Lake Cleanup - RPLOG
Participants
Date
19/4/477
Log
This high in the mountains, the air is thinner and colder, especially in the evening. The small group of Freeswords, led by Angus, have been following the clear stream upwards to its source, a lake nestled in the mountains to the north. In the middle of the lake are some ancient ruins, appearing to be far older than even Creator-made remains, and it's only through judicious borrowing and use of a hermit's boat that everyone is in the marbled sanctum without having to swim into the middle of the lake.
The pool ripples and undulates gently, waiting for Angus to call to it.
Angus approaches the edge of the water, having been called here by the spirit he had done what he was asked. Turning he regards those that had followed him before turning back once more, grinding the butt of his staff into the surface of the island as he clears his throat before speaking in a load, strong voice. "Ser'ther, I have come as you have asked, and brought others with me as well."
Cassidy keeps her cowl tugged up, as usual when traveling, but she leaves her mask down as she shuffles around behind Angus, frowning. "So... What's this we're going to be doing? How does this all work out?" She bites her lip, looking on anxiously as she peers into the water.
Dio follows along diligently behind the others, carrying around his typical gear of a tower shield and a fine spear at his side. And of course, with such a lovely lake atmosphere, who wouldn't bring tasty treats to snack upon during the trip? Or at least Dio would considering his favored snack of jerky secured in his pocket and teeth. "This ain't another plan to bathe me 'gain, is it," the lion questions after ripping apart a piece of jerky and swallowing it down.
Kalt sighs as she leans on her own walking staff, a simple branch she had picked up on their voyage up the mountains. She was clad in most of her armor today, the main changes being the lack of her left armguards and shoulder pauldron, along with her two handed weapons. Her left arm is still kept in it's place with a thick band of cloth, and a piece of heavy metal wrapped over her shoulder... The vixen having won the argument with angus that she'd be damned if she missed out on meeting a spirit today. She chuckles gently at Cassidy as she tries to not lean on the ruins, or do anything to accidentally insult the spirit. "Aw just go relaxin' Cassidy... Figurin' he'll tell us when he's needin' to an' such eh? You ever go meetin' a spirit before Cassidy?" She snerks slightly at Dio's comment and looks over to the lion as she sticks her tongue out. "What if'n it were? You're a tad bit outta dry land to be remainin' dry if'n you had to go runnin'!"
Jera watches from a few steps back, watching the group's back. A year of being away has completely disconnected him from affairs, the kit fox not even recognizing most of the people here. He thought that he would do his job best just with his bow at the ready, watching for danger, and that he does.
Siyu is dressed a little warmer, the rodent is of course, ready to help his friendly spirits. Especially a cousin of his own, he'll just brush down his outfit, and wait to see what he has to do. He's come equiped as best he can, just chittering. "This is...umph, interesting..." is his first comment. He draws a deep breath, "Lord Solacious, I am bound to this quest as are you, twined spirits, I'll do what I can...did he give you no more information? Just to bring followers here with you?" he inquires.
Mazurek has joined the expedition, having been out of contact with everyone in existance for quite some time. He had been hibernating, even blocking all entrances to his underground lair except for the watery one. Something had awakened him with enough time to spare to answer the call for this little venture. Going up into the mountains meant that the Iguana chose to join up with his draconic powers, giving him the needed immunity to the natural elements to be quite comfortable. For attire, the dragon actually wears more than he usually does. Shorts is as his usual, but this trip he's actually in a short sleeve shirt, customized of course to account for his wings. There is nothing said by the towering, ten foot, draconic iguana. He moves away from the group a little and keeps a silent watch on the surroundings.
Bite looks around the area instinctively for loot, her soul gem not letting her rest as she sways towards their destination. As Angus speaks she stretches and listens, this should prove interesting.
Jendayi arrives in a rather basic set of plate as armor goes, flamberge hoisted over her shoulder, taking a deep breath and glancing around at the other folk who've taken up the job offer. The sphinx seems a little bit anxious, though keeps her composture, offering waves and smiles to the others.
Nothing happens for a few empty moments, and then the water starts to fizz, froth and gather itself upwards in a long, sinuous shape, the pool's surface draining slightly as more and more water is drawn into the physical form the spirit is assuming. At last, a nondescript serpent is formed, perhaps four to five times as tall as a being, icy fangs displayed as it surveys the room.
