Ruin's Dawn: Ocean Forge

[Tei'serin Nji'ryn]

Tei'serin noticed that the small flame creatures all seemed to keep a certain distance from the eggs as they retreated back into the lava veins. If they were avoiding getting too close to the eggs, then her thought that the people eating creature out in the tunnels was protecting the eggs was almost certainly right. That, and the distance that the small flame creatures kep from the eggs was a safe distance. Tei'serin made a note of that, too. She had absolutely no desire whatsoever of getting to close to the eggs, and angering their mother. Or close to them at all, really.

When Nathan asked if she was hurt, she shook her head.

"I'm fine. What about you?" she asked.

Chip suggested that they fall back, and that was an idea that Tei'serin agreed with completely. Then he asked them to guard his back as he did...something. She had no idea what the Beneath was, or what looking into it would accomplish, but if Chip thought it was a good idea, she wasn't going to say anything. She simply didn't know enough about it to know if it was a good idea or not. Instead, she looked around to make sure that nothing was creeping up on them. That was something she could do, at least, and she felt pretty much useless otherwise.

"I'm sorry I ran away."

Tei'serin jumped a bit at the unexpected words. So much for noticing anything sneaking up on them. To be fair, all she could see was a barely visible shimmer as the ghost girl from behind spoke.

"It's okay." she said, hoping to reassure the young ghost.

A part of Tei'serin wanted to run away too. She didn't see anything she could do to help, really, and it was obvious that they were in a lot of danger here. Only the fact that it was unlikely that U'frek would send her home if she angered him by refusing to help with the quest he sent them on kept her from doing just that. She knew that her chances of getting home without his aid were virtually zero.

She didn't understand anything that the ghost girl said to Chip about energy and such, but she smiled when the young girl said she thought they were friends.

"I'd like that. But friends should know each other's names. I'm Tei'serin. What's your name?" she asked the young ghost girl politely.

When the ghost girl vanished once more, Tei'serin turned to Nathan.

"I think we should take the ghost girl's advice, and stay well away from those eggs. Even the flame creatures that came to help the...whatever that creature out there is don't seem to like the idea of getting near them."

Doctor Revel explained that he would be able to tell if the eggs were artifacts if he had the equipment in his lab. That made her wonder what tests one might do to determine if something was an artifact or not. At the same time, it didn't really help much. They weren't in the man's lab after all, and he didn't have the equipment that he needed. He did seem to think that he could do something, though. Tei'serin watched him warily as he tried to get a better look at the eggs. Then she went back to keeping an eye out for anything else that might be trying to sneak up on them.

[Nathan Wolfgang]

OOC

• swear words warning

“Well, I’m still in one piece and breathing, so that’s a good sign, right? But yeah, that’s quite the wake-up call. Somebody has to compensate us for the troubles.” Nathan said answering Tei’serin’s question.

Well, they seem to be keeping their distance, I guess we should too. If only we have some kind of mounts then we could get a quick look at the eggs or something and quickly get out. Nathan thought to himself.

“Agree with that, we gotta be nimble and get the hell out as there’s no reasoning with that beast in the dark. It looks like it got plate armor for scales.” Nathan said in response to Chip’s remarks.

I’ve got your back, I’ll shout if anything comes crawling our way.” Nathan said to Chip. “See anything of interest on the other side?” Nathan asked Chip after waiting for a moment.

Then turning toward the Cad. “Yes doc, I’m also quite curious about the eggs but as the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat. So yeah, there’s that. Well, just gotta keep our distance right? Doubt the tongue’s long enough to reach us over here, well that’s just my guess. But those small fire creatures could prove to be a nuisance.”

Nathan’s train of thought was cut short with the appearance of the ghost girl. “There you are,” He said to the ghost.

The fuck? I knew it, the eggs must have some kind of trigger mechanisms of the sort. Nathan thought to himself as he listened to the ghost’s parting words.
“Yes, we should stay away from the eggs. But-“ Nathan stopped for a few trills, he squinted his eyes to see better then he asked the group “Um, weren’t there some kind of a symbol on the eggs earlier and shone when we got closer? What triggers it? Or more importantly, what did it triggers?”

Nathan then lay flat on the ground, apparently looking for something underneath the nest’s structure. “Can’t see shit from this distance. What if the artifact is not the eggs? Maybe something inside it? Under it? Like a puzzle perhaps, line up the correct sequence of the sort since they got those glowing symbols earlier, right doc? Or maybe it’s a complex trap of some sort and we just triggered its activation?” he asked the group before standing back up.

