The Furry Forums
Creative Arts and Media => Roleplay => Serious RP => Topic started by: Sarrus on September 16, 2016, 09:07:08 PM
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Out of character post here (https://www.thefurryforum.com/forums/index.php?topic=34194.0).
The Aerial Exploration Syndicate is a company that hires you to explore the mysterious lands known as "The Wastes". Dragons, gryphons and many others fly alongside you into this great expanse to the east of your homeland where the rough terrain, hostile creatures and lack of civilization make it unsafe for anthros to venture into.
As the frontier of the civilized world is ever pushed forward your services are invaluable and the rewards are great though, as you know, the land can often take back more than it gives.
The expedition you are embarking on at this very moment goes deeper into the Wastes than anyone you know can remember and it will be several months before you return. With few supplies, you will have to rely solely on yourself and your companions as you seek to plumb the mysteries of this unforgiving land...
Post Merge: September 17, 2016, 10:31:27 AM
The rendezvous point provided by the Syndicate is a mile west of the border of the Wastes. There are a few small settlements dotted about the area though they tend to be fairly unwelcoming, their occupants hardened by the proximity to the wild lands to the east.
The terrain is similar to that of the Wastes itself though lacks its density. The soil is quite fertile and supports a large variety of fast growing, short lived plants. The most distinct of these being the 'Thorn Trees', large monolithic green spikes that can grow to be over 10 feet tall. Circled around these are 'Chokers', Thin and flexible brown plants that have a distinctly snake-like feel to them and are capable of moving at a rate of about half an inch a day. The chokers shuffle about from thorn to thorn and, over the course of a year, the entire look of the land can change as they move between hosts. Nestled in-between these strange plants is a vast array of shrubs that give the ground a rough, colourful look.
Sarrus is the first to arrive, just as it is beginning to get dark. He glides down to the clearing where the group is due to meet. He folds his wings and sets down the large brown satchel he had been carrying, looking around and taking in the scenery. After a moment, he walks away from the clearing and into the forest, only to return a moment later with the dried top of a dead thorn tree clamped between his jaws.
Carefully, he sets the wood down in the middle of the clearing, then takes a step back and breathes his fire on it, engulfing the wood in his lilac flames. After a few moments, he cuts off his fire though the wood now continues to burn in that same lilac, casting long shadows as dusk begins to settle in.
Sarrus steps back a few paces, then lies down on his belly with his head up and crosses his forelegs, staring into the fire as he waits - a little apprehensively - for his comrades to arrive.
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Razuel had already was the second to arrive, landing behind Sarrus and looking around, "Are you Sarrus? The... um, Syndicate sent me as help... They offered me a job there... but I refused... don't ask why... I just have my reasons...", Raz walked around to the other side of the fire, sat down, and stared at it, wrenching his head back and shooting a sparkling red fire, it combining with the lilac flames, "Beautiful... anyway, they told me that you'd fill me in on the mission..."
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Sarrus initially looks a little uncomfortable to see the presence of another male drake but relaxes quickly, watching the lilac and red flames dancing together. "Yes, though its not much of a brief I'm afraid. There was an expedition due back a month ago which has still not returned. They were supposed to be traveling as far into the Wastes as possible and our brief is to follow their route, try to find out where they got to and... continue, if they are... uh... unable."
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Haldren lands in the clearing just as Sarrus finishes the quick brief, flapping his wings slightly before folding them on his back. "Continue what if who are unable? I miss something important?" He looks up at the two other dragons, being only slightly larger than a small horse, yet he wasn't showing any signs of being uncomfortable or intimidated by their size. If anything, he seemed far too at ease for the situation.
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Sarrus eyes the new drake, a little surprised by his arrival. "Uh, the previous expedition. We are supposed to follow it to it's conclusion if the original team are... uh... unable."
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coming out from the trees, Tandridan Emerges. He sees the three figures already gathering near the fire, and seems to examine them from a distance. Two black dragons. One small.... thing... who's wings had patterns that moved as he watched. Sounds like the sort of group he would be assigned to.
He plods forward towards the rest of the group, the lack of back legs made the movement jerky and ungainly. It was clear Tandridan lacked any real elegance on the ground. As he approaches he looks up at Sarrus. "Don't worry about repeating yourself again..." He states. "I heard you explaining it to... him." He gestures to Hal.
Twisting his serpentine tail around himself, Tanderidan moves himself into a comfortable sitting position by the fire.
