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Post by █ █ m a g i c k a █ █ on Sept 11, 2020 20:46:47 GMT
Alrighty. This, ladies and gents, is my Web Comic. If you've already seen it on Tumblr, great. I've rewritten some early bits to fit better with a conception of a story, so you should probably read it again. Regardless, this used to a be a Pokemon Mystery Dungeon fanfic called Alone Together - now it has been stripped of it's pokemon DNA, whilst still keeping the essence of what I was into with my original fic. Thanks for your time, and here's a link to the Tumblr. Oh, and be sure to follow that Tumblr if you wanna read the comic early - I'll only post here every five updates or so.
That's right folks, welcome to...
THE MAGICKA BIPOLAROID
Cole leaned back and relaxed while he watched the water flow and his reflection wobble. He’d traveled so far to get here - up from the Sea of Sand, over the Stone Faces, and finally to the Lulen Plateau.
Now, here he was leaning on a hill on an island, surrounded by the two flowing rivers Ninos and Olos - the Twin Currents.
While he watched the waves in the river roll past, Cole's eyes searched for something in particular. Luckily, the water was clear, but...
... no luck. There was nothing swimming in these waters.
Even still, Cole decided to stay optimistic. He still had a few things he could try to cross off the list, after all.
"So this is the Twin Currents..."
"Huh."
"Y'know..."
"I don't think I've ever seen so much water in one place!"
"Amazing..."
Cole rafted back to shore after some time enjoying the sights. Though he felt a little disappointed - and more than a little hungry after two days of no food - he knew he still had alot to do.
His expedition to the Twin Currents, while certainly memorable, had revealed a most ungoodly truth - fish no longer existed.
For now though, there were more pressing matters than the list; specifically… food.
Of course, being a desert dweller, Cole wasn’t too familiar with how to find food in a forest. Sure, in the Sea of Sand he could feast on the aspic of globlins or the roots of iniknok plants, but what is a desert dweller to do in an unfamiliar landscape devoid of such familiar lower life forms?
"I was hoping I'd find a fish."
"They said there might still be a few here-"
>stomach rumbles
"Oh 'an..."
After having wandered around looking for a decent place to rest in the night, Cole had given up. His stomach was simply too frustrated to be placated by such paltry needs as sleep! And so he searched... Eventually, he heard the sounds of flowing water and humming. Another Anar like him? In going to investigate, he found that his suspicion had in fact been correct. A female Anar - in an unfamiliar garb as well - was making their way down the Twin Currents on foot. As she did so, a path of ice appeared in front of her, keeping her trek dry and smooth. Cole recognized the magicka at play here - frigomancy! Rare where he lives, but not something he hasn't seen before. She looked tired, and the song she hummed sounded it too. Cole considered coming out from the brush to introduce himself, but upon noticing the sack the lady was carrying with her, he decided to keep low. Seems like... fruit! And with a whole bag of them, he could fill his stomach and cross something off the list. And then an idea began to form... 
"Looks like she's carrying fruit... this could be my meal!"
"... but she is a frigomancer, so I can't go in all caution to the wind."
"..."
"Alright... let's go!"
Cole waited patiently as the lady made her way down the river. Crouched behind the bushes, he made sure to keep as quiet and as small as possible.
Then, as she made her next step forward, he tensed.
Suddenly, Cole sprang out from behind the bushes, and leaped with a shrill cry. Flailing his arms, he locked eyes with the strange lady he had targeted.
"Wha-"
CRASH!!!
Cole knocked her into the river as he landed on the ice path. Water splashed him, but he payed it no mind.
Luckily, the ice path was thick enough that it didn't break - though it did crack, worryingly enough.With that in mind, Cole hurriedly grabbed the fruit as his stomach growled in triumph.
"Thanks for the fruits, lady! See ya!"
And with that, Cole hopped to the other side with the sack of fruit in hand, and made his get away.
"Heh. Got 'em!"
"Alright, now..."
"HEY!!!"
"Uh-oh"
Cole ran as fast as his legs could carry him through Pillar Forest. Behind him, he could hear the sounds of an angry lady chasing after him.
"Get back here, you thief!"
Cole ignored her. This wasn't his first time robbing someone blind - but this is his first time trying to escape through trees and bush rather than sand and brush.
To be frank, he was definitely being slower than he felt he needed to be. Considering he'd left her in a river, the fact that he could hear her chasing after him did not bode well for his pace.
Eventually, he started hearing the sound of... bells? Whatever the case, something about it all really drew him in, and so he changed his course to follow the sound.
He burst out onto the main paths from the trees, leaves and sticks bursting out with him. He was lucky he hadn't torn the bag.
Looking around, he saw a big red gate with massive bells tied to the sides. As he passed through it, he found a massive mountain with a rope stretching past the clouds.
While it may not be the best escape, Cole was a much better climber than forest runner, and so began his ascent.
"Wait! Stop!"
"No!"
"You can't go up there!"
"Watch me!"
'With clothes like hers, there's no way she's going to chase me all the way up here!'
'NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO...'
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Post by █ █ m a g i c k a █ █ on Sept 17, 2020 17:39:05 GMT
Real quick, before we begin - I changed the spelling of a few things for the sake of consistency. I think it should be fairly obvious what is still being talked about - and I have gone back and updated previous sections with these very minor changes. Either way, welcome to the next installment of the Magicka Bipolaroid!
Cole’s head was surrounded by the ringing sound of sonorous bells.
His mind - a gentle, rolling hum - payed no attention to the time that passed as he climbed.
He payed no mind to the clouds, or the night sky, or the list. He had no reason to worry or fear, because there was only one thing he had to do. Only one thing mattered.
All he had to do…
… was keep climbing.
And so he did.
On the tip of the wind’s tongue Cole would occasionally hear a female voice calling out, crying out in ever quieter and more panicked tones.
However, Cole wasn’t able to pick out the particular words - it all turned to wash against the fibrous rope his hands had grasped.
His mind was a gentle rolling hum.
Cole’s only focus was reaching the top.
"..."
