Fantasy Arva: Tides of Darkness [IC] [Closed]

[Dmaster]

The further they traveled inland the more Da'Vost came to realize that they may not be on an island at all. Sizable mountain ranges were possible on an island, yes, but such an expanse of jagged towering rock was rather uncommon. This gave the Fateseeker some hope, believing that his people would not be far. After being given some aid from the community within the West Spire, the company will be much better off in this unknown land.

As the Aervis rose he also noticed the uncertain stillness that clung to the air, clacking his beak to himself. "Indeed... The Aether seems... stilted here." Da'Vost concluded as he rose to his feet, head on a slow swivel as he looked about.

 

[Viper Actual]

Eirana had remained mostly silent during the initial night at the beach and during the days to come. Her mind was constantly seeking outwards in search of something or someone to help guide them in these unknown lands. She also maintained a close eye on Da'Vost and Lanya, stepping in to help whenever she could. While the exact events had been drastically different Eirana could very much relate to what Lanya was currently going through. Hopefully her story ends happier than mine ever did.

Tightening her cloak around her and over her armor Eirana perked up and emerged from her half-sleep, half-awake state. Her ears twitched briefly as she began to look at the forests around them. Eirana closed her eyes and tried to sense the very environment around them. Nothing. Or were they in hiding?

She mustered power within herself and grimaced before sending out a silent message and a spell using her mind: Reveal yourself!

 

[Auda]

Aureal looked around and observed his surroundings as the group traversed the land, hoping to find a sign or anything to help them find Gerwin and the other Utterlins. But as the days flew by, Aureal got no leads and uncertainty made its way into his mind. To distract himself, the Elf instead took out a parchment and drew a map as they continued on moving forward. He marked the places that seemed useful like the streams that they had recently passed by.

Aureal woke up from Hughin's warning. The tense atmosphere from the surroundings and his companions alerted him as he immediately got ready for what is about to happen.

 

[Breadman]

Waylond stopped. The quiet was indeed strange, but oddly familiar. He wondered from where and he remembered. The kraken attack had a similar calm before the beast struck. He placed one hand on the hilt of his sword in anticipation of whatever was to come.

 

[joshuadim]

As Eirana would quickly find with here spells, there was nothing to find in the surrounding area... quite literally. She would quickly notice down at her feet that the land had taken a different composition than the richness they had travelled in for days on prior to arriving here. The soil was dry, dusty and crumbling while the plant life was noticeably drying off and dying in droves around them in large patches. This became ever more apparent as the rising sun started to lift the mist cover from the land and revealed what appeared to be a growing desolation in the area. It was clear now that a few dead carcasses of animals littered the region in the near distance as it seemed they too were affected by whatever was transpiring here. Arnas kneeled down to grab some of the dirt in his hand, and as it fell it dissipated into dust almost immediately which confused the young man: "It's like... the land is sick?" he said aloud, bewildered at such a thing.

Zakala in the meantime noticed something nearby, and when she squinted her eyes to focus on it and noticed that it was giving off a faint glow. "There's something near the base of that hill." she stated to Hughin, which got him to turn his attention to where Zakala was mentioning and noticed it as well. With the Company following him, Hughin walked over to what the source of the glowing light was and found a small, sharp green crystal jutting out of the ground. Around it the land was completely dead and practically blackened as if it were flesh hit by permafrost. Further around it in a large radius the land was in various stages of dying and/or decay which brought Hughin to his own conclusion. "Looks like we found the cause of this desolation." he stated gruffly, tilted his head as he observed the crystal.

For those who could feel it the crystal radiated a foul, pungent aura from it core that practically pervaded the atmosphere in it's vicinity like a dagger. "Maybe we should destroy it?" Arnas asked, "If it's causing this then maybe we ought to get rid of it."

"We don't know what would happen if we touched, let alone broke, it." Zakala replied quickly.

"Zee's right, there's too much we don't know and I'd rather not risk us on something that doesn't directly affect us." Hughin stated in agreement with his Lieutenant, as he looked over the foul crystal once more.

