Settling (Solo)

[Warden Thrice]

3rd of Winter Eorar flexed his hands experimentally. They tingled, but were otherwise sound. A nasty scar stretched across his left hand and a few more dotted his right, but they were healed well. He grinned and took off through the docks, relishing his almost-forgotten speed. After a season living in and around the Zeltivan port the quality of the water no longer bothered him, and he hardly noticed as it started to clear as he headed into the open bay. It felt so good to go fast again. Since his mishap with the fishing hook, he had been forced to exercise utmost caution to prevent any of his blood from spilling into the water, and it had paid off. Ever since fall had started to get underway, Eorar had retreated farther and farther into the water, surfacing only to purchase essentials. It was unbelievably frigid, and any time spent up there was bordering agony. He hadn’t seen Astrolabe since he had met Andy, and he doubted he would until winter was over. He definitely couldn’t take a University course. He’d hold off until the weather was warmer. After all, he hadn’t paid yet. One thing, however, couldn’t wait. Eorar needed to find a home. Ever since his arrival he had been sleeping in a rock bed half a mile or so from the city, and that needed to change. Though it had been put off, the charoda was nevertheless still going to go to the University and learn. He needed a place to put paper and cloth and ink and things that couldn’t get wet, and he needed to find a place that was underwater and protected from winter. He had noticed that the submerged cliff sides were riddled with holes, and at least one of them ought to have a sufficient air bubble. But first thing first. He needed to check his reef.

[Warden Thrice]

It was coming along nicely. The coral had expanded, covering three square feet of the shelf. He had since added an anemone, and a clownfish had moved in. That, in addition to the starfish he had hunted down a few weeks ago, was making it look a little more lively. Eorar didn’t really have any designs in mind for the coral, he just wanted to have some nearby that was healthy. A little bit of home and something to do over the winter. He absently sprinkled silt around the base of some box coral as he examined the wall nearby. He didn’t want to live too far away from this. Once he was satisfied that everything was running smoothly he headed over to the first hole.

[Warden Thrice]

Sniffing to make sure nothing else lived there, he quickly discovered that it was a blind cave that ended as soon as the light did. He hadn’t really expected to find one on the first try, so he continued. After the fifth, however, he began to get disheartened. The second had been big, but was entirely underwater, the third had been another blind, the fourth had smelled too funny to continue, and the fifth had just been a dip in the rock. Eorar sighed and floated onto an outcropping. He put his chin in his hand and looked out to sea, gazing at everything and nothing. Everything was so much easier in Charbosi! It was warmer there, and brighter. Not to mention cleaner. The water here was filled with things that shouldn’t be there. Still, it wasn’t like he could just leave. He needed this place more than he’d needed Charbosi for reasons he couldn’t explain. That was why he’d left, wasn’t it? A tugging appeared in his chest. It was made of sadness and longing, and pulled the charoda off the ledge. He recognized the feeling, and took a deep breath to give it what it wanted. “A figure is cut from the gloom by light Loving Syna offers warmth from fear Rejected, nothing heals a broken heart But time herself with many tears.” The notes quavered in the water, almost living creatures themselves, before fading. The Ballad of the Lost Sailor was a sad one, about a woman who crossed Mizahar to find her seaman husband. She found that his ship had sunk, and she almost threw herself into the water to join him when she saw a blue creature looking up at her. It told her that it was he husband, for it indeed looked like him, and after three days and nights she followed it into the water, legend telling that she became a charoda like him and lived happily ever after beneath the waves. The song held a haunting melody, designed to be sung by one person and played such that the sea threw echoes back at him and gave him his own support and harmony. Wait, echoes? He had heard an echo, and a very strong one at that. It had come from the wall. He eyes the three prospective holes and rang out another long, wordless note. The echo was easy to find, and he slipped into the subsequent cave easily.

[Warden Thrice]

He chirped, and it echoed back almost violently just as a wisp of warm water tickled Eorar’s arm. He frowned. As he continued the water got warmer until, quite suddenly, his head was in air. He blinked, unable to see a thing, and chirped. It rebounded, but the echo wasn’t nearly as big as it had been underwater. He chirped again and swam forward blindly until his chest hit something. Stone. He frowned and slid his hands over it, finding a solid wall. He sidled along, feeling for anything reminiscent of a shore, when he felt the stone fall back into a shelf about half a foot above the surface. Eorar considered, then shrugged and disregarded any notion of personal safety and pulled himself up. He followed the wall and came to a number of conclusions. First, the cave was about twenty feet long and wide, second, there was strangely a dirt floor, and third, it was warm. Strange. When he had circled the dirt a few times he ventured into the middle and discovered that in the exact center was a pillar of stone. It was a growth that reached from the ceiling to the floor, and was wet and cold beneath his hands. This would be his home. He knew it. sure, it was a bit of a distance from Zeltiva, but nothing major. It was close to his reef, and had an underwater tunnel that he could keep Tenten safe in. It was perfect. Except he didn’t have anything to put in it. That washed over him like cold air. He couldn’t live here, not yet at least. He had nothing to sleep on, nothing to keep anything in. He didn’t even have any light. Eorar made his way back to the water and dove in. He chirped, and looked over his shoulder into the darkness. It would need work, yes, but… he had a home.

[Paragon]

Eorar : Eorar Skill XP Reward Singing +2 Coral Manipulation +1 Swimming +1 Lore: Finding a Home Other: N/A Well done, I hope Eorar enjoys his cave - if you have ANY questions or concerns about this grading, don't hesitate to PM me.