86th day of summer, 514 AV
The waters around Charbosi were relatively peaceful and calm, probably one of the reasons the Charodae had decided to build their city in this region of the ocean. Terrible sea creatures were relatively rare, aside from occasional meetings with sharks or other predators. Tropical fishes of all size and shape, from swarms of tiny herrings to large and intimidating sea basses swam through the rich reefs surrounding the town. The colourful corals that were growing on every available surface stretched out their countless branches and tentacles, seemingly longing for the distant surface.
In the middle of this bustling community of fishes, corals and many more species one creature stood out from all else. Not only was it larger than most of the reef's residents, its body shape was also quite unusual with four limbs and a neck. Probably even more unusual was the fact it wasn't entirely naked, but wore some light clothing in the form of a small top, short pants and a frilly skirt - probably to cover certain areas as the shape indicated the person to be of female gender. Despite her human-like appearance the young woman did have some aquatic traits though, like a rubbery blue skin and webbing between fingers and toes. As the fish-woman swam through the reef she constantly turned her head from one side to the other, glancing at her surroundings. A wide smile was on her face, while her pupil-less eyes seemed to be gleaming with excitement.
"Wow", it constantly slipped through Lariza's lips as she passed the colourful corals. Wherever the young Charoda looked she could witness some sort of small spectacle: Turtles using their pointy jaws to bite algae off rocks, sea stars slowly enticing urchins with their arms, cleaner shrimps picking the dirt from the teeth of morays, or the regular chases of larger fish trying to snatch smaller ones. There was nothing Lariza hadn't seen before already - most of it could be observed daily in Charbosi actually. Yet, as she swam through the wild coral colonies around the town, past swarms of fishes, it all somehow felt... different to her. There was nothing special about the reef that day, she knew that. What was special about that day was her: She was here, all on her own, travelling through the ocean, with no one to guide or aid her. This was HER adventure.
The sheer thought made her frail body shiver. Getting more and more excited she began to sway her hips as she swam, still turning her head left and right as she stared at everything around her in awe. Suddenly something long and slippery fell into her sight. Lariza stopped, being a little irritated by the thing waggling in front of her face. She then noticed, or rather remembered the weight on her head, and giggled in amusement. "Oops! Sorry", she said, pushing the tentacle out of her sight. She put her hand on the lump that was sitting on her head, gently patting it. "Here I am thinking about being all alone on an adventure when I've got a travelling buddy sitting right on my head!"
With the speed of a sea cucumber moving over the ocean floor the octopus slowly opened his eyes. Akin wasn't a large octopus, fitting well on the small head of the Charoda woman. Having taken the colour and structure of her skin one could easily think he was a part of her body if it wasn't for the tentacles wrapped around Lariza's head. They let go of Lariza for a moment, swaying calmly around it in the water. After letting them drift for a moment Akin pulled them tightly around her chin and neck again, closing his eyes as slowly as he had opened them.
Once more Lariza giggled, and continued swimming through the reef. She wasn't really sure how long it had been since she had left her home in Charbosi. Three days? Or already more than a week? Counting the days was a little hard underwater. Her foster-parents would usually tell her to go to bed at some point in the evening and then wake her up the next morning, so she didn't really have a good feeling for time. Since she started her journey her sleeping habits also had become a bit irregular: Sometimes she would swim hours before making herself a sleeping place in the corals, sometimes she would occasionally fall asleep while still swimming forward. And since she had no idea how many hours or minutes she slept she had quickly given up on counting the days since she began her journey. Instead, she simply travelled through the ocean and enjoyed everything around her, not minding the time. After all this was a trip to find herself and gain inspiration for her art - it didn't matter how many weeks, months or years it would take.
"Hmmm-hm-hm, Hmm Hmmm, hm-hm", Lariza hummed to herself the melody of an old Charodean song, a hymn about the coral reefs around Charbosi and the many creatures dwelling within it. Akin felt the vibrations of her throat at his tentacles as she hummed ever louder, and loosened the grip on her neck. Eventually Lariza began to sing the lyrics out loud. Each verse described another animal living in the coral reef - the song had well over a dozen verses, so she was occupied for a while. The upbeat melody elevated her mood into ever greater heights. Soon the swimming motions of her body were synchronous to the melody, and she began to turn around herself in the water. Her movements weren't really acrobatic and gracious, but more uncoordinated and playful, the young Charoda laughing and singing while she swam through the reef, with myriads of fishes around her.
During her "dance" Akin opened his eyes once. Lariza was swimming upside-down at that moment, so the bottom of the floor was above him. After taking a short glance around he slowly closed his eyes again.
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[AO-Charbosi] Of all size and shape
Lariza begins her journey through the reefs around Charbosi
(This is a thread from Mizahar's fantasy role playing forum. Why don't you register today? This message is not shown when you are logged in. Come roleplay with us, it's fun!)The vast, beautiful oceans encircling Mizahar. The Eastern Ocean to the east and the Western Ocean to the west.
[AO-Charbosi] Of all size and shape
by Lariza on August 11th, 2014, 8:02 pm
Last edited by Lariza on October 7th, 2014, 9:39 am, edited 3 times in total.
- Lariza
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- Joined roleplay: July 26th, 2014, 2:49 pm
- Race: Charoda
- Character sheet
[AO-Charbosi] Of all size and shape
by Lariza on August 12th, 2014, 9:07 pm
Singing her song Lariza kept swimming through the reefs for a while, taking in her surroundings with the same childish excitement since she had left her home. No matter how much of the corals and their residents she saw she didn't get bored. While everything around her still put her mind in awe however, her body was starting to tire, her arms and legs getting sore from swimming around all day. In the middle of a verse about sea urchins she had to yawn. At the same moment one could hear a growl coming from her stomach. From the bag hanging around her shoulder Lariza took out an algae ball. Her foster-parents had given her a bunch when she left as provisions. Holding it in front of her face the usually cheerful Charoda frowned. She knew they were handmade and nutritious, giving her the energy she needed to swim long distances. But while she probably still wouldn't get sick of the reefs for several more weeks, a few more days of eating nothing but algae balls and she would certainly get sick of those.
"Maybe I should start looking for food myself?", she wondered. Putting the algae ball away she looked around the coral colonies - this time not looking for interesting animals, but for something to eat. The arms of the corals swayed tantalisingly in the water, but she knew from several sources - school, parents and personal experience - Charodae would get sick from eating corals. Unfortunately there didn't seem to be anything around here except for corals - they were varying greatly in size, shape and colour, yet they were all corals and therefore inedible for her.
Again her stomach growled, this time considerably louder. Sighing Lariza was about to give up and force another algae ball down her throat when her eyes caught something in a stack of large plate-like corals. Between the round flat corals some sort of red seaweed was reaching out of the rock they were growing on. A smile crept over her face, Lariza's mood making a giant jump upwards at the prospect of harvesting and eating her own self-found food. With a quick turn she rushed towards the corals until she was right in front of them. Slowly she approached the unknown seaweed with her face, curiously inspecting it. It was made out of very frail, almost invisible arms. Though the plant was little, barely larger than her hand Lariza guessed there were at least a hundred of these arms lumped together, swaying synchronously in the calm sea current.
Once more her stomach growled. Lowering her glance Lariza rubbed her tummy, then looked at the red seaweed again. It was small, too small for a full meal, but maybe more of it was growing nearby. "It definitely looks more yummy than another algae ball" the hungry Charoda told herself and licked her lips. Eagerly she reached out her hand for the red seaweed, embracing the thin arms with her fingers.
Just before she could grab and rip them out her arm suddenly jolted backwards, dragged by an unknown force. Surprised Lariza looked at her shoulder. One of Akin's tentacles had left her neck and grabbed her upper arm, pulling it so tightly back Lariza couldn't move it.
"What's that for?", Lariza asked, rolling her pupil-less eyes up to the octopus sitting on her head. Releasing all its tentacles except for the one around her arm the cephalopod slid down her forehead, right over the irritated face of his owner as he let himself drop downwards through the water. On height of her stomach he embraced Lariza's hips with six of his tentacles. The remaining one slid into her bag, pulled something out and held it in front of Lariza's nose. It was the list her mothers had given her before she had left, a short guide of the most common palatable plants around Charbosi. It described their appearance and a few other important details about them, some entries having very simple drawings next to them that gave a rough impression of the plant's shapes - the page made out of pressed kelp was very cramped. "Do you want me to look up the plant?", she asked. As if to reply the octopus let go of her arm. Shaking her hand a little the Charoda took the list from her octopus friend. Put her finger on the page she moved it down the entries as she looked for a seaweed fitting the description. Most of the plants were described as about brown, green and something in between. Only at the very bottom of the list there was an entry about a red seaweed fitting the description. It was different from the other entries in two aspects: First, the text was squeezed at the very bottom of the text, as if it was a special remark made after the list was completed. Second, in front of the name of the plant was written "DO NOT EAT AT ALL COSTS!"
