Elias
Mage Knight
The Crimson Mage
I'm just saying that the problem isn't going away, no matter how good we get at stabbing them.
Posts: 451
Etruria Fame: 1
Sacae Fame: 2
Lycia Fame: 1
Profession: The Crimson Mage
Affinity: Fire
Profile: Profile (updated)
OoC Alias: Elias
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Post by Elias on Oct 31, 2011 23:52:44 GMT -6
Seeing as no one had a thing to say, not a single 'oh no Elias, it's alright, just remain a petulant child we don't care' bah. He pretended to fiddle with the saddle some more, to buy time, even though it was perfectly set and everything. Eventually the Demon began to walk away, as if to tell him to just stop. Friggen horses. Well he lost his excuse for stalling, so instead he just stalled without any shame. He just stood there and did nothing, despite him saying he was going to be doing exactly the opposite of that. Instead he just sort of bit his lip and wasted perfectly good time. Eventually the horse whined and began to nudge the mage with his head. "Oh easy for you to do demon, you probably spawned from some pool of taint and evil." He grumpily harumphed, but it pushed again, almost headbutting him. "Agh! Burn in pyre hellspawn!" He grumbled uncomfortably. "Alright, alright. I'll go. Be ready to leave everyone when I return."
When he returned indeed, sheepish like a child who just got caught red handed, or in this case just got done having a tantrum, he slowly slunk back into the home. He thought, for a moment, before entering, wondering just what they may be doing inside. Where they crying? Perhaps he was wrong all along, and they loved him but just never said it? Where they angry? Angry that the child they raised for so long had the sheer gall, the audicity to act so disrespectful? Where they worshiping some evil god and phase three, alienate your son, had been completed? Maybe he'd enter to some sort of party, learning this entire ordeal was some of secret test of character all along? Or maybe... the worst of all... they simply... didn't care.
The thought of that... chilled his bones. It was this fear that held him back, that made him act such a way, such a primal and primitive fear, the fear of being alone.
What he found was... well it was something. Not something as fantastical and exuberant as he had assumed, but still something. And something was better then nothing. The two were talking, hushedly sure, and Elias couldn't quite make out the words. It sounded like a long track of gibberish noises, chopped into bits where a man and woman took turns speaking in equal lunacy. He took a few steps closer, maybe just maybe if he was closer he could make out just what they were saying... but as soon as he did they instantly stopped and looked at him.
"Elias..." His mother said, but no one said another word. In fact it was just one giant ball of awkward.
"Um..." Elias muttered but suddenly stopped. Looking around as if he smelt something foul in the air. He hadn't noticed it before, probably from all the twisted and turning his gut had done none too long ago. Has it always been there? Was he just blind to it? Or, um, deaf. No that's not it. It wasn't anything he felt, but he felt it. Or something. Like he had another sense, separate from all the others that was clueing him in on something. "What... is that?" He looked around for a moment, but he knew it wasn't here. No, of course not, it was somewhere else, the city. He could... Feel it. It was strong, like a oily film that just covered his entire skin, his... for lack of a better word spirit.
"That, my son, is Ostia."Oh yeah, he says his son now. Probably trying to feebly make up for all the things Elias just finished screaming about, but now he wasn't quite as interested in his own little personal issues as he had been before. There was a time and a place for that, and this was neither.
"Both of you... should leave. You don't know what's going to happen and I... I don't want to lose you. I know I sounded like a baby earlier, and this isn't a problem that just will go away, but it's not a thing we can fix if I never see you again." Elias tried to explain, hopefully his logic will reach the logical minds of his very logic driven parents. Or he felt they were logic driven, never showed HIM anything else at least. "I don't want to lose you. It's become far too dangerous to linger here, I was attacked and almost killed just coming near, I don't want to come back and find this land and what little family I have devoured by taint and evil."
"We... were waiting for you." His mother told him, trying to smile. "We knew you would return one day. As long as we just waited." UGH guilt.
