After the Flood [PG-13/Started/Not Accepting/IC]

[Alice Moonflowyr]

OOC

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Xaria emerged from the tunnels, pushing open the iron-barred doors that have stayed shut for so long. They nearly fell down, as the outside was rotted, and the iron rusted. Xaria smiled and patted the flank of her horse. Her horse was black, and the saddle was a dark maroon. Xaria settled herself, and pulled a lute out of her bag. She strummed a tune as the horse walked around aimlessly, and Xaria looked around. The surface around this area was mostly mudded, with a few things that looked like what used to be trees lying around.

               

She sniffed. The area smelled of salt, so she guessed the seawater must have overflowed this part of the world mostly. She pulled out an old map Arachna had given her before she set off on this journey. “Ok, so I just came out here.” Xaria said, pointing her finger at a spot on the map. “And the nearest coast is over here,” pointing at another spot on the map. “Hmm. That’s rather far. You up for it Luna?” The horse, whose name was obviously Luna, whinnied.

               

“Let’s go then!” Xaria said smiling. She spurred Luna on in the direction of the Iilian Ocean, which was the smallest ocean out of the five known on this world. The Qaae Ocean is the largest, followed by the Exia, the Poi, the Yuah, and then the Iilian. Xaria strummed her lute, and hummed along

 

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Off in the depths of the Qaae Ocean, a humming could be heard. A human womans' humming. The tune was mournful. It came from the bottom of the ocean.

[Cherz]

Leo was following Razcawl out of they dark caves. He was excited to see the outside world again. His memories of the past came back to him as they approached the metallic, rusted shut door. He couldn't take it anymore. He pounced at the door. It slammed down as soon as he made contact. He then let Razcawl proceed in front of him. The outside world was so much more muddy than he remembered it. The aroma of salt lingered. He smiled and jumped onto his horse. She was black with white spots, and she had a black saddle. He named her Oreo. 

 

Leo looked around. He noticed a forest not too far off from a lake. "Lets go there Razcawl!" He exclaimed, eagerly. "It isn't too far off, I'm sure we can make it Oreo!" He said to his horse. She whinnied, but before she could move, he decided to let Razcawl make the final decision.

[Bowtiemyass]

Eros awoke to his father telling him that others have already left to the outside world. Eros quickly got his equipment together, and headed off. On his way out he talked to a little boy and bought a kazoo from him then went to the door previously almost knocked over do to being closed after far too long. He saw what looked like a Drow headed of in one direction, but decided to rely on the wind to guide him, so he reached into a small pouch on his side and withdrew a couple grains of salt and flicked them into the air. Fortunately they too were headed in the direction of the Drow, so he decided to follow. Eros Jumped atop his golden maned, brownish maroon colored horse Ditie(short for Aphrodite), chucked the Kazoo in his mouth and headed off.

 

Just as he headed off, he heard a loud thud come from behind him. Two large doors had come thundering down one of the walls at the far end of the keep. "What fools, do they intend on disrupting the foul creatures who intend on death?" he said as he thought of the orcs and goblins who he knew were resting near by. Eros just turned away and headed off again with the intention of meeting with the Drow and possibly traveling with her. "The Drow are crafty creatures, I could use her experience on my journey" Eros thought as he guided Ditie in the direction of the Drow and instructed her to pick up the pace to reach the Drow then began playing the Kazoo loudly as to entertain himself and maybe so the Drow could hear.

[Ren✧]

Razcawl padded slowly through the dark tunnel. Despite his calm demeanor, he felt strangely excited, and perhaps a bit nervous, to see the outside world again. It had been awhile, and he was eager to run through the forest like he once had. Beside him trotted his horse. Razcawl had never been one for these beasts, finding them stupid and cumbersome, but they were strong and made for good transportation when needing to carry a bit of supplies. The horse had been given to him down below in the Underground. He seemed to recall that its name was Whitefire. It was an admirable name, Razcawl had to admit, and a fitting one. The horse was pure white, with the exception of a black spot around its left eye. The horse kept time with him, following just slightly behind him. 

 

At Razcawl's back he could hear the trotting of more horse hooves. A fellow Tigran, Leo, followed him. Leo was a Lion Tigran, definitely an outsider in Razcawl's pride, but he was a good enough kid. Despite being an adult, by human standards, he acted amazingly childish. Razcawl often thought of him as an apprentice, and while he would never admit it, enjoyed his company. It would seem that Leo had picked up the idea that Razcawl was the leader here and stayed a few feet behind. But it would seem the temptation proved too much when they neared the doors to the surface. Springing ahead, Leo pushed open the doors, allowing a dazzling display of sunlight to spill into the dark, dank tunnel. The sight made Razcawl's eyes water a bit. He had missed the sunlight so much. Putting some more spring in his step he joined Leo at the mouth of the tunnel, looking onto the world above. 

