Quest Into the Deep

(Aelobius's Ring)

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An undead citadel created before the cataclysm, Sahova is devoted to all kinds of magical research. The living may visit the island, if they are willing to obey its rules. [Lore]

Into the Deep

Postby Keene Ward on February 6th, 2015, 11:13 pm

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To Keene's great surprise, after Palaren picked up the mushroom, instead of handing to him, the man popped it into his mouth as if it were the most nonchalant thing in the world. Even Keene wouldn't have eaten the entire thing. His eyes widened slightly, in limbo between confusion as absolute incredulity. There was little he could do about the situation and little he could do. Instead, Keene simply remained on the ground, blinking at the methodical chewing face of the trident wielding man, wondering just what exactly was going to happen to him. When Fallon finally spoke, it was an emotional interpretation of about what Keene was thinking. While he was plenty aware that it was highly likely the mushrooms were potentially poisonous, Keene had assumed a small amount would be suitable enough for ingestion to test. After determining whether the fungus was harmful or helpful, then he had planned to consume more. The experiment, however, was already underway, and there was a strange shifting in Palaren's eyes that didn't quite sit right with the young initiate.

There was little time to think on the matter more, however, as once Palaren started to show sings that the mushroom was having some, unknown effect, there was the sickening sound of skittering legs, rustling in the darkness. Small clicks resounded around the cavern as little bits of rock and dirt clattered about as the shifting shadows began to take form. Keene had begun to perspire under the circumstances, a small pallor of apprehension playing at the back of his mind as he cautiously twisted to stare off into the inky darkness beyond the ethereal glimmer of the mushrooms. Small flits of motion were caught in the pale light: shivering pieces of fur, a leg, a strange sheen of metal. When the creatures finally stepped out into the open, Keene flinched back involuntarily. There was something about arachnids that, while he was not explicitly afraid of them, instilled a sense of caution within him. It was like an innate memory of some terrible, forgotten past that he had not experienced but somehow seemed to remember. There was also the disconcerting fact that the creatures before them were the product of magical experiments, making them far more dangerous than they appeared; and they appeared quite threatening as they were.

He couldn't manage to determine how many there were exactly, the constatn shifting of legs and the manner in which they moved - like angry dark clouds rolling over each other in a gathering meaning force - left him guessing anywhere from three to eight, and as the larger the number, the more danger, Keene decided not to take chances and assumed the larger quantity. They rushed forward towards him, their skittering made all the more threatening by Keene close proximity to the ground, and from his perspective they seemed twice the size, making them intimidatingly massive. The glow of the fungus illuminated their hairy bodies in a sickly glow, and as they closed to descend upon him, he found it odd that only one stopped above him, its wicked looking blades quivering above him. The tickle of the hair was the last straw. Keene was only partially immobilized, and the feeling of the spider's fur against his face was more than he could handle. With little thought, Keene's right hand balled into a fist, res seeping out of his skin before he slammed his hand into the creature's body from below. As he did so, his res rushed upwards, most of it transmuting into a furious blast of air. Of the res that was left, Keene shoved it into spikes, gesturing a snap with his left hand - though with only his pointer and thumb, there was no sound - transmuting the jagged remnants of res into icy projectiles.
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Into the Deep

Postby Pulren Marsh on February 8th, 2015, 8:22 am

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Pulren could feel a small spongy splinter stuck in his teeth. Annoyed with it, he began to suckle at his mouth to pull the thing free as he watched the agape faces of his companions. The ghost raccoon wasn't surprised. Why should they be? If anything, it was clear that they were just jealous of Pulren's clear decisiveness. It even made the Zeltivan frown in thinking of how fragile the grasp of Bitzer's leadership really was. The room's stifling and stale heat was giving way to a more cozy feeling and Pulren grinned as he basked in the comfort of his decision to eat the mushroom.

