< Sometimes You Get Sucked In Too | Ex Pulplogs | Exploring The Crypts >
ST Taking a break from exploring the Column Gallery to go fetch Myrrh, Corve finds his friend still engrossed in the enchantments that seal the inner corridors from the oceans. Obviously since the island was not intended to be under water they originally had some kind of purpose. Myrrh was eventually able to discern that the enchantments served as a detection system, noting whenever someone or something pushed past them.
ST Their ability to hold out water was a secondary, unnoticed effect.
Corve leans on the wall next to his friend and shoves the smashfist towards him. "Hey, take a look at this. We found it in the column chamber, along with a whole bunch of other interesting stuff."
ST Myrrh, of course, has no idea what Corve is talking about.
Myrrh "Column chamber? There's a collection of artifacts here?" Takes a break from his field studies and examines the smashfist.
Corve "Yeah. And some other, more interesting stuff."
Myrrh "Have you been touching anything else? This place might be trapped. The field isn't for keeping out water since I doubt they knew they were going to be below the ocean. It's to track who comes in..."
Corve snorts, interrupting his friend. "You really were engrossed. One of the columns blew up. I'm scuffed pretty bad, if you haven't noticed." And he is- covered in dust, and there's just a slight limp. Nothing major, though. "Come on, we could use your help."
Myrrh "It exploded? That's a shame..." Follows Corve examining the smashfist as they go.
Corve leads the way back to the column gallery, ever weary of more traps.
ST Carmine, having remained behind to continue searching through the columns, is starting to wonder where Xar has gotten himself to. About the time Corve and Myrrh return to the vast hall of columns and Myrrh is just starting to take in the incredible size of the place, not the mention the floating shadowland that obscures the ceiling and the gallery of treasures contained in niched columns as wide around as a hippo, the three Solars hear Xa
ST the three Solars hear Xar yell for help!!!
Myrrh "Xar? Where are you!" Tries to pinpoint the lizard's location.
Corve raises his head as they near Carmine, hearing his friend in distress. "Crap," he says. "Xar?!"
Xar`Rex shouts, "CORVE!" as the mist envolops him, and his voice is cut off, leaving only an echo
Corve "Well, this was predictable," he says rather calmly, and then flips his rifle out, beginning to stalk for his friend.
Myrrh "Corve, be careful. We don't want to damage anything! Whatever is in here might be our only hope of stopping the cult."
Corve "Yeah yeah."
Carmine runs in the direction of the shout
ST Following Xar's scream back to its source takes a few minutes, but Corve quickly finds a column where one of the items has been thrown hastily back into its niche and the edge of the niche is singed and smells faintly of smoke. There is no sign of Xar himself. Only a crystalline Artifact consisting of a black sphere made of tiny crystal spikes with a six-inch clear spike at the top.
Myrrh follows Corve, making sure he doesn't "forget" not to break anything...
Carmine arrives behind corve
Myrrh "Where did he go?"
Corve stops before the artifact and sighs, swinging his rifle over his shoulder as he rubs his stubble with his other hand, pondering for a moment. "He vanished," is his conclusion. "Myrrh?" His friend might be better at figuring out -how- this happened than him, considering the artifacts and general occult nature of the situation.
Myrrh "Well if he vanished and wasn't broken down to his base essences and scattered across the howling expanse of the wyld he should have gone...somewhere. Maybe Elsewhere. Or maybe someplace related to that smouldering artifact?" Takes a closer look at the spikey ball.
Corve "Yeah, see, I knew you'd have some sort of technical answer that doesn't really answer anything yet."
Myrrh "Answers take time Corve. Especialy when everything must be handled delicately..." Continues to examine the spikey ball, making sure not to touch it, to make sure he doesn't have...whatever happend to Xar happen to him!
Carmine peers at the artifact, wondering if it has a black dot in the alcove
ST The disturbed artifact indeed has a black dot.
ST From what Myrrh can tell, the item has shorted out some sort of protective shielding, after it was thrown into the niche.