"After you're done in the city, come back, we'll leave together." He put a hand on Elias' shoulder"
"Alright...." He didn't like it, but he accepted. "I mean, what are the chances Ostia will become a wasteland of death and destruction far harsher then it is right now in the time it takes for me to check it and come back?"
He left the home, his home, and caught sight of Wyatt, he didn't look too well. "You feel it too huh? Guess it's not just mages."
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Wyatt
Hero
The Volcano
How can someone win if winning means that someone loses?
Posts: 463
Etruria Fame: 2
Sacae Fame: -1
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Post by Wyatt on Nov 1, 2011 22:29:39 GMT -6
"Guess not." Wyatt responded, glancing in the direction he knew the city was. "Come on. We've got some investigating to do."
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It wasn't too long before the four of them had arrived at the ruins. One who had not seen it would be shocked with how totally Ostia had been demolished. Houses were burned to ash, walls torn down, skeletal bodies lining the streets. The earth was cold and barren, the skies black, and even the wind itself seemed to have stopped. Wyatt looked about the demolished city with a grim expression.
"If we're going to find something here, we should move quickly. I don't think it's safe to stay here."
He had nothing to base this on but his own gut instinct. But he'd learned to trust that instinct, it had served him well. Figured, all the trouble to get here, and now he just wanted to leave.
There was no knowledge to be gained here, just death.
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Ralph Meglane
Rogue
The Sightless Wanderer
Dishing out his own brand of justice.
Posts: 276
Etruria Fame: 1
Affinity: Wind
OoC Alias: Sarria
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Post by Ralph Meglane on Nov 2, 2011 19:37:31 GMT -6
The smell of decay and ash flowed through the air. Ralph could almost taste it in this quantity. This would be the first time he was thankful that he couldn't see. He didn't want to know what this place looked like based on the smells alone.
"If there are any doors that are still locked, leave them to me. I've learned a thing or two in my travels. As much as I don't like heading deeper in, my guess is that this is all originating from Ostia Castle." He searched his mind trying to remember the directions to the castle, but the smell continued to get to him, and he figured they would find the correct path eventually anyways.
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Elias
Mage Knight
The Crimson Mage
I'm just saying that the problem isn't going away, no matter how good we get at stabbing them.
Posts: 451
Etruria Fame: 1
Sacae Fame: 2
Lycia Fame: 1
Profession: The Crimson Mage
Affinity: Fire
Profile: Profile (updated)
OoC Alias: Elias
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Post by Elias on Nov 2, 2011 19:57:41 GMT -6
Whereas Wyatt and Ralph saw death, decay, chaos and corruption... All Elias saw was a question. What could have caused this? Who could of caused this? And why? Somewhere, nestled deep in these ruins was an answer, and he would find it. He led the horse by the reins, instead of riding it, still feeling a bit odd riding after oh so many years of avoiding horses like they carried some kind of plague.
The sky was tainted black with an incurable sickness that seemed to infect and seep into every nook, every cranny. The air itself carried a disease that killed and corrupted every it thing touched, what ever did this.... wasn't natural. It was no wonder where the beasts where coming from, but the question here was why they were coming here. What could of happen to destroy this land so fiercely, so violently that it began to defy the very natural order of the world. The walking dead, the unholy beasts who pelts caused violent reactions of other beasts, it all lead back to here. Something happened here, something was here that caused such unnatural phenomena, and Elias was determined to find out what.
"It's not safe anywhere." Elias muttered off-handely, but he didn't really have a desire to sit there while there was a whole city to pick through. The answer to this question was somewhere, and wherever it was, they wouldn't find it sitting at the entrance and freaking out about how dangerous it might be. "Onwards!" He said triumphantly, grinning, but keeping his voice down many many many notches from it's normal volume. Don't want to wake the dead, because that's actually liable to happen.
