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Post by Èdan on Jul 15, 2022 14:15:18 GMT -6
The beast, normally one to easily fall in line to any command it might understand, refuses. By this point the water has filled the whole of the floor, leaving both of them in ankle deep water, and shows little sign of stopping. In a twisted sense of irony Irascor might understand the situation in far greater depth than the man, for it is the beast to knows it cannot swim. And the realization of this fills it with an unusual sort of unease, not unlike fear, that directly feeds into its anger. At the gall, the presumption, the daring of trying to be drowned. And at the knowing that it can be.
When one fights for their survival, perceived or otherwise, there's few things with a stronger impulse.
But the knight grimaces beneath the helm and pushes back those impulses, refusing to let them overwhelm him a second time, like they had when the strange bond was formed.
. 135 . Irascor: 27 (0/5) July: 5 Maredian
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Post by Èdan on Jul 15, 2022 14:21:11 GMT -6
As the water's level comes up to his knees, he glares down the beast, nearly growling back to it's irascible growls and hisses at the water around itself, "Calm down!" It is a simple set of words, and though oft used they are also infamous for being ones that rarely garner the effect one seeks. But the man is no stranger to that fear the beast is feeling, nor the indignant rage at being placed in such inescapable situation (nor even the instinct to fight for survival when oblivion stands so close to you). They are old companions, made a new, made old, over and over and over, until they become something like familiar annoyances, tempered and checked.
The beast stops fussing. Golden eyes stared back at the man with clear unease, but this new bond works both ways - What destabilizes him, and stabilize the beast, if he can put make it burn strong enough against the beast's own unchecked impulses.
. 136 . Irascor: 27 (1/5) July: 6 Maredian
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Post by Èdan on Jul 15, 2022 14:26:36 GMT -6
"Good," the knight's gaze does not look away from it, even as the water continues to rise to nearly the waist, "Now stay calm.." Some might argue the facts against the advice, but only if certain details were omitted. To be sure, the necklace fashioned into a turtle around the man's neck would have given him safety from any drowning-related situations, but that wasn't the only factor at play, nor by any means even close to the main one.
Namely that prickling at the back of the neck that had begun as soon as the water started to overflow, that familiar shift in perception and reality that sometimes ran subtle, other times held little care for the roughness of the transition the manor undertook. The sky above them is obscured in a thin sheet of frost, as the open sky is blocked by ice, but where the pool had been cold before, it feels no different to a typical lake in midsummer as it rises higher and higher.
. 137 . Irascor: 27 (2/5) July: 7 Maredian
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Post by Èdan on Jul 15, 2022 14:30:14 GMT -6
As is the way of the manor, one theme follows the next, and though he never encountered the shelter of dragons he's all too aware of the way it can turn into a sea, or something similar enough. The salt in the air suggest as much, as the cavern beneath the waterline shifts and changes, from dust to sand, from stone to distant ripples of underwater walls, from rock and crystal to shell and kelp. A garden he's been to before, shimmering and shining as if underwater, but allowing one to exist as if no different to another room.
At least, supposedly. A lot of what he assumes of the manor remain theory, the largest one being that while the manor can twist, bend, dent and try you, it would never try to actually kill you (Though from time to time it certainly seems like the line runs so very thin on said assumption).
. 138 . Irascor: 27 (3/5) July: 8 Maredian
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Post by Èdan on Jul 15, 2022 14:34:11 GMT -6
In the same vein he's assuming the beast will be able to survive the water's rising just as well as he would, regardless of which of them has a necklace to proof against it. If he's wrong, it would make for a rather awkward interaction within the nearby temple, made worse that the dragon inhabiting it could pry thoughts from his mind if it really wanted to.
And he's been wrong before, to be sure (To various extents, some more costly than others). But he's never let that get in the way of deciding he would (or should) be right. The proof of the matter comes much sooner than when the water finally hits the ceiling, completing the transition, for the manticore's attempts to paddle and remain afloat are gestures only. Whether the manor's magic making the water feel lighter than it is, or something else in the physiology of the beast, it has no hope of staying afloat.
