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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Jan 3, 2024 17:17:01 GMT -5
Weird things are afoot in Charon once again. It’s only been a few months since the earthquakes settled with Vulcadreaus’ eruptive entrance, and now there are reports of strange circles of flora cropping up across the continent. One such circle appeared around the Steam Springs within Stormgale Village. With its appearance, the area became devoid of color. For the safety of the villagers, Mizzi Bells sequestered the area off until it could be investigated. Lucky for her, the plucky and always willing Astrid Stormstone isn’t too far, and another adventurer that Astrid happens to know is investigating the matter as well. So, once both Raoul and Astrid are in Storm Gale, Mizzi takes them to the Steam Springs and looks at the area with a critical eye. “Wow, this is real weird, ain’t it?” Astrid says, observing the area’s bizarre lack of color. It’s almost as if the steam itself has sucked it all away and evaporated it into the atmosphere. “Aye, it’s strange, and we won’t be lettin’ anyone in until we can determine how dangerous it is,” Mizzi replies, looking at the two adventurers. “Figured ya have some Consortium ties, so ya can use that noggin’ ta figure out what kinda flowers these are.”Giving a little salute, Astrid says, “A’ course! Raoul an’ I are on the case!”“Good, then I’ll be far over in that direction makin’ sure I don’t get desaturated myself,” Mizzi says while pointing back toward the village. “Things are already gray enough in this part of the Cradle without this happenin’, so be careful.” Then she leaves the two to figure this situation out.
Quest details: Quest Name: Ring of Flowers Participants: Exactly Two Location: One of the listed locations below Post Requirements: 6 posts per person, 200 words per post Reward: +2 Renown, 1 Mystical Archive Ticket Description: Strange things are occurring around these newly formed flower circles and help is needed in understanding why. Unfortunately, as one of the first groups of people to explore these phenomena, we are unaware of any specific strange or weird side effects interacting with these rings may bring, so be careful. Study the flowers, record what you see, hear, or even feel.
Special Requirements: Your investigations will reveal that these circles are not native to Charon and are coming from some other realm. They are Fae in nature and give off similar magical traces as the Fae creatures that currently live on Charon, although much stronger and more potent.
Upon arriving at the location, you will find that strange things have begun to happen, not only to the environment but to you as well, with prolonged exposure to the circle increasing the effects. Before you begin the quest, you must choose one of the locations listed below to explore, with a specific obstacle attached based on the region. These added effects cannot be ignored and must be applied to your characters during the quest.
Gray flowers have created a large ring around the steam springs. All color has been pulled from the area, leaving the springs gray, bleak and devoid of hue. While investigating the flowers, members find that the gravity in the area has become weakened. Small things float in the air while bodies feel weightless. A simple hop can launch the person 10 feet in the air before they slowly fall back to the ground like a feather. Actions seem faster but quick, forceful motions can send someone flying in a random direction. Lasts the entire topic.
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Post by Raoul O. Ardelean on Jan 9, 2024 17:09:36 GMT -5
The current flower phenomena that had been affecting Charon was strange, to say the least. Entire patches of flowers not native to the land had sprung up randomly across the earth without any logical reason. This situation hadn’t happened before and something about it worried the dhampir. Vulcadreus had just been defeated only a month or two ago and he was worried that this could be the first signs of the primordial’s death affecting their world. Although Raoul was not a gardener he knew that this was very concerning. The effects on the native wildlife would have to be investigated further. His first call to action would be to head to the flower patch most nearby him at the moment, that being the Stormgale village. He had been investigating and looking into some leads when he was told about the strange flowers.
Intrigued and wanting to at least satisfy his curiosity, he departed to Stormgale village only a few hours to walk towards the town as he entered he was already told by the guards that Miss Mizzi could use his certain skills in investigating the area. He was appreciative of the fact that at least his talents were starting to get recognized, especially by the leader of Stormgale. So after heading in the guard’s direction he finds Mizzi and follows her to Steam Springs. It’s a bizarre sight, flowers of dead colored gray almost as if they were deprived of life itself. He hadn’t seen something like this ever; these flowers were not like any Raoul knew.
“Yeah really weird is one one way of putting it, it’s straight-up otherworldly. I’m not a gardener but I will say that this is strange. I wonder how they got here in the first place. What type of plants are being planted here and for what purpose?", he says scratching his chin as he looks over the site.
He waves Mizzi off before crouching down to take a closer look at the flowers, “It’s a pleasure to work with you again Astrid, looks like we’re not gonna do anything as interesting as fighting a bugaboo this time so far that I’m sorry if this is a bit boring”.
