Cradle Cleansed Area

[Naomi]

Cradle Guardian pic

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Restored Azure Glades pics

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https://i.imgur.com/yxLIgs4.png

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the forward research post, second in it's chain, stands atop a high peak in the northern border of the Azure Glades. Swathes of woodland bearing deep amethyst foliage creating a sea of prismatic purple and turquoise hues, giving way in the distance to verdant greens and whites further to the north. Atop the raised peak, the air feels heavier, not enough so as to be difficult to breathe, but it has been well documented that any capacity for flight appears to be quite severely limited, inducing a much greater fatigue both in humanoid and beast than they otherwise might experience in any other part of the world. Nevertheless, a Vohn'Da scribe approaches the party at the lookout point, overseeing the world beneath them, bowing courteously and unravelling a parchment clasped in her hands, wolven ears flicking slightly in
concentration. "Noble adventurers, before we begin, I have been granted the capacity to extend the sincere gratitude of Vohn'Da for your participation in our latest expedition." She points a gloved finger to a large prismatic shard jutting proudly from the ground in the distance, the large crystalline structure seemingly gathering a collective of the shimmering light emanating all around the atmosphere. "Our excavators have discovered what we believe to be a tunnel system at the base of one of the crystals; this being the only one thus far that we've been able to study up close. We believe it to be a power source of some kind, but at the moment cannot risk to investigate further until the area is deemed safe. We ask that you enter below, explore and document as much as you can and report back to us. We have Mephos that have been conditioned enough to make the flight to get you there, but must be allowed to rest whilst you're inside so that they can return you and themselves to us. Go with haste, keep your blades as sharp as your minds, and greatest fortune to you all." She bows politely before taking her leave, several handlers approaching shortly after bearing the great beasts, keen and eagerly awaiting their riders. once all riders prepared, the beasts took off one after another, their flight steady but clearly laborious, muscles tensing beneath scale and fur, the beating of those wings seemingly meeting a greater, unseen resistance and taking a much greater toll. The flight is short, but offering plentiful vistas of the beyond, colour blending into colour as the various regions of the Cradle coalesce around the great mountain
* Jarek_Kaeden in the centre of the grand crater. The crystalline structure grows closer and closer, and it is only here that one can truly appreciate it's size, standing scores of storeys tall, unknown aetheric energy of untold power rippling not unlike a heat haze in subtle vibrations upon the opaque surface, almost vertigo inducing to those unfamiliar or in fear of heights. At the very base, a sizeable tunnel, carefully and meticulously carved out reveals a door of deep indigo stone, inlaid with silver-coloured detail, not unlike a network of veins carrying miniature motes of light along their length, a number of runic symbols carved into a circular extrusion in the centre of the door.
Salla|Cora| dismounts with every sign of relief and pats her beast on it's haunch as she steps away "Thanks big fella, rest up so we're ready to go back." She will turnd and look up and up and up and up, and gie a whistle at the size of the huge crystal. Fingers find her pan flute and brings it to her lips. Newly minted bard's gotta bard and she plays something light and jaunty while waiting for the others to join her at the bast of the massive crystal the notes of the pan flute ringing through the air seemed to spark a rudimentary reaction in the motes flowing through the door, temporarily brightening before dimming to their regular due as they travelled through the silvery veins. However, the runes around the centre of the door seemed to much more strongly resonate with the notes emanating from Zayla's voice, one by one lighting up with each note until they came full circle. The protruding circular disk loudly rumbling to life as if spending untold amounts of time in a state of torpor, the disk slowly turning a hundred and eighty degrees before shakily sliding backward, a pitch dark bar gliding across it as the doors swung open, the force sending tremors through the ground around them before finally laying still, open, pale blue light revealing a set of stairs cut from the same stone leading downwards.

the descent into the below was long, the tunnel leading further and further into the depths of the Cradle, the blue lights emanating from vine-like fixtures that ran the length of the archway, eventually the wall shifting from solid stone to windowless arches that offered a grand, if restricted view of the great cavern into which they were descending, great vessels of crystalline glass carrying a thick, silvery substance, not unlike that found in the door swirling viscously, sparkling almost as it was transported...somewhere. Gargantuan lights of that same pale blue casting the cavern walls into focus as the stairs eventually led them to a circular dais, three stone plinths standing in a row in the centre of the room, more of those runes etched into the tome-like sculptures with a large arched door at the wall ahead.
to those with the sight to see, the room, the very cavern was alive with magic, as if running through the very veins of the structure, the depths of the stone in the walls, floors and ceiling, the pipes carrying the swirling silver almost blindingly bright in their radiance of it. The arcane serenity however, would be quickly disturbed at the sound of the flute that resonated throughout the room, unseen etchings in the door suddenly coming to life and awakening the crystals at the perimeter of it, each of them glowing a bright purple and emanating a continuous beam of scorching light that barred the way, catching Salla upon the arm as she drew to close, the beams narrowly missing Zayla as the scriptures upon the plinths resonated in her mind. From the first: "Gah'rheyth, Attokis, Bah'lehn, protectors of the sacred way-lines."

