[Quest] on the sun-soaked sand

[Random Events]

bright and cheery, even on a cool fall day

It was like neverland.

Despite the season, the beach always seemed so blissful, so sunny, so alive. Terminus was a home to many, even though Novus had yet to see their lands graced by those with fins. But did that ever stop anyone?

Truth be told, Terminus was beautiful and tragic all in the same moment. The sea, unforgiving in all its ways, swallowed the beach whole every high tide. The foam licked the sharp, jagged rocks; the current drug creatures out to sea - or worse, against those very rocks. But low tide brought a change, like another face to a beautiful woman with a terrible personality.

The beach was not unlike knowledge. Just when you thought you knew it all, had it all.. it could be ripped out from underneath you without a trace of anything that came before it. Knowledge sometimes begets violence.. and the Terminus sea was beautiful in its anger.

But in its beauty, it was easy to forget. Easy to be swallowed whole, to be so taken by the way the water moved and flowed so in tune with everything else. 

It was part of the reason why Oriens loved the sea itself so much. How he longed to be able to walk the beach itself, to touch the ragged face of Praistigia again.. but Tempus himself forbid it.

And so he was left, watching from above, all but unknown to the inhabitants. Wasn't that silly? That the god that embodied knowledge and learning be forgotten by the very people he sought to take care of?

On some days, he heard Novus calling to him; louder and more insistent than the days before. He would never directly go against his Father and interact with the mortals under his care. 

But nothing stopped him from leaving little gifts.

- - -

Oriens had watched Pan, in all his youthful cheer and zeal. It warmed his soul, to find someone so pure and so curious. But Oriens' heart ached. Without the gods - without Oriens himself - would this world taint Pan? Would it lead him down the wrong path? 

He knew the boy loved the beach, and knew he collected many trinkets. His heart yearned to bestow a gift that might help Pan in his trek through life... but for fear of Tempus' wrath, Oriens himself knew that his gift could not be so obvious.. but still, he hoped. And on one of the rocks, he placed a shell unlike anything those of Novus had ever seen. The life of the creature that inhabited it - a species Oriens knew as Angaria Sphaerula - was brief and tumultuous, but the fruits of its efforts were truly spectacular.

Oriens could only hope that Pan would wander along the beach like he had so many other days, and discover this gift from a giver he would never know.

- - - - - -

When, and if, Pan explores along the beach, he will happen upon a small, muted pink shell no more than 2 inches across. A rare find, indeed! But upon touching it, the sensation it produces will be even more extraordinary that its looks. It will almost feel like a static shock, ringing every nerve from Pan's nose to his hooves.. and will produce a light thrumming feeling in his chest. Is it pain, some other unknown feeling, or... 

wait? Why does Pan feel so alive?

---

If @Pan wanders along the Terminus beach in low-tide, he will discover upon a shell from the Angaria sphaerula sea snail, laying innocuously atop a rock. Should he touch it, he will feel a static shock, every nerve in his body alight. You may have Pan realize that this gift bestowed immortality on him - immediately, at a later time, or you may choose it so that he never actually becomes aware of his immortality. 

The shell itself has no magical properties any longer, and Pan has no sure-fire way of knowing that this gift is from the gods, let alone Oriens. The shell may be given away or discarded at any point, and will have no affect on Pan's immortality. Giving the shell to another character will not grant them immortality, either.

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Once you respond, Pan's immortality will become effective.

If you wish to have Pan begin aging again: contact staff. If he becomes mortal again, you won't be able to re-instate his immortality without purchasing it again through the Agora. 

(This is a repost of this thread, originally written by @inkbone.)

Enjoy! -sid

[Pan]

The sea called its boy home, along the sunny shores and tempestuous waves.  It was a brilliant summer afternoon, the kind when clouds rolled lazily past and the sun shone brightly against the water.  Light glinted from the waves like a glittering diamond, matching the sparkle in the scaled colt’s eyes and he danced merrily along the tide’s path.

Low tide was the ideal time for him to begin gathering, for this is when he knew the sea would leave the best treasures behind.  In the distance, he heard the bark of sea lions, flicking his ears toward them and listening to the strangely familiar sounds.  Above them though, he is humming as he goes, the sound a bit off key but joyful as he dug through the marshy sand.  Unearthing little bits of shell and sea glass, he pulled the best for his satchel, leaving little pieces of sea grass and browning kelp behind.

Sandpipers skittered ahead of him, searching for their next meal with long beaks and a funny tittering gait.  He stopped for a bit to watch them, sweat staining the white of his coat as he basked in the sea breeze, hoping for respite from the sweltering heat.  Though he hadn’t been at Novus long (this time), the days seemed to be getting warmer with every rising sun, and he wasn’t entirely comfortable in the heat.  Not one to complain though, he saw the perfect opportunity for cool relief, hiding away his satchel behind a mound of sea grass before turning back to the blue sea.

The waves were a bit rough, but Pan was quite a strong swimmer… so he didn’t hesitate even for a moment before racing toward the great ocean with a child-like peal of laughter.  The crisp cool water washed over him as he swam further from the shore, rolling onto his back so the waves could carry him at their whim.  Over and over the waves rolled in, tumbling the boy about as he kicked his legs hard against the current, diving beneath the incoming waves and letting the whoosh of the ocean toss him about.

He surfaced once more, the seas seeming to settle, as they pushed him back to shore.  Rolling in the damp sea foam, he itched himself along the sand.  Only once he’d thoroughly coated his skin with a sheen of wet sand did he find his way back to the satchel, gathering his items with a clattering sound.  Humming once more, he turned to make his way back to the central grounds of Novus – but as he turned, a shimmer of pink caught his eye.

Not far from where he stood, he found the shell – beautiful and perfectly formed.  It was as if the sea had gently lifted it and left it there for him to find, and with wide eyes and a gentle touch, he reached to collect it.  When his lips touched the edges, a fuzzy feeling washed over him, as if he were destined to collect and cherish it forever.  Gingerly, he wrapped it in some nearby kelp, and tucked it safely into his satchel, before he turned and left the sea behind.

@Random Events

Pan

the vagabond adventurer

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