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Jan 9, 2024 18:26:46 GMT -5
Astrid waves off the suggestion that investigating something interesting could be less boring than fighting. Sure, it is in some cases, but a massive ring of flowers surrounding the springs isn’t something that just pops up without warning. “Magical flowers are pretty interestin’, if I’m honest. Besides, not every adventure needs ta involve fightin’ somethin’.” Admittedly, after some recent events, Astrid could use something more mundane.
She squats down and prods at a couple of flowers herself. “Don’t look like anyone came around an’ planted ‘em. It’d take a long time ta do that an’ clean up all the mess, don’t ya think? When da gardens, even when he’s keepin’ it neat, there’s still some sign that shovels were in the dirt.” As she considers the possibility of magic, she adds, “S’pose someone with earth magic coulda make it a clean process though…”
Standing upright, she looks into the colorless landscape surrounding the Steam Springs. “Maybe there’s somethin’ in the circle that’ll give us some answers? C’mon.”
When Astrid steps over the surrounding flowers, the color seems to drain from her person. Her boots don’t feel as heavy, and the simple motion somehow sends her foot forward farther than her typical steps might reach. Her heel skids in the dirt, and caught off guard, she waves her arms to regain balance. The movements feel extremely jerky, like her hands go flying farther than she intends. Suddenly, she careens forward in a twisting motion and collapses in the dirt twenty feet from the edge of the circle.
“WHOA!”
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Post by Raoul O. Ardelean on Jan 10, 2024 2:53:56 GMT -5
A small smile appears on Raoul’s face as he crouches over the patch of flowers, “Well I’m glad to hear that you think so too Astrid, that's very mature and correct. I much prefer this type of thing than getting decimated by another bugaboo gosh I can still taste the bogwater sometimes”, he shudders in disgust for a second before returning to the conversation at hand, “I don’t think somebody planted these flowers either like you said it would take too long and there would be signs of equipment or tools here. Which begs the question how did those emerge here specifically? I mean an earth domain mage could be the case? I just struggle to think of why. Why do this? Why make an entire patch of flowers with this strange color here? It just doesn’t make a lot of sense. I have a theory that scares me a little to think about, could this be a sign of Vulcadreus’s death already having its effect on our earth? I heard about your great work at the battle itself, what do you think? Does my theory have any merit based on what you saw in that battle?”, the dhampir questions looking over the flowers.
He then stands back and nods, “You’re right, just looking at these things isn’t going to solve or fix anything we need to collect samples and data. Perhaps taking a better look at the circle would yield better results”.
He then walks forward stepping on the flowers his body immediately feels affected, he can feel his entire body drain of energy. He feels lighter but also appears more pale if that was even possible considering how he looked. He takes another step forward trying to stabilize himself but instead of just walking forward he feels his body stay in the air for longer than he needs to be. Suddenly he feels the ground from under his feet gone and the image in front of him blurring as he jerks ten feet in front of him. He falls of course but it seems like the air around him is slow as he gently falls to the floor without feeling the impact.
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Jan 10, 2024 17:48:51 GMT -5
A thoughtful finger poised against her chin, Astrid listens to Raoul’s theories and reasonings. When he mentions Vulcadreaus’ demise, her face twists into an uncomfortable distaste for that idea, particularly because she had a hand in the dragon god’s death. “I… Hope it ain’t that. Besides, he were the god a’ rebirth, an’ it’d be weird fer stuff ta be reborn without him around.” The last bit hurts her personally, considering the loss of Zarius, and everyone’s want to find a way to bring him back somehow. “When he exploded into a bunch a’ lights, the field was covered in grass. It was real colorful, which…” Trailing off, she looks out at the gray landscape. “This is the opposite a’ that.”
With the two of them in agreement that further investigation is needed, they step inside the circle… Only to promptly be thrown forward unexpectedly by the force of their own steps. Astrid blinks and recollects herself but hesitates to move. Her eyes glance around for Raoul only to see him gently impact the ground not far away. “Are ya alright?? That was WEIRD!!”
Very cautiously, Astrid rolls over onto her side. The movement feels so strange, like she’s weightless or at least weighs less. Knowing her own strength can throw her off in normal gravity has her especially anxious. “Ah… I’m scared I’ll push meself up an’ careen ta the atmosphere.”
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Post by Raoul O. Ardelean on Jan 11, 2024 3:28:34 GMT -5
“What the actual fuck”, Raoul accidentally blurts out as he is confused about what just happened.
