The investigation into the tunnels deep below The Shimmering Shore continues.

A group begins to form here, with the intent to delve even deeper.

Max 1 character per player in this thread. The deadline to join is 10/24, 9am PST.

WARNING: Posting in this thread can cause minor or moderate injuries, up to minor/moderate maims, or other bad, temporary effects to characters.

Many wolves had fallen below the ground and were now congregating, wondering what to do. Isa, being the old mothering wolf that she was, called them together. She motioned to the tunnel ahead with one blue paw. "We're already here so we may as well investigate, but stay close. If you can, pick a buddy and stay together. There's safety in numbers." Decent advice. It was good to rely upon someone in such strange times.

The old lady moved deeper into the tunnels, icy eyes squinting against the darkness. The air here was stagnant and strange. She cast her gaze here and there, eyeing the beasts that accompanied her. So far things seemed safe, but she knew that they weren't. Not by a long shot. She could already feel it in her bones that some of them would die here and Isa... she would be one of them.

"Speech"

mortis fatalis

Mortis wound his way deeper and deeper into the tunnels. His wings clung close to his sides, and he did not like the oppressive feel of the tunnel walls around him. Perhaps this had not been a wise choice, after all. Perhaps he should have left the investigating to another.

As he stepped deeper and deeper in, a familiar voice sounded out, and he blinked, looking up in some surprise. “Isa?” he said, moving closer to the familiar old wolf who had fallen in with the Warlord. That was an unexpected surprise. What other surprises would this rocky tunnel hold for them? Only one way to find out, and he wouldn’t leave Isa to explore alone.

html by castlegraphics

Around him the earth shifted and Úlfr was sent tumbling into the tunnels below. Deftly he managed to land on his feet but now he was separated from the group he'd been digging with stuck in the dark and deep. Well, he was here now… glancing back he saw the dark eyes of his ravens, glinting in the dim light. Was this something the gods wished him to do? He had to admit the thrill, the danger, was enticing. He'd spent much of his time hunting in Hemlock, doing the routine tasks to keep the pack well fed and apart from the recent battle against a bunch of yearlings he didn't feel like his warrior spirit had had much spark.

Slipping through the tunnels it grew darker and darker and Úlfr wished he had a bit of pitch and a stick to brighten the way. But even if he did it would've been lost in the fall. Up ahead he noted a thin shaft of life and the voices of others. He spied an older woman and a winged male. "Glad to see I'm not the only one fortune has cast down here."

Traveling deeper into the abyss, Nimue welcomes the deafening silence that consumes the subterranean labyrinth. Each of her paw steps resonates through the tunnels, echoing into the silence until it dissipates into nothing. What an eerie feeling. And yet, the tiny nymph keeps pushing forward- her eyes sharp and focused, scanning the darkness, with fierce determination. Fear held no sway over her- she navigated the winding paths, memorizing the shadows as they twisted and shifted, right before her eyes.

Approaching a fork in her path, Nimue hears voices resonating from the tunnel on her left. Testing the air, she picks up several canine scents- wolves she did not recognize, but they seemed to be congregating. The voices mingled with the faintest whispers of the underground- the scuttling of unseen creatures, and the low rumbling of tremors occurring underground.

With a confident stride, Nimue takes the path to her left, using her senses to guide her through the darkness. She couldn’t join the group just yet- she sought to stay in earshot, to hear their schemes. And perhaps steal their ideas.

"Nimue Vasanti"

How long had they been walking? On occasion they'd found another place where the tunnel had collapsed earlier, and yet none with an obvious way to get back up to the surface. As they walked, finding the tunnel curving off of the relatively straight path they'd been taking, voices started to echo down towards them. Which was almost surprising, because with the the awkward silence that had largely settled between them Noor had almost forgotten they'd not been the only ones to end up in the tunnels. Noor stopped, a little panic starting to flutter in her stomach. She'd only run into Fable since landing here after all, and far as she knew there was still a hefty price on her head.

But also what choice did they have? Maybe she could take comfort in that if by chance any of her pursuers had ended up down here it wasn't like they could just drag her away until they found a way back out... "Do you want to keep going?" Noor whispered anxiously. Fable had promised that she'd take care of her, at least until the whole weirdness ended... But she also didn't think Fable was much of a fighter if it came down to it and Fable was just as much a target as Noor was to the wolves who were after her. So she was looking to the bigger woman, ready to follow her whatever her choice.

