Sitting in a tavern by the port of Cedar, Solmar had taken it upon himself to rest himself by the bar to get himself something to eat and something to wash it down with. Enjoying the temporary silence while it lasted, he knew that it would only continue for a little while as the last couple of days in his life had been rather hectic to say the least. During the summer solstice, he had been fighting a strange appearance that claimed itself to be a god in the Peace village, which was just one of the many places he had stopped by in to make sure they did not need someone like him for something. Apparently, they did, as he and a Rune Knight by the name of Shane had taken it upon themselves to slay the creature and his followers before they could actually sacrifice any of the villagers. When the creature eventually had his head severed from his shoulders by Solmar's blade, it seemed the case that Solmar himself had been cursed by the Goat monster.
Taking a chug of his ale, he remembered the words it had spoken to him in his mind, how calamity would follow him around, bringing with it a tide that would continue to wash over him until he got swept up in it. Because the solstice had amplified his magic by quite a bit, the young mage had more or less hidden himself away from the world in the mountains until it would all go back to normal. But as one might have imagined, this did not go by as quickly as he had hoped, and calamity had indeed followed him around in the form of a large tidal wave that crashed upon the tall cliffs. Had this been all, he would have gotten away with it with nothing more than some soaked slacks. When the water itself had seemingly come alive in the form of strange apparitions that started attacking him however, it took the earth rising up in the shape of a massive behemoth to drive them back into the ocean. Not getting the opportunity to be thanked properly, the behemoth picked Solmar as his next target after that.
It was in this fashion that things had continued, the earth elemental attacking him in an attempt at destroying him for meddling in the affairs of higher beings. In time however, more of these things appeared and started fighting among one another as they were clearly not friends. A monster made up entirely of fire and molten things, a creature that seemed to be made out of wind and electricity and a larger watery creature with many flailing tendrils continued clashing against one another while smaller versions appeared all over the place. As their fighting was actually reshaping the land itself, he had taken it upon himself to set things straight because he felt responsible for it, even though there was really nothing he could have done to stop it from happening in the first place. In time, as the elemental monstrosities fought one another, he eventually got himself involved and fought against the creature of flame fight.
As time went by, the earthen elemental went back into the ground while the water elemental returned to the ocean, which one might have considered to be a good thing. Solmar however knew by now that the two were likely marshalling their forces and preparing to go at it yet again. Though slaying the elemental of wind and elemental of fire, doing so had taken quite a bit out of him. So much in fact that he had left his Exceed Fellis behind in the cabin in the mountains, where he'd be safe from all of this. With a broken rib, he had then started following the water elemental, making sure that it knew that Solmar was still there. As this led him all the way from the Phoenix mountains to the port of Cedar, it was there that he had taken up his roost on a barstool in a local tavern. With his thick fur coat covering most of his features, including his face, he sat in the corner of the room while listening to the stories told by the sailors.
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Biting down into the turkey leg, his loud chewing might give the impression that he was just busy with himself, though his enhanced hearing could clearly pick up on every single word said within the building. Though it had been hard to fine tune his hearing in a crowded room like this, he could now accurately pick up on things by focusing on certain key words that interested him and toning down the rest around it. It was for that same reason that he heard someone speaking about how the Cloud sea had been terrorized by attackers that seemed to move by the grace of the ocean itself. Believing that this might be linked to the water elementals, it did make him wonder what the point was with them helping out other people when they believed themselves to be superior to "fleshlings". Whatever the case, he continued listening as the group got rowdier with others sharing more stories that seemed to fit in with the subject.
As it turned out, these ships came up on other boats under the cover of a large fog bank, accompanied by strange sounds hiding behind the haze and beneath the waves. Not long after that, the current would cease, leaving ships dead in the water while the others continued to move in closer, up until the point where the attack happened. Not firing any rounds, the ships were attacked in complete silence, leaving only some muffled screams and the sound of clashing water while an entire boat went dark. From the sound of it, the man that had been talking had been a survivor of one such attack as he knew far too much of it in detail for it to merely be old wives' tales and hearsay. Once different stories were starting to overrule that which he had been listening in on, stories of whales eating entire ships in the night or other tales that seemed so stupid only a drunkard might buy into it, he finished his plate and his drink while telling the barkeep to hold his spot.
Offering the man a handful of jewels in exchange, he left his seat while wincing in pain, forgetting about the broken rib for a moment as he barely felt it when sitting down. Even moving felt relatively painless, though it was the whole act of going from standing to sitting or laying down, or any combination of the above that hurt. With a shove, he pushed his way through the crowd and made his way outside. There was something he needed to do here. When he had been here some months ago, he had taken various simple jobs off of a notice board, though this time he wanted to go to the one that was in charge of them. Visiting the local ealdorman, he inquired about the ships that disappeared in the seas near their port and if there were any jobs out. As it turned out, there were a lot of people who had banded together to save up money as a reward for whoever could put an end to the marauders out at sea and retrieve proof of their demise.
Asking whether the ealdorman could arrange for a ship to take him out to sea, it seemed that none of the locals were willing to go out at night, which was when most of the attacks took place. Annoying as it was, this meant that he might have to actually sneak out under the cover of darkness and steal a ship that could get him to where he needed to be. Unfortunately though, his misfortune did not end there considering how he had no idea as to how sailing worked. That, and he really did not feel comfortable going out into open water at night. At times like those, the already dark and deep waters seemed like they were but a black abyss, waiting to swallow him up, drag him down and drown him miles beneath the waves. Knowing some of the stories regarding the things that were down there, the last thing he wanted was to fall off of the boat and land in the water, to be at the mercy of those… things. No, if he was going to do this, he would need to be clever about it. Sitting himself down outside the building, he put his hood back on and started pondering on what to do next.
