Location [Alvadas Location] The Gaping Maw

[Alexis Whitewave]

35th Winter, 511 AV


Lexi approached the large stone face with caution, looking at it intently. She had docked her casinor nearby and then travelled the short distance to reach the place she had heard about. Lexi was an avid traveller and had been to many places but she had never been here. She heard of this place, the City of Illusions, quite a lot while listening to stories from other Svefras in her pod. In the Whitewave pod a ship may sometimes visit a city on it’s own while the rest of the pod moved on and then caught up with the pod later, like Lexi was doing now.

Deep in her thoughts she jumped a little when a loud voice echoed through the silent wilderness that surrounded her. “You have come in search of the City of Illusion. Tell me, stranger, why are you here?” the voice said. Lexi looked up slowly. She saw the eyes of the head had fixated on her, looking at her with a burning intensity that made her shift her weight a little from one foot to the other. Finally she took a deep breath and spoke. ”I’m simply here to visit the city and to get some supplies” she said, doing her best not to let her voice shake.

Suddenly the ground began to shake and vibrate and the mouth of the huge stone head began to open. It took a little while before they were fully open but then the shaking stopped and the mouth was wide open. Lexi took an experimental step forward and then walked up to the mouth. She paused a little at it’s entrance but walked in, looking all around her as she went.

[Angelo]

36th of Winter, 511 AV Angelo slowly approached the large stone face with a straight face of his own. He had dragged himself for days across Mizahar's large body, and his legs were sore from the long journey. He was thankful that he had stumbled across the city that he had been searching for ever since that fateful day. Alvadas, the City of Illusions. He hoped that here he would learn more about Hypnotism, and one day, he would become a great Hypnotist. "You have come to our humble home. What brings you here?" Angelo looked up at it with absolutely no signs of surprise when the giant... rock... spoke. In a monotonous tone, he murmured, "I've come here to be an official resident of Alvadas." Immediately after, the ground began to vibrate, and an entrance appeared to the city. Without hesitation, he slowly began to walk inside.

[Gunto]

The 68th of Winter, 511 AV Gunto stumbled up the path to what appeared to be a gate. He was half drunk and his clothing and armor disheveled, clumsily moving about and muttering to himself. Gunto halted in it's shadow, his body wavering from the effects of his drink. He had taken to drowning himself in liquor to get over the fear of drowning in the sea on the boat across the Suvan Sea. He'd already downed half a bottle of whatever that piss the sailors called a beverage before a crusty old sailor had drug him onto the deck and said they'd been docked for hours. So here he stood, freezing his Myrian haunches off and clutching a leather bag filled with all his worldly goods... apparently being questioned by a giant face? “You have come in search of the City of Illusion. Tell me, stranger, why are you here?” "What the... out of my way, damn face... have to piss!" Gunto shivered and mumbled something about wenches and a bath before the wicked smile began to split. He watched with glazed eyes as the mouth opened fully, and he stumbled past into who knows what. He thought he heard a chuckle as he waddled into the city.

[Ciryn]

[Flashback] The 8th of Winter, 510 AV

The journey had been quiet. Ciryn liked the quiet. Walking, alone in your head, it was rhythmic, meditative. This was her first time out of Taloba and the decision to leave had been impulsive. The thought had always been there, lurking, the idea of somewhere where she wasn’t markedly different, but it had never been real. Only a daydream. As she approached the walls of the city it seemed even more like a dream.

A gust of cold wind leaked from inside the city, reminding her of reality as she pulled her cloak tighter. The City of Illusions had begun to make reality out of dream, if only for the time being. Ciryn shivered, she was so close to being able to lock herself inside the stone walls, so close to escape. Some look to fool themselves into seeing what they want to see, but Ciryn wanted to see herself as she was, whatever that may be. That was her escape, an escape from being different. Here she did not have to be a reflection of those around her, here she could be different and fade into the fog, left to her own creations.

The stone silhouette of the towering face cast a shadow over the city entrance. The smile was certainly made in greeting, but its intentions were not as certain.

"You have come in search of the City of Illusion. Tell me, stranger, why are you here?"

