RockmanPM Forums
Other Things => Off The Wall => Roleplay => Topic started by: Blue Valkyrie on December 25, 2014, 07:40:05 PM
-
((Been feeling like doing re imagining of the Blue Valkyrie story and I've been kinda itching to do some RP so here is something new! ))
Rough Timeline can be found here!
http://forum.rockmanpm.com/index.php?topic=7266.575 (http://forum.rockmanpm.com/index.php?topic=7266.575)
It is said with every choice you make another world is created one where you made the choice another where you didn't. Some alternate worlds are so similar you could spend countless lifetimes trying to find differences between them while some are so different they defy logic.
Welcome to the "Mana-Verse" an alternate RPM where magic became the focus of the world and not technology. A world where one's imagination shapes and expands the land constantly, where anything is possible! This is another open world RP where alternate versions of our characters can go on adventures and weave new stories.
The "Mana-Verse" or Arcadia as it's called is the location of the Blue Valkyrie reboot/re-imagination project I'm currently working on, RPM Adventure was kinda a prototype to see if people were interested in a fantasy themed RP, that will still be updated as long as people are interested in continuing, this however is more open; so no DMing just interact and expand your stories as you want. Also a lot of this is elements of the Blue Valkyrie story re imagined, I'll try to avoid spoiling stuff for the main RP story line.
Magic is everything in this world pretty much everyone can use it even if they aren't really trained, there are exceptions of course and normal technology does exist here and there; however most use Magitech. Otherwise reinvent your characters however you want but remember this is meant to be an alternate reality so if you want to explore new ideas with your characters go nuts!
Legends say Arcadia was once an endless void of chaos with no shape or form, then a mysterious woman appeared from another realm and gave it shape with the help of the six elementals.
"The Queen" - Her identity is unknown, but she was said to be the one who created this world and united the elementals to help create Arcadia. She is typically identified by the sigil of a cat in the world's mythology.
Reva- The elemental of Darkness, known as the goddess of darkness
Reya- The elemental of Light, known as the goddess of light
Jin - The elemental of Fire, known as the god of fire
Mina - The elemental of Water, known as the goddess of water
Titan - The elemental of Earth, known as the god of earth
Slyph - The elemental of Wind, known as the goddess of wind
Together they created the Omni-Gem and used it's infinite elemental power to create a balance in the abyss forming the land of Arcadia, using her magic the mysterious woman drew the souls of adventurous people to the fledgling world and granted them the power to shape it with their imagination; for every person's hopes and dreams would expand the land of Arcadia always offering new adventure and experiences. Satisfied, this woman departed perhaps to new worlds to do the same, leaving the elementals to maintain Arcadia in her absence..
As time passed a mighty empire rose under the protection of the elementals; ruling the world from the floating city and building a civilization across Arcadia it seemed like there was nothing the precursors could not do. Yet, without warning the civilization was suddenly and violently cast down and now only questions remain as to what could have destroyed the precursors.
Remnants of their civilization still remain however and are desired due to the advanced nature of their magic and magi technology.
Character Name: Aya (Alternate Blue)
Race: Magic Construct (Human like in appearance)
Age: Unknown
Gender: Female
Hair Style/Colour: Light blue, lower neck length and slightly spiky.
Eye Colour: Light blue, lightly glows.
Build: Slender but athletic.
Outfit: Her outfit resembles that of a genie's, with the classic pants (blue but slightly transparent, and blue top with gold trimming.)
Power: Can summon a magic curved sword, can cast various spells through magic rings acquired in her adventures.
Aya like her main counterpart is a curious and adventurous soul, she jumps into a fight without thinking preferring action rather than careful planning. Her naive and upbeat personality is infectious to others making it easy for her to befriend others. (So not to different from the prime universe Blue)
The floating city, known to all who inhabit the lands of Arcadia as the place where the world began, protected by whirling winds and other magical defenses according to legend. Many have sought to infiltrate the old city in hopes of claiming the omni-gem but none have ever succeeded and fewer have returned, Until now.
The pirate stepped off ramp of his drop ship, puffing from his pipe a wide grin on his face; years of effort and preparing had finally paid off and the ancient city was his to plunder. "Arrr! Alright crew grab anything of value but remember why we are here!" A buccaneer approaches his captain, saluting as the others all scatter in small groups entering the houses and taking anything thats not nailed to the floor. "Yes sir! Alright boys lets get to work!"
White Beard and another group of Buccaneers as well as some of his "Smiling Copter bots" move toward the center temple for White Beard knew deep down the cause of his quest was here. His troops struggled to open the large doors, despite being uninhabited since the dawn of the world the temple was surprisingly well preserved, not even any dust. White Beard grinned as the Omni-Gem appeared before him high above the steps at the center of the room. "Arrr, this is it mateys! We've finally found it! Grab it carefully who knows what the "queen" left here to defend the gem!"
As the smiley copters to latch onto the Omni-Gem as one of the Buccaneers tugs on White Beard's sleeve. "Uhh...captain what about that crystal?" White Beard groans annoyed by the interruption at his moment of triumph. "What are you on about...huh?" White Beard glances upward noticing the other crystal above them. He shrugs and motions for the last copter to grab it. As it's pincers try to get a hold of the crystal it begins to shine in reaction, the copter is quickly sent flying into the near by wall and explodes. "It's a trap!" White Beard yelps covering his eyes and light fills the room.
After a few moments the crystal's glow fades the crystal having vanished and in it's place a young woman in blue floating above the ground for a moment before descending to the ground near White Beard and his pirates. She yawns stretching her arms above her head as if she had just had a good night's sleep. "*Yawns* Common master just five more minutes...huh? Who are you?" Aya frowns when she notices the copters leaving with the Omni-Gem "HEY THAT does not belong to you..you theives!"
Taking a combat stance and raising her hand above her head she summons a curved blade and charges at the Omni-Gem before she finds herself surrounded by the buccaneers all wielding cutlasses or arm cannon flintlock weapons. White Beard grumbles "So you are the guardian the Doctor warned us about? I'm not impressed; you'd think the queen would leave a more capable protector for her precious omni-gem! Alright boys, get rid of her and return to the ship; we have a scheduled to keep!"
White Beard waddles off with the Omni-Gem as Aya is surrounded by the Buccaneers all looking a little nervous perhaps not sure how strong this woman is. "Oh common! If I don't get that back my master will be rather annoyed with me!"
((Will continue next post, let some others get their own intros started too, so yeah fill this world with places and characters how you want; and hopefully we get some neat stories going. I'll be more active now that I'm basically past my crazy Christmas hours for this and the Wilypocolypse, RPAdventure too is people still want to continue.))
-
(Interesting... I'll definitely give this one some thought. Here's the options I currently have in mind for my end:
- In keeping with my usual persona, would be someone who specializes more with Magitech
- Or, to go with my general like of Lightning magic, someone who's adept more with Wind and Fire to combine them into Lightning
I might wait to see what others do and go off of that.)
-
Aya danced through the group of Buccaneers brandishing cutlasses, with a fury of slashes and dodges the little constructs quickly fell to pieces, Aya turned to the ranged fighters and the squad captain.
"Ready cannons!" The commander yelled pointing his sword at Aya "Fire!", dodging the first few shots Aya trips as the explosion from the impact knocks her forward. "Fire again!" the commander yells in a panic. Aya's arms cover her face as she realizes she can't dodge the incoming shots, as they connect she vanishes in the explosion and dust kicked up preventing the commander from confirming a hit.
"Do you see her?" The one buccaneer says glancing to and fro to his remaining companions. "N-No but I think we go her!" The other comments with a hopeful tone. Said hope quickly fades as the smoke clears revealing a magical barrier around Aya her sword having shifted shape into a gauntlet like shield. "Whew---I thought I was toast there!" Aya sighs in relief standing as her gauntlet returns to it's sword like shape, she reassumes her fighting stance before charging at remaining buccaneers.
Meanwhile at the city square the buccaneers and copters finish loading the Omni-Gem into the hold of the drop ship along with anything else they had pillaged from the abandoned city. "Carefull lads, don't chip the prize!" White Beard hollers in between puffs of his pipe. "We have an appointment to keep with our buyer." White Beard reaches into his pocket and reveals a small crystal ball, the fog within it begins to part showing the image of a shadowy man. "We have the prize, We'll be heading back soon so meet us at the arranged place like we agreed." White Beard grins thinking of the riches this prize will bring him.
"Excellent, the tales of your treasure hunting talents were more than rumors I see." The man's grin is about the only thing White Beard can make out in the crystal ball. "Thanks to that new magitek engine you installed on the old girl, we cut through the storm barrier no problems." White Beard chuckles turning to see the first drop ship carrying the loot lift off toward the Dark Star "Anyway, I'm heading back to the ship I'll be in contact again when we reach skull cove." White Beard slowly lowers the orb before jumping slightly as a head of the buccaneer commander bounces right next to him rolling off down the street.
Aya slides to a stop pointing her blade at White Beard frowning. "I don't know who you are but thats not yours so return it and I'll stop trashing your little metal minions!" White Beard growls "Whats going on?!" The shadowy man raising his voice over the commotion. "Nothing, just a loose end I need to tie up--Arrr!" White Beard shuts off the crystal ball and pockets it before raising a flintlock looking weapon upwards, with a loud bang a flare flies up ward before fizzling out.
"So..uh are you going to give it back?" Aya asks watching the flare fade out. "No-not quite, seems my crew weren't quite a challenge to you huh? Arrr--don't worry I have something that might prove a little more interesting, actually this is a good chance to field test my newest invention." Aya tilts her head in confusion before noticing the sun above being blocked out, glancing upward she sees the giant crab like robot suit plummeting down from the airship above. She just manages to dive away before it crushes her.
Aya picks her self up and raises her blade again. "What...is that!?" her eyes widen a little in surprise. "This lass is my newest weapon, I admit it was designed for underwater combat but It will suffice I'd say against something like you!" White Beard hops onto the claw as it raises him up to the cockpit before Aya can stop him. "I don't normally like this sort of thing but you hurt my crew and I won't stand for that especially from a land lubber!" The cockpit window swings closed and the pincer arms raise threateningly as Aya jumps back to stay out of reach she frowns readying herself for battle again.
((will continue next post))
-
(Still haven't decided if I want to get involved just yet but I do have a bit of a writer's nitpick.
When someone is talking it is important to skip a line before and after they talk to not only signify when someone is talking but also to separate from other people talking and the action for the sake of making it cleaner, easier to read and most importantly easier to follow.
Here's an example
"Person 1 dialog"
"Person 2 dialog"
Actions
"Person 1 dialog"
Actions
"Person 2 dialog"
"Person 1 dialog"
etc.
Of course when you're dealing with text heavy not dialog stuff it's also important to put a space in there once in a while to make it not only flow better but again easier to follow.)
-
(I'll probably think of something for this, once I finally figure out how to create a damn zero-gravity bowling scene. XD)
-
((Fair enough, was just experimenting with the best way do my posts, I'll give that a try next time.))
-
(Also make absolutely sure it's clear who is saying what as well.)
-
Aya hopped back as the Crab Mecha's pincer came smashing down into the ground, she felt her balance go off for a moment as the ground below her shook from the strike. Aya responded to the attack by making a wide horizontal slash at the pincer only to be rewarded with a unimpressive "Donk" sound, clearly it's armor was too thick to easily penetrate even with a magic sword.
White Beard - "Lass I really hope thats not your best, because that was a less than impressive effort."
White Beard laughs pulling the left control stick sharply, the pincer responds with a light delay swinging horizontally, Aya is just able to shift her sword into it's gauntlet form and erect a barrier as it hits sending her smashing into the wall near by, although it knocks the wind out of her it would have been a lot worse had she taken the blow unprotected.
Aya - Urgh! I-I'm just warming up "old man!"."
White Beard - "O-OLD MAN?! I'm only one hundred and twenty years old you disrespectful little bit--!
Enraged White Beard cuts himself off perhaps not quite angry enough to throw around such petty insults yet not enough to think more carefully on his next attack, carelessly attempting to crush Aya again with the large pincer claw arm thingy. Aya seeing an opening jumps up the pincer running down the length of the mech's arm before jumping up and bringing her blade down on the cockpit window with as much force as she can muster. Stunned by the sudden counter attack white beard's look of bewilderment quickly turns to a cocky smirk as the blade fails to bypass what ever material it's made of and nearly sends her falling backward.
White Beard - "Yes, if at first you don't succeed fail fail again; you stupid dim witted girl!"
The eye like objects near the cockpit turn to face Aya locking onto her and firing a beam of concentrated magic each, Aya manages to react by jumping upward just before they finished charging nearly causing the beams to destroy the emitters in the process as she was standing between them before.
Aya - "If I can't pierce that armor I'm finished, there has to be something I can do!"
As if reacting to her distress her blade shifts shape of it's own accord transforming into a stylized blue lance of some sort. Blinking in surprise she aims it down as gravity kicks in the tip glowing with mana as she drives it into the body of the mecha.
White Beard - "O-Oh common thats just not fair!"
Alarms go off within the cockpit signaling the magi-tech reactor is going critical from the damage, with little choice he begins activating the escape pod system.
White Beard - "A lucky hit...DUMB luck thats all! I can still salvage this though!"
White Beard jerks the pincer claw controls upward the arm grappling Aya from atop the mecha's body holding her in place.
Aya - "Nrgh!"
She yells angrily, struggling to escape, her arms trapped at her sides by the claw. Aya glances upward as a smirking White Beard in his escape pod waves mockingly as it detaches from the body propelling it's self up where it's quickly snatched up by the drop ship's tow cable and promptly vanishes into the clouds presumably toward the airship.
Aya makes one more futile attempt to escape before the mecha violently explodes severing the pincer arm and launching it beyond the floating city's boundaries. Aya feelers her stomach drop as she begins falling through the sky at incredible speed through the stormy clouds of the barrier protecting the city and soon noticing for the first time the blue sky around her, the rapidly approaching ground however proves the be the more pressing concern.
Ducking her head below the pincer finger thingy in an effort to get some protection she closes her eyes hopping she'll somehow survive the fall. To any one on the ground the sparking claw would seem like a small comet streaming toward the near by forest, as it crashes the impact kicks up a large dust cloud.
((Aya's weapon is a morphing armament. It's base form is a light curved sword, it can also transform into the gauntlet that creates shields for defense, a lance to pierce heavy armor, a bow for hitting foes at range, and finally a staff to focus her magic spells if/when she gets some.))
-
A young girl with medium length pointed ears, emerald green eyes and extremely short brown hair wearing an olive green tunic with loose brown leggings and leather boots was in the forest scavenging the surrounds for things to collect.
Humans and the local wildlife known as Pokemon or other simpler creatures would often leave things behind when they wandered the forest and the girl liked to collect such things to figure out how they worked and how she and her father could use them.
Suddenly something bright shone through the sky as a star fell a fair distance away from her with a loud sound.
The girl stood there for a minute before rushing to see what it was.
(This version of Sakura has much shorter hair since she doesn't have to hide her ears. Also don't worry the Pokemon probably won't become prominent in the story since this version of Sakura hasn't learned of the concept on owning them.)
-
((Arcadia is a world of imagination so anything you want can really show up =D ))
The arm of the mecha shattered into countless pieces as it connects with the ground, the only thing left after the impact is the light blue glow of Aya's shield having seemingly gone up on it's own. The impact had knocked her out cold and she lies at the center of the crater curled up in a ball.
Meanwhile several monsters seemed to have been drawn in by the noise, a pack of three opportunistic goblins.
Goblin#1 - Looks! Shinies!
The three goblins start bickering over the shiniest pieces of the ruined mecha arm before one noticed Aya in the crater.
Goblin#2 - Human!
Goblin#3 - Are these her shinnies?
Goblin#1 - Who cares! We take shines, maybe we take her to the boss Gob?
Goblin#2 - We haven't eaten a human in a long time! Feast! Feast!!
Goblin#3 - Boo-Humans taste horrible! Those farmers last month were all chewy, hard to pick out of your teeth!
Goblin#1 - Boss gob will know what to do with these shines and the blue she-human, we take her back too!
Goblin 2 and 3 begin gathering up the shiny fragments of the mecha while Goblin 1 slides into the crater to see if Aya has any valuables on her, it seems to take interest of the amulet around her neck.
((Guessing Sakura can handle three pathetic gobs?.))
-
(Yeah she can.)
Sakura managed to find where the object landed and spotted the girl and the thieving Goblins.
"<Goblins again, why do they always have to cause trouble like this?>" Sakura muttered as she took out her blade.
It was a sword that glowed a bright blue and possessed no blade. Her father explained that it was some sort of technology that the humans developed.
She then jumped out of the bushes and confronted the Goblins.
"Leave her alone!" Sakura shouted "That stuff doesn't belong to you and I won't allow you to eat more humans!"
(The <> symbolize that she is speaking the language of her people, and she is bilingual.)
-
A man with brown hair and green eyes was riding on a Magitech bike down a long winding road next to a forest. The bike was a dark forest green, matching the clothes that he wore. The word "Cheval" was emblazoned in dark red on the bike, which matched the colouring of the man's scarf.
Out of the corner of his eye, he catches a glimpse of what looks like a comet falling out of the sky. He stops momentarily and watches it crash into the nearby forest.
Well... I have enough time to check it out, he thinks to himself as he looks at the screen on his gauntlet. He pulls up a local map of the area and calculates a general estimate of where it landed, making a note of it. Once done, he revs his bike up and heads offroad into the forest.
(So yeah, the bike is a Magitech version of the Cheval Ride Chaser from MMX2. I decided to combine the two attributes mentioned in my previous post, so most of the Magitech stuff he uses he made himself and powers with his magic.
I intend to arrive either during the fight or after the fight, whichever you guys prefer.)
-
(Yeah she can.)
Sakura managed to find where the object landed and spotted the girl and the thieving Goblins.
"<Goblins again, why do they always have to cause trouble like this?>" Sakura muttered as she took out her blade.
It was a sword that glowed a bright blue and possessed no blade. Her father explained that it was some sort of technology that the humans developed.
She then jumped out of the bushes and confronted the Goblins.
"Leave her alone!" Sakura shouted "That stuff doesn't belong to you and I won't allow you to eat more humans!"
(The <> symbolize that she is speaking the language of her people, and she is bilingual.)
The Goblins jump in fright as Sakura yells. The all drop their loot, with goblin one remaining near Aya. They all draw their makeshift weapons, all small daggers of varying degrees of terrible.
Goblin#2 - Argh, a nasty little she-elf bothers us now!
Goblin#3 - She wants ours shinnies!
Goblin#1 - Leave and drop your shinnies she-elf or I slit the she-human's throat!
The first goblin grabs Aya by the hair and presses the blade on her throat.
-
Sakura rolled her eyes at being called an 'elf', though it was much better than 'demon'.
"Shinnies, Shinnies, Shinnies." Sakura shook her head "It's sad that you creatures would risk and take life for such things when you have no knowledge of what they are or how to use them. Not to mention attempting to do so with those 'weapons'."
Sakura then shot a mild lighting bolt from her sword at the Goblin's hand which forced him to let Aya go.
"Now let me say this again, leave her and her possessions alone or else you will breath no more!" Sakura roared. "And don't even think that was an 8th of my strength."
(My theory is that Magic Knights can cast spells normally but not at the same power as a mage.)
-
The Goblins rear back in fear, even the simplest show of magic would likely overwhelm such pathetic creatures, Goblin 2 and 3 simply run rather than risk the wrath of the "Elf" while Goblin#1 scrambles out of the crater yells some obscenity in it's native language and dives into the bushes.
-
Sakura sighed and sheathed her blade as she was thankful she wasn't forced to kill something when it wasn't necessary.
Sakura then inspected the girl who was unconscious and the ruined part of the mecha.
"<FATHER!>" Sakura shouted before she tried to see if she could awaken the girl.
In a deeper part of the forest in a small hovel a somewhat middle age man with dark olive black hair and red eyes woke up from his nap when he heard his daughter shout. She didn't sound like she was in immediate danger but at the same time it sounded very urgent. With a yawn he got up and grabbed his axe to find where his daughter was.
-
The mysterious girl in blue seemed alright considering how violent the crash must have been, no signs of injury at externally at the very least. Her clothing was quite odd though, clearly not average fabric and with a slight scent of magic to it. Perhaps showing more mid drift than Sakura might normally be comfortable with.
((Assuming Sakura has any issues with such clothing, I might be thinking of yout RPMAdventure character though not Sakura XD))
-
Sakura smelt the magic from the clothes but figured it was more magitek developed by the humans.
Seeing she was alright she decided to leave her be until her father arrived and inspected the ruined parts of the mecha in curiosity.
"<What sort of thing was this?>" Sakura muttered.
(Nah since she didn't have a pervy master she doesn't really mind, however sexual advances would still probably get a negative reaction, especially with her dad alive.)
-
((Likely not an issue from Aya XD))
The wreckage seems to be magi-tech for sure, but with it being in so many tiny pieces it's pretty much impossible to tell anymore than that.
-
Sakura decided to start picking the pieces up while waiting for her father, she had a feeling they didn't belong to the girl but if they did she'll give them back.
-
Aya begins to finally stir after what seems like forever, her vision is cloudy at first and she stumbles when she tries to climb to her feet.
Aya - "Ugh...wh-where am I?"
Unable to stand for the moment and her head still spinning she decides to plop down cross her legs and wait for her senses to return.
-
Sakura turned around to see Aya try to get up before she realized she couldn't and sat down. She then immediately stopped collecting the wreckage before cautiously approaching the girl.
"Don't move so suddenly." Sakura warned "I don't know what happened but it seems you fell from the sky at a great height."
-
Aya focuses on the stranger
Aya - "I-I can't quite remember, my-my name is Aya? Yeah, thats my name."
She shakes her head trying to clear her thoughts again.
-
(Well... I have a very old character from a very old RP somewhere else that I could use... A "techno-wizard" of sorts, a guy raised by dwarves, who are master blacksmiths if this world allows as such, so there are still Robot Masters, or Jotuns. If I do join, I need to go dig this guy up.)
-
((Anything works in this world, if you can do a fantasy spin on it even better!))
-
(Well, I have the Variable Magic Sigils instead of the Variable Weapon System, so yea, I can make it happen. XD Looking at the few posts, and since Whitebeard should be the main villain here, I could get my char to work for him, like a Starscream. XD)
-
((At least for Aya's story but yeah if you want to go for it having someone pulling a Shadow Star on him every so often would be fun 8D.))
-
(I'd rather have one true villain instead of multiple side villains, they will steer the plot too far. But yea, Starscreams are fun too. 8D)
-
((White Beard certainly is the driving force that will likely get everyone together and the Omni-Gem will be important too. Well you'll see as the story progresses. 8D))
-
"Oh my....it seems you have what the humans call amnesia." Sakura stated.
-
Aya - "I-I think I was doing some important, then I fell? Yeah, umm--why am I sitting in this hole?"
Aya glances around seeing the huge mess.
Aya -"Did I do this?"
-
"I guess you made it when you fell and landed here." Sakura replied.
-
(I think I'll use this RP to play around with Usagi Toshi's character. Is it okay if I have her already arrived at the scene? Since she relies on stealth, in places where light is scarce, like this forest for instance.)
-
(Yeah, go ahead; everyone intro when it feels like a good time to.)
Now that the world wasn't spinning like a top anymore Aya felt comfortable to try and stand up, a little wobbly at first she does manage to stand and take in the surroundings.
Aya - "Well--I kinda remember a city up there."
She points upward toward the sky.
Aya - "Oh yeah, and some sort of giant enemy crab."
((The floating city is common knowledge to anyone in the know about the creation myth of the world in the first post, now weather you just think Aya is crazy is another matter all together! 8D ))
-
Toshi - "So you fell from the sky."
Emerging from the shade of a tree nearby. An elfen with blood-red eyes, long ears, dark tanned skin, and a rabbit tail, dressed in a rather revealing violet blue kunoichi outfit, with a long red scarf drifting in the wind. With her arms crossed below her jiggling bust, she approaches Aya and Sakura.
Toshi - "How did you even survive such a fall? Are you even human?"
-
Fxeni let out a whistle as he approached the newly-made clearing and saw the size of the crater. He stopped the Cheval next to the edge of the crater and looked in. To his surprise there was already a bunch of people already in the crater, talking away. He hopped down and approached the group.
"I didn't think there would be so many people here already, this far in the forest... with such interesting Magitech too," Fxeni said as he glanced over to the wreckage. "Is everyone alright?"
-
Noticing their new ally being the only male...
Toshi - "Well what do you know. We're already attracting men into the mix." letting out a sigh before continuing her speech, "We're all fine... well that is say about me and the demoness, but our friend here seems to have forgotten her memory, from the crash.
-
"Crash? So I guess that ball of fire falling from the sky was you, huh... glad to see you're not hurt," Fxeni said with a smile to Aya, deciding to ignore Toshi's initial reaction to his question. "I guess this Magitech protected you... whatever it was before the crash."
-
Sakura glared at Toshi for her choice of words.
"HOW DARE YOU CALL ME A DEMONNESS YOU STRANGE.....RABBIT WOMAN!" Sakura roared suddenly.
-
Twitching her eyes at the tone in Sakura's voice.
Toshi - "You watch your tone with me young lady."
She snarled, as her hand started twitching too, as if the urge to kill began to take over.
Toshi - "You do know those ears of yours make you stick out like a sore thumb. I can clearly tell the difference between an elf and a demon's ears."
Trying to keep herself calm, by slowly breathing. She stopped twitching her eyes.
Toshi - "And watch what you say." pointing her finger at Sakura, "I may appear leporine to you, but one more rabbit remark and I so much as will tear your larynx out with my bare hands."
(A little reminder, Toshi's hearing is very sensitive due to the size of her ears. The eye twitching is a sign that she may snap into a blind rage.)
-
"Well clearly you don't know what a demon's look like either since I am not one of those vile creatures!" Sakura continued angrily. "Besides I'm at least half human!"
(Yeah Toshi really hit a sore subject.)
-
Toshi - "Half human you may be, but don't think that denying your demon bloodline, makes you human." She looked away in disgust, before continuing her argument, "And seriously!? What is with humans cross-breeding these days? Are they really that desperate to have what they can never attain!?"
(I wouldn't say she's not trying to be racist, but she has never liked socializing with human-folk.)
-
"How can I deny something I don't have?" Sakura continued seriously "And what's wrong with inter species romances if love is involved? Or humans for that matter?"
(Seriously she's not a demon.)
-
Toshi - "Do you honestly believe that silly tale?"
She turned around. As if she sort of lost it at the mention of inter species romance.
Toshi - "How can you possibly live with yourself if the very man you fell in love with, ends up living a shorter life than you, and passes on? It's obvious your human blood makes you ignorant of your own consequences."
(I might have to cut it short here, since it's getting late and need to sleep.
Oh, and happy 2015 you all.)
-
"Because both the parties knew the risks when they fell in love in the first place, and the longer lived would be able to prepare for such things." Sakura shook her head "Even if my father's race didn't have roughly the same life span as a human's it's better than your race dying off due to genetic sterility which is also augmented by our usual vocations.
Life is treasured for us because it's short but if my mate didn't have a similar life span to mine I would hope he would find someone else to make him happy again when mine expires."
(So yeah her father's race is kind of rare, mostly because of the vocations she mentioned.)
-
"What a lovely conversation we're having here," Fxeni says with a heavy heaping of sarcasm. He glares over at Toshi. "Shall we tone down on the racism? It's not your place to criticize the decisions of people who aren't even here to explain their point of view."
With a sigh, he looks over at Sakura, who is clearly quite agitated. He decides to attempt to change the subject, in hopes of keeping the situation somewhat peaceful.
"So umm... my name is Fxeni," he says as he extends his hand. "What might yours be?"
-
"Sakura." She said as she accepted the hand shake "And I'm sorry for the way that turned out."
-
"Well... I can understand your point a view," Fxeni said with a smile. "Do you know what happened here, perchance?"
-
"No, I know just as much as you do." Sakura shook her head "She did mention something about a city in the sky and a giant enemy crab, which I guess may be what this wreackage is. Other than some Goblins that were trying loot her and possibly eat her that's all I know, her memory seems to not be complete at the moment, but it seems she's slowly remebering the details."
-
"City in the Sky? She can't mean the Floating City..." Fxeni replied a bit surprised by this, turning to face Aya. "Is that what you meant?"
-
Aya touches her pendant and her blade re-appears in her right hand as if in response to Toshi's inquiry.
Aya - "This protected me from the fall...I think."
She glances at Fxeni
Aya - "Yes the floating city was my home, I could have sworn I had an important task up there though--odd maybe I'll remember later."
-
"It sounds like you were attacked judging by the damage here." Sakura stated "I can't see any other reason why you would fall from such a height with such conditions. Though....I didn't realize there was a city in the sky, maybe my father would know something about it."
-
Aya nods
Aya - "Where is your father? Can we meet him soon?"
-
"I'm actually already here." A male voice said as he came into view "Sure is a bigger mess than I thought, what the hell did I miss?"
"She and whatever this wreckage was fell from the sky." Sakura explained.
"......I can't believe I missed something like that." He said face palming.
(He was actually there longer than that.)
-
Aya- "Oh, this is your father? Hello."
Aya smiles politely.
-
"I'm surprised the sound didn't get your attention... preoccupied I suppose?" Fxeni inquired. He wasn't quite sure what to make of Aya's story, so he waited to hear anything more before making any judgement.
-
"Well I was taking a nap, I didn't wake up until my daughter called for me." Sakura's father shrugged "Name's Calien by the way, our home is a little ways away, it's a bit small but I'm sure we can accommodate you all."
-
Aya - Alright, I'll try to explain what I can still remember when we get there then.
Aya disperses her blade following the others when they begin moving.
-
"Sounds good to me," Fxeni says as he climbs up the crater and hops onto his bike, then slowly follows Calien's lead.
-
Sakura and her father led the way though Sakura lagged behind since she found Fxeni's Chevel interesting.
"Wow this machine looks fascinating, did you make this Mr. Fxeni?" Sakura asked curiously.
-
"Indeed I did! I needed an efficient way to get around, so I made this Magitech bike that I power with magic," Fxeni explained as he patted the handlebars with one of his hands. "It still needs tweaks though."
-
"What kind of tweaks?" Sakura asked.
Calien was happy that his daughter was able to get along with someone, he was honestly worried that his daughter would have grown to fear humans, but he was glad it wasn't the case.
The elfen/Rabbit woman was a concern though, especially since she seemed to not only have a racism problem but her temper and stubbornness was an equal concern.
(So yeah Calien was indeed there at least around the time Toshi threatened to tear out Sakura's Larynx and would have intervened with his axe or sub weapon if it came right down to needing intervention. His race is also known for working in the shadows.)
-
Although she's willing to listen in on Sakura and Fxeni's conversation. She turns her attention to Calien, who she seems to suspect in her argument earlier.
Toshi - "Was he really planning on defending his daughter? Then why was I hesitating?" She thought to herself. As she followed the crew as if to learn more from Aya.
(Although I want say that she may have been aware of his presence when, she and Sakura were arguing. I'm not sure how to describe it, but I didn't want to make it look like she knew that he was there. In other words she was probably hesitating, in a way.
Or wait I think I know why she hesitated, she has two spiritual familiars warning her of Caliens presence, while trying to get her to calm down. I may have introduce them though.)
-
(He's not really observing her, he's more concentrating on leading the way and watching out for danger, or seeing if some local traps caught animals to eat.)
-
(Oh, okay I'll try to edit that a little.)
-
"Oh, it doesn't handle very well at high speeds. It hasn't been a problem yet, but it isn't exactly the type of thing I'd want to ever become a problem..." Fxeni replies. He looks around at the forest and takes a deep breath. "It's very calming here. Do you enjoy living out in the woods like this?"
-
"I like it a lot, there's a lot of things to do here if you put your mind to it!" Sakura smiled.
-
"How long have you guys been living here?" Fxeni asked, slowing down momentarily to navigate a slightly more difficult portion of the path.
-
"Since I was born...it's a long story." Sakura told him.
-
"Oh? Do you two ever leave the forest?" he asked them.
-
"We haven't really needed to really, and Dad figures that it might be harder for him to find some kind of job to support us both in human civilization with his appearance so it's easier to stay here.
He used to live in a small village in the north, but he always got weird looks from half of the citizens there, so he figured that it would be better for us to live in secret so as not to bother anyone or cause some kind of panic. Unfortunately it seems people fear what they don't understand and in extreme cases try to eliminate that fear." Sakura explained.
-
"Yeah... people aren't exactly as tolerant as would be ideal, that's for sure," Fxeni replied a tad glumly, taking a quick glance over at Toshi. "I'm surprised there's no one who would give you guys a chance though. Not that I'm all that familiar with this area, mind you..."
-
"Well we haven't tried the city in the South but again we haven't really had a need to try there yet. Plus we're kind of comfortable here." Sakura shrugged.
-
"Fair enough," Fxeni replied. "How much further until we reach your home?"
-
"Shouldn't be too much longer, but I would also like to check our traps to see if we caught anything for dinner." Calien stated.
-
Aya finally speaks up.
Aya - "I'm honestly a little confused, whats wrong with you and your father? You two seem like good people to me."
She shrugs a little obviously oblivious to what ever racism Sakura and her father might have to deal with.
-
"The problem is even if we are good people since we look different most of the time other people look down on us because we don't look the same." Sakura explained "In fact one time I tried to help an injured person who got stuck in the forest but he immediately screamed at me to keep away from him and he ran for the hills like I was some kind of monster. I don't get it either, I know not everyone is like that, but it's kind of disheartening to see something like that."
-
((Other than her ears is there anything else that would set her apart from humans?))
"That sounds like a really silly reason to hate someone, I admit I don't get it. Then again I haven't met many people myself so I might not be a good judge of character!" Aya giggles a little trying to lighten the mood perhaps.
-
(Not Physically for her, but Calien has red eyes which makes it worse.)
"It is silly, I just wished more people thought like you." Sakura sighed.
-
"Don't be so hard on yourself. There are those who judge on appearance instead of personality. Besides, you're not the only one who's been judged mainly on appearance." Toshi added as if referring to herself.
-
"Yeah I try not to let it bother me too much, as long as I have my dad then I'll be fine." Sakura smiled, though she had a feeling it wasn't just Toshi's appearance that was the only problem considering she pretty much does the exact same thing, but she decided to keep her mouth shut.
-
((Rule of story telling is something awful will happen to her father. 8D))
-
(Probably not since it happened in the prime dimension already. I just want them to make more friends so they can get out of the forest.)
-
((I assume unless anyone else has any other more pressing locations to visit Aya will want to make her way to Skull Cove once we get to Sakura's home, since White Beard mentioned it as she was arriving. Her amnesia seems to effect her long term memory rather than short by the way.))
-
(Sounds good to me.)
-
(Works for me too.)
-
((Just waiting on Sakura to post their return to her home and I'll give the party the info dump. =D ))
-
(Before that though...)
Calien heard something in the distance, it sounded familiar.
"I think one of the traps caught a deer, I'll go get it Sakura you keep leading them okay?" Calien told her.
"Okay, we're almost there anyway." Sakura nodded.
(And now we have dinner.)
-
((Mmm Bambi for dinner! 8D))
"So Sakura what is your home like anyway?"
Aya glances around trying to see this home.
-
"Probably smaller than a normal house but it's good enough for us." Sakura told her "In fact it's just over there."
In the distance there was a small sturdy log cabin.
-
((Edit: Managed to get some internet after all so I can update at least when I'm around.))
-
(Thanks for the update.)
-
((Ready to continue when everyone else is.))
-
(Yeah I just need someone else to post first to continue.)
-
"Hmm, seems nice enough," Fxeni says as he pulls the Cheval next to the cabin.
-
"Yeah Dad said he built it himself with some help from some of the creatures called Pokemon here when I was still really small." Sakura stated.
Suddenly a beast with white fur and a black face, horn, and tail came into view, though it was very cautious and looked very uneasy.
"Oh Yin there you are!" Sakura said as she slowly came to the creature and pet it "It's okay these people are nice...<Most of them anyway>."
The creature seemed to have calmed down a bit, though it still seemed to be a bit wary.
(I'll just say through bullshit that Yin can understand Sakura's other language.)
-
Toshi - "Is this a... Pokémon?" she asked looking confused by Yin's appearance, before being interrupted by...
??? - "Of course it is." ...a strange feminine voice, that alerts Toshi's attention.
She turns around to see what appears to be a tall pale tanned fur feline beast, with a red gem embedded in its forehead.
??? - "It seems your friend knows about our later generations."
Although it may seem, no one has noticed the pokémon talking to Toshi, but as soon as Toshi blinked a little, the mysterious figure vanished, as if it were nothing but a hallucination.
(I'd like to make it obvious that Toshi's spiritual familiars are actually gen 1 pokémon. Yin on the other hand appears new to her, BTW. And yes, it's a Persian she was hallucinating just now.)
-
As the party got acquainted with the pokemon and Sakura's cabin Aya began to think back on events up till now and how best to describe them now that her long term memories seemed to be gone.
"So--I guess I have some explaining to do?" Aya shrugged before leaning on the cabin wall.
-
"We should probably wait until Dad gets back." Sakura told her before lookimg at Toshi "Of course Yin is a Pokemon, she's an Absol."
-
Toshi - "An Absol, huh. Never heard, nor seen this pokémon before." she seem dumbfounded, "Is it the only one I've not seen?" She asks Sakura, assuming that there was more before...
How can this be? Has there been more than 150 pokémon? But how many? ...questions begin to flood Toshi's head about her shortcomings.
(Yes, Toshi been stuck with the old out-of-date pokédex [not that she has one]. Oh, and I made it 150, instead of 151, regarding Mewtwo being a clone of Mew.)
-
"Probably?" Sakura tilted her head "I have a book in my house that has details of at least 718 Pokemon in there. I found it in the middle of the Woods one day by itself, I think someone dropped it by accident. I often find stuff people drop when they try to navigate the forest, I hope they didn't get lost doing that though, it's really easy to get lost here."
(Since Mewtwo is probably not around we'll say 718 instead.)
-
Toshi - "What!? 718!? That's unbelieveable..." the thought hits her hard...
Wait what have I been doing all this time. ... before...
??? - "Oh, that's not even close to the true total... being interrupted by a masculine voice in Toshi's mind, as she looks up to see another hallucination of a large bird that sort of reminds her of Bird Jesus.
Toshi - "Not now, Grifter." She interrupts him, forgetting Sakura just heard her, thinking aloud.
(I have no clue how to describe a Pigeot, physically. So I went with the Bird Jesus reference, just to clarify. Oh, and he's just trolling her on the concept that the numbers will continue to grow endlessly.)
-
"Grifter?" Sakura tilted her head. The Absol looked intently at the areas around Toshi as if there was something there.
(I want to say that Sakura would be able to see them too, but I think since she's half human she has to give a bit more effort. It has to do with her race's eyes, at least I think it does.)
-
Toshi - "Oh, sorry about that." she blushed a little, as the Pigeot hallucination faded away, growing suspicious of Yin looking around. "I've been having hallucinations lately. I can't describe it but I've been seeing the spirits of my familiars. Grifter is merely a nickname to one of them, the other one's nicknamed Riyalie."
"Wait what am I saying?" she thought, just realizing she gave out her familiars' names.
(Toshi tends to be a little too honest with her words, even if it meant giving out her own secrets. Lets just say Toshi is a bit like an open book to everyone she gets into a conversation with.)
-
"Familiars?" Sakura said as she closed her eyes for a bit. When she opened them her eyes changed from green to red and saw what Toshi was talking about "A Pigeot and a Persian?"
(Sinca Sakura's father is alive she's aware of what her people can do unlike Sakura prime who is not.)
-
Toshi - "Yes, a Pigeot and... wait how did you..." she paused for a moment, before wondering as to how Sakura knew.
Toshi - "Don't tell me you were able to see them all this time." just before noticing the change in Sakura's eyes. "Hey, wait a second, weren't your eyes green before?"
-
"My father's race are able see things that a normal person can't, we are able to see the Truth that others can't." Sakura explained "I didn't know they were there until you revealed their existence, though it seemed Yin was able to sense them as well. My Father probably saw them the entire time though, his eyes are stronger for very obvious reasons of course."
-
Toshi - "Is that so?" she thought, "So wait, does that mean your father already knows about Aya, and the city in the sky?" assuming Calien maybe knowing about Aya's origins, beforehand.
(Sorry had to edit the crab bit.)
-
"I don't think so, it's more like we can see through illusions and see spirits that linger." Sakura shook her head.
-
Toshi - "Oh right. I kind of confused Truth with what you've described." scratching her head, realizing her understanding got mixed up with seeing the truth instead seeing the unseen.
-
"The Truth refers to seeing without being decieved." Sakura explained.
-
"You know--I seem to remember seeing three giant birds flying around above the city before I got knocked off in the battle, one looked like it it was on fire; another kinda looked icy and the third's wings created thunder storms. Maybe they were these "Pokemon" too?" Aya suggested.
-
"They sound like Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres." Sakura suggested. "Articuno is the ice one, Zapdos is the electric one, and Moltres is the fire one. They all have a master named Lugia who is said to be the guardian of the seas, though supposedly another Pokemon called Kyogre created the seas, at least according to my book. It's kind of complicated."
(Yeah Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, or Uno, Dos, Tres.)
-
(Don't forget Mo, Z, Art.)
-
(Ah yeah I forgot about that.)
-
"So these creatures are all over Arcadia then?"
-
"Uh huh." Sakura nodded "I've seen lots of them here but there's also lots in the sea too but I haven't been to the sea."
Calien eventually came back carrying a net with a dead deer in it when he noticed Sakura's eyes were red.
"I see you found out about the Pokemon spirits following Toshi?" Calien asked.
"Yeah." Sakura nodded.
"At first I thought they were real Pokemon, but then I remembered Persians can't fly." Calien nodded.
-
"Wish I had one that could fly, that fall kinda hurt..." Aya pouts a little.
-
Toshi - "Oh they're more than just Pokémon, not just on looks alone." She added, "I've seen them behaving human-like in nature." she went on, "I've even dreamed Riyalie wielding an axe that looked like a pizza-cutter, and was very popular with other pokémon." still continuing her imaginative presumptions of her familiars, "And I'm not sure what to make of Grifter. He was wielding some sort of rifle, that never misses its target though."
(In my Disgaea 2 game, Riyalie's a beastmaster class and Grifter's a gunner class. Although I'm not sure why I'm including those.)
-
Sakura and Calien looked at each other thinking Toshi was crazy....well more crazy than she actually is.
"Right.....why don't I get this deer ready for dinner." Calien said as he went inside the cabin and started to prepare the deer.
(We'll just write it off as a weird ass dream.)
-
(It's a start for Toshi's insanity.)
-
(Fair enough.)
-
"Uh-huh--so anyway, what brought all of you into the forest? Sakura made it seem like this place was awfully busy lately."
-
Toshi - "I occasionally come here to brush up my Hyouton jutsu. I was kinda startled by the sound of the crash site you appeared from, and had to make sure I wasn't followed by the persistent stalkers trying to take advantage of my... leporine side." she blushed a little, while scratching her head.
-
"You get stalked a lot?" Aya looks a little confused.
-
Toshi - "You see, I've been having trouble lately avoiding men who only admires me for my sexual appeal. Some of them even had the nerve to call me a Lutecian, yet I have no clue what a Lutecian looks like." crossing her arms, while looking closely at her skimpy costume before continuing, "I know I expose a lot to the eyes, but this is a traditional kunoichi outfit that kinda grew on me." she flexes her body a little, "Besides I never felt the amount of comfort it gives me, when I move around like this, compared to a more full body piece of clothing."
(If you remember Roomi from Galaxy Fight, then you may have a brief idea why Toshi resembles a Lutecian.)
-
(I almost want to make a comment about Sakura and Calien's thoughts on Toshi's outfit, but I feel like it would give away something more spoilery.)
-
"I honestly never gave your appearance much thought, you are the first people I've spoken to in who knows how long; I guess I don't have much of a frame of reference to what ever people think."
Aya shrugs.
-
"It's the kind of outfit that would attract the wrong type of attention." Calien said as he started to skin the deer "Admittedly your outfit might too, but compared to her's it's modest."
-
((Her outfit is basically the fire form outfit in a blue scheme. So bare mid-drift and that top. Not too modest I guess XD))
"I didn't realize mine was bad for that, maybe I'll change it if will cause problems." Shrugging off the issue for the moment she glances around to get everyone's attention.
"Well I suppose it's time to explain what happened, guess I'll start from the beginning. I no longer remember anything from before I awoke but--yes I did awake in a flying city high above the clouds, a pirate with small machines and a flying ship stole a crystal from the temple at the center of the city; I felt compelled to give chase and reclaim it.
But during the battle I was knocked from the city and fell to this forest, the rest you all know, I honestly can't remember much else but I feel like if I don't reclaim this crystal soon something terrible might--no WILL happen." a slight sound of worry does linger in her voice and some frustration over her inability to remember the key details.
((The creation myth in the opening post is pretty common knowledge among anyone with an interest in history. Specifics however will differ depending on who tells the story, so members of the group may need to inform Aya of things. Also Captain White Beard is notorious to anyone who either travels by land or sea as one of the most dangerous sky pirates in Arcadia, he makes his base in the captured port city now known as "Skull Cove."))
-
(We really need Fxeni here, his character would probably know about White Beard. Calien can probably provide some background on the city and Omni Gem. Let me re read it a few times to make sure I get everything.)
-
((Yeah I'll wait for the whole party to give their input before I push the plot onwards, just getting the explanation out of the way for the moment.))
-
(Another thing is I'm trying figure out how Sakura reacts to the creation myth without spoiling things in Wilypocaylse so fast, because since Calien is alive she would actually have a reaction to it unlike if he was not. Kind of another reason I kind of want to delay the Space Battle other than waiting to see if Mirby's living situation improves.)
-
(Another thing is I'm trying figure out how Sakura reacts to the creation myth without spoiling things in Wilypocaylse so fast, because since Calien is alive she would actually have a reaction to it unlike if he was not. Kind of another reason I kind of want to delay the Space Battle other than waiting to see if Mirby's living situation improves.)
((She could choose to keep her personal stuff as just that till a more opportune time popes up for both RPs, she doesn't know these people well and might not trust anyone to reveal her secrets yet.))
-
(No it's not just that, let's just say that the myth has some coincidences. But yeah they would keep their stuff secret for a while.)
-
((If you want I can edit a few things if you PM what parts are causing some unintentional spoilers, I tend to go back on plot details a lot anyway XD))
-
(I'll do it tomorrow, I just want to relax for right now. Maybe I'll think of something before then, either that or just have Sakura raise an eyebrow. Actually you know what I just might do that.)
-
(I can't do much about these right now. I may have to think this a little more, when my PC's up and running again. Move along if it takes too long for me to reply.)
-
"Hmm... a pirate? Do you remember what the pirate looked like Aya?" Fxeni inquired.
-
"He was a short human with a white bushy beard, had a black coat and hat too; oh and he was really liked yelling a lot."
-
"You were fighting White Beard? Glad you made it out fine in that case, he's quite nefarious. I've had to avoid him on several occasions; fighting his crew alone is... less than ideal," Fxeni said, biting his lip lightly.
-
"Usually when I think of pirates they're either led by a woman or all female, or they're supposedly living and surprsingly friendly skeletons from tales I've heard as a lad." Calien stated. "Though I have heard whisperings of this White Beard, I have never seen him. Guess the rumors of him being a small nasty fellow were true."
"So these pirates hurt both Aya and Mr. Fxeni." Sakura said looking down "Why would they do something like that?"
-
"He's quite power-hungry. He's captured a whole city and made it his base of operations, for example," Fxeni said. "Makes me wonder what he wanted from Aya though."
-
"Looks like he's more dangerous than I thought, or he grew more dangerous from the stuff I heard about 16 years ago." Calien sighed.
"Didn't Aya say he stole a Cystal thingy from a city floating from the sky?" Sakura pondered.
".....You're not talking about the floating city are you Sakura?" Calien questioned.
"You heard of it?" Sakura asked him.
"Supposedly this place was created by a high goddess known simply as the Queen when it was a realm of chaos." Calien began "Together with the elemental gods and goddesses they created the Omin Gem to bring order to the chaos and left it in the floating city where the world supposably began."
"Where did you hear this from?" Sakura asked while raising an eyebrow for some odd reason.
"From various people, including your mother." Calien answered.
"Mom....." Sakura said as she thought of her mother "Anyway so if this mean old white beard pirate took the gem what's going to happen? It sounds really important."
(I'm making Sakura here 16 unlike prime universe Sakura who is 19.)
-
"Well, if it's actually the Omni Gem, then he could probably use it to power whatever he wants... which is worrisome to say the least," Fxeni said, looking up towards the sky.
-
"No I don't think I was a target at all, just got in the way I suppose; but what ever the stories about the gem are I know deep down I need to return it to the city or something bad will happen--I don't know how I just feel it in my gut. Fxeni if you know where this pirate is please point me in the right direction."
-
"Well, if it's actually the Omni Gem, then he could probably use it to power whatever he wants... which is worrisome to say the least," Fxeni said, looking up towards the sky.
".....Wouldn't it be less trouble and less dangerous to the world if he made his own power source?" Sakura questioned "If what Aya and my Dad infered is true this guy sounds like a colossal moron."
-
"He didn't seem that clever when I fought him honestly, but I guess he's smart enough to make all throes weapons and pirate machine things."
-
"The Omni Gem is said to have infinite power, so I bet he doesn't really care much for the consequences," Fxeni replied, tapping away at the screen on his gauntlet. He looks over to Aya, a slight worried look on his face. "Chances are he'd head back to Skull Cove, that city that he captured. It certainly won't be safe though, so I'd advise against going alone Aya..."
-
"But I have no right to ask any of you to get involved or risk your lives, I mean white beard must think I'm dead after that fall right, I'm sure I can sneak in." Aya nibbles on her right index finger considering all the information.
-
"It's pretty heavily guarded, you'd need a plan. I don't mind helping out to be honest, he's caused enough headaches on my end in the past to warrant a little payback," Fxeni replied with a small smile.
-
"He didn't seem that clever when I fought him honestly, but I guess he's smart enough to make all throes weapons and pirate machine things."
"Exactly!" Sakura nodded "If he can create those things himself why does he need some ancient and powerful relic created by a goddess who apparently created this world?!"
"The Omni Gem is said to have infinite power, so I bet he doesn't really care much for the consequences," Fxeni replied, tapping away at the screen on his gauntlet. He looks over to Aya, a slight worried look on his face. "Chances are he'd head back to Skull Cove, that city that he captured. It certainly won't be safe though, so I'd advise against going alone Aya..."
"You would think making something powered by sunlight would be more simple." Sakura sighed "Whatever he wants to power can't be worth something happening to the world, we have to stop him!"
"I understand your concerns Sakura and I agree, but we need to prepare ourselves first." Calien responded.
"Right....so how do we do that?" Sakura asked sheepishly.
-
"Well if you any of you really want to help I won't say no, I'd rather not see anyone hurt on my behalf though--well anyway; you said Skull Cove? Where is that exactly and how far from this forest?"
((This is where I'll let others toss in their ideas for building Arcadia up. Lets not make it anymore than two locations to get to our current destination for the time being, anything that doesn't get used now can certainly be a location of interest later right?))
-
(I imagine the first stop would be a city of some sort to get more supplies and possibly party members and maybe collect more stuff from the mecha if it can possibly be used to upgrade Fxeni's Cheval?)
-
(Sounds like a good idea to me.))
-
(Hmm... Will note Skull Cove to eventually introduce Albertus the Wiley... As for en route, I guess I can intro a scout or something like that, haha.)
-
(Hmm... Will note Skull Cove to eventually introduce Albertus the Wiley... As for en route, I guess I can intro a scout or something like that, haha.)
((Are you still planning to play White Beard's right but not totally trustworthy hand?))
-
(Oh definitely, it's almost a given for my characters. XD)
-
((Cool, looking forward to the backstabery!))
-
"We'll have to go to the coast, it being a port city and all. We'd best make stops along the way for supplies and information... it might help us get in the city."
-
"Might be a good idea to try to see if we can also find some others who are willing and powerful enough to help us." Calien added while Sakura went over to one of the many bags they had and showed it to Fxeni.
"I don't know much about money but would this be of any help to us?" Sakura asked him.
Inside the bag was various amounts of money that people who traveled the forest happened to drop, which was actually pretty often.
-
"Money...you trade that for goods right, we need food and water anything else?"
-
"That's correct, although we can hunt for food ourselves it would be beneficial to buy additional rations." Calien nodded "It would be very helpful if we could somehow get a egg laying chicken, it may not be a cow but at least it shouldn't be as expensive and doesn't need to be pregnant to make eggs."
-
(Plus it's in the name! 8D)
Somewhere hidden in the thick forest cover, a lone figure crouched. It has been hearing the conversation between a rag-tag group of travelers, talking about an Omni-Gem, and White Beard. But especially the strange girl called Aya. It had received orders from its master that the time was soon approaching, and that Aya was the key. The figure continued to listen intently.
In Skull Cove, there was a tall citadel, White Beard's main base of operation. Ever since the mad pirate took over, the city has pretty much turned into a ghost town, ruled with an iron peg leg. From one of the many windows of the citadel, that stood a man. A rather hunched old man, in a cloak. His eyes stared out through 2 pieces of glass, smirking.
People has come to know this man as Albertus the Wiley, right hand man to the nefarious pirate White Beard. A man that practiced the forbidden arts of technology, he has helped White Beard in the constructions of some of his pirate machines. Not much else is known of Albertus, except for rumors that he was once the sole survivor of his village, and that he was raised by the mythical dwarves, known for their prowess in technology. Of course, no one could prove any of this. Still, his influence is well known within the city...
"Ze time... Has cometh..."
-
"Yeah, this should help us plenty. We can use the Cheval to store our things as we travel, although I doubt putting live animals in it would be a good idea," Fxeni replied as he examined the bag's contents.
-
Albertus notices out of the corner of his eye that the Dark Star was approaching, it would be docked within the hour and unloading it's precious cargo. Glancing down he notices two figures already at the dock two individuals who had come forward with the information regarding the prize and information on the floating city and it's guardian.
One a man wore a rather off putting white mask with red lines painted down the cheeks like tears, the other a woman wore a similar mask with blue lines, unlike the man she wore more elaborate dresses while the other worse a simple ragged cloak.
-
"Of course not, but I think Sakura's Rapidash friend could possibly help if we can't do it ourselves, I'm sure someone would provide us with a cage of some sort anyway." Calien shrugged.
"Should we bring Yin too?" Sakura asked.
"Probably a good idea considering her speicies ability to sense disasters." Calien nodded.
(I really need to decide a name for the Rapidash.)
-
(So is RPM-Adventure dead?)
-
(I think we were waiting on Sapph or something.)
-
((Yeah what Sakura said mostly, also WilyII I sent you a PM regarding Albertus.))
-
(We seem to be "waiting on Sapph" for a lot of things.)
-
((If I don't see a post by the time my birthday rolls around I'll make an update.))
-
((If I don't see a post by the time my birthday rolls around I'll make an update.))
(That's good, unlike the Pokemon RPs I do have ideas for that one.)
-
((Remind me if I don't post by the 16th then everyone! 8D))
-
(Oh right I forgot yours and Quickie's birthday are right after mine.)
-
((I nearly forgot my own birthday too 8D))
-
(Indeed, but seriously I still think we should get a chicken.)
-
Albertus notices out of the corner of his eye that the Dark Star was approaching, it would be docked within the hour and unloading it's precious cargo. Glancing down he notices two figures already at the dock two individuals who had come forward with the information regarding the prize and information on the floating city and it's guardian.
One a man wore a rather off putting white mask with red lines painted down the cheeks like tears, the other a woman wore a similar mask with blue lines, unlike the man she wore more elaborate dresses while the other worse a simple ragged cloak.
Albertus continued to stare at the 2 masked ones. He never really trusted anyone in his life, but these 2 were of a whole different level. He just could not read what they were up to. However, the 2 had been very cooperative about information regarding the Omni-Gem, and they seemed to be just onlookers. For now. Albertus sighed, as he made his way out, to the docks.
-
White Beard stepped from the airship's cargo ramp as the flying smiley copters carefully moved the Omni-Gem toward the ground where a special mobile cart awaited. The Masked man was dressed in a ragged cloak and hood with a ivory mask showing only two eye holes and two red tear like lines down the side.
Mask Master - "Well sister it appears our faith was not misplaced."
The Masked woman with a similar mask of her own but wearing a dignified and elaborate skirt giggled with an unnerving tone to her voice.
Doll Master -"I suppose so...still working with pirates how---"
The masked man however shushed his sister before she could finish as White Beard came into earshot.
White Beard - "As promised, I brought the Omni-Gem; now it's your turn to keep your end of our bargain." White Beard puffed on his pipe not likely trusting the two anymore than his right hand.
Mask Master - "Yes yes, infinite elemental energy will be yours, however we still need to find the three keys to unlock this relic before any of that."
Doll Master - "Luckily We know the location of two at the moment the third--"
Mask Master - "Well the third we have an idea who might know--pray tell did you encounter a guardian at the city?"
White Beard frowns "Yes, she was quite the Nuisance! However she fell from the city and won't be an issue now!" White Beard gloats a little, making another puff at his pipe.
Doll Master - "With all the subtly of a rampaging Behemoth--brother we needed that guardian alive!"
Mask Master - "Calm yourself sister--I'm sure our little guardian would not be so easily destroyed--that being said captain you'll need to find her quickly my sister does so hate to be disappointed and she's been looking forward to finding the three keys oh so much."
White Beard feels a shiver up his spine, something about the tone of his voice. "I'll have my men keep an eye out for the lass, till then you spoke of three keys?"
Doll Master - "Yes, we'll point their locations off on the map; we'll need that "ship" of yours--"
The three make their way off toward the citadel along with the Omni-Gem continuing the discussion.
-
Albertus soon met up with his "master", and the 2 masked ones. As he was about to bow, his gaze caught onto the Omni-Gem that was behind them. His eyes widened, his mouth wide open... It was a sight unlike anything in life... Such beauty was beyond words!
"Master... It would seem you were successful with ze recovery..."
-
"Arr-wasn't any problem at all, that damn city was empty save for some annoying little blue girl." White Beard puffed on his pipe.
"A girl that we need remember!" Doll Master responded her voice becoming annoyed.
"Yes yes, Albertus I want you to look into this matter; the navigator will fill you in on the specifics." White Beard rolls his eyes as the Omni-Gem and the masked siblings head off to oversee it's storage. Once out of earshot he leans forward whispering in Albertus' ear.
"Our "business partners" claims we need three keys to make this crystal do anything, they know the location of two; the third is apparently either in that girl's possession or she at least knows where it is located. We play along for now but when you capture her do not inform them, instead once we have all three keys and they reveal how to use the damn thing we'll simply have them walk the plank." White beard pulls back and nods for his right hand to get to work.
-
"Brilliant! Just like ze Master always has been..."
Albertus bowed as he followed behind the masked ones. The thing was... Albertus already knew about the 3 keys needed, hence why he had one of his creations at a certain forest. It seemed as though the information provided by the masked ones are true...
Finally catching up with the masked ones, and out of earshot range of White Beard...
"So... Is ze girl really holding ze final key?"
-
Doll master glanced at her brother for a moment before he nods slightly.
Mask Master - "Yes, if not on her person theres reason to believe she'll know it's location at least; that "doll" is older than you know and I believe we'll need her to unlock the Omni-Gem's secrets."
Doll Master - "I had hopped that oaf would have captured her along side of it but now his incompetence has cost us valuable time and resources!" She growls.
Mask Master - "Calm yourself sister, Albertus was merely inquiring; it's his mission after all and he hardly deserves any of your ire. Now sir when you complete your task we'll be very great full if you could inform us, we always pay our debts my sister and I."
-
"I like the sound of ze payment..."
Albertus bowed, and separated from the two. Rubbing his palms underneath his cloak, the time was indeed coming... The time of HIS rule.
The hidden figure in the forest cover noted the next destination the group was heading, and how they are traveling. He placed his right index finger on a 4-pointed star on his forehead, and began to focus on his next set of actions...
(It should be obvious that's Shadow Man... I mean Shadow Master. :P)
-
((haha, now the question is what do Doll and Mask Master truly want? Dun dun duuun 8D))
-
(Okay I got a few ideas regarding the chicken and how to get it, but I think Calien should not be present when we get the chicken. For reasons.)
-
((Chicken or Cucu? It's important we know the difference or we could be swarmed! XD))
-
((haha, now the question is what do Doll and Mask Master truly want? Dun dun duuun 8D))
(Not like my characters have not been back stabbed before. XD)
(Okay I got a few ideas regarding the chicken and how to get it, but I think Calien should not be present when we get the chicken. For reasons.)
(DEATH BY ANGRY CHICKENS *catapults some in*)
-
(*Chickens turn back on Wily and attack him*
Chicken Leader: We will fight for our independence! VIVA LA CHICKEN REVOLUTION!)
-
(GAH! NOT THE FEATHERS OF FURY)
-
((I personally welcome our new cucu overlords. =P))
-
(They are proud but fair warrior race but beware their rightous fury if they are wronged.)
-
(Are they led by that gold cucu from Hyrule Warriors? XD)
-
(Nah a giant Cucco in A Link Between Worlds, like a Fat Chocobo that the Dwarves worship as a god in FF4.)
-
((I think Arcadia has bigger problems that evil sky pirates, masked mages and the chaos. Our true foe is an enemy most fowl.))
-
(Again only you harm them, otherwise they shall be great allies.)
