[18:20] {NARRATION} The words of a tattered journal took the group far. The trio set sail from Gehenna's southern coast and were met with what was, at first, a paradise. They were free of Agartha's toils, free of the turmoil and chaos that rocked the continent week by week. The open sea was beautiful, as beautiful as any would expect, and the crew made for fine company.

Wherever this Lost Isle was, it was preceded by the great oceans of the world. And while things went well for a time, storms and rocky waters arrived. In the dead of night, the trio awoke to the sound of alarm bells ringing and crewmen rushing up to the top deck to handle whatever was going on.

It wouldn't be a hard guess, given the ship was rocking back and forth violently, making it more than difficult to simply stand.

But here Tototl and his friends would face their first choice; weather the storm out in their cabins, or help the crew?
[18:31] It all started with that darn book and curiosity. Tototl had brought along his closest - Sugarboy, Israa - to venture through the dangerous waters surrounding Agartha. While two of the three were inexperienced when it came to running a ship, they could at least make up for lost knowledge with tact in battle or perhaps other areas.

Those days are among the open sea are spent studiously. While breaks were taken to drink and eat, the Cruxati Chieftain found quiet hours to make sure their course was still on track. Straying too far could prove deadly, and what would all of this work be for if the three were to fall here? Diligent and wise, he'd keep his wits about him as they sailed forth - Even if it felt like an escape.

Then came the ringing.

Shifting from his rack, Tototl peered about the darkened cabin. A string of drowsy mutters pass him by as the constant, violent rocking brings him up to speed. Quickly donning his gear and shifting his vision to the others he'd carefully rise - A tanned hand gripping the above rack to steady himself on the angered seas.

"Dang storms-" His spare hand fumbles about the aged cloak, a click of annoyance escaping him. No wind crystals "Spirits - Come on!" Step by step he thus makes his way towards the upper decks. The Chieftain aims to aid the motley crew above them. Tototl had faith the two he brought along would join in turn - Assuming they'd stir.
(Tototl)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[18:35] Sugarboy for the first time in the past couple years was full of energy again, returning to his youth as they set sail. His deep belly laugh often heard all across the ship as he manned the wheel. For the trip he was often seen sauntering around in an unbuttoned white shirt, letting his scars catch the sun's rays, and a pair of shorts.

Often he would walk away, leaving a bloodied handprint on it so he could continue to steer while he ventured across the ship, swinging across the ropes strung from the masts or fishing from the crows nest. Was it the best way to fish? Hell no, but he was having a blast and no one was going to stop him.

He'd joke and smoke with the sailors and his friends as he took the voyage more like a cruise. No one around to bug him about potions, no one hunting him down for healing. Just good friends on the open ocean, the air ripe with salt, it was healing in it's own way.

The waves would grow rougher and he would takehis self appointed position as captain much more seriously, standing firmly at the wheel, his blood magic and experience on the seas to keep him upright as the ship rocked to and fro. He'd raise the cursed staff above his head as the sockets glowed with a cerulean light, trying to calm the waters directly around the ship and a little before it as they sailed onward.

"HEAVE HO, BOYS." The doctor would yell to the men, barking other nautical terms as he steered the ship away from waves that would prove too formidable to cross. Sugarboy's priority was to make sure the men stayed onboard and upright. Any waves that washed across the deck would be repelled, setting men upright and keeping them from falling overboard.


(Sugarboy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[18:43] In truth, Israa wasn't exactly sure why this expedition was underway, and besides his comrades lacked many reasons to come himself, but what he did know was that it was an opportunity to, at least for a moment, leave Agartha and its toils behind. To hopefully leave behind the lingering memories that seemed to of followed him.

That was the hope, anyway.

Instead, at least initially, to say that the experience was liberating would be false. Rather, as the glittering sandy shores of Agartha grew ever distant, a heavy air of invisibly emotional fog pressed down over Israa's mind and shoulders. For the longest while, he'd watch Agartha until it slipped invisible past the horizon. With the ship rocking back and forth beneath him, and no stable elements of Earth within feeling distance, Israa could feel a guilty nostalgia come over him.

It reminded him, vaguely, of when he first approached Agartha on a ship like this one - younger, scared, and alone. Inevitably, it carries back the memories of the very place he fled.

But.. Israa could also feel something else coming.. And as the Sarradian braces his chin against the ship's railings, he turns green and hops up onto it - only to hurl into the waves below.

Oh yea. He forgot about that.

The first day or so was grueling, and for that short while the sarradian would seem to lose a little of their color and much of their water, but as if by a miracle - by the 2nd day - he rises from his quarters with a roaring vigor, and several cases of smuggled alcohols.

What was a retreat with friends without the means to let loose? With a rising 'ho' with the crew, and most certainly with the support of Sugar, the ever-diligent Tototl would find quite a challenge on his hands from the noises and bad singing alone! But, inevitably, even the happily drunk would eventually retire, and so would Israa.

All of this accumulates into where Israa found himself that late, stormy day.. Smashed up into a ball on the floor of his barracks, coughing and wheezing after being thrown from his bed in a heap of blankets and un-secured items. With a groggy cry against the cruelty of the seas against his sensitive head and left filter, he pushes himself up unsteadily only to barely make it to the door!

He grabs the handle, twists it, only to immediately fall foward against it as the ship heaves forward! He practically stumbles through the door and onto the deck, shocking the air from his lungs as the cold air and water began to soak him through!

Around him was shouting, the screams of the air, and the almost insane boisterous cheers of Sugar! Israa sits up, leans to the side to puke a bit to clear his mind, before standing up uneasily.

Fire and Earth were.. Two elements out of place in the sea, but there was a third Israa had dabbled in, and he raises his palms up towards the sails - where he begins to push the heavy windsto catch the wet fabric.
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[18:49] {NARRATION} The trio did what they could to help the crew. And the crew did what they could to brave the storm. The ship creaked this way and that as wave after wave buffeted the side or were thrown back by Sugarboy's talent. Israa's winds billowed the sail outward while Tototl's spirits came to the aid of the numerous men and women doing their duty not to sink.

This would have all been fine. The ship may have been able to survive the storm.

Had it not been for what lay on the horizon.

An alarmed voice called out in pure fear, screaming for all to hit the deck, to brace, to pray. Eyes that were cast out in the direction of the warning would spot what appeared to be a great, black wall. Rain pelted the deck and the sky was filled with terrible clouds and flashes of lightning, but what lay ahead was far worse.

In the glow of those electric strikes, they could all see exactly what it was; a wave far larger than any that had been seen before. It was coming to swallow them, to destroy the ship, to drown all on board.

And even in their guts, they would all know...

There was likely nothing they could do.
[19:04] The old blonde would let go of the wheel, making his way down to the top deck as he shouted orders over the winds. "GET THOSE SAILS UP, TIE YOURSELVES DOWN TO ANYTHING STURDY." Continuing to walk opposite of the strong storm winds, pelted by rain, Sugarboy stood at bow of the ship, his good leg and mithril pegleg firmly planted. He wasn't the strongest man around, and probably would've been carried off into the air if it weren't for the blood in his very body keeping him upright and rooted to the deck.

As he walked past the crew he started to shine a bright light, a beacon of hope to the people on the ship. He was determined, they faced a literal wall, but it was a wall of water- water he can do.

The tsunami would quickly race for them as the waters surrounding the ship began to glow a brilliant light, the exorcist channeling all of his magic to bless the waves bringing a calmness to themin preparation of the oncoming assault.

He stood, calm, still, fearless in the face of the hopeless darkness that encroached upon them. Just as the ship was about to breach the wave, Sugarboy would slam the skull adorned dark oak staff against the bow of the ship.

There was doubt he could part the entire wave, but if he could do just enough for the ship to pass through.. That'd be enough.
(Sugarboy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:06] Israa was on his knees, straining his weary, dizzy eyes up at the heavy, soggy sails as he pushes wave after wave of air behind them. With each blast, which shattered the heavy drops it connected with into a misty haze, the ship would lurch forward.

But as that scream filled the air, that primal, animalistic reminder of capable of shattering even the most 'elevated' states of mind, Israa froze. A wash of icy terror tingled over every inch of his skin as he looks up, eyes wide and weary even as heavy beads of liquid ice batter down on them like siege engines. The once frigid air becomes numb against his skin as the world seems to sharpen.

He just stares, mind absent as he watches that heavy black wall, barely indistinguishable from the blue-black of the sky, heaved itself over the ship like a mountain. It was, in many senses, entirely surreal. There was no panic, no fear, just a constant awareness - and in the total absence of thought, a rough instinct hastily assembles.

Israa stands up, and in a flash of utter certainty swirls around and steps into the cabin. They turn along the wall and stare at the dark shelf, before reaching forward to grab several empty bottles fallen in their boxes. He crams their corks back into them, before stuffing them into the bag at the base of the door. He brings it up into his arms.

