Ofolrodi

by Imploding Colon

The Muck and Mud

Traversing the canyon took another four days—at least by Kepler's measurements. It was Ariel who first noticed a gradual change in the topography of the surrounding landscape. The dual mountain ranges that flanked the dead riverbed grew stouter and stouter—until soon the Herald's journey was threading no more than a series of rolling hills. The group noticed that there was a slowly declining grade to the environment. Everything was sloping downward, and when Rainbow Dash hovered just a few meters off the ground she could see that the horizon towards Alpha was disapearring into a dark haze.

The air grew strangely humid. There was moisture somewhere—but the group couldn't tell where. Not at first. Armor fogged and vapors appeared in the glow of the hovercraft's chaotic enchantment. When asked, Rarity explained to Rainbow that some sort of moisture was lying deep underground and some of it was seeping upwards. Twilight assumed it was some sort of natural aquifer or spring that survived the Sundering. Kepler made a similar hypothesis after being consulted by Rainbow.

At long last, the canyon dissolved entirely—but the riverbed did not disappear. Instead, it spread into dozens if not hundreds of miniature tributaries. Some dried-up streams were the widths of houses, others were only half-a-meter thick. Between the forking beds were rising mounds of earth: hard jagged rock. These terrestrial formations rose higher and higher. Soon, what was once a flat river bed had become a dazzling forest of bulbous rocks, rising up like petrified mushrooms from the earth. They even had "stems." The further the Herald traversed, the higher the rocks rose from the descending dried-up tributaries, and the stone structures flared at the top with narrow stalks supporting their weight.

Kepler presumed that this was the result of some kind of gradual erosion over time. After the Sundering, a massive deluge of moisture must have roared its way down the remnants of the natural canyon. Combined with leaking aquifers, an array of raging rapids must have once existed, thundering beneath the twilight. They produced this inexplicable forest of eroded rock down a steep slope. It was the assumption of most Herald members that they had to have been approaching the Great Ocean soon—for such would be a sensible place to have collected the remaining moisture of the Dark Side. However, Rarity sensed no enormous basin of any kind yet. Despite an underlying retention of moisture beneath the earth's surface, she was sensing no surface-level lake. The expedition continued.

Days into this earthen trek, the ground grew noticeably muddy. Ponies like Flynn, Ariel, and especially Logan found it exceedingly difficult to march across the ancient tributaries without getting their hooves stuck in soppy muck. Thankfully, the hovercraft gave them means of conveyance, and those with wings scouted ahead to check for patches of mud that could be avoided. It was during this reconaissance that Wildcard first discovered signs of life. Fluttershy confirmed it. There were... things living in the muck. With a blast of magic, Flynn exposed a nested pocket, and the group saw shelled creatures with luminescent exoskeletons shimmying towards the deeper shadows. They resembled a cross between pill bugs and horseshoe crabs, but they were clearly the size of domesticated canines. Logan—stomach growling—immediately suggested the obvious. He, Ariel, and Wildcard attempted to surprise and spear another nest of them—but the creatures merely slid into deeper, muddier hiding.

So, with a sigh, Seraphimus grabbed a spear of Emeraldinian metal without asking Flynn's permission. In a blink, she had flown off. Thirty minutes later, she returned with a bloodied spear and four giant crustaceans dangling over her back. Without a word, she heaved the fresh carcasses onto the hovercraft and by the next camp session, Kepler had something for a stew. Turns out the shells were protecting an ample supply of nourishing meat. The cooked muscle tasted sweet to the bite—or so Ariel and Flynn had told Rainbow. Rainbow stuck with the strange beets the Spindlers had given them.

The next few days brought with it lots of ample meat. If nothing else, the presence of living things brought excitement and change to the journey. No longer imprisoned by the towering walls of an endless canyon, the Herald were happy to fill the hours with casual hunt. Seraphimus even showed them a few tricks for outsmarting the little mud spawns. When it became clear that catching these things was a great deal easier than it seemed at first, the Herald held off a bit. There was no telling what unfortunate circumstances might bring them back to a place like that, and they didn't want to rid it entirely of game.