"Scarlet weed", she read aloud the description of the plant "Also known as "Bloody Death". Small seaweed, easily recognizable by the thin arms and vibrant red colour. The poison of this extremely deadly seaweed will cause severe bleedings in the inner organs of whoever eats it a few hours after consume. Despite its size one single plant contains enough poison to kill a hundred Charodae."
The colour of Lariza's face got a little paler. Slowly she lowered the list, holding it in front of her belly. Gently Akin took it out of her hand with one of his two free tentacles. The other one pulled out an algae ball from the bag, and held it out towards Lariza's face. Reluctantly she took it from his tentacle, and took a small bite. Her whole body shivered at the taste - it wasn't really bad, she just was getting overfed with it. "I really hope I find some non-deadly seaweed soon" she mumbled to herself, nibbling on the algae ball in little pieces. Meanwhile Akin put the list back into the bag, at the same time slowly climbing up Lariza's body back to his place on her head.
"Maybe I should start looking for food myself?", she wondered. Putting the algae ball away she looked around the coral colonies - this time not looking for interesting animals, but for something to eat. The arms of the corals swayed tantalisingly in the water, but she knew from several sources - school, parents and personal experience - Charodae would get sick from eating corals. Unfortunately there didn't seem to be anything around here except for corals - they were varying greatly in size, shape and colour, yet they were all corals and therefore inedible for her.
Again her stomach growled, this time considerably louder. Sighing Lariza was about to give up and force another algae ball down her throat when her eyes caught something in a stack of large plate-like corals. Between the round flat corals some sort of red seaweed was reaching out of the rock they were growing on. A smile crept over her face, Lariza's mood making a giant jump upwards at the prospect of harvesting and eating her own self-found food. With a quick turn she rushed towards the corals until she was right in front of them. Slowly she approached the unknown seaweed with her face, curiously inspecting it. It was made out of very frail, almost invisible arms. Though the plant was little, barely larger than her hand Lariza guessed there were at least a hundred of these arms lumped together, swaying synchronously in the calm sea current.
Once more her stomach growled. Lowering her glance Lariza rubbed her tummy, then looked at the red seaweed again. It was small, too small for a full meal, but maybe more of it was growing nearby. "It definitely looks more yummy than another algae ball" the hungry Charoda told herself and licked her lips. Eagerly she reached out her hand for the red seaweed, embracing the thin arms with her fingers.
Just before she could grab and rip them out her arm suddenly jolted backwards, dragged by an unknown force. Surprised Lariza looked at her shoulder. One of Akin's tentacles had left her neck and grabbed her upper arm, pulling it so tightly back Lariza couldn't move it.
"What's that for?", Lariza asked, rolling her pupil-less eyes up to the octopus sitting on her head. Releasing all its tentacles except for the one around her arm the cephalopod slid down her forehead, right over the irritated face of his owner as he let himself drop downwards through the water. On height of her stomach he embraced Lariza's hips with six of his tentacles. The remaining one slid into her bag, pulled something out and held it in front of Lariza's nose. It was the list her mothers had given her before she had left, a short guide of the most common palatable plants around Charbosi. It described their appearance and a few other important details about them, some entries having very simple drawings next to them that gave a rough impression of the plant's shapes - the page made out of pressed kelp was very cramped. "Do you want me to look up the plant?", she asked. As if to reply the octopus let go of her arm. Shaking her hand a little the Charoda took the list from her octopus friend. Put her finger on the page she moved it down the entries as she looked for a seaweed fitting the description. Most of the plants were described as about brown, green and something in between. Only at the very bottom of the list there was an entry about a red seaweed fitting the description. It was different from the other entries in two aspects: First, the text was squeezed at the very bottom of the text, as if it was a special remark made after the list was completed. Second, in front of the name of the plant was written "DO NOT EAT AT ALL COSTS!"
"Scarlet weed", she read aloud the description of the plant "Also known as "Bloody Death". Small seaweed, easily recognizable by the thin arms and vibrant red colour. The poison of this extremely deadly seaweed will cause severe bleedings in the inner organs of whoever eats it a few hours after consume. Despite its size one single plant contains enough poison to kill a hundred Charodae."
The colour of Lariza's face got a little paler. Slowly she lowered the list, holding it in front of her belly. Gently Akin took it out of her hand with one of his two free tentacles. The other one pulled out an algae ball from the bag, and held it out towards Lariza's face. Reluctantly she took it from his tentacle, and took a small bite. Her whole body shivered at the taste - it wasn't really bad, she just was getting overfed with it. "I really hope I find some non-deadly seaweed soon" she mumbled to herself, nibbling on the algae ball in little pieces. Meanwhile Akin put the list back into the bag, at the same time slowly climbing up Lariza's body back to his place on her head.
Last edited by Lariza on October 7th, 2014, 9:49 am, edited 3 times in total.
- Lariza
- Player
- Posts: 16
- Words: 23059
- Joined roleplay: July 26th, 2014, 2:49 pm
- Race: Charoda
- Character sheet
[AO-Charbosi] Of all size and shape
by Lariza on August 17th, 2014, 9:54 pm
Eventually Akin made it back up on Lariza's head and wrapped his tentacles around her head, while the Charoda forced the last bit of the algae ball down her throat. Once she had swallowed it the bitter aftertaste of the algae began to spread through her mouth, making her shiver again. "Ugh!" she moaned, shaking her head. With every ball she ate they tasted more and more bitter. "Now I know why mom never cooked them before" she murmured. Opening her mouth she drank some sea water to wash the taste off her tongue. A loud yawn suddenly forced its way out of her mouth, reminding her she was also tired. "Lef fearch ourfelfs a fleepin plafe" she yawned with a wide-open mouth. Taking a quick look around the reef she found a colony of corals that were growing in a way the arms formed a slight mold, just large enough for her to rest inside.
"Perfect!", she smiled, quickly swimming towards it. The mold formed by the corals really seemed as if it was made just for her, the shape and length almost matching her exactly. She was about to just lie down inside it when she noticed most of the coral branches were dead and petrified, their hard and sharp ends pointing towards her. "Now, that's doesn't look very comfy, does it?" she giggled, reaching out her arm for the corals. She moved her fingers a little, focusing on the branches. Slowly crowns of soft tentacles began to grow out of them. With both arms Laziza moved her hands over the coral mold, tentacles sprouting everywhere they passed. At the same time she also extended some of the branches so the mold would fit the shape of her body even better and form a regular and even surface when lying inside it. Once the entire mold was filled out by tentacles she put the finishing touch on her work: Holding her arms above one end of the mold she let the corals grow seemingly with no restraint. At a rapid rate the branches extended and spread out, splitting up every few millimeters. As the construct grew ever larger it formed a roughly round lump of highly branched coral arms, slightly resembling a sea urchin. Once the lump was roughly half a meter in diameter she let myriads of tentacles sprout out of the branches, turning her coral lump into a tentacle ball.
As she was done Lariza swam back a bit, proudly examining her work. She was panting heavily from exhaustion, taking in large amounts of sea-water with each breath, and it had costed her quite some time, but her face beared a satisfied smile. Swimming upwards she made a small looping in the water while turning 180 degree around herself, then slowly glided down into her "bed" and dropped her head on the tentacle ball. The moment she put her head on the "pillow" Akin moved, pulling himself with his tentacles down Lariza's body back to her belly. Instead of wrapping his tentacles around her he pulled them under his body so only his head was visible. He flattened himself as much as possible, while his colour and structure changed slightly so it would match Lariza's belly. It looked like Lariza had a huge wart on her belly. A huge wart with eyeballs.
Meanwhile the Charoda used her coral manipulation again. The corals to her left and to her right extended slightly into the water above her, the branches on both sides making a curve towards the other sides so they closed off the roof. The gaps between the arms were wide enough so she could squeeze herself out when she woke up again, but were just so small a bypassing shark wouldn't get any silly ideas when seeing her sleeping. The region around Charbosi was considered safe, and she was an optimistic girl, but she wasn't stupid or careless.
After the roof was relatively closed, the branches from both sides almost touching each other in the middle she dropped her arms onto the soft layer of tentacles beneath her. The little tentacles swayed in the current of the water, stroking her gently as she lay on them. With a smile she looked down at her giant wart on her belly. "Nightie, Akin!", she said to her companion who had closed his eyes. She wasn't sure if Akin actually slept when she did or if he just waited until she woke up again with closed eyes. The nagain why should he close his eyes while she was sleeping? Maybe he pretended to sleep so she wouldn't get a bad conscience for forcing him to sit around and do nothing. Then again he didn't really do much while they were awake either but sitting around on some part of her body.
