Kyngdom Survival Guide
UNDERWATER BALL GOSSIP&
Chatterbox: KYNGDOM™ Power of Fin
UNDERWATER BALL GOSSIP&
UNDERWATER BALL GOSSIP
The sand is golden, the water is pleasantly bubbly, and everybody who’s anybody in Southeast Kyngdom is here. We’re your proud Sea Anemone hosts, Actiniaria and Hexacorallia, reporting LIVE from the most exclusive event of the year: the Enchantment Above the Sea ball, South Kyndom’s first-ever dry land-themed underwater ball. If you see us milling around, come say hi and give us the dish on all the watery gossip! You’ll recognize us by our wavy pink tentacles (quick shout-out to our sponsor, the Subaqueous Salon and Sea Spa).
Of course, in about twenty minutes, we expect the next Guardian of Fin to be announced, and believe us, the room is simply awash with anticipation. You can’t swing an underwater lasso without bumping into a group of whispering shellfish. But first, let’s turn our attention to the incredibly glamorous attendees and give you unlucky landlubbers listening to our broadcast a little taste of the P-A-R-T-Y.
Land ho, this place is sparkling. Each twenty-foot-tall underwater cactus is decked out in glimmering lights. The sand on the floor has been carefully blended with real gold flakes, creating a shimmering carpet underfoot. The punch is flowing, and graceful seahorses are passing out dry land-themed appetizers: miniature sea cucumber tacos, tiny teacups of coral chili, and nacho towers topped off with smoked seashells. We’re hoping to catch a glimpse of the celebrity chef that the organizers swam in for the occasion—he’s a clownfish who trained off the coast of France.
Most of the guests have adopted a look that we’d have to term “highbrow underwater cowboy.” We’re seeing a lot of denim gowns encrusted in barnacles and diamonds. Some of the wealthier guests are wearing silk bandanas and golden spurs. There’s even a cowboy hat or two—ooh, we’re seeing a scuffle unfold on the dance floor! There’s gold-tinted sand swirling through the water! Hold up one second, we’re getting the 411…apparently a Fangtooth Fish attempted to dance with a Vampire Squid, who turned out to be the date of a very muscular Frilled Shark. The sand just cleared, and neither Fish nor Shark is anywhere to be seen. Security here is no joke!
Naturally, the Powers are here in full force. They’re flexing their powerful…do dragons have muscles? They have to, right? They’re looking fabulous in formalwear specially designed by none other than the untouchable CERES AND COMPANY (we’ll hold for applause). And these drama-prone Kyngdomites even seem to be getting along, at least for now.
We’d be remiss not to mention the cornerstone of the décor: a giant ice sculpture in the middle of the dance floor, surrounded by tantalizing desserts (salt-water granitas, anyone?). The sculpture is carved into the shape of a massive and very realistic rodeo scene, but instead of a cowgirl, the artist depicted a breathtakingly accurate version of our very own Finny—the heir apparent to the Guardian of Fin. The little dolphin is portrayed so accurately that she looks practically real. In fact, if you glance at the sculpture at just the right moment, you can almost see her eyes move. Magical! At the base of the ice sculpture is a keypad that requires a code, but it’s unclear what it’s meant for. Does anyone have any information? Come find us and spill the deets—we’re all tentacles.
The dancing is being put on hold for a moment, because it’s time for one of the much-anticipated activities: some of the lucky guests are about to try their fins at roping sea cows. The massive creatures are being released from a series of gilded pens, while guests shriek and attempt to catch them with lassos made from kelp. This activity certainly fits the theme, but it’s looking like no one can manage to catch a sea cow. In fact, the cows appear to be taunting the guests. We can’t believe it—they’re lining up and dancing a can-can! Hold on, now they’re swimming over the heads of the guests and disappearing into the deep blue of the ocean. The organizers look irate.
Having just slipped over to try a bit of the punch, your faithful correspondents are happy to report that the punch is especially tasty this year. Jeweled Rockskipper!
There’s something a bit different about it…a certain fizz…a tang on the back of the tongue. Perhaps the celebrity chef is trying out a new seaweed-infused simple syrup? In the interest of full gossipy disclosure, we’ve been hearing rumors that the punch is spiked—but we’d have to try another cup in order to report back for sure.