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Sarrus looks around at the group, taking in the variety of drakes before him. "I know of one more that we are waiting for." He says "I'm Sarrus by the way. This is all a bit new to me I'm afraid." He taps his front talons together for a moment, looking a bit awkward.
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Raz nodded and looked at the sky, "I'm Razuel Dracon... that's all you need to know for now...", and as he got bored, Raz shot a sparkling red ball of fire into the sky, it then exploding far into the sky and sparkling down its residue, gleaming in the sunlight, signaling as a beacon for the last person.
Raz looked back to Sarrus, "There... that should help... Anyway, the Syndicate has assigned me to you, Sarrus, believing, and I quote, 'You and Sarrus will work well together... Your and his chemistry work out well together...', Which I have no idea of what that means... but maybe they're talking about our fighting styles and powers..."
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Sarrus nods, "My impression was the same. Honestly, it makes me a little worried that they feel we need defending on this mission. Has anyone here seen much combat in their lives?"
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Haldren clears his throat at the mention of combat experience and to each of the others in turn. "No, not really. I think it's pretty much safe to say you three will probably have to handle... well, everything to do with that kind of thing. Not exactly built for it."
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"I have been involved in duels with others of my kind" Tan states. I know how to use my abilities in combat, though admittedly have never been in an actually life-threatening situation" He glances between the others at the fire. "Surely out on the wastes there are only mere beasts, nothing seriously threatening."
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"Uh.. beasts yeah... Well, we don't really know to be honest. The expedition pushes our frontier further than it has gone before. No one really knows what we will find."
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A short distance away you hear the displacement of air, the unmistakable sound of a large winged creature landing. A few moments later you see two golden eyes approaching, reflecting the flames of the fire in the darkness, "What an interesting group I've been assigned to..."
The eyes move forward, bringing the form of a dragoness into view, the firelight illuminating her fluffy blue form as she strides into the clearing, eyeing the group with clear interest.
"Where did the syndicate find such a diverse bunch?" She has a slight smirk of mild amusement on her face as she sits down at Sarrus' side, although seeming to barely notice him as she looks over each of the other dragons in turn.
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Sarrus puts a wing over Niphi's back affectionately. "This is my mate, Niphi. She has done a number of expeditions before and will be coming with us."
For a few hours the five drakes talk to each other, discussing everything from fire to territorial boundaries before one by one they retire for the evening, sleeping under the stars.
-- Day two --
The next morning the sun shines down upon the clearing, warming the dragon's backs as they get up. Some in the group choose to embark on a brief hunt and when they are finished eating the five set off, spreading their wings and pushing off into the sky.
After a few minuets of flight they pass a long, thin trench dug in a line crossing their path, signifying the start of the Wastes.
As the group flies further, they begin to see a large plume of smoke rising high up into the sky. After getting a little closer, they see that the smoke is coming from a large forest fire.
Sarrus looks quite taken aback "Its not dry enough for a fire to start here on it's own," he calls out, "Someone must have caused this."
Sure enough, as the group gets closer they can see that the great conflagration before them is formed from a mix of blue and yellow flames, a distinct combination of what could only be dragon fire.
The blaze seems to be growing quickly, already too large for a single drake to tackle and gaining ground in all directions.
"We should try and put this out." Sarrus yells, then says in a quieter voice, "I wander if whoever started this is nearby."
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Raz zoomed into the center of the fire, it seemingly morphing around him, and he begins to slash down the trees, effectively shortening the time of the fire to make them ash.
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Tan flies gracefully slightly above Sarrus, his huge wings looking almost oversized. He looks down, almost glaring, at Sarrus. "How? Only one of us has Breath that won't just make things worse. I suppose you plan for the rest of us to go down and flap our wings in its general direction?" He flies a little higher, getting an idea of the layout general area, then, with a sigh, dives after Raz. He has no idea what he is actually going to do when he gets down there.
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Raz slashed and trampled each tree he slashed up, the fire around him leeching to his body, but not hurting him... just making him look more scarey, "If you're going to just stand there, then go and search the area for who did this... but send the others down!", Raz's way was efficient, but was largely slow.
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Sarrus watches the two drakes flying into the center of the mass of flames. He look quite frightened and flies a small anxious circle before pulling out abruptly. "We could try making fire breaks!" He yells, then demonstrates his idea by soaring down to the edge of the fire. He draws a deep breath and unleashes his own lilac flames, drawing a line across the path of the spreading fire. Obeying its master, Sarrus' fire does not spread, instead standing its ground. When the wild fire reaches it, the yellow and blue flames lash viciously at the lilac ones but are unable to pass.
