|
Post by Nerius on May 29, 2021 23:54:16 GMT -6
[12]
Nerius looked down, puzzled. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary, just a large, flat plane of crystal that Red was doing his best to hide away from. It was shiny enough that both his and the hatchling's reflection were visible, was that what had startled the drake?
Nerius knelt down, trying to calm the hatchling. "It's just your reflection, little red. Just our reflections, see?" Some rather distorted reflections, to be sure, he couldn't blame the whelp for being frightened, really. Honestly, something about the whole room made the back of his neck prickle. Not danger, exactly, just unsettling. Not enough to leave either, and after spending a few moments calming down Red, he continued on deeper into the crystal chamber. The hatchling wasn't thrilled, but he was following along, sticking very close to Nerius. That was just as well, in the event of an actual threat, he could scoop up the hatchling and move quicker.
(Nerius: 12/20) ("Red": Lv: 2, 12/15 | Lyl: 2, 12/15)
|
|
|
Post by Nerius on May 30, 2021 0:01:43 GMT -6
[13]
The Mansion did have its dangers, after all. Some of his trips had been uneventful, but others could have been life threatening. He could have drown in the flooded tower, if not for his amulet of underwater travel. Nerius always had that on him, just in case. On the subject of water, as Nerius got closer to the magical source, some of the pockets in the crystal formations were starting to hold water. Small, at first, but they were getting larger and larger.
Red didn't want anything to do with the pools, doing his best to stay away from them. Nerius didn't know if that was because he was a desert breed... or something else entirely. That train of thought was interrupted when he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He snapped around to look but.. there was nothing. Just his reflection in a tall spire of crystal.
(Nerius: 13/20) ("Red": Lv: 2, 13/15 | Lyl: 2, 13/15)
|
|
|
Post by Nerius on May 30, 2021 0:06:56 GMT -6
[14]
Had something moved on the other side of the crystal? It was just translucent enough to see vague shapes through the other side, but no real details, and it was possible something had moved on the other side. Nerius paused a few moments, just in case he could see whatever it was move again, but there was nothing. Well, nothing but the soft whine of the hatchling at his heels, Red really wasn't thrilled with the room.
Nerius wanted to see what was the source of the magic though, and as nothing else happened with the crystal, he moved on. There were more and more pools of water, and eventually, as he rounded a large, spiny cluster of stone, reached a large glowing pool that thrummed with magic. It was not what he'd been expecting, and certainly not something he could take with him, but he was still curious about it.
(Nerius: 14/20) ("Red": Lv: 2, 14/15 | Lyl: 2, 14/15)
|
|
|
Post by Nerius on May 30, 2021 0:12:17 GMT -6
[15]
Nerius approached the pool. Or, he tried to, but as he got closer, Red whined again, pulling against the lead. The little hatchling did not want to go anywhere near the pool. That was.. odd. There was no way the small drake would be able to even see the water from down low, the crystal formation that held the pool had a higher ledge than than Red was tall. So it wasn't just an aversion to water. Nerius.. didn't think it was the magic? Sarane weren't mystical creatures, no matter how draconic their appearance, so he didn't thing Red was sensing the magic.
So Nerius really had no idea what was upsetting the hatchling. He did want to look into the pool though, and so, leaving a slack on the lead so Red didn't have to get any closer, he approached the crystal pool, and stared down into the glowing depths.
(Nerius: 15/20) ("Red": Lv: 3, 15/20 | Lyl: 3, 15/20)
|
|
|
Post by Nerius on May 30, 2021 0:23:32 GMT -6
[16]
The water seemed... deeper, somehow, than it should have. Nerius couldn't see the bottom, but he could see shapes swirling in the depths, and he couldn't help but watch. The longer he stared, the more they started to resemble figures, and.. faces. They were speaking too, distant whispers that he couldn't quite make out, maybe if he got closer...
Suddenly there was a sharp pain in Nerius' lower leg, and he let out a startled "Ow!" and looked down away from the pool. Red had nipped him, and was whining miserably, and doing his best to push the much larger person away from the pool. It was like he'd been shaken out of a trance, Nerius had no idea how long he'd been staring into the pool. Enough that the hatchling was upset, and he reached down to scoop up the whelp, before taking a few steps back from the pool.
