Closed [Pavi Lake]A Journey on a Staff

[Clyde Sullins]

82 Fall 515

Clyde placed one foot before the other, his red eyed guard dog Rye at his side, as he stepped off the Kabrin Road.

He'd been working a good bit of late, and so Clyde decided it was time to get away for a bit. Away from the city, away from the hustle and bustle. More importantly, away from the knights and the constant drain on his attention being around them caused.

He couldn't just act naturally, couldn't let something slip, and so constantly in Syliras needed to be on his guard.

It was one of the reasons he'd packed up for a short camping trip out to Pavi Lake.

Clyde was fairly certain he'd been there before, at some point, though he couldn't recall exactly when. But looking at the map he held out before him, Cha held under the crook of his arm as he needed both hands to inspect the map, he more or less knew were it was.

He'd packed his normal camping gear for the trip. Bedroll, tent, blanket, lamp, among other less traditional items. He always had some ink, a sqill or two, and some paper or parchment. He never knew when he'd need to do some glyphing, or when the urge to do some magic might strike him.

All of it was stowed in or on his backpack.

Checking the map, Clyde glanced back east at the road, and then back west in the direction the salt water lake was. He'd headed north on the kabrin road from Syliras, travelling for a ways till he was more or less due east of his destination.

He wasn't a master at land navigation but even he, surely, could head due west in the direction the sun was rising from.

He spent one last moment checking the map, checking where he figured he was on the road, and then headed off. Rolling up the map he stowed it in his pack, and then began to walk more firmly at a steady gait. Each few steps Cha pounded on the ground, a welcome and familiar feeling in his hand.

Rye was nice, was trained to guard him and alert him to threats and dangers, and due to the peculiarities of his breed could even see in the dark by heat alone, but he didn't make Clyde feel nearly as safe as Cha did.

Unless something stopped him or caught his interest, he'd keep going west until he reached Pavi Lake. As it was a rather large body of water, it would be hard to miss even if he wandered north or south instead of due west, or if he started a bit too far or not far enough along the Kabrin Road.

Along with getting away from the city and honing his skills at map reading and land navigation, it could also perhaps help him expand his stamina a bit. Spending a half season straight indoors nearly didn't do well for ones physical capabilities, and a good long hike was just what he needed to knock the laze out of his body.

[Plume]

There wasn't a soul within the city who didn't utter the name of the eerie lake and feel a chill sprint up their spine.

Such was the reputation of Pavi Lake, not the least bit improved by unusual..disturbances that had been occurring with growing frequency over the past few seasons. It was a well known--or perhaps simply well spread--fact that the Order had sent a delegation of scholars, experts, and Knights to investigate what was causing so many unnatural looking creatures to crawl out of Pavi's salty depths. But whether the hastily formed delegation was able to find anything conclusive or have any impact at all on the phenomenon was left a mystery to commonfolk.

There were those, of course, who saw opportunity in place of danger. Many hunters in the past year had tried their hand at capturing one of the slippery freaks, and many had failed with nary a shoe or finger left to mark their attempt. Some believed it good riddance of the greedy and stupid. Others gnawed on their nails at night and added extra bolts to their doors.

A few, however, did manage to succeed, either through cunning and skill or sheer luck. But the moment they tried to sell their bizarre goods anywhere within the city, the Knights would sniff them out like bloodhounds on a scent, confiscate their possessions, and throw them in the Tank.

Well, so much for being an opportunist.

All of this was common knowledge to most citizens by now. And then common knowledge was, as it was won't to do in a crowded, bustling city, stretched and colored and blown out of all proportions, until people could scarce tell what was truth and what was wildly fanciful imagination.

Still, truth or tale, few dared to venture to the lake. Pavi's only visitors these days consisted mostly of either the truly foolish or the deadly determined. Any other kinds of guests were few and far in between, their fates left up to chance and whim.

Such was the creature's hazy thoughts as muffled sounds of another living thing's approach roused it from its watery slumber. It stirred, slithering past several abandoned but still active traps that had sunk to the very bottom of the lake with lazy ease. What was happening above the surface, it wondered? Would it be something interesting? Or perhaps something merely edible?

There was only one way to find out. But the creature was as patient as it was cunning, and it lingered below, letting the other, far more inferior inhabitants of the salt water lake risk their necks above water first.

It wasn't long before its patience was rewarded and one of the idiots began bubbling to the surface.

[Clyde Sullins]

While perhaps the tales of creatures in Pavi Lake were widespread throughout Syliras, that didn't mean everyone knew.

