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Welcome to the world of Fortuna, a land of fantastic proportions. This is an original fantasy roleplay that takes place in a world developed over nearly a decade of work and collaboration. We aim to encourage all participants to have a hand in the stories of the characters here, and the world around them. Your choices are key - so make them with pride. You decide who wins the wars, you decide who becomes King, the world is ours, and together we will bring it to life!
Post by Maldrem "Wight" on Jan 20, 2018 0:38:49 GMT -7
Oh I can show you what I'm here for, buddy...
M aldrem held in his slight chuckles as the other man, Halulahi, took his time debating whether or not to take up Mal on his invitation. Maldrem felt he generally had a pretty decent read on these kinds of situations, and if he was correct, Halulahi definitely seemed at least a little interested. Perhaps enamored by the unknown, if nothing else, as it seemed he didn't have much familiarity with Maldrem's kind.
He opted not to seat himself next to Mal, taking a seat across from him instead, and sitting himself very carefully. Mal let his eyes roam up and down Halulahi's tattooed form once more, noting the measured distance between them amusedly. With a smirk, he crossed his own now bare legs, grabbed a hold of his ankles with both hands, and performed a few short little hop-scoots on his rear end to edge closer, shortening the distance between the two of them to perhaps only an arm and a half's breadth. Or maybe less for Halulahi.
Keeping his smile in place, he lifted his tail and maneuvered it in front of him, letting the pointed tip dig into the dirt between them. He started drawing a few simple shapes.
"Pues," he began in reply. "Estoy aquí por pocos cosas. El sol..." His tail had scribbled a little circle with lines coming off of it. "El mar..." He drew a few jagged, wave-like lines under the sun and then some smoother lines underneath, which he sprinkled with dots to reflect sand. Then he glanced up, let his smile get more suggestive, and scribbled a tall, broad-shouldered stick figure. "...Y las vistas."
With his drawings completed, he leaned back with his palms pressed to the ground behind him, appearing relaxed while also exposing more of his bare torso to the other man. He chuckled then and gave him a wink, deciding to add one more thing.
"Y un diamante también," he said, as though a completely unimportant afterthought.
And why did he choose to share that? Well, he wasn't a fool. As distracting and attractive as this guy may have been, he could still have very well been here for the same purpose as Maldrem himself. And if he was, well. Mal needed to know. He couldn't have his prize stolen from him, after all. His life kind of depended on it. It would thus probably be a good idea to figure out where this Halulahi stood on that matter.
"Well, I'm here for a few things. The Sun, the Sea... and the sights." "And also a diamond."
alu had asserted for himself that Maldrem definitely did not want to harm him. He was sure of it, sort of, and yet the question was continually begged: Why did he keep looking at Halulahi like that?
The strange man's eyes did not always meet his own, and it was not in the way where, when Halulahi felt awkward or ashamed, he would gaze over someone's shoulder, or meet eyes with their ear to avoid direct eye contact. This was very different, the strange colour of the man's view travelling languidly over Halulahi's body... It made him feel vulnerable. He had to worry that he would develop a discomfort if this was how all outsiders looked at him.
He tried to puff up his chest a little, without making a dramatic movement. As he did, though, Maldrem scooted closer. Halulahi deflated somewhat again, and his front teeth met his bottom lip. He wasn't worried, no that was not the feeling, he had already determined as much. He was not offput, either. He was... Something else. Something closer to how he felt around Kapue'o, but not the same. He wanted to figure out what this feeling was, but he also needed to pay attention: Maldrem was speaking, and drawing with his tail.
The pictures were helpful to Halulahi. He knew what words Maldrem was saying, but their translation was easier as he pictured them. Sun, sea -- yes, he could relate to those. He could not imagine being distant from either, even though he knew there were places he would travel on this journey that would be cold and dark.
It was the last thing Maldrem said and drew that gave him pause: The sights. A humanoid figure. Broad shoulders. Halulahi's breath was a sharp intake of air, and his eyes raised from the drawing to properly meet Maldrem's eyes. The man looked pleased with himself. Halulahi then realized, finally: The man was flirting with him.