-
((Oh by the way descriptions of Mask and Doll Master are up on the RP supplement topic for anyone who's interested in the horrible things they can do to our heroes! I tried to make their powers a little more unique than say just tossing elemental attacks around like the Star Generals in the Prime universe.))
-
Aya slipped out of the cabin as the others talked about the required supplies. Taking a deep breath of fresh forest air she realized why Sakura and her father must have decided to live here, before she could ponder any further an odd feeling of dread sank in her stomache; Aya couldn't quite explain it but it felt like danger to her.
"What is going on?" She summons her blade glancing around as all the forest wild life become eerily quiet.
-
(So wait are we really confronting Shadow Master?)
-
(No something else, anyone with magic sensing ability can pick up on it too.)
-
"Wh-What is this?" Sakura asked out loud.
"You sense it too?" Calien asked her.
-
Aya steps out to the center of the clearing from the bushes she can see multiple glowing eyes peering at her, growling and snarling don't do much to put her at ease. Before long wolf like animals emerge, or rather whats left of them, their forms twisted into monsters.
"Uh--everyone?" Aya yells glancing back at the cabin.
-
"Seems like we got some beasts to deal with." Calien sighed as he got out and brandished his battle axe.
"But something doesn't seem right about them." Sakura said as she unsheathed her beam saber and her eyes glowed red.
-
(Oh Blue, dear~)
((If I don't see a post by the time my birthday rolls around I'll make an update.))
-
(Oh Blue, dear~)
(Be paitent dammit.)
-
(Be paitent dammit.)
((Remind me if I don't post by the 16th then everyone! 8D))
-
((Will start on the update XD))
"No, wait! There is something dark and twisted in them! We have to be carefull!" She raises her hand to stop Sakura from just charging in.
-
"Already knew that." Sakura told her.
"Could this.....Could this be the result of the missing Omni Gem?" Calien wondered.
".....You have got to be kidding me!" Sakura face palmed.
-
"This--this is something old-something chaotic. Have you two ever seen anything like this here before?"
-
"No, but I have heard many a similar tale, when an ancient artifact created by some higher power gets stolen or used by one with a wicked heart things typically go to hell." Calien explained.
"Animals are usually the first who fall to the evil." Sakura nodded. "They've lost their minds."
-
"Is---there no way to help them?" Aya looks disheartened obviously not happy with idea of slaying an innocent animal.
-
"Unless we can somehow appeal to the being it was before then no." Calien shook his head "The only way to stop this is to return the Omni-Gem to its rightful place."
"Why didn't The Queen put better defenses in place so something like this wouldn't happen?" Sakura face palmed again "I mean what happened to magic barriers and tests of character? A single man shouldn't be able to do something like this with brute force alone!"
(I seriously wonder why I'm making Sakura so snarky all the sudden.)
-
((Ouch XD))
"It's my fault for not protecting the city better." Aya bites her lip waiting for the wolves to attack.
-
"It's not your fault Aya." Calien shook his head "Some greedy man found a loop hole in the goddess defenses that she wasn't prepare for."
-
((I'll hold off till the others catch up and post.))
-
"I'd rather not hurt anything that's twisted against their will, but if it needs to be done..." Fxeni said as a glow shimmered over his hand and a spear appeared.
-
"It won't end the problem, it will only get worse." Calien sighed.
"But in order to stop this we have to survive." Sakura gulped.
-
The wolves seem less interested in the parties' moral debate as they all begin charging at the group at once from multiple directions. It would seem the whole pack is inflicted given their numbers.
-
Sakura began to enchant her blade with Electricity and began to attack the beasts as Calien began cutting them in half with his axe.
-
As a wolf pounced at Aya she nimbly ducked slashing upward a swath of black blood hits the ground poisoning and withering the grass right away, the wolf lets out a wine as it's life fades.
"This blood--do not let it touch you!"
-
A green glow appears under Fxeni's feet as he begins to chant.
"Howl O raging wind and cleave mine enemies with your blade! Turbulence!"
As the final words were uttered, a sudden gust of wind lifted two of the wolves into the air, where a small vortex of wind slashed them up.
-
"Even the blood is corrupted?" Sakura's eyes widen "I think I have to try a long range strategy now."
She enchanted her blade with Light Magic and sliced the air in front of her creating a beam or light headjng for the wolves.
Calien meerly slashed away while being carful of the blood.
-
Shadow Master noticed the corrupted monsters attacking the group. Perhaps he did not need to engage them after all, the monsters' numbers might just overwhelm them all.
... Plus it doesn't hurt to watch the carnage.
-
"Whoa!" Fxeni says as one attacks him. He sidesteps out of the way, and thrusts his spear upwards into the jumping wolf.
"Thunder Lance!" he yells, lightning coursing into the wolf.
-
Several wolfs all pounced at Aya at once leaving her no space to dodge, kneeling her blade returned to it's natural state of energy and reformed around her right arm as a gauntlet. as the wolves attempted to sink their claws into her a barrier formed keeping them all at bay, Aya frowned and the barrier suddenly expanded sending them flying into the bushes whence they came.
-
Surrounded by a separate pack of wolves, Toshi stood firm.
Toshi - "So this is how it's going to be." reaching into her pouch, hanging above her tail, and pulls out a short baton. "However numbers don't matter to me." she held her arm forward as the baton extends outward, forming a quarterstaff-like weapon. "Lets do this!" she shouts as the wolves all attempt to pounce on her; but not before she performed a pole-vault, launching herself into the air, out of danger.
She starts forming three hand signs snake, tiger, dog, while still in midair, before chanting the following:
Toshi - "HYOUTON: TSUBAME FUBUKI!" the air around her forms a swarm of ice swallows; darting straight for the pack, killing those instantly who got an ice swallow directly to the face, while slashing a few around their legs, grounding them in an instant.
-
Aya preforms a series of ground based combos with her blade slashing at the Wolves' bodies in non fatal places hoping to dissuade them from any further attacks. They real from the blows and form try to flank her from all sides before leaping back to attack.
"I'm sorry.." She turns her blade upside down and stabs it into the ground causing a small area of effect burst of magic as the wolves close in and as it passes they simply aren't there anymore. Aya turns to the others still involved in their own battles.
-
(Is it okay if someone gets scratched or bitten?)
-
((You may get poisoned.))
-
(I can probably deal with that, I'll write that up a bit later. Wish we had a white mage, or maybe I should make Calien one.)
-
(I was thinking of giving Toshi something like this, but I'm thinking it's maybe too soon for her to know medical jutsu techniques right now. So I'd leave Sakura to that.)
-
((Yeah having a healer would not be a bad idea honestly.))
-
((Anyone else have any attacks to throw off before we wrap up?))
-
Seeing few of the pack of wolves, on pursuit of Toshi's landing, she immediately took a defensive stance before charging in.
Toshi - "It's useless! You can't defeat me in your current state." She yells, before twirling her staff around her like it was a propeller rotating at high speeds, slamming a couple of wolves all over the place. "This battle ends now!" as she starts picking of the grounded beasts, by slamming their heads in with the weighted end of her staff, being careful not to spill any tainted blood on her skin.
(I'll leave it at that.)
-
(Okay I think I can do something now.)
As Calien was recklessly slashing and decapitating wolves one of them managed to jump up and bite him on the arm. With a pained grunt Calien grabbed the wolf by the neck and got it off his arm before he physically threw it into a group of wolves causing the the spine of the first wolf to snap and the other wolves to substain other crippling injuries.
He then noticed that his arm became infected with poison and took the time to position his other hand over it.
"Oh Holy magic, purge my being of that which ails me. Esuna!" Calien chanted.
A bright light enveloped the area of the infection and eraticated it. With that annoyance out of the way he continued to thin out the pack further.
(Calien, bestest white mage evar? I don't know I think that may be the most graphic scene I've written so far.)
-
(Where are you guys? I may join this one.)
-
(Still in the forest in front of Sakura and Calien's cabin. The wolves should be destroyed soon.)
-
((If you want to join in the group will be hitting the road soon so thats not a bad place to meet up))
-
It didn't take the group long to take out the last remaining wolves, the area around the cabin was a mess however; their blood had corrupted the ground where ever it fell and the group was no closer to discovering the source of the infection.
Aya's blade vanished in a ball of light and re-appeared as her pendant. "What a waste." She frowned as she looked over the battle field.
-
Shadow Master had been observing the whole fight from the safety of the canopy.
"Skills... Amatuer. Chosen one... Easy target. Next course of action... Ambush."
-
((Aya isn't THAT amateur? Is she? 8D))
-
(This IS Shadow Master we are talking about. Everyone else is an amateur. 8D)
-
((So much ego Shadow Master, I approve! 8D))
-
"Don't you worry yourself Aya, the land is pretty resilient and I'm sure everything will grow back eventually. If not, I'm sure some Holy Water or something will fix it up." Calien shook his head. "Anyone here need to be patched up?"
In the mean time Sakura kneeled and began some sort of prayer.
"<Your Grace, I know this land is not your own but it is in desperate need of help, if there's anything you can do to help the Queen and the Elemental gods of this land please do so. And please give us hope and strength to end this disaster before it's too late.>" Sakura chanted in her strange language.
-
"I'm perfectly fine here," Fxeni said as his weapon vanished. "I get the impression that that doesn't happen very often around here... we'll have to keep an eye out."
-
Aya glances deeper into the forest. "I think what ever did this is still in there though..." she returns to her gaze to Calien.
-
"I'm perfectly fine here," Fxeni said as his weapon vanished. "I get the impression that that doesn't happen very often around here... we'll have to keep an eye out."
"Well not here, sometimes we have to deal with Goblins and other things out there, but not like that." Sakura explained.
Aya glances deeper into the forest. "I think what ever did this is still in there though..." she returns to her gaze to Calien.
"What do you mean?" Calien asked her.
-
"You can't feel it? This forest is sick." Aya continues to glance deeper into the woods.
-
"Hmm yeah you may be right, we need to find a way to purify this place." Calien nodded "We better start getting everything out of the herb garden now. Sakura get some bags for each type of herb?"
(You know like antidote herds, echo grasses, stuff for paralysis.)
-
"I'd like to help, if no one minds waiting her a little longer?" Aya looks to the others.
-
"We still have deer to eat too." Sakura pointed out.
-
"Oh right we should rest after all that." Aya nods
((Phi any idea how you want to join in by the way?))
-
"Yeah I already skined it, just need to get it cooked if we're lucky we can use the skin to make something like another bag or hide cape or something. I honestly don't know how she did it but Sakura made some kind of machine that's makes sewing faster that's not a spinning wheel." Calien said rubbing his head "But right now we got to take care of the herbs."
(So yeah Sakura made a magitek sewing machine with A PILE OF SCRAPES! stuff she found in A CAVE! the forest.)
-
((Iron Woman? Sakura Stark? 8D))
"You can make machines? Where DID you learn to do that anyway?"
-
"Daddy taught me some stuff but sometimes I get my own ideas, I like tinkering with things really." Sakura explained
"She's certainly better at it than I am." Calien shrugged "Again sometimes I don't know how she does it with so little around here, I wonder if she can do something with that mecha crab wreckage."
-
"You are welcome to have that junk if you want Sakura." Aya smiles happy to be rid of the stuff after her fall from the sky.
-
"I already collected some of it, when I was there, but I don't know what to do about the bigger stuff." Sakura scratched her head.
-
"What ever you decide to make just please promise not to drop me out of the sky, not sure I can afford to forget anything else." Aya giggles.
-
"I meant like how do we carry it, I'm not sure even with the Chevel and my Rapidash if we can get everything. Though maybe we can use some of it for the Chevel, Mr. Fxeni did mention it having problems with high speeds." Sakura pondered.
-
"Not sure, I don't know much about this magi-tech." Aya looks a little lost in all this tech discussion.
-
"I'd have to take a look at the parts to see if they can be used," Fxeni replies as he looks around, feeling a bit uneasy. "We can take a look later perhaps."
-
"Yeah the herbs are the priority right now, I'll go get the bags." Sakura nodded.
-
"I'm going to set up a detection field around the area while you guys gather those herbs," Fxeni says as he rummages around in the trunk of the Cheval. "I'd rather not have any more sudden surprises like those wolves."
-
"A detection field?" Calien asked as Sakura went inside the Cabin.
-
(A detection field? Should I be worried? XD)
-
(To be fair Calien and Sakura probably already knows he's there, but they don't want him to know that.)
-
(... I guess having a huge ego is not good for stealth. XD)
-
(No it is not.)
-
((I concur. 8D))
-
(Toshi's also aware of his movements [She can hear him,
she can smell him], but she'll probably assume he's a wolf running for its life. So unless he doesn't lurk around too much she won't grow suspicious.)
Seeing her clothes looking a bit soiled, from the battle...
Toshi - "Hey, Sakura! You don't mind if I use your bath, please? I'm feeling a little dirty all of a sudden." a bit of worry goes through her mind thinking that she may have the tainted blood spilled on her clothing, getting the feeling it may eat away at her clothing.
"Oh, and can borrow some of your clothes, in the meantime?" realizing she never came with spare clothing, with her.
-
"Unfortunately we don't have a bath, we bathe in the lake." Sakura said as she got out with some bags "Plus I don't think we have any clothes that would fit your body type."
-
(... Great. Another one. >_>)
-
(Hey that's what happens when a ninja tries to stalk a ninja with animals senses and 2 *spoilers*.)
-
"Unfortunately we don't have a bath, we bathe in the lake." Sakura said as she got out with some bags "Plus I don't think we have any clothes that would fit your body type."
Toshi - "I... see." she feels a bit embarrassed as she gives a quick glance at the men in the group, "I'll head over to the lake in the meantime. Just try not to trespass on my business, okay."
As she makes her way to the lake, she tries to rid herself of the suspicion she feels. Although she'd be more worried about her annoying stalkers knowing where she's going.
Riyalie - "What's wrong hun?" Toshi hears the voice of her persian familiar nearby, "Afraid the old man might sneak a peak, is that it? Or are you worried the hansom hunk over there might..."
Toshi - "Shh... not a word from you!" she hushed her familiar, "I don't see why you two need to hide, when they're already aware of your presence."
Riyalie - "Oh, don't be so, miss Shadow Lady." she quipped, "You do know how to summon us, do you?"
Toshi - "Well... kinda but..."
Riyalie - "Oh, don't worry, hun. You'll figure it out by the time we get there."
(I'll let someone post first before stripping Toshi at the lake. She seems okay if Sakura or Aya was with her, but since they have more important things to focus on, she felt it be better she'd go alone. Besides, she has two spiritual buddies with her.)
-
"It'll just let us know if someone enters the area. It's something I whipped up for any jobs that would require guarding an area. It's not necessary by any means, but it doesn't hurt to have confirmation instead of hunches," Fxeni said as he started walking off with a few magitech devices.
-
"Huh, so you're a for hire sort of guy?" Calien asked as Sakura started to come up with the bags.
-
"Well... only when I need the money," Fxeni said as he put one of the devices down. "I don't work for just anyone though... only people who can be trusted. Nothing shady."
-
"How can you tell that, I mean people can lie in such a way that they say one thing but mean something else." Sakura pondered.
-
"I can usually tell. I also usually run a background check on them before I accept anything, of course," Fxeni replied as he set down another one of the devices. "There has been some times where it didn't exactly end well, but those were... uhh... special cases."
-
"I see." Sakura nodded though she didn't exactly know what a background check was.
-
"There... it's all set up," Fxeni said as he finished putting down the devices. He started tapping away at the screen on his gauntlet, and shortly after the devices all sprung open.
"Alright, this should be good. Do you guys need help with the herbs?" Fxeni asked.
-
"Any extra set of hands would be welcome." Calien nodded.
-
Arriving at the lake, Toshi gave one last survey towards her surroundings, before biting her thumb, so that a bit of blood dripped out. Then performing a sequence of hand signs: Boar → Dog → Bird → Monkey → Ram...
Toshi - "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" she places the palm of her hand with her bleeding thumb, on the ground; creating some odd looking writing around across the floor. Then, in a puff of smoke, a humanoid figure appeared.
Upon close inspection she appears to resemble an anthropomorphic Persian; clothed in some tribal themed costume, but less skimpy than Toshi's outfit. She was holding a large broad axe across her shoulders, with the blade shaped like a circular saw.
Riyalie - "Hey, how come you didn't summon Griffy?" she asked looking confused.
Toshi - "Well you see. I'm a little short on breath." she explained looking a bit drained, from the summoning jutsu. "Besides, you're more useful as a bodyguard anyways."
Riyalie - "You can count on me, ma'am." she saluted, as she watched Toshi start stripping her soiled clothing off, but as she removed the binder from her ponytail, Riyalie was mildly aroused by Toshi's long golden hair.
Riyalie - "Oh, gosh it's been a while since I've seen her hair loose." went through her mind, as she felt her hand itching to just grope Toshi from behind. "No." she held her one hand as if to resist the urge, "I need to get a grip of myself." Gritting her teeth with her eyes closed, while Toshi stepped into the calm looking lake, before...
Toshi - "Umm, Riyalie."
Riyalie - "Uhh, yes ma'am?" she opened her eyes to see Toshi's body submerged above her chest.
Toshi - "Could you do me a favor, and wash my clothes over there."
Riyalie - "No problem, ma'am." she made a silly salute as she grabbed a hold of the clothes Toshi left behind. "I'll get this done in a jiffy." as she gave another gander at Toshi bathing herself still taken in by her hair, before snapping out of her motive so that she could start on the laundry Toshi gave her to do.
(I'm running low on time here, so I'll continue from tomorrow morning.)
-
(I might as well strike now, since Shadow Master is so obvious. 8U)
-
(Honestly with the detection field I think he should just runaway.)
-
(Well... It's not going to do anything except let them know that someone is there. Also, it doesn't go underground, so there's that... 8D)
-
(Exactly a real ninja on recon would try to avoid that so he can ambuse his prey in more ideal circumstances.)
-
(I'm not letting the 4 of you get away with it! Ego and all! 8U)
A four-pointed star flew towards the detector and struck it, disabling it as it started to spark. Not soon after, a shadowy figure landed not far from Fxeni, Sakura, Calien, and Aya.
"Objective changed. Commence engagement."
The figure got into a fighting stance, and threw out more four-pointed stars at the group.
-
As a warning started blaring from his gauntlet, Fxeni's spear appeared in his hand and he quickly deflected the stars that were headed his way.
"One of your friends, Aya?" he asked as he made some room away from the others.
-
Sakura immediately sprung into action and deflected the stars while Calien immediately revealed a chain sickle and threw it which immediately wrapped around his arm.
"Finally, was waiting for you to make your move." Sakura stated.
(So yeah Calien's sub weapon is a chain sickle.)
-
(Gonna pause since needs Blue's input. And just so you know... That's not really Shadow Master.)
-
(Curse you Shadow clone Jutsu! Though really I think Calien and Sakura would be able to see that given their eyes.)
-
"Oh right we should rest after all that." Aya nods
((Phi any idea how you want to join in by the way?))
(Hmm, well, I suppose you could run into me, somehow. Or better yet, I can run into you.
Are you guys still in the forest?)
-
(Yes.)
-
(Mind giving me some details? Like, what would I be seeing when I run into you guys?)
-
(Well either you'll be peeking on Toshi who is taking a bath in the lake guarded by a humanoid Persian or you'll see us fighting Shadow
Man Master.)
-
Meanwhile, atop one of the trees in the forest...
*munch* *munch* *munch*
A young girl (http://i.imgur.com/bANTumr.jpg), no older than 12 years-old, in strange nomadic clothing and a knitted hat was idly munching on a purple fruit, growing from one of the branches she was sitting on. A long silver staff, adorned with green gems, lay across her lap.
"Mmmmm mmmmm! Salem, this is sooo tasty, I wish you could try some!" The girl's face was filled with bliss, as she lovingly savored each bite from the purple fruit.
The green gems on the silver staff glowed faintly, and a male voice echoed out from it, "Such means of indulgence is lost on me, I'm afraid. I'll take your word for it, though."
"Yeah... It's a shame. Well, we can still have all sorts of fun, anyway!" She chirped happily.
"Indeed, we can. Be careful though, we shouldn't get too sidetracked. Don't forget why we're here, Pema."
"Yeeeah, yeeeeah," Pema pouted and stuck her tongue out at him, when suddenly she saw a flash of light in the distance.
Her staff, Salem, hovered from her lap and moved towards the commotion, "Did you see that just now? What in the world was that?"
"I don't know, but let's find out!" Pema tossed the half-eaten fruit aside and grabbed Salem, jumping from branch to branch, hovering thanks to the staff's flying ability, "Onward to adventurrrrrre!! And more tasty food!"
She steadily arrived to their location and leaped down to the floor.
"HELLOOOOO!" Pema yelled out to them, unaware that they were in a battle.
"P-Pema, now's not the time for that!" Salem shouted as the gems on the staff glowed brighter.
-
(I'll wait for Blue to post before responding.)
-
Arriving at the scene...
Toshi? - "Hey, what's going here?" she looks surprised to see a battle ensueing, at Sakura's house, "I leave for a few minutes and we're already under attack." she pulls out a kunai readying herself for battle.
(Notice the question mark after her name. Oh and just to let you know Shadow Master's not the only one who knows clone jutsu.)
-
(*throws both arms into the air*)
-
(Again she's a ninja and Sakura and Calien are *spoilers*. He's just has really bad luck.)
-
Aya manages to jump back as the star strikes just before her feet. "N-No I have no idea who that is! Who ARE you anyway?!" She snaps at the Shadow Master before hearing the voice of the newcomer.
((Sorry about the delay my net was down for the last two days XD))
-
"Sakura get that little girl out of there!" Calien shouted as he had no idea where the real Shadow Master would attack as the one he wrapped with the chain sickle turned into a log.
"Right!" Sakura said as she grabbed the girl and tried to get her away "Come on it's too dangerous here, you have to get away!"
Edit: (Wait....I think I may have confused the Shadow Clone Jutsu with the Substitution Jutsu.......Which one did you mean?)
-
"What, but whyyy?" Pema cried, then suddenly noticed that everyone had their weapons drawn and were frantically looking around.
"Oh, are you guys fighting a bad guy? Lemme help! Can I help, please?" She lightly tugged on Sakura's sleeve, and looked at her with a glint of excitement in her eyes.
-
"What?! What could you possibly......?" Sakura protested until she got a better look at the girl and found some things that surprised her.
"This girl's mana.....it's huge!" Sakura thought "Even bigger than any of ours, maybe even combined! And....her staff is very unusual....there's a spirit like the ones that are following Toshi's! But even if she is powerful she's still very young, we have to keep this guy distracted from her so she can strike!"
"What I want you to do is pretend to run and hide, we'll try to make sure he's distracted and doesn't hurt you." Sakura whispered to her "Stay hidden and when you find an opportunity to, let him have it, you understand?"
-
She doesn't know how to hide her mana... this is not good, she'll be a target, Fxeni thinks to himself as he scans the area for the enemy.
-
Pema scrunched up her face and crossed her arms, "But that's not fair! I wanna get up-close and personal!"
"Pema, listen to this woman! She has the right idea," Salem spoke.
She bit her lip and nodded after thinking about the plan, "Okay... I understand," she said a bit reluctantly and pulled her hat partially over her eyes; something Pema had a habit of doing whenever she was disappointed.
She ran over to one of the trees and hid behind it.
-
"Good thing she seems to listen to that staff." Sakura thought as she enchanted her sword with ice magic with her right hand as well as some hidden weapons concealed by a hidden pouch by her hip with her left while she thought of her plan "We have to keep him distracted and on his toes, he may have been observing us but he didn't see everything me and Dad can do, and I'm sure everyone else has their own tricks up their sleeves.
Mr. Fxeni and Dad seem to be aware of what that girl can do and hopefully that shadow clone of Toshi will throw him off too. I don't know what he's after but we got to stop him here!"
-
(At this point, it doesn't really matter.)
The log ignited as soon as it touched the ground, releasing a thick cover of smoke.
Shadow Master cursed under his breath as his ambush failed, and quite badly. However, he did managed to see more of this group's abilities. However, besides the one called Aya that he should be monitoring, there was something else very amiss, but he was unable to pinpoint, nor recognize the new reading. Cursing again, he poofed into a plume of smoke, and disappeared.
-
(Wait did he run?)
-
(He made a tactical retreat, his clone helped further with the thick smoke.)
-
(But is he going to keep attacking us at the moment or is he going to leave?)
-
(... He's not going to bother with any of you for a long while.)
-
(Okay thanks for the clarification.)
Calien and Sakura started to cough until the smoke cleared and the mysterious man left.
".....I think he's gone, Sakura do you sense his presence?" Calien asked.
".....No, it seems he's left." Sakura replied as she looked around to make sure.
"Good." Calien nodded "Seems we caught him off guard."
"Yeah..." Sakura said as she looked towards the trees "Sorry, I think the bad man got scared and ran away, you can come out now."
".....I can't believe she's apologizing to a little girl like that." Calien thought.
-
Pema nodded and walked over to Sakura, "Your team scared him off? Wow, that's so cool!" She bounced happily.
"Aren't you forgetting something...?" Salem spoke with a trailing voice, and sounded as if he's said this same exact line many times before.
"Oh yeah," She adjusted her hat and brushed off her dress, "My name is Pema! A pleasure to meet you!" She bowed.
Pema then stared at the ground and began fidgeting, "And, umm... s-sorry I got mad and yelled at you, earlier..." She looked up at Sakura apologetically, "I didn't mean to..."
-
Aya frowns having lost track of the attacking ninja. "I wonder what he was on about? "Target?" Huh--anyway nice to me meet you Pema. My name is Aya." She gives a friendly smile.
-
"It's okay Pema." Sakura smiled "I'm just glad he didn't hurt anyone."
"Yeah it seemed he was trying to observe us, I could feel his presence when the wolves attacked us, but once Fxeni turned on that Detection Field machine he must of panicked and tried to fulfill whatever his objective was. Then when he realized we were prepared for him he ran." Calien explained while his arms were crossed "Honestly I don't know what he was thinking, in a situation like that a ninja should have ran with the information they had on hand then risk engaging the enemy, especially when dealing with a group."
"He didn't seem normal though...." Sakura pondered "Something was different about him."
-
"Yeah--although I don't think he was the cause of the infection, he didn't "reek" of it like the wolves did." Aya kneels down to examine a throwing star, although it doesn't really give any clues to the ninja's origin.
"As soon as were ready I would like to head towards the source, the longer we wait the worse things are going to get I feel."
-
"Yeah, I guess we can skip the deer. We'll get the medical herbs then leave ASAP, we'll forage for food on the way." Calien nodded.
-
"I'll try an lead the way."
((Since everyone in the party can sense mana in the group it seems Aya comes off as somewhat odd, she's filled with Mana but it feels like something is off about her. Might as well say that now if magic sensing comes up again.))
-
"Um Aya did you not pay attention to what Dad said?" Sakura asked her. Sakura and Calien noticed that Aya is very gung ho when it comes to a goal to the point that she misses vital details of what another person said.
-
Aya nods a little impatiently, what ever is happening in the forest seems to be making her anxious.
((yeah, she's a bit of a "one track mind" type of person. ))
-
"I understand you want to get out of here but the reason I want to get those herbs is because they have healing properties and at the moment it seems only I can heal." Calien explained "If something happens to me, or we get seperated, or the enemy sets up something that can seal magic then we should have something to use as a backup.
Though the herbs won't last us forever, and I'm sure there's stronger stuff out there, but it's better than nothing. Unlike that....whatever it was I like to have a plan, and plans require patience and preparations. You understand Aya?"
-
Aya sighs "I suppose so...sorry."
-
Meanwhile, at the lake...
Riyalie - "All done." says a joyful Persian lady, with Toshi's clean kunoichi gear, as she approaches the lake where Toshi still bathing, except she noticing making contact with whoever it is, that's not there.
Toshi - "What!? A child?" she seems surprised to already know of their new companion.
WC Toshi - "Yeah, she seems quite young but her chakra mana's enormous." says the water clone walking up the group for an introduction. "Oh, and our enemy was nothing but a mere shadow clone, but it seems the real deal ran off."
Toshi - "But, is he still lurking?"
WC Toshi - "Umm... no." the water clone looked confused, "He seems to have upped 'n vanished, as if he knew he was going to lose the battle."
Toshi - "Good. Hold your ground until I arrive."
WC Toshi - "Yes, ma'am." she confirms before cutting off communications.
Riyalie - "Hey who you talking to?" she asked with an eager expression on her face, "Oh and just to let you know your gears all clean and dry for you."
Toshi - "Thanks." she rinses her hair one last time before finishing her relaxing bath, before Riyalie helped dress Toshi back into gear. "Oh, and I had a little chat with a water clone I sent back to camp. Seems we were under attack by the lone wolf that ran off earlier. Too bad he took off again."
Riyalie - "Aww, that's too bad." she looked disappointed, "Maybe he knew you were unbeat..."
Toshi - "Shh!" she hushed her Persian friend, as turned her attention to a nearby bush, before forming a sequence of hand signs: Dragon → Tiger → Hare...
"SUITON: MIZURAPPA!" Holding two fingers to the side of her mouth, before blowing out a large torrent of water, flushing out a bunch of men who may have been stalking her again.
"GET OUTTA HERE!" she barked, looking a little red in the face, as the stalkers got up a ran for their lives. Riyalie couldn't tell if Toshi was embarrassed or just angry.
Riyalie - "You know you're not going to get a boyfriend if you keep scaring people of like that. Unless you and I..."
Toshi - "That's... not the idea I was trying to get through." she calmed down a little, "And don't get any ideas. I'm really not into 'that'."
Riyalie - "Oh, c'mon." she glomped Toshi, "You know to want to~<3"
Toshi - "Okay that's enough for today." she tries to shrug off her snuggle buddy, "You can leave whenever you want. So now would you please let go of me? We need to return."
Riyalie - "Alright already. But can stay a little longer please? Since they already know about us, is it okay if we spend a little time together?" She desperately plea's with Toshi who lets out a sigh as if she can't do much to restrain her familiars.
Toshi - "Fine then." as Riyalie suddenly glomps Toshi again making her feel more uncomfortable than she already is, "But can you stop doing that already?"
Riyalie - "Okay~<3" she lets go still looking happy as ever. As the two head back to camp.
(A little information: Toshi specializes in water clones, instead of shadow clones. So the one already at camp is practically a walking mass of water, about to make introductions. Another thing is that she's top tier in water style jutsu, compared to her ice/snow styles.)
-
"Alright, I think it's time we move on," Salem stated.
"Aww, already?" Pema frowned, "But, I want to stay with them!"
"If they're anything like the last group we ran into, well... there's going to a problem. I'm just a little cautious on who we can really trust," He explained.
"I know, but I think... I can trust them," She looked at the group, "For real, this time! My instincts are telling me I can."
"And where was that famed instinct of yours with the last group?"
"Ummm, I guess I forgot about using my instincts that time!" Pema scratched her head.
"You really don't know the meaning of the word 'instinct', do you...?" Salem exclaimed bluntly.
"I'm serious, Salem! I'm five hundred and eleventy eight percent sure! Super duper sure!" Her face brightened and her eyes sparkled, not particularly aware if what she said was an actual percentage, "Pleeeease believe me."
"... Well, if you're that certain of these people, I suppose it'll be alright. BE CAREFUL though, and stay alert at all times. We don't know anything about them," He warned.
"I will, silly! You worry too much," She twirled the staff and jogged over to Sakura, "Umm, excuse me. Would you mind if I joined your special club?"
(Fun fact: Pema was originally intended to be a new character in WilyRP.
However, I couldn't find a suitable way to fit her in the story, plus I already have a satisfactory amount of characters in there. I often worried that she'd make things needlessly convoluted, as I already write for Phi, Arche, Heinrich and Akane.)
-
"Well....uh what do you guys think?" Sakura turned to them.
"I think she'll be fine, she does seem to be able to take care of her self combat wise. Not to mention, being a father, I don't like seeing a little girl by her self." Calien reasoned.
(Could use more imput on this.)
-
((Glad you got a chance to use the character after all.))
"You want to travel with us? Just like that?" Aya blinks a little surprised by Pema's positive attitude.
-
Pema smiled, "Yeah! You guys look really cool!"
She glanced at the leaves of the trees, like she was reminiscing about something, "Mom always told me to look for the best in people, no matter what. She also said 'those who find the light within others have a special gift, and if we all do our part to trust others, the world would be a safer, healthier place'!"
She tapped a finger against her chin, "And, ummm, she said a whole bunch of other neat stuff, too!"
Pema focused her attention back to everyone, "I want to trust you guys, and I have a good feeling about you all!" She cheered.
"Pema..." Salem said quietly.
-
"That's a good way of thinking." Sakura smiled warmly.
-
Aya tilts her head as if she's sizing up Pema. "Doesn't bother me, more the merrier right?" Aya smiles.
-
"I don't mind if everyone else is alright with it, but... you're going to have to learn how to hide your mana, else we'll get attacked pretty regularly," Fxeni says with a slight sigh.
-
"He's right." Calien nodded "Judging by the signs I'm feeling it might be a matter of teaching her how to control and regulate her mana inputs and outputs. We need to find a sweet spot between her high power potential without the risk of it going out of control or making her tire out too quickly and being able to have her control and hide her potential without weakening it.
Also it may be a benefit to her if we keep the attention of our enemies on us and away from her so while we're distracting the enemy she can catch them off guard from a safe distance.
The problem is I am not an expert in Black Magic what so ever and Sakura uses Black Magic in a very different way. Me, Sakura and Toshi can teach her how to hide her presence but I don't know how to help her control her powers or Mana regulation which would hide her Mana signature. Toshi might actually be able to help with Mana control, but I don't know how well her Chakra control techniques would translate to Mana control techniques. Even if they are similar, Ninjutsu and Magic are very different.
(Calien seems to be really good at examining a person's strengths and weaknesses, and how they can be improved but he can't help with teaching skills he's not familiar with. Not to mention some applications of DBZ and Naruto logic.)
-
"I could help on either front," Fxeni said as he looked at Pema. "It should wait until we're away from here though."
-
"Really, that sounds like a better idea." Calien said a bit surprised "I'll admit you keep surprising me with what you know Fxeni, it's almost like you're a Jack of all Trades."
-
"I've... been around in my field of work, suffice to say," Fxeni said sternly. He goes and picks up the transmitters of the detection field, and begins to pack them into the Cheval. "Although we should probably hurry, a bit of food would be good before we leave. If the deer is out of the option, is there anything that we could eat quickly?"
-
"There's lots of fruit in the trees and bushes me and Yin can go get some while you guys get the herbs." Sakura suggested as she handed Calien the bags.
"That sounds like a good idea....speaking of which where is Yin." Calien pondered.
"I think she was still in the house, Yin can you come out?" Sakura called.
After a few moments Yin slowly came out, but she was slow and pensive along with avoiding eye contact with Calien. It was like she was feeling guilty.
"Yin...is everything okay?" Sakura came up to her and pet her.
Yin looked at Sakura with a look of shame and cried with lots of pauses as she explained what was wrong.
-
((Anything to work out before Aya leads the party down to the source of the corruption? I want to get that plot point out of the way so Quickie can join in reasonably soon.))
-
((I'm catching up as we speak. Still have some questions regarding the forest battle and certain elements, but I dropped those in the Supplement thread.))
-
(Only this part.)
"Sakura why is Yin so sad?" Calien asked.
"She said she got hungry and ate the deer when she couldn't take anymore so she feels really guilty." Sakura told him.
"Oh.....tell her it's fine, I'm not mad." Calien replied.
"Okay." Sakura nodded.
(Okay now we can skip past the herb picking and start heading out. Sakura during the skip with gather fruit and call her Rapidash friend and both her and Calien will pack the rest of the stuff into the Cheval along with wearing hats to hide their ears. So in other words I'm ready.)
-
((Sounds good this will be a bit of a longer post.))
After the group had prepared for the journey ahead Aya begins to lead the party through the deeper part of the forest where Sakura and her father had likely not tred very often. While the Emerald Forest was a dense forest at the best of times the deeper they traveled the thicker it became, until even the sun could not penetrate the canopy of trees.
However more worrying was the signs of corruption, the twisting force that had infected the wolf pack had also infected the local flora and fauna deeply, and the group got the unnerving feeling that they are being watched by all manner of animal life. Soon Aya motions for them to halt, she pushes through a bush and the group find them selves within a large clearing and it's obvious the cause of the corruption.
A swirling ball of chaos floating not far off the ground, time and space seem to distort in the local area with the chunks of the ground floating around it slowly; everyone but Aya also begin to feel a little sick to their stomach the closer they get to the chaos.
((A quick reminder, Chaos was used by the gods to create the world; it's the source of all potential but in it's natural state is completely poisonous to all mortal life. The gods controlled it by using the six elements Fire/Water/Wind/Earth/Light/Dark to shape it into Arcadia. The omni-gem was created to be a barrier between the world and the chaos within and out. Basically if chaos breaks into the world it causes great havoc and even the party won't be able to remain close for long.
-
"Father is that...." Sakura asked.
"Yeah......I think that's what Aya is sensing and what made those wolves go nuts." Calien nodded.
"But....what do we do?" Sakura asked.
-
Aya ponders "I'm not sure why but I think--I can close this, maybe."
((The more magically inclined would know that Chaos can be controlled by all the elements working as one, and that Aya's weapon seems to be mana based but lacks an element at all; it may be a decent catalyst to seal the breach if the party worked together at it.))
-
(Looks like a job for Fxeni and Pema to deduce.)
-
((Yep!))
-
"I sure hope so... not feeling too hot," Fxeni replied as he rubs his forehead. "What do you need to do?"
-
"Yeah I feel a little sick too." Sakura nodded.
"Yeah even I feel off." Calien groaned as a thought crossed his mind.
"<Could this be....like how that realm was corrupted and turned everything within that realm into that world?>"
(More crytic stuff that will make you face palm when you see where I'm going with this along with the other hints I've been sprinkling around. The bottom are Calien's thoughts by the way.)
-
Aya summons her blade pointing the tip at the breach. A small beam of mana fires from the blade into the rift and seems to have a positive effect at first, however it slows and soon fails to close it any further as if lacking the power on it's own.
"I-It's not closing." Aya bites her bottom lip seemingly hell bent on closing the breach.
-
(I think Pema might have an idea.)
-
"Interesting... I've never seen this sort of thing done before. It looks like you might need more Mana before that will work though. Mind if I help?" Fxeni said as he concentrated on the blade, a faint glow appearing around his outstretched hand.
-
(Wait Fxeni can provide Wind, Calien can provide Light, Toshi can provide Ice, Pema can provide Fire and Sakura can provide Darkness, but we have no Earth.)
-
((Unless you count alchemy as Earth, the Prof ain't that.))
-
(Sakura can provide Earth, even if she barely uses it, my question is does it have to be one person per element.)
-
Pema rolled up her sleeves and made a stern expression that looked more adorable than serious, "I can help out, too!"
"Have you been practicing like you promised?" Salem asked, "And I don't mean that time you cut a square inside the book to sneak in a sandwich..."
"Y-Yes, I practiced lots of times! I know I can do this!" Pema nodded.
She aimed Salem at the rift, the gem at the top of the staff glowing bright.
-
(Gonna interrupt, need this part before the town.)
Back at Skull Cove Citadel, Albertus was in his personal chambers, when a shadowy figure appeared behind him.
"Did anyone zee you?"
"Here? No, master."
"Good... What newz do you bring me?"
"... Recon was a failure. The chosen one poses no problems. However her... Companions were a lot more... Trouble. There was even one that felt completely out of place... Her mana..."
"... You failed."
"Sorry master! This will not happen again!"
"That better be true... Where are they heading?"
"Towards here master, but they will pass by a small town."
"A zmall town... Good... You might have failed... However... Napalm Master will not!"
-
(Eh screw it I'll assume Sakura can do double duty.)
"<Holy crap do we have to do......that?>" Calien thought.
"<Sakura.....>" Calien spoke in the language only he and Sakura knew.
"<Father.....?>" Sakura questioned.
"<You remember what I told you about your great, great, great, great, great, great grandma?>" Calien asked.
"<What, this is no time for a History lesson!>" Sakura yelled at him "<What does the History of our people have to do with the situation at hand?!>"
"<Oh I think that History lesson has everything to do with this right now, after all she was special even among our people and her blood runs in your veins after all so you should pretend to be her for a moment.>" Calien said as his hand glowed with Holy power.
"<Wait a minute....you're not seriously talking about that.>" Sakura said as she started to catch on.
"<Exactly that.>" Calien nodded as he provided some of his power to Aya.
"<But wait assuming Aya is the 7th we're missing something!>" Sakura protested.
"<You think you can do double duty and pretend to be another one at the same time? I think Toshi can provide the power of Water but we're missing the Earth element, so you should probably pretend to be the really short one too.>" Calien suggested.
"<....Fine, I can't believe you seriously just called her the short one.>" Sakura face palmed as one hand glowed with the power of Darkness and the other Earth as Sakura joined her power with the others.
"Toshi we need your water element now!" Calien shouted.
-
"Huh? What's that strange language you two are using?" Pema tilted her head.
-
"Never mind that now, we need to concentrate on this!" Sakura shouted. "Just concentrate on providing the element of Fire!"
"Pretend to be a really big jolly guy!" Calien shouted.
"Not helping!" Sakura talked back.
"Hey at least she doesn't have to pretend to be an old man who makes long winded speechs.......crap I really am that guy who talks way too much." Calien face palmed.
"I still love you dad." Sakura sighed in disbelief but smiled slightly.
(I am having way too much fun with this.)
-
"O-Oh, okay..." Pema was slightly taken aback.
-
((yeah sorry one person can provide more than one element. We just need all six to fix the breach by channeling that power into Aya's weapon.))
-
(Ah okay, we just need to wait for Toshi then. If not Pema can probably provide the last amount for Water/Ice.)
-
(Eh screw it I'll assume Sakura can do double duty.)
"<Holy crap do we have to do......that?>" Calien thought.
"<Sakura.....>" Calien spoke in the language only he and Sakura knew.
"<Father.....?>" Sakura questioned.
"<You remember what I told you about your great, great, great, great, great, great grandma?>" Calien asked.
"<What, this is no time for a History lesson!>" Sakura yelled at him "<What does the History of our people have to do with the situation at hand?!>"
"<Oh I think that History lesson has everything to do with this right now, after all she was special even among our people and her blood runs in your veins after all so you should pretend to be her for a moment.>" Calien said as his hand glowed with Holy power.
"<Wait a minute....you're not seriously talking about that.>" Sakura said as she started to catch on.
"<Exactly that.>" Calien nodded as he provided some of his power to Aya.
"<But wait assuming Aya is the 7th we're missing something!>" Sakura protested.
"<You think you can do double duty and pretend to be another one at the same time? I think Toshi can provide the power of Water but we're missing the Earth element, so you should probably pretend to be the really short one too.>" Calien suggested.
"<....Fine, I can't believe you seriously just called her the short one.>" Sakura face palmed as one hand glowed with the power of Darkness and the other Earth as Sakura joined her power with the others.
"Toshi we need your water element now!" Calien shouted.
(Right, sorry this came late. Since I was asleep at the time.)
Toshi - "Roger!" she acknowlegdges, "Suiton: Hahonryū!" after performing Boar → Dog → Ram hand signs, she forms a swirling mass of water in her palm.
Toshi - "Okay, got your water right here." she remarks, as she held the swirling water near the other elements causing her hand to glow. "Well that's new." she looked surprised at her glowing palm.
(Was in a hurry with this one, so I left out the detailed hand signs.
::EDIT::
Took some time to put in some corrections. I decided to let a water clone do the water prison thing, since it would be too dangerous for Toshi to be so close to the rift.
::EDIT2::
Okay edited out the water clone since I wasn't proofreading on what exactly we were combining our powers against.)
-
(Are we actually using our magic yet, or are we waiting for everyone to get in their places to provide the elements?)
-
(We've already been providing the elements, I think.)
-
As each member of the party focused their elemental powers at the breach the beam of mana from Aya's blade became more focused and the breach in turn began to destabilize growing smaller and smaller until it finally collapsed but not before causing all the built up mana to explode outwards in a shock wave knocking everyone off their feet.
-
"Okay....that I wasn't expecting." Calien groaned as he sat up.
"How the heck could you not expect that?" Sakura responded as she held her head to combat the pain "With how much mana we were outputting to counteract whatever that was it only makes sense for the opposing forces to have a reaction like that."
"Huh....I was more expecting a dissipation/neutralization effect." Calien shrugged.
(So the chaos is still there right?)
-
Toshi - "Lets not do that again." getting up while rubbing her backside after a slightly painful experience, "Thank goodness my pouch wasn't attached to me when that happened; otherwise my tailbone would of snapped from my gear."
-
((Just the end of this small breach. We still don't know what caused it, these don't happen naturally.))
Aya rubs her head as she sits up. "At least we closed it--maybe the forest will heal now."
-
(Oh okay.)
"Yeah I think the forest stopped crying." Calien nodded.
"Toshi what do you keep in that pouch?" Sakura suddenly asked.
-
Toshi - "My weapons of course." she answered, "Thankfully Riyalie's been holding onto it for me."
Riyalie - "And it's a good thing I did. I mean, these things may be small but they look pretty sharp to me."
(Note that Riyalie was still with her the whole time when they were heading back to the cabin.)
-
"Hmm you mean something like this right?" Sakura said as she reached for something around her hip/thigh area and pulled out a kunai "I usually keep these around here because it's easier to reach for. Though maybe we should get something a bit more resistant to impacts just in case."
(Yeah Sakura's sub weapons are kunais.)
-
Toshi - "Yeah, but if I told you I kept a katar (http://th07.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2015/021/a/8/ronginasu_no_yari_part1__sketch__by_thembrsmntninjakitty-d8et29z.jpg) and an extendable staff (http://th08.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2015/021/b/2/ronginasu_no_yari_part_2__sketch__by_thembrsmntninjakitty-d8et2n8.jpg) in there... I'm sure you wouldn't believe me." she quipped.
(Provided links to sketches of 2 pieces of her main weapon. When combined it becomes a spear. Oh and the katar looking one actually folds up into a brass knuckle-like thing.)
-
"Hmm yeah that's understandable....sort of." Sakura nodded.
-
"Is everyone okay?" Aya stands brushing herself off. "Mr Calien? I'm assuming this has never happened here before?"
-
"Definitely not." Calien shook his head "I think my theory about the Omni-Gem being stolen was correct it's the only logical explanation, but I wonder why this place was affected first, and if others are being affected as we speak."
"Either way I really want to stop that White Beard moron even more now." Sakura growled "His actions messed with my home, his greed harmed the animals, and now the entire world is going to suffer because of his power lust. We can't allow the world to fall like this."
-
"So we head for that town for supplies then head to this "Skull Cove" right?" Aya nods in agreement with Sakura and her father.
-
"Yeah, Fxeni you know the way right?" Calien asked "I've never been to the South."
-
"Yeah, I've been in that area a few times," Fxeni replied. "There's a town nearby, we should probably head there first."
-
"S-Skull Cove? I... don't like the sound of that," Pema's hands trembled slightly.
However, she then shook her head, "No... I can do this... I have to!" she attempted to strengthen her resolve.
-
"Agreed, Sakura make sure you don't take off your hat, just in case." Calien told her.
"Right." Sakura nodded as she noticed Pema feeling scared. "Don't worry, we'll be with you."
-
"Shall we?" Fxeni said as he hopped onto the Cheval.
-
"Yeah." Sakura nodded as she called for her Rapidash "Pema you want to ride Epee with me?"
(In the end I decided that the Rapidash will be called Epee, like the sword.)
-
Pema lit up immediately, "Oooh, can I really?"
She ran up to Epee and began petting it softly, "She's so pretty!"
(Wait, is Epee female?)
-
(Yeah.)
"She really is." Sakura said as she lifted Pema up to get her on the Flaming Horse before getting on herself.
-
"Umm is there any room left for one more?" Aya asks Fxeni "I don't think I'll be able to keep up on foot with all of you."
((Quickie the Prof lives at the town so you can pick it's name and describe it if you wish?))
-
"Didn't Mr. Fxeni say his Cheval had problems going at high speeds?" Sakura stated.
-
"It's mainly when I use the boost, which I don't think we will be," Fxeni replied. "It's safe enough, otherwise I wouldn't be riding it. Hop on board, Aya."
-
(Crap I don't have a mode of transportation fro Calien.....some one help me think of something.)
-
((Maybe we should invent the Secret of Mana cannon travel, does the Cheval have a side car? >.>)
Aya jumps on the seat behind Fxeni. "Huh-this is new." Aya comments never having never road on a machine like this before, although perhaps more not on a machine while falling from the sky.
-
(I don't think Calien or Sakura would willingly go into a cannon....)
-
(Crap I don't have a mode of transportation fro Calien.....some one help me think of something.)
(Maybe he could use the Flying Nimbus from Dragon Ball? 8D
Though he would need to be pure of heart to ride it.)
-
(But I'm not going for Dragon Ball here.....)
-
(I know, but it kinda works with the fantasy setting.
Other than that, I can't really think of anything else other than Chocobos...)
-
Fxeni looks around. Everyone seems to have a mode of transportation, except for Calien.
"Oh... hmm. Hold on," Fxeni says as he hops off the Cheval. He presses a few buttons on the side of the Cheval, and a side compartment opens up. A small side car gradually unfolds into place, which Fxeni hooks up to the main car.
"It's a tad experimental, but it's solid... I have yet to use this," Fxeni says as he examines it closely to make sure everything is in good condition. With a nod, he hops back on the Cheval.
-
"Thanks." Calien said as he went inside "But what about Toshi?"
-
(Quick, Fxeni! Pull out another side car! 8D)
-
((Mental image of side cars folding out of side cars. 8D))
-
(That's totally what I was thinking, though maybe when we get to town we should consider getting a carriage?)
-
(Dammit! XD)
"... Well, we're certainly won't be going quickly on this thing now, that's for sure!" Fxeni says with a slight chuckle as he hops off and pulls out another side car. "I'll need to rest once we get in town though... I'll have to pump more mana into it than usual with three passengers."
-
"Perhaps we should consider getting a carriage of some sort when we get to town?" Calien suggested "Unless there's something else that would be more efficient."
-
"Well figure something out... for now, lets get out of this forest. Even though the tear is closed, I still feel uneasy around here," Fxeni said as he hopped back on the Cheval yet again.
-
"Yeah...let's go Epee." Sakura said before she slightly kicked her to give her the physical command "Yah!"
Epee neighed as Sakura and Pema started to go at a reasonable speed.
-
((Journey there will likely be uneventful, just need to wait for Quickie to type up an opening post for the prof. Then we stroll/crash into town!
Quickie up to you if you want to name the town being as it's your origin point.))
-
((I'll think of something, just give me a few. At relatives' and the kids need to get to bed. I've got all RPs on hold for now.))
-
Iron Gate was a small hamlet and one of a handful of papal states ruled by a larger theocracy. It had many of the same accoutrements as other villages, but its landscape was dominated by the monastery; an imposing citadel of a building housing both the cathedral, a school, and the monks' quarters. The tower's loud bells would strike every hour and blanket the surrounding countryside in its peel.
Mass had come and gone and many of the village's citizens were milling about in the market causeway, with vendors at their stalls touting their wares. It was a quiet day.
The ground shook with a rumbling thud, and shortly thereafter, a plume of thick, black smoke began to billow out of one of the tunnels that led to the basement levels of the monastery. After a moment, the smoke began to lift as a short, robed figure stumbled to the surface and staggered out onto the road. His hood was blackened, as was his face, but it was obvious that he was one of the monks.
After coughing a few times, he lifted the soot-stained monocle from his eye, and then threw both arms into the air.
"IT WOOOOORRRRRRRKED! IT WOOOORRRRKED!"
Sputtering and coughing, the short monk half-limped, half-trotted to the tavern to boast of his success to any who would listen.
-
The journey from the Emerald Forest was mostly uneventful if not a little slow, by the third day Iron Gate had finally come into view, the thought of comfortable beds and a hot meal likely crossed the minds of more than a few of the team. Aya looked upward as the town became more than a blur on the distance, noticing the black plume of smoke she leaned forward over Fxeni's shoulder.
"Uh--is it normal for that to be over a town?" She asks.
-
"Nope....I think that's a fire." Calien stated.
-
(I take it there might be some mountain/hilly places flanking Iron Gate?)
-
(yeah the idea is the group would need to pass through the Jagged Peaks to get to Skull Cove, part of the reason why no one has tried to take back Skull Cove from White Beard, it's protected by said mountains.
Also hey the Emerald Forest and Jagged Peaks were also from Blue Valkyrie Adventure 8D )
"Oh no! D-do you think another breach opened there?!" Aya expression became worried.
-
"I don't sense anything like that." Calien shook his head.
"Neither do I." Sakura replied as she looked to Yin who was keeping up with them "And Yin doesn't seem to be reacting to it for some reason."
"Maybe it's a house fire, I knew a guy who once set his house on fire trying to cook for his wife." Calien suggested "It took days to rebuild it, I barely had help too."
-
"Yeah--I don't sense any of the corruption from last time. Guess I shouldn't panic."
-
(Either way, good for me. Meet up with Quickie... And then just before you all leave...)
-
Halfway toward the tavern, the monk stopped and spun around and ran straight for the monastery, screaming about his work. Disappearing into the smoking tunnel, there was more screaming, and then another loud thud, followed by another plume of smoke.
-
Eventually the group manage to enter Iron Gate, the guards insisting that all mounts and vehicles be kept in a safe area near the gate as to not congest the streets further. Iron Gate seemed to be an important stop for traders and other travelers and would likely have stores for any of their needs. If the party required a place to stay an inn near the plume of black smoke still rising into the sky was not to far away.
-
"I hope Epee will be okay." Sakura sighed "I know she's not a normal horse but hearing so many stories of horses getting startled worry me."
Yin in the mean time looked around warily due to her unease with humans.
-
There was another deep thud, and one large cloud of smoke came floating out of the monastery. By this point, the other monks had congregated around the entrance and were chatting wildly before two of them entered the smoking room.
After a few moments, they emerged and tossed the short monk out onto the street.
"Get out of here!" One of the abbots swatted at him. "Get out of here so we can clean up your mess!"
-
(Dude we had her use the side car and second it's the monastery that's on fire.)
-
(Oh. Didn't read that clearly. Things like this happens when I'm in a hurry. I'll edit that last bit out.)
-
((I have no idea what's going on with the last couple posts, so I'm just going to move along and get the Prof where he needs to be.))
After coughing some more and gathering his bag—which was tossed out with him—the short monk staggered to his feet and looked at the others gathering around the monastery. The abbot swatted at him again as they dealt with the fire.
"Get out of here! Go!"
The short monk gave a nod as he adjusted his blackened hood. Coughing some more, he slung his bag over his shoulder and headed for the tavern. "They simply don't understand... No one understands my work..."
-
(Yeah Tenk deleted his post, what happened was that he had Toshi fly, via ninja kite or something, to the city even though we had her use a side car on Fxeni's motorcycle and she was already in the city waiting for us and said the tavern was on fire not the monestary.)
-
((I guess I missed something?))
-
((Not really. Monastery is in flames.))
-
(I'm just waiting for more people to post.)
-
Aya glances back "More fire--what is going on here?" She notices a shorter cloaked individual making his way toward the inn as well. "Um-excuse me sir? What is going on, why is the town on fire?" She asks politely.
-
((Ack! Didn't realize that it was my turn.))
The short monk looked at Aya. his face was blackened with soot and he smelled of burnt chemicals. Taking a moment, he lifted the monocle from his eye to reveal pink skin beneath it.
"Oh! Oh, oh, it's n-nothing to worry about! My work, you see, my work is a bit, eh, dangerous? But, but, but look! Look!"
Digging into his bag, he pulled out a smaller sack. He sprinkled some powder into one palm, and then tucked the sack away. Slapping his palms together, he rubbed them vigorously until sparks came from his fingertips. Pulling his hands apart, he formed a ball of lightning and tried to throw it, but it exploded into a puff of smoke that knocked him backwards.
"Ah-heh-heh-heh... *cough* It, it needs some p-practice, you see... But, it worked!"
-
Sakura raised an eyebrow at the goblin like thing.
"Uh....what is it?" Sakura asked.
-
"Lightning powder!" The short monk got to his feet and dusted himself off. "My latest concoction! I've been, I've been working on this for years! To harness lighting! It worked! Look!"
He again demonstrated his lightning powder, but with a bit more success as he blasted a ball of plasma toward the ground. The recoil still sent him stumbling backward, but he kept his footing.
Looking up at Sakura, he flashed a sooty smile.
-
"I sense no mana! So thats not magic then?" Aya tilts her head.
-
"Hmm so you managed to make Lightning without a magical source when normally you need to combine Fire and Wind elemental spells?" Calien deduced "I admit that's rather impressive."
"Huh....that is actually kind of neat." Sakura admitted.
-
"Ah, fire! Look, look, look!"
The monk dug through his bag and produced a vial. He uncapped it and deposited a thick drop of some frosty gel onto his finger. He turned and flung the drop onto the ground and a burst of fire exploded in front of him.
"That, that wasn't what, well..." he nodded back to the smoldering monastery. "You see, you see, you see, I have some... volatile substances in there, and my powder set some off..."
-
"Oh that must have been what we saw on the way here, but shouldn't you be there trying to put it out?"
-
"Huh....is that the first time it happened?" Calien asked as he looked at the ruined building.
-
"Oh, oh, well... It happens quite often and they don't w-want me making things worse."
The monk finally removed his hood in order to scratch at his ears. He glanced over his shoulder as the abbot gave him a grave look. Obviously, the other monks were quite tired of his shenanigans.
-
(When you are done resupplying, and Prof joins the group, just give me a signal, by saying you were passing by the monastery when leaving the town.)
-
Calien glanced at the Abbot realizing that it was a monastery and started to feel a slight unease he was very familiar with. Before he decided to live in the forest to raise Sakura he remembered that the priests in the village church would always give him looks of disapproval and suspicion due to his appearance. He remembered hearing the word 'demon' when they thought he was out of ear shot.....but he never was out of ear shot.
He also noticed some of the monks were also glaring at Yin due to the erroneously spread rumors that Absols caused disasters, even though it was actually the opposite, they try to warn them of disasters. Whispers of cursed beast and foul creature were heard by Calien which made Yin very nervous but also glare back at them.
He was glad that he was wearing a bandana to hide his ears but he couldn't hide his red eyes and the reaction of Yin's presence was making things more difficult. He felt that at the moment they should stay away from the monastery and head for the tavern.
"Well.......in that case." Calien stated "Why don't we head to the tavern so we can let them work."
Sakura looked at her father noticing something was off even though he was doing a very good job at hiding it from the others, she didn't know what a monastery was but she felt worried. She didn't like what they were saying about Yin.
(I still need to have Sakura start walking around town without Calien before that. For reasons.)
-
"Quite fascinating... we'll have to take some more later, sir monk. Before that, however, we need to restock on supplies. Would one of you kindly help?" Fxeni asked the group.
-
"Yes, yes, yes, of course!" The monk scratched at his ears again, and then pulled his hood over them. Shouldering his bag, he started for the inn. The drunkards there enjoyed his antics, so he usually demonstrated his inventions with them as his audience.
"The vendors, the vendors are in the m-marketplace--" he pointed toward the causeway south of the monastery "--the inn is over here. I, I, I keep some of my work there. My work, my papers... have a room there in case, in case things get... out of hand."
-
"Sakura why don't you help Fxeni, I'm sure you want to explore the town a bit since you've never been to one before." Calien suggested.
"Okay but what about you?" Sakura asked him.
"I'm not feeling too well....." Calien stated "I'll check us into the inn while you guys shop."
"Okay, Yin do you want to stay with Dad?" Sakura asked her.
Yin thought for a moment before she started to nuzzle Sakura. While Yin was worried about the town's reaction towards her she was worried about Sakura's safety more.
"Guess that settles that." Calien said "Take care of each other you 2."
"Okay." Sakura nodded.
"Sol." Yin cried.
-
"The more, the merrier... it'll be quicker, that's for sure," Fxeni said as he closed the side car compartments on the Cheval. "Rest up while you can Calien, I'll keep an eye out for Sakura in the meantime."
-
"Thank you, I'll see you all when you get back." Calien smiled.
-
The monk stopped and doubled back to rejoin the group. "Oh, oh, yes, you needed assistance, yes? Come, come!"
Limping toward the stalls, he motioned for them to follow. "Newcomers, newcomers of a... certain persuasion... the other friars are highly suspicious. But, but, but my master, my master, he was a good man. A good man. It was he who brought me to the monastery. The others tolerate me, but the ears. The ears, the face," he turned and motioned toward his face, "They don't trust them."
-
(Wait, how can he tell he's hiding them when he's....well hiding them?)
-
((Blargle, let me fix that... Fixed. I misread.))
-
Sakura's eyes widen with he said, could that be what made her father worried?
"That sounds.....horrible." Sakura said sadly.
-
"That's unfortunate... you're quite talented, and to squander that due to physical differences is quite petty if you ask me," Fxeni chimed in.
-
"Why are humans so obsessed with people's features anyway?" Aya shook her head not grasping the concept of racism toward other species.
-
"I wish I knew Aya, I really don't understand why." Sakura sighed as she absentmindedly touched her fur cap.
-
"It's a trait that isn't unique to humans, unfortunately... it is perhaps more common amongst them because they are greater in number," Fxeni replied, a bit glum.
-
"Yeah...." Sakura said as she remembered the harsh things Toshi said about humans, especially those remarks about her Dad and Fxeni she's been making for the past few days, and her stubborn insistence that she and her Dad were demons when it was far from the truth. It was so strange to meet someone who was sort of nice, but was also very mean due to her own harsh experiences.
