Earthshaker Earth Shakers - RPLOG
From Rusted Promises
Participants
Date
25/7/476
Log
An early morning in Eastbank Forest, just after dawn. One would probably have expected to hear birdsong so early, but the air is deathly silent, thanks to a noticeable lack of animal life out and about. A black bear in a green, long-sleeved uniform and wide-brimmed hat lounges by the parth at the forest's periphery, awaiting the arrival of the group of Freeswords from Firmament.
Shaytalis is first to arrive from Firmament, approaching the black bear and nodding to him. Looking over his uniform, she asks, "Have you requested the assistant of the Freeswords? My name is Shaytalis. I understand that the earth has been trembling."
Leian was wandering through the woods, playing her flute, when she felt the tremors and saw the animals fleeing. She had headed in the direction they came from with a curious look in her eyes as she looked about at those who were near by " Whats going on? I felt the ground quaking and saw animals fleeing. Is everything alright?"
There is a birdlike screech from above as a shadow crosses over those gathered. A Raven/Panther hybrid griffon has arrived, and it has a rider! Seems these two have worked together like this in the past, for the flyer comes in for a gentle landing that has it prancing for a bit after coming down so as not to jostle the rider too much. Yes, this means the bird has a harness complete with saddle, but it doesn't seem to mind it.
Always in need of a little coin here and there to support his wonderful meat 'n' drink habbits, along with being fueld by his typical high amount of curioisty, a lion strolls in through the forest just shortly after the others. With a tuck at his coat, smoothing out any creases along the way, he ventures forth with a prideful smile to make contact with the bear. "'ello there lad," Dio waves. "I hear you've been 'avin' some strange problems as of late."
Ictus looks down from the air as he rides the griffon and sighs, "I still don't know how you talked me into this..." he isn't afraid of heights at least, he looks around as he gets off of Mazurek once he is able and waves to the others, "So, ee're looking to see what caused the tremors I'm guessing?"
Lidiya makes her way along, showing up a bit late mostly because she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to be on the job or not, it's a lazy day. But, the chance at some extra coin and an excuse to goof off won out. At the sight of the gryphon, she glances around, making sure no one's taking a joke out, then shakes her head and continues on. She'd be muttering if it were possible.
Selena makes her way to the forest on foot, unusual for the woman. Familiar faces are greeted with waves, though she does stiffen momentarily when she recognizes Leian. The moment passes quietly enough and soon she's back to her usual disposition when strange events are concerned; "I'm surprised there's a problem with tremors here, of all places." She comments, glancing around the forest before her eyes settle on the bear. "I doubt it's magic for something of that scale, but depending on how brash a group of beings could be..." She sighs, rubbing her forehead for a moment. "I suppose my question is, is it a natural earthquake? If not, what's the cause? I'm sure the wildlife would be grateful if there wasn't another, if not us for being told what's up."
The bear eyes the group, then chews on a cigarette in his teeth. "You're the lot that came all the way from town? From the way Zarine was acting, I thought he was going to hire the entire Good King's army to come down here and sort things out. Well, well..." He draws on his cigarette a moment, then grinds out the stub under the sole of his boot. "I'm Ash. One of the forest wardens, in the name of the Good King and all. And yes, the earth has been shaking over the last couple of days - three or four, give or take. At first, we thought they were just flukes, folk messing around in the quarry, but Granite tells me they haven't done any blasting since the whole business with the Gallows. We have no idea if they're antural or not, no one's dared go check."
"The little lady here -" he gives a nod to Leian - "has it somewhat right. Animals aren't hiding like they ought to be, 'least they make some noise when they're doing just that. They're running scared. To be frank, we're running scared, too - nothing quite like this has ever happened before. All sorts of folk wandering into the forest, looking for spirits, then there was that mysterious lightning bolt that came down outta nowhere, made me worried that we were going to have another forest fire - whatever it is, go in, find it, and put a stop to it. You, and only you, can do it - because I know by the Creators, no one around these parts is stepping into the forest like under these conditions. Not me, leastways. Questions?"
Shaytalis nods, looking to the others, "Is anyone an expert regarding earth magic? I am well practiced, but I am not in a soul that specializes in that study." Looking into the woods, "I don't move very quietly in armor. Is anyone planning to sneak ahead, or shall we all move as a unit? I can fire from a range or fight in the front line, it does not matter."
