Lasuri, Kareth, Kiana, Tageru and Zeru begin their strange journey toward the bowels of Rakatau, the fabled seventh island of Nevermoor.

The first thing the few brave Exalts that enter the Island's mouth discover about its interior is that it is, unsurprisingly, dark. Dark and damp, the scent of wet earth and seawater overwhelming the senses.

Though the interior earthen in nature, the entirety of the behemoth still seems to breathe. The walls and floors are partially porous, stretching and contracting to the faint but constant rhythm of a heart that pulses somewhere distantly ahead. Now and then the caverns tremble, sometimes a rhythmic vibration not unlike a purr, sometimes an unexpected sharp jolt like a cough or a hiccup. And sometimes there are sounds like sighs or groans, a gust of cool, displaced air taking on emotional significance depending on the listener's imagination.

The further the Alliance members travel from the mouth, the darker it gets. The throat cavern slopes downward, gently at first, then more steeply, requiring some care in order not to slide the rest of the way down. Bits of earth and stone dislodge as they maneuver the slippery slope, tumbling down with a final splash somewhere in the pitch black darkness.

---

OOC: Ok, those of you inside, let's roll! Dex or Wits+Athletics. You will have a -1 external penalty (subtracts successes) to this and all other rolls requiring sight because it's dark. That penalty becomes -2 in deeper darkness below unless you've got a light source.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:45, Mon 04 May 2009.

Lasuri, Kiana and Zeru manage to keep their balance, moving carefully down the slippery slope, hugging the curved walls where the footing is more steady while feeling their way down.

Kareth manages to move a couple steps into the deepening darkness only to trip and start tumbling head over heels down the behemoth's throat. Tageru, despite his Immaculate training, does not fare much better, though unlike Kareth at least manages to fall on his rump and slide down the mud rather than tumble down it.

The grumpy engineer is likely made that much grumpier by his fall, which ends in a loud SPLASH! that the others can hear from all the way up. Fortunately the Fire Aspect does not hurt himself; on the other hand he has landed into a body of cold, brackish water. The water is deep, and for the moment he manages to keep his head above water, but without any significant athletics training he won't be able to keep that up for long.

Tageru manages to catch himself on the edge of the water, getting his legs wet before pulling himself up. He's muddy and drenched, now, at least from the waist down, but fine.

The other Dragon-blooded continue to move at a more careful pace before reaching the bottom of the slope. All of them are now in what feels to be a large and very dark chamber. Without a light source it's hard to see where the exits are from here, though everyone can hear Kareth splashing around in the water. They can also hear the rhythmic thrum of Rakatau's heart, closer now, but not close enough that the source would be noticeable in the gloom.

---

OOC: Now roll Perception+Awareness to search around/get a better idea of the surroundings. You get a -2 external penalty as described above. However you might be able to counteract that penalty if you stunt using a sense other than sight to figure out the details. (This counts for any further Awareness rolls while you have no light to see by.)

[Private to Kiana White-Fist: I forgot till now to tell you what I meant about lighting. Basically, you could light up your anima a torch to light the way. The problem with Dragon-blooded animas is that when it's bright enough to see by, it also does elemental damage to everything around the Exalt. A bad idea, since you're inside a living behemoth! You feel, however, that an Earth-based anima would *not* hurt Rakatau and may even please it. So if you do decide to activate your anima for light, it costs 1 mote and it glows as if you're at the 8-10 mote peripheral display (but without actually spending that many motes). You might also want to explain that it'd be a bad idea for anyone else to try it :)]

It seemed that the careful and crafty hands of a engineer did not translate well into their feet, as Kareth went tumbling down the slope, with Cynis falling on his rear as well, though not tumbling as badly.  Kiana's ears were sharp, and though she could still see their faint outlines as the two of them lost their footing, she could more easily hear the grunts of both of the men as they lost ground.  That left Lasuri, Zeru and herself still standing.