Halulahi had attempted to flirt before. It had never been like this. No, this man was charismatic, and his way with words and body were easy. Halu looked away as quickly as their eyes had met, as if caught doing something inappropriate. He stretched a little to see if he could find his Aumakua, but Cari was gone. They were alone. Maldrem and he were alone. Maldrem was--
"Y un diamante también," Maldrem added, and Halulahi felt like a fool. Yes, this man was a treasure hunter. He wasn't flirting, was he? No, he was trying to see if Halu knew anything about the treasure he was seeking. A diamond. Halu could admit he knew there was a diamond at the Puhi Lanahu -- but he did not know if it were metaphorical diamond, or a literal one. He did however know that the diamond was not the 'right' choice to make. What did that say of someone seeking it out? Maldrem seemed nice. Could Halu help redirect his path? Protect him? He could certainly try.
"Conozco este lugar como el Puhi Lanahu. Es un peligro," He answered, using his finger to draw a picture of a volcano erupting, and an arrow pointing towards it, "Es un cono de fuego y de muerte. Cualquier diamante que tenga, no quieres."
🐯 🐯 🐯
I know this place as the Puhi Lanahu. It is a danger. It is a cone of fire, and of death. Whatever diamond it holds, you do not want.
Post by Maldrem "Wight" on Feb 5, 2018 17:49:29 GMT -7
Awww now don't be a wet blanket...
H e hadn't been certain what to expect of Halulahi's answer when he added the bit about the diamond. It was equal parts possible that he'd know nothing about anything of the sort, or that he'd know exactly what Maldrem was talking about. Turns out it was something closer to the latter, it seemed. He described the island they were on as a place called 'Puni Lanahu', and apparently it was dangerous. A cone of fire. Whatever diamonds were here, Maldrem wouldn't want them.
He clearly didn't know Maldrem very well. Maldrem more or less courted danger on a daily basis, and was on-again-off-again in love with something a lot worse than just a cone of fire. Mal would take the mountain, volcano, whatever, over Reina's temper any day. Which is exactly why he did in fact want the diamond, if it was in fact here. The way Halulahi had said it, it seemed like he wasn't actually sure if there was or wasn't one. But then, that could also just be his shaky grasp on the language making it sound that way.
Still leaned back in a casual, relaxed fashion, Maldrem shrugged. "Me gusta peligro. Es excitante." He gave Halu a smirk, fully expressing his nonchalance over the situation. "Y si hay diamante, lo necesito." Should he explain why? Eh, probably not. Not unless the man asked, at least. Maldrem didn't need some foreign stranger knowing the particulars of his sordid life unbidden. But he was certainly curious about him still.
"Pero dime, guapo..." he said, letting a more alluring tone color his voice at that. "Si es tan peligroso, por qué estás aquí?" He wasn't yet prepared to rule out the idea that Halulahi was also here for the diamond, and that he was just trying to dissuade potential competition. It would be a shame if that were the case, but that wouldn't give Mal a negative opinion of him. Doing what you had to do was more or less how Maldrem lived, so he wasn't about to judge someone else for doing the same. And hey, just because they were potential competitors didn't mean they couldn't have a good time about it, right?
Or maybe they could just have a good time in general, that'd be good too.
"I like danger. It's exciting. And if there's a diamond, I need it." "But tell me, handsome... if it's so dangerous, why are you here?"
alulahi frowned, and his arms crossed over his chest in the pose he always struck when he found himself annoyed, concerned, or just frustrated. His hopes of helping Maldrem avoid a fiery death - or worse - had all but disappeared. Halulahi knew that whether there was a diamond, or it was just a symbol, it was not to be wanted.
As a symbol it was a sign of greed, because the diamond was a beautiy inherent to this place, to take it was to take from the Puhi Lanahu. To take it, was wrong, and would see you punished either immediately by the Gods and Spirits who watched over the Puhi Lanahu, or in your eternal life after this one had ended. If it were a real diamond, it could only be worse. Such a thing could be cursed, killing you slowly over the course of forever, bringing you misfortune and depression wherever you turned.