He could begin to feel the ship falling to one side as the heavy mass of water began to draw it in. Without wasting another moment, Israa steps out of the cabin and falls onto the planks to the side. He pulls the bag underneath his shirt and hugs it tightly, his eyes squeezing shut as his legs draw up against his belly. His skin begins to harden, growing firm in its positioning like cement, as he balls up as small as he can.


(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:08] Upon the decks, Tototl had bled back and forth as quiet mutterings of what was assumed to be Tocathian prayers escaped his lips. He was no spirit summoner, far from it, but he was able to help create spectral hands - The spirits of those that died for such spiritual causes of pursuits of curiosities. These hands assisted in tying down and holding knots, helping the many rise to their feet.

That was practically all he could do, however, in terms of easing the boat's course through this storm.

As the alarmed voice rang through the crackling air, Tototl's view swivels quickly about. He'd been holding onto a railing at this point - The exertion of mana for the manifestation of partial spirits a far too draining task. It was a tidal wave, and one far too grand for the ship to handle. Without hope, those brown hues dart to Sugarboy during his approach to the front for only a moment.

Since when were the few of them the type to give in?

A dexterous fighter in nature, the Chieftain's eyes would come to life as his mana circuitry is focused upon. Tototl would shift the gravity about his feet to steady himself on the rocking ship, allowing a slow but decisive stride towards the front starboard side. Despite the straining channels and convergence points he'd push for more mana; A tanned hand clutches onto the right side of his cloak as the other, bloodied and tattered from what sacrifice he had made for those spectral hands, extends itself open-palmed to the bow of the ship.

It was a desperate attempt, but he'd try to make a shield of mana before the ship - To help the breach through colossal wave and Sugarboy's efforts.
(Tototl)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:11] Sugarboy says, "RAAAAAAAAAAAHHH"
[19:14] {NARRATION} Sugarboy aimed to split what water he could.

Israa planned for the worst, choosing to grab what he could in an attempt to save small luxuries for impending doom.

Tototl channeled his magic in an attempt to support Sugarboy's goals.

And the rest of the crew braced. The wave lifted the ship up high into the air until the deck neared a perpendicular axis to the fall of gravity. Men began to scream, crying out as the storm cracked and a bolt of lightning struck the side of the vessel.

Some of the water split, proving Sugarboy and Tototl's efforts not entirely wasted, but they found this wave was far thicker than even they could have anticipated. It shifted, ready to be swallowed by the sea, until something in Tototl's robes lit up.

A great, green light fire outward as the ragged journal he had kept fell across the soaked deck and instead of getting destroyed by the storm, runic shapes fired outward from its pages. The ship continued to fall, now upside down, but the journal remained in where it was, defying gravity and reality.

The crushing depths awaited until--

A flash brought them slamming into dry, grassy ground. The ship was gone. The ocean present by sound, but distant. The trio was in the middle of a forest with nothing more than the glowing journal beside them.
[19:20] "RAAAAAAAAHHHHH" Sugarboy would still be yelling as his knuckles went white, gripped around the staff, his eyes shut firmly as he waited for water to take him off his feet.

The yell would continue, "RAAAaaaaaaahhhh?" growing slightly quieter, unsure as he opened one eye as he felt disconnected from the water around him. The winds died down, the rain no longer hailing down on him.

"Aaah? Where the fuck are we?" He'd ask as he looked around the forest. "Is this what the otherside looks like? Oh spirits help me if Euyitl found out I died trying to bust a wave wide open harder than I do her- ... Okay, maybe not as hard, but her wraith will still be felt across the mortal realm." He'd chuckle, still confused about what the hell just happened.
(Sugarboy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:23] Israa was content in the little world he had locked himself into! He was balled up tight, and as the ship began to shift to one side the little ball of Sarradian began to roll down the deck! He lodges himself against the railing, a barrel full of something or other and a box full of heavy coming to join him, but safe in his elemental coccoon the sarradian didn't seem to mind!

Even as the world around him began to shift more and more, Israa remains firm - locked in his ball, eyes shut and legs hugged! The bright green light that illuminates the ship in the darkness is lost to Israa, and as the ship begins to tilt backwards, the little ball of scared Sarradian falls right over the edge of the ship.

It was interesting, to feel free-fall. He could feel his stomach immediately lurch up to join his heart, filters following, as Israa began to plummet down towards the murky, dark waters far beneath them!

But, seemingly, the sarradian was content with this - clutching to their rough raft, thinking that maybe they'll float on flesh alone, but instead of cold, murky water, Israa finds himself cannon balled directly onto solid earth!

A 'HGGH!' escapes the sarradian as they THUMP into the ground, immediately rolling onto their side and uncurling with a gasps as his eyes flick open as he withers like a wounded snake! "Gaghrh!?" their shocked, stuttered gasp asks politely as he opens his eyes to find green grass and calm skies.

The earth.. The precious earth.. Israa immediately calms, panting softly as he sits up on his rump and looks around, before finally landing their gaze on the journal. "W-wwhaat?"
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:24] That shield of mana was one far beyond like those he used to protect himself. It was draining, the Chieftain slowly beginning to run on fumes as the ship climbed upward. Tototl was rooted to the boat, wide eyed as that tidal wave threatened to shove their ship into the depths-

The book.

"NO!" A cry of anguish, fear escaped the Chieftain. Truth be told it seemed the snow-haired Gehennan was far more concerned in the loss of such an object. As it sparked to life, however, his teeth grit tight - Green light. Was it Oscuri based, or was it that newfound magic he'd seen?

Those were the last questions he would think, his brown hues now focusing in on what was truly happening. The sea was above him, and the depths would become his resting place.

Then he lost his breath, crashing into solid ground. Groans escape the Chieftain as he clutches his stomach. After a few slow breaths, those brown hues peer about. Bar Sugarboy's ramblings, he quickly sets himself upright in a vehement search for that text. A wide grin crosses his mug as he clambers over to it, gently taking it up.

He'd peer towards the duo. "I ah... I think we're here."
(Tototl)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:28] "...survive?..." Came a small voice from the book. It persisted, seeking an answer.

"...Did you...ive? Hello--…"
(???)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:28] Sugarboy asks, "S-sup?"
[19:28] ??? says, "You're ali------...--ood. Good."
[19:29] Tototl's brow furrows, a fit of chuckles passing him by. Spirits - So were those what those pages caused? Shame they weren't readable.

"Yes ah... We're good."
(Tototl)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:30] Israa groans..
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:30] Israa Farhat says, "I'm aliiivee.. My spine maybe not but I am..."
[19:31] Ocean blue eyes would look around before looking to the talking book as he sighed in relief. "So we're not dead? Hell yeah! The kiddies are gonna love this story~"
(Sugarboy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:33] "No you're not dead." said the voice, establishing a stronger connection, but only marginally. "I sensed the...journal nearby...my journal. I couldn't let.... destroy the ship.... saved the ship..... crew..... Need to Find Me at the end of the.... island....

Road is danger--..... nethradin.... my student destroyed near everything. I had to save them, if you.... avoid.....

Do you understand?"
(???)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:38] Israa grunts as he finally pushes himself upright, reaching out to grab Sugar's leg as a support as he slowly manages it.

It seems the teleportation has also rendered the sarradian pregnant! Or, well, it's their satchel. Soaking wet, Israa pulls it out from their belly and peeks inside. With a soft frown they lay it it back over their side.

The air around them begins to visibly simmer, the sarradian's touch growing oven-hot against Sugar before they finally let go and step back. Israa was drying himself, and nods his head once before looking over at Sugar and Tototl.

"Seems.. Most of what we need to know got through.. Dangerous road and what have you.."
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:39] Tototl's lips purse to a thin line. There was far more to this little journal of his than it seemed - How much did his mentor know, however? A frown adorned his mug however, those poor sailors would have to find peace within the depths. There was tribute to be made at home. Shaking the thoughts from his head, he'd reply slowly.

"Find you at the end of the island, avoid the road. Do the Nethardian roam about them or patrol the island in a whole?- What else do we avoid?"

Question by question rose to mind, his lips contorting. There was a faint chance he'd get a clear answer but he could at least hope. He'd peer back to Israa and give a slow nod.
(Tototl)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:39] The blonde didn't catch all of that, he'd tilt his head to one side as he hit his head against the palm of his hand, water pouring out.

"Our peeps are fine, find you on the otherside of the island. Evil souls on the way, something about a student going rogue... Yeah you're gonna have to repeat that thing about avoiding." He'd smile towards the book offering a thumbs up, even though he probably couldn't see.

"Otherwise sounds pretty good."
(Sugarboy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:40] "Zoelfo will try to kill.... avoid the tears..... I'll be waiting."

