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Seaside
Posted: Aug 15, 2022 8:08 pm
by Shadowcaller
Seaside
What is this place? Seaside is exactly what it sounds like, a sea.
Isn't there already a sea in Outside? There is an archipelago outside the cost of outside but Seaside is the ocean outside that coast.
So how can I get here? Seaside is actually more connected to the rest of the nexus than one might think. From the ocean you could reach HALO, Inside, Outside, Riverside, Random Places, The Hunting Grounds and other locations you can justify being near the sea. There are boats and planes going to every major island in the ocean so a PC can easily get to Seaside from any of those locations as well.
But what can I do here exactly? Seaside is made for sea-based plots take take place under or on the sea. Raiding pirates and vikings, giant sea monsters, sunken cities, great reefs, eldritch jellyfish, underwater exploration, volcano islands inhabited by mysterious natives and epic battles both under, on and/or above water.
Seaside is a vast ocean which links many of the major cities within the Nexus as nearly all rivers eventually end up here somehow. You can probably find a lot of the garbage and filth from the cities washed out here near the coast. But the majority of the ocean is clean, far from the city centers of inside and riverside.
Seaside have it's own cities instead both above and underneath water populated by all manners of underwater creatures who can't live above land or too far away from the water. Here you also find sailors, pirates, submarine crews, vikings and other air breathers that are associated with the sea.
The environment these people live in can be from tropical coral reefs and sharks to frozen seas and ice bears. While I maintain a number of locations in seaside (see the list below) anyone can feel free to make up what exactly exist in Seaside as long it's primarily connected to the sea. For more land bound adventurers there is
Outside and if it doesn't fit there either
this plot thread might be what you're looking for.
SC owned locations in Seaside
► The Crystal Pinnacle
Upon this mighty glacier stood a enormous demonic fortress from where they raided large parts of seaside. However, now little if nothing remains of the fortress or indeed much of the glacier as it was hit not only once but twice by goblin-made nukes. Instead, it has been reduced to a frozen wasteland filled with radiation. In the center are the two craters left behind by the nukes which have been filled by water and floating sheets of ice. While the water have mostly protected the wildlife from the radiation there are rumors of mutated demons still guarding the treasures they had stolen from the many settlements they attacked. Exploration of the pinnacle should for this reason be considered dangerous.
► Galespire
Over the sea of storms towers the spires of the rather aptly named city of Galespire. A symbol of arrogance some would say as it's location would be completely uninhabitable if not for the large force walls protecting it from the extremely violent storms that build up nearly every day. But it was not the arrogance of man that had built this place, it was the ethereals, energy beings from a world far from the nexus.
With a reputation of traders they had apparently thought the nexus being important enough to set up an entire city here, though who they had done so on an island in the middle of seaside is anyone's guess. The city's trademark is its many bridges and floating spires reaching up to the sky. The majority of the city is in fact flying above ground with only teleportation being able to take a person in-between the different sections of the city.
Under the protection of the force walls other beings have decided to settle down here, building up a form of undercity out of shackles and huts nearby providing a sharp contrast to the advanced Galespire. While these settlers now live under the ethereal collectives laws they are not allowed to share their technology with outsiders.
► Bayside
A buzzing port city not too far from Galespire and one of their most important trading partners. Generally you can't go to Galespire without passing Bayside first as only they have the captains crazy and skillful enough to sail into the sea of storms.
The city have under its long existence been claimed by a good number of different pirates and warlords which still somehow hasn't affected it's trade. The citizens of Bayside simply don't care who they're ruled and have learned to adapt to even the harshest of systems rather than trying to resist whatever new warlord that's parading into town.
That said, the current ruler is Don Juliano Karnago, an upstart goblin pirate that raids both the sea and the air with his fleet of ships and airplanes.
He has adapted Bayside to not only accommodate ships but airplanes as well with a primitive airport build in the middle of the jungle that his air pirates use as a base. Anyone is welcome to the city however however, as long as they're willing to risk being in a pirate bay.
► Ithki-Ithki Isles
Spread across an archipelago of smaller islands is the home nation of the seaside goblins.
While their technology isn't as advanced as the ethereals they have far better living conditions than the rest seaside and even have their own navy protecting them from slavers. But it hasn't been needed in many years as the goblins have a 'understanding' with most slavers and pirates operating out here and is even rumored to partially practice slavery themselves.
