Quests & Challenges

[center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3020423#post_3020423][img]https://musesings.files.wordpress.com/2021/05/buried-badge-6.png[/img][/url][/center] *User ID#: 158524 Daily Theme: The Buried Applicable CW & Additional Notes: n/a "Be careful, this area's unstable." I rolled my eyes at Harrow once her back was turned and replied, "Thanks for the advice." I'd been on dozens of these excavations, and was more than familiar with unstable ruins. I knew all the signs of a potential cave-in, and had dodged (and, alright, been dug out of) more than one in my time. But still, always with Harrow's statements of the obvious. [i]"Watch out for that crumbling wall,"[/i] and [i]"Don't forget your safety gear,"[/i] and, my favorite, [i]"That's a long drop!"[/i] I suppose I'm being too harsh. Harrow is my team lead, and she's got plenty of experience, too. And it's not [i]bad[/i] advice. I've seen plenty of dragons injured because of that lack of caution, even in areas so obviously dangerous that you'd have to be [i]stupid[/i] not to take a little more care. And yet, something about Harrow's tone always rubbed me wrong, and made me want to be a little more reckless, just to spite her. That's the kind of mood I was in that day, rolling my eyes at her as I sifted through the rubble. I don't know if taking the situation a bit more seriously, being a bit more cautious, would've prevented what happened... but I do feel a bit stupid, looking back on it. "I'm going on break. Stay close to the walls and mind that hole there," she said. I didn't dignify that with a reply. [i]Mind the hole[/i]. As if I could miss it. As if I'd just stumble into it and-- --and yes, of course, that's exactly what happened. I tripped over a rock--[i]a rock![/i]--and tumbled right through the floor. Several bits of tile and stone and assorted debris followed me down, and I landed in a heap of bruises and regret in the pitch-black cavern below. It hurt almost as much as the embarrassment would when that ridiculous Skydancer found me down there. Any moment now, I'd hear her voice calling out, chastising me for my recklessness. I'd caused such a clatter that surely she couldn't help but hear. I got up slowly, groaning, and checked myself for injuries. Nothing serious, it seemed. My lantern had fallen in, too, and conveniently shattered, leaving me in blackness. When I looked up, I was surprised to see how small the hole looked, the light dim and far away as if I'd fallen much further down than I thought. It hadn't [i]felt[/i] like a long fall. And it surely [i]couldn't[/i] be so deep. It must be a trick of the light, I thought, but I was beginning to feel uneasy. A minute crawled by, then another, and slowly I began to realize that no one had heard my fall, after all. It was uncomfortably warm down there, in that cavern, and uncomfortably quiet. I sighed and rubbed my hands together, just to make some noise. "Alright. Alright. I should've been a little more careful. I can admit that. She'll be back any minute to give me a tongue-lashing, and I'll take it like an adult." Harrow wouldn't be gone more than fifteen minutes. She was always so punctual. I just had to wait fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes was a lot more agonizing than it sounds. Like I said before, I've been in one or two cave-ins before, but none of them made me feel as unsettled as I felt now. It was just... [i]so[/i] quiet. And so warm. And looking up at the light from the chamber above just made me feel like I was falling further away, deeper and deeper. I couldn't stand it. So I started moving carefully forward, trying to feel with clumsy hands for the perimeter of the hole I'd fallen into. When I made contact with the wall, I yelped. It was [i]damp[/i]. It felt slippery like wet clay, and impossibly warm, like it had been left out in the hot sun for hours. "Ohhh no. No, this is fine. It's just a stupid cave." My voice sounded quiet, almost muffled, and I told myself that soft clay would muffle anyone's voice. I made my way slowly around the dark space, reaching out with my spade to feel the walls so I wouldn't have to touch them. After a few minutes, it became clear that the pit was just a little too small for me to comfortably spread my wings, if I had wanted to. Which was strange, because when I first fell, the tumbling stones and my own yell had seemed to echo so loudly... [i]"Alita? Hello?"[/i] Harrow! Her voice sounded so quiet and faint, but I was ecstatic to hear her. "Harrow! Harrow, down here!" I yelled, stepping back into the middle of the chamber, right below the hole. [i]"Alita?"[/i] No... it sounded like she was moving [i]further away[/i] from the hole. I shouted louder, voice cracking. "HARROW! I've fallen down the blasted hole, Harrow, help!" A moment later, I was cursing myself as I remembered the whistle hanging around my neck. I put it to my lips and blew as hard as I could... but the sound that came out was high and soft, and I could tell that she hadn't heard it. Her voice didn't call out to me again. I panicked. I've been digging in holes like this all my life, but I had never felt so trapped and alone. I won't go into the embarrassing details of my little freak out... There might have been a bit of screaming and throwing of rocks, etcetera. It was so [i]hot[/i] down there, the air so humid and close, and the silence was ringing. I had to get out of there. I felt around the walls again with my hands this time, trying to find handholds, or openings, anything that would help me get out. The pit was even smaller than I thought, somehow; my wings brushed against the walls as I turned, even tucked to my back as they were. I could hardly breathe. Every breath tasted like mud. When I looked up again, I almost couldn't make out the light from the excavation. I screamed again, but I could barely hear my own voice. [i]"Harrow!"[/i] I can't really say what happened after that. I must have fallen unconscious. Harrow did come back eventually, and did think to look down the blasted hole. When I woke again, outside under the open sky, they told me I'd fallen just fifteen feet down into the cavern below the chamber. No serious injuries. They thought I'd gone off for lunch, and only thought to check again when I didn't come back. Needless to say, Harrow will never let up with the stupid warnings now.