Nathan then surveys the room attempting to observe if there are new pathways that open up or if there are any changes to their environment. Nathan scratched his head. Damn, it would be easier if Annie is here. She’s the one with the patience to do this kind of stuff, finding patterns and solving puzzles.

[Kisaik]

Kisaik listened to the ghost, as it spoke what it would to him. He squinted, trying to make sense of it. "They want the energy, the spirits. From the Eggs... But it's dangerous."

"I do think we should stay away from the eggs. The Hungry spirits are coalescing all around them, and that reptile that blew me back isn't likely to give me a second try at befriending them."

Kisaik couldn't put his finger on what it was, but for all his foul tongue and language, Kisaik far preferred the company of the soldier to the others in their group. Tei'serin was far too reluctant and quiet, he wasn't sure if she was to be trusted. And he knew the 'good' doctor wasn't to be trusted. Something about him screamed of a dastardly aspect. So Kisaik jumped up, blinking onto Nathan's shoulder with a little 'pop'.

When Doctor Revel said he could inspect the eggs with his lab equipment, if he only had some, Kisaik furrowed his brow. He had a supernatural ability that allowed him to pull tools of any kind out of his hat. Yet, he didn't want the doctor to meddle in those things. He was of a mind with TEi'serin and Nathan in that.

So, as he got onto Nathan's shoulder, he announced to the rest, "I do have rupturing magic, if that will be useful, whether to move ourselves or... those opposing us. So I am with Nathan, I think we should keep our distance, and perhaps if I can concentrate, I can portal us closer to the entrance? I still remember what it looked like there, although the situation may have changed... I could send us back, but it might be dangerous, I should warn you..."

[Shl'Drei]

"Artemia," was the whisper that followed Tei'serin's introduction. With the group focusing on their next course of action, Cad's focus turned to the eggs. When the whisper came through, it was clear. The eggs couldn't sense inorganic matter. A rock, for example, could pass through its defenses. With that, brought a new possibility. Cad's body was not organic- he required no air and had no heartbeat or blood flow.

What struck as odd was that despite knowing they were there, the creature lurking in the darkness did not attempt to come after them. It only reacted when the eggs were threatened. It wasn't interested as long as the eggs weren't in danger. If they thought logically, the creature reacted just as the rune appeared and not a single trill before.

More than that, despite the screaming and rumbling, no others had come from the tunnels or seemed to be coming. Surely the Aukari had backup? Or had they been warded off by the creature? The silence was eerie, like the calm before a disaster. Except nothing seemed to be coming, and the disaster was disinterested in them.

Perhaps if they tried, they could scout the area behind the reptilian creature. If the eggs were its call to action, then perhaps if they didn't get too close they could sneak around it.

General Information

• Now that we're getting significantly into the story part, any non-posting will have a greater effect on both the story itself and the other PCs. Therefore, we are adopting an approach of "two strikes" - miss one round of posting and there are IC consequences at the end of the thread. If a second round is missed, the PC(s) in question will be written out of the thread and a negative consequence will be given. If there is going to be an issue for you, please contact your mod or Basilisk at the earliest moment, in order to work out where to go from here.
• Please note that these rules will apply to all players in this thread. When we move to the next stage of this Global Event, however, it will be a no-strikes policy, which Basilisk will make explicit.
• Due to the time-sensitive nature of this, I can not hold out for people to post. If you miss a round, there will (I'm afraid) be consequences. That said, doing silly things like slapping an immortal will also have consequences- if you know you're not going to make a deadline just communicate and we can work something out.
• This style of event moderation - with objectives etc - was created by a wonderful moderator named Crimson.
• Next modpost will be on the Tuesday the 17th. Anyone who has not posted by 10:59 PM EST on Monday the 16th will be counted for one missed round.

Objectives

!	Message from: Must-Do
	None.

!	Message from: Can-Do
	None

Strikes

Kisaik has one strike.
Cad has one strike.
Goku and Cyrus have been removed from the event.

[Tei'serin Nji'ryn]

Tei'serin smiled when the ghost girl told her that her name was Artemia. She was quickly distracted though when Nathan asked about a symbol that had been on the eggs; what had triggered it, and what it triggered in return. Tei'serin remembered a symbol as well. But had it been on the eggs themselves? She tried to think back to when she had seen the symbol. There had been a lot going on at the time, and it was hard to sort everything out in her mind.

"I don't think the symbols were on the eggs themselves." she said after a while.

"There were two glowing red symbols suspended in mid air near the eggs."

Unless, of course she had missed something. Which was completely possible given everything that had been happening all at once.