Before she could think further about this a sudden sleepiness overcame her. She wiggled her body to find the most comfortable position in the bed of tentacles, and closed her eyes. Instead of silently waiting until the realm of dreams embraced her however her lips began to move, chanting an old Charodean ballad. It was one of her favorite, depicting the journey of a traveler through a dream reef with creatures even more colourful and strange as the ones in the real oceans: Four-headed sharks looking in every direction, snake-like white fish swimming in swarms of thousands, furry corals with fins fleeing from mountain-sized parrot fishes in infinite colours and liquid sea cucumbers flowing over the ocean floor. As Lariza sang about all these strange creatures her voice became quieter and quieter, eventually trailing off as she sunk into a peaceful slumber.
"Perfect!", she smiled, quickly swimming towards it. The mold formed by the corals really seemed as if it was made just for her, the shape and length almost matching her exactly. She was about to just lie down inside it when she noticed most of the coral branches were dead and petrified, their hard and sharp ends pointing towards her. "Now, that's doesn't look very comfy, does it?" she giggled, reaching out her arm for the corals. She moved her fingers a little, focusing on the branches. Slowly crowns of soft tentacles began to grow out of them. With both arms Laziza moved her hands over the coral mold, tentacles sprouting everywhere they passed. At the same time she also extended some of the branches so the mold would fit the shape of her body even better and form a regular and even surface when lying inside it. Once the entire mold was filled out by tentacles she put the finishing touch on her work: Holding her arms above one end of the mold she let the corals grow seemingly with no restraint. At a rapid rate the branches extended and spread out, splitting up every few millimeters. As the construct grew ever larger it formed a roughly round lump of highly branched coral arms, slightly resembling a sea urchin. Once the lump was roughly half a meter in diameter she let myriads of tentacles sprout out of the branches, turning her coral lump into a tentacle ball.
As she was done Lariza swam back a bit, proudly examining her work. She was panting heavily from exhaustion, taking in large amounts of sea-water with each breath, and it had costed her quite some time, but her face beared a satisfied smile. Swimming upwards she made a small looping in the water while turning 180 degree around herself, then slowly glided down into her "bed" and dropped her head on the tentacle ball. The moment she put her head on the "pillow" Akin moved, pulling himself with his tentacles down Lariza's body back to her belly. Instead of wrapping his tentacles around her he pulled them under his body so only his head was visible. He flattened himself as much as possible, while his colour and structure changed slightly so it would match Lariza's belly. It looked like Lariza had a huge wart on her belly. A huge wart with eyeballs.
Meanwhile the Charoda used her coral manipulation again. The corals to her left and to her right extended slightly into the water above her, the branches on both sides making a curve towards the other sides so they closed off the roof. The gaps between the arms were wide enough so she could squeeze herself out when she woke up again, but were just so small a bypassing shark wouldn't get any silly ideas when seeing her sleeping. The region around Charbosi was considered safe, and she was an optimistic girl, but she wasn't stupid or careless.
After the roof was relatively closed, the branches from both sides almost touching each other in the middle she dropped her arms onto the soft layer of tentacles beneath her. The little tentacles swayed in the current of the water, stroking her gently as she lay on them. With a smile she looked down at her giant wart on her belly. "Nightie, Akin!", she said to her companion who had closed his eyes. She wasn't sure if Akin actually slept when she did or if he just waited until she woke up again with closed eyes. The nagain why should he close his eyes while she was sleeping? Maybe he pretended to sleep so she wouldn't get a bad conscience for forcing him to sit around and do nothing. Then again he didn't really do much while they were awake either but sitting around on some part of her body.
Before she could think further about this a sudden sleepiness overcame her. She wiggled her body to find the most comfortable position in the bed of tentacles, and closed her eyes. Instead of silently waiting until the realm of dreams embraced her however her lips began to move, chanting an old Charodean ballad. It was one of her favorite, depicting the journey of a traveler through a dream reef with creatures even more colourful and strange as the ones in the real oceans: Four-headed sharks looking in every direction, snake-like white fish swimming in swarms of thousands, furry corals with fins fleeing from mountain-sized parrot fishes in infinite colours and liquid sea cucumbers flowing over the ocean floor. As Lariza sang about all these strange creatures her voice became quieter and quieter, eventually trailing off as she sunk into a peaceful slumber.
Last edited by Lariza on September 9th, 2014, 11:15 am, edited 2 times in total.
- Lariza
- Player
- Posts: 16
- Words: 23059
- Joined roleplay: July 26th, 2014, 2:49 pm
- Race: Charoda
- Character sheet
[AO-Charbosi] Of all size and shape
by Lariza on August 20th, 2014, 11:54 am
Slowly Lariza opened her eyes. At first she couldn't see much of the environment around her as everything was blurred. Lifting her arms from the soft bed of tentacles she rubbed her eyes, clearing the fog of sleepiness that obstructed her vision. As she removed her hands from her face though she still couldn't see very much: The water around her was pitch-black, with only sparse light coming from the distant surface. Even the contours of the coral branches, although only a few feet above her were only vague shades. With a bit of fantasy Lariza imagined them to be the arms of weird creatures longing for her. Most people would have imagined them to be claws about grasp their victims and drag them into a bottomless darkness. Lariza however imagined they were hands trying to hug her.
"Wow, I must have really slept long if it's already night", Lariza said to herself. "Or... possibly not so long", she added on second thought. Maybe she fell asleep just a minute before night fell and woke up a few minutes later already? She actually did feel a little tired, so she couldn't have slept that long. Or was that the sleepiness from just waking up?
"This is making my head hurt" she mumbled, rubbing her forehead with both hands. She needed to get out and swim a little to clear her thoughts (or rather clean her mind of all thoughts). Through the dark water she reached out her hands to the ceiling of corals. Fumbling around she searched for a hole large enough for her to slip through. After a while she found one right above her head. "Hold on tight buddy!" she told her companion octopus, softly patting his head.
Slowly Akin opened his eyes. From under his body he pulled out his tentacles, wrapping them around Lariza's body. Embracing the coral branches around the hole with her hands she was about to launch herself out of the mold. Just before she could do so something caught her attention. A few meters above her she could see the shade of a creature swimming in the dark water. It seemed to be something large, but the darkness made it hard to identify. Lariza narrowed her eyes a little, sticking her head out of the coral mold to get a better look. Suddenly another shadow appeared right above her. Rolling her eyes upwards she could see right into a wide-open jaw filled with sharp teeth passing by, followed by a massive body with two blade-like fins at the sides, and a long tail swinging from left to right in the water.
As she shark had passed by the coral mold Akin pulled his tentacles back under his body, closing his eyes.
For a moment Lariza was paralysed. Looking around she then noticed more shadows around her - all too gloomy to really identify them, but even Lariza had no doubt they were all sharks. As the shock faded she realised she still stuck her head out between the corals. No shark seemed to make an attempt at approaching her and biting it off, but she still quickly pulled her head back into the safe refuge of her coral mold again. "W-well, I guess we s-should stay here a li-little longer", she whispered to her friend. She crossed her arms over her chest and tightly pressed them against it while pulling her legs up against her body. Cowering with quivering lips in her coral bed she looked up at the shadows moving around the water. Sometimes she couldn't detect any, sometimes she saw four or five of them at once swimming around, and sometimes one would pass by just above her. Whenever that happened Lariza's heart nearly skipped a bit, before pumping so loud she could feel the blood rushing through her ears. Her whole body was shivering slightly the whole time.
She couldn't remember to have ever been so scared before in her life. Why was she so scared anyway? It wasn't like she had never met sharks before. Though they usually stayed in the open waters at daytime they would occasionally come in larger groups to the reefs near the coast, and sometimes even into the city of Charbosi. All Charoda knew the rules when being close to a shark: Stay calm, don't make hasty movements, and refrain from doing anything that could make you bleed. Lariza was scared, but not to a level where she would panic. She also wore no wounds, and the sharks seemed to be in no mood to attack. Yet, for some unknown reason, this knowledge didn't calm her. Maybe it was because she was in the wilds far away from home, maybe because her mothers weren't there to comfort her. The shadows of the sharks loomed above her, but the fear of the predators was slowly vanishing from Lariza's consciousness. Instead a gloomy feeling of uneasiness took over her, the certainty no one would help her, and there was no one she could turn to. For the first time since she started her journey she was feeling lonely.
