Usually it was Flora and Melita who gathered rocks for Torchline's quests. Hadama could not help but remember that the last time they had been sent to the Rainbow Road on such a task it had been for the Bubblestream that served to bring the Mer and humans closer together. At least the stream itself had been safely underwater and not damaged in the catastrophe of Starfall. It made it much quicker and easier for aid to come from the Underwater City, and it was how he chose to travel today with Andromeda , first to the destroyed Port and from there to the isthmus with its bubbling geysers.
He was tired. More tired than he could remember being before in his life. But he held his head high as they swam into the shallow waters at the meeting place, nodding solemnly to those who arrived to help. "I am Hadama," he said simply, by way of introduction. "And today we will gather the stones that Rae will use to protect Haulani."
He had brought several large, reinforced bags that he lifted himself out of the water to pass out to those that needed them. "They did not say that size or color mattered. We should gather as many as we can, to ring the city," he added. "Be careful. The voidborn have been seen here recently."
This is a PQ to gather stones from the Rainbow Road for Torchline's current RQ!
Round 1:
Start gathering stones!
1. Hadama
2. Isla
3. Andromeda
Fear gripped the heart of the pampered noble. Ever since the meteor crashed into their ocean, she has been full of fear. Worry and anxiety held on to her with a firmer grip than anything she had ever felt before. Perhaps that was the reason she came to help Torchline — or, perhaps, it was because it kept her close to Hadama.
Yeah, no. That was it. No “perhaps” needed.
Andy wanted two things in this fear: to be close to the king’s protection, or to be locked away in the safety of their palace. If she couldn’t have one, she’d take the other. So she stayed with Hadama closely until they had to part ways temporarily to gather rocks. She did not have time for introductions or polite interactions. They needed to get this done so they could return to the safety of the ocean’s depths.
She grabbed a bag, and with a haste fueled by anxiety, started collecting.
Andy takes a bag and starts collecting rocks.
"Isla," the Ancient introduces, having been waiting by the shoreline for the Merfolk to arrive. It's her first true act for Torchline, but it makes her no less keen to assist, and she accepts the reinforced bag with a nod of thanks between the Tidebreaker and his companion. "I'll cover ground further inland, but I won't stray too far. Let me know if you need me."
Smiling, it's with bare feet, freckled shoulders and fair hair fastened back out of her face that she gets to work, searching for any suitable stones she might place into the bag. Since size didn't matter, Isla chooses smaller specimens to be able to fit more into the space, all the while keeping an eye out for danger.
"Thank you, Isla," he rumbled to the unfamiliar woman. Or... perhaps not entirely unfamiliar? Ancients were still few enough to be memorable and he thought he might have seen her in the Hanged Man before...
But no matter.
Rocks were easy enough to collect. They did not try to run away, and there were no steep sleeps for them to roll down. The shifting mists of the Rainbow Road did make navigation and staying together difficult, however, and soon Isla was out of sight of the two Mer as the colorful, prismatic mists rolled and roiled between them.
Indeed, the day seemed a little darker for Andromeda and Hadama as they moved slowly through the shallows, the King choosing his stones with care for the task ahead while the mermaid filled her bag hurriedly. They had filled their bags by about a quarter when the wind began to pick up, whipping the fog around them and the chitter of a laughing encantado came from the waves nearby. A second echoed back on the other side of them, and a flash of slick dark hide was briefly visible between the clouds before vanishing again as the thunder rumbled directly over their heads.
A little ways away, Isla was enjoying the warmth of the sun playing through the low-lying clouds that billowed around her, lovely and many-hued. Her bag was also beginning to fill nicely with the smaller stones she chose, but her vision was limited by the Road's natural geyser mists and while she could hear the nearby rumble of thunder it was hard to pinpoint the exact direction. The air to the north of her seemed slightly chillier, however, and there was a sense of movement in the water that didn't quite match with the bubbling of the geysers.
Round 2!
Rock collecting is going well but Hadama and Andy have picked up some new friends, and Isla has been separated from them with a mystery of her own. The party is currently split and there is no posting order!
What will you do?
01-21-2024, 01:01 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-21-2024, 01:01 PM by Isla.)