The book stopped glowing, leaving the 3 alone in a mysterious, island forest with nothing but the sounds of the night to keep them company.
(???)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:41] Israa Farhat says, ".. Well then.. So this isn't a sea fever dream.. I think.."
[19:41] Israa turns in place and reaches forward, pinching Sugar boy once.
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:42] Sugarboy jumps with an "Ow!" as he rubs the pinched area. He returns with a clonk of his staff against Israa.
(Sugarboy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:43] Israa yips, staring at Sugar after with a still face, only to chuckle afterward. "Oh- okay, we're good.."

He hobbles a bit forward, limping on one leg, before squinting up towards the cliffs ahead.
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:45] Tototl would draw in a slow breath as the book stopped glowing. There was a mental note to keep here - Zoelfo will kill them, avoid those tears, avoid the road. The man hadn't seen a Nethardian yet and had no intention to see such even then. His grip tightens on the book for a moment before tucking it back under his cloak.

A brow raises itself as Israa pinches Sugarboy - A quiet chuckle escaping him during the exchange. "Far from it, yes. Though ah... Think we've a plan to make. Move in the night, or rest for the time being."

The Cruxati Chieftain would focus for a few moments on the shroud of energy surrounding him. Slowly, its hue dies down and takes form about his skin. It no longer swayed like a mist, but acted as a light-upper skin.
(Tototl)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:46] Israa, squinting up towards the road, keeps one hand over his eyes in a force of habit.

"Well.. If we want to avoid being found.. Then perhaps we should head in the night, yes?" he remarks, cautious. "On the other hand.. I'm a fire mage.. Fire is .. Bright.. So, we'll basically have to go lights out.."
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:47] Tototl says, "He did say he's waiting as well though. Might be best to ah... Not keep him waiting."
[19:48] Sugarboy says, "Yeah, and I don't wanna rest if spookalooks are about."
[19:48] Israa Farhat says, ".. Tripping over brambles.. Sounds awesome.."
[19:49] Sugarboy exclaims, "I say full steam ahead!"
[19:51] Tototl would nod to the duo, slowly beginning to trek through the forest before him. He'd keep his eyes peeled for any signs of a road or tear while his hand remained on the hilt of his blade. It was perhaps a boon in these times. The Spirits were able to whisper through it, thus guidance may come to him along the way. It would be a slow, careful trek if they were to stay out of danger, but it was their only way off the island he sought for.
(Tototl)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:52] As Tototl starts forward, Israa steps forward so he could find himself comfortably in the middle.

Strangely enough, as the group sets off, Israa closes his eyes in the darkness. Rather, he feels through the earth to feel where Tototl was stepping.

After all, if Tototl got there on foot, so could Israa - right? No bloody roots and brambles would trip him now!
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[19:57] {NARRATION} And so despite the strange wreck and the tidal wave, the trio found themselves marching off together through the darkened forest. Strange lights, not those from stars or torches, lingered off in the distance before being snuffed out. They shared the same, green-blue light that the ghostly glow of the book had.

Distant sounds of howls and screams of terror became more prominent. It wasn't until the group found themselves in a clearing where the moonlight could actually shine through that they spotted something that wasn't naturally made; homes, a dozen or so in a circle, lay before them.

Though this place was anything but welcoming. Skeletons littered the ground, unburied and scattered, as if whatever had done this had no real care in the killing other than the sport. Some of the houses had been torn apart, left in this ruined state, leaving the area silent and eerie.
[20:04] Step by step, the Chieftain heads this slow trek through the darkened forest. It wasn't ideal for vision but Nethardian were far beyond his current understanding - Perhaps they'd hone in on a torchlight from afar? Even then, however, his senses are kept sharp as those cries of terror resound about them. Perhaps those green-blue lights were other students, those more bound to the path they walked.

Brown hues scan that clearing as they arrive as his lips press into a thin line. Homes were formed in a circle, and he'd assume this to be one of the small villages that had formed upon the original expedition. Given the skeletons, however, his previous thought was proven wrong. Followers had fallen to whom he'd assume was Zoelfo.

Another moment is taken to scan for any tears before he peers back to the duo. A digit is held up to his lips before he gestures to the houses and then the forests beyond the clearing. A choice -

Scrounge about for possible artifacts, or remain safe?
(Tototl)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[20:06] Following behind Israa, Sugarboy would be tempted to whistle a jaunty tune to lift his friend's spirits, but the eerie lights fading around them and the possibility of enemies around them would deter those thoughts. He'd idly tap the dark oak staff that rested in the crook of his arm as he sauntered behind.

He'd remain vigilant as the trio entered the village, his eyes looking across the scattered bodies and buildings left in disrepair. He would frown. "I take it this is what Zoelfo destroyed.. We should be wary of tears here." He'd whisper just loud enough for the other two to hear, readying his staff as the howls were heard.

Blood would begin to swirl around him, he was not going to let himself be taken off guard. Not this old man, not after the Kraken that snuck up on him.

Pondering the choice, Sugarboy wanted a souvenir to bring back to his wife and kids, and he'd express that opinion if the others were willing.
(Sugarboy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[20:08] The group sets off into the dark. The canopy hung above them, lording over them more like the top of a dark cave - the stars few and far between in the spaces. Israa's breath itself was bated, held for the most part as he moves slowly after Tototl. At some point, Israa reaches forward to gently grab the back of the Chief's cape - using it as a guide line through the dark.

Soon, they come across the clearing, and as Tototl comes to a stop at its edge, Israa peeks around his side whilst remaining a little too close to him.

"How would we know?" Israa pointingly remarks with a sharp whisper, "We don't know anything except what that book told us, and the author of it can write whatever they want to write.."

The sarradian scans their eyes over the buildings and still skeletons. "Whatever did it.. Did it a long time ago.. I can try to feel for movement, but my expertise isn't absolute.."
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[20:13] {NARRATION} Looking around the ruined village, a closer inspection would find most things of value missing or broken. Many of the houses had charred marks as if they had been burning or a fire had torched half of the structure. Nothing of real importance lasted here, save some Asenite symbols and a banner of Quetzacoatl.

But perhaps the most troubling thing that COULD be found were the teeth marks upon the skeleton bones, signs that nearly each and every one had been gnawed on to the marrow.

All was still and quiet...

Until a scream pierced the air, one filled with pain and sorrow. It came from one of the houses on the north end, one where the door was closed...

It was a scream that sounded familiar, especially to Sugarboy.
[20:14] Sugarboy would furrow his brow, there was no way. He wouldn't hesitate running to it, balancing himself on the mithril pegleg as he booted the door open without concern if his allies were behind him.
(Sugarboy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[20:18] Gehennan artifacts. Tototl was more so on the fence of letting such things remain on this apparently war-torn island. Spirits, wherever Agartha's kind went murder seemed to follow. A breath was drawn in as the scream pierces the air - A click of the tongue following as Sugarboy rushes forth!

He'd silently curse in his head as he took hot pursuit behind the Doctor. It was no one they knew - And given those teeth marks it was probably best to just up and leave. Lest this was a Nethardian playing a trick on them- Spirits know they're capable of anything from what little he did know.

A ball of hazy, cyan mana is immediately conjured up in the right open palm of the Chieftain. He'd prepare himself just in case this truly was a trap.
(Tototl)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[20:18] {NARRATION} Euyitl sat, sobbing at a table, with dead bodies piled in the corners. Her hands were reddened with blood, and at the sight of Sugarboy in the doorway she recoiled and ran into a back room, slamming the door behind her.
[20:21] Israa was left standing where he planted himself as Sugarboy pushes past him, only to be followed by Tototl as the chief tears himself out of Israa's grasp!

"Hey!" Israa hisses after them, taking a single step in pursuit only to stop! How gullible were they?! Israa tries to urge himself forward but finds his feet pinned to the earth where he stepped. A heavy block of stone had set itself down on his heart, unwilling to carry him forward -

Into the strange, unknown town, covered in the bodies of the damned - bones crunched like twigs.

Nope.

Israa quietly squats down in the brush of where he sat, peering after the two with the comforting thought that he was just keeping an eye out for them. He briefly shuts his eyes, pushing his palms down into the wet sod to feel the earth.
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[20:26] Looking past Sugarboy brings forth a gruesome sight. Brown hues squint at the pile of dead bodies, a brow raising as but a tailfeather is caught while the back room's door is slammed shut. A tanned hand would attempt to grip Sugarboy's shoulder and mutter in a hushed tone. "Sugarboy- We can't run out like this. Spirits-"

Tototl seems to peer about, searching for any movement. Israa- Where was Israa? He'd handle one thing at a time, his focus slipping between the blonde doctor and their surroundings.
(Tototl)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[20:26] His lead foot would stomp the ground he would meet the eyes of his beloved. How could she be here? He was confused, casting an almost angry glare in Tototl's direction where he held the book.

Sugarboy was only introduced to magic in his late teens, and there were many nuances and rare forms of magic he didn't know about. Surely when he was teleported she was brought with him via there soul signs, it was the only thing that made sense.

The doctor would pay no mind to the fresh bodies that littered the room as he made his way to the door. "Sweetie, it's alright- I'm here" He'd call out to her as he tried to open the door, shoving it open if he had to.

