[Forest][Ela'noria Ruins] Boredom Can Be Dangerous (Pre-Veil & GF'd)

[Karo Sa'Nepenthes]

Timestamp: 27 Ioannes, Era XIV PF. Midmorning.

Karo Sa'Nepenthes was not, it seemed, very well cut out for a peaceful life in the lap of luxury. He had finally managed to shake off his depression and endless brooding several months ago, and after his visit to Starshadow Keep, things seemed to be... well, mending, if not mended, with Calairiel. The Elementalist had even managed to begin reconciling himself to the fact that the woman he loved was married to someone else. Karo's emotions had begun to fall once more under his own control, after what he was shocked to realize one day had been most of a full era.

He had finally begun to spend more time with his adoptive family -- days and cycles on end, even, which was quite a testament to his regard for Jarae and the others, given the love he had for his own estate. He was fed well, treated as the brother he had become, and his days had been filled for months predominantly with pleasant leisure. He had certainly needed the vacation from his cares, although he knew that the people who fully realized how lost he had been could be numbered on one hand.

The vacation, though, immensely helpful as it had been, was over, and Karo was ready to once more put his considerable talents towards something productive.

This presented a problem.

For the youngest scion of House Celerrond had nothing productive towards which to bend his attention. His last real job had been as Governor of Arakmat Province, and had essentially proven to be a gigantic disaster start to finish. The only good thing to have come out of that debacle had been his friendship with Cala, which had seen its own difficulties but was thankfully strong enough to survive. Karo was stuck, then, with a great deal of energy and nothing to do with it.

In a normal person, perhaps this might lead one to seek employment, or to throw oneself into selfless volunteerism or some other such worthy task. Karo di Thandos Sa'Nepenthes en'Celerrond, however, was not, strictly speaking, a normal person. Instead, Karo had awakened one morning in midsummer and realized that it had been nearly half an era since his life had been in danger.

This was unacceptable.

Karo's personality was such that he was driven towards danger the way iron was drawn towards a lodestone. Perhaps he lived for the thrill, the adrenaline rush of life-threatening situations. Perhaps he was somehow deeply insecure, somewhere deep inside, and constantly driven to prove his own worth. Perhaps he simply loved the independence and self-reliance represented by circumstances where he could depend on no one other than himself to solve his problems. Most likely, he simply had immense faith in his ability to handle whatever came at him and enjoyed pushing his limits and testing himself.

Whatever the reason, though, the times Karo felt at his most alert and awake, his most honest and real, his most actively, defiantly alive were the times when his life was at risk. It was this that had originally driven him to become a sailor, following the irresistable siren call of the sea, and later on a soldier, placing himself in harm's way in battle after battle. It was this which had nearly gotten him killed by a Syl'ger, too, and Karo had always assumed that it would be this which eventually led to him embarking on some foolish quest and getting himself killed. But this thrillseeking part of his nature was like and old friend to Karo, and he had made his peace with the fact that it would likely someday kill him.

The result of this hunger for danger was that Karo could not think of a single thing that would crown his newfound happiness better than a bit of an adventure. He hadn't been on any real adventures since well before he'd become Governor, more than two eras before -- with the exception of the quick jaunt to Narim, where he hadn't been permitted to endanger himself -- and it was long overdue.

Like all elves in Syl'rosya, of course, he had heard stories of the Ela'noria Ruins deep in the Restwood. Like all elves in Syl'rosya, he had also heard of how dangerous and unstable the ruins were, and had heard horror stories of people venturing into the ruins to explore and returning horribly maimed, or not at all. But Karo was immensely curious about the historical structures, and so confident and newly content was he that it seemed a perfectly natural place for the young elf to go visit. Whatever fell creatures might inhabit the ruins, he was sure he could handle them. He did not fear collapsing stones or nameless beasts, and in addition to the horror stories Karo had also heard the tales of treasure, both in material riches and items of impossible power.

What better adventure to be had? The Restwood was practically in his own backyard, and the opportunities for glory and riches were legion, not to mention the thrill of being the first elf in who knew how many patterns to explore those crumbling halls, faced with unknown and presumably dire peril. Glory was not to be sneered at. What better cure for his boredom, then, if he could return to his family, danger faced and overcome, filled with tales of glorious deeds and bearing the hard-won fruits of his adventure? The Ela'noria Ruins it would be.

