Graterras Chapter 2: A Second Chance [IC]

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Previously on Graterras: Chapter 1: The Darkness Descends.

http://www.pokemonreborn.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7913

It had been a day or 2 since we last saw our heros. Not much went on in the wilderness of the Shadowed Isles, much of the Island full of stench of death, and winter killing all of the trees. The Landscape felt barren, and full of despair. Nature itself seemed to struggle to live in this place, this ugly place. It probably came to the heros minds, how this was not the Land of Death, and if The Shadowed Isles were this bad, how bad was the Fabled Land of Death?

Our Heros arrived at the Mouth of the Abyss, a gaping ravine in the landscape. Too mountain ranges spanned both sides, making it look as if a Mouth was coming out of the ground. This place stunk of Death, only fitting for it's origin. It was believed the God of Darkness himself ,Draven, was birthed here. It was said he escaped the depths of the Darkness in the world to spread Chaos and Darkness across the land. This place was very unsettling, not helping that feeling was how one crossed it. The only way across was an old rickety bridge. There was obvious rotting in the rope and the wood. It looked almost as decrepit and ancient as the ravine around it.

"Welp, this is the Mouth of the Abyss." said Odin, an utter look of disgust on his face. "I hate this bleeding place. I can feel the Evil crawling under my skin." Odin sighed. "But sadly we must cross, to Nevermore we must go."

Edited May 6, 2014 by Hukuna

[Jory]

Drug'thok nodded and cast a spell. He uttered, "Lumina," producing two motes of light from his hand. He threw them at the bridge. The two lights hovered on either side of the middle of the span, illuminating the bridge and revealing several missing boards. "Well, this seems like a lovely place for a picnic," he said quietly, a grin on his face. "Luckily, the modicum of knowledge I possess when it comes to Illusion magic allows me to conjure these orbs. I can't do much else with that," he continued, explaining his magic to the rest of the group. "For those of you who did not notice back in the town, most of my expertise lies in the domain of the earth."

[Notus]

"Yes, I could notice that." Marcus answered to Drug'thok's statement "but some light is always welcome in a place like this".

He walked to edge of the Abyss and looked down. He didn't see the bottom, it was lost in the dark.

"Well, it's quite a long fall, and this bridge doesn't seem that solid to me. I think it would be better if we crossed it one at a time, unless you guys have some trick under your sleeves." he directed that last statement to the group's sorcerers.

[Jory]

Drug'thok shook his head. "If it's all the same to you, I would prefer not to use my magic here. This earth has been tainted by evil. Imagine biting into a bitter, sour, sick-smelling serving of food. That is similar to how using my magic at this place makes me feel. I would like to leave, and soon," the half-Orc said briskly, his complexion slightly more pale than usual. He approached the bridge. "But, I shall cross first. I am eager to be away from this evil place." With that, the sorcerer set off across the bridge, not waiting for a response from the rest of the group.

[Code: PIRULUK]

Well. The half-Orc had sass. Jeneve liked that. She peeked over the crest of the cliff and pouted. She was no stranger to heights, but this height seemed somewhat extreme.

"So. We have to cross an excessively deep ravine. On a bridge. A rope bridge. With rotting ropes. Sounds like fun, and is totally not in any way suicidal. Let's go!"

Musings completed, she prepared to follow after the half-Orc.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"Your telling me." said Odin with a hearty Laugh. "I have to walk this path once a month to get fresh Apples for the Bar. They only grow near Passtrough, Somehow it hasn't fallen yet the old thing, but it has seen it fair share of days."

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

The birthplace of the God of Darkness and Chaos. No wonder it seemed to leave a heavy feeling and a churning sensation in the chest and stomach, respectively, of the ranger, as she surveyed the damned area.

And damned did it look-- and feel-- indeed. Continuous low growls came from the throat of Hunter, who cautiously raised his muzzle to sniff out danger-- a wasted gesture, one would suppose.

