A Beautiful Sight
Creaking-Beam did not remember what exactly went wrong. One of his mages had attempted to cast a spell, drawing forth the crashing waves in an attempt to speed up their chase against a noisy merchant. Something must have gone wrong, it was the only logical conclusion. Creaking-Beam would have to check in with the mage, once he returned to his Clinking Coin. Looking around, a cacophony of sounds erupted from him, Creaking-Beam had apparently returned to the plane of water. He still remembered his last visit here, it had taken a lot of time to leave again, he would have to find another mage capable of shifting them back out, or maybe make friends with one of the rumbling beings from this plane, in hopes of being released from this prison.
Another thought came to him, was he alone? Creaking-Beam remembered standing right next to the reporter, the creature must have been hit by the blast as well, he would seek him out, maybe he had another way to leave this plane. The creature always knew more than it should, it was always interesting to talk to him. Looking around the small rocky crashing outcrop on which he landed, Creaking-Beam did not see any evidence of the reporter, or any other land for that matter - to be expected in the plane of water. Readying himself for the noise to come, he took an inventory of his belongings. Enough food for a couple of days, his chiming saber, a coin purse full of clinking gold coins as well as the clothes on his back. Enough for barter and to last until he could find some more permanent lodging.
With this finished, Creaking-Beam dove into the raging and crashing waters below in search of a way out.
Jaqueramaphan had a small problem. Once again he was lost, obviously in the plane of water. Normally loosing a limb would not be much of a problem, only hurt a lot, this time however, he would not be able to simply regrow that one, it carried a few genetic markers he intended to pass on to the next generation of limbs, Jaqueramaphan had worked long and hard to breed them into the limbs. He did not intend on losing them again, especially on something that was supposed to be a quick test and not a dangerous adventure.
After silently diving into the water, Creaking-Beam swam for almost four hours before he could see something in the distance. Drawing closer, staying underwater as long as possible, only resurfacing to breath and for short glimpses, Creaking-Beam saw that it was some kind of ship. It was no type he recognized, none of the sleek and dangerous military patrols of the Empire, nor a slow and lumbering trader from the free cities, neither a barge in alliance with the Queng-Ho, it was a model and make unfamiliar to him. He could not even make out the shipwright responsible for the creation of this vessel, none of the traditional marking were visible. An unknown ship however, would be better than none at all. He would spend a couple hours carefully observing them, looking for a weak spot that would allow him to take control and commandeer the ship.
This ship was whispering, a dark feeling would not leave Creaking-Beam, the longer he observed the surer he was that touching that ship would be bad luck. Its sails were torn and tattered, obviously fashioned from something else and not intended to be used as sails, billowing in all the wrong places, catching sounds that should be free and fluttering unnvervingly. Strange creatures would walk the decks, conversing in languages unknown to him, it was his inherited duty to observe and listen, to make their words his. He did however not understand a single one of them. Creaking-Beam had seen many failed experiments by mages, much of the ones that survived found their way to the Shifting Isles, like that brute Vegeziath Rainstalker, but he had never seen so many different ones in the same area. There was one with the pinkish skin of a newborn crying human, but a flat and incredibly wide face with fleshy growths, almost like the whiskers of a screeching cat. Another bore a crown of giant antlers, enlarging their already massive figure even further, the next was another hulking beast with shorter horns, jutting out from the side. Many more were there he could see, each of them different in another way, incredibly alien and whispering. Almost all of them wore clothing, of a make he had not seen before, many of them also had fur covering their body, not all but many.
