this is Salem, a land filled with magic and maladies. It is a place where witches and their elemental familiars gather, a home to legend and
lore that predates time itself. Yet of all the wicked and wonderful stories the past can tell us of, the most magical are the ones yet to happen.
This is Salem - this is the start of your very own journey. Welcome to starfall
Starfall is an animaga witch roleplay set in mostly modern times. Members play as witches in a world plagued by monsters, where the only safe spots are walled cities. Starfall strives to be a character-driven roleplay with expansive lore and a highly interactive plotline. We want to allow members to
create and look back on a magical journey, and mold the site and its plot as their characters grow.
The beach was calm at this point in the day. The sun had yet to set fully but it was well on its way to going down the horizon. The families with younger kids had pretty much vanished and now most of what was left were lovers hoping to watch the sunset and teenagers trying to wait until dark to do skinny dipping or something equally as sexual in the cover of night that their parents didn't know about. Maybe a fire and some ill gotten alcohol. You know teen stuff.
Billy didn't really do much of that stuff as a teen. He'd spent so much of his teenage years in a circus around people that were not his age. It was still kind of weird to be around peers to be honest. It was something he didn't really ever grow up with during that lovely puberty saddled age so it just felt wrong to him. He had always been around those much older than himself. Well mostly... there were a few kids here and there that got caught up in the circus life but they never lasted long. It was just how it had to be.
"Well... not the best time but... at least nobody will wander into the cave," he said to the small cat that was being carried in his bag. Dr Puddy was a tad bit excited about this exploration. He hoped there would be treasure she could use to fund her research perhaps. Who knows with her. Maybe she just wanted a crown like she deserved.
He was to meet another girl he vaguely knew from the coven for this exploration. Travel in groups of two at least they say. Oh well maybe it'd be fun at least. He stared into the gapping maw of the cavern and went inside. They'd planned to meet inside the cave entrance or by it. He couldn't really remember to be honest. Inside the mouth of the cave was a large cavernous room and what looked to be two side openings that both went down. She should be here soon... but would it hurt to maybe take a small peak? Who knows.
I press the button and[break]it bursts into life[break]This time nothing will escape my sight
There is no part of Ling that doesn't like exploring. Thus, there is absolutely no part of Ling that isn't shaking-out-of-her-skin excited for this mission. Exploring a cave! From possibly ancient times! Who knows what they could discover! She all but bounces the entire way to the beach, teeth glittering in a pearl-white grin that threatens to split her cheeks in two; any casual observer could immediately label the spark in her eyes as 'possibly maybe slightly insane'.
Not that she cares.
Sand has already gotten into her socks and shoes by the time she reaches the mouth of the cave ( and somehow into her hair as well, the struggles of having long hair™ ), but even that can't take the edge off her excitement. She is, however, a little confused as to why her mission partner isn't there. Ling is.... maybe a little bit late, so he should already be here?? But he's not?? Did she... misremember something? Or maybe he's one of the teenage guys out near the water's edge? But she's fairly sure the name given to her belongs to someone who is Decidedly Not A Teen™.
"Or maybe he's inside," Valkea suggests dryly, padding quietly to her side.
She blinks. Why didn't she think of that! Ugh, she's such an idiot sometimes. "You're right." Wandering closer to the entrance, she peers inside, trying to pierce through the gathered gloom. "Uh, hello? Billy? Are you in here? This is Ling, your mission partner."
He was with a twelve year old. Well this would be more fun because that meant she still had the youthful glow of exploring and wanting to find the mystery. Billy didn't really do much of that stuff as a teen since he was on the run from his parents. He did do a lot of other fun things like learn to juggle... knives... and throw... knives... and acrobatic stuff. with knives
"It's pretty big in here, like just wow," he shouted upon hearing the girl shouting into the cave. Well since she was here he might as well wait the thirty seconds it would take for her to get into the large opening. It wouldn't be to much to wait right? But also... cave exploring. At least this part of the cave was bright and easy to see. He couldn't wait to creep down into the depths.
"You ready to get exploring!!!??" he shouted excited at the young girl as she would no doubt make her way into the large room. They had honestly only two real options to go through... I mean unless they wanted to explode things and make another entrance. That could also be fun. Or maybe melt the rocks. He didn't really have the potions for that at the moment though... did he?
