AMIA ARCHIVE • View topic

A splash as the broken sections of what was once a sea worthy vessel were returned to the ocean from which they had been dredged.

"I stand in awe of you, and give you this offering."

One hundred and three thousand and eight hundred and some pieces of glittering metal tumbled into the tumultuous waves.
Another crash of ship hull sent the waves up, washing away every coin the archeologist had possessed.

"I return what is yours, goddess of the savage ocean."

The crystalline shard that was still slicked in the blood of the creature it had been pulled from was raised to the air, then dropped to the sea.
A second shard followed it only seconds later from another pair of hands.

The following day sees another offering made.
Gemstones and gold are arrayed at the lip of the Court where the previous one had taken place.
The Bitch Queen's name evoked, the glittering prizes and religious compromises are shuffled off to be carried away by the waves.
Gratitude, perhaps, for the improved weather.

An hooded, obviously male figure dressed in dark clothing is could be seen leaving some coins and flowers at the sight of this offering, as well as lighting two candles. And some words are said evoking the Bitch Queen's name that amount to something along the lines of gratitude and hopes of protection from attack by sea.

Another day, another offering on a bed of coins.

One ruby, to represent blood in the water.
One diamond, to liken the cresting of waves.
One emerald, to adorn the depths with a like beauty.

Gold coins are again scattered amongst the kelp, along the rim, and over the edge into the sea.

While a storm raged elsewhere, offerings of flowers, gems, and gold were made from the city borne aloft over the capricious seas.

"And none shall ignore your power and beauty, you who are the Queen of the Depths."

After hearing word of the devastation along the coast, even the prideful shadovar leaves an offering of coins and a bottle of expensive wine at the small altar, raising a glass of scotch to the sea in toast before going about his business.

An amulet imbued with Terran enchantments it left, where it dangles amongst the ropes of kelp that hang over the edge of what has been treated as a shrine to the Bitch Queen. It sways there in the sea breezes until it finally slips free and plummets into the waves below as a testament. Claimed by the ocean as all land may be at her whim.

A small torch is lit next to the other offerings, and a few goldcoins scattered about along a small wooden imitation of a boat. A genasi had previously visited the shrine before he took the portal.
Fear makes even the most skilled armour smith reinforce his armour, and the same could be said about a 'certain warrior' and his fear of water.

A steady increase in swell sizes and increased foul weather have been noticed in the seas surrounding the Living City, moving ever closer like a tightening noose...

Troubled for quite some time about The Bitch Queen and taking every chance
he could muster to gratify the Queen of the Seas, the High Arcanist followed the footsteps of Kemnon
and started paying homage to Umberlee, praying for his safety and the safety of his city.

At dusk, waiting for the tide, he was seen dropping to his knees before the Sea, and after a long, silent
prayer, he released a large sum of gold into the sea, as well as a handful of sapphires and rubies.

But he feared that offerings of one man may not be enough to please the hunger of the sea..

At the first hint of the weather diverging from the usual tranquil calm the City's influence imposes, Luca rises in the dead of night and begins battening down the city. The gardens are protected with sailcloth and small windbreakers, and all loose materials, tools and furniture are stowed away safely. Excavations are protected just like the gardens, with oiled sailcloth and windbreakers. The few windows in the city are boarded, and then he turns his attention to the exposed construction. Grim-faced and tired, his puts the undead laborers and the Shadovar to work reinforcing the skeletal structures and scaffolding, so that hopefully their progress isn't lost in the event of a storm. He pauses only long enough to send off a few runners, the rest of his time spent in hard work, not content to let others shoulder the entire burden.

Emilie roams the isles of the library, using lengthy leather strips to tie the shelves and books in place, she goes through all of the Undercroft, assuring that anything breakable or loose is fixed to the floor or walls.

With return of the tide, the High Arcanist returned as well, bearing more gifts for the
Queen of the Seas. Gold and rubies were dropped into the water unsparingly, as he once
more prayed to Umberlee for the safety of the city, begging her to drive the storm away.

Later that cycle, or perhaps just into the next a lone Shadovar performs a ritual not unlike that of the High Arcanist before him. His tribute takes the form of two quality, but not quite exquisite limestone statuettes, one male and the other female. Each is comely and perhaps just a little plump, as unassuming mortals ought to be, but more importantly they appear to be in the grip of pure terror. After complimenting the offering with the usual prayer and coin, the Shadovar would return without much ado to the confines of the southern structure in the Court of the Living.

Not a long time after ritual of the High Arcanist, Illuminatus Stradivarius came to perform his own ritual...
A long time, he praised Queen of the Seas, gold and gems (rubies, fire opals, sapphires) were dropped into the sea in abundant numbers
and Kierno stands there for the most of night...

A storm brews in the east, whisps of the edge of the storm penetrate the outer limits of the weather shield. An omen perhaps that the Chosen is a being of its word... and punctual. The center of the storm seems only a day away.

