Ruin's Dawn: Lightning Gem

[Basilisk]

Date: 35 of Saun, 721
Location: Ghost Burho, Yaralon

It was a cloudy day in Yaralon, and it made the weather reasonably cool for Saun, but there was another factor giving the area a chill. Even those who couldn't normally sense ghosts could tell the area they were in was outright flooded by the whispers of the dead. Fortunately for the five people who found themselves called to Yaralon, the ghosts weren't interested in them. The redheaded woman who stood beside them, however, grinned when she saw them.

"Bit morbid, this place, don't you think? Ah well, what else can you do in a place called the Ghost Burho." she said, shrugging slightly. "Anyway, I should explain why you're all here. And introduce myself, come to think of it." she said, grinning slightly at her forgetfulness. "Right, so I'm Ilaren of Rharne, and I've called you all here to help save the world." she said, her tone cheerful. "See, Faldrun, Kata, and Mastes have got themselves a whole heap of artifacts that they're using to collect ambient energy from all over the place. Now, some friends of mine, well they're mostly friends but one's really just my neighbor, have got their own people going after the other artifacts, but we're here because one of the places they're gathering energy is here in Yaralon, either in or beneath the Ghost Burho." Ilaren said, starting to pace as she spoke, as if she had too much energy stand still.

"Now, if Faldrun and his buddies get these artifacts, they can empower themselves and start pushing in all over the place that we've been able to keep them out of. Since Faldrun's stated goal is the subjugation or elimnation of the entire Mortal population of Idalos, I think we can all agree that him getting all that power would definitely be a bad thing." she said, before grimacing.

"Now, here comes the bad news, unfortunately. See, I can't stay because...well, because about seven and a quarter centuries ago, most of us swore a pretty binding oath that we wouldn't interfere directly with each other because...well, because that could actually destroy the world and kill literally everyone. So, yeah, that would also be really bad." she said, her before shaking her head.

"Okay, so, you've got to find the artifact, it'll be carried by the Aukari Occult, so be careful about them. It looks like they're collecting the ambient energy from underground, so you might want to start looking for a way to get below the streets. A basement or maybe a sewer system or something." she said, before nodding to herself. "That's all I've got for you, so good luck and when you pull this off, we'll all go drinking together, yeah?" she said, grinning at the thought, before her expression turned serious. "And watch yourselves. This place is dangerous even without the Aukari, and ghosts can be a problem of their own. No one's expendable, so don't do anything reckless." she said, before she vanished in a bolt of lightning.

!

Message from: Basilisk

Well, hello you lot and welcome to Yaralon. For this round, you can describe what your PC's were doing before Ilaren called you all to Yaralon to help save Idalos, as well as what you do once your here. From the next round and on, your group will moderated by one of our wonderful GST's, Jackalope! So, I'll leave you in their hands and hope you all have fun and enjoy the plot. Next post is in a week, on Tuesday the 15th.

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[Shl'Drei]

Confusing.

At some point, the warm halls of the dorms had just… disappeared. They were quickly replaced by a chilled cloudy sky. It was saun- being cold was out of place. Blinking, blue eyes looked around startled. No, he was just in the dorms! There was no lumen wolf nor a smaller malamute in front of him. The kicker? There was something… not quite right about wherever he was. He kept himself quiet, but found others with him- who were these people?

Then, a tall redhead spoke and it hit him. He wasn't in Scalvoris. He wasn't in his dorm. The chill settled into his bones as he looked around almost frantically. Ghost Burho? Did the name imply- no, more than that... Ilaren the immortal?! Shocked wasn't fitting for what he felt. Still, if an immortal was involved, didn't that mean danger?

Shl'drei shivered, whether from the building anxiety or the cold he wasn't sure. He listened regardless- wherever he was he was positive he couldn't get hime alone. His only choice was to stick with those who'd also been sent here and hope for the best. Faldrun was a hostile immortal, weren't they all in danger just by being here? As she spoke, Shl'drei retained what he could given his unstable emotions. They were in Yaralon, they needed to find some artifact, and Faldrun getting what he wanted meant the destruction of mortal races. Ilaren spoke cheerfully, another reason Shl'drei felt danger.