Ooh, Imagine Sea Dragons is about to take the stage: their hair is gelled, their buttons are shelled, and they look ready to rock. Hope they play their hit single, Radioactive (Materials are Leaking Into the Ocean—Thanks a Lot, Humans). Looks like it’s time for these anemones to get their groove on—come find us at the dance floor and tells us what’s really going on at this party. The wilder the rumor, the more we want to hear it! Actiniaria and Hexacorallia out.
submitted by A & H, Desert Dome
(July 21, 2016 - 4:10 pm)
(July 21, 2016 - 4:10 pm)
The ship groaned as Cornelia and I stepped out onto the desk. people were piling onto tiny lifeboats in a dramatic hury. I heard A small "Ripping sound and directly following was a small hissing sound and about twelve people scuttling back onto the polished wooden deck. I look at my mother then scuttle to the edge of the desk and peek over. the raft was little more than an reinforced rubber dinky. below that were little dark shaped under the surface of the water. and slightly above that were little dents in the movement of the water. I can recognise that as sea weed. I looked around at the deck and a mater a fact, there was a stuttering lengthy man standing in the crowed. he was dressed in a black suit and a hat indicating his position as captain. He noticed I was looking at him, and started backing away, SLOWLY. I stalked after him into the halls, and then sayed. "What happened? Why are we in a reaf?" He stuttered "I-I didn't mean to! I checked the deck for just a couple seconds! then we were in a reef we didn't expect for another two days! I raised my eyebrow. "Okay! Fine. we were expecting it this evening." I looked out a small window and duly noted "It is evening, and it has been for the past TWO HOURS!" I Growled in a frustrated frenzy and stomped down the hall to my small room. I slammed the door behind me and it was accompanied with a grone. we weren't going anywhere for awhile.
(September 19, 2016 - 10:55 pm)
(September 21, 2016 - 10:43 am)
Gosh, scary idea
(September 21, 2016 - 4:40 pm)
Wow! Never thought I'd meet another Mermaid!!!
~Celia
The ship! I quickly go down to Musical Grotto to mix up some air bubbles. On the way I run into Victoria. "Going some where?" I try to dodge aroung her.
"Stop, I need to go help them,"
"Yeah right, like anyone would need your help." A tremor spreads throught the ocean. I gasp and quickly escape. I can only guess what happened. I arive at Musical Grotto, or at least the spot where it used to be. Every thing is destroyed. Victoria. I swim aroung in disbelif. Everything, gone? I break down. Maybe I should leave to Sail Haven, forever.
(September 21, 2016 - 7:04 pm)
I'm a little confused right now, and it might be helpful if somebody posted a summary, but I haven't RP'd in forever, so I'm going to do that now. Sorry if anything's wrong.
I sigh. I't's been days. I lost track, and I haven't bothered to check. I wish I had my sketchbook. I really wish I'd had it on that raft. So much time to fill, and nothing to fill it with. I did try to help out with getting others aboard and collecting more debris to expand and reinforce the raft, but other than that (and getting fresh water--I am a traveler, after all), I was kind of helpless. Useless. I also tried to talk to that girl, I think her name's Icy, and some of the others. But I'm so often alone, it was kind of awkward. The rain that came when the dragons fought was welcome, and I wasn't close enough to Claaws to not be able to collect some. I was still too upset to do anything else though.
(September 22, 2016 - 2:35 pm)
Sorry for the abrupt ending and weird tone of that last post. I'm assuming this is a sort of research ship we're on... RP continue!
As soon as we boarded the ship, I lost my balance. As soon as I regained it, nausea set in. This was different from the raft. I hoped my seasickness wouldn't last long.
I stumbled around the ship for a while, ignoring everything but my need to find a place to stay until the bile in my stomach stopped rising and falling with the waves. I found a room with lots of shelves, tables and cabinets for me to wedge myself between. I chose a spot in the corner, surrounded by filing cabinets bolted to the floor and overflowing with books and loose papers. The faint scent of ink on pages comforted me. I remembered the last time I'd rested--days ago, before I left for the ball. Eventually I supressed my stomach, letting the waves rock me to sleep.
I wake up to a cramped position in a cramped space. I rub my eyes and stand with almost no trouble. Huh. Guess my sea legs came during my nap. I stretch and look around.
A smallish room full of paper and ways of organizing it. Some pens, pencils, a few non-paper objects. No windows. The only light comes from a tiny porthole in the door, although there are some lamps and an overhead light. A notebook lies on a table in front of me. My curiosity takes charge.
I step over fallen books and debris, first to the light switch, then to the table. I lift the cover. Empty. I'm almost disappointed. I don't notice that I've skipped the first page. I remember my sketchbook, left at home.
"No one seems to be using this notebook," I murmur to myself. "I think I'll borrow it."
Just to reassure myself, I poke around a bit more. The room is messier than I had realized, with plenty of blank books and papers among the full ones. Good. Hopefully no one will notice if I take this. I pick up the notebook, help myself to a pen from the table, and slip quietly out of the room.
