With temperatures rising over 143°C (289.40°F) in most areas, the only relief is during the nights when it is much cooler. All travelers are advised to keep to the local towns on the desert's outskirts and avoid traveling too far from civilization. (+3 Endurance, +2 Defense)

Moderator: Retired Staff

Return to Wilt'no Desert

Lost in the Desert [War Training; private-ish]

Postby ArtsyAlraune » 10/16/2007 11:54 AM

ImageImageImage

Enyon --- Temrer --- Matoya*


"Come on, you two! Hurry up!" Enyon called to her companions below. She was flying through the air, previously searching for something before she redirected her focus on the others.

"Hey, I'm just being slow for Matoya!" a Glacial Serraptor shouted back. This was Temrer, and indeed, he was capable of much faster speed, if not for someone else...

"You know I don't do well in hot environments...!" a Kodile complained. He was flapping his tiny, wet wings as quickly as he could. "I'm used to much colder weather..."

"Well, so am I, Matoya," Temrer replied, "But we're just going to have to deal with it."

"Yess, we musst find the crystal that Mu has losst," Enyon said.

"How'd that Slikey lose a crystal in the desert, anyway?" Temrer asked. "He wouldn't last a minute here!"

"Don't quesstion it, just look for it!"

"She's probably only so enthusiastic because she likes shiny things," Matoya whispered. Temrer nodded in agreement.

[Enyon: 8 | Temrer: 1 | Matoya: 1]
(* Matoya has since become a Tundragoon, but if anybody cares I'm not updating the image here because he's still a Kodile in this RP. Okies.)
User avatar
ArtsyAlraune
Novice Specialist
Novice Specialist
Pets | Items
Keystones: 306
Donate
Joined: 09/04/2007 6:22 PM
Location: TN
Status: previously Meganstaek

Postby ArtsyAlraune » 10/16/2007 11:56 AM

Temrer stopped to inspect a rock. He turned it over and sighed. "Where did Mu say it was, again?"

Matoya hovered next to Temrer and thought a moment. "Well... The coordinates he gave us were somewhere around here, I thought."

"That he didn't tell us where the coordinates ended up makes me worry..."

"About what?" Enyon asked, landing next to the Serraptor.

"He didn't specifically say, 'It's in the middle of the desert', so we can't know that it's here... We might've gotten the coordinates wrong."

"Hm... Given his species, this area seems even more unlikely, too," Matoya added.

"Oh, hussh up, you two!" Enyon snapped. "Jusst get back to looking." Then, with a flap of her great wings, the Imperial Garudor took back to the skies.

[Enyon: 9 | Temrer: 2 | Matoya: 3]
User avatar
ArtsyAlraune
Novice Specialist
Novice Specialist
Pets | Items
Keystones: 306
Donate
Joined: 09/04/2007 6:22 PM
Location: TN
Status: previously Meganstaek

Postby ArtsyAlraune » 10/16/2007 11:59 AM

The three trekked on silently for a good while; at one point Matoya suggested that perhaps they start turning east, but that was the only time they ever changed directions. The poor little Kodile was dripping like mad; it couldn't have been told whether the drippings were of sweat or, actually, his body. Fortunately for Matoya, the sun was slowly beginning to set.

Temrer finally stopped for a short moment to yawn, stretching out his neck and opening his mouth wide, exposing all of the sharp teeth in his great maw. Once he was done, he snapped his jaws shut and looked up at the sky. "It looks like it's starting to get late..."

Matoya collapsed at Temrer's feet, dampening the sand all around him. "Thank goodness! It's finally starting to cool off."

Enyon, however, did not stop to rest. She continued flying straight ahead, then gave a squawk and circled back around. "Temrer! Matoya!" she called down. "I think I ssee ssomething jusst over that ssand dune down yonder!"

"Oh!" Temrer exclaimed. "What is it? The crystal?"

Enyon shook her head. "A ssettlement."

"Great," Matoya said. "A place for us to rest... the problem, though, is just getting there," he mumbled aloud to himself.