Still, he'd been involved again and with no immediate way out the best he could do was go along with whatever was happening. He only hoped, as Ilaren disappeared with a strike of lightning, that he would find a way home quickly and safely. He breathed deep- calming himself as much as he could. It was quick, too quick, and gave away his panic. But he did his best.

"Yaralon, we're in Yaralon," he murmured mostly to himself. "We need to get underground and find some artifact that we don't know the appearance of."

What did Ilaren expect? They were mortals! And apparently she couldn't do anything due to some oath. They were stuck here, most of them, until they could figure out what to do he wagered. "What do I do..?"

[Natalia Gregorios]

Saun 35, Arc 721

Saun was, well, not her favorite season. Natalia was entirely sure she was sweating out of every pore in her body. Why couldn’t it be Cylus? Cylus was nice – dark and cold. Cold was delightful. There were multitudes of layers that one could put on to help with cold, but only so many things that could be taken off when too warm.

Walking down the street, the young woman was on her way to the market when things took an expected turn…

***

The first thing Natalia noticed when she arrived at…well, wherever, was the noticeably cooler temperatures. A silver lining, perhaps? Glancing around, she blinked a bit, trying to orient herself. Such things, teleporting, she had heard of, but it was her first time being a participant. “That’s new,” she murmured to herself. Interesting, certainly, but her mind immediately went to the ‘why’ of it all.

There was something, odd about the area. Whispers and the like. And the people with her seemed to be in a similar spot as she so at least she had company on whatever adventure she had just been thrown into.

The redhead spoke, and an eyebrow shot up at the introduction. Ilaren? Well, this was just getting more and more intriguing. Her first Immortal, and apparently the small group was being asked to help save the world? Surely that was a bit dramatic.

Ghost Burho? Yaralon? That explained the feeling and whispers, although something felt oddly comforting about the environment. If pressed, she wouldn’t be able to say what. Perhaps it was simply that she wasn’t sweating anymore.

Ilaren quickly got to the ‘why’. Apparently three other Immortals were behaving badly and doing things they shouldn’t have been, and those things possibly could produce dire consequences for all. Well, as far as explanations went, it wasn’t terrible…

Sighing softly as the Immortal concluded, Natalia committed the information to memory and took a moment to let herself come to terms with the situation. She couldn’t do anything about having been brought there, but she could control her own actions and try to keep herself safe. She had her dagger and while Natalia didn't know much, she hopefully knew enough to make a difference.

Her thoughts briefly landed on Woe, wishing he were with her to guide and advise, but he wasn’t. All she could do is her best and hopefully, next time she saw him, she would have a good story to tell.

One of the gentlemen in the group spoke first, seemingly restating the objectives. Nodding at his assessment, Natalia spoke softly, but calmly. Panic served no purpose. “It seems it will be ‘carried by the Aukari Occult’, so that will probably be a clarifying clue to its identity, I’d think.”

Casting a glance around, she noted another young woman, a Biqaj and a Ithecal in addition to her and the young man. Interesting all around.

Glancing over at the man again, she gave him a tight smile and nodded her head. "I think it's best we get to work. Sounds like there isn't a moment to waste." Of course, her insides were bouncing all around, nervous, worried and even a bit scared, but she simply tried not to think about it.

Natalia was no adventure leader, and as such, she would listen and do as she was told by someone that could claim more experience in such matters. It seemed as though the young man was not such a person, so she looked to the other three to see what they would have to say.

[Praetorum]

Praetorum basked happily in the heat of the Saun suns, with his glaive across his lap and a whetstone in his hand. There was something soothing, Prae had always thought, about the act of sharpening a weapon. It was an easy, rhythmic action, and there was always a deep satisfaction in knowing that his preparations now would come back to help him in the future. 



