[Team Dragons, Part 2]

[floatingplot]

[You have escaped. Congratulations, surely all your problems are over and you can return to your apartments- Oh, wait, no.]

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[floatingplot]

[This level of temple is covered in cracking tile murals, no doubt once beautiful and colorful. They show a simple story:

The God appears on a world of raging water, alone.

He builds an island, and He crafts people to live on it, people in His image with all the traits of Humans, Long, Bast and Angha.

They shine like a beacon, so brightly that things begin to reach towards the world. Black things that eclipse the moon and sun, things reaching with twisted limbs and baring fractal teeth.

So He reaches into the crystal heart of the world and breaks away four crystals.

In His hands, they become four people, each a pale mirror to His own brilliance, for they only have one trait each of the species.

The blue-robed one, holding a sparkling rainbow fire, him merely the human body.

The red-robed one, casting dice with a smile, she who possesses only the glorious wings of the Angha.

The green-robed one, grasping a halberd, with the strength of the Long.

The yellow-robed one, wielding a sword, with the ears and eyes of the Bast.

Those four kneel at the four corners of the world and keep away the dark things while He stands king over all.

It ends there.

There is an altar at the back of this room, a heavy wooden thing, with a priest slumped over it clutching a scroll.

In the far corner there is an door opened to the first steps of a spiral staircase leading upwards.]

[eagnafeoite]

...The ocean god who is supposedly evil, in this place.

[He slides down to take a look at the scroll, unless that staircase is somehow big enough for a dragon.]

[dontshootthemessenger]

[ She inspects the murals closely, very intrigued by art where the videos had failed to really capture her attention. ]

So the ocean god created the other gods, but he is evil? Why would that be? My captain, my Jacob, he says that his God is neither good nor evil so why would any others be the same?

[ Wanders back over to him, inspecting the priest-- she doesn't know how to read, anyway. ]

It is a shame it is so faded. I would like to see it restored.

[floatingplot]

[It isn't, which will be presenting a rather interesting challenge.

The priest is robed, not monstrous, untouched by the contamination of magic madness somehow. The scroll unrolls into a map of the ancient world.

It shows five cities.

East Blue, the city drenched in magic on the surface, attributed- To Isate, wait, what?
Atuin, the floating city of Cang Long.

These two, at least, aren’t changed:

Sakmet, the city of Metoth.
Saena, the city of Angha.

Those four each have a red cross somewhere on them, an X marks the spot in places you might know as untamed wilderness where nothing is. Totally. Of course the tourist and other modern maps of the cities are entirely accurate, trust your gods.

And the fifth, the capital in the center of all four:

Righad, the capital city.

There’s an extra new addition to the map, a messy scrawl of ‘Dome Righad’ on a piece of blank ocean.

But the map doesn’t end merely with the world. It shows a blank stretch of stars, and there’s an X up there, too...]

[eagnafeoite]

...[Nnnot good.] We need to find the way out, double time.

[He glances over at the stairs--are they even big enough for a dragon? And then looks for other ways up or somewhere further into the temple.]

[dontshootthemessenger]

[ ...maps! I can read maps! ]

Oh, oh, keep this, I would very much like to find those X's when we get home. Perhaps there is treasure, and then I will be able to buy something nice for Jacob if I can go home.

Perhaps I can fit up the stairs. [ ...and i will... try ]

[floatingplot]

[Luckily with the decay of the temple, forcing yourself inside isn't impossi-

yes you did just get stuck mid staircase.]

[eagnafeoite]

...A....Aleda. [Oh my god.] Aleda, can you back out?

[dontshootthemessenger]

[ ...sob what is my life...

she. she does try to! Gently, so as not to being down the whole staircase, sucking in her gut. ]

[floatingplot]

[That works, but short of tearing down the staircase or the roof... Getting Aleda through seems nigh impossible.]

[eagnafeoite]

...[Staring at the staircase with a sort of :T expression.] I wonder if there's a window or a hole somewhere.

[dontshootthemessenger]

[ ...sits '^' ]

I will wait for you.

[eagnafeoite]

..Alright. I'll try to be fast. [Heading up the stairs!]

[floatingplot]

[There are large double-windows here, along with a half-lit crystal gate mirror to the one in Atuin.

Half-lit.

Not fully charged at all.]

[eagnafeoite]

...Damn. [He goes halfway down the stairs to call down.

Aleda! There's a double window to this room up here, and it looks like a gate back to Atuin. I'll have to see if I can find something to charge it with before we can leave.

[dontshootthemessenger]

I will try to come in from outside, then.

[ Going out, lifting off to survey the outside and see if she can pinpoint the double-windows. Or if, through a different window, she can see any crystals. ]

[floatingplot]

[The double windows under the alcove aren't hard to find.

There are indeed some crystals in a box, but these too do not glow.

They clearly need to be charged by something magical.]

[eagnafeoite]

[Rider sort of. Stares at the crystals. And sighs.

Oh, dear.]

...Aleda, you're...going to need to carry me through when I'm done with this.

[He goes back to the half-lit crystals and slowly, bit by bit, he starts sacrificing his own power to charge them. He only hopes he has enough for all of these damn things.]

[dontshootthemessenger]

[ Going through the windows--

...

what ]

--But I cannot carry you in my claws, I am only a courier-weight!

[floatingplot]

[They start to light, one at a time...]

[eagnafeoite]

[He smiles, kind of...sadly.] Just shove my body through, if that's what it takes.

[Although given he looks like he's literally fading, that may be impossible.]

[dontshootthemessenger]

[ ...

WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!!! RUSHES IN AND HEADBUTTS RIDER ACROSS THE ROOM OH MY GOD

>Steal the box of crystals ]

No, no, do not do that! I will return shortly!

[ >Abscond out the window. ]

[floatingplot]

[SO HERE IS THAT BURNING MAGICAL WATER POURING FROM THE CRACK.]

[dontshootthemessenger]

[ um yeah how do i do this without getting it all over my face

...

i guess i don't

t... trying to get most of the water in the crystalbox and not on her head and let's hope it doesn't seem through to her claws either... ]

[floatingplot]

[It pours into the crystal box, each crystal burning like a star where the water splashes it.

You can hear, on the edges of your hearing, static whispering.]