Kalt in the Shadows - RPLOG
Participants
Date
16/4/478
Log
The blackness is oppressive here in the bowels of the ancient temple. It does not help that there was so much strangeness in the adventure to get this far. Now there is only blackness stretching out into the infinite. Black sand and black water and black sky and black silence. Somehow even the sound of the gentle waves seems like just another element of the silence.
Kalt makes her way to the shore from the hallway, a torch held tightly in her hand to light the way. The locals had been right on this place being strange, with so much darkness around the vixen just -had- to be correct in her assumptions... As she finally stands at the edge of the shore then, she swallows slightly, before throwing the torch into the water, allowing it to extinguish itself and leave her in the pitch black. "I know yer out there."
The scant light of the torch vanishes instantly when it touches the black water. There is no sound beyond that of the waves lapping on the black shore, but there is a sudden sense that the vixen is no longer alone in the darkness. There is a definite presence out there in the water. Or maybe over it. There is a sense of Listening.
Kalt steels herself against the silence,closing her eyes for a moment as she remembered everything she read, and what folks taught her about spirits... The Vixen's feet slowly stepping forward as she behind to enter the water, being careful for any sudden drops. "M'name is Kalt Tiefkuhl, bonded to Angus Solacious. I ain't the smartest folk out there, but m'not malicious. All I want, is a safe world. One I can go to the grave knowin is better than I were born into."
There is no response from the darkness, only more listening silence, though it does seem that whatever presence is out there has moved closer. The water is shallow and the waves lap around Kalt's ankles, cool and soothing. There is no smell of the sea here, rather, the water is sweet.
Kalt continues to walk forward, each step still cautious of a cliff as she shudders from the feeling of it slipping beneath her armor. "I have an idea wot ya are, an wot ya do. I ain't certain, but I got m'clues... An' I think it's true. folks don't need to go knowin everything. they don't all take it seriously, an they abuse and cheat it, hurting others an more without realizing it."
There is another moment of silence. Then a harsh, grating, roaring sound fills the cavern and the vixen's mind.
WHY ARE YOU WADING OUT INTO THE WATER?
Kalt stops and blinks, the vixen seems to contemplate for a moment before she offers a shrug. "... I dunno. I figured ya lived in the water, an' showed me reachin' forward to ya. Honestly, I ain't got much clue on how to approachin ya, which m'figurin ya wanted all along so... Yeah. Bit of a goof from me then... I just ain't ever purposefully visited a spirit by my lonesome before."
A sound of rushing wind fills the cavern, after a moment, it becomes evident that this is a sigh. A glittering, amethyst light appears back on the beach in the form of a floating gem of some sort.
RETURN TO SHORE CHILD. Comes the harsh voice of Vasht. TELL ME WHAT YOU SEEK. YOU DO NOT SEEM TO BE HERE TO RID YOURSELF OF A BURDEN, SO I DO NOT RECOMMEND DRINKING THE WATER HERE.
"Don't drink the water, ya got it... erm... Thank ya..." The vixen catching sight of the glow as she begins to wade herself back, shaking her wet legs when she gets to the slight shore, mumbling something about how awkward it will be to walk now, before she turns and sits in the sand. "I wanna help ya. I don't want folks findin stuff they shouldn't an endin lives... We got proof goin on with the Craige bout that, an I am certain ya got more hidden away that folks don't need to know... So I wanna help ya."
At the far edge of the purplish light, there is a hint of something moving in the murk, but there is no reply, only silent listening now that the vixen is no longer in danger of slipping into an undersea chasm.
Kalt sighs as silence returns once more, the vixen taking her Panaba, and then sticks it into the sand. "So there ya have it. I don't want nuttin, but to help keep folks safe from secrets. I ain't no stranger to not blabbing 'bout wot I do, already gotta do that when we go arrest some Creators... So, I suppose, the real question here, is do ya want me to help ya keep yer secrets?"
There is another moment of silence, then the gentle light brightens and expands, revealing more and more of the immense cavern and exposing the thing that has been listening in the darkness in strange, amethyst light. Vasht is huge, and terrible to look on. His seven toothy heads and gnarled, serpentine body with its seven writhing tails floats in the air as if swimming in the sea. His huge, central head with its single glittering eye stares down at Kalt.
I BID YOU KEEP! The monster's voice echoes both in the cavern and in the mind. I OFFER YOU THE SANCTUARY OF THE DARK.
Kalt blinks as she sees Vasht, the vixen biting her tongue from a snarky comment about why she couldn't find a description of him, though given some of what she has seen, he isn't... the worst? definantly top three... or two. Though as his voice fills the cavern, she rests her hands on her knees, and lowers her head respectfully as he speaks.
ALL THINGS HAVE THEIR TIME UNDER THE SUN. ALL THINGS MUST THEN TAKE THEIR PLACE IN THE DARK. THERE ARE THINGS THAT OUGHT NO MORE TO WALK THE WORLD. YOU WILL GATHER THEM BACK TO THE DARK WHERE THEY SHALL BE KEPT IN SAFETY. Vasht's voice rattle the stone and the soul. WILL YOU ACCEPT MY PACT?
Kalt rises from her knees, and looks up at Vasht, as terrible as it is to look at him, she keeps the gaze steady as she places her right hand over her chest in a balled up fist. "Be it livin', or an artifact, I will collect it for ya. This I swear, as I accept her pact."
IT IS ENOUGH. The grating roar of Vasht the Shadow rips the air once more before the room is once again swallowed in darkness, utter and complete. After what feels like hours, but may have only been a few seconds, the flickering light of a torch appears. Kalt's discarded torch is stuck in the black sand and beside it is a black cloak stitched together out of fluttering scraps of some sort of light material.
Kalt stands still until her torch is revealed, the vixen walking forward to pick up the cloak as she looks it over for a moment in the torch light, before wrapping it around herself. Picking up the torch next as she smirks with a slight amusement at how to the point the spirit was. "Call me when ya need me, an I'll gather wot I can for ya on my own as well." The vixen bowing then to where she had last seen the spirit.
There is no reply, but a sense of silent approval comes from the darkness. No doubt, the Spirit will be in touch.