~Oh. Right. Yes. I did ask for your help in gathering those of your kind, although I didn't expect quite this many. Good work.~ The spirit's "voice" is quite relaxed, as opposed to some others. ~Yes, there is a task I would like to ask of you. I have to live here, as your kind would put it, or at least, when I manifest myself in this plane - even though the lake's surface is clean, there are things that have been thrown into the lake over time, and while many have resurfaced along with this place, others have not. Some of them are quite interesting, and I think they may help, even if indirectly, in the efforts against my fallen brethren.
~Now, I would be getting them myself, but stuffy Kedrac has very strange rules on what is "direct intervention" when it comes to this sort of thing. He thinks of it in black and white, you see, as you would put it. Hence, under Angus' guidance, I'd love you to help clean out the lakebed.~ A pause. ~That was a mouthful, wasn't it? Well, you can keep anything you find. I no longer have as many supplicants as I used to have, back in the day.~
Angus taps his staff a little nervously as he waits for the spirit to surface, turning to give both Kalt and Cassidy a smile to try and keep up the facade that he knew exactly what he was doing. As the spirit appears he finally takes a deep breath and nods. "I did the best I could, had a feeling you might of needed them." He answers, but as soon as he is given the task he blinks a little, and nods. "That is a generous offer, thank you."
Cassidy folds her arms and shrugs, looking over towards Kalt. "I suppose he will, yes... And no, I have not seen one before. That's part of why I came. I want to. How's your arm doing? Getting better, I hope?" Her ears perk as she hears the spirit before looking towards Angus. "What are we to be doing, exactly? What're we cleaning up? I'm all for finding treasure!"
Dio was about to take a liberal bite out of his cured meat snack, but Kalt's comment tempoarily ceased his motion. "We'll see 'bout that, lass! I'm on to yer master plan ya got cooked up 'ere. Takin' a poor innocent lion like me to a spirit jus' to get a silly bath. It was a good plan, but I'm on to ya." The lion nods his head proudly and finally takes another bite while listening to the spirit and his mighty request. "O', is that all, lad? Jus' a little trash pickup? Well, it is a shame seein' a nice place like this with trash floatin' 'round in it. Suppose I could 'elp out a bit."
Kalt blinks as she watches the spirit form, whistling lowly as she seems a little aw struck at it's method of appearance... She hasn't seen something like that before. Sure enough though she slowly dips her head to the spirit while clearing her throat. "I uh, yeah not a problem... M'figurin' if'n somebody can go an' be castin' water breathin' on us all an' such it'd be goin' a tad bit quicker." Still, she's not one to dawdle too much, and is quick to begin detaching her armor pieces while ensuring her left arm is indeed firmly tied down, leaving her weighted boots on for if someone casts the water breathing spell.
Jera ponders for a bit as he hears the instruction to clear the lake. Not one to get wet, he closes his eyes and focuses his magic for a bit, using his bow to help center all of his magic. A light breeze blows, and the kit fox smiles as he moves to sit on the edge of the lake and kicks water up, testing how well his made up spell works.
Siyu blink, blinks a little bit, "A clean up I...well..." he rubs the back of his head and he tugs upon his ear, looking around, "Well I guess...I guess those of the water clan will take quite a liking to this mission" he coughs a bit. "I'll do what I can, I mean, I think we have some rope. I'll try to find some trees and set up a block and tackle for anything...too heavy. I'll try to help as best I can."
Mazurek listens to the quest that has been assigned by the watery serpent, looking between it and Angus. He finally speaks up, "I do not have need of any Maths to assist with underwater breathing while I am in this form. Angus, it appears that I have, once again, missed quite a bit while in hibernation. I will assist with clearing the lake."
Bite watches the unveiling of the huge snake, her mind sparking as she smiles. "Okay great snake! I'd love to go swimming and treasure hunting for you." she hisses and looks to the others. "I'm going in." she hisses with a smirk as she waves to the rest of the group, stripping her robe and outfit down to her swim suit two piece and, when reaching the destination.
Jendayi is all ears when the spirit talks, unable to help but stare as it does. She frowns a little disdainfully at the mention of going into the lake, meaning all the fun of getting out of the damn plate armor, a task she sets upon right away. "This sounds like it will be a pleasant job. Just... Not this... Part," she mumbles those last words to herself through gritted teeth as she struggles with her armor 'til she's finally free of it, leaving her in her basic clothes.
~Well, it appears that you have no complaints and your subordinates are more than willing to help. You have your instructions, little caller, so relay them, but feel free to ask again if you have any questions.~
with that, the serpent recedes into the pool, gradually disappearing until the water's surface is still once more.