 

It had changed, but it was still his world. The smell of salt sat pungent in the air, reminding Razcawl of the fact that this location had most likely been underwater. The ground was a bit soggy, once again another reminder. But Razcawl didn't care. He was finally topside again. "Beautiful isn't it?" Razcawl asked, not to anyone in particular. He marveled at the sight of the outside world. Whitefire joined him at his side, whinnying slightly, obviously excited to see daylight. This brought a thought to Razcawl's mind. Whitefire wouldn't be much use in the soggy, muddy ground and would only prove a hindrance. He ran the thought over in his mind and came to a conclusion. Unstrapping the small amount of supplies from the horse, he gave it a nod. The horse seem to understand. With a whinny of appreciation the horse took off, feeling free for the first time. The sight made Razcawl smile. 

 

"Yeah, I suppose we can head to the forest." Razcawl said nonchalantly, barely paying any attention to Leo. Razcawl couldn't help but notice how the young Tigran's face lit up. The two started to make their way towards the forest. Razcawl couldn't wait to feel the texture of the leaves against his fur again.

[BLUR]

Standing outside the doors to the tunnels, Tydo sighed. He had hoped that the surface temperature would have been cold enough for most of the water to have frozen. He wished to have seen a wonderful frozen tundra as the new surface world, however it was just a disgustingly wet wastleland. Not wishing to waste any time in his mission, Tydo hopped onto his horse, a beautiful white creature with an ordinary black leather saddle. Hyoga, his leader, had asked Tydo to confirm his belief that the floods have vanished. This first step had been completed. The only thing left for Tydo to do was to find out where the floods came from. Taking a look at his map, Tydo decided to head to the nearest ocean, being the Iilian. The most sensible cause of the floods would have to be the oceans, and therefore Tydo began heading toward the Iilian.

 

With every step his horse took, a splashing would sound, aggravating Tydo. He was unable to understand why anyone would want to move back to the surface. Afterall, recivilizing on the surface could take years, whereas the underground was already prepared. Not to mention his parents died on the surface, a mystery that until today is still unsolved. What good is there on the surface?

[Reinforce]

Lyria walked forward towards the door that was in front of her, leading the black horse she had been given to bring with her as she went. Reaching forward, she twisted the heavy deadbolt out of the way, and with a light touch, the door simply swung open to reveal blinding light. As the light cleared from her eyes, she walked through the door, to find her way onto a section of concrete that led to a soaked cobblestone path in front of her, and mud and dead trees on the sides of the path. The horse behind her, who's name was Jester, nudged into her, seeming like it was telling her to stop minding the view and get on with it. "Is it so wrong to admire the view that stretches out in front of me for a minute before we get going?" Next to her the horse just snorted at her, and nudged her again, to which she gave a sigh of her own, before turning to the horse and mounting onto it. "I get it, lets get going before your impatience gets us into some sort of trouble." Checking her map and compass, she figured out that the path in front of them was part of a longer path that led to the smallest of the oceans on this world, and with a nudge to the side of the horse she was on, they set off down the path laid out in front of them.

[~Tico~]

Malphas shielded his eyes as he stepped out from between the open doors and onto the surface. Given the fact the Goblins generally preferred living in areas with little to no exposure of light from the sun, the morning glare seemed particularly harsh to him, although it was plenty harsh already due to being underground for so long. Looking to his right, he asked, "You okay, Arcturus?" The bear cub gazed up at his words and made a soft growl, to which Malphas grinned. "Seems good to me. Let's go."

 

Hoisting himself into the saddle with one arm around the small bear that was his spirit companion,  Malphas looked down at his horse, unsure whether it could sustain the weight of him, the bear cub, and the provisions with which it had been burdened. As if to reassure him, the horse lifted its head and gave a whinny, before trotting off toward what appeared to be a forest in the distance. Judging from the somewhat crumpled map that his chief had thrust into his hands that morning, it seemed that this would be the easiest way to head to the Iilian ocean, where it seemed most likely for some clues of the floods to be hiding. Setting himself into a more comfortable position, Malphas began to recite a random scrap of the scriptures of Nilbegun mentally.

 

And when Nilbegun looked upon the corrupted city and saw that all that lived within was bad, his anger burned against the people and he strove to destroy them. Commanding Zevling, the chief of the highest clan, Nilbegun tasked him with the destruction of the people of that city. When Zevling and his men went out to strike, they found the people unwary of their approach. And lo, it was as Nibegun had decreed: all that lived was smote down where it stood, all that was of value was plundered, and the city was burnt to the ground.

