Prepare for the #LodanRespawn2024 Existing characters may choose to be displace from/have memories of different timelines, thereby allowing returning members the option to retcon their whole character. These changes are the result of the "Unnatural Fog" plot device that is running between now and the Respawn. The plot is simple: no matter where your character is, that place is shrouded in a thick fog that suspends time, but not thoughts or memories, so even if they're repeating the same day over and over again, they continue to remember, so each time feels like a new day. For those retconning OCs; this is where new versions of themselves have the opportunity to replace the old versions. Official lore and tree updates will be announced asap
Post by Edelweiss Fjäril on Dec 6, 2018 16:01:00 GMT
Open to Elaine Anncroft (and anyone else from CAEsAL or BoR who might be around) The breeze still smelled of salt. Around these parts it did so throughout the whole year, of course, though by now sensible people would know better than follow it into sea for a casual swim. At the cusp of afternoon the waves already crashed down as cold as ice, and the very sand was chilly, the sun nothing but a timid dot hidden behind a veil of silver clouds. Seeing how it bleached the bright blues and greens of the sea into a duller grey, Edelweiss felt it made the scenery gloomier than it should - though it was still beautiful. At least it wasn't snowing.
The redhead at the moment was just waiting, sitting at a rusty bench on the last bit of sidewalk before the sight of the ports and its manmade structures took a turn and disappeared to open way to the beach ahead. She'd not been there for long since she requested her Second-In-Command to dress warmly and meet her by the shore.
There were some things that she wanted to show and share, and given the lack of people that could eavesdrop passing by at that specific area, this was the perfect time for it.
"All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." - John Dalberg-Acton
Post by Elaine Anncroft on Dec 6, 2018 19:04:47 GMT
Elaine felt that maybe...just maybe...she hadn't expressed how much she despised the very idea of cold enough. She should explicitly write that on her next resume for a job. Just to make sure it was clear. The thought that the beach might be nice and sunny was thrown out the window as well now that she'd made it through the city. The sky had other ideas about the state it wanted the weather to be in. It looked like it almost promised snow. Her dog, however, could care less. His big, furry coat keeping him from feeling much of anything other than a little itchy. The only reason they were out on this current errand was that Edel had asked Elaine to meet her on the shore. She hadn't explained why but Elaine felt she'd figure it out as soon as she got there.
They passed down the docks and eventually made their way down into the cold sand of the beach. Elaine was happy she wore high boots for this. She didn't take "dress warmly" as a light phrase in any sense. Her thickest coat and her heavy scarf kept the wind out. She smiled to herself as she looked down at Castiel who ignored her gaze at the time as he looked out across the sand and shook it form his paws a little. Elaine caught sight of her leader from a bit away, the area flat enough that nothing exactly hindered her. She waved a bit to see if Edel would notice and sent Cas down the beach at a trot to meet her first. The feline wasn't really far behind. "You picked an awful day." She teased as she got closer.
Post by Edelweiss Fjäril on Dec 6, 2018 19:47:40 GMT
Edelweiss waved back in return to Elaine's own greeting, the smile plastered on her face soon becoming a chuckle as she crouched down to pet the trotting ball of fluff the Feline girl ushered forth. "I see you also wanted to partake the fun."
The redhead didn't disagree that weather was bad today, however. Even if she's the type who actually enjoys the cold. "That's precisely why it's perfect. None in sane conscience would take a stroll here in this weather for no reason... Best to make sure we won't freeze first, though." She snapped her fingers and a surge of warmth came to greet the Feline girl, an invisible shielding making it so the breeze felt refreshing instead of freezing and the sand and waves lukewarm to the touch despite the weather itself not showing any apparent changes.
[Cryomancy I + Aeromancy I]
"We'll be going underwater (no worries about breathing, the spell won't wear off till tomorrow). Though will Cas be tagging along us?" And, by consequence, should she cast it on the dog too so that he wouldn't be drowning?
"All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." - John Dalberg-Acton
Post by Elaine Anncroft on Dec 7, 2018 5:18:39 GMT
Castiel lazily wagged his tail at the attention the taller woman gave him and was pleased with the interaction as Elaine approached. "Great. I am officially insane." She said with a smile, "There's the confirmation I've been looking for." Though Elaine looked around at her slight manipulation of the world around her, still not finding it warm enough to take her coat off.
"Wait wait! We are going in the what?" She looked over at the ocean without masking her distaste. She wasn't worried about drowning, as Edel said it wasn't going to happen. "Ohh! Are we going treasure hunting?" Elaine would be down for that sure! As Edel mentioned Castiel however she shook her head, "You couldn't get him underwater unless you tied a brick to him and threw him in. But really, why are we taking a swimming trip." Castiel barked at her as he bit her jacket and pulled on it. She pushed him off with one leg, he'd have to deal with her truthful taunts. He hated baths and sand and random people who didn't smell like bacon. Typical dog things.