More days passed. Kepler was having to draw notches into a new page of his journal. Around the group, the rock formations sank and dissipated. In its place, a thin layer of moisture had formed—crystal clean and reflective. Twilight and Applejack assumed that there would be a lake nearby—or even the ocean. Yet again, Rarity dashed their hopes. She did—however—confirm that multiple springs were bubbling up to the surface. The cool puddles under Rainbow's hooves weren't going to last forever.

Rarity didn't need to explain this, for Rainbow saw it. The tributaries dipped into foggy holes, venting with steam and hot air. The horizon towards Omega had grown foggy with a miasma of water vapors. Before Rainbow's visibility dwindled, she spotted chunks in the earth—shadowed niches where shapes stirred... making clicking sounds and faint scratches. The landscape ahead was full of porous holes, and the trickling of liquid and the hiss of steam added to the unsettling alien topography.

Rainbow Dash steeled herself. She told the Herald that they would have to slow their movement to a cautious crawl over the next few days.

She didn't receive any complaints for the suggestion.

Comments

[DTM]

The Herald is making progress! It seems like they will have to cross some sort of hot spot, maybe with unpredictable geysers too, sort of like a denser Yellowstone area.

[Sylicath]

Very interesting terrain. Could be quite dangerous - maybe another crazy monster like the vine-worm-thing?

[arancaytar]

disapearring

Typo

These terrestrial formations rose higher and higher. Soon, what was once a flat river bed had become a dazzling forest of bulbous rocks, rising up like petrified mushrooms from the earth. They even had "stems."

mystarchive.com/rivenil/images/rockform.jpg

They resembled a cross between pill bugs and horseshoe crabs, but they were clearly the size of domesticated canines.

I would say "nope" but we did just spend weeks in an entire city full of giant spiders. Nopes are fully depleted.

Turns out the shells were protecting an ample supply of nourishing meat.

Should probably be "it turned out"?

[thatguyvex]

The party encounters Mudcrabs, and discovers they are delicious. And being surrounded by all this moisture but no pure water source yet still makes me wonder how the Herald is staying hydrated. At this point I'm going to assume they've found a way to filtrate and reclaim their own urine. Yeah, that's probably it.

At least there's the promise of an ocean out there somewhere.

Seraphimus x Logan Ship Confirmation Chapter Counter: 17

[Campo]

We're getting quite a lot of time skips, several days between each chapter.
Not that I mind really, just getting closer and closer to our destination without having to deal with some monsters in some cave or something for some 10-15 chapters. 10-15 chapters is probably a generous estimation.

I'm gonna jinx it aren't I?

[zaponator]

Are we about to encounter our old friend, the giant centipede?

[geb]

French horns are great.

[Tim the Planes-pony]

8794566
Probably spreading out a tarp of sorts to collect moisture in the air. let condensation work for them.

Probably getting close to the ocean, not sure where else that much moisture would come from without rain otherwise.

[Labyrinthine]

They resembled a cross between pill bugs and horseshoe crabs

i.ytimg.com/vi/zlm4XaJwxo0/hqdefault.jpg

Oh, so they’re just sand crabs. Kinda gross, but I’m sure if you’re hungry enough—

they were clearly the size of domesticated canines.

HOLY SHIT I want nothing to do with that. I would just turn around and go back to the Spindlers.

Also, if they’re not in the canyon anymore, why are they still heading straight toward the Bloodwings?

[thatguyvex]

8794604
Do they actually have tarps to do that with? I don't know if that's ever been mentioned in their equipment list. Then again the spiders could've spun up something like that for them. I normally wouldn't be hung up on this, but Skirts keeps making a point of mentioning what they're eating all the time, so its only fair I start to wonder how they're staying hydrated, given that water is far more important than food, especially when doing long distance traveling.

[Booster Spice]

Gives an idea of the integral if thats just the delta.

The deeper the mud, the bigger the crawlie.

