Quest [Closed, Flashback] What Lies Beneath

[Crypt]

Sometimes, Kirvan m'boy, it's better not to know what we're up against.However, you are correct. Without further knowledge of this monster it will not be prudent to enter the cave system. I would presume that it is a network of caves underneath the island, for who would hide such a beast in a simple cave, no matter how deep it goes? Only an idiot, I'd say.” Crypt's mannerisms shifted halfway through his answer to Kirvan's subtle insult, flowing from a jovial, carefree person to a cold, logical clockwork automaton of sorts. His change in body language was evident; it became more rigid, more inflexible, though Crypt's aura became (very) slightly more oppressing, almost as if the gravity of the area was increased. “My apologies for unsettling you. I am feeling rather nervous, though I do not show it. As such, my current state of mind tends to be more... Fragmented. I shall attempt to master myself from now on, but if I should fail, the worst that could happen would be that I would attack everything in sight. Redirecting my line of sight and changing my proximity to a foe would help lessen some of the rage, and I should be more manageable. Happily, such a scenario has a low possibility of occurring. I will change my personality many times, so do not be alarmed.” The monotonous voice of Crypt finished its words, and Crypt sat down on a large rock, brushing off the dust as he did so.

[Eridanus]

oocApologies for the uninspiring nature of this post, but I didn't want to hold you guys back any longer.

Eridanus smiled and clapped when Crypt deigned to reply again, yet in a poetic manner. The man called Wrenmae Sek was evidently some sort of bard who specialized in story-telling, though he seemed to be able to shift at will. Was he part of Ionu's Inverted perhaps? He had heard of rumors of the Illusionists being able to bend perceptions of reality.

Soon, information was given out and the group arrived before a cave. The scholar listened carefully to the conversation, choosing to keep quiet throughout as he considered their options and possible strategies.

"Information is vital, friends," The scholar spoke out finally, his inherently melodious voice crystal clear against the cacophony of arguments. It was said that each of Morwen's children had a voice that resembled an instrument due to their sing-song nature, and that was evident in the vantha's speech.

"Priestess, pray answer their questions so that we may improve our chances of success for this quest."

[Cascade]

“The Balnag was made in the appearance of a giant serpent,” the Priestess gave in answer to Kirvan’s question. “It was made to take down ships. That is how strong it is. And what should you do if you come across it?” She paused for a while, as if thinking about it deeply. And in that few seconds of silence, the ground below them shook. It wasn’t strong enough to put them off their balance, but it was clearly felt. The Konti’s eyes narrowed as she eyed her feet. “…It’s moving,” she said simply, implying that it was the creature that was responsible for the strange movement of the ground. “Wrenmae is right. If you come across it… you run. If you fight it without the staff, you may die. I am unsure of how your daggers would fare against it, but I doubt they will harm it... even if your attack is well-placed. Find the staff and control it. That’s what you must do.” With patient eyes, she looked back at Kirvan. He had so many inquiries, but she couldn’t blame him. Most wouldn’t want to dive at a dangerous situation without at least having an idea about what they would face. “It leads to a web of tunnels under this island. The person who had been controlling the monster had been staying in one of the chambers… there was running water in that chamber. If you hear running water, you might find his body. I’ve told you everything I know, please believe that. Be on your way.” When the group entered the cave, they would find that she was telling the truth. It was a series of tunnels. Some were lit by torches that had been placed there beforehand, and some of the tunnels led to submerged chambers. In the distance, they could hear the soft rumbling of a moving creature—sometimes the walls of the tunnels themselves shook. As they traversed through the web of tunnels, they had to remember what they had to look out for: the sound of running water.

[Crypt]

Crypt frowned as he felt the faint tremors. A beast of such immense power. Fascinating. What interesting secrets can this island hold for me? “Very well, priestess. Thank you for sharing the information. Let us proceed into the caves. Ready yourselves, prepare for this expedition, gentlemen. I shall be cartographer for this sojourn into the caves.” Crypt took out a relatively large sheet of parchment and a quill. He hung a half-empty bottle of ink on the Yvas on Maras' back, and entered the cave with his steed, walking some distance into it. Dipping the quill into the bottle of ink, he took note of the various branches and tunnels he could see, and drew a small diagram on the parchment. The fact that Maras was faintly luminescent only helped Crypt in drawing the map of the tunnels that lay ahead. “Let us hope that we shall not get lost in the web of tunnels, for 'twould be rather... unpleasant otherwise. Kindly walk in front of me as I draw this map.”

[Eridanus]

"Noted; thank you for your guidance, priestess."

Looking around the group, Eridanus shrugged, gesturing ahead, "Nothing much we can do but to find the staff, yes? And to avoid that... Balnag, whatever it is."