 

Malphas grimaced. "No wonder a number of the other races detest us. Even our religious scriptures are filled with accounts of violence."  He continued to mutter under his breath as his horse continued on its way to a new day and a new adventure.

[Otaku-sama]

Iri squinted as an unfamiliar brightness shone into her eyes as she emerged from the tunnels which civilization had taken refuge. Riding upon her nameless horse, Iri took a minute to get used to the harsh smell of the sea and the constant warmth of the sun before taking a good look at her surroundings. Iri quickly noticed that she was far from the only person to venture out of the tunnels, as seen by the scattered few people on horses and an open gate. She also heard a soft tune drifting in the breeze, which she found was coming from a dark elf playing a lute in the distance. Although Iri initially did not imagine taking this journey with others, she saw the benefits of having a few extra bodies around to take a few arrows in her stead. After all, who knew what lied in this strange, flooded world. Spurring her horse to catch up with the dark elf, she quickly closed the distance between the dark elf and herself.

As she approached, she saw that an archon man had also noticed the dark elf, trying to catch her attention by playing the kazoo, one of the most infantile and annoying instruments to have ever to exist. Scoffing silently, Iri rode up next to the dark elf, who she could see playing a lute. She also noticed that she had a map with her, something Iri's patron had neglected to give her. Clearly following the person with a map was the best course of action. Iri decided to try to get on the elf's good side.

"Nice to know that I'm not the only soul out here in the great unknown. I'm Iri, who would you be?"

[Alice Moonflowyr]

Xaria grimaced at the noise of the kazoo. She was just about to turn and yell at whoever was playing the horrid thing when a dark-skinned woman appeared by her side with a friendly greeting. Thankful for something to distract her from the buzzing of the kazoo, Xaria paused in her lute playing. "I'm Xaria. And this is Luna." Xaria introduced herself and her horse. The Dark Elf and the Nomad rode side by side, then, to break the silence, Xaria said; "You're a Nomad aren't you? My father told me stories of the Nomads when I was younger. He said they were experts of stealth in the desert, and could pack up their village in a day flat."

 

Xaria grinned. "Although my grandfather used to say that the ancient Nomads would ride gigantic birds called Rocs, that would prey on even elephants." Xaria then began playing The Song of the Endless March. "The ocean is far from here." She muttered to herself. "Would be an excellent time to put my bardic magic to use, eh Luna?" she whispered to the horse. Luna whinnied and began trotting a bit faster. "Of course, I'm not only here for my leader." Xaria said out loud, making idle conversation. "I'm here to see if any ancient bardic lore survived the floods. Songs of the ancient Fatesingers, and maybe even a fragment of the Song of Heroes!" Xaria said brightly. The Song of Heroes is a legendary bardic song, that tells of heros of the past, present, and yet to come. Almost ever bard knew a fragment of it, and it is said that singing the full Song of Heroes invokes a large amount of power in the one singing it.

[Enrise]

-Finally made it.

 

Deep from within the tunnels of a barred off cavern, the loud neighing of a horse could be heard reverberating from miles within the source. Then a few faint clopping of a horse's feet against the rocks and rubble, which began to sound louder as the source drew near the entrance. After the noise got so close to the entrance, there was silence, and then some muffled sounds of what seemed like a dismounting and walking over, shaking the doors. A giant booming noise was made, as a man kicked down the doors and got back on his horse in an instant.

 

"This is gonna be a long journey. I really don't want to bring the horse into this, for fear of it being endangered, which would prove most unfortunate for me and more importantly, him. I'll see what I can do with him, and if need be, I'll send him back. Although..."

 

Jumping right back off the horse, and grabbing certain items out of the pockets of the extravagant saddle, Völund grabbed on his items and provisions that he was given, and also a scratch sheet of paper and a writing utensil. With it, he wrote:

 

 

I've arrived at the entrance of the cavern and began to set out on my own.

I've returned the horse for fear of any future possibility of injury or death

that I can't bear witness to see. Therefore, when the horse has returned, I

deeply request that you take care of the horse and hope for my return.

 

~Völund Sönne

 

 

He tied the note to the saddle, and sent the horse on back to the cavern after checking everything he needed.

 

When the horse was no longer to be seen in the caverns, Völund looked around, and saw a messy terrain of fields gathered into one. It seemed like a marsh and a desert, a rain forest with dead trees fallen and a mountain that has been reduced to weathered rocks the size of houses. He saw a few puddles nearby, and walked over to see if they were clean or not. It's cleanliness was a matter of discussion, but he could see a reflection nonetheless of his face without a doubt, and stuck his finger in it, swirling it around. He took it out, and tasted the salt content, not so much as giving a fringe of it's bitterness. He hummed in lackluster of the situation. Albeit, it was different from underground at least.