Cole wasn't sure when he reached the top of the mountain. To be quite frank, when his feet had touched the top it was as though he had awoken from a nap.
He wasn't really sure what to make of this, so he opted to resort to his old standby - positive thinking.
"Guess I'm even better at climbing than I thought!"
Cole gently lowered the bag down against the wall of the raised portion of the mountaintop. He was careful to not drop it, so as not to damage the supposedly juiceful niser fruits therein.
Then, he reached into the bag of net. His hands felt an ever so slightly oily... skin, or rind of some kind. He wasn't too sure, honestly, since he'd never encountered a fruit before.
After finding one which called out to him more than the rest, he grabbed it and went to sit on the edge of the mountaintop.
"Alrighty... so this is a niser fruit."
It was bright cyan, with a waxy sheen. While Cole did not have a frame of reference, the skin would be comparable in texture to a citrus fruit of some variety.
With no real clue as to what to do, Cole simply took a bite of the fruit with the rind on.
At first, he tasted a bitter dryness, but soon it was overtaken by juice and tang. The flesh was tender, and radiated a much deeper blue. There was a subtle tingle of spice in the nostrils, and the taste was ultimately bright and refreshing.
He'd never tasted anything like it. It was beautiful and delicious!
1 Relic crossed off the list.
"Wow."
"This place..."
"They were right."
"There's so much water here, even the food has water in it!"
"So good, too..."
"That lady..."
As he finished eating his niser fruit, Cole thought back to the lady he had stolen the fruit from.
He hadn't known anyone really lived atop the Lulen Plateau. Cole had never outright dismissed the idea - information as to what's actually atop the Plateau was scarce, so it could have been anything, really - but he would have never suspected that there could be individuals that live here.
Cole wiped his hands off on his iniknok vest, and carefully got up from the edge of the cliffside.
"Well, I guess she could be another desert dweller... but I don't think I've ever seen clothes like that before."
Cole paused.
"Weird accent, too."
The sound of bells washed through the air as Cole went to tie up the fruit bag once again. The soft harmony of the pleasing ringing bells were... relaxing.
He stood, atop the mountain. Time slowed down, and the stars in the sky began to blur. And then...
"Stop! Cease! Don't move!" cried a familiar voice.
Startled by a feminine yell from beyond the cliff, Cole stumbles backwards into the raised portion of the mountaintop. Right in between the two banners - one depicting a raised hand, and the other a seven pointed star - Cole firmly planted his face...
... and broke on through.
"Wa...!"
"OW!"
Cole hit the ground with a hefty thud. While Cole was on the floor, dazed, he thought back to who could have possibly come with such a familiar voice... ? ... ... it was the lady. Cole sprung up from the ground - ignoring the pulsing sting from his face - and quickly scooped up the bag of fruit. After a moment or two of finagling with the end of it, he tied the bag off, and stopped. Where was he going to go? He'd rather not knock her off the rope if he could help it - he was a bandit, not a murderer! Suddenly, Cole heard the faint sound of bells from within the cave, and turned around to peer deep inside. Luckily, he did not have to look very far, for he found a staircase fairly immediately. There's only one place where the sound could be coming from, so... Ignoring the calls of the lady behind him - which had not ceased in his scramble - he quickly scuttled down the staircase to escape certain capture. Eventually, it became too dark to traverse comfortably, and so Cole reached his hand out and used some minor flairomancy to light the way. And with that, he descends into depths he does not know. 
"This is what I get for standing around like that."
"Jeez... y'know, it's so dark!"
The deafening sounds of discordant bells and metallic scraping assaulted Inue's ears as she reached the top of the mountain.
Through discipline, she had been able to ignore these sounds as she climbed the rope. After all, stopping this complete idiot from entering areas they have no business being in is much more important than her comfort.
Now though, she had to focus harder then ever to block out these sounds - and even then, they were having an effect on her.
To be frank, she'd found herself feeling a little panicked. At first, she had trusted that the noisesome discordance of the bells in this area would be enough to drive off most intruders. After all, no one in these lands could bare to be around the Consturna Pillar for more than fifteen minutes. Surely this thief would be no different?
Not so, at least for this individual.
Then, she had hoped that they would tire themselves out climbing the rope with such a heavy bag in tow. After all, it is such a very long way to the top - and with the Urgan Temple sealed off, there would be seemingly no way to go! They would be trapped, exhausted, and easily apprehended.
This was also not the case.
And so here she was, frustrated with the sheer stubbornness of this individual, mystified by their tenacity, and anxious of what they could unwittingly stumble upon.
From her position, barely rising to rest atop the mountain, she looked up.
They were gone.
The cave was open.
Broken.
Un... sealed.
...
Oh for fu-
 
"Stupid! That absolute nimrod!"
"Ack! So loud!"
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Post by █ █ m a g i c k a █ █ on Sept 24, 2020 20:33:37 GMT
Cole had been walking for a fair few minutes at this point - probably ten... ish, if he had to guess - and he hadn't heard a peep from the lady that had been chasing him. He'd be grateful, but his mind was a tad bit preoccupied. Bells with emerald eyes watched Cole pass by from their crystal hovels. They rang a solemn blue as they hung from glistering ropes of an unknown fiber, which were attached to jade pillars many stories tall. The sapphire slabs encased in these jade pillars featured patterns of indeterminate meaning - though Cole admittedly was more awed by the scope of his surroundings, rather than the specific details. He noted that there were falls of water, guarded by rails, which descended from the walls of the cave which housed this complex. "Maybe I'm hoping against hope, but..." Cole really hoped he could find a fish here. Though some part of him insisted that they were likely one of many myths about the Lulen Plateau - after all, we all understand that all water dwelling creatures are either shelled or seaweed - but he couldn't help but feel the list would be incomplete without one. Even with this thought, though, Cole couldn't help but wonder... ... what is this place?
"Wow. I've never seen anything like this!"
"What is this place?"