Myrrh "Oh dear...that's not good. Did someone THROW this thing?"
ST He isn't sure what the function of the item is, but it certainly was the cause of Xar's disappearance. There are residual marks around the entire surface of the niche where powerful energy struck against it, to break the shield.
Corve doesn't reply, simply watching his friend work. Myrrh's the type to ask questions to thin air.
Myrrh "Well apparently it had a bit of shielding to prevent this from happening. But when the shielding failed...well...whatever happened to Xar happened because of this thing. I think it needs futher study."
Corve "Well, you go ahead and study it... the sooner we get Xar back, the better."
Myrrh thinks for a moment "Hmmmm!" ing to himself before he gets up the bravery to tap the sphere with one finger.
ST The sphere responds to the tapping with a shower of sparks dancing from the tips of the tiny black points.
Corve "Watch it, buddy... if we lose you there's no one to figure out how to get you and Xar out."
Myrrh "Oh I should be fine, the chances of it being able to contain more of us aren't THAT high..."
Myrrh thinks for a moment and then yells at the sphere. "Xar! Can you hear me?"
ST There is no response from the crystalline artifact.
ST Myrrh does some considerable thinking and comes up with two possibilities. Either the Artifact has transported Xar to some other place, probably some form of Elsewhere, or it killed Xar with lightning and disintegrated him. He isn't really sure.
Myrrh "Well...it either took him to some Elsewhere...or it killed him. Since he talked to us though he probably wasn't killed by lightning and desintegrated as that doesn't give you alot of time to talk.
Corve "Does being transported to Elsewhere give you much time to talk?"
Myrrh "Depends on how it took him there. But if it blew him up he wouldn't have time to do much talking peroid."
Corve "Well, if he's trapped somewhere, how do we get him out?"
Myrrh "Not sure. I wouldn't suggets smashing it since it might be important, or it might release something else along with Xar..."
Corve "So what are our other options?"
Myrrh "Well since we can't smash it we had better keep trying to figure out how it works. Maybe it's related to the other objects in the pillar." Checks the other objects to see if they're somehow related.
Myrrh looks about the other things, picking up the small disk and trying to work out the code, maybe it will tell him something about the sphere that sucked up his friend.
Corve also investigates the objects in the pillar, trying to figure out if any of them might be connected.
Myrrh "The Pelican fornicates with the goat at noon? That doesn't make sense!"
ST Examining the stone disk that Myrrh finds incomprehensible, Corve manages to make out a few words. Senseless word, Brrother of, some word that makes no sense followed by three other nonsense words and a symbol of the setting sun. Wounded, GSY 2302. Guardian of the...Followed by a bunch more senseless words."
Corve scratches his stubble, and then points out the words he can decipher to Myrrh. "See? 'Brother of... blah, blah, blah, blah,' symbol for sundown, 'Wounded, GSY 2302, Guardian of the blah blah."
Myrrh "Hmmm...clearly some kind of marker of memoriam...although if it doesn't mention that he died..."
Corve "Not as far as I can tell. Just wounded. GSY, though? What's that?"
Corve "Oh, duh. Glorious Solar Year. This is, after all, from the time where Solars were up at the top of the hierarchy. Huh. 2302. Wonder how long we lasted..." he murmurs, and then nudges his friend. "Come on, we have to figure this out."
Myrrh examines the other objects then, the statue and the cloth. "Mementos of the war?"
Corve "Hmm... maybe. But it all looks to... organized to have been designed during the wat."
Corve war*
Corve **
ST The crystal artifact in Myrrh's hands starts to spark violently, sending off great forks of lightning and glowing brightly. It burns Myrrh's hands, forcing him to drop it to the ground. It impacts with a resounding chime, but takes no damage. As lightning flashes more strongly, a mist floods outward from the single clear spike protruding from the top of the sphere.
Myrrh "Well! That got a reaction..."
Corve raises a brow, grabbing his friend by the shoulder and pulling him back. "Watch out..."
Myrrh "Xar! Head out of the...fog..."
