S
shakenSilences
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Original poster
When James heard Coreliss calling his name, he wanted to curse under his breath. Of course she'd have to show up and cause problems just before he was about to find the treasure. Instead of heading back out to the main corridor of the library, James headed deeper into the rows of books. He motioned to the three men he'd brought with him, indicating that they needed to sneak out the back of the building and start making their way back to the boats. They nodded and then set off, silently retracing their way through the isles.
James turned his attention back to his task: he needed to find that tome before Coreliss did. It was more a matter of pride than an actual want of the reward- he was pretty much set on gold for at least the next several months. The only reason he'd taken this job was to irritate Coreliss and get it done better than she could. With a satisfied smirk forming on his face, James spotted what looked like the object of his search. There was a clean, white covered book resting on a pedestal near the end of the row of shelves he was walking down. He hurried along, his steps quick with the anticipation of completing his job. When the book neared, he slowed, wanting to examine the thing a little closer before disturbing it. There was something peculiar about this white-covered tome and James couldn't place his finger on exactly what. There was no title or words written on the front and it was a startling shade of bright white...how could something like this stay untouched and unsoiled in this place?
James took the last three steps before running a hand down the cover, pondering the strange thing for just another moment before removing it from the stool. As soon as the book left the pedestal, everything changed. The peace that was so calming on the island vanished as the building began to rumble, seeming to come alive at the foundation. The walls shook and books bounced from their shelves as the very roof of the sturdy building began to cave in. "What the hell?!" James exclaimed, jumping backwards as an enormous crack formed above him, threatening to rupture the ceiling at any moment and send the rocks tumbling down on top of him. Without waiting another moment, the man grabbed the book and weaved in and out of the shelves, hastily retreating from the suddenly unstable building.
As he ducked and dodged the falling debris and books, James heard the shouting of Coreliss and her party. He made a slight detour through the chaos and jogged past them, trying to keep his footing on the unstable ground. "I think it's time to go, don't you, Coreliss?" he called over his shoulder, not stopping to speak. There wasn't any time for that, not with the way the building was rapidly deteriorating.
They made it outside just barely before the entire roof gave way and collapsed in on itself. The building was just the beginning, though, and as James looked around at the island, he grew more confused. The trees....they'd all aged; in fact, everything had aged. It looked as if one hundred years had passed in the short time they'd been inside the library. James cast another glance at the building and was surprised to see tangles of weeds and shrubbery covering the collapsed walls. What was going on here? How.....how was any of this possible? James's skin tingled with unease as the wind picked up, hitting him like a gale. The sky was even darker now and it seemed that the small storm had already escalated into something more threatening. He didn't know if the sudden change in the island was connected to the storm's intensification, but he had a suspicion that it was. It was becoming clear that there was something supernatural at work here and James was pretty positive it was centered around the book he held in his hands.
"What...?" James thought, shocked as he looked down at the tome in his hands. It too had metamorphosed- the once white cover was now ebony and inky, the cover wrinkled and aged instead of smooth and pristine. He looked over at Coreliss who was standing nearby, her face mirroring his own expressions. "Uh, I don't know what just happened," he paused and gathered his words, not believing what he was about to say, "But I think....I think the book is the cause."
James turned his attention back to his task: he needed to find that tome before Coreliss did. It was more a matter of pride than an actual want of the reward- he was pretty much set on gold for at least the next several months. The only reason he'd taken this job was to irritate Coreliss and get it done better than she could. With a satisfied smirk forming on his face, James spotted what looked like the object of his search. There was a clean, white covered book resting on a pedestal near the end of the row of shelves he was walking down. He hurried along, his steps quick with the anticipation of completing his job. When the book neared, he slowed, wanting to examine the thing a little closer before disturbing it. There was something peculiar about this white-covered tome and James couldn't place his finger on exactly what. There was no title or words written on the front and it was a startling shade of bright white...how could something like this stay untouched and unsoiled in this place?
James took the last three steps before running a hand down the cover, pondering the strange thing for just another moment before removing it from the stool. As soon as the book left the pedestal, everything changed. The peace that was so calming on the island vanished as the building began to rumble, seeming to come alive at the foundation. The walls shook and books bounced from their shelves as the very roof of the sturdy building began to cave in. "What the hell?!" James exclaimed, jumping backwards as an enormous crack formed above him, threatening to rupture the ceiling at any moment and send the rocks tumbling down on top of him. Without waiting another moment, the man grabbed the book and weaved in and out of the shelves, hastily retreating from the suddenly unstable building.
As he ducked and dodged the falling debris and books, James heard the shouting of Coreliss and her party. He made a slight detour through the chaos and jogged past them, trying to keep his footing on the unstable ground. "I think it's time to go, don't you, Coreliss?" he called over his shoulder, not stopping to speak. There wasn't any time for that, not with the way the building was rapidly deteriorating.
