The Bleak and The Pearl [SoloDark] Part 6, In Which History Is Discussed and Plans are Made

The group climbs past over the sea scoured rocks behind the shipwreck to stand before a large archway built in the years of The Bleak's first encroachment. In the archway various symbols and crests were once carved to declare its purpose but most are lost to time. Channel winds wearing meaning from this old structure. 

A shape not unlike a lighthouse is next to a shape not unlike a rising sun. On the other side, perhaps an eye. Others are open to much wider interpretation. 

A woman breaks from the group and approaches the once great door in a bricked up wall under the arch. Now it has the general appearance of drift wood shackled together in an approximation of a door, a bad approximation at that. A large enough gap at the bottom to admit several people at once as long as slightly tall folks are willing to bend. 

Looking at it, it seems the whole door would collapse if someone actually tried opening it, possibly pulling down the wall and the archway with it. The woman gestures to the rest of the group and leads them inside. 

Her name is Nelf Haskins. She is a Lighthouse Keeper. Dressed in a sort of short dark felt robe, giving the appearance of an oversized shirt, strange goggles acting as a headdress, and an armband of various colors which signify duty and sub-rank. This is Cal Grunkheart's attempt to give the Keepers a traditional uniform, despite the order being gone for two centuries. These new Keepers he has recruited over the past five years. True believers to his cause. The Lighthouse can shine fully again. The Bleak will go no further. 

Nelf is Senior Expedition Planner - armband green with three large yellow triangles - and has been tasked with restoring the so called "Monolith" to working order. "I prefer to call it Grunkheart's Network," she explained to the rest of the group as they set out to see what the Keepers have accomplished. Turns out to not be a whole lot. A single room out of plenty of rooms. 

Once inside, Nelf walks a few dozen feet down a wide hallway lit by too few torches into a chamber of some decent size. Light is better here. All the better to help pay more attention to the main three points of interest. 

The second most noticeable thing is a chubby man on scaffolding next to human sized statue seeming to have an argument between himself, the statue, a sizeable ring of metal in his hand, and the universe in general. Occasionally he tries to set the ring down on the statue's head but sparks fly off.

The statue is in the likeness of a human in pre-Bleak clothing holding a tall spear, a mad grin on his face. Mad Del Marius, once Lord of House Marius. The "ring" is the Marius Diadem, once a relic of Marius rule. The man on the scaffolding is Terk Haskins, Nelf's older brother, in a similar uniform though he lets his body hang out of it a bit more. His armband is blue with red eyes. Chief Investigator of the Monolith. Nelf and Terk were two of the original recruits. 

The third thing you notice is a group of men and women wearing armor, setting up a kind of makeshift camp. What seems to be a month's worth of supplies. The tents and their armor emblazoned with a red setting (or rising) sun over a blue field. Retainers for House Marius who have agreed to help restore "The Network". They will help choke off the sea water. They help protect the rooms that are cleared. They just will not go first. 

The first thing, though, before Terk or the retainers, you notice is the smell. "Ach, like the sea took a piss all over this place," one of the group following Nelf says. This is Grusk Obe. Half-Orc. Currently suited up. Blood red axe, Bloodlust, on his belt. One of the many orphans raised by the Priests of Gede at the Blue Grove in the wild lands of the so called Pearl. "The Silt," an untamable place and the refuge of free people until the Bleak can be drove back. Which is why he is here.

Beside him is Rance Uffolt, a human wizard. Holding back is Inar Gale (halfling priest) and Spotted Tom (he once had a last name assigned by the priests but has long stopped using it and the others barely recall). Tom and Inar are joking around and paying no attention. Too excited about the day's delve. Like Grusk, these are more orphans raised by the Blue Grove, brought into the Bleak by Rance's dreams. Dreams not even the young wizard understands. 

Rance is distracted by the activity of Terk and goes over to chat with the Senior Investigator. Leaving Grusk to carry on the conversation with Nelf. Grusk is not quite so good at conversation but does his best. Nelf seems nervous around the large man so unlike the Keepers she normally travels with. 

"We have not gotten far past this room. At...all, past this room. We tried but, um, a couple of Keepers did not come back. The third is in our infirmary ranting about "teeth." The area past this is...dangerous," Nelf rambles things that Grusk already knows. "I told Cal...I mean, Senior Keeper Grunkheart...I told him that we need a division trained in such but he feels it is at odds with our mandates to spend too much time dedicated to delving. So..."

"He asked us," Grusk finishes off. No judgement in his voice. The orphans like Cal, quite a bit. Rance is convinced that fixing the Lighthouse will help them in their quest. Drive the Bleak back. Grusk does not know if it is true but he trusts Rance. They have traveled together for some time. Not one of the four will question the others. It is how they survived in The Pearl. It is how they now survive in the Bleak. Too bad Grunce is something else. But if Cal can get his Keepers to rebuild the Lighthouse, some of those problems will go away. 