@gay4dragonz

May I please be added to both pinglists?

@gay4dragonz
Could you add me to the pinglist as well, please?

[center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3020423#post_3020423][img]https://musesings.files.wordpress.com/2021/05/buried-badge-6.png[/img][/url][/center] [quote][b]User ID#:[/b] 148765 [b]Daily Theme:[/b] The Buried [b]Applicable CW & Additional Notes:[/b] none that I can think of besides the expected claustrophobia, specifically drowning/water pressure related[/quote] ... [center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/57819226][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/578193/57819226_350.png[/img][/url][/center] [i]Statement of water spiral Zwicky, regarding a dive through the Shoredeep Passage Statement Begins:[/I] I’ve been told I can be a bit…overzealous, when it comes to finding answers to things. I know us water dragons—especially us Deepseers—are supposed to be wise, and believe me, there’s truth to it. Knowledge of the future is a powerful thing, especially when it’s so prone to misinterpretation, so we have to be able to keep our heads. And untangling a prophecy is something that needs to be done with care—that’s actually my specialty. You see, I’m not the best when it comes to the actual diving. You’d think being a spiral would make me nice and streamlined for diving, but at a certain point I’m just not strong or dense enough to handle the pressure. Water pressure, I mean. A guardian sinks like a stone, but at a certain point I’m just not dense enough to go deeper and I have to make sure I don’t get pushed up to the surface faster than I can depressurize. So for the most part I don’t really dive, and just end up interpreting things secondhand. Of course, that all changed when the Tidelord went silent. Maybe that’s why the thing happened. Swimming has always had its dangers of course, even when he was around. He lets us breathe down there, but that doesn’t mean a dragon can just do whatever they want. Currents, brine lakes, whirlpools—all terribly dangerous, and that’s not to mention the things that live in the deep. But those are all a given. Water is a powerful force, and as with any force it has its dangers. But this wasn’t something…water. I don’t know what it was, but it wasn’t right. I’m an interpreter, and the worst thing to do is to trust your gut when you can’t actually know what something means, but I know that it wasn’t natural, and it wasn’t the Tidelord. I can see on your face that you want me to get to the point. Trust me, I know how that feels—nothing the Tidelord has ever said has been clear. But he’s never been silent, and, well as I said I like finding answers. Ever since Aguar said he was gone, a few of us Deepseers have been diving down to check—and to find out where he might have went. Some of the older Deepseers even got near the Keep—found it dark, silent, the water perfectly still. We should have left it at that. I should have left it at that. Wherever he went, he went without telling us, and he didn’t mean for us to follow. But even with all the reports coming through I had to try to see for myself. I knew it was pointless—I couldn’t even get anywhere close to the bottom, but I had to try. It was the dead of night when I dove—not that it really mattered when I was in a cave and headed to depths the sun couldn’t possibly reach, but it seems relevant. Again, a hunch with no meaning. But I’m getting off topic again. I’ve been in the passage hundreds of times. So when I leapt, letting myself fall to build up my momentum, I immediately knew something was off. You see, I’d chosen to go during a spring tide, when the water is as low as it can possibly be. But I hit the water far too soon, and it felt terribly warm. Ever since the Tidelord went silent, the water has gotten less cold. His voice carried up the freezing water of the deep and without it the tunnel feels tepid and still. But tonight it felt more than tepid. It was strange and thick, and before I knew it my ears had popped and the weight of the brine had forced the last breath of air from my lungs. The Tidelord’s power lets us breathe beneath the waves. But the water that pushed its way into my body was viscous and salty, cloying and hot. It tasted stale, filthy—it brought to mind the idea of saliva, like I had slipped into the tightening throat of some terrible beast. It was too thick and sticky to breathe, and for the first time in my life I knew what it was to drown. I tried to ascend. It should have been easy—water that dense should have pushed me upwards. Your body resists that sort of pressure—the ocean literally squeezes you out if you’re not as solid as it. But while the sea pressed upon me with a ferocity I had never felt before, I knew it was dragging me downwards, not up. I know this because the pressure only grew. I tried to swim but the water was so tight around me I could only struggle faintly—and then not at all. If I hadn’t known how wide the tunnel was I would’ve sworn the cave had closed around me, that I was being dragged down an ever narrowing passage down into the world’s core. Even the water in my lungs was squeezed from me then. There simply wasn’t any room for it—for anything at all. I don’t know how long I was down there. I don’t know how far down I went. All I remember was that I had begun to wonder what it all meant. What was happening? How was it happening? I didn’t know, but I needed the answers. I didn’t want to die without knowing why. And that’s why I’m here. I need to know what happened. I don’t even know how I survived—one moment I was down there, with my bones beginning to break—the next I was back in the cave, on dry land. I even dared drop a stone into the tunnel before I left, to see how far away the splash was. Maybe I’ll even go back one day—if I can’t find it out somewhere else, somewhere safer. Like here. We are safe, right? [i]Statement Ends. Supplementary: I did some digging into Zwicky’s story, and as expected, none of the supernatural elements can be confirmed. They did attempt a dive during a spring tide some months after the Tidelord’s disappearance, and were found floating at the surface unconscious some two hours after low tide. Records from the medic on site indicate that Zwicky had sustained a severe concussion, likely from hitting the water at the wrong angle. The Deepseer that found them has confirmed that at the time the distance from the mouth of the passage to the water’s surface was large enough to be dangerous, and did not notice anything abnormal about the water. However, there is one problem with this theory which may require more investigation. According to the medic, Zwicky also appeared to have symptoms of decompression sickness when they were recovered. [/i]