There was, of course, the small matter of the ruins being off-limits, but Karo had never paid a lot of attention to such trifling details when they inconvenienced him.

And so it was, that the previous darkening Karo had informed his family that he would be travelling for at least a few days. He had returned to his own estate the previous evening and gathered the equipment and rations he felt he might need, and early this brightening had left his home in search of that most seductive temptress, Adventure.

As he approached the ruins, Karo slowed his warhorse Nightwind to a walk, and finally stopped in a clearing nearby. This would be as good a place to start as any, and the ruined shrine would be no place for a horse. Untying his pack from Nightwind's saddle, Karo smiled up at his faithful retainer, Jan.

"Thank you for coming with me this far, Jan. I know you think I'm being stupid, and that makes your willing help to me all the more meaningful. I may not say it often, but I owe you a great deal more than I can ever repay."

"Thank you, sir," said Jan in his usual dry voice. "But if it's not too much trouble, returning quickly, alive, and ideally in one piece would be sufficient thanks. I am, after all, a bit old to be looking for another place of employment."

Karo laughed. "Very well, my friend," he said. "I'll do my best to see that you don't have to."

With that, he waved and began to walk towards the ruins. Karo had never been one for overwrought goodbyes.

[Azurite]

The blue leaves of the eucalyptus trees sparkled in the early morning mist as Karo reigned his horse in. The light from the suns barely cresting over the ridges of the Syl'rosyan valley as Karo looked over the ruins. The mist giving the strange structures an ethereal look as the soft white flowers of the trees gave off a sugary aroma. He had found what he was looking for, but at first glance the ruins only offered a sense of beauty and tranquility.

Getting down from his horse his feet become lost in the velvety clover that blanketed this part of the Restwood. The clover was known as Paradise Clover as they only grew in areas the elves frequented most often, such as the Laughing Water Grove and Moonspring Vale. The clover gave off its own aroma that was like fresh grass of the manicured lawns of the nobles that had just been trimmed. It was a place of beauty and undeniable aromatic pleasure something Karo would surely appreciate.

Following his footsteps towards the ruins that lay within the depression of the Tumba Karo was greeted by a cascade of frogs. The multicolored frogs hopped out of the clover patch as Karo disturbed their slumber in the early morning. Croaking and bouncing along the frogs seemed to be yelling at the disturber as they all hopped away from his path. Strange that they would come to suddenly, clear a path and then vanish into the tall clover patch again.

Finally reaching one of the entrances of the ruins Karo was greeted by a pitiful sight. The door to the ruins was leaning precariously, the roof have collapsed from the weight of itself. The darkness of the building could be seen a few feet from the entrance as Karo stood there ready to go on.

Hopefully he had brought a torch or a lantern to aid him Karo would surely set it aflame. Having to slouch slightly to get under the doorway Karo was brought into the world of the ancient ruins. The light from his flame caressing the walls as he went along, his feet wet from the soggy ground below him. Noticing the walls he would see that in certain areas there were writings placed along them, writing that strangely looked like elvish but he was unable to read it.

Continuing through the passageways Karo was forced to turn in a hundred different directions as he went along. There we no other hallways to go down except for the one that he traveled on. Having been within the ruins for nearly twenty minutes now he noticed the ground becoming far soggier and the walls starting to look far more eroded, the writing on them barely there. Clearly the flooding from season past had caused much of the damage to the ruins.

A crack echoed through the ruins. Another one following shortly after as Karo froze in his place. Then another this time louder then the first two which meant it was nearer. They sounded strangely like the crack of wood as if a tree had fallen in a storm. Suddenly the ground heaved and the walls buckled as the ground behind Karo gave way leaving him precariously holding his footing.

His weight must have been too much for the soggy ground to hold in his passing. If he continued would the same thing happen not only claiming floor but himself as well? There was no turning around now as there was only one hallway he had come down. Turning to look behind him the elf was greeted with an open chasm.

Wait. What was that? A blue flash of light caught Karo's eye as he turned. There it was again the same flash. Something was down there and it strangely called to Karo's sense of adventure that he had come to relieve. Would he continue to trod forward or would he take the chance to fall down into the pit to look for the compelling blue flash?