"It's okay about the-" He'd look around at all the blood on the floor and over to his friends, he had never told them about her, really about her. He always glossed over the nitty gritty details of their past, how she was a vampires thrall when they met. How he was captured by her vampire when they were teens.

"It's alright sweetheart, we can work past this like everything else" He'd try to reassure her, why would she run from him? There was worry in his voice.
(Sugarboy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[20:34] {NARRATION} Sugarboy opened the door to another flash of bright light, only this time instead of taking him somewhere, a great blast of darkness rushed past him and ebbed out into the village.

Israa was suddenly very, very alone in a vast expanse of what seems like nothingness. The cold clay beneath his hands was still there, but hearing and seeing his comrades was now impossible. He was utterly lost.

Tototl was not in a great situation either, given it was very similar. Sugarboy was lost from sight, and now even with the aid of his spirits he felt something drag on his body, a weakness that indicated something was leaving him. The spirits he called to so often could not hear him here...

And Sugarboy, perhaps the only one not entirely drowned out in a blanket of darkness, was staring dead ahead at Euyitl, whose terrified eyes told him she wanted to be anywhere but in his sights. She scrambled to the back of the room, clawing at the shadows that had erupted outward, and found her way through in the blink of an eye.

The darkness had swallowed her whole.
[20:43] Huh.
That was strange.

Israa's eyebrows burrow some as his hands flex a few times in the supposed dirt. But there was nothing - he couldn't feel the gentle tremors of the ground from either Sugar or Tototl, or even the earth itself.

His fists curl even tighter, the clay compacting and splurting out the sides of his hands as he grunts in frustration and moves to stand upright - eyes opening only to find a darkness far more consuming than even the night or the great ocean wave.

Almost immediately Israa loses his breath in a wordless sputter, his head swiveling around to peer behind him to make sure he hadn't just re-orientied himself towards the forest! He continues turning, and turning, before finally his breathing starts to pick up.

Something was wrong!

"Idiots!" Israa yells out into the dark, teeth clenching together as the air around him immediately ripples and tears into flame! He brings his hands closer together, a furnace of pillowing forging fire forming between his palms as he continues to look each and every way- but there was nothing to even get his bearings on!


(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[20:43] Admin Writing A New One: the wings were deleted
[20:43] Admin Vaeryne: i know but i had to do it also >epic meme
[20:43] Admin Writing A New One: hehe
[20:44] A knot would form in his chest to see the love of his life run from him, to be left alone in this void, rejected by his other half. The knot raising into his throat to choke him. He only grew more confused as his heart was hurt.

It didn't seem right, none of it did, then against Sugarboy wasn't feeling all too right either. He'd stamp his staff against the ground as he lit up with not holy magic- but fire.

I thought she had overcame the bloodlust. Did her occult flare up and spark an episode? She must not've reacted well to the sudden teleportation, being pulled away from the kids. His mind continued to race.

He felt a tug of hesitation, should he regroup with the others? Would they understand? Could they understand after everything Euyitl and him had endured to be together, to make their perfect little life they dreamed of?

He'd fight his way through the darkness to follow her, continuing to call out to her. "Euyitl, come back! I still love you sweetheart, we're in this together, remember!?"
(Sugarboy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[20:45] Tototl only catches a glimpse as Sugarboy grabs hold of the doorknob, a blast of darkness quickly enveloping his senses. It was like being tossed into the inky depths they'd just escaped. Nothing could be seen in this vast expanse of darkness, and as he'd clutch his blade he'd try to will forth a whisper.

Silence.

Surely it was but a fluke! A nervous smile adorned his mug as brown hues slowly scanned the area about him - Hazy cyan mana feeding into the blade. That flow began to slow from within, however, only adding to his panic. His focus was right; Spirits, he'd spent years practicing such control! Yet as each second within that expanse passed he felt more and more of his control slip away.

His one ticket to set him apart from the rest.

Panicked, quickened breathing escapes the Chieftain as he strains himself against the dying mana-flow. This wasn't going to happen here, no way no how. That calm air about him quickly dies down as panic turns to anger, that conjured ball of mana quickly dying down as those precious seconds slip by.

It's let loose, the ball of mana crashing into the ground he assumed was by his right side. This was a sign of desperation, one that could spell their doom, but the blast of dying mana should be more than enough to draw attention of those gathered - For better or worse.
(Tototl)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[20:50] {NARRATION} Israa sought something to catch his attention, but here he felt truly isolated. There was no one for miles, it seemed, no one to hear him, no one to see him. Just nothigness...

Until Tototl's blast send a vibration through the ground. It couldn't be seen or heard, but his connection to the earth below his feet allowed Israa to sense where it was coming from.

As for Sugarboy,
The doctor flew headlong into the suffocating shadows. His wife would not be find here... nor anything else for that matter, save something only he could see, something truly terrifying.
[20:51] ??? whispers: Sugarboy is facing down the largest, decrepit wolf he has ever seen. It is a mixture of spirits an the animal it takes after, though much larger. In its maw is Euyitl, or what's left of her at least.
[20:59] Suddenly - something, and with the effectiveness of a hook, it immediately catches Israa's attention! He swivels around on foot, staring a piercing gaze of fire out into the dark.

"Hello!?" Israa yells out after it, his longing heart bursting like a flare as it saturates with flaming mana! He takes a few steps forward, subtle things that are barely noticed by the sarradian himself, until he suddenly finds himself sprinting forward blindly!

The carefully contained ball of fire in his hand spills forth, carrying with it liquid, near molten clay down onto the ground beneath them!

"Hellooo?!" the sarradian yells out once more, eventually coming to a stop. They turn their head around a few times, blinking as they try to catch that trail again..
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[21:01] Tototl was pushing against the dying flow, heavily breathing as his eyes slowly travel about. Nothing but darkness thus far. Mutterings are now passing the Chieftain by as his shroud of mana falters. It was barely a haze at this point - Mere inklings of blue tendrils stemming from his form.

He wouldn't accept such a fate sitting down. Stepping towards where he believed he last saw Sugarboy his hand would clutch tight about the hilt. Step by step his connection to the spirits dies down, bit by bit his mana is released in small orbs into the ground.

It was a long shot, but they had to regroup in one way or another.
(Tototl)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[21:05] His heart would drop as his arms went slack. Despair would snuff out the flames that surrounded him. He found he couldn't breathe, not from the suffocation of the darkness, but simply because he could not find the will to draw a breath.

His entire world, torn to shreds in the jaws of the beast. He stood, paralyzed in disbelief, rejection following suit. This can't be real. This can't be real. This can't be real He repeated in his head over and over. It didn't matter whether what he saw was real or not, because the emotions he felt certainly were.

Sorrow and melancholy would turn into spite and anger as his blood violently left his body, boiling furiously around him as he sent a scalding hailstorm towards the beast, dashing back for the door in a retreat, trying to bait it out.

Maybe the scent of hot blood would entice it to drop her body, fresh prey infront of it. "COME GET ME, FUCKING FLEA BAG."
(Sugarboy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[21:06] {NARRATION} Something shook the ground as Sugarboy darted back the way he came.

Tototl moved that direction and the two collided in an entryway that neither could see, a tear is reality that was bridge the gap between this small shack and somewhere distant.

Israa was left with nothing but the hint of where Tototl's blast had come from, at least until a bounding quake could be felt underfoot to the east.
[21:09] Israa's breath sharpens at the sensation, his wide eyes narrowing as he turns towards its source. His feet turn on the ground without leaving it, his breaths long and hardy as he focuses his attention. Clarity - clarity - focus..

He slowly makes his approach, hands clasping together in prayer as he slowly slides his feet along the ground towards the quaking. What was going on? Something was surely tripped.. It had to of been..
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[21:11] Sugarboy would look back behind him, "What the fuck!?" He said in an angry snarl, finding Totol in his way. He'd quickly lock arms with him as he started running back, maintaining the barrage on the beast.

"WE HAVE TO MOVE." He'd shout as he tried to exit the shack, keeping his eyes in the direction of the creature he saw. "IT'S COMING."
(Sugarboy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[21:13] Shorts blasts of mana trail him, step by step approaching here he assumed Sugarboy was. Where were they, why were they not here yet? Spirits they had to get moving -

There was the doctor himself! His arms were locked mere moments later as Sugarboy began backpedaling behind him. A hiss of confusion parts from the Chieftain before, without question, he follows the blonde in turn. He'd send forth a barrage of what mana he could manage towards Sugarboy's target.

"What's coming!?" Another quiet hiss of annoyance, but those brown hues continued to search about. Were they to step back into the darkness? Perhaps-

His hand reaches for the door as they backpedal out, closing it behind them.
(Tototl)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[21:18] {NARRATION} Just as Tototl and Sugarboy got out of the house, they stumble over Israa now much in the same fashion they had just collided with one another. No sooner did this happen than the darkness rippled outward, expanding the area ever so slightly to ensure they all saw the building crumble in the wake of whatever Sugarboy was running from.