The kind of person who would take an ancient treasure was not the kind of outsider that Halulahi wished to ingratiate himself with, nor was the person who would insist on braving dangers for the sake of a treasure. Those desires were not natural to Halu, they did not make sense. They made him... Angry, in a way. As if he was being personally mistreated by those desires. Perhaps it was disappointment over his hopes that Maldrem was not the kind of person he was proving himself to be.
Halulahi supposed he could attempt to still save his potential compatriot. Convince Maldrem to turn around, to forget about the diamond -- test him, in some small way. He needed to see that Halu was quite serious about the dangers, perhaps then he would realize the mistake he had made by coming here. Perhaps he would show that there was a Right and a Wrong way of coming to a place such as this.
Halulahi stood then, his decision made. Sand tumbled off of him as he did, some clinging to his legs where the heat had made him sweat. "Te lo diré de nuevo, Maldrem. Usted no quiere este diamante," He insisted, towering over the unarmed Maldrem and casting a hulking shadow over him, Puhi Lanahu no es lugar para aquellos que buscan tesoros. Deberías tomar tus vacaciones en otro lugar, Maldrem.
"Adiós." He said the word, but he did not move. It was clear in purpose: I belong here. You do not. You should leave.
🐯 🐯 🐯
I'll tell you again, Maldrem. You do not want this diamond. Puhi Lanahu is no place for those seeking treasure. You should take your vacation elsewhere, Maldrem. Farewell.
Post by Maldrem "Wight" on Feb 9, 2018 0:47:04 GMT -7
Oh now what to do about you...
W ell this had certainly taken a turn for the dull. It was like a switch had been flipped in the big guy, and where once there was that clear spark of intrigue, now he was a stone wall of impassivity. He seemed unimpressed with Maldrem's waving off of his warning, and didn't react at all to his flirty question. Instead, he simply reaffirmed that Maldrem didn't want the diamond that was here, stood up, and told him goodbye. Without leaving.
He was staring down at Maldrem expectantly. He wanted Mal to leave.
For a moment, Mal actually felt a bit offended. Excuse me, Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome, but he was here first, and he wasn't about to leave because some random stranger had decided to have a god complex about a stupid volcano which he was beginning to suspect was probably sacred or something to this guy. Again that inkling of a memory nagged at Maldrem's brain, like he was supposed to know something about this Halulahi, or had heard something relating to him. Maybe it was about a religious group Mal had heard of? Or something about where Halu was from? Whatever it was, it must have seemed unimportant to Maldrem whenever he had heard about it because he was having a hell of a time remembering anything about it now.
Well, that was beside point. Right now he had a pissy big guy looking down on him and making this situation altogether unfun. Clearly Halulahi was determined to make himself a problem. And Mal was quite good at problem-solving. But solving this one didn't necessarily have to entail the same things as it usually did... after all, Mal was on vacation. He could use a bit of fun. And besides, he wasn't as generally inclined to needless murder as much as some of the other members of the Grail were. Halu should count himself lucky!
He held Halu's determined gaze with one of his own for all of four seconds before dropping his eyes, sighing, and holding up his hands in placating surrender.
"Ok, ok," he said, a tone of only slightly annoyed resignation in his voice. "Ya que no quieres cederte sobre esto, iré."
He got to his feet and under Halulahi's watchful gaze started collecting his things again, putting them back on quickly with drooped eyes and a slightly pouting lip, though not making direct eye contact as he did so. The countenance of someone who wasn't about to fight back. After all, as far as Halulahi was concerned, he was a big, strong guy, and Mal was a tiny waifish thing in comparison. Clearly he wasn't gonna try and fight him on this even with weapons.
(Not when he had better methods.)
With his gear secured, he tossed another gaze out at the sparkling sea from their vantage point, stepping past Halu for a moment and sighing. "Ya... era esperando un poco de diversión. Qué lástima." Then he turned around and gave Halulahi another look over, up and down once more, and smiled, a bit more softly than his earlier smirks. "Pero quizás la próxima vez. Oye," Maldrem took a step close and held a hand out, shrugging his shoulders a bit in a show of sheepish body language. "Lo siento si ofendí. Si nos volvemos a encontrar, deberíamos conocernos mejor."