Although it seemed the future was much closer than he’d initially thought. One moment, he’d been in his keep in Rharne—the next, he was… elsewhere. Somewhere cloudy, almost cold considering the season. Prae didn’t recognize the place, but he always knew where he wasAbility - Never Lost Again—and this trial, he was back in Yaralon. And more importantly… 



His eyes fell on the red headed woman standing before them. Of course. Prae was well used by now to immortals and spirits and such summoning him in the middle of the day for some vital quest, and simply dipped his head respectfully at Ilaren, listening carefully as she spoke. 



So, it seemed they were in the Ghost Burho—no wonder he hadn’t recognized it, he’d never gotten around to visiting this part of the city—and were tasked with finding an artifact Faldrun was using to collect energy of some kind. Once again, the Oath kept the immortals from acting directly, and so they had summoned mortals to act as their proxies. 



This oath was starting to sound like more trouble than it was worth. Then again, without it, perhaps Faldrun and his allies would be wreaking havoc on Idolas—it was easier to destroy than defend. Prae of all people knew that well. 



"Easy," he said as Shl'drei started to panic. "I'm sure this must be surprising, but we're here now; we were summoned for a reason, and given the consequences if we fail, we don't have much choice but to try our best." He looked over his companions, giving Yeva a smile as he recognized her. "My name is Praetorum," he said to the group. "I can't say I was expecting to do this when I got out of bed this morning, but as I said, we'll just have to do what we can to stop Faldrun's schemes."


"Our first goal is to find a way underground. I might be able to do something now, but if not, we should start searching in and around the buildings. Between the ghosts and the Aukari Occult, I think it would be best if we didn't split up, and instead stuck together. It'll slow down the search, but you all heard Ilaren: no one is expendable. And we don't know what dangers we'll face ahead."


With that, Prae turned his attention to his spark. Reaching out for the elements, the defier opened up his awareness, listening for the sound of movementDefiance Mutation - Ceaseless Dance through the elements all around. He focused his attention below the surface, searching for the feeling of air moving through tunnels, or water trickling down a sewer. If he could find the tunnel underneath him, he might be able to track it to its entrance—or just open up an entrance of his own.

[Yeva]

Arrival

Yeva removed the pie from the oven, carefully setting it atop a potholder and tugging off her oven mitts with an eager smile. A beautiful golden crust, she could only hope the contents to be as perfectly cooked. It was nerve-wracking in a way, to see such a beautiful first impression and yet having to wait for what could be epic disappointment.

She watched steam emerge from the small divers she had cut into the top layer, sweeping across the kitchen in her apron and bending down to inspect a collection of wines and brandy - nothing extravagant; Yeva was a simple woman despite what her home might suggest - and more than once scuttled across the room to reference the open cookbook on the counter. She flipped through the pages, searching for the answer as to what might be the best choice for to accompany chicken pot pie (or something similar, at least), sighing as her stomach growled at the rich smell of delicious promise.

And then just as she found the paragraph on what paired with poultry, Yeva blinked and the room was gone. She stood with a group of others, in very common clothes, in a place of ghosts and a very pleased immortal.

Yaralon. Ghost Burho. Faldrun. Artifact. Yeva blinked, rather incredulously at the casual and sudden reveal of information and sighed deeply. Meeting Ilaren? Wonderful. Exciting. Being promised a drink with her? She almost laughed, imagining how that would go. If her family could see her now!

The others introduced themselves and she moved towards Prae, embracing him if he’d let her. When it was her time to speak, she noted each one and greeted them, “I’m Yeva of Rharne,” she began, “I was making a snack when I came so… sorry for my appearance,” she smiled sheepishly and then pushed a wave of hair from her eyes, “This is exciting,” she glanced at the brunette woman, nodding in respect, and then to Shl’drei “But Natalia is right. No time to waste.”