Angus nods as he works the clasps on his cloak, letting it fall to the ground as he places his staff upon it. Taking off his armor he turns to the rest of the group that are still standing on land. "From what the spirit has told me We have our work cut out for us. The first thing we should focus on is an intresting Stone that was left behind at the bottom of the lake bed, I don't know its size, or its dimensions but I'm hoping that at least two dragons can pull it up without problem, who here knows how to cast a water breathing spell?"
Cassidy begins to disrobe, setting her weapons on the ground, first, save for her knife which she keeps on hand. Once she's out of her armour and down to her blue, two-piece swimwear, she starts to stretch out and limber up, nodding. "I don't, but I'm ready to do whatever!"
Clank! Dio's tower shield comes crashing to the floor. If any diving is to be done, can't have a heavy tower shield on one's back. Next comes his heavy armor to join the pile, but he keeps his spear handy just in case he might need to hook something later. The lion switches his soul gems around and deposits his snack upon the floor before running some calculations in his head. Within a few moments, various group members are surrounded with a nurturing shield of water to help swim about and resist hostile elements. "That should 'elp out a bit. Might be able to 'elp out a bit more too," he says, thinking of a few more calculations.
Kalt stretches her arm and legs as she stands ready in her burlap shirt and pants, leaving her sword strapped around her waist just in case. "M'figurin' us who ain't dragons are best goin' an' pickin' the smaller stuff up an' such?" She does reach into her bags to take a quick swig of her dulling potion however before shaking herself as it kicks in, standing ready to be told where in the water to go looking. "Maybe if'n we're lucky, we'll be findin' sumptin rather handy eh?"
"Why is everyone taking their armor off?" Jera giggles as he takes off his chainmail, but leaves the padded leather on. He takes a deeeeeep breath and then pushes himself off his seat and just disappears into the clean water! Sinking like a stone with the added weight of his armor. He walks around the lakebed, deciding to play it safe with his gimmicky method of staying alive at the moment and walk near the edge, very, very slowly.
Siyu will set up his wagon area, if no one has any objections. The rodent himself will strip down to a tight pair of linen shorts, his vanilla scent clinging to him if anyone gets close. But he'll work diligently. He doesn't swim, he can't. He hates these larger bodies of water but he'll try his best. The ropes are laid out the willow trees are secured and examined. He doesnt' want to damage anything so he'll make sure to relay the various ropes. Making sure they're laid out and everything is ready! Small objects of course should be easy to get out on their own, but he anticipates that any objects a spirit would find objectionable would be...well...a bit too large to lift by a single person. Ready for the operations onece they are found.
Bite estuffs what she can onto her person, namely a toxic sea barb on a stick, a knife, and her snare, a leviathans tooth resting as a necklace around her. She leaves her beloved gold decorated armor in the pile and then, looking the group over dives down to find the stone that they were looking for with a "Come on sssweeties, I'm sure we can do it."
Jendayi ends up deciding that the idea of going through the water is slightly too risky-sounding of an idea for her tastes, and instead merely watches over the equipment left behind- a task she at least feels somewhat at home with.
For those who are underwater, the lake is a rather peaceful sight. The sunpetal lilies have closed their blossoms for the night, and while a few fisk swim about in the dim water, they all seem rather languid and uninterested in anything. The only real obstacle is the darker parts of the lake where the starlight doesn't penetrate as far, drastically cutting visibility.
The pillars supporting the ruins go all the way down into the thin layer of mud that coats the lakebed, various water plants clinging to them for support. Various blocky shapes are visible in the darkness, with hints of smaller objects about - those about Bite's glowing body are revealed to be huge chunks of marble, broken off from the ruins and clearly immensely heavy. A few ancient jars lie about, some of them broken, but otherwise preserved well by the cold water, down to the serpentine squiggles drawn in dye. Seems like the spirit wasn't lying - there's a lot to clean up.
Selena rubs her eyes, the wolfess aparrently a bit late to the gathering - murmuring something over to an unseen figure before she comes into view proper - the glowing of Kendrac's patterns not doing much to illuminate the area around her, but it does more than nothing.
"...Hmm." Is all she manages as she happens upon the group's possessions, glancing over into the lake tentatively. And despite the majority appearing to be underwater, she calls out a hello anyway - and a perhaps furtile "Do you need any light down there?" That's proven partially rhetorical as she sets a little fire magic over the surface of the water - nothing too large just yet, but a better indicator of her presence than - well, nothing.
