| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Brother, while I do not see it now, I did in fact see something so do not blame this on the flatulent one. I cannot say what it was, but I am most concerned about it."
He stops, and turns to face his brother, "You know magic better than I of course, but I am sure there is something there. It comes, it goes, but if it doesn't have Yeen in its grasp, it's certainly trying something and may some day succeed in whatever it's trying to do."
"I know how much you love Yeen. Are there stronger Sarenrae magics that might be brought to bear? Your circles are but temporary, and this thing might avoid them and still do harm."
Ami still gives stink eye to the stinky one.
"He should know better...and you didn't answer my question: is this the same as last time? It's the same thing. It hasn't caused Yeen any problems then, and isn't now."
"The circles should drive the evil away, that they do not shows that the evils are not there or are so different that it does not matter."
In a quieter moment, Pent approaches Aldebert. "Sounded like that went as well as we could have hoped. If you need Sarah's seer-eyes, just ask, though I suspect it will only incense your brother half. I suppose all we can do is remain vigilant, and cross the bridge when it's come to. You need anything, let me know." The gnome pats the half on the back, then gives him space.
Pent takes to the shore, and blares the horn again. He waits for ship, turtle, and/or both. "Who's got the egg?"
This ship arrives in quick order. A walkway is lowered and the same strange ram headed helmsman silently stands near helm.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Mahdi wordlessly proffers the egg to the boatman, dismissing his chariot with a snap of his fingers.
"It appears to be the same as last time, but the fact that it isn't going away is troubling. I shall be keeping my eyes open and will let you know if I should see it again." Aldebert shakes his head at his brother, feeling he should be more concerned about this attack.
He nods to Pent when he speaks, though his thoughts are elsewhere. He follows Mahdi and the others onto the ship, pleased with the egg hand off at last. He wonders where they'll go next.
"Brother, if there are shadows around Yeen, it's only because Sarenrae's light shines on him so strongly," Ami says, ending the ridiculous conversation.
Ami waits to see where the boat takes them.
As Mahdi hands over the egg the strange construct’s eyes take on a greenish-golden glow as he turns to the tiller and guides the galley out to sea. The ship sails on ward as twilight turns to a deep darkness. Past the islands you saw earlier . It continues in the darkness for hours more. By the time light begins to reveal the details of the voyage again there is nothing around other than water. Even as this day arrives it seems as if the growing ambient light is beginning to dim and distort, as though filtered by a thin veil of dark mist. Sounds become simultaneously muted and echoing, and in the far distance a loud but growing susurrant hiss can be heard. The ship continues to speed ahead, moved forward by quickening waters as well as the relentless strokes of its animated galley oars and a freshening breeze.
The light around dissolves into a misty twilight of winking stars and roiling clouds above a roaring sea. In a moment, the mists part and the traveler can see with terrible clarity that the sea below seems to end, as if sliced of by an impossibly huge razor. This is the end of eternity.
"Brother? MAHHHH-DEEE!!?" Ami looks around and out to 'sea'. "What is happening?" Ami mounts Yeen, unsure what to do next.
Rayhan yells over the growing sound of rushing waters. "This must be how Nex created the illusion of a horizon. This world is a disc, like the rounded curve a a buckler. Look there." He points to the side of the ship where water can be seen falling into oblivion. Some seems to hug a curve briefly before falling.
Pent suddenly loses all nausea, in the face of such an epic seascape unfolding before his eyes. He bounds from side to side, taking it all in. "Magnificent! Reality and Illusion colliding! I've never seen its like, likely never will again!!" The gnome's color is anything but diminished.
"We're meant to be on this boat - we just have to hope the proteons don't want us dead!"
He looks over the side, "Besides, what are we going to do - swim?"
He follows his brother, and climbs up on Gretiem. He considers taking out his sword, but leaves it sheathed for now.
He hangs on...and prays to Abadar that they will be victorious and escape this place.
Ami casts Air Walk on Get'him, so that his brother can save himself should the ship go down.
"Thank you brother!" Aldebert shouts over the growing noise.
He grits his teeth and waits to pass beyond the end of the world.
Mahdi looks at the oncoming rush of the end of the world-- or at least this world-- and... laughs.
"If we should die, what a place for it, eh?"
Mahdi murmurs the words of a spell over himself, to grant him flight, but does not leave the boat, still hanging onto the sides.
If the ship looks to be continuing over the edge, Ami will also cast Air Walk on Yeen.
As the ship plummets over the edge of the infinite those with the means of flight can attempt to stay in proximity of the ship without being bashed into it. Meanwhile Otah and Pent attempt to balance themselves or grab onto the vessel as it falls .
