Titanfall Preventing Disaster: The Sleeping Sea

[Tess]

"Explains why you make such amazing bait, then," Tess said snarkily, sticking out her tongue at the offending fop.

Turning back to pool of water with Big Dark and Blobby sitting down at the bottom. She frowned a moment, then took a few big steps back from the water. The last thing she needed was to have the thing erupt from the water like a crocodile and grab her while she was digging through her bag. That was a rough trip through the savannah from what little she remembered of the events.

Muttered words of power spilled out as she dug around through dimensional pockets. She pulled seemingly random bits and baubles from the depths and either set them aside or tucked them into pockets on her robes. A little spool of thread, an eerily clear cube of flawless crystal, the bell from a cat's collar, and a small penknife were set aside on the ground while a few more items found homes on her person and out of sight. She closed up the bag and slung it over her shoulder before dusting her hands off and picking up the trinkets. Tess carefully handed the little cat's bell to Seteta with a warning not to drop it before lightly underhand tossing the spool of thread to Chaceledon.

"You'll need those soon, I think."

With that simple phrase, she polished the crystal cube, spoke a single word of power, and chucked the thing into the pool of water at the blob. A moment later and the pool, and the blob, erupted into a blinding, sustained light. Once again, Tess realized she'd been a little too successful. The bauble was meant to function similar to a very bright lantern.

As she shielded her eyes, she realized what she got was a light akin to a miniature sun in brightness.

"Anyone see anything?" she asked, pointlessly.

 

[Velaeri]

The strange stone beneath their feet began to tremble within the flash of illumination.

A rumble like a thousand distant thunder strikes echoed upward from the depths below.

The water running between the cracks in the stone trembled and then began to drain.

A sucking sound issued forth from the lagoon, the murky waters seeping downwards into the deep.



And then the entire chamber grew still.

Then it exploded with activity.

Great arching tendrils as big around as a pirate ship shot upwards through the stone. The ground beneath their feet buckled as the lagoon bubbled upwards and gave way to a black, spine-covered mound of chitin. Before their eyes an elder creature surged upwards, shattering the stone around them.

The chamber began to fill with water, gushing in from the tunnel they had used to enter it. The magical protection had broken ... or been cut off.

Within moments it was ankle deep and continuing to rise. The tentacles around them made to grab, swat, and smash at the occupants of the chamber.

 

[Seteta]

Seteta sighed wearily and ignored the childlike spat continuing between Chaceledon and Tess. Fortunately, Chaceledon didn't throw another snipe at Tess before coming up beside her and attempting to speak with the creature.

Unfortunately, before they had a chance to see if there would be a response, Tess took... action. Blindingly so. Before Seteta could even register what Tess had shoved into her hand--and the warning not to drop it--there was suddenly blinding light flooding through the cavern.

"Anyone see anything?" she asked, pointlessly.

Seteta let loose a string of Abtati expletives that would have made even Chaceledon blush if he could have understood them. As the ground began to tremble under their feet, she leaped up and back, pushing Chaceledon away. A glance over her shoulder showed that any escape route was cut off.

The little bell tumbled from her hand.

As she stumbled backward, leaving Tess to her own devices, Seteta grabbed Chaceledon's hand and pulled him next to her as she crouched down and pressed her palm to the stone as the water began to rise. Her sight was only just adjusting to the blinding light of Tess' incantation, and she swore again as she caught sight of the writhing tentacles.

Desperately, she pushed the magic out, through the stone and into the floor of the sea. She didn't know what to do, but when she caught heat an idea struck her, and she tugged at it, redirecting the flow of it through the ocean's bottom and toward Chaceledon.

"I'm opening a volcano vent!" she hollered to him, and not even a second later, the stone floor next to him crumbled away and heat burst through the air.

Chaceledon
Tess

 

[Chaceledon]

Chaceledon caught the spool of thread and looked at it. Magical, obviously, and decently well made. He frowned and tucked it away into a pocket. He wasn’t sure what Tess was doing. She was always digging in that infernal bloody bag. When Tess produced a small cube, and made to throw it in the pool, a sinking feeling tugged at his stomach.

“No!” It was too late. A bright, consuming flash flooded the room and his hand went to his eyes. What the hell had she done?! “I can’t see anything anymore you blithering fool! Ghat!” He cursed in draconian. He was about ready to throw her into the pool himself! What was she thinking? Did anything like to be awoken with a lantern to the face, much less a mysterious sea monster?

That assumption, it seemed, was correct.