It's not even evening. I blink in the sun and estimate the time. I think I was asleep for barely an hour. The ship seems pretty quiet. I wander around until a sailor finds me and directs me to the makeshift quarters they've prepared for the survivors (or whatever we were) of the ball.
-Going to step out of character for a bit. This is probably kind of out of place in the time setting, but don't worry, I'm getting there. I don't really know what to write for the rest of Lycaella's evening (Lycaella is my charrie) and it looks like another day passes after that, so I'm just going to say she gets dinner and a room or something with a few others and writes in her borrowed notebook for most of the next day without noticing the first page. Again, sorry for the weird tone! Like I said, I haven't done this in forever, so I'm not really used to it. Okay, let's cut to, say...five to nine, in her room (or wherever her bed is) after dinner, second night.
I'm lying on what is supposed to be a bed, but feels more like the folded-up piece of sailcloth that it is. The weird gruel they're trying to pass off as food is just gross. Someone from the ball went fishing, and although they barely caught anything, almost everyone wanted a piece. Including me. We ended up with a bunch of us out on the deck together, all talking and trying to get more. A couple of the sailors even joined. It was kind of fun to have someone to complain with. Not everyone was there--Ronan's writing a speech, and I don't know where Icy is. I'm writing in this notebook because I have nothing to do again. I can't do nothing. I get fidgety.
I pause, thinking. There's not a lot more for me to say. There was a lot of mist last night, but I think that's normal on the sea. I don't know, I prefer land to boats. I close the notebook. I didn't sleep much yesterday, and I'm kind of exhausted. Someone yawns. I reopen the notebook to distract myself from catching it, and... Hey... That's weird. This isn't my handwriting. I flip to the next page and recognize where I started. I turn back. I must have missed the first one. I almost never skip pages, but this one is blending into the inside cover, making it very skippable. I skim the messy handwriting. Formulas mostly, with a few notes around them. The bottom of the page has something underlined. With the low light and this person's illegible writing, I can barely make it out.
Sep. of shad. from body.
What? I don't know what 'sep' or 'shad' stand for, but it doesn't sound good. Someone on deck shouts something. I'm not really listening, but at this hour, it's not very nice of them.
BANG!
More shouting follows the noise. "What was that?" I ask, straining to be heard over the racket. I hear others echo my question. I jump up, still holding the notebook, and follow a jackal through the small crowd that is starting to form, heading towards the source of the noise. Whatever the 'sep. of shad.' is, it'll have to wait.
(September 22, 2016 - 7:16 pm)
The mist is back. I guess it is normal.
Icy is here! And that boy Ronan, and Caelani, and some girl with a gun. I don't see anyone bleeding, so I guess if that bang was the gun firing, it missed.
A crow flies out of the mist, interrupting whateverwas going on. People shout, "Zephyra!" That's Zephyra? Amazing, but why is she here? She speaks, or no, it's not her. I didn't hear what it said, but the voice wasn't hers. Suddenly, she morphs into a snowy owl. She shouts, like the owl equivalent of a roar. Caelani roars back and charges. She laughs.
Birds swarm the deck, and everyone is shouting again. I turn away and try to avoid getting knocked over. Screams. I look up to see a seething mass of birds lifting a human form. Icy shouts and leaps up. Wings blossom from her back, blue, fairylike. She swoops into the air, flies after the birds. I see the person--Ronan?--fall from the swarm of wings and claws. Someone dives into the water. I wish I knew her name.
Icy is in the mist, which has retreated up. Her wings start to turn red. She screams and drops down, back towards the ship. She shouts something. I hear part of it--
"Make peace with BIG!"
The girl in the water reaches Ronan, but the birds are there too. They take him back and fly off too quickly for Icy to follow. Instead, she swoops down to help the girl in the water. They are helped onboard by everyone close enough.
A door slams. A girl in the front spins around, looks at the crowd for a moment, and pushes her way back through it. I slip into the gap she leaves to watch the cloud of birds carry Ronan away until the gray sky is all that can be seen.
I turn back. People are talking, asking what happened, explaining to those who will hear. I remember the notebook, still in my hand. I look around wildly for Icy, wanting to talk to her, ask if she's okay and what the first page means, but she is nowhere. Or maybe I just can't see her. I make my way to the edge of the crowd, then down the way I came. The girl from the front is back, wearing an old blue dress with tall black boots and an orange pendant. I try to ask, "Hey, are you okay?", but she walks right past me. My head follows her as she goes, but the rest of me stays put. I exhale. Am I really that invisible?
(September 22, 2016 - 9:03 pm)
CRACK!