[Enyon: 10 | Temrer: 3 | Matoya: 3]
User avatar
ArtsyAlraune
Novice Specialist
Novice Specialist
Pets | Items
Keystones: 306
Donate
Joined: 09/04/2007 6:22 PM
Location: TN
Status: previously Meganstaek

Postby ArtsyAlraune » 10/16/2007 12:07 PM

Temrer finally coaxed Matoya into getting back up off the ground, and the three were on their way once more. "Hm... what sort of settlement do you think Enyon's found?" The Serraptor asked to the Kodile after a while. He would rather discuss it to pass the time than to actually ask Enyon herself.

"I've read about ancient settlements, or ruins, now, that have been found under some dunes," Matoya replied. "We passed the main towns at the edges of the desert long ago."

"Oh, I might've heard about those..." Temrer trailed off. "They probably weren't very much, were they? Out in the middle of the desert like they were..."

Matoya shook his head. "In fact," he began, "Some scholars have translated some slabs of writing found in those ruins. According to those tablets, this desert was once called 'the Nothing World', or 'the Empty World'-- Scholars can never agree on which translation is correct."

"They both sound the same to me..." the Serraptor replied. "They both could explain why their homes are in ruins now."

[Temrer: 4 | Matoya: 4]
User avatar
ArtsyAlraune
Novice Specialist
Novice Specialist
Pets | Items
Keystones: 306
Donate
Joined: 09/04/2007 6:22 PM
Location: TN
Status: previously Meganstaek

Postby ArtsyAlraune » 10/16/2007 12:19 PM

As they continued on, the large sand dune Enyon had said the settlement was over was finally starting to look closer. "So... You're thinking these ruins are what Enyon's found, Matoya?"

"What else could they be?" Matoya asked.

"I dunno..." Temrer shrugged his shoulders. "Perhaps Mu has some lab out here, or something?"

"That's crazy. He couldn't come out this far."

"It could be where that crystal is, though, if that were true..." he supposed.

"I think it might be worth looking through," Matoya said. "Maybe we'll find something better to bring back, and we can forget about this mess."

"I wish..." the Serraptor muttered. He looked up. "...Where's Enyon?" he asked; for she was not there.

[Temrer: 5 | Matoya: 5]
User avatar
ArtsyAlraune
Novice Specialist
Novice Specialist
Pets | Items
Keystones: 306
Donate
Joined: 09/04/2007 6:22 PM
Location: TN
Status: previously Meganstaek

Postby ArtsyAlraune » 10/16/2007 12:27 PM

"Enyon's gone?" Matoya asked, sounding quite distressed. "But we were following her to the ruins! If she--"

"Oh, quiet down!" hissed a voice. "I'm right here."

Temrer's head whirled around to see Enyon coming from another direction. "Where were you?"

She landed next to them, carrying a gnarled Radiron in her claws. "I sspotted thiss creature, and... well... I wass hungry."

"Ha, don't hold out on us!" Temrer said, approaching her to get his share of the prey.

"Oh! Disgusting..." the Kodile mumbled, reluctantly approaching.

Temrer and Enyon were both working together to pull their prey apart into smaller, more edible pieces. "Here, Matoya," Temrer began without looking up from the food, "you can have an arm." He tossed one of the Radiron's forelimbs over his shoulder, and it landed with a bloody splat just in front of Matoya.

"Urgh... Oh, well, beggers can't be choosers." He sat down next to the limb and began to gnaw on it with his little teeth.

[Enyon: 11 | Temrer: 6 | Matoya: 6]
User avatar
ArtsyAlraune
Novice Specialist
Novice Specialist
Pets | Items
Keystones: 306
Donate
Joined: 09/04/2007 6:22 PM
Location: TN
Status: previously Meganstaek

Postby ArtsyAlraune » 10/16/2007 12:33 PM

"Mmm!" Temrer hungrily ripped a off a chunk from one of the Radiron's back legs and swallowed it. "Oh, I was starving... Thanks again, Enyon."

As usual, Enyon was dining on the organs, much to Matoya's dismay. Someone had to, and Enyon happened to like them. "It'ss no problem," she said, gobbling up the food. "Sso wass I."

