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Post by Nerius on Aug 13, 2020 22:04:35 GMT -6
[35]
The birds didn't mind, and were probably nesting in the cliffs, but Nerius sure did. He couldn't fly, and Helios was still too young for that, and it would be quite dangerous for either of them to go over the edge. There was no easier way down that Nerius could see either, the trees stopped at the edge, giving him a good view of a lot of sheer cliff. It was possible there was a way down, but he didn't want to risk it with Helios, and he realized they'd best turn around.
The path was easy enough to follow back out, at least, though Helios seemed to be tiring. He was still young, and didn't have the best endurance, and they had gotten sidetracked with the crystal in the pool. Nerius decided it would be best to explore further with a different critter, and led the whelp, who had finally dropped his mangled bit of coral, back out of the mansion grounds, where the TROD would take him home.
--Helios is picked up by TROD and leaves--
(Nerius: 15/20 +Added!) (Helios: Lv: 12, 63/65 | Lyl: 12, 63/65)
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Post by Nadia on Aug 14, 2020 17:19:54 GMT -6
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Post by Nerius on Aug 20, 2020 3:11:57 GMT -6
Droplet
[36]
It was a bit later in the month that Nerius returned to the Mansion, sarane had taken up a lot of his time recently. It wasn't one of the dragonoid creatures that he'd brought this time, but a golem seedling. It hadn't been the first time he'd brought one of the little constructs to the Mansion, and if any month was a good time to bring Droplet, this was it. Their growth was remarkably stunted without exposure to their elements, and the oceanic theme this month was likely to give it enough to grow.
They really were fascinating creatures, and he'd like to study them in more depth, perhaps when he wasn't in the middle of so many other projects. Even now, the golem was more of an afterthought, Nerius' primary goal was crystals. Droplet, the golem, wouldn't be his focus, but at least the golem was less likely than most his other critters to make trouble.
(Nerius: 1/20) (Droplet: Lv: 0, 1/5 | Lyl: 1 post)
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Post by Nerius on Aug 20, 2020 3:16:52 GMT -6
[37]
So far, not only had Droplet been behaved, it.. hadn't really done much of anything. Nerius was carrying the seedling, it was much to slow to have it waddle anywhere on its own, and so far had just 'sat' there without incident. Not that he was complaining, having to drag Helios away from a poketpet every five seconds had gotten old very fast.
He was heading back to the building this time, he hadn't gotten to explore inside much on his last trip. Even so, Nerius kept an eye out on the walk there, and spotted a handful of shells, even without taking any detours. He collected them, glad there weren't any starfish to get past to grab them, and continued his walk to the mansion. It seemed like there was less on the beach this time, maybe a lot of it had already been picked up by other people visiting the grounds?
(Nerius: 2/20) (Droplet: Lv: 0, 2/5 | Lyl: 2 posts)
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Post by Nerius on Aug 20, 2020 3:22:09 GMT -6
[38]
He would have expected the mansion to regenerate items, but it was quite possible that process wasn't immediate. Whatever the case, Nerius didn't find anything other than the shells on the path to the Mansion, and didn't want to get sidetracked looking. Soon enough, he reached the building, and there was that plank again.
Why that had to be part of the layout he didn't know, but at least the golem didn't care, unlike how Helios had reacted. The seedling in his arms was utterly oblivious to the drop, and stayed calmly in his grasp as Nerius crossed the plank. The platform on the other side was just how he remembered it, creaky wood with a sharp drop off on one side, and many, many doors along the other. He doubted he'd be able to find the same room again if he tried, not that he wanted to, given it had just been a short path leading to a sheer cliff.
(Nerius: 3/20) (Droplet: Lv: 0, 3/5 | Lyl: 3 posts)
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Post by Nerius on Aug 20, 2020 3:30:37 GMT -6
[39]
The first door he opened, ironically, did lead to another jungle. There were the sounds of some sort of howling ape in the distance, so he didn't think it was the same, but still left it along for concern of it leading to another cliff. The next door- oh that was a very large shark, with very large teeth, right in his face. Nerius quickly shut that door, deciding not to explore that magically water filled room. Something less likely to eat him and his golem would be ideal.