Post by Edelweiss Fjäril on Dec 7, 2018 5:31:18 GMT
"Well we do have a reason, so not insane... as far as I know at least." She replied with a chuckle and shrug.
As for the guess that they'd be treasure hunting, well... "In a sense, yes." She glanced at the waves from over her shoulder. "Sorry, I'm not trying to sound cryptic or anything. It's just that what we're going to see is a place, and it's easier to let you see it with your own eyes than trying to explain with words." And said place was underwater, so they'd need to go into the water to reach it.
"As long as my magic is working it should feel like bath water, so hopefully not too bad. I wanted to show it during summer, but there were always way too many people swiming by, or fishing, or sailing their ships around too close."
Post by Elaine Anncroft on Dec 7, 2018 19:23:17 GMT
Elaine was intrigued of course at the slight explanation and relented to the idea. "I'm guessing the coat will only weigh me down?" She figured she might need to take it off since she most likely would get soaked all the same. She doubted that aeromancy would keep her clothes dry, though after they got where they were going she'd probably dry off with the magic. She turned to her dog and pointed at him then at the ground, "Sit." He plopped down heavily wagging his tail. "Stay." He sat there and she assumed he was going to listen. He wouldn't follow her into the water and would most likely stay and wander the small stretch of beach there if he could. Crawl up on a rock or something and lay down.
Elaine started to shrug her coat off and then walked over to Cas to lay it down on the sand in front of him. "Here your highness." She smirked as he stepped on and curled up on her jacket. "Don't let anyone take it." She added as she dropped her scarf on his head and walked back to Edel, "Down we go? Or in? I don't exactly know what to reference in terms of water?"
Post by Edelweiss Fjäril on Dec 8, 2018 17:37:05 GMT
"Possibly." The redhead pondered at Elaine's guess that her coat would weigh her down. She wasn't dressed nearly as thickly layered as the Feline girl, but either way Elaine had had no magic assistance against the cold before arriving there, so the coat had fulfilled its duty up to then.
The younger woman's antics with Castiel brought another smile to Edelweiss' face as the dog was told to stay put and they headed towards the water (not before casting the same spell she'd used for her Second-In-Command on herself as well). "Hmm, down or in... Maybe both(?)" This could be easily heard as either a statement or a question. "Guess we'd have to ask BoR for answers in that matter. Or one of the local sailors."
Swimming for maybe 15, 20 minutes, always deeper and deeper into the water, she occasionaly looked over her shoulder to make sure Elaine was following along fine. She went along the bay curve, then underneath an arch of algae and rock that had been sculpted by the tides, until finally spotting something that faintly glowed in the distance. On a first glance it looked like a coral reef, through there were crystals inlaid amid the flora and fauna, bioluminescent in faint hues of gold, rosy and lilac ― and statues seemingly made of the same thing.
"All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." - John Dalberg-Acton
Post by Elaine Anncroft on Dec 9, 2018 5:31:17 GMT
Elaine followed her leader without much hesitation though she didn't appreciate being out in open water in the ocean that was probably infested with sharks and other nonsense aquatic creatures. She was immensely happy she had the stamina and endurance to put up with this much swimming though she was extremely curious about what could possibly be so far out into the water. Every time Edel looked back Elaine would give a little wave like, 'still here'. She wasn't going to be falling far behind in the middle of rather dark ocean water.
As they finally got close to something bright and glinting int he distance. It wasn't anything she'd ever seen before and she couldn't quite place anything that was similar to it. Until it struck her that Edel might've found Atlantis and she had to do a slight double take and consider that option as ridiculous. Atlantis would not have sunk off the shores of Lodan. That was stupid. ....Wasn't it? Elaine slowed down as they came up to it and looked around trying to take it all in. Impressive to say the least, but what was it? She lightly poked at a statue as she floated close to it.
Post by Edelweiss Fjäril on Dec 9, 2018 5:52:15 GMT
Other than just glowing as it naturally did, the statue did nothing. Along with bits of coral that seemed to have crystalized (or crystal formations shaped like coral, it was hard to tell), there were about half dozen of those statues scattered around the reef, all at a relatively close distance from each other ― never close enough to touch, but still enough to spot all at once. They were fairly detailed too. At the very least it'd be easy to notice they were not a mass-produced thing, since each had it's own individual face and frame and outfits. Two of them (including the one Elaine had 'interacted' with) wore rather strange attires, detailed brocade-like tunics that seemed an assorted mix of medieval or celtic with traces of fantasy, though the remaining ones seemed to follow Lodan's fashion tendencies well enough.