"What? We're just gonna leave this here to kill the area?" Arnas asked, almost incredulous at such a response from the Captain.

"My responsibility right now is getting everyone here off this rock and back home safely, boy." Hughin snapped back as he pointed a finger towards his son. "Not to play a steward for nature."

 

[Adobe]

Eidunn spent most of the journey at the back of the group. She had never seen so much green, an undiscovered land full of vibrant colours. I never know why you find snow so interesting. The birdsongs were softer, the gentle sound of wind blowing through the trees. It was quite a contrast from the beat up land they had left behind.

"We cant just let it kill everything." Ediunn chimed on from behind Hughin. She look towards the crystal, a sickening feeling growing in her stomach. Magic, it's always magic. She turned her head, whispering onto her shoulder. "Know what it is?" She asked. Not a clue. "If the land dies, the people die soon after." She said, turning back towards Hughin. "We're shipwrecked, we don't know how long getting us out of here will take." She said, glancing back at the crystal.

 

[Auda]

The sight of the crystal is nauseating, making Aureal take a step back and breathe. Even the air is tainted. Each second Aureal was in the vicinity, it felt like something foul is forming inside of him. It's clawing its way through out his body, slowly rotting everything it touches making him terribly ill. But he composed himself nonetheless. They needed to do something.

Looking around, he observed the areas touched by the decay. The Wood-Elf can feel the land cry. It mourned for each carcass once filled with life. It grieved for itself, resigning to the seemingly unstoppable rot further spreading as time goes by. Aureal saw all of these and he sympathized. He would lament, apologizing for something he did not do for the land needed comfort. But he will not cry nor breakdown. He will not give up on the land like how it gave up on itself.

"No. I will not leave until the land is cured." The Elf said, looking at Hughin. "Eidunn is right. It will not stop and will continue on spreading until it envelops the land. It's better to take care of it now when it's still small than to leave it and face the consequences later." Aureal's eyes trailed back to the crystal with a shudder.

 

[Viper Actual]

While she may not sense any life- or magic for that matter- Eirana did sense the menacing green shard once the party approached it. Its existence was faint, masking itself in the background. As they approached it Eirana extended a hand towards it and closed her eyes.

The crystal shrouded itself though with a little effort she could detect a faint humming created by its very being. It was nothing more than proof of its activities and showed only that it was indeed active.

What Eirana felt next was pain and grief. Nor from the crystal, but from her Elven kin.

As Aureal spoke Eirana nodded. "I agree. This is foul sorcery and we'd be fools to let it spread. Who knows what comes after the decay it creates?"

She nodded towards it. "We should banish it. No need to touch it with our hands when we may simply use our minds."

Eirana paused and glanced at Drokos' polearm. "Or a really long weapon."

 

[Infab]

Drokos examined the crystal, then the hammer portion of her poleaxe. "...If need be, I can attempt to shatter it." she said, motioning her weapon towards the crystal. "Though we do not know if this will violently backfire...and it may possibly kill me along with the rest of you."

 

[Breadman]

"When the kraken attacked, it had crystals growing out of it's body." Waylond spoke up "Similar to this one. If it's a source of corruption, I don't think risking ourselves by touching it would be wise." The knight turned to Da'Vost "Fateseeker, have you ever encountered or studied anything like this?"

 

[Fauxs]

While journeying across the calm plains, Cain used this opportunity of having free time to study. All throughout the walk, Cain was reading his journal whenever physically possible. Due to his constant studying, he managed to learn a few basic spells to cast in times of need.

Having made known of Hughin’s warning, Cain intently followed the company to get a better view of the light emitting object. Listening to the conversation, Cain also joined in, “There surely might be a consequence upon breaking this crystal, however I also agree that we cannot leave such a dangerous object here. I suggest that we take a strategic action towards shattering it.”

