DEPTHSTRIDERS CLAN: 3

The three empyrians were lying on their backs staring straight at the ceiling, not thinking about much. They were just enjoying the noises of this clan. They were listening to the sounds of water letting it wash over them, calming them. They could’ve fallen asleep there, but some new sounds broke through the tranquil water. Oeric was the first to sit up and investigate. He saw a large group of Haedians gather coral. 

“What are you guys doing?” Oeric asked when a Haedian got close enough. 

“Oh, that’s for our coral crafting event,” The Haedian explained. 

Oeric looked back at the group collecting coral and had an idea. Griffith and Aule had sat up by this point to see what Oeric was talking about, but they didn’t know what was going through his head. 

“Are you going to make some jewelry?” Griffith asked, finding it odd that it would interest Oeric. 

“Nope, I have another idea,” Oeric said. 

When he didn’t elaborate on the idea, Aule prompted him, “Which is?”

“Well, do you remember in the Forgotten clan how they made structures from things they found,” Oeric started to explain, “Maybe we can do that for this clan?”

Griffith stood up to look around the area they were in. It was pretty coral-free, mostly made of mossy rocks and a few glowing plants. In his mind’s eye, he was already starting to see what the area would look like with some paint and coral decorations. He nodded his head and agreed with Oeric. 

“I think it’s a good idea,” Griffith said, “It could be fun.”

Aule followed his companions’ lead as they approached the group of Haedians that had gathered the coral. Oeric and Griffith explained what they planned to do and asked if they could use some of their coral. Aule could see that some of the Haedians were curious about what they meant, while others had a look that said they thought the idea was strange. Nevertheless, the Haedians agreed to let the empyrians use some of their coral. 

“I’ll leave you guys to decorate with the coral,” Aule said, “I’ll paint a mural or something.”

“Oh good idea,” Oeric said as the group wandered back to the area they planned to decorate. 

Aule set up near the wall with the leftover paints from their fight. There were still quite a few colours to use, but he wasn’t sure what he was going to paint yet. While he thought about the possibilities, Griffith and Aule arranged their coral pieces on the ground to plan out how they were going to decorate. 

“Maybe we can attach some pieces with some of that string, or seaweed?” Griffith suggested with a question. 

“Yeah, yeah, that’s a good idea,” Oeric commented while he contemplated some other ideas.

The pair moved some pieces around and connected the smaller pieces as Griffith mentioned. When all was prepared, Oeric and Griffith took turns placing things along the mossy rocks that made up the wall. They hadn’t hung the stringed coral yet, but they paused for a minute to see how Aule was doing. 

In the time it took Griffith and Oeric to prepare and start decorating, Aule had managed to decide what he was going to paint and how the composition was going to work. He organized the paints in a way that would make them easy to reach without making too much of a mess. Aule started with a teal and began painting a manta ray. Aule was in his head, not paying attention to what his friends were doing until they broke his concentration. 

“Oh, you know what might be cool?” Griffith exclaimed and he had to smile when he saw Aule jump. 

“What’s your idea?” Oeric asked as Aule turned around to face them. 

“What if we integrated some coral into your mural?” Griffith pondered. 

“It could work, but how would we get it to stick?” Aule asked. 

The three stood around thinking about ways to stick coral to the walls. Oeric was the one who came up with the idea to fill the cracks with coral. While Griffith suggested using the sections of moss as a shelf to set the coral on. They tried both methods, but neither worked quite like they wanted. Aule tried using the paint as glue, but that didn’t work either. After a few more attempts, the group agreed to let the idea go. Aule went back to his painting and Griffith, with Oeric’s help, started to hang their string of coral. 

A few Haedians wandered by to see what was going on. Some marveled at the new decorations bringing more colour to one of the more colourless areas of their clan. Others, however, thought it was strange. They didn’t see the appeal, but they never outward expressed their thoughts. The trio smiled whenever they heard compliments from the passing Haedians.

[814]