godtouched [chaos]

[Lexx]

There were things that Naiad wanted. She wanted to be with others, so that she could have some semblance of a family, of belonging, of being missed when she was gone. She wanted the sea, and the moon, and the stars. She wanted to hear her mother’s beautiful stories one last time, in the soft, gentle voice she remembered from her childhood, back when her mother still loved her. She wanted Salome’s green eyes to smile at her, and she wanted Iiona to see worth in her, and she wanted Sharktooth like she wanted air. But there was no name for the thing that Naiad wanted the most. How could she begin to piece it into words? None of it was real. It was just another story from her mother, just a lovely tale before bedtime, but knowing that didn’t change the way the ocean pulled her in like a tide. She wanted her father, but more than that, she wanted the concept of him that could never be. Illyra had called him a sea monster, and told Naiad, in a voice soft with nostalgia, he’d loved Illyra deeper and darker than the ocean he’d risen from, because she looked like the moon that smoothed his tides and kept him grounded. She had told Naiad he was a god, and Naiad had never believed that gods were real, but suddenly fervent whispers of a creature called Chaos had swept across the land. Once again, gods existed on Somerset. The thing she wanted the most, then, was to see him. She wanted to know her mother had told the truth. She wanted her father like she wanted to belong, because, in a way, by being his child, she would belong, and it would be to something eternal and greater than herself. She wanted to look into the sea, and to know the sea looked back with love. She’d been limping along as she’d contemplated this, weaving back and forth between the whip-thin palm trees and exercising her wounded leg as it healed, and then suddenly she’d looked up and realized she was no longer on any part of the island that she recognized. The trees that encircled the mountains of Sharktooth had suddenly burgeoned into a lush, deep forest. The ground underfoot was no longer rocky and sand-roughened, but mossy and dark and covered with venom-vibrant blooms. She shivered in the sudden gloom, her soft fur hackling with alarm. This was not Sharktooth. She understood that in her bones. “Hello?” Naiad called softly, because her skin was crawling with the sensation that she was being watched. “Why have you brought me here?” Because the creature appraising her now had certainly brought her here, and could just as easily send her back in a heartbeat, but Naiad was trembling with sudden certainty that this was a place she’d always been meant to find. “What,” she began to ask, but her voice broke. She licked her lips and tried again. “What can I do for you?” "speaking" table by lexx

Naiad is trying to get the power to breathe underwater!

[Kenren]

This was... an interesting development. When had he come to this land of mortals, she wondered? He'd always been one of her more secretive and rebellious descendants, but he was so involved lately with his deep ocean home in the Realm that she'd never considered that he might visit Somerset. He'd avoided mortals since... well, since the last time. She would have thought he'd sworn off the whole thing altogether after his search for power had burned him so thoroughly. But the evidence was here, before her. She hadn't been watching Somerset constantly herself, so it wasn't surprising that she'd miss some minor events. There had been plenty of generations-long spans when her eyes turned elsewhere and she sought to create havoc in her own realm. Sneaky children. It was ironic, that she should stumble here on her own. Otherwise, Chaos would likely have overlooked her altogether. She was a pretty thing, but so were so many. It was only here, in this place in-between, where she shone - in Chaos' eyes and perception, there was an an aura about her. Not the pure shimmering gold of her own kind, but muddied pale glow of an altogether different abomination. A delightful, troublesome abomination. Oh, and she wouldn't know a thing, would she? A simple mouse crawling into a snake's burrow. Unaware of the danger, if the snake were so inclined. Luckily, Chaos was not. This one might turn out useful. From one blink to the next, Chaos was there, corporeal, her sage face an illusion of elderly contentment. "I did not bring you here, child. It was the wish in your own heart that finds you here before me." Oh, how she could shake and shape this one's world... but not yet. It was not time. The information would come out only at the most... inopportune time. She would make sure of it. "But even if you are unaware of it, Grandmother knows best. You have an affinity for the ocean, do you not? Well then, we will expand upon that." It was said matter-of-factly, as in all things, and brokered no room for argument. She would start this wheel spinning once more. Perhaps this one would be as interesting as her predecessors. One could only hope. ------------------------------------------------------- Task • Naiad must bring Chaos a perfect shell from the water off the coast of Sharktooth!

CODING BY TEMPEST. ART BY CRYS.

[Lexx]

The air pulled sharply taut, and before she had fully registered the sensation, Naiad was turning toward the source. Something drove her movements; something that was innately part of her, as instinctual as being a predator. There was a small, silver fox before her, enrobed with trailing feathers. Naiad could tell she was elderly from the slope of her posture and the delicate gauntness of her face, but she was still unspeakably lovely in a way that mortal creatures were not. She gasped, just as any wolf would when suddenly startled by the appearance of a little, feathery fox, but it was not truly a gasp of surprise. It was a gasp of recognition. She saw the faintest flicker of gold in the corners of her eyes, but not from straight on, and knew, immediately, that gods were real. Her forepaws stretched out on the thick forest carpet, and she lowered herself into a careful bow, despite the way her wounded leg protested. “I did not bring you here, child,” the creature told her in a benevolent voice. “It was the wish in your own heart that finds you here before me.” Naiad dared to look up, and saw that the goddess’s face was kind. “But even if you are unaware of it, grandmother knows best. You have an affinity for the ocean, do you not? Well, then, we will expand upon that.” The goddess vanished, and the forest vanished, and Naiad was back on the island, all of her unspoken questions still resting on her lips. There was a vision in her mind of what the goddess would have her do. Grandmother, she thought. It was a very nice word. "speaking" table by lexx

[Lexx]

xxsomerset.proboards.com/thread/1600/contrast-light-quest

[Kenren]

C H A O S Chaos is happy with her shell! Much like an aquatic mammal, Naiad will be able to hold her breath for 10-15 minutes underwater. Though functionally not that much different, at this stage she won't actually be able to breathe water. Tasks to Intermediate ♦ Communicate and interact with a pod of dolphins off the shore of Sharktooth. ♦ Hunt for fish at Purgatory Reef during high tide (aka night, so be careful of sharks D:) ♦ Rescue someone drowning, injured, or otherwise struggling in the water! Lexx

CODING BY TEMPEST.