Xar`Rex boils out of the artifact in a cloud of mist, swirling around and leaving behind a very solid Xar`Rex, looking mightily irritated, and waving the cloud of mist that surrounds him away.
ST The artifact subsides once Xar re-appears, the mist flowing back into the crystal and the lightning diminishing to the occasional spark.
Xar`Rex "Foolish Dragon-Blood. He insists on living in the past."
Corve "Xar!" He moves toward, poking at the lizard's feathers. "Are you alright?"
Corve "Dragon-Blooded?"
Myrrh "Ah HAH! I knew it was a portal to Elsewhere."
Xar`Rex picks up the spiky thing and shakes it a bit. "Stupid man. I will show you what year it is." he looks up at Corve, and slicks down his ruffled feathers, "Yes, thank you. There is a man in here, that does not believe me."
Corve "Does not believe you about what year it is?"
ST The item sparks a bit as Xar picks it up.
Xar`Rex "His sister created Brume, and he thinks it is not yet even finished!"
Corve "His sister created Brume?! What... who is he?"
Xar`Rex "He was too busy calling me a liar to say." he huffs.
Corve rolls his eyes and licks his lips. "Idiot."
Myrrh "Maybe...we should talk to him. Clearly he knows about the workings of Brume..."
Corve "How are we supposed to get any information from someone who think's a nation of floating islands isn't even finished?"
Xar`Rex "Yes, but not down here. We must bring him up where Brume is, show him the Realm from the Sky. He will not believe me otherwise. He still thinks his Sister is coming to stop us from stealing from the Museum."
Myrrh "Hmmm...I wonder why his sister put him there."
Corve "Probably to shut him up."
Xar`Rex snorts. "Likely. He was very demanding."
Myrrh "Well there's still alot to explore around here. We can talk to him later I suppose."
Corve "We should be careful, either way, with the bobby-trapped items."
Myrrh "Well I have to wonder what broke the protective binding on the sphere...it was like someone THREW it carelessly back into it's niche."
Xar`Rex sighs, calming down a bit, "Well. It is not that the items are booby trapped. It is that they are being labeled as dangerous." He hmphs at Myrrh. "It was too far away to place it carefully."
Myrrh "...well Xar considering there are things that explode and suck you into another dimension in here maybe you should should a bit more care while we're here."
Xar`Rex "Well, it is impossible to study them down here."
ST While the three men are discussing, Xar starts to hear something. A smooth-sounding rumble, as if something or several somethings were rolling toward them. It sounds like round boulders rolling down hill. But there aren't any hills or boulders underground! Certainly none around here! How odd.
Xar`Rex "Um. I think we need to grab anything we can, and leave right now. He said there would be a protection system..."
Corve "That sucks."
Xar`Rex "Now." he gestures toward the noise. "Something approaches."
Corve rolls his eyes and slides his rifle out again, cocking it. "Wonderful. Come on, then."
Myrrh "Well I'm not sure we can TAKE all of this safely..." grabs the crystal sphere gently.
Xar`Rex swoops around, grabbing all the interesting but non-dotted stuff!
Corve "Safety schmatey," he says, putting the smashfist on and rushing towards the statue of... well, him. "Xar!" He says, holding it up for the Dragon King to swoop down and take it. He can carry it much easier than Corve could.
ST Having already completed a once-over of the items in the gallery previous to Xar's disappearance, the column in which he found the crystalline item was one of the last to check. And so they already know which items to take with them.
Corve slips his shirt off in a quick, ungainly but effective movement, his trenchcoat back on as he sweeps around the gallery, sprinting from one colum to the other. Some items he doesn't even halt to grab, instead, knocking them off their shelf and letting them fall into his makeshift shirt-bag as he spins away, catching them in its secure hold. The guns are expertly handled as he hoslter them in additional grips
Corve * inside his trenchcoat, and he already has the smashfist on his hand as he takes the ecosphere, and then rounds up his statue. Hey, it's his anyway, right?! Random things that look interesting are also compiled, until he can't manage to grab anymore!