Despite that the goblins have advanced enough technology that slavery shouldn't be needed such rumors persist thanks to the high number of goblin crime lords that come from the isles. Such as the leader of the infamous KABAL, Anton Kelligan and Don Juliano Karnago the ruler of the pirate port of Bayside.
► The Sea of Storms
The Sea of Storms is very appropriately named, as the violent, ship-ending, storms here are nearly constant. Countless of ships, both air- and seabased have sunk here, creating the so-called ship graveyard that is rumored to be in the very center of the sea, a huge swirling whirlpool that pulls everything sunk here into it.
The sea is quite obviously cursed, some say as a divine punishment for some long-forgotten civilizations sins, others by some angry sea entity, what is known however is that whoever braves these water is either a treasure hunter or a foolish landcrab. As a precaution, the ethereals have set up a warning system around the sea to warn those uneducated of the dangers that only they consider themselves powerful enough to brave.
Other owned locations in Seaside
► Raptor Isle
This lone island sits on its own surrounded on all sides by mildly turbulent waters. Contained within are a number of settlements from ninja villages and small towns to big cities rivaling Inside, separated by uninhabited areas where cow-sized monsters roam. The technology of the area tends towards the futuristic.
Most of the island's visitors are numans from a certain other world, whose occasional faulty portals drop them here. Some choose to stay, and those who choose to return home know they have a home away from home waiting for them in the Nexus.
(The above basically means that characters from Eagleverse first end up here.)
Run by: Purple Countess
If you want a permanent location added to Seaside, PM me and it will be added to the list.
► Previous Seaside Threads
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 29, 2022 3:56 am
by Ironsmith
[Lachrymose Lagoon]
...Is certainly a place that lives up to the name. A heavy fog hangs over the inlet of blackened seawater. The trees around the lagoon cast a series of long shadows over the eerily-still water, the wind moaning through them ominously.
Well, okay. Maybe that damned-soul-esque moaning sound isn't the wind. There... might be a ghost hanging around here somewhere. Or two. Or three-hundred and fifty-five, the entire complement of a ship that went down just off the coast ten years ago.
Who may or may not be waiting in the water for anyone stupid enough to swim in the clearly haunted lagoon, to potentially be drowned in an unexplained accident. That would be... well, that'd be rude. And what sort of self-respecting sea ghost would do something like that?
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 29, 2022 4:03 am
by Keeper
Lachrymose Lagoon
I dunno, it's kind of scenic, isn't it? Perfect for spooky season. And the ghosts are probably friendly. And-
Hm. There appears to be a large black fin sticking out of the water circling slowly about.
Yeah apparently it's haunted and shark infested this might not be the best place.
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 29, 2022 4:25 am
by Ironsmith
[Lachrymose Lagoon]
Of course, the two have an understanding. It's sort of difficult to drown someone who can breathe underwater (not that they would even consider that), and... well, who wants to hang out with (perfectly normal and polite) ghosts in a creepy bay anyway?
Certainly not shark-man.
Which might explain why the lagoon got so eerily quiet all of the sudden. If the only person around can't be drowned, what even is the point?
Well, not completely quiet. There is that disruptively loud splash. Which accompanies the little rise of foam indicating a human-sized object rapidly sinking to the bottom of the lagoon.
Totally not a corpse being disposed of.
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 29, 2022 4:48 am
by Keeper
Lachrymose Lagoon
The dark shape moves to investigate the object tossed into the water. Is it a diver? Or a really big rock? If it’s the former they can probably give him directions because he’s really lost. And if it’s the latter whoever threw it is probably up above by the shore.
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 29, 2022 5:24 am
by Ironsmith
[Lachrymose Lagoon]
If that's a diver, she's being really still. She's just... sinking to the floor of the lagoon. Much like a rock. Which is weird, because she definitely seems to be here on purpose... she's dressed in a black two-piece swimsuit, and completely unmarked, except for a tattoo around her left bicep. But swimming at this depth would be sort of insane; the deeper waters of the lagoon are dark under the best of conditions, but under the cover of night and fog, it's nearly unnavigable.
And, as the woman settles onto the bottom of the lagoon, complete with a little billow of sand drifting up when she makes contact, it becomes clear that she's not even about to try to swim back up.
