#artificialgrievand

[mysticalseamstress]

A dry spell

a story ft. @artificialgrievand

[mysticalseamstress]

Prompt: Drown Town

The deluge of Deep Ones did not slow. Even as many groups were separated or routed or otherwise entangled in the many defenses The Wielder was able to throw out, their press did not seem to falter. The determination that fueled them never wavered, and it made finding gaps in their defenses difficult

Things weren’t made any easier when a massive body seemed to start materializing throughout multiple floors of Her Mansion.

It wasn’t manifesting in any way that made particular sense. A knee near the top floor, a few rows of teeth in a few rooms and a staircase on an entire other wing, and an arm snaking its way through a hallway with no real regard for anyone, Deep Ones or otherwise. It was a mess of chummed Dagon, but it wasn’t exactly clear what was going on. Space-time distortions between realms were commonplace, and perhaps the idea of something brute forcing its way into such a space could explain why it seemed to be going so awry. Dagon’s presence was maddening, and the mental stress it might put the average humanoid under was notable. But Dagon’s efforts were mostly starting to fizzle out as soon as they hit a crescendo.

At least.

It seemed to be?

Casting the limbs and body parts out was little issue. Trapping them in place was equally as simple. But each time they were removed they seemed to flash back in, and if they were held, the entirety of the mansion seemed to creak at their mere presence.

All this on top of the Deep Ones beginning to no longer focus on a unified front and instead seeming to scatter. Attempts were still made to carve odd abyssal sigils into the wall along the way, but as with most of their magicks the spellcraft was sloppy. Very little progress was being made by them, if any at all.

It was all one big chaotic mess.

What can you do?

Wielder's fury reaches new heights.

She strides with determination down the halls and rooms of her realm, setting Deep Ones ablaze with barely any thought as she defends her realm in person and with power.

The scattered body parts confused her, and after the first few reappeared after being crunched into nothingness, she decided to separate those rooms from the rest of her realm, and keep them as separate as possible. In impossible space, they were infinitely apart from each other, while being infinitely away from her guests.

The pressure of something trying to muscle into her realm, like an intrusive thought in her mind, if anything a reminder to keep going until all interlopers were purged.

Maybe she could keep some of the nonmagical Deep Ones. Surely they could be entertaining when this was all over.

[arsenicfathips]

Fell Ocean Prompt:

This is too weird.

After seeing the salty waters dip down from the shoreline, Serket had asked you to do your best to survey some efforts to tend to a beached earth creature somewhere. Some big fish with a snappy jaw. She implored you not to eat the thing, but instead to watch over her crews as they tried to rescue it somehow.

Honestly it seemed way too big to be rescued, almost like a wasted effort. But those definitely seemed like the efforts Serket liked to make the most!

The Carapacians as ever seemed pretty uncomfy around you.

Watching from a safe distance was always pawsible, stalking from afar to get the jump on anything that tried to mess things up with your superior vantage point.

You could jump in and help try their ideas to move the thing with them, though Serket made it very clear she didn’t expect or require you to do that. Just general body guarding was fine enough.

Decisions decisions.

What will you do?

Approximately seventy-one percent of the Earth's surface is covered by water. It's impossible to truly fathom how much that is- quintillions of gallons of water, hiding a majority of the planet from our grasp. How much is really known about what happens beneath the waves? What is hiding from plain sight, just under the surface?

Apparently, from Nepeta's current view, not a whole lot. Despite the amount of land that had been uncovered from the shoreline's recession, not much had been revealed besides sand. Sand and weeds and rocks and branches. Any underwater life that was unfortunate enough to not escape with the tide had already suffocated before they had arrived to the scene. Nepeta stomped across the vast swathe of muddy disappointment with a slight grimace on her face.