"Speech"

Art by Hagon

So much for heading home to get back up from his parents. Gavroche had found himself below the Shimmering Shore with others, heart pounding as he dipped into the tunnels. He was small enough the walls didn't squeeze around him, but the winged wolf did not like the feeling of the closed walls around him. After adjusting his bag, he pressed on toward a voice calling in the tunnels.

A blue older woman, another winged wolf, and yet another wolf were the ones he found. Eyes widened with wonder, Gavroche couldn't help but stare. Another family had winged wolves. He approached them quietly, not yet sure if he wanted to speak. He wanted to see if the more experienced adults had ideas yet.

"Speech," 'Thought.'

table coding by bunni ♥

From bad to worse. Levi wasn't much one for underground exploration and yet it felt like it was too late to back out now. Wolves were already amassing in the newly formed corridors, voices, scents and steps pushed themselves to the forefront of his mind. Ignoring the slight ache of his paw, he pressed forward, the ground felt a little more stable under paw, that it shouldn't crumble and send him falling into the abyss once more. Still, what was down here? Did they really want to find out? He was starting to wonder if this mystery was better left well alone.

As much as he wanted to ignore it, to go home, to be in the safety of his territory, Gilgamesh couldn't. Something in him begged to find more answers. What was causing the deep groans beneath their paws? What had created the massive labyrinth that now spread out before them? Was it connected to the ominous spires in Boreas? Or was this all a mere coincidence?

Avoiding the eye contact of the rest of the wolves that congregated, the Raid King positioned himself on the outer edges of the group. His paranoia lingered, heavy in his chest as he assessed who had gathered. Not quite the mass of wolves he thought truly capable of exploring, but sometimes those were the type that surprised him the most.

"speech"

They had trekked so long in silence that she, too, was unnerved by the sounds of voices up ahead, it made her skin crawl. Fable wasn't sure what their goal was any longer - investigate, or try desperately to find their way back above ground? All of the shifting shadows were tiring her eyes. She was constantly on alert, and the hair trigger her nerves rested upon wasn't a pleasant place to be. A small group began to form up ahead, clustering at a choke point in the caves. Being in a crowd always felt better to her. She was at home in the hustle and bustle of a crowded kitchen, and although there were no cooking fires, she could work with this. Fable stepped closer to Noor until they stood pressed shoulder-to-shoulder. "Yes... I'd like some answers. Or at least a way back above ground," she murmured.

"Speech"

No one was gonna stop her. Xina was hell bent on getting involved. She slipped away from her scouting party and fell into this hole on her own. All the smells among the sandstone walls told her there was a gathering of wolves all from different packs! This would be interesting!

She strolled into the heart of the gathering wolves like she owned the place and fully grown to boot. If anyone attempted to baby her they'd get a snarl. She was here because she wanted to be! She wanted to EXPLORE! She wanted to know what made that awful noise before. What had caused these sand tunnels and the sand to collapse?

Ludovic trailed behind his sister, a bit far back as he waited for her to notice him, his mismatched eyes narrowing as he watched her slip further into the maze. Xina’s recklessness didn’t surprise him, but it didn’t sit well with him either. His ravens circled above, their caws and wingbeats faint echoes in the wind. They’d alert him to any immediate danger, but his sister? She was a danger unto herself, it seemed.

With a soft growl under his breath, he pushed forward, staying just out of her line of sight. He wasn’t planning to stop her, no. That would only spark her temper. No one could talk sense into her when she had that fire in her eyes. But if something went wrong—and it probably would—he’d be there. Xina could hold her own, sure, sometimes, but walking headfirst into a gathering of wolves from different packs was a bold gamble, even for her. And this place…. It was strange.

His paws moved silently over the sand, careful to avoid drawing attention. He glanced at the shifting shadows of wolves ahead, their murmurs growing louder. Xina, with that headstrong confidence, had already strolled into the heart of the gathering like it was her right. Typical. Ludovic almost smirked. His sister always knew how to command a room, even if she was too young to fully back it up yet. Neither was he of course, so he lurched forward to join her at her hip; maybe it would ward off these pesky strangers. He gave her a smirk and a hard stare if she would look at him.

Still, something gnawed at the back of his mind. That noise she was chasing, the collapse of the sand tunnels... It wasn’t natural. His ravens had flown in strange patterns before the fall, agitated and wary. He clenched his jaw, ready to step in if things went south. Ready to grab her scruff and try to run.


"Ludovic Praetor-Inferos"

Deluge slipped alongside Gilgamesh, her glowing sides a beacon in the mottled light of the cave. The red light was a poor filter and her sharp eyes made her an obvious choice to accompany her father... well, that and her absent sense of self-preservation. Her brother's children had been boosted out, but perhaps the adults would need to find another way back to the surface, or maybe there was loot to be found down here? The strange groaning still persisted, and the earth seemed to shudder beneath her paws. It was all a little dramatic for her tastes.

