eleventh bolt ⚡ semi-closed log ➞ treasure hunt

[ramuhs]

Who: The Treasure Hunt Group, the Hideaway crew, and friends
Status: Semi-Open to anyone who has good CR with those in the group and would be interested!
Where: Mysterious island
What: Group sets off to find that treasure before that Hawk Jimins does!
Warnings: None...probably.

I. APPROACHING THE ISLAND

It's a bit of a sail to the island, so there is ample time while on the Enterprise II for those meeting for the first time to greet and get to know one another. For those who may not fare well with those rolling waves, there is enough medicine and rooms that can be used for their own comforts.

But as they near their destination, those tall mountain peaks rising up on the horizon, the once calm waters will turn choppy and darken, the skies shifting from clear blue to cold, bustling gray. As the crew work to keep the ship steady, they'll hear an ominous rumble and bellow before something long and snake-like appears. A large sea serpent, one that doesn't look too dissimilar from the one depicted from Alhaitham's treasure map piece (thanks man) rises up to attack the ship! It's all hands on deck as other smaller mobs scale and jump onto the ship—some sea krait that seem to act more like plundering pirates.

In fact, that's what they are—a band of sea pirates ready to try and take those seeking the "treasure" of the island. Well at least that's a good, if perilous, sign they are on the right track! Unfortunately for the krait, there's a prominent lightning user and many well skilled fighters so this shouldn't be too difficult, right?

II. ESTABLISHING A BASE

After managing to get through the battle, and navigating past some wrecked ships, they find a safe, secluded harbor to dock. This is mostly so they can avoid any potential other treasure hunters, like Hawk Jimins, from noticing. Hm, maybe they should have left that serpent alive for that group—

In any case, it's a safe place for them to dock, unload supplies, and start pitching camp. While the ship is also free to use for room, surely some may prefer sleeping on solid ground. The ship itself is also in need of repair after all that fighting, so most of the Hideaway's ship's crew will tending to its repair so that they can sail off at a moment's notice. After all, they have no idea what is on this island, and while they would like to find that treasure, Cid is not too keen on anyone losing a life over this.

They estimate to be on the island for a few days, and while they've brought plenty of supplies, it never hurts to stock up while here. Everyone is also expected to help out—no slacking off here! Getting water, helping cook, tending fires, helping with any injured or carrying things to and from the ship, every little bit helps! Even though there are many who are not part of the crew Cid will treat and expect everyone as if they are. But not to worry—it's still a friendly atmosphere, and in the evenings meals are always served with gusto and allow everyone to just sit back and relax after a long day of trekking through this strange island.

III. THE ISLAND

According to the map, these are the main features of the island:

• Large mountain range with
  
• some rivers that empty out into a large lake.
  
• There is a large settlement of some kind near it, with large fields and
  
• forests and hills surrounding it.

And while such features do exist, upon exploration the island is found to be...strange. Very strange. It's as if some kind of weather magic catastrophe occurred so that while there is a predominant type of environment, there are also large patches of...odd.

Overall, the island is gloomy. It is consistently overcast without much sunlight with a cold brisk wind that comes and goes. Not too cold to bring snow, at least not during this time of year, but cold enough to need a jacket at least. It's also gloomy enough to bring anyone's mood down if they're not careful. Most of the environment will reflect as much with plants commonly found in similar climes and the earth a bit hard and almost barren outside of the few forests and fields. Which seems a bit odd since the map seems to indicate something more lush... The animals are also not too extraordinary, and they will encounter common ones such as foxes, deer, wolves and bears closer to the mountain.

But then there are those odd patches, and they are not isolated or consistent to one part of the island or the other. A patch of forest swathed in warm sunlight—and always in sunlight even during the night. A part of the lake completely frozen over while the other part is warm, almost boiling, and yet another is perfectly clear, cool, and fresh. Rain falling on an open field. Torrential blizzard on specific spot on the mountain and searing heat where the snow has completely melted to leave barren rock right on the other side. These odd occurrences continue on and on the further they explore, and where two extreme climate settings meet there is a small area where everything seems to be twisted around. A tree half frozen and half burned. Flowers and brushes overgrown from constant rain and sunlight.