It was hard to see it when Charodae cried underwater, but Lariza's eyes were starting to get wet. Before she burst out into tears however something soft and slick wiped her eyes clean. At the same time she could feel something moving up her body. Looking down on herself Lariza saw Akin sitting on her chest. His colour had changed from blue to red, his body was more voluminous then usually, and his tentacles were spread out from his body. Two of them he wrapped around her head, stroking her cheeks and forehead. Two more went around her neck, hugging her, while the others moved over various regions of her body, from her belly to her arms. The feeling of the suction cups rubbing against her smooth skin calmed Lariza. Again her eyes were getting wet, but at the same time her lips formed were forming a smile. Relaxing she wrapped both arms around her pet, while lowering her head to cuddle it.
"Thanks" she whispered, squeezing the spineless lump of tentacles against her chest and pressing her cheek against him.
"Wow, I must have really slept long if it's already night", Lariza said to herself. "Or... possibly not so long", she added on second thought. Maybe she fell asleep just a minute before night fell and woke up a few minutes later already? She actually did feel a little tired, so she couldn't have slept that long. Or was that the sleepiness from just waking up?
"This is making my head hurt" she mumbled, rubbing her forehead with both hands. She needed to get out and swim a little to clear her thoughts (or rather clean her mind of all thoughts). Through the dark water she reached out her hands to the ceiling of corals. Fumbling around she searched for a hole large enough for her to slip through. After a while she found one right above her head. "Hold on tight buddy!" she told her companion octopus, softly patting his head.
Slowly Akin opened his eyes. From under his body he pulled out his tentacles, wrapping them around Lariza's body. Embracing the coral branches around the hole with her hands she was about to launch herself out of the mold. Just before she could do so something caught her attention. A few meters above her she could see the shade of a creature swimming in the dark water. It seemed to be something large, but the darkness made it hard to identify. Lariza narrowed her eyes a little, sticking her head out of the coral mold to get a better look. Suddenly another shadow appeared right above her. Rolling her eyes upwards she could see right into a wide-open jaw filled with sharp teeth passing by, followed by a massive body with two blade-like fins at the sides, and a long tail swinging from left to right in the water.
As she shark had passed by the coral mold Akin pulled his tentacles back under his body, closing his eyes.
For a moment Lariza was paralysed. Looking around she then noticed more shadows around her - all too gloomy to really identify them, but even Lariza had no doubt they were all sharks. As the shock faded she realised she still stuck her head out between the corals. No shark seemed to make an attempt at approaching her and biting it off, but she still quickly pulled her head back into the safe refuge of her coral mold again. "W-well, I guess we s-should stay here a li-little longer", she whispered to her friend. She crossed her arms over her chest and tightly pressed them against it while pulling her legs up against her body. Cowering with quivering lips in her coral bed she looked up at the shadows moving around the water. Sometimes she couldn't detect any, sometimes she saw four or five of them at once swimming around, and sometimes one would pass by just above her. Whenever that happened Lariza's heart nearly skipped a bit, before pumping so loud she could feel the blood rushing through her ears. Her whole body was shivering slightly the whole time.
She couldn't remember to have ever been so scared before in her life. Why was she so scared anyway? It wasn't like she had never met sharks before. Though they usually stayed in the open waters at daytime they would occasionally come in larger groups to the reefs near the coast, and sometimes even into the city of Charbosi. All Charoda knew the rules when being close to a shark: Stay calm, don't make hasty movements, and refrain from doing anything that could make you bleed. Lariza was scared, but not to a level where she would panic. She also wore no wounds, and the sharks seemed to be in no mood to attack. Yet, for some unknown reason, this knowledge didn't calm her. Maybe it was because she was in the wilds far away from home, maybe because her mothers weren't there to comfort her. The shadows of the sharks loomed above her, but the fear of the predators was slowly vanishing from Lariza's consciousness. Instead a gloomy feeling of uneasiness took over her, the certainty no one would help her, and there was no one she could turn to. For the first time since she started her journey she was feeling lonely.
It was hard to see it when Charodae cried underwater, but Lariza's eyes were starting to get wet. Before she burst out into tears however something soft and slick wiped her eyes clean. At the same time she could feel something moving up her body. Looking down on herself Lariza saw Akin sitting on her chest. His colour had changed from blue to red, his body was more voluminous then usually, and his tentacles were spread out from his body. Two of them he wrapped around her head, stroking her cheeks and forehead. Two more went around her neck, hugging her, while the others moved over various regions of her body, from her belly to her arms. The feeling of the suction cups rubbing against her smooth skin calmed Lariza. Again her eyes were getting wet, but at the same time her lips formed were forming a smile. Relaxing she wrapped both arms around her pet, while lowering her head to cuddle it.
"Thanks" she whispered, squeezing the spineless lump of tentacles against her chest and pressing her cheek against him.
Last edited by Lariza on September 5th, 2014, 3:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Lariza
- Player
- Posts: 16
- Words: 23059
- Joined roleplay: July 26th, 2014, 2:49 pm
- Race: Charoda
- Character sheet
[AO-Charbosi] Of all size and shape
by Lariza on August 23rd, 2014, 3:41 pm
Feeling the closeness of her little friend calmed Lariza considerably. With a lot less worries on her heart she stretched herself out on the coral bed as far as possible. The softly swaying tentacles stroke her smooth skin from her ankle to the back of her head. While she patted Akin on his head she wondered what she could do. Above her the sharks were still drawing their circles in the water. They didn’t seem eager to attack, but she was definitely more on the safe side if she waited until dawn before she left her refuge. However, she had no idea how long that would take, if minutes or hours. Since she was lying on a coral bed she tried to catch some more sleep, but found to be not tired anymore – at least she was confident now to have slept for a longer time. She looked up through the network of corals above her for something interesting to watch, but there wasn’t much to see except for the occasional shark. The smaller fishes all were indistinguishable in the black water. Silently Lariza sighed. As fear and loneliness subsided boredom began to take their place.
With little room to move Lariza couldn’t do much but waggle her feet while looking at the empty water. At first her movements were rather random. After a while however she began to waggle her feet in a rhythm. To the rhythm she began to tap with her fingers on Akin’s head and shake her hips slightly, rubbing the tentacles beneath her. Nodding her head she also started to hum a little tune, quietly at first, then steadily louder. Still clinging to her body Akin also began to move to the rhythm, subtly twitching the muscles of his tentacles and pumping water in and out of his body. As she moved her entire body to the rhythm Lariza eventually began to sing aloud, no real song or lyrics, but random syllables that sounded melodic – the Charodean version of “lalala”, only more diverse.
The singing considerably improved her mood. With much brighter eyes she looked up at the open water behind the corals that protected her from the (probably harmless) sharks. Seeing the network of petrified and living branches an idea struck her mind. While she kept moving her body to the beat of her song she raised her arms. Her elbows swung in the rhythm as she began to use her coral manipulation skills on the corals. They branched off in many different directions, some into the holes of the network while other grew out into the open water outside of Lariza’s mold. She even let a few reach down towards her, though she was careful they wouldn’t get too close and accidentally cut her. Instead of growing in a straight line Lariza manipulated them to extend into various spirals. Some branches went clockwise, other counter, some were thick, some were thin, some long, some short, some formed only tiny tunnels barely large enough for Lariza’s little finger while some were wide enough to put her head inside. Giggling Lariza created one spiral branch after another, each with a little tentacle crown at the end like the ones she was lying on. Lariza couldn’t see too much of her work in the dark, only silhouettes and contours of spiraling arms with tentacles at the end. Still, with each arm that reached out Lariza’s urge to create more increased, and so branches emerged all around the artificial ceiling she had created. She even began to let additional spirals sprout out of the ones she already created, some following the same course and growing parallel to their parents while others spread out like the branches of a tree. All the while she continued to sing musical nonsense and move her body. The slight motions of her hips and legs had become as sweeping as the narrow space would allow – even Akin was swaying the tips of his tentacles and tapping around on Lariza’s body. Nonstop she continued her work, even when her arms were starting to get sore, and her singing slowed down as she breathed constantly harder. The whole time she had a vibrant smile on her face shining in the dark water.
She had no idea how long she had been at it already when she finally collapsed from exhaustion. Lying completely still she spread out her legs and arms over the coral bed, only her torso moving heavily up and down as she was panting heavily. Taking a moment to rest and inspect her work she suddenly realized the lighting had changed: While it wasn’t really bright there was enough light she could vaguely see the colours of the corals, indicating sunset was arriving. Through the much smaller holes between the coral branches she looked into the open water above her. There were no shades of sharks anymore, only th contours of smaller fishes swimming around.
