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Post by Kidney on Oct 3, 2018 21:55:04 GMT -8
The road lay ahead of the group, an endless, snaking trail leading inevitably towards the drenched, salt-encrusted Cove. The hard stomps of their boots sounded forth, the eery silence of the entirety of the trail signaled the end of civilization as the group knew it and the beginning of the end. Such was the way of this dreaded, blood-soaked part of the world, soon to be filled with the scents of salt and rotting fish.
The scent of the sea first cut through the stagnant air, followed by the sounds of rustling water as the group neared the Cove on the second day of travel. Written upon notes, hastily shoved into Elorit's hands by the manic Caretaker, were strange runic symbols, recorded by scouts. One looked like a man, though the stick-figure's arms and legs were connected, forming an 8-like hourglass shape.
Elorit would see a single word underneath the symbol as he tracked one upon a nearby tree, "Leave."
--- Roard tromped forward, the decaying giant shuffling forward with unending endurance for a larger man. His hands clung to a strap across his chest, attached to a sling, holding his massive sword nearly haphazardly. His mask was tightly attached to his head, oh which slowly turned towards Isaac. The leper pointed towards the tree which boasted the symbol, "Isaac. What is that?"
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Post by kssanthony101 on Oct 3, 2018 22:10:16 GMT -8
Issac slugged his satchel with his gear and filled with stones. He barely had enough room in his satchel for rations to last for a few days. He went on this expedition out of curiosity of this cursed water and to grew familiar with what creatures he may find in his personal quest. Low on gold and no progress, he must further his abilites to overcome the lurking horrors. He sees the strange and labeled tree as Roard mentioned. He never saw such a symbol but made a guess based on his observation of it. His voice in a tone of curiosity and a creeping worry.
"It's some sort of symbol. Perhaps a religious one. Below it is a warning. "Leave", I'm guessing we're not turning back like the tough guys we are, eh?"
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Post by EloHim on Oct 4, 2018 1:42:06 GMT -8
Elorit had enough time to prepare his basic array of potions for short travel. The arrangements he made allowed him to leave most of the unnecessary and yet valuable possessions back at the Tavern. The expedition interested Elorit for one particular reason - supposed contamination of water. Whatever was the source, it must be stopped before any other water sources around the Hamlet would be contaminated. He knew too well what might happen in such scenarios.
He didn't know much about his companions and he didn't bother learning more than their names. They looked dangerous enough to serve as a good protection - that's all that mattered to Elorit. "- Scouts seen many of these around. They do not match any of those known to me, which is a rarity... Nonetheless we can't leave until we find the source of the problem with water."
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Post by Unter on Oct 6, 2018 5:17:34 GMT -8
Bloody need for money. Bloody fishes. Bloody lepers. Bloody rocks. Bloody water. Bloody expedition.
It wasn't like Iver wasn't thrilled to be here. He liked the sound of the sea echoing through the trees and the air, like it was some normal place. But this wasn't anything normal. He took little time to read the expedition paper before sodding off to found this bloody leper that was just so tall ! but he knew that weird shit was going on. At least it was better than those bloody warrens.
The midget trailed in the middle of the group, not even bothering talking too much. It didn't matter. They could discuss all theyw anted once they arrived. And no one liked trugding through those faens paths of the hamlet talking. But good money was proposed. And he heard in the tavern that the fishfolk there kept good loot. At least he hoped it was true.
He didn't stop caressing his daggers, all ten of them, the whole journey. He was nervous. The least he could be after this fiasco of a "rescue" with bloody Nasuada, faen Ibrahim and angry Libourg. It seemed he was the only """veteran""" of the party, and he wasn't going to let those guys die. At least, if they weren't any like Nasuada. Bloody woman. Infuriating as a goat that ate leather.
One of the party, Elorit he thought the man was named, stopped. A word was written on a tree. A tree ! A bloody tree. Aren't signs civilised enough for the fishfolk ? Bloody hell.
He talked, his rasp voice loud enough for someone his height.
"Leave. Ha ! I don't know for you all, but in my long experience with my mother's bakery, when she said leave, it was when a juicy pie was cooling down. This can only mean one thing. Good treasure protected by whatever this blighted place can throw at us. And I still have to see something surviving a knife in the bloody eye."