And somewhere in the center of it all is an old, long abandoned town. It's clear whoever used to live here moved out, or perhaps already plundered by someone else who has passed through, as there is not much left. Time has eroded much and plans have grown over the walls, but the buildings remain intact. The architecture is from a time centuries ago, but there are hints that this is not some backwater village. Remnants of old technology can be found, many of which are older—and in some cases more advanced—than what's currently around. Ice boxes and coolers, heaters, stoves, electrical wiring—things that could be found in current day Escordvi, yet in a place that looks to have been left behind hundreds of years ago.

In the nearby fields and farms, there are signs of "modern" agricultural technology. Devices that would have helped with plowing and sowing fields, irrigation systems. While they did not have modern Earth vehicles like tractors and used the still common use of large animals, the remnants of plows and wagons are well made and even have some kind of device or stone that reduces its weight, potentially to make it easier for those who push and pull it.

Such other things can be found around the town and farms, and it does seem as if it must have been prosperous. And yet, the current weather and how the fields now look barren with the ground dried and crack, make it seem it would have been impossible.

So how could all this be?

IV. TREASURE HUNTING

The answer to the strange phenomenon lies within the very "treasures" that they seek. While there could be rare valuables in gems and artifacts still stashed away somewhere, either by the original tenants of this island or by pirates and others who have come across this place, there is something that could be far more valuable.

There are strange relics, all of different forms, size, and functions that are near the strange weather phenomena happening all over the island. However, their exact location is still difficult to find, and then to even reach due to all the magic flux going around. There could also be monsters or animals whose nests or dens were made by the relic, and because of that they may be morphed due to the magic around them.

If successful, once removed from the land the relic will putter out and the magic will stop. Although the effects on the environment won't immediately go away, those with more active weather such as rain or blizzard will notice it starting to slow and calm. Examination of the relics will also reveal that they seem to be fragments rather than whole pieces, but they don't fit together. Hmmm. Attempting to use the relic afterwards will reveal that the powers have been significantly reduced, so while it will reproduce the weather effect from before, it will be much more limited in size, scope, and duration.

Scrounging around the town may not reveal much aside from old documents and blueprints of the tech and systems used by the people of this town. A few mention of "setting X weather" to different "levels," which sounds pretty strange, but perhaps it's a clue on the relics found on the island? However, there is a particular map piece that comes with a riddle:

Map Riddle Translation:

A treasure like any untold
Will be found by pirates bold
Seek where the weaver and baker meet
Along with the fishers and butchers on the street

Ruined now it may be
But the past you can see
Under the path, you'll then go far
To reach out among the stars

The location is definitely within the town, and for those who manage to uncover the secret entrance to this mysterious place, they will find the following:

The Secret Chamber:

Stony steps will lead deep underground to a large chamber that gets increasingly hot as one goes down. Not enough to be completely unbearable, but enough to wonder if a large fire or heater had been left. Inside the chamber, everything looks as if they were burned by some explosion. Charred remains of wooden bookshelves, tables, and chairs are the first to be seen, and at the back is a large stone table with a pedestal that used to hold something, but is now empty. Scorch marks are the strongest here, as well as the heat, and it's possible to detect strong, magical influence here.

Although it looks as if whatever survived the explosion had been removed, there are some scattered charred remnants of discarded papers that could hold clues of what this room was used for: torn pages about "harnessing the sun" and adjusting weather patterns, parts of strange illustrations as if to assemble something. There are also remnants of maps to other islands, some with large red X's that aren't ominous at all. Those random areas on the island that just have the sun on all day and night might have some relation to that. Perhaps finding all the relics that involve the sun might be different from the others? (Yes, go find them!)