Her big smile grew even wider, her heart filling with excitement as she was eager to see her creation from the outside in the light. She observed the water for a little longer, and once she was convinced it was safe she grabbed two branches of corals, prepared to launch herself out of the mold despite her exhaustion. “Here we go Aki-”
Suddenly she stopped. Due to the additional branches the hole she wanted to use earlier to get out had become too small. And after taking a quick look around she realized in her streak of inspiration she had closed all the holes large enough for her to slip through.
With a sigh Lariza pulled out the hammer and the chisel from the bag around her shoulder. “No jokes about artists becoming entrapped by their own art, okay?” she told her pet companion while she began to break off some of the branches with her tools.
With little room to move Lariza couldn’t do much but waggle her feet while looking at the empty water. At first her movements were rather random. After a while however she began to waggle her feet in a rhythm. To the rhythm she began to tap with her fingers on Akin’s head and shake her hips slightly, rubbing the tentacles beneath her. Nodding her head she also started to hum a little tune, quietly at first, then steadily louder. Still clinging to her body Akin also began to move to the rhythm, subtly twitching the muscles of his tentacles and pumping water in and out of his body. As she moved her entire body to the rhythm Lariza eventually began to sing aloud, no real song or lyrics, but random syllables that sounded melodic – the Charodean version of “lalala”, only more diverse.
The singing considerably improved her mood. With much brighter eyes she looked up at the open water behind the corals that protected her from the (probably harmless) sharks. Seeing the network of petrified and living branches an idea struck her mind. While she kept moving her body to the beat of her song she raised her arms. Her elbows swung in the rhythm as she began to use her coral manipulation skills on the corals. They branched off in many different directions, some into the holes of the network while other grew out into the open water outside of Lariza’s mold. She even let a few reach down towards her, though she was careful they wouldn’t get too close and accidentally cut her. Instead of growing in a straight line Lariza manipulated them to extend into various spirals. Some branches went clockwise, other counter, some were thick, some were thin, some long, some short, some formed only tiny tunnels barely large enough for Lariza’s little finger while some were wide enough to put her head inside. Giggling Lariza created one spiral branch after another, each with a little tentacle crown at the end like the ones she was lying on. Lariza couldn’t see too much of her work in the dark, only silhouettes and contours of spiraling arms with tentacles at the end. Still, with each arm that reached out Lariza’s urge to create more increased, and so branches emerged all around the artificial ceiling she had created. She even began to let additional spirals sprout out of the ones she already created, some following the same course and growing parallel to their parents while others spread out like the branches of a tree. All the while she continued to sing musical nonsense and move her body. The slight motions of her hips and legs had become as sweeping as the narrow space would allow – even Akin was swaying the tips of his tentacles and tapping around on Lariza’s body. Nonstop she continued her work, even when her arms were starting to get sore, and her singing slowed down as she breathed constantly harder. The whole time she had a vibrant smile on her face shining in the dark water.
She had no idea how long she had been at it already when she finally collapsed from exhaustion. Lying completely still she spread out her legs and arms over the coral bed, only her torso moving heavily up and down as she was panting heavily. Taking a moment to rest and inspect her work she suddenly realized the lighting had changed: While it wasn’t really bright there was enough light she could vaguely see the colours of the corals, indicating sunset was arriving. Through the much smaller holes between the coral branches she looked into the open water above her. There were no shades of sharks anymore, only th contours of smaller fishes swimming around.
Her big smile grew even wider, her heart filling with excitement as she was eager to see her creation from the outside in the light. She observed the water for a little longer, and once she was convinced it was safe she grabbed two branches of corals, prepared to launch herself out of the mold despite her exhaustion. “Here we go Aki-”
Suddenly she stopped. Due to the additional branches the hole she wanted to use earlier to get out had become too small. And after taking a quick look around she realized in her streak of inspiration she had closed all the holes large enough for her to slip through.
With a sigh Lariza pulled out the hammer and the chisel from the bag around her shoulder. “No jokes about artists becoming entrapped by their own art, okay?” she told her pet companion while she began to break off some of the branches with her tools.
Last edited by Lariza on September 5th, 2014, 3:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Lariza
- Player
- Posts: 16
- Words: 23059
- Joined roleplay: July 26th, 2014, 2:49 pm
- Race: Charoda
- Character sheet
[AO-Charbosi] Of all size and shape
by Lariza on August 26th, 2014, 12:17 pm
„Aaaaand… done!“ Lariza exclaimed when she finally broke off the last part of coral that blocked her way out. Between widely branched coral arms she had made a hole just large enough for her to fit through. After putting hammer and chisel back into her bag she grabbed the hole by the edges. Carefully she stuck out her head, bumping with her fins against the surrounding corals, then slipped out her arms and shoulders. It was a little hard to pull out her chest since Akin was still clinging to it, but once she was past this point it only took little effort to get out the lower half of her body.
Swimming in the free water again she first stretched her limbs and yawned loudly. All the coral manipulation had tired her body – she was actually tempted to slip back into the mold and take a nap again. Instead of resting however she propelled herself forward, then made a turn and started swimming in a circle around her creation to inspect it from all sides.
It had taken a while to break her way out, so the sun had risen high enough to illuminate the reef a little. With all the branches spreading out from it her work kind of resembled a sea urchin, except the “spikes” were spiraled, differently sized and had small tentacle crowns at the end. The various shapes, from long and small to broad and short were placed in no specific pattern, giving the whole construction a very wild appearance. The arms branching off from others in numerous ways added to the chaotic image. Yet despite the uncoordinated appearance, or perhaps because of it the structure of corals couldn’t be denied a certain aesthetic, a rough and untamed beauty.
After inspecting her work from different angles Lariza put her hands on her hips and smiled. “Well, considering I could hardly see what I was doing I guess that’s not too bad” she praised herself. Meanwhile Akin climbed from her chest up her body, over the back of her head to his usual place on top of it. His colour changed from red to blue, mimicking Lariza’s skin while he deflated his body as much as possible. The Charoda patted her pet friend as he wrapped his tentacles around her. “All right, time for the final touches!” she suddenly declared and pulled out hammer and chisel again. She swam back to her artistic shelter, taking a quick look inside it. Seeing it from the outside she realized how much of the inner area was also occupied with coral branches - it was a bit of a miracle there still had been room for her. With a chuckle the artist then began to break off parts and branches of the corals. This time however not to create a way out of or into it, but only to improve the visual appearance.
Holding the hammer against the petrified parts of a branch she hit it with the hammer, over and over until the branch broke off or she deemed to have broken off enough. The work was rather monotonous, so not to get too bored she soon began to sing a fitting song. As the Charoda were a race of artists they also had many songs about art itself, from the harsh life of an artist and the moments of inspiration to the simple acts of creating art itself. Although she wasn’t really one she sung an old serenade about the life of a sculptor. The song started from the moment of their birth to their first contact with art and their decision to devote his life to it. It then covered all the hardships, the lack of inspiration all artists are often struck with, the strength-sapping hard work that is to shape stone or coral, the frustration about starting completely over after making a single mistake as well as all the joys when the inspiration finally hit, when one was in a flow of creation and, of course, the triumphal moment when the work was done and one looked upon what was created by their own hands.
As Lariza sang she continued to correct and edit her own work. Regularly she swam away to inspect her it from afar. When she had the feeling she took of too much or found a spot where something could be added she used her coral manipulation to grow another spiraling branch. Absorbed in her work time was passing by Lariza, who didn’t even notice the increasing number of fish swimming around her as it continued to dawn. The coral manipulation and hard physical work soon began to wear on her. She had to slow down her working pace, and constantly stopped singing as she caught breath. Nevertheless her voice would soon continue right where she had left off, and she kept on working without making a break. She even climbed back inside the coral mold and broke off a few branches at some spots, as well as growing some more at others.
After a long time, as she was just about to reach the end of the song (a verse about the death of a sculptor surrounded by their sculptures as they look one last time at their life’s work with a smile) she put hammer and chisel into her bag. She felt almost more tired than before she had gone to sleep, but she was happy. With some effort she added one final branch to her work, and finished the construction by putting a tentacle crown on top of it. “Phew” she eventually sighed, taking a quick look around her. The whole reef was illuminated by the brilliant rays of the sun, the coral shining in all their beautiful colours. It was probably short before noon already. Though she was very exhausted she swam a few meters away from her work again, and with excitement gleaming in her eyes turned around.