Leian tilts her head slightly as she watches the bear with a sway of her tail a moment " So your looking for someone to check? Why haven't you check yourselves? I'm curious whats going on, but I am no fighter. Maybe there is something else I can do, if need be, to help, if I can?" she tilts her head a bit, ears flicking softly
The griffon hunkers down to give the Kitsune less distance to drop to the ground before rising to its feet again. Another squawk, this time much more muted, is followed by actual speech, "I talked you into it by convincing you to make a saddle so the risk of falling off would be next to nil." The obviously-male creature shakes himself a bit, only to fluff the feathers and begin preening, "I have some knowledge of Earth Math, but not quite enough to check on anything useful."
With a few more people arriving, and finally noticing some familiar faces, Dio gives them a small wave and smile in his typical fashion and returns to listening to the rather aptly named smoking bear. "A lightnin' bolt you say," the lion comments, rubbing at his chin. "I'm guessin' the treamors started happenin' after the bolt of lightning?" He looks about at the others and smiles reassuringly. "Don't worry about it if yer not the fightin' type. I'll watch out for ya! And who's to say there's a frightenin' monster out there? Regardless, we should start investigatin'"
Ictus stiffens at Shay's voice and growls a little, though he doesn't pay any attention to her as he addresses the griffon with a sigh, "Yeah... Yeah, I know." he looks to Dio and peers at the lion before he nods, "Yeah, I'll help too." he ponders a bit though as he looks around, "Though I don't know much about Earth Math myself..."
Lidiya shrugs and raises her hand at the question of earth math. It's something she does well, though admittedly mostly she uses it to break things. She hefts her hammer up over her shoulder, draping it across both before hooking her arms over it and making her way over closer to the bear, still giving the... strange pair an odd look from time to time. Her ears begin to twitch at a familiar voice and she waves her over, Selena that is.
Selena raises a hand. "Yes. Do you have any idea where the epicenter was?" She asks simply. "If not the quarry, then it's somewhere in the forest. if we've got a guide to go on, it'd be easier than trying to digure it out ourselves now the quakes have passed. There would definitely be marks left from the quake, but it's certainly not the usual branch of earth magic I work with. As for why beings aren't running in to check, not everyone is terribly fond of unexplained occurances in a region that's recently been re-occupied by Thunderhooves and had a bandit attack causing a cave-in not even a week ago in the general vicinity." Lidiya's given a wave back as she approaches the jackal. "Lidiya and I both know our share of earth magic if need be, to reiterate."
Ash rolls his eyes at Leian's question and gives Selena a nod. "As I said, no one dares go in there alone. There're only a handful of us wardens, and most folk around these parts are hunters, herb pickers, old grannies collecting firewood, you know the drill. That's why we hired this lot, to do the job we won't. I take it you want to go in with them? Suit yourself." And to Dio, "nah, that lightning was some time ago, week or two ago. Can't rightly say they would be connected, but can't say they aren't, either. But if the wolf lass there thinks the source is magical, then doubly so no one's going in. Good thing you're prepared, then."
"There is something I've got you can go on, though," he says after thinking a bit in response to Selena's question. "Granite and his boys at the quarry are pretty sure the tremors are strongest near the lake. You know, the one with the odd totem that's been around forever, near the heart of the woods. I guess you could start looking there - this trail will eventually take you to it, if you're so minded."
Indeed, the dirt trail stretches ahead of the group, long and inviting - or it would have been, if not for the silence. Shafts of sunlight pierce through the canopy, and the undergrowth is thin - for now. Certainly nothing could go wrong, would it?
Shaytalis asks, "Do you have an idea of how far-reaching the quakes have been? How large of an area? We could use that information to determine a likely epicenter by the truth of Pi."
Leian's tail sways behind her and she frowns a bit at the rolling eyes a moment " I did not mean it that way! I meant, maybe send a scout to take a quick peek so as to learn what to possibly expect.. Didn't think about doing such?"
Mazurek smirks, somehow managing it with a beak, "If a scout is needed, I can easily do that. I can fly around and report back as needed. If someone wants to join me, I can accomodate a rider. Maybe have some fire support if things get ugly."