Cole's trek continued through the halls of this heretofore unknown mega structure. He really couldn't believe the scope of his surroundings. Anars built... this? All of this? How? When? And... ... why is this place so empty? Possibilities and questions bounced around Cole's head like the sound of his footsteps between the pillars. Ultimately, he couldn't put together an adequate explanation for any of it, and so decided to shelve this train of thought for the time being. Eventually, Cole happened upon a door. It was simple and unmarked, white as an icktick's nest, and slightly shorter than he was. Carefully, Cole opened this door. It was heavy - heavier than expected, at least - and required an amount of physical effort he had not anticipated. Nevertheless, the door was opened, and Cole stepped inside. He was greeted by a massive room. There were no bells here, it seemed, but where before there would be bells and rope and rail, now there were inscriptions of an unknowable constitution. Similarly, where before one could find massive slabs of sapphire, now were simple and smooth pillars. All of this sparkled an emerald sheen, and the black floor was reflective like onyx. Water flowed from vents in the walls, where they fed into a raised pool - defying gravity in the process. Needless to say, Cole was speechless - and stunned to such an extent that he didn't hear the sound of another's gasp as he entered.
"..."
"I wish I knew how to draw," Cole said to himself as he walked down the middle path, surrounded on both sides by three streams each. Everything around him glistened and flowed as he did.
Trying to imagine the engineering or magicka that must have been used to make all this was staggering, for Cole. There weren't very many things he could compare it to in the Sea of Sand - and the things that maybe would've been comparable have long been lost to the ages.
"If I could draw this place, I could take those drawings back and show 'em to people. Maybe alota people wouldn't believe me that it's real, but... well, maybe some dude will get some ideas."
Cole reached the raised pool in the center of the room, which stood at twice his height. Luckily, there was a set of seven steps which led to the top.
It felt very unnatural to be climbing steps so large - they seemed like they were made for something much bigger than he. This struck Cole as odd - after all, if the door was so small, why were the steps so large?
The disconnect was... bothersome.
After a moment more of uncomfortable climbing, he reached the top, and again shelved speculation for later.
The grass atop the prismoid pool was softer than the grass outside had been, and seemed to have a particularly calming effect on Cole. He gazed down at the soft grass, before gazing in the pool at his own reflection.
Suddenly, it hit Cole how long he had been awake. With his stomach sated, and his energy reserves thoroughly depleted, he began thinking of his upcoming slumber.
Meanwhile, frozen in stunned silence was a small creature - roughly a head shorter than Cole - who panicked internally at the unfamiliar sight of the bandastic interloper in this sanctuary of antiquity.
"WHOSTHATISTHATAPERSONWHAT'SGOINGONOHGEEZAAAAAA...."
"I should find somewhere to sleep..."
"Oh, this grass up here is real soft. This spot'd work if I don't roll over in my sleep."
Cole laid back on the soft grass on the top of the pool in the center of the room.
His head was rested on the net bag as he held his hands behind his head. The grass felt soft, and allowed him to really relax his muscles.
"What a day..." he says softly to himself.
Cole's eyes gazed at the elaborate ceiling. Etched into it was a giant seven pointed star, which was punctuated with elaborate juttings and other such architectural miscellanitudes.
It was quite reflective too - wonderfully so. It was an odd feeling, looking at the reflection of the room reflected back at itself.
As his eye's wandered the subtleties of the ceiling, they were suddenly caught by a stray misfitting detail. Something which he had presumed was precluded from partaking in the present area.
Another person - recognizable not an Anar, but standing in clothes and on two legs all the same.
This was quite strange - the only species known to wear clothes were Anar, so to see another creature with such higher fibers was certainly unexpected.
Immediately, he rolled over and pushed himself up to look at where this creature would be. Sure enough - and with certainty...
... there they were.
Standing back to the wall, with wide fearful eyes, was a scaled creature. From it's head grew... either a leaf or feather, though likely it was somewhere in between.
Their stare was as frightened as it was uncomfortable to be caught in.
"..."
"..."
"Uh... ...hi?"
"..."
"Do you have name?"
"... y-yes."
"... what is it?"
"Gadriel."
"Okay Gadrie-"
"Gadrielnamo Urganon."
"Uh..."
"Why are you here?"
"UM... I was running from this chick trying to take my fruit..."
"WH- THERE ARE MORE?!"
"Uh, I don't know if she chased me all the way in here. I mean, I guess she could've, but I don't you think you have to worry about it, 'an," Cole says semi-softly, in an attempt to get the small scaled individual to calm down.
Gadriel - the scaled individual in question - was shaking like the leaf sprouting out of the back of his head. His eyes were little pin pricks and... well, it was a little disconcerting if Cole were to be entirely honest.
"Calm down, my guy. Nothing bad's happening - we're good!"
No effect.
"Y'know what, how about this?" Cole begins,"My name is Cole, I'm from Choko, which is a little community in the Sea of Sand way to the south."
Then, Cole points at Gadriel.
"Here, where are you from?" he asks, as Gadriel looks to the little spot on his chest where Cole happened to be pointing.
Gadriel nervously clears his throat.
"Uh... uhh, I li- well, I'm from... here, which would be, uh... the Jade City. Or, well, uh, the last... building in the Jade City, which would... be the temple, I believe."
Cole nods, and notices that Gadriel has stopped shaking - still tense, but not on the verge of freaking out. Progress!
"Okay, cool!" Cole says. "Do any other people live here?"
Gadriel shakes his head, and softly says, "Just me..."
"So you live here all alone?" Cole asks with a tilt of his head.
"Uh, w-well, yes, but... not exactly..."
"So you live here all alone?"
"Uh, w-well, yes, but..."
"...not exactly."
The soft sounds of hollow steps reverberated throughout the pillared corridors of the Temple. They echoed and rang with the cacophonous bells which surrounded Inue, and they created a disorienting shattering song.
Inue was genuinely unsure as to how long she had been walking. In following that foolish bandit, they had found themselves deep within forbidden grounds - somewhere they really have no business being.
Still, she felt a duty to both administer justice against this rube, and to protect them from the potentially dangerous entities which lie in wait within the temple's midsts.
