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A Jewel In The Rubble [Vyraena]

Started by Ethereal-Star, December 13, 2014, 09:35:31 PM

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Ethereal-Star

On the surface of the Tuor Ocean the water was calm and tranquil, its sea-green color hiding what lie beneath. From above the ocean, one could endlessly speculate a myriad of possibilities as to what exactly transpired underneath everyday. Down below harbored much life, of plants, animals and sea races alike, all content to live out their daily lives as they had done for many decades prior.

In the black depths of the ocean where no sunlight shone through, dwell the site of a ship sunk long ago by a fierce storm that had once ravaged it mercilessly. It was here one of these oceanic inhabitants was found, idly exploring the area with curiosity with her sea friends, a dolphin and a fish by her side. In her hands, she held a shell illuminated with a bright yellow light to see what lay around her.

"Turquoise, look!" Waves exclaimed triumphantly. "I think I found something!"

"Oh, what is it, do tell!" The mermaid and Red the fish sauntered over excitedly to see what the dolphin had discovered.

In the darkened rubble, beneath crumbled rocks, seaweed and the remnants of a coral reef, there lay the remains of a ship, long forgotten to the rest of the world. Time and the sea had not been kind to it, encrusted with barnacles and overgrown with plants poking up every which way made it difficult to see clearly. Rust covered the once smooth workmanship of the traveling vessel, rendering it a dull blackened exterior that once may have been a real beauty to see. They all set to brush away a tiny bit of the rubble covering it in order to see better, Waves and Red in turn poking at what they could reach.

Turquoise eyed the ship in awe. It was quite a massive ship, most likely the remains of a once great fishing vessel or pirate vessel. The latter was more likely. In fact as the mermaid brushed away some of the debris covering one side of the vessel, the image of a skull and crossbones soon emerged, its chipped, cracked surface still appearing proud after all this time, a reminder of the fierce sea mercenaries who once controlled it.

The sea maiden thought she spotted something glittering toward the bottom next to the encrusted, seaweed covered wheel that once steered the ship itself. However it was too far to get to, for much rubble still stood between her and whatever it was that was shining so hypnotically down there. Turquoise directed her light shell down towards the source of the glittering object, trying to catch a better glimpse of what it could be. It looked like some kind of large jewel, but she couldn't be certain of this.

"Well, of all the unfortunate things!" the mermaid cursed lightly, very disappointed. "How am I to get to it now, I wonder?" Her companions had no answers for her regarding this and they looked almost as disappointed as Turquoise herself was.

Vyraena

Coralia, being an Ocean Spirit, often explored the various uncharted depths of the different seas and oceans around Le'raana. Whether she was just diving to dive, or exploring submerged ships and underwater caves made no difference to her. She loved the ocean and everything about it. It was beautiful and tranquil, and the plants and animals that thrived in it were beautiful as well.

The depths of the ocean, however, were often dark and mysterious, harboring little to no life. For many creatures, there was not enough light down there to survive. For others, the water pressure was too high, or the oxygen content was too low.

As she swam down towards the sea floor, she passed some glowing jellyfish, which illuminated the water just enough for her to be able to see clearly. In front of her, but farther down, she saw a sunken ship. As she moved closer to investigate, she noticed something she had overlooked the first time she glanced at the ship... what appeared to be a mermaid, a dolphin and a fish.

Curious as to who they were and what they were doing down here, but too shy to actually approach them right away, Coralia found a rock the jutted out of the seafloor and created a perfect perch from which to watch the activities of these creatures. She sat on top of this rock, crossing her legs, waiting to see what the mermaid would do.

Ethereal-Star

Turquoise continued her attempts to get to the shiny glittering object at the bottom of the ship. However she was not having much luck in that regard. "By the ocean's unfathomable depths!" she cursed yet again, this time in a slightly louder tone of voice. "Oh, this is most annoying!" she exclaimed. The others were also trying to help out the mermaid but they too were not having much good fortune either.

Red at that point, noticed out of the corner of his bulbous eye, a shadow sitting on a rock illuminated slightly by the light from the shell Turquoise held. "Ah, hey Turquoise, can you shine the light over there?" he whispered, indicating with his little scaly head in the direction of the rock. "There's something over there, on that rock there." he continued in a quiet voice, unsure of what it could be. It seemed unlikely that it was a shark as sharks obviously didn't sit in wait like that. Perhaps another mer-folk? he wondered.

