< Killing Ahlat | Sol Invictus Logs | Kai's Shadowy Past >
Zee Pirate calls out the last few words of the spell, the Essence whipping up around her like the winds of a personal hurricaine, then she gestures, pouring all of the pent-up ferocity directly into the water between the two ships. The sea roils and heaves for a moment as if unsure of what to do with it, then erupts into a massive wave, twenty feet high, and at least that long, that rolls directly at Allussem and the flimsy thing he calls 'boat'
The dramatic crashing of the boats thoroughly holes the hulls of the enemy vessels and sends them sinking downwards into the ocean.
Zee Pirate wiggles her fingers at the drowning sailors cheerfully.
The foes slip beneath the waves as the planks of the damaged ships continue to float upon the surface.
Zee Pirate "It's too bad we didn't get to steal their stuff." she reflects.
Cerin "Indeed. Though I'm not sure it would be that usuable after Marku punched it and your wave hit it."
Zee Pirate "This is quite true. Maybe we can find their hidden treasure lair or something."
Birds "I'm not sure you should be using the past tense, Zee."
Zee Pirate brightens "Oh, hey, we can still breathe water can't we? Let's see if we can find what landed on the bottom."
Birds "The stuff IS still there, after all. Just, um, it's wet there."
Kai "And, uhm.... Filled with corpses..."
Zee Pirate shifts her clothing into a stunning bikini. "Dead Corpses are easier to get things off of. It's a fundamental truth of the universe."
Birds shrugs and jumps in.
Cerin kisses Zahara as she is clad in the bikini, smiling appreciatively at her, then dives cleanly in after Birds
Zee Pirate executes a swan dive and plunges ...well beneath is relative, but in the direction of the drowned pirates.
The water is warm and pleasant to the touch. The Solars fnd that the wrecks of the ships have sank quite rapidly, dropping out of easy sight from the surface.
Zee Pirate swims fairly well, especially after trapping that water spirit - she thought she'd better learn in case something ever went wrong. Her anima lights up the water like Greek Fire, causing a molten glow to suffuse the water around her as she heads ever-deeper
Birds just trusts to Cerin's navigation, which boils down to following Zee.
Cerin swims down around the light of Zahara, swimming easier than her, red ribbons flapping slowly in the water, keeping sight of the ships as best he can as they sink
The Solars swim deeper and deeper below the surface, as the sunlight from the surface begins to dwindle. Finally, they reach the resting places of the ships, well below the surface.
Nearly the only light visible at this depth is that shed by the Solars themselves.
Zee Pirate looks around curiously.
The remnants of the vessels are strewn about on the seafloor, with individual planks and beams sticking out in various directions.
There do not seem to be any immediately visible bodies present.
Zee Pirate shears off to the right, where a particularly likely section of wreck lies. Is that something shiny over there?
Kai follows, holding her solar saber up high for light.
Cerin follows Zee, alert for threats
With more light applied, a few shiny objects become somewhat more visible. The cracked remains of one of the crystalline cannons lie in one section of the boat. Elsewhere, a few weapons, of odd manufacture, lie between two boards.
Birds sinks down to the bottom and walks around on the sea floor, picking up and examining bits of flotsam and jetam at random.
Zee Pirate claims the prettiest-looking weapon
Kai examines the strange implements of combat.
The weapons are made of a variety of odd metals, in several strange shapes. A large, nearly circular sword-like weapon and an elaborately wavy spear are two of the more notable choices.
Their materials are clearly magical, capable of holding Essence, though they keep with none of the more traditional types.
Zee Pirate picks up the swordlike thing, considering whether or not it would look daunting circling around her
Cerin starts to swim into the structure of the vessel, trying to find the captain's cabin
Birds feeds more energy into her anima until she can see clearly, and selects several items of different metals. Certainly, the more of these we can examine, the better off we will be with regard to understanding them all.
Kai picks up the spear, but leans over Zahara's shoulder, clearly more interested in the curious sword.