Xar`Rex dives throughout the columns, zig-zagging back and forth with little regard for safety, as speed is more important given the immense potential value of the items before them. His claws shoot out to either side, snatching items and placing them in his bag, the larger ones clutched in his talons, fore and aft.
ST Having grabbed what items they can in whatever they can the four Circlemates meet up in the center of the gallery. They now have two options: run back into the maze of crypts or run forward into the unknown that lays at the other end of the gallery. The rumbling sound of boulders rolling, now audible to everyone, is coming from forward.
Xar`Rex decides that away from the rumble is ideal, and goes that way!
Corve follows Xar, nodding for his circlemates to follow. "Let's get the fuck out of here, hopefully some of this stuff is what we're looking for!"
Carmine nods and runs after Corve, the silk usually around her chect used to hold the weapons she took on her back.
Myrrh "Damn...I really wanted that tooth..." Flees after the others, his bags bulging with strange lucre.
Xar`Rex "Carmine, get that blue vase!" He calls to her as she clears the rest of the column
Carmine eyes it oddly, but takes it anyway
ST The rumbling is getting louder and louder.
Corve runs like hell, screaming for the others to do the same. "We have enough! Odds are we got what we came for- go go go!"
ST The first of the noise-making things comes into view before Corve can take off running. It is a vast white sphere moving forward, rolling along at an astonishing pace across the flat store. The sphere is as wide as Corve's outstretched arms. It doesn't look very threatening, just very, very fast.
ST Two others come into view behind it, moving at slightly slower paces. One is making a slight creaking noise and seems wobbly. In staggered succession, the spheres roll toward the Circle. There's no way Corve can get away before all three arrive. And even Xar, the fastest, can't escape before the leading sphere reaches his friends!
Xar`Rex abruptly turns in midflight, and grabs Corve and Myrrh with his back claws, lifting them out of harm's way. He figures Carmine can probably just glare at the stones to stop them from hurting her.
Carmine With a brilliant flash of sunlight, eminence appears in carmine's hand as she leaps aside from the sphere hurtling towards her, landing and spinnging, holding the blade with both hands as she holds it close to the sphere, great golden sparks flying from the contact point
ST As Carmine's weapon smashes against the leading sphere its surface changes with each impact, turning midnight black as it produces plates of armor to interpose between itself and the attacks. These plates rise from the surface and smash themselves into Carmine's brilliant blade.
ST One of the armor plates completely deflects a blow. The other three are successful to varying degrees. After the fragments of black armor fall, Carmine has dealt two small scratches to the white surface of the sphere. It stands still, as if thinking.
ST The other two spheres, however, are not pausing to consider their course of action. They proceed to roll directly UP a pair of nearby columns. Once they reach a height above Xar'Rex, they fling themselves off the columns they were rolling up and fly towards him.
Xar`Rex blinks, and threads through several columns, zig-zagging to throw the sphere thing off, mentally cursing the sister.
Corve hangs, pendulating from Xar's arm.
ST The spheres leap from their perches on the columns, aiming for Xar! The first misses and falls to the ground where it starts rolling in circles, waiting to see what happens. The second hits the Dragon-King square in the back! The impact doesn't hurt him, but the sticky, heavy ooze that the sphere releases to drip down onto him is putting a damper on his flying!
Xar`Rex grunts as the sphere clips him, and cranes his head to see why the hell he's all gooey. That's disgusting!
ST Xar's mighty muscles strain heavily and it takes all the might of the Volcano God and the Dragon-King to stay airborne. The goo is oozing from the sphere like sweat off a bald head. And it's starting to harden, making it harder and harder to stay aloft.
ST Having released the goo onto Xar, the sphere falls off and lands on the ground, rolling to join its companion.
Xar`Rex "Myrrh! Can you reach that ...goo... on my back?"
Myrrh "Ermm...I can try..." Tries to scrape off the ooze with his hands first, don't want to damage any of the relics!