Somehow though, she couldn't escape the feeling that she was... lost. She had no clue as to where exactly she should go, and in spite of the fact that the hallway had largely been straight, she still felt like she was going in circles.
Her wandering misadventures were reflected in another pair of eyes - one which carried much less patience for the idle machinations of foolish zealots.
She felt a cold shiver run down her spine...
TROUBLESOME
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Post by █ █ m a g i c k a █ █ on Sept 30, 2020 19:38:58 GMT
The first thing that Inue noticed was the sudden cessation of the sounds of bells. The scraping and banging and cacophonous ringing were all no more. In their place was the still sound of effervescent silence, which caused her to raise a brow and stop. Then, the sounds of cracking - the jade which made up the area that Inue had found herself in began to fold upwards like paper, coming in rectangular segmentations. The pillars which held the building aloft, as well as the building itself, were consumed by a blue and purple static mass which slowly crept inwards with the folding of the floor. Alarmed, Inue began backing away. Her eyes - wide now - darted around to find the source of these disturbances. This was not something she had encountered before personally - but being a priest, she knew that there was only one type of entity that could cause such a thing. Her eyes then were caught on a crack forming in front of her. It slowly began to take the shape of words, and when it had completed, Inue felt her heart drop into her stomach. She had hoped she wasn't correct in her suspicions. "OH. HELLO." From the center of the hall, just before the folding in, a puddle of colourized gel formed on the ground. It stretched and elongated, slowly taking the form of an incomprehensibly constructed shadow body - much more like the absence of light than the presence of darkness - which was soon enwrapped in a cloth which seemed to change colour depending on the angle looked at. Finally, a head formed, perfectly smooth and white. Two black eyes like marbles gazed at Inue dispassionately as two outgrowths from the top of the head sprout, and from those sproutings small sprites emerge. Then, more cracks begin to form.
OH.
HELLO...
YOU DO NOT BELONG HERE, HOLY LADY
Inue stared at the entity before her with trepidation. She could not be certain if the things happening around her were products of true spiritual power, or simply extremely advanced perceptomancy of some variety - and either way, she was in deep trouble considering the cause of such phenomenon didn't seem particularly pleased with her.
The cold, piercing dots like marbles that stared back at her made her feel less than safe.
Being a priest though, Inue was able to keep a calm outward composure. She knew as well as any priest that to cower or show weakness before such an entity would surely lead to a fate of death... or worse.
The previous messages etched into the ground by the entity were quickly wiped away, and replaced with another one.
"I AM EZURIEL OF THE PIGMENT. YOU DARE TRESPASS IN MY JADE ABODE?"
Inue gulps. Though she had studied entitology to become a priest, she had hoped that she would not need to use those lessons so soon after having learned.
With a stoic face which belied the shaken interior beneath, Inue said, "I am Inue of the Mother Ur. The fruits of my labour have been stolen from me, and I intend to return them to my lands. I invoke the Law of Grievance - and in so doing, you must grant me safe passage!"
A tense silence settled upon the room. The air around Inue somehow felt even heavier than before, and she noted the pause from the entity in front of her. Had her training really worked?
"NO. THE OLD LAWS HOLD NO POWER WHERE THERE IS NO WARDEN."
Wha-!
"YOUR PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW THAT BEST OF ALL, INVADER."
Now frustrated, Inue let slip her flustered state and cried out with recognizable annoyance, "A bandit stole possessions of mine and ran into this ruin! I mu-"
"I DO NOT CARE."
The light left the immediate area, and Inue could see only darkness.
"I CAN HANDLE MY DOMAIN."
The air became colder than the coldest of frigomantic spells.
"LEAVE."
"A bandit stole possessions of mine and ran into this ruin! I mu-"
I DO NOT CARE. I CAN HANDLE MY DOMAIN. LEAVE.
A feeling of static electricity overcame Inue, and she found herself frozen in place. The room suddenly became very bright, before all the colours therein began bleeding together into a miasmic fog of visual noise.
Her head pounded, as a pain in the back of her skull began to set in. She soon registered the cold feeling of onyx against her back, and she realized that she had fallen over and hit her head.
The colours only became brighter. The pain only became louder.
After a moment, she felt a stinging sensation in her left hand. It soon grew into a pressure, a convulsing mass underneath her skin that she could not see but she could feel all the same.
Her heart pounded in her chest, as she felt the skin on the palm of her hand split open and separate with great pain. An unnatural pressure in her hand pushed out through the split, and soon she found the sensation of static began to fade.
She could not coordinate herself to get up, but she eventually managed to back away into one of the jade pillars - or so she assumed, as in actuality, the pigment surrounding her was far too intense to see past.
Inue felt cold air rushing against her face. She heard a whisper on the tip of the wind's tongue in her ears, from a source she could not find. Gradually, it grew in volume until she could hear it clearly.
"I WILL BANISH YOU MYSELF."
A cold, horrible chill went down her spine as a voice like a thousand voices pierced her skull.
Then, her arm, without Inue's input, began to rise. Her left arm turned, and her closed fist faced her. With no instruction from her, Inue's left hand opened.
There, in the center of her palm, was a massive and bleeding laceration. It oozed black ink and copper pigment - the lifeblood of a negative Anar such as herself - and stung with such an intense force that Inue began panting incredibly hard.
Finally, the laceration began expanding as the painful pressure from before overtook her. From behind the cut pushed a massive eye, which glittered a sickening green. It pushed out with it pulp from within her very hand.
"I WILL BE KEEPING AN EYE ON YOU."
Inue's priestly exterior finally broke, and she cried in both pain and terror. The pressure in her hand kept building, and the stinging pain shot up her arm.
"BEGONE."
And with that, she blacked out.
I WILL BE KEEPING ON YOU.
BEGONE.
"Not exactly?" Cole asked with the raise of a brow.
Gadriel nods, before continuing on to not provide context. Instead, Cole is greeted by a wonderfully awkward silence.
"So who else lives here?"
Gadriel put one of their hands to their chin in a thinking gesture. They weren't quite sure how to put it. After all, they'd only ever found evidence of cohabitation, rather than any real encounter with another intelligent being.