Grusk and Nelf stare down a massive sloping hallway traveling down into the darkness. Pools of seawater catch in cracks and the whole area is caked in mold and crawling with insects. Occasionally strange splashes and grunts can be heard, somewhere in the distance. 

"Cal....SENIOR KEEPER Grunkheart...says that in the old days the flow of sea water into the structure at high tide was part of the process. Like a giant heart, an organic beast, the blood flowing through the veins. The Lighthouse practically a living thing powered by the city above and the land around it. By the five families that gave part of themselves to make it. Now, though, as the Network fades and collapses and the Bleak invades...you get junk in the system. It is rotting." Nelf seems flustered to find the right words. Grusk really wishes that Rance or Inar were the ones doing the talking now but Rance is up on the scaffolding with Terk and Inar is back with Tom and the retainers telling jokes. 

"Rotting's a right word, lass. That dead man down there attests to that." Grusk shines the lantern he's carrying down to a corpse. A corpse missing some chunks. Something feasted on a part of it. Something that might return. 

Nelf blanches a bit and steps back. Grusk is not great with social interaction and not particularly fond of weakness, but he does him allow himself a moment of sympathy for the Keepers. Academics and cast off nobles risking a lot to try and bring back a dream that the city itself has forgotten. 

Nelf continues her history lesson, only a bit of a shake now in her voice. "The reason it is so big seemed to serve two purposes. First, the structure of the Network is itself part of the generator. Second, Cal says that Jonias Grunkheart, his ancestor, intended it to be an evacuation place if Grunce ever fell to the Bleak. A place where people from all over the city could come and hide." [1]

Seeing the eyebrows of the half-orc raise, she concedes, "Well, at least the people who were working for the five great houses. Their people especially. But Cal does say that there should be entrances and egresses all over. The Network and the City are one. Grunce was the powerhouse for the Lighthouse...until it wasn't." 

***

Cal had talked to Rance about the overall plan. They need to retake the Monolith (unlike Nelf, he uses his old Ancestor's original name) and they have to purify it. "We have to drain the mildew and the water, Rance," over pipes. 

"How?" 

"If we had genshel sponges, those can hold tons of water without gaining any weight." 

"Do we?"

"Ah...no, but up north the Sherifan Enclave harvest them from..."

And so on and so on. Rance and Grusk ask 1-3 syllables and Cal responding with long winded talks and speeches. 

Like Nelf is doing now. Filling in the fear of getting started with words.

55 Keepers, now 52 after Mursy's group ended the way it did. Brother Olin in the infimary says Mursy will likely never return to service. A rough map that Cal is trying to restore. A stack of legends from a city that constantly rebuilds itself. A network of tunnels and rooms and caves that once housed dozens or hundreds of people working on keeping the Lighthouse alive. A honeycomb of storehouses and armories and classrooms, all gone to rot. First the workers diminished until the five great houses got replaced by new greedier great houses that danced in the light they did not  maintain. 

So the Lighthouse ran itself. And now it is very nearly kaput.

"It is like a a tooth," Cal had said that night, after the smoke and beer had made him maudlin. "Most of your life, your teeth are tough. Chewing the meat. Cracking the bone. Biting the coin. Then they get cracked. Decay gets in. The tooth turns black and falls apart. Strong on the surface but vulnerable underneath. My whole life I have watched that light grow dimmer year and year and now I want to do something. For Jonias. For....myself."

Inar had asked if there were treasures. Tom had asked if there were traps. Rance asked how the magic worked. Grusk had asked how strong the creatures down in the Monolith were. To each of these, Cal had shaken his head...

"I don't know."

***

Faced with this great unknown, the only emotion Grusk really feels is impatience. The sooner they get Rance a good night sleep, the sooner they can go back home to The Pearl. "UFFORT!" the Half Orc shouts.

And with that timing the cursing and red faced Rance, next to an even louder and more red-faced Terk, slams down the Diadem and makes some necessary contact because instead of sparks they get a reaction. The eyes of the statue glow dull red as a mold covered marble chestplate burns away the gunk to show the Marius Sun Banner underneath. The tip of the sphere glows red hot and then shoots a beam down into the dark past the dead body Grusk was looking at earlier. 

Not very bright, or very large, yet. But a start. The Blue Grove Orphans can smell the air get cleaner. See the statue burning away the years of negligence before their eyes. 

In the distance, a loud roar screams in response to the subtle shift in the air. Grusk chuckles. 

"Alright, boys, time to go into the dark. We got that to kill for a start."