Under the Sea: Conclusion and aftermath

[voidtreckermods]

Ritual

The jellyfish is no more and as red team take stock of their injuries, or collapse from exhaustion the lights zip around them, singing their song of joy. They gather around the light that had been inside the jellyfish and now that it has been released it is obvious this light is different. Stronger. They surround it and the song gets even louder as they begin to move towards the plinth.

In the caverns where the purple and orange team are there is a stillness. For those in orange team still in the cavern they can only hope that the instructions they gave out had been followed. Luckily for them they have been, Purple team have done a remarkable job of defeating the crabs and cleaning the temple. The priests gather around the shell on the alter, arms linked together in prayer as they seek to re-sanctify their temple. As their prayer begins they will invite the voidtreckers to join them, though no one is forced into taking part in the ritual. They suggest that they use their strange wrist jewellery to open communication with their friends in Bui.

The monster on the beach is defeated and though the fight is still raging against the crabs, a beacon has been built and lit. The islanders who are not fighting gather around it, linking arms, drawing any voidtreckers who don't object to joining them into the circle.

The song begins hesitantly, almost as if everyone has forgotten the words and only half remembers the tune. The SCA translates, the prayer is simple, a blessing on the land and its people, deliverance from the darkness and hope for the future.

The light from the jellyfish reaches the plinth and is set upon it. The song heightens and the light shoots upwards, blinding in its brilliance.

Through the dark storm clouds a light streams towards the island, most of it towards the beacon on the island though there is a break away light that goes towards the train, where some of orange team have set up a second beacon. It swirls around those on the train roof, singing a song of happiness and bounces back towards the island.

The light reaches the main beacon and hits it with a strength that lights up the whole sky. The light splits more solidly into two and speeds off over the ocean. Light pours into the underground caverns, not caring about the ocean and rock in the way, the light pools into the shells, the caverns glow warmly.

Outside the storm calms, clouds roll back, the sun shines. The sea stills. The wind stops. The sun is rising, a beautiful dawn. Any monsters left scuttle away, vanishing into the ocean, away from Bui.

Those with any powers that they couldn't reach before find them returned in a rush. Those who can sense life find this world teeming with it. A song that dances between every plant and creature.

Some of red may have evacuated to the train but those who stayed to see the ritual through, the world around them seems to melt away and they find themselves back next to the rock pools. Among their number there are some confused looking islanders who intrinsically draw closer to those who helped free the lights.

Orange and Purple

Down underwater there's noise and a babble of voices as the citizens of Bui wake up. There's a shimmering around the city now, like a shield though they can pass through easily. Parents scramble to locate their children and all check on loved ones and friends.

The familiar voice of train announcements is heard through Orange team's SCAs. Orange return to the VoidTrecker Express. Once everyone is on board it flies low over the ocean, skimming the waves.

In the underwater temple the priests finish sealing the ritual and then it is time to begin the return trek. There are no monsters this time and after a few hours, as they emerge onto the first of the sandbanks they will find the VoidTrecker Express is waiting for them.

Red and Blue

The monsters gone, those of the island gather everyone from the rock pools and for a few hours everyone sleeps.

At about noon the islanders begin to stir, begin putting things to rights. Wood is moved from the strategic points to more communal campfires on the beach. Any dead monsters that haven't been gathered for food have been washed out to sea, disappeared into the depths. They begin to prepare food and won't turn away any helpers. Though those who have been fighting are encouraged to rest.

The islanders bring blankets and start to gather. Everyone is exhausted but the children, in the way of children find the energy to play in the sea and the sand.

Beach Day

Early afternoon the train lands on the beach and everyone gets a holographic message to their SCA.

Mission successful. Well done Voidtreckers. Enjoy the rest of your day. You will find suitable clothing in the dressing room. A new recipe has been added to the kitchen information points.

The dressing room is indeed open once more, this time it holds swimsuits of every style, shorts, t shirts, wraps and beach skirts. Sun hats and sunglasses can also be found. It's a bit of a mush mash but they should be able to cobble together something other than their uniform wet suits.

Time to laze around on the beach or for those who still have energy swim or play. A few hours later a ripple across the water brings some of those from Bui and they swim or lounge on rocks to talk.

Food and stories

Food is cooked and shared, the islanders will happily try the voidtreckers' offerings and share their own. As the sun begins to set they gather around the fires. Stories and songs are shared and there's even some dancing for the brave.

Voidtreckers can choose whether to sleep in their own beds or spend one last night on the island before the train flies off into the sunrise and into the void.

Comments

Re: Drizzt Do'Urden

[laurefindil]

Glowing through the loose purple tunic he threw on as the sun went down, Glorfindel came across the other elf and his friend as they rose from the sand. "Drizzt! Glad to see you recovering well. Who is your beautiful friend?"

[usestwohands]

No offense to Glorfindel, of course, but he's glad to see he's put on something dark. Smiling anyway, he places a hand on his companion's neck.

"She is Guenhwyvar. Do you recall the statuette I had when I arrived?"

[laurefindil]

Glorfindel nodded. "Yes, I do. Is this her then?" He gives the cat a bow, one hand in front of his chest. "Welcome Guenhwyvar. You look much more lively now. As does he," he added with a grin and a nod of his head at Drizzt.

[usestwohands]

He nodded, smiling to spite the embarrassment that came with knowing how childish he must seem. It was too welcome to have Guenhwyvar at this side again, even though he knew he would be saying goodbye all too soon now that their mission was concluded, he pushed those thoughts aside.