"Should we go left or right? OH and here are a couple of potion bottles just in case if you want them! You'll probably want them. Lets go!" he was loud and kind of obnoxious wasn't he? To be honest of the four potion bottles he was attempting to unload on the poor girl... only two of them were actual potions. Glitter water was mixed in just for fun. He liked to have fun.The other ones were... a mystery. He'd let her decided which way to go. Left... or right?
I press the button and[break]it bursts into life[break]This time nothing will escape my sight
There's an answering shout from inside the cave, and she brightens upon hearing it. "Gimme a sec, I'm coming in!" she calls, starting forth and letting the shadowy gloom swallow her into its depths. Once inside, Ling blinks upon realising that it's a whole lot lighter than what she'd expected, especially with how dark the entrance had seemed. Huh. Maybe that was more the outside shadows then. Still, she wonders if she should ILLUMINATE the place, or draw up a quick KENAZ rune.
Maybe later. She'll ask Billy about it. "Heck yeah!!" she responds, just as excitedly as her mission partner once she reaches him. Seeing him in person stirs up memories of playing RPGs with Zeph - and the realisation dawns. Welp, no need to say anything; no need to reveal that she maybe have slightly a little bit forgotten about him.
"Uh-" She looks around at the two pathways, about to respond; and then she's distracted by the potion bottles Billy abruptly shoves into her hands. Ling quickly cradles them close so as to not drop them. "Oh!" she exclaims. "Thank you! What potions are these?" Some hasty juggling later, the vials are ( somewhat ) safely stored in her pack; Ling, meanwhile, pulls out some of her own pre-written runes and presses them into Billy's hands. "You should take some of these as well! These ones are standardised, meaning you don't need to be a runescripter, all you've gotta do is channel mana through them and they'll work. Be careful though, they're explosive arrays."
Considering the two pathway options, Ling... basically just flips a mental coin and chooses a random direction. "Let's go left!" she says, smiling up at her partner. scrolls used: EXPLOSIVE ARRAYS
Ling was hard to forget. Mostly because she was like literally the one female member who had shown up to their little role playing group with Zeph. He was fine with that because gross girls. Some hot dads needed to join as soon as possible. Mostly so he could stare at them while playing and also partially to throw it in Heath's face that he got to hang out with hot dads with his 'nerdy' hobby. Bonus.
"I do love making things go boom," he said upon receiving these little explosive device... runescripping things. He'd make good use of them. He'd make things explode and go boom when he got the chance. Maybe that tunneling through the wall thing wouldn't just be a dream after all. He was certain there had to be something blocking a path they could use it on.
"Oh the potions... well its a secret." he hummed, putting his finger in front of his lips. She just shouldn't drink them... or drop them. Or actually do anything near them because while two of the bottles literally just had water and glitter... the other two contained aquapyre. Not exactly something you want to get on yourself unless you like... you know burning at the stake.
"To the left it is!" he said fist pumping into the air. No doubt the light would be scarcer the farther down they went. He probably should make some light now before they went to far. He charged his mana into the palm of his hand and created an orb of light to help light their way down. It was a little ball of sunshine just floating in the palm of his hand to help light their way.
I press the button and[break]it bursts into life[break]This time nothing will escape my sight
"You'll love these then," she responds with a grin. Her arrays will be put to good use, of that she's certain.... if not, perhaps, in the safest hands. Oh well. Ling... really isn't one to talk safety, either, for all that she tries. There is a reason why a lot of the cafe regulars know not to sit too close to her while she's experimenting....
Secret? She looks down at the pouch holding the vials with a slightly worried frown, wondering briefly if she should store them within a storage array to be on the safe side. Then she dismisses the thought. She can trust Billy. Looking up and him with a grin, she rocks back on the balls of her feet and squares her shoulders. "I guess I'll just have to find out later, then!"
Ling follows after Billy, eyes sparkling with enthusiasm matching his shout. Her earlier concerns about light are dismissed when the older witch creates an orb of light to hover within his palm, illuminating their surroundings with its luminous glow. "What do you think we'll find down here?" she muses, glancing around. The walls enclosing them are rugged, rough. Clearly naturally formed. Only....
The further they progress, the less irregular the walls seem to get, and the smoother they seem to become. It's a gradual thing, enough so that Ling begins to wonder if she's just hallucinating the entire thing. But honestly.... they almost seem... man made...?