"My name is Ciryn," she said, raising her eyes to stare up into those of the stone face, “I come in search of revelation and to sate my desire for I know not what.”The irony was not lost on the statue.

The stone mouth began to sink and the rumbling of rocks sounded almost like a chuckle. Mist poured out, the intoxicating breath of the city casting a veil over the mind. Ciryn walked through the jaws and into the city.

[Serah]

8th day of Spring 512 AV

Serah had been so lonely since she and her brother had parted ways. Tristan had thought it best for them to split up and live their own lives in different cities, far away from each other, communicating only when they had to. Of course Serah had protested, and fought and screamed, but he would have none of it.

In the end, she had done as he told her, she travelling to Alvadas and he to Syliras. She had traveled long and far away from her homeland of Riverfall, wary of the erotic stares that had been coming her way throughout the course of her travels. For once she wished that the sailors on the trade ship would simply disregard her, letting her get safely to her destination with no complications. Sometimes her physical appeal was both a curse and a blessing, but she had a difficult time discerning which one it was at the moment. Her mind told her to go and ask for help, play the lady in despair, but her gut told her to avoid conversations with these people. They were big, fat men, with dirty clothes and gruff voices. They reeked of ale and sweat, and gave her toothless grins. She knew for a fact that they hadn't had a gal to warm their bed sheets in quite some time, and knew that sooner or later someone would approach her.

On the third day on the ship, a fat bald man in his mid 40's had walked up to her on the deck of the galley, and pinched her firm round fanny, in front of the other sailors, laughing as he moved closer to her.She smiled at him, and her hand reached down to firmly grab the bulge in his pants as she squeezed slightly. Serah could feels his heart pounding through his chest as he pressed his body onto her's. She smiled again, this time twisting on the sailor's length and showing him the glimmer of steel as she pressed the long dagger onto it. "Touch me again," she said loud enough for everyone to hear, "and it'll come clean off..." Her message had gotten through, because no one had bothered her for the rest of the naval voyage.

When she had gotten off the ship at last, she had spotted a wealthy looking merchant and asked him for directions to Alvadas. It had not been long afterwards, she did not stop, did not talk to anyone, she simple continued forward until she could see an astounding stone face carved into the wall. The merchant, having visited the city on a previous occasion, had mentioned it, his only words to describe it being 'It's simply wonderful!'. She hadn't really understood how a stone face could be 'wonderful' though as she came into proximity to it, she nearly toppled over when it opened its mouth and began to speak!

"You have come in search of the City of Illusion. Tell me, stranger, why are you here?"

At a loss for words, all that came out was meaningless babble, still, Serah managed to regain her composure and strung together a sentence that could be understood, "I seek refuge in the city of Alvadas, I have traveled long and far and hope to stay here for the time being." She wasn't sure what was supposed to happen next, but as they road opened up for her she strolled right in, not sure what to expect.

[Al Sahaba Maulakim]

12 day of Fall, 512 AV

Approaches the walls, placing his hand upon it, Al Sahaba Mualakim feels the wall, its coarse stone rough against his dark skin. He sits down, weary of his long and treacherous journey. He reaches into a pocket in his cloak, and pulls out the picture of his mother and father. "I knew it existed," he said," I have found it. Within these walls is the great City of Illusion."

Al continues to walk along the wall, feeling the stone change from rough to slightly mossy. He stops, admiring the craftsmanship of its architecture.

He quickly noticed a large gap, over which resided a stone head. The stone head looked realistic, as though it were living. He quickly looked at the back of his photograph, which read," The Gate is Alive," in his father's handwriting. Al starts to sit down, facing away from the gate, when it speaks, in a deep, monotonous voice:

"You have come in search of the City of Illusion. Tell me, stranger, why are you here?"

At a loss for words, Al begins to contemplate an answer. He then responded," My name is Al Sahaba Mualakim. I am from a Benshira Tribe, of Ekytol, here to claim the home that is mine.

Then, a low rumbling occurred. It shook the very fabric of Al's being. A mist had sputtered from the cafe, and Al walked through without hesitation.

