Like a Crow Chasing the Butterflies (Liminal)

[Chaelnomyl]

Timestamp: Early Winter, 509 AV
Location: Southern coast of Eyktol, hopefully somewhere north of Rockward Island

Eyktol.

Chaelnomyl had never really been there, just seen glimpses of it from Abura growing up. Traders speaking of going through that area, those sorts of things. The journey had been marginally uneventful - it had taken her quite a deal to get down there, too, due to unforeseen circumstances and general lingering around Zeltiva that sort of consisted of proper planning and mulling over ideas, trying to figure out where to head next if Rockward Isle didn't reveal anything of note to her. However, given what she was told at the Library, the Akvatari was fairly sure that it was going to hold something. Especially if no one ever really went there because they thought it was just a pile of rocks and sand.

It was probably not a completely odd sight for those out in the wilderness of Eyktol that brightening... If it could be called a wilderness. The Akvatari imagined that should it have been summer, the area would have been unbearably hot. The sand radiated the rays of the sun back up at the inhabitants wandering over it and Chaelnomyl dared not to set herself down upon it too long for fear of feeling the burn. Sand, it seemed, was a prime trap for heat.

Reaching the lip of the coast, though, her thought process shifted. Lower and lower Chaelnomyl fluttered until she was hovering just above the water. Eyes scanned over the surface to search for anything unsavory like she had seen in Ravok's waters - fins of predators, mainly - before springing up in the air, flipping over herself and swan diving back into the water. Of course, a giant breath of air was sucked in shortly before she crossed the blue threshold. A little propensity towards looping herself around in the air as a child had paid off, though she'd never pursue a career in say, high flying acrobatics, despite how much fun it was to mess around. What was the use of having wings and being able to preform aerial somersaults if one could not show off some nimbility with it, after all?

Hopefully the weather wouldn't send her the same way as those the librarian had spoke of. However she had mentioned that in the strait that Chaelnomyl hoped she was in - or close to, anyway - was more a problem for ships due to rocks? Or something like that.

Pausing beneath the water's surface, the Akvatari curled her tail up towards herself and peered down through the depths of the water to see if anything of note appeared to be below her, still not too sold on letting go of the theory that part of Aqwittah might have sunk during Ivak's rage. Of course, there was no telling how far across the strait was either - and Chael was definitely not some miraculous judge of distance.

Still keeping her eyes peeled around her to look for potential dangers - for she was not exactly too keen on being snuck up on by something with sharp pointy teeth - the Akvatari kicked her fins about. With a thrust of her wings, she was off: intent to cross the strait and flutter around on Rockward Isle herself, to see for herself that it was "nothing more than rocks and sand". With any luck? It was more like rocks, sand, and a huge piece of history everyone had completely overlooked.

[Liminal]

There was no one out to find Chaelnomyl either odd or not odd. This part of Eyktol was even more desolate than the rest of it, if that were possible, and it didn't attract many passers-by.

The water was bracingly cold, although the Akvatari had an extraordinarily high tolerance for frigid temperatures and so would likely not be bothered. There was no sign of any predators. The aquatic fauna of this part of Eyktol was nearly the same as that of Akvatar, and so most of the wildlife Chaelnomyl would be able to see was familiar.

These were oceanic waters offshore from a major source of sediment, and so underwater visibility wasn't the best. From what the Akvatari could see, there was nothing out of the ordinary; kelp, rocks, the occasional flatfish. Nothing that looked like the drowned remnants of a lost civilization.

The strait was not particularly wide as far as straits went; it was, for instance, much narrower than that which separated Akvatar from the mainland. As Chaelnomyl approached Rockward Island, her first impression would accord with what she had been told. A short sandy beach abutted a pile of volcanic rock, which was dotted here and there with scraggly patches of low grass. A flock of terns flew overhead. Although the weather was good at the moment, it was clear that the winds and clouds were fickle things here. Nothing appeared out of place, and apart from the terns, everything was imbued with the silence of a place rarely visited.