"Well..." Gadriel begins,"As long as I've lived here... wh-which would be, um, always, I suppose... I've found, well, evidence of another, uh... person, who lives here."
Cole tilted his head.
"Evidence?" he said.
Gadriel nodded. Anticipating the coming question, he said, "Yes, um... things like... where I'll walk in a room that, uh, I've b-been in... before, and I'll find things. As in they'll be put away in a, um, in a way that I didn't. Put them away."
Cole nodded, after disentangling the meandering response.
"Okay then. I don't have to worry about them though, right?" Cole asked as he rolled over and rested his head on the fruit sack.
"I don't... know. I haven't personally been... antagonized, by them, um... so I do think i-it should be. Fine," Gadriel responded awkwardly.
Cole put his hands behind his head, and closed his eyes.
"Cool, cool. Welp, g'night!"
A moment of silence passes. Gadriel felt both self conscious, and as those he were forgetting something. Some sort of... never before heard of opportunit-!
"Wait... i-if you're here, then... is there an exit?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I mean... eh, I'll show you when I wake up. Gotta sleep!"
"I'll keep watch for you, uh... if you are so inclined."
"Oh yeah totally, you be karash for tonight."
"Karash...?"
"That's the guy who watches over the camp at night to keep predators away."
"Oh, I see."
After having conversed for a moment more, Gadriel and Cole both fell into yet another silence. While the continuing silences were awkward, Cole couldn't help but feel somewhat... sympathetic, for Gadriel. Cole closed his eyes as he thought. He heard Gadriel hop over the canals that brang water up to the central pool in the massive jade room. He supposed that if he had never talked to anyone before, he wouldn't be too keen on the rules of conversation either. Though this did leave the question of why this person could talk at all, Cole decided to file that question away for later. As Cole lay, hands behind his head, he went over his story. Lady came to steal his fruit. Why? Doesn't matter. What was he doing? ... exploring? Actually... yeah! That kinda works! That is what he's doing anyways, right? Who care's why? He's an "explorer" - it's perfect! Plus, if Gadriel is so desperate to leave, maybe that could entice him. Cole would get a little serpentine packboy, Gadriel would get to see the world, and best of all, Cole wouldn't have to carry this big fruit bag! 'Even trade, if you ask me,' Cole thought to himself. Eventually, after a time, Cole finally drifted off to sleep. He dreamt of the Land of Dunes - Choko, his home - and the time he robbed a pair of Iknok traders for their vests. After all, trying to climb the Stone Faces with an akhan is... ill advised. Or so he had been told. Iniknok was much less likely to blow away in strong wind, and was much lighter too. The fibrous material was also quite durable, and could stand up to high climbs and desert brush. It was a prized textile for a reason, and if Cole wanted to make it to the Lulen Plateau, nothing less would do. 
"Alright... inknok vest, here I come!"
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Post by █ █ m a g i c k a █ █ on Oct 8, 2020 19:30:15 GMT
After having surreptitiously stolen the fabric from the distracted traders swimming in the desert oasis, Cole made his way back to the heart of the dunes. Being a desert bandit meant knowing the dunes like knowing your band - and knowing where your band was in those dunes.
Though, as of recently, Cole was no longer in a band.
He didn't dwell on it. He stuck to the fine art of positive thinking like his dad had taught him. Bands come and bands go - and though he was really sad to see that particular band disintegrate, he had his own goals to focus on now.
Even if he did wish Esli, or Atole, or even - ugh - Kurga were still around to talk to from time to time.
Okay, perhaps Cole dwelt on it just a smidge. Not that he'd admit it, of course.
As the soft sounds of sand underfoot met his ears, and as the smell of sweet perfume began to hit his nostrils, Cole realized that he hadn't been paying as much attention to where he was going as he had thought.
'Hadn't I come from some Oasis? My camp should be here, right? Where... am I?' Cole thought to himself, as he slowly realized that he did not in fact recognize the dunes around him.
Suddenly, with the setting sun at his back, everything seemed to stop.
In front of him, Cole found a creature he had never seen before. It was many times taller than him - most definitely the tallest entity he had ever encountered - and seemed to gaze at him with piercing obsidian eyes.
The creature's body was almost entirely incomprehensible. If it weren't for it's clothing, Cole's eyes would be almost in tears attempting to process the conglomeration of shade and pigment in front of him.
"SO... YOU ARE THE REASON FOR THAT PEST'S INTRUSION INTO MY ABODE OF JADE AND RESIN."
Cole was intimidated as the voice of the creature echoed all around him, deeper than even the oldest and toughest Anar elders he had met.
"I guess I am?" Cole said, holding his hands behind his back.
A moment of silence passes, before the echoing voices begin again.
"YOU MAY BE THE SAME SPECIES, BUT YOU ARE A VERY DIFFERENT CREATURE INDEED."
Cole let his hands fall from behind his back. Maybe this was going to go better than he had initially thought?
SO, INTRODUCE YOURSELF, CREATURE
"Uh... heh. My name's Cole. I'm a bandit."
IS THAT SO?
"U-Uh, but not a bad one! I, uh, I got my reasons."
...
COME. LET US DISCUSS BUSINESS.
Cole walked side by side with the bizarre and imposing creature which had appeared before him.
To be perfectly honest, Cole found this person to be... quite intimidating. Their sheer height was unlike any creature he'd really seen with his own two eyes - and it certainly didn't look like an Okochi okrung, so it didn't seem like any creature he'd heard about either.
Of course, the most puzzling thing of all was the way in which this creature communicated. It was like someone talking from the inside of their own skull, and yet it felt like it was coming from all around him simultaneously.
It was, in a word, disorienting.
"So uh..." Cole started, cautiously, "... what sorta business are you looking to talk about?"
A moment of silence followed, before an answer came from the creature.