"Uh, Billy," she says, looking around again, this time with a little less enthusiasm. "Does this tunnel look natural to you?" scrolls used: EXPLOSIVE ARRAYS
"I'm hoping some kind of cool relic... ooo or maybe like chupacabra or like a yeti live down here and we will be the first to find them." So really... he was cryptid hunting or looking for something maybe he could use for cryptid hunting. That was usually his modus operandi after all... he usually took missions that had a possibility of being related to some form of cryptid.
"I've heard that pirates used to dock around here so maybe it'll be something cool" he hummed as they made their way down the sloping rock formation. The farther they got along the path... the less and less it looked like this was some kind of naturally formed cave. Pretty clever actually from the looks of it.
"Honestly? My best guess is it looks like either someone carved out of an existing tunnel to make it bigger or was very careful to make it look natural in the beginning where most people would stop. I'm guessing the former... wouldn't be the first time someones dug out a cave to make a hideout." The farther down they got the less they could see without the orb light that was in Billy's palm.
"We should stick close and talk quietly... never not what kind of creatures might be down here ya know?" he said in a much softer voice. He was at least mildly taking this seriously. Well at least more than most missions. When things got actually dangerous he could be serious... its just a lot of his missions were not something challenging so there was no need to be serious when fighting just a simple wolf creature or anything like that.
The rock formation around them started to widen as they walked on... the gentle drips of water could be heard in the distance. Soon enough they'd come to a fork in the road and a much wider space. On the left it went down further into the depths while the right seemed to kind of level off. Which way do you go? What lies upon each side? Exploring time.
I press the button and[break]it bursts into life[break]This time nothing will escape my sight
"Ooh, a relic would be cool," she says, eyes sparkling as she considers the sheer possibilities of awesome potential relics to be found. Ling has a pretty good imagination, so... Crypids would be amazing too- just think of the research and the implications! While she's well aware that most of her crazy ideas are just that - absurd, and entirely unlikely to ever come to fruition - she likes to keep her mind open. "If there were pirates, maybe we'll find some treasure!"
Looking more closely at the walls, she runs her hand along the now-not-so-craggly rock, fingers trailing behind her along the almost-smooth surface. Now that she's thinking, it's very obviously the work of some earth technique - and she should know. Billy's explanation makes sense, and is definitely preferable ( not to mention more logical ) to the whispers of apprehension born from too many horror novels that had been beginning to creep, insidious, into her ears.
"Hopefully nothing too scary!" she responds, perhaps a little too cheerfully for her words. But taking the advice, she moves closer to the older witch, Valkea a silent pale shadow ghosting in her wake.
Their footsteps are muffled on the rock-sand floor, drowned out by the ever-present roar of the ocean in the distance and the drips of water ricochetting through the confined space. Illuminated by the luminosity of the light orb, the mystery-laden darkness before them eventually tapers into a fork. A crossroads, yet again. She blinks, frowns slightly at the two choices, mentally drawing a map of their choices so far. While this is only the second divergence, who knows how many there will be upcoming?
"Uhh, should we go right?" She points at the much more level path, peering forth as if she could somehow divine the best choice through sheer willpower alone. "It looks like it'll probably reach a conclusion sooner." scrolls used: EXPLOSIVE ARRAYS
"Pirates do seem to love their buried treasure. I hope it is in an actual treasure chest then with like gold coins in it," It was a dream to have. Of course given how long this place had been smashed and the entrance submerged in water there was a high probability that anything like that would have long decayed or broken beyond repair. Any metal would probably be rusted or dented because of the sea and the rocks.
Hopefully it was nothing to scary? Well honestly everything was scary when you thought about it. The best option was just not to think about it and distract yourself as much as possible. If you do it enough you don't think about it... well most of the time you don't think about it and can enjoy things however trivial they may be. Just for a moment. Just one.
There was still the sounds of the sea around them. These cave walls must not be very thick... or there was an opening somewhere nearby that lead outside above the water. It could be either honestly... though the sounds pointed to there being an opening... or some body of water at least. Maybe an underground lake? They should probably follow the sounds as the cave smell left little room to sniff around for the sea air.
"Right it is!" he said as the turned right into the fork. This passage seemed to be much more level than the one they did not choose. He could hear the water sounds getting softer as they went along the path. Wrong way... or... dead end perhaps? He kept moving with the light magic in his hand until they came into a small room enclosed on all four sides. It looks like there used to be an opening on the left but there were... lots and lots of rocks in the way. Maybe a rockslide or some kind of damage caused this? All he knew was it wasn't something they could squeeze through. "Well that's annoying."
