"I think we should go to the East first... It would make more sense."
"I was about to suggest that. The portal to the North is closer, but the one off to the far East would require backtracking needlessly."
With one last look to the North, UOPETA moved off to the East towards the edge of the map where one of the farther portals was located. I was beginning to worry about UOPETA; first AMPHIS, now him. Maybe there was more to SERVERE being alive than we had initially thought... Either that, or an overactive imagination within AMPHIS had sparked off paranoia in UOPETA. Seeing shadows where there was nothing. I just wondered... Who would be next...?
With the constant rain and thick fog, it was hard to gauge how far we had to go to reach certain locations, which made the journey that much more tiring. Not only that, but we were drenched to the bone and beginning to feel the chill. We would need to find somewhere to settle soon, even if it meant sacrificing the last few hours of the day. Luckily we found the next portal location on the cusp of the map, right along the Eastern coast. The sandy shore gave us an indication we were close, and a short wade across knee-deep water brought us to the right location. Upon arriving, we more or less instantly found the portal. Well... Some of it. A small portion of the portal was visible above the ground, but it was difficult to tell whether it was the top of the bottom.
"Well, there's only one way to find out, and that's to dig!"
Joining together, we managed to remove large quantities of sand away from the edges which would tell us whether it was the top or bottom, and before we knew it we found out. The iridescent purple light began to shine through, along with the eerie dripping sounds, which seemed to echo more, maybe because of the rain, or the densely packed sand... We had found the first active portal of the journey, however from the looks of it, it was only a standard portal. Oh well, it was better than nothing. Any progress was better than no progress at all. After extracting as much sand as we could with our hands, the head of the pickaxe and other items that came to hand, UOPETA jumped down into the newly formed hole and asked for THEROS to throw him the glowing stone. Reaching inside his bag, THEROS produced the glowing stone, which lived up to its name by emitting an intense orange glow that bathed the area in a warming hue. Placing the stone on the base of the portal, UOPETA backed off and we all watched as the magical destruction of the portal took place. The eerie green glow of the portal began to replace the purple and orange light, casting stark shadows across the sand, making it feel otherworldly. After a few moments, the sickly light intensified, before dulling down and fading completely. UOPETA waited for the stone to reappear, before climbing out of the hole.
"Two down, a lot more to go!"
From where we were, we headed West North West, towards the next and probably last portal of the day, according to the now reducing light. The rain hadn't eased off a bit since it started this morning, so we were still in a rush to get somewhere dry. Unfortunately the open fields seemed to stretch for miles, with no sight of a tree or overhanging cliff for shelter at all. It may mean having to travel a little further to find somewhere, however the next location seemed to be on top of a large hill. Maybe there was somewhere close by that we could use as a shelter. As we reached the half way point - more or less - the rain began to ease off, finally. The ground beneath our feet had grown slick from the churned up mud, so we now had to travel carefully in case we fell over. Not that that was a major issue, but more that is was embarrassing. Adding muddy to the list of current issues was not something we wanted to do. UOPETA stopped again at the top of a small rise, and once again began staring out across the land below. The fog had lifted slightly, allowing us to see better, but I still couldn't make out anything that had intrigued him so much.
"UOPETA? What do you see...?"
"I don't know... It's like there are patches of ground scattered across this place where it isn't raining. But only for a few moments at a time... It's like something is blocking the rain from hitting the ground..."
"It's probably just a mixture of things. It's hard to see as it is, and you're likely to be on edge because of the faulty wiring back at the house..."
"Maybe..."
UOPETA didn't sound so sure, but continued anyway. We eventually reached the hill that was marked on the map, and like before, we found the right place almost immediately. Then again, with there being a large hole in the ground leading down, it was hard to imagine where else the portal could be...
Heading down the steps, THEROS led the way, lighting up the dark with torches. The steps wound around for some time, and I was beginning to wonder if we had stumbled upon something a little bigger than just a portal. But the steps eventually doubled and split off, leading to a small passage with purple light emanating from ahead.
"Looks like we just found the last portal of the day... And the shelter we needed!"
Heading down into the small chamber, THEROS readied the glowing stone, whilst me and UOPETA place the bags down in the corner. Whilst THEROS destroyed the portal, UOPETA began to start a fire with some waste material he had in his bag.
"It's a good job I come prepared. If we had relied upon some foliage from nearby we would never have a fire going. I just hope it stops raining by tomorrow..."
We've decided to sacrifice the last few hours of daylight in favour of the shelter this small chamber provided. THEROS went back and removed a few of the torches closer to the entrance to prevent drawing any attention to our position. Sitting around the fire eating the basic supplies we had brought with us, it wasn't long before we were fully dry! The chamber trapped the warmth, and it wasn't long before we began to feel drowsy. The only good thing about being cold and wet was it kept us alert. Now we could relax. We would set out again as soon as one of us woke up again, but I couldn't see that happening too early in the morning. Setting the bedding a sensible distance from the fires, we settled in for the night, warm and snug in the chamber. Odd... I felt secure again... I can't for the life of me think why...
Syeonyx signing off
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