Onward: Orange

[voidtreckermods]

On the second night those still on the train may be woken by rough seas, the train lurching and rolling in the waves.

If they manage to sleep through the choppy waters they might instead be woken by the voice over the ICPs. "Orange team to doors. Orange team to doors."

Those that head the instruction and exit out of the luggage carriage or dressing room doors will be met with a strange sight.

The sea is glowing. Or at least part of the sea. Underneath them, from where Bui lies there is a light that shines upwards through the dark water, rippling over the water, breaking into specks of light in the waves.

It seems it is time for another investigation.

Night Dive

The water is even colder at night, the water eerie as they make the dive down to the city. The whole city is lit up, light reflecting off shells and coral.

The light seems to be coming from the far palace. Outside the palace there is a sigil, in the shape of a shell, glowing brightly. It had not been there before, nothing to suggest there had been anything special about that patch of ground. Yet it glows now.

Crabs

The city of Bui, until now, has been peaceful, eerily empty even. But as they investigate they will find a different problem. Some of the giant crabs have found their way to the city. Not overwhelming numbers, but enough to be a problem, especially as their aim seems to be attacking the sleeping citizens.

On the Train

For those who remain on the train dawn brings it's own problems. Dawn breaks into darkness, the sun barely penetrating. Shadows are deep and the temperature cooler. It is not too dark to see, more like an endless twilight.

The seas remain rough and choppy, like a storm is brewing.

Comments

[wisdominshadows]

A resigned sigh. "Of course there are."

Well, it could be worse. Like-likes. Wallmasters. Redeads.

A city of sleeping victims, left alone with Redeads. It almost makes one appreciate the crabs.

"Do you think this is normal behavior from the crabs?" She asks as she begins to summon another fire spell. "I've not seen anything I recognized as defenses around the city."

[so_dark_a_road]

"Always! The things are ubiquitous."

It could always be worse. The crabs could weigh fifty tons and have mouths the size of caves. These little fifty-pound crustaceans are almost welcome in comparison.

"I wonder about that, too. Do the crabs swarm during certain seasons, and this time they found a lot of sleeping people here so they summoned all their friends and now they're coming in waves? But you have a point there -- if there are no walls or other defenses around the city, then that suggests the crabs have never behaved this way before."

[wisdominshadows]

On the other hand, mouths that size present appealingly large targets. Alas, they have no bombs....

"I suppose whatever brought us here might have incited this. But if that's the case...." She sighs. "I suppose it doesn't matter. Fending them off is a holding action, nothing more- but we already knew that."

[so_dark_a_road]

Too bad Curufin doesn't have any of his explosives here! That would simplify a problem.

"Hmm, I hadn't thought of that. The train's entry into this universe and onto this planet might have jarred the ocean and the land in some arcane manner. Maybe that's what brought the crustaceans out. But, yes, keeping them off the mer people is just a way of preventing a worse misfortune than merely the whole city falling asleep. Let's get back to it, shall we?"

The wave of crabs reaches them.

[wisdominshadows]

Zelda throws her hands up and a blue light surrounds her, settling into a crystalline structure which covers her entire body. For a few moments the crabs draw close, scratching up against the shield.

That's fine- if anything, that's intended.

Then the walls crack, shards of power flying out like flying glass. Each buries itself deep in one of the surrounding crabs, killing it instantly.

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin whips out his sword, but he's immediately entranced by Zelda's response to the crabs. She shields herself with crystal and then explodes it, causing many shards of sharp crystal to fly at the crabs and impale them.

He stands ready to dispatch any crustaceans that aren't dead, but that doesn't seem to be a problem at the moment.

He looks around to see if another wave is coming yet. . .

[wisdominshadows]

And look- there it is, if a few minutes off still.

"I hope we're not disturbing the environment too much," she sighs. "I can't quite believe the number of crab corpses we're producing would be usual."

Still, there isn't much to do about it, is there?

[so_dark_a_road]

The next wave won't reach them for a bit, so he keeps a tight grip on his sword hilt but stands relaxed.

"I hope not, too. All these crabs we've killed are liable to attract whatever preys on them. We might eventually have to fight something larger and fiercer than these."

[wisdominshadows]

"And that would bring them into contact with our charges as well," Zelda says, barely managing to keep from groaning.

What a nightmare. Why doesn't this city have any defenses?