The Tranquility

[Kjell Ó Raghallaigh]

Kjell, who had killed dozens of these things out there in the Mist, and would totally not be spooked by the first person that had been nice to her in recent memory, threw the stalk over her shoulder when she was done with the apple. While she was surprised to hear their motives seemed to somewhat align, this other part was a little concerning. “Am I understanding this right, most of you have never been in the field?” she asked.

[Ceutinde]

Ceutinde glanced among the others. "Well...three out of five. So yes."

[Kjell Ó Raghallaigh]

She nodded as if she’d just received a piece of information like any other and poured herself a tall glass of wine.

[Silvia Raizer]

"I've faced my share of battle, but I've never entered the Mists," Silvia remarked. "Still, there has to be a first time.  I think we could all stand to learn more about them," she said, looking hopefully at the hunter.

[Geoffrey Ravenhurst]

"Mmmm. No one has ever asked me that before. Very well. The first concern is always the Mist itself. It obscures your vision and muffles sounds. The stars and moon are hidden from sight, and sun reveals itself only via a faint glow on a sunny day. Now, it is a common misconception the Mist is like the mundane fog that creeps up the coast at dawn. This is a dangerous folly, for the Mist has as little in common with steam as a hydra has in common with a fly.

"The second concern are the hallucinations. Madness is a common fate for those in the Mist. You will sometimes hear what seem to be the voices of loved ones luring you further in, accompanied by vaguely spectral forms that could pass for sentient life. Wanderers often get lost in the fog chasing their parents or children, and when found will swear they must keep looking for them... that they are so close and they only need wander so far to finally be reunited. Of course, the truth is simpler...

"You see, there are things in the Mist that feed on fresh psychic trauma. They want what lies in your heart and soul because there is nothing else like it in the Mist, and they want to expand that meal as long as possible. That's why you will find so many parasites in the Mist that are content to live inside the bodies of Reclaimers... usually just below the back of the neck. There are spells to remove them, but they are very painful and very costly.

"If one is fortunate, they will only encounter the creatures that just want to eat your body, and not your mind and soul. There is a wide variety of such creatures and the pictures in your textbooks are rather poorly sketched. One breed that is very common I have grown accustomed to hunting for their hides is a sort of hound with a face and skin like a starfish. After they have taken down a prey with their strong claws, they use the prongs on what passes for their face to drain the blood.

"Some Mist creatures are the size of palaces, with smaller ones living on them in self-contained biomes. It is an awesome sight, if one has the stomach to bask in the encounter. One night, my father and I stayed within what we thought was a particularly humid cavern before discovering it was pstt of some sort of turtle octopus... dragon... thing. I remember it smelling of dried eggs...

"Then of course there are the... intelligent specimens. The so called Mist Lords... you will of course hear that they are demons or perhaps sorcerers that decided to carve their own fiefdoms in the Mist. I couldn't really say. One I encountered twice was as much crab as man and ruled an abandoned settlement. His decapodal minions, which I believe were his children, roosted in the brains of the local dead and commanded them as footsoldiers. The Mist Lord, whom I called Mister Crab Cakes for the sake of my sanity, was a surprisingly skilled psionicist and could communicate in a manner of speaking. He revealed nothing of value, only that he saw as a threat to his aforementioned family."

He sipped a drink. He had not spoken this much in years.

"The Mist is not so terrible once you learn its ways. There is a secret beauty I have come to admire. But I find myself greatly appreciative of this time under the stars and with people who I know are not phantoms."

[Konrad of Wolfhaven]

Jul 1, 2020 20:00:30 GMT Ceutinde said:

Ceutinde glanced among the others. "Well...three out of five. So yes."

“All the more curious when you think of it. Even the fellows on the team with some expertise are not exactly what you would call, “your average reclaimer’s guild members” he nodded politely at the hulking Herneious. “Which leads me all the more to question what exactly is going on here. The countess said there were other forces that would also seek to get their hands on this ‘power.’ Maybe the sensitivity of the target led them to their eccentric choices.”

[Silvia Raizer]

Silvia listened to the hunter, drinking up his words in fascinated awe. She scribbled a few thoughts in her notebook.

"The Mist sounds terrible yet there is a part of me that longs to experience it for myself. But then, the best bards are those who embrace life to the full."

She smiled at Herneiros. "I appreciate your insights, friend. Your expertise will surely be invaluable as we approach the Mist."

[Ceutinde]

Ceutinde looked to the young man who'd been silent thus far. "Well, Zavier? You're supposed to be the one pointing us in the right direction. Where are we going?"

[Kjell Ó Raghallaigh]

The hunter spoke well and Kjell sat very still through it, her eyes fixed on the man. What he’d not mentioned was how sometimes, the voices would follow you even when the Mist was already far behind, or how anyone lucky enough to get out would almost certainly find their way back in sooner or later. Or how sometimes, even the parasites rejected whatever shell the other horrors had left behind. She had a couple of questions for him, but they could wait.

[The Forgotten God]

Jul 1, 2020 21:57:39 GMT Ceutinde said:

Ceutinde looked to the young man who'd been silent thus far. "Well, Zavier? You're supposed to be the one pointing us in the right direction. Where are we going?"

The boy leaped at his name and then nodded repeatedly while formulating something to say. “Of of course!” He said. “Captain Demeter said that we are taking four days to travel due south to an island she called Paradisos in the Great Red Current, we follow the current for a week or so until we pass something she called the Nedrassian Serpent, then we head northeast until we reach the island she set this Navigator’s Aid to. We are meeting up there I think then consolidating the crews to go to your island itself.”

[Geoffrey Ravenhurst]

"This Nedrassian Serpent... might it perchance be a metaphorical serpent or are we in fact sailing into the lair of a sea monster?"

[Ceutinde]

"And how much time have you spent at sea? I know they tend to start your lot young." Best to change the subject. Best not to think about what the elf-man says lies in wait in the mist. What destroyed him even after he escaped.

[The Forgotten God]

Zavier was silent a moment. “Well...technically, we are sailing around the sea monster’s lair. You can supposedly tell by the cluster of wrecked ships from when it hunts. But...I’ve been eight for sailing years miss Ceutinde,” he said, again twisting his tongue.

[Geoffrey Ravenhurst]

"Hmmm... I am suddenly curious how many of those ships were sent by our employer..."

[Ceutinde]

Ceutinde blinked a few times at the mention of the sea monster's lair. "That would indeed have been useful information at the outset. At least the ship is insured." She gave a weak smile at her own feeble joke, nervously running her fingers up and down the stem of her wine glass.

But the tension was broken by the arrival of the main course - rare steak and steamed crabs' legs - from below. "Ah, lovely. I thought a touch of extravagance best for the beginning of our time together. Enjoy." And then she did her best to think about eating, rather than being killed by a sea serpent.