Sarrus continues to try to block the path of the fire but it is simply too large for him to do on his own, the conflagration expanding faster than he can block it.
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Raz heard Sarrus through the fire and flames and he let up into the air in a corkscrew pattern and opening his wings, causing the fire that had latched onto him to fly off of him and disperse, he then flew to beside Sarrus and he began to cock his head back, glowing particles being drawn into his stone, charging up his shot.
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Niphi rolls her eyes as she observes the uncoordinated firefighting effort, “For fire breathers you sure are a helpless lot when it comes to fires.”
She swoops down low over the flaming canopy and breathes out a stream of icy mist over the inferno, cutting a great line through the blaze. Where her breath hits the flames vanish, leaving behind blackened, leafless trees, shimmering with an icy coat.
She continues to pass over the blaze, enclosing it within a circle of icy dead trees.
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Raz cocked his head and let go of a swirling fireball, it descending down and exploding above the trees and obliterating the trees below it, leaving a curved cut on the trees affected.
After the shot, Raz's wing flaps became lazy as this had tired him out, "Sarrus... help me down...", Raz then turned around and slowly descended to the ground.
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With a sigh, Tan flies back into the air, going far into the sky and seeing if there is any sign of whoever started the fire.
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As Tandridan soars out over the forest, he catches a glimpse of a couple of small shapes with colors that mismatch those of their surroundings. As he draws closer, the shapes suddenly move darting away from him through the forest and spreading their wings to take flight. They appear to be two young firedrakes, one orange and one mauve. The pair are small and slow, their bodies not fully grown yet, perhaps about the size of small ponies.
Lacking all but the weakest telekinetic ability, Sarrus is unable to help cushion Razuel's landing, watching as the dragon glides to the ground.
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Raz plummeted to the ground and crashed landed, still breathing, but motionless and tired
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Sarrus gasps in shock. "Gods, Razuel, are you ok?" He runs over to the other dragon and looks him over to see if he is injured.
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Raz gave a breathed chuckle, "Yeah... I'm good just a bit sore...", Raz then tried to get up, but couldn't, "Yeah... Can you get me some water... or find me a rodent to eat?... I need food to regain my strength..."
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Sarrus turns his head, looking back at the fire. "Uh, ok, just hang in there." Sarrus goes back to building his fire brake, breathing more of his lilac flames to curb the expanse of the inferno while Niphi puts it out.
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Tan flies towards the two young drakes. He watches how they move, working out which of the two is less skilled in the air. He then tugs the tail the identified target Via telekinesis, A fall from this height should be fairly harmless for a young dragon, however it would certainly bring them to a stop. Hopefully allowing him to catch up and 'talk' with them. A young, small dragon should not have any power to resist such an ability.
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Tan manages to catch the orange whelp, pulling it back to the ground and causing it to let out an undignified squawk. The young drake lands hard but quickly gets back to its feet and turns to face its aggressor looking frightened.
A young male by the look of him, he has bright yellow eyes, a clear match for the yellow flames still raging in the background.
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Raz struggled to get up and managed, and then stumbling towards Tan and the two smaller drakes, walking to the other side of them, blocking their escape, but Raz looked overly exhausted, yet still kept a scarey visage, "You do know what you did... right?", Raz said as he pointed to the flames.
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Tan landed only a few feet from the young drake he had pulled down, Allowing his huge wings to blot out the light from the fire as he swooped. Concentrating, he grabs the young dragons throat with his powers. Tan was not squeezing, but was applying just enough force that the drake knew what COULD happen. "Now. Listen here." He states, as he lands. "I recommend you don't do anything stupid, and explain to us, slowly, what you are doing out here, and why." Tan spoke in a low growl, making sure the Drake heard every word he said, and trying to be as intimidating as possible.
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The young drake whimpers. "We... We were just messing around! I didn't know it was gunna get out of hand!" He whines quietly "Please don't kill me!"
The other drake turns around in the air, looking back fearfully, clearly debating internally what to do next.
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Raz looked up at the other one and did a few weak flaps into the air, grabbing it's tail and forcing it to the ground, "Really...? I could clearly tell you were going to leave... don't deny it..."