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Wyatt
Hero
The Volcano
How can someone win if winning means that someone loses?
Posts: 463
Etruria Fame: 2
Sacae Fame: -1
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Post by Wyatt on Nov 2, 2011 20:50:30 GMT -6
Wyatt brought up the rear guard as Elias led with Vadim, Ralph right behind them. As they passed into the castle, the deserted hallways howled fiercely as the wind whipped through them. Wyatt followed the trio, his pack clanking noisily. It wasn't too loud, but in this silence, it felt deafening. And then, as his foot stepped down, he heard a crack. He paused, looking about the castle hallway. The roof looked stable, the walls were fine, and the floor was built on the earth...so where?
And then he saw the fissures forming at his feat, spreading across the ground rapidly. Why now? Of course! The others were mostly light, but with his pack he probably weighed as much as an armored general! But still, why would the floor-
His train of thought was interrupted by the floor falling away, a dark chasam appearing behind the trio as he plummeted down. He felt himself rebound off of a couple pieces of rock on the way down, and his pack was severed, spilling open and scattering it's contents down the pit. As nasty as the bruising was, colliding with the walls had slowed him down, and probably kept the fall from being fatal. When he pulled himself up to look at what was happened, he found he was seeing everything with a red glow. Blood in his eyes? No...
Then he looked around him. The ground was made of stone, but on the stone were cracks that glowed red hot. Off to the sides he could see puddles of glowing red...was that metal? It sort of looked like smelted metal, but that seemed odd. It appeared to be a natural cavern of some kind, with a river of fire snaking through it. Looking up, Wyatt saw that he'd fallen over fifty feet easily. Way to far for him to climb, and too far for someone to safely jump. It was a miracle he'd survived it.
As he applied the last of his Vulnerary to himself, he shouted up.
"Hey! Can you guys hear me? Is there a rope or something up there?"
Because, of course, there would just be a fifty foot rope lying around.
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Ralph Meglane
Rogue
The Sightless Wanderer
Dishing out his own brand of justice.
Posts: 276
Etruria Fame: 1
Affinity: Wind
OoC Alias: Sarria
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Post by Ralph Meglane on Nov 3, 2011 13:43:54 GMT -6
While they were walking, what felt and sounded like an earthquake seemed to occur. Ralph stood completely still, not wanting to trip over any newly formed cracks in the earth, but he wasn't expecting Wyatt's voice from far below.
He crouched and felt around on the ground, finding where the fissure was, then backing up an appropriate amount. He looked to Elias, "What, I don't have a rope. Is there one around here? If not, we can't stop now. We'll just have to come back for him later."
Ralph didn't like the idea of leaving Wyatt behind, but they didn't have much of a choice. It was dangerous to stay in one spot.
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Elias
Mage Knight
The Crimson Mage
I'm just saying that the problem isn't going away, no matter how good we get at stabbing them.
Posts: 451
Etruria Fame: 1
Sacae Fame: 2
Lycia Fame: 1
Profession: The Crimson Mage
Affinity: Fire
Profile: Profile (updated)
OoC Alias: Elias
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Post by Elias on Nov 3, 2011 18:12:34 GMT -6
"Oh yes, leave the man in a fissure of the earth in a land full of walking corpses. Never been voted most amiable, have you?" Elias grumbled, sorting around through well everything. Through rubble, through his horse's pack. While he HAD rope, it wasn't quite long enough. Never did he imagine a situation that needed this much rope, not exactly the most prepared mage in the world. One more thing he needed to check off his list of things he is not. Maybe he could cut the rope into pieces and tie those pieces to bones and then tie them together... Or maybe, um, he could uh... Make Ralph take off that ugly cloak, Elias would have to spare his outfit as well and make a thing out of clothing or something. Ugh, he was kind surprised Wyatt was even alive. Maybe he should try to climb down somehow?