The darkness that lied ahead would be dark indeed, and though Kiana trusted her senses to guide her through the elemental, she was not so sure of her companions.  Kiana had trained her senses dearly as she had grown up, both with her father, and after his death.  In these deep recesses, she felt very much at home in the darkness--how often had she wanted such shadows to sink into after Kiando had died?  How many times had she craved nothing but sweet, sweet darkness, to cover her whole and make her disappear?  Too many times to count, and so such a lack of light did not truly bother her.  It wasn't the same for the others, though, whose lives were not the same conglomerations of trials and mistakes, but different paths with equally winding roads.

But the little Earth Princess had a sudden burst of inspiration.

"I have an idea."  She said softly, the caverns they now traveled making her voice boom much more than it normally would.  "But I implore the four of you not to follow my lead.  Rakatau and I are of the same element, and so he might even enjoy what I'm about to do, but I will not displease him regardless.  Unfortunately, the rest of you are children of different dragons, and so he might not be so appreciative.  Hopefully I will be enough..."

Kiana brought her hands together in front of her, as if beginning a prayer.  In that single moment, white light erupted around her as her anima flared brilliantly.  Around the young girl there seemed to spawn myriad tiny diamonds which flowed around her like sand, casting strange glitters that bounced off of the nearby walls like tiny stars.  Around her feet the tiny diamonds seemed to almost rub against the solid stone, like Lucky Coral might well rub against Zeru when he returns to his ship--and one certainly gets the impression that the white-diamond aura would not be so kind to others, inanimate or otherwise.  She and Rakatau were cut from the same cloth, at least when considering their elemental background, and while that certainly made her life a wee bit awkward when at sea, at least for now she was in her own element, and certainly proving to be a valuable asset for it.

Struggling to remain to his feet, it is all Lasuri can do not to fall on his rump - even though he is a seasoned captain and has been a sailor now for well over a decade, this situation is a completely different can of worms.

Once or twice, the Captain has to lean on one side and extend his arms, his shaky balance in jeopardy lest he flaps his arms and shift his gravity enough to restore his equilibrium. So far so good, however, and despite the few close calls, he seems to manage to stay upright and in control.

He winces a couple times as he hears the sound of Kareth and Tageru (audible by their grunts) fumbling and slipping, and is careful not to let the sound of their falling distract him, lest he joins them in their tumbling. He instead tries to focus on the feel and the slickness of the water, trying to keep himself locked on it to keep his concentration and balance.

After what seems to be a long and tedious way down (although Lasuri is grateful he did not take the quick way down, Kiana lights up the way for them, and the captain shields his eyes momentarily at the sudden flash. Once his eyes adjust to the blaze, he steps carefully to Kareth and Tageru's location, extending a gloved hand to the both of them. "Good thinking, Kiana - Rakatau ought to be able to take that much. Man, our new ally's got a big mouth." The captain shakes his head, then turns his attention to his fallen comrades.

"You okay? that was a quick ride, though probably a bit more dangerous than ours."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:43, Mon 04 May 2009.

Zeru was used to balancing, while untrained sailors have a hard time balancing on the deck of a ship, even seasoned veterans have a very difficult time balancing in the rigging or on the mast. He uses his expertise to compensate for whatever movements Rakatau may make, even still he nearly falls but another sudden shift manages to realign him.

Once he reaches the bottom he finds that he is not going to have a good time seeing down here. He can of course hear Kareth and Tageru splashing in their mistake, but he's very used to using his eyes, and this darkness may get the better of him. He blinks a couple of times and tries to adjust his eyes.

[Private to Storyteller: 20:49, Today: Peleps Zeru rolled 4 successes using 4d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 5,10,4,10. Perception+Awareness. ]

Tageru struggles to pull himself up, onto a safe surface and away from the muddy water. "Great! Just great!", he mutters to himself as mud and water drip from his feet. He looks at Kiana as the light from her anima banner envelops her, and then down below, to where Kareth fell. "Are you alright down there? Do you need help?"