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When the wildfire seems to be contained within a barrier of icy dead trees and Sarrus' controlled flame, Niphi glides down to the rest of the group as they interrogate the young whelps. She lands, panting slightly as she approaches the others, "I think that's got it, the fire should burn itself out now..."
She looks at Raz and Tan then turns to the young dragon with a stern look, "I think you have some explaining to do, whelp. Come on, lets hear it."
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Sarrus too leaves the fire and rejoins the group. The mauve welp is a female, as young as the orange and with bright blue eyes. She yelps as she is pulled to the ground by Raz, flapping helplessly as she is brought down.
The orange whines, "We just wanted to practice with our flames. Alda's only just came through and she-" he begins but the mauve lets out a sharp hiss.
"Don't try to pin this on me, Therin!" She snaps "You were the one who said you could put them out!"
Anger seeming to blossom from nowhere she suddenly tries to lunge at the other welp, trying to pull out of Raz's grip.
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Raz let go of the Dragon's tail and pinned them down to the ground, "Sorry if this hurts you, little one... but you do deserve some punishment... now, just stay still and I'll consider relocating your wings back..", in the amount of time it would take for the small Drake to question and wail to struggle, Raz shifted his paw and a popping noise was heard, signaling that the Drake under his paw has now had their wings dislocated, "I'll lessen the pain for you, but the instant I let go of you, you will feel the full pain... it feels like hell right now... doesn't it...", Raz spoke in a calm tone, but despite the pain he caused he knew how to do this stuff properly, so the Drake would be safe from death.
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Niphi watches Raz with a look of confusion as he handles the young dragon. Her ears flick and her eyes go wide as she hears the popping of his wings being dislocated causing her to scowl furiously at Raz, "By the gods, what do you think you're doing!" She steps forward imposingly as she bares her teeth in a silent snarl, "She's a child!"
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Tan glances over at Raz, shocked, his mental grip slackens slightly from the sudden distraction.
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The young dragoness lets out a high pitched squeal of pain, her body thrashing about as tears form in her eyes. Her brother's face contorts into an expression of terror. "No!" He cries out, "Please don't hurt her! We were only playing I swear!" He scrambles backwards, managing to escape Tan's mental hold.
Sarrus steps up alongside Niphi, his face grave as he fixes Raz with a pointed stare. "A stern warning would have sufficed, Razuel." He pauses, his voice toneless before he speaks softly. "Let her go."
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Raz looked at Niphi and he twisted his paw back, causing the wings to pop back in, "The little ones are more durable than us and they heal faster... I'm sorry, little one... let me take the pain away...", a glistening fire then engulfed the small Drake and healed her completely, "There... but I'm not letting you go yet..", but his face changed when Sarrus told him to back off, and he did. Raz lifted his paw off and turned around, "Call me back when this is settled...", Raz then did a few quick flaps and shot an explosion below him, propelling him into the sky and further away from the group, later landing by a seemingly clean lake and then curling up beside it.
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Niphi huffs as Raz flies away, doing her best to control her temper. She sits on her haunches, closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before turning to the young dragoness with a stern expression, "Now... tell us what you are doing out here?"
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Sarrus takes a few steps back, then turns away to watch the fire as the last of the blue and yellow flames die out, not wishing to intimidate the now distraught hatchlings. As the last of the whelp's fire dies back his own lilac flames obediently go out and he sits down on his haunches, watching his mate questioning the orange and mauve from a distance.
The young dragoness looks up at Niphi with tears welling in her blue eyes. "We... we came here to practice making fires." She says, her voice a quiet stammer. "We just... made too much, i think..."
The orange pipes up now, his own voice also shaky with fear. "Our parents wouldn't approve. We didn't mean any harm by it, honestly."
The mauve nods quickly "My brother is right! And the old drake on the border said it was safe to come out here."
"Yeah, he said the further out we went to practice, the better."
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Tan also retreats a little. He was not against hurting children at times, but Raz had done more than enough of that and he felt they did not need to be scared any further. By the sounds of it they really were just playing. Just another pair of idiots.
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Raz spent a bit longer by the lake and decided to walk back, head down, and when he reached the group again, he sat away from them in view, but still watched. Something was obviously bothering him...
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A blackened, empty space is all that remains now behind Sarrus. He frowns at the mention of another drake but stays where he is, allowing his mate to continue questioning the yong welps.