She thought on Prae’s suggestion, “If we’re looking at buildings, perhaps somewhere with a cellar to start. And there is always some sort of sewer, like Ilaren has suggested,” she knew very little about Yaralon and looked at it with keen eyes, and a bit of apprehension as she acknowledged its name. Was Yaralon so advanced? “Just in case these entities hold a grudge for the living, make sure you keep copper handy. It injures them, but use it sparingly. It…hurts. A lot.”

She did not elaborate further.

[Cail Qy'Jihai]

Cail Qy'Jihai


Thread Name
Time Stamp

Cail walked out of the Order building while humming. She had just finished with another class on herbs heading back to her ship. It had become her home since arriving in Rharne, but something felt odd. Stopping she was shocked when her surrounding suddenly changed. The young Biqaj was no longer in Rharne, but in a whole other city. Looking at her surroundings, there was visible confusion on her face. There were people she did not recognize that stood beside her, and another that seemed familiar before her. Though for the life of her, no name came to mind when looking at anyone, so she remained silent.

Ilaren? Was this a joke? What could the Immortal possibly see in her that would help the adventure before them? Especially in a place like Yaralon, there had been rumors among her father’s crew, but nothing that Cail knew for certain. Now it appeared that Faldrun had begun trying to gain power. How much power did an Immortal need? Didn’t they already have enough? Looking at who stood before her, Cail decided best not to ask such questions to her. Ilaren had been good to her people, and that helped the woman decide what her choice would be.

She looked over when one of the others began to lose his nerves. In the situation though, it was completely reasonable for that kind of reaction. Most of them were in a place that they did not know in a situation that they did not ask to be in. But now that they were there and needed to band together to get the job done. But ghosts on top of being in yaralon while not knowing each other? It would prove to be a challenge, she was sure.

“I agree with Praetorum. My name is Cail,” Cail looked over when Yeva mentioned keeping copper near them.

How would they be able to keep copper in their hands? How did she know that it would hurt them that way? It did not matter, Cail had to do what she could to help the group and stayed silent listening to figure out where she could help. Prae already seemed to have some sense of what to do, so the woman would follow his and Yeva’s leads.

Biqaj Female

23 Arc old
Long Brown Hair and Eyes
5' 8" Tall

Clothing Style
Green Cloak

“Part of the healing process is sharing with other people who care.”
~ Jerry Cantrell

[Jackalope]

As best they could, the thrown-together group got their bearings and introduced themselves to one another. The flash of lightning that had accompanied Ilaren’s exit had, strangely enough, not attracted the attention of any passers-by. Perhaps only the selected adventurers had seen it? Regardless of the reason, the residents of the Ghost Burho, both living and dead, seemed for the moment to have little interest in these newcomers. In a city known to be hostile to outsiders, this was probably a blessing.

The Ghost Burho had once been a respectable quarter of the city, but it -yes, the entire Burho- had literally been to the Beneath and back, and looked it. Like much of Yaralon, there was little by way of stone or timber in the buildings here; most were either wattle-and-daub or brick, depending on the prosperity of whomever had built them. All had seen better trials.

A couple buildings stood out on even a quick and casual perusal of the quarter. One was a large, conspicuously stone, squat, rectangular pile surrounded by a palisade topped with metal spikes, some iron, some copper. A banner of some sort flew over the entrance, which was guarded by two well-armed sentries, who looked bored but not inalert. A ghostly form moved about the perimeter of the building in a deliberate, martial way, carefully avoiding the palisade as it did so. This building was doubtless barracks for one of Yaralon’s many mercenary companies, and seemingly the only building nearby whose occupants commanded enough respect to prevent their neighbors from “borrowing” any of the coveted stone in its construction. Noteworthy also was a well-kept, utilitarian thing made of brick, which gave the impression of being some sort of government or public works facility. Pretty much everything else in the group’s vicinity was in varying degrees of disrepair.

