Lazuli stood on the dock as she watched the Garama ship sail back towards Aladra. She remained on the pier long after the red and black sails escaped her sight. Turning around she stared up at the ominous, untouched jungles. Other then a tiny, abandon fishing shack at the end of the dock there was no sign of civilization.
There was no path leading into the trees, but it was clear that others had been through. Tall grass stomped by parading feet weaved its way though the roots and into the heart of the continent. Two other paths like it darted off in other directions, giving Lazuli a rather difficult choice. Deciding to stay close to the coast she hopped off the safety of the dock and started to bush-wack her way south.
Tall trees with above ground roots anchored themselves to the shore. Low-lying shrubs and ferns decorated the floor. Vines hung from the canopy, making her wish she had some kind of sword or machete. While she walked she allowed herself to arrange her scattered thoughts, both her own and the ones those crazy Vanguard people shouted at her. After a few minutes of deduction she accepted that her name was Lazuli Avalos, or at least was.
After several hours of wandering along the curving shores the sun began to set. At first Lazuli marveled at the kaleidoscope of colours that decorated the skies. It was like jars of orange, pink, purple, and red paint was split on a previously sky blue canvas. The clouds that had rolled in throughout the day only made the scene even more spectacular.
As the sun dipped below the western horizon Lazuli realized what fallowed a sunset. To her surprise the air retained most of its humid heat as the clouds above acted like a blanket, concealing in the warmth. Resting of the sand of a small stretch of beach she ate her last piece of Aladran Sweetbread.
Seeing some fish swimming in the surf she rose with a gnawing hunger that would be satisfied only by meat. She carefully entered the water, trying not to disturb it and scare off the fish, and slowly waded towards the school. When she was a few feet away a loud crack of thunder, fallowed by a flash of lightning, crashed in the dark skies above. This spooked the school slightly, making some of them dart off into the roots of a nearby mangrove tree.
Light rain started to fall, enticing the fish to continue feeding. Unaware of Lazuli's presence she aimed her body to try and pounce on one. Just as she was ready to leap off the rocks she perched herself on an arrow whizzed by her head, barely missing. The arrow landed in the silt below the fish, scaring them all away into the safety of the mangrove.
Whipping her gaze around she saw several skeletons armed with recurve bows scowling at her. Reloading their bows they launched another barraged at Lazuli, striking her in the shoulder. Ignoring the searing hot pain of the flesh wound she dove into the water and swam until her muscles burned.
Breaking the surface only to breath she caught small glimpse of the skeletons making a swift pursuit. Hitting a small spit of beach Lazuli clambered onto the sand and raced into the jungle. As she swam the light, almost misty rain had become a full fledged downpour. The thunder sounded like someone constantly beating on drums filled with scarp metal. The lightning illuminated the sky with fiery strikes of vengeance.
Scaling the suddenly steep coastline Lazuli tried her best to dodge the skeletons' arrows. On occasion she felt the stone heads graze her flesh, leaving a bloody slice in her skin. Looking through the rain she saw other horrors of the night scale the cliff downwards on a intercept course.
Running along the slope instead of trying to climb it the undead, rotting zombies joined the swift-paced skeletons in their blood-lust. Lazuli dodge strange plant formations as she ran, shoving the thick stocks as she passed them by. Looking back to see if the skeletons had given up their pursuit she ran into one of the harmless formations.
Falling to the ground upon impact she saw a set of green claws at the plant's base. The claws rotated on an axis until a pair of soulless black eyes and gnarled teeth faced her. The nightmarish creature made a soft hissing noise and began to swell with pressure. The explosion it created sent Lazuli flying through the air like a rag doll, only to be pelted by arrows until she landed at the base of the rock-ridge.
Scrambling onto her knees she crawled her way under the roots of a tree. Building up walls of mud she encased herself inside a make-shift shelter to protect herself from the elements. Allowing herself to breath she could hear the moans of the undead outside. Rummaging through her pockets she pulled out a torch and lit it with a match.
The tiny flame filled her body with the long lost warmth that had been drained out by the rain. Resting her head on the thick root she stare at the mud wall she hastily built up in her state of panic. Lodged in the wall was a round green gourd with smooth skin. For some strange reason she had the instinct to smash it open with a rock.
Inside was a pink, watery flesh that felt like heaven on earth as she scraped out the shell and ate it like an animal. When the gourd was cleaned out she gazed into the small flame of the torch. As she stared she realized that her long hair that was previously in a braid had fallen apart and draped along her back.
Ringing out the long locks she braided it back the way it was before she entered this hell-hole. Realizing she didn't have a string to tie the end she held the end of her braid with her left hand and rummaged through her satchel. Instead of finding a string her fingers came into contact with something sharp.
Dropping the braid she brought all focus towards the strange object in her satchel. Lifting it from the leather bag a pale star hovered in in the palm of her hand. Pastel colours shinned on the smooth, opalescent surface as its glow illuminated the entire tree root shelter, for the torch had smothered itself out.