Angus looks to the others as he drags off his shirt and places his weapons belt upon the ground as well. "If you can manage to hold your breath long enough there were some rather old pots that the spirit informed me of down there." Turning he looks to the lake again and frowns, his hands moving up to switch out his soul gems. With a deep breath his form changes, the fox becoming a dragon as a Soft golden glow starts to form around him. "I'll see if I can find the stone the spirit spoke of." He comments before taking a rather deep breath and plunging into the waters.
Cassidy saunters down into the water, taking a moment to adapt before deciding to swim after Bite. The snake has light that the fennec doesn't! It's too bad those big ears of her don't glow. That'd be handy. "All of my cardio will help out, hopefully!" Sucking in a deep breath, she starts to go beneath the surface to better follow Bite.
"Good evenin' to ya lass," Dio waves over to the newly arived Selena. While everyone goes diving and such, the lion rolls his shoulder and looks out amongst the surface for any floating objects he can find beneath the wolfess' flame. With a few water magic calculations, he creates simple and gentle waves to hopefully bring something to his attention.
Kalt empties her burlap bag and slings it over her shoulder as she makes her way to the edge of the water, taking a deep breath in before hopping in feet first into the water... It was a lot like mucking the old pond back home, and she knew what it'd take. So then she went to sink to the bottom of the water, letting the spell from dio ease her way down as she holds her breath and looks around... Using the illumination from the various sources to begin to pick up pots and place them and their fragments into her burlap sack for ease of carrying them back up. Her eyes squinting though as she tries to catch if anything glints or give hints of being worth something beneath the pieces.
Jera takes his arrows with the strings attached and decides to clean up the little pieces. He picks up three small fragments of broken pots and then ties them to his arrows, shooting them out on the water. When he hears the satisfied tinkling of broken ceramic through the water, he pulls the strings back.
Siyu looks into his wagon, he's just sort of waiting for people to come to him. But while he waits! He'll work on a fire, someplace to dry off...a cloths line. Oh tea! Tea is good. Tea...prehaps a stew. The rodent just sort of putters as a domestic while the others are in the deep water.
Bite stops and rises as she sees the pots, hissing to the others as loudly as she can "Sssweetie those look like objects of worship, bring them back to the pool. He mentioned not having as many followers, maybe something of sentiment would be nice." before she dives right back down, looking for the stone they seek.
Selena takes a few moments to wave over to Dio. "Hello to you as well. I don't suppose I can get a quick rundown of what's been heppening here?" She asks curiously to nobody in particular - what with most of the beings already underwater - walking around the perimeter of the 'lake' and peering in at the beings moving around below the surface - assuming she can see them.
Kalt blinks as she comes across something while filling up her bag with as many whole pots and fragments as possible, her right hand reaching for her sword which she uses to cut and shove some of the weeds away fromt he top of the half buried brass box... Which then brings up another problem as she noticed it lacked anything for gripping it. She quickly stuck the sword into the much and weeds next to it, so as to serve as a marker as she moved to one of the pillars and used the vines as a grip while climbing until she was free above the water. Gasping as she moves to set the burlap sack on the ledge. "M'needin' a rope or pulley an' such, got sumptin' big I found!"
Jera blinks. At first he thinks it may be a trick of the unsteady light and the odd refraction that the bubble around his head must be causing. And then he rules it off as a ruined remnant, perhaps a stone block. But the dark shape he spies distracts him so much that he doesn't even land his next rain of trash arrows, the weighted arrows sinking back into the water. The kit fox decides to investigate, walking over to the thing he saw with cartoonish bouncing steps to get a closer look, and waving with large motions to try to attract other swimmers' attentions.
Angus scrounges around in the muck, walking past a few of the pots as he passes by Bite before Jera catches his attention. He starts making his way over to the fox, trying hard not to get stuck in the muck as he wonders what they had found, the bright light around him illumination anything near by.
Cassidy opts not to go -too- deep. Hanging around where there's at least some light, and while she doesn't have a bag she does go about scooping up any rubble she might find in the lakebed, as much as she can carry in her arms, moving her knife to her muzzle, clutching it between her teeth.
"Jus' some clean up fer an' ol' spirit it seems," Dio replies to Selena. "Spirit's tellin' us that there might be somethin' interesting down there and we can keep whatever we might find." The lion turns around once he notices Bite and nods his head. "Got ya, lass. Bring 'em up 'ere an' we'll transport 'em over there," he replies, getting ready to perform just that.
Siyu just sort of watches out on the water, he cranesh is eyes and keeps looking. He gives a faint little hm. waiting as the various things are bubbling and ready at the shoreline, "You guys need help!" he calls out.
Siyu throws that rope then, well, at least there's a bobber on the end of it first, at least casting it as far as he can.