Creaking-Beam quickly decided that he would not attempt to make contact with these whispering creatures, yet he could not stop observing them for one of them had captured his complete and utter fascination. He was sure that it was a she. She was also one of the repeating, like himself - but of a variety he had never seen before. His strain resembled crows and ravens, others looked like eagles and owls, some even like the colourful parrots of the Shifting Isles, she was different. Her coat had a beautiful inky black colour, like his own, her front however formed a striking chiming contrast to that, being pure white. Her beak was, short but wide and admirably strong, in a vibrant chiming orange colour, with a few yellow, red and black stripes on it, only further accentuating her beauty. She was the most silent creature he had ever seen, barely able to take his eyes of her whenever she walked on deck. What was most curious about her however, was the fact that she did not seem to be affected by the curse of his people. She spoke freely, he could hear that, no background noise in her words, no repeated phrases, no words hacked together from different languages and conversations only half overheard, this gave her a holy but whispering aura - she utterly fascinated him.
She and the others seemed to end conversations with the same word each time, "Aloha" strangely he did not immediately grasped this meaning and had to infer it from context. More words would be hard to learn, without being able to rely on his peoples gift, its absence a whispering secret. Breaking away from the strange black material that made up the body of the ship, he finally was able to focus and continue his search for a viable option, sure, that he wanted nothing to do with these whispering creatures.
Jaqueramaphan had found a small coalition of water elementals, the way they looked on this plane still disturbed him slightly. However, they had been able to direct him in a direction where they said a colourful bird had made its way. Like himself they said, he came from the forbidden zone, where the curses are, they were surprised that the two had been lucky enough to survive. With a few words of advise, they sent him on his way and wished him luck.
Creaking-Beam was surprised to see Jaquermaphan approaching, but also relieved. They quickly exchanged stories and aligned their theories on how they had ended up here. He silently never mentioned the strange creatures he had seen, deciding to keep that part for himself. Jaqueramaphan spoke of a cursed area within the plane of water and he had no doubt that this was due to the whispering ship, it was best not to trouble him with this knowledge. Luckily the reporter had been able to trade some of his equipment for food the water elementals hadn't needed.
They spent a few weeks like this, occasionally bartering their dwindling ressources away for meager scraps of meat and vegetables, that had made their way onto the plane. Sometimes Creaking-Beam managed to catch a fish, supplementing their diet that way. It tool at least three months for a gnomish mage to come their way. Apparently she was a scholar, interested in the development of the common trout, observing their divergent paths in different place, she was noisy person and not very kind. He had to trade his entire coin purse for her to tell them of a ritual that would send them back to where they entered from. What that cacophonic creature neglected to mention was that they would need gemstones to fuel the ritual. Gemstones she did not have but promised. Creaking-Beam ensured that she was punished adequately. After that problem was dealt with, he took on the challenge of finding the necessary gems. He always had a knack for finding valuables, this would just be another challenge.
Within a few more weeks and some very enlightening conversations with the water elementals, whose language he was finally starting to grasp and reproduce, he learned of some nodes deep on the floors of the plane that could contain what they needed. He immediately set out to recover them, diving deep, longer that his breath would allow. So he came up with a risky and dangerous strategy, he was sure nonetheless, that it would work. While he could hold his breath for longer, the reporter was the faster swimmer. Jaqueramaphan would drag him down as fast as he could, resurfacing to catch air, in this time Creaking-Beam would dive deeper, collect the nodes and ascend as fast as possible. Then Jaqueramaphan would dive once again, collecting him and dragging him up again. Hopefully they would be able to collect enough nodes to get lucky with some, allowing them to make the journey back. It was noisy that Jaqueramaphan had sent a limb, that was not adapted for aquatic travel, it would have made things so much easier.
The first two dives were merely intended as tests, yet Creaking-Beam was able to aquire a sizeable number of nodes already, much to Jaqueramaphans dismay. He was of the opinion that this would only lead unneeded problems, the second time he had spent too much time underwater and Jaqueramaphan had to get creative in reviving him, sucking the water out of the large birds lungs - a wholeheartedly unpleasent experience for the both of them. Jaqueramaphan decided to chide him appropriately.