Zee Pirate shows the sword thinger to Kai, noting her interest
The sword is perhaps 3 1/2 feet in circumference. its edge is thoroughly sharp, and it ends in a vicious, sloped point, about 90 degrees around the circle from where the handle is attached.
it looks as if it would be quite unusual to wield, but potentially quite vicious
Kai "Hm. What do you suppose it's made from?"
Cerin locates the section of the ruins that most likely would have been the captain's cabin.
Zee Pirate "It's probably one of those new-exalt types magical materials. I wonder if they stop working when we kill their God."
The sword's material is blue and shimmery, like a particularly watery steel.
Kai takes the blade gingerly, and puts it through a few maneuvers.
Cerin starts to search the cabin for items of note and interest. Papers, artifacts, maps etc.
Zee Pirate ties one end to one of the Bonds once Kai has finished playing with it, then sends the other end questing upwards toward the ship, adding on other scarves as necessary.
Cerin does manage to locate what appears to be a navigational log. It's been thoroughly soaked of course but with some effort it should be legible.
Zee Pirate considers, then reshapes the lowest scarf, untying it and instead causing it to form a large pocket in which she puts the sword, and the spear as well.
Cerin puts it into a pocket, then searches more, looking for anything more that catches his eye.
Zee Pirate moves on, looking for more interesting items.
A sodden pirate hat, a map of the nearby ocean, and a small red lily pin, executed in colored bronze, are perhaps the most interesting objects remaining.
Zee Pirate "Some pirates. No good booty. Well, not much at least." She scans the area as it fades off into the distance for more wrecks, older ones perhaps.
Cerin takes them all carefully. He wonders where the owner of the hat is.
The nearby seabed actually holds a number of shipwrecks, though most are so decrepit as to be practically nonexistent.
Zee Pirate scampers off waterily to the nearest of them, and digs around a bit in the sand and muck
This ship seems quite thoroughly decayed -- it obviously dates to a much older age. The basic shape of the vessel can still be made out through examination of the remaining boards.
The portion that would've carried any cargo seems quite thoroughly buried in the muck.
Zee Pirate gestures for Markuran to come over. Since he loves Zahara so much, he comes right quick! She asks him nicely to rip the ship out, and he makes various grunting noises, and his muscles ripple nicely as she surreptitiously checks out his ass.
As the skeleton of the old ship is pulled free, the contents of its cargo hold become revealed. Most of what was once there is quite thoroughly degraded -- it seems as if there were once exotic fruits, elaborate silks, and other fine goods present that quickly rotted. However
there is also a single box -- black, mahogany wood with gold filligree in elaborate, sun-based patterns, which appears to have been untouched for years.
Birds burbles, "Hey look, a fancy box."
Zee Pirate "Oooh." Zee is distracted from The Ass, and dives forward to get The Box.
The box is about a foot and a half across, one foot tall, and one foot deep, and fairly light.
Cerin swims out of the ship after pocketing his various finds, the hat on his head,swimming over to Zahara and wondering what she found.
Birds swims over as well and suggest, "We might want to take that to the surface. Are we otherwise done here?"
Birds Of Trinity *suggests
Zee Pirate holds up the box for all to see, then lugs it back to the Bonds' makeshift booty sack. "Good idea... want to explore more?"
Birds Of Trinity "Well, always, but..."
Zee Pirate "but?"
Zee Pirate heads off in the other direction to another interesting looking shipwreck
After some hours of searching, Zahara has located a surprising amount of mundane treasure, sunken wine, and rotten wood, but nothing else of magical note.
Birds shrugs and keeps gathering weapons, "Someone told me there is always a but, but if there isn't..."
Kai gathers a few bottles of wine!
Zahara carefully examines the box but cannot discern even the slightest presence of a break or division at which it could be opened -- it appears to be completely solid.
Cerin likewise studies the box, once they are on the surface, looking at the fine detail of it's magical and mundane makeup.
The box clearly bears a powerful enchantment; it doesn't look like it'll open easily without the right object to serve as a key.
Birds wonders what we have here...a puzzle or an artifact?