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Niphi frowns down at the young dragons with a hint of curiosity, "The old drake on the boarder told you to come out here?" She shakes her head, evidently disapproving,"Who is this drake?"
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"He was old." She stammers "an old yellow drake..." she pauses "he had no eyes but he seemed nice."
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Niphi's nostrils flare and she grimaces, "Anyone who sends children out into this forsaken place is not 'Nice'," she turns to Sarrus and Tan, "Do you think this is worth checking out?"
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Raz walked towards the little drakes and lowered his head to the one he hurt and he gave her a small little dragon shaped gem, "I'm sorry for hurting you, little one... please, I know that you may not forgive me for hurting you... but, please, take this small gem as an offering for your forgiveness...", Raz looked up at Sarrus and gave them a weak smile.
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Sarrus meets Raz's eye as he looks up at him for a moment, his expression one of scrutiny before nodding slowly. Then he turns to Niphi and purses his lips in thought. "I think it would be better to press on with our mission." He turns to Tan, "What do you think?"
The young dragoness looks down at the gem, flinching a little as Raz draws close to set it before her. After a long pause she asks, "D..Did you make it?"
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Raz nodded to the little dragon, "Yes... I did... although my fire can be used to make explosions, the harmless crystals in it can be pressured together to make a beautiful sparkling gem... but please, do forgive me..."
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"Heading back would be a waste of time, there is no guarantee we could even find whoever let these two out here. We should just keep moving" Tan states. "Besides. I doubt these two will come back out here anytime soon." He turns to the two young drakes, glaring at them, almost snarling as he speaks. "Unless you two have any further plans?"
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The young dragoness looks into the gem. "Its very pretty..." Both her and her brother recoil at tan's words, though, both shaking there heads.
"That settles it then, we press on." Sarrus says, stepping back up to the group.
-- Day 10 --
Aside from the fire, the journy has been more or less trouble free with Sarrus leading the group in the direction of the previous expedition. The previous day, the dragons passed the point at which the Syndicate's records of the area ended.
Not long into their venture into uncharted lands, they come across a strange sight, a vast, smooth lake that reflects almost perfectly, like a mirror. Right in the middle of the lake is an island that appears perfectly square.
Spotting the island, Sarrus calls out, "We should check that out! It almost looks... man made."
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Raz nodded and started to descend on a low part of the island, landing on it and feeling the dirt beneath him, "It feels weird... I don't like this..."
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Tan flies low over the water, pausing to hover just behind Raz, observing the island for any sign of movement. "We are dragons" he mutters "If anyone is about, we can assume they have seen us."
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Niphi glides down after the group towards the strangely shaped island. She flies down low, skimming the lake surface as she heads towards the shore, looking down at the water with interest before dipping a talon in and dragging it through the strangely still water on her way to land on the island's shore, "Nature doesn't do straight lines, I've never seen anything like this," she looks up the clear line of the water's edge on the island's shore, "Anyone know why someone would build something like this?"
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Sarrus lands last, looking around the island. Right in the center of it is a square hole and a set of stairs leading down under the lake. Sarrus looks over at it uncomfortably. "That's easily big enough to admit a dragon... I supose we should go in, the previous expedition must have seen this."
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Raz looked at it and felt uneasy, "Sir, I know that we're expanding such and such, but that may not be wise to go in blind... we should wait a bit to see if someone goes in or coes out... don't you think?"
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Tan shakes his head. "I would not have thought one such as you would scare so easily Raz." Tan moves a few steps towards the stairs, then glances back at Niphi and Sarrus. "Though perhaps someone physically stronger should go first, in case there is something nasty or aggressive down there."
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Raz gave a growl, "I am strong! But I'm also smart, and in such a case, it'd be best to wait to see if someone or something comes out or goes in...", Raz then gave a sigh, "Besides, being scared is different from being reasonable..."
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Niphi approaches the foreboding stairs, sniffing at the stale air within as her fur bristles with excitement, "This is phenomenal! Who knows what kind of fantastic things we might find down here," she turns her head and smiles at the group, "Well, come on then," and with that she disappears into the construct within the island, eager excitement overwhelming the worry of dangers within.
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Sarrus watches his mate disappear inside, then rolls his eyes and follows her with a knowing, yet slightly apprehensive smile.
Cobwebs and fusty smells might be the things people generally associate with old tunnels but that is not what meets the drakes as they descend into the island. The air is clean and dry and the entire place is deathly quiet.