Halulahi looked at his hand as though he was considering for a moment that it might bite him, but Mal could see the way the tension in his shoulders had already eased just a bit. It was a good thing that this guy didn't know Maldrem at all, because it was good that he thought he might have won so easily. Tentatively, though with a seeming sense of small satisfaction, Halu reached out to accept Maldrem's hand. Maldrem smiled at him as they partook in the handshake, and it looked like Halu might have been about to return the gesture and say something.
But that's when Maldrem swiftly moved his fingertips against the larger man's palm, and pressed them in. The sharpened nails broke the skin a bit less easily than he might have expected, but hey, he could pierce orc skin when he needed to. He knew how hard to push. And just as swiftly as his nails broke the skin and made contact with blood, he put his magic to work. First was a zap of pain, something sharp and brief but excruciating for its momentary duration, enough to stun Halulahi away from immediate reaction to what was happening. And then came the energy drain. Maldrem didn't want to make Halu sick, or to feel badly injured, nor to feel the prolonged torment of necrosis on his wound like he'd done for Kali and others before. No, he simply fatigued the cells in Halu's blood, pushing in the general direction of illness but stopping short of actually getting there.
He pulled his hand away as Halulahi fell to his knees, bracing himself on all fours as he couldn't seem to hold up his own weight under the pressure of pain and exhaustion. Maldrem honestly hadn't dosed him with very much, though; hell, even if he'd wanted to, he was no expert mage and Halu was kind of a big guy. He didn't imagine Halu would be down for longer than a few minutes, if even that long. But that was plenty enough time for him to get a head start.
While Halulahi was still temporarily unable to take any action against him, Maldrem squatted down a few feet away from him, low enough to catch his eyes, and smiled brightly.
"Adios~" he cooed. And then, with a wink, added. "Catch me if you can."
And then he was up and off, sprinting off into the cave he'd previously been perched on top of before he'd dropped down to speak with Halu. And now... now Maldrem would get to have his fun after all.
"Ok, ok. Since you don't seem to wanna budge on this, I'll go." "(Disappointment)... I was hoping for some fun. That's a shame." "But maybe next time. Hey," "Sorry if I offended you. If we ever meet again, we should get to know each other better."
f nothing else, Maldrem was accepting firm insistence. It was clear the horned man wanted a diamond very much, but Halu had been absolutely clear that this was not the place to get one. It was likely that Maldrem would go somewhere less dangerous to obtain such a thing. Perhaps a city, though Halu could not say if any cities carried such things. Diamonds were of little importance to Kaikoa. Diamonds could buy you nothing, there.
Halu permitted Maldrem privacy in gathering his things, offering respect for respect, and stepped towards the water to see if his Aumakua was visible to him. He had just displayed a feat of leadership, and anticipated that she would give some sort of... Sign, or symbol to assert that he had done as Wyghal desired.
What he saw instead was nothing of interest. In response, his superstitions formed a worried tug in the pit of his stomach. Was he doing something wrong? Should he have permitted Maldrem access, and let the Puhi Lanahu test him itself?
Halu was pulled forcibly from his thoughts and his seeking of the sea by Maldrem's accented voice. The Fianese man was ready, and was stepping up to offer some plaintive words. Halu's doubts were tense in his stomach as Maldrem smiled, apologized, and offered a hand. The anxiety was rampant, the feeling of doing something wrong, and so as he offered his hand to Maldrem, he reconsidered his position. "Tal vez deberíamos--"
His concession was cut short by a sharp pinch and a horrific pain. Halu fell to his knees in a moment of horror he would never quite be able to describe, and then he felt everything seize with exhaustion. Bile rose in his throat and spilled into the sand as he crunched himself into rock. His ears could barely make out the common words that drifted from a devil's tongue not far from him. Yes, common words. And an invitational threat.
Liar. Scoundrel. Demon. Were the words that rose to Halu's mind as he watched Maldrem traipse away through the sand.
