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Post by Aledüne Nevaar on Nov 30, 2023 12:16:38 GMT -5
The fates were once again bringing the two to a head. Predators of different minds but similar nature, and yet today they would share in another event, for good and bad.
Aledüne had once again found himself in Frost Gale. His plans still required him to travel every once in a while, despite his home being worked on. This time he had come here to look for ancient crypts buried in snow and ice. Places the modern world had forgotten about that could provide more secrets. Charon's history a mystery that was only waiting to be discovered one by one under the power and initiative of the pathfinders of a world that had forgotten much of what once was.
For now Aledüne had chosen to travel alone, not bringing his servants. He enjoyed the peace and quiet every now and again, and as long as he could summon Jonathan when needed he knew he wouldn't come into danger all that easily.
As he continued walking he comes across a larger lake, frozen solid. Strange, according to his studies there had been a large city here at one point. If it was underneath the ice that would prove a problem. He takes a few careful steps out to make sure that the ice was solid, satisfied he continued carefully, and eventually reached the centre of the lake where he hoped to get a clue if his assumptions were true. He bends down and starts clearing the snow covering the ice away to see if he could perceive anything through it, and to his surprise he could, faintly.
Aldeüne was wearing a fur coat around his usual cloak that he used to shield himself from the rays of the sun. His boots were lined with Woolful fur, and he carried with him a satchel for equipment.
Quest Name: Stone Cold Participants: Two or more Location: Frostgale Post Requirements: 6 post per person, 200 words per post Reward: +1 Renown, +1 Stone, +1 Crystal Eye Description: Traveling through Frost Gale for your own business has lead you across a field of ice. The ice however has unknowingly begun to melt, most likely due to the increase in temperature as a result of Mt. Drakolt. As you travel, the ice beneath you gives way, sending you falling into a dark, frozen chamber beneath the earth. This chamber is not empty however, and is home to three, large, very old Basilisk. The job is simply, survive the Basilisk and escape from your frozen prison.
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"I only bite if you want me to, dear"
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Post by Sylvari Dawnsage on Nov 30, 2023 12:40:05 GMT -5
Frost Gale harbored no shortage of impressively nightmarish beasts. As such, Sylvari found herself trekking through the frozen tundra time and time again in her sacred mission to safeguard the common folk from evil. This time, it had been a Girallon, and a huge brute of the species, that she was winding down from a fight with. The beast was fearsome, but the justiciar had grown mightily in her travels throughout Charon, and what once would have been a deadly encounter, had left her without a scratch on her person.
Sylvari's continuing mastery of necromancy was the chiefest contributor. The overwhelming power of her summoned servants, as well as her undead dragonling Noe's [Necromancer, Undead Servant] constant resilience and devotion, had rendered fights that were once impossible well within her bounds of skill. Sylvari had long since debated the appearance of her reputation against the usefulness of her dark mastery, ending in a tenuous compromise: she hesitated to use her necromancy before those who were sensitive to such things, but she could not disparage the way the art lengthened justice's reach.
Noe had no such concerns, his little skeletal body pressed closely to his mistress' breast as she held him in her arms. He was a faithful and constant companion, ever willing to comply if he needed to be left behind to serve Sylvari's image. As the pair traveled, he seemed to take on more aspects of his mistress: her compassion, inquisitiveness, and most of all her fondness for others, sometimes to Sylvari's chagrin for those uncomfortable with the unliving. Out here in the wilds, away from civilization, however, Sylvari was more than happy to indulge in the companionship Noe provided.
As the snow crunched beneath her metal boots, Sylvari looked out to see a figure passing over a frozen lake. Frost Gale certainly carried the requisite chill to keep such frozen bodies of water solidified most of the year, but Sylvari preferred not to tempt nature's good will. She feared for the person's safety and rushed out after them to attempt to save them, should the ice give way.
"Excuse me, my friend! The ice isn't safe! I beg of you, please return to the shore!" Despite her words of caution, Sylvari seemingly held no regard for her own safety, charging out onto the ice to meet the figure. She noticed upon approach how bundled up the figure was: perhaps unsurprising for the chill that seemed to affect the living so mightily. Even so, the clothing of the person must have heavily obscured their view. Perhaps they didn't even know of the danger.
As Sylvari reached the figure and grabbed onto their arm to pull them away, she got a glimpse of the eyes within. Sages have said that eyes are gateways to the soul within, and Sylvari had a sneaking suspicion she had seen this particular soul before.
"Aledüne..?"
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Post by Aledüne Nevaar on Nov 30, 2023 13:14:44 GMT -5
As she asks the question, and the realization came to the eyes of the man she had grabbed as well, the ice breaks under the weight of both of them. With no word or warning they fell, quickly down into the abyss underneath the ice as ice and snow plummets after them, burying them both. The fall had been brutal, though luckily Aledüne had managed to extend his wings for but a moment and dampened the fall for them both.
A minute passes before the heavy snow cover and blocks of ice could be thrown to the side with his undead might, digging his way into the open again. Into the open, but trapped beneath the ice. When Aledüne could get a good look at the surroundings, it was pitch black, almost no light. The ice above their head, the surface of the lake had cracked badly with the tear in the middle having caused multiple larger pieces to loosen and fall inwards towards the centre. All that was preventing the entire lake from falling unto their heads was the time before these pieces of ice melted as well. A tiny stream of light emerging from where they had fallen, but it was clear they needed another way out.