-
The monk dismissed it with a wave of his hand. Pausing before entering the marketplace, he removed his hood and took off his monocle in order to give it a proper cleaning. Perching it on his brow, he put his hood back up over his pointed ears.
"Ah-heh-heh-heh... Methinks I'll be in need of a good bath later..."
He rubbed at some of the soot on his face and looked to the group.
"The inn, the inn... We have water! And it's hot! The plumbing, I designed it. Built it! I keep a room as payment."
-
".....What's plumbing?" Sakura asked.
-
The monk's eyes widened.
"A glorious thing! A wondrous, glorious thing! Only our inn has it! The others, the others... they doubt my theories and they doubt my inventions! That's why, that's why they won't let me clean up."
-
"Is there some where to sit down in this "inn"?" Aya inquired yawning slightly, still exhausted from the previous encounters. "Between fighting that sky pirate, falling from the city the wolves AND the breach I'm feeling quite tired."
-
"How come you didn't go with Dad?" Sakura asked her.
-
"Oh--uh I was kinda distracted by all the stalls, theres so much here!" Aya giggles trying to laugh it off.
-
"Well, it won't be too long until we're done here anyways, I'd reckon," Fxeni said as he examines the stalls. "Especially with our monk friend here... umm... what is your name good sir?"
-
The monk blinked in confusion and rubbed more soot from his face.
"Oh! Oh! Oh, well, my master calls me Professor. Much learned, I am." He motioned to the stalls and started limping toward them. "What you need? What you need? We have food, medicines, armorers, blacksmiths, the finest peddlers of leather goods, brews, blessed and sacred objects..."
He kept his hood pulled over his head in an attempt to conceal his face, though the soot did help with that.
-
"Well--we need food and a map to Skull Cove right?" Aya nibbles on her index finger as she ponders any thing else the group mentioned they might require.
((Faster way to Skull Cove is through the Jagged Peaks. Other wise you'd need to find a port city/town and go by ship.))
-
(Okay here we go.)
Sakura looked around as she didn't recognize most of the things around. It was so strange yet exciting for her and she was glad that Fxeni and Professor could explain what they were. Eventually something interrupted her thoughts and caught her interest.
"CHICKENS!" A woman with green hair styled in 2 small buns and a long green bandana yelled at the top of her lungs "Get your Chickens here! The most energetic, affectionate, and adorable chickens that lay the most delicious and nutrious eggs. Get yours before they're gone!"
Sakura's eyes widen as she remembered her dad wanted to get a chicken.
"Mr. Fxeni, Mr. Fxeni, look! Chickens!" Sakura cried as she pulled his sleeve.
-
"Your dad wanted to bring one along, right?" Fxeni said as he went up to the stall. He examined the chickens, then looked up at the woman. "How much is it?"
-
"Well normally I sell them for about 1000 gold....but to be honest I haven't been selling them well lately." The woman admitted "For some reason people have been spreading these nasty rumors that they brutally attack people but it's honestly not true! As long as you take good care of them they won't hurt a fly or my name isn't Farah!
But anyway like I said, not doing good business lately so I'm willing to give you folks a discount."
-
The Professor gave a shrug, as he hadn't heard anything. Then again, he only really ventured into the market for supplies for his various experiments and projects.
Digging through his bag, he produced a rag and a vial, dabbed some of the vial's contents onto the rag, and vigorously rubbed his face to remove the soot. After a moment's rubbing, his pink skin began to show through the black smudges.
-
"Well, if it really were true chances are you wouldn't try to bring it up..." Fxeni said as he looked at the chickens again. "Is there any other reason they would be spreading rumours?"
-
"For the record this is the first time I brought it up to anyone." Farah pointed out "I don't know why rumors like that would spread, I really hope this isn't true but I get the feeling the monastery has something to do with it. Unfortunately when I first came here some of the friars gave me and my chickens some nasty looks for some reason, quite unnerving I say. I get the feeling they might think I'm crazy for some weird reason I don't get.
I really don't want to think that's the case but I really can't think of anything else."
"They said bad things about Yin too." Sakura said sadly "I don't think they knew I heard them but they did."
"Yin?" Farah said as she noticed Sakura and her Absol "You mean that Absol?"
"Yeah." Sakura nodded.
"Wow it's rare to see anyone be friends with an Absol." Farah whispered "Can I pet her?"
"Well....Yin would that be okay?" Sakura asked.
Yin looked at Farah's eyes for a while and nodded.
"I guess she thinks your nice." Sakura smiled.
"At least someone does." Farah smiled back as she petted her.
-
(So... we're doing our own thing, right now?)
-
(Everyone is shopping and Calien is in the Inn. Currently the group are looking at Chickens and talking to this strange girl with green hair and a bandanna. So Pema is either with us or with Calien.)
-
(I think I'll leave Toshi with the Professor, although I'm out of time for the night to even continue.)
-
Pema paced around impatiently, while the grown-ups were speaking amongst themselves.
"Ugh, I'm so booooored," She groaned out, lightly kicking a piece of bread that was lying on the ground.
"Bored this quickly? Why, I do believe this is a new record for you," Salem replied nonchalantly, "Pema, you need to learn to be patient, else you may find yourself in real trouble, one day."
Pema distanced herself from the group as she was speaking with Salem. She raised the staff in the air dramatically, "I can be patient later. Right now, let's have some REAL fun!"
"I sometimes worry about what your definition of 'fun' entails..." He sighed.
She spun around in place and giggled, "Let's go see what they have here! First, though, I'm gonna find something to eat. I'm STARVING!"
"Says the girl who ate nine pieces of fruit, only a few hours ago."
Pema wandered off through the bustling crowd, though no one in the group noticed her departure until it was too late.
-
The Professor didn't pay much mind as he was too busy scrubbing soot off his face. He removed his hood, took off his monocle, and rubbed around his brow and pointed ears. Cleaning his temples, he scrubbed at his chin and ran his sooty mane through the rag, until he finally tucked it back into his bag and stuffed his mane back into his robe.
Looking around to make sure no one had seen him, he covered his ears with his hood and tossed his monocle in his bag.
Finally, he approached Farah and lifted his hood enough for her to actually see his face. "Miss, Miss, Miss, m-might I inquire as to from whom you've heard these rumors? I don't come out here very often, my work, my work, you see. Though, if I'm correct, you-you said you heard it from the m-monastery?"
((I was out all day. Just got home.))
-
"Well not from their mouths, but from some would be customers and kids roaming the streets, so I can't prove whether or not the monastery did spread those rumors. I only have the treatment I received from them when I first came here and those rumors of them not exactly being nice to everyone for theories but I know that's not exactly enough proof." Farah sighed.
-
The short monk shook his hooded pink head. "Shame, such a shame. If my master were here, he would help. He was a good man."
He limped over to one of the cages and stooped to examine the hen inside. "Yes, yes, good condition, fully fledged... Quite plump, quite plump." He poked his finger into the cage and managed to pet the hen on the beak. "And social! Not skittish. You raise lovely hens, Ma'am!"
-
"Thank you!" Farah smiled....but then noticed something was amiss "......Hey wasn't there a little girl with you?"
"What?!" Sakura shouted as she turned around frantically looking for Pema "Pema, Pema! Oh no, she's gone!"
-
"Peam?" The Professor looked around for their missing member, but he didn't readily recall what she looked like. "Could, could, could Peam have gone off to the inn, to find your friend?"
-
"I don't know." Sakura said as rummaged through her bag and pulled out a rock with string attached to it "I can contact my dad with this though to find out."
-
The Professor immediately pointed at the rock. "You, you, you have a krell stone?!"
Dropping to his knees and unshouldering his bag, he began to dig through it with both hands. "How many bars does it have? The divining bars? I've only four bars. Six are optimal! They are hard to come by!"
Eventually, he fished out a shiny stone with a flat surface, along with a wrapped satchel containing the four divining bars. He stuck the stone into the ground and placed the bars in a square around it. "These, these objects, these objects... Only certain people have them! Mine was passed down from my master."
((That alchemy tech was from a Dungeon Plungin' campaign. Never thought I'd get a chance to bring it up, and i was sitting on it for a while!))
-
"Well Daddy said it really doesn't have a name, not to mention this stone looks much different from your stone nor does it have these bars you speak of." Sakura shook her head.
Compared to the stone that the professor possessed her's was blue, shiny and oddly shaped. It was cut like a gem but not in a way a jewelry would for a necklace. The string was also wrapped around the rock length wise once and width wise twice.
"Wait a minute.....Calien was the only one who had something like that....could she be.....?" Farah thought as looked at the stone.
-
"You can contact other holders, yes?" The Professor put his things away and stood. "The krell stone, my master got his from a guild. A guild of alchemists! We, we, we study... the ancient arts. The friars, they don't like it. They don't like my work. Only if it benefits them."
-
"Yeah that's the basic gist of it for this thing at least." Sakura nodded as the stone glowed.
Back at the inn the stone Calien had started to blink and chime alerting him that Sakura needed to contact him.
"Sakura is something wrong?" Calien asked.
"Daddy Pema has gone missing, did she head back to the inn?" Sakura asked a bit frantically.
"No she hasn't.....this is bad." Calien sighed.
"Can you go look for her in your area?" Sakura asked "We'll start looking everywhere else."
"Of course." Calien nodded as he put the stone down and started to exit the hotel.
"<As much as I don't want to, maybe I should ask the people at the Monastery to help too.>" Calien muttered.
"Okay Pema is not at the Inn but Daddy will start looking around his area." Sakura sighed.
"I'll help too, I feel partially responsible for this to be honest." Farah stated "Let me close up shop and get something that might help."
-
"I'll have a look down that street over there, if I find her I'll meet you all back here?" Aya nods turning around swiftly. With urgency in her step Aya quickly made her way down the street looking for their lost companion.
-
The Professor just blinked in confusion. Looking around, he decided to follow Aya. "I, I, I think I'll assist. I d-do know these streets quite well... If Peam, if Peam is around, we should find her..."
He limped after Aya, but paused. "...What does this Peam look like?"
-
"She's short, has a blue dress, long light blue hair, and a funny hat!" Sakura cried. "And her name is Pema not Peam."
-
"Right, right, Peam!" The Professor hollered back, obviously misunderstanding Sakura's shout. He hobbled quickly after Aya.
-
"Oh for the love of..." Fxeni muttered as he massaged his brow with one of his hands. "Lets find her before she gets herself into trouble. I'll see if I can track her down, hopefully before anyone else takes an interest in her. Last thing we need right now is an incident that could gather attention to us."
-
Aya slows her pace so that the Professor could comfortably keep up. As the two made their way down the street they quickly realized it might be a challenge to find a single person in the crowds.
Stopping for a moment to think Aya glances down the nearby alley to her right.
"Professor do these alleys connect to the other streets?"
-
"Right, I just don't want Pema to get hurt." Sakura gulped.
Farah came out of the stand holding a chicken that was strangely blue.
"This is Cojiro." Farah told them "He's a special chicken that took years to breed to finally produce one."
"What's so special about him?" Sakura asked.
"He can fly, can't make eggs but he can fly." Farah replied.
-
Aya slows her pace so that the Professor could comfortably keep up. As the two made their way down the street they quickly realized it might be a challenge to find a single person in the crowds.
Stopping for a moment to think Aya glances down the nearby alley to her right.
"Professor do these alleys connect to the other streets?"
The short monk nodded and started pointing. "That one, that one, that one connects to an alley that goes back out to the marketplace. There's another one, farther down. It connects to, to another street that, that goes out to the monastery. Others... Others are d-dead ends."
He glanced at Aya, studying her face in silence for a very long moment before he blinks a few times. "Does this girl, does she have any... habits? Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps she m-may have been bored, or hungry? There's a tavern, down that way. Down that alley, on a side street. Little place. Little tavern. Been there a few times. Good ale, good ale."
-
Calien exited the inn and with a big gulp he head to the monastery to inquire for help.
-
"Habbits? Hmm--she did seem rather bored on the trip here, always wanting to run around and do things when we stopped to rest. Do you think she would go to this "tavern"?" From the look on her face it's as if the word's meaning went over her head.
-
"Closest place if she's hungry," the Professor gave a shrug, "We've, we've, we've no... cafes here. Food is sold at m-market. Dine at taverns, or inn. No need for, for cafes. We haven't many... visitors."
He pointed down the alleyway. "The tavern, the tavern, many youngfolk go there, to that one. Off of the main road, yes. The youngfolk there, they enjoy my creations, my work. I could show them m-my lightning!"
As Calien approached the monastery, the monks had all but dispersed, save for a few friars who generally traveled the streets and at times collected for the poor. These clergymen acted as a sort of standing guard for the monastery.
Noticing Calien's approach, one of the friars started walking toward him. The dark-skinned middle-aged man wore the same simple robe as his shorter compatriot, only his was free of debris and burns. He smiled as he approached. "Good day to you, Sir. May I be of assistance?"
((Had to do some last-minute research. Friars work among the laypeople, whereas monks are sequestered and self-sufficient. The Prof is a monk, but he's a nutcase and goes about laypeople, so he'd technically be a friar. But, he didn't take the same vows. He's just a nut.))
-
"I have a problem my good man." Calien told him "I've been traveling with a group for a few days and my daughter just came back saying that the youngest one has gone missing around the market place. She does have a habit of getting bored really easily and just can't sit still so I imagine she must have run off. She also eats a lot for her age too so she may have been looking for food.
The point is I request some assistance to find her."
-
Aya places her left hand on her hip and shifts her weight to that side as they discuss their options. "Children visit there often? It's worth a look then."
Aya nods in agreement with his suggestion and steps into the alley, poorly lit this time of day due to the angle of the sun. Aya felt a little nervous to step into such a dark claustrophobic pathway but there was no time to dwell on such fears.
-
Fxeni decided to quietly search around the marketplace. He figured that Pema, in her boredom, decided to wander around and see what was around the area. He attempted to focus on her mana, but there was far too many people around to be able to pinpoint it.
-
Sakura with her athletic ability started to hop along high places while Farah held on to Cojiro and searched from the skies to her. Yin searched from the shadows to make sure she didn't cause a panic.
-
Aya places her left hand on her hip and shifts her weight to that side as they discuss their options. "Children visit there often? It's worth a look then."
Aya nods in agreement with his suggestion and steps into the alley, poorly lit this time of day due to the angle of the sun. Aya felt a little nervous to step into such a dark claustrophobic pathway but there was no time to dwell on such fears.
The Professor gave a nod and rifled through his bag. He pulled out a small cylinder and ripped the top off, exposing a bright flame that smelled strongly like phosphorus. He turned and held it out to Aya with a beaming smile. "Pocket torch!"
Turning on his shod heel, he limped down the alley, lighting the way.
"I have a problem my good man." Calien told him "I've been traveling with a group for a few days and my daughter just came back saying that the youngest one has gone missing around the market place. She does have a habit of getting bored really easily and just can't sit still so I imagine she must have run off. She also eats a lot for her age too so she may have been looking for food.
The point is I request some assistance to find her."
The friar gave a chuckle and pointed toward the market. "Well, we have a number of food vendors there, but there's also a tavern over there--" he pointed toward a building beside the inn "--and another down behind there--" he pointed toward a side street leaving the marketplace.
"She's young, so perhaps she ventured into the market? I can show you the food vendors and we can ask them. They might have seen her. One fellow sells sweets."
-
"That might be a good idea, my daughter headed back to the last vendor she was at but Pema may have went to another." Calien agreed. "She also seems to like fruit as well."
-
Aya smiles and takes the torch "Thank you, these alleys seem--well I would not want to travel them alone." Aya begins leading ahead of the Professor down the Alley following his earlier directions to the tavern.
((Not sure if you want to make your post soon WilyII?))
-
(He said as soon as we leave town.)
-
((Well either way I think I'll break for tonight. Getting late. ))
-
"That might be a good idea, my daughter headed back to the last vendor she was at but Pema may have went to another." Calien agreed. "She also seems to like fruit as well."
"Ah, well, we do have many fruit vendors. Some come from the orchards in the South; they bring their wares here, as we pay well. The air is too cold to grow certain fruit, so our Order has growers in the South. The vendors go through them. We've gotten quite a setup."
The friar led Calien to the marketplace and toward the food stalls. "What kind of fruit does she like? We have tropical fruits in season. Pomegranates are very fresh. Does she like sweet fruit? That vendor near the end brings citrus from the South."
Aya smiles and takes the torch "Thank you, these alleys seem--well I would not want to travel them alone." Aya begins leading ahead of the Professor down the Alley following his earlier directions to the tavern.
((Not sure if you want to make your post soon WilyII?))
The Professor pointed to the torch. "My earliest, my earliest work. I've m-made many types. That one, that one, that one can burn for an hour. I've others that can last an entire night!"
The short, hooded monk gestured excitedly as they made their way toward the tavern. "You, you, you harness fire. It's, it's a reaction! If you know the reaction, you can harness it. I've, I've experimented with f-fire... My first experiment. Find what all can make fire. Produce means to make fire. Chemicals. Reactions. Combine them, mix them. I can make fire burn on water!"
-
"Maybe the Apples." Calien stated. "She seems to be the type that likes fruit that can be eaten immediately."
-
Pema maneuvered around the towering suits of clothes that passed by and bumped into her. It was quite a congested town, even moreso in this market area. For a person of her size, well, it was far from easy to see what was ahead, more often than not.
Still, Pema steeled her composure, her determination shining through.
Barterers and merchants bellowed of there wares and valuables, while banter from everyone else made it challenging for Pema to hear her own thoughts.
She lightly tapped her hand on the staff, and screamed loudly within the lively crowd, "Hey, Salem! Can you fly us over these people or something?!"
"It's not really flying; more like hovering," Salem's voice echoed back, "But yes, I should be able to float us over their heads."
The green gems on the staff began to glow, and Salem floated upwards with Pema grabbing on. He spoke again, "Where to?"
"Hmmm..." Pema squinted as she scanned around the vast area. She eventually spotted a man fervently waving a drumstick around, behind a wooden booth.
A wide grin stretched across her face, "There! Onward, Salem! TO THE FOOOOD!"
"... You'll have to be a little more specific, I'm afraid," Salem sighed.
"There! That thingie over there! The man waving that peice of chicken around! Or is it turkey? Mutton?" She pondered, then shook her head, "Whatever, let's go!"
Salem flew her over everyone's heads, steadily reaching the meat stand. Meanwhile, onlookers below marveled at the mysterious flying girl.
"L-Look, right there! How in God's name is she flying?!" An old man combed his fingers through what little hair he had left on his head, staring at Pema in disbelief.
"Incredible! Absolutely incredible!" A child-bearing woman cried out.
"That's super awesome!" A little boy cheered out, while a few other people waved at her, not minding this odd event.
"Th-that girl... Is she a witch?!" A young man gasped, his eyes bulging out, "See, look there! Th-that long object she holding onto! That's a broom, right?! She's... Sh-She's a WITCH!"
The old man looked ahead, as Pema was already in the distance, "No, I don't believe that was a broom. It looked like some kind of pole or, or a staff, perhaps."
"N-No! I think it was a broom!" The young man yelled hysterically, "That girl is a witch! A WITCH, I TELLS YA!!!"
His arms started spasming and he tossed them up, white foam forming inside his mouth.
(http://i.imgur.com/ZaZtm0E.jpg)
-
(... You had to do that, didn't you. XD)
-
(Oh, absolutely! XD)
-
((Sakura should be able to find her now. Prof's in an alley.))
-
(Not quite yet. I'll make one more post before then. In the meantime, when Sakura asks around, people should mention seeing a flying girl, which should set her in Pema's general direction.)
-
((Her other nickname will now be Padmé.))
-
(Yes, yes, I corrected it. XD)
-
(I'll post again tomorrow but is there any chance that Calien and the Friar couldnrun into the Prof and Aya?)
-
((Probably not, as they're in an alley and headed for a side street, while the friar is leading Calien through the market. Unless Calien asks about the taverns specifically, the friar most likely won't go there until after the market.))
-
(Aw poo, I wanted him to question why a Tavern would let a little girl in by themselves, I mean this isn't exactly the middle ages even with the lower tech level. Then again Fxeni made a magitek proximity scanner. XD)
-
((Got a new nickname for Fxeni: Foxy. Calienté for Calien. I'm writing up a list of mispronounced nicknames.))
-
(Next you're gonna say... Toasty or Toshiba for Toshi.)
Stopping at a fountain...
Toshi - "Okay this search is going nowhere. Time for some reinforcements..." forms a tiger hand sign, "Mizu Bushin no Jutsu!" then out from the fountain's water, about 10 water clones were formed.
"Okay, everyone listen up. Pema's on the run and we need to find her before anything undesirable takes place. Spread out and search every market place selling fruit that you can find, while I go check around the tavern; you'll never know if she managed to snuck in, though. So is everyone clear?"
Water clones - "Yes, ma'am!" they saluted, then fanned out their search squads to the many market places, while Toshi herself heading for the tavern, although she could hear some muffled voices elsewhere, away from where she's going, saying something like a flying girl, or witch.
Toshi - "I hope that's her." she redirected her search towards the most crowded marketplace, just barely seeing the glow given off of Pema's staff.
(Although it seems the water clones may be unnecessary at this point in the search, I thought it be better for Toshi to increase her search options.)
-
((Is Toshi with Aya and the Prof?))
-
(Pema is nowhere near the Tavern.)
-
((Is Toshi with Aya and the Prof?))
(I think she was following Sakura, at the moment.)
(Pema is nowhere near the Tavern.)
(Hmm... I thought she was around the tavern's marketplace, but I'll edit that bit a little.)
-
(No the Tavern is nowhere near the market place.)
-
((...Methinks I may need to draw a map. The tavern is down a side street and back a long alley that opens onto another side street. It's nowhere near the marketplace, which is on the main road.
((Aya and Prof are in the alley, where the Prof is talking about his experiments, anyway. The water clones would find those two. Their search is going nowhere.))
((Calien and a friar are in the marketplace, going toward the food vendors.))
-
(So in other words Calien is the closest person to Pema at moment and not Sakura?)
-
((If he's not, he's certainly on his way. Though, since Pema is flying, Sakura might spot her quicker.))
-
(Okay I'll type that up tomorrow and the let Phi post whatever he wanted to post before I find him.)
-
The two eventually found their way out of the twisting alleys thanks to the Professor's directions, the street beyond was just as congested as any other but the tavern's facade was rather unique compared to the other buildings next to it. The Tavern was not constructed by wood but rather by Gold Stone, a special type of rock mined along side the Iron from the Jagged Peaks.
While Iron Gate had gotten it's name thanks to the large protective gate at it's entrance, and though the vast iron deposites that helped turn the once tiny village into a prosperous city and the core of the iron ore trade, the town was well known for another useful commodity; Gold Stone. This material was effective for building stone structures but had the unique property of shining like radiant gold in the sun light making it a popular choice among the nobles when building their homes. Who ever owned the tavern had gone to great expense to make their establishment stand out from the others.
Aya fumbles with the device as she tries to turn it off now that they had exited the alley way as to not waste it's fuel, she suddenly squinted as the reflection of the light from the tavern's golden walls blinded her. "That building is shining!" she exclaims to the professor.
((World building is fun! We should definitely try to make maps for Arcadia. Maybe I'll whip up a unique topic to keep track of all the lore everyone thinks up for Arcadia apart from the normal topic we use.))
-
As Fxeni tried to push his way through the crowd, he started hearing mutters of a little girl flying.
"Apparently, she was flying on a broom," one villager said.
"I heard it was a stick!" another one chimed in.
"Must be a witch!" the first one said.
So much for keeping a low profile... Fxeni thought to himself with a sigh.
-
Sakura contiued to hop on the tops of the stands with great stealth to avoid the crowd and to find the direction where Pema went. She then started to hear things about a girl flying to the meat shop and some debates of whether she was a witch or not.
"<Pema.>" Sakura thought as she face palmed "<You really need to learn how to be discrete. Then again I have to wonder how someone flying is so strange, even if I can't fly I'm sure someone with strong enough magic can. Then again Farah needed a chicken......though something was kind of strange about her too.....>"
With a sigh Sakura contiued her path now that she had a grasp of the direction Pema went.
-
Taking to the rooftops, Toshi caught a glimpse of Sakura and Farah's separate locations, and some of her clones, looking a bit lost. She can now hear the commotion from the citizens grow louder as it was coming from a diner serving meat, but can't see Pema clearly through the tall buildings.
Putting two fingers to the side of her head...
Toshi - "Everyone listen." she contacted all nearby water clones, "I think I may have found her, reroute everyone's search to the meat diner. By the time she lands, we should be able to catch her there."
Water clones - "Affirmative, ma'am!" as Toshi cuts communications with her clones, she heads towards the direction where the people continue to ramble on Pema's flying show.
-
(Farah is not close to Sakura, she's a bit behind because flying chickens are slow. Also how can she sense her mana signature if Fxeni has trouble sensing it due to the massive amounts of people? Especially when she's on top of the buildings.)
-
(I didn't say Sakura and Farah were with each other. I'm just saying she could see where Sakura and Farah were separately located. I'll try and fix that bit, since I was thinking that Pema's staff <or Salem if you like> was giving off a much higher reading.)
-
(Even if Pema was giving of a higher reading it's too difficult to pinpoint because of the massive amounts of people.)
-
Pema was nearly above the meat stand.
"Let's descend here!" Pema told Salem.
"We got lamb! We got pork, fresh off the grill! Turkey! Frog legs! Meat lovers from all over, COME ON DOWN!!" The meat vendor cried out, pumping his right fist into the air and his left hand gripping a lamb drumstick.
His face was beet red, probably from screaming all day or from the sizzling hot grill that was mere inches from him... most likely both.
Pema dropped down from the sky, right in front of him, "Okay, mister, I came down like you asked!"
The vendor backed away, almost tripping over himself, "Wh-What the- Where did you come from?!" He stammered.
"From heaven, silly," She joked, "Five drumsticks, please!"
Salem nudged Pema, "Come on, really? How in the world are you supposed to hold five of them?!" He whispered to her.
She sighed reluctantly, "Fiiiiine. Two for each hand, then."
"..... Your digestive system is truly one of life's biggest mysteries," Salem spoke dryly.
The meat vendor stuck out his head forward, darting his eyes back and forth around Pema to see if she was, perhaps, with someone else, "Ummm... Are these all for you, little miss?"
"Mm-hm!" She nodded gleefully, "But, uh, make it four drumsticks, instead."
He tilted his head at this odd girl, but conceded with her request, regardless. Money is money, after all.
Pema heaved herself onto the table, her short little legs dangling rhythmically as she decided on which kind of meat to purchase, "Ummm, oohoh! I'll take that huge Mutton drumstick, right there! And I'll also have one lamb, that BIG juicy turkey leg and, and, annnnnd THAT ONE! That chicken leg! That's chicken, right? Probably. Chicken-like, at least! Okay, yes, the CHICKEN!!"
The vendor simply stared at her with his mouth agape, grease dripping helplessly from the spatula he was holding, "I... I think I need to process all that... One moment, miss..." He prepared her somewhat terrifying order as best as he could.
Meanwhile, Salem had no words. Same ol' Pema, he thought, though he could never completely get used to her behavior. Such as task requires paramount diligence... If only a being like that existed.
Soon afterwards, when her order was paid off, the vendor slowly handed Pema her food. Hesitating, in fear that she might bite him out of rabid excitement, "Th-Thank you. Please c-come... again?"
"You bet! THANK YOU, MISTER!" Pema grabbed the food and bowed, chowing down immediately.
-
Sakura eventually spotted Pema who was eating her meal in front of the meat stand. She then jumped down from the stands and confronted Pema being slightly upset.
"Pema, there you are!" Sakura shouted "What in the world did you think you were doing running off like that!"
-
((Okay so note to self hide our rations for extended travel! 8D ))
-
Sakura eventually spotted Pema who was eating her meal in front of the meat stand. She then jumped down from the stands and confronted Pema being slightly upset.
"Pema, there you are!" Sakura shouted "What in the world did you think you were doing running off like that!"
Pema turned to Sakura, her mouth full of turkey, "Whuff? I weff to gesh shumthing to eesh!" She explained that she merely left to get something to eat, though she sounded muffled from the food jammed in her maw.
She gestured to all the food in her hand. Pema didn't seem to understand that Sakura was worried sick from her disappearance.
-
"So you went by yourself and didn't tell us why?" Sakura continued "Everyone has been looking everywhere for you, even Daddy, the Professor, the nice lady selling chickens! Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to wander around by yourself? What if there was an earthquake or another fire and we couldn't find you? We were worried something could have happen to you, what's worse some of the people here have been calling you a witch! You know what people do to people they think are witches?"
-
Digging through his bag, the Professor produced a small bowl. He uncapped it, took the torch, and snuffed out the flame within the bowl. Tapping on the bowl's bottom, a glob of viscous fluid was deposited on the end of the torch.
He removed the bowl and shook the torch with one hand, which solidified the glob on its end. Handing it back to Aya, he capped the bowl and put it back in his bag. "Rip that off to reactivate it."
Looking at the tavern finally, he gave a nod. "Gold stone, gold stone, yes! Our hills have it! I've used it in my work, my work has me grinding the stones into powder. Most don't know of its properties. It's m-malleable. Heat it, and it becomes soft!"
The short monk dug through his bag once again and produced a canister made of that same stone. "The powder contained within... it's a dangerous one. Only gold stone can keep it. Only gold stone. If else..."
He tucked the canister away and pantomimed wildly, "Kaboom!"
-
"It shines in the sun, I rather like it--but professor aren't you worried all those things might explode in your bag?" Aya tilts her head a little dumbfounded by all the explosive things he's talked about on their walk so far. Aya holds open the door for the professor as they approach the entrance.
-
The Professor opened his bag for Aya to look inside, revealing several compartments and pockets. The main compartment held torches, his monocle, the krell stone, and a few miscellaneous items.
"The sides, the sides, the sides are coated. Waxy. I applied a resin to the pockets. It's waterproof and fireproof! Sometimes, sometimes things go off. If I'm not careful."
-
"Sometimes?" Aya isn't exactly put to ease by those words "You mentioned you studied things before, other than your inventions what else do you study?" Aya inquires as she glances around the Tavern's rather impressive eating area looking for their lost friend, although the crowd makes it a little difficult to pick out individuals.
The inside of the Golden Acorn was well furnished and kept clean despite the number of patrons. A large circular bar took up the center of the establishment's first floor with tables and booths placed around the room to maximize the number of customers at once. A desk off the right hinted that the Golden Acorn might also act as a high end hotel for travelers who could afford the rooms.
-
"So you went by yourself and didn't tell us why?" Sakura continued "Everyone has been looking everywhere for you, even Daddy, the Professor, the nice lady selling chickens! Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to wander around by yourself? What if there was an earthquake or another fire and we couldn't find you? We were worried something could have happen to you, what's worse some of the people here have been calling you a witch! You know what people do to people they think are witches?"
Pema layed what was left of the food on her plate, her eyes growing sad.
She shrunk in her clothes as she dipped her head down, twiddling her thumbs together, "I-I... I'm sorry, Ms. Sakura. I'm so used to traveling around the place by myself that... I never thought others would worry about me... I didn't... I didn't know..."
Her voice cracked as she fidgeted in place, pinching the front of her hat and partially pulling it down in front of her face, "I'm really, really sorry..." Her eyes watered a bit.
-
"Sometimes?" Aya isn't exactly put to ease by those words "You mentioned you studied things before, other than your inventions what else do you study?" Aya inquires as she glances around the Tavern's rather impressive eating area looking for their lost friend, although the crowd makes it a little difficult to pick out individuals.
The inside of the Golden Acorn was well furnished and kept clean despite the number of patrons. A large circular bar took up the center of the establishment's first floor with tables and booths placed around the room to maximize the number of customers at once. A desk off the right hinted that the Golden Acorn might also act as a high end hotel for travelers who could afford the rooms.
"Much! Much! Much else! Now, now, now, some of the things I s-study... the others, they don't like it. Have to keep quiet about them. The Order, the Order... they've tried to take my work, my study, but, but, but I've thwarted them," The Professor nodded, lowering his voice.
"You see, you see, my study at the inn. I keep a room there, for my other things. You see, you see, you see, I study the, the... Precursors." That last word was practically a whisper. It was obvious by his increased stammer that this was a subject he wasn't comfortable with talking about in a public forum.
-
"Do-do you know anything about a floating city in the sky?" Aya lowers her voice to set the Professor's nerves at ease. "The others could only tell me of the legends." Aya moves over to the side so they can talk outside of the doorway.
-
Sakura's softened a bit as she hugged Pema.
"Of course we would worry about you." Sakura told her "The thing is the city is big so it's easy to get lost, and quite a few people in our group has never been here before. I never left the Forest and my father hasn't been here before, Aya doesn't have her long term memory and even then I don't think she's exactly a normal girl, she seems special. And Toshi....well I don't know if she has been here....she's a little weird and talks about really weird things sometimes.
The point is you really scared us, but I'm glad your okay. Just next time you need something tell us and we'll go with you okay?"
-
"Do-do you know anything about a floating city in the sky?" Aya lowers her voice to set the Professor's nerves at ease. "The others could only tell me of the legends." Aya moves over to the side so they can talk outside of the doorway.
The short monk brightened with recognition, but immediately began to shrink in his robes. "I-I-I-I m-might have... s-some information... But, but, but it's... it's... hidden. The Order, the Order, they don't like my work, my study. They don't like it. They didn't, they didn't, they didn't l-like my m-master's work. My master was a good man, a good man. My master was a good man."
-
"I was under the impression that everyone knew about the "precursors", why would the order not like your research on them anyway?" Aya motioned to an empty table far from the crowds and listening ears.
-
"The Order..." The Professor took a seat, but still looked about in case any of the friars were there. "The Order... they don't like my work. They don't like my work."
His voice was quiet, as he didn't want anyone to overhear. Unfortunately, due to the clamor of the crowd, he also was unable to hear Aya very clearly.
-
Sakura's softened a bit as she hugged Pema.
"Of course we would worry about you." Sakura told her "The thing is the city is big so it's easy to get lost, and quite a few people in our group has never been here before. I never left the Forest and my father hasn't been here before, Aya doesn't have her long term memory and even then I don't think she's exactly a normal girl, she seems special. And Toshi....well I don't know if she has been here....she's a little weird and talks about really weird things sometimes.
The point is you really scared us, but I'm glad your okay. Just next time you need something tell us and we'll go with you okay?"
Pema hugged Sakura back, her face nuzzled into the crevice of her shoulder, "O-Okay, I promise I'll tell you, next time..."
She smiled, then glanced back at the couple of drumsticks left on her plate, "Um, do you... Do you want to eat with me? I know it's not much, but..."
-
Aya leaned forward slightly to hear the professor more clearly. "Yes--but why didn't they like it?".
((Is Aya going to get the guards sicked on us for bringing this up? XD))
-
((They might. XD))
The Professor sank even lower. "I, I, I don't... I d-don't want to... talk about it... not here. The Order... The Order... The Order doesn't like it. They don't like my work. They didn't l-like my master's work. My master was a good man. My master was a good man."
He pulled his hood farther over his head in an attempt to hide his large nose.
-
"Sure, admittedly I am getting hungry." Sakura smiled and took one of the drum sticks "But after we're done we should head back to the Chicken stand that's where we're supposed to meet up.
I wish we had a way to contact the others, I mean I have something to contact my dad, but the Professor said that only a few people have something similar to it and apparently the monastery doesn't like it. I don't understand this monastery and why they are so restrictive of themselves and others."
-
"I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you." Aya motions with her hands that she'll drop it for now. "Um--well it doesn't look like she's here anyway, did you need to pick something up from that room you mentioned before we head back?" Aya smiles hoping to lighten the professor's paniced mood.
-
The Professor shook his head. "Room's not here. Not here. I keep a room at the inn."
He stood and ducked his head to keep from being seen and limped toward the door.
-
Aya nods. "Lead the way then, we can stop there if it's on the way back." She opens the door again for him as they exit the Golden Acorn.
((Quickie you want to describe the Inn, since it's important to the Professor?))
-
"Sure, admittedly I am getting hungry." Sakura smiled and took one of the drum sticks "But after we're done we should head back to the Chicken stand that's where we're supposed to meet up.
I wish we had a way to contact the others, I mean I have something to contact my dad, but the Professor said that only a few people have something similar to it and apparently the monastery doesn't like it. I don't understand this monastery and why they are so restrictive of themselves and others."
"Mm-hm, okay!" Pema nodded, in response to heading back.
She scratched her head, clearly thinking about something, "Could I help them out by sending out a signal or something? I could use Salem to shoot a beam of light in the air, so they can see that we're here. It's not dangerous or anything; it just looks really pretty."
-
"I don't think that's a good idea, even though we know it's not dangerous doesn't me the other people don't. It can cause a panic." Sakura shook her hesd "Let's just wait for them when we get back."
-
Aya nods. "Lead the way then, we can stop there if it's on the way back." She opens the door again for him as they exit the Golden Acorn.
((Quickie you want to describe the Inn, since it's important to the Professor?))
((Sure. In the meantime... zombie mode just to regroup. I'm going to assume Calien regrouped as well.))
After leaving the Golden Acorn, the duo eventually regroup with the others. The Professor walked up to Pema, recognizing the young girl as a newcomer.
"You m-must be Padmé! We, we, we were looking for you!"
-
(Actually can you have Calien go back to the inn? I don't want him to see the Chicken until after we get it. Just say he heard Pema was with Sakura so he decided to go back to the inn.)
-
((*Zombies Calien and the friar back to the inn* Done! 8D))
After a fruitless search, the friar led Calien back to the inn. "I'm sorry that I couldn't have been of more assistance. However, I will keep an eye out for the girl and pass her description to the others. Shortly, my colleagues will be heading out to collect alms for the poor, and we'll be sure to be on alert for her."
-
"That's okay, maybe my other compatriots found her already, but thank you for your help." Calien said as he went back to the inn.
-
((Sure. In the meantime... zombie mode just to regroup. I'm going to assume Calien regrouped as well.))
After leaving the Golden Acorn, the duo eventually regroup with the others. The Professor walked up to Pema, recognizing the young girl as a newcomer.
"You m-must be Padmé! We, we, we were looking for you!"
Pema blinked at The Professor's statement, "What is a... Padmé? My name is Pema."
-
"Oh, oh, oh, Femur! My mistake, my mistake. I'm n-not very good with names, I'm afraid. My hearing, my hearing is not at its best, yes?" The Professor tapped on the top of his hood, where his ears were covered.
-
"That explains a lot." Sakura blinked when she realized her stone was blinking and picked it up "Daddy?"
"Sakura did you find Pema, I couldn't find her anywhere." Calien stated.
"Yeah I found her don't worry." Sakura answered "We'll be back at the inn after we finish shopping okay?"
"That's good, you guys be safe okay?" Calien sighed in relief.
"Okay bye daddy." Sakura said as she put the stone away "Dad seems to be back at the inn."
-
"Whew well at least that crisis was solved, once everyone is back whats the plan? We still have supplies to buy right?" Aya chuckles a little at the conversation between Pema and the Professor.
-
(How does Femur sound like Pema in any way, shape or form? XD)
-
((His poor hearing combined with lousy lip-reading and he goes for the closest equivalent.))
-
Pema furrowed her brows and turned to Sakura, "That Bunny Man is weird..." She whispered.
-
"This place wasn't this packed the last time I was here..." Fxeni muttered to himself as he walked over to the group. "Ah, there you are Pema. We'll have to have a talk later, methinks."
-
"Maybe a little." Sakura whispered back.
"Oh good you found her!" Farah shouted as she and Cojiro started to touch down "Thank goodness, poor Cojiro was really getting tired."
Cojiro looked really exhausted and wanted to go to sleep.
-
"This place wasn't this packed the last time I was here..." Fxeni muttered to himself as he walked over to the group. "Ah, there you are Pema. We'll have to have a talk later, methinks."
"Huh, talk about what?" Pema asked curiously, biting her thumbnail.
-
"We are still missing a person." Aya crossed her arms looking to and from for the ninja of their party. "While were in the market though--what supplies do we still need for the trip to Skull Cove?" Aya inquires.
-
The Professor just watched the conversation in silence, every so often glancing back toward the inn. He was considerably more relaxed now that he was away from the Golden Acorn, though he still maintained a hunched posture. He had seen the other friar walking away as they were coming back, and he knew that shortly a group would come through to collect alms.
After a moment, he sidled behind the group to keep out of sight of anyone in the street.
-
"I'm sure Toshi will be back soon." Sakura sighed "But we still need to get a chicken."
"Why don't you come on back to choose one, I'll let you have one for 500 gold." Farah smiled.
"Thank you." Sakura nodded as she looked at the chickens to choose one.
-
"Are we planning to visit that inn place for the night, you can sleep there right?" Aya asks.
(That sounds wrong now that I think about it but her lack of context to the world makes it fit I guess. XD)
-
The Professor nodded. "Yes, yes, of course! Plenty of room, plenty of room. Our inn, our inn has plumbing! I designed and installed it m-myself! Hot water that flows! Flows like a river! My work, my work, my study helped create it. We warm it outside. The, the, the furnace, I d-designed it. P-principles of steam to power the pumps!"
-
Yin eventually came back to the group and was relieved Pema was back though she noticed Sakura was not in sight but was around so she decided to sit and wait for her.
-
"I'd like to see it, and have a bath thats not in a cold river--and sleep; I feel exhausted." Aya sighs a little.
-
Pema yawned and stretched her arms, "I'm actually kinda tired, too..."
(How late is it, anyway? If it's not too late, I can just remove the part about her being tired.)
-
((I assumed the evening, due to the angle of the sun darkening an alley and that the friars intend to go out and collect. I'm not sure, though.))
-
(Should we just get more supplies the next day?)
-
(I vote "yes".)
((I assumed the evening, due to the angle of the sun darkening an alley and that the friars intend to go out and collect. I'm not sure, though.))
(Okay, if so, it's definitely plausible that she's tired. Especially considering the long trip.)
-
((I vote "Yes," as I want to get to the Inn soon. Prof's got some pertinent stuff to talk about in private.))
-
((I also vote yes too, inn first then supplies the next day.))
-
(Alright then I shall get the chicken.)
After a while Sakura came out with a Chicken and paid Farah the 500 gold. Noticing that most of her compatriots were tired they bid Farah farewell and started to head back to the inn.
As Farah finished waving goodbye she thought about how it was surprising to find that Calien and his daughter were here even though she hadn't seen Calien for many years. She wonder what could have made Calien come here of all places.
-
((Time to zombie and throw in the description!))
The inn itself was a simple two-story building, though its walls were plaster and wood, rather than stone. It was an older building, built around the time Iron Gate was settled. The inn was one of the first buildings constructed prior to the monastery, as it needed to serve the purpose of housing workers, hence the wooden materials.
However, its design made it the perfect building for the Professor's eccentric projects. Along the walls were piping that led into the rooms. Each room had two or three pipes leading to it, and the entire network came from a large furnace and two smaller outbuildings that stood beside the inn. Those three structures had steam and smoke emerging from even more ductwork.
Inside the inn, the air was comfortably warm, though there wasn't a fireplace in sight. Nor the scent of an active wood stove. The walls had sealed patches at various points, and pipes were run along the seams of the ceiling. Every now and then, the hiss of steam could be heard, along with the clunk of a pipe's expansion.
-
As she enters behind the professor she blinks a little taken back by all the pipes. "This is rather different than the Golden Acorn, you made all of this?"
-
"Daddy we're back!" Sakura called as she entered Calien's room.
"Oh good, so did you do much after finding Pema?" Calien asked.
"No, the only thing we did was get a chicken." Sakura said as she showed him the chicken.
"Oh I didn't think ypu guys would....find one so easily." Calien said as his eyes widened.
"Dad are you okay?" Sakura asked him.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. You mind if I get a good look at the Chicken?" Calien asked.
"Sure, come on Bianca Dad wants to see you." Sakura said as she got the Chicken out of the cage and gave it to him.
Calien stared at the creature in front of him with an astonished expression as he attempted to pet it. The Chicken didn't get startled or skitished to his surprised.
"<My god I can't believe it....>" Calien thought.
"I think she likes you, the Chicken lady, Farah, said her Chickens are really friendly!" Sakura smiled.
"Farah, huh?" Calien said as he continued to absentmindedly pet Bianca.
"<So Farah is here....and she cultivated these things?! Well her Chicken seems friendly enough.....but we really got to be careful with her just in case.>" Calien thought.
"I see, well Bianca seems to be a fine Chicken. Just make sure we take really good care of her okay?" Calien smiled.
"Okay dad." Sakura smiled back.
"<I really need to talk to Sakura more in depth about our little feathered friend later, I don't want to make any one else panic.>" Calien thought.
-
The Professor turned around with a beaming smile. "Well, well, well, I d-did have some help. The schematics, I designed them. Selected the materials for the pipes. We had, we had workers to help. Workers who appreciate my work! The Order, the Order... they wouldn't let me do this to the m-monastery. They don't like my work."
He dropped his gaze for a moment as his smile fade. Turning around, he motioned for them to follow as he limped toward the stairs. "Come! Come! Much to show you!"
-
(Curious, how old is Sakura?)
-
(16 in this RP.)
-
(Hmm, okay. That should be good enough for what I have planned.)
-
Aya follows along for the tour.
((Guess Aya is about 21 looking?))
-
((Prof's age is ambiguous. I haven't really figured it out, yet. I guess he's at least in his twenties or thirties, most likely the latter. Possibly older, but I'm going to leave it ambiguous.))
The Professor led them upstairs to his room. Inside, there were a few doors leading to other rooms, and the walls were lined with pipes, shelves, and books. A desk and chair sat at one end, covered in scrolls, schematic drawings, and a pile of books and scrolls beside it. An ornate telescope stood at the window, along with a chair, a small table, and even more scrolls and papers.
Once he was certain the group had all congregated in the room, he poked his head into the hall, and then came back inside and closed the door. Limping around to face the group, he gestured. "My study. I, I, I can study here, study the forbidden arts. In secret. The Order, the Order... they don't like my work."
-
Sakura, Calien, Yin, and Bianca eventually entered the Professor's room and were amazed with what was inside.
"Wow look at all this neat stuff!" Sakura said in amazement.
"This is pretty impressive." Calien whistled.
-
"You mentioned that before, why would they hate your work on the Precursors?" Aya sat down on the nearest available seat.
-
The Professor got very quiet and he turned away from the group, finally removing his hood. "They, they... forbid it. My master, my master, h-he studied the P-precursors... He came from a guild... before he joined the Order. He, he taught me the ways of his guild. The Order, they didn't like his work. They didn't like it. He studied the f-forbidden arts. He, he, he started the w-work on the inn. I, I still have his drawings... I used them for my work. This, this was m-my legacy to him."
He paused for a moment before continuing. "The Order... they, they d-don't w-want the town to know of the Precursors. Forbidden arts. Forbidden technology. Because, because the inn is outside their influence, my master and I could, could... improve it. But, but, but, when my master... when my m-master tried... tried to introduce steam power... they..."
He trailed off and continued with another thought. "I'm... I'm n-not officially part of the Order. They, they keep me because I'm useful. If, if, if I try to spread P-precursor technology..."
Fumbling with his robe, he opened it enough to let it fall off his shoulders and collect around his waist, revealing his back covered in lashes.
"I, I, I c-can't go back tonight... N-not without punishment."
-
Aya's expression became one of anger and confusion "Why would they hurt your master over that?! You two were trying to make things better for Iron Gate right? What do they have to gain by doing all this?!" Aya clearly has no concept of how religion can effect a culture.
"If this is how people down here treat each other I can understand why Sakura and her father wanted to live away from people!" She bites her lip still quite angry over the story.
(So in short a religion that doesn't want to admit a super powerful culture predated it existed? That could be...bad if Aya's origins are revealed to the public. 8D)
-
"What in the world?" Calien's eyes widen "Why would the order not want Steam Power to be introduced?"
"Fxeni is true there's no Steam Powered technology?" Sakura asked.
(You can continue on with that.)
-
The Professor pulled his robe back over his shoulders, secured it, and turned around. "My master knew. My master knew. Took the secret with him. I've, I've I've looked through his papers... I've looked... He didn't tell me, didn't want me to know, didn't want them to know that I knew..."
He leaned to one side to look at the door, and then continued. "The Order, the Order... they control this town. Everything g-goes through the Order. They are good, my master was a good man. My master was a good man. But, but, but, they have secrets. They, they, they tried to keep me a secret, tried to hide me when m-my master brought me to the monastery. I got out, I got out during Mass. The town, the town saw. They know. The Order couldn't hide me anymore."
He dropped his gaze again. "They, they couldn't get rid of me. They couldn't get rid of me like my m-master. It, it, it would arouse too much suspicion. I'm useful to them, yes. I'm useful. They keep me. But, but, but... they don't want me to be useful for the town. The inn... the inn was here before the Order. The Order, the Order... they were not the first to use that m-monastery..."
-
"So it's not the Monastery itself but his Order that's corrupting this place." Calien stated.
"That's...that's horrible." Sakura gasped.
(EDIT:....or was it the other way around, I got confused.)
-
((The Order is corrupt, whereas the monastery is just a building.))
-
(Okay then.)
-
(Concerning age; Toshi is practically over a 100 elven years, yet she appears to be in her 20s.
On another note, I'll have Toshi already regrouped; and with the others, listening in on the Prof's story.)
Toshi - "If this Order is in control over most of the town; how come no one's stand up to them, yet?" she asked.
-
((I figured that was the case. Since our timezones are different, I've zombied you when the group needed to move. I have a habit of zombieing people. Basically, I just assume that if the group goes somewhere, all party members follow regardless if they post or not.))
The Professor pulled his chair over from his cluttered desk and sat. "You, you said exactly why. The Order, the Order has control. The Order is good to the town. We collect alms for the p-poor. We help the poor! If, if, if someone cannot afford to stay at the inn, we can provide! The Order provides! The Order is good!"
-
(Usually the time zone where everyone's activity fills two pages of posts, is roughly between 10PM and 9AM. So I'm actually in bed when the RP advances.)
Toshi - "So you're telling me the town knows nothing about the Order's corruption?" She seemed confused as to how the Order's being good and corrupt at the same time. "Or are they just pretending to be nice, just to hide the truth?"
-
"That would explain why this town is as far behind as it is. Other areas are well more advanced than this, and they don't have this... Order... in charge," Fxeni chimes in after listening in quietly. He looks out the nearby window. "Most other places embrace the magick within all of us... not here though. They speak of witches as if it's inherently bad. Hence why we'll need to practice restraint here, and if my hunch is right, the rest of the way to Skull Cove."
-
(Usually the time zone where everyone's activity fills two pages of posts, is roughly between 10PM and 9AM. So I'm actually in bed when the RP advances.)
Toshi - "So you're telling me the town knows nothing about the Order's corruption?" She seemed confused as to how the Order's being good and corrupt at the same time. "Or are they just pretending to be nice, just to hide the truth?"
"I think it's the latter." Calien replied. "I was with a Friar all day and he was very cordial to me, though he glanced at my eyes in a very uncomfortable way at times."
"This place is scary." Sakura shuddered "I really don't like it here."
-
"So I'd be best not to ask about the floating city then?" Aya added. "Not sure I can do much about not standing out though." She pinches the edges of her pants a style of clothing that doesn't fit Iron Gate at all.
-
"Maybe we should add new clothes for some of the ladies to the list of things to get tomorrow." Calien sighed. "But yeah definitely don't ask about the Floating City."
"I hope they have something that's easy to move in." Sakura sighed.
-
"Well as long as I don't use my weapon in public people shouldn't suspect me for being from the sky right" Aya shrugs obviously not wanting to stop wearing a perfectly comfortable set of clothing.
-
Toshi - "I'm with Sakura here, but I hate to be picky on what to wear though." scratching the side of her neck with her finger, she feels uncertain as what to do about her situation of covering up. "I'm only used to wearing short clothing that fits me well."
-
"What about Salem?" Pema pointed to her staff, "I can still have him with me, right?"
-
"It would be better to keep him hidden somehow." Calien stated.
(Does Pema have a backpack?)
-
(No. She has fairly large pockets, though not big enough to conceal a staff.)
"Umm, but I don't have anywhere to hide him," Pema bit her lip nervously, "Maybe if someone had a backpack I could use, it could work..."
-
"Hmm Professor do you have an extra backpack in here?" Calien asked.
-
The short monk was just listening quietly, only really half-hearing what they said. When he was addressed, he stood.
"Oh, oh, oh, yes, yes, of course!"
He went straight to one of the doors and disappeared into the other room. When he emerged a few moments later, he held out a large leather bag. It smelled of resin and had a waxy texture, and was dotted with smudges of dirt and soot.
"This one, this one wasn't as... protected as my current. Some, some things combusted, yes?"
-
"That should work well enough." Calien nodded "I mean I don't think her staff would have a tendency for spontaneous explosions. Especially since it's sentient."
-
Pema took the bag from the Professor, her nose scrunched up from the smell of resin.
"It smells a little funny, but yeah, it should be good enough. Thank you, Professor Bunny!" She smiled, shouldering the bag.
-
"Quite welcome, Peta!" Either he didn't hear the nickname, or he didn't care.
"You know, you know, I, I d-don't think I've got all your names," his pointed ears swiveled forward and he scratched at them.
-
"My name is Aya, I'm from--uhh well the city from the sky." Deciding now was as good a time as any to bring it up to an expert of the precursors.
-
Pema placed her hands on her hips, glaring at the Professor, "No, my name is Pema! Peh-ma!" she annunciated.
-
"I'm Sakura." Sakura smiled as she took off her hat showing her pointed ears "I'm half human."
"Name's Calien." Calien said as he took off his bandana showing his ears "I'm....not from around here."
-
"So, so... Yaya, Payment, Galleon, and Chakra!" The Professor pointed to each as he repeated their names—or rather what he heard their names to be.
He finally noticed Calien's and Sakura's ears. "Yes, yes, you were wise to hide them. Don't want to invite unwanted... questions, yes?"
He pointed at Toshi, "Your name, may I ask?"
-
Fxeni chuckled at the professor's mishearings. Quite the interesting one, that one, he thinks to himself as he listens.
-
He then pointed to Fxeni. "Your name as well? I'm, I'm not very good with r-remembering names, I'm afraid."
-
"Her name is Toshi and his name is Fxeni." Sakura told him "Oh and this is Yin and Bianca in case you didn't hear those either."
Calien in the mean time chuckled when he heard 'Payment'.
-
"So, so, so, if I'm hearing you correctly... Tushy, Foxy, Ying, and Bonka!"
He dug around in his ear with his knuckle. "My lab, my lab, you see... It can get quite loud. I've, I've, I've... detonated my experiments often."
-
"Yeah I can understand that." Sakura nodded as Calien started to chuckle even harder at the mention of the other names, especially Tushy and Bonka.
-
"I'm somehow not too surprised," Fxeni said. "As long as it's only your hearing that's injured though, I guess it could be worse."
-
"Yeah thank goodness for that." Sakura said as Calien tried to calm himself down.
-
"So professor is now a good time to ask about the "Precursors?" Aya finally speaks up now the group is out of ear shot of the common person.
-
The Professor perked up. "Yes, yes, of course!"
He jumped up from his seat and started digging through his books and papers. "I, I, I do believe that I m-may know a thing or two..."
He paused in his rummaging, turning to look at Aya. "You, you mentioned, you mentioned a floating city? Now, now, now my research, my research has uncovered lore of the floating city..."
He moved toward the window and dug through the papers sitting beside the telescope, finally producing a few scrolls. Limping to Aya, he handed them to her. "In geosynchronous orbit, I b-believe it to be! Look, look, look here—" he unfurled one of the scrolls and pointed to hand-drawn star maps and the path of an unknown object across the sky "—This, this, I've traced its path. It has a cycle! Now, now, now other objects... they don't move like this."
-
Sakura and Calien looked at it but were completely lost.
"So....what does that even mean?" Sakura asked him.
-
"So-hold on you mean it won't be where it was before? H-How am I to find it again after I get back the Omni-gem?!" Aya suddenly a little ill as her quest had become a little more complicated.
((Yes she's not considering the issue of how she plans to even get back up there 8D ))
-
"....I think the issue of even being able to get there in the first place is the bigger concern even if it did stay in the same place." Calien pointed out.
-
"B-But if I don't return the gem something awful might happen!" Aya's voice a little disheartened.
-
"Well first we need to get the gem back... we can worry about that once we get to that point," Fxeni said.
-
"Agreed, and once we do I might have an idea of what we can possibly do afterwards." Calien sighed "....I may know someone who may have an idea how to make a flying machine, but I don't know where they are. But....I may know someone who might know where they are.....and I think she may be here."
-
Sakura and Calien looked at it but were completely lost.
"So....what does that even mean?" Sakura asked him.
"Ah, I will show you!" The Professor held up his index finger and disappeared into the other room. There were sounds of rummaging as the others talked before he emerged with a couple of small balls, one in each hand. He placed them on the desk as he grabbed his quill and dipped it into the inkwell.
Taking one of the balls, he placed one dot on top, and one dot on the bottom, directly beneath the top dot. Replacing the quill, he took the other ball in his hand and held them both out.
Holding the marked ball still, he rotated the other ball around the marked ball in a diagonal arch. "This, this is geosynchronous (http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/05/shupe/earth_orbit.gif) orbit."
Placing the balls on the desk, he cleared some space and pulled out his quill, drawing wildly. He sketched up a sphere and drew a diagonal belt around it. Then, he drew a crude representation of a horizon, and sketched a figure-8 in its sky. "This, this is the analemma (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analemma)... the path it makes in the sky."
Abandoning his desk, he limped back to Aya and pointed at the scroll once more. "See? See? Look, the path it makes... There, there are other bodies that make similar paths, b-but this one... This one, I've, I've, I've triangulated its location, it's coordinates. They, they match my research, my study, the P-precursors! This, this is what I can see... it moves across the sky!"
((Gah, five new posts while I was typing this!))
-
"So-so your saying you could use your notes to find the floating city again?" Aya perked up a little at the possibility of a flying machine AND finding her home again.
-
"So you have an idea of where it will be?" Sakura asked.
-
The Professor pointed to the scroll again. "In, in, in its orbit, it appears in the same place in the sky. It n-never deviates! This, this is why, this is how I determined geosynchronicity!"
-
"So-when I need to return there would you be willing to help me?" Aya gently rolls up the scroll and hands it back to the professor.
-
The short monk gave a fast nod. "Yes, yes, quite actually!"
He turned and limped back to his desk, digging through some papers. He pulled out another roll of paper and unrolled it, showing schematics of what appeared to be an airship.
"My master, my master and I... we were designing this."
-
Fxeni walks over and examines the paper quite thoroughly.
"Hmm... amazing! This does indeed look like it could work, although we'll certainly have an interesting time gathering all the materials..." Fxeni says as he pores over all the details.
-
Aya looks over the blue prints, tilting her head she quickly remembers the airship White Beard used to escape the city during the battle. "This--is a flying machine like sky pirate had, he used this to reach the city." Aya nods feeling the Professor is trust worthy enough to share her story with. "That pirate I spoke of used his flying machine to steal the Omni-Gem as Calien called it from the Floating City, I woke up during the attack and tried to stop him." Aya rubs her head "But I kinda messed it up and got knocked from the city into the emerald forest."
Aya fidgets with her pendant "I can't seem to remember anything before I woke up, but if I don't get the Omni-Gem back I fear something may go horribly wrong, any help you can give would be great Professor."
-
"I, I will h-help to the best of my abilities. The Order, the Order is good, they taught me to be good. I help!"
He turned and headed for a different door. "I help now! Come, come, I must show you!"
Opening the door, he revealed a room adorned with pipes that connected to a tub, a chamber pot with an overhead tank and a chain, and a wash basin. The tub and wash basin had spouts made of a hammered metal, and knobs to twist, while the chamber pot sat on four metal legs, with an s-curved pipe beneath it.
"This, this, this is the first water closet! My master, my master, he designed it! I b-built it!"
-
"Huh-this room kinda looks familiar, you-can have a bath in here right?" Aya bites on her finger as if all the pipes had triggered something in her memory.
-
The Professor limped over to the tub and twisted the knobs. Water flowed out of the spout and into the tub's basin. "One pipe for hot, one for cold. These knobs, these knobs control the flow. Valves. Water is heated b-by the furnace! The drain, the drain has a plug."
-
"Ah I see, may I use this? I haven't really had a bath in a few days now." Aya frowns a little at that.
-
"Yes, yes, of course!" The Professor smiled and headed for the door in order to give Aya some privacy.
-
Aya laid her clothing on the table next to the tub, thankful that what ever magic they were infused with kept them in good shape despite the fighting and traveling. After getting the water just right she slipped into the tub and decided to relax for awhile after washing the grit off her body. luckily the door wasn't so thick that she couldn't keep up with any conversation in the mean time in the other room.
-
After closing the bathroom door, the short monk addressed the group. "Well, well, well, you have rooms for the n-night? Do, do you, do you need a voucher? I can comp your rooms. All of our rooms, all of our rooms have running water!"
-
Sakura was engrossed with looking at the air ship plans looking excited and thinking about how to make it. She didn't pay too much attention on what the Prof and Blue were talking about.
"I have my own room for me and Sakura though I need to talk to someone abput the market place." Calien stated.
-
((We going to skip to morning, WilyII is waiting on us XD))
-
(Calien kind of needs to talk to Farah but I guess they can talk during the fight since Farah can fight.)
-
Pema raised her hand hesitantly, "I... kinda forgot to reserve a room..." She chuckled nervously.