Idiot. Gullible. Naive. Were the reprimands that replaced them when he was left alone in painful stillness. His Aumakua had not shown him approval from Wyghal because he had not earned it. Not because he should have trusted Maldrem where he did not. Not because he should have trusted the Puhi Lanahu where he did not. It was because he put too much trust in someone who had not earned it.
"Wy-Wyghaaal," He groaned as his muscles returned to his control. Halu pushed himself away from the sick-soaked sand, falling backwards and looking at the trail left behind by the imp.
"Guide me--" His voice was a pant as he stood, his legs still wooden, "Show me--" He turned to the sea once more, searching for Aumakua Cari or any other sign his God may be watching-- "Tell me. Do I follow? Do I... Leave the Puhi Lanahu to take my vengeance for me?"
It was silence for a time. And then the gulls crowed above, and the waves danced against the rock with a forceful wash. Together they made melody and tempo, and Halulahi could not resist the desire to move in touch with them. Not just any dance, however. His dance.
Halu's feet slammed with great force into the dry ground, creating a great splash of sand around him. His movements were percussive, and as he repeated them his toes became furred and grew wider. His legs changed next as he touch-stepped his way backwards from the ocean, the bones reshaping and his skin growing patterned fur from his tattoos. As his arms slammed down to beat out a faster tempo, his mouth began to make harmony with the waves -- and so the rest of him shifted. A smooth back ending in a rounded tail. Powerful forelegs forming from his arms. The head of tiger enveloping his own and curling into a fierce and threatening growl. A sheen of purple and red toned magic glistening off of his fur.
As he stretched his new shape, the gulls moved on, and the waves quieted. Powered by Him, a tiger began bounding after Maldrem's trail. It knew one thing: Outsiders were not to be trusted. That much was clear now.
Post by Maldrem "Wight" on May 4, 2018 22:55:27 GMT -7
Hunting and Hunted... Hopefully!
P art of Maldrem worried that there wasn't going to be any real pursuit, not one that would challenge him in the slightest. Sure he'd made sure not to give himself too much of a head start - Halulahi had only been dosed with a small amount of Fatigue and pain, nothing that should have kept him down for more than a couple minutes at most - but Maldrem also knew that he was very quick, agile, and acrobatic. Within moments of entering the cave, he'd deviated from the visible path and instead sprung up onto a sturdy-looking stalactite, swinging off of it and onto a shelf of rock some distance up which led deeper in. Then he'd slid through a narrow chamber along the path that led into a fairly open cavern, doing a few creative wall-springs to reach another rocky outcropping across the pit.
Realistically speaking, the path he'd taken was not one that he imagined most could easily follow, especially not a big guy like Halulahi. But then, he could always be wrong, and he'd frankly be glad for it if he was; this treasure hunt was going to be a lot more interesting if he had someone on his tail to raise the stakes. And hey, the guy seemed pretty insistent that Maldrem leave earlier, so he liked to believe he wasn't just going to be let off so easily after dashing in anyway (and especially not after also double-crossing him).
"Now where to go?" he mused to himself, tapping his chin as he examined some of his options. He'd more or less run in blind to get to where he was, though carefully memorized the path he'd taken for later, and now he was evaluating whether he should delve into a dark path to the right, or a more illuminated path to the left. He noted that the darker path also felt warmer (the whole damn place was warm, honestly, but this was especially notable), and reasoned that it probably led to wherever the magma was being housed. This place was supposedly a volcano, after all.
"Well, if I were some grand giant diamond spoken of in legend, and supposedly came out of the eye socket of a dragon... I guess I'd probably be closer to the magma... Wait, but the dragon dwarf guy had a treasure hoard, right? Lava melts gold, so maybe the treasure would have been further away... Yeah, that sounds reasonable."
He chuckled and elected to take the illuminated path. The tunnel, and this whole cave system it seemed, must have been peppered with various breaks in the rock, allowing the sunlight from outside to filter in. It was convenient, but it could also mean the walls were pretty unstable. "Better watch my step then," he decided with a smirk, tossing a glance behind him and listening hopefully for a potential pursuer. "And so should he."
alulahi's god-given body was more powerful than his mortal form could hope to be. It had greater endurance, higher speed, and most importantly - Wyghal's protection. His aasimar magic formed a prismatic sheen over his fur that wasn't quite visible, but wasn't quite invisible either. The power enhanced his natural abjuration magic tenfold, almost as if every ounce of magical potential Halulahi would ever have was made outward, protecting him as best his God could offer.