"Hmmm..." Dio took a long, hard look at the mentioned dirt path. He had to admit, it certainly did look very inviting and indeed, there was nothing that could go wrong on such. Nothing at all. "I'm gonna head down 'n' see that totem," the lion says with near palpable excitement. At first, he begins a minor jog in his place, and then starts taking off down the path! Perhaps it would've saved him some time if he'd taken the offer for a ride, but there are too many exciting things to focus on!
Ictus nods as he looks to Selena and hmms a bit, "True." he waves to Lidiya as well before looking to Ash, "Well, the lightning was caused by a spirit if I'm not mistaken..." he looks to the others and shrugs, "The lake seems like the place to start then."
Lidiya stretches her arms out, one at a time so she doesn't have to drop the hammer. She also returns the wave to Ictus of course, once she stops laughing at the realization that he rode in on someone. Silently, but her shoulders are shaking at least. She pads over to Selena and tilts her head curiously.
Selena nods appreciatively as the bear gives his answer. "Thank you for the tip off. And Leian - Bandit attacks, Thunder hooves, cave-ins, unexplained earthquakes, spooked wildlife and we're not all soulless. It's not hard to guess." She lists with a sigh. "And even we're not immortal. I say we check the lake first. It's our only lead, and better to start checking for the cause there. Besides; it takes two points to find the center of a quake." she comments, then looks back to Lidiya and taps the jackal on the shoulder as she queries; "That's an odd look. What's the occasion? What I said is true unless you've not used earth magic those few times." Her voice raises a little as she walks a short distance along the trail; "Well, the sooner we get this done the better."
"We certainly thought about it," Ash says as he lights up another cigarette. "Been thinking really long and hard about it, three nights in a row in my bunk. Actually getting around doing it...well, that's another matter, lass. As for how far the quakes reach, just walk in and you'll start feeling them. Never had that much of a head for math of any sort myself, that's why I'm a forest warden. No math, see? Now please..." he extends a large paw towards the inviting trail, then points at Dio, already in the fore. "I don't think I have much more to say. Do get about the job we hired you to do, yes? Fly, jog, run, whatever."
Carefully, cautiously, the group advances along the path Dio's set for them. Hey, when there's danger, nothing better than having someone willingly be bai- take charge and be in the lead, right? Nothing happens for a good fifteen minutes, and suddenly, the group feels the first of the tremors. This one's nothing powerful, certainly not enough to throw anyone off balance, but a sudden scuttling from the forest undergrowth prompt's everyone's attention, especially Dio, who is in the lead. The lion manages to leap out of the way as a small swarm of skrith pour out from their now-collapsed nest, which had just taken the last straw in its beating over the previous handful of days. The insects don't seem particularly angry or vicious, but seem to just want out as quickly and expidently as possible - which means coming down the path straight at the group.
Shaytalis holds out her hands towards the swarm, "Wolves. Let me assist you in forming a barrier. I can assist you."
Leian yelps in surprise at the sight of the large swarm a moment, before pulling her flute up to her muzzle and immediately beginning to play from it. A wind begins to kick up around the area a bit more strongly than mere moments before, dropping and falling rapidly with her tune as she plays, her tail swaying behind her rapidly.
With nobody accepting the offer for a ride, the Griffon takes flight to soar through the sky above the group, watching out for anything out of the ordinary. Well, out of the ordinary being something other than the swarm of Skrith that appears on the path. The Griffon beats his wings swiftly to hover in place and watch what the group is doing. Thankfully he has some training in the magics of Earth Maths and focuses on directing it to assist the others. He has the height advantage here and can see where the magic needs to form for the insects to travel safely around the group.
The lion was happily jogging about on the dirt path, almost assured that nearly nothing could wrong as per his first deduction. With a whistle and a skip, he nearly collides into a nasty mess of gigantic skirth, causing him to leap and tumble out of the way onto the floor. Hearing a bit of magic popping off behind him, Dio decides, with his very little knowledge of such subjects, to head out of the way and assist only if necessary.
Ictus hmms? at the swarm and winces as he steps to the side, towards a tree, grabbing a branch he pulls himself up a little so he isn't on the ground and watches the proceedings, "Well, that should've been expected..."
