The North Sea

[Archer he/him]

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My first instinct regarding how to save him was a terrible idea, but it would make sense to a confused Klasten, so I'm going with it. My apologizes if you drown because of it. 

Klasten cringed, rubbing his leg where a small rock had fallen on him. He avoided looking at the ground near his head, where he was pretty sure he puked at some point. He commanded his limbs to move, but they were sluggish to respond. Even his neck was stiff and aching. 

"Help!" he heard a female voice shout. A surge of adrenaline pumped through his veins. He was needed. 

With super-human effort, he stood up and began walking in the direction of the noise. Hi feet smacked against the rock, each step a little harder than it needed to be. His ears were still ringing from the noise of the cave-in, so he thought he heard squeaking. Couldn't be, he thought, dismissing it as pain-induced falsehood.

Klasten arrived at the pool. Looking in the direction the screaming lady was looking, he caught a glimpse of a sinking figure. I must save him! Klasten thought, pulling out his lasso. It was stiff and dust covered, having never been used, despite him being an excellent lassoer. 

Fingers moving with renewed energy, he swung the rope around in the air, then threw it at the figure. It flew, perfectly on target... before hitting the surface of the water and stopping with a disappointing sploosh. 

Oops, he thought. 

 

 

[xinoehp512 he/him]

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...

Okay then, I'll just roll with it. What are you planning with that character, though, Ark?

@Ark1002

Nogard heard one of the others scream. He looked up in alarm and saw one of the women- Araha? - falling into the rapidly shrinking pool. He started toward the pool, but crashed into Damaya, who had turned and run in his direction. He fell to the floor in confusion. As he sat on the ground, winded, the shaking came to a stop. Nogard got up in time to see the pool close up completely on the lasso that the strange man had thrown in. 

@Ookla the Paragon

@Sorana

@Silva

[+Ark1002]

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Well, hopefully she survives...

Araha felt cold water. She awoke to a salty sting in her eyes. And she felt she was drowning. She swam, in vain. She reached the surface, hopeful, reaching for the rope. And then the hole closed. She sunk down. Then she felt the stormlight. It raged into her veins, and she came alive. Lashing herself out, into the storms. Flying high above the storms. I will endure...

[Archer he/him]

Meanwhile, Klasten frantically tried pulling on the rope. Stupid rocks, he fumed. That was my favourite lasso. 

Angrily he kicked a nearby pebble. It rolled away, down a side-passage and out of sight.  

Edited December 13, 2018 by Ookla the Paragon

[+Sorana she/her]

Damaya ran around a corner and bumped into Nogard. She only pointed ahead, at the pool, at Araha, only to see the rock close, Araha vanish from sight.

"No."

She scrambled over and looked down, where Araha had fallen. The water was gone, and with it her friend. Her only friend.

"No."

She repeated and stared at the rock, willed it to change, to become something else, anything  else. Anything but rock. She tried to grasp its essence, understand what it was, what it could be. Steady, hard, cold, unforgiving.

"Just change!"

She shouted.

"You stupid rock, just change. Vanish, be gone."

Unsurprisingly, the rock stayed a rock.

[xinoehp512 he/him]

Nogard walked over to where Damaya was slumped on the ground.

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"Just change!"

She shouted.

"You stupid rock, just change. Vanish, be gone."

 

The words reminded Nogard- he was a soulcaster. Could he change the rock? He reached down to channel power into the rock.

Nothing happened.

Nogard frowned. He wasn't super good at Soulcasting, but something should have happened.

The rock bubbled for a second. Nogard tensed up.

The rope was pushed out of the floor, which went back to being still.

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Hey Ark, can your character give some exposition, now that they're above the storm?

@Ark1002

@Sorana

@Ookla the Paragon

Edited December 13, 2018 by Ookla the Phoenix

[Voidus]

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Little known fact: in protest of the death of Voidus' rock in era 1 all rocks now refuse to help anyone and be soulcast into anything.

 

[xinoehp512 he/him]

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Actually it's because the island is alive...

 

[Voidus]

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Keep your logic out of my completely unfounded commentary!

 

[+Sorana she/her]

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Not that Damaya knows how to soulcast. Or is able to use her surges in general...

Damaya looked at Nogard, how he concentrated and failed, too.

"There's nothing we can do?"

She asked quietly, hoping anyone would have an idea.

@Ookla the Paragon

@Ookla the Phoenix

[+Ark1002]

Araha flew. She spun through the skies. They probably think I'm dead. Poor Damaya. She swooped downward, through the storm. She was the storm. She flew, rippling in the wind. I am a WINDRUNNER. Ran spoke to her then. "You need to go back to them. Show them you are alive." Araha nodded, her grin fading. She lashed herself downwards, towards the island. She went into the cave, walking on the ceiling. "I'M ALIVE! DAMAYA, I'M COMING!"

[Archer he/him]

Klasten closed his eyes, mentally preparing to give a short eulogy. He furrowed his brow, concentrating on how to best express the somberness of the moment. A life had been lost. Grief, pain, guilt - he was awash with emotion. When he was ready, he raised his hand to begin.

"I'M ALIVE! DAMAYA, I'M COMING!" someone shouted, interrupting him. Klasten turned the hand raising into a back-scratch, hoping no one had seen it. 

When he finally spotted her, standing on the roof, he shook his head. Annoyed Araha had ruined her own funeral, he sighed and rolled his eyes. You owe me half of a rope, he thought. 

At that moment, a loud avian shriek filled the air. It echoed around the cave, unsettling some smaller rocks. It had come from deep within one of the tunnels. Concerned, Klasten began moving in that direction.  

