The Ghost Siren's Hollow

“At this point there’s no use usin’ that map!” the kem behind the helm of the boat yells out to you. He struggles to combat the treacherous storm in the middle of the ocean, with darkened skies and ripples of lightning as far as the eye can see. The storm is so severe, water begins to pool on the deck of the boat and even ruins the ink-drawn map that was given to you in order to find the Sea Witch. Stenchy, the captain of the ship, who is known widely by other sailors for his foul fishy body odor, loses control of the wheel and is knocked back, “HANG ON LAD!! The storm’s a-bitin’!” The shadow of a giant wave completely darkens the boat before it comes crashing down, capsizing the small ship in one fell swoop. Stenchy and all other crew, including yourself, wash away into the briny depths.

A sickly sweet aroma mixed with heavy mold in the air attacks your senses and wakes you. You stammer, trying to find words to say as if you are still on the boat, but you quickly realize you aren’t. You notice a roof over your head. Well... a cave? Arches? Almost like it's the roof of a mouth.... Oh, no. You think to yourself. Maybe you were eaten by something? You feel for the ground with your paw pads, since it’s hard to see through the dimly lit area. As you carefully tread, you feel a very heavy pressure over you, which makes it hard to move around. You startle at the touch of something….soft? Carpet? You keep searching until you feel a wall and then a light switch. You flick it on to reveal what seems to be someone’s grandma living in a cave, just by looking at the old-timey decor. You scan the room inch by inch, finding it extremely odd that someone could possibly live in such a place. You begin to walk alongside the wall with your gaze fixed on a taxidermied flibb from across the room until you suddenly bump into something stiff and furry.

You jolt back a bit but quickly realize it’s just Stenchy. His eyes also fixed on something across the room. He didn’t say anything, not even a side eye or grunt of annoyance. In fact, he didn’t even blink. That’s so strange, so you ask him if he’s okay. No response. Upon closer inspection, you notice... seams along his face? No… What happened to Stenchy!? Horror and dread wash over you as you try to combat denial that Stenchy... is no longer with you. You then hear a door slam somewhere in the creepy home with a crackling, squealing voice following after, “I just can’t wait to add to my collection... It’s been a long time since I’ve had new friends-” A dark furred kem slinks into the room with a crooked pair of scissors and a metal bucket. “Hmmm…?” she stopped and looked around, “Where did the other friend go?” Next to Stenchy was you, posing like a doll trying to fit in. The ominously cool colored kem steps closer towards you. You can see by the corner of your vision that her white irises are shooting daggers at you. She squints and runs her scissors up your neck, her voice screeches into your ears as she speaks, “There is a parTICular aura my dear friends give off when they’re alive....and I sense so MUCH of it from you~” She quickly reared the scissors, about to strike them into the side of your neck but you quickly swat them from out of her hand and headbutt her. The dark kemata falls back and you bolt for the ugly blue door across the room, taking care not to run into the creepy collection of taxidermied kematas. You open it and run right into a wider cave filled with nothing but darkness. You turn around but she is already at your neck with the crooked scissors. “You are SOOOooo full of life aren’t you?” She creepily grins widely and coaxes her head to the side. “That’s no good… We need to fix that in order for our…” She inhales sharply, “friendSHIP…” she squeals before continuing, “...To work properly.” Her pale eyes widened as the scissors opened and ready to cut right before you yell, “STOP!!”

To your complete and utter surprise, she suddenly backs off and sighs deeply before dropping her scissors to the ground.

“Oh… okay… I really overdid it this time. That really did hurt when you headbutted me, you know. I’m guessing... you don’t want to be a part of my collection of friends?” You give her a strange look as you try to make sense of the situation. She backs away a bit and gently bows her head, “I am Indra, The Sea Witch~”

 

HOW WILL YOU PROVE YOURSELF?

Indra challenges you to prove yourself in mastering the art of Poison Magic! In order to prove your worth you must select 3 out of the 10 prompts listed below:

Prompt 1: 
Indra invited you over to help with sampling her new "concoctions" which one of them made you paralyzed. She giggled and exited into the kitchen, when you then hear the sound of knives being sharpened. Expel the poison from your body and escape.


Prompt 2:
Indra was showing off her new pet spiders when her doorbell rang abruptly, scaring the spiders into biting her all over. These poisonous spider's venom can kill a Kem in a matter of minutes. The doorbell keeps ringing. Indra said she was expecting a package, so you see her walk towards the door but fall face first because the venom is already active. Indra really wants you to get her package. Hurry and get the package and help her with the venom.

Prompt 3: 
Indra lives in a cozy cenote, an underwater cave, that she decorated in a fashion that someone's grandma might live there. So she doesn't pay taxes. A tax collector seems to find his way in and is harping her on paying property tax. She offers him some tea, which he takes but immediately regrets when you see his tongue swell up and spots shown up all over his face. He collapses over, gasping for air and crawling at the floor away from the table. Indra just watched while checking her stopwatch. You knew she was timing how fast her poisons took effect, but this time she might have gone a little too far. Help the tax collector.

Prompt 4:
Indra's home is decorated with what she calls taxidermied critters and other stuff you'd rather not know how she got them. One night while you were over studying her recipes, Indra came barging in with an injured horangi, an endangered species of familiars. You can see that it's in so much distress that there's no hope for it. This poison is specifically made to numb the body and soothes the pain. Indra pulls out a vial of poison and gives it to the creature. Indra wants you to create a poison that reacts to the one she gave the creature because their reactions could help save it.

Prompt 5:
You decide to take a stroll around Calico Woods when you see Indra at a distance blissfully trotting about and digging through the dirt for something. Picking flowers? No, the thought immediately leaves when you see her plucking the rotting meat off of a deceased skelly. But then you see a pact of skellies surrounding her without her noticing. Hurry, spring into action and use poison to stop the skellies from interrupting her scavenging.

Prompt 6:
The evil scientist has placed you and 3 other kematas at a table with two cups of tea in front of you. He says one cup of tea was laced in poison while only 1 had a pill that would dissolve, thus releasing the magic that kept you all locked there. Rad, your long time rival and love, took the pill, unlocking the door, but the roof started to sink in slowly. On top of that the Professor, a kem who was your teacher for years, was poisoned! Save the Professor and escape in one piece!

Prompt 7:
There’s competition to present the best thesis of how poison could save lives with the grand prize of 1,000,000 Opals! Study, study, study so you can write the best thesis to win that grand prize!

Prompt 8:
So, you decided your magic, but can your kemata handle it’s newfound ability? Depict your kemata studying hard or practicing their magic.

Prompt 9:
Toxicity and anti-venom. Poison represents these well, but can your kemata channel these ideas? Depict your kemata using their magic to save a life or even hunting!

Prompt 10:
Heirs have been erased and lives have been saved with the use of poisons. Portray your kemata using their poison in an impactful way.