Contrary to before her work had a lot more structure. Though not completely symmetrical there was a lateral symmetry: For instance all especially large arms spread out at the same height on both sides. The changes she had made also gave the construct an anterior-posterior direction as one end was covered by larger and broader coral spirals, their size and width decreasing towards the other end. The front-side also sported more highly branched arms that looked like a little like horns reaching out into the water, while on the “back” Lariza had installed most of the parallel branches in two line so they looked like rows of fins. Of course there were still a lot of irregular structures scattered all over the surface: From areas covered by short branches longer ones regularly broke out, and in between the wide spirals on the front smaller ones were located underneath. The inside also was more organized, though one could hardly look at it due to the surface being overgrown with coral branches. All in all the whole construct looked like an alien creature from the deep sea, the hole Lariza had used to get out looking like its eye. On the end of each coral branch a crown of tentacles was softly swaying in the water, giving it a much more lively appearance.
Proud and satisfied Lariza gazed at her work. She wasn’t really sure what her main drive of inspiration had caused this creation. The loneliness she felt in the mold ? The fear of the shark? Or perhaps the comfort Akin had provided her? Her work could be both seen as intimidating and friendly, a strange creature that could either be harmless or dangerous. Due to her optimistic nature Lariza eventually tended towards a kind beast living happily in the coral reef amidst several other creatures, an impression strengthened by the fishes that started to occupy her piece of art, swimming around and through it. Yes, Charodean coral art was living art, in every way imaginable.
Swimming in the free water again she first stretched her limbs and yawned loudly. All the coral manipulation had tired her body – she was actually tempted to slip back into the mold and take a nap again. Instead of resting however she propelled herself forward, then made a turn and started swimming in a circle around her creation to inspect it from all sides.
It had taken a while to break her way out, so the sun had risen high enough to illuminate the reef a little. With all the branches spreading out from it her work kind of resembled a sea urchin, except the “spikes” were spiraled, differently sized and had small tentacle crowns at the end. The various shapes, from long and small to broad and short were placed in no specific pattern, giving the whole construction a very wild appearance. The arms branching off from others in numerous ways added to the chaotic image. Yet despite the uncoordinated appearance, or perhaps because of it the structure of corals couldn’t be denied a certain aesthetic, a rough and untamed beauty.
After inspecting her work from different angles Lariza put her hands on her hips and smiled. “Well, considering I could hardly see what I was doing I guess that’s not too bad” she praised herself. Meanwhile Akin climbed from her chest up her body, over the back of her head to his usual place on top of it. His colour changed from red to blue, mimicking Lariza’s skin while he deflated his body as much as possible. The Charoda patted her pet friend as he wrapped his tentacles around her. “All right, time for the final touches!” she suddenly declared and pulled out hammer and chisel again. She swam back to her artistic shelter, taking a quick look inside it. Seeing it from the outside she realized how much of the inner area was also occupied with coral branches - it was a bit of a miracle there still had been room for her. With a chuckle the artist then began to break off parts and branches of the corals. This time however not to create a way out of or into it, but only to improve the visual appearance.
Holding the hammer against the petrified parts of a branch she hit it with the hammer, over and over until the branch broke off or she deemed to have broken off enough. The work was rather monotonous, so not to get too bored she soon began to sing a fitting song. As the Charoda were a race of artists they also had many songs about art itself, from the harsh life of an artist and the moments of inspiration to the simple acts of creating art itself. Although she wasn’t really one she sung an old serenade about the life of a sculptor. The song started from the moment of their birth to their first contact with art and their decision to devote his life to it. It then covered all the hardships, the lack of inspiration all artists are often struck with, the strength-sapping hard work that is to shape stone or coral, the frustration about starting completely over after making a single mistake as well as all the joys when the inspiration finally hit, when one was in a flow of creation and, of course, the triumphal moment when the work was done and one looked upon what was created by their own hands.
As Lariza sang she continued to correct and edit her own work. Regularly she swam away to inspect her it from afar. When she had the feeling she took of too much or found a spot where something could be added she used her coral manipulation to grow another spiraling branch. Absorbed in her work time was passing by Lariza, who didn’t even notice the increasing number of fish swimming around her as it continued to dawn. The coral manipulation and hard physical work soon began to wear on her. She had to slow down her working pace, and constantly stopped singing as she caught breath. Nevertheless her voice would soon continue right where she had left off, and she kept on working without making a break. She even climbed back inside the coral mold and broke off a few branches at some spots, as well as growing some more at others.
After a long time, as she was just about to reach the end of the song (a verse about the death of a sculptor surrounded by their sculptures as they look one last time at their life’s work with a smile) she put hammer and chisel into her bag. She felt almost more tired than before she had gone to sleep, but she was happy. With some effort she added one final branch to her work, and finished the construction by putting a tentacle crown on top of it. “Phew” she eventually sighed, taking a quick look around her. The whole reef was illuminated by the brilliant rays of the sun, the coral shining in all their beautiful colours. It was probably short before noon already. Though she was very exhausted she swam a few meters away from her work again, and with excitement gleaming in her eyes turned around.
Contrary to before her work had a lot more structure. Though not completely symmetrical there was a lateral symmetry: For instance all especially large arms spread out at the same height on both sides. The changes she had made also gave the construct an anterior-posterior direction as one end was covered by larger and broader coral spirals, their size and width decreasing towards the other end. The front-side also sported more highly branched arms that looked like a little like horns reaching out into the water, while on the “back” Lariza had installed most of the parallel branches in two line so they looked like rows of fins. Of course there were still a lot of irregular structures scattered all over the surface: From areas covered by short branches longer ones regularly broke out, and in between the wide spirals on the front smaller ones were located underneath. The inside also was more organized, though one could hardly look at it due to the surface being overgrown with coral branches. All in all the whole construct looked like an alien creature from the deep sea, the hole Lariza had used to get out looking like its eye. On the end of each coral branch a crown of tentacles was softly swaying in the water, giving it a much more lively appearance.
Proud and satisfied Lariza gazed at her work. She wasn’t really sure what her main drive of inspiration had caused this creation. The loneliness she felt in the mold ? The fear of the shark? Or perhaps the comfort Akin had provided her? Her work could be both seen as intimidating and friendly, a strange creature that could either be harmless or dangerous. Due to her optimistic nature Lariza eventually tended towards a kind beast living happily in the coral reef amidst several other creatures, an impression strengthened by the fishes that started to occupy her piece of art, swimming around and through it. Yes, Charodean coral art was living art, in every way imaginable.
Last edited by Lariza on September 5th, 2014, 3:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Lariza
- Player
- Posts: 16
- Words: 23059
- Joined roleplay: July 26th, 2014, 2:49 pm
- Race: Charoda
- Character sheet
[AO-Charbosi] Of all size and shape
by Lariza on August 27th, 2014, 6:51 pm
Lariza would have loved to spend more time admiring her creation. However, she was on a journey to find her place in the world and gather new inspiration, so she had to move on. Additionally, as the exhaustion from her hard work began to wear off her stomach began to growl. She could have stayed and eaten another of her algae balls, but there were two good reasons to search the reef for something to ear: First she finally had to learn how to gather food for herself since her rations wouldn’t last forever, and second she was REALLY sick of those algae balls.
With a bit of regret she turned her back towards her work. While she swam into another region of the reef she turned her head several times towards it, sadly seeing how it was getting smaller the further she swam away it. Reluctantly she forced herself not too look at it anymore, and instead search the ocean floor for some palatable seaweed. The ground was mostly covered by corals and sand, and the few plants she spotted she knew were unpalatable – especially small bushels of red grass would send a shiver down her spine whenever she spotted them.
After a while, when she was about to turn her head back towards her sculpture once more (although it was practically out of sight) something in the corner of her eyes caught her attention. On the bottom of a small rock overgrown by corals something green and fluttering stuck out from the sand and stone. It weren’t long stalks of sea-tang, but looked more like a small tuft of grass, though it was much larger than the scarlet weed that would have killed her without Akin’s intervention. Curious (and hungry) Lariza quickly swam towards it, and sat down on the sand in front of it. The seaweed was growing so dense it looked like some furry slime. Lariza was about to reach out her hand for it when Akin wrapped his tentacle around her arm. “All right all right!” she quickly said while she pulled out the list from her bag. The octopus let go of Lariza, who then began to search for the plant. The scarlet seaweed was the only poisonous plant on the list as it was actually consisting only of palatable plants, but she guessed Akin just wanted her to look up if there was one resembling the one in front of her. For green there were several entries on the list, and since the list was not ordered Lariza had to search thoroughly all of them. Eventually she found a seaweed that actually fit the description of the little tuft in front of her.
Problem was there was a remark at the end of the entry saying a similar looking plant existed that gave the one who ate it stomach cramps.