Bite turns tail to follow Angus, but stops for a moment and thene swims up to the surface. "Sssweeties, going to need a lot of help. I think it's a creator altar? It's broken and in pieces." she hisses before returning towards the others. She'll need help regardless, should see what they found first before acting.
Selena raises an eyebrow. "Creator altar? Why would there be something like that in a place like this?" She asks curiously, watching the rope sail out over the lake for a few moments, then shivering a little at the sight of the water. "Trying to pull anything that large out of the water is probably going to make everyone here glad that it IS in pieces." The wolfess sets herself down by the side of the lake. "I don't have a spare pulley assembly on me though, so getting things up is going to be a bit difficult. What else do you need, anything at all?"
Angus bending down to see if he can lift it, getting his hands underneath the heavy stone. He tries for a few minutes, grinding his teeth together as he tugs on it heavily, before giving up on that idea, letting it go as he looks to Jera, then points up towards where Siyu and his pully system roughly was.
Cassidy tugs her rubble and scraps to the surface, taking in a sharp breath as she lays the junk out on the shore to be taken later. Looking amongst the others at the surface, she frowns. "Anyone find anything neat while I was down there? Doesn't look like I managed to," she says, casting a glance over the things she had brought up.
Dio reaches to his chest and switches out his soulgems for something a bit better at heavy lifting. He makes his way towards the rope and prepares to help pull things up should anyone tie something on.
Kalt nods and jumps out to take hold of the rope as her weighted boots drag her back down to the bottom, her lungs full of air again she spies the alter in question and begins to make her way over with the line... After all, creator ruins trumped anything she had found probably, and she could always go back to. She works hard to wrap the line around one of the sections of the altar, before giving an indicating series of tugs on the rope to signify it was as taunt as she thought she could make it. Stepping back then to let the folks on top get to work as she kicks off back to her find to begin to dig in the muck and weeds around it with her right arm while she still had some workable breath.
Jera realizes that he's never going to lift it without enlisting Angus' help. He signs something, hoping that Angus can understand sign language, and then kicks his way to the surface with the help of a few slicing zephyrs propelling him to the surface. He takes another deep breath to freshen his lungs, and then the kit fox seems to grow much larger all of a sudden, two heads sprouting on his shoulders. And now, he takes /three/ deep breaths before sinking back down, trying to lift the object he found.
Siyu gets ready with the pull line, a simple bite collar at the end of the line, basic rigging that's used in the shipping industry. THe latest adventures in logging and the blockade has introduced him to quite a lot of ship techniques. He'll make sure everything is ready to pull, "All right when you're ready I'll need strong backs. I can't pull all of this on my own after all." the rodent in his shorts calls out.
Bite giggles as she decides what to do, moving towards the shore and calling upon her dedication. After a short bit tentacles form at her legs, coming up to grab the rope with Siyu. "Let's do it sssweetie."
Selena shakes her head. "Believe me when I say I won't be of much help at the rope." She replies simply, instead focussing her attention on the waters ahead, pulling it up from the bottom of the lake forcefully enough to ease the difficulty of lifting the items - though not enough to give the beings caught in the upcurrent any problems beyond the slight roiling brought to the surface as the water is displaced.
It takes a little effort, but with everyone helping on the line and under Angus' direction, the ropes hold and the huge stone remnant is dragged towards the shore. The process is painstakingly repeated three times, and it's likely everyone's sore by the end of it all, but there's still more to be done.
The find isn't that impressive - mostly covered with aquatic weeds and slimy in parts with algae, but easily mistaken for three simple boulders. The lines are worn and weathered, but still recognisable for what they are - the remnants of an old dedication, although one can't really tell what it is.
After all three stones have been lifted Angus stops for a second to stare at Jera, a little surprised to find they were a Cerberus before he moves back to the Surface to take another deep breath. That done he sinks once more and starts searching, allowing his golden glow to help illuminate anything that could be of intrest as he clears out the trash.
Cassidy eyes the altar quietly, humming for a moment before shrugging and diving back into the water, herself, searching around with her hands to see what else she can dig up. Hopefully something interesting, this time!
After all that heavy lifting, Dio takes a moment to relax and sit down while looking at the strange artifact. "Wonder who could've tossed this thing out their wagon," he jokes while laying against the grass.
Kalt finds herself sinking down once more as she had finished clearing most of the muck and weeds, her right hand hooking under the edge of the brass box as she moves to try and stand it up... Which with one hand, is beyond annoying to do. Though she does see the illumination of Angus, and is quick to try and wave/flail for his attention as she stands next to the box. Hopeful he can figure out she may need someone with two working arms, and size, to help her bring it to the surface. Figuring she didn't need the whole pulley system after all for it, given how tired they were after all.