Black tentacles erupted from the chamber, shattering the floor. The pool rose with a thorny mass of chitin. The creature wasn’t just in the pool but under the entire cavern! The spells that surrounded them were beginning to crack, flooding the chamber with water. Seteta seized his hand and yanked him down and away from the angry creature.

What were they to do?! “You stupid ignorant child!” Chaceledon raged at Tess, looking around for any escape route. A tiny bell rolled wildly at his feet and he snatched it up; Tess kept magical things, and they could use all the help they could get. Water was approaching his calves and he stripped off his outer robe angrily, tossing the white garment at the creature. It would keep him from being weighted down. He heard Seteta shouting, but he wasn’t sure what. He was too busy desperately trying not to get crushed.

Heat, then. Blessed heat!
Chaceledon lunged for it. He didn’t hesitate, but plunged down into the volcanic vent and felt more alive than he had in years. He shifted, shedding his human form. A long ribbon of amethyst and copper, he coiled himself in the heat. He still had to hold his breath under the water, but now he had something to fight with.

Chaceledon emerged with a surge of boiling seawater, fifty feet of scales. His beloved mane was wet and bedraggled, but the teeth he bared were anything but tame. He snarled at the monster, and took in a deep breath. A gout of purple flame, hot enough to melt salt, swept toward the tentacles. The room was filling with steam, making air bubbles trap themselves on the top of the chamber. They would still have at least a little air.

Enough of your tantrum! Chaceledon roared, ears pinned against his neck.

Tess
Seteta

 

[Tess]

The light died, the black shape erupted, and all hell broke loose.

Flooding water and tentacles were everywhere and it was all Tess could do to stay on her feet with rushing water, Seteta ripping open a volcanic vent, and suddenly Mr Fancy Prancy Man was Mr Fancy Prancy Dragon Man. Or, maybe he was a just a dragon. Tess wasn't entirely sure, all she really knew was things had gone from strange to chaotic, though not entirely crazy chaotic by her standards. This was easily in the top ten most insane moments of her life that she remembered, at least so far, but definitely on the low end of that list.

She dodged one tentacle as the amount of steam and heat in the air turned everything into a sauna. The steam made breathing hard, but not impossible and, at the very least, she could still breath which meant the magical bubble thingy hadn't shattered, though she knew she should probably be careful. Ancient magic and new magic didn't always mix. She'd read a book about how harmonic frequencies and resonance cohesiveness were the cause, but if she were honest, she'd only half read the gigantic tome.

Tess yanked a bauble from a pocket and scooped a handful of water in the other. Breathing a word of power, she blew air across the water in her hand, freezing it before slamming what looked to be a the broken, blunt end of a knitting needle into the ice in her palm. The ice in her hand molded itself to the trinket and she hefted the object as she leaped over a swung tentacle.

"Hendassa!"

With the shouted word of power, she flung the oblong lump of ice and trinket. As it left her hand, the magic in the Word of Power unlocked the enchantment in the bauble. What had been a weird chunk of ice morphed itself into a razor tipped spear of enchanted ice flying at incredible speeds straight for whatever creature was suddenly attacking.

The attack would have been one to remember if she hadn't taken a tentacle to the gut right after. The thing wrapped around her and lifted her high up off the ground, if one considered the bottom of the sea the ground. With only one arm free and the enchanted bag pinned to her side, she did the only thing she could think of and started biting the tentacle as viciously as she possibly could to get free.

Chaceledon

 

[Seteta]

Seteta had, so far, managed to avoid being grabbed by a tentacle, but as the chamber began to fill with water, she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

Heat washed over her as Chaceledon flew out of the volcano vent, spewing his flame. Between the steam and the smashing tentacles, though, she barely caught a glimpse of his dragon form, and it was not an adequate one. Her heart ached for just a moment. It was the first time he'd been able to take his true form since they'd met, and she couldn't even see it.

But a second later, she shoved that thought away. Survival first.

She heard Tess shout, so it seemed the mage was still alive after all. Seteta dodged another tentacle, then took a breath and ducked beneath the rising water, pressing her hand to the ocean floor once more, and made a slab of stone rise from beneath her, pushing her up and out of the water by several feet. She wasn't sure how far the cavern rose above them, so she would only make it rise a few feet at a time, so as not to smash herself against the ceiling.

At least, between Chaceledon's fire and the volcano vent, despite her thoroughly soaked clothing, Seteta was warm. For now.

For a moment, Seteta felt utterly useless. Her knife would prove inadequate against a creature like this, especially since it was not her Telling steel one. Damn Oor. She wished she'd had the time to retrieve it before they fled Witherhold.