He still feels incredibly weird, his body feels drained of energy but at the same time he feels light, he feels as if someone took all of the weight of the world which usually kept him grounded. He stands up his movements even stranger; each slight change in weight feels weird and uncomfortable as if someone casts some sort of spell on him that isn’t going away.
He glances over at Astrid worriedly, “Are you okay? Are they hurt or bruised? Oh no, I don’t have any medical equipment on me but I’m sure we can ask Mizzi for some if you need it”, then after hearing Astrid’s response he calms down believing her to be alright.
“I’m alright myself, a little thrown off and feeling incredibly strange but I’ll be fine, don't worry. It’s okay alright Astrid everything’s going to be okay let’s just slowly and carefully try to think of what’s going on before we act any further”.
He then tries to get his mind off of his horrible predicament and focus on the job, “I also hope that my theory isn't the case but still to think that killing the god of rebirth and expecting nothing to chance is a little too hopeful. But if you don’t think this could be related I’ll trust your word and try to think of something better. Especially with this weird effect, this isn’t normal and we need to figure out what’s going on. Who knows what this could mean and I’m afraid of more of these popping up”.
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Jan 20, 2024 16:07:53 GMT -5
With a great amount of caution, Astrid sits up as slowly as she can. Even the slow movements make her body leave the ground a couple of inches before settling back in the dirt. Okay, so that works. She just has to be very deliberate about how she’s moving. Letting only her eyes move, Astrid traces the surroundings, but from her vantage point on the ground, she can’t figure out where the center of the ring is. Astrid looks up at the sky. Well, that’s the best place to get a look, isn’t it?
“I’m gonna look from up there!” she declares, sliding her feet under the bulk of her. Time to test this weird gravity! From her squat, Astrid pushes herself up with great force, just as much as it might normally take her to leap into the air, but with the odd magical anti-gravity, she rockets a few dozen feet up. The fall doesn’t scare her because she’ll open her wings if she feels like the impact will be terrible. When she reaches the arc of the leap, she’s floating in the air, almost as if suspended in water for a moment. From there, she points out the center of the area, which lies directly over the underground springs.
“Head that way!” she says.
Then she decides to try something that is probably foolish. A bolt of lightning arcs out from her finger and fires off in the direction she’s pointing.[1] Then, she disappears in a flash, traveling through the bolt.[2]
1. Lightning Bolt 2. Elementalist - Bolt Dancer
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Post by Raoul O. Ardelean on Jan 21, 2024 10:56:05 GMT -5
A confused look enters Raoul’s face as he glances towards the spot Astrid pointed at.
“Okay? Oh right I remembered you have bat wings, just be careful Astrid we still don’t know how these flowers will affect us further”.
He then watches as she leaps and with the help of their new weightless zooms through the air without any trouble of silly gravity”.
Although he logically knows Astrid will be fine he still can't help himself from being worried, “Be careful there friend try not to look down”.
He was fully ready to sprint as fast as he could in case she fell even if he did know the child was way stronger and more prepared than he was. It was a habit from having to look after his various brothers and crewmates back when he was a pirate.
He then looks over to where Astrid points and nods, “Alright will do good work Astrid”, and starts jogging over there.
He then notices a bolt of lightning zoom through the air and looks back extremely worried that Astrid was hurt. Dragon’s Cradle was always difficult to navigate so he was concerned that it had gotten to his friend. But to his surprise was nowhere to be found. Confused, he stops and calls, “Astrid! Astrid! Where’d you go?”.
He then takes a moment to think, “Wait, that sudden lightning bolt that appeared couldn’t have been. Considering her incredible abilities that’s the most likely explanation”.
He then continues jogging slowly towards the area’s center determined to make absolute sure that his theory about Astrid’s electric form was true.
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Jan 21, 2024 16:32:49 GMT -5
The thing about traveling in this area of low gravity and strange magic is that all movements are sped up in an almost exponential way. And Astrid, for some reason, did not consider this when traveling through her lightning bolt. See, she very much considered that the movement through the bolt is more of a teleport than anything, but the magic, rather, has her move through the lightning bolt at mach speeds.
Which are then exponentially increased.
The moment her form enters the lightning bolt, she realizes her mistake. This is indeed a big mistake. Hoo boy. With barely a second of time to think, she prepares herself for impact. She appears at the end of the bolt, in the spot she pointed toward, and rather than simply appearing, she slams into the ground with the force of a tiny meteor traveling at ten times the speed of sound. Even better is that she’s not wearing her armor currently, so the kid not only creates a crater in the dirt and rock, but she takes the full brunt to her arms and face.