Besides the treasure, there could be some valuable resources that could be found and taken back, such as foodstuffs, unique animals for their meat and materials, and some extra lumber for the ship.

V. WILDCARD

For anything else! As mentioned in the log, this will take a few days, around 3-5 days max and sometime early in the month. RP timey wimy shenanigans go— Although there's a lot of setting description, it's mostly to be a general idea for everyone to work with. Everyone is free to alter details and have fun with it to be more creative for the threads and findings! There is an ultimate treasure related to all this, so hopefully you picked up the hints 👀 But that can be a part 2 because there's enough going on and don't want to railroad this too much.

Make all the toplevels, pick any relic or place that interests you, and have fun!! There's no specific number of things to find and plenty of ways to overlap and have multiple versions of the same thing, so no worries on that front.

If you have any questions, there is a questions thread! Otherwise HAVE FUN.

Comments

[garudas]

[She puffs out the smoke in the other direction, though the wind carries it wherever it pleases.]

It always is. It is the simplest magic that I can provide, and it helps to keep us on course, giving the rest of the crew room to tend to other things.

[She rolls her shoulder in a shrug, but she does wince slightly through her cocky grin.]

I am surprised to see you here, I admit.

[haveaflare]

[He frowns at the scent, but doesn't move as he wafts in his direction. He nods at her explanation. It's reasonable, and if his powers were over the wind, he would do something similar.]

Surprised? Why is that? I was invited.

[garudas]

[She snorts, looking him up and down and then out to the water.]

Mostly just that he was able to wrangle you and wrap you up in his endeavours so quickly. Not that there is any problem with a little treasure hunt, but you agreed so readily?

[haveaflare]

[He takes a deep breath before turning to the waters himself, resting gauntleted hands on the railing. He doesn't look to her as he responds.]

Since my arrival here, I have met a good number of people, many of whom know me when I know them not. As silly as it seems objectively, I feel...responsible for their expectations and that has only added to my regret.

[A beat as he watches the waters cut asunder by the passage of their hull.]

One person I happened to meet suggested I not allow that regret to overshadow me. I endeavor to heed their advice, and so I sail, to adventure only for adventure's sake.

[garudas]

[Likely best that he does not look at her, because as she listens, there's a sharp pang in her chest. A strange, conflicting emotion that she doesn't quite know what to do with. She has felt it before, but only with Cid, so when it comes around with others, it is a touch overwhelming. That strange sense of pride in another person, and the feeling that she has made even the slightest difference. That someone cared enough about what she had to say, not because it was an order, but because... they wished to?

It's a weight that she still feels too weak to carry these days, but she holds fast anyway, even if she might buckle. She is still learning.]

I have come to discover that those are the greatest adventures.

[He might catch that smile in her voice, even if it is not so evident on her face, especially as she leans over the rails and looks away from him, lest he see her expression.]

What do you think of it thus far?

[haveaflare]

[He has often felt too weak to carry the burden of a nation's hope and faith. He would understand her plight, but have no advice to offer save 'endure for it is worth it in the end', and that sentiment falls as hollow of late.]

Then I pray this one proves great, though, my lady, I may also require tales of these past great adventures that have taught you so well their value.

[And she might catch a similar smile in his own. Banter? When did he ever have time for such things?]

I think thus far that the ocean is far more vast than I realized.

[garudas]

Hm.

[She gives a nod in agreement to that.]

While I've many stories to tell, it is true. It dwarfs the oceans that surrounded Valisthea, and makes our own realm seem so small in comparison. So few have had the chance to see it for themselves, but it made me realize that I was not quite so well-traveled as I believed to be. Not after seeing this, anyway.

[haveaflare]

And you more traveled than I, I assume. I have only gone where the fighting was thickest, and briefly to Ash but hardly to sight-see.