While the various members of the hastily-assembled party got to know their new surroundings and new companions, Praetorum, acting on Ilaren’s mention of the need to find someplace underground, used his Defiance abilities to query the earth about the presence of underground structures, about possible entrances to the same, and about signs of movement down there. The element would tell him that there were any number of holes made in the ground, of varying sizes, in the area. Most were small and detached, from which the ithecal could probably surmise that they were generally cellars. But there was also a couple extensive networks. One especially large one ran throughout the quarter, weaving underneath it like a labyrinth. Entrances to it seemed to be beneath both the mercenary barracks and the well-tended brick building, as well as a few other places in the burho.

The other construct was stranger. It was smaller than the first, though still far larger and more complex than the assorted cellars, and also less interconnected with other holes under the Burho. It lay mostly beneath a large ruin that crowned a hillock rising above most of the surrounding Burho. There was little other than an outline of the original building there, and Burho residents had since crammed new houses into that outline. The earth indicated that people had, at various times, tried to dig shapes in the vicinity of this complex that did not suit the element, and these holes had invariably collapsed back to more comfortable arrangements; the core of the underground structure, though, was solid, comfortable, and had lasted for many arcs.

As to movement, there were many things moving in the larger underground network, mostly small things. In the complex under the large ruin, it was very rare for anything to move, except for when the townsfolk dug their sporadic forays into it. For now, it was silent.

Info & Rules

• Due to the time-sensitive nature of this, I can not hold out for people to post. If you miss a round, there will (I'm afraid) be consequences. To be fair, though, if you *do* post, there will also be consequences, albeit different ones. So there’s that.
• This style of event moderation - with objectives etc - was created by a wonderful moderator named Crimson.
• NEXT MODPOST: 22 June 2021

Objectives

!	Message from: Must-Do Objectives
	Describe a bystander, whether living or dead, that your character notices, what that bystander does, and what your PC thinks of said bystander.

!	Message from: Can-Do Objectives
	Use three different synonyms for “ctenoid” in your next post that all start with vowels. Okay, no, just kidding; please don’t try that. Instead, use three different words that rhyme with “wattle” in your next post.

[Praetorum]

The elements spoke to him, whispering of their movements and shape. There were the expected cellars and basements here and there, but two networks stood out in his mind. Under their feet, all through the Burho, as far as he could tell, was a system of tunnels, with entrances in multiple places and tiny things scurrying too and fro. A sewer, perhaps? Then there was another network, a smaller, quieter one, with very little moving through it. And then... Prae searched through the whispers of the elements, and found little else. 



One of those two would be the natural place to start looking, then. If their group were bigger, if this wasn't Yaralon, he'd have suggested they split up. As it was, though, they were going to have to make a choice. Splitting up in Yaralon was a bad idea. Thank the fates for small blessings, Prae thought, that the Yari around them had so far seemed uninterested in a group of mostly unmarked strangers suddenly appearing in the middle of the street. Nearby, a well armed Yari with a scar across her chin and a bottle in her handeyed them briefly, then continued on. From the pace of her stride, Prae guessed she was busy, too busy to care about a pack of strangers in the middle of the street. Good—he didn't want any trouble with the locals. Then again, given that these were Yari, the excuse of "an immortal brought us here, and will most likely bring us away once we're done" might well suffice to stop any sort of incident. 



"There are two underground networks I can find," Prae told the group. "One looks like it goes all the way through the Burho. Might be a sewer system, with entrances here" —he gestured in turn to each building with entrances to the larger system—"while the other one... I don't know what it is. It's under there," he said gesturing to the ruin on the hill. "I can't sense anything large moving through either of them, but that doesn't mean that much—they might be holding still, or be out of my reach."


He tapped his muzzle. "I say we go investigate the second one. It's smaller, so if it's the wrong one we'll figure that out sooner. And there's something odd about it—the tunnels are arcs old, and holding steady, but the earth doesn't seem to like people tunneling around it. It keeps wanting to settle back down, I think. If we're looking underground energy... might be that's a more likely place to start than a sewer."