After the reporter was done with his rant, Creaking-Beam descendet two more time. Once to retrieve the last of the necessary materials and once to find more of the chiming amethysts, the entire thing needed to have at least some monetary worth after all. Once they had everything they needed, the reporter started to read from the scroll they had been sold. Creaking-Beam repeated the words exactly as they were spoken to him, following the other steps, crashing the gems with the hilt of his saber, making a nice clean sound. As the ritual finished, a silent flash of light swept over them and suddenly they were standing at a beach, his chiming Clinking Coin just off the coast.
Another thought came to him, was he alone? Creaking-Beam remembered standing right next to the reporter, the creature must have been hit by the blast as well, he would seek him out, maybe he had another way to leave this plane. The creature always knew more than it should, it was always interesting to talk to him. Looking around the small rocky crashing outcrop on which he landed, Creaking-Beam did not see any evidence of the reporter, or any other land for that matter - to be expected in the plane of water. Readying himself for the noise to come, he took an inventory of his belongings. Enough food for a couple of days, his chiming saber, a coin purse full of clinking gold coins as well as the clothes on his back. Enough for barter and to last until he could find some more permanent lodging.
With this finished, Creaking-Beam dove into the raging and crashing waters below in search of a way out.
Jaqueramaphan had a small problem. Once again he was lost, obviously in the plane of water. Normally loosing a limb would not be much of a problem, only hurt a lot, this time however, he would not be able to simply regrow that one, it carried a few genetic markers he intended to pass on to the next generation of limbs, Jaqueramaphan had worked long and hard to breed them into the limbs. He did not intend on losing them again, especially on something that was supposed to be a quick test and not a dangerous adventure.
After silently diving into the water, Creaking-Beam swam for almost four hours before he could see something in the distance. Drawing closer, staying underwater as long as possible, only resurfacing to breath and for short glimpses, Creaking-Beam saw that it was some kind of ship. It was no type he recognized, none of the sleek and dangerous military patrols of the Empire, nor a slow and lumbering trader from the free cities, neither a barge in alliance with the Queng-Ho, it was a model and make unfamiliar to him. He could not even make out the shipwright responsible for the creation of this vessel, none of the traditional marking were visible. An unknown ship however, would be better than none at all. He would spend a couple hours carefully observing them, looking for a weak spot that would allow him to take control and commandeer the ship.
This ship was whispering, a dark feeling would not leave Creaking-Beam, the longer he observed the surer he was that touching that ship would be bad luck. Its sails were torn and tattered, obviously fashioned from something else and not intended to be used as sails, billowing in all the wrong places, catching sounds that should be free and fluttering unnvervingly. Strange creatures would walk the decks, conversing in languages unknown to him, it was his inherited duty to observe and listen, to make their words his. He did however not understand a single one of them. Creaking-Beam had seen many failed experiments by mages, much of the ones that survived found their way to the Shifting Isles, like that brute Vegeziath Rainstalker, but he had never seen so many different ones in the same area. There was one with the pinkish skin of a newborn crying human, but a flat and incredibly wide face with fleshy growths, almost like the whiskers of a screeching cat. Another bore a crown of giant antlers, enlarging their already massive figure even further, the next was another hulking beast with shorter horns, jutting out from the side. Many more were there he could see, each of them different in another way, incredibly alien and whispering. Almost all of them wore clothing, of a make he had not seen before, many of them also had fur covering their body, not all but many.
Creaking-Beam quickly decided that he would not attempt to make contact with these whispering creatures, yet he could not stop observing them for one of them had captured his complete and utter fascination. He was sure that it was a she. She was also one of the repeating, like himself - but of a variety he had never seen before. His strain resembled crows and ravens, others looked like eagles and owls, some even like the colourful parrots of the Shifting Isles, she was different. Her coat had a beautiful inky black colour, like his own, her front however formed a striking chiming contrast to that, being pure white. Her beak was, short but wide and admirably strong, in a vibrant chiming orange colour, with a few yellow, red and black stripes on it, only further accentuating her beauty. She was the most silent creature he had ever seen, barely able to take his eyes of her whenever she walked on deck. What was most curious about her however, was the fact that she did not seem to be affected by the curse of his people. She spoke freely, he could hear that, no background noise in her words, no repeated phrases, no words hacked together from different languages and conversations only half overheard, this gave her a holy but whispering aura - she utterly fascinated him.