Getting to his feet and brushing the ice off he got his first real look at the ruins of the undercity. An old Dwarven one by the looks of it. At one point this was probably a cave system, but eons of water erosion had allowed the space to be filled with water, and then frozen over. Now that things were started to thaw out, this place would eventually reach the surface in a couple of hundred years even. A few outlying towers decorated the landscape, but the main entrance to the city was a larger temple. It seemed to be dedicated to one of the ancient gods, but there was no way to know unless he could get closer. For a moment the fascination for the beauty before him, made him forget about the danger he was in. But suddenly he started looking around himself after his fellow victim. His voice also filled with worry as he starts digging into the snow for Sylvari? It had been Sylvari right? He had only gotten a glimpse before the fall, but he had been sure it was her. The fall in such armour was bound to have hurt, so he could only hope that she was ok enough to walk as he had no way to heal her."Sylvari? Was that you, can you me!"
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Post by Sylvari Dawnsage on Nov 30, 2023 13:59:38 GMT -5
As the ice beneath the pair broke, Sylvari's first instinct was to revel in a perverse pride about her correct estimation of the danger. It goes to show the arrogant nature of mortal minds that this should be my first concern in this situation. For most others, such a fall would have been extremely dangerous, if not outright deadly, but Sylvari had begun to explore the abilities of her cursed heritage. As such, simple things such as gravity, or rather the hard landing at the end of its pull, were of little concern to her. Just before the vampiress hit the frozen ground of the massive cavern that she and Aledüne had fallen into, she drew upon her tenuous position between life and death to pull her beyond the veil for just a moment, rendering herself incorporeal as her form drifted down through the snow as through water [Demon of the Mist]. Exerting some willpower, she managed to raise herself up above the frosty covering and re-corporealized.
Noe was not so lucky as to benefit from his mistress' ability, plunged into freefall as he slipped through where her arms previously were. The hard impact of the dragonling's skeleton with the snow caused his composite parts to scatter across the cavern floor, in disarray for just a few moments before the lingering necromantic energy from his connection to Sylvari caused the bones to reform into himself. He bounded over to his mistress, who had taken a moment to cover her eyes in darkness to see in the blackness of this place [Ebon Eyes], and was now looking at her new companion digging in the snow for her, a few paces away.
After a few more moments, Sylvari decided to spoil her fun to give Aledüne reassurance of her safety, a wry smile on her face. "My, my dear Aledüne. I didn't know I had made such an impression on you to care to search so fervently. Next time, let's try to avoid this situation entirely by not walking onto frozen la- well, cavern, I suppose."
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Post by Aledüne Nevaar on Nov 30, 2023 14:22:02 GMT -5
He stops digging, looks at her for a moment before slumps in surrender. "Yes, you caught me. I give a fuck, is that so bad?" He smiles at her his usual charming smile from their last visit. "I was worried I wasn't going to get to ask you about how your struggle with morality and nature had gone over the last few months, but now..." He looks interestingly over at the undead dragonling clinging to her. "Now I see you are more open about who you are. Good for you." He gives her another genuinely blinding smile.
"Tell me Sylvari..." His voice started to grow as ice suddenly. "Did you ever think about what the added weight of you, your armour and that dragonling of yours would do to the ice before you came running out to save me? That the weight of my own body alone would not have been enough to cause us to fall down here? Hmm? I know you gave it some thought right? Surely, cause if I had been anything but dead flesh walking you would have had another corpse to deal with?" He seems done being relived and happy to see her, now genuine anger. "We are trapped down here now, possibly with no way out. If we are buried here alive I will make sure to give you an earful for the next thousand years!" He starts walking over to her, climbing the snow and ice. Angry but not threatening he sits down closer to her and points to the ruins.
"So, what exactly is your plan to get out from here?"
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Post by Sylvari Dawnsage on Nov 30, 2023 15:00:40 GMT -5
Sylvari's mirthful smile faded into a somber frown as Aledüne continued to berate her. She remained silent for a moment when he had finished his monologue, allowing him to express his understandable frustration. She had never been very good at dealing with conflict caused by her own thoughtlessness, a trait that was made only more apparent through her travels. She removed her half veil to fix her now all-black eyes on her companion as she spoke.
"If that were the case I would have done all I could to prevent harm from befalling them, and heal them afterwards if I faltered in some way. If they were to pass..." A darkened shadow befell Sylvari's face as she considered the possibility. "It would be just one more death on my conscience. Unfortunately, I am only receptive to experience as a teacher, so I will try to keep this in mind should this occur again."
Feeling the dour mood that had befallen the pair, Sylvari forced a brave smile onto her face for Aledüne's benefit. "Fear not: this looks to be a city of some kind, surely there is another passage to the surface. We have our health, let's not lose our moods and make this situation any harder than it needs to be."
As if in affirmation of his mistress' hopeful outlook, Noe bounded over and began brushing against Aledüne's leg as a cat might, in an effort to comfort the man.
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