[Fatima]

4th of Spring, 510AV Fatima was tired. Not just physically, but mentally as well. For months she'd been traveling, taking in everything she could, experience as much as possible, and now she was tired. She ran a hand through her hair, pushing it away from her face, and examined the stone visage in front of her. It was smiling, and she smiled back. "You have come in search of the City of Illusion. Tell me, stranger, why are you here?" Asked the face. "I have come to find a new home." Fatima answered. The stone face began rumbling loudly, and she heard the sound of grinding stone as its mouth opened to her. She breathed deeply once, in and out, and moved forward, into the City of Illusion.

[Al Sahaba Maulakim]

16 of Spring, 512.

All approaches the inside part of the gate, waiting for it to open. Many merchants walk past, heading to their stores. He stands watching the wall intently. He waits for the loud rumbling to begin, then he starts walking. Al Sahabah Mualakim has left Alvadas to meet with an associate in business. He walks into the distance, not turning back, not even looking back, his horse trotting along side him.

[Nixie]

Timestamp: 10th of Spring, 512 AV Approaching a wall of sorts, Nixie brought her horse to a stop. Jumping down from her seat on the beasts back and taking a few steps towards what looked to be a door. Standing in place, she ponder what she would do next. Thinking to herself, she wondered if it would be wise to enter; clueless to what awaited her on the other side. And for a while that's all she did. Standing... staring... and thinking. Perhaps the door wondered when, or if, she would approach as well; its stone eyes shifting to meet her own. Such movement did not go unnoticed as she thought to herself, stone doesn't normally move on its own... Suspicion rising, she looked to the wall at her left, then to the right. Letting them follow the length in each direction before returning her attention to the strange stone face before her and letting out a quiet sigh of discontent. Then a strange voice broke the silence. “You have come in search of the City of Illusion. Tell me, stranger, why are you here?" Caught up in her own skepticism, she waited, half expecting somebody to jump out from behind a rock or bush laughing at their own prank. But when nothing else happened, she answered, "I'm here because I am not there and we're both here." Her answer may have seemed nonsensical, but Nixie found it pointless to make sense, given she was talking to a rock. She had to admit though, this was a first, one she wasn't sure she liked. But when the door never responded, Nixie shook her head in reproach as she ventured through the door. What a waste of her time that was.

[Pash'nar]

Timestamp: 1st of Spring, 512 OOC : Prequel to this entrance is a solo found here. A wild, unnatural peal of thunder boomed across the sky, rippling the air into a rolling wave of magical force and threatening to once again toss Pash'nar to the ground as he struggled against the raging djed storm toward the Gaping Maw. The ground beneath his sandaled feet seethed and shifted, magic bleeding from the walls of Alvadas herself as if from an open wound, mixing with the torrential wet to create an unsettling mess that was as slippery as it was stomach-churning. It was almost as horrifying as the near-drowning at sea he had just narrowly escaped from while watching helplessly as the ship he plied his living on for the winter was crushed and swallowed by the sea. Almost. Not that Pash was quite in the right situation to ponder which was theoretically worse. Maybe later. Maybe never. Who could tell, really, in this petching madness? Staggering through the blinding rain—a rain that made the exposed parts of his skin tingle and itch and ache all at the same time—his singular focus was that stone face still smiling at him through the chaos howling around him. His lungs burned from swallowing too much seawater and his mortal seeming of a body was bloodied and bruised from crashing waves and smashed ship parts. It felt like days, that crawl from the beach to the Maw. Certainly more than hours, carefully avoiding death. In cheerful mockery of the terrifying djed storm, the door to Alvadas wore its usual face, and the Gaping Maw still gazed with its usual firmness upon the man alone before its mouth: “You have come in search of the City of Illusion. Tell me, stranger, why are you here?” Pash could barely hear above the ringing in his ears. Did it really have to ask? Was there a better alternative? His first response was simply a groan, wheezed sounds exhaled painfully through teeth set on edge by the energy ripping across the landscape without mercy. He managed to collect himself enough to form words, "Dying's not in the stars for me today," he exclaimed simply, though he was not entirely convinced the city of Illusion was any safer on the inside. There was a painfully long pause before the Maw shuddered open, Pash hardly waiting to scramble inside as another peal of thunder shook the very ground beneath his feet.