"Do you think... Hrm... No that's dumb." And for Elias to say it was dumb it had to be pretty dumb, this being the boy who things bright red is a perfect color for stealth. He stood for a moment, tapping his chin, thinking it over. Racking his crimson mind for a beautifully red answer to this very green problem. "Maybe if we look around we can find a way down there, or a way to get him up, or something. I can't just sit comfortably knowing he's stuck down there. But... there's nothing here that can help us." He muttered, touching his chin lightly.
"WYATT!" He shouted, cupping his hands over his mouth and bellowing down into the chasm. "DON'T GO OFF TOO FAR, I'M LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO GET YOU OUT WITH!" Geez, it was so far down. How did he even survive. He'd suggest Ralph stick around and keep an eye on him but... he laughed. Oh god, his soul's going to get trapped in the void isn't it? Anyways, anyone left behind would be easy prey for hungry hungry zombies.
Hrm... Looking around, he tried to remember just where he was, and where the nearest store was. Most likely, if they're gonna find rope it'll be in an store. A lot of old and ruined buildings sat around, just full of loot to be looted. Would be a paradise for bandits, if it wasn't for all the friggen demons. "Over there, I remember there used to be a store, this is where the well used to be. That might be why there's a cavern down there... or maybe Wyatt simply got lucky. Either way, he should thank his lucky stars, and maybe lucky moons and clouds as well. Come on."
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Wyatt
Hero
The Volcano
How can someone win if winning means that someone loses?
Posts: 463
Etruria Fame: 2
Sacae Fame: -1
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Post by Wyatt on Nov 4, 2011 15:56:28 GMT -6
Wyatt heard Elias call down to him. Great, so they were going to go find some way to get him out of here. He'd look around from down here, see if he could find something down here to help. Maybe a passage up closer to the ground...? As Wyatt looked about him, he saw that the stone did make a makeshift path across the molten river. Without his pack it seemed stable enough. Grabbing up his axe and his hammer, he made to cross the stone. He tapped it lightly with his foot, testing it's strength. It seemed solid enough...but so had the floor up there. He paused for a moment, considering. He wouldn't get anything done sitting here and being afraid, so he set his weight on the stone. And it held, without even a shake. He moved forward, placing his next foot down. It continued to hold as he slowly made his way down the path. Where it would go, he had no idea.
After a few minutes he saw something ahead of him. The path he was following came towards a large open area in the middle of the molten stone. There was an odd rock formation in the middle of this island, and it seemed destined to be explored. As he drew closer, he started to wonder if he was seeing things. What this rock formation was, it looked like an axe. Their were veins of glowing red heat running through it as well. Instinctively, he reached out his hand to grasp the handle of it, and pulled it back. Why was he surprised by the sudden heat? But heat didn't bother him, he was used to it.
He wrapped his hands around the handle and gritted his teeth against the pain. This thing was really hot! But he could endure it...he had to! He didn't know why, but he knew he had to.
He wasn't aware of it, but the earth above him began to shake and rumble as the ceiling, which was the ground those above walked on, began to weaken.
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Ralph Meglane
Rogue
The Sightless Wanderer
Dishing out his own brand of justice.
Posts: 276
Etruria Fame: 1
Affinity: Wind
OoC Alias: Sarria
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Post by Ralph Meglane on Nov 4, 2011 19:39:37 GMT -6
"Elias, we don't have time to stop and search for some rope in a burnt city. We'll just have to come back for him later." The clock was ticking. Every second they spent not stopping whatever the problem was, the more the undead would spread throughout Lycia.
The earth suddenly shook again, more violently this time. Ralph had to kneel to regain his balance. "I don't like the feel of this quake, Elias. It seems... unnatural." The dirt below his feet seemed to soften somewhat. Ralph wouldn't like whatever happened next, if anything.
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Elias
Mage Knight
The Crimson Mage
I'm just saying that the problem isn't going away, no matter how good we get at stabbing them.