 

[Dmaster]

As they approached the dead lands and soon the crystal surrounding it, Da'Vost put a protective hand around Lanya's shoulder that urged her to stick near him. Once they got to a source of all the foulness proper he quietly advised her to stay back, as there was no telling what this artifact would do to living creatures just yet. "While we do not know what it is, we may always study and investigate to learn and understand." Da'Vost said, his eyes shutting as they opened up to glow a bright blazing blue. Taking a few steps forward, he conjured probing tendrils of Aether from his palms, hands circling about as the wisps of magic surrounded and tried to enter the crystal. There was no spell for this, just viewing how the magical energies would interact.

The Aervis shook his head at Waylond. "I've... never encountered anything like this." he stated, focusing his attention on the crystal. "We should not leave it, as this could belong to a faction we may encounter further along our path. They could be siphoning energy from the land to aid their cause.

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

The others seem to want to destroy this strange crystal, this apparent source of the blight surrounding them, but Sharad has a different idea. He pulls a little bag out and checks the space available within it.

"Well if you tree-lovers want your way with this over-sized thing, then hopefully you won't object to me taking a shred or two for later study, yes? Just to see if anything could be done with it for our advantage."

 

[joshuadim]

As Da'Vost investigated the crystal with his own magic, he would feel something gnaw at the back of his mind. At first, it was an ever so distant feeling that he could not quite put his finger on. It was... strange, to say the least. Yet the longer he maintained his focus on the crystal the stronger that feeling grew. It was a rather bewildering feeling that almost bordered on elation, yet was rather quite off on that as well. And then things started to turn the other direction. The joyous feeling remained, but an inner turmoil grew in both his mind and body as whatever he was interacting was began to properly interact with Da'Vost. A splitting headache suddenly appeared which forced the Aervis down onto one knee, but he could not remove his concentration from the energies inside the crystal. And that's when the truth of whatever he was interacting with revealed itself in an implicit manner:

This was POWER.

OVERWHELMING POWER.

And in that moment, Da'Vost was knocked back by the sheer pain and chaos that he had just experienced, sending him flat on his back. Lanya cried out in fear as she saw her teacher practically get knocked down and hurried to his side and pushed on his arm in fear. "Vost! Vost are ye okay!?" she cried out. Hughing himself stared wide-eyed at what had just transpired and put his gaze back on the crystal and snarled. "We're not touching this thing. We're leaving." he stated, his suspicions of such a crystal now confirmed in his eyes. Zakala hurried over to get the Aervis up: "You alright? What happened?" she asked with concern.

 

[Dmaster]

Da'Vost squinted as he tried to make sense of this artifact, though an esoteric allure of power was somehow getting a grip on him. Yet such a thing was unusual, as he was not a sorcerer for power but rather enlightenment. Such thoughts are and should be completely alien to him, shouldn't they? There was a battle to resist this crystal's influence as well as contain it, the Aervis' curled fingers vibrating as he took a step forward. Yet for all his expertise it was not enough and he found himself getting blown back.

For a moment he lie there dazed, his palm beginning to press into the dirt to slowly lift his body up. Lanya called to him but he could not answer to her at the time, soon taking Zakala's hand in his to get up off of the ground. "I continue to persist, you needn't concern yourselves with me... I knew the risks." the Fateseeker said as he worked to dusting off his robes. "It is unwise to leave this crystal here, Hughin. It is a blight on this land, siphoning the life force of living things to function as a font of unmatched power."

"This is no natural anomaly - it was placed here with malicious intent."

 

[Adobe]

Then do something about it, bird. Eidunn watched as the crystal stood unfazed, clenching her fist slowly. It's always magic Eida. Once you realise that, we'll finally be on the same page.

"Shatter it." She said slowly, keeping her eyes on the crystal. "If it needs to go, get rid of it." She said again, her voice taking on a slightly more hostile tone. Remove the magic. Remove the threat.