[It had a way of making one feel small, this new world, and that was saying something for the Dominant of Bahamut.]

All of Twinside would fit upon Eltrut's shell, to be sure. [A ghost of something like pain crosses his features at the mention of the place, and also something else occurs to him. Unless he's told her before, Twinside was the capital of the Crystalline Dominion in her memory. What use would a prince of Sanbreque need for referring to it?]

[garudas]

[She does not think too much of it—thinking it mostly a reference to the city at large. She had been there before, and it had been quite an impressive feat of architecture.]

Not that there was much left to see on Ash. Not in the later years.

[Her expression is somewhat impassive, and she takes another puff of her smoke.]

I found Storm to be far more endearing, from what I did see of it. Though I could have done without all those trips through the Dhalmekian's deserts. We did trek through one here, but I am not sure which one I found worse.

[haveaflare]

True. It has become...aptly named, tragically.

[The Blight had nearly consumed the place and it was, quite literally, a shell of its former self, crippled by Akashic as well as a dearth of life.]

Dhalmekia's sands are not for everyone, myself included. I prefer the cliffs and plains, the boughs of the Greatwood.

[He does look over to her, then, eyebrows raised in interest.]

Which parts of Storm did you find the most agreeable?

[garudas]

Hm.

[She has to think about that for a moment. She wishes that she could say that she had been everywhere. Her job had taken her to many places, and for all the cruelty that the world had to show her in the end, there was no denying that even through the Blight that swept through their lands, there was still beauty in places.]

I was quite fond of Sanbreque and surrounding areas.

[She casts a sideways glance at him.]

And I am not simply saying so because you are the Prince. The forests and the plains were my favourites. One could see so far across them.

[It was where she could feel the wind freely. Unimpeded.

... She might have spoken about it with resentment before, but now, there is a bittersweet sort of note to her voice. Beautiful as it was, it was also the place where everything had changed for her.]

[haveaflare]

[His own smile is nostalgic, something akin to homesickness. Not due to this place, really, but in their relocation. The armies had abandoned the fields and forests of Sanbreque for the Crystalline Dominion after the fall of Drake's Breath and it had been five years since he'd seen the lands of his birth.]

Plains wild and open, where wyverns may stretch their wings and fly free. I do miss Sanbreque. After the fall of Drake's Breath, the Crystalline Dominion was annexed and Twinsize seized for it's Mother Crystal. My father relocated the capital and left Oriflamme to the Akashic.

[He placed a gauntleted hand over his heart.]

My heart aches for my homeland, but it is lost.

[garudas]

That makes the two of us.

[She does not mean to diminish his feelings on the matter, and while she held no real sentimentality to Ash, it was still her home for a long time. Through childhood and then later. She wonders, in hindsight, if she might have played a small part in its downfall with how little she cared for the use of magic and its consequences—she would have gladly drank up the aether if it meant securing her own place in the world.

But a place like this gives way for new perspectives that she had once been stubborn against, but seeing the way the sea stretches on, and the life that she knows lives beneath the waves... It made her rethink a lot of things over the last two years.

Those thoughts are shaken away quickly and quietly.]

I never did hear the full story of what had happened to Sanbreque. All I'd heard was that Cidolfus had gone in and shattered Drake's Head...

[haveaflare]

Of course. Forgive me.

[He understands she doesn't mean to belittle him, or to diminish his own homesickness, but he also recognizes he's speaking to a woman who knows herself to be dead, and thus only has time here in this place and none left in their on their own star. He rests in a similar situation, but how foolish of him to speak to freely without considering her feelings.

He doesn't know why she served Waloed and can only assume it is because she loved her homeland as much as he loves his, and they were once enemies, bitter ones in fact. Why, Oriflamme was lost to saboteurs who turned out to be Cid, Clive and Jill while he was away, holding back Odin himself and his army, but here they were two Dominants who'd been controlled, deceived for ends that would see them torn asunder and their world along with them.]