[center][img]https://musesings.files.wordpress.com/2021/05/buried-badge-6.png[/img][/center] [b]*User ID#:[/b] 272749 [b]Daily Theme:[/b] The Buried [b]Applicable CW & Additional Notes:[/b] CWs: General Buried themes, loneliness, panic, desperation, brief mention of death Notes: I've never actually heard of The Magnus Archives before now, so I tried to just do my best with the prompt! ----- It was dark. [i]Very observative.[/i] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/30301863]Amaia[/url] couldn’t help but roll her eyes at herself. Of course it was dark, it’s a basement. And she was carrying a lantern, which was casting more than enough light for her to see in front of her. But just beyond that circle of light, the beacon of warmth and hope, was an unsettling darkness. It felt unusual. Unnatural even. When she had first been enlisted to help with this whole… situation, she had been annoyed. She had agreed to help with gathering books that had been misplaced, not explore basements. She had other, far more important things to do. She had hoped that asking some of the workers a few questions would get this over with in a snap. But that had been zero help. They looked shaken, muttering about closing in walls and caving in ceilings, light completely out of reach. As a dragon who served Light, it had made her shudder. So now, she was stuck descending the stairs into the basement while the rest of her clanmates remained above ground to continue aiding the archivist. Why she had agreed to be the one to come down here, she did not know. In fact, she couldn’t really recall why she agreed to help in the first place. Perhaps it was because of the idea of unknown tomes and texts. Things that she would love to get her claws on. But possibly haunted ones? Cursed objects? She wasn’t one to dismiss that as such a fleeting thing. She had handled enough curses in her lifetime. The last time she faced one, it had ripped her entire clan, her family, from her and left her home in flames. Amaia halted. Why was she thinking about that right now? Sure, the memories were always there, but she often had a much stronger mental fortitude. Heaving a sigh, she pinched the bridge of her nose between her claws. “Get it together, Amaia,” she muttered to herself. She supposed all this talk about curses and haunted things had gotten her on edge. She just needed to get this investigation over with and get back to the surface. Next time, someone else could go down in the basement. She shook her head and pushed herself to continue moving down the hallway. It felt fairly wide, despite the complaints of closing in walls. She could even stretch out her wings if she wanted. Her free hand rose to brush against the wall. Everything felt normal. So why could she not shake that unsettling feeling in her gut? It kept going. Amaia stopped again. How long had she been walking down this same hallway? She hadn’t passed any rooms, hadn’t even caught a glimpse of anything else but this single corridor. She lifted the lanturn, stretching up on her toes, straining to peer into the inky darkness just beyond that warm beacon of light. But there was nothing. It felt empty. Like the darkness hid… Nothing. The pit in her stomach grew, making it churn into knots. Her heart thrummed in her chest, climbing into her throat. Why was she so uneasy? Why could she not shake this feeling? She pressed a clawed hand to her chest, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm her nerves. [i]It’s okay. It’s just a really long hallway is all. Just a little bit further.[/i] She pressed on, her pace quicker now. She was determined to get to the end of this and hurry this up. She just wanted to get back up the stairs and into the light again. The only sound in her ears was the click of her claws against the ground and her own heartbeat. Why was it so quiet? So unnaturally, unnervingly silent that the tiniest sound could have echoed into her core. She stretched out her hand again to touch the wall, only to bump them abruptly against it. She stumbled slightly in surprise, jerking her hand away as she cursed under her breath. Shaking her fingers free of the pain that tingled through them, she lifted her hand more cautiously this time. Yes, the walls were closer than they had been. Was this hallway getting narrower? The Skydancer shook her head. Sure, maybe they were getting a bit narrower. But she wouldn’t say they were closing in. Still, she felt unnerved. Amaia shuffled slightly to the side, craning her neck to peer behind her. Darkness. She couldn’t even see the tiniest bit of light coming from the stairwell. Had she really walked that far? That didn’t make any sense. Why would there be such a long hallway down here? Muttering to herself, she turned back to face forward. There was nothing more she could do now. It would be completely pointless to turn back around. It’s getting darker. Despite her lantern still working, it felt like the darkness was beginning to swallow her. It pressed against the beam of light, pressed against her, threatening to break through it. Swallowing hard, she tried to ignore that thought, breaking out into a trot now as she continued down this never ending hallway. No, don’t think that. It’s not never ending. There has to be some kind of end… right? This was a library [i]basement[/i]. There must be some kind of room or something. The silence was only getting to her more. Her footsteps echoed through the empty hallway, eerily thrumming into her ears. Her own breaths filled her senses, ragged, quick, hollow. [i]Stay calm. Just stay calm.