There's something about the background rush-roar of waves and the endlessly similar cave walls stretching far off into the gloom that makes keeping track of time nearly impossible. Honestly, it could be anywhere between hours later and ten minutes later that they finally arrive at something worth noting ( though she would really rather it weren't the latter - with her legs beginning to feel the first stirrings of tiredness, her pride would like to think that they've covered some significant distance at least ). A strangely-shaped room with a collapsed tunnel to the left - certainly fitting with the tunnel-exploration aesthetic.
She studies the former opening with interest, moving closer to inspect the composition of the fallen rocks. A quick consultation with her familiar later, and she turns to her mission partner with a light of determination in her eyes. "I can probably LIFT most of these rocks away," she says, then smiles and gestures at herself. "Earth elemental here. Or if that fails, we can try blasting through the rockface with explosive arrays." Another considering pause as she runs through the runes she's most comfortable with, and their properties. "Or, I could weaken the rocks with an array.... though that may be dangerous if I can't limit it to the blockage specifically... Wouldn't want the whole cave to crash down on us, right?"
Ling carefully applies a small, controlled LIFT to one of the closest, outermost rocks, and grins in satisfaction as it slides free without too much trouble. The rest of the blockage grumbles a bit, but nothing collapses in on itself. "Yeah, I think it's possible," she concludes. "So... what d'you think? Should we turn back, or try getting through this tunnel?"
The rocks and magic are just obstacles to the true goal of everything. Everything must and will be for the true goal. Steel meets bone and liquid will run down the hilt. There will be burning and pain before there becomes cold nothing. That is how it must be. That is how it all must be. The End.
"Yeah if you think you can lift these away enough that we can squeeze by that'd work. Probably. Most Likely... I think? I don't really have anything that can blast through them easily." Well they could light them all on fire with a potion but that'd probably not be in their favor. More than likely they'd just burn for hours without melting and if they did... well molten rock would ooze towards them and that is just as bad.
"We can always try for a little bit just to see how far back the rocks go. If it is to far then we'll just turn back! We could always explode it too and hope for the best!" he said with a cheerful grin. He had his arms placed on his hips and let out a boisterous laugh like a cartoon villain would in an old timey cartoon. He was... really weird wasn't he? Don't answer that question.
The rock formation itself wasn't very deep. In all honesty at her current magic level it should only take a few minutes to loosen enough rocks that they could push their way through without damaging the cave walls. It would be quicker just to explode the rock wall though. Of course it was up to them if they wanted to do so. The cave itself was probably not the most stable given how the rocks were essentially caved in.
She pokes at the rock wall one last time, quickly calculating which boulders would be the most unstable and which would be the best to lift away, then nods, satisfied. Steely determination threads through her eyes, through her spine; she straightens her shoulders and faces her task. "Okay Val. You ready?"
"Always," her familiar responds warmly, steady and reliable as ever. Sometimes (always ), Ling is so glad she has a familiar like him.
On a mental count to three, the two of them coordinate LIFTs and heave two boulders out of the way, depositing them to the side before rapidly targeting another rock. The wall wobbles, groans, spits out a shower of dust and pebbles, but it doesn't collapse. Excellent. Again, she goes in for a rock; no incident. But the third time she goes to LIFT a boulder, the rest of the formation collectively grumbles at them in a few seconds of warning before they crumble down into mini mountain of rock.
Valkea, having seen the consequences before she had noticed, tackles her out of the way in a blur of white. "Get back!" she manages to yell at Billy before she hits the ground. Though, given how he had been standing further back, he should be fine. ( In fact, even she probably would have been fine, minor bruises aside - the formation had merely collapsed on itself, not fallen on top of her. )
After the dust clears ( and some minor coughing later ), a new entrance is revealed, still half-blocked by rocks at the bottom, but there's enough of a gap at the top to shimmy through. Well, for Ling, at least. She's not sure how Billy will fare. "Do you want me to LIFT a few more blocks, or should we just climb through?" she asks, eyeing the opening critically. "Or, Val and Dr Puddy can go through and check it out first."
The rocks needed to be exploded. Boom. That was the plan. That was always the plan to be honest. The rocks caved in on themselves and the dust wooshed over the group. It made him sneeze actually but he was far enough back that he was in pretty much no danger at all.