"Hrm..." The Kodile eventually finished his portion, but still looked disgruntled about it once they were all done. Leaving nothing but bones to bleach in the desert, the the continued to the ruins Enyon had thought she spotted. The sky had become a fantastic blood-red by the time they reached the crest of the dune.

"Finally!" Matoya exclaimed hoarsely. He looked down the dune into the ruins; many of the small stone houses were somewhat filled with sand, but there should have been enough room for them to rest. Temrer could empty out the sand if it needed to be, anyway.

Enyon swooped down and perched upon one of the roofs. "Well... The coasst lookss clear."

Temrer didn't need Enyon to say anymore for him to start his way back down the other side of the dune, into the sandy ruins. He slipped and slid, but Matoya hovered comfortably about the Serraptor's legs as he went down.

[Enyon: 12 | Temrer: 7 | Matoya: 7]
User avatar
ArtsyAlraune
Novice Specialist
Novice Specialist
Pets | Items
Keystones: 306
Donate
Joined: 09/04/2007 6:22 PM
Location: TN
Status: previously Meganstaek

Postby ArtsyAlraune » 10/16/2007 12:40 PM

The Glacial Serraptor had immediately begun to inspect the old buildings as soon as he was among them. Some of them had faded, but once elaborate, drawings on their walls; others had bits and pieces of bowls that had once been sitting in windows. Any of these places looked to be a good place to rest, and as such, he picked one randomly. "Let's sleep in this one tonight," he said, approaching one of the larger ones. It had the largest walls, and was very nearly the tallest. It also had a convenient window on which Enyon could perch, should she not be comfortable with sleeping on the ground.

Matoya, however, was fixed in front of a tablet that was leaning by the door of the tallest building. "Wait a minute, Temrer... Look at this."

Temrer walked over. "Yeah?"

"Don't you think this would have been taken along with the scholars?" he asked, still not looking away from it.

"I suppose... Maybe they just haven't found this settlement," he suggested.

"Oh, how exciting!" Matoya exclaimed at the prospect. He leaned in closer. "Hm... This one looks a bit different from the pictures of other tablets I've seen," he noted.

Enyon had landed next to them now, and she was also inspecting it closely with her beady goldenrod eyes. "How sso?" she hissed. She had never seen other tablets before, but she was curious.

[Enyon: 13 | Temrer: 8 | Matoya: 8]
User avatar
ArtsyAlraune
Novice Specialist
Novice Specialist
Pets | Items
Keystones: 306
Donate
Joined: 09/04/2007 6:22 PM
Location: TN
Status: previously Meganstaek

Postby ArtsyAlraune » 10/16/2007 12:50 PM

Matoya leaned in even closer to the tablet; his eyesight was poor, so he had to as the sun continued to set. "The writing on this one looks much... Neater," he said conclusively. "Tablets that I've seen before looked a bit more like simple catscratch."

"Only you would notice such a thing," Temrer teased, though he was now curious, as well. "What do you think it says?"

"I'm not sure..." the Kodile replied. "But it may say something important, since it was written much more neatly." He blinked. "My, it's preserved quite well, too..."

"It lookss almosst as good as new," Enyon said.

"It does, doesn't it..." Matoya sounded almost suspicious, but he let his excitement of the discovery get the better of him. "Maybe there's something inside here..."

"Say no more!" Temrer said, and he began to walk up a set of steps that led into the tall building.

"No, wait!--" the Kodile called after him. "We have no idea what could be in there!"

[Enyon: 14 | Temrer: 9 | Matoya: 9]
User avatar
ArtsyAlraune
Novice Specialist
Novice Specialist
Pets | Items
Keystones: 306
Donate
Joined: 09/04/2007 6:22 PM
Location: TN
Status: previously Meganstaek

Postby ArtsyAlraune » 10/16/2007 1:04 PM

Matoya was cut off, however, by Temrer's scream as he fell down into a hole. "Gahhh...-!"

"Temrer, I'm coming!" the Kodile cried, flying into the building.