This... This was why Halulahi had no fear as he sped into the Puhi Lanahu.
His feline body bounded into the cave and paused only to gather the scent and trail of his quarry. Halulahi wished, as he gathered the smell, that he had been in this form earlier. Maldrem's traces were sickly sweet and poisonous, like ipecac -- a sign of his natural toxicity and danger. Halulahi growled as he traced the path the man had taken, well above the straightaway. It was clear the trickster was agile, as he had taken a path that Halulahi could not have accessed in his unchanged form. Not only was the route acrobatic, but the pass was thin - a squeeze for a lithe man, impossible for a brute's body. Halulahi's form was no longer a brute's, however. And he had the pounce of a tiger.
Halu was bothered by his hand (or paw) being forced as it was. Halulahi had originally dreamt himself travelling this cave slowly, cautiously, respectfully. Observing carvings and drawings and the leftovers of previous Kaikoan explorers. This was his people's history, and he was missing all of it in an attempt to prevent Maldrem from damaging it.
The next area that Halulahi followed Maldrem's sickly scent to was an open cavern with a dangerous looking pit. With his tiger eyes piercing through the darkness, Halulahi knew that Maldrem was not at the bottom of it -- though others were. Others who were long dead. Others, Halulahi guessed, that had come seeking riches, and not of the ancestral variety. On the other side of the pit was a rocky shelf, nearly fifteen feet away, and at least six feet up. He could not make a direct jump this time.
That was fine.
Halulahi stooped, his hind quarters rising and his tail moving to the rhythm of water dripping from one of the stalactites on the ceiling. A growl rose from his throat to work in time with the reverberation of the water hitting puddles below. The dance was not the same as one he could do in his humanoid form, and it did not have the same purpose. This dance ended with heat.
A near-painful fire grew from the pads of his paws, and he could feel the ground below giving out as the stone began the process of melting. Not all of it, as the rock was composite of many pieces - but those of lowest melting point reformed with his maintained touch. As he ran, and then jumped to the wall, he slammed his paws into the rock, the touch melting a quick grip there. Then, he brought his hind legs up to push off against the wall, landing with two paws over the edge of the rocky outcropping he had aimed for, which he was able to climb up with swiftly paddling hind quarters.
He shook himself off for a moment, breaking the trance of the dance and feeling his paws cool. His hands and feet would be burned when he changed back, he knew, but it was worth it, because this was what Wyghal wanted.
Halulahi reached a split in the path as he followed the scent, and immediately moved towards the illuminated option. His choice was interrupted by a feeling in his gut. A temptation to change the path. He could follow directly, and be sure he was tracing Maldrem's path. Doing that, he could find himself walking into a trap -- or worse, he could find that Maldrem was there and gone before he arrived. If he took the alternate path... He could lose Maldrem entirely, or-- He could cut in front of the behorned villain. The heat from that end told him what to expect, and it was a punishment he felt his body could withstand.
Halu took the darkened path.
It did not take long before the darkness he padded through was broken by the glow of upcoming magma. It was bubbling from below, and spilling from the walls, leaving a river which let off into some pool deep below where he stood now. It was a wide expanse impassable through any method but turning back. For anyone but him, that was. Halu slowed only for a moment, the anxiety of insecurity in his God's protection filling him. But he needed to know: Wyghal was with him.
Halu crested the surface of the magma, and moved quickly enough to not break the surface tension. Paw by paw he pushed himself across the wide river. It was excruciating, but not deadly. The sheen of abjuration on him was being eaten away with each step, but it was doing its job in protecting him. As he collapsed on the other side, he still had feet. He was still fine. He was just burned. The pads of his feet and the quick of his claws were blackened, and aching. His heart, however-- It was full to bursting. Wyghal had protected him.