-
((I'm hitting a block and we seemed to have hit downtime. Unless someone prompts the Prof into discussing about the Order some more (and by prompt, I mean direct the discussion, else he'll just babble), then a time passed seems in order.))
"Ah, yes, yes, I can get you a room, yes!" The Professor limped toward the door and motioned for Pema to follow.
-
(I think the only thing that Calien wants to know, besides where exactly Farah's Chicken Stand is, is if the Order restricts trading with the outside world just out of curiousity.)
-
Pema nodded happily and followed the Prof.
-
After a few minutes, they returned, the Professor having rented a room for Pema, though under the name of "Panama," in part due to his poor lip-reading skills.
"Is, is everyone, is everyone settled? We do have a kitchen. You can g-get food here."
-
Aya finally steps out of the bathroom clean and relaxed, she shakes her hair lightly to get rid of any remaining water. "Whew, I feel much better now!" fastening her pendant back around her neck she shuts the bathroom door behind her and rejoins the others.
"So whats going on?"
-
"I am a little peckish." Sakura stated.
"Yes, um Proffesor may I ask you something?" Calien asked.
-
Pema ran up to Aya, "Professor Bunny said there's FOOD here!" She turned at the heel, darting towards the Professor, "Where's the kitchen? Lead the way!"
"Pema, you just stuffed your face a few hours ago! You can't seriously be hungry this quickly. Even by your standards, this is just..." Salem sighed, trailing off.
"Well, I mean... I'm not starving or anything, but... I still want to see what they have. Out of curiosity, is all!" Pema replied, her face saying "just curious", while her eyes screamed "Food!"
-
Aya giggled lightly, when did we last eat? Should be time before we all need to sleep right?"
-
(Darnit Phi... Peam is so goddarn cute. XD)
-
The Professor seemed confused and a bit overwhelmed. He wanted to answer Calien, but Pema was in his face, and everyone was hungry. "Oh, oh, yes, yes, the k-kitchen! Come, come, we can talk there..."
He limped to the door and out into the hall.
-
"Of course." Calien chuckled.
"This girl has a bottomless stomach." Sakura sweat dropped.
-
Aya was about to add something when her stomach growled with hunger rather loudly. "W-well magic makes you hungry--yeah kitchen." she coughs blushing slightly before following the professor and Pema
-
As the group* made their way to the kitchen, the Professor stopped in the hallway and looked back at them. He lifted his robe to show his left leg encased in a metal brace. "Lame."
Satisfied to ward off any questions about his limp, he dropped the hem and continued hobbling down to the kitchen, finding it to be empty, save for the cooks.
((*Toshi and Fxeni are being zombied to the kitchen))
-
Toshi - "Uhh... do these cooks come here often?" she asked the Professor, "I was sort of expecting to cook our own meals, not that I'm complaining or anything."
-
"Work for the inn, they do!" The Professor nodded. "Work for room and board!"
The short monk took a seat at a large table. "The Order, the Order is good. The Order p-provides. We have... workers' guilds."
-
"What's their stance on magic? The people around here don't seem very fond of it which I find odd... is it because of the Order, or is it something else that's causing it?" Fxeni asked the professor as he glanced through a menu.
-
The Professor became very quiet. "M-magic... It, it, it is a forbidden art. My work, my work, you see, my work, it's, it's like magic. It is, and it isn't. But, but, but, to the outsiders, to the townsfolk... it's m-magic. I, I, I can't show them my work. I can't go back tonight. Not tonight. Punishment if, if, if I go back tonight."
((And with that, I'm finally going to bed.))
-
Toshi - "It's okay Professor." she pats him gently on the front shoulder, trying to avoid touching the many scars on his back; feeling the need to cheer up the tormented old monk.
Still feeling irked at how the Order's been treating him lately, "There must be something we could do to help."
(You know, I wanted her to pat him on the back; but I think she would know where it hurts the most, so that she doesn't cause any more torment for poor fella.)
-
"......Okay this town is officially much worse than the last place I lived in." Calien said bluntly "I may have been treated like a demon in the last place I lived before becoming a hermit to at least half the villagers but at least I could have done whatever I wanted, though people thought my herb growing hobby was a bit strange, the men called it sissy work for some reason.
I assume they restrict trading from the outside world too? They seem a bit xenophobic."
-
(Okay good, so the witch thing works out, after all. XD)
-
(Very good coincidence indeed.)
-
"Oh, no, no, no, we can trade. We can trade. Much trading between towns, between the guilds. Our, our vendors, our vendors come from all over!"
The Professor hastily explained trading to the best of his knowledge. He had been kept hidden for years and didn't really experience anything outside the monastery until his accidental escape. It was only after the loss of his master that he started venturing outside.
-
"That kind of surprises me, I mean if the Order is so desperate to make magic and magitek forbidden you would think trading would be kept to a minimum. Traders are also known to share stories and knowledge after all." Calien scratched his chin "There's another thing I must ask.....do you know where the woman who sells her chickens sets up her shop?"
-
"The m-marketplace, yes?" The Professor shrugged, a bit confused. He only knew of the outside world through what he overheard and what he saw on his various escapades outside the monastery walls.
-
"I know she's in the market place but where, like what are the other surrounding stands and what the section is she in." Calien continued.
"Why does Dad want to know this so badly?" Sakura thought.
Calien had ask Sakura earlier but due to being distracted by everything between the shopping and looking for Pema she couldn't pay too much attention to her surroundings and couldn't give a good answer to his questions. She wondered what was going on in his head at the moment.
-
"Oh, oh, oh, she's, she's in the first section, first section of the m-market," The Professor tried to remember the stalls and buildings that surrounded it.
"There's, there's a, a, an apothecary on that street. Yes, an apothecary. Her stall, her stall is... across from it, yes?"
-
"First section and across from the apothecary, got it." Calien nodded.
"Why did you want to know about this so much?" Sakura asked.
".....Because that woman is a childhood friend of mine." Calien said hesitantly.
"......WHAT?!" Sakura shouted as she almost spat out her drink.
-
Fxeni silently jots notes down about the town for future reference. His previous visits were very brief, so he hadn't known about these details before.
-
The Professor stirred his dinner around on his plate, before taking a moment to pray silently. After his prayer, he took a few bites and then continued with his babbling. "The Order, the Order, they provide for the town. They provide for us. The Order is good."
-
(Poor insane Prof.)
"She's a childhood friend.....are you sure?" Sakura asked baffled by the revelation.
"Your description of her matches.....not to mention our little chicken friend." Calien said as he looked at Bianca eating her grain.
"What does Bianca have to do with this?" Sakura asked.
".....She's not an ordinary chicken...." Calien stated.
-
(MAGICAL CHICKENS!?)
-
(Eh not exactly, I have been dropping some really obvious hints about other things so guessing what Calien means shouldn't exactly be too hard.)
-
(I know, I just wanted to say MAGICAL CHICKENS given the slight context. :P)
-
(Fair enough. XD)
-
(I'm also for kabooms!)
-
(I guess so, Farah would join in the fight as a guest start party member anyway. Though I still don't know if I just want her main weapon to be a staff.)
-
(It should be a weaponized Chicken. 8D))
-
(Nah she can't stand to see them hurt. Besides her specialty is Wind Magic.)
-
(KABOOMS IT IS)
As the group relaxed in the safety of the inn's kitchen... A huge explosion rocked the establishment, visibly shaking the chefs up. Not long after, screams of the townsfolk filled the air, along with the stench of things burning. As the group wondered what was happening, more explosions were heard, and more shockwaves were felt.
Near the burning ruins of the monastery, a lone figure stood. The townsfolk were all running away from this figure, clearly the source. It seemed to raise its arms... If they can be called arms, and objects flew out of them. The objects travelled in an arc, before landing on the ground, and exploding violently.
-
"The Monastery is on fire....again!" Sakura facepalmed.
"Well since we're the only ones that can handle it we'll either be heros or driven out without proper supplies." Calien sighed "I get the feeling it will be the latter."
-
(It's more than just on fire. :P)
-
The Professor hobbled to the window in a stumbling run to see the carnage. His home was destroyed, his work was destroyed, and the only life he knew was destroyed. He gaped at it in complete shock, not knowing how to react.
-
"Common people need our help!" Aya rushes out the door into the street without waiting for the others, doing her best to avoid the panicking people she quickly realizes this is bigger than a simple fire as she approaches the burning ruins of the monastery.
-
"Aya wait!" Sakura said as she immediately enchanted her blade with Electricity.
"Professor stay here!" Calien shouted as he ran out to help Aya.
-
Aya came to a stop in front of the Monastery, she coughed and covered her eyes as the wind pushed the smoke in her eyes. as the discomfort passed she noticed the figure standing at the center of the chaos. Opening her hand her blade was summoned and she began to move toward it.
-
(Ok, the following is already pre-destined. There shall be no outside interference!)
The lone figure faced the newcomer, and stepped out of the smoke. The figure did not look like a human at all, yet looked like it had arma and legs. There was no feet, just what looked like wheels. There were no hands... Just THINGS. The head looked like it fused with the body... A purplish body... And there seems to be things popping out from its shoulders, and above its eyes. Upon inspection of the newcomer, a voice rang out.
"Target. Locked."
-
"What--are you?, why are you attacking Iron Gate?!" Aya hissed back growing enraged by the carnage it caused.
-
"I am Napalm Master. Objective... Chaos and Carnage."
Napalm Master took a sort of half-squat stance, and the objects on his shoulders flew out at great speed, all aimed at Aya.
-
It took a while, but the Professor finally came to his senses enough to fully grasp what was going on. Immediately, he assessed the situation and headed upstairs as fast as he could manage, half-limping half-hopping. Disappearing into his room, he rummaged around and emerged a few moments later with his bag.
After coming downstairs and leaving the inn, he hobbled out toward the destroyed monastery, digging through his bag as he ran.
"I help! I help!" Running toward Aya and Napalm Master, he produced two rounded fist-sized bottles.
-
Aya shifted her feet to a wider stance and hoisted the blade upward resting it on her shoulder.
As she prepared to jump away from the projectiles she noticed the professor enter the battle "G-Get back this thing is dangerous!" Unwilling to allow her new friend to come to harm she shifts her weapon into it's gauntlet form and summons the barrier spell around the professor, this while keeping him safe from the explosion leaves her rather vulnerable.
-
While Blue put up her barrier Sakura attacked using Electrified Kunais thrown at a distance.
-
((By vulnerable I mean she's about to get directly hit by the projectiles! 8D))
-
(And now...)
Seeing Aya distracted, Napalm Master rushed in towards her, and fired the object above his eyes at point blank. The resulting explosion threw Napalm Master back, and caused Aya to be blown out of town. Recovering, Napalm Master set his eye on the hunched newcomer.
"You interfered. You will die in a blaze of glory."
Napalm Master raised his arms again, and fired the objects... Slowly raining down on the Professor...
(Ok, the rest of you are engaged Napalm Master now, with Aya totally out of the picture. Literally.)
-
(Darnit, ninja'd. Let's just say Sakura intercepted the initial projectiles, but was too late to prevent the point blank attack.)
-
The Professor stumbled to a halt and flung the two vials at Napalm Master. The vials contained an explosive compound, and he hoped that they'd at least scratch the strange beast. He blew up his own lab more than once while making and testing it, so he knew from experience that they had some force.
It was only after he threw the vials that he looked up and saw the missiles raining down. Turning, he scrambled to get out of the way and only managed just throwing himself flat on the ground with his hands over his head.
-
"Dammit!" Sakura cried as she aimed her Electric Kunai right at Napalm Man.
(I have no idea what Calien should do battle wise.)
-
((Yep! Weeeee!!))
Aya crashed into the ground hard, had she been a human she'd be a splatter on the ground if the explosion hadn't killed her first; luckily she was made from sterner stuff. Creating a sizable mark in the ground she came to a rolling stop. Laying their seemingly out, her right index finger twitched as she slowly began to pick her self up before falling to one knee; grasping her left arm she wondered if it had been broken in the impact. "Ngh!" she yelped as her attempt to move it caused a sharp pain.
In the distance she could see Iron Gate, the rising plumes of smoke and hear the faint sounds of explosions. "I-I have to get back." She attempts to stand again but once more falls back to one knee.
((out of the battle but might as well post the after math unless Wily has another way of doing what comes next?))
-
Pema grabbed her staff, "Come on, Salem!" she cried, running towards Sakura and the Professor to provide assistance with Napalm Master.
She turned to Sakura, "What's the plan, Ms. Sakura? I don't have to hide again, do I? I can seriously help out!"
-
"Well not hide but definetely keep your distence." Sakura told "Maybe an Ice would be the best bet."
-
((Yep! Weeeee!!))
Aya crashed into the ground hard, had she been a human she'd be a splatter on the ground if the explosion hadn't killed her first; luckily she was made from sterner stuff. Creating a sizable mark in the ground she came to a rolling stop. Laying their seemingly out, her right index finger twitched as she slowly began to pick her self up before falling to one knee; grasping her left arm she wondered if it had been broken in the impact. "Ngh!" she yelped as her attempt to move it caused a sharp pain.
In the distance she could see Iron Gate, the rising plumes of smoke and hear the faint sounds of explosions. "I-I have to get back." She attempts to stand again but once more falls back to one knee.
((out of the battle but might as well post the after math unless Wily has another way of doing what comes next?))
(Nope, this works perfectly.)
"I would not do that if I were you."
A shadowy figure suddenly appeared before Aya.
"We meet again. Or I should say. We finally meet."
"Dammit!" Sakura cried as she aimed her Electric Kunai right at Napalm Man.
(I have no idea what Calien should do battle wise.)
The electric kunai connected with the chemicals from the Professor's flasks, resulting in a large explosion. Napalm Master was blasted back, and flew into the burning ruins of the monastery. He got back to his feet, but there was some damage on his body. Enraged, he jumped out from the debris, and landed behind the growing group. He aimed his arms upward...
"Napalm... BOMBS!!"
-
Realizing that he wasn't reduced to a smoldering oily stain on the ground, the Professor pulled himself to his feet and looked around. He wasn't quite sure what to do, as he was never trained to fight. He created weapons, but he never received proper training.
Digging around in his bag, he produced another flask and hobbled a distance away from the group so as not to interfere with their fighting. Rearing back, he hurled the flask at Napalm Master. His throw was too short, however, and the flask hit the ground in front of the behemoth.
After he threw the vial, he dropped to the ground again and covered his head with his arms and hood.
-
"Well not hide but definetely keep your distence." Sakura told "Maybe an Ice would be the best bet."
Pema perked up, "Okay, I won't let you down!"
She lightly bopped the tip of the staff against her forehead, closing her eyes, "Let's see, what's a good Ice spell I could use...? Ice spell, Ice spell, Ice spell..." She murmered incessantly to herself.
"You practiced your magic, didn't you? Come on, if you want to be the best Runemaster possible, you need to think quick on your feet. In a flash. Remember your training," Salem spoke.
"R-Right, right!" Pema nodded, the gems on the staff resonating brightly. Staying a safe enough distance from Napalm Master, she made a circular motion with Salem, causing six orbs of light to materialize around her.
Taking a deep breath, Pema snapped her fingers, the orbs of light suddenly crystallizing into large floating ice shards.
Lastly, she jammed the bottom of the staff into the ground with great force, "GO!"
The deadly ice shards soared through the air, aiming for Napalm Master.
-
(No one's defending against the rain of Napalm Bombs? 8D)
-
((Prof can't. He's just going to dive to the ground again. *Goes to add that.*))
-
(Probably doging them, Sakura doesn't have a sheild and Calien is waiting for a cool down so he can tgrow Prof's vial.)
-
((Wait, Calien got into the Prof's bag? He has a limited inventory and had kept the bombs in another room. They weren't in the main room he took them to.))
-
(No one's defending against the rain of Napalm Bombs? 8D)
(I already made the post before you posted that, but I was late with it. So... I guess we dodged it? I dunno, honestly...)
-
(Oh I thought he dropped one on the battle field, my bad.)
-
(Oh well. More civilian casualties then!)
The flaskbang (Yes, I naming it that) exploded at Napalm Master's feet, causing him to stumble back, and affect the trajectory of his Napalm Bombs. The attack missed the group... And instead bombarded some of the still fleeing townsfolk. Buildings were not spared either.
As Napalm Master regained his footing, he felt something cold crashing into his body, dealing some piercing damage. The attack was more effective than he initially thought, and he fell to one knee for support.
-
"Okay that seems to be working." Sakura said as she overode the Electricity with Ice "Now let's try this, ICE FANG!"
Sakura created a incoming Ice Slash heading towards Napalm Master while Calien took the opportunity to jump in the air and land on him with his axe.
-
"Ice? Ice?" The Professor lifted his head and looked at the others. Getting to a seated position, he started digging through his bag. "Ice, you say? Ice?"
Eventually, he produced a goldstone canister and tossed it to Sakura. "Open it and throw it! Don't, don't t-touch the gel inside! It will, it will, it will burn! Freeze and burn! Freeze burn!"
-
Making sure her Dad was out of the way Sakura opened it and chucked the concoction at Napalm Master as well.
-
(Is that gel a freezer weapon? Or it just does freeze burns?)
-
(Both? Freezing can create a burning sensation afterall.)
-
((It's a freezer gel. Freezes on contact. He could only keep it in a goldstone canister because it'd freeze everything else and his whole bag. The concoction was mentioned to Aya back in the alley. I just finally figured out what it should be, aside from something else that goes boom.))
-
"No! All those people...!" Pema cupped her hands over her mouth, "They... Those are innocent people!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
She gritted her teeth and stepped closer to Napalm Master.
"P-PEMA! Stop! Get away from him!" Salem shouted, flying backwards to drag Pema away from the enemy.
"But-" She began to protest.
"I understand how you're feeling, Pema. I really, really do. But, you can't let your emotions get the better of you. Think clearly. Assess your movements in the most logical manner possible," Salem spoke softly.
"... Al-Alright..." Pema exclaimed, though her voice was tinged with anger. A few light fixtures on the building flickered randomly at that moment, stopping as she attempted to calm herself down.
"Your mana..." Salem muttered briefly, then resumed speaking normally, "Okay, Pema, get ready to hit that bastard with another spell. I know you can do it." He reassured her.
-
(Just had to sure crystallization is involved. :P And that next attack from Peam should do it.)
(Give me time, thanks.)
-
(You mean Pema's next attack will do him in?)
-
Napalm Master gets hit squarely by the Ice Fang attack, and a divebombing axe. The axe was nothing, compared to that Ice Fang... Napalm Master was barely standing on one knee now.
"How could this be-"
His statement was cut short as he felt a sudden chill on his head, and he suddenly found himself encased inside an ice crystal of himself, unable to move.
(EDIT: Yes Sakura, Peam will get in that blow for justice. :P)
-
(It was more like Calien dived bomb with his Axe. In hindsight perhaps I should have made him have Earth Elemental Attacks too.)
-
(I'll edit that. Still nothing compared to Ice Fang though.)
-
"Are you ready, partner?" Salem cried.
Pema nodded, "Yeah! This is for those innocent bystanders," she raised the staff above her head, white energy swirling around the top, "And so no one else has to get hurt!"
Electricity surrounded the swirling ball of energy emanating from the staff, aiming it at Napalm Master, "Let's do this... Together!!"
Pema twirled the staff and fired a huge bolt of lightning at Napalm Master, the intense kickback causing her to be pushed back slightly.
-
The lightning bolt struck the frozen Napalm Master, and for a moment, it looked as though he could break free. However, a huge explosion soon erupted from the combination of ice, latent fire and lightning, completely destroying Napalm Master in a blaze of glory.
When the smoke and dust settled, a magical circle appeared where Napalm Master was, and there was a floating symbol above it.
-
"What the hell is that?" Calien asked dumbfounded.
-
Upon closer inspection, the symbol was 火, a Precursor symbol for Fire. If only someone with knowledge of the Precursors knew...
(So what this basically means is that Prof has details on this symbols, and the ritual is to stand in the magical circle and embrace the symbol to learn, in this case, Napalm Bomb.)
-
The Professor looked up wide-eyed at the symbol. "Yes, yes, yes, that! That, that, that symbol!"
He got to his feet and limped closer to it, all the while digging through his bag for a book. Opening it to a specific page, he double-checked and then turned toward the rest of the group, pointing to his book. "That, that is the symbol for Fire! This, this... I've, I've, I've only read about this! My, my, my m-master, my master had taught me about this. This, this is, this is a m-magic circle..."
He hurriedly thumbed through his book some more. "Now, now, now, the Precursors, the Precursors, they... used these circles to invoke the tetragrammaton, which, which, which would allow them... them... ah it's in here somewhere..."
-
"Precursors....does that mean our enemy has knowledge of the Precursors as well?" Calien pondered.
"I guess it would make sense if this guy is connected to that White Beard moron who took the Omni-Gem. I can understand why the Queen couldn't prepare for that if that was the case." Sakura sighed.
-
"AH!"
The Professor finally found the page he was looking for.
"To, to, to learn, to gain the knowledge, one, one m-must stand within the circle... Then, then, then if one is of sufficient... constitution, one m-must embrace the symbol. This, this symbol, this symbol will grant the p-person knowledge on how... on how to... cast this, this... this particular spell."
-
"So what you're saying is that someone has to have that Element in their spell library in order to learn the spell?" Calien stated.
"Since this one is Fire it looks like only Pema, Fxeni and I can actually learn it." Sakura continued.
-
(So, when one embraces the symbol, in their minds, a Get Weapon tutorial will play, showing you the name to incite the spell, and how the weapon works. That's pretty much it.
One more thing!
Only one person can learn it. To balance things out.)
-
"Only... only one person can learn this," the Professor flipped a few pages to read, "So, so, so choose wisely."
-
(So now we have to decide who gets it.
I also think I need to teach Calien some weapon element spells, like Earth for his Axe. I wonder what others would be good for the Axe and Chain Sickle.)
-
After a few moments, the Professor's enthusiasm died down and he took a look around him, taking in all the devastation. An entire block was leveled, but his eyes were drawn to the smoldering ruins of the monastery.
His home, his lab, his place of worship were all gone.
Putting his book in his bag and letting his bag slide off of his shoulder and onto the ground, he left it lay as he limped slowly toward the remains of the monastery. The walls were crumbled to dust and the whole of the sanctuary had collapsed inward. The parish and quarters were only barely standing; their interior exposed and the roof of one outlying wing had fallen into it. Smoke rose in columns from the wreckage as scattered monks and friars picked their comrades out of the rubble and tried their best to make sense of it all.
The short monk dropped to his knees on the hardscrabble earth, gaping. His entire livelihood was a smoking pile of broken mortar and stone masonry.
((And with that, must bed.))
-
(Oh how I hate it when chores take the fun out of it all. >8|
I think I'll send Toshi to help out Aya's current situation, in the meantime.)
Racing through the outer walls of Iron Gate, Toshi hurried her way to Aya...
Toshi - "I hope the others are doing okay without me." she looked back over her shoulder in mid-run, before increasing her pace."Just please be okay Aya." she got the feeling Aya won't last long if she doesn't make it in time.
(I'll wait on either Aya or Wily to post before Toshi arrives on the scene.)
-
(Well that was a fun battle and- oh. Screw it, going to arrive late on the scene for Shadow Master, because it wouldn't make sense otherwise.)
As Aya gets flung away, Fxeni makes the judgement call to not leave her alone. As he runs over, he suddenly realizes that fire began to rain down from the sky. He quickly puts up a barrier around himself, and has a hard time keeping it up under the barrage. The sheer force of the attack sends him to one knee. As the smoke clears, he sees the various bodies of civilians around him.
"Dammit..." Fxeni mutters to himself as he gets up as quickly as he can, and continues running to Aya.
-
(Why is there fire raining from the sky...?
And where is Aya exactly?)
-
(Knocked clear out of the
ring town. Can't tell if she's in a forest or barren wilderness.)
-
(Why is there fire raining from the sky...?
And where is Aya exactly?)
(Let's just take it that this happened during the rain of Napalm Bombs that you all dodged, but hit the civilians instead.
The flaskbang (Yes, I naming it that) exploded at Napalm Master's feet, causing him to stumble back, and affect the trajectory of his Napalm Bombs. The attack missed the group... And instead bombarded some of the still fleeing townsfolk. Buildings were not spared either.
As for Aya, I'm going to finalise a few things with Blue regarding on what happens.)
-
Aya turned to the voice, she recognized it from the Emerald Forest, the one who attacked them before. Now in danger again she pushed herself to stand, biting her lip as her injured arm argued her decision. "You-you were the one in the forest, are you the one who ordered this attack!?" she struggles to raise her blade onto her shoulder and take her combat stance.
-
Pema's grip on her staff tightened, her gaze falling on the wreckage and carnage that has claimed Iron Gate.
Her gaze now shifting to Napalm Master's remains, then finally, the ambers rising into the sky, "Why..." she muttered softly to herself, her voice trembling, "Why all the hate... and violence... What's the point? Why can't we all just live and be happy? Wh-Why are people always hurting each other...? I-I... will never understand..."
Pema gingerly wiped a tear from her eye, removing her hat and running her fingers through her light blue hair. With broken eyes, she stared at the ground, "When... will this all end?" Her voice was practically a whisper.
"I wish I knew the answer to that, myself. I really do..." Salem replied, cursing that he didn't have a body to comfort Pema when she needed it most.
-
Aya turned to the voice, she recognized it from the Emerald Forest, the one who attacked them before. Now in danger again she pushed herself to stand, biting her lip as her injured arm argued her decision. "You-you were the one in the forest, are you the one who ordered this attack!?" she struggles to raise her blade onto her shoulder and take her combat stance.
"My, my. Still so feisty after what my brute of a brother did. No, I did not order this attack. My great Master did."
Shadow Master nonchalantly reappeared right in front of Aya, staring down into her eyes.
"As for your companions... I think they will like my little surprise... But enough about them. My Master has plans for you. Grand plans. But he never did specify if he wanted you alive... OR DEAD!"
(Well that was a fun battle and- oh. Screw it, going to arrive late on the scene for Shadow Master, because it wouldn't make sense otherwise.)
As Aya gets flung away, Fxeni makes the judgement call to not leave her alone. As he runs over, he suddenly realizes that fire began to rain down from the sky. He quickly puts up a barrier around himself, and has a hard time keeping it up under the barrage. The sheer force of the attack sends him to one knee. As the smoke clears, he sees the various bodies of civilians around him.
"Dammit..." Fxeni mutters to himself as he gets up as quickly as he can, and continues running to Aya.
(Oh how I hate it when chores take the fun out of it all. >8|
I think I'll send Toshi to help out Aya's current situation, in the meantime.)
Racing through the outer walls of Iron Gate, Toshi hurried her way to Aya...
Toshi - "I hope the others are doing okay without me." she looked back over her shoulder in mid-run, before increasing her pace."Just please be okay Aya." she got the feeling Aya won't last long if she doesn't make it in time.
(I'll wait on either Aya or Wily to post before Toshi arrives on the scene.)
(I'm taking the approach that the 2 of you are on separate routes to the same "destination".)
As the 2 approached wherever they think Aya was, they were individually ambushed by various strange creatures. Large frogs that spit out mini-frogs... Weird umbrella creatures that slowly descended in a zig-zag manner... Sacks with legs running with fuses on their heads... Winged insects... Humans riding on giant frogs?
It seemed that these beings will not let the 2 get to their destination easily.
(OK, setting some stuff now. Since these are grunts, I will not control them. You will orchestra your own battles, but please, PLEASE, do not be TOO one-sided. Plus, this grunt battle will last until me and Blue settle our own battle for answers. I highly appreciate if you do not interfere. However, once you can, we'll let you know.)
-
Aya had heard enough, this confirmed her suspicious that they worked for White Beard, she couldn't die here not until she had returned the Omni-Gem to the floating city. Unable to use both hands to wield her weapon she puts her momentum into her one handed-swing trying to crush Shadow Master with the blade through a brute force attack.
-
The attack cut through smoke, as Shadow Master had shifted positions again, this time, back to where he first appeared.
"I take that as your answer then."
Shadow Master suddenly started to hop in small bounds.
"Shadow Blades!"
Large 4-pointed stars magically appeared in Shadow Master's hands, and he threw them in succession at Aya.
-
Aya spins on the spot, swinging her blade to counter the attack, three of the stars shatter on the blade it's self while the last makes it's mark cutting lightly her left hip before embedding in the ground behind her. Aya's stance breaks slightly as she winches in pain. "Ngh!"
It became rather clear she was doomed if she kept fighting at range, ignoring the pain as her broken arm shifts with her movement she jumps high into the air and attempts to come crashing down on top of Shadow Master after shifting the blade into it's lance form.
-
Just as Aya was about to crash onto Shadow Master, he stopped hopping, and slid away, stopping at a short distance before he resumed his hopping.
"Very feisty. But lacking skill."
-
Aya trembled as the impact shot pain up her broken arm, biting her lip she turned and attempted to stab at Shadow Master as he landed with the lance. "Stop running!" she hissed getting visibly enraged by the mocking tone, however her wild attacks lacked any real thought and against a clam opponent would be unlikely to land a hit.
-
"My, my. My Master had such high hopes for you..."
Shadow Master continued to dodge Aya's attacks with ease, before finally punching her right in the gut. As Aya bent over, Shadow Master used his elbow to slam Aya into the ground.
"To think that you were the Guardian of the Omni-Gem... No wonder that coot pirate has it. Where's all the potential my Master claimed you have? What a disappointment to the Precursors..."
-
Aya coughs several times from the stomach punch, her good hand clenches out of anger her fingers digging into the dirt. "N-not dead yet." she mumbles as the lance shifts to a gauntlet over her dominant arm and glows generating the barrier spell, Shadow Master finds himself hit by kinetic force and sent flying back. Despite the time she bought she was finding it hard to even move now, her injuries and the wasting of her mana through shifting her weapons' form and summoning a barrier had begun to weaken her, she'd need to find a weak point soon.
-
Shadow Master crashed into a nearby tree, snapping it in half. As he slowly stood up, there was a look of disbelief, and then anger, on Shadow Master's face.
"No one... No one... NO ONE HAS EVER HIT ME!!"
In a rage, Shadow Master stopped hopping, and in a half-squat position, threw out multiple Shadow Blades. However this time, there was a visible pattern, with safe spots.
(So yea, Aya "broke" Shadow. :P And I'm crashing myself. *snaps a tree*)
-
His reaction gave Aya hope there was a way out of this yet, his angry counter attack left some rather obvious safe spots; taking a deep breath she maintained the barrier long enough to block the first star, standing and then dashing through the barrage as they continued to land short of their intended target. With her mana dangerously low now she could only afford to shift her weapon once more and her blade would have to do.
hoisting the sword onto her shoulder she continued to charge at the bewildered Shadow Master and giving every bit of energy she had left into her attack she brought the blade crashing down, however her exhaustion and injuries had affected her balance and she came short of cleaving the ninja in two, although her strike would leave a gash across his chest assuming he'd be unable to dodge.
((Don't want to kill a possible rival so soon! And I doubt he'd even angry allow himself to die so quick anyway 8D ))
-
(So should Farah come to try to heal everyone who is not dead and put out the fire with her Mastery over wind?)
Sakura looked over Pema and immediately hugged the girl.
"I'm so sorry Pema." Sakura whispered "I'm really sorry."
Calien went over to the Professor to try to see if he could snap him out of it.
"Professor....some of these people are still alive and they need help.....I can't heal them all by myself....are would you be able to help me?" Calien said slowly.
-
As the 2 approached wherever they think Aya was, they were individually ambushed by various strange creatures. Large frogs that spit out mini-frogs... Weird umbrella creatures that slowly descended in a zig-zag manner... Sacks with legs running with fuses on their heads... Winged insects... Humans riding on giant frogs?
It seemed that these beings will not let the 2 get to their destination easily.
(OK, setting some stuff now. Since these are grunts, I will not control them. You will orchestra your own battles, but please, PLEASE, do not be TOO one-sided. Plus, this grunt battle will last until me and Blue settle our own battle for answers. I highly appreciate if you do not interfere. However, once you can, we'll let you know.)
Coming to a full stop, Toshi counts far too many annoyances to pass through. She realizes she has no choice but to fight her way through. The land apparently doesn't look like it has enough underground water to make her task easy for her.
Toshi - "Confounded vermin! I will not let you get in my way." without allowing any attempts to pursuit, she swiped both hands with her sharp nails; drawing more blood than necessary, before forming the hand signs for the summoning jutsu... "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" as she presses both hands down on the ground; a puff of smoke permeates the air; and as the smoke clears, Grifter and Riyalie appears.
Grifter - "Well, it's about time." his anthropomorphic Pidgeot appearance sports a rather commando-like outfit wielding a high-tech semi-automatic long barreled snipe rifle.
Riyalie - "You rrrrang." she purrs out to Toshi as she got her circular saw shaped broadaxe ready.
But Toshi was not done yet; reaching into her pouch she flinged what looks like a brass knuckle into the air, it immediately deploys itself into a katar shaped weapon. Then pulling out the staff it extended to it's quarterstaff shape.
As Toshi held the staff up... "Ronginasu no Yari... assemble!" The katar as if magnetized merged itself with the staff; turning it into a spear.
Grifter - "Woah nelly!" he whistle through his beak, "You sure not messing around are you."
As a swarm of the winged insectoids closed in, the the three scattered, to fight different groups of the enemy.
(I'm going to wait a little before beginning my battle, in case Fxeni posts next.)
-
"Ms. Sakura..." Pema hugged her tightly, tears streaming freely from her eyes as she had someone to comfort her, "Thank you."
She sniffled, and hastily wiped her eyes, "I... I wanna help! Should we go into town and help the people there? I can put out the fires with one of my Ice spells. Please, I... just wanna help!"
Pema's demeanor was sharper than ever.
-
(So should Farah come to try to heal everyone who is not dead and put out the fire with her Mastery over wind?)
Sakura looked over Pema and immediately hugged the girl.
"I'm so sorry Pema." Sakura whispered "I'm really sorry."
Calien went over to the Professor to try to see if he could snap him out of it.
"Professor....some of these people are still alive and they need help.....I can't heal them all by myself....are would you be able to help me?" Calien said slowly.
It took a moment, but the Professor finally heard him. "Oh? Oh, oh, yes, yes, of course..."
He finally got to his feet and went to retrieve his bag. He had the foresight to bring curatives, and he dug through his bag to give a few to Calien.
-
"Ms. Sakura..." Pema hugged her tightly, tears streaming freely from her eyes as she had someone to comfort her, "Thank you."
She sniffled, and hastily wiped her eyes, "I... I wanna help! Should we go into town and help the people there? I can put out the fires with one of my Ice spells. Please, I... just wanna help!"
Pema's demeanor was sharper than ever.
"Yeah that sounds like a good idea, I might be able to help with that too. I may not be a mage but I had to learn spells to be able to enchant my sword with the element so I can cast spells even if they aren't nearly as strong as yours. That should be enough to put out a few fires." Sakura nodded.
It took a moment, but the Professor finally heard him. "Oh? Oh, oh, yes, yes, of course..."
He finally got to his feet and went to retrieve his bag. He had the foresight to bring curatives, and he dug through his bag to give a few to Calien.
"Okay we need to get these out immediately, though I don't know how many we'll be able to save. Wish we had an extra hand here." Calien said as his expression looked grave.
"<CALIEN!>" A feminine voice shouted.
Calien's eyes widened as he saw the person he was worried about a moment ago running up to him with her oak staff, Farah.
"<Farah, what the hell are you doing here you should have-!>" Calien started when Farah slapped him to interrupt him "<OUCH!>"
"<Don't waste time arguing with me right now!>" Farah said a bit angered as she unwrapped her bandana revealing pointed ears much like Calien's and Sakura's "<I heard what you said about needing help, if we hurry and split up we can help a lot more people! I know we haven't seen each other in years and we're worried about each other but we have to help these guys first! Even though I'm not as good in the healing department like Nerine is I'm still a Priestess of the Gods gosh darn it, and I'm sure as hell not going to let that go to waste when I'm needed most!>"
Calien's eyes widened before he came back to his senses.
"<I'm sorry, you're right, we need to hurry.>" Calien nodded.
"<Of course I'm right.>" Farah nodded as she turned and started to walk away her staff and eyes glowing an ethereal Green and a mysterious symbol appeared on her hands "<We'll talk when this is all over.>"
"<Be careful.> Calien said as he turned back to the Professor "I'm going to head further into the city to cover more ground, do you think you can stay here and take care of the people here?"
(I was going to say the symbol appeared on her forehead.....but then I remembered I gave her a hime cut on her bangs.....curse you hindsight!)
-
The Professor gave a slow nod. He was still in shock, but trying to collect himself enough to help. His gaze kept going to the ruined monastery.
Getting to his feet, he limped back to help cure and heal who he could, and stabilize who he could not.
-
Calien immediately rushed out when he saw the Professor start his work and told Sakura to keep an eye on him and Pema.
-
(I'm so going to have trouble catching up since it's late already. Hopefully the next 2 pages of posts doesn't screw over everything I was planning to do.)
-
(Well Fxeni is the only other person who's currently in the same situation as you are so hopefully you won't get too far behind there. Just remember to drag it out a little bit and don't force victory immediately like Wily said.)
-
((The Prof is just going to heal people, so zombie him when you need to.))
-
(Let's just take it that this happened during the rain of Napalm Bombs that you all dodged, but hit the civilians instead.)
(Yes, this. I figured I made that obvious with the mention of the civilian bodies, but apparently not.)
(I'm going to wait a little before beginning my battle, in case Fxeni posts next.)
(Don't wait, we're in two separate areas.)
Fxeni stops in his tracks as he sees the strange assortment of enemies before him. His eyes narrow as he makes his spear appear. Without anyone around him to get caught up in the attacks, he could go all out. He began to focus his mana, and a runic circle began to appear below him. The small frogs began to advance upon him as he chanted.
"O darkened storm cloud, loose thy blade and run mine enemies through! Thunder Blade!"
A blade of lightning struck the earth, taking a few of the group out. A bunch of the small frogs approached him in the meantime, and began to pounce. He jumped backwards to dodge their attacks, and as he landed he swiftly began to twirl his spear in the air. When they attacked anew he slammed the spear into the ground, which generated a large gust of sharp wind upwards cutting them to pieces.
While he recovered momentarily from this attack, a few of the umbrellas snuck up on him. They pelted him one after the other, knocking him around. The first smacked him in the back, destabilizing him. The next hit him square in the side of the head, knocking him over. As he was on the ground, the sack with legs ran over to him and seemed to be ready to explode.
"Crap crap crap!" Fxeni exclaimed as he focused his mana under him. As the sack got ever closer, he released his mana which sent him into the air, narrowly escaping the exploding sack. He landed on the ground destabilized, but began chanting another spell.
I've got to reach Aya somehow! he thinks as focuses, preparing his next spell.
-
As Calien ran through the city to look for civilians he spotted one in the distance unconscious and made a bee line for them. As he got closer he noticed the Friar robes and recognized him as the Friar who tried to help him find Pema.
"<Good he's still alive...hope I can save him.>" Calien thought as he started to chant "Spirits of Life, return him to the waking world! Raise!"
Holy light from Calien penetrated the friar curing some of the wounds on his body. The friar eventually started to wake up to see Calien looking at him.
"Good to see you're alive good sir." Calien sighed in relief as he began to chant for Cura.
The Friar's vision started to get clearer as Calien finished chanting his spell and he got a better look at him as he casted Cura on him...and his ears.
"You....you....Oh my god!" the Friar gasped as he pointed his finger at him screamed in fear.
"Yes, yes I know I look like some sort of demon even though I'm not even remotely close to one and can use holy magic, blah, blah, blah, etcetera, etcetera, I. get. it." Calien said in an very annoyed tone with appropriate hand waves "Look this isn't the time for that. You need to get out of here and help anyone else still evacuating, there's a lot of people in need of your assistance so-"
"DEMONS!" The friar shouted "HELP, DEMONS HAVE DESCENDED UPON US! RUN! EVERY MAN FOR THEMSELVES!"
The friar quickly got up and started to run from Calien. At a pathetically slow pace due to his robe.
".....Orrrrr you can just run like some gutless coward even though I just saved your life and doing what should be your job. That works." Calien sighed as he got up before he yelled one last thing to him "AND FOR THE RECORD I THINK A REAL HOLY MAN WOULD PUT AWAY PERSONAL BIAS FOR THE SAKE OF TRULY HELPING THOSE IN NEED. ESPECIALLY AT A TIME LIKE THIS!"
With a shake of his head Calien continued on to help anyone else who needed it.
(Well Sakura had to get her snark from somewhere.)
-
((You'd think they'd be used to that by now, what with the Prof being essentially a "demon" in a "house of god."))
-
(I know right, I think it's the fact that a 'demon' saved his life or something. Not to mention a 'demon' that's way stronger physically and much more intimidating than the Prof. Calien is kind of buff despite being kind of lean.)
-
Shadow Master did not notice Aya's last-ditch attack, until he felt a sharp pain on his chest. He screamed in pain as he dropped to one knee. Looking up, he saw Aya, barely holding it herself, still moving through sheer willpower.
"To think... That I... Could suffer... Such humiliation... You truly are... The Key..."
-
Aya holds the blade just short of Shadow Master's neck. "Talk--tell me who your master is and what he knows about me, what is the key nonsense!?" Her arm trembles lightly, and she wonders how she's still standing let alone holding her weapons till.
-
"Hehe... You think that... Just because you managed to damage me... I'll tell you everything? Hehe... Fine... I'll tell you this much... My Master... Is the great Albertus the Wiley... As for your origins... As well as this Key business... You just have it find it out yourself... If you can survive until then!"
Shadow Master started to grasp his face with his right hand, and laughed.
-
The urge to finish this nut case off was rather high but she suppressed it for the moment, if he was telling the truth her friends were in danger right now. "Get out out of my sight, if I ever see you again I won't show any mercy." she pulls back the blade and turns slowly limping toward Iron Gate.
(I wonder if that was a smart idea in hindsight. 8D ))
-
"Yeah that sounds like a good idea, I might be able to help with that too. I may not be a mage but I had to learn spells to be able to enchant my sword with the element so I can cast spells even if they aren't nearly as strong as yours. That should be enough to put out a few fires." Sakura nodded.
"Mm-hm, let's work together!" Pema nodded, the two of them making their way into town.
-
Seeing Aya limping away, Shadow Master's laugh turned slightly deranged. He then went slightly limp... As if sensing something from Iron Gate.
"Hahaha... It seems that my brother has fallen... Hahaha... HAHAHAHAHAHA!! IMPRESSIVE!! IF YOU TRULY WANT TO KNOW, YOU DO BEST TO SURVIVE... WE SHALL MEET AGAIN AT SKULL COVE CITADEL!!
Shadow Master then threw one last Shadow Blade at Aya's back, before disappearing.
(Ok, after Blue updates again... Fxeni, TENK, you two can finish up your battles.)
-
Aya's eyes widen as she feels a sharp pain in her back, the star luckily doesn't embed it's self in too far but it had caught her completely off guard, perhaps naively assuming her foe would simply run rather than capitalize on her mercy. Her blade vanishes in a ball of light and she roughly falls to her knees, struggling she reaches back with her remaining good arm and pulls the throwing star away before she finally collapses forward too exhausted to move anymore.
((Alberto will be angry he failed his mission AND lost one of his brothers though. 8D ))
-
(Ego problems. And I doubt Shadow will openly return to Skull Cove Citadel. 8D)
-
((Who will he send next? XD))
-
(*shrug* Maybe Ring Master. 8D)
-
"Grant mine enemies a final rest. Flame Blast!"
Fire erupted in the middle of a group of the umbrellas, setting them aflame. A few of them dropped into a group of the sack bombs below them, setting off their fuses prematurely. Fxeni took a deep breath as he gathered his focus on the remaining enemies who were distracted by their friends exploding. He ran forward to attack them, however they quickly regained their composure and began firing.
Fxeni grunts as an energy bolt grazes the side of his body. He does his best to ignore the burning, and continues rushing. Another bolt was about to hit him, but he brought up his barrier at the last second. He didn't hold it up for long, since he was starting to feel a bit drained from all the mana use.
The humanoids riding the frog-like machines began to speak amongst each other, although Fxeni was too far away to tell what they were saying. They nodded to each other, and suddenly a massive barrage of energy bolts headed his way. He dodged and weaved through the bolts to the best of his ability, but is unable to dodge them all. As he starts getting grazed by bolts all over, he sends a sudden burst of air under his feet which sends him up into the air.
The humanoids are confused by this, and lose track of Fxeni. One looks up and figures out what happened, but it was too late for him. Fxeni's spear shattered through the humanoids' mechanical head as he landed on top of the frog-like machine.
Right... interesting magitech... seems simple enough to use, Fxeni says as he grasps at the controls. He begins firing at the other humanoids, taking them out one by one until only two remained. They fired upon Fxeni's hijacked frog until it started to tumble over.
"This ends now!" Fxeni says as he springs himself forward with another gust of wind at his feet. He focuses wind into his spear and lets it loose at one of the humanoids, scattering it into pieces as the wind mana is released upon contact.
He lands right next to the other humanoid. The humanoid is ready for Fxeni, and punches him right in the gut. Fxeni is knocked over to the edge of the frog's cockpit, and the humanoid takes another swing at him. Fxeni ducks, gathers wind into his gauntlet, and thrusts it through the humanoid's chest shattering it and his gauntlet. The humanoid falls over into the controls, breaking them. The frog falls over, sending Fxeni rolling out onto the ground.
He lays there for a moment, gathering up the will to get up. He slowly gets up, looking at the ground. There's stains of red mixing in with the ground. He exhales deeply and walks over to where his spear lay. He pulled it out of whatever remained of the humanoid it was impaled in, and made it disappear.
He looked around to gather his bearings. The area around the fight was filled with flames and wreckage, smoke spilling upwards into the sky. Once he figures out where he was heading, he goes off to find Aya.
(Gonna wait for TENK; I figure we'll both get to Aya around the same time.)
-
(Should I send Farah for a Deus ex Machina when you get to Aya since I don't think any of you are capable of healing? Probably would say the excuse is that she wants to help the people who took shealter outside of town.)
-
((Prof can heal and I can contrive a way for him to head out there.))
-
(I dunno; I assumed we could drag her back. Don't think Fxeni would be able to do it alone in his current state, but with Toshi it may be doable.
Your way could work too though.)
-
((Prof can heal and I can contrive a way for him to head out there.))
(He'd probably stay with Sakura since Calien told her to take care of him too, plus Farah can teleport, literally.)
(I dunno; I assumed we could drag her back. Don't think Fxeni would be able to do it alone in his current state, but with Toshi it may be doable.
Your way could work too though.)
(Okay I'll do that when you find Aya.)
-
((I can very easily get him out to Aya. He's actually the closest, as the monastery and the inn are some of the first buildings in the town. And after the Friar's reaction to Calien, and thus everyone else, I doubt the townsfolk will let the Prof help. Thus, he can be sent out without a problem. That and he's a cleric. His job is to be a heal stick.))
-
(But....I want to use Farah more before she disappers from the story for who knows how long.)
-
((The thing is, at this point, the Prof is rather extraneous to the party. Everyone else can fulfill his role. The only thing he can really bring to the table is healing. He's not a fighter; he's a support character.))
-
(... Why not just have both go? At least two people will need to be healed, perhaps three.)
-
((Why not just send the Prof the help aya and have Farah remain to help the civilians? The group doesn't all need to go help Aya anyway.))
-
(... Why not just have both go? At least two people will need to be healed, perhaps three.)
(I guess so, I was just saying the Prof has plenty of oppotunities to do what he does because he's going to be coming with the party, Farah doesn't because she's going to be going to a different place.)
-
(Note to self: There will be no Flame Master.)
-
(.....What?)
-
(Note to self: There will be no Flame Master.)
(Why's that?)
-
(Note to self: There will be no Flame Master.)
(Why, 'cause Pema could just frost him to death? 8D)
-
(Not to mention the Prof's Freeze Burn concoction.)
-
((Toshi seems to be water themed as well in her attacks. That is a lot of bonus damage to a fire user. XD))
-
After encountering similar reactions from other civilians who decried him to be a "demon," the Professor moved away from the destruction. He made his way to the town gates, offering his help along the way, but was turned down. His head hung low as he limped along, his mind a flurry of thoughts and emotions, of how his livelihood was destroyed, along with his home.
No doubt the other monks would try to pin the blame on him. After all, he did set fire to the monastery basement earlier.
Heaving a sigh, the short monk limped through the gate and down the road. After a long walk away from the town as he was lost in thought, he finally glanced up and saw Aya and hurried his pace.
((Screw it, I'm sending him out anyway. Send out Farah if you want. They can combine their efforts, but I'm still sending the Prof out regardless.))
-
In a slurry of Green Wind Farah teleport outside of town close to the Prof. She finsihed her section of town much quicker because her wind magic also included a teleportation spell.
"What the, why's the little guy out here?" She blinked before she saw Aya in a heap of herself "But I can worry about that later!"
She ran up to Aya as well examining her wounds to see what course of action should be taken.
-
((Wait how did she know where to teleport?))
-
(She's been outside before and figured that there would be people outside the gates who would need medical attention. Aya is close to the gate right?)
-
(So uhh... no waiting? Alright I suppose.)
Fxeni limped over to Aya's location, and sees her hunched on the ground.
"Dammit, I'm too late..." Fxeni mutters as he approaches. He sees the chicken lady and the Prof approaching Aya as well.
How the heck did they get by all those enemies? he wonders to himself.
-
((No she was sent flying further. How about Fara help Fxeni and prof help Aya? Then no one gets left out for things to do.))
-
(To all questions why there is no Flame Master... Fxeni used FLAME BURST against Shadow Master's grunts. Now... What is Flame Man's weapon? FLAME BURST 8U
I'm ASHAMED OF ALL OF YOU 8U)
-
(To all questions why there is no Flame Master... Fxeni used FLAME BURST against Shadow Master's grunts. Now... What is Flame Man's weapon? FLAME BURST 8U
I'm ASHAMED OF ALL OF YOU 8U)
(Technically used a different one, but that could be easily changed to a fireball or somesuch if that would work better.)
-
((Whoops! Okay, he's been wandering for a while unnoticed.))
-
(I guess I'm fine with that, though I'm not going to really rewrite it since I don't know how and Fxeni would have to rewrite too.)
"Ah you're hurt too?!" Farah cried as she saw Fxeni's terrible state "Please let me help you!"
-
(lets just say that he stumbled on her location then the others ect..)
The professor finds Aya lying face down in the dirt barely conscious, her arm is clearly broken and there are numerous cuts along her body likely from the various throwing stars scattered around the area. The stab wound on he back however is the most worrying injury as she is bleeding out rather badly now.
-
"I had a less than pleasant run in on the way to Aya here," Fxeni said as he walked over to Aya. "Hope she's ok..."
(Changing it to Flame Blast, by the by. Wouldn't want to limit the Doc in his creativity of killing all of us 8D)
-
"She looks like she's in bad shape." Farah said as she helped carry Fxeni to Aya before she noticed the Prof was there "....Hey why is that little guy out here.....Calien told him to help the town's people close to that weird symbol."
-
"Oh, oh, oh dear... Oh dear, dear, dear..." Shaking his head, the Professor dropped his bag and dug through it, producing various vials, jars, and smaller bags. Opening one of the jars, he scooped out a blob of some thick resin and used it to pack the wound. "This, this m-may sting... but, but, but it will seal it..."
Smearing more of the resin on top of the stopped wound, he applied a poultice and covered it with a bandage.
Cleaning his hands, he assessed the broken arm. "I, I, I will need to set that, and, and I can assure you that it will hurt."
He rolled up a blob of resin and handed it to Aya to bite down. Carefully, he placed both hands solidly on Aya's arm, both above and below the break. "I will c-count to three. On three, I'll, I'll, I'll set it. I do advise you b-bite down on that. Ready? One... two... THREE!"
-
(Wasn't Aya unconcious?)
-
(lets just say that he stumbled on her location then the others ect..)
The professor finds Aya lying face down in the dirt barely conscious
((Emphasis mine.))
-
(Oops! -u-')
-
((barely conscious))
"Ngh!!!" Aya's cry of pain as the bone is set is rather loud to everyone near by even biting on resin, she nearly knocks the Prof over as her legs kick out of their own free will. Luckily his efforts succeed, the bleeding stopped and her arm set Aya begins to calm although her breathing seems to reveal she's still in rather a lot of pain. It will however be a little while before she is lucid again.
-
"He's attending to her wounds at least... that's good," Fxeni said, feeling a little bit more relieved. "Looks painful though. I guess I should get mine treated too..."
-
"Leave that to me!" Farah said as she began to chant in the same Language only Calien and Sakura know "<XXXXX Goddess of XXXXX, please lend me your strength, White Wind!>"
A gentle wind swepted all around Fxeni as his wounds were healed and his energy was rejuvinated.
(So many X's for censoring obvious stuff yay!)
-
Satisfied, the Professor went about combining another resin with strips of bandages. After a few minutes of fiddling, he fashioned a cast out of cloth, bandages, and a strong-smelling resin, which began to harden. The cast was just enough to brace and protect the arm, without impeding its movement too much.
"Now, now, now to address those cuts..." the short monk set about applying a poultice to the more minor slashes, while packing the deeper cuts with the resin that he used before. After he was finished, he selected a specific vial from his collection and uncapped it. Lifting Aya's head, he fed her the liquid inside. "This should, this should help you regain your strength."
-
Aya coughs a little at the liquid but it does have an oddly rejuvenating effect on her despite it's bitter taste. "Th-thank you." she says her voice a little weak still but certainly better than when they found her.
((She's likely okay to question about the attack now if anyone wants.))
-
"... Wind magic? That heals? Huh... learn something new all the time," Fxeni says, feeling his wounds healing gradually. He looked over at Aya as the Prof did his work.
"Are you alright Aya? You look like you've had it rough," Fxeni said as he sat down on the ground next to her, wincing from the pain of the wounds that were not quite fully healed.
-
"T-That ninja from the forest attacked me, he's been trailing us this whole time. He-he thinks I'm the "key" to something, or rather his master seems to think so. Alberto-Alberto the Wily he said. I think that man is related to the pirate who stole the Omni-Gem."
Aya glanced down at her arm, she began to wonder how much Shadow Master and this Alberto really knew about her.
-
"Related to White Beard? That's not good. I'm guessing this Alberto is the one that sent all these mechanoids our way. Not looking forward to dealing with more of that." Fxeni said as he moved his hand with the broken gauntlet around. He thought about what Aya said for a moment, then looked over at the professor.
"Prof, any idea what they might mean about Aya here being a Key?"
-
"Ninja?" Farah said "And he's been trailing you? What the hell has Calien got himself into this time?"
-
"Related to White Beard? That's not good. I'm guessing this Alberto is the one that sent all these mechanoids our way. Not looking forward to dealing with more of that." Fxeni said as he moved his hand with the broken gauntlet around. He thought about what Aya said for a moment, then looked over at the professor.
"Prof, any idea what they might mean about Aya here being a Key?"
The Professor was too busy putting his things away and he didn't readily hear Fxeni, or even the discussion at large. He shook his head. "No, I'm, I'm I'm afraid not..."
-
Aya cringes as she sits up slowly tired of laying the dirt. "Ugn--what about Iron Gate?" she inquired.
-
"Some of it got bombed, as far as I know... I was caught in one of the blasts. Maybe the other two have more info, I was busy dealing with mechanoids on my way here," Fxeni said as he looked back and forth between the Prof and Farah.
-
"The city has mostly been destroyed, Calien's daughter and that little girl are putting out the fires while Calien himself is probably still trying find people that need to be healed." Farah sighed "What a mess, that Alberto causes way more destruction than some ancient Evil that comes who knows when."
-
"If-If I never came here this would have not happened, maybe I should travel alone--if you all stay close to me White Beard's people may hurt you too." She runs her hand through her hair looking visibly horrified with recent events.
-
"Bah, I've been through worse... besides, without some help you might not have made it much further," Fxeni said as he pointed at her cast. "Besides, as I've said before, I have some bones to pick with him."
-
"I don't know what your relationship with Calien is, but I know he wouldn't accept that. His sense of Justice wouldn't allow it, it's the way his people are to be honest. They're warriors and protectors by blood and trade, he'd rather die than to allow someone like you to come to harm if he could prevent it." Farah stated.
-
Aya sighs "Injuries or not I must continue my journey, over the jagged peaks to skull cove then I-we can all end this so no one else gets hurt for my mistakes!"
(Travel over the Jagged Peaks is quite dangerous, we'd need a guide at the very least. It would be a breeding ground for monsters at the best of times, and the paths are not used very often anymore. People only go to the mine at it's base mostly.))
-
(A guide huh, should I use one of Farah's other sisters or does someone else have an idea?)
-
(Fxeni knows people in the area for... reasons. Worst comes to worse I can whip someone up when we get closer to the area.)
-
"The, the, the Jagged Peaks?" The Professor spoke up. "I, I, I m-may have some... maps back, back at the inn..."
-
((Lets try to limit adding more NPCs for the moment, since we have a few; although one is a staff/broom. Plus we need to get he professor on board formally and this seems to be a good way to go about it.))
Aya looks to the professor. "Would you like to join us, since your home was--" she looks down feeling a little responsible for that.
-
((Just going to suggest something, Aya won't be ready to travel for at least a day; this might be a good point to get any outstanding business in whats left of Iron Gate done before we move on. Sakura's story stuff for example, or the Professor gathering his stuff ect. Once everyone has a chance to do some stuff we'll move on to the Jagged Peaks. That sound like a plan?))
-
((That sounds like a plan, since Peam is still in the town.))
The Professor looked sadly at the town and the smoke still rising from its ruins. "I, I, I would suppose so... since I haven't a home anymore..."
-
(I'm fine with that.)
"I think I may need to find a new home too....quite a few people freaked out about my ears....and the glowing......and apparently my Wind magic is much different than yours." Farah sighed.
-
("IT'S ALBERTUS!!" - I think I'll make this a running gag. XD
And yea, go ahead with your plans, I'm officially done for the moment. Since the Jagged Pass has its own perils, best for me to regroup myself back at Skull Cove.
Plus, since Fxeni said it, I need to think up of more ways to torture you all! 8D)
-
((Alberto will be added to the list of nicknames the Prof will use. That list also includes Alberta and Elmer.))
-
(One of Sakura's nick names better be Chanukah, and I don't mean Hanukah. I mean Cha-Noo-Kaa.)
-
(3 pages... now where do I even begin? Far too much has happened, before I can even type out my battles. I'm going to move on to post-battle. Later, I might draw up the battle, as a bad experience on Toshi's behalf.)
Regrouping with Aya and the others, Grifter, and Riyalie arrived with Toshi. Both keeping Toshi on her feet, who was held up by her familiars; she seemed to be in worse shape than her two familiars. Her eyes were barely open, as if she was in a trance.
Riyalie - "Is there a medic, here?!" she desperately called out to the others, "Toshi's not feeling too good. Please just save her?" the Persian lady was beginning to break out in tears.
-
"I'll do what I can, but I might need the Prof's help too, she looks like she's in bad shape." Farah nodded as she casted her White Wind spell on Toshi.
-
Riyalie - "Please hurry." as she heard Toshi groan a little.
Grifter - "By the way, is Aya okay?" he asked, feeling concerned that their pacing took too long.
Toshi - "A... yaa..." she groaned out Aya's name.
Riyalie - "Please, try not to talk right now Toshi. I'm sure the Prof. should be able to patch you up."
-
"She's fine, but she needs to rest for a day or 2." Farah sighed "Whoever that Ninja person was did a real number on her, her arm is broken."
-
Grifter - "That's good to know." letting out a sigh of relief, "At least Toshi here shouldn't be worried any more. Darn child expended so much chakra all at once, trying to break through, whoever that wolf's minions sent out, to stop us."
(Yes they still think Shadow Master's a wolf.)
-
(....Why, shouldn't have the Water Clone or the others have explained otherwise?)
-
(Well you could say it's just another way of cursing Shadow Master, since they already do know what he looks like.)
-
(But he looks nothing like a wolf and Aya clearly said he wasn't connected to the corrupted wolves.)
-
(They not saying he looks like a wolf. Wolf is just used in another way to call SM a bastard.)
-
(But how are Wolves bastards?)
-
(Sheep maybe.)
-
(But there's no sheep involved. Not to mention if anything Shadow Master has a Frog motif.)
-
(It's just a reference poorly executed. By the time they get back at Shadow Master {well, that is if they seize an opprtunity to do so}, they'll probably call him something else, instead.)
-
The Professor set his bag down and dug through it, producing the same items he had out earlier. Then, he set about tending to Toshi's injuries. Once he was done, he fed her a vial of another bitter-tasting potion. "This, this, this should h-help you regain your strength."
-
"Yuck that smells worse than the Potion Lady's stuff back home!" Farah said as she covers her nose from the smell "Ugh I remember Calien was fascinated by the mushrooms she used to make her 'health' potion and magic powders so he decided to grow a whole mess of them. I wouldn't be surprised if he still has some with him."
-
Grifter - "Kinda reminds me of those inexpensive curatives you use on pokémon." he wondered, as he notices Toshi pull a rather awkward expression of revolt, when the potion was taken.
-
((Because I'm kind of lost, what are Grifter and Riyalie?))
-
(Grifter is some kind spirit Pigeot and Riyaile is some kind of spirit Persian besides Toshi only Sakura and Calien can see them due to their eyes. When they are summoned they become anthropromorphic versions of their species. Don't know if they are Gijinkas or Furries, but I'm guessing the latter. I don't get it either.)
-
( -AC)
-
(Also the Persian likes to grope and act sexual towards Toshi while Grifter seems to be a troll.)
-
((Oh. Oooookaaaaayyyyyy.))