"Wait up, wait up..." Enyon grumbled, scrabbling up the stairs with her large, clawed talons.

Matoya looked down the hole through which Temrer had fell. "Oh, wow... That goes down really far..." He picked up a rock and flung it down the hole; it took several seconds for him to hear the echo of it hitting the floor below.

Enyon grunted as she squeezed through the doorway, which was nearly too small for her. She ignored the fact some feathers had fallen off and she joined Matoya in standing next to the hole. "Hm..."

"I wouldn't stand there, Enyon... Something might--"

The Kodile was cut off again as the floor crumbled beneath Enyon's feet; the edges of the hole were the weakest parts of the floor, and Enyon was just heavy enough to cause them to fall through. She gave a great loud squawk as she flapped her feathers wildly in an attempt to get aloft, but there was not enough room.

"Oh, no..." The floor had fallen from under Matoya, too, and he could only hover so far above the ground. Soon he, too, was falling down to the chamber below. "Aiieee...!"

[Enyon: 15 | Temrer: 10 | Matoya: 10]
User avatar
ArtsyAlraune
Novice Specialist
Novice Specialist
Pets | Items
Keystones: 306
Donate
Joined: 09/04/2007 6:22 PM
Location: TN
Status: previously Meganstaek

Postby ArtsyAlraune » 10/16/2007 1:16 PM

"Heh, there you guys are," Temrer rasped, stepping over to the bodies of Enyon and Matoya. Matoya had landed on top of Enyon, breaking his fall. A couple of pale blue fathers on Temrer's crest had been bent out of shape, and he did his best to not acknowledge this.

"Urgh..." the Kodile mumbled, setting his wings into motion and hovering down from Enyon to stand before Temrer. "I told you not to just run in! Now look where we are!"

The Garudor gave a great moan as she attempted to stand. "Agh... I'm going to feel that for a while."

"Is anything broken?" Temrer asked, looking her over with concern.

In response she spread her great wings, and with satisfaction she replied, "Of coursse not." She had just gotten lucky; her bones were really quite fragile and hollow, though one might not think so because of her size.

The room they had landed in was very large, and there were many pillars around them supporting the ceiling, though some of them had crumbled in half- the ones around the hole they had fallen through were particularly in this condition. Matoya looked around with great curiosity. "Wow... I can tell this place is very large, but I can barely see a foot in front of me." Chanting something quietly, a light burst from his forepaws, coming together above them in a great orb.

"Aha!" Temrer exclaimed. "Witchlight! I forgot you could do that."

"Oh, it's pretty useful for getting around my cave at home..."

[Enyon: 16 | Temrer: 11 | Matoya: 11]
(I really don't know what witchlight/foxlight is, I'm just guessing. I only gave it to Matoya because the Matoya of Final Fantasy I is a witch. xP)
User avatar
ArtsyAlraune
Novice Specialist
Novice Specialist
Pets | Items
Keystones: 306
Donate
Joined: 09/04/2007 6:22 PM
Location: TN
Status: previously Meganstaek

Postby ArtsyAlraune » 10/16/2007 1:24 PM

Enyon looked around the room, which was now bathed in the beautiful green witchlight. "Wow... Thiss place lookss interessting."

"It does," Matoya said with a grin. "I think this may be a temple of some sort, buried underground centuries ago."

"Intriguing..." Temrer began to walk around, noting each dust-covered piece of rubble. He also found some white hard pieces of questionable origin, but he didn't look too closely at those. "Which chamber might this be?" he wondered aloud.

"I'd have to look around some more," Matoya said, "But from the size, perhaps it's the main chamber or the entrance chamber."

"I wonder whom thiss temple might be for," Enyon pondered.

"Now, I have no idea of that," the Kodile sighed. "Not much was known about how the people of the Empty World lived, much less who their leaders were or what they worshiped."