 

[joshuadim]

"My job is to-" Hughin started to speak to Da'Vost before the sound of a sword being taken out of its scabbard cut him off. Hughin quickly looked behind him and saw Arnas walk over to the crystal and raised his blade above it. Eyes wide he only managed to get two steps towards him before the blade hit the crystal in full force and positively shattered it. A violent outburst of its potent energies erupted outwards in its immediate area, knocking Arnas back a few meters while blowing severe gusts of wind towards everyone around it. Afterwards, a deafening silence pervaded the area as Arnas groaned and got pushed himself up with his hands. "There, problem solved." Arnas stated rather flatly as he looked towards the other members of the company.

And then a howl pierced the air from the distance. Hughin had been ready to reprimand his boy, but quickly turned his attention to this new development. He looked around quickly and drew both his sword and shield. "Shit." he muttered in a rather pessimistic tone as he looked around. There wasn't a sign of anything, but he knew that something was coming. Arnas quickly drew his own sword while Zakala readied an arrow on the notch of her bow. "We need to get out of this area. Move!" Hughin then said aloud, motioning everyone with his sword to follow him. As the Company hurried along as fast as they could, with Lanya clinging onto Da'Vost's back, the howling returned once more... and this time it was closer.

The group neared a small cluster of large rocks and boulders at the top of one of the hills in the area and quickly surveyed their surroundings. Nothing still appeared to them in the area, which was unsettling as there was clearly something coming after them. "Where are they!?" Arnas spoke aloud as he kept his attention in front of him. But soon a faint snarling could be heard behind him, and he quickly turned to see a horrendous beast standing atop the rocks. It roared out as Arnas looked upon it in shock and leaped down onto him. Fortunately, Arnas had his sword out in front of him and had used the creature's lunge inadvertedly against it as it impaled itself upon the blade. Vile green blood spilled out from its body as Arnas struggled to get its corpse off of him, only able to do so after getting help from Zakala.

And now, more and more of these creatures ran out from the mists and barreled straight towards members of the group. "Shit! Hold your ground!" Hughin yelled out as he dodged a lunge from one of the creatures and stabbed it in the head. Zakala would in the meantime score an ace shot as her arrow hit one of the other beasts straight into its skull and killed it instantly.

AMBUSH!
DON'T STOP ATTACKING.​

 

[Viper Actual]

Before Eirana could caution Da'Vost the Aervis almost collapsed and, once again before she could utter any kind of warning, Arnas assaulted the crystal with his sword. As it broke she sensed something evil yet alluring and seductive at the same time.

When the crystal shattered and the howling came Eirana was quick to scoop up one of its shards just as Hughin ordered the company to move. Quickly, Eirana followed while keeping her eyes open.

She was deep in thought when the first creature appeared and the initial shock she felt was overwhelmed by the dread that came from witnessing the horde of even more creatures charge towards their position.

Eirana reached in to her cloak and pulled out her sword which she promptly pointed towards the creatures. The air around it began to howl and crackle just as a beam of pure light shot out of it, cutting down a large score of the evil beasts.

 

[Auda]

Aureal covered his eyes with his hands as the force of the outburst pushed him back quite a bit. Waves of depravity washing over him before vanishing into thin air. The broken pieces of the crystal are scattered in front of the group and everything seemed fine. Or so he thought.

A howl interrupted the group and Aureal's body tensed once again as he followed Hughin's order, occasionally looking behind him to see the source of the sound. The first beast was slain by Arnas but a mob appeared soon after.

The Wood-Elf bent his knees and strengthened his core as he reached out to command the ground under the relentless beasts to suddenly spike up. His body unyielding just like the earth as they pierced multiple beasts that dared to defile the land they're standing on.

 

[Fauxs]

Cain stood back as the company further analyzed the crystal. Knowing that there is a possible consequence of dealing with such dark matter, he remains to keep his guard up all throughout the event, holding his rapier hidden under his cloak ready to unsheathe at any moment.

Upon seeing his ally being knocked off away from the crystal, he felt immensely uneasy. As the occuring beasts begins their battlecry, Cain reveals his sleek rapier.

Determined to use his recently studied spells, Cain held out his weapon holding it firmly using his left hand and channeled magic through it using his right. He closed his eyes and began to chant a spell deep within his inner thoughts.