Soon a sweet, lustful whisper slid through his soul, telling Pulren important information. He nodded, his eyes widening with avarice as he looked down at the grovelling Wizard. Keen was most likely faking. It was becoming clearer and clearer that he had known about the power and value of the items all along. Why else would a combat fearing Wizard attempt to wear a vambrace? The concept was so laughable that a throaty chuckle began to croak from the fisherman's throat, his head shaking in a disdainful fashion at Keene.

His attention soon turned to the beasts that began to pour from the openings in the tunnel. Fear would have gripped the Zeltivan had he not eaten the fungus. The beasts were demonstrating their purpose as guardians of the treasure trove, appearing to protect and regain the valuable artifacts. Keene was an offender and Bitzer..well, her true colors soon shone through. Yellow. Through and through. The snicker continued as Pulren thought of the closed end of the tunnel. Was it a surprise that the bizarre constructs ignored Pulren?

"Surely not. The fungus has rendered me invisible to them. A clear advantage."

Shield and trident agrasp, Pulren watched the Wizard as he sprayed shards of razor edged ice into the underbelly of one of the creatures. It snapped back in defiance, its body rising as it released a most unearthly screech of pain. With its body so revealed and his presence completely unseen to it, the Zeltivan charged in, spearing the creature with his trident, yelling as he ran with its thrashing husk at the end of his tines. His shield pressed into its offending arms as they blindly skittered and searched for the invisible killer. Throwing his weight into it, he put the thing on its back, the shield pressed against the two flailing blades attached to its head, the trident stabbing gleefully.

Turning his head toward Keene, it would be clear that a pallor of madness gripped Pulren's features. "Don't you run off with my gear, Keene. Once I have dispatched these guardians of the treasure, I'll be reclaiming it."
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Into the Deep

Postby Ink on March 13th, 2015, 6:09 am

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Fallon ran dozens darkened meters. The incline was gradual at first, but increased with each step until the path was so steep stairs would have been helpful. A thick, spongy moss had grown to carpet much of this portion of the cavern’s floor and walls. Except for relieving a small sound after booted foot left a print, and releasing the musty smell of wet decay, nothing seemed inherently sinister. In fact nothing seemed alive at all aside from the young human woman. Well over a chime of running had passed since a single whisper of an echo had traveled down the tunnels from the men’s predicament. Unless she turned back now, she would be well and truly alone until Keene and Pulren could move forward.

On the other hand, alone might have been the better situation. As the expert released his blast of res-fueled air, each and every arachnid monster flew full speed towards the rocky, stalactite riddle ceiling. The crunch was gut wrenching as their caprices punctured and shattered. The ensuing shower of viscous innards over both men, drenching Keene but only peripherally splattering Pulren. Unfortunate, it gave the fungally afflicted ruffian a screen through which to act.

The guts had covered entirely Keene’s face and would require removal before any of his sense registered properly again. Any sense except touch, because along his back where the the creatures had shed their hairs was beginning to itch. That itch, whether scratched or not, would proceed to burn after a few chimes with increasing intensity. On top of all of the Initiate's problems was the fact that his magically objects still seemed insistent upon being glued to the rocky cave floor.

All the while the Raccoon had not at all reacted to the monsters or their spilled bile, but as Pulren approached Keene’s nearly prone form, the ghastly critter began to ignore his ring and watched with unwavering intensity.
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Into the Deep

Postby Fallon on March 13th, 2015, 8:06 am

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Breathing hard, Fallon kept going, form scrabbling as she tried to keep going. Blind fear consumed, a simple sensation that wrapped her up deeply in the darkness. She did not really know where she was going, the mind was sent only on going forward, feet snapping and sliding as she scrabbled onwards. It was only as the ground grew steeper, the floor slicker and more difficult to navigate. Her eyes looked about in the dark, form momentary pausing down the tunnels, the sensation of the air growing thicker and heavy, the mind ignited as she looked about blindly. Nostrils flared, the stench reaching her as she slowed. Free from one danger, but had she just fallen into another.

