himself, and he offered what support he could to bolster Eri's attempts at lugging them to some kind of safety, wherever the petch that safety was going to be. The djed storm certainly didn't lessen Ionu's city's penchant for being changing and unpredictable. If anything, it made that worse, and that was horrible.

"Well, I s'pose bein' slow has it's merits if'n we decide we wanna be part'o the scenery. I ain't sure that's my plan, though." He grinned half-heartedly, squinting a bit from all the flashing and destruction. His ears rang, so he knew his voice was louder than necessary.

He felt dizzy.

"Ionu's still gotta sense of humor in this mess, though. Petch, gotta appreciate that, right?" The dark-haired navigator managed a bit more humor, making sure one inked hand reached out to grab a hold of the girl with the mandolin to keep her moving along instead of staring at the terrible things going on in the streets.

"Let's keep goin'! Ain't much to see that's worth lookin' at right now." He glanced around, trying to see whatever form of shelter Eri was searching for. He spoke between crashes and thundering, voice harsh and strained. Desperation was beginning to wear itself into the sea-swept features of his false Svefra face, "Got any hints of what we should be searchin' for?"

by **Eridanus** on June 22nd, 2012, 6:49 am

"Part of the scenery? This must be one hell of a scenery then, eh Ionu? Fine weather we be having, I must say!" Eridanus barked a harsh laughter as he continued dragging his svefra friend across the crumbling streets. Pash'nar had grabbed onto the other survivor as well, and together they made a strange rag-tag trio of half-hobbling half-running folks desperately escaping for safety.

"Something to look for?" The sometimes-vantha mused.

That was the problem of the Underground, and of Alvadas in general. Everyone perceptions of the city rarely stayed the same, and they rarely synchronized accurately. Living in Alvadas was like each individual living his own dream-smoke infused hallucination. It was pointless to compare. The Underground brought this one step further, and ensured that those who had never entered the place would remain restricted from it.

Unless one such as he brought them in.

He knew that he was be endangering them to the possible horrors of the Underground in the future, but it was better than leaving them to certain death out in the open here.

"Up there! See that archway?"

Up ahead stood a strange orange brick-like archway, though it looked like it housed the door of the house. Except that there was no house, and there was no door, and nothing in front or behind the archway. That was one of the portals to the Underground, though those unfamiliar with the Streets Below would simply walk through the archway instead of finding the requisite stairs.

"Follow me!" He cried, pushing forward just as another djed-infused lightning struck the air around them. Putting a single boot into the archway, the veil of air sheltered by the bricks shimmered, revealing a blurred image of grim-looking stairs leading downwards.

"Down we go!"

by **Pash'nar** on August 2nd, 2012, 4:31 am

Pash'nar briefly wondered if this one day in Alvadas would forever change his already uneasy opinion of the place. Yes, yes it petching would. As if near-drowning just within glimpse of the port hadn't been enough that day, an entire city of illusion apparently focused on destroying their slow-moving bodies while they scrambled from safely did nothing at all to improve his opinion of the shifting streets and wildness of the place already. No, not at all.

He managed a half-hearted grin at Eridanus' weather-related joke, the fire of inhaled brine that still clung to the corners of his lungs preventing him from entirely finding the humor in his statement.

At the mention of the archway, the tattooed sailor managed to toss his head in the indicated direction, any hint of amusement draining from his features. Gods, was that just as petching unsafe as the Maw itself? What was that? He had rising doubts that this Underground was any safer than above ground, but those hints of misgiving were quickly and loudly quelched by the djed-infused lightning that almost threatened o toss them bodily down the stairs of its own accord.

"Oh, aye, I don' see much'f'a choice—" he began to retort as his rescuer tugged both himself and their musician friend along into the shimmering space between their current position and the dark stairwell that appeared from nowhere.

Unfortunately, his footing was hardly more reliable than on the streets, still weak and sore. He was, really, a pain in the arse of a burden for Eri, though, to his merit, it was not by choice. Struggling with a third body made their beginning down the stairs hardly a safe affair, staggering and stumbling along while trying to keep from tossing them all a few flights downward by accident. It took a bit of creative maneuvering, a bit of grunting and hand scraping against the cold, dark, moist sides of the stairwell to keep them all from bodily falling down them instead of walking properly.

Eventually, even Pash managed to find his footing and could be released with the assurance of relative safely, clinging rather desperately to the walls, scraping his way downward. It was a bit of a relief, he was sure, for the man who rescued him.

"So, uh, this is gonna be safer'n'up there, right? Ain't no giant creature at th'bottom with his mouth open waitin' to swallow us, right?" He couldn't shake the image anything below Alvadas being safer, but he was at least hopeful at this point. He wanted to trust that Eridanus knew more about Ionu's city than he did, but the dark-haired navigator was wary as to whether or not there was a soul who could ever learn enough about the place to call themselves truly knowledgeable save for being Ionu in the flesh.

by **Eridanus** on August 19th, 2012, 6:20 am

As they shambled to the entrance of the archway, the last of Eri's flux-fueled energies died down, and even as he tried to call the magic to aid him it failed. It was one of the measures he implemented in his subconscious to prevent him from the overuse of flux, and it showed in his inability to call the magic.

The realities of the sailor's burden on him crashed into the vantha's strength as he tried to maintain his unstable hold on the svefra.

"Almost... there," He gasped as his fatigued muscles - both physically and magically - protested. Upon entering the archway, there was instant silence, as if they entered a completely different world.

The waft of burnt toast discreetly filled the air, while the muffled sounds of a violin orchestra could be heard as they walked down spiraling stairs made of velvety... glass?

Eridanus shrugged, glad that the lightning and devastation was finally left behind. The Alvadas Underground, hidden in the complex illusions that Ionu crafted the city with, resplendent in its whimsical nature and deceptive danger.

"Welcome to The Streets Below, Pash," He uttered softly, the exhaustion evident in his weary voice. "We should be safe here."

by **Daydream** on November 3rd, 2012, 1:43 pm

Eridanus:

XP :

Lores :

Pash'nar:

XP :

Lores :

Comments: This was one pretty amazing read and I hate that it didn't go on longer! However, I'm glad you didn't allow it to sit and rot because I'd have to say you gained quite your share of skills. Let's see, Eridanus, I didn't award you Saving Anishna because she only posted three times throughout the entire thread and once you guys disappeared underground she was never to be heard from again. Pash'nar, you have a smaller amount of skills and XP because you practically hopped around being supported by Eridanus so I'm sure that's self-explanatory.

Anyways, if you have questions, comments, concerns, or would like to see something changed please do PM me so I can correct any errors and fulfill any direly wanted requests. Overall, awesome thread and it sucks it was abandoned.

~Keep dreaming