All she had was her earth magic. She doubted an illusion would trick this creature, and she didn't want to have to pay the toll for that magic right now.

Checking Tess and Chaceledon's locations, Seteta knelt down again and pressed her hand to the stone platform beneath her feet. Her magic stretched through the stone, deep under the sea floor again, and then a moment later a large, pointed shard of rock pierced through the cavern floor, aiming straight for the center mass of the tentacled creature.

Seteta, in all honesty, had no idea which part of the creature to aim for. But hopefully she'd come close some portion of its anatomy that controlled the tentacles.

Chaceledon
Tess

 

[Velaeri]

Flame and ice spear and stone all smashed uselessly against the elder beast's hardened chitin. With every successive attack, the monstrosity became more enlivened. Chaceledon's words were but the buzzing of a pest as it rose ever further into the space of the chamber.

Astonishingly gargantuan in size, so far, and ever expanding.

The cavern could not take the upheaval and began to crumble in earnest. Massive chunks of stone fell from the ceiling and smashed into the floor below, heralding a deluge of frigid ocean water. Seteta would find her efforts to stay ahead of the rising, raging waters to be a challenge itself. Especially when a tentacle swung through the air under her feet and smashed the stone pillar to rubble.

Tess was tossed bodily across the cavern, landing somewhere near a jagged outcropping of stone overhead.

It was there that another figure appeared and announced its presence with a series of high-pitched trills.

Water wrapped itself around Tess and lifted her up and onto the outcropping with a gentle surge. The figure snaked his arms and gesticulated outwards into the churning depths, snapping a fluid hold around Seteta before gently plucking her from the waters to join Tess. With the waters rushing in ever faster as more of the cavern began to collapse in, it seemed the entire sea was out to swallow them whole. The figure lifted his arms, forming a barrier around himself and the girls, and gave the dragon one last bleating call to join them before the entire cave tumbled inwards, bringing the ocean with it.

There would be enough room for the dragon in the sphere of safety, but only just barely. The man ... creature, being... looked down upon the girls from a height of well over seven feet, cocked its head to one side and issued a quieter crooning sound.

 

[Chaceledon]

Gods. Never before had a mature dragon’s fire just done...nothing. He threw his head above the rising tide and sucked in a deep breath, firing another long volley of boiling flames toward the monster. Nothing? How could it be doing nothing?! Chaceledon curled around the warm volcanic vent that Seteta had opened, but the warmth was fading fast as the molten slag cooled around the wound in the earth.

Where was Seteta? He saw her body lifted somewhere...he didn’t know where Tess had gone. He could hear the bleating call, and looked up to see a strange creature with Seteta. His Seteta. It didn’t seem to be hurting her, and from what little he could see it was tall and lithe. A water dragon? Maybe? He lurched upward and away from the heat, and felt his flame gutter. Without a steady source of heat, the dragon form died away and left Chaceledon as he had been walking through the portal.

He swam upward, and just barely made it inside the protective bubble. He yanked a desperate breath through his mouth, flopping on his back. The seawater was going to ruin his hair.

After a few moments of rest Chaceledon sat up and checked that Seteta was alright. He gave the crooning creature a weary nod. Not a dragon. “Thank you.” he told it, coughing up the last bits of seawater in his lungs.

Seteta
Tess

 

[Seteta]

Seteta swore with frustration as her stone pillar was smashed by an angry tentacle, and she plummeted into the now boulder-strewn icy cold water, doing her best to not get concussed or inhale the liquid. Then she was being lifted and pulled out of the water, and set onto a new outcropping of stone. The Abtati shied back slightly from the new creature, but didn't try to break out of its barrier.

Worried, she looked out at the churning waters, trying to find Chaceledon as the creature bleated what was clearly a warning call. Her heart beat frantically in her chest, and she sucked a breath, trying to calm herself as she watched for her lover... and found herself coughing harshly.

Apparently she'd not avoided inhaling the seawater as well as she hoped.

The creature was crooning down at her and Tess--Seteta as pointedly ignoring the mage at the moment--when she'd finally convinced her lungs to cooperate, and Chaceledon was slipping into the protective barrier this creature had erected.

When Chaceledon had finished coughing, she scooted over next to him and gently rubbed his back. She quietly glared at Tess, daring the mage to even try and bring out another enchanted item of some sort if she wanted to stay alive, then looked up at the new sea creatures.

"Thank you," she said, echoing Chaceledon. "Do you... speak Common?"

