THE BLACK CITY
In the gurgling dark, Patrick's voice was a spear through their heads: deafening, piercing, over-excited as before. He was answering Attikias's question: a
'what are those?' directed at the Praetors.
"SERVANTS OF ORDER!" (This was followed by a cackle that rang through the Gembounds' minds.)
"SLAVES! SOLDIERS! MORONS! THEY CAME, THEY SAW, THEY GOT SLAUGHTERED!" Another cackle, and Patty dove deeper, leaving the ghostly carcasses to fade into the black behind him.
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Then, the search began. As it turned out, the sea floor here was not as empty as it would have seemed at first half-blind glance: the detritus of life above had slowly sifted down, the refuse of the testing and culling landing here and settling, untouched for eons. While many of them would find only darkness, the empty drifting of silt, others would happen across unexpected treasures--and dangers--in the black.
Click below to see what each character finds. If you do not find your character on the list, they can be assumed to have found nothing.
The beam of Attikias's light cut across bones, bleached and moss-covered, ghostly in the dark. It was a macabre sight, and worst still was the fact that these bones belonged to nothing recognizable. Twisted, hook-toothed, double-jawed... Some great monster had fallen here.
Galleon would be one of the first to find a lost gemstone (a beautiful blade of orange Zincite crystal) but any later investigation would find that life had long since left it.
Dragon and Brandle, searching together, would find a strange object they likely wouldn't recognize at first glance. It would turn out, most likely, to be useless to the behemoth alligator, as it required hands (of a sort) to operate: an ancient, oil-treated harp designed to withstand the wear of water. More interesting still, it was thick-stringed and sturdily built, intended to be plucked deep beneath the waves: for its music to carry, only in tune, in water. It would sound strange, high-pitched and tinny, in the air above.
Hestia's search brought her face-to-face with a strange, new creature: a four-inch-long slug-like creature with wavering tendrils jutting off its back, slowly making its way through the still waters of the sea floor. Jet black in color, it nevertheless ignited in flashes and spots of dancing reddish color as Hestia drew close--and then turned, popping up from the sea floor to swim for her. Unless she moved out of the way, it would attach itself somewhere on her skin, and attempt to begin drinking her blood.
Hestia has discovered: Drinkers!
These will now be unlocked in the Aquatics section of the Lesser Gembound Guide.
Hunter would find another form of life entirely, his flashlight sweeping over not old bones but beautiful, vibrant corals. A small reef took up one little ravine carved through the sea floor, rainbow hues gleaming against the dark. Telesto would find another of these little reefs, albeit dimmer without a light source, clustered along a series of rocky ridges a good distance away from the first.
Esther's light would glance over something else entirely: a few skittish little creatures (that looked rather delicious, really) darting curiously toward them, and into their beam of light, and then away again. These were orange and cream in hue, and looked like little shrimp, bar the big rabbit-like "ears" atop their heads. They'd appear to be completely harmless, only six inches long or so.
Esther has discovered: Water Crawlers!
These will now be unlocked in the Aquatics section of the Lesser Gembound Guide.
Ascent's search would find a strange object nestled down in the rocks--was it a key? -No, it didn't glow; closer investigation would reveal it to be something like steel pliers. It was a tool, certainly, and one that required some level of manipulation to operate, but it was a tool surprisingly devoid of rust intended to grab and pry objects with a greater force than could be managed with hands alone. Who'd lost that down here..? Or maybe it had been lost higher up, and fallen through the depths long ago.
Fahl, so busy watching for bioluminescence, had the bad luck to stick his snout far too close to something that didn't give off a telltale glow. A massive pincer shot out of the dark when he drew near, cutting for his nose or lips--whatever it could grab. It would undoubtedly leave a cut, though not a severe one--and Fahl might catch a glimpse of the creature that had inflicted it: a spiky crab some two feet across from one side of the shell to the other, a pair of pinprick eyes briefly flashing green as it turned to scuttle away.
Fahl has discovered: the Skullcrab!
These will now be unlocked in the Aquatics section of the Lesser Gembound Guide.
Cerilaine's search would find several items glimmering to her senses. The nearest lay in a divot on the rocky floor. There a piece of dark grey stone lay, and at first glance it might have been mistaken for a Key: but there was no glow, and it was much, much smaller. It was a little piece of Flint, and given its shimmer in her magic search, it likely still held life.
Kaimana's hunt for magic likewise takes her deep: to a tiny object near-hidden in the rock. It would turn out to be a single, hooked earring made of untreated, silvery Niobium metal. While lacking any gemstone or color decoration, it bears a small, swirling shape formed and carved to resemble a strange and elegant fish-like creature. This item is Enchanted, although it isn't immediately obvious what sort of magic it bears. A tooltip will be added for this item if it is taken with Kaimana (or another Gembound) and kept.
Lastly came Madhukar: who, by pure luck (and diligence in her search) stumbles across what appears to be the Key. It's a slab of stone perhaps a foot long, and six inches wide and deep, and bears a strange, sickly-glowing glyph across its surface. This yellow-green glow is dim, pulsing, and sets Madhukar's skin crawling when she draws close. Patrick came zipping down toward Madhukar--had he been there all along, or just seen her find through her own eyes, through their link?
"EXCELLENT WORK, UH, FURRY THING! ISN'T THIS FUN?!" Fins flailed as he moved to take the key.
"THE NEXT ONE WON'T BE SO EASY. COME ON!" And off he went, zipping through the not-so-briny deeps. His flashing lights led the way, and he was oblivious to any troubles behind him--those who fell behind would find him not bothering to stop and wait. It seemed more careless than malicious, though. It was not clear how Patrick was navigating: he was curling and curving through dark water without many landmarks, with nothing but the occasional drifting Obelisk gleaming in the distant black, looming before the Gembounds and then fading into the dark as they passed by. Perhaps that was their purpose--to serve as waystones in the deep.
"EACH KEY HAD A GUARDIAN! NEXT ONE'S A PINK KEY, THE KEY OF FESTERING. THE KEY OF DECAY--THIS ONE DIED. HA! BUT THE NEXT ONE'S STILL ALIVE. I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'LL BE ABLE TO GET IT BACK! BUT WE HAVE TO TRY. FIRST WE GOTTA FIND HIM, TOO. HE'S A BIG, UGLY, SPIKY-"
"A BIG... UGLY... SPIKY... WHAT?" This voice was audible, not sharing in the Gembounds' link--and yet
somebody had heard the thought. It rumbled, bass and deafening--shaking the very waters around them with its vibration--from the darkness up ahead.
"OH, UH. THAT'S HIM. I'LL LEAVE YOU TO IT, THEN!" Patrick cried cheerfully, and--with a wild-eyed grin and a salute of one fin--he dove away into the depths.
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The Gembounds now face an unknown creature in the darkness up ahead: the Guardian of the Key of Festering. Its size, shape, and so forth are not yet known, but it sounds large. They must choose how to proceed, and make any attempt they wish to solve the situation; a failure to do so may result in dangerous circumstances.
This quest is closed to new entrants.