"I'm not sure about triggers, but the symbols were definitely responding to the creature in the tunnels. They grew brighter with each growl that it made.The eggs were glowing too, I think, and they were shaking. Now that I think about it, I think they shook harder in response to the growls as well. The creature might have been responding to the glowing symbols too, but I really don't know about that."

Nathan said something about the artifact not being the eggs themselves, but rather something inside or under them. Tei'serin frowned at that. Inside the eggs would mean the unhatched creatures, and she desperately hoped that he was wrong about that. Then she realized that he might mean inside the nest rather than inside the eggs.

"That's a possibility. But how can we find out without getting close enough to the eggs to cause the people eating creature to come back?" she wondered out loud.

Tei'serin had no idea what Chip was talking about when he spoke of energy and hungry spirits. Perhaps it had something to do with looking into the Beneath, or whatever he had just done. She was relieved when he hopped up onto Nathan's shoulder rather than hers though. She hadn't liked it much when he had done it to her before.

She listened closely when he spoke of having rupturing magic. Tei'serin had no idea what rupturing magic was, but she could tell from the context of his words that it had something to do with transporting people around. His offer to send them back to the entrance of the cave was a tempting one on one level. But she didn't trust him. Who knew if he was telling them the truth about what rupturing magic was, or where his "portals" would take them. She didn't doubt that he had rupturing magic though. Not after seeing him disappear as he jumped and reappear on Nathan's shoulder. He had probably done that when he had jumped up on her shoulder as well.

There was another thing to consider as well. U'frek had told them to go get the artifact. Going back without it didn't seem like a good way to convince him to send them back home instead of leaving them here to find their own way back.

"I'm not sure that going back without the artifact...whatever the artifact might be...is a good idea." she said quietly.

She wasn't about to mention U'frek, and what he might do if they failed. Not in front of Doctor Revel, at least.

"But that does sound like it would be very useful if anyone else shows up and proves to be our enemy." she added.

Then a thought occurred to her.

"Would you be able to portal that creature away if it attacks again?" she asked.

Not that it seemed to show any interest in doing so, and Artemia had said that it wouldn't as long as they didn't get too close to the eggs. Another thought occurred to her, and she turned to Nathan.

"Now that I think about it some more, I think the creature really was responding to the glowing symbols.It showed up right as the symbols appeared."

[Cad Revel]

Timestamp: 35th of Saun, 721
Location: The Heart of the World

As Cad turned his power upon the eggs he felt the presence of that strange gossip who guided him appear next to his ear.

“Such precious treasure is guarded from the hands of thieves.” It whispered coyly through his mind. “Yet it’s design is flawed, for it presumes that only a being of flesh and blood may be capable of sin.”

“Ahh… interesting…” Cad murmured to himself aloud, the seeds of professional curiosity beginning to take bloom in his mind. Perhaps that sigil was some kind of magical ward linked to the creature? And if it was only alerted to the presence of flesh and blood, perhaps it would not be triggered by his own artificial body?

“Alright, I think I have an idea.” He turned to the others, the shadow of a conniving grin etched on his face. “If my guess is correct then those unique abilities I mentioned I had earlier should allow me to get closer to those eggs. I’m not convinced touching them is a good idea, but I can at least get a better look.”

Before the others could argue for or against his plan Cad crept cautiously forward, tensed and ready to dash back to cover at the first hint of danger. Providing that the beast did not stir, Cad would slowly but surely inch closer to the egg until he was right in front of it. Once there he began to examine it closely, trying to figure out if it was a rock, egg or something else entirely.

Magic/Abilities/Items Used

None

[Kisaik]

Kisaik, it should be said, had an abundance of patience when it came to just about anyone. He was willing to suffer any insult, any slight, in the interests of letting things lie and getting on. But these two, the girl and the doctor, seemed not at all concerned that there was a great evil afoot, and that it was seeking to harm the world in some way. The soldier, Nathan, at least seemed to have some wherewithal about him. And it was all Kisaik could do to not slap himself in the face as Doctor Revel crept forward, very clumsily, toward the eggs. Clearly he was no expert at skulking. Kisaik himself wasn't much of one for it either, but he knew bad form when he saw it.

Kisaik sighed heavily, and spoke to Nathan, and Tei'serin. As he did so, he concentrated very hard, and ripped open a portal between themselves and the egg chamber. At the same time, the egress formed at the opposite spot, far enough past the eggs, that Kisaik was confident that it'd satisfy the conditions of the ghost's warning. "Well, if you all wish to follow me, or not? Come into the portal. But I can only hold one of this size open for a few moments. Those who wish to get by the egg chamber, follow me. I don't blame you if you'd prefer to stick your feet where they are, however."