She and the others seemed to end conversations with the same word each time, "Aloha" strangely he did not immediately grasped this meaning and had to infer it from context. More words would be hard to learn, without being able to rely on his peoples gift, its absence a whispering secret. Breaking away from the strange black material that made up the body of the ship, he finally was able to focus and continue his search for a viable option, sure, that he wanted nothing to do with these whispering creatures.
Jaqueramaphan had found a small coalition of water elementals, the way they looked on this plane still disturbed him slightly. However, they had been able to direct him in a direction where they said a colourful bird had made its way. Like himself they said, he came from the forbidden zone, where the curses are, they were surprised that the two had been lucky enough to survive. With a few words of advise, they sent him on his way and wished him luck.
Creaking-Beam was surprised to see Jaquermaphan approaching, but also relieved. They quickly exchanged stories and aligned their theories on how they had ended up here. He silently never mentioned the strange creatures he had seen, deciding to keep that part for himself. Jaqueramaphan spoke of a cursed area within the plane of water and he had no doubt that this was due to the whispering ship, it was best not to trouble him with this knowledge. Luckily the reporter had been able to trade some of his equipment for food the water elementals hadn't needed.
They spent a few weeks like this, occasionally bartering their dwindling ressources away for meager scraps of meat and vegetables, that had made their way onto the plane. Sometimes Creaking-Beam managed to catch a fish, supplementing their diet that way. It tool at least three months for a gnomish mage to come their way. Apparently she was a scholar, interested in the development of the common trout, observing their divergent paths in different place, she was noisy person and not very kind. He had to trade his entire coin purse for her to tell them of a ritual that would send them back to where they entered from. What that cacophonic creature neglected to mention was that they would need gemstones to fuel the ritual. Gemstones she did not have but promised. Creaking-Beam ensured that she was punished adequately. After that problem was dealt with, he took on the challenge of finding the necessary gems. He always had a knack for finding valuables, this would just be another challenge.
Within a few more weeks and some very enlightening conversations with the water elementals, whose language he was finally starting to grasp and reproduce, he learned of some nodes deep on the floors of the plane that could contain what they needed. He immediately set out to recover them, diving deep, longer that his breath would allow. So he came up with a risky and dangerous strategy, he was sure nonetheless, that it would work. While he could hold his breath for longer, the reporter was the faster swimmer. Jaqueramaphan would drag him down as fast as he could, resurfacing to catch air, in this time Creaking-Beam would dive deeper, collect the nodes and ascend as fast as possible. Then Jaqueramaphan would dive once again, collecting him and dragging him up again. Hopefully they would be able to collect enough nodes to get lucky with some, allowing them to make the journey back. It was noisy that Jaqueramaphan had sent a limb, that was not adapted for aquatic travel, it would have made things so much easier.
The first two dives were merely intended as tests, yet Creaking-Beam was able to aquire a sizeable number of nodes already, much to Jaqueramaphans dismay. He was of the opinion that this would only lead unneeded problems, the second time he had spent too much time underwater and Jaqueramaphan had to get creative in reviving him, sucking the water out of the large birds lungs - a wholeheartedly unpleasent experience for the both of them. Jaqueramaphan decided to chide him appropriately.
After the reporter was done with his rant, Creaking-Beam descendet two more time. Once to retrieve the last of the necessary materials and once to find more of the chiming amethysts, the entire thing needed to have at least some monetary worth after all. Once they had everything they needed, the reporter started to read from the scroll they had been sold. Creaking-Beam repeated the words exactly as they were spoken to him, following the other steps, crashing the gems with the hilt of his saber, making a nice clean sound. As the ritual finished, a silent flash of light swept over them and suddenly they were standing at a beach, his chiming Clinking Coin just off the coast.
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