The light from Kiana's anima is enough to push back the oppressive darkness and allow the Dragon-blooded to see better. The various groans, sighs and other air-displacements that emanate from the great beast seem to reconcile themselves into a much more content thrumming purr.

Rakatau is apparently approving of the touch of Earth Essence Kiana gives off.

Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to have any bearing on poor Kareth's fate. The splashing seems to have stopped... but the engineer is nowhere to be found. Has he been sucked deeper into the water? Ripples in the water seem to suggest something of the sort.

Now that the group can see what's around them, they appear to be in a large, damp, natural earthen chamber. The cavern is like a gigantic ovoid shape, textured on the ceiling with stalactites dripping with water that leaks onto the lake below that covers the majority of the floor space. Narrow banks around the lake provide a method of crossing to the other side, skirting the walls -- though it looks like it might be slippery, so being confident in one's swimming is a must.

As for exits, there appears to be two paths leading in opposite directions from the base of the throat canal. The left hand winds upslope into a drier tunnel, and does not require approaching the lake to get to. The right hand path dips downward, partially submerged at the point where it diverts through the wall.

Across the lake (directly opposite of the throat) there's more dark space, hard to see from here even with the anima glow. There may well be other paths from further down there, and the behemoth's heartbeat sounds stronger from that direction.

---

OOC: Waived the need for more perception roll since there is now LIGHT! :) As for swimming, if you have a Strength+Athletics total of 7 you'll make it across without a roll. Otherwise you just need a 1 sux. If you try to cross without swimming, it'll be a Dex or Wits+Ath diff 2.

edit - Coincidentally, I've been told Kareth will be able to post again! But do feel free to freak out and look for him if that's what you'd do. ;)
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:42, Tue 05 May 2009.

"KARETH!", Tageru shouts once more, when the splashing and the bubbles stopped. "We have to look for him!" , he says, and looks to his friends "He could be drowning!"
He looks down one more time and then climbs up to stand on the edge. "I'm going in after him!", he says and prepares to jump. "If someone wants to help, there's no time to waste! I'm not sure how much breath our engineer's got left and I don't want to wait to find out!"

"Completely agreed, Mister Tageru." Lasuri says, nodding to the monk. "We'll go together. I can assist, since swimming's one of my strong suits." He nods, smiling at the monk for a moment. "I've got your back, so let's focus on catching up with Mister Kareth."

"Miss Kiana! Mister Zeru! This could very well be a trap, so you two stay on guard. If we don't come back in a timely fashion, that likely means there's some sort of trap in there, so don't fall for it. I'll leave the exact course of action to you, of course - do stay safe."

And with that, Lasuri nods to Tageru one more time, and then prepares to take the plunge.

Tageru takes a deep breath, nods to Lasuri, straps the bow more firmly on his back and dives into the dark water where he heard the grumpy engineer's last splash.
'I hate diving! I hated it on the Isle, on the Lillyleaf Lake at home, I hate it still! Why in Sextes Jylis name did I go? I can't even swim that well!', he thinks while searching for the lost Fire Aspect. A soft green glow appears around him, just so that he can be seen in the muddy water, but not enough to hurt the titanic beast in whose belly they were right now...
[Private to Storyteller: <lameDnDreference> roll Search </lameDnDreference>]

Lasuri and Tageru plunge in. The brackish water is a cold shock to the senses, and from the grime and salt content it would be a very bad idea to swallow any of it.

When Tageru activates his anima to light the way, there is a slight moaning rumble that Kiana and Zeru also feel, but nothing else happens. They might notice a few small, tentative sprouts of green beginning to form at their feet, stirred by the presence of Wood energy.

The area underwater is now lit in green light. The bottom is much further down than they might have originally expected -- about 30 yards down -- though they can see sea life lurking in the gloom. Mostly bottom feeding fish, turgid sea cucumbers, sponges clinging to the bottom floor. Sea grasses, too, which stretch yearningly toward Tageru's Essence, almost seeming to lengthen as they pass. Sea moss that glows in hues of blue and green, intensified by the verdant light.