Zee Pirate "Hmmm strange. Perhaps we can figure out how to dismantle it in the workshop. Or maybe we can find the key... where was that ship it was from..."
Birds Of Trinity "Maybe the decoration on the box can help us figure out what the key is..."
The box's decorations form an elaborate series of astrological designs -- suns, stars, and planets in various stages of eclipse, alignment, and conjunction
Zee Pirate "It looks time-based."
Kai "Or astrological."
Zee Pirate "Well, let's study it more when we get back and have access to the libraries. I believe we have more pirating to do!"
Birds Of Trinity "I will leave that to you scholars, then. Where is our next war?"
Zee Pirate "I'd ask Herons if I didn't think he'd destroy it by drooling on it."
Birds nods, as if to say, "What a coincidence, I nearly said the same thing."
Zee Pirate grins at Birds
Having carefully sailed the Unbreakable Bond down the Gray River, the Solars near the docks of Solaria, their home city.
Zee Pirate prepares to combat the havok which has been wreaked in their absence!
Cerin, in a ritual that has become almost laughable, detects his oncoming surprise as the Solars begin to approach the entrance to their great manse.
Zee Pirate looks for obvious signs of distress - dead people and animals, people glowing funny, rampant spirits, broken manses, etc.
Cerin waits expectantly for the surprise, then.
Birds Of Trinity "Hey, how often does this happen before you start expecting to be surprised and then you're surprised when you aren't?"
Birds thinks about what she just said.
Zee Pirate Does that activate the surprise anticipation too?
Birds Of Trinity "Um, nevermind."
Cerin does, too. But not too hard.
As they enter the Manse, they are greeted immediately by a pretty surprising sight: a huge splash of blood, still cooling, upon the wall just beyond the entranceway.
On the floor, the signs of someone or something being dragged down the hallway, leaving a trail of blood, are clearly visible.
Zee Pirate inspects the blood. "Well. Home sweet home."
Kai draws.
Kai "We have so many horrible monsters, you'd thing ONE would be a decent watchdog..."
Cerin wraps his magic about himself as he inspects the blood and surrounding area.
Zee Pirate "Yes, well maybe that's why there's an interesting pattern of blood instead of something trying to kill us."
Cerin starts to follow the trail into the manse.
Kai "Mm." she says, unconvinced.
Zee Pirate "I need to summon more Demons" she sighs.
Zee Pirate "Maybe some Tomescu or Blood Apes."
Cerin starts to follow the trail into the manse, keeping alert for more signs of what happened
Birds Of Trinity "I like tomescu. Last time you had a blood ape, he ate the ornamental dogs and stank up the western tower toilet."
Zee Pirate trails after Cerin, considering various demons. "Yeah, that was pretty bad. Maybe I can keep those on the outer grounds next time."
Birds follows along, thinking about the various benefits and downsides of different demon varieties.
Zee Pirate "Maybe a Neomah for Marku. He needs to work off some of that... stress."
Birds snickers.
The blood trail winds upwards through the building, eventually arriving at the entryway to the open-air garden near the top.
Cerin steps into the garden.
Zee Pirate follows
Birds Of Trinity "Gee, what a lot of blood."
Zee Pirate "Yes, it seems to be multiplying."
A bloody body is stretched out unceremoniously across the central fountain, its blood tinting the fountain's water pink
Cerin moves cautiously over to the body, looking around as he does.
Zee Pirate "Have you ever noticed the lovely way blood floats in water before it's thoroughly distributed?
Birds Of Trinity "I have! Would that I were a painter..."
Looking closely at the person's face, Cerin realizes that it is Seven Herons Leaping -- and he still seems to be hanging on to life.
Birds kneels down and pulls out some bandages, "Hey, we were just talking about you..."
Zee Pirate "This seems an inappropriate time for a bath."
Cerin "...Herons. Now that is a turn up for the books." He muses to himself as he immediately starts to look around more closely, for whoever might have dragged him here.
No one else seems to be present. Based on the current Essence patterns within the room, Cerin would guess that whoever brought him here left through the skylight.