[Feigned Ignorance]

8794572
Yup. Way to go, now Logan's gonna get eaten by a giant crab.

[IceKitsune]

Another great visual chapter. They are finally getting close shouldn't be too much longer till they hit some civilization.

[Hawattie]

...the riverbed did not disappear. Instead, it spread into dozens if not hundreds of miniature tributaries. Some dried-up streams were the widths of houses, others were only half-a-meter thick.

How did a braided river that size manage to cut straight down through stone?! A river that shape likes to wiggle around and not stay in one place long enough to carve titanic stone pillar/mushrooms. Wtf dark side!

The tributaries dipped into foggy holes, venting with steam and hot air.

Karst...?

The landscape ahead was full of porous holes, and the trickling of liquid and the hiss of steam added to the unsettling alien topography.

...I smell cave(s) coming up.

[shallow15]

And our heroes' journey continues into the scalding lands beyond the mud.

Don't miss our next potboiling episode "Secrets in the Steam" or "Geysers and Dolls!"

[Phoenix Kitten]

8794566

They have a pair of pegasi, and two griffons.
As long as they can still cloud shape, they can create tiny little rain clouds from the water vapour and have them rain into the canteens to fill them.

Anyway...
Springs and geysers huh?
That would get incredibly humid, surprised we didn't get any descriptions of Ariel ogling a sweat drenched Dash.

-Through the path long forgotten, into the darkness long begotten. Ofolrodi.

[Sir Mediocre]

Foul denizens lurk in the marshes.

Don't listen to them, hobbitses.

[Spectrumancer]

8794566
Lots of moisture in the air? Stretch out a tarp or something and wring it into a container regularly.

[thatguyvex]

8794950
At this point with all the moisture in the air, yeah, but still not sure what they were drinking up until this point. And I wouldn’t worry, pretty sure Ariel starring at Dash's ass...ets is continuing on a regular basis.

[Blaster M]

Having flying allies and a hovercar conveniently sidesteps terrain issues

[AppleTank]

Wings are so convenient.

[durandana]

[The 24th Pegasus]

Too bad Rarity isn't here in the flesh to fight a giant crab

[Merula]

Oh look, yet another ambush!

[Leftover of Saikano]

Mmmhhh... Shellfish. And also bite-size.
Eh... Trilobite-size
umanitoba.ca/science/geological_sciences/stuff/geoaware/suletosi/cat1.gif

[Boersencrash]

Someone mentioned the issue of water supplies a little earlier. That matter appears to be solved.

8795233

Like the typical adventure game experience. If there is a large, extraordinary and seemingly unoccupied area, prepare for a boss fight.

[TranquilClaws]

Beware the mists...
For danger lurks within

[Sir Mediocre]

8795732
https://youtu.be/Hsw1iL1ULhA

Obligatory.

[The_K_Man]

8794628, So would this end with Logan Carving his way out or eating his way out?

[Super Trampoline]

8794598
As a horn player myself, I agree, but what prompted this?

[Super Trampoline]

8794889
Haha!

[Revan]

Rainbow Dash and the Herald crawl through mud towards the Midnight Armory.

[Cynderfall]

Craaab ponies, craaab ponies, walk like crab talk like ponies.

[Nevlamas]

Crabs, steam and empty river beds - this is giving me unpleasant flashbacks to the Dark Tower's first book.

[Hazard]

Hmmm. Where there's prey, there are predators.

[General Lemarc]

8808749
There's always a bigger fish

[FOXTrot2]

8830996
Only in this case it may be literal.

We've seen living landmasses, is it so impossible for there to be giant Rocky fish?

[Alchemik]

These mud crawlers remind me of these guys:
static.wikia.nocookie.net/hollowknight/images/b/bf/B_Shadow_Creeper.png/revision/latest?cb=20170412183704

They sound a bit tastier though. It figures that Sera would have some good tricks for hunting. I'd expect Wildcard to as well.

[hypervelocity]

We're getting extremely close to the ocean, it would seem.