I am thrown sideways as the ship lurches. The hull groans, and screams ring out in response. I am so done with all this shouting. I grab a railing, pull myself up, and run towards the noise. I am also fed up with all this going back and forth.
There's a lifeboat in the water, and everyone is trying to cram into it all at once. I get pulled into the rush and end up in the boat, wedged between a B.I.G. worker and a fox. An alarm is going off on the ship. I look up. The mist is disappearing. The B.I.G. worker is staring fixedly over the side, away from the ship. I lean forwards to see what he's so interested in.
At first, all I see is wind-ruffled water. But then the mist pulls away far enough for a glimmer of moonlight to illuminate seaweed. I blink, unsure of what it could mean, and twist away to shield the notebook I'm somehow still holding from sea spray. The lifeboat rocks, and something brushes the bottom. A few people start screaming, afraid of deep-sea monsters, but others quiet them.
"It's okay, it's a reef, there aren't any monsters in a reef," I hear. I raise my head. A reef means we're close to land, and I can do pretty much anything on land. I know land. I'm used to it. I love it. It's kind of my element.
The lifeboat starts to move. I glance around to see a paddle dip into the water. Behind it is another lifeboat, also packed with passengers from the ship, which is much lower in the water now. I squint. It's sinking! It must have crashed on a rock, shallow water or something. I turn back (yet again) and search the horizon for sand.
(September 23, 2016 - 8:00 am)
Out of character: What happened to Whist? And Marsha? I think maybe Whist is either fighting Caelani or flying away right now, and Marsha is probably either knocked out on the ship or taking avantage of the chaos to slip onto a lifeboat. Either way, they seem to have been forgotten.
I'm assuming we're near the Hardswallow River (see Map Fragment #3 to understand this bit), maybe in Dagger Bay. Since Jaaws is on the bank of the river, that means she's not too far away! We might even cross paths soon. What do you think?
(September 23, 2016 - 8:49 am)
Is "sep" of "shad" separation of shadow?
(September 23, 2016 - 8:51 am)
Yes, it is, but Lycaella doesn't know that and hasn't thought about it and hasn't shown or told anyone yet. She'll think about it as soon as she gets a moment to rest.
(September 23, 2016 - 2:31 pm)
I looked at the pictures on the Calling All Landlubbers and Map Fragment #3 threads, and I think we're definitely near the Hardswallow River. It's likely that we're closer to Numi (Nurri?) Bay than Dagger Bay, but when you think about it, it makes sense. We went away from land when we were on the raft(s) right after the ball, and the B.I.G. ship was heading the opposite direction--towards us on our left. The Hardswallow River seems to have been right on the ship's course.
And now I have to know where Icy is so that Lycaella can show her the first page of the notebook she found and ask what it means. Icy? Where are you?
(September 23, 2016 - 5:56 pm)
Oh my Kyngdom I am posting so much...
Mexi says cwmt. A comet? Comment? I am commenting, Mexi, and as for comets, I don't know if there are any. Come on, let's go look!
(September 23, 2016 - 6:55 pm)
It's been almost two days and no one but me has posted here... Maybe I'm just impatient, but still.
I'm going to RP a little more. I kind of want to do it from Whist's or Marsha's perspective, but I won't because Whist is already someone else's and I'm not good at this. So I'll stick with being Lycaella for now, and maybe give her that moment of rest she needs to think about the notebook.
Land, finally land, at long last! I have grown so tired of the sea, and the constant sinking of the things we use to travel on it. I release my joyful tension with my breath as I sprint up the beach in the near-darkness. It is still early in the night, though, and I slow to a careful jog to look for a campsite. I guess the others might decide they want to keep going, I think, but there are trees--trees!--nearby, and it's dangerous to go trailblazing through the woods at night, especially if you're not used to it. And it looks like most of these people aren't. With a little luck, we might be able to stay the night and move on in the morning. I spot a loose cluster of saplings and large rocks and stay my pace to a walk. The sand there is firm and well above the tideline, and it seems big enough to comfortably fit quite a few of us. I look around a bit more, but I know it's unlikely that I'll find anything better, so I run back to where I left the lifeboat. I'm still holding the notebook. It seems foolish to let it go, and it gives me a sense of security, like that whatever happens, I can keep track of it all. I still miss my sketchbook, but this will do for now.
What happens next for Lycaella depends on where Icy is, but seriously, we should take the rest of the night to sleep and recover, maybe figure out where we are and where we should go, what we have that we can use and what we need to find. I don't imagine anyone brought any food or water (again), and we also might want to figure out how many of us there are. We want to be ready for anything.
(September 25, 2016 - 1:54 pm)
ICY WHERE ARE YOU
(September 25, 2016 - 6:17 pm)