Zee Pirate "Cerin, please check for me to make sure that IS Herons." she asks as she approaches the prone and bleeding man
Birds figures that Cerin can do this while she binds him and his wounds, and proceeds to do just that.
Cerin "He is." he says as he leaps into the air and out onto the roof of the manse, looking around for more signs of the intruder
Kai leans in to Zee and whispers "Who is this?"
Zee Pirate nods and, once Birds has bound him well, sends her Sesseljae out of her stomach, and they swim through the air and plunge into Herons' neck, burrowing inside of him.
Zee Pirate looks to Kai, and says, "Well, I should introduce you two, I think. Kai, this is Seven Leaping Herons, Chosen of the Stars. Herons, this is Kai Buckthorn."
The Sidereal makes an audible, pained gasp as the bugs dive into his flesh and begin their reparations; within a moment, he appears to be conscious again.
Birds pats the elderly Sidereal. "Don't worry, they're tame. The demons, I mean."
Kai smiles, "A pleasure... Uhm, situation aside, I guess."
Zee Pirate "He has assisted us in turn for helping him with certain matters. So far it seems the balance of favors tilts heavily towards us at the moment."
Herons "Aaaaaaaaah!" he shouts, as he shakes his head about, trying to understand where he is.
Zee Pirate watches him thrash
Herons "Cerin!" He shouts, as he gains some recognition. "They've attacked the Chrysanthemum!"
Cerin can see that whoever fled through the roof appears to have received a lift out from a quickly-arriving flying creature of some kind.
Cerin listens to the conversation as he looks out over the roof. He scans the skys for the flying creature.
Zee Pirate "Who has? And how?"
Cerin can't make out any sign of the creature in the sky.
Cerin leaps down. "As I'm sure you must have known they would."
Birds Of Trinity "Um, here, have the use of your arms back." Birds pulls on a knot and releases Herons.
Herons pants as his body is slowly knit into functional shape. "We thought that they would assault us from without. We had taken thorough precautions, and drawn up prophecies."
Zee Pirate "They attacked from within?"
Herons coughs up some blood, which he spits on the ground, clearly noting that it can't really make more of a mess. "There was a traitor in our organization."
Zee Pirate signals a servant to fetch Herons some water and bread, and another to fetch a mop.
Cerin "And beyond your destruction, what exactly has the attack gained them?"
Zee Pirate ::Reaver flutters down and perches on Heron's head, where he begins combing through his hair with his claws.
Herons looks quite bitter. "Two things. One, they have likely taken the Orrery of Lights, which will give them a great deal of information we would not wish them to have."
Cerin nods.
Herons "But secondly, and more importantly, even though many of my compatriots were able to escape the attack, with the Fivescore Fellowship scattered we cannot maintain the barriers of Creation."
Zee Pirate considers Herons, and his state of physical ailment... if she shows him the box now, there's very little chance of not keeping it. She nods to herself. "What barriers of Creation?"
Cerin Barriers! "Tell me more of these barriers. What do they do?"
Herons "They protect Creation from invasion from without. It has always been our task to perform the ritual actions that maintained them."
Zee Pirate "Can you do them from here?"
Herons shakes his head sadly. "It requires many of us, throughout the edges of the world, to maintain their strength."
Birds Of Trinity "Hm. Does it -require- the power of a Chosen of the Stars, or can you be aided by others?"
Zee Pirate "On the bright side, maybe the Fae will kill off those annoying Godlings."
Birds Of Trinity "Also, the invaders are -here.- Are you suggesting that your barrier is, in fact, holding back an even greater force?"
Herons "It requires us to perform, as best as I am aware. As for what it holds back: more than anything else, the wrath of Malfeas."
Zee Pirate "Damnit, we don't have TIME to kill the Malfaens again!"
Birds Of Trinity An unfamiliar look creeps across Birds-of-Trinity's face. After some time, it becomes clear that the look is worry.
Cerin "How many would you say you need to perform the rituals?"