The force keeps her moving forward, and she skips off the ground like a rock on water and goes careening another hundred feet before skipping again and being launched out of the flower circle entirely, crashing into a stable set up for those who travel to the Steam Springs, which is luckily empty given the situation around the Springs. Several layers of wood and support beams are broken from the impact, leaving Astrid in a heap under a pile of rubble and hay.
That was… Not fun. Everything hurts. Hoo…. Bad idea. Da is not gonna like this.
Knowing that the pain can be temporary, Astrid pushes through the probably broken bones to grab the small amulet of magical water hanging from her neck.[1] It takes no small amount of effort to break it, and the glowing water seeps through her shirt and onto her skin. She instantly lays her head back and lets the cold wrap around her body and heal all her cuts, scrapes, and breaks.
Finally, she can relax, and with one heaved sigh, she groans. “That wasn’t a good idea.”
1. Essence of the North
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Post by Raoul O. Ardelean on Jan 22, 2024 1:33:26 GMT -5
Raoul rushes forward running as fast as he can trying to follow the lightning bolt towards the spot Astrid indicated before. Before he could think of anything else he saw the lightning bolt rumble and crackle with speeds unmatched. He faintly sees Astrid within it he is about to call out to her but before he can utter a single word he just sees her crash into the ground with a giant impact that leaves dirt flying and a large boom.
“Shit”, he stammers pushing himself to run even faster than before to check up on her. His current weightlessness certainly helps even if it’s difficult to control it but he eventually makes it toward the stable Astrid crashed into.
He looks at the stable and calls out, “Astrid, Astrid are you okay? Can you hear me? Is there anything I can do to help? Crap uhh hold on”, he then quickly starts searching through his coat for anything to try and help.
Unfortunately, the only thing he has for healing purposes is a vial of blood he carries in case he gets hurt which will not help her. He sighs annoyed at his lack of preparedness and walks towards the stable. He looks at Astrid surprised to see her in good shape considering she just smashed into the ground denting the earth itself with her impact.
He chuckles, relieved to see that she wasn’t in horrible pain, “No it was not a good idea my friend, I’m glad to see that you’re fine. You can turn into lightning? That’s incredible I’m truly stunned”.
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Jan 23, 2024 20:42:12 GMT -5
Despite the healing abilities of the magical water, Astrid is still dazed and feeling the effects of rocketing across the ground. She hears Raoul calling to her as she lets the magic wash over her and heal her, offering a thumbs up from the rubble as he approaches. After a moment of sitting and catching her breath, she starts pushing broken planks and beams off of herself so she can sit up and look at him.
“Bit a’ healin’ works wonders when ya do somethin’ dumb,” she says with a surprising cheeriness despite everything. As she gets up and dusts herself off, she grimaces at the mess she’s made of the stable. Fixing this is going to be her next project. “Aye, I can turn into lightnin’,” she says. “That weren’t becomin’ lightnin’, though. That was travelin’ through the bolt.” After a pause, Astrid shrugs. “I s’pose that could be considered the same thin’.”
Stepping out of the broken stable, she looks at the ring a good couple hundred feet away and tries to gauge where she came from. It’s not hard to tell with the divots and skid marks on the ground. Her clothes are scuffed up and torn enough to match. “Ah, maybe we’ll take this trip a bit slower, yeah?”
With a smile, Astrid starts off for the circle, slowing her movements and becoming more purposeful and cautious with each one as they reenter it. Eventually, the two of them make it to the center where a small two foot wide and three inch deep pool of water seems to glimmer and sparkle with color and light, almost as if it drained all the color from the area and concentrated it into this one little well.
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Post by Raoul O. Ardelean on Jan 25, 2024 3:52:08 GMT -5
“Oh, I can imagine, if fighting off monstrous creatures bouncing around as lightning is any indication of what you do daily. How fascinating”, he says intrigued by the thought of turning into an element, “I’ve heard of this type of thing before but only by very experienced and masterfully skilled mages, Still considering your level of strength it is not surprising Astrid”.
He then takes a look at the stable she ended up in, noticing how completely wrecked it was.
“Eh, well I’m sure we can fix that some other time or pay to have it fixed if needed”, he grimaces as he says the second part.
“But yes you’re right for your sake and mine. We need to be cautious. We don't know how this strange flower effect works or its origins. We’re working with unknown forces and rules here so we must approach it with great calm and steadiness”.
He then follows Astrid’s lead slowly, making use of his weightlessness to increase his stride while using the least amount of energy. Each step felt like he was leaving Charon and almost falling upside down towards the sky. It was certainly odd even if he was getting used to it.