Rid the world of such foul creatures trampling upon the work of creation, I hereby imbue my sword with holy light!

After his incantation, his blade began to glow and brighten, radiating with a piercing light. He then charged through the battle slashing with his rapier from monster to monster. Every slash Cain made was followed by the bright light, extending his sword's range, being able to attack multiple targets at the same time.

 

[Dmaster]

The shattering of that awful crystal did put the Aervis at ease, though he wished that there was some way to better understand its nature. Da'Vost would have to try to remind himself of the exact magical properties and details later on, build some kind of hypothesis off of that. His suspicions being that this sort of power does not occur naturally, it had to have been constructed or placed here for a reason unknown.

A howl rang out through the wilderness, getting him to take a step back as his head swiveled about to the source of the disturbance. His apprentice quickly clambered onto his back and he began to rush behind the rest of the company as best he could. The howling continued to grow louder as they traversed up a hill, getting their bearings over the landscape as finally these creatures revealed themselves. It was like nothing he had ever seen, but the Fateseeker was once again robbed of time to make sense of or study these things.

Da'Vost sidestepped a lunging creature as he coalesced Aether between his palms, biting winds and frigid crystals of ice twisting and swirling for a time. After a few moments he twisted his wrist and expanded his arm span to send out waves of icy winds that blew back and cut up the monsters that were attacking the group.

 

[Infab]

Drokos readied herself, taking her poleaxe in both hands as the creatures moved in to attack. And with a focused determination, she rushed in to engage. Primarily using her weapon as if it were a spear, she stabbed at a few of the creatures before beginning to twirl the weapon about more like a staff. A staff with a hammer built onto the end. As one creature moved in to bite at her, she caught it across the head with the flat hammer portion of the weapon's head, before flipping it about and driving the back spike deep into its skull. She continued to do this to every creature that came close. Smack and stab, smack and stab, smack and stab.

 

[Adobe]

Following behind the ret of her companions, Eidunn turned to see the pack of beasts descend on company, narrowly avoiding one of the more aggressive ones.

"Shit." She mumbled under her breath, pulling her knife out from under her cloak. Remembering what her brother had once told her, she dodged the beasts lunge, bringing the cold metal down hard into the beasts neck. She covered her ears as it let out a howl, the knife missing its mark by a couple of inches.

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

'Well, that was fast.'

Arnas fortunately took initiative while the rest of the party bickered about what to do with the obviously strange and malicious crystal. Now that it's finally broken, it's time to collect a sample to see just what it really is and what it can do. Sharad bends down to eagerly pick up a small fragment of it until something screamed at the party from somewhere in the distance. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him with the rest of the party to get away from just whatever the hell it was that made it, until it eventually showed itself.

It's big, it's loud, and it looks hungry. And there's many hungry mouths surrounding the party that would like to feast on them today.

"Oh, fuck that!" he shouts. Taking a note from Arnas whom managed to kill one of the beasts earlier, he whips out his own talwar from its leather sheath and begins slashing wildly at any beast that tries getting close to him. Should he also lose track of any of the beasts around him, he has a special trick up his sleeve to fool these dumb animals. Under his breath, in the midst of Manwonese swears and curses towards the beasts, he also begins muttering some sort of incantation which gradually made the air around him darker and colder, until...

A second Sharad formed itself from a crackle and burst of smoke and cold air coming from the first Sharad himself. It ran circles about the first one trying to draw the attention of the beasts towards itself.

 

[Breadman]

"That was a bad idea." The knight remarked as the crystal was shattered. The howling was just a confirmation of his fears. But now was not the time for fear. He may not have had his shield with him, but he wasn't going to let that stop him from facing the threat.

The charging beasts revealed themselves and they were as hideous as the howl would let on. Waylond managed to dodge a lunge before sinking his blade into the first beast, splattering green blood on himself. The came another and another. They didn't stop, but neither did he. Pretty soon he was covered in blood as limbs and heads came off. The smell of death and gore already filling the air. But there were more on the way.