[xinoehp512 he/him]

On 12/13/2018 at 10:20 AM, Sorana said:

"There's nothing we can do?"

Nogard shook his head. "I wouldn't worry too much about her. That pool connects directly with the ocean: she'll be swept out from under the island fairly quickly. Once she's in the open, she can use Lashings to get back on the island, or go home, or whatever." Nogard stood up and eyed the solid wall where the entranceway had been, looking grim. "I wouldn't worry about her. I'd worry about us."

@Sorana

@Ookla the Paragon

 

[+Sorana she/her]

20 minutes ago, Ookla the Phoenix said:

Nogard stood up and eyed the solid wall where the entranceway had been, looking grim. "I wouldn't worry about her. I'd worry about us."

Damaya nodded and got to her feet. She followed Klasten, when she heard Araha's shout, and could finally make her.

"Come on!"

She called.

"Let's stick with the others."

Then she realized what Nogard had said. Worry about them?

"I feel like a child, asking tons of questions, not understanding what's going on. But why should we hurry?"

[+Ark1002]

Araha heard Damaya, and began to run. The tunnel was blocked, so she went another way. Tunnel after tunnel. And then she saw it. Like a giant chasmfiend, with gills. "HELP!"

@Sorana @Ookla the Paragon @Ookla the Phoenix

Edited December 14, 2018 by Ark1002

[xinoehp512 he/him]

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Araha wouldn't have gotten here yet. Even when she did, she would still be unable to reach us, because of the wall.

  Nogard sighed. "There's so much to tell you, and so little time... Things are happening so fast." He turned and started following Klasten, talking as he walked. "See, the island has complete control over all the inanimate matter that comprises its form. That's what caused the pool to seal up. I'm worried because if the entranceway collapsed that means that the island wanted it to collapse." He shook his head. "I only wish I knew why."  

@Sorana

@Ark1002

@Ookla the Paragon

Edited December 14, 2018 by Ookla the Phoenix

[+Sorana she/her]

Damaya nodded. Then on an impulse she kneeled down, pressed a hand on the ground.

"Hello island. I'm sorry I walked around on you, without saying hi first. I didn't really realize, that you are alive."

Embaressed she got back to her feet.

"Then let's follow the tunnel and see where it leads us."

[Archer he/him]

Klasten's jaw dropped. Instinctively, he lifted his foot, as if he'd been caught standing on the island's face. 

He shook his visible hand expressively. Why did you not mention this before? he wanted to scream. His mind raced with the implications. 

"Then let's follow the tunnel and see where it leads us," Damaya said. Klasten nodded in agreement. If the island needs us, it will lead us where we need to go. We just need to follow the paths it lays for us. 

Casting one last exasperated glance at Nogard, he stepped into the mouth of the tunnel. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. It wasn't lost on him that the opening looked a lot like the that of a snake's mouth. A little fearful, he moved closer to Damaya. She looked the most edible of any of them. After that, there was nothing to do but walk. 

Edited December 15, 2018 by Ookla the Paragon

[xinoehp512 he/him]

Nogard walked through the caverns silently with the others. Bioluminescent moss covered the surface of the tunnel, lighting the way and giving the tunnel -and everything in it- an eerie green glow.

He inclined his head towards Damaya. "You said earlier that you felt like you didn't know enough. Is now a good time for me to teach you?"

@Sorana

[+Sorana she/her]

Damaya smiled at Klasten when he moved closer to her, unsure why he did this, but at the same time happy that she wasn't alone here.

The caverns were beautiful, glowing softly in an eerie flow almost reminding her of stormlight.

"You said earlier that you felt like you didn't know enough. Is now a good time for me to teach you?"

Smiling again she looked at Nogard and then nodded.

"I guess it's as good as it will get."

For a moment she was silent and then added.

"This is the first time I am away from the place I grew up at, apart from a small Waystop. And I feel utterly useless, like everybody assumes I know what to do, but I don't. I can sew and cook, but I know nothing about a wood, or travelling or making a fire or what ever else they do in the books when exploring an unknown place."

Turning her head she looked over at him.

"Whatever you want to teach me is fine."

@Ookla the Paragon

@Ookla the Phoenix

 

[+Ark1002]

Araha stumbled through a crack in the wall, bleeding heavily. She collapsed in front of them, panting. "That took awhile..." She blacked out.

[Archer he/him]

Klasten stepped in a puddle. When he pulled his shoe out, it was smoking slightly. That can't be good, he thought. 

Suddenly, Araha stumbled onto the scene. Klasten jolted in surprise. When he did, he noticed part of his chest faded from view. Great. It's reached my bloodstream. 

Hurriedly, he rushed to Araha's side and checked their pulse. Unfortunately, that was all the first aid he could do. Hope someone here knows how to heal this guy. 

In case he was going to have to be the one to do it, he pulled an battle-axe from his bag and prepared to wing it. 

Edited December 15, 2018 by Ookla the Paragon

[xinoehp512 he/him]

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Ark... if that character fell through the island, it's because the island wanted her to fall through. The most likely reason for that is that it wants her separated from the rest, in which case she would not be able to rejoin us.

@Ark1002

 

[Archer he/him]

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But it's kind of boring RPing on your own. Couldn't he imply some other explanation? Like it wanted to prevent the things at the bottom of the pool from reaching us, but accidentally shut off Ark's character as well?

 

[xinoehp512 he/him]

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If the island had wanted the pool closed before the eyewall hit, it would have had it closed. It was supposed to be closed, but Ark wanted to fall through.

If our characters meet up anywhere, it will be at the gemheart cavern. 

 

Edited December 16, 2018 by Ookla the Phoenix