The Muck Pond

[Flak Jacket]

" Well Audira, If I were you I certainly wouldn't want to lay around all day waiting for something." With that I head into the depths eager to see this 'gift' that was to be given to me.

[Fleegle]

(Razorlance, welcome to the Muck Pond! You’re the last player to get in before the cap. Sorry I haven’t gotten to you yet, but the weekend is over and I have a bit more time during the week. Just as a heads up for everyone, next weekend will keep me pretty busy too, though I will have more time than I did this past weekend.)

(This one is a global statement – I will make these from time to time to keep people aprised of the time of day or environmental conditions (rain, snow, etc.). Please do not respond to these unless I have already responded to you in another section.)
The sun had now risen much higher in the sky. It would not be long until midday.

(This one is for Snake_byte)
The light inside the cavern was brighter now, and more could be seen on the other side of the door. Beelzebub could now see that the door led to a narrow, rocky corridor that gently descended into the darkness. A crude cave painting could be seen on the wall just inside the door. It consisted of a blue squiggle and an arrow pointing down the corridor. There was nothing else of interest that Beelzebub could see.

(For El_Skwidd and Varrius)

Vex/Xev could see cat footprints along the path before them as they entered the forest. They led along the winding path to where light could be seen coming from the clearing. As they moved slowly along, a dragonfly flew over them and disappeared down the path.
The grass in the clearing seemed of better quality than the grass around the Pond had been; it felt soft against Kitty’s paws. Numerous dark blue wildflowers grew in amongst the tall grass. One side of the clearing dipped down, where a break in the trees could be seen. Kitty could hear several bird chirps coming from that direction. Straight ahead, another break in the forest revealed another path leading out of the clearing. Including the path she had just come from, there appeared to be at least 3 exits from the clearing.
Presently, a buzzing noise could be heard behind Kitty, getting closer until it sounded like it was overhead. A dragonfly landed on one of the blue wild-flowers near her.
“You must be the one they call Kitty. Oh, you are simply beautiful my dear, yes you are a shining example of what life can be. I am Anesek, god of life. I understand you have been looking for me?”

(Note: flying creatures can fly to the Clearing from the Muck Pond, but you can’t actually see it from the Muck Pond unless you are high in the sky. So if you want to go there without going through the forest, that’s fine, just RP something believable to explain how you found it. I’ll let you know if it breaks the rules .)

(For Nixit, but Razorlance and AoM should read this, since it will lead into my response for them)

“Hello little one,” Resuso greeted Briker. “Don’t worry, I can hear you, as can all the gods, if you will to be heard. As for the other splendid creatures, well I’m afraid I can’t help with that, but there may be someone who can help you with that.”
As he spoke, a plain-looking beetle rose up another stalk of groff. It buzzed its wings and mind-spoke to Resuso and Briker. “I might be able to help.”
“Oh, how wonderful! One of Eriadina’s servants! Can you really help Briker here?”
“In the name of Eriadina, I will certainly try!” the beetle replied. Turning to Briker, “I am Kikkik, faithful servant of Eriadina. I was actually just passing through, to bring a message from Eriadina to one of the creatures at the Pond, but you are certainly most welcome to follow me along. I will teach you how to mind-speak so that you might communicate with creatures much larger than you. I was once in your feet, I know how frustrating it is! So what’ll it be, you wanna come along and learn it? You can practice on the creature I have come to speak with.”

[Nixit]

Excited by the opportunity to speak with other animals, the little Briker nearly jumped with joy! He let of another screech although more high and bright than the other screeches, and he gladly agreed to come with the beetle with a vigorous nod.

[AngelSpice]

Audirda swims after Davrim until it gets too dark for him to see then she leads the way.

[Snake_byte]

I inspect the marks and continue down the corridor.