Jera swims much, much faster in the water with three heads, needing only the main head to breathe properly. Left and Right tilt to either side of his body and then starts to blow a steady stream of purified air bubbles to propel him forward towards Kalt, helping her to stand the box upright to make room for others to help. The stream of bubbles rise to the surface, leaving a clear trail behind for those at the surface...
Siyu is a bit excited and he chitters a little bit and wets his lips at the three pieces. He goes to grab some logs, rollers and e wets his lips, "There we go, it's like a puzzle!" he says with a chitter, "While the rest of you are out cleaning the lackbed I think I can just...roll them together, find the right pattern." he takes a bucket, cleaning off the muck, the weeds. A scraper and trying to clean them off once they are on shore. And then when they're all clean, try to rotate and roll them together to form their pattern. He wont' actaully do anything to it. Just try to solve their puzzle.
Cassidy glances over towards Kalt, frowning. She still hadn't found anything, so she might as well go see what it was they needed! Even as someone else goes over, she continues on to see what she could do to help out.
Bite is done with the altar, so she sways over towards the others and decides to lend a hand, and a few tentacles, giggling a bit as she splashes upon approach. She begins the attempted lift.
Selena chuckles as the lion makes his comment on the find, shaking her head. "Well, fancy that." She comments somewhat bemusedly, wasting no time in gazing over the broken up relic before her attention returns to the water as Jera's bubbles rise to the surface en masse. "Just be careful with the pieces. If there's something missing it might be difficult to tell at first. Look at the weathering - and when it broke some fragments could've easily fallen out. It's entirely possible the stone's still brittle in some places courtesy of the spells on it and the results of that erosion. It'd be nice to have an image of the internal parts of the point beforeit's rolled together, so if you'd bear with me a minute..." She replies over her shoulder, producing another upcurrent at the source of the bubbling on the surface. "
It's not hard for Siyu to fit the pieces in his mind like a jigsaw puzzle - there are only three pieces to deal with, after all. The carvings are still appropriately esoteric, but at least it's easy to see that it's large enough to lay a being on, and indeed, the top has a vaguely being-shaped hollow just for that purpose - or so it would seem. Meanwhile, the box gives a little resistance, having being lodged in the muddy lakebed for who knows how long, but comes free with enough effort, throwing up huge clouds of muddy silt in the water.
Kalt works with the aid of the others to get the box up to the surface, grabbing hold of a ledge and finally pulling her way ashore as she works to drag it back from the ledge. Realizing she left her sword behind, she's quick to head back to her gear... Pulling out a axe, she returns to the box to sit and look over the latch for damage. Mainly checking to see if it was corroded shut, or if there was a special trick. "Let's see here..."
Angus turns to look as he notices Kalt waving to him, but when he realizes that both Jera and Cassidy were already moving in to give her aid he turns back to picking up the junk around him, seeing if he could find anything of use as he cleaned up the place.
Cassidy peers at Kalt, brow furrowing as the larger vixen fetches an axe. "I'm not sure if you should be smashing it open with that. Do we even know if it's locked? Even if it is, surely there's a better way." She rubs at one of her ears, peering down at the box. "I'm not so great with locks, but... Maybe someone else is?"
"It's copper. How tough could it be to break down? Why are we all just staring at it?" Jera grunts as he looks at the box carefully. He points his fingers at a hinge, making sure to aim away from the box, and then just blasts a little arc of sharp wind, making sure to control his force to not damage the contents of it if he could.
Kalt is moving to slip the edge of the axe into the seal as the hinge is attacked by Jera, using it as a lever to try and push it open. "Aw don't go gettin' too worried. Ain't like we're smashin' it willy nilly. 'Sides we can tie it shut again if'n need be."
Selena looks over at Bite before looking back at the locked box. "I should be able to get a lot of the rust off, but unless you want me to risk tampering with the lock I'll leave that be." She replies, taking what appears to be a file from her bag, using earth magic to soften the metal under the rust before shearing it away with the file - taking a moment to move back as Jera blasts it with wind.
Siyu finishes his moving the rocks and he's more focused suddenlyon the box, "Wait wait, woah woah...hold on hold ON...just relaxing all right. What is it ,a sealed box on the bottom of the lack, can I please at least look at it before yo ury and...blow it...up..."
