Under Ancient Stone Part II

Slowly, so incrementally that they had had walked for almost another hundred feet before they noticed, the rough cave floor and walls gave way to ancient hewn stone and solidly placed blocks. After the initial shock had worn off, close examination of the walls began to reveal carvings. First it was just seemingly random chisel marks, but those soon gave way to runes, words, and sentences. Most of the runes were as indecipherable as those on the plinth from earlier; though Cairis was able to pick out a few here and there that bore enough similarity to hazard a guess at their meaning. The one bright spot was that neither Cairis, Alise, nor Tala's devices could detect any hints of magic in the Orrian writings. That however, changed when they found the second plinth.

A total cop-out

I was planning on releasing part 2 of Under Ancient Stone today but, well, the prep I had to do for my game tonight took far longer than I had planned. So yeah, total lame cop-out for today, but it really isn't ready yet. I promise it will be up tomorrow though.

-Matt

Under Ancient Stone

The walls of the cave glittered around them in the slight luminescence let off by Tala's armor. The diminutive Asura was several paces ahead of the rest of them, waving around a device that supposedly would detect any dangerous sections before she stepped on them, Cairis was somewhat less confident in Asuran magic after the last few mishaps with Tala's devices. She claimed to have made great progress since then, but the sections of his hair that still hadn't grown back from being singed off left him not wanting to simply take her word for it.
Behind him were the other two members of their group, Alise and Tor. The Sylvari and Norn moved with incredible silence through the rough cave, leaving Tala clinking and humming rather obviously. Alise's silence was hardly surprising. She barely weighed anything anyway--and Cairis was fairly certain that she was using some manner of air spell to silence her steps even more--Tor on the other hand was at least half again as tall as he was, and at least twice as heavy. Yet the Norn managed to move with all the grace of a dancer, avoiding every bit of loose ground or rubble that could have made any noise. Cairis himself was no slouch when it came to sneaking, but he was more than a bit awed now. He knew Tala much better than these two, having met her some years ago in Divinity's Reach. She supposedly had done work with them before, but what work that might have been was unknown to him.

From Deep Below

Hethir was barely managing to stay ahead of the tentacles and teeth that seemed to endlessly seek after him, but it seemed like he was getting better at avoiding them. It doesn't seem to be trying as hard...
Sparing a moment to glance behind him, he immediately saw why. Dozens of tentacles--and the blinded head--had become tangled up in the rigging, sails, and masts. This would be cause for celebration, except that it was now struggling to free itself, and would soon begin destroying the ship in its efforts.
Mary was casting again, though she was no longer dancing, and her spells were not having quite the obliterative effect of earlier, but the monster was clearly injured.  Garius and Michael had each grouped up a few sailors and set to keeping the tentacles away from the masts as much as possible.
Much as the man seemed like little better than a thug most of the time, Hethir had to admit that Garius had more than earned his pay on the voyage so far. Val had hidden herself in the cabin; a wise choice considering there was nothing she could do to assist in this fight. That left only Trace unaccounted for.

Wave Wreck

The Storm Hawk made progress towards the wreck slowly. Michael was approaching cautiously, letting the wind carry them well beside the wreck before closing on it. If they did need to leave, the wind would be full in their sails. As they got closer, Hethir and the others on the poop deck were able to get a clear look at the destruction which had been wreaked. The ship had once had three masts, but it had been nearly been broken in half by something, and the mast itself was missing completely, only the broken deck and lines indicated where it had once stood.

Stilled Seas

Days passed slowly for the group on board ship. While the nights were still fairly enjoyable for Hethir and Val, the gloom over the ship was nearly palpable. Ironically, the only one that knew exactly what they were sailing towards was almost painfully cheerful.
Nezys had taken to dancing around the  rigging of the ship, her projection gliding easily from one rope to the next. While it was not quite true to say she was singing--the sounds she made were too tuneless for that label--the joy expressed by the notes was unmistakable.

Wanderers in Frozen Mist

Jenn wasn't sure how they had arrived here, in this desolate frozen wilderness, but she was certain that there was a way out. There must be a way back home, back to their lives.

The four of them had been at a cafe, enjoying cocktails before their food arrived, when it started. A strange dense fog bank suddenly rolled in around them, they could hear people around them crying out in confusion and alarm, but their cries became quieter and quieter. Soon they could hear nothing at all, except each other's breathing.
"What's happening?" Chris had demanded, but no one could really give an answer to him.