Swimming is not easy. As soon as they descend about ten yards they start to feel a sucking sensation pulling them toward one of the walls (the right hand wall if oriented facing opposite the throat). There's a large underwater tunnel there, as wide as three grown men, at least, flexing like a valve of living earth to pull debris... or in this case people... into it.

Meanwhile:

Kareth is being flushed (no other way to say it!) down an underwater tunnel dragging him toward an unknown destination. He can attempt to swim against the current, or just hold his breath and wait to see where this tunnel will take him.

---

OOC: Swim rolls! these are tougher since there's something to swim against. I know the book says Stam+Res but that's only for long term swimming (we'll get to that if you end up being down long enough to need to breathe :P)

Str+Ath diff 2 for Lasuri and Tageru if they want to avoid getting sucked in...
Str+Ath diff 3 for Kareth to swim against the current.

Swimmers are at -2 for being underwater unless you're aquatic in nature *hint*.

Kareth was never much of an Athlete.  In fact, considering he was a Child of Hesiesh, Kareth had remarkably little physical ability.  As such he found himself at the mercy of the current and could only attempt to flail hopelessly as he was pushed further downstream.

[Private to GM: I have no Athletics pool. So my Str + Ath pool is 2.  Factor in the -2 penalty and I've got no dice. :p  Poor Kareth. ]
This message was last edited by the player at 03:47, Wed 06 May 2009.

"Sir..." Kiana said, watching as Cynis and the Captain both dove into the water.  Kiana, for her part, had absolutely no intention of diving in after Isole.  She cared about the engineer as a fellow member of the Cobalt Alliance, but she was not the best of swimmers.  She could manage in calm enough waters, she guessed, but being both of the Earth and being raised mostly on land, she had never been much of a swimmer.

She didn't like the idea of being separated, not by any means.  It divided their usefulness in combat, AND while being apart, they had no real way of communicating.  She didn't want to leave any of them here after the chalice was found, and she didn't like the idea of being left behind if it was them who found the chalice instead of them.  Granted, she didn't think the captain would leave them, but the thought was still haunting.

She turned to Zeru, half expecting him to jump in as well.  "Shall we wait here until they return, Captain?"  He was, after all, a captain, though not her own.  Though it felt somewhat odd to call someone so young 'captain', she supposed it would be the same for others to refer to her as 'Head of Defense'.

Zeru nods at Lasuri as he dives in. "You got it Captain." Zeru hated to be left out, but leaving just one person alone would be a horrible idea. So he easily acquiesced.

He stared at the dark water lost in his own thoughts for a moment until Kiana asked him what to do. She referred to him as captain, which sent a shiver up his spine, he was still not used to that. "Please call me Zeru, I hate formal titles..." He shuddered again. "But yes if the Captain and Tageru can get our dour friend out of the water this is where they will be expecting us."

Kareth feels another surge of pressure as the living earth tunnel contracts, and squeezes him out of another opening into a much larger body of water. POP!

He emerges into another half-submerged cavern. From underwater he can see some unknown luminescent blue light source glowing from above, illuminating a welcome sight: the surface of the water. There are scattered glowing patches of algae clinging to rock and earth formations underwater, and even lanternfish circling in the darker gloom beneath.

There are also shapes moving up there, on the bank. But it's hard for Kareth to tell while beneath the surface what they are.

Back near the throat of the cavern, Kiana and Zeru continue to wait. Looking at the surface of the water they notice the water level sinking slightly, subsequently uncovering more of the partially submerged right-hand tunnel.

[Private to Lasuri Leomaris; Cynis Tageru: I'll determine your swimming roll / action if there's not a post by tonight, or very early morning tomorrow if you prefer (I sleep late!), just to keep things moving.]

