[h2]The Undertrail: Part One[/h2] The mission was not so much to simply make it to the fabled godly gift that was Impyra, but to also fully establish a working route for wood elves to tame the underworld beneath their very feet. Their entrance was made throughout the lake region that had initially stopped Pieapple and co from heading deeper, and where the whole series of events leading up to the [monarch]’s crowning and quest had begun. They had been prepared for this even before acquiring Pumkin’s help, the elves having slipped into the water in large wide leaves grown into the shapes of canoes and then paddling across the waters, the trip unremarkable sans making official contact with the Umbra that had made the watery cave their home, and negotiating a deal to set up a pair of ports on each side of the lake to facilitate future travel. After reaching the other side, the path split, with one that went the way they intended to go, while the other led to a cave system that traveled much of the central area of the woods. Two issues however kept this underground forest disconnected from the elven society, first it was its depth, too far below the world with only ravines and sinkholes leading to it, second was its jungle like constitution, creeping roots and branches inhabited by nastier sorts of plant creatures, including the somewhat nasty Barkobra, which had poisoned, strangled and devoured a fair share of unprepared explorers. The queen’s group avoided such a region, but they did accompany a few [druids] who would start to create a forward post of the adventurers guild to tame the area. Similarly, they had been connecting the many underground bases and camps of the elves with a single road system, ‘Pathroot’ was a plant created specifically for the task, its foliage spread evenly on the ground first, creating a stable path, then it created a half wall of bark and leaves to its side and finally branches would ground up in a C shape, with light giving leaves to illuminate the path. All of this made the initial path very easy for everyone, enjoyable even, outside of the boar brothers almost losing their animals after they became infatuated with one of the giant tubbers that had started to grow in the area, no major incidents happened. Such joys were quickly dashed as they made their way to the abyssal area, Pumpkin had described it before, yet the group had always had the somewhat implicit belief she was perhaps going a bit overboard, she was not. The mossy growths, the creeping plants, the curious creatures, it all ended quite suddenly as the cave opened up into pure darkness. Most of the rocky floor was left behind as if it had been cut by a sword, a perfectly 90° degree cut downward, with the exception of a jagged path forward, going endlessly forward into the void until the elves could no longer see them. The ceiling was somewhat visible, far up, with a luminous growth on it, dark masses passing by, hopefully just gentle manta rays instead of the eventual school of void piranhas. “Alright, lights off everybody, no torches, no magiks.” Pumpkin announced. “We don’t want to go about announcing ourselves for the creatures that live here. I have a plan to make a safe path… Hmm. Sleeky, come with me, you are gonna be my pal on this!” she grabbed Sleektooth by the arm and moved to a nearby rock infested with glowing worms. The plan was quite simple, she filled a bag with them, grabbed up a handful, gently placed them on the ground, then stomped them. This gave her boots a nice, mushy, glowing coat, each step forward leaving a footprint that could be seen in the dark but still had that buggy stink most void creatures wouldn’t bother with. “Oh this is so gross” Sleektooth said as she followed suit, though the fact that the way she said gross was with the same tone someone might call something cool. The rest of the elves were less enamored with the whole thing, but they pinched their noses and carefully followed after the glowing trail, stalking low and using their ubiquitous forest material cloaks to mask their shape and movement. [hr] The path had gone for hours without much trouble, outside of the psychological pressure of traveling into the deep dark. It had been carefully set to be the shortest path possible, and even so the leading duo found themselves tired. The [vagabond] called it a day and using her [find shelter] skill she was able to locate a nearby cave for the group to rest for the night. For a given value of night. The elves of the darkwoods might be used to a perpetual gloom, but the lack of any shifting in the light had started to disconcert some, as had the unfortunate mexi of claustrophobia and agoraphobia that the void bottomed cavern induced. “I almost wish we could keep moving. It feels like standing teetering above a great maw of darkness, and that at any moment the ground below will