[Enyon: 17 | Temrer: 12 | Matoya: 12]
User avatar
ArtsyAlraune
Novice Specialist
Novice Specialist
Pets | Items
Keystones: 306
Donate
Joined: 09/04/2007 6:22 PM
Location: TN
Status: previously Meganstaek

Postby ArtsyAlraune » 10/16/2007 1:41 PM

"Maybe there's a mural or hieroglyphs or something somewhere," Temrer said hopefully as he contined to walk around.

"Or, perhaps... A tapestry?" Matoya wondered. On the floor he had spotted a small peice of red string. He picked it up between two claws and held it close to one of his big blue eyes. "Hm...! Red... An Imperial color, is it not?"

Enyon trodded closer and inspected Matoya's bit of string. "I don't think the Empire iss that old..." she said. She should know; she was an Imperial Garudor, after all.

"So the Empty World wasn't some absurd campaign of theirs, then," he concluded.

"Abssurd!?" Enyon squawked. "Nothing the mighty Empire doess is abssurd!" she continued, stamping a foot.

"Yes, yes! You're right, you're right!" Matoya squeaked fearfully. "That was silly for me to say..." The Kodile looked back to his red string. "I wonder where this is from, then..."

"Hey! I found another room!" Temrer's voice echoed back to them. Apparently he had kept looking while Matoya and Enyon were squabbling over their yarn.

[Enyon: 18 | Temrer: 13 | Matoya: 13]
User avatar
ArtsyAlraune
Novice Specialist
Novice Specialist
Pets | Items
Keystones: 306
Donate
Joined: 09/04/2007 6:22 PM
Location: TN
Status: previously Meganstaek

Postby ArtsyAlraune » 10/16/2007 2:06 PM

"Say something again!" Matoya called. "I can't tell which direction you went."

"I'm in heeere~" Temrer called back. His voice echoed, but Matoya and Enyon could tell which direction the sound came from. Matoya tied his red string around one of his forepaws, then he and Enyon began to follow the sound.

"Ooh... This room is quite smaller," Matoya noted, once he was back with Temrer.

"You can ssay that again," Enyon hissed, having to squeeze through yet another door too small for her. "Thiss room iss big enough for the three of uss, at leasst."

"So... let's scope out this room," Matoya said decidedly. He sent up another, smaller, orb of witchlight and began to inspect things, as did his two companions. The Kodile turned over some stones, only to find long-dead insects and centipedes under them. He cringed and decided to hover over and help Temrer look.

"Hey... Here's something," Temrer said, sweeping some dust away with his feather-tipped tail. "...!"

[Enyon: 19 | Temrer: 14 | Matoya: 14]
User avatar
ArtsyAlraune
Novice Specialist
Novice Specialist
Pets | Items
Keystones: 306
Donate
Joined: 09/04/2007 6:22 PM
Location: TN
Status: previously Meganstaek

Postby ArtsyAlraune » 10/16/2007 2:15 PM

What Temrer had found was quite disturbing; under the thick layer of dust was a full skeleton of some unknown creature, though it appeared to be somewhat reptilian. Stuck in the ground under the skeleton with its pole coming up through the chest stood a bloodstained spear. Temrer and Matoya both cringed at the sight. "Oh, my..."

Enyon trodded over and looked at the browned, decayed skeleton, not fazed at all by it. "Uh, guyss... Look at thiss." She prodded a piece of dusty parchment next to the skeleton's hand. "You guyss musst have been sso disstracted by the boness that you didn't notice thiss..."

"Oh... Some more writing?" Matoya reached down and picked it up; the parchment was face down. Quite nervously he slowly turned it over. "..."

"What's it say, what's it say?" Temrer asked.

Matoya only held it up to show the others. There was some more of the neater writing as seen on the tablet from before, but at the bottom of the parchment was a very crude drawing of what appeared to be a gruesome process of punishment, or execution. "This place wasn't a temple..." the Kodile squeaked. "It was a prison, a place of execution..."

[Enyon: 20 | Temrer: 15 | Matoya: 15]
User avatar
ArtsyAlraune
Novice Specialist
Novice Specialist
Pets | Items
Keystones: 306
Donate
Joined: 09/04/2007 6:22 PM
Location: TN
Status: previously Meganstaek

Next

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


cron