Clyde had grown up in Syliras, but he'd spent years away, and in his youth he hadn't ventured too far from the city. Even when he did he'd been focused on other things. He'd returned, but he had his mind on other things now also, other things than listening to rumors about lakes. For this and many other reasons he wasn't fully aware of the current tales of the lake and what might live there.

In truth he'd simply decided to visit it as he thought it'd be a nice place to camp. Water on one side, a large lake, and forest at his back. By that simple description it was a nice place.

If Clyde had considered his own track record, the many times he'd unexpectedly run into trouble alone in the wilds, he would perhaps have thought again, or at least gathered some more info, before traveling to the lake.

But then, Clyde was Clyde, and he was confident in his own abilities to stave off danger. He'd fought a pale mouth-less beast, redirected a raging storm, and burnt off a mans eyebrows. He was, for admittedly some good reasons, confident in his own abilities. Pride and an overestimation of ones safety, both could be as dangerous as a brigand or a monster.

He had escaped the known dangers of Syliras and its knights, for the unknown dangers of the wilds. In hindsight a foolish thing to do.

---

It was a long tiring walk, but eventually Clyde made it to the lake. He had stopped and checked the sun a few times, checking the map and his surroundings, doing his best job of keeping himself oriented and going in the right direction.

Luckily for him it was a more or less straight trip, and a large target, so even though he was off by a good margin he still ended up where he intended.

Rye padded along at his side, head constantly peering about, eyes listening for sudden noises or disturbances. Nose scenting for trouble.

Along the way was the thump of his staff, a regular sound of wood on dirt or grass.

By the time he made it to the lake and neared the lakeshore, he was out of breath. Clyde didn't often go out for long nature hikes, and he'd been cloistered safely in Syliras for awhile, and so his endurance wasn't the best.

When he finally reached Pavi Lake he stopped about 10 feet from the lakeshore, taking out a waterskin and taking a good sip.

He was just putting up his waterskin and about to enjoy the view of the lake, when Rye began to growl. A deep guttural growl. One Clyde knew he only made when danger was about and Clyde needed to pay attention.

Glancing at the dog he saw where his head was pointing, his eyes locked onto a single spot in the water. He hadn't even noticed the movement until Rye brought his attention to it. Now though he could see it quite clearly.

At first glance he thought it was a two headed fish. That is until he got a grasp of scale and shape. Then he saw the eye at the end of each, and he saw it was more akin to eye stalks, similar to what one might see on a snail.

Below the surface of the water he could see a faint churning and motion, a shape that was somewhat rounded and blockish, akin to a turtle shell, or perhaps going by the eyes a snail shell.

Except it was far to large. He couldn't tell its entire size, nor see more of the limbs than the motion on the waters surface their movement caused, but it was far to big to be a snail. It was easily the size of Rye, who was a medium sized hound.

Clyde pictured a snail the size of a dog, the proportions, and almost laughed at the oddity of it all.

Annoyed that he couldn't see more of the water creature, Clyde willed his djed to flow into Cha, and out from her. Willing a ripple of his awareness to extend, Clyde sent out a bit of his aura sight focused on the water creature.

Once he got a good grasp of the peripheries of its aura, the first thing he'd be able to see would be its physical shape. Then he'd see it in its entirety, even the bits cloaked under water.

That was always the first thing he saw, the physical form of the thing which aura he inspected. Other things came later. Though potent djed was also easy to see, something he knew from observing things altered by raw djed or mutated by a more traditional magic such as Alchemy, such as the monsters and their aura's he'd seen on Sahova.

[Reflection]

Blonde hair whipped around a soft round face, large eyes stared at the strange creature that had begun to rise from the watery depths. She came up next to Clyde, who seemed to be concentrating on the strange looking monster. It was definitely an odd sight. “I wondered if we were going to see anything, but I suppose something decided to show it’s… er, face sooner than expected.” Sera Alicia didn’t plan on startling the mage, the thought not even crossing her mind. Having been sent there for the task of inspecting the lake was her priority.

The rumors that had begun to spread through the city began to cause some tension and her recruitment of the young mage in the expedition had been to see if he would be able to work with the order as well as a comforting piece of mind for her. It had been awhile since they had last spoke, the date to gather at the erie lake having been planned weeks prior.

As they gazed upon the overgrown slug looking beast, it’s slick skin glistening with the sunlight; a strange slime ran from its body and into the water around it in an iridescent pool. It’s massive body slowly moved toward the two as Sera Alicia gathered her sense, closing her eyes just briefly to center herself before focusing on the aura around the beast. Her intent was to see if she could detect whether its intent was that of harm. Slowly, a shift of colors came from the creature; the outermost was the weakest and a faint hue of orange that gradually deepened to red the closer to it came to the body hidden under the shell.