[Chaelnomyl]

The relative forced seclusion of the island was not something that necessarily surprised Chaelnomyl. She had expected it to have little in the means of inhabitance from what the librarian had told her of the place, but still… the completely barren way it presented itself did make her smile – inwardly, oh gods was it ever inwardly. There would be no outward expression regardless of no one being around.

The water’s depths presented nothing that screamed “I am the answer to what you are looking for” or even caught her eye, and so Chaelnomyl wandered up towards the island itself. At best, she could always check it out on her way back and dig around in the dusty, sandy bottom of the ocean to kick up whatever might have been buried. The island was her primary, current target. It was interesting to note however that most of the fauna beneath the deep blue liquid of the ocean appeared remarkably similar. Whether or not this actually meant anything, the Akvatari reserved the right to judge later… But it was a nice thought to think that Akvatar and Rockward might have, at one point, been joined and thus shared similar outcroppings of life.

Fluttering up out of the water, Chaelnomyl meant to clear the rocky beach without touching it too much with her actual body. Instead, the Akvatari wanted to get high enough to survey the island. Eyes wandered to the flock of terns overhead – their being the only semblance of sound or even life that existed apart from herself in the area – and she shook her head. The terns were her sisters and brothers of the skies and their presence was comforting. They would not be able to provide her with answers any easier than the winds would whisper it into her ears.

Traveling somewhat inland, the Akvatari gingerly tested the temperature of the volcanic rocks that seemed to make up the island, and if they were not too offending, she would set herself down on one of them. It was hard to tell where to go from here, now that she was… in fact… here. Reaching for the closest patch of grass, Chaelnomyl gave it a small tug and brought it to her nose to take in the smell. If the fauna below the sea had been similar to the coast of Akvatar, maybe the fauna on the rocky island would be too.

Her eyes eventually traveled back up to the terns. ”Why would you journey out this way,” She offered to the winged brothers and sisters, ”When you are likely aware of the weather here?” A pause, and then - "When there is nothing for you here?" The island was, after all, supposedly inhospitable was it not? A small frown flashed across her face as she looked to the clouds, the twinge of remembrance of what had been said of their temporal nature lingering in her mind. Birds were not completely oblivious to weather patterns, else they wouldn’t survive. They were also not completely oblivious to the inhospitable conditions of areas. She doubted they'd follow migration patterns over places they would find no food and no shelter.

What had drawn them there?

Should they continue on over the island a ways, Chael saw fit to follow them. If they diverted, however… well, then perhaps they did know that the weather here was not their friend and would avoid its temperament as they would have naturally learned over the ages.

[Liminal]

The rocks were quite warm, even though it was winter, but not warm enough to be painful to an Akvatari. The sad-looking grass seemed to be the same as that which clung to life on the shores of Akvatar. Akvatar, of course, didn't have much variety in its few land plants, and at first glance, Rockward appeared to be the same.

The terns, of course, didn't answer Chaelnomyl. One, however, dove beneath the surface of the sea. Terns, being the fishing birds that they were, didn't require there to be anything useful on the island itself, as long as the waters surrounding it had sufficient food. And, given that Akvatar had more than enough food to support not only the local birds but the Akvatari themselves, it was a reasonable conclusion that Rockward probably did as well.

They wheeled around, skirting the edge of the island, and moving back over the open water. It seemed indeed that the island was not what they were interested in, but the waters around it. More dove in, resurfacing with fish, scales glinting faintly in the sunlight.

The rest of the island, as Chael looked around, offered few immediate clues. The island was not particularly high -- the greatest elevation of the broken volcanic rocks was probably only 200 feet. It would be very difficult to traverse on foot, however, given the roughness of the terrain (in contrast to Akvatar, which was largely covered in sand). Given that she didn't have feet, Chael wouldn't find this a problem, of course.

The shoreline did seem to have some bits of debris on it at the high-tide line -- unsurprisingly, given the dangerous reputation Miss Zwida had said the straits possessed. And there could possibly be something inland, hidden in one of the valleys or crevices, although if there was, it wasn't poking its metaphorical head into Chaelnomyl's eyesight. Nothing seemed especially promising, but Chael hadn't come here thinking her task would be easy.