From the second: "Bhapsk'ha, Bho'eil, Gehn'dra, keepers of the archive." From the third: "Bryn'kadar, Avekias, Grah'tia, custodians of the guardian - Each note to honour the Nine, a proclamation of thy loyalty, that the way might open." whether by some stroke of luck or the happenchance that the notes just happened to be such, each note reverberated through the room and the door, the signifying runes casting themselves across the width of the door, the beams dissipating as quickly as they had appeared, and a slow deliberate descent as the large obstacle began to recede into the ground, revealing another long and winding stairway leading down in smooth curves, the steps themselves held up by what would appear to be nothing to the naked eye, but upon a closer inspection by those able to sense and feel magic, would reveal a multitude of small, contained pockets of concentrated aetheric power levitating each of them. It was here that the cavern would reveal itself in it's entirety. The cavern itself spanning entire leagues into a fading blackness that obscured the furthest reaches of it from view, the stairway leading down onto another, much larger dais. Inspection of the platform and it's surroundings would reveal nine elongated rectangular shapes with what appeared to be a wafer thin fabric that held the texture and transparency of purple tinted glass, a pane inset into the lid, revealing a featureless masked figure, arms crossed over their chest, implying a sarcophagus of some description, each of them arranged in a circular formation around the edges of the platform, with a single, featureless plinth situated at the overlook of the platform, whereupon would be revealed what appeared to be a colossal mountain of rubble and twisted metal, a large protruding flat clear crystal set into the middle of the lectern.
the stone beneath rumbled, ruptured and cracked from the shock of the potent incantation, the passing tremors flowing into the plinth, the force depressing the crystal into the recess behind it, the gem glowing with an intense light as the ground worked to repair itself, though a deeper tremor could then be both heard and felt as the flowing silver essence began to pump with a much greater urgency through the pipes and deep into the mountain of rubble. All fell still and quiet for a moment, then what felt like an earthquake began to rumble and tremor throughout the cavern, something moved among the mountain, the cracking of stone and the high pitched squeal of straining metal as the two seemed to interweave and come together to from a giant hand, then another, both coming down to plant upon the ground with a deafening boom, a large bright yellow light illuminated from deep in the centre of the stone, rising as the colossal figure began to push itself to it's feet, chunks of rock falling from it's structure, clearly damaged, but sustained by the pipes that rose with it, connected at it's middle, seemingly giving it life after untold millennia of slumber until finally it stood upright, almost as tall as the very ceiling itself, letting out a loud, bass-like sound that reverberated through every fibre of the adventurers with almost enough force to knock them from their feet before finally, with a great and deliberate motion, raised it's arms to deliver a smiting blow, only to instead hold them out to it's side. Two large stone ports formed from the collapsed material, coalescing and forming two enormous rock pipes into which the titan relinquished it's hands, locking still as if frozen in time, the entirety of the cavern suddenly lighting up in a series of luminescent globes that eliminated any semblance of darkness in the entire place, bringing it to life and from far, far above, a reverberating boom that shook the very foundations of the cavern echoes throughout it's entirety before all fell silent, safe for the quiet, almost serene hum of the metal and stone giant.

With the Cradle Guardian awoken and returned to it's place, the power channelled through it via the pipes cancels out the reverberation of the crystal above. Immediately apparent upon returning to the surface you find the air far less heavy and much more akin to that of the rest of the world, perhaps even somewhat less so having grown so accustomed to it whilst in the Cradle. The return via the Mephos is swifter than expected, perhaps as much to their surprise as to your own. Returning to the camp, every Vohn'Da scholar in the camp has gathered to watch the spectacle take place as all manner of avian life suddenly takes to the sky, flock after flock, dancing and delighting at finally being able to fly once more after such an amount of time that you're not sure you would like to begin to imagine. You are thanked profusely for your efforts, paid in a generous amount of coin, and are promptly bombarded with questions as to what happened and what you saw.