-
(For the record Toshi also has a lot of male stalkers who are into Rabbit Girls, not like the PBPB kind.)
-
((...why? And what is Toshi? An Elf? What are the classes? I gather that Toshi is a Ninja-mage, and I've pinned Aya down to be a Valkyrie, but what is everyone's class?))
-
(Toshi is some kind of Naruto Antropromorphic Ninja Rabbit Woman, Sakura is a Magic Knight, Calien I guess is like a Gladiator/Viking/whatever other class wields Axes and Pema is a Black Mage for a simple term. Fxeni and Aya I can't pin down though)
[spoiler]Sakura and Calien are also Sheikahs, AKA Zelda Ninjas.[/spoiler]
-
((Aya's power set is a little different from most classes. lets go with Valkyrie.))
-
(I thought Valkyries were female Dragoons.)
-
(Is Fxeni not a Dragoon?)
-
(What am I? D:)
-
(Is Fxeni not a Dragoon?)
(He should but he's mostly been using his Magic. His Specialties are Fire and Wind which can be combined to make Electricity since there's not Lightning Element, Sakura does the same to make Electric Blades. So Pema should know Wind Attacks even though Rune masters don't have Wind Attacks.)
(What am I? D:)
(Uh....Mechanist?)
-
(I sound so lame. D:)
-
(He should but he's mostly been using his Magic. His Specialties are Fire and Wind which can be combined to make Electricity since there's not Lightning Element, Sakura does the same to make Electric Blades. So Pema should know Wind Attacks even though Rune masters don't have Wind Attacks.)
(No. Pema doesn't have Wind attacks.
Runemasters have Fire, Lightning and Ice.)
-
(I just said that, but the rules of this world is that there's no proper Lightning Element, it's a Combination of Fire and Wind.)
-
(What am I? D:)
((Aya's stalker from the looks of things? =P ))
-
(A human raised by Dwarves that hates other Humans?)
-
((Aya's stalker from the looks of things? =P ))
(Touche. 8D)
(A human raised by Dwarves that hates other Humans?)
(... That would actually be an interesting direction to consider.)
-
((I was going with basic DnD classes with some variations and hybrid classes. Albertus would be a Warlord. I've pegged Fxeni as a Paladin, for some reason.))
-
(Oh I don't know too much about the class system in DnD, hench why I try to use Final Fantasy equivalents since more people are familiar with that than DnD.)
-
((This is basically for my reference so I can keep track of who can do what.))
-
(Oh and Calien is also a White Mage, but he's much more Combat oriented. I might decide to give him some Magic Knight spells like Sakura to increase his combat capabilities, but to a much lesser extent. Probably just Earth, Fire, and Wind and by extension Lightning.)
-
(I just said that, but the rules of this world is that there's no proper Lightning Element, it's a Combination of Fire and Wind.)
(Even so, she's unable to use Wind by itself. She will always, and only, have Fire, Lightning and Ice attacks.
That's a Runemaster. That's the source material. That's Pema.)
-
(Oh and Calien is also a White Mage, but he's much more Combat oriented. I might decide to give him some Magic Knight spells like Sakura to increase his combat capabilities, but to a much lesser extent. Probably just Earth, Fire, and Wind and by extension Lightning.)
((So, a swordmage. Sakura would also fit that class. Technically, so would Aya.))
((Hm... maybe we should take this to the Supplement thread to keep from clogging it up...))
-
((So, a swordmage. Sakura would also fit that class. Technically, so would Aya.))
((Hm... maybe we should take this to the Supplement thread to keep from clogging it up...))
(Or maybe the General RP discussion thread.)
(Even so, she's unable to use Wind by itself. She will always, and only, have Fire, Lightning and Ice attacks.
That's a Runemaster. That's the source material. That's Pema.)
(Fair enough, though you'll have to come up with an explanation of how she can make Lighting without Wind.)
-
(Perhaps her Lightning is already a fusion of Fire and Wind, only she's unable to isolate the Wind element.)
-
(Okay I'm cool with that.)
-
((Going to move things along, also with so many healers in the party right now even if they are temporary NPCs I think it'll be best if we either make healing spells either not heal injuries instantly but rather speed up the healing process, or make them highly costly on the user's mana meaning they can't just keep using them rapidly. Open to opinions on that.
Also for the time being guys lets avoid bring in new NPCS? We have a metric ton already and we haven't even made it to Skull Cove yet. Once we finish that area the story will branch out a little for open exploring so that will be a better time to try and push forward personal narratives.))
Once the Professor and Farah tend to the injured party members the group make their way back to Iron Gate, the situation there is as grim as they might have suspected; a great many innocent people were killed in the attack and even more were burned from the flames. It's overall all a mess, the professor and Farah are kept busy well into the next morning tending to the injured and easing the passage of those too far gone. Luckily for the time being people are more focused on saving whats left of the city and helping the injured than trying to place the blame on someone.
The Professor's room at the Inn serves as a resting place for the party, he confirms thats it'll be a good day or two before Aya is in any condition to travel even with magic speeding up the process. The Professor is also able to provide maps of the Jagged Peaks, he mentions that before Skull Cove was taken by the pirates it's mountain paths were used by traders however they have fallen into dis-repair and monsters have essentially taken over. He is confident however that his maps will help them navigate the jagged peaks safely and quickly.
Two days later the group have mostly recovered and the supplies needed for the trip have been gathered. In good time too as the survivors of the church have begun to spread rumors of demons running the streets, it is only a matter of time before the party might find them selves demonized for the whole event.
((Anyone with business the still wanted to attend to make it clear their posts happen before we depart. Also Calien and Farah are heading their own way right?))
-
(Someone needs to take the Weapon Get power already.)
-
((That too, you guys work out who wants it more. Mortal Kombat style for my amusement. 8D )
-
(We just finished healing though! 8D)
-
(3-WAY STREET FIGHT NO HOLDS BARRED TLC IN A STEEL CAGE)
-
((YES Make it happen!))
-
(My general rule of thumb for healing is that if the wound is big enough it won't heal instantly, like slashes would heal just fine if they aren't too deep but being stabbed by a spear takes a lot more effort than is worth it so the body still needs to heal itself along with rest and bandaging the wound, plus healing doesn't do anything for fatigue.
Not mention Calien has quite a few disadvantages compared to Borock-bot, he has less mana so he can't heal as often and it's difficult to heal in battle since Calien is a close range fighter unlike Borock-bot so he has a harder time to find an opening unlike Borock-bot who can fight at a distance and unlike Calien can fly. Not to mention Calien doesn't have the spell library that Borock-bot does so he only knows up to Curaga unlike Borock-bot who know Curaja, and a Curaga from Calien tires him out more than when Borock-bot cast Curaga. He also can't cast things like Haste or Float either.
Also what do you mean Calien and Farah are heading their own way?)
-
(Didn't you say before they would not be traveling with the main party after Iron Gate?)
-
(Farah is not, Calien is staying.)
-
(Ah, alright. My mistake.)
-
((That too, you guys work out who wants it more. Mortal Kombat style for my amusement. 8D )
(Pema wouldn't want the Napalm Bomb ability, though. It's just down to Fxeni and Sakura.)
-
(Yeah Calien was only concerned with telling Farah she needs to get out of Iron Gate due to how coruptted the Order was. Farah can travel by herself because unlike Calien she hasn't been a hermit living in the forest for about 16 years.
The only thing I haven't decided is if she should go to Calien's Cabin or another town Fxeni suggests, like maybe the town Fxeni works or something.
Also Calien isn't going to leave Sakura alone with strangers, even if he trusts them. This Sakura is much different from Prime Universe Sakura since she had her father around but is much more shealtered from the world since she stayed in the Forest for 2 extra years unlike Prime Sakura who was raised by Lucarios and wandered out to see the world at 14 years old which resulted in becoming PB's apprentice/ward/surrogate daughter and honing her skills as a mechanic and developing a slightly different fighting style that's still very different but is still very similar to PB's in a few ways unlike what this Sakura learned from Calien.
Warning!
*Not necessarily spoilers but rather a long winded ramble that may be not important but may be interesting*
[spoiler]However since Prime Sakura doesn't know her heretige she has many an insecurity and her survivor's guilt is much greater. As a result Prime Sakura's Ego is lower than this universe's Sakura, and she can't conciously control some aspects of herself like the power she gained when PB was out of control and her, uh, 'Truth Seeing Eyes' which I haven't got into in Wilpocalypse just yet.
Not to mention due to those insecurities Prime Sakura has a great deal of trouble expressing herself, regularly approching people and making friends, though that's more apparent before the War happened since now peole are being forced to work together, and Sakura doesn't utilize Kunai unlike this Sakura because she's been learning from PB not Calien.
Not to mention PB being PB did quite a few things in the past, ie the infameous everybody naked at Vixy's Birthday Party that PB tricked her into going to/going along with, due to his Ego and Narcissim in that what he decides to do is the best course of action even though it makes things worse, that unintentionally rub her the wrong way, even though Prime Sakura loves PB like a father figure/brother he does do notable harm to offset the many good things he does for her. It also makes it hard for her to aproach PB about certain things because she feels he won't listen to her which results in keeping things to herself, which causes things to fester, which results in Sakura blowing up in the worst way possible. It's a cause of great turmoil for her on top of everything else in Wilypocalypse.[/spoiler]
Sorry got a bit too into dicussing this even though it probably wasn't neccesary.)
(EDIT: Hmm yeah Napalm Bomb would be a benefit for Fxeni and Sakura, really need to think about it.)
-
((Alright you two decide then. Aya can't use it at for reasons I won't spoil.))
-
(Well, it's not really a matter of who it would benefit more, but rather the fact that Pema would completely refuse that power.
Remember, the Napalm Bombs are what devastated the town in the first place and killed all those people. Breaking Pema's heart, she's not going to want the very same power that destroyed lives.)
-
(Yeah that's what I figured.
Also what about Non Elemental Master Weapons like Ring Man's, Cut Man, Quickman and Search Man among others, I mean we can say that Hardman and Gutsman are Earth but others aren't as easy to pin point. Or the many Electric Masters since Lightning is a combination of Wind and Fire?)
-
((I always counted lightning in the wind element category.))
-
((Even if the whole thing happens offscreen, whatever. Just grab that thing. Prof be busy.))
-
(Let's wait to see what Fxeni wants to do when he's online, then we can move on, I don't have too much to do.)
-
(I guess Fxeni can take it, since of the two he uses magic to attack directly rather than do it through imbuing weapons. I'm all for saying it just happened though, because it wouldn't make much sense to leave it floating there for 2 days straight.)
-
(Yeah I'm find with that, maybe Sakura can get Crash Bomb or the equivalent. Still need to decide if I should have Farah go to the Forest or somewhere else though.)
-
(So, we're just waiting on the Weapon Get, now?)
-
(Actually skipping that, but I need help deciding where Farah should go.)
-
(I thought we were waiting for him to make a post detailing that he obtained it days ago or whatever, so we'd have it officially established.)
-
(Yeah that's what I figured.
Also what about Non Elemental Master Weapons like Ring Man's, Cut Man, Quickman and Search Man among others, I mean we can say that Hardman and Gutsman are Earth but others aren't as easy to pin point. Or the many Electric Masters since Lightning is a combination of Wind and Fire?)
(You don't have to worry about that, I'll have something up by the time they are introduced.)
-
Fxeni was preparing the Cheval to go. It had taken some collateral damage from the attack on Iron Gate, so he had spent the last two days working away on it to get it back in shape. This was made harder by the influence of the Rune left behind by the assailant; once it was acquired the new knowledge of the spell forced itself into his mind a bit harder than he had anticipated, dulling his thought process a bit for the first day.
-
Sakura peaked out to see Fxeni packing his Cheval up to go and decided to approach him.
"So you finished repairing the damage?" Sakura asked him.
-
Fxeni was preparing the Cheval to go. It had taken some collateral damage from the attack on Iron Gate, so he had spent the last two days working away on it to get it back in shape. This was made harder by the influence of the Rune left behind by the assailant; once it was acquired the new knowledge of the spell forced itself into his mind a bit harder than he had anticipated, dulling his thought process a bit for the first day.
(The prospects of magical takeover... SUCH PROSPECTS)
-
(I'm all about opening up story prospects 8D)
"Yeah. I figured I'd start packing up so we can leave sooner than later. The atmosphere around here is less pleasant as each day passes by," Fxeni says as he looks over at Sakura. "Are you ready to leave?"
-
There was a thump, some rummaging, and finally the Professor stumbled out of his room with two bags and an armful of scrolls. "I, I, I w-will be ready to leave here..."
He lost his grip on a few of the scrolls and ended up just dropping the entire armload. Getting down on his hands and knees, he opened his bags and attempted to put the scrolls and books inside in some recognizable order. "Oh, oh, oh dear m-me..."
-
(I'm all about opening up story prospects 8D)
"Yeah. I figured I'd start packing up so we can leave sooner than later. The atmosphere around here is less pleasant as each day passes by," Fxeni says as he looks over at Sakura. "Are you ready to leave?"
"Yeah I'm ready and so is Daddy, but he was wondering if you knew of another city that was close to the forest around here. He wants to see if Farah can go there to find a place to live." Sakura asked him "If not she said she wouldn't mind house sitting our Cabin in the forest."
There was a thump, some rummaging, and finally the Professor stumbled out of his room with two bags and an armful of scrolls. "I, I, I w-will be ready to leave here..."
He lost his grip on a few of the scrolls and ended up just dropping the entire armload. Getting down on his hands and knees, he opened his bags and attempted to put the scrolls and books inside in some recognizable order. "Oh, oh, oh dear m-me..."
"Oh dear do you need help Mr. Professor?" Sakura asked.
-
"Oh, no, no, no, I can m-manage, thank you," finally getting the items in the bags, the short monk closed them and stood.
"You see, you see, you see, I can't bring all of my things. I had to, I had to select the m-most pertinent items. Brought my notes, my maps, my telescope, as much as my research, my work as I can carry."
He looked sadly at the room. "Years of study, years of work... I have to leave it behind..."
-
"I'm so sorry to hear about that." Sakura looked down "I was really interested in what you were researching. I really want to learn about stuff like that."
-
"There's a town south of here that was welcoming the last time I was in the area... Oakcliffe, I believe," Fxeni said as he looked up in thought.
-
"Oakcliffe, what's it like?" Sakura asked curiously.
-
"It was slightly smaller than Iron Gate is. Very tight nit community, generally welcoming... a decent amount of magic users there too," Fxeni replied, recalling the last time he was there. "Who knows what it's like now though."
-
"That might just work, I hope Farah will be fine there." Sakura nodded "Daddy was working on making another one of those stones we have for her and finished it last night. He said the materials for making those stones aren't too hard to find, but the technique for making them is mostly secret. But he said he'll teach me too."
-
((Oakville will be out of the way just a heads up, the Jagged Peaks are the only direct land route to Skull Cove.))
For the first time in two days Aya comes out of the inn, she squints a little at the morning light. Before moving to the Cheval. She'll be riding in the side car until she gets full use of her left arm again. "I'll be happy to leave this town behind, the longer we remain the greater the chances something could happen again." Aya adds to the conversation
-
"The thing is we'll probably be attacked regardless of where we go." Sakura sighed "I just want to get out of here because I'm tired of all the nasty things people are saying about us. Daddy is being called a demon, Pema is still being called a Witch and they added poor Farah to that list thanks to her unusual magic, and the poor Prof's reputation is getting worse. It's nuts."
-
"Maybe I should just hand myself over to White beard." Aya sighs.
-
(Yup, no plans to go to Oakcliffe.)
"I doubt it would stop him from hurting people... he has a knack for that sort of thing," Fxeni replies to Aya. "Don't worry, we'll figure something out... while staying away from populated areas for now."
-
"Hell no, don't even think like that!" Sakura yelled "I don't know what this whole Key business is but if they get you it'll be bad news to everyone for sure! And when they're done with you they'll probably kill you too!"
-
The Professor made his way to Cheval and studied it closely. Finding a seat in a rear sidecar*, he loaded his bags and climbed in. Except, he didn't stay in his seat. Pulling out his notebook and his travel quill and inkwell, he climbed over the other seats and to the cockpit, where he examined the controls and drew schematics. "Interesting. Quite, quite interesting..."
((*I don't know what Cheval looks like and all I can picture is some weird motorcycle thing with about a dozen sidecars and looking straight out of Chrono Trigger.))
-
(Megaman X2 ride bike actually.)
-
"I guess your both right, it's just frustrating." She clenches her right fist it glows with light slightly before she calms herself. "Professor? How long will it take for us to cross the mountains?" she glances to the professor as she sits her self in the Ceval's second side car.
-
((Well, it's now sporting a dozen sidecars. 8D ))
The Professor looked up from his drawing and copious note-taking. "Approximately, approximately how fast does this vehicle travel? Now, now, now, there are man-made p-paths, and, and, and some b-bridges were built, but, but, but many may have fallen out of use."
He scribbled some more notes and gave the control stick a tentative turn. "With, with a heavy load, with all of us as passengers, we should expect some slowdown. But, but, but, if you could supply me the average speed of this m-machine, I can calculate our, our t-travel time using, using the more traveled paths, yes."
-
"Well only you, Dad and Aya would be riding that." Sakura pointed out "I have my Rapidash and Pema is riding with me while Toshi is using some kind of Ninja Kite."
-
"I uh... I don't think we're all going to fit," Fxeni said, unsure of how to explain it. "Weren't we supposed to find some other means of travel?"
-
"Yeah like some kind of carriege or something?" Sakura pondered.
-
"Carriage? Carriage? Yes, yes, yes, I do believe that I m-may have something of use..." Climbing out of the Cheval, the Professor hobbled toward one of the out buildings of the inn, motioning for the group to join him. "Come, come, come, my master, my master and I... we, we, we had another project, yes?"
-
"Oh? I'm curious what you guys were working on," Fxeni said as he followed the Prof.
-
"Me too, me too, I wanna see!" Sakura said practically skipping along.
-
Approaching one of the outbuildings, the short monk unlocked a rusted latch on its large door and pulled it open with considerable effort. Inside was a large, uneven shape covered by a dusty tarp. Taking hold of one end, the Professor pulled off the sheet and revealed what looked like a carriage, only it had a large tank on its rear, along with pipes and drive wheels.
"It, it, it needs its pumps primed, but, but, but it should suffice. Steam-powered horseless carriage. My master, my master and I, we, we built this. Its furnace, it's furnace doesn't use coal, no, no, no. It can run longer with m-my fire powder."
-
"Wow this thing is amazing!" Sakura squeed "How did you guys make it?"
-
As the group began to follow the Professor inside Aya lagged behind suddenly stopping as if something had caught her attention, she glanced over her shoulder expecting to see something. After a few moments she turned ignoring the familiar feeling she had just experienced.
Meanwhile on top of the one of the remaining buildings nearby Doll Master watches the group. crossing her arms she whispers something to one of her "pet" constructs floating next to her and it promptly vanishes to inform her brother of recent events and Albertus' failure. With a slight giggle she too vanishes into a small chaos rift that promptly closes as she steps inside.
(Just setting up something for the jagged peaks. 8D )
Inside Aya looks impressed, certainly better than clown caring everyone into the Cheval.
-
"Interesting... considering the materials that are present around here, quite ingenious," Fxeni said as he examined the carriage. "Certainly an appreciated addition to our little group; the Cheval wasn't really made for more than 1 or 2 people, and the ride to this town kind of made that clear."
-
"Are you still going to be riding the Cheval by yourself?" Sakura asked "I mean I doubt ypu would want to leave it here right?"
-
"I don't mind riding with others, but there are certain benefits to riding alone to be sure," Fxeni replied. "I could scout ahead alone if needed, for example."
-
After explaining how steam engines worked and thus how the carriage worked, the Professor disappeared behind the chassis, rummaging with something on the shelves that the group couldn't see. After a few clanks, cranks, clunks, and then a loud boom, the pumps chugged to life.
The Professor emerged and climbed into the cockpit, motioning everyone to get out of the way. Fiddling with knobs and switches, he put it into gear, and the carriage lurched out into the open. Applying the brakes, he got out and limped off to get his bags.
"Now, now, now, I had n-never learned how to drive this as my master, my master was... unable to teach me in time. But, but, but, I can show you, I can show you the controls."
-
"I don't mind riding with others, but there are certain benefits to riding alone to be sure," Fxeni replied. "I could scout ahead alone if needed, for example."
"That's what I thought." Sakura nodded "I think I'll still ride Epee too for that same reason."
After explaining how steam engines worked and thus how the carriage worked, the Professor disappeared behind the chassis, rummaging with something on the shelves that the group couldn't see. After a few clanks, cranks, clunks, and then a loud boom, the pumps chugged to life.
The Professor emerged and climbed into the cockpit, motioning everyone to get out of the way. Fiddling with knobs and switches, he put it into gear, and the carriage lurched out into the open. Applying the brakes, he got out and limped off to get his bags.
"Now, now, now, I had n-never learned how to drive this as my master, my master was... unable to teach me in time. But, but, but, I can show you, I can show you the controls."
"....Hoo boy that's going to be fun." Sakura sighed as she heard what he said unsure of herself now.
-
"I obviously can't drive right now. My arm is still numb." Aya comments looking a good seat.
-
"I certainly can't either.....maybe Daddy can?" Sakura pondered.
-
((Basically, the Prof is very inexperienced behind the wheel. He can't judge his speed, he can't steer, he's too short, and he's nearly deaf. He can show someone how to operate the controls, but he himself can't drive.))
-
"Aw, no horsies with the carriage?" Pema pouted.
"Even without them, this carriage is still quite an impressive invention. Marvelously constructed," Salem observed.
Pema held her finger horizontally in between her nose and mouth, mimicking a mustache, "Quite right, dear chap! Ho ho, biscuits and caviar!" She made a deep voice.
"... I'm not British, Pema," Salem said blankly.
-
((Little heads up we'll likely need to leave our transportation at the base of the mountain till we return.))
-
(Yeah I think Calien is the best bet, Sakura may surpass him when it comes to building things that aren't ancient artifacts but he can operate things just as well as Sakura.)
((Little heads up we'll likely need to leave our transportation at the base of the mountain till we return.))
(I figured.)
-
(IF we return... Dun dun DUN)
-
(Good thing Horses eat straw. Yin and Bianca are probably still coming even if they don't do much.)
-
((I promise I won't try to kill the party....too brutally. 8D ))
-
The Professor didn't catch any of what Pema and Salem said, as he was busying himself with gathering his bags and transferring them to the carriage. There was a storage compartment on the side, and a twist of a knob opened it up. Stowing his bags, he invited the others to stow theirs if they wished.
"Now, now, now, if you see, we have clouds. It may rain, but, but this carriage, this carriage is ready."
Climbing onto the back of the carriage between the rear seat and the engine, he unlatched and roll and extended it upward and over the carriage's framework, revealing a thick tarp cover. Clumsily climbing over the seats to the cockpit, the midget monk gave the cover a few sharp tugs to pull it toward him, and then latched it to the front crossbar above the cockpit seats.
-
((Once everyone is ready I'll make another post.))
-
(Hang on we need more snark from Calien.)
After Sakura told Farah about Oakcliffe and she left to prepare for her journey Sakura showed Calien the Professor's invention which made him even more amazed about the Professor's abilities.
"So let me get this straight, the Professor can't drive this thing due to his disabilities along with never learning how to drive in the first place so you want me to drive this thing that I have no experience with what so ever with only the Prof's instructions of the controls?" Calien said with a raised eyebrow.
"Yup." Sakura nodded.
".....Well it can't be that much harder than the stuff I learned at boot camp almost all my life." Calien shook his head "Okay Prof how does this thing work?"
[spoiler]Sheikah boot camp is brutal.[/spoiler]
-
((heheh 8D ))
-
"Ah! I will show you," The Professor climbed into the bench seat beside Calien and excitedly explained the controls, all the while assuring that it was designed to be used by the Order's friars to better establish trade with distant towns.
-
Calien listened carefully while remembering what he observed on how Fxeni drove the Cheval and his experiences driving horse drawn carriages when he was a teenager when he helped out his neighborhood ranch hand on occasion.
-
(IF we return... Dun dun DUN)
(Could you at least pop a wheelie at incoming magical fire? PLEASE!?)
-
((I don't think the carriage can do that. It'd be like trying to pop a wheelie with a tractor. 8D))
((This (https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3750/9469460563_e9b04a105a.jpg) is pretty much their steam carriage, only with an awning. The knobs mentioned are mainly to control the engine itself, not to drive. Just additional stuff added to the front so that someone doesn't have to ride in the back and monitor the engine.))
((I was tempted to have them ride around in this crazy-ass thing (https://scottlocklin.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/steam_engine.jpg).))
-
(RIDE THAT CRAZY ASS THING
And it's more if Fxeni really does go out to scout ahead first... AND THEN POP A WHEELIE)
-
(Oh don't worry; That was the plan all along 8D)
-
Back at Skull Cove Citadel, Albertus was still in his private chambers. Turning around to make sure no one was watching, he went over to a very ornate suit of armor. The suit of armor resembled a knight, holding a spear-like weapon with its right hand (imagine those knights in Shade Man's stage with the falling heads). Albertus lightly pulled on the spear, and the suit of armor moved to one side, revealing a hidden passage way. Albertus walked into said passage as the suit returned to its original position.
It was quite a way down, but Albertus finally reached a door. This door wasn't made of wood like all others, instead it was made of metal. Approaching the door, it slid open on its own, revealing a large cavern filled with metal machinery and various other items. The sound of churning and steam whistling filled the air, as Albertus walked towards the end of the cavern, where a large window-like feature was, at the base, some sort of table with multiple buttons. Upon reaching the table, Albertus pressed some buttons, and the window magically showed a map of Iron Gate, the Jagged Peaks, and Skull Cove. From the lack of blinking spots on the map, Albertus growled.
"Zo Napalm Master failed completely... And Shadow Master iz nowhere to be found... My key... I must have my key!!"
As if sensing Albertus' rage, the window displayed an image of Aya...
-
((If anyone has any business to attend to just note it happens before this post.))
With the Professor's instruction Calien manages to get the hang of the machine's quirks enough to feel comfortable with being it's driver. The group packs their gear and mount their rides before finally heading out, the party get the occasional glare from the citizens, mostly aimed at the Professor, Calien and Farah but luckily none are willing to try anything and soon they have left the city behind. After half an hour of travel they are back at the cross roads on the golden road, the main highway that travels through the kingdom, if Farah was going to disembark she'd need to do it here.
-
"Well this is where we part for now." Farah said as she got off the Prof's machine and unloaded her chickens. Before they left Farah attached a cart to the Prof's horseless carriage which carried all her chickens and other supplies she packed for her journey. "Guess I won't be seeing you guys for a while huh."
"Yeah....listen Farah. I'm sorry for getting you in this mess and forcing you to leave if I wasn't so careless-" Before Calien could finish Farah summoned her staff and hit him squarely on the head causing Sakura to winch like she did when she saw her slap him in the face a few days ago.
"Don't even think about finishing that sentence, Calien." Farah sighed in irritation "Honestly if what you were talking about was true I'm glad I was driven out sooner than chased out later, if I was lucky to survive that."
"Owww...." Calien replied as his head was reeling from the hit.
"Seriously you need to stop holding yourself responsible for things that you can't control." Farah continued "Even if we kept our ears hidden we would still be outcasts since this Order decided that Magic was strictly forbidden and they're too cowardly or stubborn to admit that they can't do jack when things hit the wall like that. They're too concern in keeping their control and corruption over the city and we really can't change that you understand?"
"Yeah...you're right." Calien said as he glanced away from her. It really pained him that he couldn't do anything to help Iron Gate get away from the influence of the Order but he was just one powerless nobody who until now hadn't interacted with society for 16 years. He couldn't do anything even in the most ideal conditions even if he wanted to.
"One more thing." Farah stated as she suddenly wrapped her arms around him tight. Calien was surprised by this as he wasn't expecting it but eventually returned the hug "You better come back alive you hear me, and when you do you better not disappear for another 16 years when you're done either. It's not fair to you and more importantly it's definitely not fair to your daughter either. Come find me so you have a place to live, and if Oakcliffe doesn't work out we'll keep looking until we can find a place where we can belong okay?"
"Alright I will....." Calien nodded as Farah let go "You'll let me know if you see any of your sisters right?"
"Yeah, though that's easier said than done." Farah sighed as she put on her bandana "You know that Nerine and Dinnae never stay in one place for an extended period of time, they're always traveling around. You're just as likely to run into them as I am."
"I understand." Calien nodded.
"I get the feeling we will see them eventually, if what you said is true and the world is falling apart thanks to this Omni Gem being stolen then you'll need our help. I don't need her Highness's prophetic powers to be sure of that." Farah stated.
"I understand....but until then this is farewell." Calien sighed "Stay safe okay?"
"You don't need to tell me twice, but you better take your own advice." Farah nodded as she started to walk away, though it seemed tears started to roll down her face "Now go on, you guys can't dawdle here too much longer, you have a job to do."
"Right....see you later....Farah." Calien said as the distance between him and Farah continued to widened.
".....Was she always like that Daddy?" Sakura asked.
"No, she used to be very timid and kind. People always took advantage of her kind nature which bothered her greatly. Though her kindness is still there it seemed Iron Gate did wonders to harden her up. It's kind of good that it happened, but I wish it was in better circumstances. She always had bad luck, and it seems that hasn't changed." Calien sighed.
"So she doesn't normally hit you like that?" Sakura continued.
"Oh no she did, even back then she always had a temper." Calien shook his head "Though honestly compared to her oldest sister Dinnae, and your Aunt and Grandmother, her strikes aren't that painful."
"I see...." Sakura sweat dropped.
"In any case we need to keep moving, the longer we stay put the more danger we're in." Calien stated as he started up the vehicle again.
"Right, let's go Epee." Sakura said as Epee neighed and kept going.
(For the record we'll probably never see Calien's sister or mom in this RP.)
-
The Professor heard what Farah said about the Order, but didn't respond. He knew that it had problems, but he also had seen all the good the Order had done for Iron Gate and surrounding citizens. The Order helped those in need and helped organize trade and make a once-struggling mining town into the prosperous city that it is today.
The Order took him in, as well. They allowed him to tinker, so long as he didn't make a big fuss over it. Yes, he was punished, but so were other monks who sinned or blasphemed. Farah simply did not understand the Order like he did.
Glancing back at the crossroads as the party pulled away, the short monk gave off a sigh. Bundling his robes tighter around him and fumbling with his maps, he once again realized that he was to never see the monastery again. He was to never see the other monks, the abbot, or the Order again. His very livelihood was gone.
-
(Ooh I didn't make that too polarizing did I?)
-
It took about half a day to reach the Jagged Peaks, or rather the mines at it's base. The Professor informed the party that the iron and gold stone mined here was key to the town's survival and as of now might be the only thing keeping Iron Gate afloat. The mine was quiet outside a few hired guards, it would seem the workers had gone home for now in the wake of the attack.
"Halt, we aren't accepting visitors. If you are looking to pass over the mountain take the road around the mine, I don't recommend it though. The old paths haven't been used in five years." A guard extended his hand ordering the party to stop as they approached the gates.
-
"Any particular reason you aren't accepting visitors?" Calien asked. He found it quite odd that they were barring passage on one road and not the other, especially since the other was supposedly much more dangerous.
-
"This is right from the Order, no outsiders within the mines. We can't risk another attack on our lively hoods." The guard frowns glancing behind them at the Professor recognizing him. "Look, I don't buy all the things the order says about you all, and I know you all tried to save people so I'm not going to tell them you came through here. Now go, before anyone sees you. Take the upper path and be carefull."
-
"I understand, that's rather unfortunate." Calien nodded "Thank you for your kindness."
-
"Now, now, now," the Professor fumbled with his maps, "the upper road, the upper road, while disused, isn't dangerous per sé... You see, you see, it has ruts, and rough spots, but the b-bridges... those may be in some... disrepair, yes?"
-
"There's that Order again..." Fxeni mumbled under his breath as he listened.
-
"Can't really be helped." Sakura said very quietly "They're really trying hard to maintain their control, but even some of the people are realizing something isn't necessarily right."
-
"You see, you see, the mines became a main trade route after our mining operations were m-moved to better mountains, yes? So, we used, so, we used the old mines and, and, and created a m-mountain pass. Excavated the old tunnels, bore through the hill. That road, that road is always protected. Bottleneck, choke point, yes?"
The Professor directed Calien's steering toward a rugged road that had become overgrown and dusty. With the passing day, the clouds thickened and a light drizzle had begun, pattering the awning that covered the cab.
"The ride may be a bit... rough. However, however, however, when we come to the bridges, when we come to the bridges, I have a solution should, should it n-need some repair..."
-
(Fxeni, what was that thing you wanted to speak to Pema about?)
-
"Guess we really have no choice." Calien sighed "If the bridge needs repairing allow us to assist, my people are very good with their hands after all. Not to mention Fxeni can probably help as well."
(Fxeni, what was that thing you wanted to speak to Pema about?)
(Way back when we found her? Probably something to the same effect Sakura was telling her about but being more clear about the danger and consequences of what she was doing especially after the revelation of The Order being corrupt. Not to mention the danger of bringing too much attention to themselves to their enemy.)
-
(Yeah. Well, I'm not sure, it might've had something to do with his observation that Pema doesn't know how to conceal her mana? I recall him mentioning that shortly after I introduced her.)
-
(We really established that out loud in the forest actually, so he probably discussed that with her as well. Calien went on a whole ramble about that and Fxeni said he can help conceal her presence and control her mana while Calien can only help with the concealing of her physical presence.)
-
(Something along those lines, I suppose we can say it was discussed in one of the timeskips.)
-
(Pretty much. Also along with Sakura trying to help Calien learn some of her spells since he felt that he needs to expand his fighting repertoire.)
-
(So... she fully learned how to conceal her mana now?)
-
(That's up for you to decide.)
-
(Might as well establish that she has, then.
Don't want to waste time explaining something that isn't incredibly pertinent to the story.)
-
(I might also say that Calien has mastered Earth and Fire but still needs to work on Wind and Lightning at the moment, if that's okay. It's basically similar to how Sakura uses her magic but with different techniques.)
-
(Yeah, that sounds good.)
-
"You see, you see, the mines became a main trade route after our mining operations were m-moved to better mountains, yes? So, we used, so, we used the old mines and, and, and created a m-mountain pass. Excavated the old tunnels, bore through the hill. That road, that road is always protected. Bottleneck, choke point, yes?"
The Professor directed Calien's steering toward a rugged road that had become overgrown and dusty. With the passing day, the clouds thickened and a light drizzle had begun, pattering the awning that covered the cab.
"The ride may be a bit... rough. However, however, however, when we come to the bridges, when we come to the bridges, I have a solution should, should it n-need some repair..."
"What about all the monsters you mentioned--I can still fight if need be." She turns lightly as to hide her sling.
-
"Hm? But didn't you injure your arm, Ms. Aya?" Pema asked while she gently groomed Epee's fur.
-
"Aya....wouldn't you make the injury worse? Your arm isn't quite healed yet." Sakura stated.
-
"It's fine--really. I fought off that creepy ninja with one hand--sorta. Also I'm going a little crazy here, the professor won't let me do anything!" Aya says with a grumble.
-
"Aya I understand your frustration but you need to calm down and rest your injury." Calien stated "I have heard many a story of soldiers risking permanent injury and death trying to over strain themselves. It's one of the reasons my race is going extinct. It's not pretty and none of us want that to happen to you. So please for the time being just rest your arm."
"Besides, you can count on us to cover you can't you?" Sakura told her "How many times do we have to tell you that you don't have to do everything by yourself?"
-
"Yeah, we have your back!" Pema smiled.
-
Aya sighs "Of course I do but I hate just sitting here, that ninja could be anywhere!"
((Just a case of Cabin fever! 8D ))
-
"Mm-hm, I kind of understand what she's talking about," Pema nodded, "I hate staying still, too. But... you just have to trust us and be patient, Ms. Aya. I don't want you to get hurt."
She turned to Sakura, "Ms. Sakura helped me understand that. Oh, and Salem, too!" She said happily.
-
((More like Stuck In Car Fever.))
The Professor only half-heard what everyone was talking about, as his mind was elsewhere. He and his master didn't install any sort of windshield on their carriage, and thus the rain was beginning to spatter his lap. He moved his maps out of the way and half-folded them, sticking them in his cloak so that he could peek at them when needed.
-
"Alright alright, I'll be good." Aya sits back down.
The carriage/car manage to navigate the old roads pretty well with only a few terrifying moments as the road occasionally gives out. Eventually they do make it to first of three old bridges and as the professor feared it had been damaged by landslides caused by the constant mining.
-
"Hmm... not sure driving over this is such a good idea," Fxeni states as he examines the bridge from its edge.
-
"Oh, no, no, no, not in this state, not in this state, no, no, no..."
The Professor stowed his maps and climbed out in order to better survey the damage. The bridge crossed a large creek, which carriages and wagons had driven through prior to the construction; at least according to his notes and maps. One of his older maps didn't show the bridge at all, but showed the road.
Poking around in the brush, he found a large stick and walked around the bridge and down to the water's edge, where he lifted his robes with one hand and waded into the cold water. Using the stick, he checked the depth, waded farther into the creek, checked the depth again at a different point, and then finally sloshed back to shore.
"It's quite shallow, quite shallow. The landslides dammed it, yes? We could drive through it, but, but a path, a new path would need to be cleared."
-
(So what exactly does that mean?)
-
((That they could drive down the slope and through the creek to reach the other side, because the water is shallow.))
-
"Okay then let's do that." Calien nodded as he motioned the Professor to get in so je could drive through.
"Epee I know you don't like water but you're fast so it would only be for a moment okay?" Sakura told the Rapidash. After a bit of hesitation Epee galloped into the water and got to the other side.
(Because Rapidashes are badasses?)
-
As the carriage chugged off the road and into the tall grass, it slowed as its wheels encountered thick underbrush and soft ground. The slope to the creek was relatively free of any choking weeds, but it was a noticeable sandbar. The carriage's heavy chassis sank into the soft riverbank and it slowed to a complete halt in the muddy water.
The other side of the bridge didn't offer a better path, as it was a rocky pile of boulders and old logs, with trees overhanging the water. Their only feasible route was the sandbar, and the Professor had miscalculated how soft the ground actually was.
The back wheels rotated impotently in the thick, sandy mud, and the rear of the carriage sank even deeper with each attempt to force it out of the mud flats. It was stuck, and the increasing rain was not helping matters.
-
"....Looks like we need to wait for better conditions." Calien sighed.
-
Aya braced herself on the handrail as they came to a stop. "Oh great the rain is getting worse too!"
Meanwhile high above on the cliff a figure watches the group get themselves stuck in the mud, Doll Master stood casually under a umbrella held by one of her doll constructs. She giggles while adjusting her mask. "Well-well-well---looks like our little "heros" have gotten themselves stuck! Be a dear and help them loose." She extends her arm slightly and a large Golem doll raises it's fist above his head and brings them down hard on the mountain cliff over and over.
It's not long before the rain, and the punches begin to disturb the already unstable mountain side, the group barely have a chance to look up before they notice a avalanche heading their way, a torrent of mud,rock and water. The group realize they have two options, jump across the bridge or slide down the cliff and hope they can out race the avalanche. Either way there is no time to move the car, merely grab their gear as fast as they can.
(Interesting to see how you all react to this. And yes I'm evil. 8D )
-
(So what do you guys want to do, I think Epee would be able to do either.)
-
The Professor climbed through the carriage and grabbed his bag. Crawling back behind Calien, he grabbed the other's arm and pulled him along. He would have grabbed Aya's arm, but he didn't want to risk hurting her, so he motioned excitedly. "Come, come, come!"
Splashing down into the water, he slogged through it and scrambled toward the bridge, pulling himself up onto some of its fallen pylons. Carefully, but quickly, he worked his way across the creek, his toes gripping the wet wood while his shod left foot slipped a few times on its slimy surface.
-
Aya hopped down herself, hurrying to keep up while the creek made a point to try and trip her up. As the professor began to stumble she used her good arm to keep him steady. "G-Go, I got you!" she yelled digging her feet into the mud to steady herself as the noise grew louder.
-
"Wouldn't it be better if I carried you?" Calien asked the Prof as he only barely managed to get his supplies at the Prof's pulling while Epee once again crossed the body of water.
-
Pema pointed her finger forward, "Now, Salem! Fly like the wiiiiiind!"
"You could've just asked me normally..." Salem groaned as he hovered.
"Ms. Sakura, the staff may not seem that long at a glance, but it can hold two people," Pema motioned to Salem, as she latched onto the front of the staff, "Hold on tight to the end of the staff, and Salem should be able to float us across that creek thing."
(Cheating, maybe? 8D)
-
"Epee make it across!" Sakura shouted as she grabbed the staff.
Yin in the meantime carried Bianca across the creek with careful foot work.
-
"Wouldn't it be better if I carried you?" Calien asked the Prof as he only barely managed to get his supplies at the Prof's pulling while Epee once again crossed the body of water.
The Professor gave a meek nod as he realized his lame leg was slowing him down considerably. Thankfully, his small size made for an easier carry.
-
"Alley Oop!" Calien said as he scooped up the Prof in a piggy back position and continued crossing the creek.
(I never thought he would say Alley Oop.....)
-
(I'm glad he did. 8D)
-
(Calien, star quarterback and expert at carrying people who can't keep up.)
-
Aya is able to pull herself up onto the other side outside the avalanche's range. lying on her back for a moment cold and soaked she suddenly sat up to make sure the others had managed to cross safely. However something suddenly caught her attention, the sound of footsteps; from behind her up the path. "Huh?"
-
(Monster, creepy Doll lady, Dwarf?)
-
"Humans. I should have known." the tall figure standing behind them said. "Surround them. They will answer for this atrocity!"
-
"Daddy look out!" Sakura cried as whatever was coming for them started to surround them.
-
Aya extends her good arm to summon her weapon, but decides against it; as she wasn't certain she could fend off a full squad of armored warriors at once in her current state, she instead tightens the arm brace and climbs to her feet. "W-who are you?" she inquires.
-
The Professor climbed off of Calien and got into a defensive posture. He removed his hood to have a better look at the newcomers. "Dwarves!"
-
"What do mean we cause this atrocity?" Calien said as he got out his Chain Sickle "What did we cause, we were only caught in a land slide!"
The Professor climbed off of Calien and got into a defensive posture. He removed his hood to have a better look at the newcomers. "Dwarves!"
"What are Dwarves?!" Sakura shouted as her nor her father ever heard of them.
-
The tall figure raised his sledgehammer and addressed the question. "THIS is who I am. And you seem to not understand the situation you're currently in, human. You are asking questions, when you all will be the ones answering ours very shortly. TAKE THEM INTO CUSTODY. My father will want to have a word with this lot!"
-
Calien saw that he would not win this match if he fought and decided to surrender and put his hands up.
"Very well....." Calien sighed "We'll agree to your terms, we wish not to cause trouble."
"Please don't hurt them!" Sakura shouted "We'll follow you!"
-
"Oh, oh, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, dear, dear..." The Professor was flustered as he was nabbed by one of the guards; even a dwarven guard overtook his size by at least a couple inches.
-
((Not sure anyone of us could take the whole group of dwarves.))
Aya grimaces slightly as one dwarf grabs her roughly by the arm, luckily he's not cruel enough to grab the injured one. She glances toward their leader, curious as to why he was so much taller than the others; although she admits she had never seen a dwarf before.
"W-we meant no harm." She says to their leader.
-
(Yeah Calien just surrendered.)
-
"Silence worm. That will be for my father to decide!" the tall figure said while leading them through the caves.
-
A guard apprehended Pema and confiscated her staff.
"No! Salem!" She reached for him, although she couldn't do much with the burly guard lifting her up to hold her back. Pema kicked her legs about wildly, "N-No, you can't take him!"
"Pema! Don't worry about me. It's going to be alright. It isn't over until it's over, right? I won't be gone for long, I promise!" Salem yelled back.
Pema calmed down a bit, "Salem... o-okay... it's a promise!"
-
Sakura was scared for everyone and hoped that these men would listen to reason. Calien in the mean time held his daughter's shoulder to help her calm down, though he couldn't help to be nervous too.
Sakura also held Pema's hand to keep them both calm.
-
As he limped along, the Professor overcame his anxiety enough to observe the passage. He muttered his observations to himself as he committed them to memory for his notes later. He had only read about the Dwarves of the Jagged Peaks, as he hadn't ventured outside of the town.
Though, there was one thing that perplexed him; the Order barred their entry into the mine passage. Were the dwarves aware of this?
"If, if, if I m-may ask... You, you, you are aware of the... Order's presence at the mountain pass, yes?"
-
"I don't think they give a damn about the Order Prof." Calien muttered.
-
"The Order?" the tall figure responded with vitriol in his voice. "You will not speak of them again in my presence, verminous one! In fact, you will not speak at all until we arrive at the great hall. IS THAT CLEAR?" he spoke aloud with a booming voice that was furious with anger.
-
"At least someone doesn't like the Order either." Sakura thought and hoped they can use that to their advantage.
-
"I, I, I d-don't understand... The Order is good, we help the poor... They, they took me in, my master took me in when, when no one else would..." The Professor shook his head and continued to babble about what he believed the Order to be. He didn't understand the hate that outsiders harbored to it, as all he saw were the good things they did.
-
"Poor Prof has Stockholm Syndrome, he's the biggest victim of the Order." Calien thought "We need to get these folks to understand that."
-
The tall figure stopped for a moment, raised his hand, and slapped The Professor across the face and into the rocky wall. "You may want to control your party member until we get to the great hall. If he continues his annoying babble, I may give the troll more than just a simple love tap!"
He then began to move forward toward the hall.
-
(NOOOOOOO PROF)
-
"We'll try....the poor Prof has suffered heavily from living with the Order." Calien stated as he picked him up "The poor guy was brainwashed by them, they tourtured him constantly and he's covered in lashes too....a shame too, this man is one of the kindest I know and one of the most brilliant minds I've seen. But the Order....the Order has all but broken him."
-
Now knowing full well to keep his fool mouth shut, the Professor kept his gaze on the ground and followed silently.
-
(Is Toshi still airborne, or with the others right now?)
-
(Captured by the dwarves like the rest of us, she was probably riding in the horseless carriage with Calien and the others besides Sakura, Pema and Fexni.)
-
(Right...)
Blankly following silently with the others with her hands tied, in a way that avoids her from forming hand signs; from the spiritual realm, Grifter seems annoyed that Toshi did nothing when the conditions were obviously in her favor.
Grifter - "Hey, what gives!?" the grumpy Pidgeot spirit spoke, "How can you possibly concede so easily to these weaklings?" although Toshi can hear him clearly, which the guards could not, she remained silent as Grifter continued to rant on... "And it's raining for crying out loud. You could of easily flood this town in a single jutsu." ...knowing the full extent of her powers in wet weather, she thought not do anything drastic...
Toshi - "These people are my friends..." she suddenly spoke.
Grifter - "Yeah... what!?" he was suddenly shocked at Toshi's response.
Random Guard - "Hey you there! No backtalk, ya hear." He suddenly scolded her, "Just because ye half elven doesn't mean we're on the same side as ye."
(I don't know. I feel like Toshi would know these dwarves, as allies to her elven breathren. And yes it is possible that Toshi, in this kind of weather could of easily annihilated the lot if she did went out of her way to pull out her big guns.)
-
(Since when did Dwarves like Elves? Dwarves always hate elves!)
-
The Professor looked back at Toshi and Grifter and shook his head slowly, his mouth a thin line. He wanted to tell them to be silent, but was too afraid to speak, and thus hoped his bruised face would speak for him.
((Last I checked, dwarves and elves don't get along...))
-
(That's why the trope exists!
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ElvesVersusDwarves?from=Main.ElvesVsDwarves (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ElvesVersusDwarves?from=Main.ElvesVsDwarves))
-
(I'm practically taking this out of LotR lore, where they use to be allies, but the bond they resently had was eventually broken. Which in turn causes them to hate elves. Besides if they did liked elves they would of probably not tie up Toshi with the rest of the crew. She on the other hand still believe they're allies, though.)
-
(Oh okay so it's Toshi being out of touch again. That makes much more sense.)
-
(Not sure if the Cheval would survive or not... it probably wouldn't get stuck. Not that it would live much longer, but I would've preferred that it went out in a blaze of GBD glory 8D)
-
(It didn't have wheels right? So I'm incline to say the Dwarves took it.)
-
(Agreed, I imagine you'd have been able to save the Cheval.))
-
(Save it for now... Only to blaze of GBD glory later. 8D)
-
(I mean come on if a Rapidash can cross a creek the Cheval certainly could. In the end everyone was captured by the Dwarves, including Yin and Bianca.)
[spoiler]May Hylia have mercy on their souls if they hurt the Cucoo.[/spoiler]
-
((Let's say the Dwarves took it. Separate group of Dwarves secreted it away so that their new captives couldn't try and grab it. Otherwise, Fxeni could've just hopped on it and zoomed away while popping a wheelie and screaming, "Hahahaha SUCKERRRRRRRS!"))
-
((I don't know that sounds amazing. 8D ))
-
(I doubt Fxeni would abandon his friends....especially since Iron Gate is the only place that is close by and mostly everyone hates the group now. Except for the ones who were genuinely grateful for them saving them, which would be hard to find since no one wants to get on the Order's bad side.)
-
((And speaking of the Order, don't speak of it unless you want to get backhanded across the room.))
-
(Even if it's to express dislike of them? In fact Calien actually outright explained that the Order drove the Prof insane to Dwarf PB despite his insistence that everyone shut up.)
-
((I think in general they don't want us talking. XD PB can describe his home for this, don't want to step on his toes for the Dwarf lore.))
-
(Yeah we'll see what he does.)
-
Fxeni trudged along quietly next to the group. He glanced over at the Dwarves dragging the Cheval along as best as they could.
Well, they're certainly strong... good to know, Fxeni thought to himself as examined them. They were struggling only a tiny bit, despite the Cheval's weight. He sighed as he turned his gaze back to the road ahead.
-
(Hey I just thought of something, would they take the carriage too?)
-
(Carrige was washed away likely.))
-
(You would think that thing would be heavier since it's Steam Punk.)
-
(Well it was an avalanche.)
-
(I guess, oh well worth a shot.)
-
As they finally exited the caves, the tall figure lead them into the Great Hall of Gimrak. The columns were flawlessly constructed and the hall bustled with many a dwarf.
"Make way! MAKE WAY!" one of the dwarves said. "OPEN THE DOORS! PRISONERS TO SPEAK WITH KING PYRITECRUSHER!"
As the doors opened, the party glanced upon a throne carved and chiseled into the very walls. It was adorned with precious jewels and gems. Sitting upon throne was the King. "ALL HAIL KING EACHAN PYRITECRUSHER, DWARF KING OF GIMRAK!" the tall figure said.
"Prisoners, Riagan?" the king said boisterously. "I was expecting Mythril!!"
The King laughed, as did the rest of the dwarves around him.
"There was an avalanche near the Western Mine, father. We believe these creatures caused the cave-in, costing us countless hours and manpower!" Riagan said while lowering his hammer.
"Hmmmm 'tis a serious accusation, son! Who shall speak for the accused?" the King asked the prisoners.
-
"I shall your highness." Calien said as he stepped forward with a bow of respect. "We have nothing to hide, and you may ask anything you wish of us."
-
"First and foremost, what are you doing on this mountain?" the king asked.
-
"We merely wanted to make our way to Skull Cove." Calien spoke "It is of utmost importance that we do so, as hard as it may be to believe the world is in grave danger. A man known as White Beard stole the sacred Omni Gem which was created by the Queen from the floating city and as a result the world is being thrown out of balance.
I saw it first hand as the forest I called home was corrupted by this unbalance and some of the creatures succumbed to the chaos. It would have gotten worse had we not been able to purify the chaos thanks to our compatriot Aya there as well as the combined forces of our mana.
However it seems this White Beard is also after Aya herself, these.....I am not sure what to make of them myself really but these beings known as Masters were sent to attack us and most likely capture Aya. They were created by a man known as Alberto the Wily and I believe that he is connected to White Beard because he has knowledge of the Precursors, which would be needed to even attempt to make off with the Omni Gem in the first place. We would not even know this without the Proffessor over there.
However thanks to the attack the way we were originally going was blocked off by the Order so we were forced to take the other road. It was going well at first until the Prof's invention we were using to transport the lot of us got stuck in the terrain and before we could do anything the avalance occured and washed it away. And then your son found us and now we're here."
-
The Professor cowered a bit at the mention of his name, and he put his hood over his head. Fumbling in his pockets, he pulled out a rosary and started thumbing the beads one by one while muttering a prayer under his breath.
-
"The Order, huh? I should have known they were involved in this." the King stated. "It's bad enough we have to share the mining and riches of this mountain with those vermin."
"But father, how do we not know they aren't working for the Order?" Riagan said angrily. "This wouldn't be the first time they've tried to poke their business into our territory!"
"My son Riagan brings up a valid point! What proof do you have that you are being sincere with us, huh?" the King asked. "How can we trust you?"
-
"The Order despise us sir, and, to a lesser extent, for most of us the feeling is quite mutual." Calien said as he unwrapped his bandana and revealed his ears to the surprise of Sakura "During the attack on Iron Gate I healed as many people as I could, whether they be with the Order or not. As a Cleric of sorts I have no right to discriminate those who need help but even then I would have helped anyway since I believe it is just to do so as I would expect my fellow man to do the same.
The Order decided to brand me, Toshi and the Prof, who was part of the Order until the incident, as demons in order to continue their corrupt hold on the city. The also branded that little girl and my childhood friend, who is not present, as Witches since the Order made Magic forbidden, our Absol a cursed beast due to those misaimed rumors of Absols causing disasters, and Fxeni and Aya over there were heretics with Fxeni also accused of being an evil Warlock. Even my own daughter was called a Witch by them even when she and Pema put out the fires while Order didn't so much as lift a finger to do anything. So as you can see, we are not friends with the Order and the Order are not friends with us.
To make matters worse when the Prof was with the Order they used and abused him greatly keeping the benefits of his talents to themselves while treating him like a lesser man. They treated him with distain and punished him greatly which as I mentioned before caused him to become slightly insane. It's a classic case of Stockholme Syndrome I'm afraid.
I wish I could have done something, but I don't have the power to do so, and the Order's grip is too deep for only us to ungrip especially with the pressing matters at hand."
-
"Interesting. Is this one's story true?" the King asked the rest of the party. "Speak up, the lot of you!"
(Wanna hear more from the rest of the party before continuing on)
-
The Professor finally made an attempt to say something other than his muttering. He nodded, then shook his head, then nodded again. "The Order, the Order, they m-make mistakes, yes, they make mistakes. But, but, but, the Order is good! We, we, we help! My work, my work, you see, my work, it b-benefits the Order, but, but, but they don't, they don't want me to, they don't want me to give it, to give it to the townsfolk. I've, I've, I've sinned against the Order, and, and, and they punished me, but, but, but I try, I try to do good! My work, my master's work, my work and study, my work and study, I want to help others with my work, my work."
He cowered even lower, closing his eyes and waiting to be struck again.
-
(I'll just post Sakura's bit here.)
"Of course it's true!" Sakura shouted "The Order are a bunch of cowardly ungrateful racist dumbasses! They may help the poor and helped establish trade to help Iron Gate when it was struggling like the Prof keeps saying but they just want to keep the city dependent on them forever!
Hell if they didn't forbid Magic and Magitek, even though they take advantage of the Prof despite the fact they never liked him, then maybe the city wouldn't be in the shape it is right now, but it is because no one can defend themselves! So yes I really don't like those assholes!"
"......My apologies I honestly have no idea where she learned such language." Calien sighed though he had a feeling she heard it from the town, Toshi or possibly even Farah who had taken up to cussing as well.
(Out of character or just an extension of vocabulary. 8D)
-
"... Perhaps I wouldn't have said it so colourfully, but I am inclined to agree," Fxeni stated calmly.
-
"Sorry." Sakura sighed "I'm just so frustrated about the entire thing, I honestly can't understand why those people can be so mean and restricting to everyone. I guess my frustration got the better of me."
-
Aya fumbled with the pendant around her neck, the true form of her weapon. She remembered it had the same symbols on the walls of the floating city and would be the only proof she could offer of her identity.
"I can't prove anything with words alone but--maybe this will be enough?" She hands the pendant to the guard still holding her arm to show the king. The pendant from a glance didn't match anything the Dwarves could make, it was neither iron nor mythril. It did however match the unknown metals from the rare precursor ruin they had dug up over the years. While anyone could have found such a pendand her attire did support her claims, it's style was like nothing humans they had encountered would ever wear. However unless they allowed her to draw it's magic out, something only a precursor could do there was still no way to confirm her claims.
-
(Hey I have a question is it Rye-a-gan or Ree-a-gan?)
-
The King grabbed the pendant and examined it closely. He got up from his throne and walked towards the prisoners while taking everything they had said under consideration. He looked at the nervous tiny troll-ish creature and examined his face, which was clearly bruised.
"GUARDS!" the King yelled out. "Release the prisoners. They are welcome in the Great Halls of Gimrak."
The Guards released the party as the King walked over to Aya and gave her back her pendant. "Here you are. Such a treasure should be guarded closely."
-
"I thank you for your fair judgement your highness." Calien bowed.
Sakura sighed in relief as she looked over to Riagan curious to see what was his reaction to his father's decision.
-
The Professor visibly calmed enough to stop cowering, but he kept his hood up and he slinked behind the party in order to keep a respectable distance. He fell silent again, watching the Dwarves closely.
-
Calien looked over to the Professor noticing that he was still very uncomfortable by this lot.
"Your Highness my very small compatriot here has a bit of a nasty bruise and it seems to be making him very uncomfortable." Calien explained "Would it be okay if I treat it right now?"
-
The King grabbed the pendant and examined it closely. He got up from his throne and walked towards the prisoners while taking everything they had said under consideration. He looked at the nervous tiny troll-ish creature and examined his face, which was clearly bruised.
"GUARDS!" the King yelled out. "Release the prisoners. They are welcome in the Great Halls of Gimrak."
The Guards released the party as the King walked over to Aya and gave her back her pendant. "Here you are. Such a treasure should be guarded closely."
Aya nodded a little surprised by his sudden shift in mood and tone. "Y-yes your majesty." She responded bowing a little out of respect.
-
The guard that confiscated Pema's staff returned it back to her.
"SALEM!" Pema hugged him tight, "Thank the heavens, I was so worried..."
"See? Just like I promised, right? I told you I wouldn't be gone long," Salem exclaimed with a chuckle.
"You dummy..." She continued to embrace him, her face lit up with joy.
-
(Peam is tsun towards Salem. A talking staff. bVd)
-
(I got Dere over that actually.)
-
(This... this went to a weird place.)
-
(Yeah.....it did.)
-
With his bag returned to him, the Professor dug through it for a poultice with which to apply to his face. It wasn't so much that the bruise itself bothered him, but it was something to take his mind off of their previous predicament.
-
"Guess I'll have to talk to him later." Calien thought.
-
(This... this went to a weird place.)
(Yeah.....it did.)
(I'LL BE HERE ALL DAY 8D)
-
"Thank you for your hospitality, sir," Fxeni said with a slight bow.
-
(And there was much
rejoicing bowing.)
-
*Psst* "Salem, Salem, everyone is bowing! We should bow, too!" Pema whispered to him.
"Well, I don't think that's really necess-"
Pema bowed and pointed the staff at the floor, causing Salem to "bow", in a way.
He sighed.
-
Calien softly snickered at Pema's gesture before he looked to his daughter who seemed to be glancing at Riagan.
-
Realizing that he was the only one who didn't bow, the Professor put his supplies away and got down on his hands and knees and bowed deeply, his hood flopping over his face half-obscured by a hastily-applied poultice.
"Much, much, much humble apologies. I admit ignorance, ignorance to your plight and, and, and I ask, I ask for forgiveness on b-behalf of the Order..."
-
Calien sighed and hoped the King would understanding, or Queen forbid Riagan doesn't throtle him from across the room.
-
"Alright alright. Enough bowing. You are guests here in Gimrak." the King remarked. "And you seem to be on unfriendly terms with the Order. Well, most of you anyway!" he said while looking at the Professor with pity in his eyes.
"I am sorry for the way you have been treated by my kin. To make amends for this.... A FEAST IS IN ORDER!" the King yelled out as the dwarves cheered aloud.
-
"Sounds good to me, I've haven't much to eat since I had to learn how to drive a vechicle that practically no one has driven before." Calien nodded.
"Walking through the caves made me forget I was hungry to be honest." Sakura giggled as she awaited Pema's inevitable exaggerated joy.
-
Pema completely froze in place, "S... Salem?"
"Yes, Pema?"
"I can't feel my legs... Is this normal...?" She sounded as if she was in a trance.
"... Um..."
"D-Did... Did you hear what that nice man said...? Just now? With his mouth words?" Her eyes grew wide, her body vibrating in an odd manner.
"God have mercy on us all," Salem muttered, "Yes, I heard h-"
Pema bounced happily around the group, "FEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAASSSSSSSTTT!!"
She joined hands with one of the dwarves and jumped in place.
-
Sakura giggled even louder and Calien was trying everything he could to contain himself, and failing spectacularly.
-
(... Darn it. I want to pinch Peam's cheeks so badly now. SO DARN CUTE)
-
The Professor had gotten up from his bow and was limping behind the others in a slow pace, surveying the other Dwarves. He felt unwelcome due to his affiliation with the Order; an affiliation he was not yet ready to denounce despite of all the things he had learned about it, and the disdain and derision that others regarded him with. He couldn't release his own views of the Order. The outsiders didn't see what he saw.