"I DREW YOU TO THIS TEMPLE THROUGH THE EPHEMERAL POWER OF MY BELLS - THE EYES THAT SEE. HOWEVER, THOUGH I KNEW YOU WERE NOT OF THE PRIESTHOOD, I COULD NOT HAVE ANTICIPATED THAT YOU WERE NOT OF THIS LAND AS WELL. WHY HAVE YOU COME HERE, DESERT BANDIT?"
The authority with which the creature spoke was staggering, and Cole felt slightly discombobulated by the echoing sound of it's voice around him.
After a moment, he shook his head and cleared his mind, before replying with, "Looking for a purpose, I... eh, that's not true. Honestly? My dad bit the dust a year or two a go, he was in charge of the band, and when he died, y'know, I had to take over. Turns out though, he was really the guy keeping everything together."
"Next thing I know, everyone leaves and it's just me and the dunes," Cole said with finality.
A moment passed, before Cole heard an otherworldly reply.
"COMPELLING, REALLY. THIS DOES NOT ANSWER MY QUESTION, HOWEVER."
Cole sighed and crossed his arms, before turning around and walking with the creature backwards in order to punctuate his story with hand gestures.
"Fine. My dad had a bad leg. I mean half gone kinda bad, y'know what I mean? And he always told me, he was like 'Cole, when I was your age, me and this band we went to the Dead Wastes. We were gonna go up the Stone Faces and take back the fruit, the fish, the flowers, the frogs, and bring them back to the Dunes. Show the this desert world who's really in charge."
Cole left a dramatic pause, before continuing.
"Then, when they got there? They went up the first face, and then BAM an avalanche came. Took his leg off, but he was lucky he brought the whole band with him or else he'd've died right there. They had the flairomancer and the vidamancer on deck - Intense stuff, y'know."
Cole turns back to the dunes ahead.
"I don't have a band anymore, and I don't have anything else going for me, so I figure... eh, I'll give it a shot too. If I fail, then, oh well, right?"
A long moment of silence passes, before Cole hears the creature's voice again.
I BELIEVE WE CAN HELP ONE ANOTHER
"Oh yeah? Lay it on me."
THE ITEMS WHICH YOU SEEK CAN BE FOUND EN ROUTE TO THE OIMANON CITIES
"The what... ?"
TAKE GADRIEL. THEY ARE LITERATE. THEY WILL SHOW YOU THE WAY.
"Okay then... what's in it for you?"
DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT.
Cole and the creature stood at the top of a dune, seeming to have reached the end of their journey - and the edge of the world.
A sheer cliff face - like the one that Cole had climbed to reach the plateau - stared Cole down as he peered over the edge. If Cole hadn't known by this point that he was in a dream, he would've more than likely been very confused as to where this cliff had come from and why he hadn't heard of it before.
"SO?" The creature began, "WHAT SAY YOU OF THE DEAL?"
Cole tilted his head back in thought. He must admit, he's never quite had a dream wherein some mysterious entity visited him and offered him deals. In fact, he hadn't really ever heard of something like this happening before. So, after a moment of considering how far he could get with no in depth knowledge of the land, and with probably a number of minor enemies, Cole decided that it was probably for the best that he take the creature up on their offer.
"I don't think I've got too many allies up here, considering I, y'know, stole some stuff from the 'Priesthood' or whatever," Cole said with a shrug, before continuing with, "So I guess I accept. 'Sides, I was planning on taking that kid with me anyways, so... works for me!"
A moment of silence passed, and the wind from behind grew stronger. Dust began to form a cloud around them, and Cole started to feel a touch apprehensive.
"EXCELLENT"
The intonation of the creature from behind Cole, when he thought that they were side by side, startled him.
"Woah woah woah, hey now!" Cole said.
"YES?"
Cole tilted his head and replied duly, "You're going to push me over, aren't you?"
"NATURALLY."
With a sigh, and a shake of his head, Cole said, "Can you at least tell me your name before you wake me up? This is starting to feel a little one sided, y'know."
A brief pause in the commotion occurred, and with the wind and dust suddenly stopped, Cole heard the voice of the creature echo ominously around him.
"I AM EZURIEL OF THE PIGMENT. WITH YOUR AGREEMENT, YOU HAVE COMMITTED TO SOMETHING OF GREAT IMPORTANCE. NOW, WAKE UP."
And with that, Ezuriel pushed Cole over the edge of the cliff...
... and into the waking world.
"Aw an', dude, what a dream..."
>puff
"Alright... where's Gadriel?"
Cole stood up, splashed himself with some water from the central pool of the room, and shook his head to dry off.
"Argh, alright. Let's... go find this little guy," Cole said to himself as he hoisted up his bag.
He stepped down the seven large steps after spying only one door - the one he came in through - and concluded that the only place Gadriel could realistically be was somewhere else that the hallway had led.
With that thought in mind, he was quite astonished when, upon opening the door, he found himself in a completely unfamiliar area that he had not explored before.
After having pinched himself to ensure that he was not dreaming, Cole realized that, if he were somewhere entirely different...
'... then I need to find Gadriel. There's no telling how big this place is! If I get lost here, that could be bad news...'
Surrounding Cole were structures that he was not familiar with. Large pieces of jade carved with platforms, housing strange rectangular objects of varying colours and sizes aloft. They towered over him, and seemed to play with his eyes as he looked ever further into the midsts of these strange structures.
'What...?'
Touching the spines of these objects revealed that, though soft in a certain sense, they were really quite firm, and the outter shell seamed to be protecting some sort of inner segmented... thing.
'I don't even know what I'm looking at,' Cole thought to himself, stepping back and getting a good look at the whole room.
'I don't even know what I'm looking at.'
'Where's Gadriel?'
Cole wandered down the large corridors, gazing upwards and the many colours featured due to whatever strange objects were being housed here.
He really did have to wonder what they were for - covered in these strange drawings that don't really look like anything in particular, he couldn't imagine them being useful. Perhaps they were more for entertainment?
'Maybe Gadriel makes these things 'cause he's bored?" Cole wondered to himself as he curiously peaked inside one of them.
Cole was surprised to find that even inside, they were covered in yet more strange markings, repeating in strange patterns and strange ways. It really was unlike most anything he'd seen.
