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| - The Unseen Grotto of Night's Embrace is basically a small, floating mountain riddled with damp caves and maze-like passages carved by joint effort of the twisting, flowing geomantic energies focused there, and good old H2O. Though it floats on the surface of the western seas, it does not drift, anchored as it is by it's own magic. The grotto is completely undetectable when outside of it, though once inside its borders its true nature begins to show quite clearly: Namely, it gets REALLY dark, really fast. This sudden, unnatural night is so complete that even the moon and stars give up and go home, and light sources that are brought are sharply limited in range. Bring a torch. Or ten.
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| abstract
| - The Unseen Grotto of Night's Embrace is basically a small, floating mountain riddled with damp caves and maze-like passages carved by joint effort of the twisting, flowing geomantic energies focused there, and good old H2O. Though it floats on the surface of the western seas, it does not drift, anchored as it is by it's own magic. The grotto is completely undetectable when outside of it, though once inside its borders its true nature begins to show quite clearly: Namely, it gets REALLY dark, really fast. This sudden, unnatural night is so complete that even the moon and stars give up and go home, and light sources that are brought are sharply limited in range. Bring a torch. Or ten. As one approaches the island itself in the center of the manse, one may begin to notice strange shapes gliding about in the water (if one has an excellent light source, that is). These would be the Assassins of the Deep, a hodgepodge of highly venomous cephalopods: Octopi, squids, cuttlefish, nautili, and the like. Most are fairly normal in size, some are fairly livestock in size. Rest assured that swimming here would be a very poor plan. The Assassins will attack, and likely kill, anyone not attuned to the manse, though they tend to flee before light and never leave the manse's surrounding darkness. Despite their thoroughly deadly nature, however, they're actually quite intelligent, many having brainpower on par with that of a housecat. They can even be trained, if you're patient and properly attuned to the manse. One would be well-advised to pack a lunch, though, as the almost universally poisonous flora and fauna tend to turn mealtime into a game of Russian Roulette. Once inside the island, the visitor is greeted by a series of winding, labyrinthine tunnels peppered with traps to further deter unwanted guests. Should one successfully wend their way to the center of the island, they would discover a large, open room, with a waterfall at one end that pours into an inky-black pool beside an altar. But, more likely, they would sooner discover that the darkness is now so thick that light cannot even exist here, as evidenced by their torch guttering and extinguishing entirely. Even the anima banner of a Solar Exalt extends little farther than a few inches. However, sometime after fear sets in, but just before full-blown panic, one's eyes begin to adjust. Not to the darkness, since the total absence of light would make that impossible, but to the essence flows in the room. Designed as a training chamber for blind-fighting, the room imparts upon it's inhabitants essence sight - just in time to notice the numerous massive tentacles creeping out of the black pool and toward them. Meet Fluffy, a kraken about the size of a small elephant, with 20' clawed tentacles and a somewhat warped sense of humor. Indeed, Fluffy is about as intelligent as an eight year old human, or a committee of around 15 politicians, whichever is clearer to you. Fluffy understands seatounge quite well - though, lacking lips, can only communicate emotions and very simple concepts through a combination of changing the color of its essence (which is a little known ability of all cephalopods), gesticulating, and splashing. With a bit of patience, this language of sorts can be learned fairly easily. Surprisingly, Fluffy even appears to understand the irony of Dax referring to him as Fluffy, though his own attempts at humor are generally limited to bad puns and pranks. Incidentally, these are often far less funny than intended, considering the dangers of being pranked by a venomous octopus the size of a toolshed.
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