They made it outside just barely before the entire roof gave way and collapsed in on itself. The building was just the beginning, though, and as James looked around at the island, he grew more confused. The trees....they'd all aged; in fact, everything had aged. It looked as if one hundred years had passed in the short time they'd been inside the library. James cast another glance at the building and was surprised to see tangles of weeds and shrubbery covering the collapsed walls. What was going on here? How.....how was any of this possible? James's skin tingled with unease as the wind picked up, hitting him like a gale. The sky was even darker now and it seemed that the small storm had already escalated into something more threatening. He didn't know if the sudden change in the island was connected to the storm's intensification, but he had a suspicion that it was. It was becoming clear that there was something supernatural at work here and James was pretty positive it was centered around the book he held in his hands.
"What...?" James thought, shocked as he looked down at the tome in his hands. It too had metamorphosed- the once white cover was now ebony and inky, the cover wrinkled and aged instead of smooth and pristine. He looked over at Coreliss who was standing nearby, her face mirroring his own expressions. "Uh, I don't know what just happened," he paused and gathered his words, not believing what he was about to say, "But I think....I think the book is the cause."
Stopping in front of a large shelf, Coreliss got distracted by a book with a beautiful blue cover and silver embroidery labelled, Tales of the Bone Wielder: The Untold Adventures of Captain Coreliss. Her eyebrows raised and she began to mutter under her breath. "What kinds of place is this?" There was no way this kind of book would be here unless someone from the larger islands was actively supplying this place. So why was it that when she arrived, this place seemed abandoned aside from James' Crew? Something didn't seem right about this place, "Aye, Pistol, Newbies... Stay close and alert, something don't seem right bout this here library."
She wandered fruitlessly through the rows and rows of books in search of the tome she needed to find. With a soft groan building in her throat, the small woman whined like a child. "Jaaames. Stop bein' so unfair! I wants to find that book even more than you do me bets, I doubt ye even care 'bout the reward!" Before her fine crew mates could even think about exploring off on their own, the building began to shake. Dust showered from the ceiling and Coreliss had to keep blinking due to it all irritating her eyes. Squinting, she saw James running towards her and a frown creeped onto her lips at the large white tome in his hands. A large block of stone fell just inches from her feet as he whisked past her yelling that it was time to leave. No arguments there. Nodding, Coreliss ran after him as she shouted to her crew, "Aye, Mates, ye all better hurry yer damn selfs up if ye be wantin' to make it out of here alive!"
The whole lot of them made it out alive with James in the lead and one of the newbies just behind him followed by Coreliss(and the others). Coreliss let out a loud and audible growl as she went to James and reached to grab the book from his hand, tugging hard enough to catch him off guard but not necessarily rip the once stark white tome from his grasp. She began questioning him, annoyance thickly tangled into her voice, "What did ye do Mr. I'm a Better Pirate! Mr. Let's Make This A Competition! Ye stubborn, unlikable, temple destroying, daft... HALFWIT!" She closed her eyes taking a deep breath.
After she calmed herself she blinked her eyes open and looked around, she finally became aware of what happened to the rest of the island. The sand was covered in seaweed and some sort of clay dirt mixture, the trees were all shriveled up, dead or dying, the grass and plants had turned an ugly brown. A storm brewed overhead and she could feel the black magic that lurked here. Something dark and ancient had been sealed away on this island, hidden by beauty and perfection. Something that probably only existed in old legends and tales had just been unleashed here and had it not been James who caused it, it would have been her.
"Well OBVIOUSLY it be the book that done it! Do ye take me as a fool. You think it was the book. Here's what I be thinkin'. It's about time we got to our boats and got as far from this here island as possible. It's an old magic at work here James. We wasn't prepared for something this dark." Then she felt something almost pulse through her, like some sort of voice that was becoming a part of her. She could hear it but not comprehend it but not because it was a language she didn't know. She knew words were being spoken and she knew the words individually but they didn't add up. It was all so fuzzy, on the tip of her tongue but it wouldn't come to her because she wasn't hearing the words so much as feeling them become a part of her. She felt them take up each and every one of her senses. Her hearing was all blocked by that voice, then she couldn't feel the breeze but instead the words enveloped her skin. Next was the taste and smell which went together being replaced by the taste and smell of water. Lastly went her sight, she could still see everything around her but her mind refused to recognize that it was actually there.
Coreliss shook her head and looked around her. The voice had stopped and storm didn't seem as foreboding as before, still the rapid aging of the island had not been reversed. It was still just as ruined and terrible as it was when they left the temple. Wide eyed and in shock, she muttered out a few words."James, please tell me you felt that."
((Sorry, I got a little carried away there with the whole black magic curse thing. We never really went into detail about what the curse might be BUT, since I couldn't really come up with anything about the curse I just explained what recieving the curse was like. I may have had a little too much fun with it though))
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