After having put the object back, Cole returned to the great maze and continued on his trek.
After awhile further, Cole decided simply to cry out. Perhaps he'll receive a response?
'I can't believe how lucky I've...
... no, that's not correct either.'
'How do I...?"
"GADRIEL!" |
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Post by █ █ m a g i c k a █ █ on Oct 17, 2020 3:36:35 GMT
Inue awoke with a gasp.
She quickly clutched her left hand within her right, but soon let go with a hiss as she found the gash in her hand still where she remembered having it.
That was no dream then.
She quickly looked around herself, only to find that she was nowhere she had ever been before - on the ground of a black void, stretching further than any eye could possibly see.
'Where am I?' Inue thought to herself, apprehensive after her prior experience with the most certainly demonic entity which had defeated her so easily.
She, after having accidentally used her left hand to attempt to get up, stands and takes a deeper gander around. Unfortunately, she finds naught but an ocean of ink around her, dark and thick, which she could breath... but only just.
After a moment, she found her head began to feel fuzzy.
'I need to leave,' Inue quickly realized, and she set out in a random direction, hoping to the Mother that she would be able to leave this strange realm safely.
'I... I...' her thoughts became less focused and coherent.
And then, she bumped into something.
A large, fleshy mass which was completely indistinguishable from the black ink around her. It rumbled upon being touched, and caused Inue to feel her spark flutter in her stomach.
Then, in an instant, it opened.
'Eye...'
From the center of the iris, Inue found a path - clear and present - which would lead out from whatever plain of existence she had found herself within. With no other obvious way forward, Inue took the first steps into escape.
And with that, she staggered into the eye and left the void of ink behind.
'...'
Inue staggered on, through the red pounding colour which surrounded her. She felt the palm of her left hand pulse with her heart beat - a sensation she did not want to think about, but which had insisted on persisting regardless.
Over the course of the next half hour, as she mindless wandered, she found her senses sharpening back to how they were before. Slowly, the world around began to come into greater focus.
At first, she only saw the lines of the world around her come into being as she continued forward. From there, it was gradual as cool colours broke through the mist of red first, before more warm pigments could be seen.
Eventually, she passed beneath a belled gate. At the moment in which she crossed, the world suddenly came back into perfect focus - and without the sounds of bells, or anything else.
Immediately, Inue slumped down against the right leg of the gate. She buried her head in her hands as her knees curled up, and she breathed deep and heavy as she tried to process the entire hours long ordeal that her night had become.
'I just wanted to bring in the harvest... Oh Mother, I don't know what will become of this area if that entity was set loose...' she thought to herself, her hand pulsing.
She stayed there for a time, shaken and having seen things that her training had not prepared her for. However, being a women of duty, Inue knew that she had to tell the other priests about this development.
'I have to get to Azuo... !' she thought to herself as she slowly stood up.
'I...'
Suddenly, she felt a pop in her left hand, and the gash began gushing copper pigment once again.
'Ugh...!' Inue thought, as the shining red liquid began dripping down her hand.
Inue ripped off a small piece of her sleeve and wrapped it around her left hand. Then, after having tied it so as to not allow blood to drip every which way, she turned her attention back to the road ahead.
With her destination in mind, Inue set out to her home to confer with her brother - and from there, figure out how to tell the rest of the priesthood.
'I have to get to Azuo... !'
'I... ugh... '
Cole wasn't sure how long he had walked - hopefully not too long.
'Come on, an', why does everything look the saaame!' he thought to himself as he dragged his body through the labyrinth of jade and onyx which surrounded him.
After having wandered this absurd room - or rooms? - he was starting to feel the wonder slither away, and the worry creep in. Gadriel didn't just up and... leave them there, right?
Cole shook his head.
'No no no, come on, think positive,' he thought to himself as he looked up at the reflective roof, and his reflection looked back down at him.
'Wait.'
Cole realized that, whilst he could see his reflection, he could also see the reflections of the other corridors in this labyrinth. As tall as these... walls of holding were, they only reached halfway to the ceiling.
"Alright," Cole said to himself, "Here we go..."
Cole kept his gaze on the ceiling, as he observed the surrounding corridors through the reflective surface. In doing this, he found that he didn't have to spend quite so much time meticulously checking each and every individual hall.
After awhile more, Cole spotted the besnaked individual that he was looking for. He kept his eyes to the ceiling, as he gradually wound his way around to where Gadriel sat.
Initially, Gadriel didn't notice Cole. He was simply too absorbed in... whatever he was doing.
'Drawing?' Cole thought, before he cried out, "There you are!"
Startled, Gadriel looked up to find the reason he felt that he was forgetting something.
"OH! Um... hi there, um, c-Cole."
"There you are!"
"OH! Um... hi there, um, c-Cole."
"Where've you been, dude? I've been looking everywhere for you!"
"I'm sorry..."
"No it's fine, just like... ...let me know? Or something?"
"Um... okay."
"..."
"..."
"Uh, so... what is this place?"
"The library."
"The what?"
"Library."
"What is that?"
"Where, um, books are. Kept."
"... 'books'?"
"Alright alright alright, one thing at a time here," Cole said, as he made an 'X' motion with his arms.
He stepped over to the lone table in front of Gadriel, the sound of his feet against the reflective floor echoing down the many corridors and walls.
"First, what is a book?" Cole asked.
Gadriel put his writing utensil down and tilted his head to the side in thought, before replying, "Well... a book is... you write inside of it to, um, not... forget things? Or that is to say, t-that, um, if you have something you don't want to forget, well, you could spend... um," Gadriel made a slow spinning motion with his wrist, "so much time trying to m-memorize it, or... you can... put it in a book and... think about other. Things."
Cole nodded with his finger and thumb to his chin.
"Okay, I guess that makes sense..." Cole muttered, before continuing, "... uh, and what's 'writing'?"
Gadriel's mouth duly drooped open as he struggled to think of how to explain the concept of the written word to the befeathered individual beside him.