[Chaelnomyl]

Well, at least there was some semblance of life clinging to an otherwise remote and reclusive island. Chaelnomyl noted that the terns were after the fish around the island and little more, and so her eyes eventually diverted from their path as they went back out to sea, disinterested in the content of Rockward. That made for only Chael to be left in its grasp once more, then. Fair enough.

The grass that clung to the shore reminded her of Akvatar, in fact, the mere absence of diversity among fauna was quite similar. Still, since nothing was presenting itself besides the debris of downed ships – which might be worth taking a look through before she left, Chael fluttered herself high enough to avoid brushing across rocks with her torso or tail. The furred substitute for legs was pulled in close to her as she flattened out a bit and began to traverse the island via winged travel.

The Akvatari was not planning on scanning it over quickly; instead, she started up from her present position and stayed as low towards the land itself as well as possible. Her speed was slow and meticulous, eyes scanning across the terrain for anything that looked remotely out of place. Any crop of rock that was a different color from the volcanic surrounding rocks that made up the bulk of the landfall. Surely any differentiation in the colors would stand out somewhat, unless it were varying shades of grey. The Akvatari’s face was stoic, but her brow was slightly furrowed as her eyes forcefully focused on everything she could find… or what she couldn’t.

Whenever Chaelnomyl came across a valley or indention that was bigger than a few meters across, she would pause over it and take a closer look, dropping in altitude if necessary to investigate. Since the rocks were not hot enough to upset one of her race, she would gradually feel about them whenever she decided to investigate something closer, as if touching them would somehow reveal the secrets Chael so desired. Not that she actually expected that, but it helped her focus on what she was looking at, and looking for.

Half of her felt about the rocks in hopes that she would find something that wasn’t natural rock formation. Not necessarily in the form of sculpting – if Xalz had been right, the island was obliterated in the Valterrian and, as far as Chael could guess so far, the original island had been separated into Rockward and Akvatar. The latter of which obviously moved a fair bit north and east of her current position. It seemed the power of a furious god could do crazy things. But, the Akvatari had this in mind and decided that, if the god of fire, volcanoes and all of that had gotten angry, the Valterrian probably had a lot of erupting volcanoes. Since the island seemed to be composed of volcanic rock, it would not be too far-fetched an idea to think that Sinala’s remnants from the pre-Valterrian world could be forever petrified within the cooled wake of his volcanic eruptions. And if that were the case, perhaps not all of it was completely enshrouded. She didn’t have the tools to start breaking apart the rock to figure out if there was actually anything beneath it, after all.

Should Chaelnomyl not find anything interesting in her endeavors and consequently reach the other side of the island via flight, she would take a rest on the beach – after observing it to make sure nothing of note was there, either… and begin a sweep of the outer perimeter. The Akvatari assumed that before she could complete a full circle of the place, she’d need a bit of rest and possibly some food, too. The plan was to go diving off the island’s far side and follow the example of her tern friends to satisfy her hunger and allow her to rest before continuing. After all, meticulous sweeps of oddly rock-filled islands could prove tiresome and time consuming, and there was nothing wrong with grabbing a meal when she got there if it so suited her.

The entire time the Akvatari worked the island over visually, she couldn’t help but imagine what might have happened. A volcanic eruption on the far side of the island, cracking it in two… Who was to say how deep a volcano could go, or how much damage Ivak’s fury could have done? She could almost picture it: untimely eruption fracturing half the island off like someone breaking a hunk of tough bread to share with guests, and as present-day Akvatar was forced away by the sheer strength and momentum… Lava overflowed and covered what remained, swallowing and imprisoning Rockward. It was an outrageous idea, but sometimes invented stories were far more entertaining than the truth, right? Maybe one day Chael could become a fantasy author. Or artist. Painting it would probably turn out better in the end.

[Liminal]

Examining the island was tedious work, and it was proving to be very possessive of its secrets. Assuming that it had secrets -- maybe it was just what Miss Zwida had said, an uninhabited, uninteresting rock whose only significance was that it made sailing in the area dangerous.