The sound beyond was not missed by her, if anything she heard that echoing racing behind her - and it served as enough to give her pause. Stillness, nothingness, a void lacking in anything that suggested life. It was enough to give her pause, the eyes flickering about as they adjusted to the low light. Her leg gave a twitch, the beginnings of the throes slowly diminishing. Steps gradually reduced down from the mad sprint, her hand reaching back as the faint squelch reached her ears. What was going on? Had she abandoned them to their death? Was she alone?

A spinning step, fingers gave a curl around the hilt of the kukri, her eyes continue their flickering. Light, she needed light and to be able to see what she was doing - that was the first move to be made. Raising her free hand she focused upon it, eyes darting away as she looked upon the world warily. Her djed gave a ripple, slowly plucking forth, the chill running down her forearm. She pushed the sensation, feeding it the best she could, the smallest flinches to the occasional movement of her toes. She could not afford to stand still for too long, and so kept herself moving around the immediate area for the moment at least. She needed light, she needed to see where she was going and what she was doing and so she willed the djed to pool in her palm as res.

Sticking, sapping, she felt the small chill caress her shoulders as she tried to maintain her attention between two things - control and her surroundings. It peeled off her skin, rolling and sliding until it was above her gauntlet covered hand, the poor, gummy residue collating just there. She shifted her gaze then, letting the hand rise higher as it floated in its globule there. Just a quick flash, that was all she needed she reasoned as she turned her head away - she did not want to be blinded by the small flame that would come. Inhaling, she breathed the trigger word she had dubbed, the image of flames and fire rising up in her mind, "Vaknui."

A hissing crack of a spark, the res ignited, a flash of light lasting little more than a few ticks at most - a precious amount of time to see what situation she was exactly in - before control slipped from her grasp and sent her once more into darkness.
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Fallon is a Master of Intimidation, "At this level, a Master intimidator often unconsciously intimidates their target unless the intimidator monitors their stance, tone, and actions to prevent this. Master intimidators will nearly always have a reputation that precedes them unless they have taken special care to prevent it."
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Into the Deep

Postby Keene Ward on March 14th, 2015, 9:45 am

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The force of the spell wasn't quite what Keene had intended, though it certainly did get the beast off of him. The remaining spiders that had been in the general vicinity of the blast were caught up along side the original target, and the veritable deluge of dessicated corpse that followed with a prefaced crunch of bodies was an indication that he had put a bit too much strength behind the transmutation. The thought was the first to float idly through his mind as he stared up at the oncoming flood of gooey spider bits. It was immediately followed by the reflexive ideation that if he did not close his eyes, they were going to be filled with what used to be the insides of his attackers. The resulting sensation of the gritty slime covering his body in a sloppy slosh as it mingled with the ground around him sent a shiver through his very djed. Fortunately, his eyes and mouth had snapped closed in time to prevent most of the foul smelling coating to accost him within as well as without, though it was a minor benefit.

With his control over his investigative senses sans touch lost to him for the moment, Keene's hand moved to remove the sticky substance from his face, eyes scrunching as his fingers pressed against his skin to free them of their gory prison. Arm still stuck to the floor, Keene rolled more onto his side, letting gravity assist him in his efforts. With everything accounted for, Keene's mind was able to process what Palaren has said a few ticks before the mess had happened. Firstly, he wasn't sure how he was supposed to run in his state. Secondly, Keene had no idea what the man was talking about. As his fingers hastily but efficiently wiped away what he could of what was left of the arachnids, he felt his face frown as he considered the possibilities of what was happening to Palaren, what the next best course of action was, and why the back of his neck had begun to feel as though there were millions of little, scurrying creatures burrowing their way into his skin. For all he knew, the latter was a fact rather than a true sensation. The thought immediately drew his hand from his slime covered visage to the skin in question, slapping against it with marginal relief as discovering there was nothing there - though the itch only seemed to intensify.

The sound of boots made a wet, crunching noise as they moved across the cavern's floor, something that Keene found was far less reassuring that it might should have been. His lips still sealed tightly to keep himself from ingesting what he imagined was something not meant to sit nicely in his stomach, Keene turned his head towards the sound. The sharp movement sent flecks of goo spattering from his saturated locks and bottoms of his ears as his grey green eyes squinted towards the trident wielding Palaren. There was something about the man that set him on edge, a distinctive turn of events from when Palaren had moved to guard him when he'd found his accessories inexplicably drawn to the floor.