Something was etched into the center jewel. Looking closely at the runic letters Lazuli read "Gift of Endurance, Bestowed to you by Cryptite."
There was no path leading into the trees, but it was clear that others had been through. Tall grass stomped by parading feet weaved its way though the roots and into the heart of the continent. Two other paths like it darted off in other directions, giving Lazuli a rather difficult choice. Deciding to stay close to the coast she hopped off the safety of the dock and started to bush-wack her way south.
Tall trees with above ground roots anchored themselves to the shore. Low-lying shrubs and ferns decorated the floor. Vines hung from the canopy, making her wish she had some kind of sword or machete. While she walked she allowed herself to arrange her scattered thoughts, both her own and the ones those crazy Vanguard people shouted at her. After a few minutes of deduction she accepted that her name was Lazuli Avalos, or at least was.
After several hours of wandering along the curving shores the sun began to set. At first Lazuli marveled at the kaleidoscope of colours that decorated the skies. It was like jars of orange, pink, purple, and red paint was split on a previously sky blue canvas. The clouds that had rolled in throughout the day only made the scene even more spectacular.
As the sun dipped below the western horizon Lazuli realized what fallowed a sunset. To her surprise the air retained most of its humid heat as the clouds above acted like a blanket, concealing in the warmth. Resting of the sand of a small stretch of beach she ate her last piece of Aladran Sweetbread.
Seeing some fish swimming in the surf she rose with a gnawing hunger that would be satisfied only by meat. She carefully entered the water, trying not to disturb it and scare off the fish, and slowly waded towards the school. When she was a few feet away a loud crack of thunder, fallowed by a flash of lightning, crashed in the dark skies above. This spooked the school slightly, making some of them dart off into the roots of a nearby mangrove tree.
Light rain started to fall, enticing the fish to continue feeding. Unaware of Lazuli's presence she aimed her body to try and pounce on one. Just as she was ready to leap off the rocks she perched herself on an arrow whizzed by her head, barely missing. The arrow landed in the silt below the fish, scaring them all away into the safety of the mangrove.
Whipping her gaze around she saw several skeletons armed with recurve bows scowling at her. Reloading their bows they launched another barraged at Lazuli, striking her in the shoulder. Ignoring the searing hot pain of the flesh wound she dove into the water and swam until her muscles burned.
Breaking the surface only to breath she caught small glimpse of the skeletons making a swift pursuit. Hitting a small spit of beach Lazuli clambered onto the sand and raced into the jungle. As she swam the light, almost misty rain had become a full fledged downpour. The thunder sounded like someone constantly beating on drums filled with scarp metal. The lightning illuminated the sky with fiery strikes of vengeance.
Scaling the suddenly steep coastline Lazuli tried her best to dodge the skeletons' arrows. On occasion she felt the stone heads graze her flesh, leaving a bloody slice in her skin. Looking through the rain she saw other horrors of the night scale the cliff downwards on a intercept course.
Running along the slope instead of trying to climb it the undead, rotting zombies joined the swift-paced skeletons in their blood-lust. Lazuli dodge strange plant formations as she ran, shoving the thick stocks as she passed them by. Looking back to see if the skeletons had given up their pursuit she ran into one of the harmless formations.
Falling to the ground upon impact she saw a set of green claws at the plant's base. The claws rotated on an axis until a pair of soulless black eyes and gnarled teeth faced her. The nightmarish creature made a soft hissing noise and began to swell with pressure. The explosion it created sent Lazuli flying through the air like a rag doll, only to be pelted by arrows until she landed at the base of the rock-ridge.
Scrambling onto her knees she crawled her way under the roots of a tree. Building up walls of mud she encased herself inside a make-shift shelter to protect herself from the elements. Allowing herself to breath she could hear the moans of the undead outside. Rummaging through her pockets she pulled out a torch and lit it with a match.
The tiny flame filled her body with the long lost warmth that had been drained out by the rain. Resting her head on the thick root she stare at the mud wall she hastily built up in her state of panic. Lodged in the wall was a round green gourd with smooth skin. For some strange reason she had the instinct to smash it open with a rock.
Inside was a pink, watery flesh that felt like heaven on earth as she scraped out the shell and ate it like an animal. When the gourd was cleaned out she gazed into the small flame of the torch. As she stared she realized that her long hair that was previously in a braid had fallen apart and draped along her back.
Ringing out the long locks she braided it back the way it was before she entered this hell-hole. Realizing she didn't have a string to tie the end she held the end of her braid with her left hand and rummaged through her satchel. Instead of finding a string her fingers came into contact with something sharp.
Dropping the braid she brought all focus towards the strange object in her satchel. Lifting it from the leather bag a pale star hovered in in the palm of her hand. Pastel colours shinned on the smooth, opalescent surface as its glow illuminated the entire tree root shelter, for the torch had smothered itself out.
Something was etched into the center jewel. Looking closely at the runic letters Lazuli read "Gift of Endurance, Bestowed to you by Cryptite."