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The city hides a few secrets under the surface.

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A lawless town of anarchists, built on the ruins of an ancient mining city. [Lore]

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A Minor Undertaking (Aliara)

Postby Everett Larahan on March 17th, 2015, 3:55 am

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17 SPRING 515 AV

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Now, this isn't where I meant to be at all.

The tunnel's opening loomed ahead of him like something hungry and alive, a great stone gullet winding its way through the darkness down to gods-knew-where. Huge clods of earth lay tumbled all around him, scattered on the sickly grass like the toys of a child. A particularly large and messy child. Who enjoyed playing with dirt. Everett was not afraid to acknowledge that the comparison had somewhat run away with him. What he was more reluctant to admit was that it seemed he had gotten lost. Again. The rain dripped sullenly onto the side of the hill, dribbled down the cavern's mouth in tiny rivers, and he hunched into his scarf with a frustrated sigh. Too petching cold for this nonsense, he thought, and huffed at the distinctly un-crowded horizon. There was something about the open expanse of rolling hills that made him uneasy, used as he was to being hemmed in between leaning walls and buildings. It was with unclouded relief that he caught sight of the crowded, slumping mass that was Tent City, and just beyond it a sloping hill that no doubt shielded the city proper. Tucking his hands into his pockets and turning his feet towards the city—now, how did I make it all the way out here in the first place?--he set out, squinting at the distant smudge that he hoped would soon resolve itself into the anarchic jumble of buildings he called home. A song crept into his head, a cheerful little tune about how things always work out in the end, and he whistled a few bars and—

--and she came home whistling, later than usual and he shouted and hugged her and said don't you see? It's too dark out there and too cold and anything could happen, and she only laughed and said that was alright, that was the joy of it. Things always work out in the end and a little adventure's good for the soul, and she'd only been gone so long because she'd heard there was a sale on bread across town. And he said it wasn't worth it, and she kissed him and said it was, and remember when we used to spend our days hunting treasure in the Temple? That was different, he said, and he knew that it was but not the way that he wanted, and she laughed and said curiosity was its own reward.

He'd stopped walking, though he wasn't sure when. He imagined he could feel the open shaft gaping behind him, vacant and foreboding. He frowned, shook his head to clear it, took another step. He'd copied a book once about a faraway world of dusk and caverns, ruled by giant spiders... or were they beautiful maidens? He remembered another, too, that mentioned a secret treasure buried deep in an old mineshaft. And there was the one with the cave-beasts, that was a strange one... he turned to look back at the mine.

Curiosity is its own reward.

No harm in it, right? The shop could wait a little while—he'd been neglecting it recently, he realized, hadn't taken a job in... in... hm. He peered into the darkness and wondered about buried treasures. And besides, he'd never been here before, hadn't searched inside, and maybe, just maybe

Taking a deep, utterly redundant breath, Everett squared his shoulders and stepped inside.
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Everett Larahan
Always look on the bright side of death!
 
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A Minor Undertaking (Aliara)

Postby Aliara Cantrell on March 21st, 2015, 3:43 am

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The mines had long been just a story to Aliara, something that her mother had told her as a bedtime story or even occasionally as a threat if she had been acting up the following day. It had always a place filled with ghosts and other creatures that would bring you harm however as she began to listen to the Drunkards in her favourite taverns it seemed the only place she would ever be able to practise out of the weather. It seemed crazy at first, those mines had been abandoned for a while now and probably was home to the legendary ‘Ziths’. They were a creature that her mother had made up to scare her, they were humanoid and had honestly caused nightmares most of her childhood.

Sadly now Aliara found herself with her rope in her backpack and heart filled with dread, with no source of light Aliara was going to attempt to go wandering around the caves until she found a part with a high enough roof that would give her the ability to hang. Shoulding her back Aliara set out into the streets of Sunberth, at least in this trip one thing would be familiar would be her cutlass at her hip and Kukri in her boot.