(Nerius: 16/20) ("Red": Lv: 3, 16/20 | Lyl: 3, 16/20)
|
|
|
Post by Nerius on May 30, 2021 0:30:39 GMT -6
[17]
"Hey, it's alright," he tried to soothe the hatchling. Nerius wasn't even mad Red had nipped him, if anything he was grateful that the little drake had snapped him out of whatever hold the pool had. Red really wasn't feeling calmed, and just nestled as close to his guardian as he could. That was one way to bond with a hatchling, Nerius supposed, though not the most ideal one.
As he cuddled the hatchling, Nerius tried to magically sense what he could about the pool, without getting any closer. It was just so muddled, possibly an effect of the Mansion. It almost felt a little like it had traces of dark magic, then it just blurred again. Everything was just so frustratingly fuzzy. Nerius almost wanted another look at the pool, but it wasn't safe, not with how it had ensnared him before, and without knowing what it was, he couldn't form an effective defense against it.
(Nerius: 17/20) ("Red": Lv: 3, 17/20 | Lyl: 3, 17/20)
|
|
|
Post by Nerius on May 30, 2021 0:41:20 GMT -6
[18]
Images in pools made him thing of scrying or divination, but that wouldn't explain the captivating nature of the pool. His magical hypersensitivity sometimes made him more vulnerable to those sorts of effects, but a scrying pool shouldn't have had that sort of effect to begun with.
Nerius was still considering what kinds of magics those sorts of pools could be used for, when something moved again. He jerked away from the crystal with a sharp explicitive of "FUCK!" because his reflection had just moved! Red whined unhappily again, but Nerius couldn't tell if it was from his movements or something else because he was far too busy staring at the crystal reflection. It was moving in sync with his own motions now, and was otherwise still, but it had definitely moved. The face had turned to stare at him, and the eyes had been all wrong, though everything looked normal now.
(Nerius: 18/20) ("Red": Lv: 3, 18/20 | Lyl: 3, 18/20)
|
|
|
Post by Nerius on May 30, 2021 0:46:57 GMT -6
[19]
Nerius didn't take his eyes off of the reflection, though he did shift the hatchling in his arms, to have a hand free in case he needed to, oh, hurl a fireball at something. Red continued to whine softly, his claws digging into Nerius' shirt. He didn't know if the hatchling had seen the movement, or would have even realized that reflections weren't supposed to move on their own. Then again, he'd been frightened of his own reflection earlier, and now Nerius wondered if there had been something more to that than just a young creature seeing their own reflection for the first time.
Though he stared back at the crystal reflection for a few minutes, it didn't make any moves it wasn't supposed to, and slowly Nerius' heart rate started to go back down. He still didn't trust it, but he couldn't spend the rest of the trip just staring at the crystal.
(Nerius: 19/20) ("Red": Lv: 3, 19/20 | Lyl: 3, 19/20)
|
|
|
Post by Nerius on May 30, 2021 0:58:48 GMT -6
[20]
Besides, it wasn't the only crystal that held his reflection, he realized, and Nerius was suddenly very aware of the many, many crystal spires that reflected the room. The further ones weren't nearly as clear, vague figure shapes, rather than distinctive features as the close up one had. It reminded him a little of what was in the pool, were the two connected somehow? As if whatever was in the pool was able to travel through the crystals, and mimic reflections? There were spirits that could do that, and had an interest in ensnaring people, as the pool had.
It wasn't a comforting idea, even if it was just a theory. Red's behavior supported it somewhat as well, sarane couldn't pick up on magic, specifically, but like many creatures could pick up on when some thing just wasn't right. And he sure hadn't been happy to be in this room from the start.
(Nerius: 20/20 +Added!) ("Red": Lv: 4, 20/25 | Lyl: 4, 20/25)
|
|
|
Post by Nadia on May 30, 2021 13:18:16 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by Nerius on May 31, 2021 16:59:12 GMT -6
[21]
Nerius was still suspiciously eyeing the crystalline reflections when another bit of movement caught his gaze. He jerked around to look, only to see it was a bundle of cloth lying on a flat plane of crystal. It was wiggling, or, something underneath it was. Quietly, Nerius walked over to the cloth, before suddenly pulling it back to reveal.. a rocky.. little.. uh, thing. It froze, staring back at him with large amber eyes. It didn't seem dangerous at least, the tiny thing had to be a pocketpet.