Posts: 451
Etruria Fame: 1
Sacae Fame: 2
Lycia Fame: 1
Profession: The Crimson Mage
Affinity: Fire
Profile: Profile (updated)
OoC Alias: Elias
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Post by Elias on Nov 4, 2011 20:22:37 GMT -6
"Because the whole world ending can't wait ten seconds. Hell we could of even not have been here, it isn't like it's choosing to act up solely because we dropped by." He grumbled to the hideously dressed man, frowning a frown for no one to see. "If something horrible to cause the unbridled destruction of everything we love was going to happen, it would of happened by now. Or long after we leave, we're one tiny blip on the timeline of existence. A beautiful, fabulous blip that has far more fashion sense then any other blips, but still a blip. Unless we do something incredibly dumb, like touch something we really shouldn't, things shouldn't just avalanche out of control." He finished by crossing his arms, stubbornly and definitively, he wasn't gonna budge on his point.
"You can leave him if you want, go frolic in the corpses and pick skull flowers, but I'm not just gonna leave someone to die because I have the heebie jeebies. Now you can come with me, or go off on your own. I'm going to go look for rope."
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Wyatt
Hero
The Volcano
How can someone win if winning means that someone loses?
Posts: 463
Etruria Fame: 2
Sacae Fame: -1
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Post by Wyatt on Nov 4, 2011 20:42:02 GMT -6
Wyatt growled as the piece of stone stubbornly refused to budge. Wyatt had never seen a weapon like this before...was it even a weapon? it might have just been a coincidental piece of stone, but something told him that was not so. Something said that this was important. With a mighty roar, the axe came free of it's earthly bond, and the quake stopped. All was silent for a few moments, a terrifying silence as Wyatt held the axe in his hands. It wasn't searing hot anymore. It was still hot to the touch, but not so hot that it caused pain. He stood there for a moment, looking over the weapon, when the pile of stone he'd pulled it from exploded in front of him. He fell backwards, but maintained his footing as he stumbled back. The pile of rock had exploded into a geyser of the liquid fire, spewing into the air and ripping through the ground above him. Coincidentally, it would pierce the ground a few feet behind the others. Wyatt was fortunate, and didn't get splashed by the magma. And then, the geyser ceased, falling back into the pool of lava, which began to bubble and churn violently.
This was bad. But wait, he heard shouting above him...they were close!
"You guys! You've got to get out of here! This whole place is gonna come down!" He shouted, looking around frantically. He spied a smaller cave off to the side, but getting there would require jumping from stone to stone, across the river. A wrong move would mean a very painful death.
"I found a way out!" Probably a lie. "Get going! I'll meet up with you again!" Ok, that was definitely a lie. He finished what he had to say and took a deep breath, before beginning the jumps to his only escape from this mess of his own design.
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Elias
Mage Knight
The Crimson Mage
I'm just saying that the problem isn't going away, no matter how good we get at stabbing them.
Posts: 451
Etruria Fame: 1
Sacae Fame: 2
Lycia Fame: 1
Profession: The Crimson Mage
Affinity: Fire
Profile: Profile (updated)
OoC Alias: Elias
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Post by Elias on Nov 5, 2011 23:15:56 GMT -6
"You touched something didn't you!" Now wasn't the time to be shouting madly at lying blacksmiths who not only was going to get his self killed but everyone else in the area as well, but it was almost as if he timed it to happen right after Elias just dismissed Ralph's worries. Now Elias looked the fool, he'd have to grumble at Wyatt later. Assuming he lived, assuming they all lived. Magma geysers weren't exactly the most comforting sign. When the heat burst through the earth, they were fortunate. Fortunate enough to not have been in the area of effect, that is, it spouted high into the air, quite like a bottle of champagne once uncorked after being shook far too much.
