097: An old lighthouse
General Summary
At the end of his Venerable lifespan, the elven mage known as Alberto had survived to the extensive age of 849, and on the eve of his 850th birthday he found himself mere moments away from the completion of a goal that had taken him near to a century of consistent hard work.
Ever since the Isle of Arcani had made contact with Betoros, nay even time before that Alberto had long since been fascinated by the impassable barrier which had destroyed all those who had attempted to pass it, and later would be incredibly intrigued by the experiences of the expedition and their passage through the sea there.
Perhaps as consequence of strange herbs, or by usage of various crystals, Alberto had once seen into a place beyond the veil. Not the great continents that composed the world of the mirage, but instead smaller islands and their ships, seafaring kingdoms at war.
Once he had seen this, then regardless of it's validity, he determined with his incredible power as a teleportation mage, and one whose research had originally aided in founding the waygates between Arcani and Betoros he could perhaps manifest this unseen reality, pierce the veil in such a fashion that perhaps it would further expand the world his people knew.
This drove him to his great project, a veilpiercing artifacts of a lighthouse to open it to the world beyond. And after near to a century of hard work; he finally had come close to achieving his goal, yet as physical and Arcane strength had all but left his body. Only by relying on others could he complete his great work.
By requesting aide, a member of the adventurer's guild would come by to his abode. A simple request; find the crystals that contractors had stored in the basement, and feed it to the awaiting vessel at it's top. Such simplicity would surely be completed within a day's work.
Yet a week would pass with no word, Therefore, a second call with greater promises would be issued and this time, four members of the future Chaos Armada along with one Aiko Di Wulfe would respond to his request. Where they would be sent to the lighthouse of his creations.
the lighthouse was composed of three stories, with a rectangular base and two circular upper layers, the circular layers having their exterior and interior inscribed with runes of arcane purpose. Though the only thing these ritualistic writings was a sufficient source of the arcane energy it desperately required. a problem soon to be resolved by the intrepid adventurers whom would soon enter the place.
Upon entering the building the party would discover numerous molds being propagated within the lighthouse, whilst some could be explained by the marsh-like surroundings, the virility and vitality of the plants was certainly eye catching.
Of their first goals the party would uncover a "hidden" trap door, which would lead to the cellar below. Hacking away and driving tendrils of the violet fungus nearby they would enter down into it's depths and find that the forespoken chest containing the crystals of their search had been broken into and it's contents stolen.
Further exploration would have Aiko discover the presence of a mosslike residue left behind by some creature and coat her blades in it's chemical creation - a tool to later be used in an upcoming fight as she and her party would shortly discover a rat-eaten corpse of a man in the following room, one who had tried to escape, only to find that he was trapped - the door having sturdily shut behind him, and numerous small foes having devouring his limbs in fury and hunger.
The good chemist Theodore would examine the injuries and find a strange creature too had been part of the melee that had ended this adventurer's life. Now wary of whatever creature lurked nearby, he and Brutus together would prepare themselves as what appeared to have been a break within the Cellar, firing a flare and into the dark depths and receiving infuriated roars of anguish as their reward.
Charging forward, they would be met with a massive jotun blooded otyugh, who sought to kill and maim his attackers. The brutish creature attacking with full force, and tearing into the shark-man Brutus as it expressed it's full rage against these infiltrators who were attempting to harm it.
It's rage would shortly be put to rest as the coated blades of Aiko would sink into it's flesh and render it unconscious. An opening promptly used by her allies in order to put the beast to permanent rest.
Once slain they would investigate the home the creature had made for itself, looting the junk it had collected and finding the hole that led to the depths of the Arcani Sewer from which this creature had once escaped from in it's bid to pursue both life and freedom.
Recovering the crystals that the creature had scavenged they would attempt to climb upwards. Brutus scaling the tree that had grown in the lighthouse's heart, and approaching the second level, dropping a rope to his fellows, whereupon he would be beset by those who had oh so carefully cultivated the numerous molds found within the lighthouse - the Boggards.
The leader of these creatures charged forth and promptly set against the sharklike man, wounding him by bashing the sailor over the head with a club, whose strange impact left the man bleeding all over by a consequent curse.
Soon, they would discover that rather than a simple Boggard Shaman, the creature was in fact a Devil. Whose infernal magics and force had rendered Brutus unconscious by the end of combat. - A dangerously tense moment for this group, as one of the other two boggards present raised his great lub over their head with the intent to greatly club the shark and end their life.
Yet, this moment would not come to pass, by the alacrity of Naffy who leapt from Theodore's shoulder to heal her fallen comrade, successfully channeling the healing energy within her to overcome the Devil's taint, and the intuition of Theodore whose holy water dispelled the Devil's image unto the other two boggards, whose realization and betrayal resulting in a surging cowardice that had them flee, or try to - with only one successfully escaping the deadly dance of Aiko's blades.
The Devil himself however would meet his end at the business end of the Captain Roseabelle's breath. Whose sudden surge of energy would blast a hole through their body and leave them furious and disappointed in it's death.
With a moment's rest the good chemist Theodore would take but a moment to recover his formulae and attempt to harvest blood from the Devil's body. Obtaining fuel for future research and a useful spell component in the right kind of ritual. Awaiting the concern of reinforcing boggards who... never came.
Once their position was certain, the party temporarily regrouped, before they would encounter - at the top of the lighthouse - a resting Wyvern who had taken up a nest there. Seeing five on one however did nothing for the Wyvern's certainty of it's odds, and with a resoundingly convincing argument from the captain, her crew, and Aiko it determined that it enjoyed being alive, and having it's wings cut off sounded like a very disappointing lizard moment.
Once claimed, these adventurers would imbue the tower with the energy it had so desperately desired. Pouring in the crystalized arcana, only to witness it being swallowed up with such greed that it consumed all of the crystals contained in their bags and only then was it finally empowered to begin the ritual of it's design.
From there, a powerful light from the lighthouse struck westward, and lashed out towards the veil. Fracturing it and destroyed a chunk as it manifested a passageway from which outpoured a great amount of fog,.. and along with the fog, the wreckage of a large ship.
Cautious, these party members would fear for the potential chaos caused by such grievous destruction of the safety veil around them and therefore seek out the wizard for answers, only to find his corpse, kneeling in self-satisfaction at the final completion of his project and the demonstration of the great success of the research he had made.
As his shack now had no owner, the party would promptly ransack the location and take both their rewards and the logs of the man's research. Though like all wizards, his research was hidden, both in text, and location, though the latter was swiftly cracked by Nymas's intuition.
For now though, the consequences of what has happened will likely be experienced from now into the future many years from now, as this group has set great events in motion.
Report Date
14 Mar 2024
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