And now it had become all to obvious.

A terribly large wolf, one bleeding from its ribs and as translucent as any spirit, bore yellowed teeth in a vicious growl. At its side, damned shadows mingled and clung to its wounds, staring ahead at the mortal trio with hate filled eyes.

Behind them, the source was clear; a rift had been torn in the ruined house through which the wasteland of Helheim seeped onto the isle.
[21:22] Sugarboy would quickly tear away from the two as he readied himself to make a stand. "I'M GONNA FUCKING SKIN THAT SPIRIT PELT FROM YOUR GODDAMN BODY." He'd exclaim as he began to lay into, a wave of scalding water already rushing for the entrance to drive it back.

The blonde was pissed like neither had seen before, his hands shaking as his boiling blood fired from his palms, his eyes wet with tears that would soon be used as ammunition against the beast.
(Sugarboy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[21:24] A smile almost had time to form on Israa's face as Sugar and Tototl come blundering out of the darkness from seemingly no where, but that time is short lived as they blunder straight into the smol sarradian and cause him to immediately fall flat onto his rump!

"Agh!" Israa cries out immediately, wincing as he barely prevents himself from falling onto his back with his quick arms, "You bastards- wha-" Israa shrieks as the large beast lumbers into view, the sarradian kicking up clay as they shoot themselves up into a stand!

He stands conveniently behind the two warriors as he glances at the leaking forms of darkness that hung around the towering, bleeding beast.

It was darkness!

Israa's breath sputters, his eyes widening before sharpening with a glowing piercing gaze! He lays them on the globulous dark spirits - devoid of life, they were, missing the flames of passion that made it all worth existing for.

Israa could feel his skin warming as he draws in heavy breaths, fueling the fire within him as he spots a clear battle line being drawn.

This place.. It all deserved to be burned down - the buildings, the bodies, and the monsters it held! All of it! Burn! Ashes! All into ashes!
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[21:24] Annoyance. Spirits, this had all gone so far south in mere moments. Grumbling and fumbling as he quickly steps up to his feet, those brown hues lock onto the mangled wolf that now stood between them and a rift. He'd squint towards its direction, taking in the location that lay beyond its limits.

That was what Helheim looked like.

His attention quickly bounces back to what he believes to be a Nethardian. Flourishing the Arcanium blade in his left hand he'd focus heavily on the flow of his mana, a wild swipe at his own arm opening a cut upon his right forearm. It was a sacrifice to the spirits that were wronged here.

Hopefully enough to will out more mana too.

Lifting himself from the ground through manipulation of gravity, he takes up a violent stance. Hazy blue mana coalesces about the Chieftain - A heavy, wild burst of force a result of the sudden expulsion. Tototl aimed to push his limits here, to fuel his movements and attacks with ferocity that only mana could cause.
(Tototl)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[21:40] To say the Chieftain wasn't a nightlight was a fair lie. That blue-hued haze was vibrant in this dreary, bloodied night. Tototl wasn't going to rely on the Spirits entirely for this fight. It was time for the mystic to take up his own side of the deal.

Channeling as much mana as he could into his being, he'd rush back and forth about the beast - Deadly, cleaving blows followed by barrages of pure mana. The shadows that clung to the beast proved far more annoying than anything. Where he'd make an impact, the shadows would dull such forces. It was like wailing against a toughened hide; What one cut could do normally now required multiple.

The Chieftain found himself drained as the Nethardian was first sent back. Reserves of mana were long since drained in their arrival here, but he still kept on trucking. It was them or it. One or the few.

It would be the wolf who was hunted this day.

Convergence points arenearly pulled dry as he pulls forth the remaining reserves among them. In turn his shroud would react - A now desperate, violent flare of blue streaming from his skin and eyes. It was tiring, painful even as the battle continued. With a blue-streaked swing into the beast's left foreleg he'd cut into the beast; A wild, glowing stare is shot towards Sugarboy.

"Now! Drown this damn thing with some of that holy of yours!" His call to the Spirits was now invoked fully; Revenge on the beast, for the fallen to help hopefully send this thing back to Helheim. That violent blue flare now turns cyan, ethereal energies singing blackened shadows as he continues to cut through the apparition's limg.
(Tototl)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[21:44] Sugarboy's magic boiled over with greater intensity than he had ever managed before. The steaming flood in accompaniment with Israa's fire and shattering of earth wiping out the hoards of Nethradin. However, Sugarboy's expression was filled with nothing but anger and hate as his eyes were firmly locked on the bloodied wolf.

A myriad of crystalized blood, boiling bubbles, and steaming orbs of blood assaulted the wolf left and right. The doctor was out for blood, and he was determined to get it.

The wolf's fur would be drenched in water and blood that began heating up with the blonde's magic, causing it's flesh to curl away from it's bone and it's hide to swell from the muscle. With a large jet of water, the wolf would be enveloped in it as it's pelt flew off, leaving it frail and naked.

Holy water would consume the beast of the dark as it was held in place, the divine energy searing into it as Sugarboy grimlyapproached it, firing a large shot of hardened blood directly into it's skull. His chest was heaving as his anger died down slowly as he fell to his knees, clutching his head, tears rolling down his face.

"Spirits, tell me it wasn't real.. It's just a trick.. Tell me she's not gone." He'd mutter weakly.
(Sugarboy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[21:53] Israa had never seen Sugarboy like this before.

The man was practicaly tearing himself out of his own skin - both literally and not! It was a testament to human endurance with the amount of blood Sugar seemed to rip from his own body, sustaining himself off of mana where oxygen now failed!

But the most note-worthy feature was not the flying ropes of steaming blood or the twisted, pained expression - but Sugar's eyes, locked upon the wolf in a determination so fundamental that Israa could feel Sugar's heart from where he stood -

It didn't matter what exactly the monster had done to Sugar or not at this point, but rather it was a question of what Israa could do to bring just a drop of peace to the old man's heart! Who was he to just stand here?!

Israa's teeth grate - that pain of love causing his heart to skip a beat as it tempers up like freshly spilled oil to a flame! Israa screams out as he leaps forward after the chief and doc, laying his eyes on the shadow beasts around the wolf!

Sugar had picked his target, it was up to Israa to make sure that the confrontation between the beast and doc was as personal as it could be! He was going to draw and burn away the shadows protecting the beast!

Israa's eyes come to a close as he drives his hands forward, shooting a wall of flame and rock into the assembled mass of dark spots as they charge forward! His moves not with his eyes, but with the sensations of the earth and of his heart - feeling the 'empty' spots around him, devoid of life and warmth, Israa would spin and sway as he causes the ground around them to crack, fissure, steam, and burn, as great mountains of rock erupt from the ground only to explore in shaking, dancing flame!

Fire would swirl and illuminate the air, burning away the sins of the past - the bones of the dead, the mistakes of the many, turning it all into ash and embers. Walls of fire would circle around Sugar and the wolf, driving the two together, and the latter away from its support.

Eventually.. Israa's eyes would open, finding himself sitting down on his knees, breathing calm. A deep sense of ease had penetrated him, allowing his breath to come with ease, as he slowly turns his head and observes his torched surroundings..
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[21:57] {NARRATION} The battle came to an end, the spirit beast disappeared after Sugarboy's final blow, though the signs that it was very, very real were present. The village was in even more disarray, the ground now coated in blood and claw marks. Where occultic hellstorm had struck out some smoke was rising. If it had been nightmarish before, it was doubly so now.

Still, a voice called from within the building, a weakened and hurt thing;

"H-help..." it said, still the voice of the woman Sugarboy had seen inside the home. "Please...."

It was coming through a rippling tear, a gate that lead from here to somewhere else...
[21:59] Sugarboy would look up, a worried hope in his eyes. "S-she's alive?" He'd say with a gasp as he struggled to his feet, relying on his staff to steady himself as he used perhaps too much blood of his own to slay the beast. He'd pick up the pelt as he hobbled back into the building.

"I can save her, I have to save her." He'd mutter in a dazed chant. "EUYITL SWEETIE, I'M COMING FOR YA." He'd shout as he tried his best to make his way back inside, should no one stop him.
(Sugarboy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[22:00] Tototl immediately holds up his hand towards Sugarboy, stepping in from of him. "No! Not real." Stern in tone and fairly common these days for the Chieftain sadly. The snow-haired Gehennan only shakes his head slowly, motioning for the two to follow him.

"We can't stay here - It's not safe. What ah... What we hear from those things- He points towards the tear to Helheim. "Are not real. Trust me, please."

It was more so pleading with the two as a hand grips both of their shoulders. Tototl would attempt to usher them forth on their path. They'd venture off towards where he assumed their destination was, avoiding roads.
(Tototl)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[22:05] Israa would slowly work himself up onto his feet, silent as he stands and faces both Sugar and Tototl. He quietly observes for a few moments, blinking blankly for a few times, before turning his attention to the suspect doorway that started all this.