drop away and leave us all to plunge into whatever lies below. If anything even does” Pineapple murmured quietly, confiding in only her confidants and not wishing to spread her worry to those beyond. The fact that they had to go down to find a cave, creeping along a thin sheer cliffway path that led to a cavern overlooking the nothingness certainly did not help. Fortunately everyone was skillfully footed enough that there were no falls, merely a close call or two where an elf foot slipped, sending shards of stones falling into the nothingness while the mortal’s own life was saved by their alert comrades. Even the cave dwellers were increasingly weary, including Pumpkin, when she sat down to rest she let out a deep sigh with uncharacteristic weariness. “I hope the tree warping dudes can find a way to make this place more palatable. Or make a tree that digs a route to elsewhere!” she confessed to Sleektooth. “Around would be best. This place is exiting, it’d be really boring if we just made a road right through it” she replied, entirely missing the point “Making a new cave path would require a lot of boring as well~” Pumpkin jested, to which Sleektooth gave a snort of a laugh, “yeah, i guess” Then she taught for a bit and thought “well I mean, I don’t know if we can really dig through rock? But maybe we could, I dunno, grow a road along the wall maybe?” a suggestion that made Pieapple’s cheeks blow up, close the vomiting at the thought, before recovering and exclaiming “no thanks” Pumpkin gave a resigned look at that topic. “I don’t know, the entire point of my class is not really building much stuff. But I also think the path across the foul lake and the green glowing cave will also become more viable once the lava lake is settled. It's just that right now the stuff there is a bit scary and poorly understood, but it is a less tiring place than crossing the void. Plus the green rocks are so pretty, they say to put one under your pillow for good luck.” the girl who didn’t understand radiation very well said. As she started to take a half-meditative stance, part of her skillset, [light sleep], she turned to Sleek with a slower and more chill voice, only one eye open. “So… What do you intend to do in the Berrypie Kingdom once it's settled?” “If you mean after we’ve carved it out of whatever wilds there are?” she asked rhetorically, “I dunno, seeing as queeny here’s planning to settle down, I’ll probably try and make my own adventuring party, go out, see the rest of the caves. Head to the surface, that kinda thing. Had to settle down when I lost my hand, didn’t like it one bit” “Mmm.” Pumpkin nodded. “Well, I’d be up to join some adventures with ya later. Though I don’t really plan to live in the city, or uh, anywhere in particular, I should always be around the overall area, especially once they get their markets and guilds going.” “Eyy yeah that’d be fun, I’d be more than happy to have you party around with me. Plus I bet we could make stacks of coins from doing that whole ‘find news stuff’ quest that the guild has on, seeing as you’ve been all over. I head the discounts you can rack up are nothing to be sniffed at” Sleektooth said, the goddess Ashe’s idea having worked quite perfectly in incentivising the acquisition of any and all newly discovered plants and animals. “Can’t say I very much understood what happened over that, since it happened in moons I was very far away. But if it is nice it is nice.” she stretched and started to focus more on her meditation and recovery. All was going fine, until the more sensible elves, such as [rangers] would feel something stirring, the air started to flow oddly, as if something was rushing towards them, yet no sound. Tensions rose up, some started to wake up and other elves continued to sleep unaware of trouble, then, all of the sudden, a massive humanoid creature that could be best described as some sort of cave gorilla dove towards the group, slapping at the two nearest elves, the lucky one being hurt as he hit the wall, the other ending up going out of the cave, into the abyss. Pieapple, who’s [danger sense] had started going off just a few heartbeats before the creature was on them, was first to move among the lead group, the [adventurous thrower] grabbing a large dart from a belt of them she was carrying and hurling it at the gorilla, before shouting [rapid reload] which caused a second dart to jump from her belt to hand without her having to reach for it, an allowing her to get another toss in far faster than she should. The two poison darts were joined by a few knives, javelins, and one spiky plant of some kind from a small number of other elves who had been woken by their own [danger sense] or had been on guard and alert enough to act. The yelling of skills and the rapidly vanishing screams of the pit tossed elf then woke everyone else up, [adventurers] scrambling