Corve letting Essence rouse through his veins and limbs, he hooks his makeshift shirt-bag onto Xar's hand, and slips free, hanging from the Dragon King's arm and swinging forward. Though not usually capable of such an acrobatic feat, his Charm and adrenaline push him forward as he kicks forward, swinging up and distending from Xar's arm, landing feather-light on the flying lizard-man's back. Immediately, he begins to scrape the goo off with his newly acquired smashfist.
ST Corve's interesting aerial acrobatics are successful and he manages to scrape and pull off the worst of the fast-drying ooze that is weighing down his friend. Xar's flying steadies and becomes much easier as Corve pulls and scrapes off the muck.
Xar`Rex "Thank you, Corve! That is much better."
Corve smirks, looking down at the back of his friend's head as he keeps his balance, his limbs supernaturally enhanced so that he doesn't have to even really try. "Anytime, buddy."
Myrrh "I hope these things can't go through water!"
Corve "Is the spell still active?!"
Corve is a lot lighter on Xar now, and he figures Carmine's not that heavy. "We need to pick up Carmine!"
Myrrh "No, And I shouldn't cast it til we're at the gateway! Otherwise the seaweed would just die again!"
Corve "We can't leave without Carmine!"
Carmine regards the sphere before her.
Xar`Rex "We must destroy the spheres, or we will not be able to leave without destroying the rest."
Corve "Fine, circle around," he says, unholstering his gun and getting ready for some heavy-duty damage.
Myrrh "Xar, hold on!" Myrrh squirms slightly under Xar's grasp to get a good firing angle.
Xar`Rex swoops around to give Myrrh a good angle
Myrrh braces against Xar and aims at one of the balls, firing a single bullet at the rampaging orb, maybe it'll crack due to being merely an object...
ST The sphere Myrrh shoots at stops in its rolling as it shudders with the impact. It then resumes rolling, somewhat scuffed and dented.
Corve is probably no good against the spheres, he guesses. "Damn things."
Corve "Turn back, Xar, we need to get Carmine, I've got an idea."
Xar`Rex "Alright..." he dives down with impressive speed, and grabs Carmine by the shoulders, lifting her out of harm's immediate way
Carmine looks at sphere before her then ..."...wha?"
ST The three spheres start rolling along after their prey, intent on catching up. So far they haven't launched themselves at Xar in flight again, but they may decide to do so at any moment!
Corve "Myrrh, target the left column," he says, pointing, and then he moves his shot to the one on the right. "Xar... duck low, let's put something between us and these round fuckers."
Myrrh "On it!" Aims at the pointed out pillar and FIRES!
Xar`Rex angles his wings, and builds speed, diving low as the two pillars are fired upon!
Corve flicks his gun as he aims, taking careful consideration for Xar's movements and the angle he's at. Finally, he lets it flare- the Essenc eneveloping the tip of his gun and curling in spiral behind the bullet as it blasts forward, hurling through the air towards the base of the column.
ST As Xar soars through the archway through which the spheres rolled into the gallery Myrrh and Corve take their shots. The vast columns shudder with the impact and start to fragment, falling toward each other. Just as Xar soars through carrying his three friends, a vast avalanche of shattered stone and blasted masonry collapses and covers the archway.
ST The three vast white spheres are cut off from the Circle, at least for a while. They could do nothing about the entrance they themselves used to walk into the gallery and they have no idea how the vast network of catacombs is lain out. Its possible the spheres may find them again. And its possible there may be more!
ST But for the moment, they're safe.
Corve leaps off his friend, flipping in mid-air and landing unharmed on the floor, his feet stomping the ground firmly as he flips his rifle over his shoulder and holsters it. "See? I told you it'd work."
Xar`Rex deposits the other two gently, then lands himself. "Good thinking!"
Carmine smiles and rewards Corve with a large kiss for his thought
Corve kisses back, grinning and wiggling his eyebrows. "Now let's see if we can get some rest. I'm beat."
Myrrh "Well we have to get out of the bottom of the ocean first..."
Corve "Oh come on, half an hour," he says, slumping against the wall.
Xar`Rex "We may have time to rest, so long as we do not hear those spheres again."
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