Israa looks to his left and sees his staff on the ground. He leans down and picks it up with both hands, looking it over as if it is foreign before grasping it with both hands and holding it close to his chest.

Israa takes in a deep breath, one enough to puff out his chest, before holding it in and closing his eyes. He falls still, except for his arms that slowly let the butt of the staff make gentle contact with the ground.

The contact itself is gentle, soft, nigh unnoticeable - but the effect of it is not. Almost immediately, the ground beneath Tototl and Sugar shakes violently as a great energy moves beneath them! Behind them, the structure of the building is assaulted as the sarradian attempts to force great fragments of earth and rock from beneath the foundations of the building, and a wave a mud to encapsulate its door!

It was like squeezing a grab in one's hand, in Israa's mind - to pull it in and squeeze, roll, and pressure until it pops..
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[22:05] Sugarboy didn't have the strength to resist Tototl's herding of the two. His heart would grow heavy again. He put his faith in the chieftain, these were tricks they had to be.. Otherwise the doctor would never be able to live with himself.
(Sugarboy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[22:16] Tototl, thankfully, manages to get the two to continue forth. He understood the doctor's worry, but from what he'd gathered it was merely a trick. A ploy to get wanderers to join the hundreds of Nethardian within Helheim, to devour the souls they sought out.

A harrowing, deathly reminder for the trio.

The Chieftain lets that blue haze of mana slowly die on down. There was no need to keep a light flaring through their travels lest they wish to become a snack. Sheathing his blade, he'd reach for the journal and clutch it tight. Perhaps a sign would be sent to the correct direction from its pages - A slight glimmer of hope, however.

They were bound to reach the beach if they continued on in one straight direction. Quiet, gentle steps progress forward through the brush. Brown hues keep an eye out for any roaming Nethardian, roads, or possible tears about them.
(Tototl)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[22:22] {NARRATION} The trek was not without more threats, though they were not coming close. Flashes in the distance continued, and now the trio could be certain they were most definitely rifts, tears in reality that were opening and closing with intense disorganization and unstable usage.

Something wasn't right on this island, if that much had not been understood yet.

And still, after some time walking, the group found themselves staring ahead to a bluff, something that was overlooking the sea below with a small cavern opening that seemed far more peaceful than the darkened forest.

It felt almost welcoming.
[22:28] Those tears are stared at with wild disinterest, hatred even. Tototl's teeth were grit nice and tight all the while as the hand clutching the book followed suit. It was a pain, an annoyance even, to see the Spirit Realm's entry points bleeding out into the open.

Upon arrival at the bluff the Chieftain peers to the two, hues eventually travelling towards the cavern. A brow raises before hesitant steps continue forth. Conjuring forth a foggy ball of mana in his free hand, the other would dig into the cover of the journal.

Had they made it, or was this another hallucination?
(Tototl)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[22:29] Israa remains close, yet ever-watchful. He did not trust the tears in reality, no matter how tempting it was to poke his head through one just to see what laid on the other side or what would happen if he just threw a rock through one or even what would happen if he'd poured a couple hundred pounds of earth around one. Nope.

Instead, he remains close, quietly combating those strange suicidal thoughts as the group trek their way through the wilderness. Israa manages to suppress a yelp as he trips over a root, quietly cursing to himself as he rubs some dirt into his knee, before standing up and limping along.

As they all came to a halt to make their distant observation, Israa shares his thoughts with a satisfied smile.

"finally!" he remarks, "Some place sensible.. I can really help with this one.." the sarradian mutters, bending forward to rub caked mud off of his knees. "Like- even if it collapses and stuff, right? Smothers us like water only a lot more heavy and what not?"
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[22:33] The doctor's head would hang low as he stumbled through the brush, his arms swinging limply. He was stuck in a limbo, had his wife really been brough here and ripped to pieces in the maw of a nethradin? Did he just leave her to die? Or would she be at home, sweetly kissing their children's cheek and preparing a hot meal for them while he was away?

Would he be welcomed warmly into her arms, his children hugging him at the waist? Would he get to gaze into her violet hues and forget all of this happened? He was uncertain, the dread tugging at him as he felt that comforting numbness draw him in from the his tortured existence in Dawn. He was tempted to succumb to it, to let his other side show to continue on with the mission.

No, he can't, he promised he wouldn't. Sugarboy would have to face this hurt and the other challenges of this island on his own, he had to have faith Euyitl was home, that they would be together again, it was all he had to carry him on.

His eyes would lazily look towards the cavern, suspicious. "I don't know how I feel about this."
(Sugarboy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[22:34] {NARRATION} When Tototl pulled the journal off, there was a soft glow to it that gave of the same feeling coming from within the cavern. Though it did not speak, something felt right.
[22:36] Tototl's eyes dart to the journal as that soft, green glow emanates from it. A truly wild grin now plagues his mug as he continues forth. "Think ah... Think we made it, you two - Spirits if this wasn't what I imagined though."

Strings of mutters fall out of the Chieftain as he continues forth towards the cavern. Tanned digits tap away at the journal's cover, the ball of mana dissipating into thing air as his hand comes to a rest down at his side. Supposing he'd reach the mouth of the cavern he'd peer inside, searching for what lay within.
(Tototl)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[22:38] Israa makes no protests, following after Tototl as his hands cling to each other behind his back.

"Tototl.. If we're going underground.. Perhaps I should lead the way?" Israa inquires, staring at the back of Tototl's head as he walks. "I am a master earth mage after all, so if you want to continue without lights.."
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[22:40] A nod would follow as Tototl confirmed this was the way. "Let's hurry up and get the fuck off this island." Sugarboy would huff, gesturing forward with a hand.

"Lead the way, Israa."
(Sugarboy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[22:40] Tototl says, "- Yes, fair."
[22:40] Israa looks to Sugarboy and gently bites down on his lip, sucking in a breath before nodding his head. He looks at the cave for a single, longing moment, before closing his eyes and stepping forward into the mouth.

Focus.. This is perhaps one of the best place for a sarradian earth mage to be on this island, after all how easy would it be to simply crush and trap anything that meant harm from all directions? Right?
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[22:44] {NARRATION} The trio entered the cavern and with each step the felt the weight of whatever was out in that forest lift. The darkened enclosure became surprisingly bright, illuminated by glowing fungi on the walls that continued on as the trail deeper winded ahead.

After some walking, they'd finally find the central chamber; a room with a treelike structure growing into the back wall. Within the roots of the tree seemed to be an old, old man, bearded and connected to it, though thrumming with blue energy and light. His eyes had no pupils, nor irises, but were instead two brilliant, azure orbs that greeted them warmly.

"Hello, Tototl. It's nice to finallly meet you..." Though he was bound to the tree, his gaze shifted to the others. "And your friends as well. You've come so far.. I have to ask... why?"
[22:51] Tototl followed the Sarradian down into the depths of the cavern, the tanned digit tapping all the while against the cover of the book. There was a fair bit of serenity within those earthen walls. It was a calm reminder that, perhaps, this had all been worth it.

That wild grin persisted all the while as they arrived into the central chamber - Though it quickly flickered into an expression of light confusion. Those roots were focused upon with those brown hues as he steps beyond his two friends; His free hand gingerly reaching forth before stopping as he spoke.

Azure. The man saw mana.

A huff of amusement escapes him, utterly flabbergasted. Tototl shakes himself to his senses before replying in turn. "It's ah... An honor, Yojiwa, but a shame my mentor couldn't reach you with me. He's long since joined the Spirits in their realm." His lips contort for a moment before he continues, his eyes shifting from the elder to the tree he was bound to. "I came to... Learn what you accomplished - A mere fraction, even, if possible. I have people to protect these days and ah..."

"You transcended humanity, beyond the strengths of what I'm assuming even a mystic could accomplish. What ah... How did you manage such a feat?- What is this feat?" His free hand lightly gestures to the roots of the tree about them, brown hues squinting as its connection is studied.
(Tototl)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[22:54] The doctor would saunter over to a nearby wall in the cavern, leaning against it as he propped his staff against his shoulder. The two seers had much to discuss, Sugarboy didn't feel necessary to interrupt it with a simple, "Helping a friend."
(Sugarboy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[22:55] Israa blinks as the tunnel begins to widen out and lighten out - a shame, almost, he was half tempted to whisper boo in the dark or something.. But those snickering thoughts are quickly banished upon entering the chamber of the strange man!

Israa remains quiet, the shy thing that he is, and he steps off to the side and contents himself with silence as Tototl moved to interact with the older sage. Israa retreats to the other side of the cavern, standing stiffly upwards with his hands clasped around each other at his waist.
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[23:09] "It's been a long time... since I laid eyes on real people..." the old man said. He gave Tototl a tired smile, and those eyes turned once again to Sugarboy and Israa as they answered him. He seemed refreshed to be meeting with them, like he'd gone some time without a proper drink of water or food. By the looks of it, that's exactly what he was too; sustained in this world not by his own body anymore, but by the tree he was now a part of.