Several meters ahead of the cat-troll, a line of carapacians marched downhill. They moved with a much higher degree of diligence than their bodyguard- either excited to reach their goal, or more than happy to keep distance between them and Nepeta. The group moved further down the ocean floor. They traveled alongside the edge of a freshly uncovered trench, where the sea level had sunken down to. Nepeta peered over the side and squinted, her brow furrowing as she watched the water rippled against the wet rocks. She imagined shadows, looking up at her from just under the surface. So far their trek across the sea bed had been uneventful; however, this trench would be the perfect (and maybe only) spot to set up an ambush. Maybe the fish men just... figured out to not go near the blueblood? Nepeta glanced up at the band of carapacians. They had managed to move quite a distance ahead of her while the troll was lost in thought. She gave the trench one last stare- and moved to catch up with the group.

After what felt close to half an hour of circling the shore, the research party finally had their destination in sight. Nepeta had seen all manner of monsters since she had begun her 'extended vacation' at the lighthouse; wild scalebeasts, mutated seadwellers, even some paranormal encounters! None of these, however, compared to the sheer size of the beast that lay in front of them.

The mosasaur. Still alive, somehow. A truly massive animal, almost twenty times the size of Nepeta. It lay on its side, body heaving up and down with every slow breath it could take. The carapacians approached the behemoth and begun to unpack their field equipment. Nepeta cocked her head to the side, one hand on her hip. She laughed to herself, "There's no way Purrket thought I could stomach something this big!" She eyed the mosasaur up and down once more. "Not in... one piece, anyhow."

Not that she would interfere with the carapacian's work, of course!

Although,

She did admit to herself that she would be up the challenge.

With no fishy freaks for Nepeta to lay the smackdown on, the next twenty-ish minutes felt like an hour to her. She circled around the research team, peeking over shoulders to glance at measurements and observations Nepeta had no understanding of. The mosasaur did not seem to notice, or perhaps care as the carapacians poked and prodded its body. Nepeta ran a hand across its slick body. Honestly, she felt pity for the poor thing. Pity and a nagging hunger that she pushed to the back of her mind.

Once the team had finished their work, a problem presented the group- what to do with the mosasaur. It seemed everybody has assumed that Nepeta would just be able to push it back into the water. She PROBABLY had the strength to move the beast- but lacked the necessary arm span. If she just pushed into the mosasaur's side, Nepeta would end up punching straight into its guts! The carapacians huddled together, discussing what the best course of action would be. It would take some time to have means of transportation delivered- there was a good chance the animal would be dead before it arrived. Perhaps they should just put the poor thing out of its misery? The researchers turned to Nepeta, asking if she would be willing to do the deed. She pursed her lips.

"Hmm... what if..." Nepeta rummaged through her pockets. "Maybe I could just..."

MOSASAUR added to your Sylladex!

[mysticalseamstress]

Prompt: Torn Tides

It started with one.

Then three.

Then far more than that.

Deep Ones poured into the mansion from points unknown but connections created. Not just the creatures themselves, but the waters as well. Maryam’s waters. Tainted and ruined from mere contact with the entities. Many of the lower floors of the mansion partially flooded as the fishy cultists began tearing into walls, carving awful sigils, and surging forward to create chaos.

There would be counter measures, of course. The Deep Ones were in hostile territory almost immediately upon entry. Their task was an impossible one, but they didn’t slow. This was an invasion attempting to become an infestation.

What’s worse, a good three or four seemed to be wielding that awful Dream Magic The Weaver had encountered before. Attempting to send corridors and rooms into an entirely different ocean from either Serket’s world or this one.

The Cerenarian Sea thrummed. Wanting.

What will you do?

Weaver feels the incursion attempts upon her realm, and realizes that she made a mistake.

Feeling the incursion, she tries to isolate the point of entry, making a single long pathway of rooms to funnel them, cutting the rest of the mansion (and most importantly, her guests she had promised safety to) from the incoming horde.

The wielders of Dream Magic could maybe send parts of her realm away, but they could not create new access points where she refused them to exist.

Burning staff in hand, Weaver becomes Wielder of the Burning Rose. In the center of it all, standing with staff in hand, aflame, blazing insect wings and a countenance like crackling embers.