He was almost surprised that Droplet actually reacted to the shark, given how unresponsive it had been otherwise. It may have been reacting to his emotions, Nerius realized, it might not have been concerned with its own safety, but the sudden sense of 'oh shit shark!' may have triggered its heart of the guardian nature. It seemed he was getting some observations on the creature, even without it being his focus.
(Nerius: 4/20) (Droplet: Lv: 0, 4/5 | Lyl: 4 posts)
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Post by Nerius on Aug 20, 2020 3:38:45 GMT -6
[40]
The next room seemed promising, no sharks in sight, just a scattering of islands connected by rope bridges. There was some elevation, but no sharp cliffs, and he could see far enough that he could tell there was plenty to explore. Nerius walked into that room, the wooden platform changing to sand as soon as he stepped through the door frame.
Nerius sighed, it was loose and crunchy and was sure to get all in his cloths, if there was one thing he didn't like about the beach, it was the sand. Droplet wiggled a little at that, which only encouraged Nerius' suspicions that the golem reacted more to his mood than external stimulus. It couldn't feel the sand, after all, and wouldn't have any experience with it to form its own opinions. If it were even capable of that, Nerius doubted it, from what he understood golems didn't have that kind of independent thinking.
(Nerius: 5/20) (Droplet: Lv: 1, 5/10 | Lyl: 5 posts)
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Post by Nerius on Aug 20, 2020 3:49:13 GMT -6
[41]
Still half paying attention to the golem, who'd stopped squirming after a few seconds, Nerius started across the outcropping. It was relatively exposed, with only a few palm trees, and scattered tufts of rough grasses. As he walked, he started spotting a few stones, then more. Nerius paused for a moment to examine one, and realized it looked very angular, like it had been cut by a person, then worn away over time.
Were there some kind of ruins nearby? That caught his interest, even if he knew logically any 'ruins' were created by the magic of the Mansion, and not any more likely to hold something of value than anywhere else. Old habits died hard, and he didn't see any reason to try to squash this one, usually, ruins did hold items of interest. That might or might not be the case here, but any ruins would, at least, be interesting to explore.
(Nerius: 6/20) (Droplet: Lv: 1, 6/10 | Lyl: 6 posts)
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Post by Nerius on Aug 20, 2020 3:55:03 GMT -6
[42]
Nerius continued walking, but didn't find anything more than scattered old stone bricks, often half buried in the sand. It was possible there was more on one of the other outcroppings, and when Nerius got close to the edge of the one he was exploring, he looked to the distant outcroppings to see if he could spot anything obvious.
The closest was much more clustered with trees, and he couldn't see much there, and the next just looked like dull, rough, stone cliffs. But the third, that looked like it had an artificial structure on it, an old tower perhaps? He couldn't get directly there, but a bridge did lead to another scrubby outcropping that did connect. Adjusting the golem in his arms, he'd forgotten how quickly they got heavy, Nerius headed across the first bridge. It was concerningly creaky, but it held, and he and the golem were able to cross without any issues.
(Nerius: 7/20) (Droplet: Lv: 1, 7/10 | Lyl: 7 posts)
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Post by Nerius on Aug 20, 2020 4:01:50 GMT -6
[43]
Nerius figured he might as well give the outcropping a casual look, just in case, but there wasn't a whole lot to find, just a pattern of stones that looked like they had once formed the outline of a house. Whatever had been in the house, or whatever kind of building it was, it was long gone, and after a quick check, Nerius continued on to the next bridge.
This one was even more battered than the last, and there were a few broken or missing planks that he had to carefully step over. The seedling made things a little awkward, but at least it stayed still, he couldn't imagine doing this with a wiggly sarane whelp. Even so, Nerius was glad when he finally reached solid ground, and didn't have to rely on the old bridge. There was still sand, but the ground was more rocky than the other outcrops had been.
(Nerius: 8/20) (Droplet: Lv: 1, 8/10 | Lyl: 8 posts)
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Post by Nerius on Aug 20, 2020 4:07:59 GMT -6
[44]
Maybe that's why this one had a building that was still standing, and this close Nerius could tell it absolutely was a building. It was made of weathered grey stone, crumbling down in places, and appeared to have been a tower, or maybe lighthouse. Well, he wouldn't learn anything interesting about it from the outside, so he walked up to the tower.