A rattled sigh came from his mouth as he began what might be a lecture.

"All I've done, I did to protect those I cared for... to protect this isle... to protect my home... and the world it shared... what you must understand is that while we... commune with the spirits and their world... a great amount of power comes from within."

If he could move or point his hand, maybe he would be pointing toward the Chieftain, or more directly at Tototl's heart.

"You must know yourself, your strengths... and your weaknesses."

The cavern shook as something thundered overhead. It sounded as if a meteor had crashed into the cavern top. Yojiwa was entirely unphased.

"Your failures will create you... just as mine have made me." Yojiwa frowned. "I tried to warn you of him. My failure... Zoelfo is the reason ruin came to this island... he was my student.... and I failed him."

Another quake made some dust fall from the ceiling.

"He has come to kill me. For so long he didn't know where I was due to the wards but... I fear inviting you into this place lead him here. I knew the risks... and I was prepared for them..."

"He has fallen from grace... and in his worship of Saekanis chose to master riftmancy... he only hears the screams of the damned now... he only seeks... destruction..."

Tears were welling up in his eyes as the old man told the tale of the thing that was trying to get to them.
(Yojiwa)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[23:19] The elder's words would be pondered, it seemed like an odd way to go about it, but Sugarboy would start thinking about how his failures stacked up, how they made him. There were plenty there, every lost fight, every struggle. With some self reflection, Sugarboy was pretty much made entirely from his failures since there was so many. Sage wisdom from the tree guy.

Dirt would fall from the cavern ceiling as ocean blue eyes looked up, hearing the pounding. An elbow pressed against the wall, Sugarboy would be pushed to his feet as what remained of his reserves of blood swirled around him. "Then lets get him before he gets you." said with a shrug.

The doctor moreso wanted to get the man who had caused him so much grief.
(Sugarboy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[23:20] It was a vague answer, but Tototl seemed to understand. One could rely on the Spirits for guidance and strength, yes, but they could not hold his hand all the time. His mentor, the fallen, they deserved rest much like the man before him. Tototl would have to seek out his mana's potency - Though that was in the times to come.

His lips purse tight for a silent moment as the dust continues to fall from the ceiling; Quake after quake the Chieftain seems to grow more agitated. It was his fault in the end of it - To see the man he sought to prove his mentor right, only to be his doom in turn.

"I accept the fate to come, then. The tiredness it takes to lead the Tribes - the future of my people - and what it may take to ah... Accomplish this." An understanding smile flickers on the Chieftain as one last gaze travels down the roots and into the man's brilliant eyes. "Rest, Yojiwa, you've earned your claim here beyond him."

"Allow me to relieve you of this mistake." A sage nod is cast towards the elder before he turns on his heels. Gesturing with a tanned hand it was clear Tototl wished to return to the surface - already reaching for his blade.
(Tototl)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[23:20] Israa bites his lower lip as Yojiwa speaks, eyes trained on the old character as he lists his life tale and advice. Something gathered and garnered after such a long time, to such a degree, well, it was one's life work..

As the earth trembled, the sarradian doesn't look upwards - but instead closes his eyes and presses the back of his head against the cavern wall behind him, the flats of his palms joining as he tries to get a feel of what exactly was coming..
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[23:26] Yojiwa watched from those blue eyes and nodded. He wouldn't stop them from fighting, but something in his visage spoke of an acceptance that this might be the end. Even if they succeeded...
(Yojiwa)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[23:30] {NARRATION} As the trio exited the cave, they were met with an odd sight.

A simple ookami, or at least, what would be a simple ookami, was dashing through the trees rending bark and air in his wake. He bore no weapon, but his claws shifted through space and left that green-blue light of the rifts that had been spotted throughout the forest.

Through each tear they could see another part of the island, or something even more mysterious that lead to the worlds beyond this one. His terrible eyes focused on the Chieftain, and the shirt he wore was a mockery of what was likely once a benevolent sigil.

Blackened tattoos across his body spoke of his Saekanism and the blessings that had come from it, and entropic force billowed about his person, pushing what he didn't rip apart away.

"Out. Of. The. Way."

A clawed finger pointed to the entrance to the cavern. "I'm here for HIM."
[23:37] Tototl remained stalwart as he finally surfaced from the cavern. The hilt of his blade was gripped tight like a dying breath as the Ookami was watched ever so closely. Rifts in space followed their claws, the island's vegetation torn asunder under his might. Even then, there were brief glimpses to the various realms beyond.

He couldn't stand that taint.

Calm rage billowed from within the Chieftain, a violent flame of mana erupting from his form. Shrouded within that blue energy he'd point the tip of his blade towards the riftmancer. "You've wronged what the people here and I strive for, Zoelfo. I will not stand by and let you disturb the rest and peace of what Spirits lay here."

"Nor will they." A swipe upon his own right arm opens the closing cut once more. Blood cascades upon the stony grass beneath him as a series of corporeal hands collect about him. That blue shroud nowturns cyan, the convergence point upon his heart drawn from as more mana is ushered into his actions.

"Fall before the Seer of Cruxati, the Chieftain of the Spirits." Shifting the gravity beneath his feet, he'd rise from the ground and ready his blade. Yojiwa's mistake would be erased this day.
(Tototl)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[23:39] Israa pulls his staff against himself as he stares across at Zoelfo. Already, Israa knew that conflict was, in fact, inevitable, but there still remained a small hankering that perhaps there was an interesting path to take..

The small sarradian, who appeared quite none-threatening alongside humans, steps off to the side to seperate himself from the chief and doc for a few moments, whilst keeping his gaze on Zoelfo. He draws his eyes over the island - torn with portals and decayed civilization - before bringing his eyes back to the ookami. He winces softly as Tototl speaks. As the ultimatium is given, Israa interjects.

"What is your plan, Saekanist?" Israa asks, casting his voice aloud. "You represent a cycle, do you not? When is your shift over? I share some degree of destructive magics - the purifying flame turns the organized nature of things and turns it back to ash, which facilitates new growth, but what are you?"
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[23:41] Stepping out of the cave, Sugarboy would do his best to look like an intimidating wingman, standing at five foot eight. Hey, maybe the armor, blood pooling around him, and spooky witchdoctor staff would do it.

He'd crack his knuckles and pop his neck. "Yeah, we're not gonna move, and you're not getting to Old Man Yoji." He'd shake his head with a wicked grin, as he let the chief do the talking.

"Yeah, motherfucker, you gonna die." The blood that orbited him began to bubble as Sugarboy was ready to blast a few holes through him.
(Sugarboy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[23:43] {NARRATION} "I bear no PLAN." he snarled. "I have sought to ruin that which the old man created, to tear apart the lies he sewed." The manic eyes locked on to Israa before flicking back to Tototl.

"No Seer can kill me, no spirit can stand in my way. I will tear you apart, I will tear you all apart!!"

At Sugarboy's insult, the ookami dove downward, though a rift tore the air between he and the trio. A brief second of repose made it seem like he had disappeared or left, until a great roar came from behind them,

And Zoelfo was aiming to strike at their blind sides.

[00:01] Israa Farhat exclaims, "AGGHH!"
[00:01] Israa Farhat exclaims, "AAHHH!"
[00:03] ** Yojiwa has inflicted an injury upon Israa Farhat. ("Burnt Shoulder", "Israa fought against Zoelfo the Mad Saekanite and was left with a large burn across his shoulder. Occultic flames left their mark searing skin down to the muscle. They disintegrated much of the cloth and armor there as well, causing the material to melt into the wound and only make it worse. Some treatment will be needed but in time it will heal.", "Temporary", "Duration: Medium (4 days)") **
[00:06] ** Yojiwa has inflicted an injury upon Tototl. ("Everbleeding Tear", "In his fight against Zoelfo the Mad Saekanite, Tototl was torn open by the ookami via a mixture of riftmancy and the blessings of the Winter Wolf his enemy wielded. Claw marks have carved up Tototl's chest and back, leaving the clothing and armor torn to shreds and cuts that for some reason refuse to heal easily. Many parts of the cuts are to the bone, deep and harsh. While they will leave many scars and the pain and treatment will last a long time, they should heal with proper aid.", "Temporary", "Duration: Long (12 days)") **
[00:09] ** Yojiwa has inflicted an injury upon Sugarboy. ("Ruptured Lungs/Shattered Ribs", "From a blast of hated and chaotic telekinesis from the Mad Saekanite Zoelfo, Sugarboy was sent crashing into several trees which broke his body and bones. With each collision his lungs were battered and bruised, and even ruptured partially, leaving breathing extremely difficult and painful. His ribs, of course, were broken in several places as well, and while treatment will mend them all, it will be difficult and will require a great amount of time to truly heal.", "Temporary", "Duration: Long (12 days)") **
[00:09] Zoelfo would disappear before their eyes and through the faint water in the air Sugarboy would feel him appear behind them. Reactively throwing up a shield of holywater, a storm of whirling typhoons and miasma of blood would rush towards the failed student.