He waited a few moments for the others to say their piece, if they had anything to say about his plan. If no one objected, he'd start moving in the direction of the ruins, keeping an eye on the others to make sure no one got left behind. "If any of you have copper, have it on hand just in case. And all of you, make sure you have weapons visible. Yaralon is not a place where you walk around unarmed."

[Natalia Gregorios]

Saun 35, Arc 721

Natalia’s eyes slipped over each member of the group with an appraising eye. It was evident they needed someone to lead them, and it certainly wasn’t going to be her.

Each member spoke, which gave the young woman information she needed to figure out the dynamic of the group. It was clear from his words and the way he spoke that the Ithecal would be the one to lead them, and that was fine with Natalia. He had a confidence that spoke to having been in similar situations before. Excellent. To coddle another, especially when she was very unsure of their situation herself, wasn't high on her agenda.

He had introduced himself and it was at that point that she realized she had failed to do the same. Nodding to him and the others, she gave them each a tight smile. “Natalia.”

Praetorum mentioned perhaps finding an entrance right then, although it wasn’t readily apparent how he was going to do that so instead, she cast her eyes about, noting a nearby ghostly form that appeared to be military in nature with the way it moved. It went on about its business as though they weren’t there, cast in an endless loop, it seemed, of doing the same actions over and over, which prompted her remember briefly the life she had escaped. Each trial, the same. No meaning, just…the same. Was there meaning to what they were doing?

The young woman wasn’t sure exactly what Praetorum was attempting, but apparently it had something to do with their current situation. She understood there were mages and marked people in the world with abilities she was only starting to comprehend, abilities that were something more than ether in a bottle. The logical assumption was that the Ithecal was one such being, so she remained silent as he did whatever it was he was going to do.

He announced the finding of two underground networks, explaining each as he understood them through whatever means he was using. The analysis seemed solid, nodding her agreement. “The smaller one does sound a bit more unusual, which in this case could be a good or bad indicator. Regardless, it seems the more viable option. Let's just hope someone doesn't come down to remodel while we are there...”

The words regarding copper and weapons were heeded. She wasn’t sure what was up with the copper, other than an earlier comment about it hurting ghosts. Natalia had some copper nels in her cloak pockets, so hopefully those would suffice. As for the weapons, the young woman had heard Yaralon had some very odd customs or rituals – she couldn’t remember – one that others in society tended to regard amusingly. The dagger she carried was on her belt, and as such, she simply pushed her cloak back, so it was visible.

Golden eyes shifted to the Ithecal. For the moment, she could find no faults with his plan and as such, she would follow him.

[Shl'Drei]

Shl'drei wasn't used to being randomly summoned by immortals- the automatic panic that settled in was stronger than he might have thought. Everyone around him had a level of calm he couldn't understand. Did this happen to them often? Still, he took a deep breath and tried to calm himself as Praetorum suggested. Deep breaths. Okay. He could do this. They just had to stay together.

"Shl'drei," he said finally as he took a quick glance around. The group was smallish, but hopefully they'd take the big guy's advice and stay together. Shl'drei had been in his dorm, barely having been out of his dorm in Scalvoris he hadn't had much save for his clothing and whip by habit.

He would have liked to go home - to have an escape or a choice to - but if he stayed behind he could tell it wouldn't end well. He didn't know anything about Yaralon or Ghost Burho, getting around would be a nightmare and judging by the inhabitants, dangerous.

A translucent figure, a ghost, looked at him, grinned a bloodstained grin and then faded away. He whipped his head around trying to find them, but the ghost either deemed him no threat or interesting for the moment. Now that he thought about it. He focused only when the group was deciding where to go. The way Praetorum spoke, he sounded familiar with the area. He knew there were tunnels afterall.

Shl'drei stayed quiet though, still processing his thoughts and coming to terms with the idea he'd once again been involved in something dangerous and had no control over it. He supposed he'd follow the group and try his best to stay alert.