"Well... that's. It's. Um... right, yes, um, so, writing, it's," - Gadriel stammered and stuttered, and his eyes wandered until they landed on the book that he had been writing in before Cole appeared - "So... let's... go back... to the, um, start, okay?"
Cole nodded, and said, "Alright."
Gadriel pointed to the words in his book, and said, "So there's an, um, alphabet, and there's... you put the letters i- from the alphabet in the right... order, and... those combinations of letters represent words so. Um. The..."
Cole quirked an eyebrow, and asked, "And letters?"
"Letters are the little... picture... bits that, um, we combine, and, um... the little pictures stand for sounds we make with - by, um, talking."
There was a moment of pause. Cole's face scrunched up as he looked down at the letters which Gadriel was pointing at. He thought of all the different sounds that go into talking, and came to the only conclusion possible.
"Jeez dude. This is crazy. Who came up with this stuff?" Cole asked as he threw his arms out.
"... and, um... the little pictures stand for sounds we make with- by, um, talking."
"Jeez dude. This is crazy. Who came up with this stuff?"
"W-well, um... the- according to some of the books, King Urga."
"King Urga, huh? What's their deal?" Cole asked as he put his bag down for a brief moment.
While Cole untied the top of the bag, Gadriel responded, "Well, he was the... king. The books say he was the greatest king of all the Oimanic kings - and that he personally built this whole... city, and temple, and um... well, the, library too."
It was at this point that Cole found himself starting to feel... well, not skeptical per say, but rather flummoxed most certainly. 'One person? Really? They built this whole... big place?'
"Okay that's... okay gotcha," Cole muttered, as he decided to save his suspicions until Gadriel was more under his wing.
He held out the open maw of the bag to Gadriel and said, "Here, put your whatever you got into here."
Gadriel did as instructed, and placed his book into the bag after having stuffed his writing utensil into his clothing. Then, Cole tied the bag off once again, and hoisted it over his shoulder.
"Alright, we should be good to go," Cole said, before turning and gesturing with his hand, "C'mon, let's walk n' talk."
Cole began walking down the aisle that they had found themselves in, and Gadriel quickly followed suit - with their reflections under foot, and with their foot steps over ear.
"Alright, so you've been talking about this like, huge city and temple and this, that, and the other, but you also say you're the only guy here, yeah?" Cole asked, looking over at the shorter feathered serpent walking beside him.
"Um... ostensibly, yes," Gadriel answered, staring at the ceiling as they walked.
"So then... what gives? There were a bunch of guys like you here before, right?" Cole asks, holding his hand out in front of him.
Gadriel turned to look at Cole and said, "W-well, um... I suppose."
"So what happened? Did everyone just... leave, or like... y'know?" Cole said, making a fist before turning his neck, jutting his thumb and pinky out, and making a cracking sound with his tongue.
"It's... complicated," Gadriel said, staring at his own feet.
Cole shrugged, and replied, "We've got time - this place is enormous!"
To emphasize this, Cole threw his right arm out as his voice bounced from bookcase to bookcase.
Gadriel sighed and looked at Cole, "Um, w-well... it was... kind of a process-" Gadriel blinked and shook his head "- Um. Okay."
Gadriel's eyes darted from book to book on each shelf they passed to settle his mind.
"So... I guess to start, well... this place - or um, so the books say - is actually..." Gadriel held his arms out and slowly brought his hands together to make a little cup "... really very... small."
Cole shook his head. 'What?' he thought to himself, 'Bu- I- C-'
"How?" Cole asked incredulously.
From within the small Gadriel came a small reply.
"Euclidiomancy."
Cole stopped after processing that answer for a moment. Gadriel stopped next to him, and looked over with the tilt of his head.
"That's not a thing," Cole said, frankly.
"It's... complicated."
"We got time - this place is enormous!"
"Um... w-well...it was... kind of a p-process. Um. Okay. So... I guess to start, well... this place - or, um, so the books say - is... actually really very... small."
"How?"
"Euclidiomancy."
"..."
"That's not a thing."
"Um... yes, it... it is. A thing," Gadriel stated, with equal frankness to Cole's incredulity.
Cole shook his head. He knew for a fact that there were five branches of magicka, and none of those many mancys began with any sort of Euclidio- whatever.
"I dunno dude, I'm pretty sure I would've heard about some kinda sixth magicka branch," Cole replied, before he crossed his arms.
Without a beat, Gadriel says, "Seven, actually."
Cole shook his head. Six was already too much - seven would be ridiculous. How would nobody have found the other two? It's already critical that they have the first five - there's no way...
'... right?'
"Alright alright, how about this?" Cole said, waving his hand dismissively. "Do you know how to do yewkamancy or whatever?"
Gadriel replied, "Euclidiomancy, and, well... yes, I um, I can... do that," while giving a tentative nod.
"Gimme a demonstration then," Cole requested with a shrug of the shoulders.
Gadriel stopped and put their hand to their chin. They gazed up at the ceiling briefly, before Cole saw their eyes lock onto the bag that he had been carrying.
"Um..." Gadriel began, "Give me... give me the, um, the bag."
Cole unslung it from his shoulders and handed it to Gadriel.
The small serpentine took the bag in their hands, and nearly fell over from the weight of all the fruit inside.
"Okay, so... I'm going to make the, um... the b- the inside of the bag bigger than, the... outside," they said, grasping the lip of the bag in their two hands.
Suddenly, the definition of the fruit in the bag began to fade away. Seemingly, over the course of a minute, the entirety of the contents of the bag seem to disappear into nothing.
"Uh, dude... !" Cole begins, tensed and alarmed.
"W-wait, hold on!" he hears, and pauses.
After a moment more of intense concentration, Gadriel points the open lip of the bag at Cole.
Much to Cole's shock, he could see the entirety of the fruit within the bag... somewhat far away, as though they were in another room altogether.
"I... what... uh... damn!" Cole said, at a loss.
Gadriel looked at Cole with a terse gaze and said, "See! I told you!"
After moment of silence, Gadriel hears a dull reply.
"Y'know what? Wow!"
"See! I told you!"
"Wow!"
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