Turquoise, hearing what the little fish had said, swung the shell over in the direction indicated. One or two jellyfish also swam by the area giving enough light to see what looked like a human woman sitting on the rock. But of course, humans were not seen down here as they obviously couldn't survive for long, if at all. The idea was preposterous. On closer examination, the woman had some silver scales just barely visible on the backs of her legs and arms, sitting crossed-legged as she was, it was a bit difficult to tell for certain. She was neither a mermaid nor a siren, though that wasn't to say Turquoise had never seen other aquatic species before. They just weren't as common a sight. The woman's long golden hair flowed past her shoulders and back, wavering in the dark waters they were in, looking quite curiously at the trio.

By this time, all three had turned in the newcomer's direction, themselves wondering who she was. Waves and Red, apparently not seeing her as a threat, swam over to the mysterious sea lady wanting to introduce themselves to another creature of the ocean. "Wait up you two!" Turquoise called out to them, swimming right after them the shimmering jewel forgotten for the time being.

Red got there first and immediately playfully bumped into the woman with his body saying, "Hello! Who might you be, pretty lady of the sea?"

Waves and Turquoise soon caught up to the fish, expectantly looking at the silver-scaled woman. "Are you also here to check out the sunken pirate vessel?" the mermaid questioned. Waves in turn circled playfully around the woman, giving her a mischievous grin as she did so.

Vyraena

Once the fish began to swim over in her direction, Coralia realized that it would be too late to hide, as they had already noticed her presence. After all, she had no reason to hide from them, other than the small bit of anxiety that was building up in her from her shyness. As they grew closer, she started to get a small stomach ache, but she ignored it. She was prone to this happening from anxiety, and was used to it by now.

The mermaid and dolphin followed close behind the fish, but by the time they got over to her the fish had already asked her who she was. "My name is Coralia. I'm a spirit of the ocean." She replied.

The mermaid then asked her if she was interested in the ship that she saw before her. "Hmmm..." Coralia said with a soft smile. "Well, I didn't dive particularly looking for it. But it did manage to catch my attention, as well as pique my interest."

Coralia looked over to the dolphin, who was circling her in what appeared to be a playful manner. "What an odd group of friends you guys are! I mean, it's not uncommon for mer-folk to be friends with animals of the sea, but doesn't your group kind of break the food chain?" She gave a small, innocent laugh.

"Regardless, now that you know who I am, might I ask who you are? And since you brought it up, is there any reason that I should be particularly interested in this pirate ship?"

Ethereal-Star

"Hi Coralia! I'm Red!" the little fish exclaimed.

"But he is not all red, just mostly." Waves quipped in cheerfully. "And I am Waves!"

"Who likes to make waves of her own!" quipped back Red.

Turquoise giggled at her companions' playful banter, before replying, "I am named Turquoise, of the Blue-Shell clan. It is not that common to see those who are not either mer-folk or sirens about. I have only ever seen one ocean spirit before. He was rather a sullen type though." she frowned at the memory, before her face immediately brightened again. "The ship, oh yes. It is rather a fascinating thing."

"Especially the jewel at the bottom!" Red piped in.

"Yes, the blasted jewel that none of us can seem to reach. Most unfortunate!" she huffed in irritation.

"Yes, yes, the jewel!" Waves grinned.

Vyraena

"A pleasure to meet you all, Red, Waves and Turquoise." Coralia said, also giggling at the fish and the dolphin. She smiled a warm smile. "It's always nice to meet other creatures of the ocean, especially ones as kind as you."

Coralia looked over at the ship. From here, all she could really make out was the outline, as well as the pirate symbol that Turquoise had uncovered. She removed herself from her seat on the rock and floated out into the open water.

"As for the ship, you said there is a jewel at the bottom? Could you show me?"

Ethereal-Star

"Of course. Right this way!" Turquoise dashed off to the ship, her companions following after her.

The mermaid swam over to the place where she had seen the sparkly object and shined her light shell down in the crevice where it was lodged beneath the rubble. "There!" she exclaimed, pointing a finger down towards it. The object in question shimmered a bright glowing green light. Whatever kind of jewel it was, it appeared to be quite large, about the size of two fists combined.

Vyraena

Coralia followed close behind as Turquoise led her to the ship. When they reached the spot where the jewel was located, she looked down to see it covered in rubble. It appeared to be just too far down to grab, and even if they were to be able to reach it, it was too big to bring out through the rubble.

"Oh, my! That is quite the predicament!" Coralia exclaimed with a smile on her face. "I may be able to help you out, however. I'm well versed in water magic, and since we are surrounded by water, perhaps there is something I can do to make it possible to retrieve the jewel. Would you like me to try?"