[Varrius]

Seeing the Dragonfly, Kitty yelps in Excitement. "I have finnally come to meet you, Greatest of the Gods. The God of Life. "

Stalking over to her new avatar she says, "Thank you for the gift of life you have given all us creatures, I have planned to meet you from the day I arrived and now it has finnally come. Now I have met you I would like to give you a gift but I do not know what to give, is there anyway I can reply you for the gift of Life you have given me and my MushBall friend"

[Fleegle]

(For Razorlance, AoM and Nixit)

It was obvious that Kikkik could travel at a faster pace than Briker, but he held back and walked alongside the little ant. As they walked, Kikkik instructed him in the basics of communicating with thoughts alone. It was not nearly so complicated as Briker had expected, and he was informed that some of the creatures who had emerged from the Pond were born with the ability.
"Now I want you to remember one thing, my friend." said Kikkik. "Not every creature can hear mind-speak. For example, there are some curious and somewhat dangerous giant pink creatures in a nearby village that can't. But most can... never hurts to try to talk to others though... if you don't get a response it's either because they can't hear you, or they are ignoring you. Either way, you probably don't want much to do with those sorts of people."
By the time the pair of insects had reached the central area near the Muck Pond, Briker felt he had a pretty good handle on the "language" (he had been informed that it was not really appropriate to think in terms of language, since he was actually directly broadcasting thoughts, but this seemed a somewhat trivial point).

"My my that one is giant. So is that one! Well, here goes nothing."
Kikkik rustled his wings and concentrated on Ao and Tek. "I assume you are Ao..." he said, facing Ao's direction. "You must be... not very many creatures can hear Eriadina, especially from this distance. But you are obviously very near to the earth in composition. This explains everything."
Kikkik paused, making sure that Ao had understood. "I am Kikkik, servant of Eriadina, Earth Goddess, and this here is Briker, another creature of the Muck. Before I continue with my message, I want you to tell me if you can hear Briker communicate. I just taught him the art of mind-speech. I can teach it to you too, that way you might have better luck talking to other creatures. Trouble with your natural 'tongue', not too many creatures can understand that dialect. Shame really, it is one of the earliest dialects. If Eriadina could have it her way, everyone would speak it. So tell me, can you hear Briker? Briker, say something to this nice rock-creature here."

While he waited for a response, Kikkik turned to Tek. "And what is your name? I'm afraid I don't have the power of the gods... I can't find out without you telling me. Don't worry, I can understand you. Do you want me to teach you mind-speech too?"

(For AngelSpice and Flak_Jacket)

It was much slower going for Audirda this time, since Davrim could only walk slowly along the bottom for most of the way. Scattered along the seabed were numerous stone artifacts from that long-dead civilization the fountain had come from. After some time, the pair could make out the glowing Garden straight ahead. It was bright enough that Audirda did not require Radiance. The shape of Dietris could be vaguely made out from this distance. The Garden was much larger than Audirda had originally thought. She also noticed a path running through it, apparently intended for creatures like Davrim. They assumed that it led into the heart of the Garden, for it seemed to point in the direction of Dietris, though it meandered and curved at various points.
(Sorry I didn't take you right to Dietris immediately, but I wanted to account for Davrim's slow speed in the water. But feel free to take this opportunity to do some actions, talk to one another, etc. before you reach Dietris.)

(This one for Snake_byte)
By this time it had gotten pitch-black in the tunnel again, the light from the Tagus cavern a mere speck behind Beelzebub. The tunnel narrowed a bit more here, just large enough to fit Beelzebub’s form. Though dark, it would be possible to feel one’s way along. The dripping noise had now grown into the more distinct sound of running water. It seemed clear that there must be an underground waterway up ahead.

(This one for Varrius)
Anesek laughed a gentle, motherly laugh. “There is no need to thank me, beautiful creature. I only ask that in your travels you always act in the best interests of Life and Justice. I have a feeling you would do that in any case.”
Anesek fluttered her wings and rose into the air. “I must be leaving now dear. That path off to the left will take you to Bassus, Keeper of the Forest. I assure you he is harmless. The path straight ahead will eventually lead to the pastures of the pink ones, who I understand you have already been told about. Goodbye my dear!”
At that, Anesek flew up over the trees, towards the Pond.

[Snake_byte]

I place my long fingered hand on the wall and just continue walk towards the sound.
"I'm beginning to think this is a waste of time" I say to the darkness ahead of me, as if I was sure it could hear me.

[AngelSpice]

Audirda swims over to examine the relics. *turns to Davrim* I wonder who made these? *she picks some up and examines them closer* I wonder if there's some way to find out?

