Chapter 17: Trouble?

When the morning came without incident during the night the party packed up their camp and continued onwards into the valley after checking Isla’s instructions for anything they might have missed the day before, but as they couldn’t recall seeing anything that Isla mentions the day before they continue in the direction they think takes them deeper into the valley. Shortly after beginning their walk, they come across the next marker that the note mentions and they pick up the pace as they know that they’re getting closer to the point at which Isla stopped before turning back to leave that note, so they know she can’t have made it much further during her head start. As they continue down the valley it starts to open up with the sides becoming shallower but the base widening the deeper into the valley they get, until they reach the final point mentioned in Isla’s note, a cliff face overlooking a dried-out basin of which at the far end a familiar sight could be spotted. A darkened dome encasing a large area of the basin on what would have been the opposite shore to the cliff that was most likely a former waterfall, those who had seen the forest void knew that what was before them was another void zone. This one would possibly house the alpha void wolf beast that they have been looking for since it took Suieol, but before they could get near the void to even poke around and attempt to locate Suieol the party would have to somehow descend the cliff that was ahead of them. For Lexa getting down wouldn’t be a problem due to her knowing the wind magic that lets her float around but for the other five, gravity was still very much a problem they would have to counter if they wanted to get to the basin floor safely. Thus, they started looking for any way down that had been made previously maybe even a rope left set up by Isla after she got to this point. Unfortunately, after around an hour of searching they find nothing that would be considered a safe way down, as the best they could find was an old rope that only reached about a quarter of the way down the cliff face before stopping as the remaining part had rotted away after years of being exposed to the elements. After contemplating their options Lexa mentioned that there might be a way down to the basin if they head around the top of the ridge that the valley is enclosed by as it looks like there is a part of the former shoreline either side of the void, meaning there has to be a way to get there that doesn’t involve jumping off a cliff onto solid ground. With that suggestion those who cannot float safely down a cliff face started to look for a route down to the basin around the edge of the valley climbing up and out of it then following the ridge line round to somewhere with a lower elevation and then to what would have been shoreline where they can regroup with Lexa and restart the search for Isla to get information from her, and tell her information that they had gathered during their time inside and near the forest void. A while later the remaining five members of Shin’ya find Lexa crouched over something but her still floating above the ground made it a fairly amusing sight.

“What’cha looking at Lexa?”
“Hmm. Oh, hey Arano. Y’all made it down. And just looking at this lil guy.”

On the ground in front of Lexa was a small creature that looked like what would happen if you crossed a rabbit with a squirrel, with the party being reassembled Lexa moved away from the tiny creature and joined the group in searching he basin for any sign of Isla. Not long after they came across the remains of a small campfire which looked like it had been used recently, prompting the party to search further towards the boundary of the void for Isla. As they neared the border a humanoid figure could be barely made out in the distance, with this figure looking like they were about to enter the void the party told Lexa to catch up to them and stop them from entering if the figure was Isla. So, Lexa stopped levitating and sprinted towards the distant figure, to the rest of the party becoming just as hazy as the one near the boundary. As the rest of the party caught up a short while later, they found Isla and Lexa already deep in conversation about the void and its properties as well as if the Alpha void wolf was here or not. Isla notices the others approaching and begins to explain her findings to the entire group, concluding with the fact that the howl and her tracking have led her to this void and the evidence points to the den being at the heart of this void then adding that Suieol was probably being kept inside the den. As Isla finished up her explanation Ilev filled her in on what happens to people inside the void is actually nothing unless they have already been afflicted with the void element which is when the energy released accelerates the rate of corruption, he also mentions that Lexa is a dual element mage on the paths of both Nature and Void elements. With all their information shared a plan to get inside and back out as fast as they can as they don’t know what condition Suieol is in and the fact that void energy can now affect Lexa, as the ground within seems similarly flat and free of obstacles as the rest of the basin that goal should be easy to achieve. Once they make a final check of their equipment, they take their first steps inside this new void and are immediately greeted with the sight of a smaller and void corrupted version of the Burasu. Lexa cast a plant elemental spell faster than anyone else could react to the monster before them, everyone stood back expecting the beast to experience an elemental overload, but nothing happened at all. Aromi tried to hit it with a light elemental spell, but the small void Burasu swatted the magic away without any difficulty, Arano and Ami drew their fire elemental imbued swords and were able to land a slash each in a cross shape to the torso of the beast but again nothing happened to the beast it just stood waiting to attack.