Chaceledon
Tess

 

[Tess]

She was pretty sure she had another concussion. At the very least, she was waterlogged again if the weight of her robes and the rivulets of water running everywhere was a clue. She patted her side, checking to make sure her bag was still there, and then opened her eyes. Immediately regretting it, though not due to concussive reasons, she felt herself turn to ice from head to toe. Tall, dark, and fishy was something from her deepest nightmares even before she left Oban.

Tess didn't scream, though mainly because she didn't have the energy to do so. Her magic was largely forgotten as panic gripped her with frozen talons. If she hadn't emptied her bladder when she'd hit the jagged rocks earlier (and how she'd managed to come out of that unscathed so far was entirely unknown to her), she probably would have emptied it on the spot. Sure, Fish-Face McKenzie might be the nicest guy in the aquarium as he held up a shield to protect them all from the Creature from the Undersea Lagoon, but to Tess he was fear incarnate and probably the reason she wasn't entirely fond of fish.

So, instead of unleashing spells or magic or even biting him as she'd done the giant Lagoon Creature, she did what any person did when confronted with nightmare people from dreams they'd had a child.

Tess scrabbled over, clung to Seteta and Chaceledon, buried her face in their robes and clothes, still soaked from the seawater, and quietly whimpered as she hoped the monster disappeared.

 

[Velaeri]

There were some things that were universal across cultures and societies, despite the challenges of language and landscape. Their savior seemed to recognize the gesture of thanks, even if it didn't recognize the words. It crooned back gently, swaying a hand back the way it had come, through another chamber opening, and stopping short as Tess came-to.

Fear was another one of those universal things. It tilted its head to one side and took a step back to give them space. Unfortunately neither time or their environment was on their side. The collapsed cavern groaned and rumbled, the bubble surrounding them rippled uneasily. They couldn't stay there.

With another bleating call, their savior issued a high-pitched whine that tapered over into a rattling set of clicks. If one had such knowledge of the creatures of the sea, they might think it an odd mixture of whale and dolphin sounds.

It gestured again, more insistently this time, and stepped out of the bubble into the frigid waters beyond its safety. This tunnel was not protected by magic like the one they had taken, but they might notice the bubble around them beginning to move, lifting from solid ground and floating after their new guide through the water. The occupants inside resting against the fluid bounds that kept them safe.

Around them the darkness grew ever more absolute, and ahead of them they could see the bleary image through the water field of the one that had saved them. Fins sprouted along its back and arms, illuminating in succession with bioluminescence. They were being carried through the dark realms of the deep sea to a place unknown.

 

[Chaceledon]

Chaceledon sat back and sucked in a deep breath...shortly before Tess launched herself at himself and Seteta, and buried herself in his wet clothing. He was tempted to smack her, as her meddling had woken the creature. Instead of giving her the beating she rightfully deserved, he looked at her. She was whimpering like a child, like the way his own Volkers had when they’d accomplished a first kill or first gotten the dreadful news that they were going to die.

He sighed, and put his arms around her. He cuddled her to his chest, and felt cold seep into his bones. Changing into his natural form seemed like some fever dream now, as they sped off deeper into the ocean. He couldn’t stop the creature, not with this cold. Seteta was separated from earth and rock. Tess had her bag, but what good was that wretched thing? They were at this creature’s mercy. He ran his hand up and down Tess’ back comfortingly.

“Where are you taking us?” he asked the creature.

Seteta
Tess
Velaeri

 

[Seteta]

Seteta's question went unanswered as the creature gestured, beginning to direct them away from the destroyed cavern and its angry inhabitant. She was surprised, though, when Tess roused, only to throw herself at them. The elf poised herself to intervene for Chaceledon's imminent anger at the human mage for daring to touch his clothes... but was caught off guard when he sighed and wrapped his arms around the human.

She was completely taken aback for a moment, but then shook her head, smiling softly, but she startled and grasped at Chaceledon's arm as they were lifted into the water, still contained within the bubble, and the creature swam ahead. She shivered a little, having been thoroughly drenched, and the depths of the sea offered no warmth beyond the occasional volcanic vent, but she could do nothing about those now.

Gnawing at her lip, she wondered if Chaceledon's question had even been heard. Or understood.

Chaceledon
Tess
Velaeri

 

[Tess]

She risked a peak to where the creature had been standing and, seeing it had moved further away, fought the sudden panic that it was lurking nearby and out of sight. She'd been raised on the horror stories of the fish men, creatures who preyed upon humans from rivers and seas. The stories had terrified her as a child and while she had gone to sea on many occasions - even wound up under the sea on at least two - the stories stuck with her. Now, facing one of the nightmares of her childhood in such stressful conditions, she couldn't help herself.