 

He looked up and saw the sun. "Even in this demolished environment, I guess I can be glad the sun's unscathed. Nature will soon restore itself, but it is unusual..."

 

Völund clasped his left hand to his sheathed blade, looked on his left arm for his dagger, and checked his pockets for his items. He was set to go and started to set out of this swampish, desert of a forest that made no sense to him whatsoever.

[Cherz]

Leo's eyes widened, and he held back tears. Home at last! was all that was coursing through his head. He too, released his horse, and waved goodbye to it as it caught up with Razcawls horse. Leo bent over, and looked to Razcawl. "Catch me if you can Gramps!" She shouted jokingly, as he took off at a high speed, rocketing twords the forest.He stopped right as he entered the forest, a big smile on his face. He took in it all. He Ran around, feeling free. He even ended up chasing his own tail. He rolled around, and smelled mint leaves. He ate some bananas and berries. It was all so real. He looked to Razcawl, eyes glistening with tears of joy. "This is great!" he said, unaware of how loudly he said it. 

 

After a minute of enjoying the forest, he heard a twig snap. He drew his bow. A large bear emerged. It swiped at him, knocking him down. He un-sheathed his dagger, and began swinging it around, in no particular order, panicked since he was under siege  "Razcawl, help!' He shouted over and over, blindly swinging his dagger. The bear drew closer to Leo. Something was wrong with it. It was not only larger than most bears, but there was blood lust in its eyes, and it seemd to have...gills?

[Ren✧]

Razcawl glared at the youth. So full of joy and happiness. It made him sick to his stomach. Some day Leo would learn that the world isn't all cherries and apples. But today didn't seem to be that day. When Leo challenged him to a race, Razcawl thought of accepting, putting that pipsqueak in his place, but waved off the notion. They were not here to have fun, they were on a mission and it needed to be carried out. Entering the forest, Razcawl shivered with joy. The leaves seemed greener than ever and while the trees may have changed, now more tropical than before, the forest was a forest and it was home. 

 

"Razcawl help!" The call for help split the air and Razcawl was immediately on alert. His bow in his hand, air knocked and ready to fly. Razcawl turned towards Leo to find a most precarious sight. A bear swiped at Leo. A BEAR! What the hell was that doing here? Most creatures of the land should have been killed during the flood. While Razcawl acknowledged the bears' drive to stay alive, it did not believe that it  could survive a disaster such as the flood. As Razcawl took a closer look at the beast, he noticed something about it. It's size was much larger than that of any bear he had ever seen and its coat glistened with what seemed to be a slick gel-like substance. Around its nose were three vertical slits that occasionally opened slightly to reveal pink flesh underneath. The thought him like a bull in a stampede. They looked to be gills. It made sense though. New species would've come into play after the flood. It was common knowledge that when one species leaves an area another species is allowed to flourish. Razcawl would have to prepare himself for more surprises like this.

 

Drawing his bow and aiming, Razcawl shot the bear in the shoulder, the sharp arrow landing squarely, making the beast cry out in pain. Its eyes turned to Razcawl, red with rage. This might be a bit more difficult than Razcawl had anticipated.

[Bowtiemyass]

Eros receiving glances from all around by the others leaving the underground, he stopped playing the kazoo knowing that if he were to receive help from any others he would have to appease them. But still he came across a thought, "Why should I appeal to them, it is they who are beneath me", yet, he knew that it would do him better to have disposable bodies in the case of some sort of danger that could set back his mission. So alas he finally stopped playing and guided Ditie to move faster as to catch up to the Drow ahead who seamed to know where she was going, unlike himself who relied solely on the forces of nature and divines which he asked for always for guidance to guide him. Just as Eros began to have his mind wander he realized that the others were gathering a distance between himself and them so he shook off his thoughts and began to nearly race to catch up to the others.

 

As Eros caught up to the others he heard others giving introductions but had just missed them, so he decided to introduce himself instead. "Greetings, I am Eros grandson of the Lordess of the Archon" saying it like he expects everyone else to be awestruck just because he believes he is better than them. "Look, I know you beings arent use to being amongst royalty, so I dont expect you to know how to address me properly. That being said I will accept it if you simply called me by my rank of Grand Archon Eros, Lieutenant Colonel of the Archon Military" Eros said this proudly as if he thought the others really cared. "And you are?" Without carring about the others responce he gazed solely apon the Drow in front of him, since she is the only one he sees here worth giving a true respect to.

At one point he gave a slight glare at the two tigrans he could see out of the side his sight who were at this point were amiss combat with a bear. "well I guess they wont be joining us".