Is that a request? Cid and Clive seized on the opportunity your king afforded them. My Dragoons and I were sent to the front lines at Belanus Tor along with a legion of cohorts to hold back Odin and his forces. It was then they moved on the Mothercrystal. The Tor was a strategic choke point. If Barnabas had claimed it, the door to Oriflamme would be open, as you well know. I could hardly be spared to break away to see to matters at home.

[He breathed a sigh.]

I understand Drake's Head was the first Mothercrystal they felled. Perhaps they were unaware of the Aetheric backlash it would cause, or mayhap we'd already mined the Head too deeply. The lower wards of the Inner Sanctum were awash with Aether and Akashic before they stepped into the place, the Blight was encroaching from the north with every increasing rapidity. Honestly I don't blame them for the loss of Oriflamme. She was already falling.

[garudas]

[She makes a gesture at his question to nothing in particular, or to everything around them. They are still on the water and no island in sight yet—they've more time than perhaps they ever have. Which is why she listens, her gaze cast out to the water and taking gentle puffs of her pipe as she does. There's a twitch in her jaw at the mention of Odin, and of Belanus Tor. She knows that was where he had his eyes set when he sent her to Lostwing on what he had convinced her was her most important mission. Had she been at Belanus Tor instead, would things have ended differently for her? Would she and Dion gone head-to-head in the name of their kings?]

I had heard whispers of such, but I was not sure if they were true.

[About the Aether and the Akashic.]

It would not have been much longer before it all found its way right through the Capital's gates. Yet, you all abandoned the city?

[haveaflare]

[He breathes a sigh here, looking up toward the sky overhead, clear and blue and open. Free. He wonders briefly if Greagor might hear his prayers in this place so removed from their star and finds even after everything that he still hopes so fervently. There's a comfort in that and it gives him the strength to continue.]

Crystals powered our armies, our Vanguard was heavily reliant upon fire and ice weapons. Without a Mothercrystal, we would be seen as weak by our enemies.

[They're another's words, and even when he'd received his orders, they'd rung hollow, but for his loyalty to the people of Sanbreque, he obeyed, because beyond all else, he desired their prosperity.]

And so, His Radiance ordered the Holy Order of the Knights Dragoon to annex our neighbors, the Crystalline Dominion, and seize control of Drake's Tail "For the betterment of Sanbreque". By the grace of Greagor, I was able to do so without bloodshed. The people of the Dominion became citizens of the Empire and the Holy Capital was relocated to Twinside.

[garudas]

[She had a complicated relationship with the crystals. She cared very little about them at the end of the day mostly because she had little need of them with the power of her Eikon to draw from, nor did she care much about the wars between men—wars that used the crystals as both tools and motivation for their conquests.

She scoffs around her pipe.]

Men and their wars and crystals.

[For her, it was never about overthrowing anyone, about war, or even about the good of the people of any one kingdom... so perhaps she simply does not understand where it is that Dion is coming from. For her, she was only ever looking out for herself, and it is hard to find empathy in anything but that in a world cruel enough to see its people shred one another apart.]

And from what I have heard, that did little to no good either. Bahamut came for Twinside in the end.

[haveaflare]

We can be remarkably stupid creatures.

[He scoffs, resting his palms against the rail. There'd been a time when he would say war was a necessary evil, to safe guard Sanbreque, but recent events had proven that false.

His grip tightens there at her next words and his breath quickens slightly as he watches the sea roil in the wake of their ship, brow furrowing. Such devastation. So many lives lost.

And at his hands.]

Yes. Because I failed to control him. [A beat.] I will not again.

[garudas]

Our Eikons do as they please, it would seem.

[She casts a brief glance his way, but mostly keeps her gaze turned outward, knowing all too well what he might be feeling right now. Perhaps not to the same extent, but she knows what it feels like to wake up from the nightmare that is losing control only to find reality is just as terrible.