So, having said this, Kisaik leapt into his portal, and past the egress which was situated beyond the Reptilian creature's presence. If the others wished to follow, that was their prerogative. As he emerged from the egress, it made a squelching sound, or would, once he emerged. He'd try to lay low as well as he could (Competent Stealth) after arriving, hopefully aided by his size, he wouldn't be detected by whatever lurked beyond the chamber.

[Nathan Wolfgang]

OOC

• F-bombs warning

‘Pop’ is the sound it make when Kisaik appeared on Nathan’s shoulder. Nathan was a bit startled, but he did his best to conceal it.

“Yes, we could try to portal out to the entrance, maybe we should put that in our list of backup plan in case things goes to sideways. I mean, things are a bit tense too right now. It’s like waiting for something that may or may not happen.”

“Yes, agree with you on that, I for one don’t want to be on the receiving end of that creature’s tongue, and who knows if we came back empty-handed the silver-haired Immortal would send us back to where we came from,” Nathan said to Tei’serin

Well, it would be too easy right if the artifact’s just sitting there waiting to be found? Feels like a trap or something, ghost girl also said that they are attracted to it and what Chip said regarding hungry spirits. Can’t hack and slash your way through a horde of hungry spirits. Unless you got some spirit blade maybe that could hit spirits. And Tei’serin also saw that the creature reacts only when the symbols appear and so far it only reacts when we get close to it earlier. Good thing we have those Aukari as meat shields. Nathan thought to himself as he glances at his long sword.

Nathan was still lost in his thoughts when he caught snippets of what the doctor was saying.

“Hey doc, tread carefully,” Nathan said as he saw Cad was already making his way toward the nest-like structure. With a face full of curiosity.

That grin and curiosity, makes you wonder what kind of lab and what kind of researches that the doctor did there. Well, the Empress won’t send someone unworthy right? And it’d be a good time to witness just what unique abilities the doctor has. Nathan thought to himself as he was still convinced that both he and Cad were blessed by Raskalaran. He continues watching Cad slowly make his way toward the egg, apparently if the egg was a person, they would have detected Cad from miles away. Not that Nathan himself found the idea of sneaking around pleasant. He prefers fighting a frontal assault and preferably with opponents of flesh and blood.

“What the bloody fuck?” Nathan said under his breath in astonishment as he saw the rip in space that Kisaik made.

After all, it's better than sitting around here long enough for that fire bastard to come down his throne and smite us. Nathan thought to himself as he prepares to follow Kisaik into the portal.

“So, I’m going with Chip. It seems safe enough if you want to stay here with the doctor, we’ll be in front of you guys, and the way that we come from looks safe enough to dismiss the probability of those fire spawns backstabbing us.” Nathan said to Tei’serin as he jumped through the portal that Kisaik made.

“Fuck,” Nathan muttered as he steadies himself on all for as he comes out the other side of the tear that Kisaik made. “How did you get used to that?” Nathan said referring to passing through the portal. Nathan then looks at his surrounding to make sure and to reassure himself that they did not teleport inches away from the creature’s open mouth.

“So, shall we?” Nathan said to Kisaik as he unsheaths his sword.

[Pegasus]

Kis & Nathan

Kisaik was, first and foremost, an action-tunawa. He was not prepared to wait around any more and he acted. He opened a portal, Nathan followed him through.

Pop!

Bang

Riiiiiiip.

That was the sound of the portal closing, which happened after both Kisaik and Nathan jumped through. The final noise was loud and reverberated around the entire place, the eggs seeming to almost vibrate in unison. Kisaik - if he had heard it - would have known that it wasn't quite right.

All the strange things which had happened before - the glowing sigils, the screams, the ghost, the barrier-thingie - all of them flared a bright white light.

And then, the group became, effectively, split into two.

Kisaik and Nathan were gone. Tei'serin and Cad were where they had been.

Cad & Tei

Cad passed through the barrier without hindrance, but his attempt at stealth was sadly doomed due to the inordinately big loud noise which was made by the portal of Kisaik. He found himself in the position of looking eye-to-eye, face-to-face with the lava-beast which he had been hoping to avoid. It let out a low growl and started to move, threateningly, towards Cad.

Tei'serin, meanwhile, heard something. It was like a soft singing which seemed to be coming from the eggs. Perhaps. Over there, certainly (although Cad heard nothing). Where the portal had been there was a faint smell of burning and there, on the floor, was a pile of what looked like human remains and some charred twigs.

