Fantasy Cursed Island

[Fangs9090]

Shuffle looked over from the fire, ears perked. "Yeah?"

 

[Darkling0096]

"Would you like to go on an adventurer?", the blind mage asked as he tapped his way over to her.

"Ah... she's kinda crazy," Siege shrugged, "Turac, how's that house going?"

"I didn't think it was possible for that many termite mounds to be in one basement!", Turac complained as he heaved a chunk of one onto the fire, "Need a sledge!" Because he definitely wasn't moving termite feces in his treasure stomach!

 

[Fangs9090]

Shuffle smiled and wagged her tail for a moment before she paused. "I thought we were on an adventure?"


Kiri looked over at Turac. "We have ways of dealing with termites." She looked at Emilia. "Do you eat insects?"

Emilia tilted her head. "Occasionally. Are termites edible?"

"Yes. There are spiders in these woods that hunt them."

"I see."

 

[Darkling0096]

"We are, but you are needed for another quest."


"I doubt Emilia can hunt termites," Sinach giggled, "She's kinda a million times bigger than them?"

 

[Fangs9090]

"Ah. Alright." Shuffle hopped up, ready to go.


"Mm, I just need to set a web in the right place, that's all. The bigger concern is that they're so small, they'd hardly be a snack."

 

[Darkling0096]

Siege snorted, "Don't tell Shuffle that!" She'd seen that critter chase down a spider for hours and eat it because it was sneakier than her!

"We have some preparations to make, but we will be able to leave soon," Turac offered.

 

[Fangs9090]

Kiri spoke up again. "I wish you luck." She dipped her head and took her leave, going to speak with the workers.

Roy watched her go before looking at the others. "Well, I hope everyone packed good boots for getting wet. I sure didn't..."

 

[Darkling0096]

Siege groaned, "I hate you, Roy." She didn't pack travel boots to begin with.

"I will carry us," Turac replied, "it is only water."

 

[Fangs9090]

"Thank you. Well, let's get ready and head out. We'll have to travel light since the wagon won't fare well on an unmarked path."

 

[Darkling0096]

The party shrugged, getting ready to go. While they prepared, they relayed their structural needs to the workers, and by sundown they were ready to go. Travelling at night wasn't ideal, so they had to spend another in the village inn.

 

[Fangs9090]

The inn was just as accommodating as before, providing them with food and lodging for the night, as well as a meal in the morning.

 

[Darkling0096]

Come morning the party loaded up. They said their peace to the villagers before they headed east towards the swamp Kiri had described.

 

[Fangs9090]

Shuffle seemed quite excited to be able to travel with the group instead of following out of sight, happily prancing around them and almost getting underfoot.

 

[Darkling0096]

"This may have been a mistake," Jalin decided when his cane started to meet ground too soft to accurately carry information to him. And considering his shoes were just a layer over the top of his foot so the bare bottom foot could connect to the ground, as soon as he stepped in mud it was not a fun experience. Though that issue was shared by everyone in the party with bare or bestial feet.

"It is not yet deep enough to need additional transport," Turac said, as the soft mud was barely higher than what his boots sank into on normal dirt.

 

[Fangs9090]

The group slowed a bit as the ground got less firm. Emilia particularly sank into the mud with her legs. Shuffle, however, didn’t seem phased by the change in land. Her webbed hands and feet likely helped with that.

The ground became progressively wetter as they went, and the air likewise became more humid. It wasn’t much longer before they came upon water among the trees, as if what once was a normal forest had simply flooded. There also seemed to be a slight current, which kept the water from stagnating.

 

[Darkling0096]

How a forest became flooded when there didn't seem to be any significant change in elevation was unknown, but as the water reached knee high to the twins, it became an issue. So Turac did what he promised he'd do, and turned his ring, shifting back into his true form so the party could cling to his back as he waded though the trees.

 

[Fangs9090]

Roy and Emilia climbed onto Turac’s shell to get out of the water. Nidia climbed up as well, settling closer to his head. Shuffle opted to stay in the water. The water got a bit deeper from there, to the point that Shuffle couldn’t walk on all fours. She either had to walk upright, with the water up past her hips, or swim. She, of course, swam. And judging by how often she’d veer off course, there were small creatures in the water.

 

[Darkling0096]

Siege sat on the edge of Turac's shell to keep an eye on Shuffle. Jalin made his way straight to the center and clung to Katsuo like his life depended on it. Turac's shell rumbled with every step, and the only things making noise nearby were the party members and their equipment, so he was pretty blind. Sinach was pretty happy to stay with Emilia, especially once she was out of the water.

"This is a poor swamp," Turac noted as they made their way deeper into the flooded forest. "Roy, do you remember when mom and dad took the three of us to a flooded temple?"

 

[Fangs9090]

Roy nodded. “I believe so, yes. I remember dad had to carry Siege a few times.”

 

[Darkling0096]

"Oh, like you weren't glued to mom's shoulders!", Siege sneered. That made the giant turtle chuckle, which made his shell rumble.

"As I recall, Siege, you spent more time jumping between my back and dad's than you did picking up treasure." He blew some steam at Shuffle to get her attention, "Not that Shuffle made it any easier..."

 

[Fangs9090]

Shuffle shook her head before looking over. Roy chuckled. "I almost forgot Shuffle went for that. She was under the water most of the time."

Shuffle moved to float on her back, using her tail to keep moving along as she looked at them. "Water is fun. I can move with hardly any effort at all."

 

[Darkling0096]

"You can have the oceans," Jalin spoke up.

"Wait," Sinach had an idea, "Why don't we use the water stone?"

 

[Fangs9090]

Roy looked over. “For what? The water’s not exactly slowing us down thanks to Turac. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to use it more, but I don’t want to overdo it and draw too much unwanted attention to us.”

 

[Darkling0096]

"You will have to learn to use the device," Jalin stated. Though in his case the request was a bit more selfish since he didn't like being entirely cut off from his sensory abilities like this.

 

[Fangs9090]

"It's actually surprisingly easy, not unlike casting any other spell."

Shuffle interjected about then. "There's something ahead."

There was a clearing up ahead where the trees thinned out enough to let a spot of sunlight shine down. A large branch extended out into the light over the water, upon which lay a very large snake. Or rather, a snake woman. A naga, to be exact. While her entire form was scaled, she had a humanoid upper torso, but past her waist it was all tail, and a lot of it, draped over and around the branch she lay on before dipping into the water. She had purple and pink scales, with black marks along the sides, and long blue hair. From the way she lay, she could've been sleeping, but her eyes were open.