[Razorlance]

Once Tek had focused his three limbs on the rock creature he heard more sounds coming from it, it sounds more complicated this time, it must be communicating, it sounds quite pleasent though, no doubt wondering what I'm doing he thought. At that he suddenly heard a sound, in his head, no more than that, a voice! and he could understand it, though he didn't know where it was coming from, but thought it polite to answer. I am Tek, and yes I would like very much to be able to use this mind-speech, but tell me, who are you, where are you?

[AoM]

Ao looked about, not knowing where the new voice had come from. "Who is speaking to me?" he thought. Finally his head swiveled to glance low to the ground, where he saw two very small creatures. Though the mind-speak did not give away the location of the speaker through sound, it was obvious that the being known as Kikkik was making it somehow known that it was he who was speaking. Ao could only stare down in amazement at the tiny creature who held the secret of speech through thought alone.

Then Kikkik mentioned her name. "Eriadina." Though he had never heard it before, her name made the precious metals within him grow warm with affection. It was the name of his goddess, to whose domain he belonged. He felt a longing to visit her, and was somewhat displeased when her servent made it clear that she was a great distance from here.

But hold on... it was saying something else now, and motioning to the little ant next to it. "Briker... I think that's what Kikkik said his name was," Ao thought to himself.

Ao's eyes shifted their attention to Briker, but not before nodding and rumbling the earth-speak equivalent of "Yes, please" to Kikkik's offer to teach this mysterious mind-speak to him. With that skill, Ao would be able to talk to non-rocks, something that he feared he would dreadfully need, so far was he from his goddess' side.

[Flak Jacket]

When Audirda stops to examine the artifacts I realize she is not nearly as tired as me. " Tired already? We haven't even begun anything strenuous yet." I say, in order to hide my inferior mobility. " You can continue to follow me, but you'll have to keep up. ", I continue walking.

[Fleegle]

(This one for Snake_byte)

The sound of rushing water became louder and louder as Beelzebub progressed. Soon it could make out a subtle rippling light in the tunnel ahead. As it got closer, Beelzebub saw a bit of light reflecting off the surface of a rapidly moving, treacherous underground stream. The light came from an opening upstream, dim and evidently very far away. In the dull light, Beelzebub could see a rope stretched across the stream, probably intended to help someone cross without getting swept away. The tunnel on the other side was a bit wider, but trailed off into darkness quickly. The only other exit was of course down the stream, but that way seemed very risky.

(For AngelSpice and Flak Jacket)

The artefacts were as silent as the ones who had made them. One in particular caught Audirda’s interest. It was a little semicircular carved stone with a large shiny black orb set at the focal point. There were notches on each flat section of the half-disc, suggesting that another half was meant to plug in to form a complete disc with the orb at the center. Around the half-disc was written a very strange style of writing that Audirda could not decipher.
The Garden was not very far ahead. Audirda had found the artefacts near the start of the Garden path. Davrim had already started upon the path which was surrounded on both sides by the finger-like appendages of anemonies and coral structures. Little fish darted all over, not paying much attention to the slow-moving Davrim.

(For Razorlance and AoM. Razorlance, Kikkik already identified himself. He directed his mind-speech to all three of the present characters. Sorry if that wasn't clear)

While Kikkik waited for Briker to successfully mind-speak to Ao, Kikkik began to train Tek. “Concentrate on your rocky friend. Try as hard as you can to block out everything else around you. Now imagine that you are reaching into his mind with an invisible hand, and think very hard about what you want to say to him. And Ao, you may try the same thing on Tek here, while you are waiting for Briker. Briker, are you having any trouble? Let’s not keep Ao waiting all day.

[Razorlance]

As Tek replied he looked around himself down further and further until he saw the two tiny creatures. Ah, your Kikkik he thought, as he focused on the larger of the two. He listened intently to Kikkik describing the mind-speech, right, I'll try. He focused his three upper limbs towards Ao and tried to concentrate as Kikkik had instructed as he, hopefully, said "Hello great rock creature, my name is Tek, it is a pleasure to meet you"

[Schme]

(Wow. I've missed a hell of alot. I'll do my best to catch up, but I'm not sure if I can. Here, give me a second.)