Jera's and Selena's little efforts aid Kalt in prying the box open, which is does, with an ugly sound of shearing metal and ripping hinges. The stale air within has caused quite the pressure difference from within, and there's a loud pop as it's finally equalised. Within lies...an old bow, and what looks like a suit of scales. They don't look overly practical, perhaps largely for ceremonial purposes, but certainly have value as antiques, at least.
Bite watches curiously as they open the box, blinking as the pop occurs, before she looks awe-struck. "Look at that! We can properly worship the great snake with this!" she says as she tries to reach over people and inspect the scales up close, the bow not quite her interest although it looks really neat. "Oh we should do it now, I'm going to put it on when we report to mister snake." she hisses with a bit of glee. She seems oblivious to the idea of sharing this object.
Selena looks back over at the serpent as the chest flicks open. "What kind of things did you find, hmm?" She asks curiously, aparrently not too fussed herself about the contents but still curious what was there. "It's not every day you find one someting so cliched as a footlocker with unusual things stuck in them in some ruins." She chuckles.
Angus had no idea there was loot to be had up on the shore, still working dilligently to clean up the debris down on the lake bed as his spirit asked as he turns and starts heading back to shore, his arms loaded with the rubble that he collected down there to deposit on the surface.
Cassidy peers at Bite, frowning. "As long as you don't plan on leaving with it," she comments before looking towards the bow with a thoughtful hum. "What should we do with these? Doesn't really look like much of a weapon... I'm not sure how well it'd stand up to the kind of use I put mine through."
Kalt growls slightly as she's crowded and reached over, idly tapping tapping Bites hand as she looks to the Enthusiastic woman. "Aw don't go claimin' nuttin' just yet you here, you ain't the only folk round here... Pluss, you weren't the one that found it, went an' digged it out, and then with help got it up an' opened up. M'figurin' if'n anybody's gettin' first say at dibs it'll be me. So let's just step back an' go lookin' at what's inside now." The Vixen's hand setting the axe on the ground as she moves to pull the bow and scale armor out to be laid out on the floor. "We gotta bow, an' we got some sorta suit... Now s'this armor, or just fancy decoration..." The vixen's brow furrowing as she inspected the suit of scales, not too keen on folks calling dibs before her it seemed!
"I can get the bow appraised by the windrunners. If it is anything more than just a very old bow they will be the first ones to know." The kit fox wrinkles his nose, water a terrible thing to expose a bow of any kind to. He takes a few steps closer to scrutinize the weapon a little.
Siyu gives a faint shrug as everyone is around the box. There were amphora brought up right! He'll lay all the amphora out, resting them along, checking for markings, sizing, anything of itneresting seeing which ones might still be sealed. As everyone is around the chest he'll examin the pieces of stone and the jugs and what not. At least te lake is clean now.
Bite looks to Kalt and the item, and hisses "Maybe it makes angry folks come to their senses faster, or maybe it makes lightning fly true. But, I'm willing to bet it is some kind of ceremonial garment due to its location, the other things we found, and its appearance." She doesn't move to take it but looks at it closer. "If you're that keen on keeping it, can you get it looked at so it can be duplicated, so that others can wear something similar and maybe revive this place of worship?" The serpent giggles and stretches as she inspects it.
Selena simply settles back and continues to watch, shaking her head a little and murmuring something to Angus.
Kalt smirks gently to herself as she inspect the scales noddding to herself before looking to Jera. "Figurin' that'd be the best bet an' all, get the bow checked to see if'n it's just ceremonial." She nods to herself then as she picks up the scale armor and looks to Bite. "M'fine with gettin' it looked over. If'n I was you, I'd be more concerned 'bout why there were creator tech here he said nuttin'bout... 'Sides, he told us to keep anything we find. M'figurin' if'n it does get told to me that it's nuttin' more then ceremonial, then I'll treck it on back. If'n it's not, then it gets replicated. Fair deal either way." She smiles to Bite, her hand feeling the scales between her fingers as she looks to the bow then jera. "same with that bow if'n it's soundin' fair to you fella?"
"Fair deal. Though I don't think you can replicate this that easily..." Jera looks at the dripping fangs of the snake curled around the upper limb suspiciously, nocking one of his arrows and watching the discolored liquid drip onto the arrowhead, turning the silver head discolored. "This bow was made to work under any condition. The snake's scales are green, purposely rusted copper lightly glazed afterwards. It must have taken years to make this." The todd's voice trembles with awe.