Crypt took the initiative to take point, and while he kept a running map as they walked Eridanus kept an open eye as they took turns and navigated in the strange caverns. For him mental memory was enough, and there was a meticulous mental image of the trail that they had traveled so far within his mind.

At the same time, he kept his ears carefully open so that they would continue to take any turns closest to the faint sound of running water, serving as a confirmation of sorts and contributing a co-navigation effort to Crypt leading the way.

[Wrenmae]

Nodding to the seer, Wrenmae was one of the last to enter the caverns. He'd paused just a moment longer to breathe the air, to feel the sun on his face, back, and shoulders. The darkness seemed extensive, even encompassing, and he had no idea if he'd return from the maw of this Bal...whatever.

Nag.

Right. Balnag.

Among the adventurers, Wrenmae cut an almost childish figure. He leaped from rock to rock, slipping more often than not and bruising his tailbone as he tumbled in a sprawl. He was quick to whisper jokes, observations, chuckle at remembered jokes far funnier than his, and almost seemed to vibrate against each step.

However, he was the first to hear the sound of water, a slight whisper or echo from one of the yawning corridors jutting through the rock.

Water. That's water.

How do you know?

I AM WATER

Oh. Right. right.

Gods help us. He can't remember what I look like.

"Uh," He called out to the rest of them, hanging in the opening of tunnel a jaunt from their current path, "Hey, erm, hi. Anyways, I think I hear water this way." He grinned, dancing down the tunnel a few steps and turning back.

"I mean, I don't want to mess with your path. I just, I dunno. I thought I heard it form this direction." He jut a thumb over his shoulder, "I could go check it out and come back, I guess, or we could all go. I'm just excited, right? Even if it's just my imagination, we can backtrack by tunnels, can't we?"

[Kirvan Deepseeker]

Kirvan listened with uncharacteristic patience. Many thought of him as the brash youth who rushed in without a plan, and in most cases they were right, but there was something about this entire endeavor that struck something of a chord within the young man. All Svefra followed their god Laviku with reverence, and Kirvan's belief was nothing short of fanatic. He staunchly defended the god's domain and zealously hunted all those who defiled it, mostly non-Svefra pirates. This same devotion was shared amongst all his children as well, other Svefra and the creatures of the sea. That is what made this so difficult and caused Kirvan to be so reluctant: the Balnag was, at least at one time, a child of the Sea Father like Kirvan or any of his podmates. Even if the creature was long gone - and there was nothing to say that it wasn't - it was hard to go up against something that he might have once called brother. "Thank you K'Mavia," he said aloud, bowing his head deeply. "We'll do everything we can to make sure that this is taken care of quickly." Following Crypt into the tunnel, he was quickly glad that the others were here to guide him. At first it didn't looks so bad, with only one tunnel and a branch here or there, but as they went deeper and the network become more sprawling the the forks could have three or four different passageways he began to get horribly lost and confused. Until now, all the navigation Kirvan had needed to do was sailing from one point to another or following the pod. This kind of directional imperative was entirely new and alien. Before long, he was hanging in the back of their group, observing the rock walls with some curiosity and choosing to focus on that rather than his sense of hopeless misdirection. When the young sorcerer - Wrenmae - fell behind, Kirvan looked back at the lad. He'd been sprightly the entire journey, so his sudden lack of movement was enough to break the Svefra's concentration on not thinking about his feeling lost. "I see no reason why not," Kirvan said aloud once Wrenmae had finished his proposition. "Anything that may lead us closer is better than just walking in straight line forever. That said, I hope one of the other two will be able to lead us back, for I definitely won't be able to." With that confession, his lack of direction hit him square in the face, and he began to feel a little queasy.

[Crypt]

OOCI'll see if I can't create the map in Paint. No promises though. Crypt smiled faintly as he occasionally observed Wrenmae's amusing actions. Ah... Aren't we all young at heart? Children we once were, and Children we may be again. Crypt squinted at his map of the tunnels they had encountered so far. He had marked out their path using a dotted line, and it would serve to provide a way back, even if it proved near useless in navigating the caverns. Once Wrenmae had stopped abruptly, Crypt turned around and looked at him, patiently waiting for him to explain why he did so. Once the jester had finished his explanation, Crypt began speaking. “I believe that there will be no issue with exploring this path, unless the tunnels shift every now and then, blocking off paths and creating new tunnels, in which case this map would be useless. I have only felt the slight tremors presumably caused by the Balnag's movement so far, and I hope that it will not be true.” Crypt paused, waiting for Eridanus to give his opinion. A minute or two passed, then Crypt froze. What the hell was that? It can't be any of them, it's too faint. My Auristics sense, of sorts, is tingling like crazy. What the petch is out there - Oh. The Balnag. It called out to me. No. No. It KNOWS I'm here, and probably all of us too. Crypt frantically opened his mind further, expending some Djed in a search for a hint of an alien aura, but to no avail. He could sense Wrenmae's, Eridanus' and Kirvan's, but he could not sense anything beyond solid rock. A small part of his mind not preoccupied with the Balnag was observing what the aura of the walls felt like when he touched it. It was wet - there was no other way to put it. When he looked at it and touched it, the rock felt as if it had been submerged below the waters for an eternity. The aura didn't shine as that of sentient beings did, no, but it was still a faint shade of cerulean blue, and almost ossified. Crypt would have happily studied the aura to indulge his curiousity, but there were more pressing issues. “Gentlemen,” Crypt began. “I feel a presence. Do any of you feel it too? I suspect... Though I say this with great reluctance, that the Balnag may have some knowledge of our whereabouts. I have just witnessed a small part of a monstrous presence.”

