Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 2320344" data-attributes="member: 2323">Morier's Water WalkHe awoke with his foot on fire. Which was odd because he could clearly hear the cavernous echo of water dripping all around him. With superhuman effort he opened his eyes and saw that he was no longer on the mountaintop. He was lying on an unworked stone floor in a domed cavern. The place smelled of the sea. It wasn't very large; he could clearly see the opposite side of the chamber with his darkvision.He was also glad to note that he wasn't truly on fire. But the exposed flesh on his left foot was a most unpleasant color. Frostbite, he assumed although he'd never actually seen it before firsthand. He tried wiggling his toes and was rewarded with a thousand stabbing needles of pain and some slight movement.Despite the agony, he was encouraged by the movement and he pushed himself wearily into a sitting position to better survey the room.The majority of the cavern was dominated by a pool of emerald green water such as Morier had seen on the coast of the Tyredemia. The pool was some sixty feet across surrounded by a ten foot ring of stone floor from which the walls rose up to the vaulted ceiling. Water trickled down from above in a light but steady shower. Behind the spot where Morier had awoke was a dolmen - the only one that was anywhere in sight. Apparently he'd fallen through from one test to the next, completing the test of air while unconscious. He laughed at the absurdity of it and his laughter filled the chamber with echoes.Before the sound had faded, something broke the surface of the pool, bursting up from below. It was a woman of sorts with skin the same deep green as the pool, and kelp-like hair that hung down passed her shoulders and covered one emerald eye. Her head alone was nearly as tall as Morier and the elf could only guess that her height most have been over twenty feet. She remained submerged apart from her head and shoulders, however, so what existed below the water line was purely conjecture on his part.“Here, mortal, you must prove yourself able to meet the challenges presented by water,” she said and her voice was both beautiful and alien. “The test is simple. The portal is underwater, and a very challenging swim for an ordinary man. From the edge of the pool where you now sit, swim 20 feet straight down. There is a completely submerged tunnel that is 10 feet in diameter. The tunnel runs for 300 feet. At its end is the fifth and final portal, which automatically lets you and whatever you carry pass through, if you are alive. If you die, the currents here are such that your body shortly returns to the surface of this pool. And the test will be over.”Morier let this information sink in and did some quick mental calculations. He wasn't at his best mentally, having slept little in the last day and what little he got was under less than optimal conditions. But, unless his calculations were off, he placed his chances of successfully completing this challenge somewhere in the nether regions between slim and none. He sagged back against the dolmen and sighed in frustration."Do you understand this challenge?" the giant asked and Morier nodded."May I rest a while?" the albino asked. "I have withstood the test of fire, the test of earth, and the test of air, but am physically depleted from the toll they have taken on me." The giant woman nodded in understanding."The test of water begins when you enter the pool," she told him."I thank you," he said and spent a moment stretching his aching body out into a more comfortable position. But he never took his eyes off the giantess in case she tried to disappear as the other Keepers had. But she did not, she merely stood in the pool and regarded him with her sea green eyes.  "I have entered the Grove of Renewal at the bequest of the Great Oak," he told her once he was reasonably comfortable. "I am the lone remaining hope for a group of adventurers who seek to free Dridana and stem the tides of evil that Aphyx has set upon the the Realm.""We Keepers possess the knowledge to reunite The Earth Mother's heart with her body," the giantess said. "I will share it with you if you wish. Once you complete the Purging.""That information is why I have come here in the first place," Morier explained. "But I fear that my chances of completing the test of water are not good. I beg of you, is there any information you can give me that will assist me in this task or enable my companions and I to continue our quest?"The Keeper considered for a moment and nodded. "I can take you to the portal myself if you wish it," she said at last and Morier's heart nearly leapt from his throat at her words."Yes! Yes!" he exclaimed. "That's what I-" She forestalled him by raising one massive hand in a silencing gesture."There is a price for such assistance, however," the Keeper said. "You must divest yourself of all these trinkets and baubles with which you adorn yourself. Leave them here and exit the Grove as you entered the world. That is the price for my help." The albino raised one eyebrow."Do I have this right?" Morier began, careful of any misinterpretation. "You will lead me out in exchange for all of my belongings?""That is correct," the giantess replied with a nod. Morier jerked into motion at once, shrugging off his backpack even as he worked his way to his feet."These material posessions are insignificant in comparison to the possible good that could come from my completion of the Purging," he said, tossing his potion belt aside and beginning to work at the clasps binding his wrist sheathes in place. "I would gladly sacrifice them in such an exhcange.""Do you still wish to rest?" the Keeper asked as Morier tossed his wands to the floor."Is there more danger ahead?" the albino replied as he undid his scroll organizer."Not if you behave as you have so far in the tests," the giantess answered. "If you attack me I will defend myself. And you will die." The eldritch warrior chuckled darkly at that."Believe me," he said humbly, "I have no intention of attacking you." He pulled his tunic off over his head, revealing grey scar tissue that covered most of his torso like an intricate web."Then come," she said holding out her large arm. "The answers you seek are at hand.</blockquote>

Verification