Every surface is perfectly smooth stone that almost looks polished and while the stairwell is not lit, the passageway it leads onto is.
After descending about 50 or so steps, the drakes reach a long tunnel which stretches away, running underneath the water of the lake. Glowing white runes have been drawn onto the walls, illuminating the passageway in a dull white light.
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As Niphi goes down the stairs, Tan grins at Raz. "Someone obviously disagrees." he then follows, moving into the construct, at first cautiously, then hurrying to catch up with Niphi.
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Raz gave a grunt and followed after the group shortly after they would all go in
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After following the passageway for some time, the drakes find themselves in a large chamber, big enough to hold all four of them comfortably. Initially, it appears to be perfectly square. The group can see four torches on large stone columns rising out of the ground, each one with a single white flame burning on top and filling the room with a revealing light.
There is a large skeleton on the other side of the room. It looks to have belonged to an adult dragon. It sits completely alone with no indication of how it got there.
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"Skeleton... its probably been here a while, probably not part our missing expedition, I would expect to find a full corpse if it as one of them..." Tan inches forward, into the room, cautiously approaching the skeleton.
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Raz walked in behind the group, looking at how dark it was, Raz found a divot in the wall, leading into an oil trench in the wall, he lit it with his fire and the room slowly lit up to a dim lighting.
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Niphi strides forward, neck craned to look up at the architecture surrounding them with a smile on her face, "Who'd have thought we'd find a mystery such as this?"
She examines the pillars with great interest, clearly searching for some form of markings.
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Sarrus looks around the room with interest. "This truly is a strange place." He says with a mixture of worry and wonder.
As Tan approaches the skeleton, he suddenly feels the tip of his snout bump into something hard. Seeing his comrade's reaction, Sarrus steps forward and tentatively stretches out a set of fore claws and is rewarded with a soft clack as they bump up against something. He furrows his brow for a moment, then leans forward and exhales, the moisture in his breath condensing for a moment on an invisible flat surface in front. "Is this... glass?" He says to himself, then traces it across the room to each wall, the pane perfectly flat and extending to both walls, cutting the room in half. "What in the gods names is this?"
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Raz looked at it and he immediately reared, "Oh no... If I'm correct, that glass there is that of a viewing hub, a room used to observe specimens... If nobody is watching us, we should leave now!"
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Tan, starts to back away from the glass. "I suspect this place is completely abandoned, judging by the state of the 'specimen' as Raz puts it." Tan says. "Besides. We don't seem to be in any danger yet."
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Having taken in her fill of the rooms architecture, Niphi joins the rest of the group at the far end of the room. She watches Sarrus breathe on the barrier with a puzzled look then steps forward and taps it with a talon tip, ears twitching as she hears the soft clicking sound it makes.
A mild grin spreads across her face before she rears up, lays both her front legs against the barrier and smashes her horns into it, clearly with the intention of breaking through.
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Where Niphi strikes the glass with her horns a great web of cracks appear, spreading outwards to each edge before the entire thing shatters.
All four drakes are presented with an impossible sight. What seemed like nothing more than a panel of transparent glass falls away to reveal a solid brick wall, almost as if it had been a mirror, yet each shard now shows the floor below as one would expect for a piece of glass.
Carefully, Sarrus picks a shard up and holds it out in front of him with a set of fore talons. Like a mirror, the back is coated in a dull brown substance but when he holds it up where it had once been, Sarrus can again see the skeleton on the other side.
Experimentally, he rotates his body, looking through the shard at the rest of the room, when he turns 180 degrees to face the rest of the group, his eyes go wide and he gasps as he sees something past them, through the strange piece of glass.
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Raz backed up into something invisible, and to the naked eye, Raz was picked up and was thrown into a wall, falling limp onto the ground, groaning, "... **censor** run!!"
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Tan, thinking quick, raises a set of 3 mirror shards off the ground with his mind, they wobble in the air, Tan looks over to Raz, looking through the shards, trying to see if he could see Raz's attacker, through them, or at the very least, get some advance warning about the invisible monster if it came his way. As he does this he backs away, moving to the nearest wall, and keeping close to it.
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Niphi gapes in astonishment as Raz is lifted up by the unseen force and hurled against the wall, as if he weighed no more than a hatchling.
She lunges forward, swiping blindly at where Raz had been standing with her talons, hoping to make contact with something and drive it off.