Nathan & Kis

The portal closed behind them, quite normally as far as Kis was concerned and they didn't really have time to do much in the way of looking around. They had gone exactly where Kisaik meant them to - far enough past the eggs that they avoided the ghosts warning. Unfortunately, they were almost immediately attacked by what seemed to be a swarm of bees. However, they weren't bees - should either of them take the time to stop and examine them, they'd find out more - but even without standing to examine, they saw that the bees were maybe four or five times the size of normal bees and, where the bee would have yellow stripes, these ones had what seemed to be molten lava.

There were dozens of them and their stingers were disproportionately large, even for their bodies.

Oh, also? They spit fire.

Each of them were attacked and had seconds to react.

Tei & Cad

Saw none of what was happening to their companions, but they too might have been distracted.

The barrier between Tei and the eggs dropped - she saw it happening as it crumbled away in a glittering tumble.

And the reptilian creature lifted it's head and roared.

Then, in the silence which followed, they both heard an unmistakable sound.

The buzzing of a swarm of angry bees.

OOC Info

• Unfortunately, due to RL, Shl'drei will not be able to continue modding you lovely people. But! No worries - he's passed on his notes and I will be taking it from here.
• Now that we're getting significantly into the story part, any non-posting will have a greater effect on both the story itself and the other PCs. Therefore, we are adopting an approach of "two strikes" - miss one round of posting and there are IC consequences at the end of the thread. If a second round is missed, the PC(s) in question will be written out of the thread and a negative consequence will be given. If there is going to be an issue for you, please contact your mod or Basilisk at the earliest moment, in order to work out where to go from here.
• Please note that these rules will apply to all players in this thread. When we move to the next stage of this Global Event, however, it will be a no-strikes policy, which Basilisk will make explicit.
• Due to the time-sensitive nature of this, I can not hold out for people to post. If you miss a round, there will (I'm afraid) be consequences. That said, doing silly things like slapping an immortal will also have consequences- if you know you're not going to make a deadline just communicate and we can work something out.

SECRET PM SENT!

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	Warning! Pegasus has sent a SUPER SECRET PM (or two or three or four) this round! Please check your inbox

Next Post: Tuesday 24th August

Please post by Monday 23rd. I'm on UK time and will be posting during the day.

[Kisaik]

Not long after the portal closed behind them, after Nathan followed him through it and drew his weapon, they were beset by magma bees about the size of mice or small rats. Kisaik swiftly drew his shadow blade from his shadow. He saw the writing on the wall now, and in an instant, he knew what he had to do. He thought to bring his companions past the point of danger but instead led Nathan into certain doom. He wouldn't let him die here, he would draw their attention. Nathan could either stand and fight or retreat. Kisaik wouldn't blame him if he didn't intend to die here.

So with that, he brandished his shadow sword and glowered at the menacing bees. With his Dark Bark ability, he drew on the power of lingering chaos to boost his skills. Suddenly he felt more agile, more skilled with a blade (Using dark bark to raise two skills by one level. Athletics to master, blades to expert). He didn't waste time, but opened up with a challenging rupture roar in tandem with his clarion call, to communicate to the beastly magma bees. "Fight me then, you fiends! See if you can catch me!"

With that said, he began leaping into the air, sending his shadow sword slashing this way and that, cutting off this one's stinger, striking at the other's heads, clipping wings. His aim was to render them as harmless as possible, and kill them if he could with his shadow sword.

He leaped through the air with masterful agility, bouncing off of ruptured sky steps to reverse his direction on a dime and rebound and kill another bee if he could. He'd be a whirlwind of action and bladed fury in his efforts to draw off the attacks of the bees. And he was ready to burn.

At the last, if it looked like they or he would be overrun, he'd disengage with a blink, and try to lead the bees further along down the corridor, leading them away from Nathan and the rest of them. "Fall back! I shall lead these fiends to their doom!"

So saying, he attacked only as much as he needed to gain their attention, drawing the swarm away from Nathan, and led them through the corridors. Yet he was still not without defenses. All through the combat, if any of the attacks appeared deadly enough to overcome him in one shot, he would use Saoire's clasp that she gave him to reverse the attacks, and redirect them toward their source. He could do so up to twice a season, so two of any such attacks would be redirected toward the bees. All the while, he maintained awareness of his surroundings through his rupture sight, looking for a promising trap to lead the bees into. His eyes gleamed green as he retreated, fighting the bees to his last breath.