Planet visit September 20, 2021
It had not been even a week ago that Elpis had come to Scylla and been the first person to perform the ancient Scyllan ritual of… well hell. ‘Adulthood’ ritual wasn’t really a very appealing name, was it? And ‘Dive Party’ wasn’t a particularly grand name either. There were more people she wanted to invite to come and take part in this- the more people she could invite, the better. She felt like it had somehow pleased her world, to have this ritual being re-awakened, and when she had been staring into the darkness of the World Pillar, it felt like… the giant eye, deep inside, glassy and old, held something more for her.
Scylla was alone this time, as she dropped off a large delivery of oxygen tanks in a storage closet in Asulon, the White Temple, and brought one of the older tanks with her, along with a mask, a head-lamp, and a pair of flippers. If there had been something down there for her, a response to her choice to open back up her home world to off-worlders as it had once been… Then this would be something for her, and her alone. No stranger should witness this. The magic didn’t have to tell her this would be something… almost sacred. It would be her first excursion into the depths of the Pillar.
Her heels were left on a low branch of the tree-like coral Pillar, replaced with awkward flippers before she dove into the chill waters. She descended into the darkness, through that moment between light and depth where even her tattoos seemed to shed no light. When the sunlight faded, and only her world was around her, everything seemed to burst into dazzling color. Bioluminescence pulsing from the coral, and the chill currents of her waters surrounding her, sending her hair swirling around her. The ribbons of her bow tangled around her like limbs, floating to and fro like the tentacles of a jellyfish, seeking something to trap within them.
Her hands pulled her deeper and down, towards the cavernous hole that led to the icy depths that seemed to pulse to and fro like there was something breathing, deep within. Something that had never died, just lay in wait, for centuries. Castor and Pollux had living creatures on their worlds, and sometimes she wondered if the absence of something had to mean that it couldn’t exist, or if it could only mean that it had not yet been found. Humans hadn’t explored every nook and cranny on their planet, and she had checked- they figured 80% of species were undiscovered. Hidden in the deep. Unexplored sections of ocean, trenches, ice caps, mysterious caves- there were entire teams of people dedicated to trying to find the ocean’s species and learn what lay underneath the surface of the water, and all around the planet. Jada was just one woman.
So: who knew what hid in the nooks and crannies that this human Scylla could not reach?
The corpse of a spotted, toothy creature the size of her body floated by, bloating and falling to bits. Gagging, the senshi shoved it aside and continued in. Past the corpse of a devilfish, which she had tried to move out of this chamber a dozen times, but always seemed to find its way back- the Scythe-like arms of its appendages longer than her body was tall, the gaping mouth filled with teeth that could impale her through. The water pushed out of the hole through which she would enter. Pulled in, as though something was sucking it in. As if the planet was inhaling, locked in a deep, dreamless sleep.
The water sucked in, and she went with it, watching the lights slip away behind her. And in the moment between one breath and the next, something cold and hard bumped against her forehead, and Scylla was struck with a memory as blood filled the water, and salty-sweet pain filled the parted flesh of the cut left behind.
It had not been even a week ago that Elpis had come to Scylla and been the first person to perform the ancient Scyllan ritual of… well hell. ‘Adulthood’ ritual wasn’t really a very appealing name, was it? And ‘Dive Party’ wasn’t a particularly grand name either. There were more people she wanted to invite to come and take part in this- the more people she could invite, the better. She felt like it had somehow pleased her world, to have this ritual being re-awakened, and when she had been staring into the darkness of the World Pillar, it felt like… the giant eye, deep inside, glassy and old, held something more for her.
Scylla was alone this time, as she dropped off a large delivery of oxygen tanks in a storage closet in Asulon, the White Temple, and brought one of the older tanks with her, along with a mask, a head-lamp, and a pair of flippers. If there had been something down there for her, a response to her choice to open back up her home world to off-worlders as it had once been… Then this would be something for her, and her alone. No stranger should witness this. The magic didn’t have to tell her this would be something… almost sacred. It would be her first excursion into the depths of the Pillar.
Her heels were left on a low branch of the tree-like coral Pillar, replaced with awkward flippers before she dove into the chill waters. She descended into the darkness, through that moment between light and depth where even her tattoos seemed to shed no light. When the sunlight faded, and only her world was around her, everything seemed to burst into dazzling color. Bioluminescence pulsing from the coral, and the chill currents of her waters surrounding her, sending her hair swirling around her. The ribbons of her bow tangled around her like limbs, floating to and fro like the tentacles of a jellyfish, seeking something to trap within them.
Her hands pulled her deeper and down, towards the cavernous hole that led to the icy depths that seemed to pulse to and fro like there was something breathing, deep within. Something that had never died, just lay in wait, for centuries. Castor and Pollux had living creatures on their worlds, and sometimes she wondered if the absence of something had to mean that it couldn’t exist, or if it could only mean that it had not yet been found. Humans hadn’t explored every nook and cranny on their planet, and she had checked- they figured 80% of species were undiscovered. Hidden in the deep. Unexplored sections of ocean, trenches, ice caps, mysterious caves- there were entire teams of people dedicated to trying to find the ocean’s species and learn what lay underneath the surface of the water, and all around the planet. Jada was just one woman.