Bite nods to Kalt. "Well sssweetie, how about we duplicate it anyhow. He said he was lonely didn't he? Maybe if people saw them for sale someplace they would consider coming by." she hisses with a smile. "Let's get them examined, I'm taking some of these pots down to the sanctum before we leave." she adds with a smirk. "And mayb a few should go with us..."
Angus blinks a little as he turns to Selena, shrugging a bit as he dropes the debris off. Turning back once more he goes on onnnnneee more voyage into the lake to try and fish out the rest of the debree, and to possibly see if he can find anything.
Cassidy tilts her head, looking at the bow. "That's... Quite a weapon, certainly. I'm a little jealous of whoever walks out of here with such a thing..." She folds her hands behind her back, tail twitching anxiously. "And all I found was a bunch of rubble... Maybe I'll have to go raid some other ruins out there and try to find something." As it is, she turns and slinks back towards her own equipment with a little scowl, starting to regarb herself as she glances around the place. "I wonder if Kendrac has a temple place I can loot. He sounds like a rather militaristic fellow. Might have some fancy weapons laying around."
Selena shakes her head. "As far as I'm aware, there's no such temple for Kendrac." She replies to the fennec, rubbing her forehead. "And if there is, he's never mentioned one."
Siyu was just lookin at the jars, and the stuff, and he keeps doing that
An upwelling of water, a surge of foam, and Ser'ther's serpentine form peers out of the lake, snaking upwards over the group. ~Children, children, that's enough. I did say you could keep anything you found. These used to belong to those who revered me before you, and I have no use for them. Although-~ his 'eyes' focus on Bite, then at the mound of rubble on the lakeshore- ~the thought is appreciated. Do find a way to clean all of this up before you go, though. To tell the truth, I've been amused by this rather interesting display, but there can be too much of a good thing. Kendrac, stuffy fellow as he is, will be awfully cross with me if I let this snake out of control. 'Causing unnecessary strife', he calls it. Oh, and my little caller?~ he pauses a moment, then spits something on the grass. ~You missed a spot. I cleaned it up for you. Are there any questions before I leave?~
Angus blinks as he steps out of the lake once more, nodding as he hears Ser'thers voice and goes over to inspect the item that they had spat out. "Thank you for allowing use to keep that which we found, and I assure you that we will clean the rest of it up." He answers as he gives the spirit a smile
Cassidy clicks her tongue. "No Kendrac temple? That's too bad... Maybe one of the other ones will. Or maybe I can go hunt down those Old Ones I heard about. I'm sure they've got some kind of treasures sitting around that I could liberate... Nasty things usually do. What'sherface. The bone person. I heard about that one... Wonder where they are..." She rubs her chin in idle musing. "I don't really know much about these spirits... I should try to find out more. Ah well." Maybe that Puzzler fellow had a place to liberate treasure from...
Kalt nods to Bite as she stands, taking the armor to the burlap sack to be placed in. "Ain't got no problems with that. M'sure plenty of folks would like to replicate it." She does dip her head to Ser'ther as she adjusts the sack before moving to pick up the rubble as well... Though part way through through she stops and looks up to the spirit as she clears her throat. "Uhm, Ser'ther sir, if'n I could just ask a lil' humble question an' such... But you wouldn't be happenin' to know a spot where folks could go round... Callin' to Adrestia by chance?" Not waiting long then the Vixen is back to quickly cleaning up the pieces of rubble.
"I'll see if I can get a copy made." Jera directs towards Cassidy.
Siyu just loads some of the more interesting jugs onto his cart and he finishes cleaning up the pullies and the ropes, offering tea and strew, though he thinks the majority of beings are just gonna keep arguing, just sort of doing his own thing as he'll finish cleaning, "So what do we do with the alter?" he asks about the half asembled thing.
Bite smiles and nods to Kalt, getting up to leave before the great snake comes to speak to them. She giggles when she is looked at and nods, collecting what she cann and preparing to load it off, before she hears Kalts question and looks rather curious at the answer.
Selena raises an eyebrow as Kalt queries the serpent, clearing her throat. "Wulf's a caller of Adrestia, I know that much. She mentioned having met up with the spirit in the eastbank forest." She replies to the fox, still seemingly at least a little irreverant. "You might just be able to inquire and ask for another spirit to call them for you." She notes. As for the dedication point-esque object, she simply says - "Considering there's a boat trip required to get to and from the ruins, I'd have to say leave it here for the time being, or take it across in parts. As much as I'd like to whisk it away and study it myself, I don't exactly think it'd be feasible to do so."
The spirit does not 'speak' directly, but appears to be holding a private conversation with Kalt. When that is over, he vanishes straight back into the pool with little more than a ripple.