Halulahi forced himself up, and began bounding towards the final leg of the cave, knowing now that he was well ahead of Maldrem. He would be waiting for this twisted antagonist. He would be the trap that one would walk into. His God had willed this. His God had protected him so that he could protect the Puhi Lanahu.
Post by Maldrem "Wight" on May 6, 2018 21:27:45 GMT -7
A dangerous development
I n the interest of keeping an ear out for a potential pursuer, as well as in taking more care as he delved deeper in, Maldrem had started to slow his pace. He ran his hands along the wall of the tunnel he was traversing, feeling for any obvious signs of instability up ahead; he'd had a number of experiences in raiding caves and caverns across his career on The Silent Bell and then The Defiled Grail. It more or less came with the treasure-hunting territory that pirates were so accustomed to. And as such, he'd had to learn a few of the geological tells of a dangerous or unstable cave. It was either that or die like so many crewmates had.
Every now and then he'd tap the armored tip of his shoe against the wall as well, listening for a hollow echo, and also listening to hear if the sound alerted any other presences to his activities. Thus far, everything had been almost boringly smooth. The tunnel was sound, stable, in spite of the numerous breaks in the roof that allowed for the passage of light, and he hadn't even encountered any wild creatures dwelling in it, let alone Halulahi. He was beginning to worry that the man had been all bark and no bite, and hadn't bothered to chase him at all.
That was, however, until Maldrem heard what sounded like a low growl, and heavy breaths of air. He stopped and went stock still. Up ahead he could see that the tunnel wasn't much longer, and was going to open up into something in maybe a couple hundred more feet. But immediately next to him? There was an opening in the wall. Peering through revealed nothing but more rock, seemingly a hole without purpose. But Maldrem heard the heavy breath once more, and then silence. Moving his ear closer to the hole, he felt heat. Lots of it. Like a vent shooting warmth, such that he needed to pull his face away.
He took a moment to think. It was fairly obvious where the other tunnel had led, the one he opted away from. And it was possible, even likely, that the two tunnels probably ran alongside each other for parts of their expanse. Combined with what he'd just felt, Maldrem figured that that hole in the wall of his cave may have been a hollowed out miniature tunnel that connected to the other path. The heat from the magma on the other side must have been traveling through, ejecting out onto Maldrem's side.
Which left the second thing to have a think about: Maldrem was pretty sure he hadn't just now been hearing things. He had heard the low rumbling growl, definitely. The puffs of air. Some creature must have been on the other side of the thick tunnel wall, passing by this little hole that connected them, and the sound must have traveled. And whatever that creature was, it hadn't lingered in its position for more than a moment, since he couldn't hear it anymore. Ideas began to run through Maldrem's head, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to smirk or frown. The legend said that there had been a dwarf who became a dragon. Dragons had heavy breath and made growling noises, yeah? So then... maybe it wasn't a legend, and there was in fact a dragon in these caves.
On the one hand, it was disappointing that Halulahi apparently still hadn't followed him, or at least hadn't found him. On the other, trying to sneak around a dragon was way more thrilling. But it was also way, way more deadly. He tapped a contemplative finger against the cave wall. The dragon, if that is what it was, had probably been on the other side of the wall a moment ago. If that other tunnel led to the volcanic magma, then that made sense; the diamond he was looking for was called the Eye of the Charback, and those dragons were known to swim in lava like it was water. He wasn't sure if this dragon was actually a Charback or not (they were supposed to be a relatively docile species, not a crazed and violent one like the dwarf had apparently become), but it was the only info he really had to go on here.
The point was, it could still be wherever it was. Thus, it wasn't necessarily going to be waiting for him if he moved forward. But... it wasn't necessarily not, either. Maldrem decided to devote a couple of careful moments of thought to his options. He had no way of knowing when he would see Reina again, and he also had no way of knowing how he could possibly find something else valuable enough to pay off all his debts in a potentially short period of time (he doubted Reina was going to be patient enough to just leave their next meeting to happenstance, and imagined he'd probably be "running into her" sooner than later). If he couldn't pay his debt when he saw her next, she'd smoke his bones to cinders. If he ran afoul of an ill-tempered dragon, he may also have his bones smoked to cinders.