There had probably been a door at one point, but it had rotted away, leaving nothing but hinges on the frame. That meant the insides would be more exposed to the elements, but at least it meant he didn't have to break down a door. Brute force was not his strength, and the golem would be no help for that. Not that Droplet had been much help for anything, other than building up his upper body strength. Gusty had been much more animated on its trip to the mansion, did the different elements effect their temperaments?
(Nerius: 9/20) (Droplet: Lv: 1, 9/10 | Lyl: 9 posts)
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Post by Nerius on Aug 20, 2020 4:16:43 GMT -6
[45]
Contemplation about the golem in his arms was quickly halted as Nerius sensed a bit of magic coming from further inside the tower. The whole area had a sort of 'background radiation' of magical energy, but this was something more specific. It wasn't a node, or even a crystal, but it was here. Nerius focused on the magic, trying to get a better feel for it, but all he could tell was it was water related, no surprise given what the month's theme was.
He'd been so focused on examining the magic that he'd missed the feel of a drop of water hitting his shoulder. But then another hit, and another, then one splashing onto his face. That caused him to look up, it hadn't been raining, there weren't even any clouds in the sky, so, where was it coming from? Because there was more now, running down the walls, first in lone drips, then into solid trickles.
(Nerius: 10/20) (Droplet: Lv: 2, 10/15 | Lyl: 10 posts)
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Post by Nerius on Aug 20, 2020 4:23:50 GMT -6
[46]
The water falling from above wasn't rain, Nerius realized, it was water dripping off of the spiraling steps that twisted up the walls of the tower. Those too had consolidated into steady streams, and there was no sign of it letting up. The floor was starting to get soaked, deep puddles were forming where the uneven stones were lowest.
Droplet was starting to get agitated, the first he'd ever truly seen from the golem, writhing its tentacles, and clattering its shell. Nerius had never seen the seedling react like that to anything, and he was starting to get a little concerned. The water wasn't letting up either, quite the opposite, the trickles had increased to larger streams, and at this rate the tower was going to flood. Nerius unconsciously reached up to touch the water amulet he wore, he wouldn't drown, but it still might be a good idea to leave.
(Nerius: 11/20) (Droplet: Lv: 2, 11/15 | Lyl: 11 posts)
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Post by Nerius on Aug 20, 2020 4:31:04 GMT -6
[47]
Wait, where was the door? There had been nothing left but an empty frame, and sunlight had been streaming in, so it should have been easy to see, but there was nothing, just solid walls, and windows too small for even the seedling to squeeze through. It wasn't the first time he'd been in a room with a disappearing door, but those experiences taught him is generally wasn't a good sign.
Was there another way out? The staircase spiraled upwards, blocking his view of the walls, and Nerius couldn't tell. It was worth a shot at least, even if getting down the other side would be another issue. Droplet was still upset, and given the timing, Nerius wondered if it had somehow sensed the door disappearing. But at least it wasn't squirming out of his arms, and the worst he had to deal with was slogging through the water over to the staircase.
(Nerius: 12/20) (Droplet: Lv: 2, 12/15 | Lyl: 12 posts)
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Post by Nerius on Aug 20, 2020 4:37:08 GMT -6
[48]
The water was already ankle high in the shallow parts, and was rising fast, by the time Nerius managed to reach the staircase, the first step was already submerged. Climbing would be a hazard, he realized, the stone steps were slippery with running water, but at least there was a railing carved into the wall.
One hand keeping ahold of his golem, which had finally stilled, possibly picking up on his desire for it to be easy to carry, and the other on the railing, Nerius started his way up the steps. It was as slippery as he'd been afraid of, and he was glad he had the railing. The falling water was only getting worse, the entire walls were drenched now, and his hand quickly got soaked holding on to the rail. That was the least of his concerns right now, and he had a sinking feeling he'd end up getting a lot more drenched than this.
(Nerius: 13/20) (Droplet: Lv: 2, 13/15 | Lyl: 13 posts)
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