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 29, 2022 5:31 am
by Keeper
Lachrymose Lagoon
Our “diver’s” guest is actually entirely naked though his fishy anatomy means that he doesn’t have anything to cover. He got spooked hours ago, accidentally turned incorporeal and his trunks were immediately lost to the tide. He has been swimming around the shorelines looking for someone to mooch a towel from ever since.
He swims over to the woman and begins gesturing up and at her, and scissoring his fingers. Does she need to be pulled out or something?
Of course he can see fine in the perfect darkness and forgets that not everyone can. To a normal person the only likely thing to be seen are his glowing blue eyes like icy pits in the blackness.
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 29, 2022 5:41 am
by Ironsmith
[Lachrymose Lagoon]
The woman, worryingly enough, doesn't respond. Maybe she doesn't see him, maybe she's unconscious, maybe she doesn't think he's anything all that interesting... she retains the same placid expression throughout his attempts to communicate, little bubbles escaping out from under her nostrils, to drift all the way back up to the surface. All that really happens is that she settles more thoroughly into the lagoon bed. Her mouth opens slightly as she slowly falls onto her back, the rest of her air slipping away from her in a second.
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 29, 2022 5:55 am
by Keeper
Lachrymose Lagoon
Well, that’s exceptionally worrying. The shark-creature doesn’t know how to take this but the bubbles mean he isn’t looking at a corpse or a robot. He tries to get his hands around the woman’s shoulders and pull her to the surface. Hopefully she isn’t already mostly dead. The one consolation is that the lagoon isn’t deep enough to worry about pressure changes.
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 29, 2022 3:49 pm
by Ironsmith
[Lachrymose Lagoon]
The woman's eyes shoot open as the shark-thing grabs ahold of her, but she doesn't otherwise have time to react before the two of them shoot up to the surface. When they break through, she coughs and gags, spitting up seawater and pulling her hair out of her face. "...Who are you?" She asks, once she's finally got enough air in her to use her vocal cords properly. "I didn't see anyone else down here when I dove i- oh."
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 29, 2022 4:03 pm
by Keeper
Lachrymose Lagoon
The shark appears to be moving its mouth for a second before he stops and takes a deep breath.
"Sorry, I forgot to breathe first. Having lungs and gills can get confusing. Anyway I saw you down there and just wanted to make sure you're okay. Are you okay?" He sounds...weirdly normal for a large talking shark. He idly scratches at his neck. Even with only his shoulders and head above the water the difference in color between his pale front and dark back and sides is pretty obvious.
...his teeth seem to glow very faintly in the dark. Not as bright as his eyes but in the same way.
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 29, 2022 4:10 pm
by Ironsmith
[Lachrymose Lagoon]
The woman nods. "I'm... yes, I'm fine. I think we might have had a bit of a misunderstanding here." She gives him a little smile and gestures toward shore. "Could you set me down over there? It's going to be easier to talk if you don't have to carry me."
Well, easier for her, at least. While she's not worried about slipping out of his hands and drowning, she would still like a little bit of personal space, and she doubts he's going to put her back in the water without getting a solid explanation first.
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 29, 2022 4:16 pm
by Keeper
Lachrymose Lagoon
"Oh. Sorry." The shark lets the lady go as they move over to the shore.
As they get close to the edge he stops as the water gets to waist-level on him. It's enough to clearly show his stout build and shark tail, but not below the belt, which-
"Do you have a towel? I lost my trunks."
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 29, 2022 4:24 pm
by Ironsmith
[Lachrymose Lagoon]
"Not... as such, no." The woman grimaces, pointedly averting her eyes. "But I do have a robe stashed up in the trees there. I can lend it to you, if you don't mind it."
It might be a bit too small for him. These two are built with almost the exact opposite proportions; the woman is on the tall side and quite thin. Nevertheless, after a brief walk up the beach, she returns holding a midnight-blue robe with little silver stars embroidered on the side, holding it out for the shark-man while again looking away, for the benefit of his privacy.
"So... you're probably wondering what just happened there." She begins. "I come down here every few nights for a relaxing swim. My family and I are all... well, to use the layman's term, vampires. It's pretty relaxing for me to just sit down at the bottom of the lagoon, where everything's quiet and cool and there's not a lot of light. I can't actually drown down there, so why not, right?" She smiles, although the expression is halfway obscured with her head turned like this. "Sorry, I don't think I gave you my name, did I? It's Owena. Owena Ty-Maldwyn. Pleased to meet you."