He scratched his chin.
"I don't know all about the chicken-scratch, though. Probably some funny fishfolk who thought it looked good. Let's just hurry up, staying on the move helps forgetting that this place can swallow us whole in one bloody bite."
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Post by Kidney on Oct 6, 2018 16:08:33 GMT -8
Roard felt more uneasy, a growl coming from behind the mask as he patted Isaac on the back. He shook his head, heavy steps taking him further down the road, the sounds of water filling his ear-holes. There was a sentence from him, "I wish to make a pie one day."
An uneasy breeze of air danced behind Iver's head, to which nothing seemed to be the conjurer. From the Cove resonated a scent of salt and water, though a new scent filled the party's noses as they caught sight of a spot of beach. The small stretch of dark sand leading into an unnatural sight. Blackwater.
Roard let out a concerted burst of air, stopping in his tracks on the edge of a high piece of land that led downward in a diagonal ramp of soft dirt to the beach below. "Men. There is water, and it is very black."
The black water lapped strangely across the sand, and from this height, one could see collected masses of seaweed exposed by receding waters. Their colour seemed to be drained, their grayish-white skin veined and slimy. As the leper drew nearer to the edge of the pool, he would catch sight of a small bulge in the water. As waters drew further closer to his feet, a roof of a cave was revealed. To either side of this beach lay waist-deep water, of which connected to more black pools, though strange, crude stone and wood structures blocked these drained pools from accessing the water from this cave-pool.
Roard strode into the water, not caring for the men behind him, simply pointed towards the opposite dam as the giant strode calf-deep towards the left dam.
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Post by kssanthony101 on Oct 6, 2018 17:22:56 GMT -8
Issac was a bit dumbfounded from Roard's strange comment but brushed it aside. He was focused. Seeing the darkened water before him. Issac was more concerned of what's IN that very water before he could step foot into it. He pulled out a small stone from his satchel and skipped it across the water. He prayed in his mind that there was nothing in that water. He didn't want to lose his friend by some maneater underwater. He waited a few more seconds before the stone stopped and sinked to the bottom of the pool.
He slowly took a few steps into the water, then continued to follow Roard. Issac spoke his concern to the group, a nervous smile streched on his face as his grip on his mace tighten. Ready to bash anything that could spawn from the water multiple times if need be. "I got a bad feeling from this water guys..I don't think this water wouldn't be dyed for fun.."
His eyes keep watch of what's up ahead and below him. He was new to the whole exploring of dungeons. A claustrophobic feeling grew on him but his watchful nature seized to disappear.
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Post by EloHim on Oct 6, 2018 18:58:39 GMT -8
As they approached the pools of water, Elorit's concern grew. The water was black, which could've mean many things. "- Don't let the water touch your skin. Else we might as well leave you here..."-he said as they approached the pools but, alas it was too late for that. Two fools of his group just walked into it. Elorit silently questioned their sanity, if there was any. Ignorance, combined with bravery - that sounded more like it. "- Well, if its poisoned or contaminated with sickness, we will know for certain now."- he chuckled grimly, procuring two small glass vials from the satchel. With his hands protected by leather gloves(which he had many to spare), he approached the pool of black water and filled those vials with black water. He quickly cleaned the outside of the vials and the glove with a piece of paper and put one of the vials back into the satchel, destined for precise examination back in his makeshift laboratory at the Tavern. The piece of paper was put in a small purse of cloth and with it was going straight into the fire later. Stepping away from the pool,he started the examination of other vial, looking at the consistency of the blackwater - how see-through it was, how thick it was, if there was anything strange besides the colour. Most importantly - he looked for any sign of separation, any sign of residue forming on the bottom of the vial. The one fact was in his head already - whatever contaminated the water, it didn't changed it's acidity by large margin...and if it did he will find out soon. Either trough dissolving of the vial, or trough screams of those who were foolish enough to step into it.
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Post by Unter on Oct 7, 2018 10:29:43 GMT -8
Water. Bloody water. It was black as Iver's big toe. Water isn't supposed to be black. This time he was in the back of the party, and couldn't do anything to stop those two fools entering the black water.