Tess felt a hand rubbing her back and burrowed deeper. The clothing smelled of sea salt and faint perfume, a spicy, almost-cinnamony scent that lingered no matter how strong the smell of the sea tried to overpower her nose. She curled into a ball and pressed herself more into whoever held her, content to seek safety from the creature.

She noticed the ball moving, the orb of safety slowly floating deeper and away from danger, but kept her eyes shut. Tess knew the creature was still there, even if she couldn't spot it and decided the best course of action was to hope for the best and keep where she felt safe.

Seteta Chaceledon

 

[Velaeri]

Their journey was dark and lengthy, but no further calamity fell upon the Gathered. Their guide remained silent amidst the fathoms of deep sea, taking them down, down, down into the bleak unknown that very few of the land-dwelling realm had ever seen.

A chasm presented itself, following the lines of seastreams barely visible, twisting and winding their way through the currents above their heads. Bioluminescent light greeted them, green and blue, humming with a persistent heartbeat of the ocean. From the depths of the trench the silhouettes of a cityscape looming within the pale light began to take shape.

Their guide took them down between the rising walls of stone, deep into the heart of the city. There, at the center they found themselves surrounded by tall pillars encase in sea life, standing at the heart of it was another creature like their savior. The bubble descended to the floor of the ocean, landing gently and bobbing as it stuck to stone before this new creature. Many figures appeared in the waters surrounding them - most notably kivren among a myriad other curious sea beasts. Their guide and the reagent before them were, decidedly, not kivren. Or any other known being of the sea. There were no others in attendance like them.

The guide and the reagent shared low humming tones, clicks, and soulful songs for several moments before the latter raised a webbed hand and gestured to a nearby Kivren. She swam forward to the bubble and placed a hand upon the surface of it. The bubble shivered, and though at first they could hear the kivrens melodious song echoing gently beyond the bubble, a secondary voice spoke within.

"Welcome land dwellers to Ah'kahasa Kiva, the resting place of the lady of the sea. Your coming is foretold. You stand before the Keeper, he would like to know what news of the world above do you bring with you? What task must he help you complete?"

 

[Chaceledon]

Chaceledon felt the fear in Tess. It softened his heart, and he pulled her closer to comfort her. She was a stupid little creature who didn’t think before she did something, but she reminded him of Aluid. It made his heart tug painfully. Was Rheinhard alright while they were out here? He ran his fingers through Tess’ hair with a sigh. “What a pain in the ass you are.” he mumbled to her.

Coming out of the gloom was a city. Gods, they had gone so far down light barely touched here. Soft yellow, blue and red lights sounded off from creatures around them, and Chaceledon found himself wondering about them. What sort of city was this? Were they prisoners? Unwelcome guests? Did these fish men know of the magic disturbance?

Either way they were landing in front of a figure that made Chaceledon deeply embarrassed for the state of his clothing and hair. He gently pushed Tess behind him; he wasn’t denying her protection, only the embrace. He stood, and began struggling to fix his hair and nails. Oh gods his robes were awful! His makeup was ruined and he probably looked somewhere between a disturbed badger and a raccoon. He swore under his breath and just managed to get his hair straightened before the figure spoke.

“What news..? My lord, the magic in the world above is suffering. My son relied upon it to live, and he lays above us with the bonds shivering around him. Magic has failed in several circumstances…one of which resulted in a massive fire in Vel Anir and several deaths. The news isn’t good.”

Tess
Seteta
Velaeri

 

[Seteta]

Seteta warred within herself. She felt frightened, helpless, floating through the sea within this bubble of air. There was nothing she could do if if their escort either turned on them, or if he was incapacitated. Her illusion magic was useless, and without earth, she could not use her geomancy at all.

The only sign of her unease, however--unlike Tess--was the tenseness of her fingers as she gently tucked her hand into the crook of Chaceledon's arm.

Eventually, a chasm opened up in the darkness of the depths. As their guide led them down into it, Seteta gave a soft sigh of relief. Stone meant earth. She didn't want to think of what would happen if they were suddenly without the protection of this bubble, but she wouldn't be without options.

As myriads of sea creatures flowed around them, Seteta's eyes flickered to and fro, trying to catch sight of anything that might be significant.

Chaceledon continued to deal with Tess, at least until they landed. As her dragon stood, fidgeting with his robes and bemoaning his appearance, Seteta just sat, quietly observing as their guide spoke with another. She dropped her hand to her side, her fingertips brushing against the stone floor. She did nothing except reach out, just enough, to see if there was magic present within it that would answer her.