-
"While we are waiting, please tell me more of the outside world." the King asked the party. "Being a King means I don't get to leave the throne that often. Don't worry though, I still know how to throw a great party!"
King Pyritecrusher and his fellow dwarves laughed aloud. Riagan remained quiet and somewhat apprehensive.
-
After recovering from her giggling fit Sakura noticed that Riagan was still unusually quiet and decided to approach him.
"Mr. Riagan sir....are you okay?" Sakura asked him.
-
"I am fine. If you'll excuse me!" Riagan said as he walked away. The King glanced at his son as he did.
(Riagan will be back later.)
-
Sakura looked at him as he left as she knew he was lying, however she knew she couldn't help him if he wasn't ready so she decided to keep going to get some dinner.
Calien wondered about Riagan himself, especially since Sakura seems to have been taking an interest in him. He decided not to worry about that now and turned to the King.
"I admit I know the feeling, my daughter and I have been living in the forest for 16 years cut off from society, quite a bit has changed. I.....also admit due to that situation I have never seen nor heard of Dwarves until today, and my daughter hasn't either." Calien stated sheepishly "Oh and forgive me I realize haven't even introduced myself or my daughter. I'm Calien and her name is Sakura."
-
Following the party to a grand banquet hall, the Professor found a corner and went to it. With his back against the wall, he was able to keep a better watch on the other Dwarves without worry of any of them sneaking up behind him. His hood was still up and he slid to a seat as he watched silently.
He was waiting for the others to find their seats before he would join them, as he didn't want to be exposed to the crowd.
-
Feeling relief that the dwarves understood their side of allegiance, she walked along to join the feast with the others. Watching the Professor's ever paranoia get the better of him. Toshi let's out a sigh...
Toshi - "Good grief." she mutters, before walking over to the professor, taking a seat near him, "Come on now, Professor. There's no need to be so... shy." she helps him to the table, "You must be hungry from all the trauma you've been going through."
"If I ever get the chance. I'm going to make the Order suffer a pain worst than death itself. This has got to stop." the loathe-some thoughts cross her mind.
(I don't know. I feel like I'm either trying to make Toshi to caring around the Prof., or it sounds like I'm trying ship the two. :|)
-
(Looks like the former to me.)
-
(Agreed.)
-
Aya followed along with the others although she doesn't speak up, mostly due to her own ignorance to the outside world.
-
The Professor sat quietly, his hood still up. His shoulders were hunched and his head was low as he tried to make himself small and unnoticeable. He was hungry, but he was far too uneasy with what was going on around him.
A drink was placed in front of him, but he didn't touch the frothy mug.
-
As the feast began and food was had by all Aya came up to the professor and Toshi, she had a plate of various dwarven cuisine. "Professor, you should eat." She places it down infront of him and joins the two. "I'm not sure what "chips" are but I was told they are tasty." Aya says with a friendly smile.
((Not potato chips but rather fries. Mostly a reference to the hobbit movies. ))
-
(Haha, I don't know if Chips were a Dwarf specialty, but hey why not XD)
"Aye. Eat please." The King said. "And allow me to apologize for my son, Riagan. He is very protective of our dwarf brethren and our culture!"
-
"I see, it was very evident in the way he talked. I can understand why he was so angry at us when he thought we caused that Avalanche." Calien nodded.
"Do you know where he was going and why?" Sakura asked "I admit...I'm sort of worried about him."
-
((The dwarves in the hobbit movie made a reference to liking them so I though why not. XD ))
-
The Professor took a few timid bites, but didn't relax. He kept a close watch on the other Dwarves. He wore the robes of the Order, the insignia of the Order, and stank of their practices. He was unwelcome and he knew it.
-
"....Sir I think there's a deeper problem than just Riagan's actions towards him, if you know what I mean." Calien stated.
-
"Don't worry they won't try to hit you again, seems like we're welcome now." She sits next to the professor and tries to stretch her arm that had improved quite a bit thanks to his healing mixes and some magical healing ontop.
-
"Well unless you're blind, you can see by his height that Riagan is not an actual dwarf!" the King said before drinking some beer. "Plus he doesn't quite have our good looks!"
The other dwarves erupted with laughter.
"He is a human, like some of ye. He was crying and alone when my party and I found him near the entrance to the mine. We do not know what happened, but it looked like a struggle of sorts took place. There was blood splattered across the mountain side, along with some tattered rags that had The Order's insignia on it. We do not know if his parents were members of The Order or killed by them. Either way, I decided to take care of the lad and raise him as my son."
-
"Oh no....poor Riagan." Sakura said looking down.
"I see.....how old was he at the time?" Calien asked "Does he remember anything?"
-
"He was just a baby when we found him." the King replied.
-
"I see....." Calien stated.
".......Could that have happened to me as well?" Sakura muttered.
(And we all know what happened in Wilypocalypse.)
-
Pema gazed at the absolutely staggering spread of food before her.
"For the first time ever... I don't even know where to start..." Her eyes darted back and forth between the incredibly varied selections.
"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe?" Salem exclaimed, half-jokingly.
Pema nodded, her stomach nodding even faster, "Yeah, that could work! Okay! Eeny, meeny, miny... ALL OF IT!"
Her hands launched at the stacks of meat and bread, like small, dainty missles. Some food she placed onto her plate, others were shoved into her mouth immediately.
One of the Dwarves near her noticed her vigor and began to eagerly stuff his face with food, almost as if he was competing with her.
-
((Haha Eating contest? I'm all for that XD))
-
((I don't know what happened in Wilypocalypse.))
The Professor took a few more bites and actually partook in his drink, finding it to be a strong ale with fruity undertones, similar to the brews the Order had concocted in their basement distilleries.
After a moment, he looked to Aya, his voice low. "I wear, I wear the insignia of the Order. They, they, they might not strike m-me again, but, but, but that's, that's not, that's not a concern. Here, here among the Dwarves, I am a pariah. I am a representative of the Order, and I ask their forgiveness, but, but, but... I, I, I d-don't think, I don't think that they, that they understand."
-
(Calien is dead and thus Sakura was raised by Lucarios. Her mom died in childbirth.)
-
King Pyritecrusher saw the eating contest between Pema and the dwarf across the table from her and began to cheer them on!
"AYE. LET'S SEE WHAT YE GOT!!" The King shouted out. "EAT. EAT. EAT. EAT. EAT. EAT" he cheered as the other dwarves joined in!
-
"Oh boy, I think the King has a very short attention span." Calien thought as he noticed he ignored the Prof's plight before he looks at the eating contest and cracked wry grin. "My money is on Pema."
-
"You don't need to apologize for anything, what ever the order may or may have no done isn't really on your hands is it? Besides I doubt whatever bad done by the order represents the majority right? The others got so worked up but I can't believe everyone there was doing wrong. You healed my arm and got us this far; I don't know about the others but I'm thankfully, I certainly don't hate the ones like you in the order."
She smiles placing a hand on his shoulder gently to raise his spirits.
-
Sakura listened to Aya and thought about what she said. She did have a point, there may have been some people in the Order just like the Prof, but she didn't believe that the majority of them were like the Prof. If the Order was the one who started to spread the rumors of her father being a demon and everyone else being bad to a degree then a majority must have agreed to do it.
However there is a small hope she hadn't thought of until Aya brought it up, if the minority in the Order who were like the Prof didn't agree to what was done there may be hope the Order may someday reform. Perhaps eventually the Order as a whole could be Good, but at the moment they were not Good yet.
-
The Professor nodded slowly and fell quiet as he ate. He couldn't hear very well in the crowded dining hall and had only caught parts of what Aya had said. Rather than misinterpreting anything, he chose to just nod in acknowledgement.
-
"Guess it may have been too loud for the Prof to hear due to his bad hearing." Sakura thought due to the lack of response.
She looked over to her father who was enjoying watching the eating contest. With a shrug Sakura decided to join in the cheering.
"COME ON PEMA PROVE THAT YOUR STOMACH IS LIKE THE ENDLESS EXPANSE OF THE NIGHT SKY, I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!" Sakura cheered.
-
His attention diverted by Sakura's yell, the Professor looked to Pema and her personal eating contest. It was the revelry surrounding the eating contest that compounded his lousy hearing, as he was completely unable to discern individual voices. At this point, someone would have to speak directly into his ear for him to hear anything with any clarity.
Finally starting to relax, he ate some more and drank a long swallow of his ale. He wanted to cheer Pema on, but didn't want to draw attention to himself.
-
Feeling satisfied that the Professor is now relaxed and settled in, she began finishing her short meal, before going through her mug of beer, while observing quietly at the feasting contest Pema and her dwarf competitor are having.
Toshi - "Hmm... looks like it could go either way." before taking another sip from her mug, "But seeing as how Pema's doing, I think she'll manage."
Grifter - "Naah... I bet the dwarven lad'll win." The pokéspirit appears, sort of placing his bets on the competition, "Pema may be young, but I know the old fella's got his game on."
(I needed someone to cheer on the dwarf. Can't let the cheering go one sided.)
-
"I don't know Grifter for a while now I've been considering hunting 2 bears a day for food. One bear for Pema and another bear for the rest of us." Calien laughed. "But come to think about it what would I do with all that fur? I guess I could make capes for everyone, but what would I do after that.....guess I can make bear dresses for the ladies.....but after that.....perhaps blankets?"
"Oh Daddy." Sakura smiled despite herself as her dad rambled on with the conflict of having so much left over bear fur.
-
"Huh," Salem stated with surprise, "Looks like you have your own personal cheering section."
Pema mowed down a rack of lamb, followed by chugging down water, making digestion easier, "Yeah! I can feel everyone's energy, elevating me to amazing heights!" She exclaimed dramatically.
"Um, I think that's really pushing it, Pema... But anyway, you shouldn't strain yourself too much. Even you're not immune to stomach aches... or worse," He warned.
"Ha ha ha, foolish Salem!" Pema laughed an incredibly fake laugh, "What doesn't kill me only makes me stronger!"
"... Is that the context you're really going for?"
"Come on, man, YOU GOT THIS! Go, go, go!" One of the Dwarves cheered on his fellow brethren, "Let them see why you're called Zilpher the Insatiable!"
"Mmmfrrrrb! MMMFRRBM!" Zilpher cried out, his mouth filled with mutton.
"I don't know what you said, but I love your enthusiasm, pal!" He patted him on the back.
One Dwarf looked at Pema, who was stuffing chicken down her mouth with frightening intensity, "Is that tiny creature really a human? How can such a small being fit that much food?!"
"She's a curious one, that's for sure," Another Dwarf rubbed his beard, astonished at this gluttonous display.
Pema finished off three plates of food, and was about to grab a fifth drumstick when something caught her eye; a roasted duck, displayed elegantly on a plate, complete with decorative garnish.
"I see... so you've summoned me here today, have you, feathered one?" Pema gazed at the roasted duck, speaking in a hushed tone, "I accept!"
She inhaled and exhaled deeply, "In... my..." she inched her hands closer and closer to the poor duck that was going to be devoured, "BELLY!" Her hands launched towards it.
-
"Oh yeah.....she's definitely going to get a stomach ache." Sakura sighed and shook her head as she watched Pema devour the duck "Might need to take a walk with her if possible."
"I'm still amazed she can eat so much though, could it be that since her Mana is so huge and she uses so much that she has to eat that much to replenish it?" Calien pondered.
"That would make sense......I also think somewhere down the line one of her ancestors could have been something like these Dwarves." Sakura joked.
"Also quite possible, she certainly is short enough." Calien smiled and nodded.
"Though she is only 12, who knows she might end up taller than me someday." Sakura stated.
"That's definitely a possibility since you are kind of short too, especially for our race...even by human standards as well to be honest." Calien pointed out.
"Why do you have to remind me of that." Sakura sighed.
"Then again your grandmother is shorter than you last I remembered so that might explain a few things. I think you got it from your mother's side too to be honest.....she was pretty small too." Calien said wistfully.
"Is that so....." Sakura said as she looked at her father. She wondered if Riagan's story brought up some bad memories too, despite how joyous the kingdom of Dwarves was.
-
Just finishing her liquor, Toshi seemed a bit worried over Pema's health.
Toshi - "Hey, Prof. Got any indigestion remedies on you?" she poked a little on the Professor's shoulder to get his attention, "Not to be worried or anything, but I think Pema might need something in case she's unable to stomach all that food."
-
Fxeni looks around at everyone cheering away. Shaking his head, he reaches for more food and quietly eats in peace.
-
It took a moment, but the Professor finally figured out what Toshi had said. "Oh! Oh, oh, oh, yes, yes, I do, I do."
He dug around in his bag and produced a couple smaller bags. One of the bags contained small cubes of chalk and the other small sticks of compressed clay.
"The taste, the taste, I'm afraid, can be rather... bland. But, but, but, they are, they are effective, yes?"
-
Sakura looked at the indigestion remedies in curiosity.
"So would she have to take both or would she have to pick one?" Sakura asked trying to talk as loud as she could over the crowd so the Prof could hear her.
-
"Either or. Or both. It's, it's up to her. They both, they both do, they both do the same thing; neutralize acid. The clay, the clay is something of an... acquired taste."
The Professor took one of the clay sticks and broke off a bite in his mouth. He crunched it up and knocked it back with a swig of ale, and then ate a few more bites of his meal. His own stomach was uncooperative, as it craved food, but was also upset due to his anxiety. By gnawing on the clay stick, he hoped to be able to actually partake in the provided feast and eat his fill.
-
"Hmm but you have to suck the cube right?" Sakura asked "If it's just as much as an acquired taste as the stick I think the stick might be the better option since she can drink something in between bites."
"Perhaps we should ask the Dwarves if there's something like Ginger around." Calien stated "I would give her some of the herbs I have, but they would most likely make her vomit what she ate."
"Sounds like her worst nightmare." Sakura said dryly.
-
Aya slipped away as the eating contest started, the noise was a little much for her; as she explored around the near by parts of the dwarven city she came across a rather spectacular cavern, from the balcony she could see dwarven homes going deep into massive cut tunnels on each side. This had to be the center of their civilization here, Aya found it admittedly hard to comprehend the desire to live underground but there was certainly beauty in their culture to be sure.
"Wow.." She said out loud, glancing left and right she noticed Riagan leaning against the arm rail
looking lost in thought. "Your city has an amazing view, I've never seen anything like it before." She says walking up to him.
-
"Hmm but you have to suck the cube right?" Sakura asked "If it's just as much as an acquired taste as the stick I think the stick might be the better option since she can drink something in between bites."
"Perhaps we should ask the Dwarves if there's something like Ginger around." Calien stated "I would give her some of the herbs I have, but they would most likely make her vomit what she ate."
"Sounds like her worst nightmare." Sakura said dryly.
((Rolaids and Tums are basically flavored chalk.))
The Professor dug around in his bag some more. "You crunch the chalk. I may, I may have a root in here... I may, I may..."
Eventually, he produced a gnarled strong-smelling root that looked like some malformed dirty brown multi-limbed mummified creature. He handed it to Sakura. "I do! I do have ginger!"
-
"Oh, that's not what I expected. I would think it would be difficult to crunch the chalk in that shape." Sakura said as she handed the Ginger to Calien who took a good look at it.
"Hmmm yes this Ginger is in good shape and of fine quality." Calien nodded "I can boil it and make a tea if it's necessary to Pema."
-
Pema managed to finish the duck, and moved onto her next plate.
She lightly hit her chest with her fist a few times, beginning to feel the encroaching burn. She glanced over at Zilpher, who looked somewhat dazed from his massive consumptions, however, he continued to plow through his servings.
"That Dwarf man is a tough opponent. I underestimated him," Pema observed as she finished her seventh chicken breast, "But I'm no sloth, myself!"
"Slouch," Salem corrected.
"Mm-hm, I'm not that one, either!" She nodded with determination, fist pumped in the air, "I've never done this before, but.. I think it's time I unlock my true potential!"
Pema slowly raised her hand and then rested it on her hat, "It's not over yet..." She swiftly removed the hat from her head and tossed it aside, "Nothing holding me back now. A hero never runs away from a battle!"
She dived in for a pile of broiled goat slathered in thick gravy.
He sighed, "Pema, all you did was discard your hat. There's no-"
"Ah, I see you've taken off your hat, child," Zilpher exclaimed in a large, bellowing voice, "This means you've finally decided to reveal your true potential!"
"Oh, you better believe it!" Pema exclaimed confidently.
"Very well then... so shall I!" Zilpher tore off his leather arm bracelets, "I can feel it now! NO MERCY!" He shoveled Pulled Pork into his gullet.
"Yeah, let's finish this, Zilpher! Full power!" Pema cheered, vigorously eating corn on the cob.
"Wh-What is with you people? You haven't actually done anything!" Salem shouted, vaguely suspecting he was going mad from watching these two.
She arrived to her eighth plate of food, "I dunno, Salem, I'm definitely feeling a great force building up inside me. A force that will carry me through to the end!"
"... That's just gas... I hope someone has a medical remedy for you, after this is over..."
-
"Oh ho, seems like they're taking things seriously now." Calien remarked at the exchange.
"........They weren't before?" Sakura said as she tilted her head.
"I don't know, that's what I got from it." Calien shook his head "Though I think Zilpher might need a stomach remedy as well when this was over, it was subtle but I think the food getting to him."
"If I wasn't so interested in the outcome and worried that the crowd might get mad at me I feel like I should run over and stop the competition." Sakura replied.
"I share that sentiment." Calin nodded.
-
The Professor finished the clay stick he was gnawing on and he finally finished most of the meal before him. He still looked very uncomfortable, but he was attempting to hide it. His arms were held close to his body and his shoulders were hunched up. His face was mostly hidden by his hood, save for his long, pointed nose.
The noise from the eating contest was getting louder and louder, and he was having an even more difficult time trying to hear. After a moment, he moved the stomach remedies toward Calien and then stood; gathering his things and heading for the door just to get away from the noise for a few minutes.
-
"Professor you're going to leave?" Sakura asked "Why don't I come with you, I don't want you to get lost or something."
Sakura was genuinely worried that he may run into a stray dwarf or run into Riagan who she wasn't sure actually accepted him and was still mad at him. She also wanted to admittedly get away from the noise a bit as well and apologize for what she said about the Order.....to an extent.
(I admit I want to do other things.)
-
Toshi - "W-wait for me."
Feeling her head starting pound a little, Toshi decided to go join the two a little; just to get some needed fresh air, from all the noise.
She kept a close eye on the Professor, in case something bad should befall upon him.
(I seem to forget that Toshi has sensitive hearing. I'm pretty sure she'd go mad if she stayed in there any longer.)
-
(Lampshading it now.)
"Oh you're coming too Toshi?" Sakura asked "I'm suprised you didn't do it sooner considering you wanted to rip out my larynx for yelling at you when we first met, and I'm sure the Dwarves were louder than that."
-
Finally enough of a distance away that he could hear somewhat clearly, the Professor nodded. "I apologize, I apologize as, as, as I can't hear very well. Difficult, difficult to hear anything, yes? Too n-noisy."
-
"Yeah I understand, since I have more sensitive hearing my ears are starting to hurt, and sure Daddy is somehow trying to ignore the noise himself." Sakura nodded as she noticed Yin joined them as well thinking she too wanted to get away from the noise.
-
(Lampshading it now.)
"Oh you're coming too Toshi?" Sakura asked "I'm suprised you didn't do it sooner considering you wanted to rip out my larynx for yelling at you when we first met, and I'm sure the Dwarves were louder than that."
Toshi - "Yeah, don't remind me." she replied, feeling a little embarrassed to hear her say that, "It seems I have trouble adapting to loud noises. I'm quite sure I'd scream my own larynx out, if they got any louder than it is."
(Somehow I kinda wish she was like Misty's Psyduck, in a way.)
-
Aya slipped away as the eating contest started, the noise was a little much for her; as she explored around the near by parts of the dwarven city she came across a rather spectacular cavern, from the balcony she could see dwarven homes going deep into massive cut tunnels on each side. This had to be the center of their civilization here, Aya found it admittedly hard to comprehend the desire to live underground but there was certainly beauty in their culture to be sure.
"Wow.." She said out loud, glancing left and right she noticed Riagan leaning against the arm rail
looking lost in thought. "Your city has an amazing view, I've never seen anything like it before." She says walking up to him.
"Yes" Riagan responded calmly. "It's very beautiful. I would give my life to protect it and all those who live here."
-
"Considering your half Leporine half Elf I can understand that." Sakura nodded. "Not to mention your ears are way bigger than mine, Dad's and Ms. Farah's."
(I hope I got that right.)
-
(No worries. You got the leporine part right.)
Toshi - "Somehow I wish wasn't born half leporine." she brushed her tail a bit, "Although it feels kind of weird that I actually adore my own rabbit tail. I heard some weird rumors of a rabbit's tail or foot being some sort of lucky charm. Not that I'm feeling very lucky that often."
-
The Professor limped along, listening as best as he could. The halls had terrible acoustics and sounds echoed and made conversations difficult to follow. His own large ears used to be sensitive, but one too many explosions in his lab had done away with that.
"When, when working, when researching and experimenting, sometimes, sometimes things would... explode. M-my hearing, my hearing hasn't been the... same, since. Too many loud booms, yes?"
He scratched at his pointed ears and dug at them with his knuckle in an attempt to clear them. Away from the crowded dining hall, he has visibly relaxed, but he still carried himself with a sense of caution as he threw furtive glances over his shoulder.
-
"Oh yeah I think Daddy heard those rumors too when he was living with humans." Sakura shuddered "I heard those who actually believe in such rumors actually chase rabbits down to cut off said foot or tail. Even as people who try to use every part of the animals we hunt as a sign of respect for those who died so we may live we both find that disturbing."
The Professor limped along, listening as best as he could. The halls had terrible acoustics and sounds echoed and made conversations difficult to follow. His own large ears used to be sensitive, but one too many explosions in his lab had done away with that.
"When, when working, when researching and experimenting, sometimes, sometimes things would... explode. M-my hearing, my hearing hasn't been the... same, since. Too many loud booms, yes?"
He scratched at his pointed ears and dug at them with his knuckle in an attempt to clear them. Away from the crowded dining hall, he has visibly relaxed, but he still carried himself with a sense of caution as he threw furtive glances over his shoulder.
"I figured." Sakura nodded.
-
"Yes" Riagan responded calmly. "It's very beautiful. I would give my life to protect it and all those who live here."
"Well my friends and I mean no harm, we were just trying to get to Skull Cove as we told your father, still sorry our meeting had to come in the form of an avalanche." Aya leans on the railing, glancing over the city and the people like little ants going too and fro.
((I have an event coming, just wanted to get Riagan introduced to the party in a less antagonistic way.))
-
(Can I still run into you guys?)
-
(If you wish, I'm about to do an event once every one is ready.))
-
(Including Pema?)
-
((Yep when your bit is done and everyone will be involved in this event for sure. We are coming up to the bit in every RPG near the start where everything goes wrong! 8D ))
-
(Right as soon as Riagan talks again I'll have Sakura and her party arrive and make her act excited about the city and guard rails. Because only Sakura would get excited about guard rails since she's never seen one before.)
-
((I'm ready. I'm babysitting, but the kids are getting ready for bed.))
-
((I want to get the party back together before I continue with the next event though, so if people could wrap up their stuff and somehow find Aya that would help speed things up. Also waiting for PB to post))
-
The Professor continued through the halls, finding a random staircase and climbing it toward what he assumed would be a balcony. He didn't want to run into any random Dwarves, but he didn't want to be caught unawares in the dining hall where he couldn't hear.
-
(Yeah that's why I'm waiting for PB to respond to the last thing Aya said before I move things along. I'm also wondering if Sakura can randomly find some special rocks so Calien can make more Not-Krell stones. Don't need to go to a specific area for that, you'll see.)
The Professor continued through the halls, finding a random staircase and climbing it toward what he assumed would be a balcony. He didn't want to run into any random Dwarves, but he didn't want to be caught unawares in the dining hall where he couldn't hear.
"Prof be careful." Sakura said as she caught up to him "I don't want you to trip....or well you know."
-
(Might be a good thing to do while we wait.)
-
((I'm just trying to regroup by going random places.))
Steps were trickier for the Professor to navigate with his lame leg, and he stumbled a few times during his climb. Eventually, he made it to the top and climbed out onto the balcony.
-
(Maybe we can place them slightly father away but can still be on a similar path. Might as well go rock hunting after the next post and accidentally run into Riagan.)
Sakura arrived at the balcony as well as she took in the sight.
"Wow.....the Dwarven city looks amazing!" Sakura said in awe as she changed her sight to the guard rail "Oh and this rail must have been placed here to prevent others from falling. Ingenious!"
-
The Professor looked over the railing for a moment as he took in the whole of the Dwarven city. After a while, he backed away and went toward the wall, his shoulders hunched and his hood up.
"I've, I've read about these cities, read about them, in my, in my studies. Great underground furnaces; the Dwarves, the Dwarves are smithies, yes? Fine w-weaponsmiths. Their craftsmanship, you can, you can see it everywhere... The gilded stone, the mail, the great hall..."
He returned to the railing again and looked over its edge at the city below.
"In the Order, we knew of the Dwarves... former trade partners, former allies. I, I, I thought... I thought we were still allies. I never knew... But, but, but they don't understand. They don't understand. They don't know the Order like I do..."
-
"Seems the Order kept you in the dark about a lot of things, though from the reaction they had with Toshi when she brought up the alliance with Elves and Dwarves they might have broken off quite a few ties for one reason or another." Sakura sighed when she looked down...but then notice she felt a tingling cold sensation.
She then concentrated on what looked like an ordinary rock for some reason.
-
The short monk gave a slow nod. He folded his arms and rested them against the railing; which reached to almost his neck. He leaned his chin on his arms and watched the city below.
"I... I don't understand it anymore... I don't understand it anymore... everything that I thought, that I thought I knew..."
-
"Hmm sometimes the Truth is hard to swallow Prof." Sakura said as she picked up the rock "It can be painful and you may want to look away as much as you want but the Truth will always be there whether you want it there or not. Other times the Truth may be shrouded by one force or another, or even by one's own will if it suits their needs."
Sakura's eyes turned Red as she examined the Stone carefully to figure out why she was reacting to it.
"Many of those not enlightened by the Truth only See what they want to See and thus Believe what they want to Believe because at times the Truth is very painful and causes them much suffering." Sakura continued "However painful it may be, only by assessing all possibilities and pursing the Truth may those find the true path through many trials.
That is the way of my Father's people, we who pursue the Truth in all things in order to help those who need it most. We who have the power to find the Truth must help those who do not in order to give them the tools necessary to fight those who wish to harm others. This is our purpose."
(And thus I went Persona 4 on everyone's asses.)
-
"But, but, but what is the truth?" The Professor looked up at Sakura, his face half-hidden by his hood.
He returned his gaze to the city below. "All that I ever knew... it's all gone. It's all gone. Things changed so fast... so fast."
-
"That my friend, can only be determined by looking at all perspectives and facts in order to find the Truth. No one said it would be easy and in fact is very difficult." Sakura stated "You only know one side of things because you lived in the Order and were sheltered by them, that is not enough to find the Truth. Often one can't find the Truth just by staying in one place, you often have to go to others and put together the pieces to assess the Truth. Even then the Truth comes in ways that may not be expected because true appearances are not easily determined.
Take this stone for example and tell me what you see."
Sakura held the object that looks like an ordinary rock to the Professor so he may have a better look.
-
Finally pulling himself away from the railing, he took the rock and turned it over in his hands for a close look. Gripping it, he held it to his chest and closed his eyes so that he could concentrate. After a long moment, he handed it back to Sakura. "It looks like just a rock, but, but, but it... it feels different. Not, not just, not just its surface, not just its surface. It, it has a warmth."
As he had experimented with various types of crystals and stones, he had learned to sense when one might hold energy, and he detected it as an internal warmth. However, many different type of stones had different energies, and this was but one of a myriad of stones that he has encountered, so he wasn't quite sure the point.
"Why?"
-
"Because this is not an ordinary rock my friend." Sakura nodded as she rummaged through her pockets and showed him the stone that she and her father had that can be used to communicate from long distances "This material is very special to our people and this, when refined properly, can make these. However even in it's unrefined state they hold mysterious powers, different but similar to the refined stone, that many ordinary people are not aware of not only because of it's ordinary appearance but they also don't have our powers."
-
The Professor nodded slowly. Despite he himself possessing no magic of any note, he did study and learn how to replicate many different magical abilities; though he learned through his master, who didn't use magic.
Though, as Sakura talked about her people, he began to wonder about his own. He was taken in by the Order, specifically by his master. He was found in the forest and taken back to the monastery, where he grew and trained. The only life he knew was that among the humans of the Order; he knew absolutely nothing about his own kind.
He didn't even know what he was.
Returning his gaze to the city below, he slipped his hand under his hood and scratched at his ears. His ears were pointed like elves, but his nose was different. He was almost entirely hairless, and he was shorter than the Dwarves. In his studies, he had only read about other races such as Elves and Dwarves, and some occasional passage regarding the Fae Folk, but his focus was on the Precursors, as his master studied their magic.
His master never told him what he actually was. The Order never told him. They tried to keep him hidden from the town because he wasn't human, but they never told him what he was. He wasn't Elven or Dwarven, and he definitely wasn't a Precursor. He never trained in magic, so he wasn't sure if he even had any such abilities. He was never named; only given a title.
Finally, he removed his hood and looked to Sakura. "What am I?"
-
Sakura's eyes widened but then soften and she looked down.
"I am terribly sorry my friend but I don't know myself, my father hasn't seen nor heard of anything like you." Sakura stated. "All I know at the moment is that you are you."
-
The Professor held Sakura's gaze for a long moment before looking back to the city below. He gave off a sigh, pulled up his hood, and stepped away from the railing and limped along its edge. He wasn't sure where he was going, but at this moment, he didn't care.
His gaze kept going to the streets below as he wondered how he could have gone for so long with no identity.
-
Sakura followed the Professor as she realized how conflicted he was. Not knowing what one was is certainly troubling to most, and the Professor was no exception. She felt bad that she didn't have the answer at the moment but hoped someday they would find the answers he seeked.
She kept an eye on him while picking up seemingly random ordinary looking stones which were actually the stone she was describing to the Professor to give to her father.
(Well we should be ready to run into Riagan and Aya now.)
-
(I'll just have Toshi quietly follow along Sakura and the Prof. path at the moment, while I wait on the next event.)
-
"Well my friends and I mean no harm, we were just trying to get to Skull Cove as we told your father, still sorry our meeting had to come in the form of an avalanche." Aya leans on the railing, glancing over the city and the people like little ants going too and fro.
"I am sorry as well." Riagan responded. "I overreacted to a situation that was not your doing. I realize that I was at fault and for that I apologize. I must also make amends to the one I struck earlier. He did not deserve that. My temper got the better of me."
Riagan then joined Aya on the railing, leaning over and looking down at everyone. "The truth is that I really know nothing of the world outside of these halls. Most of my brethren do not. It is hard to protect our mines from that which we do not understand."
-
"The world outside is beautiful--but there seems to be a lot of distrust between the different races outside, this place isn't alone in that. Someday I hope everyone can get along." Aya smiles thoughtfully. "So-whats the city down below like--"
Suddenly a guard runs up to Riagan. "My apologies young lord, I bring word from your father. He wishes to speak with Aya in the war room as soon as possible."
-
(But he's still too busy watching the eating contest that's not done yet.....unless something else is going on since they asked for just Aya.)
-
(But he's still too busy watching the eating contest that's not done yet.....unless something else is going on since they asked for just Aya.)
(You'll see 8D ))
-
(Oh god I think I have an idea, curse you doll lady.)
-
(Err... should I get Fxeni out of there, or is it fine that he's still at the table? 8D)
-
(Well Calien is still there and he and Sakura still have the Walkie Talkie stones, so maybe it's fine? I don't know. But seriously I wish I had name for those stones.
[spoiler]I mean I just can't call them Pirate's Charms after all, we aren't Pirates.[/spoiler])
-
(So basically, 95% of the group aren't even watching the contest... Pretty much only the Dwarves. XD
And the contest should be over in like two more posts, I'd estimate.)
-
(To be fair the Prof has bum hearing and is scared of the Dwarves, Toshi has really sensitive hearing, Sakura just wanted to make sure the Prof doesn't get into trouble mostly and Aya just couldn't stand the noise. Calien is still there since he can give stomach remedies and make tea. Also the Chicken is still there and Yin is with Sakura for the record.)
(EDIT: Also to stall things more for the contest and Aya maybe we should have Sakura ask Riagan where the Cheval is so she can deposit the dozen rocks she picked up?)
-
((Up to you, you'll hear the request for her to meet the king that way))
-
(Yeah that's what I was thinking.)
-
((Prof has a Bag of Holding. You need to stash some stones, he can stash them.))
-
(Okay then we'll just have a nice discussion with Riagan about certain things like the Prof's situation and other stuff until the eating contest is over. Just don't mention Aya until that point.)
-
"The world outside is beautiful--but there seems to be a lot of distrust between the different races outside, this place isn't alone in that. Someday I hope everyone can get along." Aya smiles thoughtfully. "So-whats the city down below like--"
Suddenly a guard runs up to Riagan. "My apologies young lord, I bring word from your father. He wishes to speak with Aya in the war room as soon as possible."
"I should probably join you and my father!" Riagan stated.
-
((So, will Riagan be heading by the current party at any time, or should we regroup elsewhere?))
-
(Give the stuff to the Prof; I'd wager the Cheval isn't a safe place for it.)
-
(I was having Riagan join Aya with King Pyritecrusher for reasons)
-
(Oh I was assuming that it was a trap and they wanted to get Aya alone since the King is still in the mess hall watching the eating contest. Like Doll Master sent a Dwarf Puppet or mind contolled Dwarf to lure her to a trap or something.)
-
"I'm sorry mylord just the lady, your father request you remain with our guests." The guard responds.
"Alright, I guess I'll go then." Aya shrugs as the guard leads her down into the halls again.
-
(Yup I knew that was going to happen.)
-
((Pretty much, anyone care for me to type up aya's side of things?))
-
(Maybe after Phi types another eating contest post? I mean he had 2 left and we all want to see the results of that before [parasitic bomb] goes to hell.)
-
((Will start up one part of this right now, Phi's part won't be interrupted by that.))
Just as Aya and the guard leave another soldier runs up to Riagan "M'lord!" he pants as if he had run quite far "S-Sir there is something wrong up at the watch tower! S-Some sort of portal! monsters are attacking!" He looks panicked and blood on his shoulder seems to indicate things were as bad as he claims.
-
(Should my party find Riagan?)
-
(Should my party find Riagan?)
(yes,would be for the best)
-
(Okay then the others will still be in the Mess Room while the action happens.)
"Riagan, what's wrong?!" Sakura asked as she ran up and saw the bloodied soldier.
(Now we'll wait for PB.)
-
((Will start up one part of this right now, Phi's part won't be interrupted by that.))
Just as Aya and the guard leave another soldier runs up to Riagan "M'lord!" he pants as if he had run quite far "S-Sir there is something wrong up at the watch tower! S-Some sort of portal! monsters are attacking!" He looks panicked and blood on his shoulder seems to indicate things were as bad as he claims.
"We are under attack!!" Riagan said to Sakura while he grabbed his sledgehammer and clutched it angrily with his hands. "You. Send word to the King. Muster our forces." looking at the injured guard.
"You. Make sure your party is safe." Riagan said while looking at Sakura. "I shall go hold this menace off until my fellow dwarves arrive!"
-
"Raigan you can't go alone, you don't know what's out there!" Sakura shouted as she ran up to him.
-
"Sir!" The soldier salutes with his good arm and quickly makes for the mead hall.
-
(Wait so we aren't going to see the end of the eating contest?)
-
((Phi can still post it, guard will show up after it finishes))
-
(If you guys don't want to wait long, I suppose I can rush ahead and compress it down to one post.)
-
(Okay fine by me, guess we'll have the Oh Crap part when the King show up.)
-
"What choice do I have?" Riagan responded to Sakura as he headed towards the watch tower. "Now go. Find your friends and warn them. I must go!"
-
"There's always a choice, Yin go get Daddy!" Sakura ordered as the Absol went to find Calien "I'm not going to let you fight those things alone! I don't care how strong you are, I'm not about to let this end up like Iron Gate again, so let me help you dammit!"
-
((I'll hold off posting till Pema finishes))
-
"Very well! HURRY!!" Riagan reluctantly said as he ran towards the watch tower!
-
"<How many times do I have to convince people not to do suicidal things all by themselves on this journey?!>" Sakura muttered as she followed Riagan.
-
It takes Riagan and Sakura a good fifteen minutes while running to reach the outer walls of the city, from there five minutes to climb the spiral steps. Before they reach the summit the two begin to hear the clashing of steel and the cries of battle. Sakura notices a sight she remembers well--a chaos breach.
The two make haste and reach the watch tower, the sight is not what Sakura expected; not corrupted animals but other dwarves standing as if hung on strings like a puppet. These possessed dwarves attack the few remaining sane ones, the rest litter the tower now dead. "Sire! our brothers have gone mad, take care!" One of the soldiers yell before he is cut down his back split by an axe.
((Roughly 15 possessed dwarves and 5 sane ones as allies, please control the enemies as you see fit.))
-
"My god, your brothers!" Sakura gasped as she noticed the chaos breach "We need to hold them off until the others arrive! I hope we don't have to hurt them too much, there has to be something we can do!"
-
"WHAT SORCERY IS THIS!?" Riagan yelled out as he knocked back some of the possessed dwarves with his sledgehammer.
-
"It's that breach!" Sakura shouted as she threw some kunai at one dwarf and blocked an axe from another with her sword "It's driving them mad, I've seen it do the same thing with some wolves in the forest! But something's not right, the movement of these dwarves are not natural....."
(EDIT: You know what really sucks, I can't find a good remix of Dancing Calcobrena from Final Fantasy 4!)
-
As a possessed dwarf tried to attack Riagan from the rear, Riagan thrusts his sledgehammer's wooden handle into the dwarf's helmet, knocking him out. "You are right. They do not fight like our soldiers are trained to fight. They seem to be puppets"
He then looked at the remaining dwarves still barely fighting the possessed ones of. "My brothers, you are injured and outnumbered. Retreat behind the two of us for now. We will hold them at bay for as long as possible. Now MOVE!"
"SIR!" the other dwarves yelled out as they fought their way behind Sakura and Riagan
(I'm gonna wait until the others show up before I post anymore)
-
(Well Toshi and the Prof should be with us already. Also as a Magic Knight can I enchant my sword with a Sleep Spell like in Final Fantasy or is that out of the question?)
-
Aya follows along behind the soldier, who has become oddly quiet. After about five minutes of walking they come across a large stone door marked with a crest that Aya can only assume is of the royal family's house. "This is it? The war room?" Aya glances around the door certainly looks important.
"Y-Yes--this is the war r-room." The Dwarf responds, swaying in place oddly.
"Um--are you alright? You don't sound well." Aya respond glancing forward at her dwarf guide.
"I-I am fine! Please enter, the -k-king is w-w-waiting." With a great heave the stout dwarf pushes open the large stone doors revealing a large room beyond with a great round table and throne high above at the top of the stairs.
"Wow--" Aya says out loud before being startled by sound of a closing door. The Dward guard's actions become more "odd" as he sways back and forth before finally going limp held up like a puppet would through it's strings. "W-what's wrong!" Aya dashes forward but stops as a giggle fills the room.
"Hehehe---I'm sorry the king is busy at the moment!" the voice's source is behind Aya who whips around to face the throne and sees a blonde haired woman in a rather revealing skirt wearing a creepy ivory mask. Her ears are pointed much like Sakura's.
"W-who are you?" Aya frowns preparing to generate her blade as if some feeling of dread was warning her of danger.
"Aww you don't remember me?" Her voice has a fake sound of insult to it. "How disappointing! We go waaaay back too my little dolly! But to answer your question some call me Doll Master!" Her giggling voice sends shivers up Aya's spine.
"I'm not a "dolly", why have you brought me here?" Aya frowns growing weary of the woman's condescending tone. Aya moves back a few steps keeping her eyes on the woman.
"Well--I've come to reclaim what belongs to my brother an I! You see a long time ago you stole three import little keys, You have one, while the other two were hidden away in old ruins---yes I need that back now." She sways back and forth as if bored.
"Key? Shadow Master mentioned me being a key--I don't have anything!" Aya snaps back growing visibly angry at the very sight of this women, although she can't quite work out why.
"The Key is inside you silly doll." She says kicking her feat out casually before putting her hand up to her mouth as if telling a secret "I'll let you in on a little spoiler too! These ugly little dwarves have been plundering the ruins below their city for centuries, and another one of the keys are being held in their big vault! Isn't that convenient!" She giggles flicking her fingers as ten or so puppet like creatures step from the shadows surrounding Aya.
"Oh-no..." Aya glances back and forth in a slight panic before summoning her blade.
"I imagine by now my brother has opened a nice breach and the chaos will certainly keep your friends busy! He can be so serious sometimes, I bet he's already away with the key; if I don't hurry he'll scald me for being late!" Doll Master motions with her right hand and the dolls all suddenly jump at Aya who takes a defensive stance. "Remember don't leave any lasting marks, we still need the key!" She giggles as Aya is quickly overwhelmed by the numbers.
((And I'm cutting out there. So the breaches origin confirmed? Dun Duuun Duuuuun 8D))
(Also use what ever you have in your concept, magic is magic in this world))
-
(Well Toshi and the Prof should be with us already. Also as a Magic Knight can I enchant my sword with a Sleep Spell like in Final Fantasy or is that out of the question?)
(I meant the others as in the rest of the party down in the hall. I assumed they'd join us in the fight)
-
(I meant the others as in the rest of the party down in the hall. I assumed they'd join us in the fight)
(Yeah they will, until then Sleepy Sleepy, I guess.)
"Yeah the other ones were attacking like beasts, but for now let's try something different." Sakura said as she enchanted her weapons with a Sleep Spell "Nighty Night Mr. Dwarf!"
Sakura then started to attack the Dwarves and some of the drifted to sleep.
-
Zilpher was up to nine plates, while Pema was on her tenth.
"I can't believe she's still going at it! Her stomach must be some kind of portal or something," A slender Dwarf remarked, "You reckon she might win against him?"
"Ha! Against Zilpher the Insatiable? I seriously doubt it," An old Dwarf stated and walked up to Zilpher, "Hey, how're you feeling, son? You can win this-"
Zilpher turned his head slowly and looked directly into his eyes. He didn't shake his head nor did he speak. Zilpher simply communicated with him through sad, discontent eyes, and his mouth drooping into a frown; he appeared to be defeated.
"No..." The old Dwarf exclaimed, his eyes widened in disbelief.
Pema began to reach for a chicken thigh when she suddenly stopped and covered her mouth, feeling herself about to gag.
"Pema, are you alright?" Salem hovered closer to her.
She tightened her fists, "I... I don't know how much more I can take..."
Both opponents seemed to be hanging by a thread, staggering to finish the rest of their meal.
Pema peered around at everyone. All the Dwarves, Calien and Fxeni. She shook her head, "No... I'm not finished yet... I can't- I will NOT lose!" She closed her eyes and ignored all the noise and distractions around her. She imagined the humidity of the room was because the walls were made of hot, melting cheese and the chairs were chocolate.
"So... cheesy... sweet, chocolately goodness... I'm in heaven..." She whispered, a smile slowly stretching across her face.
"Wait, what?" Salem said dumfounded.
Pema opened her eyes, a renewed spark ignited within her. She climbed on top of the table, "My name is Pema and I won't give up... I'll never give up! Food helps to keep me going, it's super tasty, there's an endless variety and, and umm... it's real tasty!! My passion will make me stronger!"
She sat back down, "Remember your passion, Zilpher, and never let it go! Full steam ahead!" She mouth-wrestled with beef steak, her rampant tenacity and resolve partially shrouding the creeping pain in her gut.
Zilpher stared at her, his arms hanging at his side, "Pema..." With a trembling hand and his vision going a bit blurry, he continued to eat, albeit at a considerably slower rate than before. He groaned weakly as he reached for the bread roll.
Pema felt a tad dizzy herself, but she made a desperate attempt to soldier on through it.
Zilpher nearly reached the bread roll, however, he succumbed to the pain. Groaning again, he stood up from the chair with his back hunched over, his legs wobbling and then crumpling to the floor. His body hit the ground with a loud thud.
Everyone stared at him, speechless. The room went stagnent, with more than a few gasps to be had from some of them.
Soon after, a Dwarf broke the silence, "Z-Zilpher the Insatiable has been... defeated?!"
"That's... No way..." Another spoke, practically a whisper.
...
"Pema... Pema..." One of them chanted her name in a low voice, and eventually, more and more began to chant her name.
Calien ran over to her, "PEMA DID IT!" He shouted, grabbing her arm and raising it in the air victoriously.
The crowd erupted with enormous cheers and applauded her astonishing display of will. Frightening, hungry will.
Zilpher slowly shuffled himself onto his feet and walked towards the champion.
For a moment, the two simply stared at one another, until Pema bowed, "Mr. Zilpher, sir... Thank you for competing with me," She raised her head, looking at him with a smile that lit up the room, "I had sooooo much fun! Let's do it again, sometime, okay?"
He briefly closed his eyes and stroked his beard, "You... are quite the surprise, young one. I never would have suspected such a fierce, heated battle from a mere child... But alas, you have proven yourself as a fine culinary warrior. Strong heart, stronger stomach."
Pema nodded happily, "Thanks! It was an honor to face you, sir. I'm real glad I got to meet you!"
"Likewise," He smiled. He thought for a moment and then sat down next to her, "I wasn't always known as Zilpher the Insatiable, you see. My passion for food wasn't realized until my young adult years. From then, I spent precious time learning about cuisines from all over, understanding and respecting the art of fine dining and the joys of exploring the vast ocean of delicacies. One day, I began to eat, until all I could think about was eating. Small portions became large portions, and so forth."
He leaned back in the chair, "I discovered my passion, and crafted my will to explore what I truly love. Henceforth, I became a warrior of the plate; Zilpher the Insatiable! 7 long days in the kitchen, 7 longer nights in the restroom."
"Oh... Oh dear God..." Salem grimaced at the imagery.
Zilpher walked over to Pema, "Young one, you have a wonderful passion. Worthy to be a warrior of the plate!" He carefully picked her up and perched her atop his shoulder, "Pema, I hereby bestow upon you an honor with an open mind and a full stomach! It is my great pleasure to congratulate our champion and pass on the torch to Pema..."
Zilpher raised his fist into the air heroically, "Pema the Insatiable!"
His fellow Dwarves cheered and applauded, their voices booming loudly.
Pema scratched her head, "Umm, I don't know what In-say-dee-able means, but... I like it!"
"HAHAHAHA!" Zilpher bellowed in laughter, as did his brethren.
"She's so... darn... cute..." One Dwarf sniffled, wiping a tear from his eye.
-
(Darn it Phi, that imagery... Still... Darn cute Peam...)
-
((Gah, I fell asleep for a nap and just now woke up. So, Prof's been zombied around. Quick recap; what's going on at the watchtower?))
-
(There's a Chaos Rift there, Sakura and Riagan are currently fighting off 15 Dwarves that have fallen under the control of Doll Master. Although some of them might be asleep now due to Sakura's spell. There's also 5 Dwarves that are not possessed.)
-
Staring blankly at the chaos before him, the Professor hung back and started digging through his bag. He didn't want to hurt the other Dwarves and further sully his reputation, but he needed to stun them.
Finding his Lightning Powder, he rubbed it between his palms and maintained the charge as he advanced on the possessed Dwarves. Getting just close enough, he fired off the charge, which knocked him backwards.
-
Calien was smiling and clapping at the newly christen Pema the Insatiable though as a man who somewhat practices medicine he had a job to do, especially since the Prof entrusted some of his remedies.
"Well done Pema, I never doubted you for a moment." Calien smiled "Though....how are you feeling right now?"
(You know Pema would have no problem doing that Rainy Day Meat Bowl Challenge at Aiya's in Persona 4. She can conquer the Meat Dimension.)
-
Assisting the Prof. on his feet Toshi, does whatever she can to divert any retaliation attacks against him.
Toshi - "Are you okay?" she asked as some possesed dwarves closed in for the attack "We need to do something about that rift." Evading a possessed dwarf's attempt to hack at her, as she drew out the staff of her Ronginasu no Yari, parrying away the next attack with it, "Where ever Aya is, we need her here to close that rift. We can't keep fighting our possessed allies."
As a group of hostile dwarves charged at her, she quickly forms the handsigns; Ram → Horse → Bird...
Toshi - "Mizu no Tatsumaki!" creating a tornado of water around her, the hostiles charged head on, only to be knocked out by the vortex protecting Toshi.
-
"The rift, the rift, yes, yes, yes, the rift..."
Fumbling around in his bag, the Professor produced a book and flipped through its pages. He recalled a passage concerning portals of a similar nature, and he and his master had dabbled in the forbidden arts in secret—before the Order found out.
As he flipped through the book, sparks flying from his hands covered in excess powder, he glanced up at the portal. For a moment, he was back to when his master was destroyed.
"M-master...?"
Squinting, he swore he saw a figure in that portal. A figure that looked like his master.
((Is the Prof actually seeing his master, or is he just going crazy? YOU MAKE THE CALL))
-
Fxeni clapped, a grin on his face. He looked around the room, noticing that most of the party was still away. With a shrug, he shifted in his seat, and grabbed some dessert.
-
Toshi - "What's wrong, Prof.?" she notice him staring deep into the rift, then at that moment Toshi realized something was amiss about his stare at the rift.
Toshi - "Oh no don't tell me that rift can possess..." her thoughts relating to the poison emitted from the previous rift, "Professor please snap out of it!" she tries to divert his attention away from the rift.
(My guess on the matter, might be that the Professor's about to be tangled in with our possessed comrades. Not sure what to do in this situation, though.)
-
As the Professor was gazing at the portal, Riagan noticed that one of the possessed dwarves was about to throw one of his small pick axes at his head. "LOOK OUT!" he yelled out as he dove in the way of the axe, which caught him in the shoulder. As the possessed dwarf ran to attack him, Riagan pulled out the pick axe and stabbed the dwarf right through the foot.
"Are you alright?" he asked the Professor.
-
The Professor stared blankly for a moment before blinking a few times and shaking his head. "Yes, yes, yes, I just... What, what happened?"
He looked around, finding himself sitting on the ground with his book tossed beside him. Blinking up at Riagan, it was obvious that he had no memory of what transpired.
-
"Be careful!" Riagan told the Professor. "It is dangerous up here. Stay where it is safe!"
-
Toshi - "Thank goodness you're back." she seemed relieved, yet she's still a bit caught up in her battles. "Professor, you need to get out of here." she told him, before flicking another hostile dwarf's pick axe aside, yet he still dove at her, knocking her down, but not before she shrugged him off by tossing him over, with her leg. "It's not safe for you to be here." she added before getting up to her feet.
-
The Professor nodded and got to his feet, gathering his things. He turned and ducked away from the battle, but stopped.
"Master?"
Turning, his gaze went to the portal, except that he didn't see the portal. He didn't see the surrounding possessed Dwarves or the battle, or his allies. He didn't see the watchtower at all.
His master stood amidst a throng of hooded, shadowed figures. The figures climbed over each other and grabbed his master, pulling the man down and clubbing him.
"NO!"
Turning on his heel, the short monk lunged at Toshi. He rubbed more Lightning Powder between his palms and prepared to fire a charge.
"Leave my master alone!"
-
Seemingly catching her off guard, the Professor's tackle knocks her clear on her upper back.
Toshi - "Ughf... what the...!?" she hits the ground with a painful thud to her chest, also causing her to drop her staff. "Professor! What are you doing!?" she tries to shrug him off, barely noticing him about to use his Lightning Powder on her.
(I'll pass it on to either PB or Sakura. Don't want to make Toshi do anything drastic that might break the situation she's in already.)
-
"Professor stop, you're not in the Order!" Sakura shouted as she pulled out something that looked like a magnifying glass with a red and blue lense and purple handle and put it to the Prof's eye so he can see what's really going on "The Chaos is trying to mislead you away from the Truth! You are not in the Order, you are among the Dwarves!"
[spoiler]Obviously she pulled out the Lenses of Truth which allows one to see through illusions.[/spoiler]
-
As the eating contest finally came to a delicious conclusion the solider sent by Riagan burst into the hall. "M'lord!" he exclaimed bowing his head trying to catch his breath. "What is it?!" The King's expression turned serious upon noticing the blood on his subject's shoulder and he leaned forward to get a better listen.
"M'Lord, the watch tower is under attack; a portal opened above then several of guards went into a frenzy! Your son took several of the guests above to join the battle."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile in the Dwarven Vault....
Two guards dropped dead their throats slit by Shadow Master's stars, he glanced down smiling at his "work" and turned around as Mask Master entered the room.
"Very good, if everything has gone according to plan my sister will be acquiring the guardian and her new "dolls" should be keeping the others busy." Adjusting his mask he begins to walk the halls toward the back where the most precious items were likely kept. "Shadow Master, guard the entrance and make sure no one lives to raise the alarm; consider this your chance to prove your use to your master and myself."
-
(I'm going to wait on Quickie's response before allowing Toshi to recover just yet.)
-
The Professor had released the charge, which threw him backwards where he was grabbed by Sakura. He struggled in her grip and yelled for his master.
"Don't hurt him! Don't hurt him! I won't, I won't let you! Leave my master alone!"
All he saw were those cloaked shadow figures piling on top of his master as another grabbed him and held him down, putting something to his face. In an instant, he was back on the battlefield.
He blinked a few times and looked to Sakura in confusion. One minute, he was trying to fight possessed Dwarves, the next he was thrown on the ground near Riagan, and now he was being held down by Sakura. Every time he blinked, something different happened and he had no idea what it was.
Panting, he struggled to form some type of coherent memory, but couldn't. "What... what happened?"
-
"The Chaos is playing mind tricks with you." Sakura explained "The artifact that I hold allows one to gain the powers of our eyes and allow you to see the Truth. Apparently the chaos was making you see the Master and the Order......"
-
The bolt of lightning suddenly flew way off it's mark, as it harmlessly passes by.
Toshi - "Nice save there... Sakura." still panting from the fall, before retrieving her staff. "I think you were being possessed, Professor." she repied in response to the Professor coming to. "I'm pretty sure that rift has something to do with it."
-
"I, I don't remember, I don't remember anything..." The Professor shook his head and rubbed it with one hand. A few sparks flew from the excess powder on his palm, and he dusted it off with additional bursts of light.
He pulled himself to his feet and looked around. His gaze went to the portal momentarily before he forced it away and talked to a voice that only he could hear. "No... no, you're n-not my master... my master is, my master is dead..."
-
Sakura could make out a few words that the Prof spoke particularly the word dead.
"So the Order did indeed kill him." Sakura muttered.
-
Meanwhile in the Dwarven Vault....
Two guards dropped dead their throats slit by Shadow Master's stars, he glanced down smiling at his "work" and turned around as Mask Master entered the room.
"Very good, if everything has gone according to plan my sister will be acquiring the guardian and her new "dolls" should be keeping the others busy." Adjusting his mask he begins to walk the halls toward the back where the most precious items were likely kept. "Shadow Master, guard the entrance and make sure no one lives to raise the alarm; consider this your chance to prove your use to your master and myself."
Shadow Master bowed as he watched Mask Master walked further in. Making his way towards the vault entrance, Shadow Master cursed under his breath.
...
...
Deeper into the forests on the outskirts of Iron Gate, Shadow Master was visibly limping... And visibly deranged. He was still livid about his loss to Aya. And now, he has to face the wrath of his master for failing again. Why wasn't anything working in his favour!?
As he screamed at the sky, his sight was suddenly clouded by what looked like a portal...
Before he knew it, he was whisked in front of Mask Master and Doll Master, and was given a choice... More like forced a choice. To work for the Mask and Doll, and perhaps, be granted a pardon.
-
Yin came in soon after and ran straight to Calien giving the same news.
"So Sakura is with them eh?" Calien said as he grabbed his Axe "Yin I want you to take Bianca and get out of here."
Yin nodded and put the Chicken on her back before uttering some cries.
"Yes....I agree something is not right....but I don't know what." Calien nodded.
-
Sakura could make out a few words that the Prof spoke particularly the word dead.
"So the Order did indeed kill him." Sakura muttered.
After struggling with that unheard voice, the Professor rounded on something only he could see, screaming at it—which happened to be located where Sakura was standing. "You are not my master!"
Realizing that he had just yelled at Sakura, he stepped back, flustered. "I, I, I'm s-sorry... I-I thought... I heard... There, there, there was a... someone was standing there..."
-
"It's fine." Sakura shook her head "I think we all need to get out of here. The Chaos is obviously the root of all this and we can't do anything until everyone else is here. Riagan I'm sorry but we must fall back and retreat for now, that includes you."
-
Toshi - "I'm with Sakura. We need to find Aya, and the others..." she looks back feeling bad leaving their remaining allies to fend for themselves, "... and fast. The situation's getting worse than it is already."
-
"We can't do anything for the possessed Dwarves here." Sakura continued "The only thing we can do is get everyone not possessed out of here and barricade the door until we have the means to purify the breach."
"Though something is not right." Sakura thought "The movement of the Professor was actually normal compared to the puppet like movements of these Dwarves, something is very much amiss."
-
Hustling away from the battlefeild, the Professor flipped through his book. He still had no memory of what happened, but he remembered hearing a voice. It didn't take him long to make the connection and surmise that he may have been possessed by whatever chaos energy was flowing from the portal.
As he hobbled and thumbed through his book, he heard that voice again. He slid to a dead stop and looked up. Standing before him was his master, and they were once again within the confines of the monastery.
The short cleric shut his eyes and shook his head. "No! No, no, no! You are not my master! This, this, this isn't real! Get out of my head! Get out of my head! Get out of my head!"
Dropping to his knees with his book in front of him, he opened his eyes and saw the worn leather cover against the hardscrabble ground of the Dwarven territory. He shoved the book into his bag, but didn't rise from the dirt.
-
(Do we need to carry him?)
-
(Maybe?)
Toshi - "Professor, please try to get up." she tries to get him back on his feet, "Now's seriously not the time to have a nervous break down."
-
((Prof be trippin' balls.))
Aided by Toshi, the Professor got to his feet and started to hobble. He didn't get far before he was flashed back to the monastery, and he saw his master before him. He stumbled and fell forward as he shut his eyes and pulled his hood over his head with both hands, screaming.
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
-
"Toshi carry him!" Sakura shouted.
(If TENK can't post just zombie the Prof being carried.)
-
Toshi - "Okay..." she got down to the Prof's level so that she could wrap his arms around her waist. "Hold onto me Professor." As she lifted him with her back, she quickly grabbed ahold of his legs giving him a piggyback right. Although she got him on her back, the Professor was shuffling his arms a little, causing a bit of discomfort to Toshi as she can clearly feel him squeezing under her breasts. "Not so tight now... Professor."
(I'm just rushing this one.)
-
Calien was smiling and clapping at the newly christen Pema the Insatiable though as a man who somewhat practices medicine he had a job to do, especially since the Prof entrusted some of his remedies.
"Well done Pema, I never doubted you for a moment." Calien smiled "Though....how are you feeling right now?"
(You know Pema would have no problem doing that Rainy Day Meat Bowl Challenge at Aiya's in Persona 4. She can conquer the Meat Dimension.)
"Thank you!" Pema smiled gleefully, "And I kinda feel... a little queasy. Maybe I should lay down for a while."
Yin came in soon after and ran straight to Calien giving the same news.
"So Sakura is with them eh?" Calien said as he grabbed his Axe "Yin I want you to take Bianca and get out of here."
Yin nodded and put the Chicken on her back before uttering some cries.
"Yes....I agree something is not right....but I don't know what." Calien nodded.
"Huh? Wh-What's going on, Mr. Calien?" Pema asked, noticing that something was amiss.
-
"It's where the attack is located." Calien shook his head "Why would a watch tower be targeted, the way it's set up feels like a distraction. But until we get more details we just have to head there."
-
Pema nodded, briefly rubbing her stomach, "I'm not sure how well I can help out, right now, but I'll try my best. Let's go, Salem!"
"Right!" Salem floated to her.
-
"Pema eat this." Calien said as he handed her a cube "It may not taste very good but it will help your stomach. The Professor gave it to me, make sure you eat it whole."
(So should we wait for PB, then cut to them making a barricade and have Sakura call Calien and finding out Aya is missing just to speed things along?)
-
Pema examined the cube closely and put her tongue to it, "Why can't medicine ever taste good?" She muttered solemnly.
"Now's not the time to be picky," Salem stated.
"Yeah, I know, I know," She nodded, placing the cube in her mouth and chewing it. Finally, she gulped it down, "Blegh..."
"Atta girl," Salem exclaimed with a slight chuckle.
-
((Oh, it can't be that bad. It's just unflavored Tums in cube form. :P))
((Prof's trippin' balls and is pretty much out of it, so he's not going to be much help.))
-
As they retreated into the tunnel, Riagan grabbed his sledgehammer and began striking the walls of the mine with it! "GO. Take him to safety. I will catch up once I seal this mineshaft off!" he told Sakura & Toshi.
"PROTECT THE KING!" some of the dwarf soldiers yelled out. Meanwhile, the King knocked them aside as he grabbed his mighty axe from the side of the throne and prepared for battle. "Whomever DARES to invade Gimrak shall pay. RALLY TO ME, MY KIN!"
-
"You better make it out of there Riagan!" Sakura shouted as she and Toshi ran off.