The entire place had danger written over it, somehow, what with its disgustingly and depressingly eerie landscape. Perhaps it was only the blessing of the god Draven that kept this abyss from crumbling apart... which perhaps accounted for why they had the luck to have to cross a rickety old bridge over a yawning chasm.

Helzebeth looked down at Odin, hearing his statement. "What an odd route to take to pick apples," she said. "Is this the only way?"

Edited April 26, 2014 by ZephyrEnyalios

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"It is the only way that doesn't lead into the Dirgesong Marsh, and that place is rittled with undead. Espicially now that 2 Lich Lords have apparently risen from the grave and are fighting an Undead war." Odin Laughed. "So know you why I would rather choose a rickety old bridge over the God of Darkness's Birthplace."

[Chevaleresse]

"If it falls, it falls." With that, the templar snapped his fingers twice. On the third time, a small flame burst to life in the palm of his hand. With that light source, he strode forward, waiting for the thief to finish her crossing before beginning his.

[Flux]

Nero snorted, walking towards the bridge from his place at the back of the group. While it didn't seem like the most logical idea to walk across a rotting bridge, they didn't appear to have much choice. He paused for a second at the opening of the bridge, muttering under his breath. He waved his hand, and the gaps in the bridge were illuminated with light. He turned his head to face the group.

"To make sure you can see them," he stated bluntly. "Illusion magic is my specialty, so this is no big deal. Let's just get this over with."

With that, he turned his head back towards the bridge and began walking at an even pace, his black coat trailing behind him.

[Code: PIRULUK]

Jeneve felt a warm feeling licking her back. The glow from the flame in the Templar's palm illuminated the area around her. Fire. Flame. Fire. A sharp pain lanced through Jeneve's head as her body froze up in fear. She screamed as she clutched her head, shivering in terror, tears streaking down her face.

"get it away from me put it out please please PUT IT OUT!"

[Chevaleresse]

The templar closed his hand, snuffing the fire out. He didn't say anything, but gave her a questioning look. This is going to be a serious problem.

[Ragnar]

"As much as I love the other option in that Dirgesong marsh, that is not what i came here for. so lead the way my fellow men" Akuma follows the group seeing the commotion ahead of him " Hey,hey not is not the time for fooling around, I don't think that Lumabella((right?)) will be please if she finds out our journey ends here before reaching the Gentleman" as he cross the bridge.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"Aye indeed, we should get moving" said Odin as he also prepared to cross. He had crossed here many times, it was nothing new to him, though it still creeped him out. It felt as if Draven himself was watching you, as if at any moment something could spring out of the Darkness. Odin was just glad they didn't have to go down into the ravine. He heard the tales about how Shadow Dragons Lived down there. They were special beings, whose scales caught shadows and cloaked them. There were also rumors of Black Dragons, but they preferred the Swamps. Another reason not to go trough Dirgesong. Thought Odin to himself.

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

The half-elf followed the dwarf, treading carefully and slowly, Hunter tailing her as he peered into the unending, diabolical void. Guttural growls would not cease coming from the wolf-- the ravine just oozed with too much enigma, too much gloom...

[Code: PIRULUK]

Jeneve took deep breaths. Fire was one of the few things she was terrified of. She couldn't explain it, it was just a fear that she experienced throughout her life. If ever a naked flame came close to her, her body would just shut down. It was one of the reasons she had become accustomed to moving in the dark; she never dared to hold a torch. Struggling to regain her composure, she stood back up and followed behind the half-Elf.

[Notus]

Marcus was kind of surprised with Jeneve's reaction to Xavier's fire. "That may be a trouble if we have to fight together." he thought to himself. Than he turned to the rest of his companions who were still out of the bridge "You guys can go first, I'll close the line."

[Chim]

It was tempting for Sigurd to make the bridge sway with one of his wind techniques. He thought it would be funny to scare one of his companions, but he didn’t know their sense of humor. In the end he decided against it since the thief was already scared when she saw fire. Looks like thieves really are cowards of the night. Just like my kinsmen told me.

