Goons | Exploration

[sylveonsweetie987]

[I guess we're going down, then...]

[Savor]

[There's more to learn. The ground isn't just crumbling, it's shattering. Investigate the slivers.]

Resisting the urge to scramble backwards to safer ground, Silver took a deep breath with furrowed brows. He was worried, but curiosity got the best of him — perhaps if he was careful he could figure out what was going on.

[Nyakuni]

[I guess we're going down, then...]

[Following the unspoken command, you decide to trust your new ally. At first you mean to look down from the edge of the monster into the chasm, but the slippery footing quickly changes your mind. Instead, you head for the nearest wall and inch toward the edge from there. As it turns out, there is quite a deep abyss below, and you are glad you didn't make the mistake of getting too close and sliding off. You dig in your claws and find purchase where you can, and begin to make your way very carefully down the uneven wall, away from the creature which brought you down here. The wisp has taken this time to slide its way back up and onto your shoulders, which makes you feel just a little safer. Maybe it will be able to continue helping you on the way down. Although you are going slowly, there are times when finding a solid hold seem near impossible, and you end up making long detours to find a better way down. After an hour, though, you dare to risk a glance down and see you are still nowhere near the bottom, and your energy is running out. You try asking your wisp again what you should do, explaining your new concern, but the wisp does not answer this time. You look up, and are certain you cannot make it back to where you started before you tire out, and begin to wonder what it might be like to fall if you cannot find a way to rest. It occurs to you eventually that you are just climbing down plain old earth, and you could probably dig a makeshift cave or tunnel to take a breather in, and so you begin the attempt. Before you manage to carve out enough space to hold even half of your weight, however, your digging triggers a shift in the wall, and your handholds crumble out from beneath you.

You have just enough time to scream in panic with the sudden sensation of falling before a light tug starts under your arms and around your shoulders, slowly taking the momentum of your fall away and directing you away from painful impacts as you go. Glancing around sharply, you gape in awe as you realize that the force holding you aloft is the very same wisp who directed you down in the first place. It has wrapped about your arms and lifted at the center as if caught between the fingers of a giant, and as you descend you are going more slowly.]

Choose one: [You didn't tell me you could fly us down!]|[Can you get us all the way down safely?]|[Look around for anything useful as you fall.]|[Rest so that you can climb again if need be.]|[Look for a better place to rest or be set down.]

[Nyakuni]

[There's more to learn. The ground isn't just crumbling, it's shattering. Investigate the slivers.]

Resisting the urge to scramble backwards to safer ground, Silver took a deep breath with furrowed brows. He was worried, but curiosity got the best of him — perhaps if he was careful he could figure out what was going on.

[You pick up a few of the flakes of earth from your first landing and sniff at them tentatively. Nothing off there that you can tell, but when you try to rub it between your pads, it seems much more resilient than you would have thought. It doesn't crumble like regular soil would, and it doesn't crack any further like the surface did. It's hard and solid. You try picking at it with your claws, but that has no effect either. Frowning, you make a face and stick out your tongue to give it a lick. Only then do you realize that while it takes just like any other kind of dirt, it is painfully cold against your tongue. Your eyes water and in a panic you tear it away, hurting your tongue in the process, but luckily you were barely touching it in your caution and the harm was minimal. Sure, it's getting closer to the cooler season, but there's no reason it should be that cold! The air definitely isn't. You're not sure you should test the deeper soil, but you've come so far, and you're sure there's something more to this. You pick another sliver of earth from deeper in the cracks, but can't feel the difference in your paws. You won't risk putting it near your mouth, though. Your eyes wander toward the much larger cracks which formed the platform you are testing even now.]

Choose one: [Well, now I have to go deeper to do more tests.]|[Better safe than sorry. I should go back and get some tools or hep before going further.]|[If it gets colder as you go deeper, it would be safer to go down slowly. I'll dig.]|[Take some of the earth back and put it in a fire to see what happens.]

[sylveonsweetie987]

[Can you get us all the way down safely?]

[Nyakuni]

[Can you get us all the way down safely?]

[You receive no answer from the wisp, but it is hard to tell if that is because all of its energy is directed into the task at hand or because it cannot communicate while carrying you this way. You decide to cling to the idea that you will reach the bottom safely, though, because you have been drifting out of the way of dangers but not toward any ledges or places you might grab hold of again. It is becoming difficult to see much, so you are relieved when you finally feel your feet touch down on solid ground. The wisp folds back down against you limply, and it doesn't take a genius to know that effort has weakened it. Unfortunately, you cannot let it rest since you aren't exactly sure why you're down here. Or... can you?

Even without much light, you have your other senses, and they are telling you more about the area you've found yourself in. The stench in the air is the same one made by the monster above, but stale and dense. The ground below you is fairly smooth but there is a congealed liquid coating it and raised lines surrounding you in some sort of shape. There is a hum in the air, not a living sound but like the straining of wood as it cracks, which comes from all around you. Your skin tingles and your fur raises it into goosebumps. You begin to imagine shapes all around you before you realize that it isn't just your mind wandering, but being guided. While these thoughts distract you, your new friend lifts itself over your head and covers your eyes, blindfolding you. Except that you are anything but blind. Through the semi-transparent body, the lines on the ground flare with an eerie orange light. It creeps like smoke from the cracks at the edge, but thickens toward the center into a pillar like pulsing molten lava, pouring power into the sky. The monster above is a black core to the orange aura building around it with every slow pulse. You ask the wisp what you are supposed to do, but once again the wisp is either too tired or unable to tell you more.]

Choose one: [Step into the light.]|[Reach cautiously into the light.]|[Look for something to block the light.]|[Nope, this looks dangerous! Look for a way to escape.]|[Search for more hidden secrets while you have the wisp's vision.]

[sylveonsweetie987]

[Reach cautiously into the light.]