"You okay there?" Well she was alive at least so that was a good sign. Now how could he do this quickly and without her trying to stop him. He assumed given that display at least her familiar would try to stop this from happening given how the creature pretty much body checked the girl for something that posed almost no threat to her life.
'Puddy Puddy. Can you do your thing? I'll make you extra tuna for your help.' he thought, his mental link to the small feline familiar causing a mental sigh from the cat. She would do as asked of course. It helped that she was in the same pocket as the Explosive Arrays that Ling had given Billy earlier. Living the luxury life sometimes was to their benefit.
"What do you think Dr Puddy?" he said with a cheerful grin. The cat sauntered over to the pile of rocks, making her way to the upper reaches of the pile. The best bet was to activate the explosive array with mana and chuck it into the hole already created. It should blow apart the rock formation while also not exploding their faces off. The downside was rocks would probably be flying everywhere. They had to book it to that hallway before the room. "Boom." That was all Dr Puddy said before it began.
"Oops time to run, hey look a hallway! HAHAHAHA" he said with a loud laugh as he rushed towards the hall. Dr Puddy poured mana into the array and chucked it quickly down the hole. The cat made a really fast beeline for her master thanks to... you know being a cat. It was kind of scary how fast she was booking it. Hopefully Ling got the hint to... you know not stand near the soon to be rock rain that was going to happen. The explosion would for sure clear away the rocks... and possibly some of the wall. The cave behind the cave in was sturdy enough that an explosion shouldn't block it. Here it to good luck hoping.
Ling has a thing with trusting people. Most people deserve that trust, okay, and honestly the world is filled with too many distrustful cynics these days. She tries hard not to be one of them, to see the best in people. So Ling trusts people, and especially those from her coven. Because, if she can't trust her makeshift family, the collective that had all but raised her since she had arrived, memoryless and with barely anything to her name, who can she trust.
Which is why the stab of betrayal hurts so much when the rock formation explodes.
At first, it doesn't even comprehend. She stares at the activated runic array shining on the rocks with blank confusion, unable to process what Billy had done. Precious seconds, wasted as she attempts to grasp her suddenly scattered thoughts. It's only when her own familiar resorts to biting her in the hand that she realises he's been calling her name with increasing distress; blink, and her ingrained familiarity with her explosive arrays automatically registers the consequences of what's about to happen.
But by that time, it's too late to run for the hallway like Billy had done.
"LING!" Valkea roars, slamming into her with panic edging his thoughts and cool, hard calculation running at lightspeed underneath that. She screams, terrified, as she dives for the furtherest corner, too frightened to even think about magic. Close her eyes, cover her head, wait for the rocks, wait for them to hit-
There's a deafening explosion, juddering through the cave till even the floors are trembling; she can hear debris being thrown all through the room - but none of it's hitting her. Or rather, all that's hitting her is a pray of dust and pebbles and small chunks of rock. ....what?
Ling opens a cautious eye when everything stills again, falling into the hushed quiet of the aftermath of a cataclysmic event. She's trembling. There's a buzzing in her ears, and her heart won't stop quavering in her chest. She blinks rapidly, clearing dust and definitely not tears from her eyes.
And there, the reason why she wasn't squashed to bits. A FORTRESS wall erected by her beautiful, wonderful, amazing familiar.
Trust is something that doesn't matter. Why should you trust anyone? Nobody is trustworthy except family. Nobody deserves to have that kind of power over you. It was weakness. Weakness.
He was behind the wall when the explosion occurred. He could hear it like it was next to him. Boom. Boom. Rocks falling and hitting a wall. Smoke billowing all around them. The explosion had worked at the very least and nobody was dead.
"You okay there?" Well she was alive at least so that was a good sign. He stayed behind the wall with Dr Puddy jumping down to check on the girl. She was probably fine. If not well... she was alive at least. He'd just have to make a circle to do some healing. He'd just have to make the circle for healing.
"Are you hurt child? Do you need any healing?" came the soft, disney princess style voice said from the cats mouth. The cat eyes the young female, looking up and down with a knowing gaze. She didn't appear to be physically hurt by her assessment. The dust had settled and there was a way down. Well it had worked.
There was a noise coming from the hall... a kind of screech. Some kind of creature perhaps? He didn't really know. They should get moving to be safe. Whatever it was... it wasn't that far away.