A puff of her pipe because she's not quite sure what else to say to that, so there is a brief lull, filled by the groan of the ship below.]

We are rarely given a choice in the matter, too. When I had primed the second time, I had tried to wrest control back from Garuda, even if I had asked for her in the first place. It took Ramuh to take her down enough that I could.

[And before he can ask what happened there—]

I wonder if it was the same for you.

[haveaflare]

No. Not...precisely.

[He shook his head, not looking to her, but to the waters as they passed by. Sorrow fills his features as he continues, his voice carefully even.]

A shard of Ultima had taken possession of Anabella's younger son. Seeing him as the embodiment of Greagor, Emperor Sylvestre abdicated the throne of Sanbreque to him with a mind to serve as advisor to the young Emperor until he came of age. In a turn of fate, Joshua found me and explained the betrayal the house of Rosfield suffered at her hands. Seeing her poison of the Imperial house for what it was and using all the power vested in my as Commander of the Holy Order of the Knights Dragoon- [He clenches a hand in the railing, here, jaw set in a hard line.] I sentenced her to death, along with the usurper.

[He takes a breath before finishing.]

I did not anticipate my father shielding Olivier from my lance. I...took his life instead of my brother's. In my anguish, Bahamut raged, and all of Twinside fell for it.

[garudas]

[Although Waloed had been so far removed from the things that had happened at Phoenix Gate, she had learned of this—that Rosaria had fallen and that the Duchess had gone and moved on to Sanbreque. Rumours had certainly spread, and Benedikta could draw her own conclusions from it—not that she cared much what was happening on the inside there—but hearing it all now leaves an oddly sour taste in her mouth. Something that tastes a little like... empathy.

Not pity, but something stronger than that.]

I had heard whispers of Lady Anabella.

[Never anything good. She's not sure if she would have liked her if she had ever met her, even less so because this does not sound so far off from what Benedikta would have done if it meant climbing out of the hell that she had been in and staying atop that perch. Securing her place in that world.]

But you are standing here now. You stood long enough to remember what had happened.

[A subtle arch of her brow.]

What was it that stopped Bahamut in the end, then?

[haveaflare]

[Dion could tell Benedikta with confidence that Anabella would never have liked her. She only had a soft spot for people of good breeding, or those she could use to further her own ends. She despised Bearers and only tolerated anyone who didn't give her some way of pursuing her own ends. She was a cankerous snake who poisoned all she touched. The only good things she ever did were to birth Clive and Joshua, and she even strove her hardest to ruin that.

He turns back to the waters coursing by below them, frowning.]

My last clear memory of that night is destroying the piece of Ultima that had taken control of Anabella's son. [He does not claim Olivier as a brother.] I awoke later in the care of Clive's physicker. It wasn't until I'd returned to Twinside that I knew the devastation and death I had wrought.

[He clenches his jaw, because if something else similar happened here, he's not sure he can rely upon the only answer again.]

I did battle with the combined forces of Ifrit and Phoenix. I remember...fragments only, and after I consumed the Tail's Aether, all is lost in madness. All I recall is a burning need for it all to end. All of it.

[garudas]

[She nods in understanding at that.]

Then... it is not so different from when I had primed myself.

[Though circumstances were somewhat different, at the end of the day, losing control of one's Eikon and wishing for destruction is all the same.]

While I remember very little, Cidolfus—Ramuh had to strike Garuda down this time. That, I do recall.

[She shakes her head, and the memory away. At least that time, she had survived it. If it were not for him, she's not sure that she would have, or if the hundreds of other lives at risk would have made it out of Garuda's warpath either.

While he will not get pity from her, both because she does not think that he wishes for it, nor does she have any to give anyone—]

Ultima deserved what was coming to him for all that he had done to us. I am sure that he is tossing in his grave, if he saw us speaking of this now. Saw the freedom that we have found for ourselves.