Surprisingly it only took Aliara have of a bell to find the entrance to the caves but as she stood only a few steps from the beckoning entrance Aliara began to feel that her mother's stories were less then false. The darkness could hide so many different things, so many things that could swallow her in one bite.

One breath in would fill her lungs with cold air, the fact was Aliara knew the air would get stale the further she went into the cave. Frowning Aliara considered the fact that she might get lost inside, it would be winding inside too many turns Aliara would, could, lose her way inside. The first idea that popped into her head was using her rope and just putting it along the ground and following it back. This idea was ditched the moment she realized that Aliara would have the pull the rope to her thus losing her path. That is when a large pile of stone rocks drew Aliara’s attention if she dropped these she could follow them back.

Scooping up the pile and dropping them in her pockets Aliara dove inside the cave. It was dark but not as dark as first assumed, the one thing that jumped out at Aliara was dump feeling that had sunk into her bones. The inside of the cave was filled with fallen rocks and rotting beams the cave itself was a death trap forget the creatures that lurked inside but Aliara kept dropping the rocks hoping that she wasn't going to get lost.
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Aliara Cantrell
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A Minor Undertaking (Aliara)

Postby Everett Larahan on March 22nd, 2015, 4:28 pm

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Everett was lost.

He came to this conclusion after several chimes of wandering down the shaft, ducking under rotted wooden beams and winding his way down the forks and turns of the abandoned tunnel. With every new turn, the light shining wetly on the surface of the rock grew dimmer, more fitful, until quite abruptly he discovered that he was standing in complete darkness, with no memory of how exactly he had come to be there. In fact, as he stood shivering in the consuming blackness of the cave, he came to three conclusions simultaneously:

One, he was lost.

Two, caves were very, very dark.

And three, he must be in a rather large cavern indeed, because he couldn't feel the walls.

The idea had come to him in a stroke of brilliance, or so he'd thought. When you became lost in a building, or a labyrinth, or a pitch-black abandoned mine deep under the surface of the city, the surest way out was to follow one wall until you found the exit, or at least some place you recognized. It was theoretically sound. Unless the place was much more convoluted than he imagined, if he just turned around and followed the wall he'd get back eventually, right? And surely the way couldn't be too tangled, or else the miners would never have been able to find their way out. He stumbled forward, groping with all the blind enthusiasm of a sailor on his first night back on land, but the wall—playing its part admirably as the haughty maid, he decided—was nowhere to be found. Frowning, he flung his arms out wide and flailed, but the only thing he could feel was a strange tingling at his fingertips. He shuffled a little to one side and tried again, reaching out towards the source of the sensation. There!—he jerked his hand back as a sudden jolt ran through it, like sticking your hand under hot water. His skin crawled. Slowly, carefully, he reached out again, squeezing his eyes shut as the tingling overtook his fingers. It crept up his hand, leaving his skin prickling and stiff in its wake, and settled somewhere just above his wrist. He wiggled his fingers. It felt like moving them through water. It wasn't painful, exactly, but it was certainly uncomfortable, and after a few moments he drew back and flexed his hand. The skin felt sensitive, somehow, like he'd been holding it near a fire for too long. He added this to his growing list of uncomfortable revelations. One: he was lost. Two: it was dark. Four: the walls were made of magic. It had to be magic; there was no other explanation for why his hands would inadvertently decide not to touch things. The darkness suddenly seemed a shade more menacing. Everett decided that after this adventure he was going to swear off getting lost forever.