So: who knew what hid in the nooks and crannies that this human Scylla could not reach?
The corpse of a spotted, toothy creature the size of her body floated by, bloating and falling to bits. Gagging, the senshi shoved it aside and continued in. Past the corpse of a devilfish, which she had tried to move out of this chamber a dozen times, but always seemed to find its way back- the Scythe-like arms of its appendages longer than her body was tall, the gaping mouth filled with teeth that could impale her through. The water pushed out of the hole through which she would enter. Pulled in, as though something was sucking it in. As if the planet was inhaling, locked in a deep, dreamless sleep.
The water sucked in, and she went with it, watching the lights slip away behind her. And in the moment between one breath and the next, something cold and hard bumped against her forehead, and Scylla was struck with a memory as blood filled the water, and salty-sweet pain filled the parted flesh of the cut left behind.
A storm. A small boat, made of coral instead of wood. Andromache looking out over the water as tethe wind brushed the waves, ever-so-gently. The sound of coral creaking under her hand was all she heard, until a gentle- “Watch.” one of the men said, and there was a SPLURT as something seemed to spill out from under the surface. Nausea rose hard in her throat- it was rancid. The fisherman laughed with delight. “That’s how our god hunts, senshi.”
Whatever it was, there was an oily sheen on the water, now, and the fisher cast out a net and a line into it. “We stay a respectful distance away,” he said lowly, “For sometimes not only prey comes, but predators.” Small lights began to take shape, forming into a school of fish, skittering and darting through the sludge, delightedly. And then came the larger fish. And larger still. The dragon fish, the firefly squids, young Dreken. And for all the little they snatched up, they in turn became prey to something larger than themselves.
And then the sea jerked, and jolted, and Andromache knew why she had been strapped, as her body flung against the restraints as the entire ocean was sucked away from under them. The coral boat was suspended in air for just a moment, before there was a release again- and the ocean slammed into the bottom of the boat, slamming through the carefully-placed cracks, designed to release the pressure of it.
“Look,” the fisherman said, after this had repeated not once, but three times, “Our god gives us bounty.” The nets that had been cast were filled with fish, and the boats around them began to depart. “He is sated, and our bellies will be full tonight.”
“I see.” She replied, and her nose wrinkled again at the smell that lingered. The fisherman laughed again.
“You at Asulon deal with the off-worlders and the great Kings. Forget what your parents taught you, don’t you?”
“I was raised offworld.”
“Then let this be a lesson, my senshi. There is only so much a lone hunter can do- and even our Great One uses bait to catch and kill his prey.”
Quote:
Perhaps the most interesting thing about this beast is his unique hunting strategy. The Kraken feeds on fish—thousands and thousands of fish—but rather than swimming around the ocean, snapping up fish one by one, he has devised a way to make dinner come to him. After the Kraken digests a round of fish—which can take up to three months—he recycles the waste, spewing out so much vomit or excrement that the water around him is “muddied and turbid.” It may sound disgusting, but,
New Magic: Bait - Scylla can select one nearby youma, humanoid, or object to be 'bait', splattering it with a magic-based foul-smelling, sticky, sludge- like the consistency of slightly separating peanut butter. The target may (quite rightly) find this unbearably disgusting. Nearby NPC youma are mindlessly drawn to attack the person or object splattered, while PC full-youma and first stage characters will feel an incredibly strong compulsion to attack it; second stage characters and half-youma will find that compulsion weaker, and third/fourth stage the most likely to be able to resist. The effects of the sludge will last for 30 seconds- or until the enemy jumps into a nearby pool of water large enough to 'wash off' the sludge. This can be used twice per battle.
“THIS MUDDINESS IS SAID TO BE VERY AGREEABLE TO THE SMELL OR TASTE OF OTHER FISHES, [AND] THEY GATHER TOGETHER FROM ALL PARTS TO IT, AND KEEP […] DIRECTLY OVER THE KRAKEN: HE THEN OPENS HIS ARMS […] SEIZES AND SWALLOWS HIS WELCOME GUESTS, AND CONVERTS THEM, […] BY DIGESTION, INTO A BAIT FOR OTHER FISH OF THE SAME KIND.”
New Magic: Bait - Scylla can select one nearby youma, humanoid, or object to be 'bait', splattering it with a magic-based foul-smelling, sticky, sludge- like the consistency of slightly separating peanut butter. The target may (quite rightly) find this unbearably disgusting. Nearby NPC youma are mindlessly drawn to attack the person or object splattered, while PC full-youma and first stage characters will feel an incredibly strong compulsion to attack it; second stage characters and half-youma will find that compulsion weaker, and third/fourth stage the most likely to be able to resist. The effects of the sludge will last for 30 seconds- or until the enemy jumps into a nearby pool of water large enough to 'wash off' the sludge. This can be used twice per battle.