By Surtr's beard, what the fuck were they doing ?! BLACK WATER. IN A COVE. OF EVIL. WHY? They just asked to die at this point. Arriving near the shore, while Elorit was taking the water in a vial, he shouted.
"You bloody idiots ! What are you doing ? Can't you think for five fucking minutes in your bloody heads ?! What if there is some faen monster in this black water ? Did you fucking think about it ? Your plague riddens pustules won't save you Roard ! It may even give you some bloody taste that some monster will like, and it will use it to make something even worse !"
He was red with anger, from his short height. Then he murmured in his own beard "Bloody idiots." Of course, he wasn't going to admit that he didn't know how to swim. And that he was too short to bloody walk in the water. He examined the scientist next to him. Maybe he could convince the others to not get eaten.
"Hey, science guy, Elorit, whatever your name is. How's the water ? Am I right, and are they idiots ? Are we going to lose half the expedition already? I call dibs on Isaac's loot."
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Post by Kidney on Oct 7, 2018 10:50:21 GMT -8
As Elorit took the water within glass vials, a similar brush of wind danced across the back of his neck, like that of which had touched Iver before. As Iver blustered forth, cursing the two in front of him, a cold feeling entered his toes and fingers. Should he take the time to look, his sweat, whether or not he had been sweating, had appeared and grown cold upon his digits.
Isaac would feel a slithering, cold, formless, feeling of sliminess underneath his backplate.
As Roard neared the near pile of broken rock, acting as a dam, he saw that the pool the structure blocked water from was smaller and deeper than the cave-pool. His clouded eyes surveying slowly before Roard began to yank rocks down, the blackwater sloshing past the dusty stones. The leper would watch as the water pushed rocks down, gallons of water rushing to fill the pool.
As Elorit studied the water, he would find it a thicker consistency than average water. He would also notice that the water was universally black, with not a single space devoid of color. It looked almost like the night sky, but without stars. As Elorit looked deeper into the endless black of the substance, his hands and toes grew colder.
More of the strange cave-opening began to show. The arch was larger than Roard expected, and he cracked his neck loudly as he spoke, "Isaac. Pull down the dam over there."
As Roard spoke this, he growled, smacking the back of his neck angrily. "Bugs."
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Post by kssanthony101 on Oct 7, 2018 11:14:29 GMT -8
Issac kept both his arms and his satchel above the water while following Roard to the obstacle ahead. He made sure his belongings weren't soaked or dipping of this liquid. When he heard of Surtr's heated cry of his curiousity then his dibs on his loot, he chuclked and made a littl smirk.
"Most of what you'll find in my satchel is just a bunch of stones friend. If I do die here, I'd go out in a bang!"
He shaked his mind from getting cocky of his pride and confidence to focus on the expedition. Hearing Roard's simple request for assistance, he helped in the dismantlement of the dam. He left his mace, hanging on his side and began yanking off rocks and pebbles with his small hands, he couldn't do much or little due to his lack of strength but he tried. Though, he would look behind himself or to his sides if any beasts were lurking behind them. He expressed this concern to Roard.
"So there wasn't any infomation about some giant fish that eats people and lurks in this water right?..."
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Post by EloHim on Oct 16, 2018 13:39:22 GMT -8
"- Better question is...is it even water? Black...no breakthrough...light doesn't pass trough... black oil? Possible. Some sort of squid ink? Dammit, too many possibilities and no equipment to test it. Why the hell those scouts didn't brought samples of the liquid? I could've tested them before we went here. Dammit."
He cursed some more in his mind. The whole mission was a hastily created mess from the start. Like whoever was in charge of the whole thing decided to just throw the problem at the bounty board and be like "Hey we have that unexplained unscouted problem, go solve it, i don't care how." Maybe that was the point? To throw people at it expecting the trouble to subside and go away?
"- Iver, try it for flamability, see if it burns. And...I guess I'm gonna do it the old fashioned way. "
He dipped the small finger of his left hand, covered by leather glove, into the vial, getting small drop of black liquid on it. Then he licked it, working with his taste buds and then after a few seconds quickly spat what was on his tongue out with a hefty dose of saliva. That method was rather dangerous, mainly because even a smallest particle of the liquid could’ve been the death of him, if allowed to pass into his throat. That method was also old. And effective in understanding of what the alchemist was working with. With profession of an Alchemist comes a necessity to taste things that to a more aristocratic tongue may seem unsavory as hell. But Elorit was prepared for it.