The young Charoda was unsure what to do. According to the entry the only way to tell the two kinds of seaweed apart was by the structure of the surface of the blades: the good one was rougher than the bad one. Lariza rubbed the plant between her fingers. It didn’t really feel smooth, but since the list only said “rougher” she had no idea if it was rough enough or if the real plant felt rougher. She put the list back into her bag, still not knowing what she should do. “Maybe it’s the best if I just move on and search for something else” she murmured to herself. A loud growling then emerged from her stomach. Lariza rubbed her belly, feeling the hunger nagging on her. “On the other, I’m not going to die from it anyway” she changed her mind, and grabbed the tuft of green seaweed. The fine blades tickled her a little. After holding it for a moment she ripped it out from the sand, and then took another moment to look quietly at the plant in her fist. Slowly Lariza opened her mouth, while even more slowly the hand with the seaweed approached it. Again she hesitated, before shoving all the seaweed into her mouth. A taste even more bitter than the algae balls hit her tongue. Lariza made a grimace, further questioning the wisdom of her choice. However, she decided to go through with it. As she chew with her sharp teeth she could feel her heart beat accelerating. After thoroughly biting it into a juicy plant mass Lariza closed her eyes. Then, she swallowed.
With a bit of regret she turned her back towards her work. While she swam into another region of the reef she turned her head several times towards it, sadly seeing how it was getting smaller the further she swam away it. Reluctantly she forced herself not too look at it anymore, and instead search the ocean floor for some palatable seaweed. The ground was mostly covered by corals and sand, and the few plants she spotted she knew were unpalatable – especially small bushels of red grass would send a shiver down her spine whenever she spotted them.
After a while, when she was about to turn her head back towards her sculpture once more (although it was practically out of sight) something in the corner of her eyes caught her attention. On the bottom of a small rock overgrown by corals something green and fluttering stuck out from the sand and stone. It weren’t long stalks of sea-tang, but looked more like a small tuft of grass, though it was much larger than the scarlet weed that would have killed her without Akin’s intervention. Curious (and hungry) Lariza quickly swam towards it, and sat down on the sand in front of it. The seaweed was growing so dense it looked like some furry slime. Lariza was about to reach out her hand for it when Akin wrapped his tentacle around her arm. “All right all right!” she quickly said while she pulled out the list from her bag. The octopus let go of Lariza, who then began to search for the plant. The scarlet seaweed was the only poisonous plant on the list as it was actually consisting only of palatable plants, but she guessed Akin just wanted her to look up if there was one resembling the one in front of her. For green there were several entries on the list, and since the list was not ordered Lariza had to search thoroughly all of them. Eventually she found a seaweed that actually fit the description of the little tuft in front of her.
Problem was there was a remark at the end of the entry saying a similar looking plant existed that gave the one who ate it stomach cramps.
The young Charoda was unsure what to do. According to the entry the only way to tell the two kinds of seaweed apart was by the structure of the surface of the blades: the good one was rougher than the bad one. Lariza rubbed the plant between her fingers. It didn’t really feel smooth, but since the list only said “rougher” she had no idea if it was rough enough or if the real plant felt rougher. She put the list back into her bag, still not knowing what she should do. “Maybe it’s the best if I just move on and search for something else” she murmured to herself. A loud growling then emerged from her stomach. Lariza rubbed her belly, feeling the hunger nagging on her. “On the other, I’m not going to die from it anyway” she changed her mind, and grabbed the tuft of green seaweed. The fine blades tickled her a little. After holding it for a moment she ripped it out from the sand, and then took another moment to look quietly at the plant in her fist. Slowly Lariza opened her mouth, while even more slowly the hand with the seaweed approached it. Again she hesitated, before shoving all the seaweed into her mouth. A taste even more bitter than the algae balls hit her tongue. Lariza made a grimace, further questioning the wisdom of her choice. However, she decided to go through with it. As she chew with her sharp teeth she could feel her heart beat accelerating. After thoroughly biting it into a juicy plant mass Lariza closed her eyes. Then, she swallowed.
Last edited by Lariza on October 1st, 2014, 8:11 pm, edited 2 times in total.
- Lariza
- Player
- Posts: 16
- Words: 23059
- Joined roleplay: July 26th, 2014, 2:49 pm
- Race: Charoda
- Character sheet
[AO-Charbosi] Of all size and shape
by Lariza on August 27th, 2014, 7:02 pm
Right after eating the seaweed nothing happened at first. According to list the cramps could occur five to ten minutes after eating the plant. Quietly Lariza sat on the sand, observing the animals around her. Some fishes swam through the corals on the rock in front of her, and upon closer look she also spotted a few sea urchins and sea stars hidden between them. With her poor feeling for time she wondered how she should know when she could safely move on without fearing a sudden cramp while she swam. “Oh, I know!” she suddenly exclaimed into the empty water. There was a song she knew was roughly ten minutes long if sung at the right pace. She didn’t like it that much since it was a rather sad ballad about two lovers lost in the lightless darkness of the deep sea, wandering around aimlessly and eventually dying in each other’s arms, but if it helped her track the time she was ready to sing it.
Opening her mouth Lariza began the introduction, a long and slow chorus consisting of the Charodean words for “love” and “sadness”, repeated over and over and slowly merging until they fused to a fantasy word at the end of the opening – this part was supposed to be sung by two so it came off a little awkward, but she doubted Akin would join in, so she improvised a solo version. The usually joyful and light voice of Lariza had a heavier, more melancholic ring to it. With sadness in her singing she began to recite the story of two loving Charodae who had been exploring an unknown region of the sea when a strange sea beast suddenly dragged one of them into the deep sea. The other one followed the beast – the song was unspecific if the man or the woman was captured, or if both Charodae were even of different gender – and eventually defeated the vile creature. But just as they had escaped the grip of death the two realized they were in the deepest and darkest region of the sea, unable to see anything and with no idea how they should return home.
At this point roughly the first third of the song was over. Lariza lowered the pace of her singing even further, careful not get too slow or too fast as she went on to the most famous part of the ballad: As it was pitch-black the two lovers couldn’t see their partner. So in order not to lose each other they had to constantly hold on to their bodies. The majority of the song was about how each of the Charoda felt the emotions of the other by touching their skin: Their fear not to survive, their growing despair as they swam through the dark, their small flickers of hope to maybe somehow get back home together, the worries about each other’s life, and the unwavering love they felt for each other, the only thing that gave them the strength to carry on. Lariza sang about the sometimes soft and comforting, sometimes harsh and raw touches of the two lovers, their hands shaking ever harder the longer their journey through the unknown went on while fear, hunger and exhaustion started to consume them. At the end of the song, when they had become so weak they were unable to continue swimming Lariza lowered her pace once again, stretching the words so far they were barely recognizable. Completely sunken into the melancholy and sadness of the song she put her head back and raised her arm over her head. Slowly her hand sank downwards as she sung the last verse about the two lovers embracing each other while their bodies glided into the bottomless void of the ocean, each of them feeling how life was leaving the other one until both of them were just cold corpses drifting in the sea.
As the last syllable left her lips Lariza remained in her pose for a moment, sitting in the sand with her head put back and her hand on height of her ear. Tears were flowing from her eyes and merged with the similarly salty sea water around. Slowly she opened her eyes, looking up at the light breaking on the surface of the water. “Yay, no stomach cramps!” she suddenly shouted. Jumping up she made a summersault in the water, happily humming a much more joyful tune about a shark swimming around with an inflated blowfish in its mouth. A growling from her stomach however made her freeze for a second. Quickly however she realized it wasn’t the sign of a cramp, but that the small portion of seaweed she had devoured wasn’t enough to satisfy her appetite. “Let’s see what else I find” she said to herself and moved on. Swimming a bit higher she searched for more edible plants as she continued her journey through the reef.
Opening her mouth Lariza began the introduction, a long and slow chorus consisting of the Charodean words for “love” and “sadness”, repeated over and over and slowly merging until they fused to a fantasy word at the end of the opening – this part was supposed to be sung by two so it came off a little awkward, but she doubted Akin would join in, so she improvised a solo version. The usually joyful and light voice of Lariza had a heavier, more melancholic ring to it. With sadness in her singing she began to recite the story of two loving Charodae who had been exploring an unknown region of the sea when a strange sea beast suddenly dragged one of them into the deep sea. The other one followed the beast – the song was unspecific if the man or the woman was captured, or if both Charodae were even of different gender – and eventually defeated the vile creature. But just as they had escaped the grip of death the two realized they were in the deepest and darkest region of the sea, unable to see anything and with no idea how they should return home.
