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Post by Silver on Aug 6, 2023 4:38:41 GMT -6
Though they hadn’t seen one display this ability to freeze the air within their hood, they could imagine that a creature capable of doing that would do well in a cold environment. “You are just full of surprises,” they said cheerily.
It would appear that Sine had an affinity not only for water, but for cold as well. Perhaps she even carried a bit of shadow magic within her, too. The Void Salaves could speak and had some control over shadows, they recalled, and they wouldn’t be surprised if she was directly related to one. Her sleek black scales certainly added to that hypothesis. Is that where her brother Grapes got his iconic purple stripe?
“Well, it is bothering me some,” they said, shivering again. They had simply not prepared for the cold weather and Sine’s additions to it, while clever, were certainly not helping. “Let’s find our way out and see if we can discover something new,” they said.
9 [150.5 3.8]
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Post by Silver on Aug 6, 2023 4:39:02 GMT -6
Silver decided to start their journey through the ice dunes by climbing up a nearby one that was particularly tall. For every couple of steps they took, they slid back a bit, making the climb exceptionally difficult. If only they hadn’t forgotten to use their magic. Even after all this time as a light elemental, Silver still often thought to solve their problems the traditional way before relying on magic. They were just stubborn that way.
Sine pulled out their entire hood, using their insectoid legs to dig into the sand and avoid sliding back. If there was anything her species was naturally good at, it was climbing and navigating sand. Regardless of which elemental affinity she came from, all Salaves had surprisingly strong legs and a muscular core to pull them along.
Once they finally reached the top of the dune, Silver could see another door in the distance. The air in the room was eerily still and clear, making seeing across the room very easy. The hot sun from outside hadn’t followed them in, either, making it a bit easier to make out things in the distance without it being whited out by the glare.
10 [150.55 4]
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Inertia
Aug 6, 2023 19:31:25 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Aug 6, 2023 19:31:25 GMT -6
“This way,” Silver said. They plotted a route in their head quickly and leaped from the top of the dune. They skated along the loose ground on their butt, absolutely filling their tail fur with sand. Sine had a different idea, however. She stretched out her gliding membrane and gently floated to the ground. She arrived just a moment after they did, and neatly folded her legs back into place.
“Show off!” they teased with a laugh. They had to admit, she did have a lot more style than they did. Though they did have some fun.
“Oh…” they said, looking back at their tail, dripping with cold grains of sand. They waved it back and forth a few times to shake some loose, but many more still clung to their fur. Well that wasn’t the smartest choice they had ever made, but they were sure they could get it all out later.
11 [150.6 4.2]
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Inertia
Aug 6, 2023 19:31:43 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Aug 6, 2023 19:31:43 GMT -6
“I don’t know about you, but I am sick of sand,” Silver said, flicking their tail one last time.
“Sand,” Sine repeated, touching the ground with her outstretched leg.
“Sand is what you call…” Silver started to explain, but then they realized that they had no idea what they were talking about. What was sand? This stuff. But they didn’t want her to confuse sand with ground or rocks or soil or one of the many other things she could possibly mix it up with. How complicated. Perhaps they were overthinking it a tad.
“This is sand,” they said, grabbing a handful of it and allowing it to run through their fingers.
“Sand,” she said again. Never in her life had she seen so much of the stuff. Even though her species was well suited to a life on sand, she had grown up in the city where there wasn’t a lot of it.
12 [150.65 4.4]
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Inertia
Aug 6, 2023 19:32:03 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Aug 6, 2023 19:32:03 GMT -6
“Why don’t we go into the next room, maybe they have a different kind of ground I could show you,” Silver said. They were really just looking for an excuse to get out of here.
They stomped through the sand slowly, making their way in the direction of the door they had seen earlier. It wasn’t a particularly fast or pleasant journey, but they managed just fine. As always, Sine had absolutely no trouble navigating and was easily skating across the sand.
Silver wanted to show Sine the name for more objects, but this room didn’t lend well to teaching. Everything in the room was either ice, sand, or water. It was so desolate, so barren. If they didn’t already know the way out, it might seem hopeless. The mansion did that sort of thing sometimes, just to keep them on their toes.