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Post by Unter on Oct 16, 2018 13:59:24 GMT -8
Iver stared at Elorit. Wha...? What was he blubbering about ? This black ichor was either two thing. Either water or...
""- Iver, try it for flamability, see if it burns."
It seems the "scientist" had the same idea as him. Figured. Iver had experience with fire. When he shoved a torch into some beasts' mouth, it exploded in a fiery storm. Maybe it would do the same here. And if there was a monster underneath... Isaac and Roard wouldn't be that much of a price to pay. They could just bring back the monster, and say it was the anomaly. And share the pay between him and EloHim. Krieg and fast. Just how he liked it.
"Hey, watch and learn Elorit. We'll see if that bloody thing catches fire alright."
He took a single clothe, that was used to refuel the torch, and lit it on fire. He watched the spark burst into flame, and he dropped the clothe in the "water".
Now, with a little expectation, and with taking a little step back in case of a good scenario, he waited.
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Post by Kidney on Oct 16, 2018 14:14:50 GMT -8
As Iver tossed the torch into the dark depths of the water, he, and everyone else would watch the crude torch slam against the surface like a river stone on a sheet of ice. The flames near the side planted on the water itself sputtered and snuffed, to which the torch sunk like a rock, extinguishing flames as quick as they could lick their way through the air.
As he did this, a crucial stone Isaac pulled down released a torrent of water from around Isaac's ankles and into the drained pool ahead of him. Now, what revealed itself in the center of the lake as the party had arrived was exposed to the air.
Draped in veiny, gray sea-grass, a smallish cave opening stood. It only went maybe four feet deep and stood just above six feet tall. Within sat a smallish chamber, of which upon the floor lay a metal trap-door. Its rusted edges revealed a possible airtightness broken with time.
As Elorit dipped the tip of his finger within the vial and pulled a droplet from it, the water took on a mucusy texture. As he placed it within his mouth, an immediate putrid, rotting taste accompanied by rigorous amounts of salt invaded his taste. As he began to fill his mouth with saliva for the spit, the blackwater seemed to have absorbed some of it before Elorit could have spat it out.
As he did, the strange spit-water combination splattered upon the ground like a black egg white.
Roard stood, astounded at the stupidity of his teammates, and the oddness of the cave. He scoffed, watching Elorit nearly swallow the substance, and watching Iver attempt to set it alight. He grumbled and waded closer to the group, rising out of the water a bit as he neared the shore. He gestured towards the cave once more, "Come. We go deeper," he spoke.
He looked upon the small man, shaking his head, offering no words, but a father-like look of disappointment. Promptly, he began to trek towards the closed metal contraption within the cave.
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Post by Unter on Oct 16, 2018 14:20:58 GMT -8
Iver looked at the water with disappointment. He had a little "Aww...", but then quickly stopped to examine the new entrance. Perfect. The bloody water was gone. He looked at Elorit.
"Welp. It was worth a try. Let's go. This place stinks of shit."
He started to go in the drained pool, only to find that he was sinking in the mud. The wet dirt was covering both of his feet, and he had a big trouble to walk. He said, softly.
"Bloody hell. I sure hope this isn't like this for the whole fucking area."
He waded to the cave's entrance, starting to prepare a torch for the entry.
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Post by kssanthony101 on Oct 16, 2018 14:27:52 GMT -8
Issac was about to turn around and throw the stone at Iver for committing a rather stupid idea to kill both him and his friend Roard in a flash but as soon as the water drained, so were his worries. He breathed in relief and continued once more to push ahead with this expedition. Brushing off the dust from dismantling that dam, he walked up to the cave's entrance. Mace in hand, the other in his satchel, ready for action.
He did glared at Iver as he got close to the cave while he wasn't looking. A small grudge formed a bit onto Issac. He had a bad feeling about this man so he's going to keep a small eye on him. Issac would not stop at nothing to find that rumored magic, even if he has to kill some assholes or whatever the dungeons have to find it.
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