The rocks were jagged and unpleasant-looking, but they didn't seem to be hiding the remnants of a lost civilization -- or a lost anything else for that matter. Low, demoralized-looking bushes clung to life in some of the hollows, but for the most part, there was nothing to see that would interest anyone other than the most ardent student of geology.

Chaelnomyl reached the other side without locating anything of note, and was able to fill her stomach without any incident. The fish were the same as those to which she was used, but less wary, given that they weren't accustomed to being hunted by Akvatari on an hourly basis.

Once she resurfaced, she would be able to examine the debris on the beach. Much of it was simply driftwood, bleached white, and polished to the smoothness of silk. There was precious little natural wood in the area, and closer examination would reveal that the majority of the driftwood had probably been part of a boat at one point.

There were pebbles and shells and seaweed as well, and occasionally, a reminder of the people who had gone down with these ships. There was a rusty dagger, the kind sailors often used to cut ropes, half-buried in the sand. A little father along, there was a metal band that had once been fitted around a mast. It too was corroded, and looked like it would break at a touch.

The southern side of the island looked much the same as the northern. The unhappy grass clumps, the broken rocks, and the intermittent washes of driftwood were no different.

Indeed, the only thing of note was a series of small holes up on the cliff face. They were no more than five or six feet wide, and an equal height, and it was difficult to tell how far back they went. A few of them had old birds' nests in them.

The wash of waves on the shore was regular, almost to the point of being hypnotic. This was the edge of the world -- or at least, the edge of the known world -- and it felt that way.

[Chaelnomyl]

It was peaceful, being alone out here, at the proverbial edge of the world. She could almost lay out on that beach and listen to the waves all day long. That is, if the beach wasn’t riddled with the debris of downed ships. Chaelnomyl looked over them carefully but quickly dismissed them as the remnants of life that didn’t belong in that area anyway. Perhaps on her way out though, she would have to sift through them to see if there was anything of historical value lost in there on the edge of the island.

The fish had been easily enough obtained and now with a full belly, Chaelnomyl was ready enough to continue her exploration. She had almost begun to give up hope – there was nothing of notice on this island at all. Perhaps Zwida was right. Perhaps the only significance of that island was that it posed a hazard to sailors. Landing on the edge of one of the pieces of smoothed out driftwood at the edge of the rolling waves of the water behind her, Chaelnomyl shook her head and leaned back over her fins, allowing the strong muscles of her tail to support her body for a moment as she craned her neck upward as if she were about to implore the skies to give her the answers or at least tell her the journey wasn’t a wasted one.

It was then that the Akvatari spied the series of holes in the cliff face where the birds had made their home. It sort of reminded her of their structures in Abura, the way they had hollowed out openings in the many towers and spires where they lay out in the open, finding no need for “doors” and the like as the humans did. It made her crack a very miniscule smile for the briefest of seconds before she spurred her wings to life and took off through the air, tail behind her. Destination? Those openings.

Luckily for Chaelnomyl she was not as wide as the holes were and neither was she as tall. Well, she would have been if she had been standing on her fins, but that wasn’t the Akvatari way, and thus there would be no issue fitting through them. She came upon the first one and decided after a bit of fluttering back and forth to enter it. Her hands shot out in front of her to make sure she wasn’t about to smack into the inner workings of the cliff face as if the carved out hole was to play a trick on her, and also to knock any bird nests out of her way… as long as they weren’t full of birds. Chaelnomyl’s tail fins drew up in front of her body as she neared in case she needed to smack any birds that might be upset about her entering their supposed home and she tentatively proceeded forward. Any birds that presented themselves and seemed upset at her would get the equivalent of an Akvatari backhand (the closest the Akvatari had to unarmed combat, being a peaceful race, of course) and hopefully that would be enough to deter them from continuing to pester her. There were more important things that silly birds to be bothered with at the moment, after all.

Perhaps there would be hope for this expedition yet.

[Liminal]

The hole was devoid of birds; it seemed that several seasons had passed since this particular crevice had been used for nesting.