Finally they arrived at the door. Doors were often a relief in the mansion as they meant a change of scenery, but they often held surprises and secrets of their own. There was no guarantee that whatever was in the next room would be more pleasant than the one they were currently in. In fact, it could be much, much worse. Thus was the risk they took while exploring.
13 [150.7 4.6]
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Inertia
Aug 6, 2023 19:32:20 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Aug 6, 2023 19:32:20 GMT -6
“Ready?” Silver asked.
Sine watched the door carefully indicating that she was curious about what was inside. They took that as a sign that she was prepared to face whatever might happen next. They pulled the door open cautiously and looked inside.
At first, they weren’t sure what they were looking at, but it became clear after some careful observation. The room was absolutely filled with water and aquatic life. The door had been holding back water, but even now that it was open the water hung still in the air as if the door was still there trapping it inside the room.
Silver couldn’t help but to reach out and touch the surface, just to see if it was real or an illusion. Though perhaps it was a bit of both. The second they made contact with the water, it violently churned, crashing down over them and Sine and quickly flooding the room full of sand.
14 [150.75 4.8]
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Inertia
Aug 6, 2023 19:34:56 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Aug 6, 2023 19:34:56 GMT -6
The torrent of water seemed relentless, unending as it poured from behind the doorway. Silver’s first instinct was to slam the door closed, but they didn’t get a chance. They were quickly swept away with the current, thrown backwards into the tumbling and turbulent water. They gasped for breath out of habit, not yet fully aware that they were completely under water. Thankfully, they had their amulet to protect them and their awkward gasp tasted disgusting, but didn’t fill their lungs with water.
Sine! Silver was flushed with panic as the waves tossed them about. They had to find Sine. Suddenly their sense of self preservation was second to their need to find their companion. What they had forgotten in their hurried concern was that Sine could swim perfectly well on her own. She even had a fluked tail and fins of her own to carry her through the water. Though she was certainly surprised, she had no trouble righting herself within the flood.
15 [150.8 5]
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Inertia
Aug 7, 2023 18:31:17 GMT -6
Post by Jack on Aug 7, 2023 18:31:17 GMT -6
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Inertia
Oct 31, 2023 22:11:52 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Oct 31, 2023 22:11:52 GMT -6
“Oooh,” was the first thing the tiny Harachiu said as the looming wrought iron gates came into view. “Strange, isn’t it?” Silver said. They often got an odd feeling as they approached the mansion grounds. It was an unusual place, and the gate itself served as a portal, real or imagined, into an enigmatic realm. “Don’t worry,” they said. She gave no indication that she was worried about anything. “Just, stay… stay near me, and I will, ah, make sure everything is alright,” they said. A bit of a funny way to say it, but they got there in the end. Meredith was adventurous and a bit wild, so they wanted to be sure she knew not to leave their sight. Not that a single warning was likely to get through. Children often did whatever they wanted, regardless of what the adults around them said. Silver was pretty confident they could keep track of a single Harachiu, though. Even if this one was especially spunky. 1[153.6, 0.2]
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Inertia
Oct 31, 2023 22:12:21 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Oct 31, 2023 22:12:21 GMT -6
“Shall we?” they said, pushing the gate open and taking a slow step onto the mansion grounds. They were never sure if they imagined it or not, but it felt like walking into a bubble. Like the very air outside of the gate was inherently different to that inside.
In a way, it felt like Vai Min Mur was made for the mansion. With so many myths and stories about haunted houses coming up around this holiday, they had to wonder if it was a coincidence or not. Perhaps the mysterious benefactor who built the place loved the idea so much that he made it a permanent fixture of the city?
Despite all of their exploration of the place, they were never any closer to understanding anything about the mansion itself. They understood that there were cycles, that they seemed to correspond to holidays, and that the wishing well accepted common trinkets from around the place in exchange for useful items, but they’ve otherwise never been able to figure out what the place was about.