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Raz feels an odd chill across his midsection and around one of his hind legs, the same places from where he was hoisted off his feet just a moment ago.
As Tan looks into the mirror he sees a great mass of darkness given shape as a many tentacled creature with no face. Even as he looks, it reaches out with one of its thick tendrils, stretching it out towards him.
Niphi feels her talons sink into an oddly soft invisible appendage, one that ripples and flexes as she cuts into it. When she withdraws her claws, she can see an odd liquid like shadow pouring onto the floor from a now exposed gash as the great horror bleeds from its open wound. Suddenly, though, she feels an odd cold sensation spread around one of her hind legs before she feels it tugged out from under her.
Sarrus stares at the creature for a moment, before opening his mouth, the lilac light of his magic spilling out and a number of large shards of glass rising up into the air before him, he throws his head forward and as he does the razor sharp pieces of mirror shoot outwards and embed themselves into the invisible creature, causing more black blood to pour onto the floor.
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Raz came out of his dazed state and shook his head, taking a moment to realize what was going on, that as he figured it out, he tried to get up and run, but this thing picked him up and began swinging him around like a weapon, "Fffuuucckkinggg... hhhheellllpppp... mmmmmeeee!!!!", is what could be heard from Raz as he was swung around.
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Tan Quickly grabs one of the shards out the air, allowing the other two to fall to the ground. He then desperately tries to stop the tentacles, grappling them with his mind, and trying to push them back.
-
Niphi growls as her hind leg is pulled roughly from under her, dragging her backwards across the floor as she desperately tries to remain on her feet. She contorts her body and curls around, lashing ferociously at the area around her trapped leg, trying to sever whatever is holding her and get free while also doing her best to avoid Raz's flailing body as he is swung around like a rag doll.
-
Tan can feel the weight of the huge creature as he tries to force it backwards. It strains and while he cannot completely push it out of the room, he manages to keep the flailing Raz from colliding with him or Sarrus.
Niphi manages to sever the tendril wrapped around her leg. As soon as it is separated from its owner it becomes visible. It is a deep, otherworldly black, so dark that it seems to draw away a little of the light around it, giving it an odd, slightly blurred look.
This time, Sarrus uses his magic to pick up a single, much larger shard of glass. He pauses, waiting for the opportune moment as Raz soars past him before unleashing it. The razor sharp edge cuts straight through the tentacle waving his comrade from side to side, releasing him.
No longer held, Raz hurtles towards Tan, getting caught in his telekinetic field, slowing his flight and preventing him from colliding with the wall of the room.
Sarrus turns back to the creature and draws a breath, his eyes flashing bright before he releases his lilac flames at the beast. An odd earsplitting wail fills the room as the thing begins to burn though its shear size seems to prevent Sarrus from being able to do any real damage on his own.
-
Raz managed to make it to the ground before he got up and fell back down again,propping himself up again and hurling his lunch onto the floor, "Ugh..."
-
Tan flinches, glancing upwards at Raz as he is flung his way, the telekinetic field seemed to spring from nowhere, an instinctive reaction perhaps? Tan does not have time to consider such things, Raz is safe, that was the important bit. He looks back at the creature, easing off on pushing it away as it clearly was not working, now instead he focuses on pushing down on top of it, trying to crush it.
-
Niphi shakes her leg free of the severed tendril, fur standing on end as if disgusted by the feel of it. When the limp appendage unravels and falls to the floor she turns, staring at the chaotic scene in front of her, eyes darting between her companions, quickly making sure none are in need of help. Seeing that Raz is no longer being used as a blunt instrument to bludgeon her with, she charges forward with a roar, shimmering icy air shooting from her open maw and enveloping the formless mass, given shape by Sarrus' flames parting around it's body.
-
The creature's terrible wail gets louder, to the point of being painful to hear as it cries out. Caught between Sarrus' fire, Niphi's ice and Tan's telekesis it shudders for a moment before the wailing stops, the entire creature becomes visible and its mass of tentacles goes still.
Sarrus lets his fire die back then observes the monster sprawled on the floor. It still does not look like anything he has seen before. With a long sigh of relief he turns back to the group. "Everyone ok?"
-
Raz slowly got up and saw the thing slowly collapse, "Yeah, I-I fine... just a bit sick... and my head hurts...", Raz mostly had a cuncussion of sorts, and as such he started to yawn, showing signs of being tired.
