Court of the Fallen
regions of moonlight - Printable Version

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regions of moonlight - Melita - 02-25-2023

Adventure pulled at her seams, a spring in her step that hadn’t been present in a while – something daring and intrepid skittering along her veins, rather than the listless, uncertain air constantly plaguing her sentiments lately. Lantern high in hand, and the map in the other, she traversed with Evie down into the aperture and cave openings of the Fingers. It’d been their best bet at the moment, surveying and studying the figures and pictures again, pondering if some portions were tunnels, or something else entirely.

Worth a shot, anyway.

[say]“I suppose we can start here,”[/say] and she shrugged, hoping they’d guessed correctly on the northeast tunnel by Aumakua. There were other options available, if they pinpointed on isles and the configurations, but they’d likely have to go further before they could press much more thought into the possibilities. At least the Fingers were familiar to Melita – she’d gone through quite a few of the interloping, warren intricacies.


RE: regions of moonlight - Evie - 02-27-2023

The map had been difficult to decipher to say the least, especially when Evie knows very little of Torchline outside of the main city, so she had easily ceded control of their starting point to Melita. The Fingers are dark, but the torches and lanterns in their hands are more than enough to light their way. With the experience she has with LongNight, the dark is far from intimidating, though she wonders if it will impede their following of the trail marked on the treasure map they'd found. If it was a treasure map at all.

Checking the map one more time, Evie gestures out to the open bar of sand in front of them. [say]"So, if those are the entrances to the right and left, then we should go straight forward right?"[/say] Get to the x-mark before they began following the trail in truth.


RE: regions of moonlight - Serendipity - 03-01-2023

The Fingers will seem to Melita, who has run her hands across her walls and trundled down her tunnels many a time, somehow thicker thanks to the utter lack of sunlight. Always a dark place given what it was, somehow it too was drenched in thick LongNight darkness.

Straight forward and right is what Evie suggests, which is convenient as there is no other way to go. So straight and right the pair go, and when they come to the next fork in the road, the option to go straight or left, one might think there is no real choice here. They'll follow the map, won't they?

Oh, but there are things in the dark. Things with teeth and fire, things with far too many legs that skuttle just out of the range of lantern light. The map clearly indicates going left, but going straight is surely faster.

What will you do?


RE: regions of moonlight - Melita - 03-02-2023

Her familiarity with the tunnels brought her some ease and comfort, even if the darkness strangled, threatened to catch hold. Mighty and bull-headed, with a taste for disaster, boldness, and chaos, the Honeybee marched on, lantern held high, chasing away figments of shadow as much as she could.

And then came the fork in the road. Holding up the map alongside the lantern, she gestured with her jaw towards the left. [say]“I say we just keep following this,”[/say] because in time, other things settled their roots into this wake and world, and she couldn’t deny her curiosity or vehemence. Not really.


RE: regions of moonlight - Evie - 03-07-2023

Evie is far from familiar with the tunnels, but she has entered a cannibal infested burrow before, so how much worse can it really get? Considering Melita's confidence is practically infectious, Evie sees no need to regain her senses anytime soon. They weren't worth much in the way of adventuring currency anyway.

The strange skittering and noises are daunting, surely, but as Melita holds the map up the lantern light, Evie sees no sense in diverting from the clearly marked path. If the creatures weren't bold enough yet, they ought to just wait them out. [say]"Agreed, rather stay on course, probably why the map was made in the first place."[/say] Too many eager adventurers taking the swift path and not the one that lead to - hopefully - treasure.

- - -

The girls follow the map left!


RE: regions of moonlight - Serendipity - 03-08-2023

Left we go.

Now, on your map you might have noticed a pile of bones that intersects your chosen path. That should mean whatever large thing that might previously have been lurking in the tunnels is now dead, right?

Right!

What it doesn't mean is that there won't be a lot of little things nibbling upon the bones of said big thing.

As you round the corner with your lantern, you'll hear the bright chittering of a small band of mongoose. Mongeese? Mongooses? While you can probably scare them off (or kill them) easily enough, they're sure to make a ton of noise in the process which may or may not be a problem for later.

How do you proceed?


RE: regions of moonlight - Melita - 03-08-2023

Bones didn’t bother Melita, and she would’ve barely given them a glance, had it not been for the chittering and chattering of other creatures nearby. Brows furrowing, she raised her lantern, spotting the gathering of mongoose, pondering over the situation. Were she Attuned, she probably could’ve just compelled them away. But she was the Honeybee, and her penchant for instant violence ran rampant.

Her head tilted, snagging at her staff, curling her fingers around the familiar wooden weapon. [say]“Think we ought to just take them out?”[/say] Because unless Evie had better ideas, that was precisely what the smuggler intended to do.


RE: regions of moonlight - Evie - 03-10-2023

Mongoose are a strange sight, to say the least. But they are quite loud. The problem is, while she would have no qualms with killing them, attacking them would only create more noise, and Evie has no long range weapons of her own - plus they're small and fast, and it's pitch black, so the Evergreen worries for their odds and the time they may waste.