After Marcus told everyone he would close the line, Sigurd walked toward the bridge. “Well, since its beauty over wisdom, I guess it’s my turn… Oh wait, in this case I guess I’m both!” he said playful as he crossed the bridge.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

A horrid squawking sound came from around the Ravine. "Oh shit, it is early this year. EVERYONE GET TO THE OTHER SIDE!" Odin yelled. all of a sudden swarm of very strange creatures were flying towards the bridge. They had the head of a Humming Bird, complete with it's long beak, and the body of a Giant Bat. They were twisted creatures, probably brought into this world by a magical accident or experimenting. Or maybe they were just disgusting creations of Draven. "They are called Stirge, they usually are migrated to the Marshes, but they have come back early this year. Watch out they suck blood." Odin shouted as he began to pick up his pace.

[Flux]

Nero wore a grim expression as he moved across the bridge, making sure to avoid the light that shone through, marking a fall to your death.

"Nothing can ever go easily... This is just one of the circumstances of this accursed world."

"Everyone close your eyes and stop moving!" he shouted. Without waiting for a response, he quickly muttered the words to an illusion spell, closing his own eyes and stopping his movement. There was a bright flash of light over the entire area. He opened his eyes and continued his pace.

"That should have blinded them for a short time! Open your eyes and hurry across!"

He hoped none of them were fool enough to keep their eyes open, or they would be in quite the pickle.

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

After a moment of reconsideration, Helzebeth stowed her bow and arrow once more.

The blinding light may have blinded the ridiculous-looking-and-sounding creatures, but it did get into her eyes a little bit-- she wasn't willing to risk aiming with only her other senses on a seemingly near-collapsing bridge. Muttering curses to herself, she followed Odin quickly.

"Hunter, just run across! There's no use drawing attention to ourselves right now," she told the huge wolf, whose growls implied that he was right about to take a leap and a snap at the bird-bat hybrids.

[Chevaleresse]

Xavier, waiting on the other side of the bridge, turned to the elven thief. "My lady, you may want to turn away." He then began focusing intensely and building up heat, causing the air around him to shimmer. Flames started to lick at his boots and gauntlets, seemingly out of nowhere. "Everyone, get across! I'll try to hold their attention after they recover from that flash."

[Notus]

"Everyone, get across! I'll try to hold their attention after they recover from that flash."

Marcus grinned at Xavier's idea. "You've got a point mate. I'll go ahead than, after we cross I'll distract them from the other side. Happy shooting!" he said before he hurried to the bridge, sword in hand to greet any stray creature coming his way.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

The Stirge regained their limited sight, enough to see one very glowy Knight. A load of them swarmed over to him, a few actually landing on him. They tried to stick their long, slender, beaks into any fleshy bit they could find looking for a blood meal. The rest of the flock Swooped the bridge, mostly missing any body else. One Landed on Odin's Shoulder, but he smashed his Hatchet into it's Tiny skull. It's lifeless body went tumbling down the ravine. They all began to circle back for another attack.

[Jory]

Drug'thok shuddered as he reached into the heart of the earth with his magic, urging the foul stone and dirt to bend to his will. The evilness of the soil clouded the sorcerer's vision, and he lifted a hand to his head. You will heed the call of the Earth-shaker! he commanded the earth, demanding that it obey him so he could aid his embattled comrades from the far side of the bridge. The half-Orc strained himself, ultimately rewarded as he finally felt a shifting underneath his feet. "Terra umbra locoxe!" he shouted. Dark, warped-looking shards of stone began to rise from the earth. After approximately a dozen were lazily orbiting each hand, the sorcerer set his feet. "Terra umbra expulse!" he commanded the stone, urging the shards to fly out of his hands and into the path of the Stirge swarm as they circled back.

The sorcerer addressed his comrades as the stones flew: "Hurry up and cross! This earth is filled with Darkness, and that is not a domain over which I have control!"