Luca would scowl at the weather, clearly displeased. He takes some time to ensure the Umberlant shrine is in order, and then sees to informing the Shadow Mages, Febrith, Ramin and the shadovar spellcasters to actually be ready to help this time, if the creature proves to be hostile.

The High Arcanist looks in the distance, thinking to himself in silence.. "If that
shark-shagger strikes again without giving us a chance to finish the damned shrine,
I will personally destroy his soul. See if he can raise a maelstorm without one."

Noticing the storm Grim heads to his office. He would spend most of his time there praying seeking guidance for the upcoming trial. Is the god a threat and has the time come for the messenger to pass on?

Exiting the library, a man wrapped in black silks glances to the east with a blank expression. After a moment of this, he turns in the direction of the Tower of the Damned without a word.

Sergeant Lacern pre-emptively begins securing the massive ballista in the Court of the Living against storm damage, locking everything in place, lashing it down, and covering it with tarps and the like. Having finally finished the weapon and tested it, he clearly isn't keen on having his work ruined by bad weather.

Initiate Shaji can be found helping Havok secure his desk and all his goods, then travelling to aid the Demonologist by the portal. She doesn't force, she just helps if they let her.

P Three wrote:

Initiate Shaji can be found helping Havok secure his desk and all his goods, then travelling to aid the Demonologist by the portal. She doesn't force, she just helps if they let her.

And indeed they would.

The Demonologist would have mostly books and scrolls, a few records of who comes in and out of the City, which he graciously accepts the offer of aid in packing up and carting to the safety of the library temporarily.

Havok would be a bit more gruff, and while accepting help covering over the forge and equipment, he would not permit her to help the storing of any of his goods or materials.

The crypts seeming to have withstood the last storm fairly well does not stop Grim from surveying the area. The Thanatologist would be reminded to let him know should he need any help.

NinjaClarinet wrote:

At the first hint of the weather diverging from the usual tranquil calm the City's influence imposes, Luca rises in the dead of night and begins battening down the city. The gardens are protected with sailcloth and small windbreakers, and all loose materials, tools and furniture are stowed away safely. Excavations are protected just like the gardens, with oiled sailcloth and windbreakers. The few windows in the city are boarded, and then he turns his attention to the exposed construction. Grim-faced and tired, his puts the undead laborers and the Shadovar to work reinforcing the skeletal structures and scaffolding, so that hopefully their progress isn't lost in the event of a storm. He pauses only long enough to send off a few runners, the rest of his time spent in hard work, not content to let others shoulder the entire burden.

Luca, his increasingly short temper and agitation betrayed by writhing tendrils of shadow, attends to the same routine he pursued for the previous inclement weather, battening down the city and securing everything.

Emilie also goes through the Undercroft and the library, fastening everything down, with the City's lowered power, she dares not ask for help. The task takes the entire night before she is satisfied with the result.

After countless hours of hard labor, the Shrine to the Bitch Queen was done. A stone pavilion
representing a Kraken stood in the corner of the Court of the Living, its tentacles making up the gazebo
pillars. In each suction cup on the tentacle a fist-sized ruby has been inserted, and the countless teeth
at the inner dome would be carved out of black marble with sapphires not lesser in size than the rubies
worked into it. The outer dome represents a large, realistic head of the same creature, with at least
four cannary diamonds inserted into its eyes. Within the shrine lies a simple stone altar, decorated
with seashells and starfish motives, as well as a statue of Umberlee's avatar behind it. The avatar
assumes a form of a voluptuous medusa-like humanoid, with a mane of tentacles and seaweed for hair,
her body adorned with fins and gills, and dressed only in seashells.

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As of late, the High Arcanist if often seen in the Shrine of the Bitch Queen,
praying for the safety of the city and leaving a large sapphire every time he does.

The Vaunted priestess, Laura, ensured anything in or around the Temple was secured, then returned inside. Leaving the rest of the city to it's other inhabitants.

Despite the bad weather that night, the Headmaster paid his homage to
the Bitch Queen and thanked her for keeping his city unspoiled in her domain.

The Watcher could be seen leaving a bag of coins at the idol as well during his patrols.

Kerath can be seen walking past the idol once or twice on his strolls, but it seems he has never, and never intends to, place an offering at the Shrine.

With the high tide the High Arcanist approached the shrine, leaving his tribute to
the Bitch Queen and bowing before the idol..

Perhaps not the first person to be expected to pay a visit to the shrine. None the less the Keeper approached it carrying two large sacks with him.
Approaching the altar he empties the sacks containing gold and gemstones he gathered through purchases and barters. Finally he takes out a scroll and looks over it carefully.