As they make their way towards the center he takes a look at the pool confused more than ever. He places his finger on his chin as he takes a second to think out loud, “Hm, what is this here? Could this be the origin point of the strange flower effect going on around us? The extremely bright and lovely color of the water seems to indicate that somehow it’s drained everywhere else. If I remember correctly back when this began, those flowers that we stepped on seemed drained out of color as if someone had sucked the life out of them. So it would only be logical to conclude that this is the source of our problem”.
He takes a breath, “Hm, that being said just because we now know what’s going on at least on a rudimentary level doesn’t mean we have all the answers. Where did this pool come from? Who made it? How do we return to normal?”, he continues to ramble on going through his investigative thought process.
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Jan 28, 2024 19:31:47 GMT -5
“Fer the record,” Astrid says, turning to look at Raoul but this time with a bit of a smarmy smile, “I can turn into lightnin’. It just looks a bit different than that. Like… lettin’ the whole element consume ya but without lettin’ it actually turn ya ta dust. If that makes sense..?” She’s actually never tried to explain elemental manifestation before, and it’s strange to think about the fact that she can actually do it. To her, it’s just become something rather natural.
The walk to the center is a lot less dramatic than the first attempt. They take things slow and steady, which makes Astrid feel somewhat impatient, but she’s not looking to make any more of a mess than she already has. When they get to the pool, Astrid’s first intrusive thought tells her to touch it, but she quickly pushes that down while they both study it.
“I think yer on the right track, Raoul,” she says, nodding in agreement that this feels like the place where all the color has been drained into and deposited. Gods, she wants to poke it, but instead, she just stares from her squatted position, looking for any hint towards an answer. “It almost seems… otherworldly ta me. Like uh… Well, I ain’t seen somethin’ like it in all a’ Charon, ya know? An’ stuff’s been wacky since the Sol Stone got destroyed, so I don’t think I’d rule it out. Maybe it’s like… a portal or somethin’? Or a thin veil between realms?”
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Post by Raoul O. Ardelean on Jan 30, 2024 0:17:39 GMT -5
“Hm”, Raoul keeps a finger on his chin, “I think I am”, he crouches overlooking the pond and examines it closely.
He looks inside the vibrant gleam of the water, “I think that you’re right in that regard my friend. This certainly isn’t of this world. I've never heard of this phenomenon before in my life. A pool that causes the area around it to lose weight and motion almost sounds like something out of a children’s book. However, it’s right in front of us, ever since the Sol Stone got shattered things seem to have changed drastically as you said”.
He goes silent for a moment as he takes in all the information learned thinking of all the different possibilities that this could mean.
Raoul then speaks once more, “I think that you’re right this pool seems to be some sort of portal, a gateway between Charon and somewhere else. Connecting to realms beyond Charon isn’t a far-fetched theory, to be honest. Considering everything I dare to say that is the most logical and reasonable guess”, he stands back up still staring at the pool.
“This intrigues me and for as much as I’d like to just dip my toe into it I’d rather not consider I might end up transported to another realm. Hmm, now what do we do with this information? It certainly changes many things. Many researchers and scientists will want to check this out and study it further. We have to inform the local people around here so they don’t run into the same issues we’ve faced”, he says, placing his hands together.
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Feb 3, 2024 18:42:14 GMT -5
Astrid really wishes she knew more about other worlds, but the whole concept is relatively new to her and most of Charon as a whole, so she doesn’t exactly have a good explanation for it at all even if she wanted to research it. The closest thing she can approximate it to is something that the weird little scraggly guy in the Villa of Lost Souls would do. What was he? A… “Oh,” she says suddenly. “Might be related ta like… fae. Seems like somethin’ the only fae I know would do. Real tricksy stuff, ya know? Almost like the flowers are this weird prank, an’ ta be honest…” Astrid eyes track over to the line of craters she left in the dirt in stone. “...They got me good.”
Standing upright and placing her hands on her hips, Astrid takes a good look around. “Tellin’ Mizzi what we know is gonna be the best thin’ ta do. She’ll keep folks away from here best she can, an’ if they decide ta poke around an’ get hurt, well, that’s on them. I’ll ask her ta make sure she’s got someone with some healin’ on standby just in case. Still… It’s a shame the Steam Springs are probably gonna to be closed ta the public fer a while. This place really helps Stormgale operate, ya know?” She shrugs a little. “Oh well, can’t really do nothin’ about that, but at least there’s a place ta start figurin’ out how ta fix this mess. Let’s call it a day an’ head back, yeah?”
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