Maldrem decided that a dragon was stupider than Reina, and therefore less of a risk.
He advanced carefully, moving even more slowly than before, and kept his ears peeled for anything. It seemed that now only silence would greet him, accompanied only by his own light footsteps and the dull hum of bubbling lava somewhere nearby. Finally, he reached the end of his tunnel, which opened into a larger cave area. The place was littered with rocky shelves, and larger openings in the ceiling through which he could see the sky. Coal of various sizes were scattered all throughout the cave, but lying in the dead center, shining in the sunlight, was an image right out of a storybook.
A tremendous pile of precious metals; glinting gold coins, nuggets, and even the occasional brick. Swords, spears, axes, and several other weapons that could only have been silver for their polish. Other weapons of broken iron lying about. And there were jewels, too: reds, blues, blacks, yellow, purple... honestly there were more jewels scattered throughout the pile of riches than Maldrem was certain he could even name. He could feel himself practically salivating with greed as he took in the sight, and he wondered how it could possibly be that this huge trove of treasure had been here for as long as it supposedly had been with no one claiming it. The legend had been around for ages, after all, and Maldrem couldn't have been the first person to make a try at it.
Before he could let his mind run too wild with the notion of lining his pockets, though, he reminded himself that he was one man, and did not have a great deal of storage space on him. And furthermore, he was here for just one thing. Reality check complete, his eyes scanned through the trove, looking, looking, looking... and then he spotted it. Or rather, he spotted them. There atop the glinting pile like crown jewels were two massive diamonds, almost perfectly shaped like spheres, resting as a pair.
They're real, he thought to himself, smiling as he took careful steps forward. The Eyes of the Charback.
He took another few steps, entering the cavern fully and leaving behind the closed space of the tunnel. And it was as he began to approach that the trap was sprung.
eet leaving scorchmarks with each step, Halulahi stalked through the hot expanse of the Puhi Lanahu until he found a drop into a glittering cavern. This. This was what Maldrem was after. Material treasures he would likely turn and sell, or trade for whatever profit best suited his desires. Halulahi had heard of strong alcohol, dangerous drugs, and brothels - he would assume Maldrem partook in all three, and that he would waste away these treasures on such falsehoods. But not only would Halulahi refuse to let that happen, he also found himself worrying over what his Eme had warned, when she told him of Tutu Onomaka, and this place.
Choose the coal, not the diamond.
He inhaled through the enhanced senses of the tiger, not yet catching a close scent of Maldrem, and then his eyes finally rose to the wall before him - where that same breath caught in his chest. There, on the wall, was a message drawn in thick, black pigment. It was not common, nor Fianese of any kind -- but Kaikoan symbols. They were his Tutu's, he knew immediately. His Tutu had taken the same path as he, had crossed the dangerous magma as he. The great Chief Onomaka had sat here upon this ledge and taken the time to write a message for future explorers. For Halulahi.
What the symbols told him was clear enough, though Halulahi was not sure he would need the information it provided. What he did know, was that merely seeing the message gave him strength. Purpose. Halulahi suddenly felt like he truly belonged on the Uhane Holo, whether he would ever be a good Chief or not. And as Halulahi sat there, tracing with sharp eyes over each curve of the symbols an ancestor he would never meet had written, the sound of clicking steps announced the coming of Maldrem.
Below him, a shadow cast over the treasures. Horned. Tailed. And that same scent, sickly sweet to his magical senses. Halulahi withheld his growl and tensed, his hind quarters rising in a ready pounce as he watched the shadow move towards the glittering piles of foreign worth -- and directly below Halu, who waited above the clear path of stone. In a moment, Halu was leaping down, directly over Maldrem, claws aiming to knock prone, and restrain -- not to maim. His goal was simple: Pin the thief down, intimidate him with the roaring jaws of a tiger, and hopefully - Wyghal and Chief Onomaka willing - force him to turn tail and leave this place.
The skin OTHERWORLD was made by JAWN of WICKED WONDERLAND.
FORTUNA-RPG was created by MELLIE. Images belong to their respective artists. All codes and scripts belong to their respective coders. Please DO NOT take anything without the owners' permission.