It did, but she did not summon it to her will, just let the connection stay dormant in the back of her mind. She doubted she would need to use it, but as a daughter of the earth this deep below the sea, its presence was a comfort.

When the sea-woman extended a hand to the bubble, and a voice filled the air around them, Seteta remained seated, her mother's words forever etched in her memory. Someday, because it happens to everyone at some point, you will be in a place where you do not know who to trust or what actions to take. Just remember, no matter how powerful the ones who hold your life in their hands may be, you are always--always--their equal. If you are standing, stay standing until they offer you a seat. If you are seated, stay seated until they insist you rise. Be courteous, but firm. Whether you stand before them in your finest robes, the filthiest rags, or merely your skin, you are always their equal.

Chaceledon finished speaking then, and Seteta let silence fall for a moment. She doubted that Tess would have anything to add at the moment, but she looked first at the kivren enabling their ability to communicate, then beyond her to their guide, and then to the one called the Keeper.

She opened her mouth to speak, and rather than the Common tongue--she suspected that whatever language she used, in this case it would be translated flawlessly, and spoke better in her native one--she spoke in Abtat.

"What he speaks is truth," Seteta said, sitting tall and straight. An observer might have even called her presence regal, despite her soaked and bedraggled appearance. "Magic on the surface has begun to fail. I am gifted with earth, and there have been several occasions when I reached out to it and it did not answer me back. Even, at times, when I had the magic within my grasp and it vanished as if swept away by the wind.

"Our companion, too," Seteta gestured to Tess, "had several spells misfire, with grave consequences." She did not, however, mention that she was doubtful if those spells would have worked correctly even without magic's hiccups.

"What other news we have the world may depend on what you wish to know," she stated, but cast a fond smile up at Chaceledon. "But for me, it is a beautiful and wondrous world, where elven maidens rescue dragons instead of becoming sacrifices for them, and the love of a mother for a child, or a woman for her mate, will send them on seemingly-impossible tasks to save them."

Seteta turned her gaze back to the Keeper. "We have been sent to find twelve runes," she finished. "We were told that six we would find in the sea, the other six in the wild. Three of stone, three of wood, three of metal, and three of blood. That is all we know."

Tess
Chaceledon
Velaeri

 

[Tess]

One moment they were in a bubble pulled along magically by Tall Dark and Fishy, the next there were fish people. Fish people everywhere. Alien eyes and webbed everything as far as the eye could see, though even as she sat in what was essentially her literal nightmare she couldn't help but feel even the tiniest amazement at the city and stone all around.

While she wasn't sure if she was getting braver or simply getting adjusted to her utter terror, she opted to stay behind Fancy Pants a little longer. Sure, he was pompous and loud and definitely prioritized appearance over practicality, but for some reason she'd grown fond of him. She was pretty sure it was because he'd given her a safe moment or two, acted like a parent she'd never really had sheltering a child, but she'd be damned if she'd admit that.

She understood the fish lady well enough and Fancy Pants' response as well, and then Snarky the Elf spoke up and Tess lost all track of the conversation. She knew enough to know it was one of the nomad languages from Amol-Khalit, the elven one, but she had no clue what it was called and she only picked up one word in reference to her which could mean 'mistake', 'misfire', or 'F$&#ed up' depending on context and she sincerely hoped it wasn't the last one. Making a mental note to learn the language, or better yet invent something to do it for her, she thought deeply a moment as she tried to figure out where, precisely, they were or, more importantly, how deep underwater they'd gone. As she scratched at her cheek, a sudden realization dawned on her.

"Oh, hey!" she whispered excitedly as she tugged on Chaceledon's sleeve. "My arms work again!"

Seteta
Velaeri

 

[Velaeri]

While Chalcedon and Seteta spoke of the woes of the surface world, the kivren remained silent as she listened. Eyes closed, hand tethered delicately to the surface of their protective bubble, each word triggered ripples across the sphere from which she siphoned meaning and intent. If it were through magic or some other mysterious natural means provided by kivren physiology - such things would remain unknown. As the elf fell silent again, the kivren looked over to the Keeper and translated through her melodious song.

It was a short exchange comparatively to all they had spoken of, but there seemed to be some confusion and alarm suggested by the shorter chirrups of sound the Keeper offered back. He communicated next with their Guide, who gestured back toward the chamber where it had found them and the Keeper's glossy eyes widened significantly.

Finally the kivren turned back to them, singing again with the voice echoing gently inside their bubble.