- Fury of the sea, Umberlee. I wish you will accept my offers to you and that you are willing to trade. I seek the corpses of bloodlusting sailors and pirates who met their end at your hand. I offer you gemstones and gold and something that as a Scribe is dear to me. Goddess of the savage ocean, please accept my offer and request to trade.

Grim would kneel and bow his head as he places a scroll which has row upon row of names written on it carefully at the altar.

-Officers-
• Captain: Elmer Goodman
• Cabin Boy: Christopher Leon Windstrider
• First Mate: Ralph Oflin
• Second Mate: Robert "Bob" Plinkton
• Quarter Master: Eric Klutzberg
• Cook: Elijah Quinn

-General Crew-
• Rinaldo Bigsby
• Sean Talloway
• Sven Recksly
• James Porter
• Jimmy Rigby
• Adam Herrington
• Wesley Morris
• Ryan Riggs
• Paul Seawert
• Richard Farsely
• Patrick Young
• Bernard Daniels
• Frank Flubbergast
• Richard Ewartson

As the minutes stretched on, it would seem that no reply would be forthcoming as Grim remains kneeling at the altar, the rhythmic crash of the waves against the City's edge the only sound which greets his ears.

One particularly stubborn wave actually manages to wash up over the edge of the City, spraying the shrine and Keeper with a bit of sea water as the waves occasionally do. As the waters retreat, an abundance of sea foam is left clinging to the cobbles of the City and the Keeper would notice that one or two doddering skeletons seem to be busily mopping up similar waves elsewhere along the edge.

Looking back to the foam next to him however, he would notice that it almost seems like it forms a pattern of some kind and looking more carefully he would see a few seashells seem to have washed up with it. The shells, only about an inch at the most, would seem to be held in roughly spherical patterns attached to larger blobs... which the Keeper would suddenly realize form a familiar shape; that of a body curled in the fetal position. The shells themselves each seem to be "positioned" (though of course they just happened to wash up that way) within the "heads" of the patterns and even as the foam begins to dry and slough away as sea foam does, the shells remain.

The Keeper would find that a half-dozen or so shells rest on the cobbles, shining slightly as though newly polished by the sea water that carried them.

The High Captain can be seen in prayer at the Idol, leaving an absolutely massive bag of gold coins at the end of it to be washed out to sea. He spends several hours in prayer before ordering one of the Sentinels to stand guard over the idol until the gold has washed away. The pouch would be sitting left open, massive easily one million gold coins sitting inside in offering to the Bitch Queen.

A particular human woman has become a more and more frequent sight in the city in recent weeks. Young, with hair dyed blue, lips coloured the pale blue of a body starved of oxygen, and a theme of bluish-green clothing, it was obvious to anyone with knowledge of the Bitch Queen that this woman was a very devote servant of hers. Her somewhat dark skin made it hard to determine her exact heritage, and she lacked a distinct accent, though her voice was powerful, confident, and often cold.

She could always be seen in one of two outfits. Her most common was her armour. Full plate the colour of sea water and weeds, it bore the telltale symbol of a blue-green wave curling left and right on the armour's chest plate.

Her more casual outfit, which still seemed ceremonial, was skin-tight blue and green. When wearing this, and presumably hidden when she wore her armour, was a vial of murky water hanging from around her neck. Anyone who would get close enough to inspect it would clearly see something else was in it - the bare bone of a human index finger.

Both this outfit and her armour were almost always accompanied by a voluminous light blue cloak trimmed with white fur. When not in use, a trident and shield hid behind the cloak at the ready.

She didn't seem to be a person who wished to socialize with others, spending most of her time in public seen praying dangerously close to the edges of the city overlooking the sea, or tending to the shrine to Umberlee.

One thing would become quite clear though to any who watched her - She was not just a devote servant, but a priestess of the Bitch Queen. She made no secret of it, as her clergy are not typically known for subtlety. She often cast divine spells and blessings over the shrine, sometimes to enhance it's appearance, sometimes to make it flow with extra water, sometimes to leave a chill or mist in the air around it.

Another sight began to appear as well. An additional shrine to Umberlee that seemed to randomly appear in different parts of the city. Always found by the edge and usually found on a side of the city being hit the strongest by crashing waves. Glowing with power, spilling with water, made with the Queen of the Depth's divine energy, a symbol of her potency that the priestess could lay down in minutes with her skilled castings. A sight to inspire both awe and a cold chill down the spine, as if the Bitch Queen herself might be looking down on anyone viewing it with cold judgement.

A blessing or a curse, Nerisora Tideborn's presence meant one thing for certain - The floating city of Tarkuul's journey through the seas would be watched, and those inhabiting it had better hope themselves worthy. Hopefully the stern-faced priestess was satisfied and would remain so. Her gaze never far away from new guests to the city, appraising them quietly, one thought on her mind.

They should be ever aware of the water beneath them, for should they ignore it, it will make its presence clear.

[IC] Sea and Storm

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