. 139 . Irascor: 27 (4/5) July: 9 Maredian
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Post by Èdan on Jul 15, 2022 14:38:52 GMT -6
And when both of them end up beneath the waterline, there's a momentary space of confused panic from the beast, and cautious observance from the man.. until nothing happens. The beast can still move and breathe, same as the knight, though both of them feel their motions become slightly weighted and slower, as unseen resistance in the air cause mane and tabard to drag and float through it.
An underwater garden, without the water, but still the memory of it (A deceptive appearance even the man can appreciate the artistry of).
With the panic managed, and their new surroundings surveyed, it seems the treasure trove from the cave-before-the-garden has remained with them, though largely scattered in a small area around its previous general location. A few smaller beasts and spirit-like wisps seem to hover around it, not dissimilar to prior entourages the knight has encountered. But not quite all the treasure is animated, with plenty looking to be simple objects of various sorts.
. 140 . (added) Irascor: 28 (0/5) July: 10 Maredian
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Post by Èdan on Jul 22, 2022 7:29:45 GMT -6
He can easily spot some stone or clay tablets stuck end-first in the sand, the tops of them poking upwards as silt slowly drifts down on them from the settling water-made-air. Something else is rolled up beneath them, almost like a carpet of sorts, though it looks far too threadbare to be anything quite so heavy.
The rest are hard to identify, seeing as most of them look to be half-buried, and their shapes seem to suggest a general idea, but not a clear enough one to confirm their actual purpose. A rumble behind him signals that the manticore has managed to figure out how to walk in this strange new space, where the air itself feels like it’s subtly dragging you back.
No doubt the sensation is meant to mimic a faint current, but for something so irritable and on edge at the best of times as Irascor, it could easily lead to.. Unfortunate instances.
. 141 . Irascor: 28 (1/5) July: 11 Maredian
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Post by Èdan on Jul 22, 2022 7:33:48 GMT -6
For the time being the beast seems content to simply pace around the sandy seafloor, growling and rumbling at any strands of stray kelp that looks to float just a little too close for comfort. Were it any other beast it might have even considered the softly swaying seagrass to be something of a toy to play with, but as things were the grass should probably consider itself lucky it’s taken as a passing suspicious annoyance at worst and best.
The knight doesn’t feel a need to be overtly concerned as to where the manticore wanders for the underground garden is all much the same in all directions, and quite a distance into the hazy blue at that. If the room does have a wall, it’s well masked in the general idea of the environment, so either the beast will always be visible regardless of distance, or it will eventually bump into something or another on its way.
. 142 . Irascor: 28 (2/5) July: 12 Maredian
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Post by Èdan on Jul 22, 2022 7:34:59 GMT -6
Most likely it would be an invisible or merely indistinguishable wall, which should be harmless enough while also hopefully serving to teach the beast a bit more situational awareness.
In the meantime, the knight heads over to the pile of goods on the ground, a rather uncharacteristically generous offering from the manor, or the forces therein. What he’s found thus far have often been small trinkets, usually coming in pairs or groups no more than three. He rather doubts the manor has found a sense of respect for his person considering how many times he’s tried to figuratively ‘escape’ it (Espescially when one considers how many times he’s barely been able to escape incidents within, much less without).
So there’s quite credible reason to approach the hoard with some trepidation, at least in terms of things appearing far too good to be true. The items could as well be finds and gifts as they could be a shining lure to a hidden hook.
. 143 . Irascor: 28 (3/5) July: 13 Maredian
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Post by Èdan on Jul 22, 2022 7:36:15 GMT -6
(Something the courier would know quite intrinsically). A condition that in itself wouldn’t really be nearly as suspicious if the world around and the forces that be hadn’t, at some point in human(-like) history decided that greed was the epitome of all flaws, and the one to be punished most harshly. Perhaps it went back to the ages of old where survival relied on cooperation and any selfish sense from one person could cause the fall of the whole group.
Which he could understand. Admittedly one person being generous but murderous was just as likely to cause the fall of a group, if not more so, but then it’s a little more difficult to argue semantics when the people involved are already dead. So it made for an easier story, a better narrative, and a simpler fable to spin greed as the root of evil, rather than anyone’s lack of restraint in other, far more direct, areas.