-
Tan blinks, finally looking around the room. He was not exactly tired, just... drained. Like he was just a shell. This was fairly normal, and he tried to ignore it. He looks over his tail, jumping slightly as he sees black blood covering one of his wings... thankfully it was the monsters, not his own. "I seem to be fine. Is the creature dead?"
-
Niphi's icy breath dies down as the creature collapses, materializing in front of them. She closes her mouth and pants heavily, staring down at the thing, a cold frown of disgust on her face and maybe a hint of morbid curiosity.
Her ears twitch as she hears Tan ask if the abomination is dead so she extends a talon and presses it into the inky mass, testing for some kind of reaction.
-
The creature has gone completly limp and does not respond to Niphi's touch. Oddly, her talon sinks into it sloghtly without leaving a mark, as if it is still partly phased out of reality.
Sarrus steps up along side her, looking relieved now that the creature is dead. The edge of his tail brushes hers as he speaks. "I can't say i've seen anything like this before... We should probably get out of here." He takes a breath then steps over the creature and into the corridor behind, heading back towards the stairs.
"By the gods..." he says quietly as he stops and stares down the hallway in which they now stand. Where there was once a set of stairs there is now just an empty corridor going off into darkness.
With little choice but to keep going, Sarrus leads the group onwards. At the point where it gets too dark to see, he lights his fire, letting the bright lilac light illuminate their path.
Finaly, after what feels like miles of walking, the group reach a staircase but going down instead of up. Sarrus leads the group down the stairs and the passageway opens out into a huge stone cavern. Like the rest of the strange underground structure, this vast space looks to be manmade. The room is cube shaped but with a large stone bridge running through the center to a door on the far end, a bridge on which the four drakes now stand.
There is an odd rumbling sound in the distance and the entire room seems to vibrate for a moment before going deathly still.
-
Raz trudged along, his face looking as if he had no sleep for a week, and along with this, his face was going pale, "Guys.... I'm getting tired... can I sleep?... or do you still require... my... assistance...?", Raz stumbled and fell to the wall next to him, losing his balance and falling to the ground, still leaning against the wall, "Someone... help me... up... please...", a cold sweat began to fall down Raz's face.
-
Tan pauses. Nervously looking around. He saw no reason to acknowledge Raz's whimpers "Did anyone else feel that." He asks, before glancing across to the far side of the room, then down, under the bridge, before turning to face Raz, finally twigging something might be wrong. "Raz? Whats wrong?"
-
Niphi follows the group silently, her fur standing on end as her eyes scan back and forth, looking for any movement in the shadows.
As the group come across the bridge in the strange cavern, Niphi leans over the edge and sniffs at the stagnant air, her ears twisting from side to side, listening out for the slightest sound before turning to the whimpering form of Raz and giving him a calculating look up and down, "We can't stay here. Whatever this place is, it certainly isn't safe for any of us."
She leans down and insistently nudges at Raz's side, urging him to get to his feet, "You just have to take one step at a time," she strains as she pushes under Raz's form, giving him a hand to get up to his feet, "Just one... step at a time," she gasps as she strains with his weight.
-
Raz groaned as he was helped up, taking his time walking, feeling bad for Niphi, so he tries to keep as much of his weight off of her as possible, which was close to almost half his weight, however, the question of how much longer he'd be able to stay awake is one that was on his mind.
Raz would blink slowly as he walked along, grunting with each heavy step from himself.
-
Sarrus stops and turns back to face the group, watching with concern as Niphi helps the struggling Raz. Something seems to condense in the air just behind his head, like a thin black wisp of shadow.
Seeing the group looking past him at this strange force, Sarrus turns for a moment to try and get a look at it but as soon as he does it darts for him, the wisp splitting into two and going directly into his eyes.
Sarrus recoils in shock, thrashing his head around to try and throw the shadow away but it does not come loose, embedding itself into him.
The thrashing grows progressively worse until the drake's whole body is convulsing then, suddenly, he goes still and turns to face the group. His eyes have gone pitch black, almost invisible among his black scales and a horrible, twisted grin spreads across his face as he eyes his comrades unblinking.
-
Tan looks over at Sarrus, "Sarrus, what just ha~" Tan notices the grin. Sensing danger, he begins to back off, taking a quick glance behind him at Niphi and Raz to make sure they also had realized the danger.
-
Raz raised his head to look at Sarrus, and his eyes went, "S-Sarrus?", Raz said in a tired but concerned tone