Once inside, Chaelnomyl would be able to tell that the cave only went back ten or so feet. There were no mysterious passages, no underground cities, not even a used fire pit. Indeed, there was no sign that anyone besides the birds had ever been here.

The remnants of the last nest were scattered on the floor. Down, feathers, a few tufts of the island's meager grass, and a few ropes of dried seaweed had been molded into an approximately circular shape. It seemed as well that the birds had been interested in shiny things, for there was a small pile of these as well. Pearlescent shells, some rusted nails...and something else.

Tucked under a clump of moss was something that sparkled yellow. Inspection would reveal it to be a single gold coin. It was not a miza, or a nilo, or anything else with which Chaelnomyl would be familiar. It looked much, much older than that, if its pitted surface was any indication of its age.

The front bore the image of a young woman. There was a number off to one side that looked like a "10," and a single letter to the other side, that appeared to be a "Q." The reverse side was simpler, bearing only four letters, which were clearly legible as "SNLA."

Nothing else of interest was in the cave.

[Chaelnomyl]

ooc: Forgive my rustiness. :<

The lack of birds was somewhat of a timid relief to Chaelnomyl, though she wondered why they had apparently abandoned such a good nesting place. It was also a little disappointing – if disappointing was a word that could be used to describe something such as an Akvatari might feel – that there was no depth to the cave in its entity. Chaelnomyl dejectedly set herself down again and looked over the remainder of the nest, picking up a pulled flight feather and idly running a finger over its smooth surface.

Her eyes scanned the shells and the nails, finding it peculiar that birds would collect such things, before her eyes dropped onto the shining gold coin. She reached out for it and snatched it up warily, wondering how those creatures had come across a Miza…

Only to realize that it was not in fact, a Miza. It was something much more foreign, and much more older. Chaelnomyl’s eyes widened in surprise as she read the number, then the letter Q, and inspected the figure of the woman. Who was she? That was going to be next to impossible to find out. The important, and perhaps ironic, thing… was when she flipped it over and saw the four letters “SNLA.”

”Sinala.” Chaelnomyl whispered to herself. ”It did exist, then. And this island was a part of it.”

So, with that proven, Chaelnomyl gave herself a half hearted, inward smile and pulled out her journal to make a note of it. She traced the coin on a sheet of parchment quietly with her drawing utensils, and etched in a quick representation of the woman and the markings. She then noted that it had been found on Rockward Island, in the winter of 509 AV. She signed it “Chaelnomyl”. After that, everything was returned to her pack and the coin itself was tucked into the bottom, underneath her supplies so that it couldn’t haphazardly slip away from her.

Since there had been a series of holes in the cliff face, the Akvatari decided it best to continue her explorations and moved back out of the ten foot deep cave, back into the open air of the inhospitable place. Craning her neck up, the Akvatari gave a large sigh and looked for the next opening that appeared to have some depth to it. She slowly fluttered upwards, or over, depending on where the holes in the cliff’s face appeared to be and when one that was fitting – rather, looked like it would be able to fit an actual Akvatari and not just a flock of birds inside it – Chaelnomyl once more journeyed inside. She had it set in her mind that where there was one clue, there might be more. Rockward would give up its secrets, even if she had to beg it.

Idly, the Akvatari began to wonder… Since Akvatar itself didn’t have an old watchtower to tell the seasons with… Where was that exactly, anyway? As she continued her search for an additional hospitable hole in the cliff face for her to explore, she casually scanned the projections of the rock for fragments of blue light. It was, after all, winter. She’d heard stories of watchstone fragments, but had never believed them. Still, it couldn’t help to look for them, just to see if perhaps Sinala’s tower, that should have logically existed, had somehow exploded and was now embedded in Rockward Isle, to be locked away with the rest of the secrets of her history.

For now, exploring the rest of the crevices seemed like a good idea. From there? Well, perhaps a journey back to Zeltiva to show the coin off to some scholars, perhaps attempt to get an identity comparison to pre-Valterrian art of who the woman might have been, if any records existed at all. Somehow, the Akvatari doubted they did. That would have been too easy indeed.