Foreverfall Forum Day 1: The Entrance

Eryn: The area was crowded with tents and attractions, the likes of which I had never seen before, nor anyone else for that matter. It truly was a celebration, as for the first time in the existence of the two realms, there was a common meeting. For me it was an amazing sight. Even the Stream born were wearing some interesting colours, as opposed to their typical browns.


"Well Thunder, shall we take a closer look?" I ask, and receive a small screech from the large dragon in response.


Folding in her wings, we descend quickly towards the outskirts of the festival. Just before we hit the ground I jump of and watch as Thunder quickly compresses herself into her smaller form.



We wander through the crowds and stalls, each selling items from their respective realms, I would have thought they would have remained parted in a way. Split down the middle; but here they were blending together like it was just another Tuesday.

"Dear Citizens of the Realms," A voice came over the loud speaker, it was Ian Steam, the head of the realm of Stream. "We hope you are enjoying the days activities, however, we require everyone's attention for a moment."

The heads of many people spun around in confusion. Probably Streamers, as the use of Digitry's wireless speaker systems were all but a mystery to most of them.

"We have brought together our realms today to find adventurous souls to explore the recently opened chasm." A woman's voice says this time, likely Teressa, head of Digity.
"Any persons wishing to partake in the expedition please make your way to the Chasm Entrance.

"Looks like we're being called, Thunder come on!" I say and follow the newly flowing stream of people. Soon enough I can partially see the entrance. The mouth of it looks wide enough to fit several people at a time. I am surrounded hundreds of people, all looking for adventure, most of them men slightly older, or younger than myself. Carefully I push my way to the front of the mob and see the leaders of both realms as well as the Cheif healer of the Outer realms, Li Steam,  standing in front of the entrance.



"People of the realms, we have asked you here to venture into the unknown, to find the cause of the Chasm." I could hear Teressa say over the excited chatter, drawing silence. "Should any of you choose to leave, we will not fault you." This was responded with laughter. No man would dare back out of an opportunity for such fame.
"Very well then," she continued, "Who shall be the first to enter?"

I was raising my hand before she even finished the sentence. I quickly ran out to the leaders.
"Ill do it." I said excitedly.
"Ah my dear Eryn, always the curious one." Li said turning to me. She had been the force behind my travels between realms. Being Ian's wife, and my adoptive mother, she reasoned with the realms leaders to let me learn from each; the cost though, was our living in the Outer Realm.
"Be careful and come home okay."Li said embracing me in a hug.
"Of course." I promised and made my way to the entrance.



As I placed my foot down upon the dark stone floor, an un-earthly shriek emanated from within. I had to cover both ears for fear of them bleeding out, one quickly justified as many an adventurer did collapse from just such a cause. When it stopped i could hear the murmurs of the crowd, now taken with fear. What monster could cause a man's ears to bleed?

Just as quickly as the mob had formed, it dispersed leaving only a handful of people left. None of them looked frightened in the slightest. No, it was quite the opposite. These would be my companions.

(Sorry about the length of the first post)

Saoirse: I smile as the leaders of our two realms spoke. Ian had a way of convincing everyone of anything, he just had that kind of voice. I smiled as he and Teresea, leader of Digitry, invited the best and bravest forward to explore the chasm that had opened. I feel a hand on my shoulder and smile at Clide, his eyes flashing reassuringly. "You've got this, Miss Saorise. They're going to need someone like you down there." 

Norman had seen the girl walk towards the chasm without fear. It was surprising, most females wouldn't risk themselves, but as he could see there were two who didn't fall into that category at the very least. His large grey coat hid his small frame well, and with all the stuff he had on his vest he actually looked pretty muscular. He had plenty of ammo, a reloading kit for his weapon, cleaning gear for his rifle, his portable computer on the small of his back and alternative parts for his rifle. Each performing a different function. He would have liked some explosives, but that's hard to make without raiding a lab. His face was covered with his hood and a gas mask. He didn't know what to prepare for so he brought everything he could. He slowly approached the girl silently, his rifle hitting his laptop ever time he moved. He would really need to find a better place for it.

Othyon: I pulled up my hood as I saw people come in. I had been sent in first by the chiefs of the realms to make sure that at least the entrance was safe Now I was resting on the head of a dragon like creature. When the chiefs had approached me I had been surprised, first time ever that they worked together. The job though had been to make sure that the entrance was safe, and then blend in without a trace. That hadn't worked well since the weird monster was tough and it took me about an hour to kill it. The scream made it more impossible though so I decided to just face the explorers. When they slowly filed in, I stood up and opened my arms. "Welcome, brave explorers, to the chasm. I haven't explored anything yet because of this thing here," I stomped on the head of the monster, "I was hoping to get a bit of a head start too... But since we are here already, how about we work together?"

Asher: As much as I loved soldiering, it did get a little stale after awhile, especially without anything concrete to do. So when Teressa approached me directly to ask as a sort of Digitry government representative, I jumped at the chance. What I didn't expect was to be the one chosen to enter the chasm, or Area One as I'd heard some of my higher-ups call it. I thought this little foray would be fun; some spelunking there, a little bit of possible treasure grabbing here. The shriek that had accompanied my arrival to the chasm's entrance basically dashed my hopes of anything like what'd I'd thought. Of course, this just made me even more excited. 

"Don't expect me to integrate well. I'm used to working alone, but I think I can manage if it's you lot. A least I won't have to worry about you lot dying easily." Norman said through his gas mask, his voice slightly distorted. He rummaged through his big coat and came back with a ball of some sort. He set it on the ground and then pulled out his computer. After a few strokes of the key board the ball slowly rolled forward. The screen showing full color, but with a click it switched to thermal. " I'll use my friend here to see if there are anymore of those things ahead." Norman said not looking up from his computer.