Hugging himself against the cold, he began to hum a little song to soothe his nerves. It was a dirty little ditty, the sort of thing that sounded out from taverns and brothels across the city, and everyone seemed to have their own version. “Charlie wanted action but he couldn't pay to please 'er... he went out to the stakeman's house to beg a couple mizas... wait, how did the next line go again?” His voice echoed in the twisting guts of the mine, and a sudden, desperate hope seized him. “Hey!” he called, the word vanishing into the blackness. The thick air seemed to quiver with the sound. “Hey! Halloooo! Anyone there? Shout if you can hear me!” The odds were long, but he had to hope that he'd be heard—well, heard by someone, as opposed to something. He remembered the book about the cave-beasts and suddenly wished he hadn't shouted quite so loud.
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Everett Larahan
Always look on the bright side of death!
 
Posts: 14
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A Minor Undertaking (Aliara)

Postby Aliara Cantrell on April 1st, 2015, 4:54 am

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It was falling apart, the beams above Aliara’s head looked as though they were rotting. No wonder they had given up digging here it was a death trap. Dropping another stone Aliara found her eyes adjusting to the light. She couldn’t see the details of what she looked at but she could at least see that there were rocks and fallen beams which was helpful. Brushing her hair back out of her eyes Aliara stopped to take in her small surroundings, this was nowhere enough room to hang her ropes and in this spot it would probably cause a cave in.

Fairly annoyed by the silence that followed the further Aliara explored she began to softly sing to herself. It was a song that her mother had sung to her as a child when she had nightmares about her father’s disappearance.

“The seas are resting….”

It was hard to remember some of the words but it distracted Aliara from the fear of being killed in these mine shafts or lost forever and starving to death. Every couple of steps Aliara continued to drop the small stones so that she wouldn’t lose her way but as she looked back Aliara noticed that when she looked at the ground the rocks where hard to see. Groaning Aliara hoped that she would still be able to see them later on, she had to find somewhere to practice.

“The winds are calling…”

It was only a few chimes more before Aliara began to regret her decision, she’d run out of stones and she hadn’t hit a tunnel safe enough to string up her ropes that’s when the most mysterious thing happened Aliara began to hear a voice. At first Aliara couldn’t tell what it was saying but she could tell it was beginning to sound lost. Stopping in her tracks and in her song Aliara wondered if she should run back the way she came. Aliara’s stomach churned at the noise, scanning the tunnel around her she couldn’t find where it was coming from. The voice seemed to surround her bouncing of the walls, whoever it was and where he was he was calling out to… to her? But was he in need or in need of some food.. Aliara shivered imagining what would cause such a tone.

“Hello?”

Aliara regretted it the moment the words left her lips, she had given up her position. Cursing her stupidity Aliara drew her cutlass with and audible shhhhrrrnk echoing of the tunnels walls. Anything that was coming towards her would know she was armed and that she had drawn said blade. Aliara would not be caught off guard.
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Aliara Cantrell
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A Minor Undertaking (Aliara)

Postby Everett Larahan on April 15th, 2015, 2:59 am

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“Hello?”

The voice bounced off the walls, rebounded from the stone in rippling echoes that made its source impossible to determine. “Thank every god,” Everett muttered to himself. The sick fear in his gut transformed into relief—and then back to fear again at unmistakeable sound of a drawn blade. He froze. Shyke. What do I do? Do I shout again? Do I—“I don't want any trouble,” he heard himself calling out, and fear clutched his chest like an icy claw. Let a stranger with a sword know where you are. Brilliant! You're going to die in this cave. Oddly enough, it was that thought that gave him courage. It was... less frightening than it ought to be, somehow. He was going to die in a cave either way; at the very least he wouldn't have to die alone in a cave. He went to slump against the wall, thought better of it, and settled for hugging himself for comfort. “I've been lost. Just... just looking for a way out, that's all. Don't want trouble. I could give you discounts or something,” he added, struck by sudden inspiration. “On books. If books are your thing. But also, uh, please help.”