At this point roughly the first third of the song was over. Lariza lowered the pace of her singing even further, careful not get too slow or too fast as she went on to the most famous part of the ballad: As it was pitch-black the two lovers couldn’t see their partner. So in order not to lose each other they had to constantly hold on to their bodies. The majority of the song was about how each of the Charoda felt the emotions of the other by touching their skin: Their fear not to survive, their growing despair as they swam through the dark, their small flickers of hope to maybe somehow get back home together, the worries about each other’s life, and the unwavering love they felt for each other, the only thing that gave them the strength to carry on. Lariza sang about the sometimes soft and comforting, sometimes harsh and raw touches of the two lovers, their hands shaking ever harder the longer their journey through the unknown went on while fear, hunger and exhaustion started to consume them. At the end of the song, when they had become so weak they were unable to continue swimming Lariza lowered her pace once again, stretching the words so far they were barely recognizable. Completely sunken into the melancholy and sadness of the song she put her head back and raised her arm over her head. Slowly her hand sank downwards as she sung the last verse about the two lovers embracing each other while their bodies glided into the bottomless void of the ocean, each of them feeling how life was leaving the other one until both of them were just cold corpses drifting in the sea.
As the last syllable left her lips Lariza remained in her pose for a moment, sitting in the sand with her head put back and her hand on height of her ear. Tears were flowing from her eyes and merged with the similarly salty sea water around. Slowly she opened her eyes, looking up at the light breaking on the surface of the water. “Yay, no stomach cramps!” she suddenly shouted. Jumping up she made a summersault in the water, happily humming a much more joyful tune about a shark swimming around with an inflated blowfish in its mouth. A growling from her stomach however made her freeze for a second. Quickly however she realized it wasn’t the sign of a cramp, but that the small portion of seaweed she had devoured wasn’t enough to satisfy her appetite. “Let’s see what else I find” she said to herself and moved on. Swimming a bit higher she searched for more edible plants as she continued her journey through the reef.
Last edited by Lariza on October 1st, 2014, 8:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.
- Lariza
- Player
- Posts: 16
- Words: 23059
- Joined roleplay: July 26th, 2014, 2:49 pm
- Race: Charoda
- Character sheet
[AO-Charbosi] Of all size and shape
by Lariza on August 27th, 2014, 7:08 pm
Looking for something to eat Lariza swam forward. She spotted some more of the green seaweed, but since she couldn’t be sure it wasn’t the one that gave her cramps – and considering it tasted worse than her algae balls – she eventually decided to take another one of her rations. Alongside an algae ball she also pulled out one of the snacks she had gotten for Akin before she had left Charbosi, and while she reluctantly began to eat her portion she handed the snack to the octopus on her head. Akin gratefully accepted the treat and shoved it into the mouth on the underside of his body. Meanwhile Lariza shook her body every time she bit a piece off from the algae ball. With some effort she gulped down the last piece of it. “Ugh!” she moaned, holding her stomach as she felt a rumble inside it. “Now I’ll get stomach cramps from…”
Not finishing her sentence Lariza stopped as she saw something. There was a large rock to her right, overgrown with corals like basically every rock in the reef. The tentacles and soft corals however weren’t gently swaying in the water, but it rather seemed as if they something tried to blow them into one direction. "Oh! An ocean current!" Lariza chirped, quickly swimming towards it. As she approached it she could feel the drift of the water trying to drag her along. Curiously she reached out her hand into it. Immediately the shark teeth on her wristlet pointed into the direction of the current. It wasn’t that powerful, but she did have to fight back so her arm wouldn’t be pulled along. As the water moved over and under her fingers it tickled her skin, making Lariza giggle. She pulled out her arm again, then held both legs into it. Paddling with her feet in the current she felt how it tried to turn her. She played for a while with the flow of water, when a yawn forced its way out of her mouth. She was still tired and exhausted from all the coral manipulation earlier. As she put her legs out of the current a sea turtle suddenly passed by right in front of her. It was only slightly moving its fins, letting the current do most of the work and carry it through the ocean.
An idea struck her mind.
“What do you say Akin?” she asked her little buddy with a smirk. “Shall we take a small ride on the ocean current road?” If Akin had been able to really understand her language and respond he would have probably talked her out of riding in an ocean current with no idea where it would lead them. However, since Akin couldn’t talk and was despite his rather high intelligence unable to understand every word Lariza spoke he just flattened his body further and kept pretending to be a prolongation of her head.
And so, with no one to talk her out of it and too careless to think about the consequences of her actions Lariza fully emerged her body into the sea current. Gently the water was running over her smooth skin, while her body was being dragged along by the sea. Despite her weight she didn’t have to move a muscle, but could simply drift in the water. At first she rather clumsily tilted her limbs, trying to maintain some sort of balance. Eventually she found the most comfortable position to be just lay down in the current with her head ahead.
With the current being in charge of moving her forward Lariza lay back with a smile. Spreading out her arms Lariza closed her eyes. The water was so calm and peaceful, she almost fell asleep. The young woman slowly drifted in the soft current of the ocean. Without caring where it took her she let her beautiful voice sound through the water. In the melodic language of her race she began to sing the first verses of an old traveler's ballad, a song about a group of Charodae drifting in a current. It was a calm song, the verses describing the gentle nature of the current and the easy feeling of moving inside it. Smiling brightly Lariza kept repeating the verse over and over as the current slowly but steadily carried her into unknown regions of the sea.
She left out the part about how the current carried the Charodae into the mouth of a sea snake.
Not finishing her sentence Lariza stopped as she saw something. There was a large rock to her right, overgrown with corals like basically every rock in the reef. The tentacles and soft corals however weren’t gently swaying in the water, but it rather seemed as if they something tried to blow them into one direction. "Oh! An ocean current!" Lariza chirped, quickly swimming towards it. As she approached it she could feel the drift of the water trying to drag her along. Curiously she reached out her hand into it. Immediately the shark teeth on her wristlet pointed into the direction of the current. It wasn’t that powerful, but she did have to fight back so her arm wouldn’t be pulled along. As the water moved over and under her fingers it tickled her skin, making Lariza giggle. She pulled out her arm again, then held both legs into it. Paddling with her feet in the current she felt how it tried to turn her. She played for a while with the flow of water, when a yawn forced its way out of her mouth. She was still tired and exhausted from all the coral manipulation earlier. As she put her legs out of the current a sea turtle suddenly passed by right in front of her. It was only slightly moving its fins, letting the current do most of the work and carry it through the ocean.
An idea struck her mind.
“What do you say Akin?” she asked her little buddy with a smirk. “Shall we take a small ride on the ocean current road?” If Akin had been able to really understand her language and respond he would have probably talked her out of riding in an ocean current with no idea where it would lead them. However, since Akin couldn’t talk and was despite his rather high intelligence unable to understand every word Lariza spoke he just flattened his body further and kept pretending to be a prolongation of her head.
And so, with no one to talk her out of it and too careless to think about the consequences of her actions Lariza fully emerged her body into the sea current. Gently the water was running over her smooth skin, while her body was being dragged along by the sea. Despite her weight she didn’t have to move a muscle, but could simply drift in the water. At first she rather clumsily tilted her limbs, trying to maintain some sort of balance. Eventually she found the most comfortable position to be just lay down in the current with her head ahead.
With the current being in charge of moving her forward Lariza lay back with a smile. Spreading out her arms Lariza closed her eyes. The water was so calm and peaceful, she almost fell asleep. The young woman slowly drifted in the soft current of the ocean. Without caring where it took her she let her beautiful voice sound through the water. In the melodic language of her race she began to sing the first verses of an old traveler's ballad, a song about a group of Charodae drifting in a current. It was a calm song, the verses describing the gentle nature of the current and the easy feeling of moving inside it. Smiling brightly Lariza kept repeating the verse over and over as the current slowly but steadily carried her into unknown regions of the sea.
She left out the part about how the current carried the Charodae into the mouth of a sea snake.
Last edited by Lariza on October 7th, 2014, 9:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
- Lariza
- Player
- Posts: 16
- Words: 23059
- Joined roleplay: July 26th, 2014, 2:49 pm
- Race: Charoda
- Character sheet
[AO-Charbosi] Of all size and shape
by Traverse on September 8th, 2014, 7:15 pm
Once Issues in your CS have been edited I will release the grade on the thread. In addition at least one edit will need to be made in regards to the book Lariza uses to categorize the underwater plants, as stated by Voodoo, books are very rare, and a standard 'book' is not going to survive under the ocean to provide Lazira any help identifying plants, it would be more realistic to bring an NPC with you to help with plant identification or figure out a more logical way Charoda might write under the ocean.
Once the appropriate Edits have been made and you've edited your CS, PM me and I'll get you your grade.
-Traverse
Once the appropriate Edits have been made and you've edited your CS, PM me and I'll get you your grade.
-Traverse
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