tushanshu_logs | EVENT | LANDFALL | KITHIKA

EVENT | LANDFALL | KITHIKA | BOTTLE

Characters: ALL!
Date: February 12th - 28th
Location: Kithika, inside the bottle
Situation: The discovery of an artifact from the first war against Malicant reveals the land of Kithika within a dimension of the Death Plane... and just happens to be contained inside a bottle.
Warnings/Rating: Please indicate content warnings in subject headers as applicable.

OOC INFORMATION ♦ CITY OF KEELIAI ♦ INSIDE THE BOTTLE ♦ THE WORLD EATER
Arriving in Kithika is unpleasant for the most part. Transport through the glass vessel deposits you in the middle of a thick and murky swamp, with air so hot and humid it feels as though one is breathing through a wet towel. This is a place of perpetual night and there are no celestial bodies visible overhead through the twisted vines to break up the blackness, making the only light visible that which comes clumps of marsh fungus that emit a steady glow in a variety of muted colours: pale blue, whitish green, watery mauve. The only other light comes from those who can generate it themselves and that will reveal numerous broad-leaved trees, in some places standing too thick to move through. Below, knee-deep water laps in swirls at their legs, accompanied by the occasional slithery feel of something moving in the bracken against wet limbs, gone before it can be identified. A variety of strange noises from creatures of the swamp fill the air with buzzing and hoarse croaking, interrupted by the screech of mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds darting past and hungry for a meal.

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OOC NOTE: Characters will not be able to progress past the Temple and the Grounds for 48 IC hours after which point, the way to continue onward to find the dragon will be discovered. The second log will be posted on the 17th, to help spread out the tagging. Thank you!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I've noticed- they do that when you try to burn them, too," Sabriel sighed. She wasn't used to plants- or insects either- appearing in death, and she grumbled as she swatted at one of the mosquitoes, "I don't know it it's because it's actually in pain, or this place is just trying to keep us out."

"I would prefer to make little noise- but simply waiting for a path to appear is not an option," Sabriel shrugged, "We have no other choice, since I can't create a path large enough for you without my magic." With a grumble, Sabriel kicked at some of the fungi, sending it a few feet away.

"I do not see any reason why it could not be both," said Temeraire, "and in any case, if you burn as much as you can, and I use the Divine Wind, we will at least be able to clear a large area very quickly--"

He paused. Had there been movement from the trees, just then? He had always trusted to his vision as much as his sense of smell, but in a realm as treacherous as this one, he found he could no longer be certain.

"Did you see that?" he hissed.

"-And if there's another living person in the area we're trying to clear, we will injure them badly, if we don't kill them outright," Sabriel pointed out, before following Temeraire's gaze. Wreaking destruction on a broad scale over an area she could not see clearly was probably a terrible idea, but-

"Yes- the trees seemed to have moved back a bit," Sabriel admitted. It seemed to have happened around the area where the fungus had landed, and Sabriel picked it up from where it had landed on and walked a few steps forward, watching the trees.

"I had not thought of that," conceded Temeraire, then brightened as another idea struck him. What if they shouted first, ahead of time? Then anyone within striking range would be sure to get out of the way, and anyway it was not as if they needed to be quiet, when bringing down the trees would make such a great noise, afterward--

But he closed his mouth with a snap as Sabriel picked up the fungus, and watched with great interest as she walked toward the trees again.

"There," he said suddenly. "This time I am sure of it: they are moving away from you, now. Do you suppose they do not like it?"

"I suppose they don't," Sabriel admitted, "Although I'm not sure why- they're the only natural source of light that I've found, but the lights I've conjured don't make the trees react." At least they had a quieter path through the swamp now.

"Will you be able to get through, if you follow me?"

"Yes, I think I might. Although--" he paused, glancing at their surroundings--"there is some more fungus, there; if you tied it to my harness, I should be able to help beat back the trees, as well."

"Of course," With renewed energy, Sabriel waded over to the fungus, gathering as much of it as she could.

"I suppose we're fortunate," she said as she tied the fungus to his harness, "That aside from the trees, the greatest thread that I've encountered so far are the mosquitoes."

"They are a little larger than usual, are they not?" agreed Temeraire, craning his neck back to look at the fungus dotting his back. They were not very prettily shaped, perhaps, but he had to concede there was something pleasing about the way they glowed.

"But I was not expecting mosquitoes at all," he added, "or even plants. Are we quite sure this is even the realm of Death? It does not look anything like what I saw the last time I was here."

"It is," Sabriel said, "It feels very much like it, anyway- so did the fog in Keeliai. Perhaps it's a different precinct? And the plants may not be plants at all- just shaped like them." Though they did seem very real- and like the mosquitos, very much alive, though twisted in some way Sabriel couldn't quite describe.