The darkness was starting to grate at his nerves. It was everywhere, thick and claustrophobic, and the knowledge that someone else was down here with him somehow made it seem more alive, more terrible. There could be a something right next to him, right now, and he wouldn't know. Nervous laughter bubbled from his lips. “I know you're probably thinking 'why should I help this random stranger in a cave who I've never met before? What if he's got some secret motive?' Wait, no, nevermind. I didn't say that, forget it. I don't have any secret motives, please don't think that I... petch.” He was babbling, he knew, words spilling out of his mouth unthought and unchecked. He took a deep breath and bit his lip, trying to force himself to focus. A thought struck him. Gritting his teeth, he reached out towards what was probably the wall, feeling the shock and tingle crawl up his hand. He held it there. It was uncomfortable, but it didn't hurt, not exactly. “If you shout, or sing, or... or something, I think I could get to you. The walls are funny here.” It would probably be more sensible, he knew, to just keep shouting and hope whoever it was could track him down. But there was a giddy sort of hitch in his chest that was saying you can walk through walls, like it was a brilliant and perfect fact, and sweet divinities that made no sense, but wouldn't it be amazing? And somewhere else a little voice was chanting something, like a mantra—curiosity is its own reward.

Another bubble of nervous laughter, and he glanced reflexively behind him. Nothing there... that he could see, anyway. He placed another hand against the wall and felt it melt away into static. His mind blithered at him—this was a terrible plan, he'd probably end up buried in rock, it was never a good idea to fool with magic or intangible walls, he was going to get lost again—but for once, Everett Larahan decided to take the sensible, cautious part of his brain and throw it in a pit, because... well. It was a thing Jamie'd always said, that thing that made him sound so much like her, and he felt a grin break across his face because for once he was going to take his son's advice.

To Dira with it. Why not live a little?

OOCOh, gosh. I'm really sorry for not replying to this earlier! A bunch of RL things all happened at once, but from now on I should be able to respond with some semblance of speed. Sorry again!
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Everett Larahan
Always look on the bright side of death!
 
Posts: 14
Words: 12097
Joined roleplay: February 25th, 2015, 11:48 pm
Location: Sunberth
Race: Ghost
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A Minor Undertaking (Aliara)

Postby Aliara Cantrell on April 20th, 2015, 2:25 am

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The words came bouncing back like a barricade, he sounded so frightened and confused. Aliara frowned softly as he mentioned trouble, she wasn’t the only one that was scared of these dark winding tunnels. His voice kept bouncing down the tunnels as Aliara began to smaller her steps as she began to lose what little sight she had, how far was he in the tunnels. For all she knew he could be at the very end of the mines.

“Books? Ive never owned a book. Do you have any on the Pale dancers of Kalinor?”

Her question echoed back towards the source of his voices and that was when a thought popped into her head. If she could see the sound of her voice bouncing of the walls and towards the man. It would be beautiful, coloured waves bouncing off the darkened walls and into the abyss.

The voice continued to murmur on about nonsense, maybe it was his way of coping with the fear that was even building in Aliara. She hadn’t thought of him hurting her but the more she began to consider it more unlikely, she couldn’t see anything within seconds and he couldn’t see anything either so how stupid would he have to be to fight in this cave.

“ah… Oh, blow the man down, bullies, blow the man down!
To me way-aye, blow the man down.”

She made sure to project the words so they echoed down the tunnels. It was a song her father used to sing as they skipped stones along the bay, it brought back fond memories in darkness. Her father standing in his suspenders that held his baggy pants up. The pants where always when he first came back from his trips, he always lost so much weight.

“Oh, Blow the man down, bullies, blow him right down!
Give me some time to blow the man down!”

Aliara slowly felt around the landscape that surrounded her until she found a wall. Sliding her back down it she sat down in the dusty floor and continued to sing.

“As I was a-walking down Paradise Street,
To me way-aye, blow the man down.
A pretty young damsel I chanced for to meet.
Give me some time to blow the man down!”
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Aliara Cantrell
The Dreamer
 
Posts: 182
Words: 114345
Joined roleplay: November 10th, 2014, 2:03 am
Race: Human
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