(1452)
Taking a chug of his ale, he remembered the words it had spoken to him in his mind, how calamity would follow him around, bringing with it a tide that would continue to wash over him until he got swept up in it. Because the solstice had amplified his magic by quite a bit, the young mage had more or less hidden himself away from the world in the mountains until it would all go back to normal. But as one might have imagined, this did not go by as quickly as he had hoped, and calamity had indeed followed him around in the form of a large tidal wave that crashed upon the tall cliffs. Had this been all, he would have gotten away with it with nothing more than some soaked slacks. When the water itself had seemingly come alive in the form of strange apparitions that started attacking him however, it took the earth rising up in the shape of a massive behemoth to drive them back into the ocean. Not getting the opportunity to be thanked properly, the behemoth picked Solmar as his next target after that.
It was in this fashion that things had continued, the earth elemental attacking him in an attempt at destroying him for meddling in the affairs of higher beings. In time however, more of these things appeared and started fighting among one another as they were clearly not friends. A monster made up entirely of fire and molten things, a creature that seemed to be made out of wind and electricity and a larger watery creature with many flailing tendrils continued clashing against one another while smaller versions appeared all over the place. As their fighting was actually reshaping the land itself, he had taken it upon himself to set things straight because he felt responsible for it, even though there was really nothing he could have done to stop it from happening in the first place. In time, as the elemental monstrosities fought one another, he eventually got himself involved and fought against the creature of flame fight.
As time went by, the earthen elemental went back into the ground while the water elemental returned to the ocean, which one might have considered to be a good thing. Solmar however knew by now that the two were likely marshalling their forces and preparing to go at it yet again. Though slaying the elemental of wind and elemental of fire, doing so had taken quite a bit out of him. So much in fact that he had left his Exceed Fellis behind in the cabin in the mountains, where he'd be safe from all of this. With a broken rib, he had then started following the water elemental, making sure that it knew that Solmar was still there. As this led him all the way from the Phoenix mountains to the port of Cedar, it was there that he had taken up his roost on a barstool in a local tavern. With his thick fur coat covering most of his features, including his face, he sat in the corner of the room while listening to the stories told by the sailors.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Biting down into the turkey leg, his loud chewing might give the impression that he was just busy with himself, though his enhanced hearing could clearly pick up on every single word said within the building. Though it had been hard to fine tune his hearing in a crowded room like this, he could now accurately pick up on things by focusing on certain key words that interested him and toning down the rest around it. It was for that same reason that he heard someone speaking about how the Cloud sea had been terrorized by attackers that seemed to move by the grace of the ocean itself. Believing that this might be linked to the water elementals, it did make him wonder what the point was with them helping out other people when they believed themselves to be superior to "fleshlings". Whatever the case, he continued listening as the group got rowdier with others sharing more stories that seemed to fit in with the subject.
As it turned out, these ships came up on other boats under the cover of a large fog bank, accompanied by strange sounds hiding behind the haze and beneath the waves. Not long after that, the current would cease, leaving ships dead in the water while the others continued to move in closer, up until the point where the attack happened. Not firing any rounds, the ships were attacked in complete silence, leaving only some muffled screams and the sound of clashing water while an entire boat went dark. From the sound of it, the man that had been talking had been a survivor of one such attack as he knew far too much of it in detail for it to merely be old wives' tales and hearsay. Once different stories were starting to overrule that which he had been listening in on, stories of whales eating entire ships in the night or other tales that seemed so stupid only a drunkard might buy into it, he finished his plate and his drink while telling the barkeep to hold his spot.
Offering the man a handful of jewels in exchange, he left his seat while wincing in pain, forgetting about the broken rib for a moment as he barely felt it when sitting down. Even moving felt relatively painless, though it was the whole act of going from standing to sitting or laying down, or any combination of the above that hurt. With a shove, he pushed his way through the crowd and made his way outside. There was something he needed to do here. When he had been here some months ago, he had taken various simple jobs off of a notice board, though this time he wanted to go to the one that was in charge of them. Visiting the local ealdorman, he inquired about the ships that disappeared in the seas near their port and if there were any jobs out. As it turned out, there were a lot of people who had banded together to save up money as a reward for whoever could put an end to the marauders out at sea and retrieve proof of their demise.
Asking whether the ealdorman could arrange for a ship to take him out to sea, it seemed that none of the locals were willing to go out at night, which was when most of the attacks took place. Annoying as it was, this meant that he might have to actually sneak out under the cover of darkness and steal a ship that could get him to where he needed to be. Unfortunately though, his misfortune did not end there considering how he had no idea as to how sailing worked. That, and he really did not feel comfortable going out into open water at night. At times like those, the already dark and deep waters seemed like they were but a black abyss, waiting to swallow him up, drag him down and drown him miles beneath the waves. Knowing some of the stories regarding the things that were down there, the last thing he wanted was to fall off of the boat and land in the water, to be at the mercy of those… things. No, if he was going to do this, he would need to be clever about it. Sitting himself down outside the building, he put his hood back on and started pondering on what to do next.
(1452)