“Not to alarm you… but we may have a problem on our hands. This little guy is not here for a meet and greet. From what I can tell he is quite irritated and looking for a snack,” clearing her throat she released the quick vision, shaking her head and blinking rapidly as the light began to become painful as her eyes had started to dilate from the brief use. Despite this she recentered herself, taking a deep breath and trying to block out the fear of what had crawled out from the watery depths of Pavi Lake.

Focusing, she pulled at the djed within her, letting it flow through, along her palms and to her fingertips. Forming drops of res into her hand, letting it shift in a semi-liquid state between her fingers. She glanced at her companion, reassuring him, “Between the both of us I think if it were to attack we could take it.” A smirk graced her delicate features.

The monster that had surfaced across from the pair shivered it’s gelatinous body in agitation. It was apparent that it was preparing itself to attack. The large stalks moved down and back as it’s body completely emerged. Most of it having been hidden under the surface, water ran in rivulets down the hard shell of the body that shifted forward slowly. Its pace was not quick, something that could be advantageous to the two standing across from it. However, the shell was thick and covered almost the entirety of it, with the exception of the eyes which could be quickly pulled inside in case of danger.

NoteTemplate credit to Plume. Used with permission to keep integrity of the thread.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde would have excused the fact that he was distracted, and didn't notice the woman approaching. He was after all focusing his attention on the odd thing rising from the lake. Focusing on something specific tended to narrow ones attention, and this was also true of Auristics.

No, the thing that surprised him was that Rye hadn't announced the approaching woman. He was well trained, and had never failed to announce someone approaching him before. The only thing he could think of was that the dog was also distracted by the water creature. But that didn't quite sit well with Clyde, and he still felt it was odd. Rye after all had never failed him before.

He wasn't sure who the woman was as he jerked his face to look at her, but then he wasn't the best when it came to recalling names and people who at the time didn't garner his interest. He assumed from her familiar tone and words that she knew him.

Willing another strand of aura sight from Cha, Clyde sent out the tendril at the newly arrived woman, focusing on her aura at a lower level while his main focus and inspection went into the water beast.

As he did he saw and felt a tingle of yellow color shining from the woman, focused upon the water beast. If he hadn't been looking at both aura, both the sending and receiving, he wouldn't have been able to notice the direct line of transfer, see the sameness, but as he was he could.

His own aura sight was a thing of purety and finesse, a gentle breath upon a cheek. This was a cruder groping, which was likely why he could notice it. He'd noticed before in magic, particularly with Auristics, that lesser skilled mages and their magic were easier to see and detect.

With that he could somewhat safely assume that since he could see her use of magic, she couldn't see his, as his more subtle touch would slip below her notice.

Within his aura sight, he could see the physical image and appearance of the two, the woman and the water creature. However he saw them differently, and not limited as one was with the mundane eyes sight. He could see all of them, as if seen from every angle.

He wasn't sure what magic the woman was using on the creature, but the most likely ones to occur to his mind was hypnotism and auristics.

The shelled creature moved as it approached them. It wasn't fast, certainly not on land, but it was able to move at a decent enough speed. Not faster than he could run, perhaps not even faster than a decent trot from a human, but it would get to them quickly enough if they didn't move.

Her comment gave credence to the latter magic, that she was using Auristics.

He was about to respond, when he saw another glimmer across his skin, Cha's surface seeing the sensation of yellow across it. A yellowness coming from the woman, seen within her aura which he was still looking at.

Just before the res was exuded from her fingers and hand he saw the buildup of djed, the density increase, and then watched with twinned mundane and magical sight as the res came forth.

From her appearance and magic use he assumed she was a mage squire/knight, though it was hard to tell which by age alone. He'd seen some knights who were quite young, while he'd seen some squires who were quite old.

Clyde nodded at her comment of fighting the beast, and held up Cha defensively across him.

While it might appear as a normal wooden staff, she was no simple length of wood. While she was smooth in his grip, the wood was hardy and ungiving. It could easily cross with a blade and not be scratched. Little could harm her, likely nothing short of potent magics of the strongest variety.

For uses of combat, he might as well be holding a strong steel pole. He wasn't sure how hardy the shell was, perhaps Cha was hardier. If he struck with enough force, perhaps his weapons hardiness would win out over the shell and crack or damage it.

Readying for a fight, Clyde moved along the side of the beast while keeping space between them, attempting to come at it from the side and strike it with Cha. If nothing else this would distract the beast, giving it multiple threats to react to, and perhaps give the woman mage a chance to strike it and do some real damage with her Reimancy.