"You Trespass Upon My Realm. You Endanger My Guests. By Your Insult To Me Your Lives Are Forfeit. Halt And Accept A Swift Death, Or Suffer In Perpetuity."

Magic wielders find themselves separated from the rest of the army, as rooms shift and turn. The water drains away, meeting rooms turn to ovens, gardens become overgrown with blazing rosebushes. Every room a new threat, as the defaced rooms collapsed on themselves taking away any invaders unfortunate enough to be within.

The invading force found itself facing a greater might than they could have imagined. The fairy had been holding back on the mortal realm, while here she had full access to her power, and no compulsion to hide herself.

Their numbers are vast, but her power is overwhelming.

Her attention, however, is not infinite. Serket and the others would have to handle themselves for a time.

[mysticalseamstress]

Fell Ocean Prompt:

Serket reaches out to you explaining a peculiar situation in Hull, the Peninsula you know her to be based. Apparently the water levels have dropped quite severely around the whole area, exposing various sea life to a potentially grim fate. Serket consults you, of course, hoping to ask for your presence to survey the situation.

Of course dealing with the sloppy magic of these Deep One’s has already left its mark on you. With your abilities, and apparently Artemis also being there, it would be easy enough to give guidance from afar.

It doesn’t seem like anything has happened yet, as it were.

But of course these creatures seem fond of their ambush tactics as you recall.

What do you do?

The fairy knows better than to try to do extreme acts outside of her realm.

And that to oppose the Deep Ones without full force would mean potentially calling harm upon Serket and Artemis, let alone the rest.

So she instructs Artemis on how to do a contract on her behalf.

In exchange for the shores of her realm; an altar at the light house; and the mystery of the gods of the twin zee; she requested the sea spare the living creatures finding themselves stranded or in a dire situation, and to communicate to Serket and her allies on potential incursions from those who would do them harm from beyond the shores.

For, after all, everyone heard stories of the untameable nature of the ocean, and how it could not and should not be controlled.

But it may aid those who fear and respect it, and knew how to listen to the signs.

[mysticalseamstress]

Miss Wielder! Or whichever moniker might 8e most fitting for the situation at hand! Are you perhaps availa8le?

Wielder Will Do For Now. I Am Working On A Solution For That... Hopefully.

For You Always, Serket! What Might You Need?

[arsenicfathips]

Don’t mind me I’m just dusting up all this dust in here!

:33c < good aftermewn, purrket!

:33 < and sorry about the mess h33h33

:33 < its supurr cool that mew can turn your hands into mini hivesw33pers though

;33 < thats canon now!

[emeraldquiver]

Distractions

(ft. @artificialgrievand)

Normally, Artemis would have hiked back to the shop to use the permanent door to other worlds there. What with Maryam doing changes, and there being nothing but rooms upon rooms in her realm, Artemis found herself less willing to call it so. Wandered?

Whatever it was, it certainly made her feel confined. Sure, she enjoyed having a warm bed and a ceiling above her head, but even with the sheer scale of the building, it still was a form of indoors, and she missed the outside.

Artemis double checked her pack. Rations (both food and blood, whatever she was now seemed to be able to subsist on both), assorted knives, bow and arrows with assorted arrowheads, firearms with ammunition of various lethalities...

You never knew what might await when hanging around Serket.

Come think of it... when was the last time they had spent time together? The mansion?

... wow she had really been out of it.

Literally.

But talking to Maryam was just... so difficult. Artemis couldn't hold onto that grudge forever. Just had to find her.

Yeah. When she came back she'd do that.

Absolutely.

Artemis strapped the pack on, and opened the door.

On the other side, awaited the coast.

Artemis looked around, closing the door behind herself. She was exiting from what seemed to be a waterfront property, and she could see the coast extend to her left into the ocean some ways.

The ocean seemed choppy, and the skies overcast. She would have to find Serket soon, if anything to stay out of the rain.

She pulled the hood of her overcoat up, and stepped onward. The door couldn't have dropped her too far from the robot gal.