"In this realm of the sea the Lady sleeps and provides. We have not felt what you describe ... but those who provided for the land realms are said to have fallen eons ago, in a time before time. Kalamek's awakening can only be a sign of this imbalance you speak of."

Beyond the bubble the Keeper pressed gently upward from where it stood, gliding with slow, fluid grace toward them. He emitted sounds of the sea, which the kivren translated.

"There are many runes to be found in the sea, but only one place embodies the nature of those who came before. The Keeper will take you there to this sacred place."

With a gesture of his staff the Keeper took possession of their sphere from the Guide. A gentle pull of magic tugged them from the stone ground below and back into open water. A fan of luminescent, spinned fins sprouted from the Keeper's back and limbs, billowing with a graceful strength and pulsing with green-hued illumination at every flutter.

The kivren swam alongside them as they descended even further through the city, heading into a forest of giant kelp and wild corals. Silhouettes of creatures flickered through their surroundings, following at a distance with curiosity for these strange land dwellers.

After some time a brighter glow shone through the forest before them and a grand, arched structure rose upwards through the natural growth. Below a carved statue of a faceless female warrior marked by fins of the sea raised a curious instrument high over her head. At a glance it seemed to be a ... sword perhaps?

Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be the remnants of a crook, broken off at the tip however many ages ago.

The Keeper kept his distance, but ushered their bubble forward so they could better see. The kivren stayed beside them.

"Here she lies," spoke the kivren, "and there at the base are o'liersa. Forgotten runes."

The runes were not immediately visible, so hidden beneath layers of coral and growth were they, but they repeated. Six singular runes etched into stone, circling the base of the statue.

 

[Chaceledon]

Chaceledon couldn’t help but keep his eyes on Seteta as she spoke. She was wet and dirty, and looking at her made him want to tackle her with a comb. But she spoke clearly and with dignity. She held a regality in the way she held her head and shoulders. She spoke with grace and tact, and the words about elven maidens rescuing dragons tugged at his heart. She was his heroine, and he would never forget it. Gods help him, he would follow her to the second world.

He let the pride swell in his chest…and Tess tugged at his sleeve. He gave her a look. Not the time. He was glad her arms worked, but if she didn’t watch herself they’d be in shackles. He nodded, and turned his attention back to the kivren. They might not have experienced the same things, but they were at least aware of the problem. They had to get to those seals with all haste.

Kalamek. The name tugged at him. “Who is this Kalamek?” he asked. The name sounded vaguely Saurian or Trollish.

They were being tugged away again, and Chaceledon left the stone floor with reluctance. He really didn’t like the sensation of cold, deadly water being held back only by magic. Magic that seemed stable according to the kivren, but who knew? He tried to stay as close to Seteta as possible. He nodded awkwardly to the kivren, wishing he could speak their language or that Rheinhard was with them. Nestor was going to pitch a fit that Chaceledon didn’t have the same photographic memory.

He studied the keeper. A beautiful creature of bioluminesce…he desperately wanted a writing pad to scribble down what he looked like. He could make one hell of a collection inspired by this place. Wherever they were. Thank the gods for the statue. A woman standing clear and tall, though appeared to be kivren. Runes at her feet.

“Do you have anything to write with? Please. We must take these back above but I dare not get them even the slightest bit wrong.” Chaceledon looked from the Keeper to Tess. Someone had to have a bloody pen?!

Tess
Seteta
Velaeri

 

[Seteta]

Kalamek. Seteta silently mouthed the name, tucking it away. She didn't know it, but there was something about it that demanded it be noticed. Recalled.

When Tess made the exclamation about her arms working again, though, Seteta bit back a frustrated sigh, and turned to scowl at the human. "Don't you dare do anything with your hands or arms without asking first," she warned. "We do not want another repeat of the tentacle creature."

She fell silent for a moment, then whipped her head back around to pin Tess with a stare. "Actually, all you're allowed to do is breathe. Don't do anything else without asking first."

The one Seteta assumed was the Keeper took over then, and their bubble left the ground, once more being dragged through the sea. She gladly tucked herself into Chaceledon's side again. He had a little residual warmth from the volcano vent she'd opened, and while her clothes were still wet, the bubble at least kept too much of their combined body heat from escaping. There was any icy chill that emanated from the magic walls around them, and she was certain it was the water, not the magic.

When they at last came to the statue, Seteta fell into a quiet reverence. Ah'kahasa Kiva, they had said. The resting place of the Lady of the Sea. Even if her mother had not instilled a respect for the gods other than Abtatu, the power residing here would have demanded it. The place reeked with a magic so old that Seteta felt if she tapped into it, she might glimpse the very dawn of time.