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 29, 2022 4:36 pm
by Keeper
Lachrymose Lagoon
"Aw, it's so pretty. I'll give it back as soon as I find something else, promise." Henry ties it around his waist since he can't get it around all of him.
"Well, I'm sorry, then. I saw bubbles so I figured you were someone who breathes air." He gives a quick look at the word 'vampire,' as if torn between how he's supposed to feel about that.
"My names Henry Sm- well, I guess Vadnova. I'm...technically some sort of ghost or something? I died and mostly got better." He doesn't normally advertise that but he feels like being nice since she admitted to being a vampire right away and he gave her a weird look.
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 29, 2022 5:21 pm
by Ironsmith
[Lachrymose Lagoon]
"Don't be." Owena smiles. "You saw a lady sinking into the lagoon and your first instinct was to help. I'm not sure what sort of reality we'd have to be in where that's anything but good. And here they say chivalry is dead." She pauses, before adding with a little smirk, "Well, okay, I suppose it technically is, but still. It was sweet of you to come to my rescue."
"...Unrelatedly... Vadnova?" She gestures at the beach behind her, some of the sand bubbling up into a glass mound so she has a place to sit. "Any relation to Sarah Vadnova, by any chance?"
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 29, 2022 5:33 pm
by Keeper
Lachrymose Lagoon
"Oh, you've met my twin! Yeah, we were separated at birth but we met up again recently. Has she ever talked about missing her long-lost brother?" Henry gives Owena the toothiest grin she has likely ever seen. He doesn't want to get the robe sandy or more wet than he already is so he's just standing.
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 30, 2022 1:49 am
by Ironsmith
[Lachrymose Lagoon]
"...Twin?" Owena raises an eyebrow. "...Oh, right. You've probably had some kind of transformation thing happen at some point, right? My uncle had the same thing happen to him. And so did my sister... I think. She's not been particularly forthcoming about it." She gives a dismissive wave. "But, yeah, I haven't actually met your sister, exactly. More seen her around. I've actually been looking for an excuse to talk to her; I don't think I've ever seen her with a friend."
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 30, 2022 2:11 am
by Keeper
Lachrymose Lagoon
"Oh yes. Family curse. All my half-siblings are crazier looking than me. Sarah is the only one who gets the groceries because she looks human." Henry leans in close.
"Her curse makes her turn into a scary monster when she's upset. That's why she acts distant. She's sweet when you get to know her."
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 30, 2022 2:59 am
by Ironsmith
[Lachrymose Lagoon]
"That tracks. Kinda." Owena shrugs. "I mean, this is the Nexus, I don't know how much trouble you could really get into going to the supermarket as an obvious ghost. Not to, um, be critical or anything." Her face turns a little red. "But... yeah, I would like to get to know your sister. And the scary monster thing doesn't really bother me. That's pretty much what my uncle looks like all the time. He smiles like this." Owena's lips twist into a menacing snarl, quivering slightly as a low growl emanates between her teeth... though just as quickly as the expression came, it disappears. "So, yeah. No problems."
She smiles and stands there with her hips for a moment, which is just long enough to realize how awkward this whole situation is. "...Right. So, um... if you don't mind my asking, why are you here? Not that you can't be or anything, I'm just... just curious is all. Lachrymose Lagoon isn't exactly a vacation spot."
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 30, 2022 3:11 am
by Keeper
Lachrymose Lagoon
”Oh, I’m not scared of going outside. But well, Mark and Eli are spider hybrids and I guess they think they scare people. And Sarah’s monster scales are kind of…contagious so there is a legit problem there.”
He blinks at the question. He awkwardly leans back, drumming his fingers against his belly.
”Um well. Like I said. I lost my trunks. So I’ve been going up and down the shoreline looking for someone to mooch a towel off of. I can’t just walk back into town naked. Even if I am a fish.”
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 30, 2022 3:15 am
by Ironsmith
[Lachrymose Lagoon]
"Ah. So, then, do you know where you are? I mean, if you've just been following the coast, that's still got to be a bit disorienting..." Owena stops and holds up her hands. "You know what? Let me try that again. How would you feel about me walking you back to the closest town? Butterfly Bay's only a few minutes that way. And as it happens, my uncle and my boss both live right around there, if you need someplace to stay while you get your bearings. If not, the Riftline station isn't too far from either of them, and we can get you on the way back to Inside within the hour. Sound good?"