"She was my only companion for...many years." His intent wasn't vagueness with the comment, but an uncertainty of the time. He lost himself for a while then.

[laurefindil]

Glorfindel nodded. After a couple of millennia years become meaningless anyway, honestly.

"Your fur looks exceptionally soft, my lady," he said. "I hope you are not finding the sand to be too annoying?"

He looks at Drizzt out of the corner of his eye. "And now you are having quality time with her again. Would you prefer I leave you two?"

[usestwohands]

Guenhwyvar seems to contemplate Glorfindel's address for a moment before moving to make her ears accessible to his hands. Drizzt laughed.

"I believe she would have you comfort her in her inconvenience." He shakes his head, though. "When I say she was my only companion, I mean that. We left my homeland, just the two of us, and we wandered the dark for some time, completely alone. So long, I know not its length. Were it not for speaking to Guenhwyvar, I would have forgotten how. Your company is not unwelcome."

[laurefindil]

Glorfindel suppressed a happy laugh as Guenhwyvar made her ears accessible to him, as he was still listening to Drizzt recount of their time wandering together. He reached out and stroked her fur. It was every bit as soft as it looked. His fingers found the spots that her smaller kin tended to find most appealing and he petted and scritched like he had nothing better to do for the next few hours.

"I am glad that the two of you had one another," he said sincerely. "Wandering alone is not something I would wish on anyone."

[usestwohands]

"It was not always unpleasant." That wasn't to say it had been pleasant of course. "You sound as though you speak from experience."

[laurefindil]

"Not for extended periods, no, but a friend of mine...she got separated from the party that was escorting her, and we could not find her, ever again. Until years later her son came to our city and told us what happened to her. If she had a friend like yours, things might have turned out different for her." Glorfindel sighed at the memory. "That was in my first life, but the What Ifs still haunt me a little."

[usestwohands]

"You lost a friend? I am terribly sorry." While he had faced great hardship himself before forcing himself into exile, he would not have wished it on anyone.

"I hope she didn't suffer overmuch."

[laurefindil]

He nodded. "We were escorting her to Hithlum to meet Fingon. Yes, the one that is here. But then she wanted to see the Curufin and one of his brothers, but we were turned away when we tried to pass through Doriath. That was when we were caught in a mesh of shadows and...we lost her."

"She was safe for a while, but then," Glorfindel shook his head. "When we say Dark Elf, we mean the Avari, the Elves who denied the Valar completely, they were dark of spirit. One, Eol...well, he seduced her and they had a child and lived together in the forest, but when their son and she fled back to Gondolin, he pursued them and tried to kill their son, but killed her by mistake. So she died as she lived, protecting the ones she loved, doing her own thing," he said with a sad smile.

[usestwohands]

"She died free, then." It was all most races could hope for.  "Did this Avari treat her poorly?" Glorfindel certain sounds as though he didn't approve of this union, as he described the dark elf as having seduced her.

[laurefindil]

"He kept her close to his side and would not let her visit anyone or even notify us she still lived. Her son said she was happy enough, but wistful when she spoke of her home." Glorfindel's expression was clouded as he thought about it. "She loved the forest, of wandering freely. Even if she found some happiness, what he made her give up...it was too much."

[usestwohands]

Something his mentor told him once, when Drizzt had commented on all the creatures of the surface seeming so free came to him then. Even a caged bird will sing, Drizzt Do'Urden, to remind themselves of freedom. He clenched his jaw and nodded.

"I believe I understand. I am sorry."

[laurefindil]

Glorfindel took a deep breath and let it out. "Thank you. But, we were talking about you, before I derailed the subject. My apologies. What made you leave the city you were born in and wander in the underground wilderness?"

[usestwohands]

"Treachery and attempted assassination." He breathed a sigh. "I was a part of regular patrols after my graduation. Part of my group, as well, was a mage who possessed a statuette of a springing panther." He looked over to Glorfindel pointedly, with a slightly smirk, before continuing. "Often Guenhwyvar and I would scout for the group, as her tactics are more harmonious with a warrior than a mage. He always made certain to remind me she was his, not mine. And then the truth of his friendship came to light. He tried to command her to kill me in order to sabotage my house. She refused, even though the master of the statuette should hold sway over the spirit. We fought, I wrested the statuette from him, and I let her have her way with him."

"Murder of a Drow by another of our kind is forbidden. I brought shame upon House Do'Urden, and the wrath of the Spider Queen upon us all. My mother would see me sacrificed in repentance, but-" he swallowed, steeling himself to complete the tale. "My father gave himself in my stead. Lolth was not pleased, and the city was no longer safe."

[laurefindil]

"Because you sided with your friend against her former master, and because your father sacrificed himself for you?" Glorfindel asked, nodding in approval. "Lolth sounds like a petty goddess. I can understand why you left. What have you done with yourself since then?"

[usestwohands]

His expression darkens at the question. He could tell his new friend of his time as a slave, of the monster his father had become being used against him, of his time against the mindflayers and their Overmind, of the nearly 10 years he lost on the Underdark...but it all seemed so dour in the light.

"Sought a place where I could belong, more than anything."

[laurefindil]

Glorfindel could tell there was obviously more to the story, but it was Drizzt's story to tell, and if he did not want to go into details, Glorfindel would not press for them.

He smiled and nodded at the answer. "I can relate to that. It is a common and reoccurring theme in my life, and among many of those I have encountered." Especially Aragorn...and Arwen. "Have you found such a place in your world? Have you found one here yet?"