2 [153.65, 0.4]
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Inertia
Oct 31, 2023 22:12:43 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Oct 31, 2023 22:12:43 GMT -6
For a long time, it made them very suspicious, and in a way they still were. Though they’d never been directly harmed by the place, it seemed very… strange. Why would someone build something like this? Why allow others to explore inside? How could the creators access so much raw magic power? Were they hiding something? There were many questions that they didn’t think they’d ever get a satisfying answer to. It just seemed like nothing this, well, interesting, could exist purely for entertainment’s sake.
None of that mattered to little Merideth, of course. She was busy sizing up the huge building at the center of the grounds. A tangled mass of twisting trees obscured most of the mansion from view, but what was there clearly impressed her. Despite the half-ruined state of everything, the gloomy decor and once impressive stature of the building was something to behold. Her imagination ran wild with all the things it could have been back in its heyday. She couldn’t wait to get inside and run around.
3 [153.7, 0.6]
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Inertia
Oct 31, 2023 22:13:16 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Oct 31, 2023 22:13:16 GMT -6
The great dying of autumn came early to the mansion. While most of the plants in their garden and around the city were still full of colorful leaves, the trees in the courtyard of the old castle were as bare as bones. The naked limbs jutted sharply into the sky in an ominous faction. Even the sparse grass on the ground was pale and weak, like it would blow away in a harsh breeze.
When Silver didn’t move fast enough for her, Meredith started to wiggle in place, trying to set herself free. Silver calmly cupped their hand around her in such a way that would make it difficult for her to leave.
“Sorry, but I must insist,” they said. “It is not safe for you to go too far - too far away,” they reiterated.
Meredith rolled her eyes, but she seemed to understand. She poked her nose out over their hand and continued to fixate on the old building at the center of all the excitement.
4 [153.75, 0.8]
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Inertia
Oct 31, 2023 22:13:33 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Oct 31, 2023 22:13:33 GMT -6
“Go,” she said, pointing at the front door with a single tiny finger.
“Alright, alright,” they said. It was clear that she wanted to explore, and rather than try to disagree, they might as well head inside. Wasn’t that what they were here for, anyway?
“We can go inside,” Silver said, already heading toward the looming high-arched doorway, “but you have to, ah, promise that you won’t run off, okay?”
“Hmm,” Meredith said with a nod. It wasn’t exactly confirmation that she understood and agreed, but they figured it was the best they would get from her at this stage.
A huge stone gargoyle loomed over the front door. The crumbling wall opposite it suggested that it once had a twin, but that was no longer the case. The peering eyes of the creature, though well worn and chipped away by time, seemed to stare directly at them as they approached.
5 [153.8, 1]
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Inertia
Oct 31, 2023 22:14:00 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Oct 31, 2023 22:14:00 GMT -6
It would make sense to knock when one approached someone else’s home, but the old mansion didn’t quite work like that. They tested the door first by pushing on it lightly. When it didn’t budge, they looked for a handle. None. Finally, they gave a full forced shove with their shoulder and the massive, heavy door swung slowly open with a loud creak.
“Here we are,” they said quietly. They instinctively clutched Meredith closer as they crept inside through the crack in the door. Instantly as they crossed into the foyer, a flickering light filled the room. A dozen or so candles mounted high on the walls flashed to life, leaving a warm dancing light to see by.
“Ah, that’s better,” they muttered. Meredith’s large golden eyes quickly adjusted to the light and she looked around the room in wonder.
Apart from the grand staircase in the middle lined with a bright red carpet, the room was practically empty.
6 [153.85, 1.2]
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Inertia
Oct 31, 2023 22:14:35 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Oct 31, 2023 22:14:35 GMT -6
Other than the one they came through, there were about four doors on the ground floor and another two or so upstairs. It was hard for them to see exactly what the layout upstairs was from the bottom, but it appeared that this room was merely a gateway leading to a number of other options.
“Well, what do you think?” Silver asked. “Where should we go first?”
Meredith seemed to mull over the question for a moment before pointing at one of the doors on the left. Why did she like that one? Well, if she was honest, she didn’t think about it too much, but her guts suggested it, and that was good enough for her. It wasn’t like she could possibly know anything that would inform her decision, regardless.
Silver knew even less about her reasoning than she did, but they dutifully followed her suggestion and walked through the open doorway to the left.
7 [153.9, 1.4]
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