[Cascade]

The group trudged forward, leaving the Konti priestess by the entrance. The Priestess stood there and waited until they were out of view. The last that they saw of her was the worried but graceful expression on her face. She held her hands in front of her, praying to her god and goddess as the men disappeared unto the shadows of the caves. As the men walked through the tunnels, Crypt would soon realize that it might have been a bad idea to bring Maras. While it could have been uncharacteristic of the creature, it acted wary of going further, requiring much effort from Crypt to be led to go forward. It could sense something. There was something in the air that made it violently uneasy. They would feel it too. They wouldn’t be able to explain it, but there was a lingering and nagging feeling that weighed heavily in the air. It was as if something was watching them. It was as Crypt had described: there was a monstrous presence surrounding them, but the Balnag itself was not around. Since the Drykas man was but a beginner at auristics, he would not be able to sense the Balnag’s aura at his current state. But if someone else who were more skilled thought of searching of where the strange feeling was emitting from, they would find a massive presence looming at a great distance. It was asking strangely, circling around tunnels in a pattern, as if zoning in on its prey. And they were the prey. Meanwhile, Wrenmae was correct. The sound of running water could indeed be heard from the direction he had pointed at. At Kirvan’s acquiesce, Wrenmae went to investigate. There appeared to be light streams of water jutting between the rocks, but the flow was too weak. The sound they were looking for was deeper into the tunnel. Wrenmae was on the right track. As he walked towards the source, the sound of water would get louder and more distinguished. As Wrenmae got closer, a terrible stench started to fill the narrow tunnels. It was the unbearable stench of a dead body, and it came from the same direction as the resonance of the flowing water.

[Wrenmae]

ooc note :

Given permission to find the following in my post from Cascade

There was a tremor of hesitation in the young man when Crypt spoke. Casting a glance at the strange Drykas, Wrenmae allowed Djed to creep into his eyes, his senses, seeking something of what the man had said, some residue of a greater presence.

Even to his basic sense, there was an overwhelming...something, around them. It was a power vast and infinitely patient, something slowly stirring in the bowels of the simple island. Wren hurriedly disabled his Auristics, the Djed diving back down into him and hiding within his body. He wanted nothing to do with something that felt so overwhelming, even his adventurous spirit was shaken by the idea of such a presence deeper in the tunnels.

Instead he embraced the familiar, the sickly sweet and rotten smell of a cadaver floating back to him from the tunnel he'd chosen. Water led them all on, but Wrenmae danced ahead of them, giving the horse and his master a wide berth. Some of him wanted to get away from that sickening feeling of the Balnag beneath them, but the rest wanted to press on, seek the guardian.

Of course, the smell was more than enough indication that he might not relish the discovery.

The path opened into a wide chamber, rock carved by time and water creating a sort of cavernous maw in which the guardian had made his home. The wall was set with shelves of books, some mildewed, others perfectly preserved. There was a collection of empty bottles in one corner, a desk with a simple wooden chair and a collection of papers, and finally, the guardian himself, a moldering corpse lying in the center of the room.

He had been down here some time, bones, yellowin, already pushing through skin that fell away like mud. Its face was thankfully turned away and in its right hand, a steel staff, gleaming without hint of scratch or mark, lay glinting in the lowlight of the cavern. From above, the water came from a hole in the ceiling, sliding down the wall where it continued onward through another hole that led further into the catacombs, further to the Balnag. The body was collapsed beside the hole and Wrenmae was the first to approach it, squatting down, peering at the rotting skin and fabric before gently pulling away the staff.

It thrummed in his grip for a moment, strangely warm despite the cool cave.

Turning back to the others as they entered the room, Wrenmae looked to the hole, to them, to the staff, to the guardian, and back.

"So..." he said nervously, "What now?"