Othyon: I got a better look at the group, I knew Norman, I had heard of him quite a bit. The girl with the dragon I knew as well, but I never remembered her name. The last person I recognized was the one with the robot following her, some genius girl who built a reputation for herself. I knew those three, and I respected them for their work, but there was one person who looked pretty powerful too, a muscular man. I turned to Norman and said: "There probably aren't any more here in the area of about an hour because this is the wild, and this guy seems to be on top of the food chain. If he screeches, wouldn't tons of animals come to eat his meat?"

"That is part of the problem....." He said pressing a few keys which sent out a sonar pulse from the ball to pick up any movement. " I don't know about you, but I'd rather not be swarmed by anything that's come from the chasm. Even a swarm of squirrels can take down a person." He said waiting for the results of the pulse. Nothing so far they seemed to be in the clear, but Norman couldn't shake off this sense of foreboding.

Othylon: I felt something, it was more of an instinct, an instinct of me not being the predator. I looked around before asking Norman: "Can you only scan for movement or also life itself?"

"Just movement. Need for parts of you want life." Norman said having the ball return to him. With the command given he returned his computer to its proper place and took his rifle off his back, cycling in a 50 caliber round. The current barrel Norman had on his rifle, charged his bullet with electricity. Effectively subduing both man and machine with a charge equal to that of a stun gun. " Does anyone else feel that?"

Othylon: "The feeling of being prey you mean? Yeah."

Saoirse: I smile at my companions and walk into the mouth of the chasm, "Fancy a trip down lads?" As we all make our way into the entrance, I don't see many familiar faces save for Eryn's, so I walk up an introduce myself to on of the others, the big one with the muscles. "So you're the soldier everyone in Stream's been fussing about. Ian was right, you're quite large," I said laughing, "My name's Saoirse Brannagh, and this here's Clide, my steam powered robot." Clide stuck out his hand to shake the man's, "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." One of Clide's eye's started flickering a bit so I pulled out my multipurpose knife and opened up the back of his head, tinkering with the light, "Thank you, Miss Saoirse. That makes it much easier to see." I smile at Clide and take a look around the Entrance and at that thing that was on the ground and looked up at Othyon, "So this is what we have to look forward to then? Great, I was hoping for a bit of a challenge." 

Othyon: "A challenge? If the entrance is but the beginning, then I fear this place will be hell. If I were one of you, I'd quit. What good does fame do me if I'm dead? What good does it do me if I saw companions die? Does fame feed me? No, it does not. So let me tell you while you can still leave, I would leave, if I were one of you." I grabbed into my pocket and pulled out a butterfly knife that was of no use, it was just something I use out of habit. It was rusty and dull, but one last object tht reminded me of my sin.

"I didn't come here for fame. I came to see what new materials I could use in the chasm. " Norman said simply as he eyed each of his fellow 'explorers' through his gas mask. " You can have the fame." He said putting his rifle back on his back as the feeling of dread disappeared.

Saoirse: I walk up to Othyon, "If you think I am in this for fame you have another thing coming. I don't need it, I don't want it, I am already well known in Stream, but if there are more things like this," I say, pointing to the creature on the ground, "down there, I am not going to let them get up here and hurt people. I am no coward, not even in the slightest, in fact I can be quite dangerous when I want, and I am certainly not going to leave this place with my tail between my legs. I am going to help protect the people of the realms so that nobody will get hurt. All I want is safety for everyone." 

"Well isn't that a wonderful speech. " Norman said with a tinge of annoyance. He never did get along with anyone from the city. Perhaps because he didn't like the crowds, and his isolation has made him all the more socially ignorant.

(What creature are you guys referring to? I never mentioned one at the entrance.  Oh well.)

Eryn: "Guys, hate to burst your bubble but this thing isn't what screamed." I say waving the stuffed toy back and forth. "Now with that said; LAST ONE IN'S A ROTTEN EGG!"
I race through the entrance eager to find out what mad the sound. After a few steps I  hear the squealing of my dragon and turn around.
"What's wrong Thunder? Aren't you coming?" I ask her, but she backs away slowly. In a moment she is gone, taken to the skies.
"What really? Some guard dragon you are." I mutter and start under way again. At the end of a short hallway, I find an elevator shaft. The car must be at the bottom, as there was no cable to bring it up.
"Geeze, if it's not one thing... HEY ARE YOU ALL COMING?" I call out and swing my legs over the edge. Slowly I climb down into the darkness below.

Norman sighs and walks through the entrance, " I hope she mellows later on. I do t think I can take this level of enthusiasm the whole time." He said as he walked to the shaft, his words echoing on the stone. He looks down, seeing Eryn and looks to the cable. "Well, better than jumping." He muttered as he jumped on the cable and began to shimmy down.

Asher: "Well, she's certainly lively. Norman, not so much" I said. Not what I was expecting from a girl who seemed so quiet though Norman pretty much met my expectations. Of course, that's when the last thing Eryn had said finally clicked in my skull. "Wait, this thing WASN'T what screamed?! So whatever did must be down there" I said as I peered down into the hole Eryn and Norman had crawled down into. "Well s**t" I mumbled. I loved mysterious stuff as much as the next guy but I started to have a feeling that everything wasn't going to be as easy as I'd thought. I looked back at the other two stood there staring at me. I just cracked a grin. "Well, you heard the lady. Allons-y!" I yelled as I grabbed the cable and slide down.

Norman stood next to Eryn as Asher landed. His gas mask as had thermal vision goggles courtesy of several hours of tinkering. It wasn't as good as night vision, but it was something. "Great... more tunnels." He said his voice continuing to echo. "Lets hope that creature doesn't like caves." He said moving to the front.