Wiping his free hand on the back of his shirt that had been protected by the earth at the point of the spidery explosion, Keene cautious kept his attention on Palaren's approach. Removing what he could from his lips, Keene spoke in his quiet, collected tone. From what he could tell, the only threat at the moment was the one who was supposed to be an ally. The skittering had fallen into silence the moment the sickening crunch had filled the room directly after his gust of wind. The raccoon's presence was, more or less, unimportant as far as he was concerned. "Master Palaren." Res subtly gathered around him, slipping from all points of exposed skin in a shimmering pale blue mist. "I believe the creatures have all been dispatched." As he spoke, Keene pulled his legs closer to him, a gesture that could have easily been misconstrued as fear in order to make himself smaller and more compact. "Please refrain from coming any closer." There was no hostility in his voice, but the request was given with an undertone of command. If Palaren did not stop his approach, he was prepared to defend himself. Whatever the mushroom had done to him, Keene was finding that, perhaps, it was best he had not been the one to eat it if it was indeed a fungus that made one an enemy of those who were previously not.
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Into the Deep

Postby Pulren Marsh on March 28th, 2015, 3:09 am

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It was a beautiful show, all in all. The shining, singing crystals of ice as they flew from Keene's hands. So accustomed to the ice he was. It almost cooled the room down a little, which everyone surely needed. The bodies of the twisting guardians as they recoiled and recessed into the ceiling, followed by quite the fanciful explosion of spider goo. Fortunately, the Zeltivan's position put him in the periphery of the multicolored fountain. Fortunately, the Sahovan's did not.

Clapping and laughing, Pulren looked over to the ghostly rodent. The thing was staring at him now as well, seemingly no longer interested in its toy. When Pulren cast his eyes down to the young Wizard, he moved his eyes back up to see that his own vision was being mimicked by the raccoon. "Haha..quite the conundrum." Watching as Keene wiped goo from his face, he felt quite pleased that he was not the one bathing in innards. He was equally displeased by the fact that Keene seemed to have that look about himself that one has when they want to defend themselves. Caution and tension were in his posture and face. Well, what parts of his face that could be seen , clearly.

A chuckle resumed, creeping from the lips of Palaren on arachnid legs. "Of course. Don't come any closer. Or else you will use your magic on me. Is that right, Master Keene?" His voice was shrill and alarmed, Pulren's finger was finding itself pointing at the Wizard on the ground in a very inflammatory and accusatory way. "Well, that's where the problem lies, isn't it? The guardians gone, you want to keep all of the magical loot for yourself." He began pacing back and forth where he was, obeying the request not to approach for the moment. He had some logic to drop on the young man. Logic that might make for a deal. The kind of logic he had learned in dear old Sunberth.

"Keene, I understand you want to keep the treasure. You found it, after all. In most cases, this would be the long and short of it. It's also true that you could most likely cut me down like you did the guardians with your wicked ice magic. All of these things considered, we are left with a problem. If you don't give me the treasure, I am going to simply leave you here. I know where you are because, well, there you are. I will go find my companion and then when we return, provided you are still alive, I will have the extra assistance I need to take the treasure." Crouching down and looking into the Wzard's eyes, he shrugged and smiled. "So what's it going to be?"
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Into the Deep

Postby Languish on September 23rd, 2016, 6:05 pm

Character 1: Pulren Marsh

Skills:
  • Observation + 2
  • Intimidation + 1
  • Rhetoric + 1
  • Deduction + 1
  • Logic + 1

Lores:
  • Sahova: Not Made for Comfort
  • 'Investigation' is Code for War
  • Glowing Sahovan Mushrooms
  • Sahova: Magic is Power
  • Deduction: When it Comes to Treasure, People are Greedy
  • Logic: I Have to Eat the Mushrooms

If either of you others return, pelase PM me back so I can get your grade.
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