Sugarboy would blast him with every fiber of his magic that remained, but damn if that ooker wasn't fast, and hit hard too! The exorcist would continue to bolster his allies with soothing waters, but it was hard to keep a bead on the wolfkind as he shredded holes through reality to retreat through, rending the flesh behind the blonde's armor as occult flames lit up under him.

It would be a difficult fight for the three comrades as the three staggered Zoelfo with their assault, but slowly he would pick them off one by one before they were able to pick themselves up to repel him.

Just as they wore him down, and Israa distracted him with his fire dancing, Sugarboy would point his staff at the ookami, a hand extended in unison as water swirled around him, his muscles seizing from the what of the water as he was locked to his knees.

With great strain, the blonde would glance over to the soon to be seer, "GET'EM CHIEF."
(Sugarboy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[00:10] This battle was beyond draining. Mana continued to pour our of the Chieftain as the three clashed against the renegade Ookami. Each step was fueled by a heavy amount of mana - Of which, was practically empty inside those reserves of convergence points. Even then, however, Tototl had to press on not for just Yojiwa but the duo he'd dragged here.

Throughout the course of it all his blade practically flies back and forth between the spectral hands. The Chieftain unleashes torrent after torrent of mana against the Ookami, other hands following suit as Tototl's mana is stored. By the end of it all he could barely stand - A fading, spectral hand losing its grip on the blade as his mana fully dies out, consciousness threatening to slip in turn.

Yet, the man must rise.

It was no longer a matter of if he could get up, it was more so a matter of he had to. Gushing with wounds from the deadly encounter he slowly saunters forth, calling upon the life essence that leaves his body. Blood was, after all, a fair medium for the purification of Wraiths. It allowed what would be considered a fatal defeat to be a pyrrhic victory. A hazy, vibrant blue coalesces about his form as the captured Ookami is suddenly rushed with a last-ditch effort of mana-fueled movements!

The blade cleaves right through the middle of the Ookami's head, and as it's reeled back Tototl cleaves it clean off from the neck. While the mistake had been ridden from Yojiwa-

Tototl was not unharmed. A myriad of claw marks decorated his chest and back. Mythril armor was torn asunder, Sarradian cloth similarly destroyed. He was, by all means of the word, hanging on by a thread.
(Tototl)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[00:14] Israa knew which way this would go, but he still found himself slightly shocked that the battle took place so quickly!

He leaps up onto a rock and taps his staff down into it, causing the earth to immediately shake and quiver as it cracks under a growing heat! The sarradian lifts the staff up towards the sky, a long breath escaping them, before they slam the staff back down into the rock!

The stone cracks and shatters upon impact with the butt of the staff, and a huge wall of flames shoots outwards from where the sarradian stands - surrounding the arena in a maelstorm of fire that blackens and kills the grass and lichens. From there, Israa swirls off the rock, and begins to dance.

The battle was a long one, with more back and forths than the sarradian cared to admit! Twice was Israa struck - a heavy blow to the belly, but with Tototl and Sugar still active they bide him room to recover.

The second time, however, Israa isn't so lucky.

It was down to the cultist ookami and the sarradian, prancing back and forth between the flames. They weren't so different, in some mild senses - Israa's own magic was fundamentally destructive, but it carried with it the birth of renewal. But tired, panting, and bleeding, Israa's footing remains firm even as a bolt of purple flames lances into the sarradian's shoulder!

With a shocked scream, not so much pain burning through them as much as shock, Israa falls to his knees. Water dribbles out of his wound, fissling into steam as Tototl leaps forward in ambush - drawing the Ookami away!

Israa sits there, wincing as their hand goes up to touch the wound! It was deep, and finally the pain began to sear through them! It burned!

It burned so good!

The rocks beneath Israa's hands push upwards as the sarradian picks himself back up, grinning wide as they push a ploom of smoke in to choke the ookami as they battle Tototl, until finally, and for the last time, they fall.

Israa immediately drops their staff and screams in agony, taking off running in the nearest direction of water.
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[00:17] {NARRATION} The fight did not finish without the trio left in shambles. Even with their combined effort and the defeat of Zoelfo, the damage this single battle had reaped on the surrounding area was prevalent. Trees had been broken and toppled over, life around the Mad Saekanite had simply turned brown and dull, dead in his presence that had grown so violent.

With his head soundly removed from his body, however, he could do no more harm to the island or Yojiwa. With each of the trio left with their wounds to tend to, everything in the dark forest was still, as if the very nature of the area was thankful for their fight.
[00:19] Sugarboy would find it difficult to breathe as he gasped for air, he'd drop his breastplate- yep, those were broken ribs. He would only assume one if not both lungs were punctured, luckily with his magic he wouldn't drown in his own blood.

He'd swiftly grab a healing Elixir and down it as his wounds mended themselves and he could breathe in relief.
(Sugarboy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[00:19] Israa has taken off into the country side, screaming.
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[00:21] {NARRATION} Israa finds a pond of fresh water to soak in.
[00:23] Israa, upon locating this pond of water, bee-lines straight towards it! They do not waste a moment! As they reach the edge, they leap - feet leaving the ground as they penguin dive into the water with a SPLASH!
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[00:24] {NARRATION} The group returned to Yojiwa who awaited where they'd left him, still bound to his tree. Though when they returned he was not alone. Runic gates were allowing people to walk in and join him, real, living humans who were mingling with spirits that awaited them on the other side.

Yojiwa smiled and closed his eyes.

"Thank you, friends. You have made the isle safe for us once more... I had to hide them away you see? They could not... fight against Zoelfo..." Another sigh escaped his lips and he nodded to part of the tree that was curling forward, a root that uncoiled and broke off.

"Take this as a token for our gratitude. It is wood as hard as the toughest metal." He leaned his head back and rested it upon the bark behind him. "You'll find your ship nearby... they've been searching for you." A dry laugh came from the old sage. "There is so much more I could teach you, Tototl, but it would do us no good to spend so much time here. Your people need you. But I won't leave you alone."

One of the living woman approached with what looked like an earn while the journal inside of Tototl's robes shifted once again, as if something inside was changing.

"The ashes of my predecessors will grant you a greater ability to learn of their wisdom... and this Spirit Gem... will grant you a direct connection to them..."

"I wish you all a safe journey home... And thank you... again..."
[00:25] {Item} You picked up Iron Oak x2.
[00:25] {Item} You drop Iron Oak x5.
[00:30] {Item} You picked up Spinach. Dropped by Sugarboy. .
[00:30] {Item} You drop Spinach x1.
[00:30] Water! Sweet precious water!

Immediate relief comes to the sarradian once they had successfully submerged themselves in the pond, their agonizing groan of blissful agony turning into a moan of relief by the end.

Israa resurfaces, eyes closing as they stand there with their feet touching the bottom - cringing every few moments as they touch the wound on their shoulder. Ouch, ouch.. Yea, that was bad..

Israa pulls himself out of the stream, walking back to where they had fought. He doesn't dry himself off, instead prefering to absorb the water after such a grevious injury. He stands over the body of the decapitated ookami..

The faith he followed? Of death and decay and destruction.. It was circular.. Israa picks his staff back up and puts the butt of it down, and with a small focus he shifts the terrain around the ookami as he begins to crudely construct a mud oven..

Israa works on cremating the ookami. Their ashes would serve the bed of renewal, after all..
(Israa Farhat)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[00:33] Tototl had gingerly made his way down the cavern, a bloody mess in all sense of the word. Despite the elixir of healing that lay in his sash about his waist he seemed headstrong in not recovering just yet. Perhaps it was to be a reminder for what had just happened, or perhaps it was merely to prove his worth.

Those brown hues study the runic gates beyond Yojiwa, a soft smile sprouting on that exhausted mug of his. More were alive here, and perhaps he'd have to return one day to find out more of Yojiwa's teachings. The uncoiling root is looked at and accepted, brown hues studying its material.

It felt like Arcanium, how strange.

Those hues don't know entirely where to focus after that - A monotony of presents and gifts presented to him. A few strings of mutters pass the Chieftain by as they're all accepted and that glow within his cloak regarded with curiosity. It seems there would be far grander things on the horizon for the Tribes.

"It was ah... An honor, again, Yojiwa. I can not thank you enough for what you're giving me - Blessing me with even. Hopefully my people will join me down this path we lead. Spirits know ah... It's a long one." A dry, tired chuckle passes out of Tototl as the post-battle high finally fades away. Wincing, he'd weakly chime in after. "Thank you... Spirits protect."
(Tototl)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[00:33] Yojiwa says, "Spirits protect..."
[00:34] Sugarboy says, "Spirits protect, fam"