-
The Professor was only dimly aware of the tunnels when the trio entered them. He had spent the trip trying to fight the intrusive voice and constant flashing back to the monastery. Every time he opened his eyes, he saw his master. He knew that what he saw wasn't real, and he kept telling the apparition that in hopes of driving it away.
The farther away from the portal they got, the easier it became to force the visions to go away. Though, as he thought about the portal, he would remember the experiments performed by he and his master, which would lead to the final straw of his master's alchemy.
The loss of his master was something that he tried to forget. He had attempted to fabricate new memories surrounding it, and came up with different stories on how his master disappeared. He had claimed ignorance to the details, but the portal by the watchtower reminded him.
It forced the memories back to the forefront like a solid kick in the head.
Clinging to Toshi's shoulders, the Professor was jostled around as she ran. Opening his eyes, he saw the walls of the mining tunnel; not the monastery. The voice sounded distant, and he shook his head to rid himself of it.
"Get out of my head..."
-
"AYE!" The Dwarves cried out at the order of their King.
Zilpher grabbed his Axe and turned around, facing Pema, "It's time we depart, for now. Be safe, young Pema."
"Yeah, you too!" She responded, then paused for a monent. She turned to Calien, "Do you have any more of those cubes? I think Mr. Zilpher could use one."
-
"Of course." Calien said as he handed one to Zilpher.
-
Riagan uses all his strength and closes off the shaft leading to the watch tower with his sledgehammer. That should hold them, but not for long. he thought to himself as he heard the possessed dwarves picking away at the stone barricade with their pick axes. He grabbed his sledgehammer and ran to meet up with the rest of the group and his father.
-
((Just waiting for Sakura to rejoin the others))
-
Sakura and the others arrived at the Dinning Hall to discuss the situation.
"Father, Father!" Sakura cried.
"Sakura's what's the situation!" Calien answered.
"Father it's another breach and we need to seal it!" Sakura asked.
"We need to hurry.....wait...where is Aya?!" Calien shouted.
"I thought she went back to the Dinning Hall!" Sakura cried.
"No....She's not here....." Calien said with a grave expression.
-
"Of course." Calien said as he handed one to Zilpher.
"Hm? What is this?" Zilpher took the cube and stared at it.
"This will help with your stomach pain," Pema replied, "It's bland, but it should work."
"I see," He chewed it and swallowed, then turned to Calien, "You have my gratitude. Now, If you'll please excuse me, my people need me."
As he was about to rush off to protect his King, Pema stepped forward, "W-Wait, Mr. Zilpher! ... Do you... think we'll see each other again?"
Zilpher smiled, "I'm sure we will, young one. Now go, let us both prove ourselves and protect the people we care about!"
Pema smiled happily and nodded, "Yeah, okay! Sorry to hold you up. I'll see you again soon!" She grabbed her staff and twirled it, "Mr. Calien, let's go!"
-
"Hang on Pema, Aya has gone missing!" Calien shouted.
-
Pema gasped, "What? Where could she have gone?!" She looked around the room frantically.
"Dammit, this isn't good. This isn't good at all..." Salem stated with a worried tone.
-
Riagan arrived in the Hall with his father and the rest of the party waiting, looking around for someone.
"Father. I have barricaded the path to the watch tower, but they will be through it soon."
"Good work, son. You have bought us time to rally our forces! Now we shall..." the King stated before Riagan interrupted.
"Wait....where is young woman you sent for?" Riagan asked with concern in his voice.
"I sent no such request for a meeting."
"...then that dwarf must have also been bewitched. She's been captured!!!" Riagan yelled out. "We must find her."
"I cannot abandon the halls to find one girl. I must lead my men to defend our realm." King Pyritecrusher said while holding up his ax. "Son, you find her. Go with our guests to locate her. You know these halls and shafts better than any!"
"I shall, father. Battle well!"
-
(Okay let me edit my last post, my bad.)
"Dammit it was a trap!" Calien cursed.
"We need to hurry!" Sakura shouted.
-
"Hope she's alright... she wasn't in any shape to fight," Fxeni noted as he prepared to move out.
-
"Not only that but without her we can't close the breach!" Sakura stated.
(Okay I edited my brainfart post much better.)
-
((Once PB chimes in I'll have a post up))
-
"The dwarf said that my father wanted to see the young woman in the War Room!" Riagan told the party. "That is the first place we should look! Follow me!"
Riagan led them all out of the Great Hall.
-
"Sounds like the perfect place to spring a trap." Calien nodded as they followed.
"These enemies....just what are they?" Sakura pondered.
-
"We ought to be careful..." Fxeni said as he followed cautiously.
-
Riagan knowing the castle like the back of his hand brings them to the war room door in record time. A long Dwarf stands guarding the room, the same one that escorted aya off the first time.
"M-M'lord--the king does n-no-not wish to be d-d-disturbed." The dwarf sways oddly and in quite the same manner as the other dwarves from the watch tower.
-
"Riagan....something's not right." Sakura told him.
-
"Agreed," Fxeni said as he looked over the dwarf. He observes the dwarf's face twitch oddly as he speaks.
-
"What's wrong? Does your stomach hurt or something?" Pema asked the odd Dwarf, "We have miracle cubes."
"No, I doubt that's the issue here, Pema. I'd stand back from him, If I were you. He doesn't seem... right," Salem warned.
-
Riagan looked at the dwarf and punched it in the face, knocking him out cold. "Come, we must hurry!" he said as they entered the War Room.
-
"That's... one way of doing it," Fxeni said as he watched the dwarf fall over to the ground. He raised one eyebrow as he looked at Riagan, but rather than say anything else he silently followed him into the War Room.
-
"Are you that surprised?" Calien also raised an eyebrow as he went in.
"He knocked out a Dwarf with the shaft of his hammer....and the Dwarf still had his helmet on." Sakura piped up an followed as well.
-
"Not even sure I want to know what was going on while I was eating," Fxeni replied.
-
"I'll explain later...." Sakura said as she thought about what happened to the Prof "I have to."
-
((Raigan should be a diplomat =D ))
As the group force the door open the cause of their woes become clear. Mask Master and Doll Master as well as Shadow Master, a familiar woman slung over his shoulder. Mask, Doll and Shadow all turn as the doors opens--rather loudly; Doll motions her hand and the dolls that attacked Aya quickly put themselves in the way of the party as a shield.
"Oooo the "heros" finally arrive to save the day! How cliche!." The thoughts of the comming murder and mayhem makes Doll Master rather giddy as she sways back and forth in an odd dance.
"Indeed, you managed to see through our ploy rather quickly; I commend you." Mask Master nods his voice almost respectful, however Raigan quickly notices the sacred treasure of his people in the masked man's hand; a precursor relic kept hidden in their vault. "Sadly--you are too late, we have both things we required."
Shadow Master as if to taunt the party turns to show that if they tried anything stupid he'd finish Aya off, from that distance the party can tell Aya is out cold the way she limply hangs over his shoulder but doesn't seem gravely wounded at least.
-
Fxeni's eyes sweep across the room, trying to find anything they could use to their advantage. Aside from the large table and chairs, nothing of note was available.
"Dammit," Fxeni muttered to himself as he stood still.
-
Sakura looked at the 2 of them cursing she couldn't do anything but sensing what they were.
"So....you 2 are the source of the chaos?" Sakura asked coldly. "And those possessed Dwarves?"
-
The room unfortunately seemed to be built to the tactical advantage of those inside not those trying to get in. Any fight would be a messy one.
Doll Master giggles "Yep! Right on both accounts!" She glances at sakura's clothing "Ugh--who dressed you little one? Maybe I should make you my new "dolly" just to get you some real clothes!" She sticks her tongue out at Sakura mockingly.
"Don't be rude." Doll Master responds.
"I'm not I'm trying to help her horrid sense of fashion!" Doll Master pouts.
-
Riagan gripped his sledgehammer fiercely as he saw Aya unconscious. "Foul abominations. Release that young woman and my fellow dwarves or taste the brunt force of my hammer!"
-
"A threat only works when one is in fact a threat, from my perspective we have the advantage here sir "Dwarf", you are out numbered; the city is in chaos and we have your friend. Mask Master crosses his arms.
Mask Master finally spoke up "Yes Albertus will quite happy to meet her finally, although if you do anything stupid I might just cut her throat here and now." His tone is slightly sinister.
-
Out of all of them, there was something especially sick about Doll Master, which caused Pema's grip to tremble slightly. However, she knew she had to stay strong for the sake of her friends, not to mention Zilpher believed in her.
She shook the fear and doubts from her mind and steeled herself, getting prepared for what they might do.
(I'm assuming Doll Master is the most psychotic of the trio?)
-
"I promise you both. If any harm comes to her or my kin, you and this Albertus shall suffer!" Riagan boldly and angrily stated.
-
((Doll master would be yes, she's bat [parasitic bomb] crazy.))
"You DARE threaten us human?! You are a small man raised by small people who pillage the artifacts of a race greater than you, thieves and barbarians the lot of you, I'll--!" Doll Master snaps back nearly setting her dolls on the group before Mask Master calms her.
"Control yourself sister, do not let empty threats enrage you so." Mask master responds as if to stop her from saying too much in the heat of the moment. "Now-I believe it's time we depart." Turning slight and extending his hand he opens a portal of chaos, Shadow Master grins before hopping through taking Aya with him.
((last chance to get some words in))
-
"Tell Alberto that we're on our way," Fxeni said mostly calmly, however there was a dark tint in his tone. "He'd best be ready."
-
(Wait for everyone to get some final words in before stuff happens!))
-
"N-No, this can't be real... Is there really nothing we can do?!" Pema muttered to Salem.
He sighed solemnly, "I'm... afraid not. There are no other conceivable options for us..."
Pema tightened her fists and gritted her teeth. She darted her gaze forward, "You won't get away with this! We won't let you!!"
"Get ready for a reckoning... because we'll be coming for you!" Salem shouted, the gems on the staff glowing brightly.
-
"You two had better hope you never see me again!" Riagan said threateningly!
-
"Like I would be caught dead in wearing a tacky outift like yours!" Sakura hissed.
"I swear on my people, we shall not let you win!" Calien roared.
-
Mask Master motions to his sister before she can respond to Sakura's retort, before she leaves however she snaps her fingers and the dolls begin to rumble as if getting ready to attack. As the two vanish through the portal it closes and cuts off any chance of pursuit.
The party has little time to think on events as the puppets begin to close in on the group.
((10 puppets total, 5 Large bruisers, the rest small and agile all close range fighters. Handle the fight how you wish.))
-
Calien enchanted his Axe with Earth Elemental Magic and started to chop away at one of the bigger ones while Sakura fired Darkness Enchanted Kunais at the smaller ones.
-
Pema twirled her staff and raised it in the air, bright red flames spiraling around the top. She aimed it at a bruiser and fired a large fireball.
-
Riyalie - "Why I awda..." the persian pokéspirit appeared, "...if only we were summoned earlier, I swear I'd..."
Toshi - "Now's not the time Riyalie." feeling a little tied up with the Professor on her back, rendering her useless to even perform any handsigns, then turning her attention on their escapees, "Don't think you can keep running from us, ya hear." she shouted hoping they could still hear her inside the portal, "Two friends of mine still has some unfinished business with you lot!"
(Don't know if the Professor's off her or still enjoying the ride. So I just made this one quickly.)
-
Riagan runs and jumps off of the table, heading right towards one of the bruisers. "COWARRDDDSS!!!" he yells out as he smashes the bruiser's head in with his hammer.
-
((Handle the dolls as you see fit, no need for me to control them. The big ones use their hands and the smaller ones have curved swords))
-
"I CAN'T!" Calien said chopping off an arm.
"BELIEVE!" The other arm goes off.
"I LET!" chopping one leg rendering the puppet hopping.
"THIS HAPPEN!" chopping off the last leg leaving it defenseless.
"AGAIN!" Calien roared as he chopped off the head.
He panted as another bruiser punched him in the back and caused him to stumble but kept his footing.
"OH YEAH SURE, [acid burst] ME OFF MORE WHEN I'M ALREADY AT MY LIMIT!" Calien shouted as he attacked the Bruiser that hit him.
Sakura in the mean time was keeping toe to toe with the smaller ones with her sword play.
"Why do they have to hurt people like this, why do they have to hurt the world like this!" Sakura cried as she did everything to fend them off.
(Calien really has some issues with evil weirdos kidnapping people he cares about. Even though he really couldn't do anything the first time.)
-
Slumped in a corner, the Professor opened his eyes and saw the chaos before him. Parts of puppets littered the floor and everyone was fighting in a flurry of confusing sound and movement. Struggling to his feet, he started fumbling through his bag for one of his concoctions--his naptha paste would be quite effective--with every intent to join the battle and assist in any way that he could.
Only, he stopped as one of the slender puppets advanced. Except, he didn't see a puppet.
"M-master...?"
The puppet gave an approving nod as it drew closer.
The Professor shook his head. "No... No, no, no, this is a trick! My master, my master is dead..."
"Only my mortal shell. Those fools. Those fools in the Order. They didn't know the full scope of what I was teaching you. My guild had taught me many things; there was still so much more I wanted you to learn. This, my apprentice, this is one of them..."
The voice spoke inside the short monk's head, as he could hear it clearly despite his impaired hearing. It spoke of things that only he knew; things that his master knew.
The Professor backed away from the puppet. He had found his fire paste and gripped the vial in one hand, but he didn't open it. He and his master had experimented in the forbidden arts; in magic that was only known by the alchemist's guild. His master was the former apprentice of the guild's leader, and the Professor had heard talks of other astral planes. He had never seen the leader, but was told that the leader was ancient and possessing of great magic. He was told that the leader had discovered a way to cheat death itself.
He thought back to the night his master disappeared. He thought back to the experiment.
The puppet advanced closer, its arm hidden behind its back. It gave another approving nod as it probed the Professor's open and pliable mind. "That's right... think back... You know the Order couldn't have destroyed me. You know what we were doing..."
It gripped its unseen sword as it stepped closer and the Professor's guard went down.
-
Sakura stabbed the smaller puppet causing it to cease functioning when she noticed the Professor stop in his tracks as the puppet was closing in on him.
"Foul apparition haunting my friend, shrouding the Truth, torment him no more!" Sakura shouted as some Holy enchanted Kunais were thrown squarely at the head of the slender puppet.
-
The puppet pitched forward at the Professor's feet and he saw it for what it really was. Quickly, he uncapped his vial and threw a glob of fire paste onto the puppet, engulfing it in a burst of flame. Capping the vial, he tossed it to Sakura. "Here! Use this, use this! I'm afraid, I'm afraid I might... might not be of much use right now..."
He looked to the fallen, charred body before him. "My mind... my mind is unwell..."
-
"I will, just stay away from these things!" Sakura shouted as she tossed a glob at another small one causing it to burst into flames "Just remember your Master is no longer in the realm of the living and he would not want you to kling on what has past. You must focus on the Future, focus on finding out who you really are, concentrate on passing on his teachings and inventions, focus on finding Aya, but most importantly concentrate on what is right!"
-
The Professor nodded as he backed into the corner where Toshi had deposited him. He felt feverish and weak, and his head had started to hurt. The intrusive voice was gone, but he couldn't think straight. He couldn't let go of what the puppet had said; he surmised that his mind had been probed. He was being tricked and he kept falling for it.
Digging through his bag, he produced another vial of fire paste. Opening it, he kept it ready should any of the puppets advance on him again.
-
Toshi - "Okay enough of this!" she mumbled as she drew blood from her hand so that she can perform her... "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" once again Riyalie and Grifter were in the field.
Riyalie - "Say the word." she got her powered sawblade axe revved up and ready to do serious damage.
Toshi - "Right! Grifter."
Grifter - "Reporting for duty, ma'am!" he saluted with his wing.
Toshi - "Assist the Professor. Don't let any of those creatures near him, is that clear!"
Grifter - "Ma'am, yes ma'am!" he dashed over to help the Professor, with plasma rifle in hand.
Toshi - "Riyalie, you're with me." she reached for her pouch grabbing both segments of her spear.
Riyalie - "You got it!" as she went with Toshi, who assembles her Ronginasu no Yari. Getting ready for battle.
Picking their targets, Riyalie raced for a brute puppet who tries to smash at her, but at her speed she merely jumped up, landing on it, while running up its arm; as she sinked her sawblade into its shoulder, cutting it through to its waist, leaving it little opportunity to defend itself; as its body start splitting in half from the attack, dropping like tree to the one side as Riyalie start cutting its head off.
Toshi charging at the smaller an much faster puppets. Making contact with one of the puppets, Toshi took a swing at it as it tries to parry, although the amount of force Toshi used end up knocking the puppet back, nearly losing its balance, as it parries another blow from Toshi's spear with less force this time. Seizing an opportunity to counter, it sliced at Toshi's waist, but misses by an inch as Toshi jumps back. Then taking her time, she launched a kick to its head knocking it back, as Toshi tries to seize an opportunity to impale it from the back. But it seems her opponent was a little sturdy than it was as it spun around, evading Toshi's charge with a slash to her back.
Toshi - "Aargh... damn. How many times do I have to hit you." she cursed in agony as she parries another slash from her opponent. although her attention was too focused on one of them, another puppet tries to sneak up on her from behind. But as it tries to chop down Toshi, its head popped as a shot fired from the Professors direction obviously came from Grifter who goes back to sending more cover fire for the Professor.
Riyalie - "Nice shot there." she cheered at Grifter as she evades another large puppet taking a swing at her.
Grifter - "No problem." as he fires a few shots at a smaller puppet picking it arms and legs of with every shot.
As Toshi's opponent charges her..."Suiton: Suihachi!!" she fires jet of water from her palm, knocking the puppet way off balance as Toshi focuses her strength to her one arm as she tossed her spear at the puppet impaling it into the nearby wall. As it went limp by dropping its scimitar, Toshi pulls her spear out as the puppet collapsed to the ground, ceasing function.
(I'm going to stop there. Otherwise it would look like the three are finishing off the remaining hostiles.)
-
Fxeni carefully picked his target, not wanting to hit anyone in the crossfire. He focuses on one of the brutes that is lagging behind the rest, a green rune circle appearing below him.
"O darkened storm cloud, loose thy blade and run mine enemies through! Thunder Blade!"
As the spell begins to strike, one of the smaller puppets begins its attack. As the blade of lightning strikes the brute and severs one of its arms, the small one slashes at Fxeni and lightly cuts into his left arm as he attempts to dodge it.
Guess longer spells wont do here without protection... Fxeni said as he parried the next sword strike with his spear, followed by a swift kick to the puppet. While it was destabilized, he struck it with his spear and sent wind cutting through it.
The brute he had previously attacked approached and swung its arm upwards at Fxeni while he was distracted, knocking him back onto the ground. As Fxeni got his bearings, he noticed the brute's arm rushing down to crush him. He rolls out of the way in time and twirls his spear for a moment.
"Taste fire! Goring Hell!"
As he says this, he thrusts the spear upwards into the brute's face, which is shortly followed by a small localized vortex of fire erupting from the spot where the spear connected. The brute's head ignites into flames.
-
"Wow, Mr. Fxeni always looks so cool when he fights!" Pema remarked to Salem as she prepared her next spell.
"Is that so? You want to tell him that, yourself?" Salem replied with a sly undertone.
"Huh? Well, y-yeah, I would, but... We really have to- to focus on defeating these guys!" She flustered through her response and materialized various razor-sharp Ice Discs around her.
She pointed the staff forward, "GO!"
The deadly Ice Discs were fired off into one of the brutes, swiftly cutting and amputating his limbs. When just the body remained, Pema summoned a fireball and slammed it down on him, creating a brilliant inferno.
-
(Should I just end it here or does anyone have anything else to add?)
-
Leaning heavily against the wall, the Professor fought against the fever pains that robbed him of his concentration. He had stowed his vial of naptha, and he tried to remain on his guard, but the harder he focused, the more his head hurt. He felt dizzy and his thoughts refused to come together.
Panting heavily, he slumped to the floor again. The voices had subsided, but he couldn't shake the feeling that his mind had been invaded. He felt ill and his eyes felt heavy. His awareness began to drift in and out, and he fought to stay awake.
Could this be from that Chaos rift? He didn't have time to consider an answer as his head fell forward and his consciousness left him.
((Feel free to end it. Prof not doing too hot after his Chaos mind [twin slasher].))
-
(What do you mean "end it"? There's only one enemy left?)
-
((I counted nine defeated, so yeah, there's only one left. And feel free to drag the Prof around. I'm going to go lay down as I'm not feeling too well.))
-
(I mean like wipe out the rest, there's only like One Brute left and Calien was facing it.)
-
((I counted nine defeated, so yeah, there's only one left. And feel free to drag the Prof around. I'm going to go lay down as I'm not feeling too well.))
(Okay, I hope you feel better soon.)
(I mean like wipe out the rest, there's only like One Brute left and Calien was facing it.)
(Sounds good to me.)
-
(Okay.)
Calien chopped off the head of the last Brute that struck him with a Flame enchanted Axe which started to burn to smithereens while he panted heavily.
"Seems these things really don't like fire, good to know when we fight these abominations again." Sakura noted before looking at the unconscious Prof "I know this entire ordeal was probably the hardest on you but thank you for everything you did given your personal predicament."
"God dammit....." Calien muttered as he punched a wall "They were playing us all like violins.....and we fell for it hook, line and sinker......god dammit."
-
Grifter - "Welp, that looks like the last of 'em." as he straps his rifle around his back, taking a look at an unconscious Professor... "Hey, there 'ol chap. You feeling okay there?"
Toshi feeling a bit concerned about the Professor, ran up to him to check on him.
Toshi - "He seems okay. Unconscious, but he's okay." a bit relieved, however... "But what do we do now?" she looked down, realizing they failed to rescue the one they were suppose to have saved "Where do we even begin searching for Aya?"
-
"That shouldn't be too hard....Shadow Master was with them.....and Alberto.....Albertus....whatever his name is, created Shadow Master and is working with White Beard.....and White Beard is in Skull Cove along with the Omni Gem......so Aya should be there." Sakura explained as she put things together herself.
"The problem is how do we go about rescuing Aya and the Omni Gem, the enemies are powerful and they obviously thought everything through. They're always at least 3 or 5 steps ahead of us and we don't exactly know how many operatives they have or their capabilities, so how do we one up them?"
"We'd need a god damn Army if they're this strong, but we don't necessarily have the time to round up such an Army, especially if even the Dwarves weren't enough. Not to mention with all the hatred of other races around, it'd almost be impossible to make a miracle like that happen in a reasonable amount of time." Calien remaked. "Is there no other way?"
-
Sakura notices something shiny on the ground as they rest from their battle, the object turns out to be Aya's pendent; it has been shattered and no longer seems to contain any magic.
((That might be important later, OOC info should the part want spend some time discussing their next actions...the possessed dwarves were freed as soon as Doll Master left the area but a good dozen people are dead. The villains also now have 2 of three keys! 8D))
-
"Aya's pendant.....it's broken and everything.....Daddy do you think we can fix it?" Sakura asked.
"I might be able to fix the gem part but I don't know jack about Precursor tech....maybe the Dwarves and the Prof can help? Those people have mentioned that the Dwarves have been taking Precursor treasures so maybe they know a thing or 2?" Calien pondered.
-
"Speaking of the Dwarves, we should probably go see if they need any help," Fxeni said as his spear dissipated.
-
"Yeah I think they should be at the watch tower but I don't know if the path Riagan blocked has opened up again, he might need to take us to an alternate path." Sakura stated "Not to mention clean up......"
-
"Come. We shall go meet up with my father." Riagan said. "We have much to discuss!"
-
"Indeed." Calien nodded.
"Lead the way Riagan." Sakura replied.
(Okay I think we need a small time skip here.)
-
((Time skip to the meeting with the king now that things have settled down, I'll be making an Aya focused post for Wily tomorrow))
-
((Prof should be fine by then. Might be sleepy and feverish, but he should be more or less better.))
-
Meanwhile at skull cove...
Aya grimaces as her senses return, she squints her eyes as a bright source of light shines right in her face. "Ugh..." turning her head she notices that her location has changed, no longer fighting puppets in the war room but in some sort of lab; Aya's attempt to sit up is foiled when she notices her wrists and ankles are shackled to the table and her pendant is no where to be seen.
From the dark corner of the lab Shadow Master emerges a annoyed look on his face. "I really don't get what these people think is so special about you girl, can't even fight off ten little puppets; pathetic. Don't think your safe though, once they get the key you won't be useful anymore and I can return the favor for this scar." Shadow Master moves his thumb across his neck to get the point across before returning to the shadows to inform the others that she had woken up.
((And now time for a certain wily character to make his official appearance! By the way you should all hurry up and decide to come to Skull Cove before Aya dies or something :P))
-
(Yeah like Calien said it's not like we can gather up an Army to storm Skull Cove as a distraction and get Aya out, guess we can only rely on the Dwarves. :P)
-
((Uh oh! 8D ))
-
(Although I totally wish we could do that, but we should probably do that later.)
-
((Prof's still reeling from his Chaos mind [twin slasher], but he'll be good to travel. Might need a carry just to keep up, mainly due to his little legs.))
-
((Prof's still reeling from his Chaos mind [twin slasher], but he'll be good to travel. Might need a carry just to keep up, mainly due to his little legs.))
(Which goes without saying.)
-
((Stick him in a backpack! 8D))
-
(... I'll update in 5 mins... Have a countdown in 3. 8D)
-
((Stick him in a backpack! 8D))
(Probably Riagan's backpack, his backpack would probably be big enough. Calien's probably wouldn't be big enough.)
-
((Did Riagan and the professor become Banjo and Kazooie? =P ))
-
((Did Riagan and the professor become Banjo and Kazooie? =P ))
(*imagines the professor doing the talon trot (http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/061/7/c/talon_trot_by_thewardenx3-d5won5e.png)*)
-
Meanwhile at skull cove...
Aya grimaces as her senses return, she squints her eyes as a bright source of light shines right in her face. "Ugh..." turning her head she notices that her location has changed, no longer fighting puppets in the war room but in some sort of lab; Aya's attempt to sit up is foiled when she notices her wrists and ankles are shackled to the table and her pendant is no where to be seen.
From the dark corner of the lab Shadow Master emerges a annoyed look on his face. "I really don't get what these people think is so special about you girl, can't even fight off ten little puppets; pathetic. Don't think your safe though, once they get the key you won't be useful anymore and I can return the favor for this scar." Shadow Master moves his thumb across his neck to get the point across before returning to the shadows to inform the others that she had woken up.
((And now time for a certain wily character to make his official appearance! By the way you should all hurry up and decide to come to Skull Cove before Aya dies or something :P))
Not long after Shadow Master left, another shadowy figure appeared before Aya.
"... Zo... We finally meet... My dear Aya..."
When Aya's eyes slowly focused on the figure, she could see a hooded person, but there was something glistening under the hood. The figure slightly lifted his head, and Aya could now noticed a pair of glasses. The face... Looked like someone in their 30s... But the hair was greying, even the thick bushy moustache.
"Joo were zuch a pain to find... And captured... But it iz zo good to finally zee in in ze flezh!"
-
(*imagines the professor doing the talon trot (http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/061/7/c/talon_trot_by_thewardenx3-d5won5e.png)*)
((Quickie make this happen 8D ))
"Who--are you?" Aya responds frowning.
-
"I am zo zorry... How rude of me! I am the great Albertus the Wiley!"
Albertus' face appoarched closer to Aya's, a smirk clearly visible.
-
Aya feels a little uncomfortable as he approaches "You are Shadow Master's creator--all those people in Iron Gate died because of you!" Her tone becomes angry.
-
(*imagines the professor doing the talon trot (http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/061/7/c/talon_trot_by_thewardenx3-d5won5e.png)*)
(*imagines Riagan and the Prof tumbling down a hill and crashing into a bloody mess*)
-
((No looney toon physics? XD ))
-
(Fine they both are inexplicably covered in bandages.)
-
Aya feels a little uncomfortable as he approaches "You are Shadow Master's creator--all those people in Iron Gate died because of you!" Her tone becomes angry.
Albertus smirked even wider, as if sniffing his new prize.
"Because of me? No no no... Don't be zo naive! They are privileged to have been zent to a higher plane of exiztence! But enough about them... I vant to know more about you... You look zo much like an angel... THE angel..."
-
"W-what are you talking about? I thought you wanted that key thing. " Aya tilts her head away clearly not a fan of her personal space being invaded.
((*jams the panic button*? XD ))
-
(And I thought Albertus' stalker tendencies were bad before......)
-
((Personal space! Personal Space!!!))
-
([spoiler]I think Albertus might be worse than that dude Calien killed who was obsessed with Sakura's mom. And that's saying something![/spoiler]
-
"W-what are you talking about? I thought you wanted that key thing. " Aya tilts her head away clearly not a fan of her personal space being invaded.
((*jams the panic button*? XD ))
Albertus distanced himself from Aya, and walked towards the nearest wall.
"Yezzzz... I do need the key. And I know where... And how to extract it... However..."
Albertus turned, and stared right into Aya's eyes.
"They didn't say I can't have a little... Fun first. Aile."
-
(....Oh my god even in this dimension! :o)
-
"Aile? My name is Aya you creep." She hisses back.
-
((Aile brings all the Wilys to the yard. And they're like SNIFFSNIFFSNIFFSNIFF))
-
(At least Albertus didn't literally sniff her, unlike Heinrich the psycho creep.)
-
((Oh god save Aya fast guys. 8D ))
-
(I think Calien needs a punch in the face or something to prove to himself that he's not in some kind of personal hell that makes him relive deja vu circumstances much worse than those he seen in real life.)
-
The Professor punched Calien in the face in a fit of fever dreams.
((There. And he has an excuse of being half-conscious! 8D))
-
(Not now! XD)
-
((Hehehe Professor learned "Falcon Punch!" ))
-
(Well, it happened, so might as well go with it.)
"P-Professor Bunny?!" Pema yelped at the Prof's sudden burst of violence.
-
"Aile? My name is Aya you creep." She hisses back.
"Zhhhh... Huzh now. You zhould have noticed the attire that you are currently wearing... I perzonally had them made for you, my dear. You zee... I was lucky enough to come acrozz Precursor tech... You have zeen Shadow Master... However, I was alzo enlightened by a myzteriouz painting... An angel... A Precursor angel... And haz fate will have it... You look zo much like her..."
Albertus was rummaging through his cloak, and pulled out a manuscript. On said manuscript, there was what looked like a human, but there was what resembled wings of light on this being's sides. The being was wearing a pair of white shorts, a blue opened vest, and what appeared to be golden rings around the ankles and wrists. And the being did resemble Aya.
-
"Owww.....that stung a little." Calien said rubbing his face "Though definitely not nearly as bad as some of the things I've suffered...."
"You mean boot camp?" Sakura asked.
"Not only boot camp, you remember those creatures I told you about that are surprisingly similar to these Dwarves but bigger and might as well be made of solid rock even though I'm sure they aren't?" Calien replied.
"You mean Gorons?" Sakura tilted her head.
"I've sumo wrestled with them as part of my training....and failed so many times...so many times. Then there's the bear hugs when they accepted me as a brother.....so many bear hugs." Calien said with his eye twitching
"Wow.....that sounds excruciating." Sakura's eyes widened.
"You have no idea my daughter....no idea...." Calien shuddered.
(Poor Calien is a Iron Butt Monkey.)
"Zhhhh... Huzh now. You zhould have noticed the attire that you are currently wearing... I perzonally had them made for you, my dear. You zee... I was lucky enough to come acrozz Precursor tech... You have zeen Shadow Master... However, I was alzo enlightened by a myzteriouz painting... An angel... A Precursor angel... And haz fate will have it... You look zo much like her..."
Albertus was rummaging through his cloak, and pulled out a manuscript. On said manuscript, there was what looked like a human, but there was what resembled wings of light on this being's sides. The being was wearing a pair of white shorts, a blue opened vest, and what appeared to be golden rings around the ankles and wrists. And the being did resemble Aya.
(....My [tornado fang]ing god! :o)
-
(He's not even questioning why the Prof. decked him in the face? XD)
-
Aya glanced down at her attire, it had intact changed. She was more than uncomfortable now "You are insane! Just because there was a resemblance you hurt all those people and kidnapped me?"
-
(He's not even questioning why the Prof. decked him in the face? XD)
(He probably figured with all the crap the Prof has been through, fever dreams like that are a given. XD)
-
"But that waz MORE than juzt rezemblance! Doll Master... Yezzzzz... Zhe informed me of your... Originz... But I've rumbled on long enough... Time for... Fun."
Albertus placed the manuscript back into his cloak, and pulled out a comically huge syringe, and aimed it at Aya.
"Time for... Extraction~"
-
((eeek science ruuuuun!))
Aya struggles at her bindings but without her magic pendant there is little she can do to break free.
-
(Aya better suddenly unlock some hidden powers now!)
-
(I'm gonna stop here for now. XD I'll try to update again later, no guarantees, food coma and all. :P)
-
(Aya better suddenly unlock some hidden powers now!)
((No new powers sadly, she's being a test subject for what ever evil science he has planned I guess XD))
-
(Fuuuuuuuckkkkkk! XD)
-
(JUST AS PLANNED [eyebrow])
-
([spoiler]Yeah.......I think Albertus is worse than even Yuga......much [tornado fang]ing worse. And yes the canon timeline I'm going for is the Decline Timeline about 20 years after A Link Between Worlds. After all it's the only split that actually still has Oracles.[/spoiler])
-
((But yeah you all need to figure out your plan of attack))
-
(Yeah waiting for PB to start the meeting.)
-
((In the meantime...))
The Professor tossed and turned some more from fever dreams and almost knocked Pema and Sakura in the face.
((8D))
-
"The poor Prof must be having some horrifying nightmares!" Sakura stated worriedly.
-
Toshi - "I feel bad just watching him suffer like this. I wish there was a way to comfort him."
(I have no idea what I'm trying to suggest here. As if you can cure someone of their nightmares.)
-
(Yeah I doubt even the Song of Healing can cure something like that.....I think.)
-
(Now I'm suddenly thinking of a Lullaby of Healing.)
-
(Even then this is something the Prof has to face and overcome himself in the end.)
-
"He's certainly a little fighter despite his stature," Fxeni said as he patched up his arm.
-
"Indeed, it's amazing despite the fact he's really physically disabled, never mind the hell the Order put him through on top of that." Calien nodded "Easily stronger than those little Goblins we often run into in the forest, much stronger."
-
The Professor tossed some more. His skin glistened with sweat from fever, and he began to mutter things. Incoherently at first, but soon distinct words were uttered.
"Taken... He... he has her..."
-
".....Could he be talking about Aya?" Calien asked.
-
"Maybe... could be something else from his memories though, for all we know," Fxeni replied, finishing the stitching.
-
"Well I certainly didn't see too many women in the Order from the people I've healed and seen....perhaps the Alchemist Guild, someone else the Order hurt?" Calien pondered.
-
"No... no.... have to... have to get... out..."
He turned again and began clawing weakly at the air.
"Can't... can't get... out... can't find... can't find them..."
He began panting heavily as he tried to claw his way out of a confinement that only he could perceive.
-
"Daddy do you have something to bring down his fever?" Sakura asked.
"Yeah." Calien said as he took out a Mushroom.
"Ewwww gross!" Sakura said as she covered her nose from the awful smell "Is that the only thing?"
"Nothing more effective anyway." Calien nodded.
-
"What kind of mushroom is that?" Pema asked while covering her nose.
-
"A very special Mushroom, Pema." Calien explained "In my homeland there is a medicine woman who uses Mushrooms like these to make very effective potions. They heal a lot of things, though there are other Mushrooms she uses for other things, Magic Powders and even a Mushroom that can wake people up from the deepest of sleeps but that one is extremely rare."
"These buggers are resilient too!" Sakura piped up "You pick one and a few days later 2 more takes its place! In fact when ever we stop an rest somewhere Daddy plants one in a different spot, even in Iron Gate he sneaked out at night just to plant something like that outside. I bet Iron Gate is having an infestation of Mushrooms by now."
"To be fair those aren't the only things I plant, it's just fungus grows faster." Calien shrugged.
"He even gave some to Farah and she hates the smell too." Sakura continued "Along with some other things."
-
"Keys... find... find them..."
The Professor flailed weakly a few more times before he fell silent again.
-
((Dun dun duuuun))
-
(I really wished there were 5 keys now.)
-
((So... what now? I did my thing.))
-
(Well Calien has to make a potion out of the Mushroom and PB needs to start the meeting. And we need a time skip for both.)
-
((Waiting on PB yeah, and Wily on Aya's end.))
-
(Yeah and by the time the meeting starts the Potion will be done and given to the Prof.)
-
Later, in the King's throne room...
"I'd like to thank you all for your diligent efforts in helping to protect my kingdom." King Pyritecrusher stated to Riagan and the party.
"It was not enough, father!" Riagan responded. "These fiends made off with the female Aya."
-
"It also seems they stole something in your vault that was Precursor related." Sakura said as Calien started to feed Prof a potion made from the Mushroom. "Not to mention the Prof is in a terrible state because of them."
-
"What is this Precursor you speak of?" the King asked
-
"I honestly don't have a good idea of what they are I just know it's related to the city in the sky, like some sort of Ancient Race." Sakura tried to explain as best she could "I think Aya and those creepy mask people may be related to them too. Aya felt different than everyone else here, her Mana is very special. I think those people who took her felt like Aya too but in a more twisted and sickening way.
That vain lady was also saying something about you guys stealing things from the Precursors or something. I don't know exactly what she was talking about but she insulted you guys and Riagan calling you thieves, but really she kind of a hypocrit too.
What's more....I think they caused that avalanche to get Aya and that thing they took in the same place so they could take both at the same time."
-
The Professor coughed and sputtered a bit as he was fed the bitter potion. He opened his eyes for a moment before he lapsed back into his fitful sleep.
-
"Hopefully that will help him, but the poor guy is far from okay." Calien shook his head.
-
"If this whole encounter has taught us anything, father, it's that there is much about the outside world that we are unaware of!" Riagan stated.
"You are correct, my son. Perhaps it's time we learn, if we are to better protect our kingdom."
Riagan looked at his father and heard his words, then looked at the party. "I wish to join our guests on their quest. I let the female Aya be captured in our halls. I owe it to them and to her to aid in her rescue." he said before looking at the group again. "If you will have me..."
-
Sakura's eyes widen as she took in what Riagan said, but nodded.
"Your help would definitely be welcomed." Sakura replied. "Not to mention quite a few of us are in the same boat as you guys, we need to learn more about this world too."
-
"Mm-hm, it'll be great to have you join us, Mr. Riagan!" Pema smiled.
-
"You are welcome to join, Riagan," Fxeni replied. "There's still the matter of how we get to Skull Cove now. I doubt a direct attack would be wise, so we might have to plan something a little more... covert."
-
"As I am a stranger to the outside world and your group, I shall follow your lead!" Riagan said. "I swear on the honor of the Dwarves of Gimrak, we shall retrieve your friend!"
"Be brave, my son." the King said. "Know that I am proud of you and that I look forward to hearing tales of your adventures when you return to us!"
"Thank you, father. For everything!"
-
((eeek science ruuuuun!))
Aya struggles at her bindings but without her magic pendant there is little she can do to break free.
The procedure went without much problems... Except for the occasional screams, and squirming. Albertus watched with eager eyes... As the syringe filled with precious... "Fluid". With the syringe full, Albertus watched as Aya's body went limp from exhaustion. Approaching Aya's face again, he could hear panting...
"Ah~ My dear Aile... Being a key... Joo will help me remake the univerze... In MY IMAGE!!"
-
((Also as of now the Chaos Breach above the dwarven mountain is still there, the party need Aya to close it so theres another good reason for PB to join. For the moment it's too high up to effect anyone unless it starts expanding.
Also poor Aya O^O ))
-
"You are welcome to join, Riagan," Fxeni replied. "There's still the matter of how we get to Skull Cove now. I doubt a direct attack would be wise, so we might have to plan something a little more... covert."
"Covert huh.....you're definitely speaking my language right now." Calien said as he stood up "One of my people's prominent talents are working in the shadows it's our main way of striking believe it or not. So that's certainly right up our alley."
((Also as of now the Chaos Breach above the dwarven mountain is still there, the party need Aya to close it so theres another good reason for PB to join. For the moment it's too high up to effect anyone unless it starts expanding.
Also poor Aya O^O ))
(First thing Calien does when we get back is make you new clothes.
Also should we leave Prof with the Dwarves or would he actually be fit to come with us. I figure he can fix Aya's necklace while we're away if it's the former, unless it spontaneously fixes itself when Aya is close.)
-
((Nah I have story stuff in mind for the prof, besides staying behind won't be much fun for Quickie XD))
-
((Bring him. He'll be fine soon. Just needs to sleep it off.))
-
(Okay then, also with Sakura being a somewhat klepto would it be possible for her to jack some Precursor documents and stuff. I can't believe she became a somewhat klepto but considering what I'm going for I am not that surprised.)
-
((When and from whom? They didn't have time to do anything aside from get captured, eat, wander for a few minutes, and go fight. The Prof has some Precursor stuff in his bag, and that's easily accessible, so anyone could go looking through it when they want.))
-
(I meant from Skull Cove, like some of Albertus's Precursor stuff since his stuff is probably different from the Prof's. I was just wondering if getting Aya was the only thing we can do. Why would I be talking about here?
Unless you meant how Sakura was a klepto, she did take a whole bunch of rocks from the ground while the Prof was having an identity crisis remember, like a dozen of them. Not to mention she scavenged all sorts of things when she was in the forest, including a sizable amount of money, her beam sword and enough to make a magitek sewing machine.
So yeah she's kind of a klepto, I mean she won't steal things from shops or normal people, break pottery, or stuff like that but other than that if it's useful she'll take it, including stuff from bad guys. Don't necessarily have to be a thief in the illegal sense to be a klepto, except again unless it involves stealing from bad guys, it can simply be taking random things simply because the person taking them think it will be useful.
Although Calien kind of has the opposite problem in that he's Plant Santa Claus, I wonder how bad the Mushroom infestation will get around the border for Iron Gate. At least it's good for the potion makers?)
-
(That's not really Kleptomania.
People with Klepto don't scavenge items because they are useful or interesting; they do it because they simply feel the urge to randomly steal things, which usually aren't items of interest or value. They just need to possess something.
Sakura would probably be more of a person who thinks outside the box and sees value in things that others may not notice, right away. Perhaps something of a visionary.)
-
(Yeah you're probably right about that in that case, I guess I was confused since whenever someone collects something off the ground, ie Pokemon games when you're not in someone's house, or things that are completely useless in the way people play the game, like Red Rings in Sonic Games now a days, in games they would refer it as kleptomania anyway.
My bad.)
-
(Yeah, I can understand the confusion.)
-
(Calien is still Plant Santa Claus though, I have no other way to refer to as such.)
-
((Kleptomania is an impulse control disorder that is characterized by urges to steal things, and is often accompanied by anxiety and intrusive thoughts the precede the theft. It is classified as an anxiety disorder and is generally treated as such.))
((As with other impulse control disorders—such as pyromania—the sufferer will have intrusive thoughts about the object, stress and anxiety around the taking of the object, an inability to resist the compulsion to steal, and then a release of stress and energy after the theft.))
((If Sakura was a klepto, this would have been noticed as she would acquire a collection of worthless objects and junk. She may show signs of hoarding, which is another symptom of an anxiety disorder, as hoarders will exhibit signs of anxiety when forced to part with their items. Most of these items will have little value.))
((However, hoarding differs from kleptomania in that for many hoarders, they will see a future use for the objects that they acquire. Those stacks of boxes could be used for something; those Tupperware lids have matching containers somewhere; they could use that fabric for something; those papers have stuff they could refer to; etc. However, hoarders actually won't do anything with the objects that they acquire.))
((Sakura's desire to take things that may have use in the future is more akin to that type of compulsion than it is to kleptomania.))
((And that is your abnormal psychology lesson for today. Back to your regularly-scheduled RP...))
-
(Thanks Dr. Quickie. XD)
-
((Professor Quickie. Eh? Eh?))
-
(But yeah Sakura would only take things she knows people can use, like those rocks. The reason I said like a dozen is to account for future party members if someone else joins the RP because remember those rocks can be used to make the Walkie Talkie stones Calien and Sakura have.
[spoiler]I may just end up calling them Gossip Charms since it has been confirmed that the Pirate's Charm is an Advanced Gossip stone.[/spoiler]
-
((Okay so with the party all kinda together now here is the goal.
Get to Skull Cove, the dwarves will likely make crossing the mountain easy now. As for the port town itself theres nothing really between you and the objective. The town from all rumors is still inhabited but the population have been enslaved by White Beard for sometime now.
I'll just respond to how the party acts as we go.))
-
((Prof is fine by the time the party sets out. Aside from being tired and groggy, he doesn't show any other effects. He barely remembers the previous day and only remembers strange dreams that he had.))
-
((How does the Prof feel about hearing more voices in his head? 8D ))
-
((He'll be fine up until that point. Then, he might lose it again. 8D))
-
((I have plans! : > ))
-
(Sounds like fun, but I'm more worried about Aya and the psychological damage Albertus is giving her. [tornado fang]ing creepy man, and those clothes too. :o
Yeah Calien is going to go nuts over that when he finds out.)
-
((Things in general are going to go horribly at Skull Cove. 8D ))
-
((Aya and Prof will need a support group after this.))
-
(Yeah new clothes and off screen training montages can only do so much. -u-')
-
((As for Aya, she's the kind of character who prefers to throw herself at problems rather than face any personal strife. Thats both a good and bad character trait at once and could have problems later down the road. She'll likely try to evade any attempt by the others to inquire to her recent experiences and try to keep the appearance that nothing is wrong.))
-
(I figured, though Sakura herself will have a hard time letting Aya do that. Sakura really doesn't like when people bullshit with her or try to take on enormus burdens by themselves, not to mention Aya's self sacrificing nature for her duty and other things about Aya that I can't describe really deeply bother her.
She understands that the Prof needs to face his demons on his own, for the most part since she can only do so much, but not Aya.)
-
((Other things? Her attitude or personality?))
-
(I guess her recklessness and lack of forethought? Something like that? She's the type that charges in without a plan right? I'm sure there might be some other things but a lot of Aya's behavior in general really bothers her.
Also can I assume the actions that transpired in her capture rebroke her arm again? I know she's not human and it might not be the case which is why I'm asking.)
-
((Her arm was dislocated but she does heal a lot faster than regular people, Her arm wasn't any further injured in the fight. And yeah she is the type to charge head first without much thought.))
-
(I thought so, but yeah Sakura is liable to go off on Aya and call her out on a lot of stuff after they rescue her.
Probably will involve a rough version telling her to start thinking smarter and crap along with a showing how Aya's lack of skill puts her in danger or something. In a 'Your Kung Fu is weak' sort way or something, something physically showing that Aya needs training of some sort because she's not strong enough to handle herself. I mean Shadow Master nearly killed her in her first encounter with him after all, she only really won and survived by luck.
Not to mention something about not being able to save the world if she can't take care of herself or something. Whatever comes to mind when the time comes, these are just the basic rough idea, but Sakura will get pissed at her very much.
Let me know if I'm mistaking somewhere because I know I have a tendency of assuming things that might be far off the Mark.
-
((That is true of Aya as you currently know her, but remember Aya has lost her memories and much of her power after thousands of years of slumber plus her fall. In the past when the Precursors were still around Aya was quite powerfull, she was a guardian after all they would not have left a weak/armature fighter to defend the object that maintains all balance in Arcadia.
Too be fair Aya got knocked out of the city trying to protect the Professor and landed on her arm from several miles up then got attacked by a new foe with an inured arm plus injury from the fall.))
-
(Exactly Aya doesn't remember any of that and she and Sakura don't know that. Sakura can only see what Aya has done when she met her, what the Aya of the past has done/is capable of doing as the Guardian is irrelevant. What matters is Aya right now, the Aya that doesn't kniw much of anything. Sakura is basically saying she needs to wisen up, assess the situations around her and get herself stronger by any means necessary because their enemies are really strong.)
-
(( Doll Master or Mask Master individual could easily take the whole party on their own as we all are now. 8D
Aya will develop over time, as her far as her powers go, she'll be getting a boost soon to replace her lost magic. As for her abilities to asses the situation well that comes from character development and learning from her mistakes.
To be fair her getting captured wasn't really her own fault. ))
-
(Yeah I know, but keep in mind that even if Aya wasn't at fault she shouldn't have been wandering on her own either which resulted in her capture in the first place. She left without telling anyone like Pema did in Iron Gate and even in the Kingdom of the Dwarves that was dangerous because she knows people were after her. Based on that example she should have told people that she wants to go out and one of the party members would go with her.
I mean yes Sakura can't blame Riagan and Aya being tricked but if someone like Sakura, Calien or Fxeni had been there they would have insisted that they go with Aya even if the 'King' asked her to come alone and failing that they would have tailed them in secret. If Aya didn't go by herself it would have been possible to prevent that sort of thing, but it did happen because Aya was alone with only Riagan who can't be blamed for following what was thought was the request of the Dwarf King and not knowing the group that well.)
-
((Fair enough, whats done is done. Either way the part needed to head to Skull Cove and that urgency just became greater.))
-
(Yeah I'm just waiting on the others to move things along because I don't know if other things need to be done or if a time skip is necessary.)
-
((If nothing moves forward by tomorrow I may just time skip the party. XD))
-
(I say go ahead with the time skip. I don't think there's anything more I can do right now.)
-
(I say the same but let's wait to see if anyone says otherwise.)
-
(Go right ahead.)
-
(If that's the case then let's wait for more people to get online.)
-
(My parts are not really affected, so go ahead. I'll just post this update post of sorts. :P)
"I'll be right back, my preciouz..."
Albertus left the room, leaving Aya still chained to the table. Walking down the hall, and entering another room, Albertus approached a huge tube that was right in the middle. Inside, silhouettes could be seen floating about. With the comically large syringe in hand, Albertus injected the contents into the tube. Almost instantly, the tube glowed brightly, and the silhouettes inside started to fidget more vigorously. Smirking widely, Albertus left the room, and locked the door.
"Do not want to let you all ezcape now..."
Returning to where Aya was chained, Albertus approached Aya's face again, still panting. As he took in everything, he whispered into her ear.
"Only one thing left... Zome... Brainwazhing iz in order..."
(TIME SKIP)
-
(Well [tornado fang].)
-
((Told you things were going to go badly! And this isn't even the worst things that will happen! 8D ))
-
(Quintuple [tornado fang].)
-
(Those weren't the sweet nothings Aya was expecting him to whisper. 8D)
-
((Nope-not at all! Just going to wait to hear from PB before I type up a big post))
-
(So this is going to happen in Wilypocalypse too?)
-
(... No. No it's not. I'm not THAT delusional. Right, Aile pillow? >.>)
-
((LOL Blue is basically at her full strength minus her over powered Omni Form I don't see how she could be captured easily with the resistance backing her up. Not to mention she's not as into the idea to rush in on her own unless she has to.))
-
(Oh okay good, glad we're not repeating everything in the Prime dimension too. -u-')
-
((Nah next big thing in the Prime timeline is Shadow Star returning from the Adventure series. I mean thats bad for us too but less kidnappy more killy. ))
-
(So the main space battle is the next thing for Prime, right?)
-
((Seems so, not going to effect updates for Mana-verse though I promise.))
-
((Nah next big thing in the Prime timeline is Shadow Star returning from the Adventure series. I mean thats bad for us too but less kidnappy more killy. ))
(Eh killy isn't so bad, I mean we have a lot of killy stuff. I mean we have Evil Brainwashed Quickie, Insane Evil Cyborg Fxeni from another dimension and his Death Masters, Obsidian, Lord Lewis from yet anpther dimension, Karring's crazy yandere ex wife, Heinrich von Ryker, and Taylor's forgotten stalker enemy Robin so what's one more? 8D)
(So the main space battle is the next thing for Prime, right?)
(Yup, it's just we have a bit more plot before that since Sakura is visiting Fxeni. I have a better idea of what I want to do that's more reasonable and less intrusive.)
-
((Super Shadow Star won't be sticking around after we figure a way to defeat him, don't want to over saturate the RP with baddies XD))
-
(Yeah and I don't need Tron's last baddie he created before he was banned, Galaide, either. I figured out another way to get what I want that's much simpler, I just need a powerful enemy but that's a bit later on anyway.)
-
((I might end up accidentally spoiling something with Blue's story when we get back to having all three keys and the Omni-Gem meet up in Mana-Verse land. XD))
-
(Eh considering the [parasitic bomb] I'm spoiling I'm not surprised about that, lots of things I put in here will show up in Wilypocalypse too. Not everything, especially since Calien is dead in the Prime dimension, but quite a bit but they way they show up will be different for sure.)
-
(I'm surprisingly good at not spoiling my stuff! XD)
-
(Well you're not using an alternate universe version of those characters with similar origins like us. I mean Fxeni is too, but he didn't accidentally get stranded in another dimension like Prime's did.)
-
(I know. Just saying that, as far as the WilyRP, there's a lot of secrets I have planned out, which I haven't spoiled.
Aaaaand I misspelled secrets as "sexrets".)
-
(Oh I still have a quite few tricks up my sleeves too, tons of tricks you'd probably won't see here.)
-
(Eh killy isn't so bad, I mean we have a lot of killy stuff. I mean we have Evil Brainwashed Quickie, Insane Evil Cyborg Fxeni from another dimension and his Death Masters, Obsidian, Lord Lewis from yet anpther dimension, Karring's crazy yandere ex wife, Heinrich von Ryker, and Taylor's forgotten stalker enemy Robin so what's one more? 8D)
(... I don't see my name there. WHAT AM I CHOPPED LIVER!? :W)
-
(Of course you aren't because you're THE main baddie. The others are ants compared to you. XD)
-
(GOOD THAT YOU KNOW MY PLACEMENT IN ALL THIS TIME TO GIVE UP AND LET ME TAKE OVER THE PRIME AND MANA UNIVERSES :W)
-
((Sorry, my cold kicked me in the butt and I slept it off. I'm awake now, and I caught up. I'm all for a time skip, because I've got nothing I plan to do with the Prof right now. He's still sleeping off his mind [twin slasher].))
-
(Timeskip is fine with me. We'll still need some sort of plan though, methinks. A distraction while the rest sneak in?)
-
(Yeah something like that, since we have some Dwarves maybe they can help? I wish we could use Catapults but that probably wouldn't work so well since Skull Cove is still just a normal city and that wouldn't be stealthy.)
EDIT: (Wait Toshi can make Water Clones, that's the perfect distraction duh!)
-
After a goods night sleep the party begin their preparations for the journey ahead, the Dwarves are more than willing to provide any supplies needed. With the help of the dwarven tunnels the group manage to cross the rest of the jagged peaks in record time and find them selves back on the highway again. Sadly this road hasn't been well kept since Skull Cove was cut off from the rest of the world in the wake of White Beard's take over.
The journey is thankfully uneventful but the party overall feels tense worried for the fate of their friend. The Professor however is not doing as well, his dreams continue to haunt him of a shadowy being clawing at it's prison but also of a women with green hair in a white dress attempting trying to speak to him but constantly drown out by by dark voices taking the form of his former friend.
Eventually the party reaches the outer stone gates of Skull Cove, the city once had another name years ago but the pirate's capture of the city led to the it's change and the enslavement of it's people. Fexni began to feel a sense of urgency and nostalgia as the city came into view, For he had been gone for some time now.
The first thing of note is that the gates have been left wide open, and no guards have been posted in addition the sound of an airship returning from ocean across the other side of the city catches the ears of any with more sensitive ears.
((I'll be heading out to work soon so I won't be able to update again till tomorrow unless I get back early. Just a heads up.))
-
Calien looks at the situation in front of him with a dumbfounded look on his face.
".......Okay either they were expecting us or they really underestimate us, though it's most likely the former." Calien said crossing his arms.
"What's that loud sound?" Sakura asked "It sounds like it's coming from the air above us, and it sounds big."
-
The Professor dug at his ears, but he couldn't hear anything. Nevertheless, he looked up. Squinting, he looked toward the horizon. "I see, I see something..."
Fumbling in his bag, he pulled out a spyglass and looked through it. "There! There! I see it! An airship, I see it!"
He handed the spyglass to Calien and pointed to the horizon. "Over there! Look, look, look!"
-
"Whoa, really? Can I see it next?" Pema ran up to Calien.
-
"Huh so that's what an airship looks like." Calien said as he handed it to Pema.
"I wanna see it after Pema, but what's it doing here?" Sakura asked.
-
The airship begins it's decent landing near the top of the citadel high on cliff over the city. The city gates seem to be undefended still.
-
"That looks SO cool! It's really huge, too!" After a few moments of gawking, she handed the spyglass to Sakura.
-
Sakura looks over in the glass still wonder what the ship was doing.
"Why did it land there?" Sakura pondered.
-
"I suspect that would be our destination," Fxeni said as he hopped off the Cheval. He glances around at the gates, examining them. They were worn and cracked, as if they hadn't seen any maintenance whatsoever for years. Aside from that, there doesn't seem to be anything that stands out.
"Something's not right..." Fxeni said as he leaned back against the Cheval, biting the nail on his thumb.
-
"Indeed still no guards." Calien shook his head "They really are expecting us."
-
Toshi - "This looks far too inviting." growing in suspicion as she tries to assess the situation, "That airship could be a traveling merchant, but I have my doubts on that. If this is a trap meant for us. Then how do we plan on approaching this?"
-
"Well in this case I think we need a distraction." Calien pondered "How many Water Clones can you make?"
-
Salem hovered from Pema's grip, "If this were truly devised as a trap, wouldn't our best strategy be a covert approach? How long would this distraction last before their entire forces surround us?"
-
"We'll still be using a covert approach, but the distration will help us sneak in." Calien explained. "It's a very common tactic in covert operations."
-
"Ah, I see. Alright, sounds like a plan," Salem exclaimed.
"But, what if one of the townspeople notices and starts speaking to us?" Pema pondered aloud.
-
"A distraction? A distraction, yes? I, I can, I can assist! Yes, yes, yes, I have some items here, I c-can use them, yes." The Professor put his spyglass away and dug through his bag, producing a few small vials.
"I have b-bombs!" He held out the vials. "Throw them into the road and divert attention. I, I, I used these, I used these in that m-manner quite a few times, quite a few times, yes. Quite, quite effective."
-
"Perhaps multiple distractions would be necessary." Calien stated "That way no one can concentrate on anything."
"The Clones can attack things like supply lines, weapons depots, and if the Clones can use their own Kites that Airship might be a good target, or they can secure it for us so we can get away." Sakura continued "Otherwise we just avoid people."
"A distraction? A distraction, yes? I, I can, I can assist! Yes, yes, yes, I have some items here, I c-can use them, yes." The Professor put his spyglass away and dug through his bag, producing a few small vials.
"I have b-bombs!" He held out the vials. "Throw them into the road and divert attention. I, I, I used these, I used these in that m-manner quite a few times, quite a few times, yes. Quite, quite effective."
"......I think we should save those......" Calien stated. "I don't think it would be enough in this case. Not to mention I have my own 'Flash Bombs' but I only use those in emergecies. Those should be saved in an emergency."
-
"Well in this case I think we need a distraction." Calien pondered "How many Water Clones can you make?"
Toshi - "Since there's plenty of ground water here. I'd say about 20." she acknowledges, pulling out the tiger handsign. "Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!" as she spawns 20 doppelgangers of herself from the cove's ground water.
WC Toshis - "So what's the plan?"
Toshi - "I think the Professor should let us handle these. Better to send fodder, with those bombs of yours." She suggested.
(Feel free to control the clones which ever way you want, since they think differently than Toshi herself. And also, because I'm practically out of time for the day. Besides they are expendable "water bombs", though. :P)
-
(But we're in a Cove shouldn't she be able to make more?)
-
(Oh, right... -AC I forgot we were in a cove, so I should be able to triple that amount.)
-
(I'd say 20 personally.)
-
(20 suicide clones, it is, then.)
-
(So anyone have any other ideas of how to use the clones?)
-
The Professor was too busy looking through his bag for other explosive materials to notice Toshi create the water clones. He produced a few more vials of various substances, and then dug through his rolled maps.
Finally, he produced a map of Skull Cove. "This one, this one is a bit... old. But, but, but, it's the most recent m-map I have. The airship, the airship landed here—" he pointed to a structure on the map "—and we are here—" he pointed to an area just beyond the gates "—so perhaps, so perhaps we should m-make a plan, plan a route. There are numerous roads, and, and, and we could take the alleys. See, see, see how the roads intersect? Look, look here; we could split up and meet at the tower."
-
Calien looks over the map then looks over to Fxeni.
"When did White Beard take over the city, would this map still be accurate?" He asked.
"Is it a good idea to spilt up if they are expecting us?" Sakura pondered.
-
"It's been 5 about years since it was taken over," Fxeni says as he looks at the city through the gate. "There's a few new structures along the way, but otherwise there doesn't seem to be much different. The map should be useful to plan a path."
5 years... Fxeni thinks as he gazes at the city. He hops back onto the Cheval, and looks over at the Water Clones.
"Don't... don't hit any of the residential buildings. The new structures I spoke of seem to be guard towers, those might be good targets to distract," Fxeni said. "Just make sure there's no civilians in them."
-
"Fxeni.....is this place important to you?" Sakura asked. "You've been acting a little weird since we got here."
(I still say we should try the airship too if it's an enemy airship.)
-
"I personally suggest we stick together," Salem stated, "What point would there be in splitting up, when we'll arrive to our destination, regardless?"
"I don't wanna split up, either," Pema shrunk in her clothes, "Something about this place... makes me uncomfortable."