[/i] She struggled to urge herself. She was usually so much better at this. She had learned how to ease her nerves and calm her anxieties. But she also knew the best way to solve it was to leave a situation if it was causing her this kind of stress. But that was near impossible to do at this point. She just had to finish. Had to get to the end. Amaia was at an almost full sprint now, tail whipping behind her as she rushed further. It smacked into the wall a few times, but at this point, she didn’t care. She hadn’t felt so panicked in years. Like the old feelings came back so quickly, completely consuming her with ease. Dead end. With a painful crash, Amaia collided with a hard surface, throwing her to the floor. The lantern clattered to the ground beside her and the light flickered out, plunging her in complete darkness. Groaning, Amaia pushed herself up from the ground. Pain hummed through her nerves, and she could taste blood on her tongue. Shaking her head sharply, she fumbled her hands around to feel in front of her. Nothing but brick wall. Wait… what? Was this just a hallway with nothing else in it? What kind of basement was this? She heaved herself back to her feet, a growl of annoyance rising in her throat. “What was the point of all this?!” Her shout echoed in the hall around her, simply returning to her own ears and falling on no others. That’s it. Screw this. Not even bothering with the lantern, she turned back around and started off down the hallway once more. Back to the entrance. Back to the surface. Back to the light. She became acutely aware of how uncomfortably the wall now brushed against the edge of her wings. She could see nothing now, darkness swarming over her eyes and making it near impossible to even make out her own hands. But she knew that if she just kept going, she would reach the stairs. There was only one way to go, after all. Dead end. Another crash and Amaia was on the ground once more. What? Not even bothered by how much she ached now, she scrambled back up, pressing herself against the wall. More brick. “No no no, this is impossible!” She hissed, scraping her claws against it. This didn’t make any sense! She should’ve been heading back toward the stairs again, not the wall. “What is this place?!” Amaia’s voice rose to a shout, but the echo was unnervingly lessened. Okay… Okay she could do this. She just… Got confused is all. Just turn back around and head out. Just get out of here. She struggled to turn back around, the hallway uncomfortably tight. She felt out of breath. Despite how hard she tried to calm her heart and slow her breathing, she could never fill her lungs. It was like there wasn’t enough. She had barely taken a few steps before her outstretched hands met the wall once more. Her heart skipped a beat. Trembling claws reached out as she stretched both arms out, hands brushing only over brick. She was surrounded. Trapped in a square. No… No no no. This was… This was impossible! Amaia fell to the ground with a thud. Blood roared in her ears and she choked out a sob. If breathing had been hard before, now it was impossible. Sputtering with effort, Amaia clutched desperately at her vest. Sobs wracked her lungs and stole any breath she may have tried to gain. It was tighter. Caving in on her. And she was all alone again. She crumbled into a heap. Closing in. Swallowing her whole. She could see nothing but darkness. Couldn’t breathe. All alone in the end. “-mia? Amaia, are you alright?” A familiar voice. Amaia’s eyes fluttered open and she drew in a sharp breath of surprise. She was in a fairly large underground room. Brick walls circled her and various objects and scrolls were stored on wooden shelves that lined the walls. Her lantern lay on its side only a few steps away. And it was… light. Not bright by any means, but the light from her lantern and the few lights that were strung from the ceiling cast enough for her to see well. Amaia shot to her feet in surprise, but faltered, stumbling. “Hey! Easy, Amaia,” a clawed hand steadied her and she turned to see [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/53741093]Morley[/url] at her side, concern etched in the younger dragon’s features. Her eyes darted about. It didn’t make any sense. Only moments ago, she was trapped. And now… The exit was only a short distance away. She could see the hallway that led up to the stairwell now. “Are you okay? You hadn’t come back up for a while, so I offered to come look for you. It looked like you found the book.” Morley spoke again after she didn’t answer. But how could she answer? She felt shaken. Confused. Was that even real? Had she imagined it? Perhaps but… the faint taste of blood still bathed her tongue. And a book she had never seen before, one that made a shiver crawl up her spine, was clutched in her hands. She went to stand fully, but everything ached, as though she had slept in a horribly uncomfortable position. Or as if she had been… Amaia shook her head. “Just get me out of here.”