Feline claws scratched at the soil beneath her paws, finding comfort in it. "Plenty'a fodder ter pick from," she murmured to her father in a low voice, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. "Worst come ter worst, we'll go our own way."

"speech"

Venom had fallen into the tunnels, thankfully unscathed, but had been separated from Maverick which was what truly worried her. She called out to him, but heard no reply, so she was forced to try and find her way out of the labyrinth. Her white gloved paws took her forward, and she didn’t make it so far before she discovered a group gathering.

She recognized Mortis right off the bat, and noticed a couple other of Fatalis lineage. Vaguely she knew the coat of Gilgamesh, though she didn’t know his name. She quietly made her way over to where he stood with a blue marked woman. Venom greeted Mortis with a subtle nod, but said nothing. She was no longer any kind of leader.


"Venom"

Things had rapidly gotten weirder since he'd returned to Boreas. For a man who was only interested in his poppies and keeping his head above water, it's... it's not ideal. Begrudgingly, he's looking for answers. It's going to fuck with his growing season regardless, so why not at least try to get to the bottom of things.

The scouting party was loose at best, littered with unfamiliar faces. In different circumstances, Wake may have been friendlier. Still, even the life of the party knows when to give it a rest. He quietly moves to Deluge and Gilgamesh, settling for only a moment. Waiting. More tense than usual, taking a long sip from his laudanum flask before offering it to his family.

WAKE UP

Corbie paused as she entered the tunnels, surprised to see the group gathered there. She shouldn't have been, perhaps, considering that many of them were likely there for the same reason she was. Well, there were undoubtedly some that were there simply for thrill-seeking or academic curiosity and other reasons, but she was there to make sure there was nothing about this mysterious occurrence that could bring harm to her pack. She wasn't one to stand by and wait until trouble came to find her, not if she could help it. Forewarned was forearmed, after all. She didn't say anything to anyone - the lantern hanging from her jaws prevented that - but gave a faintly grim and sympathetic smile to all and sundry as she padded past them further into the tunnel, the lantern's light swinging to show her what lie before her. On her shoulders, Ayer hunched over uncomfortably at the darkness surrounding them, but didn't let go of the pot of glowing paint she clutched to her, the product of a short time at the glowshroom cavern on the way here to mark their way through the unexpected tunnels. Corbie turned her head slightly back towards the gathered group, tilting her head invitingly toward them to join her if they wished to.

Exposed “Artio” Lebraid From a desiccated warzone, though not a veritable one, bedevilled in gaping gorges and burgeoning sculptures forged by sandstone, to a familiar foreshore cushioned in sand. Lebraid felt, well, predisposed, if you will, to delve into shimmering’s tracery of tunnels once more. Why, howbeit, she did not know; was it an urge, perchance an insinuation, that beset all other importances to expedite what may lie far beneath, and truthfully, it was a vehemence unbidden. It fed through every artery, every vessel, nettling what plasmatic fluids gush within like a ravenous cannibal –– how delicious it felt, shivers soon oscillating atop her skin in a most sadistic, needling sensation. A cimmerian, lurid expression distorted the woman’s features, barbarous and unsettling as her demeanour bore no less of this, where stout muscles loomed over the stony earth in rather druid, leaden paces. She did not like amasses, let-a-lone conversations. Why, pray tell, was she even here? The miasma of many clung like rot against the cavern’s walls, muzzle creasing in dour disdain, exposing those malignant, ivory canines -- voices expounding, she chose to stay silent -- ogling, listening, digesting. Mutinous, dire’s, doll’s, palettes; eyes of an achromatic nebula bared no unerring emotion, brows therein furrowing as she sat on the outskirts. Lebraid would wait, for now. Action. | “Speech.” | Skill. “Wrong me once, I’ll kill you twice.” Template by Raine <3

Lumi had found herself in an expansive underground area. She had never thought there could be a space like this below the trees and the grass. It felt so cozy, like home weirdly, away from the sun. The damp soil gave way to roots and grubs, a whole new side of the world the doe had never gotten to see.

Her back left leg itched where the bandage had been wrapped earlier. She itched it with her nose briefly before catching the scent of wolves. They smelled like sunshine and above ground. Other visitors? Luminosa navigated the tunnels, timidly dipping her head to the wolves as she came across them. Surely being a prey in the presence of trapped wolves couldn't go horridly wrong. "Where is this?"