[Private to Kiana White-Fist; Peleps Zeru: if the others end up on the other side for too long, I'll come up with something for you two to do. :)]
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:51, Wed 06 May 2009.

Almost immediately after diving in, Lasuri closes his eyes, and for a moment does not even seem to work against the current. He seems to let himself get carried by the upwards current, his limbs hanging in the currents around him. He almost seems at peace in that instance, slowly carried away by the waters that borne him.

And then, after a moment, he opens his eyes once more while black luminescence surrounds him. The light coils about his form, taking on the shape of a sea serpent, a scaled leviathan that seems to roll about the captain protectively. The creature opens his mercurial mouth, and with that, Lasuri moves once more.

And when he does, he does not seem to be struggling against his environment any longer. It is as if he is a part of it, a native element of this place as he swims towards the direction Kareth was pulled.

Almost at peace, Lasuri himself seems to almost be the water, rushing towards the fallen engineer like a strong undertow.

[Private to Storyteller: Activating anima and swimming through.]

Kareth, for his part, was not at home in the watery passageway and was glad to be able to swim up towards the light.  He didn't know how long he could hold his breath but he didn't care to find out.  He made it a point to spend some time meditating on his elemental heritage later.  After all, who had ever heard of a Child of Hesiesh who couldn't swim against a simple current.

Wreathed in his anima, Lasuri is a natural in the water, leading the way as he swims through the opening that likely sucked Kareth through. Moving with the direction of the water flow makes his advance through the tunnel all the easier, as he kicks strongly toward the other side.

Tageru, amazingly enough -- perhaps inspired by his honest desire to help a teammate -- manages to follow the Water Aspect's lead without falling behind or losing control to the suction. He could also, if he wishes, swim against the current with the burst of speed and strength he's putting on right now. But should he follow onward...

They pop out on the opposite side, into the adjacent submerged chamber lit up by blue-glowing moss and lichen, and see the figure of Kareth swimming with newfound determination toward the surface, and air. Above water, the rounded natural earth ceiling peaks at about 10 feet above the swimmers' heads. Kareth (and Lasuri and Tageru, once they join him) sees the glowing lichen clinging to the bank and creeping up the walls of the entire cavern, giving off enough light to see by.

There are other things glittering among the lichen, as well. Artifacts of various size and shape litter the bank, attended to by a trio of rough-featured humanoid figures, earth-hued (or perhaps made from earth itself) with rusty iron teeth and whiplike iron-tipped tails. Two of them carry armfuls of minor artifacts, while the third appears to reaching for another pile. Apparently they are transporting the artifacts to a different area, through another tunnel perpendicular to the underwater one. This second tunnel is moist rather than submerged, as it is above the water level.

The creatures freeze when Kareth breaks the water's surface, staring at him with dark orbs for eyes, though they do not seem to be hostile as much as startled.

---

OOC: Int+Occult if you want to figure what these things are. Also let me know if you will examine the artifacts so I can give some detail there. It will be harder to swim back the way you came, too, so you may want to just proceed in the heart-direction (which happens to be the same way that above-water tunnel goes) and hope you can detour back to where Kiana and Zeru are.

Kiana and Zeru continue to wait. It hasn't been terribly long yet, maybe a minute or two. Kiana's light continues to soothe the island behemoth, and she and Zeru feel a slow, constant thrum in the vicinity that feels very much like a purr.

Eventually, the edge of the light Kiana's anima sheds shines light on some activity coming their way from across the large body of water they stand near.

It seems to be... a boat? A rowboat, to be exact, large enough to hold four people, and being rowed by figures that look humanoid... but not quite. For one thing, they have tails. And it's very unlikely anything truly human could survive and subsist inside a living island's cavity, especially once it dives into the deep ocean.

[Private to Kiana White-Fist; Peleps Zeru: you can also roll Int+Occult if you want]
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:17, Fri 08 May 2009.