[say]"Let me try something first,"[/say] she offers, and attempts to use her earth magic to create a dome over the mongooses. They can burrow and dig easily enough, but dirt and stone are effective sound dampeners, so hopefully it would not only conceal their noises but contain them long enough for the two women to get past them.

- - -

Evie attempts to use her earth magic to create a small dome over the mongooses to momentarily contain them and conceal their noise.


RE: regions of moonlight - Serendipity - 03-15-2023

Clever hobbitses.

The earth sighs overtop of the mongeese, and as it does their chittering and chattering falls into a blissful hum. No doubt they'll be confused and possibly angry once the earth settled back, but by then Melita and Evie will be 30ft or so away and hopefully the small rodents will just go back to what they were doing.

There is a left and a right-hand turn, but by now it seems as though you're sticking to the map, and so it's off to the right you go. The passage narrows uncomfortably, so let's hope that neither of you is particularly claustrophobic.

Now, as you come to the larger room and bear left as the map indicates, perhaps you should pause given what the map indicates is coming up. You don't hear anything just now, but...is there anything you would like to do, before entering into the next portion of the fingers?


RE: regions of moonlight - Melita - 03-15-2023

[say]“Good work,”[/say] the Honeybee mentioned, because it was – if her plan had come to fruition, they’d probably still be back there, beating the shit out of mongoose.

Which wasn’t to say that wouldn’t be delightful and amusing in its own regards, but best be on their way.

Inclining her lanterns upwards and studying the map again, following after the pathways, she paused momentarily, permitting Evie to glance at the marks once more. [say]“There’s something ahead,”[/say] at least, based on the foundations. Bold and intrepid, she shrugged her shoulders, contemplating further actions. [say]“I’m going to get my weapons ready, just in case.”[/say] A silent suggestion to Evie too, if she had any other ideas, defenses, or offensive capabilities.

From there, Melita did just that – snagging at her bow, assuring her quiver of arrows were at the ready.


RE: regions of moonlight - Evie - 03-22-2023

[say]"Thanks,"[/say] she murmurs, still careful to be quiet but internally pouring sunlight over the compliment. Happy as she would have been to hunt the little screaming devils, treasure is a far more alluring pull - one that keeps both women headed into the dark, lanterns in hand and jaws stubbornly jutted.

Melita's advice makes the Evergreen nod; even if it's incorrect, she'd rather have her shield strapped on her arm in preparation and bear the weight of it than regret having it inaccessible. Doing so, Evie tightens down the reinforced leather around her forearm, and touches the hilts of her throwing knives strapped to her thigh to ensure she knows where they are in the dark by feel. [say]"I'm ready. Lead on."[/say] Though they walk mostly in tandem, it's a good signal to continue forward.

- - -

Evie equips her shield and takes tally of her throwing knives before proceeding quietly.


RE: regions of moonlight - Serendipity - 03-31-2023

Alright. With shields and knives and projectiles launched by string at the ready, you venture forward, presumably still with your lanterns out for light. Around the bend at first you see nothing amiss: there is a small tidal pool full of deep and still water--a common sight within the Fingers. However as you take a few tentative steps forward, the light from your lanterns catch upon something that glimmers and shines with a brilliance you both immediately recognize.

Power.

It's the sort of shapeless and glowing orb that, while not common in Caido, is common enough that you know precisely what it is. For Melita, it could be the instant creation of a new weapon or some other item. For Evie, a new facet of magic. Or, perhaps for either of them, a companion.

It is pure potential. Pure power.

The map leads onwards though.

What do you do?


RE: regions of moonlight - Melita - 03-31-2023

Armed to the hilt, they proceeded forward, and the uncanny notions of something else flickered against her mind. An instant source of predilection and potential, that she’d felt many times before, in the rush of her fingers as they curled over a new weapon, or in the aspects of blinding potential. She took a breath, easing her lantern upwards, so that they could look upon the orb some more. Like an infinite possibility.

Like a temptation. Like something else lurked beyond it.

[say]“The map keeps going,”[/say] she whispered, as if that was the only thing ensuring she didn’t step forward and rush into the snare. [say]“This might be a trap,”[/say] or the truth – and she only inclined her head towards Evie, to see what the far wiser individual had to say. Maybe to keep her away from the grasping, mercenary, greedy inveigling contorting its way through her mind.


RE: regions of moonlight - Evie - 04-05-2023

The first thing she thinks as their lanterns catch on something embedded in the sand is this feels like mageglass. By itself, it's a tempting thought, but as Melita's voice whispers at her shoulder, Evie is reminded of the fact that mageglass only exists in Halo. That doesn't preclude its existence elsewhere, but they admittedly have no reason to believe it would appear in Torchline. And given the strange warning figures on the map...

It takes an embarrassing amount of strength to pull her eyes away - something to dwell on later, perhaps. A facet of personality and greed she will need to examine. [say]"The treasure at the end will hopefully be greater anyway,"[/say] she whispers back, and takes the lead this time - past the tempting, amorphous power, and further into the night, along their chosen path.

- - -

Evie and Mel continue onward!