Pent watches as the ship begins to plummet, so he races to Otah, and gives the dwarf the means of maneuver with Sarah's Soar.
Bouncing to and fro, the gnome takes his hits.
Pent clenches, making sure he's mended before the boat ends its fall.
As the ship falls beyond it plunges into what looks to be a half-formed world. The cascade of falling water, once a raging torrent, thins and dissolves into clinging mist, and within moments the ship’s fall slows as the clinging mists grow thicker and almost solid, a turbid expanse of featureless, washed-out colors. The ship finally comes to a shuddering stop, settling into a strange “lake” of thicker mist with a muffled thud, shaking with the impact.
Pent's immediate reaction to landing is to look straight up, and see where he fell from. He circles in place, making himself a little dizzy.
Flying (+0 if acrobatics) - Ami
Flying (+12 if acrobatics) - Yeen
Ami and Yeen do something in the air.
Handle Animal - Aldebert
Acrobatics - Gretiem
Ami and Aldebert easily maneuver back onto the surface of the ship where Pent is waiting, slightly battered but none the worse for wear after his emissions of divine healing. Moments later Otah flies adroitly into view, making a show that nearly matches his delivery of the winged lion into the waters above. Mahdi on the other hand lands carefully, only just managing to hit the deck. With everyone back aboard the ship, damaged but intact. lurches into motion soon it is caught up in a current that within a short time brings you within view of several small isles of Not. The one the ship seems to be approaching spears to have several lit caverns upon it.
Around the Isles, the mist is as strong as stone, yet possesses a curious elasticity that yields softly to the touch. The glowing light from the caves seems to have no true source—everything seems under shadowy illumination. The ship makes shore easily as the malleable mist seems to cradle its approach. Likewise the ramp makes it simple to disembark.
"Mah-DEEE! What just happened?" Ami asks, still ready to spring again into the air if necessary.
Aldebert, though walking on air, stays close to to the ramp, hovering just inches above it - 'flying' still throws Aldebert for a loop and he's trying to ease into it, recent craziness aside.
He heads a little inshore to see if there's a welcoming party or if they're on their own for the moment.
"That was something else!" he shakes his head at what they just experienced.
Perception:
(normal)
(low-light)
(normal)
(low-light)
(darkvision)
The area in front of the cave is quite spongy and uneven, constantly shifting and moving despite their solid appearance. Swirling mist and a couple of standing lights sit within the cave ahead.
Ami and Yeen air walk into the cavern, trying to stay high in order to look around and make sure the area is safe. Yeen sniffs and snarls, hoping many gnolls live in his cave.
Perception - not doors, gnolls? foes? danger?
"Brother, there are doors there. Might be that we head toward those?" Ami asks, waiting for his brother to lead because that is what big brothers do.
"Well. That was certainly.... something," Mahdi says as he smooths his robes. He looks around him with interest, taking in the strange quasi-solid mist, the caverns, the lights ahead.
"As for what happened, we fell off the edge of the world, obviously."
Even in the thick mist it is clear there are three lights hovering ahead.
"Well, technically, we fell off the edge of 'a' world, their world, not 'our' world, 'the' world we'd otherwise use in default of all other worlds. Yup."
Pent follows along, deciding to challenge himself with the spongy quality of this new existence. He even debates asking Sarah to smooth his steps, if the going gets rough.
"Something indeed. This world has layers?"
The dwarf still doesn't understand this place, and his confusion about the events that just occurred distract him from the ease at which he maintained his motion without boots on the ground.
"We've changed worlds again? Or are we on the same world?"
He tests his footing against the moistness of the ground, getting a feel for how it moves beneath his feet. "Even the rock is weird. Is nothing sacred or stable in this place?"
Aldebert also stays just above the uneven terrain, but not so high as his brother. If anything he envies his freedom from the ground, but Aldebert is still nervous.
"Is this the ethereal plane? I've never been..."
He approaches one of the 'doors'. "Shall we see what lies beyond? Is everyone ready?"
When he gets a few nods, he opens it and tries to see what lies beyond.
The boundaries of this cave are unsettling to look upon, for slowly palpitating whorls and streams of dim, multihued radiance flicker deep within the pale walls. Even without the colored light, the passageway would be disorienting, as its width and height and direction seem to pulsate and shift, almost like the throat of an immense living creature. An echoing female voice calls out from the depths of the cave, saying, “Welcome, my guests. Come forward so we may speak.”
Aldebert approaches carefully, still worried.