Zee Pirate summons the Sesseljae back to her and glares at Herons, folding her arms over her chest. "How COULD you fail to keep Creation WHOLE at this time! You had better start praying, hard."
Herons "It would take at least 35 of us to maintain the barriers, I think. More to restore them once they have begun to fail."
Cerin "And the Orrey of Lights? Where is this? How will it let them gain information?"
Herons sighs, clearly not happy to be sharing information but without much of a choice. "It is our most powerful device of prognostication. By charting the movement of the stars and planets, we could predict events long before they occurred."
Zee Pirate "Oh, speaking of stars aligning." she whips out the box. "What do you make of this?"
Cerin "How hard would it be to sabotage?"
Herons "Not tremendously difficult, if we could locate it. Though," he says, grimacing, "I would have typically done so by consulting the Orrery."
Zee Pirate "and the box?"
Cerin "Could you teach me the principles of reading it enough to read that from it?"
Birds Of Trinity "I gather that -consulting- the Orrery is somehow independent of its location, then."
Birds Of Trinity "That's clever. You Star-Chosen are all very clever."
Birds 's tone of voice is not at all admiring.
Herons "I can attempt to discern it from the true stars. It will be more difficult, but I will attempt it."
Herons looks over at Zahara's box.
Herons "Where did you find that?'
Zee Pirate "Oh, around. Do you recognize it?"
Herons "It has a Deliberative Seal."
Cerin presses his badge to it?
Herons "No, no. It's clearly something owned by a member of the Deliberative, but that person will need to open it themselves. I doubt it was yours."
Cerin nods
Birds Of Trinity "Hm. Cerin, you have unusual sight. Can you see what is within without opening the seal?"
Zee Pirate "Can you tell who owned it?"
Herons "I might be able to, if you allow me to examine it."
Zee Pirate eyes him for a moment, then hands it over.
Herons looks over the box for a minute. Anyone looking closely would notice the glittering of stars in Heron's eyes as he stares intently at the box.
Zee Pirate is indeed looking closely!
After a moment, Herons raises an eyebrow in disbelief. "It's... yours," he says, looking with disbelief at the young Ms. Buckthorn.
Zee Pirate "Oh, mystery girl strikes again!"
Kai looks up, her attention having been lost for a few minutes. "Beg pardon?"
Zee Pirate "remind me again why the demons are after your sword?"
Kai "Because Arexus tried to bind one with it. Also the Deathlord thing, I don't know if that's related..."
Kai goes over and sits by the box, examining it.
The box seems to fit easily in Kai's hands.
She can feel the suns and planets begin to shift and spin as she holds it in her hands, reaching new and unique conjunctions.
Birds Of Trinity "How pretty."
After a few moments, there is a loud click, and the top half of the box slowly slides open along the irregular line of one of the gold patterns.
Within is what seems to be a golden choker bearing an intricate lion's-head device in the center.
Kai reaches into the box and gently lifts out the choker, peering at it.
Zee Pirate looks over her shoulder, somewhat annoyed that her box has things in it that apparently belong to the new girl
Kai Carefully, cautiously, she puts it on.
The choker gleams beautifully as it snaps around the Solar's neck. To anyone gazing upon her, her visage immediately becomes more impressive than it was a moment before.
Cerin eyes Kai and the symbol on the choker speculatively. Suspicion filters into the unity.
Zee Pirate "Oh good. She's prettier than she was before. Like she even NEEDED that" Zee mutters.
Kai moves over to a nearby mirror and smiles at herself.
Kai "I'll have to give myself gifts more often."
The choker does fit quite well with Kai's hair.
Zee Pirate "You should thank me, I got Marku to pull it out."
Kai grins. "Thank you, Zahara."
Zee Pirate smiles benificently, although her part of the Unity still radiates slight annoyance and covetousness. "You're very welcome, Kai."
Tags (:tags Crystal Tech, Magical Materials, Unbreakable Bond, Herons, Barriers of Creation, Sidereals, Chrysanthemum, Orrery of Lights, First and Forsaken Lion :)
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