He didn't waste time, his first act was calming to otherwise freaking the hell out horse, grabbing the reins and pulling the horse's head down. "Shh, hush." He spoke, the most pointless words ever and an experience rancher was probably rolling in his grave so hard it was causing a small earthquake, but it seemed to work all the same. Somehow. Climbing up on the steed, he didn't know how much time they had before things REALLY got ugly, but that rumbling was more or less proclaiming to the world 'not long'. Hefting one foot over the side, he reached out and grabbed the blind bandit's hand. "Come on, up on my horse, just remember to hold tight." Walking around blind really isn't the best thing to be doing right about now, where a wrong step would melt you entirely. "We need to hurry."
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Ralph Meglane
Rogue
The Sightless Wanderer
Dishing out his own brand of justice.
Posts: 276
Etruria Fame: 1
Affinity: Wind
OoC Alias: Sarria
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Post by Ralph Meglane on Nov 6, 2011 7:01:44 GMT -6
"I told you this felt unnatural..." Rather than giving Elias more reason to talk, Ralph hopped up onto his horse, calming it down somewhat. "I guess I still have a way with animals..." he recalled flying on Karina's Pegasus. That was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
The smell of ash and sulfur filled the air. He wasn't sure if he would rather have had the rotten smell or the sulfur smell in the air.
As they rode, Ralph asked Elias a quick question, "So now what?"
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Elias
Mage Knight
The Crimson Mage
I'm just saying that the problem isn't going away, no matter how good we get at stabbing them.
Posts: 451
Etruria Fame: 1
Sacae Fame: 2
Lycia Fame: 1
Profession: The Crimson Mage
Affinity: Fire
Profile: Profile (updated)
OoC Alias: Elias
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Post by Elias on Nov 6, 2011 18:22:34 GMT -6
The earth began to split more and and more with each passing second, with each moment they wait to not die, their chances of dying grow exponentially. "WE GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" He shouted pulling the reins taught, from the earth raised more and more pockets of magma. "Hold on tight!" He added, shouting over the sounds of rushing molten stone. It felt as if the world underneath them was crumbling, breaking away into heat and death. He whipped the reins of the horse, it bolting as fast as it's legs could carry.
As he rode he could see the earth break away as they moved like a blur, his mind full of so many things at the moment. He moved almost naturally, like a long lost skill suddenly returning to the surface, You never forget, I guess he was right... Turning sharply as the land in front of them began to give way, becoming flooded with the molten stones, he hurried down the streets, going around more and more cracks in the earth, each one they see growing more and more intense, impassable, the whole city was going to sink at this rate!
"Hurry!" He said outloud, his voice barely carrying over the sounds of destroyed homes and buildings growing ever more destroyed. Flailing undead corpses burning, melting alive, or dead. He could hear the pained howling of those unholy abominations, it was a fate that he didn't even wish on these affronts to the world.
"Come on!" He spouted, twisting again as it felt like they were stuck on a quickly sinking island a midst a sea of death and lava. The horse galloped quickly, but it was growing tired, carrying two fully grown men upon it's back. Not now, not like this, they needed to get out! They weren't going to die like this!
Almost as if his words were answered, he found the path. The roads were all but destroyed, and only a jagged line of broken glass and shattered stone remained. But there, in the wall of this city that trapped them like rats, there was a hope. There was a hole. That was their chance! "C'mon boy..." he whispered as he turned the stallion to the hole, the earth exploding into more and more violets streams of magma, almost as if it was following them. They moved faster then Elias had ever moved in his life, but it all felt so slow, each step each heartbeat took years to complete.
A jump, a final leap of faith over the broken rubble, and they were out. Out to save the sweet freedom of the plains. But it wasn't done yet, no no no, the earth still seemed to give way at their feet, but there was no soulless buildings and shattered homes, no roads and no walls to trap them within. The only way they could go was straight, and away from this dead land. Only to watch as Ostia is bathed in a sea of flame and destruction.
Whatever secrets Ostia held, they were gone now, gone with what remained of this dead land.
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