"Into the belly of the beast then."
Pent bounds ahead, sure that egg lenders have purple eyes. He's not sure how many eyes, of course. How would one really know that? He completely forgets the memory of the tentacled thing that was turtle, to time. Here is a whole new experience, writing itself.
"Yes, yes! We're coming! Thank you for bringing us here! We have your egg, somewhere, if you need it back. Not sure how we get back. You've got yourself quite an environment here! Never a dull movement in these moments!"
Fort - Ami
Fort - Yeen
If Ami or Yeen notice any undulations, they do not show it.
They air race ahead to the sound of the voice, examining the speaker.
The walls, floor, and ceiling of this irregular chamber are studded with large cysts and buds, though they appear somewhat dried and withered. Most of the floor is covered with a pool of faintly glowing greenish liquid. As you continue forward you approach what may be the central chamber of the cavern complex, but its tough to tell with the shifting ground and malleable mist.
Its walls, ceiling, and floor are studded with strange cysts and buds. Most of the floor is covered by a wide pool of faintly glowing green liquid but for a narrow pathway leading around it to an opening on the far side. There stand a sumptuous divan, a canopied bed, and a table surrounded with chairs. standing near the entrance to the chamber is a strange, pale-skinned elven man dressed in fine leathers and armed with a curved blade. He watches your approach closely, but does not move.
A second gure is seated upon the divan across the room—another elf, this one female and strikingly beautiful. She calls to you, “I greet you, my heroes from outside this reality. I am Lahapraset. I am a spirit of creation, and I wish you to be my champions. Thank you for answering my summons, and I trust that business with the Golden Ram did not vex you overmuch— it was but a convenient way for me to judge your skill and worth. Do not mind Chinoy; he is not much for conversation but watches over my safety. Come, let us sit together. We have so much to discuss.”
Ami looks around, wondering if the dwarf or the gnome will be the one ruining this new potential relationship. He almost wonders if it's his turn to destroy a potentially positive relationship before it starts, but then thinks it's probably Mahdi's turn to ruin things.
Ami waits to see who will answer and is surprised that his brother hadn't already.
Know (Planes) - spirits of creation/these 'elves'
The dwarf is compliant, sitting down in a chair without much fuss. Leaning his polearm against the table within easy grasp should the occasion warrant, he waits for the wiser-worded to mix words with Lahapraset.
He gives the male pale elf an acknowledging nod while assessing his gear and the tone of his posture.
"Whoa. Are you saying the elves are creators of worlds, or just this one? Elves have always struck me as blowhards and breakable, with sticks so far up their arses it makes Mahdi look like the very picture of open arms. You seem quite cordial. Not like Dilix. A bit of a shrew, seeking stroking to smooth her hackles. We are eager to depart, so tell us how to get started, so we can part ways amicably. Our purpose- exit Kakishon. What's yours, other than to look pretty and create worlds?"
"Greetings Lahapraset." Aldebert dismounts smiling as Pent asks his question in his own round-about way. Still, it's a question worth an answer, and he does not press anything further lest it get lost.
He walks over and sits, though he's careful not to wedge his blade in such a way that it will be difficult to draw if needs be.
"Greetings indeed. This form is one that I thought might be welcomed by outsiders. Alas, it matters not. So you have spoken with others. That may serve our ends well. Foresight is limited by many things. In Dilix I imagine it is to many years of cruelty. For others it is stature. Some even it is the conflicting voices that battle within. As for leaving this place, first of all outsiders must be convinced to go. To cooperate in going. Or destroyed if for some reason they won't go. Perhaps either is amenable?"
Ami isn't sure what to think...about the elves, or who's turn it is to ruin everything. Since the gnome is starting off hot, Ami assumes it's his turn. He waits for his brother or Mahdi to ask good questions and find a way forward.
Mahdi bows politely to the 'elves,' his face taking on an expression of keen interest.
"Thank you for your hospitality. Would it be permitted to see your innate forms, or is that impossible? I ask only out of great curiosity.
"I am Mahdi al-Jabira; I do not know what you may know of us. I myself would like to study the mysteries and wonders of this world, but there are other tasks than merely my own academic interests that beckon. It seems the one called Jhahvul was released back onto our own world by our arrival, perhaps? Forgive me if I am stating things you already know.
"Therefore, our priority is to return to our home and make sure this Jhahvul does not destroy the people and things we have left behind. So this group of outsiders, at least, wishes to leave.
"Do I take your words to mean that you wish us to find the other groups here who are not native, and... convince them to leave, or end their lives?" Mahdi asks neutrally.