to get into the fight while the small number of [druids], [settlers] and other civilian classes scrambled in the opposite direction trying to get away. The beast had no greater ill intent than just being extremely violent and territorial, it found itself hurt and cornered, though with a large muscular body it was still an immediate threat to all, it was not going to win, but everyone was at risk of being hurt. That risk only increased as it, as if to try to scare the elves alway, started to pound at the ground, causing the whole of the small cave to shake, gravel and rocks starting to fall from the roof. “[stand behind me!], or, uh, beneath me” Barkbear called out as he raised his tree bark shield up above the 3 ladies, which protected them from concussion from falling rocks, but wasn’t going to do anything if the whole place fell down. That still put them in the best position, as the others where pelted with stones and the fear that there would be more coming. Sleektooth was last to get up and she was, unfortunately for her, a bit useless at this distance, an issue shared by many as the cramped confines of the cave limited everyone but those closest to the beast from really doing anything, and totally fowling up the maneuverable hunter style of combat they preferred. “Form up, spears to the front, everyone else to the back, and give it an opening to get away before it brings the roof down on our heads!” Pieapple attempted to command, but unfortunately, [adventurers] were not disciplined [soldiers], and the companions of the dead and injured elves were out for blood and vengeance. “Die monster!” cried out one holding an oversized axe and wearing a rather grisly assortment of bandit skulls on his belt. “I’ll [take your head!] for what you’ve done to Ghostpear!” he yelled, becoming engulfed in some red aura before leaping, kicking off the cave wall, and launching himself at the ape, aiming to swing his axe at its neck The ape could not hold back against the attack, but the adventurer also did overestimate his ability to kill the beast with one swoop. Red splashed against the floor as blood started to flow down from its neck, and yet, the creature found itself with enough stamina to still grab the two nearest elves, one being obviously the head taker elf. The crash of the two to the floor as well as the use of the roof of the cave further compromised the structure of the location, which now would not stop shaking, risking not only collapsing itself, but also bringing down a whole sweep of the cliff-face path along with it. “[Druids] reinforce the cave! Everyone else not fighting, get to the surface” Pieapple commanded, and this had better results for sure. As plant mater shot up to act as support pillars the rest of the civilians immediately making a run for it, which was its own problem that she solved by ordering “Leaf sharks, jump up to the top and make sure the surface is clear” The fish scaled elves did as they were ordered, darting out of the cave and then using their Tonnikala mutation to defy gravity just enough that they could jump or climb up the top side. That at least ment the noncombatants weren't going to get slaughtered if there were more of these things out there. It did not, however, solve the problem of the one in here, but a kind of impromptu sorting algorithm of people who did not think they could take the beast backing off and those that could push forwards had haphazardly brought the Titan blades to the front of the pack. Greatswords did those towering elves wield, and acting in tandem they drove them forward, point first with greater range than a [hunter]’s spear could reach, aiming for the beast’s arm muscles in an attempt to release their comrades before they were crushed or tossed. Finally, the beast gave away, its muscles torn it laid limply, allowing the two to start their escape, at the same time, the sound of loud crashes started to resonate, as the cave started to crumble into itself, center first, while the vines of the druids held up the sides for a brief moment, though that would clearly be short lived. “Oh no no no. Everyone move!” Pieapple gave one last command before she was grabbed rapidly hauled forwards by Barkbear and Sleektooth who both shouted a variation of “you too, you idiot!” The elves fled as best they could, but it was a narrow pathway up the cliff back to the surface, and even with the Leafsharks having chucked ropes down to create additional ways up, there were bound to be losses. The community tried its best, and for that effort most had made it to the end, to the safer ground above the cliff, but at one time an entire rock platform collapsed, taking with it an elf [ranger] who despite their agility did not have the sheer ability to walk over falling stones. A brother tried to help their sister, all others trying to give him a rope, but all