Ethereal-Star

"Oh, of course! Why didn't I think of that?!" the mermaid exclaimed, now excited again at the prospect of being able to actually get the jewel. She couldn't wait to see it! Turquoise added in, "I also have some magic at my disposal and silly me I did not think to use it! So let us both try!"

She readied her shell for the magic to come while Red and Waves both nodded their heads up and down enthusiastically.

Vyraena

Coralia held out her right hand, and a vortex of water began to swirl around the jewel, lifting it up out of the rubble it was lodged in. However, there was still the problem of everything blocking their access to the jewel in the first place.

"See if you can do anything about that additional rubble. Any more power for this whirlpool could cause significant damage to the ship, and I wouldn't want that."

Ethereal-Star

Turquoise held out the shell, still lit from within and began to conjure the magic needed to do as asked. The rubble surrounding the jewel was momentarily lifted in a mini-whirlpool of water, swirling around rapidly. She directed it over to the other side of the ship, and then promptly released the hold on the debris, making it fall down behind the ship where the four of them could not see it anymore. Most of it was composed of rocks and pebbles, as well as rusted chains and old swords of no real worth or interest to the mermaid.

Once some of that was out of the way, there was still the matter of the two heavy swords and a thick chain coiled nearby. She focused the energy again, and moved the two swords out of the way as well. However the chain appeared to be stuck to something and wouldn't budge. Turquoise could not move it any further and it was still blocking the way to the jewel. "By the ocean!" Turquoise cursed and immediately swam over to see what the chain was caught on. Waves and Red also followed the mermaid, and Red swam down into the crevice to attempt to get a better look as well.

Vyraena

Coralia noticed that Turquoise was struggling and stopped channeling the vortex to take a look with her. She placed the jewel gently back on the sea floor, then took a look at the problem. There appeared to be a large chain stuck on something.

"Well, that's a predicament. Can anyone see what it's stuck on?"

Ethereal-Star

As the little fish swam down into the crevice to take a look, Turquoise leaned over as well along with Waves. "Oh wowsies, Turquoise, you gotta see this!" Red exclaimed in awe and excitement.

Turquoise directed the light from the shell to where Red was, and in turn saw what he was looking at. The rusted edge of what appeared to be a large treasure chest buried among yet more rocks in a deep corner of the ship deck also covered in lots of seaweed, could be seen. The chain was hooked underneath the massive gilded chest from what it looked like which is why it wouldn't move. Plus the rocks didn't help either. The jewel was lying nearby the chest and rock pile, now covered by the chain when Turquoise released the magical whirlpool.

Now Turquoise was more determined than ever to get to not only the jewel but the treasure chest too. "Alright, move back Red, Waves, I need to use my magic again to move this thing." Red peeked out from the crevice, his scaly face looking quite adorable in that moment as he wriggled his way out of there, back to the mermaid's side.

This would require more energy than before to move not only the chain but the entire pile of rocks and treasure chest as well. She had only ever used that much magic once before when she angrily sunk that pirate ship that had caught her. However this was a different ship she could tell and much older too, having been buried down here for quite some time, longer than Turquoise had been alive for she was certain. Of course, such a feat had taken a lot out of Turquoise and the shell she had used refused to work for some time afterwards. Hopefully this wouldn't require as much effort as that event had.

Turquoise relayed her plans to Coralia so hopefully the two of them would be more successful together than one individually could be by themselves. Once more she channeled her magic through the shell to create a huge vortex of water with which to move the debris. The fish and dolphin waited by her side, eagerly watching to see what would happen.

Vyraena

As Turquoise began using her magic again, so did Coralia. She increased the size and strength of her own whirlpool to try and blow some of the debris out of the way. She still didn't want to cause significant damage to the ship, so she refrained from using the full extent of her magic.

As they used their magic, the chain slowly but surely began to come loose. It would take quite some time at this rate, however. She turned to Turquoise. "I can make this faster, but the ship could suffer some damage. What do you think?"

Ethereal-Star

As the whirlpool spun around, various sizes of rocks tumbling about within its watery prison, Turquoise concentrated a little harder to move the chain. With both the mermaid and the ocean spirit using their magic to move the debris, it was working but rather slowly. As she concentrated, the chain began to budge a bit more but seemed to be still stuck.