. 144 . Irascor: 28 (4/5) July: 14 Maredian
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Post by Èdan on Jul 22, 2022 7:37:07 GMT -6
This also made the manor even more difficult to understand, much less comprehend, because the line between a gift offered freely and outright thievery ran so very thin. You could see a coin on the edge of a well and pick it up, assuming it a gift, but just as well you could consider anything within sight of any given room as one, even if they’re only intended as décor, rather than something to be taken back out.
The man has to wonder how many prospective manor delvers have escaped the grounds with armfuls of objects, only for them to whisk into nothingness as soon as they crossed the fence outside. It’s not something he’s noticed happen to himself as of yet, though likewise there’s been fair little that’s been taken that hasn’t be overtly offered (In some cases, even forcefully, considering for life or limb he could not stop the entourage from stalking him).
. 145 . Irascor: 29 (0/5) July: 15 Maredian
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Post by Èdan on Jul 22, 2022 7:37:38 GMT -6
Crouching down, he leans into the glaive to reach over and brush the sand away from some of the objects. The sand flecks float away in slow, gradual drifts, as if time has no hold on them, though more than likely the cause is more related to space, than temporal states. The first object is a small box, enough to fit within one’s palm, and the make of it is already quite familiar (From another stint in the past, when the rooms were up-side down and the shadows wore faces far more sinister than the giggles of an unseen force).
Opening up the box he sees a familiar set of cards, though the first one to face him is a different face to the three drawn last time. He pulls it out, turns it around, and finds himself looking at the visage of a gremlin of sorts. Horned form crouched over, cloaked in shadow and shining eyes.
. 146 . Irascor: 29 (1/5) July: 16 Maredian
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Post by Èdan on Jul 22, 2022 7:38:04 GMT -6
Silver rings seem to adorn it, though the make and shape of the art style seems nothing he’s familiar with. He glances down to the objects scattered around him in the sand and it strikes him that the visage could just as well be translated to a dragon as a gremlin. The man slides the card back into the box and closes it, adding it to the trinkets already inhabiting the pouch on the belt (for as fun as magical cards are, its hardly the time and place for such things).
A brief crackling roar breaks the serene stillness and the knight’s head quickly turns towards the source, only to find the beast biting and snapping the air around it. There’s a furrow of brows, until he’s able to spot a bit of pale blue against the sun-streaked ocean blue surrounding them - One of the entourage causing problems, a wisp-like thing unaware of the monster it’s enticing to play.
. 147 . Irascor: 29 (2/5) July: 17 Maredian
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Post by Èdan on Jul 22, 2022 7:38:35 GMT -6
Well, it’s likely to learn one way or another. The manticore’s fairly new to the concept of existence, with it’s many different lessons left to learn, but it’s certainly no stranger to the concept nor impulse of violence. The wisp might not be corporeal, but the beast doesn’t merely have claws and teeth at its disposal.
The knight watches a few moments before turning back to the hoard, content that whichever outcome happens to prevail there’s little harm either way. The beast will either fail to do much and discover the concept of futility, or it will somehow manage to dissuade the wisp from following them, in which case it’s simply one less thing for him to be concerned with.
Out of the rest of the ‘sunken treasures’ he spots something that could well be called that in truth - a series of coins, similar to the silvery one he had found from the pool.
. 148 . Irascor: 29 (3/5) July: 18 Maredian
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Post by Èdan on Jul 22, 2022 7:39:08 GMT -6
They lay scattered among some red shards and pieces, which almost looked to be the remains of some type of pottery or other likewise container. For a world where cloth and leather are likely to fray and turn to dust given enough years and harsh enough conditions, that was often the most preferred method for storing anything of value for a substantial time.
Particularly if said value had to have been left behind in a hurry, usually underground. He supposes underwater is not too dissimilar, considering the coins looked to be silver.
But even then there’s something off about the shards, as the rays of light from the ‘ocean’ surface glean down and paint the sand around them in hazy red. Namely clay doesn’t generally have a habit of refracting light, considering it’s rather solid state. As he pulls a shard from the sand it shows clear signs of chipping and wear, but even beneath it all is quite clearly a crystal.
. 149 . Irascor: 29 (4/5) July: 19 Maredian
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