"Alright, were here―― Elaine, please don't poke my grandfather." Talking normally wouldn't do underwater, but Telepathy (with a hint of Healing to soothe any mental strain) did the trick well enough.
"All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." - John Dalberg-Acton
Post by Elaine Anncroft on Dec 12, 2018 5:47:21 GMT
Elaine examined the others at a distance from the one she floated before until Edel told her to stop poking her grandfather. The young woman pulled her hands back and put them behind her back, "Oops. Sorry." She gave Edel a sheepish shrug, at least what she could manage underwater. She wanted to examine the others but Edel seemed to have other plans. The feline waited for her leader to turn around again a bit before peering closer at the statue again, though she refrained from poking it again. "What is this place? And why is it so far out from the city and underwater?" Elaine tried to manage to get herself a little closer to the sea floor for a better look.
Post by Edelweiss Fjäril on Dec 13, 2018 6:54:48 GMT
"I suppose you could call it a... lantern harvesting ground, and relic cemetery of sorts." The redhead explained after taking a second to search for the right words. As far as she was concerned, Elaine could keep examining the statues at will - they wouldn't hurt her in any manner. She'd just requested that her second-in-command didn't do it in a way that would be disrespectful to an elderly stranger, as they in fact were people... when alive, at the very least.
"My grandparents were from the last wave of general anderwelters who came to Lodan. When I was little, my grandma used to tell me stories of underwater gardens of crystal and coral, the dead of her kind being encased in crystal or turned into it, and brought to sea to lay in the dark depths and offer light where the sun doesn't reach." That being said, there was still light besides the crystalline glow filtering from above, even if it was relatively weak. They weren't deep enough for pitch-blackness during day. "When my grandpa died, grandma brought him here, and when she died, her neighbors brought her. And so on. It was the closest thing they could do to keep the custom going, though I suppose it died around the next generation, or the third one anyway."
As for why she'd brought Elaine there... "When bits of coral or other organic matter die around here, they crystalize too. And, obviously, the crystal glows. I'm not sure why still, and it would be easier to get samples to test with help from someone besides myself." Edelweiss had tried to reach out to MI for that as well, but apparently Lasair had been too busy. She'd not managed to contact him since after that odd zombies invasion, and just barging straight into his headquarters via Gating just didn't feel right.
"Besides, having a light source that weighs nothing on our electricity bills would do wonders for the guild, even if we only pick enough for nightlights and such."
Post by Elaine Anncroft on Jan 15, 2019 0:45:33 GMT
Elaine gave her a rather surprised look before looking down under her floating feet at the crystals that littered the area. Edel's explanation of the practice was unusual, but it also got Elaine into wondering where her family came from, she knew as far as her mother's side since she told her that they came in from a nearby island. Elaine ought to visit it someday if she could. This was a remarkable tradition and it was a little sad no one kept up with it anymore but with all the current wild persecution and tension it was probably better no one really attempted it anymore. They did look like they'd give significant light if one could get enough, the feline faintly wondered if there was a way to refract the light back into itself and thus potentially make it brighter. She was thinking little mirrors but that could be played with later if Edelweiss hadn't already attempted that. "So we're just here to pick some up and take them home?" It was less of a question and more of a statement she wanted confirmation for. "Also, what do you know about them so far?"
Post by Elaine Anncroft on Jan 16, 2019 21:56:57 GMT
Elaine gave her a bit of a sheepish look for not having clarified herself. "What you already know about the crystals, sorry." She settled down on the sea floor with a bit of resistance to tug at a crystal gently, half scared it would just shatter at her touch. The feline quite liked the way their lights colored her palm when she got close. "Can I have one to take home, for personal enjoyment?" Tones of amusement colored the phrase as she thought it.
Post by Edelweiss Fjäril on Feb 20, 2019 14:23:20 GMT
"Considering the time people started and stopped being brought here," With 'here' applying to both anderswelters coming to Lodan and coming to this underwater resting place. "these were originated roughly between 100 to 20 years ago. They glow constantly, so if there's one nearby and you want to 'shut it off', you need to cover it with something or keep it in a box. They're not harmful in any way, though, as far as I know. And only spread through dead organic surfaces - I still didn't test it on wood, which is why samples would be good."
The redhead snickered. "Yes, as long as you don't damage the statues you're free to take the crystals with you. And this place might be hidden, but it's not as much of a secret as other things in the guild are. I'll ask that you're careful with whom you bring over, and to make sure they can swim (and breathe) beforehand, but you don't need my permission to return and/or show it to others."
"All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." - John Dalberg-Acton
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