When Coralia asked whether or not she should use the full extent of her powers so as to be careful about not damaging the ship, Turquoise stopped the vortex and thought for a bit, pursing her lips. At this rate, they could continue as they were, which would take some time to loosen everything up or they could expend more force into their water magics but at the risk of damaging the ship, well more than it already was that is. It seemed like if they did continue about this the way they were, it may not make much of a difference, leaving the treasure chest and jewel in the darkness of the deep waters where they were for someone else to find instead. Apparently the mermaid's curiosity and lack of patience won her over, and she nodded her head at the ocean spirit and said, "Yes, let's do it."

And so she gathered more energy into the vortex to really make a dent in the pile of debris blocking her way to the prizes beneath. Much more quickly now, some more of the rubble loosened and then cleared away to reveal indeed a treasure chest encrusted with barnacles and bits of seaweed plastered onto it, however they ran across yet another obstacle. The chest was melded to the floor of the ship! At least the chain was now out of the way but in the process it nicked some of the workmanship of the ship deck. After stopping the vortex, Waves swam over there first, followed in tow by Turquoise and Red. "Open it!" Waves swam about excitedly, waiting to see what the contents were inside.

Turquoise proceeded to do exactly that and groaned when the lid would not move! "Well, darn it all!" she let out a frustrated sigh at this. Waves paced around in the water, seeming also disappointed at the unfortunate situation. Red simply let out bubbles of annoyance. Then a thought occurred to Turquoise. "Where's the jewel?" she wondered aloud.

Vyraena

When the mermaid began to increase the force of her whirlpool, so did Coralia. However, the force of their magic must have displaced the jewel. When Turquoise pointed this out, Coralia began to look around. Sure enough, the jewel was now floating through the water away from the ship and she swam out to grab it.

Once she had it in her hands, Coralia swam back to the ship, placing the jewel down gently. "Well, that takes care of one of our problems." She said with a smile. "Now, what to do about that treasure chest?"

Ethereal-Star

When Turquoise saw the jewel she was instantly mesmerized by it. She swam over and picked up the jewel and studied it. It was rather huge, and shone a bright green light from within. "Wow, an emerald!" the mermaid was fascinated by the beautiful gem she now held, her two companions going ooh and ahh over it too. "Not just any emerald either, this one here is enchanted!" she stared at it hypnotized. Turquoise rather loved shiny things and this was no exception.

"A magic emerald, whee!" Red the fish exclaimed in joy. Waves also bounced her head up and down, letting out happy sounds as well.

"I wonder what kind of magic it holds." the teal-haired sea maiden wondered aloud. "It looks and feels quite powerful, whatever it is."

Vyraena

"Perhaps there are clues about it on the ship?" Coralia said with a bright smile. "After all, I'm sure if they were in possession of it they at least had some idea of its worth. I feel it would be difficult not to recognize this as enchanted."

Ethereal-Star

Turquoise turned her attention back to the treasure chest for a moment, thinking. "Well, since we cannot open the darn chest, maybe there's a key on board as well? I very much would love to find out what's inside." She cradled the emerald in her hands, gazing at it fondly before turning to the ship and swimming over to the other end, moving her light shell along the way searching for clues of any sort. Her companions Waves and Red followed suit, with Waves poking at stuff here and there, and Red turning his bulbous eyes this way and that, to find anything of interest.

There was a small opening leading underneath the deck so Red swam into that to look around some more. The opening was barely big enough to fit Turquoise and Waves so after a time of trying to squeeze through they gave up and waited for Red to come out. Turquoise shined the light into the crevice to see where Red was and to try to catch a glimpse of what else may be there. After several minutes had passed, Red came bounding out of there with a thin glass case gripped in his mouth. He handed it to Turquoise and said, "Lookie, a case with something inside it!"

Turquoise quickly opened the case and found a worn and faded piece of parchment rolled up inside that she swiftly undid to take a look at what it may show. The symbols and pictures however were confusing, but in the corner at the bottom left, showed a rough sketch of the jewel and unfamiliar words underneath that that she couldn't make out for it was written in a strange tongue and partially worn away by the sea water too. Waves and Red peered over her shoulder to also take a look.

"I can't make this out at all." Turquoise said in confusion. Picking up her light shell again from the ground, she brought it closer to the paper to try to see better the markings that covered the document.

Vyraena

While Turquoise explored one side of the ship, Coralia went to explore the other side. The ship was massive, and Coralia knew it must have been magnificent to behold while it was still functioning.

As she swam around the ship, she looked for anything that could be used to open the chest. "Where could the key possibly be?"

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