"They are Earth Elementals of some kind..." Kiana said quietly to Zeru.  It made sense that Rakatau would have servants, colossus that he was, but it was still somewhat unexpected.  The thought of sitting in a boat inside of the giant beast was surreal at best--but considering that they had just lost more than half of their team in the first few minutes of entering Rakatau...well, she was certainly at a loss.

"I think they're coming with kind intentions..." She continued, her voice softly emanating off of the earthen walls, making her voice a good bit deeper than it normally was.  Kiana bent down while she waited for the small rowboat to make its way toward them, and gently placed her palms at her feet.  This was for no other purpose other than to give more of her aura to Rakatau.  It was the purr most of all that made her do this--just like petting a cat more after hearing the purr, she didn't see the harm in giving the Seven Day Isle more comfort, given it was surely in pain thanks to the Lintha artifact.

Despite Kiana's explanation Zeru was still uneasy. It showed in his manner, he was restless, anxious. She might think that they were there for kind intentions but this was not his element, this was definitely not his element. He didn't draw his weapon, that would be considered rude, but then again he was never quite far from it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:07, Fri 08 May 2009.

In the large cavern:

The boat continues to approach on the surface of the water, while Rakatau continues to tremble appreciatively under Kiana's hands. Attracted by the heightened glow of Earth Essence, the elementals appear to be rowing with greater speed.

Soon the boat is close enough for the light to make out the elementals' features. They are humanoid beings shaped out of earth and metal, with rusty iron teeth and an iron tipped tail. They carry weapons (axes and swords) but do not wield them, rather using the oars with which they continue to navigate their rowboat toward Zeru and Kiana's position.

When the boat bumps gently onto the throat-side bank, one of the two speaks a sentence in Old Realm. Its voice is a pleasant bass rumble. The other gestures silently to the boat. [Private to Kiana White-Fist; Peleps Zeru: if you can understand Old Realm language, it is saying, "We will take you heart-ward, esteemed guests of the Great Island." Basically, across the water in the direction of the heart-chamber. If you DON'T know Old Realm, then make an Int+Linguistics roll, at difficulty 3 you'll still understand since it's just a single sentence.]

In the adjacent cavern:

Kareth and Tageru are also certain that the creatures they're looking at on the bank are Earth Elementals. They're likely there as Rakatau's servants and interior guard; that means that whatever corruption the Chalice of Kimbery has, it isn't something the elementals can deal with without outside aid. [Private to Cynis Tageru: You got a higher roll so you know they're jokun. They're usually employed as elemental bodyguards, and hold to a certain ethic of honor. They converge near valuable luminous lichen (which is likely what you're seeing around you) and sing in sonorous bass voices. If you have Book of Sorcery IV, you would *not* know of any of their special attacks or powers.]

Fortunately the elementals do not stare at the new arrivals on the water's surface for long. They continue with their task of moving artifacts toward the direction of the behemoth's heart. When they leave, a handful of others replace them and continue gathering various items of power. [Private to Cynis Targeru; Isole Kareth; Lasuri Leomaris: Most of these are anywhere from Artifact 1 to 3 in power. Nearly anything of that level you might find in any Exalted book could be in this hoard (90% of it jade or non-magical material). You'll also remember that Rakatau said to only take up to 5 artifacts from its treasures, besides the Chalice itself.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:27, Fri 08 May 2009.

Stepping out of the water, Lasuri immediately moves to Kareth's side, making certain the engineer is okay. "Mister Kareth." He says, letting out a long breath. "Good to see you again here. That was quite the deep dive, I myself am not sure if I would have attempted it." He gazes back for a moment, making certain Tageru can make it as well, and nods when the monk does. "Looks like we've got everybody. And look at this place... Rakatau has a treasure trove inside his belly. Safest place to put anything, I suppose."

The Captain does pause at the view of the creatures, however, taking on a more ready stance at their sight. Seeing that his companions are observing the things intently, he raises an eyebrow in his direction. "So uh... should I be worried about these fellows? Anything you might want to tell me?"