“Do you have anything to write with? Please. We must take these back above but I dare not get them even the slightest bit wrong.” Chaceledon looked from the Keeper to Tess. Someone had to have a bloody pen?!

Seteta reached for her waterlogged satchel. "I do not have anything to write with," she said, but one of the stones I plucked from the river near the Falwood stone is large and flat." She pulled it out and showed it to the Keeper. "I can engrave a copy of them here with my magic."

She had no idea which runes needed to be made with which material, but hopefully putting them all onto one piece of stone--just carved into the stone--would suffice for a copy and not activate them in a way they were not meant to be.

Chaceledon
Tess
Velaeri

 

[Tess]

Tess was about to protest when Seteta followed up with only being allowed to breath. She huffed, about to tell off the snarky elf when Fancy Pants started going off about a pen. She ignored the beauty and majesty of the statue and area they'd been brought to and instead promptly dove into her bag without waiting for 'permission'. It was, after all, her bag and, besides, it wasn't like she wasn't an adult anyways. She bit back her own snark and yanked out a stylus before pulling out a matching case with parchment.

"Pen and paper," she stated proudly, offering them to Chaceledon before diving back into her bag. "Well, parchment and magic pen, really. Magic seems to be okay down here, so it should write, just don't lose it."

She dug around in her bag a moment or two longer, muttering the appropriate words of power under her breath as her arms moved. She had to move a large, dried cabbage that she'd forgotten why she had it at all, but finally found what she was looking for. Tess pulled out a rock about the size of her fist and handed it to Chaceledon. It was smooth and polished, but lumpy and oddly shaped with a black luster spiderwebbed with gold veins.

"This should warm you up, just rub it a minute," she said, closing up her bag and looking around. "Found it a while back in a lake that I'm pretty sure was a crater. Multiplies applied heat so I use it for campfires."

She thought a moment.

"... At least, when I remember I have it. Probably more use to you than me," she took a closer look at where they'd been brought to, her nightmare fear of the fish people pushed away for the moment. "Cool statue."

Velaeri

 

[Velaeri]

The Keeper watched, silent and reverent. Curious. The kivren stayed close by their bubble, listening in but finding very little to translate. She did not know the concept of writing but the stone slab and carving, that she knew. Conveying the message to the Keeper, he gestured forward as though to give permission, and pushed their bubble closer to the area with a warbling note to the Kivren.

She swam ahead and down to the base of the statue where she began to clear away the plants and corals that had grown over the runes.

In the distance, beyond the archways of the structure, a sinuous silhouette gently coiled through the open sea.

 

[Chaceledon]

Chaceledon took the pen and paper gratefully from Tess, but pushed the stone back at her. "I don't want another one of your artifacts, considering what just happened. You keep that bag shut, and memorize these runes like your life depended on it. We are in trouble here, Tess. This isn't for eating, this isn't a damned vacation." The dragon said firmly, as though he were speaking to a child. He made a mental note never to allow Tess and Aluid to meet. They'd have the world in cinders through sheer incompetence.

He waited patiently for the runes to be uncovered before carefully putting down the paper. He made a rubbing of them first, then sketched a small drawing next to it. Gods, if only they had Rheinhard here. A photographic memory would prove invaluable. He did his best, following the kivren around the statue and copying each rune; several times where he could. He needed Seteta and Tess to make copies as well, and when he was done handed them each a paper to make their own drawings. The more repetition, the better.

When they were finished he looked to the Guardian. "Never leave this place. The world out there is a hideously cruel mess, and if I weren't so cold down here I'd say the hell with it and want to stay. The sea is safe." he muttered. "Now let's finish this."

Seteta
Tess
Velaeri

 

[Seteta]

Seteta eyed Tess warily as the girl began to speak, almost lunged to put herself between the hapless mage and her lover when she tried to give him some sort self-heating stone. The sea creatures began to move their bubble closer to the statue, though, and one of them cleared away the debris around the runes.

While Chaceledon made rubbings and sketched the runes on the paper, Seteta followed behind him. She held the flat stone from Falwood in one hand, and with the other she carefully touched the stone each rune was engraved on. Each time, she reached out to touch the magic in each stone, and in just a moment a replica of the rune would etch itself into the flat stone she held. She was careful with the magic--oh so careful--because the runes themselves were inherently magic, but of a different sort than she was used to. She didn't need to pull a 'Tess.'

When she was finished, she carefully compared each of the runes to their originals, making sure the copies were accurate, then gave a satisfactory nod, and turned to see if the others were finished.


Tess
Chaceledon
Velaeri