Red stared at it too, and Nerius was glad the little hatchling didn't react much to the rocky thing. He wouldn't have been surprised if Red had freaked out, given how high strung he was in this room. But no, he just stared, and the pocketpet wasn't moving either, and Nerius took the opportunity to scoop it up before it could try to run off.
(Nerius: 1/20) ("Red": Lv: 4, 21/25 | Lyl: 4, 21/25)
|
|
|
Post by Nerius on May 31, 2021 17:08:51 GMT -6
[22]
He grabbed the cloth as well, a bit awkwardly given that he was still holding the hatchling in one arm. As Nerius picked it up, he realized it was a cloak, and there had been more than just the rockster bundled up in it. Several coins clinked out and onto the crystal as he picked it up, and Nerius put the cloak in the backpack before inspecting the coins. They were clearly not credits, there was a symbol on them, but he couldn't make out what it was supposed to be. For the Well, perhaps? Or else someone had misplaced a few exotic coins.
Nerius gathered them up, putting them away in an empty pouch.. then froze as he heard the sound of something hitting crystal somewhere in the tall clusters, followed by an eerie ringing that echoed through the cavern. It had sounded heavy, too, not like a little pocketpet or coin.
(Nerius: 2/20) ("Red": Lv: 4, 22/25 | Lyl: 4, 22/25)
|
|
|
Post by Nerius on May 31, 2021 17:27:27 GMT -6
[23]
Staying otherwise still, Nerius looked around at the crystalline reflections, in case anything was moving that shouldn't have been. Everything was still, and the cavern was silent again, even Red was quiet, curled up as best he could in Nerius' arm, and staying very still. They stayed that way a for several tense moments, but as nothing else happened, Nerius let him self relax a little. Not much, but enough to not be laser focused on the crystals.
And enough to consider if they should move on to another cavern. So far there wasn't a lot here, and very little that he could take with him The moving reflections possibly weren't dangerous, but the captivating pool wasn't. He was still curious about the function of the pool, but he didn't really have any way of examining it, especially that was safe. And even if he did figure out its use, he couldn't take it home with him.
(Nerius: 3/20) ("Red": Lv: 4, 23/25 | Lyl: 4, 23/25)
|
|
|
Post by Nerius on May 31, 2021 17:48:22 GMT -6
[24]
He was still debating leaving when when he felt a sudden spike of danger, and turned around to see his reflection reaching through the crystal, clawed hand going right at him. Nerius rapidly stepped backwards with a curse, staring at it with a mix of horror and fascination. It was magically intriguing, but right now his main focus was on keeping it from killing him.
More of the reflection was stepping through the crystal now, more of that eerie ringing echoing through the cavern, though it wasn't entirely his reflection anymore. The features of it were warped and twisted, and made entirely of jagged planes of glass like crystal. It wasn't holding a hatchling either, there was no reflection of the sarane in sight, even though he was still holding Red in his arm. That was just as well, Nerius didn't want to run into a crystal dragon on top of this!
(Nerius: 4/20) ("Red": Lv: 4, 24/25 | Lyl: 4, 24/25)
|
|
|
Post by Nerius on May 31, 2021 18:18:23 GMT -6
[25]
His own crystal reflection was bad enough, it looked very sharp, and not very flammable. It was slow and stiff as it pulled itself from the crystal spire, but as the reflection tugged itself fully free it moved with concerning speed. Nerius ducked to the side, its crystalline claws just barely missing him, and Red squealed, clinging to his shirt. There was little room to maneuver though, and he'd ended up between two large spires of crystal. The reflection turned, preparing to lunge again, and with nowhere to go, Nerius cast the only spell he thought might have an effect on it.
And it certainly did. As the pressurize spell hit, the reflection shattered with a loud ringing sound, the tiny fragments hitting the floor with quiet clinks. That had worked a lot better than he was expecting. Nerius blinked, staring at the fragments as they fell, he'd been hoping to crack off an arm or something, not shatter the whole thing.
(Nerius: 5/20) ("Red": Lv: 5, 25/30 | Lyl: 5, 25/30)
|
|