"I suppose I would not know about the feel of it, but the air does not taste quite right: that much, at least, is obvious. I wonder where we are now, in relation to the palace."

Very cautiously, he began to move forward, and to his satisfaction, the vines pulled away from him this time, as they had with Sabriel.

"You are well acquainted with death yourself, are you not?" he said after a moment. "Is it anything like this, in your world?"

"Space does not correspond exactly, between realms," Sabriel explained, "And Death in the Old Kingdom is not like this. It's a river with no banks, and few landmarks- just endless cold and black water, and mist so thick you can't see farther than your fingertips."

After a pause, she added, "And the current tries to pull you under and drag you deeper in, instead of keeping you out." That was always the hardest part to deal with- going into deeper Death wasn't that difficult, once you got past the boundary with Life. It was doing so on your own terms that was the challenge.

Temeraire hunched his wings a little, his expression growing unhappy. Perhaps he should not have asked, after all, given their current location. "It does not sound nice at all to die in your world."

Not that he was particularly clear on what happened when one died, in his own world, but Laurence had seemed to think there was peace, at least; and he had certainly never said anything about a river.

"What do you do, then: do you simply tread water, and try to keep your head above the surface? Not that I suppose it would matter whether or not one does, when one is dead; it would be silly, if one could drown again, would it not?"

"Death is never pleasant," Sabriel's words are soft, "Though sometimes it's worse than the alternative." She thinks of the men and women who through themselves into the Ratterlin, rather than risk enslavement after Death.

"In most places, it's shallow enough to wade, if you can keep your footing," Sabriel explains, "Though most of the Dead are carried by the current past the Ninth gate- and no one knows what lies past that, since no one has returned from beyond it."

"Have you died, before?" The question is out of his mouth before he can quite stop it. "Or--died partially, at any rate, if one cannot come back from this gate you mention."

Had his captain been here, he might have felt embarrassed about asking the question, after a while; as it is, he only blinks at Sabriel with guileless curiosity. In truth he knows very little about what her position entails, save that it is an important one.

"No, I haven't. But I feel it when other people die," Sabriel keeps here gaze focused on the trees, "I mean, when I send my spirit into Death my body becomes very cold, and I stop breathing, but I'm still actually alive, even if I'm covered in frost."

"Do you feel it when anyone dies?" Perhaps, he realises belatedly, these are not the best questions to be asking in Death's realm--but the light of the strange mushrooms continues to beat back the dark, for now, and the only other sound is the strange whispers the branches underfoot make when he treads on them.

"It sounds terribly dangerous," he adds, frowning. "What do you send your spirit into death for? It does not sound as if the dead need guiding, if there is a river to take them where they ought to go."

"As long as I'm close enough physically, yes," Sabriel explained, "And I must walk into Death because some of the Dead fight the current, and try to return to Life, and to remain there, they must steal life- they kill people." It was an important clarification to make.

"I suppose one cannot be blamed for wanting to be alive again," said Temeraire, "and of course it makes sense that some sort of exchange must be made; but I see what you mean. It is not entirely fair, if they must steal life from someone else to gain it back."

Ahead of them the trees seemed to be parting, a little; he craned his neck forward, searching. "I suppose you have had a great many opportunities to use those abilities here, as well."

"Somewhat," Sabriel admitted, "Keeliai has fewer problems with the restless Dead than my own world, so I find myself using Charter Magic more than necromancy" There was no need to tell Temeraire the specifics- either about the graveyard, or her own role in ensuring that Hannibal remained dead.

Temeraire had played a role of his own in Hannibal's death--or one of them, at any rate. For his part, though, he only nodded thoughtfully.

"And you have been teaching some of the other foreigners here; I saw some of your messages on the network. Gavroche was one of your students, was he not? Can it be taught to anyone, whether or not magic exists in their own world?"

"Yes, he was," Sabriel said, "And I can teach anyone, as long as they don't already have some power of their own- even when I baptized Amon, he wasn't able to learn any magic."

"Oh," said Temeraire after a moment. An enormous mosquito buzzed past; he flattened it with an annoyed swipe of his tail.

"So I suppose," he added in a voice that tried, very hard, to be casual, "there is no chance of a dragon learning it, after all?"

"Probably not," Sabriel admitted, swatting at another mosquito, "But I could attempt it, if you'd like."

"Oh, if you like," said Temeraire airily, not wishing to come over too eager. "Perhaps once this mission has been completed? I should not like to take too much of your time, after all."

The path--if it could be called that--was growing steadily steeper. Was it wishful thinking, or could he see daylight through the trees in the distance?

"I think the forest is growing thinner," he said after a moment. "We may be able to break through, after all."

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EVENT | LANDFALL | KITHIKA | BOTTLE

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