Humming softly under her breath and enjoying the colourful mist and the heat of the day, Isla is uncharacteristically distracted by her task as time goes on. Lost in her own thoughts, eventually the Ancient does straighten up to stretch her back and roll her shoulders, glancing down at her half-filled bag of stones. Hadama's name is on her lips as she glances back towards - she assumes - the shore, but of course it's difficult to make anything out now.
The sudden drift of chillier air, too, grabs her attention, and Isla turns to venture towards it, thinking that perhaps it's coming inland from the ocean beyond. "Hello?" she calls, on the off-chance that her companions are nearby. "I think I've gotten a little turned around!" The words are accompanied by soft laughter, because if getting lost in the Rainbow Road is the height of her excitement today, it's a welcome break.
Isla approaches the direction of the chillier air and calls out!
Andromeda's hands worked swiftly, fueled by a relentless anxiety. The urgency to gather rocks was paramount, a task entrusted to her in the face of the unknown peril that loomed after the meteor crash. She moved with a singular focus, though she was careful not to swim too far from Hadama’s sight. She filled the bag in her grip filled rapidly, her mind attuned to the mission at hand.
Mist covered the colorful blanket of the terrain and sudden chatter echoed through the waters. Startled, Andromeda looked up to the king and swam closer to him. She gripped her bag of rocks against her chest and hissed There’s something here. While normally the noble would have ignore such an advance from creatures she surely encountered almost daily, she was too worked up being so close to the surface and so far away from the safety of the underwater city.
Andy panics and swims closer to Hadama.
Isla's voice seemed to echo strangely through the geyser field, making both distance and direction difficult to determine. The good news was that both Hadama and Andromeda would be able to hear her, and the Tidebreaker raised his own deep voice to help her orient towards them. The bad news was that they weren't the only ones that heard her.
Though perhaps 'hear' was the wrong word when she so obligingly stepped towards the Void River Star and its tendrils whipped out towards her, attempting to snare her ankles. There was something to be said for having lived (and died and lived again) through so much; the Ancient's reflexes were on point, and the tendrils missed her cleanly.
This time.
As for Andromeda and Hadama, the mermaid's bag was only half-full and that was what saved her. As the localized storm finished gathering and unleashed its first bolt of lightning, she was already moving to rejoin her king, faster due to carrying a lighter bag. The lightning missed her completely, dissipating in the shallow waters of the Road with little more than an unpleasant tingle. Hadama's brow furrowed in concentration as he bent his own Stormcall magic against that of the enshadowed delphinids, and as one surfaced nearby a second finger of lightning lashed down to strike it before it could dodge. The second delphinid fled, its fearful clicking sounding somehow ominous as it dove beneath the waves and escaped.
The Tidebreaker watched it go and then looked inland, trying to see through the mists. "Isla?" He called again, louder this time as he scanned the rainbow geyser field's obscuring clouds for their third.
Isla and Andy successfully dodged, and Hadama succeeded at his attack!
Round 3:
Isla's bag is 1/3rd full and she has found a hungry Void River Star!
Andy's bag is half-full and she is unhurt.
Hadama's bag is 1/3rd full and the last enshadowed delphinid has retreated.
What will you do?
Void River Star (uncommon - Greatwood, King's End, Oerwoud, Torchline): The carnivorous River Stars, tainted by void energy, have become even more sinister. Their once vibrant appearance has faded into shades of deep black and purple. Now, instead of waiting for prey to step onto their centers, they actively seek out creatures, using void-infused tendrils to ensnare and drain the life force from their victims.
Having turned her head towards Hadama's voice with a smile, Isla steps towards the sound - and consequently away from the void star that tries to grab hold of her at the same time. Taking a precautionary hop out of the way just in case it keeps coming for her, the Ancient's brows furrow and she shrugs her bag onto her shoulder.
Wanting nothing to do with this fight (she's hardly suited for aggression, especially these days), the medic grabs a larger rock and tries to heft it at the star, before making a tactical retreat.
Providing she's able to find the two Mer again easy enough, she'll call out for them again, gesturing back into the mist. "We'd best be careful. Some of those void creatures are about," she says.
Isla tosses a rock at the void star and heads back towards Hadama and Andromeda!