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 30, 2022 3:27 am
by Keeper
Lachrymose Lagoon
"Aw, that'd sure be swell of you." Henry opens his arms up as if he's going to give Owena a hug and then clearly thinks better of it.
"I don't have money on me for the Riftline, but I promise my family's good for it. You probably don't want me around in your house all night. I'd drip all over your floors while I try to keep my gills wet." It's kind of a weird thing he has to do, but 'tis the life of a fishman.
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 30, 2022 3:47 am
by Ironsmith
[Lachrymose Lagoon]
"Oh, Henry..." Owena smiles and pats the sharkman on the back. "You've got a lot to learn about the Ty-Maldwyns if you think we're going to ask you to pay back the train fare." She gestures up the beach and starts walking toward town. "If it makes you feel any better, nobody's in right now. Part of the whole vampire thing. My uncle's off working at Trog's, and my little brother's probably hanging out with Khannie or something. You wouldn't be an imposition until morning." She shrugs. "Again, that's only if you need it."
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 30, 2022 2:09 pm
by Keeper
Lachrymose Lagoon
Henry’s back is unsurprisingly course. Shark skin, after all.
”Well, okay. I mean, I don’t really need to sit around or anything but I wouldn’t mind it. I’ve been swimming for hours.” And he is alive enough to get a little tired after a while.
”You’re not going to be alone all night are you?”
If she isn’t at work this must be the weekend for her.
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 30, 2022 3:41 pm
by Ironsmith
[Lachrymose Lagoon]
"To tell you the truth, that was kind of the plan." The strigoi shrugs. "I was hoping for a little me time tonight. And before you start feeling guilty about interrupting it, meeting someone new qualifies. My family's a bit..." She twirls her finger around her ear, indicating "crazy". "And at times it feels a bit like I have to be the voice of reason in and among a bunch of lunatics. So, not having to deal with that for a while, whether that's because I'm hanging out at the bottom of the lagoon or I'm talking to a perfect stranger who seems pretty normal apart from being a shark, is very much called for." She shrugs. "And then tomorrow it's back to the grindstone by night and keeping my brother and uncle from mauling each other by day. Whoo."
Re: Seaside
Posted: Sep 30, 2022 5:25 pm
by Keeper
Lachrymose Lagoon
"Aside from being an absolutely massive and slightly dead shark, yes." Henry corrects sadly.
"If it helps, I feel the same way about my new family. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who thinks in a way that makes sense." He's still not entirely sure how to feel about his half-siblings convincing him to sleep in the house knowing it would curse him. But he recognizes it was the only real way to tell if they were actually related.
Re: Seaside
Posted: Oct 02, 2022 2:06 am
by Ironsmith
[Lachrymose Lagoon]
"Yeah. I mean, if we're being honest, it's not like they're incapable of sense, or even that they're insane at any given point... it's just that, well, they do think differently than we do. And in a way that tends to be explosive, left unmoderated." Owena grimaces. "I love my uncle, but I don't envy his temper. And my little brother... okay, fine, he's a little dumb, but what else would you expect? He's fourteen. Name me one person who isn't a complete idiot at that age."
Re: Seaside
Posted: Oct 02, 2022 2:19 am
by Keeper
Lachrymose Lagoon
"Well...I don't know my new family so well. I've only known them a little while. So I really shouldn't judge." It's not right. He's known them for under a month.
"But they all seem pretty ok with the whole family curse thing which I don't really get. I mean I got one of the better ones and I'm this." Henry makes a show of gripping his middle and letting it shake as he lets go. He's still clearly much more muscle by volume than the other two large men Owena knows so his complaints may not see much sympathy.
Re: Seaside
Posted: Oct 02, 2022 2:27 am
by Ironsmith
[Lachrymose Lagoon]
"Ripped?" Owena blurts, reddening slightly when she realized what she just said. "I mean... yeah, I see what you're talking about. But, speaking from experience on the whole 'family curse' thing... you kind of get used to it after a while. It becomes a bit mundane once you properly cope. Which is so much easier to do if you have family with you in the first place. If I was an only child, I'd probably still be angsting over 'being undead' and 'eating live rats for dinner' and all of that. But I know three other people who are going through the same thing, I can lean on them and they can lean on me. It's just how we are, really." She grimaces. "...Which has its own downsides, I guess, but I don't think you want to hear about those."
Like giving a cute guy her phone number on a dislodged phalange. That one still bothers her.