hope was dashed as the rock gave away, sending both to the endless dark. One more careless elf found themselves sitting too close to the action, they were supposed to be safe, but a simple shaking of the edge sent them tumbling forward and down. It was a terrible death, the screams of desperate elves ever stopped, there was no thud, no end in sight, it continued and continued getting increasingly faint, until it was impossible to distinguish it from the howling and bemoaning winds. And yet the trouble wasn’t over yet, the dread continued strong, but some people’s danger instincts were flaring up like never before. Pumpkin, who had been distant during the whole ape battle, found herself standing and listening to the wind. “Blast. It's the piranhas.” she tsked her tongue, took a stance, readied her wine. An idiotic elf readied his bow, trying either to show off or merely mad with rage at the recent losses, he rushed ahead past Pumpkin, despite her protest, and fired an arrow with some sort of aura forward, it seemed venomous. It flew with a green glow and then vanished, as if it had taken a dive into a dark cloud. There was but a moment to contemplate before the same cloud engulfed the elf, taking off again, leaving behind a trail of bones and blood. As it approached, the [vagabond] went “Poh!” and spat her wine, turning it into a wave of flames, wide and intense enough to break the cloud, the smell of cooked fish filling the area. “We have been too noisy, and some of y’all are bleeding too. They won’t stop coming.” she said with an absurdly casual tone, matching her half-smile. “Guess I will have to be the bait!” she carelessly cut at her shoulder, letting the blood flow down her arm. “I hope Queen Pie remembers what my plan was, cause this will take a while to fix, if I even fix it, yeah?” “Hey, no, you are not going off on your own” Sleektooth, who had been next to useless throat this whole ordeal, stepped beside Pumpkin to insist, before copying the shoulder cut and informing her “Because I’m coming with you” Pumpkin looked at her with a very concerned look “Are you an idiot? You don’t have the means to help, you will just be putting yourself in harm’s way.” Yet seeing how serious she seemed… and that she had made herself into piranha bait already, the [vagabond] was forced to give up. “Oh well. I guess you never know what may show up later. Let’s go then.” She rushed ahead and spat the flames once again, breaking a smaller wave of the deadly fishes, waving at the main group to continue on their way before they ended up flanked by something lured by the noise, blood and flames. “They better come back,” Pieapple swore as she watched Sleektooth flipping over the top of a wave of deadly fish and dart after Pumpkin, the [rouge] leaving a puff of poisonous smoke in her wake, before she turned her focus back to the people, urging them forwards into the dark once more. It looked like she was getting her wish after all, there would be no stopping till they cleared the cave. [hider=summary] Queen Pieapple and her elves start their underground expedition to the promised (by Lektor) land. They cross the lake that stopped their first expedition using canoes, and then head deeper, laying down a protected road of plant matter behind them as they travel. The big obstacle of the post is the void cave, a large, and seemingly bottomless, cave filled with hostile creatures and traversable only by thin pathways. Pumpkin leads them through it safely till they need to rest, only for them to be attacked by a giant cave gorilla who’s cave they had used for camp. It is killed, but brings the cave down in the process, and both the ape and the collapse kill a few elves between them. The swarms of void piranhas that come in response to the violence are worse, and so Pumpkin runs off to act as bait, a mission Sheektooth insists on accompanying her on. As they do that, Pieapple leads the rest of the group onward in a hard and restless push through the cave towards safety. [/hider] [hider=prestige/spirit] -- Adventurer’s Guild: Start 8 -3 to invent plant prosthetics: the ability to use animated plants as replacement limbs. Requires at least a few levels of [druid] or other plant friendly classes to pull off, and higher levels in those will generally give extra skills related to using them better, going from just a bit better than pegleg/hook to cybernetic augmentation esce bodily enhancement (although a person that high level would probably be superhuman anyway) +1 for significant role +1 for colab +1 for 10,000+ chars -2 for living bark roads: a type of plant that can be cultivated into a self enclosed protected pathway, complete with lights to guide the traveler’s way. End 9 -- Pumpkin Start: 5 +1 mentioned +1 featured in a post unrelated to their creator god +1 collab +1 5000+ characters +1 10000 characters End: 10 [/hider]