The void-touched creatures did not make this endeavor easy. Andromeda already had a difficult time climbing aboard tasks and ideas to help Torchline at large, and most of the time that was done out of loyalty to Hadama and Hadama alone. But, this was extra difficult. The merking’s lightning may have scared off the last of the warped creatures, but the clicking couldn’t leave the betta’s mind.
As Hadama called out for Isla, Andy returned her focus to the task at hand. She did not stray far from the king, however. With lightning quick precision and a rapid-firing heart, Andromeda attempted to fill the rest of her bag with the stones they needed to fulfill this portion of their quest.
Andy tries to fill the rest of her bag and hates everything
Once he was certain that the threat of the delphinids was gone for good, the King turned to Andromeda . "Are you alright?" he spoke quietly, but loud enough for his voice to serve as a beacon for their missing team member. As the mermaid went back to work her bag began to grow heavier, slowing her movements, but bringing them closer with every stone to the completion of the task.
Isla 's rock flew wide, but it passed near enough to a creeping tendril to cause the Void River Star to jerk back, giving her plenty of time to move away from it fast enough that it couldn't follow before losing her footsteps in the mist and geysers. The Ancient was able to use the rumbling of the King's voice as a compass to lead her back to where the Mer were at work. Hadama looked up at her approach, relaxing when he saw who it was, and nodded at her words. "Indeed. We encountered some as well. We will stay together while we finish."
Looking at his own bag and Andromeda's swiftly-filling one he added: "We are almost done. A few more and we will have enough." As if in counterpoint a nearby geyser erupted, casting a fine mist of water droplets around them and increasing the difficulty in seeing the stones until they were almost on top of them.
Last round!
Hadama wants the group to stick together as they finish up. Unfortunately the local geysers are picking up activity and making it hard to see.
Collect the last batch of rocks in spite of the reduced visibility.
"That sounds for the best - you'll hear no complaints from me," Isla assures Hadama as he finally comes back into view along with Andromeda. Shifting her bag onto her other shoulder, she begins to search the ground immediately at her feet for anything suitable. And it seems to go well until the interruption of the geyser, Isla squinting and finding herself wading practically into the shallows to keep the two Mer in view.
"If we ever need to do this again, we should probably bring along a weapon or two, just in case," she remarks, trying to keep things lighthearted even if the danger around them is all too apparent. "I have magic, but given its element, it's only likely to make more steam out here."
Isla collects rocks from the shoreline and the shallows and tries to keep close to Hadama and Andromeda!
I want to go back to our city. Andromeda informed her king with a pressed urgency that scarcely hid the terror in even her internal voice. She did not want to be near the surface where the starfall had happened. She wanted to go back to the safety of the home that she knew — and was well taken care of in.
So she moved with that terror-fueled urgency. Her eyes flitted from Hadama to Isla as she reached for rocks in the shallow shores, her red tail splayed out behind her like a curtain of rage and blood. The geysers shooting off around her, filling the proximity with steam, made her nerves even higher, but she didn’t stop until she could barely lift her bag and had to use her magic to assist her.
Scared!Andy collects rocks until she has to use her magic to help her lift her bag.
"Indeed," Hadama agreed solemnly with Isla's sentiment. "Next time I will bring my trident." Only the need to carry the bags and rocks today had caused him to leave it at home, but it would not be a mistake he made again. The Void corruption was spreading alarmingly. The delphinids in particular had been a nasty surprise
It had not been easy, but the work was eventually finished without further interruptions or delays. No more void creatures made themselves known, and only a couple rocks got up and scuttled away when Isla reached for them (they were, in fact, well-disguised crabs). We will leave soon, he assured Andromeda as he chose a final stone and tied his bag shut with satisfaction over a job well done. Between the three of them they had gathered a large amount of stones of all sizes and colors; enough to surround the whole of Haulani.
"Thank you. On behalf of Torchline, and myself." He rose up out of the water to bow deeply to Isla and Andy both. "We will take these to the Court of Stars. And then we will be done." And though he could have aquaported himself and his own bag there much faster, the threat of what they had already encountered was enough to convince him that they should travel together, with safety in numbers.
Once the sacks were deposited he bid farewell to Isla and accompanied Andromeda back to the Underwater City. There was more work to do, but for the rest of today, at least, they could rest.
~Fin~
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