[center] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3020423#post_3020423][img]https://musesings.files.wordpress.com/2021/05/buried-badge-6.png[/img][/url] [b]User ID#:[/b] 278056 [b]Daily Theme:[/b] The Buried [b]Applicable CW & Additional Notes:[/b] CW for a minor head injury, claustrophobia and suffocation. [i]A click is heard as the tape recorder comes to life.[/i] After listening to [url="https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/61751500"]the Archivist's[/url] request, [url="https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/28495776"]Inferno[/url] let out a huff somewhere between a laugh and a growl. "Oh, [i]claustrophobia[/i]? What a freaking understatement... oh, Arcanist..." the fae trailed off, clearly shaken up. [i]The tape recorder turns off.[/i] [i]Another click.[/i] The archivist starts, "Statement of Inferno of Blackbird Village, regarding the events of his mining accident. Statement begins." Inferno begins to speak. "Er- where do I begin... this afternoon, I guess. I was hacking away at a small gold deposit. Nothing unusual at all. Somehow, a stone fell. I've got no clue where it came from. It would have been from far above me and nobody was there. It landed on my tail, pinning me in place. I tried to escape, but all that happened was I got showered with pebbles. I don't remember what came next, but with my incredible logic skills, I hypothesized that the bump on my head was caused by a blow from a rock and I was knocked out." He pauses and shifts around a bit, before continuing his story. "The next thing I knew, it was pitch black. I didn't know where I was and none of my senses were helping me. Worst of all, there was a crushing weight on my back - I could just barely get enough air in my lungs. When I tried to move, the weight shifted. I had been buried in rocks. I stilled, terrified of hurting myself worse than I must have already been. Finally, I let out a scream. Nobody came to help me. It was - um, quite horrifying. After I started screaming, I felt the rocks above me moving. Perhaps more were falling on the pile? They began to press down harder on me and I began to struggle to breath. At some point I blacked out again. Next thing I knew, I was outside and had a few worried coworkers staring at me and debating what to do. After a confusing exchange I won't go into, I learned that they had found me passed out right by the gold deposit. No evidence of anything happening to me, aside from the bump on my head." [i]Click.[/i] [/center]

@Saronai Could I please get my jarchivist added to the fandragon wall? [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/61751500][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/617516/61751500_350.png[/img][/url]

@gay4dragonz Could I get added to the general ping lists please? [emoji=fae happy size=1]

@terrified

Added your awesome archivist!