-
"I agree, there's really no point in this case and it would be dangerous otherwise." Calien nodded.
-
As the Professor watched the group discuss their plans, his master's voice spoke to him. The dull ache that he had been ignoring immediately flared, and he grabbed his head, shutting his eyes tight.
"No, no, no, no! Quiet, quiet, quiet! Get out of my head!"
He pulled his hood over his head and curled into a ball until the voices stopped. Panting, he opened his eyes and frantically dug through his bag until he found a specific potion. Uncapping it, he downed a swig.
-
"Oh crap not again!" Calien said in concern as he kneeled down to him.
-
After an excruciating moment, the voices and pain subsided. The Professor took another swig of the potion, capped it, and put it in his bag. He unscrewed his canteen and knocked back a few swallows, closed it, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
Rubbing at his forehead, he panted a bit more and then blinked at Sakura and Calien. "I'm sorry, but, but, but I think, I think I'll be all right n-now. I think so, yes. No need, no need to worry."
-
"Are you absolutely sure?" Calien asked seriously "I mean if you're feeling like that now it's only going to get worse for you the further in we get......"
-
The Professor held Calien in a level gaze. "I will not be left behind."
Taking another swallow from his canteen, he returned his gaze to his map. "Now then, if, if, if splitting up is... unwise, then, then, then might I suggest another course of action? We don't, we don't want any undue attention d-drawn to us, yes? Perhaps, perhaps then, perhaps then we, we divide these... doppelgangers into groups. Draw attention to them, yes? They take the m-main roads, while we, while we take the back roads and alleys."
He pulled out his spyglass once more and used it to survey what streets he was able to see. "If I had a good vantage point, I could see where the citizens are. M-might I suggest, might I suggest a scout? Send one of the d-doppelgangers up on a hill so they can see the town?"
-
"That was the general idea we were discussing yes, and I think sending scout would be a good first course of action as well." Calien nodded. "We need to find good strike points that the Clones can take advantage of."
-
"Hmm, how would we figure out which of those strike points are best?" Pema said while poking her head over the Prof's shoulder and stared at the map.
"There may be homeless people residing in the back alleys, but... I suppose there would be no other way to avoid human contact," Salem noted.
(Personal space? What's that? 8D)
-
"Well Fxeni said the guard towers would be a good place to start but I'm wondering if there are other places to send the Clones." Calien stated "If we send them in say groups of 4 we can have them strike 5 different places. As for the homeless people, I doubt they would actually cause us trouble.
From my experience they would either ignore us, the guards would ignore them thinking they are crazy people or they would actually try to help us somehow."
-
"Well, first things first. We would need to find out how many guard towers there are, before we enact anything, correct?" Salem stated, "Then we can distribute the clones accordingly."
-
"Yes let's see what the Scout reports when she gets back." Calien nodded.
(Let's just say we already sent the Scout.)
-
Pema, in the meantime, poked the Prof's ears a few times, oddly fascinated by it from this close, "So pointy..." She whispered to herself.
-
(.......We need to get Pema some kind of Pokemon to cuddle........)
-
(That we do. XD
Though she does pet Epee, sometimes.)
-
(Yeah, I think Sakura left Epee, Yin, and Bianca back the the Dwarven city or something. Yin and Bianca were left behind at least until we come back.)
-
((She can cuddle Prof! 8D))
The Professor's ear flicked a few times with Pema's prodding and he scratched at it.
-
(Petting Salem would just be degrading and wouldn't feel pleasant for either of them, so yeah, Pema needs Pokemon! 8D)
Pema giggled as the Prof's ears flicked, "That's so cute!"
She leaned on his shoulder as she examined the map some more.
-
((Going to wait on PB before I post.))
-
(I'm still waiting for Fxeni to answer Sakura's question.)
-
(I'm waiting for Pema to stumble upon a cute Pokemon.)
-
(After we get out of the city, anything in particular you like?)
-
"Let's just say I have some... history with this place, and leave it at that," Fxeni replied. "Besides, every town or city we've been to so far hasn't exactly ended up in the best of shape. I'd rather not contribute to that any more than we have to."
-
"That's true, hopefully we won't contribute much more, but I don't know how much that White Beard moron gives a damn about this place. Especially if that Albertus fellow and those Masked creeps are here too, and I get the feeling they give less of a damn than him about the lives of others." Sakura sighed "If they would resort to corrupting innocent animals, bombing Iron Gate, and possessing and killing the Dwarves just to get what they want then I don't have high hopes they would try to minimalize casualties even in their home base.
So I don't know how much Skull Cove will be unscathed after we're done......I wish we could do more but we don't have enough to get White Beard out of this place at the moment. We can't even take care of that Breach in the Watch Tower in the Dwarven city without Aya and we can't even help Iron Gate with their promblems either......it's frustrating....."
-
"Well... let's concentrate on what we can do; getting Aya out of here," Fxeni said, looking up at the citadel in the distance.
-
"Right...." Sakura nodded.
-
(After we get out of the city, anything in particular you like?)
[spoiler]I think Pachirisu would fit her quite well
(http://i.imgur.com/1DYgQEl.png)[/spoiler]
-
[spoiler]Okay, and for added hilarity we'll have it jump on someone's face as an introduction. Probably Calien's or Riagan's.[/spoiler]
-
[spoiler]I especially want to see how Riagan reacts to that. XD[/spoiler]
-
[spoiler]Yeah I figured it should be either Riagan for his reaction or Calien since he is the designated Butt Monkey, but yeah Riagan would probably yield the better reaction since Calien would have a more deadpan reaction to it unlike Riagan who would do who knows what.[/spoiler]
-
"The town, the town will have to help itself. Yes, the needs of the m-many... outweigh the needs of the few, but, but, but there are things we cannot do. We are not all-p-powerfull, much as we like to think we are, and we came here, we came here for one reason; to rescue Aya."
Either not noticing Pema on his shoulder not minding, the Professor looked through his spyglass and consulted his map. "Now, now, now, our focus, our focus is on the tower. With sufficient distraction, we should make it unimpeded."
Taking out a compass and a quill, he began to chart a path. "Taking into account recent construction, adding additional blocks, taking a specified route... From here to the tower, if we keep out of sight, we should arrive within..."
Digging through his bag, he produced a small sundial and studied it. "A quarter of the hour."
-
"Amazing the wonders your outside world holds!" Riagan stated as he listened to the Professor's plan. "Now then, when shall we begin this plan of yours?"
-
"As soon as the Scout comes back and reports on what else they can strike." Calien replied. "And then we still need to finalize the plan."
"I wish I could say the same thing Riagan, but with the city being enslaved I really can't. I always wanted to see the sea but I can't enjoy it right now." Sakura sighed "I honestly wish we can find one town that doesn't have something wrong with it."
-
"In my experience, there's always something wrong... we've just been rather unlucky and have hit bigger problems than the usual fare," Fxeni said.
-
"I guess that's true, even in the forest we had days when food is scarce, particularly in Winter." Sakura sighed "Lots of animals sleep and lots plants don't grow. There's no Snow, never seen it before myself even, but it's still difficult. But we made due even with those hardships."
-
(Are we waiting for TENK or something?)
-
((I am yes before I respond to how you decide to react to the situation))
-
(He said you don't have to wait for him.)
-
(I assumed we were, as you were insisting on waiting for the scout to come back.)
-
(He said we can control the Clones, but the thing is I don't know what else is in Skull Cove. That's why I'm kind of waiting for Blue now.)
-
((Alright then))
The party remain near the small woods on the outskirts of Skull Cove awaiting word from the scouts. After an hour or they get word back from the clones. Skull Cove seems abandoned, no sign of human life at all. A ghost town, although there is noise from what seems to be coal mine near the cliff base, possible the citizens are currently working there to fuel White Beard's machines.
-
"...That sounds scary." Sakura stated.
"Fxeni is there any reason for the town to be like this?" Calien asked.
(For clarification they both are referring to the town being empty.)
-
"I do not like this." Riagan said while clutching his hammer, ready for battle. "It's too quiet."
-
"Yeah......it's obviously some kind of trap." Sakura nodded. "If it wasn't obvious already."
-
"We, we must, we must be cautious," the Professor rolled up his map and tucked it away. He rummaged through his bag for his Lightning Powder and put the pouch in a cloak pocket. Pulling out his Flame Paste, he put that in a different pocket. He intended to stay toward the middle of the group for protection, but he knew better than to go unarmed.
-
((They heading inside?))
-
Toshi - "Again, this is far too inviting." pulling out the katar segment of her Ronginasu no Yari, clenching her fist tightly, as she takes a defensive stance. "Whatever happens, we must stay on our guard."
-
(Nope still camping, I still want to know what can be attacked beside Guard Towers. That's why the Scout was sent in the first place. We have enough Clones to get 5 places at once.
We need to send in the Clones then we head in.)
-
((Whole town seems abandoned, unless you plan to search all the houses you'll need to head in at some point, also you can't wait around too much given Aya's situation at the moment))
-
(Still the plan was a distraction of some sort.......should we just abandon that idea?)
-
Shouldering his bag, the Professor stood. "If we, if we are to rescue Aya, we should go. The, the, the longer we wait around, the longer we wait and worry, the worse it will get. I've learned, I've l-learned long ago that that you can't plan for every eventuality. We should go."
With that, he started for the gates, his route already planned out with the scout's information.
((If there's no one around, then no one is around until a random encounter. Those random encounters will be dealt with.))
-
(Okay then. *shrugs*)
"He's right....but be prepared of anything." Calien nodded as he took out his Axe and fingered his Chain Sickle.
"Okay...." Sakura gulped.
(Should we just dispel the Clones?)
-
((Keep them just in case. Perhaps send out a scout or two along different routes or as advanced parties. They're not useless; it's just the distraction plan right now would only do the opposite and call attention to the party. The party is better off hiding in plain sight and just moving out.))
((In other campaigns, I'd suggest making perception rolls and checking for traps, but this one doesn't use dice. Just be prepared for a random encounter.))
-
(Okay we'll do that.)
-
The group head into the city with no resistance at all, soon they are standing in the town square. It's clear the town has not been well kept by White Beard at all, the silence is a little off putting given the size of Skull Cove.
Before the group can decide their next move the clones send warning about movement--movement everywhere. The missing townfolk have been found and the mob is beginning to move in on the party. Suddenly the sound of the gates closing can also be heard behind them back a few streets.
-
"So....now what?" Sakura asked as she had no idea what to do.
"This is not good....." Calien stated.
-
The Professor readied his Lightning Powder. "Might, might I, m-might I suggest that we move and fight? Our goal is the tower, yes?"
He looked around at the mob, hoping that none of them would trigger the fits he had been suffering lately.
-
"Prof.....these are citizens not enemies." Sakura told him "We can't hurt them."
"But we can blind them if necessary." Calien said as he moved his hand towards one of his pockets "When I give the signal close your eyes."
-
Sakura notices the towns folk are acting the same way the possessed dwarves were. Worse children were among their numbers and all armed to kill the party.
She then hears a giggle "Welcome! You all made it, do you like my new dollies? I wanted to give you all a wonderful party to thank you for the fun back at the mountain! Doll Master says sitting high above the street on the edge of a roof casually her feat swaying.
-
"Should have known you'd be responsible for this, no wonder the place was deserted, your were busy possessing these people!" Sakura hissed.
-
"You have no right to do this! Leave these people alone!" Pema pointed her staff at Doll Master.
-
Bach at Skull Cove Citadel, Albertus had long since returned to his private quarters. He was seated at his evil spinning chair, with a cloaked figure behind him. As he was spinning evilly, Shadow Master appeared before him.
"Ah, Shadow Master. How nice of joo to finally return triumphant... After zeveral failurez..."
"... Thank you Master. I bring news. It seems the rag-tag group have arrived in Skull Cove. Doll Master is currently engaging them in the town square."
"Good... Good... Zhey vill love my zurprize for zhem..."
The cloaked figure nodded, and looked up with glowing red eyes.
-
Doll Master raised her hands and all the citizens stopped waiting on her command. "As an heir to the empire I have all the right to do what I will, and soon the rest of the world will remember why. I do believe that stupid old pirate just returned with the final key too." Doll Master still doesn't order her "dolls" to attack as if expecting a few questions still.
-
"The final key..." the Professor repeated. Something about that seemed familiar, and as he thought about it, the pain in his head flared. He shut his eyes and dropped to his knees, holding his head.
"No, no, no, not now, not now!"
-
"Empire?" Calien asked still clutching the thing in his pocket "This is what you lot have been risking the world over?"
-
"Please-don't-allow-the-keys to gather!"
The voice of a woman rang through his head, a desperation to her tone.
------------------
Doll Master leaned forward "This world is ours to threaten how we want." Doll Master smirked "You all won't be alive to see it but soon the gods will no longer determine our fate--a world of chaos! It will be so much fun right!?"
-
"<Are these the siblings of the Pig Demon or something? Are they serious?!>" Sakura muttered to herself.
"So you believe a world full of Chaos would be much more entertaining than the world today?" Calien continued waiting for the right time to use his item. "A world full of Monsters and Rotting Lands. That's your wish?"
-
"Nothing lasts forever not even Arcadia! Did you know the gods under the "queen's" orders fashioned the chaos into this world? As poisonous and twisted as chaos is it CAN be controlled, and from that chaos something new and interesting can be born." I'm looking forward for this silly joke of a world to get a much needed make over!"
-
([spoiler]Can I release the Deku Nut now?[/spoiler])
-
"Don't allow the keys to gather... Don't allow the keys to gather..." The Professor repeated the phrase over and over as the pain gradually cleared. Soon, he could stand and focus with a clear head. He looked to Calien, and then to Doll Master.
-
"Your friend is rather mad, or perhaps---
One Key, buried deep below the mountains!
One Key, swallowed by the raging waves!
One Key, protected by the dark goddess sleeping within the last guardian.
Does that ring a bell little hob-goblin?" Doll Master smirked.
((yes go a head, last post after that for me tonight. Gotta work tomorrow morning.))
-
(Okay let me just wait until Quickie posts or something. And I might not post too much tomorrow depending on what they want me to do for Jury Duty.)
-
The Professor's eyes widened at both the phrases and at Doll Master's recognition of what he possibly is. Immediately, his master's voice spoke again, and the pain in his head flared with an intensity that caused him to reel. He collapsed to his knees, his hands gripping his ears in an attempt to shut out the voices.
"No, no, no, you are not my master, you are not my master! Get out of my head! Get out of my head! Get out of my head!"
((Last post for me, too, as I need to go to bed. Me tired. Mabel has a vet appointment tomorrow.))
-
"Nothing lasts forever not even Arcadia! Did you know the gods under the "queen's" orders fashioned the chaos into this world? As poisonous and twisted as chaos is it CAN be controlled, and from that chaos something new and interesting can be born." I'm looking forward for this silly joke of a world to get a much needed make over!"
"We won't let that happen!" Pema yelled, "This world belongs to everyone and it's our job to protect it and grow along with it! While it can be... scary, at times, I will never take this life for granted. I love being alive and I love this world."
-
((I'll let everyone else chime in and Sakura to do her post. I'll likely get the next post in after work tomorrow.))
-
(Gotcha, hopefully I can think of something really badass to say by the time I can post it.)
-
"I warned you what would happen if you saw me again, demon!" Riagan said. "You shall pay for what you did to my kin and the girl. If I have to go through all of these humans to get to you, THEN I SHALL!!"
-
"Mr. Riagan..." Pema said under her breath, startled.
-
"Ooooh! You are going to slice through all these little children? I think I like you!" Doll Master said with a giggle. "Even if you do somehow stop me and free these people will they thank you after they see your hands covered in the blood of their children?" Doll Master flicks her finger and only the children begin to march forward wielding small knives and rocks.
-
"You know I am quite grateful to the Queen for giving me a second home I can protect.....it would be a shame if I couldn't give it my all to do so!" Calien said as he pulled out something that looked like a Nut "EVERYONE NOW!"
Calien threw down the Nut which exploded causing a blinding flash which stunned everyone except the Party who quickly closed their eyes.
-
((Okay now I'm heading to bed I gotta see how people press the advantage here tomorrow.))
-
During the whole confrontation, Fxeni remained silent. He didn't want to say anything as to not give any advantage to Doll Master, but he had a hard time of it. He glanced at the townsfolk; all were recognized, if a bit changed. Their clothing was ragged and worn, nothing like they were before. Their faces were thin, and their bodies tired. Their eyes were empty, as if their very soul was gone.
His heart sank as he heard Riagan's threat to Doll Master, and her initiative to send the children forward due to it pleased him less still. His mind raced, trying to find a solution that would prevent anyone from getting hurt.
There was none.
As the Deku Nut went off, Fxeni acted quickly. Pressing his feet to the seat of the Cheval, he quickly gathered mana under them and sent himself up into the air, his trajectory aiming right at Doll Master. He pulled out his short spear and grasped it tight with both his hands, aiming it right at her as he descended.
-
Opening her eyes she notices Fxeni taking the initiative on Doll Master. But her doubt gives her a bad vibe.
Toshi - "Idiot!" she quickly broke off from the group, ignoring the citizens, who were still stunned from their blindness. "He's gonna get himself killed." Racing towards Fxeni,while rallying some of her water clones, she got the feeling that their enemy is far too powerful take on alone.
(I might need Blue's reaction here, before I continue.)
-
As Toshi attempted to follow three dolls encountered at the dwarven city spawned in front of her, she'd need to destroy them if she wanted to continue. ((one bruiser and two agile ones))
As Fxeni flew toward Doll Master he noticed her mask had shielded her from it's stunning effect and she was making little effort to move her self out the way. Just as the tip of the cheval would have run her down Doll Master jumped up landing on the chassis of the bike and caught the spear's blade toward her two fingers almost effortless holding his strike back.
"Oh, did I strike a nerve?" She tilts her head mockingly before extending her right hand and hitting Fxeni with a bast of mana not dissimilar to the barrier Aya could conjure with her barrier gauntlet. The physical force sends him flying off Cheval as the bike goes crashing into the second floor of another building. Doll Master lands behind the party seemingly ready to directly take them on, although the mob of children was still heading their way.
((The parties current strength they don't really stand a chance against either Master on their own, so a little team work will be required here if they want to hold her off. Might I recommend focusing on the source of the mind control? She can be fought off you just need to use team work! 8D))
-
(....I think some taunting may be in order.)
-
Pema dodged a knife swipe from one of the children and ran towards Doll Master, "That's enough! Stop controlling them!"
She conjured a large fireball with her staff.
"P-Pema! Don't just rush in without a plan!" Salem shouted.
"Raargh!" Pema fired it at Doll Master.
-
Sakura looked at how Doll Master effortlessly blasted Fxeni away and got an idea as she dodged the children.
"You know I find it kind of funny that you keep calling us such inferior beings compared to you and yet you rely on such inferior beings to fight for you." Sakura said nonchalantly. "Kind of contradictory ain't it?"
-
Toshi - "Damn it!" she came to a full stop, as she and her clones pulling out their staff segments quickly assembling their spears "I can't believe I fell for that."
Riyalie - "Toshi, wait!" she appeared as two of the small dolls charged at Toshi.
Toshi - "What is it?" she parries the front doll's attack while kicking the other, sneaking form behind, back. "I'm a little busy here." the huge doll brute closing in, hammering its fists at her, as she quickly evades to the one side, while it slams the ground sending a shockwave, causing Toshi and her clones to stagger a little.
Riyalie - "But... "
Toshi - "I can't..." she jumps up, dodging a low slash, while spinkicking the other, while attempting to slash the front attacker as it parried the counter-attack. However the strength of Toshi's blow sent the doll flying. "... I need to get these guys off me first."
Riyalie - "Okay..." she vanishes leaving Toshi to her thing.
Meanwhile, the doll brute tries to pursue, Toshi; but it was interrupted by...
WC Toshi #1 - "Suiton: Teppōdama!" a sphere of water slams a gaping hole to the side of the brute's head. "Hey ugly! Over here!" one of the clones shouted, diverting the brute's attention away from Toshi. It swings its fist at the one clone, but...
WC Toshi #2 - "Gotcha!" the brute gets stabbed in the back, by another clone; reeling it back a bit, while trying to shrug the clone off its back.
The third clone, uses this opportunity, as it forms a tiger handsign, while the brute manages to swat the clone on its back into a nearby wall, causing it pop like a water balloon.
WC Toshi #3 - "Suiton: Mizu Kamikiri!" a jet of water cuts through the ground towards the brute, splitting it in half.
(I'm going to wait on Blue first, before finishing off the two remaining dolls.)
-
Unnoticed by the group, the Professor's painful reeling had sent him out of the crowd and down the road. He was simultaneously trying to escape the voice in his head, as well as follow it. His vision was blurry from the Deku Nut explosion and he didn't quite see where he was going.
"You have to get the keys. Get them together. You're the only one who can do this! You want to bring me back, don't you?"
"You're not my master! Get out of my head!"
The Professor leaned heavily against a low stone wall, panting. The pain wouldn't stop.
-
"Tch!" Doll Master hissed as she dodged to the side to avoid Pema's fire ball (which leaves a rather large hole in the building behind her). "You want me to slaughter you with my own bare hands I am willing to oblige you filthy half-breed!" Her voice lost it's composure at Sakura's taunt but it had the negative effect of drawing all Doll's ire and spite at Sakura herself.
Doll Master raised her hand a wire of mana string shot from her fingers and wrapped themselves around Sakura's neck, she managed to get her hand in the way but she still felt the oxygen and mana being squeezed out of her as Doll Master motioned her hand tightening the grip. "I don't need any dolls to kill you!" She screams again.
((That being said she has to be on the ground to choke Sakura AND control her puppets. Also TENK go ahead and finish them off))
--------------------
As the professor's head splits with pain he notices the green haired women again, her ghostly form kneels before the professor and wraps her arms around him. Suddenly the pain begins to receed again and she vanishes. "It attempts to confuse and manipulate, be strong little one! The last guardian is counting on you." He hears as she vanished from his sight.
-
(So wait is she on the ground now?)
-
((Doll Master jumped behind the group after knocking Fxeni away, and now Sakura is choking! So much pressure! 8D ))
-
(Yeah but what about Calien......)
While Sakura was chocking, Doll Master completely forgot that Calien completely disappeared when the Deku Nut flash disapated and she was caught unawares when he suddenly cleaved her with a flaming Axe.
(There was a reason I wasn't writing for Calien. 8D)
-
Doll Master screeched out in pain Calien's attack slashed at her back not enough to kill but enough to cause a nasty gash and break her concentration freeing the citizens from her control AND Sakura from being choked to death. She fell forward to her knee trembling in pain.
-
Sakura fell to her knees as she took in as much air as she could when she could breath again.
"How's that......for some 'filthy half breed'." Sakura said as Calien put his Axe at Doll Master's neck. Even though Sakura getting Doll Master's attention was part of an unspoken plan Calien was not in the mood to be merciful to someone who was willing to suffocate his daughter or use innocent people to fight them.
-
((So what post is meant to happen first, did Riagan smack her after Calien attacked?))
-
(Oh nevermind. I missed a post. Haha, I'll delete it)
-
(Yeah sorry about that one. -u-')
-
((I'll wait for the retcon before I post XD))
-
(I wouldn't have minded having Riagan attack her while she was down though and then have Calien walk over and put his Axe to her neck.)
-
((I'll wait for the retcon before I post XD))
(It's gone. You may proceed)
-
(Up to you, I feel Riagan should do or say something given his hatred for her though.))
Doll Masker looked up to the group with the Axe blade at her throat, she giggles slightly. "Heh--heh, you think this changes anything? We win either way! The three keys are already ours and you'll never reach the top before we're ready. My master will walk this world again and you shall all die twisting in the chaos!" A little blood drips from below her mask as she coughs up some.
-
Riagan walks behind Doll Master, axe still at her throat. Calien notices and removed the axe while Riagan swings his sledgehammer square towards her head. The hammer impacts hard against Doll Master's skull, crushing it against a wall with one blow. Riagan looks down at the impacted carcass and spits on it.
"One down. One to go!" he stats as he walks past Calien.
-
There isn't much left of her head from the impact it isn't a very pleasant sight. The citizens all look at one another in confusion as if they had just been snapped out of a deep sleep. "W-what happened?" a few of them say nearly at once.
-
"Agreed." Calien nodded as he walked over to Sakura. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah....sorry for scaring you like that, I felt getting her so pissed at me that she would only focus on me was the only way for you to get an opening to attack her and free these people." Sakura said as she started to recover.
"I know....I'm sorry I put you in such a situation." Calien sighed.
"We shouldn't worry about that now, we need to hurry up to get those Keys and Aya." Sakura stated as she looked towards the Towns People "You need to get out of here now, it's too dangerous here!"
-
Fxeni got up slowly, leaning against the building as he pushed himself up with his legs. His left arm dangled a bit loosely as he leaned against his right arm.
"Lovely..." he muttered under his breath as he looked at it. He grunted in pain as he smacked his shoulder against the wall, setting his arm back in place. He let out some strained grunts as he picked up his spear and made it disappear, then quietly walked into the building where the Cheval landed.
-
"Tch!" Doll Master hissed as she dodged to the side to avoid Pema's fire ball (which leaves a rather large hole in the building behind her). "You want me to slaughter you with my own bare hands I am willing to oblige you filthy half-breed!" Her voice lost it's composure at Sakura's taunt but it had the negative effect of drawing all Doll's ire and spite at Sakura herself.
Doll Master raised her hand a wire of mana string shot from her fingers and wrapped themselves around Sakura's neck, she managed to get her hand in the way but she still felt the oxygen and mana being squeezed out of her as Doll Master motioned her hand tightening the grip. "I don't need any dolls to kill you!" She screams again.
((That being said she has to be on the ground to choke Sakura AND control her puppets. Also TENK go ahead and finish them off))
--------------------
As the professor's head splits with pain he notices the green haired women again, her ghostly form kneels before the professor and wraps her arms around him. Suddenly the pain begins to receed again and she vanishes. "It attempts to confuse and manipulate, be strong little one! The last guardian is counting on you." He hears as she vanished from his sight.
"Counting on me... the last guardian is counting on me..."
Panting, he stood and continued toward the tower. The pain in his head had subsided enough for him to think clearly. Seeing that the rest of the party were dealing with the hostiles without too much trouble, the Professor decided to continue his trek.
"I have to... I have to save her... save the last guardian..."
((Sorry, had dinner.))
-
Calien winced when he heard Fxeni smack his shoulder against the wall to get his arm in proper alignment again.
"Fxeni are you okay?" Calien shouted.
-
"I've had worse..." Fxeni called back out before heading up the nearby staircase.
-
Without townsfolk attacking the professor manages to wander down the streets toward the cliff side on his own without incident, soon he's in front of an open gate. Examining the floor the doors were opened recently. Perhaps another trap, or perhaps they did not expect Doll Master to fail.
Fxeni finds the cheval on top of a crushed bed, some kid may be quite annoyed with him for crushing her teddy bear. Now how he plans to get it back to ground level is another matter.
-
(......Pop a wheelie?)
-
Cautiously, the Professor ventured into the building, his steps light. He dug in his bag and pulled out a pocket torch. Ripping the top off, he held it before him. In a pinch, it would make a decent weapon for close combat.
"The Guardian... she m-must be in here..."
-
(Poppin' a wheelie 8D)
Fxeni gets on the Cheval and backs it up. He turns the Cheval around while looking at the room. He sighs as he looks at the opening in the wall.
"Everyone out of the way!" he yells out as he revs the Cheval a few times to make his intentions clear. After a few moments he revs it up one more time. "Here goes nothing..."
He accelerates suddenly, driving towards the hole. He lifts the front part of the Cheval up into the air, letting a burst of mana out that cuts through the bottom part of the wall that was blocking his exit. As he careens through the air he looks down below and aims the Cheval away from everyone possible. He lands roughly on the ground and spins his machine in place, swerving to a stop next to a group of villagers.
-
".......I'm convinced that thing is indestructible and I want to make one someday." Sakura remarked.
-
The Professor finds a staircase leading upwards on the right side, as he climbs the spiral staircase he begins to notice a faint light grow until he steps out onto the top of one of the Citadel's towers. Near by is another large gate leading into the building proper and likely where the Omni-Gem was being held.
((Going to wait and see what Alberto does since this is near his area of the fortress and I'll let him decide what happens. Till then feel free to explore and look for a way in.))
-
Pema peers over at Doll Master's remains.
"Pema, don't look!" Salem stated firmly.
"Y-Yeah, I know..." She furrowed her brows and let out a tired sigh. She looks over at Riagan; a mere glance in his direction caused a chill to go up her spine.
"What's wrong?" Salem asked.
"... It's nothing," She said in a soft, distant tone, focusing her attention back to Fxeni.
-
Fxeni looks around at the villagers, wondering if anyone recognized him. None did however; all he saw in their faces was weariness, both physical and mental. Probably for the best... he thought to himself as he looked around. He catches a glimpse of Pema glancing uneasily at Doll Master's remains, then at Riagan. He sighs as he gets off the Cheval.
"Let's clean up this mess, shall we? These villagers seem traumatized enough without this splashed all over the place," Fxeni says as he walks over to Doll Master's remains. He speaks quietly to himself as a red rune circle appears below him, followed by Doll Master's remains suddenly engulfing in flames.
-
Calien looks at Pema who seemed to have trouble even glancing at Riagan.
"Riagan......you have a lot to learn about our customs........." He thought to himself. He thought perhaps he or Sakura should talk to him later when this was all over.
Sakura glanced over at Fxeni still wondering about how he was acting when he got here.
"Could this place......be Fxeni's home?" Sakura thought and figured she should ask again when they got Aya back.
-
"I was gonna suggest we bring the carcass with us to show the demon's cohorts what's in store for them." Riagan told Fxeni.
-
((I'd imagine you get to see Mask Master lose his [parasitic bomb] if you did that 8D))
-
".....I think that would be to our disadvantage.......they would smell us coming a mile away." Sakura sighed.
"He has a lot to learn." Calien thought almost wanting to face palm as he felt pity toward Riagan and hoped Fxeni or Pema didn't lash out at him.
(Poor Riagan. -u-')
-
"Oh, they don't need to see this to find that out," Fxeni said as he glanced over at the villagers. "We should probably get going to... educate them, actually. Let's all- wait, where's the Prof?"
-
Calien and Sakura looked all around seeing if they could find the tiny Hob Goblin.
"Crap......he must have went into the citadel!" Calien cursed.
"No......he's going to get himself in trouble!" Sakura shouted.
-
"Ha. You act as if I DON'T want them to know I'm coming to kill them..." Riagan snidely said as he looked at Sakura while walking towards Fxeni, putting his blood stained sledgehammer on his shoulder. "Now you...I like the way you think."
(Geez you respond fast.)
-
(Hmm I hope we won't have the same problem like that one part in Pokemon RP.)
-
((Speaking fast updates, want to let Wily catch up before the party moves forward.))
-
(Yeah definitely.)
-
Pema stayed silent throughout their conversation, gazing at the bright flames of Doll Master's remains.
"Sick..." Pema mumbled.
"Huh? What was that?" Salem asked.
"All these bad people like that lady with the mask... it's an illness, right? It's... It's a sickness. They want to destroy, and they don't care if- if everyone else gets hurt in the process..."
"Yeah, I suppose you could say it's a sickness..." He said with a trailing voice.
Pema looked at Salem for a moment before responding, "That means they can be cured... doesn't it? This terrible sickness. They can't see reason or find happiness..."
"For some, they can be 'cured'. Others... well, I'm afraid there as those who are too far gone for any sort of redemption."
She stared at the ground, "Oh..."
(Their conversation is clearly audible, by the way. It's not private or anything, so if anyone wants to give their two cents, by all means...)
-
(Why Peam why?! O^O)
-
(... That was squishy. X_X)
While the Professor was still taking in his new surroundings, a shadowy figure appeared before him.
"We have been expecting you, Professor."
-
"M-me? Oh, oh, I'm sure, I'm sure you have..." The Professor handled his pouch of Lightning Powder with one hand and rubbed the back of his neck with the other.
He looked around and tried to ignore the pain brewing in his head. He didn't need a fit to overtake him now. He needed to concentrate.
-
(... That was squishy. X_X)
(It was either that or she would have been beheaded........)
-
(... Comparing beheading, and squish... I choose beheading. XD)
"Feisty aren't you. However, I'm not here for a fight. My master would like a word with you. I hope you would comply..."
The figure suddenly disappeared from the Professor's sight, and then suddenly reappeared behind him, a Shadow Blade lightly jabbing into the Professor's back.
"... Cleaning up would be a pain after all."
-
The Professor put his Lightning Powder back in his pocket and nodded meekly. He had capped and stowed his torch before he arrived, so he was unarmed, save for the powder.
The pain began to gnaw at the front of his skull and he shut his eyes and rubbed his forehead long enough to get the pain to subside enough for him to think.
"Your... you m-master... Who are they?"
-
"You will meet him soon enough."
Shadow Master grabbed onto the Professor by his right arm, and the two disappeared. When the Professor regained his bearings, he was in a large cavern, and right in the middle... Is a huge gem. And in front of the gem, were two cloaked figures, one was slightly shorter than the other. Shadow Master then appeared beside the taller cloaked figure.
"Zo gud to finally meet joo... I hoped Shadow has been... Gentle on joo..."
-
The Professor's eyes went to the Gem in the middle of the cavern. He recognized it instantly, as it had been detailed in his studies of the Precursors. Though, as he gazed upon it, his master's voice spoke to him and the pain flared once more.
He dropped to his knees and covered his ears in an attempt to shut out the voices. "No, no, no, you are not my master! You are not my master!"
After a moment, the pain subsided enough for him to lift his head. Of all the times for that fit to happen!
-
By this time, the taller cloaked figure was already standing in front if the Professor.
"Ah... Zo gud for joo to be bowing before me... Joo vill prove to be a very valuable ally..."
-
(Please blast him with Lightning, please blast him with Lightning!)
-
The Professor got to his feet and held Albertus in his gaze. "You are not my master, and I will not bow to you!"
He stepped forward and prepared to grab his Lightning Powder. However, the brace on his left foot got caught on his robe and pulled it taut. He lost his balance and pitched forward, arms flailing. To keep from hitting the floor, he grabbed Albertus for stability, except due to his short height, he firmly grabbed the man's hips and buttocks.
Realizing what he had just done, his face deepened in embarrassment, and he stood and stepped backward. "I, I, I'm quite terribly sorry... My balance, my balance... it's n-not very good..."
-
(Brilliant! XD)
-
((Nothing kills evil moments more than surprise groping! 8D ))
-
(... I'm very tempted here. XD)
The cloaked figure reeled in sheer shock at what had just transpired, his hood flipped back, revealing the face of an adult male, around his late 30s, looking very distraught. His bushy moustache twitched uncontrollably.
"HOW DARE JOO! HOW DARE JOO TOUCH THE GREAT ALBERTUS THE WILEY IN ZUCH A LEWD MANNER!?"
Shadow has his mouth open agape, while the other cloaked figure seemingly giggled.
-
((Albertus complains about being Lewd? 8D ))
-
"Most sincere apologies... My balance, my balance is rather p-poor, yes?" The Professor shrank in his own robes and took another step backward. Albertus's accent was quite thick and it made him difficult to understand.
-
(Only he is allowed to do lewd things in his world. 8D)
Albertus quickly readjusted himself, just as the other cloaked figure approached him, placing a hand on his right shoulder, and seemingly striking a pose under the cloak.
"I vould have joo hanged! However... Joo know a lot about ze Precurzorz... I need zuch information... Zo zhat I can rule thiz vorld! I need to know more about ze three keyz!"
-
The Professor swallowed thickly. He didn't understand much of what Albertus said due to the cavern's acoustics and the man's thick accent, but he was able to figure out the context. The three keys...
"The three keys. You know about those. Bring those together and you can bring me back!"
The pain in his head flared and he reeled forward a few steps before he collapsed to his hands and knees. Gritting his teeth, he tried to force the voice out of his head. "You are not my master! Stop it! Get out of my head! Get out of my head!"
-
"Focus, do not pay attention to that pretender! You must save the last guardian!" The woman's voice rang in his head again helping stop the pain.
-
Seeing the Professor reeling in pain, Albertus smirked.
"Lookz like joo are in terrible pain... Give me ze information, and I vill make ze pain go away..."
The other cloaked figure giggled at the Professor.
-
The Professor shook his head as the pain cleared. "No. No... I... I have to save her..."
Pulling out his pouch of Lightning Powder, he rubbed it between his palms and fired a charge at the other cloaked figure. The charge wasn't enough to hurt anyone, but it provided a sizable flash and enough noise to serve as a distraction.
With that distraction, he got to his feet and hobbled toward the other end of the cavern in an attempt to find some means of escape.
-
Both Albertus and the other cloaked figure screamed at the sudden flashbang, and were momentarily blinded. Shadow Master on the other hand, wasn't close to that, and immediately appeared before the Professor, blocking his path.
"You are not going anyway. Lest you can defeat me in battle!"
-
Remembering how Aya looked after a battle with this Shadow Master, the Professor wisely realized that he didn't stand a chance. He could try, but he was frail and weak with a lame leg, and the outcome would most likely end the same way; with him being forced to work for this Albertus person.
He would have to find another way. If he could buy enough time, the rest of the party would find their way to the tower. He could stall until he figured out how to slip out of sight. There were many other possibilities, but fighting was not one of them.
Giving in, the Professor bowed his head. "What, what do you want from m-me?"
-
Albertus was still flailing around blind, while the cloaked figure was just playing along with Albertus. Shadow Master just stared.
"Just like my Master said, information on the three keys."
-
((all the professor would know is according to data he's managed to gather is: The keys are sort of magic key designed to open some sort of seal. They only work if all three are brought together, they are mentioned in several legends warning of disaster should they be gathered.))
-
"Well, well, well, you see... I m-may, I may have some information, yes," the Professor nodded and turned back to Albertus. His hands went to his bag, but stopped. He didn't want to lead Shadow Master to think that he was going for a weapon. However, he had reorganized the items inside so that he had ready access to explosives and Flame Paste, in the event that he would need to defend himself.
"But, but, but you see, you see, this, this isn't a place conducive to intense study. I can't, I can't hear very well, and I'm afraid that I might miss things, yes? Might, might I suggest we... retire to somewhere with less echo?"
-
(So how should the rest of the party proceed?)
-
(Up to you, do you all try to proceed or talk to the freed slaves?))
-
Albertus rubbed his eyes, as his vision returned to him. Once stable, he walked towards the Professor, and grabbed him by the collar of his cloak.
"If joo DARE to make fun of me again... I vill not hezitate to kill joo, even if I don't get my information!"
Albertus then threw the Professor to the ground. Shadow Master then grabbed him again by the arm, and disappeared. The cloaked figure hugged Albertus, and they too disappeared.
The four reappeared back on the tower roof, the same place that Shadow Master first encountered the Professor. Albertus again walked towards the Professor.
"Zpeak now!"
(There's a reason for coming back here...)
-
(Up to you, do you all try to proceed or talk to the freed slaves?))
(I think we need to discuss that with each other.)
-
((What ever you want to do I'll make up an event for you all to follow.))
-
(I can promise you, Riagan is not interested in helping to free human slaves! XD)
-
((How about Precursor slaves---err slave? =P))
-
(Poor Riagan. -u-')
-
((Prof's going to be stalling for as much time as he can, but you guys may want to think of something soon.))
"It, it gets, it gets so hard to concentrate with all the... yelling... Hard to hear things..." The Professor dug at his ears with his knuckles and then started sifting through his bag in a show of looking for scrolls. Carefully, he slipped an explosive vial into his cloak pocket.
-
(I'd be fine either way but my gut says we should go find Aya and the Prof.)
-
(Just to reiterate, Prof, Albertus, Shadow, and mysterious cloak person are all at the same tower roof that the Prof initially stumbled upon. So all you heroes just need to find that spiral staircase!)
Albertus threw his arms into the air, and then grabbed the Professor by his cloak collar again.
"Joo... Joo are ztalling, aren't joo... Shadow Master... Pazz me vone of your Bladez..."
-
(Can we cut to finding the spiral stair case?)
-
"I'm sorry, but, but, but, I didn't quite... understand you..." The Professor continued with his bluff. His hand dropped to his pocket and he handled the vial inside. He didn't want to use it in such close quarters, but he was running out of options. Rather than blow himself and Albertus up, he was going to try to stall for as long as he possibly could.
-
((Sure go ahead))
-
Shadow Master conjured up a Shadow Blade, and passed it to Albertus. Fiddling around, Albertus teased the tips on the Professor's face.
"Joo didn't underztand? How about now?"
-
After convincing the slaves to run for the hills the party encountered a Spiral Staircase.
"In the words of a man who has seen more [parasitic bomb] than I, the boss guy is always at the top of the building or the bottom of it, and I suspect the top in this case." Calien stated as he and Sakura started to head up the stairs.
-
Shadow Master conjured up a Shadow Blade, and passed it to Albertus. Fiddling around, Albertus teased the tips on the Professor's face.
"Joo didn't underztand? How about now?"
The Professor nodded, handling the vial in his pocket. His hands still had a thin dusting of Lightning Powder on them, but not enough for a full charge. However, he could mix it with his Flame Paste for a sudden ignition. The resultant chemical reaction would be spectacular, but far less deadly than setting off an explosive at his feet.
As he considered that option and found the long vial of paste in his pocket, he turned his gaze to Albertus, his voice level. "Take me to Aya. I will tell you everything."
-
(So when should we crash the party?)
-
(Up to quickie and Wily)
-
Albertus laughed.
"Aya!? Joo have been ztalling juzt for Aya!? JOO FOOL!!"
Albertus threw the Professor to the ground... And walked towards the other cloaked figure.
"IF JOO MUZT!!"
Albertus grabbed the top of the other's cloak, and dramatically pulled it away... Revealing a female figure. She was wearing a half-mask, that was covering the left side of her face. The mask had a wide grin, and a star-shaped eye... Both eyes were clearing glowing red. The attire... A black full bodysuit, over which a blue open-chest jacket, that bared the midriff, as well as a pair of white short shorts... Blue shoes, and golden rings around her ankles and wrists. The hair was tied into a ponytail, and there seems to be a contraption sticking out of her left ear.
... It was Aya.
(back to you, Blue! 8D)
-
(Oh shi-)
-
Without orders from Albertus Aya stared blankly at the professor, none of the empathy or soul that the Professor was familiar with.
-
The Professor jumped up and ran to Aya, grabbing her by the arms and shaking her. "You, you must come out of this! Get them out of your head! He is not your master! The g-guardian has no master! You must wake up, you must wake up!"
-
Aya glanced at the professor but continued to just stare, what ever Albertus had done to her it had suppressed any sign of free will.
((Unless Wily has any objections I'd say you are all free to crash.))
-
Albertus laughed at the Professors attempt to bring back Aya.
"Zuch a poor, poor being... Aile... Zhow him joo mean buzinezz..."
(Go on ahead.)
-
Calien was the first to make it up to the top as he took in the scene around him and Aya looking like some freak show but worse still he felt something wasn't right.
"Aya......What the hell has this man done to you?!" Calien asked in anger.
(It's the mask isn't it?)
-
"Aile" suddenly grabs the professor by the throat lifting him up off the ground, her expression does not change at all.
-
The Professor clawed at Aya's arm. "You're... still in there...! F-fight... it...! Aya...! Guar...dian... Aya...!"
-
(Can I have Sakura throw Kunais at Aya's hand to make her let go?)
-
"Aile" pauses for a moment loosening her grip slightly. A flash of memory fills her mind as an oddly familiar woman's voice echos in her ears AND the professor's. "Aya--you need to fight this, you need to remember; if you don't this man will unleash a great evil!"
"Aile"'s eyes squint and she begins to look as if pain, her mind seems to be fighting with the brainwashing. "Ngh..." she mutters her arm trembling.
(Hold off till the others post)
-
(Gotcha.)
-
A dark tunnel was closing in on the Professor's vision and he held onto Aya's arm in an attempt to take some pressure off his throat. He saw the brief flicker of recognition in her eyes and pressed on. "You... you can't... let the k-keys... come... toge...ther...! Guardi...an... Aya...! F-fight it...! Fiiiight it..."
His grip went limp and his hands fell to his sides as the tunnel closed in. His words were a croaking whisper. "F-fight... it... Don't... don't let... the keys..."
His vision went black and his body went limp.
-
Albertus was laughing away at the scene before him.
"No matter how hard joo try, Aile iz mine!!"
He approached Aile, and gave her a passionate kiss on her neck, while she was still just standing there with the now unconscious Professor in her grasp. There was the occasional twitch, as if rebelling back, however, Albertus paid no heed, and continued his one-sided kiss.
-
((That was my last post for the night. I'm going to bed. If stuff happens while I'm out and the party moves, put the Prof in a backpack or something. He'll be fine when i get back.))
-
(I think I failed my WHAM moment back there with Aya's reveal... Let me touch up on my previous post...
And there, uped the creepy obsessive factor. 8D)
-
(I'll wait until everyone else posts before getting disgusted at the [tornado fang]ing kiss.)
-
(Oh God... I think you surpassed even Heinrich's creepy factor with that kiss...)
-
(Dude he surpassed FF10 and Xenoblade Chronicles squicky kisses with that kiss!)
-
(The original scene was when Albertus revealed Aya to Prof, he gives a French kiss to Aya, before letting Aya pounce on Prof.
I guess, this new twist is better in bringing out Albertus' obsession with Aya. XD)
-
(Yeah much better.)
(EDIT: Hey I just thought of something...is he going to leave a [tornado fang]ing hicky?)
-
(... I'll think about it. XD)
-
Fxeni arrives just in time to see Albertus kissing Aya's neck. He looks around and sees that not everyone has arrived yet. He decides to try to stall, hoping that everyone gets there before it's too late for the Prof.
"You must be Alberto..." Fxeni says with some disgust in his voice. "What do you hope to achieve by doing... this?"
-
Albertus stopped midway, and glared up at Fxeni.
"It... Iz... ALBERTUS!!"
Panting a bit... "Az for why... Why muzt I tell joo? All of joo are too zimple-minded in your thinking to comprehend ze zheer beauty of vhat I have planned!"
-
"Beauty....?" Calien asked being glad that Sakura didn't see something so disgusting while simultaneously being reminded of at least 2 very unpleasant people who did horrible things in the name of beauty "What the hell is so beautiful about you brainwashing a young woman and forcing yourself on her?!"
Sakura stopped when she heard her father sounding so angry, it was worse than in the Dwarven War Room, possibly because he had someone to direct his anger at.
(So yeah decided to spare Sakura from that, but Calien saw enough. Probably too much.)
-
((Just waiting on TENK and PB))
-
((Still hanging unconscious in Aya's grip.))
-
(You would have think she would have dropped him by now.)
-
(Damn, might as well skip what I was planning on posting recently.)
Toshi - "Oh my God!" she appeared along side Calien and Fxeni, freaking out at the sudden make over Aya went through, "Who in God's name, do you think you are?" she addressed Albertus with utter digust. "Compared to the annoying perverts stalking me. You're idea of beauty is just... despicable! You're nothing but a dirty old fart, sexualizing young women to your liking." In her mind, she was hoping Aya would sock the old man real good, after what he has done to her.
-
(Let's say that Pema is with Sakura, so she's spared from this, as well.
She's seen more than enough, already...)
-
(Yeah Sakura would only comment on the outfit looking ridiculous when she shows up and then Calien will tell her some stuff later in their language. I also need to check if Doll Master's outfit was Blue too to see if Sakura can comment on that too, but she can definitely comment on the mask.)
-
(You would have think she would have dropped him by now.)
(Where's the fun in letting go. Albertus needed to show he means business. :P
Also, Aya's Aile outfit is totally unique, so yea.)
-
(You mean unique in Mana-Verse right?)
-
(Yes, yes in the Mana-Verse... In the current time. :P)
-
((Feel free to play with the Prof while he's hanging around. 8D))
-
"Liek I zaid... Joo all are too zimple-minded to even comprehend ze zheer beauty!"
Albertus went back to nibble on Aile, as he signalled Shadow Master to engage the heroes. In a moment of passion, he left his mark on Aile's neck. Smirking, Albertus then whispered into her ear.
"Have fun with ze Professor... Torture him good..."
(Ok, no more updates from me, at least until everyone's there. And Blue... Have fun! 8D)
-
Calien was in pure disgust at seeing him do that to Aya again as well as Sakura who unfortunately saw it as well, although they were lucky that Pema didn't see the disgusting display....for now.
"Ew, yuck, gross!" Sakura cried as she turned to engage Shadow Master "I can't believe your Master is such a disgusting Pig...actually no he's worse than a Pig! At least a Pig has some honor unlike him!"
"....I agree he is most certainly worse than a Pig." Calien nodded as he readied himself "Don't think he'll get away with this either, we will save both Aya and the Professor!"
[spoiler]They basically said Albertus is worse than Ganon.[/spoiler]
-
"Aile" casually tossed the professor to the ground and slowly made her way toward him. It looked as if she was about to step on his bum leg but she began to pause trembling as if something was holding her back.
In the professor's head he could hear the sound of the woman again "Please- you must wake up, get out of there!"
-
After a few moments, the Professor coughed and gasped and began to stir. He opened his eyes and saw Aya standing over him. Her leg was within his reach.
Rubbing the excess Lightning Powder between his palms, he worked up a small charge and grabbed Aya's leg with both hands, shocking her and himself.
-
"Aile" stumbled back as she was shocked she continued to tremble her mind fighting the mind control. "Ngh..." she grabbed her head with both hands.
-
Digging through his pockets, he pulled out his pouch of Lightning Powder and the vial of Flame Paste. Dusting a light coating on his hands, he prepared to open the vial. "I'm, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but, but I need to awaken you."
Getting up, the Professor rushed Aya while opening the vial and shaking out a glob. The paste reacted with the powder on his hands and an electrified burst of flame and smoke exploded between them. It had enough force to knock them both backwards, and it created a loud pop that left their ears ringing.
-
(I know I should have asked this much earlier but what kind of accent is Wily speaking in?)
-
((A truly terrible German/Austrian accent. J is pronounced like a Y, ja?))
-
(Oh good I thought it was French, it was the Zs that were reallt throwing me off.)
-
(I love butchering languages! owob)
-
"Aile" goes flying onto her back from the impact she continues to grab her head clearly in pain now, she was fighting the brainwashing effectively making it impossible for Albertus to direct her anymore.
-
(... I guess I have to update Albertus. :P Shadow (and reinforcements) paused until all arrives.)
Albertus looked on in shock as the Professor managed to send Aile flying. Rushing to his precious, he noticed Aile grabbing her head, and screaming, trying to break free.
"NO!! NOT MY PRECIOUZ!!"
(Technically, I could just boast the brainwashing, but then again, that would drag too much. I could also just let Aya run wild, since she is technically out of control. She technically has not regain control of herself yet. Got to love technicalities. 8D)
-
(Sure once PB catches up we can have an out of control Aya XD))
-
((In the meantime, Prof will be going through his bag for whatever potions he can find. Something good and strong and spicy. A good shock to the system. Something less explosive since by now, he's burned his hands real good and is even more deaf.))
-
(Well we can have more hilarious misnamings of everyone.)
-
[spoiler](So what is an out of control Aya?
Omega Aile. 8D)[/spoiler]
-
(Speaking of PB what nicknames is Riagan going to have?)
-
((Riggy? 8D ))
-
(Raigong? 8D)
-
(( *Imagines a Dewgong with a beard* :o ))
-
(Nonono... Imagine a Raichu spliced with a Dewgong. With a beard. 8D)
-
(( *Imagines a Dewgong with a beard* :o ))
(Raigong, the desperately needed 2nd evolution of Dewgong that finally shows up in Generation 7.)
(Nonono... Imagine a Raichu spliced with a Dewgong. With a beard. 8D)
(........What? :o)
-
(You know you want Raigong. 8D)
-
(Behold the horror......
http://pokemon.alexonsager.net/26/87 (http://pokemon.alexonsager.net/26/87))
-
(( Raigong: Please---kill me, my life is agony... ))
-
(Needs more beard. 8D)
-
Pema arrived just in time to witness the explosion between Aile and the Prof.
"What... did we just walk into?" Salem exclaimed dryly.
"She sort of looks like Ms. Aya, doesn't she?" Pema observed.
"Yeah, you're right... oh man..." He muttered.
-
Riagan entered as saw what was transpiring. "What is going on in here? Where is that other demon!?"
-
"Not here, but we need to take care of these guys if we want to help Aya!" Sakura shouted. "Also be careful Riagan, the guy in front of us is probably the first of many opponents you aren't used to fighting."
-
"What has happened to the young woman?" Riagan asked while clutching his sledgehammer. "Is she possessed like my kin were?"
-
"No, something far worse I'm afraid...." Calien shook his head "They turned her into their slave it seems, unlike the possessed her mind is completely different. However it seems she's been fighting it, hopefully she'll have the strength to break free and we'll help her if she can't on her own."
-
"WHO is responsible for this travesty?" Riagan said angrily. "His blood will paint my hammer like the other demon's did!"
-
"That despicable man over there, who also made her hurt the Prof, but right now we have to focus on his creation Shadow Master, if you recall he was also there when Aya was kidnapped." Calien stated.
-
Meanwhile, the Professor was still trying to get Aya to overcome her bewitched state. As sudden shocks and even explosions have worked to snap her back to reality, even for a little bit, he decided to stay the course. His hands were blackened and burned, but he nevertheless dusted them once again with a light coating of Lightning Powder.
Scrambling over to Aya, he swatted Albertus aside and rubbed his hands together. The charge was mild, but it would still deliver a shock. "Fight it, Aya! You m-must fight it! The guardian, the guardian must prevail! Awaken! Awaken!"
Still maintaining a charge, he grabbed Aya's arms, shocking them both once again.
-
Aya being driven made by the head ache is only infuriated by the shocking and pulls away knocking the prof backwards. Clenching her hands grasping her head her eyes glow red brighter like before as a dark aura begins to generate from her body.
"Aaaaaah!" Aya screams as the aura grows with her anger.
((It's a dark elemental aura for the magically inclined. And a lot of it. Like more than Aya should be able to generate if she even normally had the ability to use elemental mana. Also I believe Shadow Master is still a threat too? 8D))
-
"W-what is this?!" Sakura cried "I'm sensing a massive amount of Darkness Elemental Mana!"
"I think it's coming from Aya!" Calien yelled "Is this the power of the Last Guardian?!"
(Just waiting for Wily here.)
-
Albertus stumbled back by the sudden swat from the Professor, and just as he was about to retaliate, he heard his precious scream... In a very distorted manner. He turned and saw Aile grasping her head, and an ominous aura leaked out. At that moment, his expression was a mix of fascination... And dread.
"... Hahaha... HAHAHAHAH!! *right hand covering half his face* Joo all... Joo all managed to break my preciouzzzzz... Zo much power... Zo beautiful... Zo... Unreztrained... Hahaha... HAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
Shadow Master meanwhile threw some Shadow Blades at the growing group of heroes.
-
Calien and Sakura dodged the Shadow Blades with Sakura throwing some Light Elemental Kunais back at him and Calien throwing his Chain Sickle to try to restrain his arms.
(Finally have an opportunity for Calien to use his Chain Sickle again.)
-
((Getting late I'll post tomorrow. Everyone else should fight with Shadow Master a bit before you deal with subduing Aya.))
-
(Of course.)
-
Riagan managed to block all but one of the Shadow Blades. The one managed to graze his shoulder. "Ahhhhhh. Good. I shall take out my anger on you!" Riagan said while smiling, as he jumped towards Shadow Master. As he tried to bash his head in, Shadow Master dodged then kicked him back against the wall.
"You are a more formidable foe than the last one, I'll give you that." Riagan told him as he got up.
-
((Prof and Albertus can have a slap fight in the meantime. 8D))
((Otherwise, he's not going to be doing much fighting. He just burnt his hands to a crisp.))
-
"Hmph. All brute, no brawn. You will be easy to dispatch."
Noticing Calien's chain sickle, Shadow Master jumped out of the way, and countered with more Shadow Blades to the whole party.
Albertus was still laughing when he turned his attention back to the Professor.
"Itz all on joo! Joo had to break her!! VHY MUZT JOO TAKE AWAY MY HAPPINEZZ!?"
In a moment of lucid rage, he ran towards the Professor, and slugged him.
-
Calien was grazed by the Shadow Blade while Sakura dodged again by jumping using the air gained to perform a Light Elemental Spin Slash at Shadow Master while Calien tried a Earth Elemental Whirling Blade Technique with his Axe.
[spoiler]Basically a Kuuenzan from Sakura and Link's Spin Attack from Calien.[/spoiler]
-
Knocked backwards, the Professor rummaged for his Lightning Powder again. He dusted his charred palms and rubbed out a sizable charge. Albertus had corrupted the Last Guardian for his own selfish desires, and the Professor was not willing to go easy on him. "Your happiness? Your happiness?"
Not bothering to get to his feet, he fired off his charge, the air filling with the stench of phosphorus, sulfur, and charred flesh. "Your happiness was a lie!"
-
Albertus took the charge squarely to his chest. He roared in pain, but was still standing... For the most part.
"A lie!? JOO HAVE NO IDEA!!"
Roaring again, Albertus charged towards the Professor.
(Do note I have something planned for later, when Albertua finally gets a good look at Riagan. XD Shadow Master is paused until more join in.)
-
(Oh boy, Dwarf related back stories collide?)
-
(There are changes to Albertus' back story, but yes, there will be collisions. Except his skull will remain intact. For now. XD)
-
([spoiler]Are we going to have a Riagan, Albertus is your brother moment?[/spoiler])
-
[spoiler](... That is an interesting twist, but no. XD The real reason will become the main driving force for Albertus after Aya is rescued.)[/spoiler]
-
(Ooh sounds interesting.)
-
Albertus took the charge squarely to his chest. He roared in pain, but was still standing... For the most part.
"A lie!? JOO HAVE NO IDEA!!"
Roaring again, Albertus charged towards the Professor.
(Do note I have something planned for later, when Albertua finally gets a good look at Riagan. XD Shadow Master is paused until more join in.)
"To force someone, to force someone against their will, to force her to be your slave... Is that really happiness? Is that really happiness, to have a p-puppet? You, you, you were deluded!"
The Professor attempted to rub more powder against his palms, but couldn't make a large enough charge.
-
Albertus tackled the Professor before he could conjure another sizable charge.
"A puppet? I WAZ LETTING HER TAP INTO HER LATENT PROWEZZ! Zhe had a prophecy to fulfill... I HEPLED HER!! But now... Joo overloaded her!! Perhapz... Thiz wazn't in vain... I VANT TO ZEE HER FULL POTENTIAL!!"
-
Thrown against the ground, the Professor flailed, but managed to work up another charge. It was a weak charge and he was unable to maintain it for very long, so he grabbed Albertus's head and delivered the shock.
"I saw, I saw the way, I saw the way you looked at her! You, you, you didn't want to help her... you wanted her, you wanted her as your toy!"
-
"Stand still and face me, cowardly shadow creature!" Riagan yelled out as he blocked more Shadow Blades with his hammer.
-
Albertus grasped his head in pain, as he rolled off the Professor. Still visibly stunned, Albertus tried to find the Professor's collar.
"Az if joo understand!! Zhe waz an angel... An angel zhat decided to live among the mortalz... Zhe waz a dezcendant of an angel Precurzor!!"
Finally finding the collar, Albertus motioned towards the neck, and applied pressure.
"ZHE WAZ AN ANGEL! AN ANGEL THAT VOULD GUIDE ME INTO A PERFECT VORLD!!"
-
The Professor gagged and clawed at Albertus's hands. "The... the power of... the Precursors... is not yours...! You... you don't... you don't know... what forces you're... d-dealing... with...! What... what you've... unleashed...!"
With his other hand, he fumbled for his explosive vial, but was unable to get a proper grip on it. The vial slipped from his grip and rolled just out of reach.
((I'm out for the night.))
-
Fxeni dodged and weaved away from the shadow blades that came, blocking some of them with his short spear as they flung towards him. He looked over at Pema who was doing her best to do the same.
"Pema... what say we corner this fiend with fire?" he said as he started focusing his mana towards Shadow Master, preparing a spell.
(If I don't get to post again in time Phi, just have Fxeni say the Flame Blast spell used in the previous fight as you cast whichever spell you want.)
-
Toshi rapidly spinning her spear to deflect most of the oncoming shadow blades, yet one of them somehow managed to graze her leg, causing her to kneel down to gripping the wound close.
Riyalie - "Be careful, will ya..." the pokéspirit chimed in.
Toshi - "Sorry about that." still in a bit of pain from the attack, "But to tell you the truth I actually meant that to happen..." quickly forming the handsigns: Boar → Dog → Bird → Monkey → Ram "So that I can do this... Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" placing both hands firmly on the ground to summon both Riyalie and Grifter as the smoke clears.
Grifter - "Oh yeah. Time for some payback..." cracking his knuckles as he get's ready to lay the smack down on Shadow Master.
Riyalie - "...Pokkén style." finishing Grifter's quote.
The two dash off towards Shadow Master, who seemingly anticipated their movements.
Grifter - "Let's see how you like spinning... Hurricane!..."
Sneaking up from behind...
Riyalie - "Night Slash!" she came darting towards Shadow Master, as he leaps out of the way, causing Riyalie to be caught in Grifter's Hurricane. "Hey, watch it!"
Grifter - "My bad." as he dodges a few Shadow Blades thrown at him.
-
The Professor gagged and clawed at Albertus's hands. "The... the power of... the Precursors... is not yours...! You... you don't... you don't know... what forces you're... d-dealing... with...! What... what you've... unleashed...!"
With his other hand, he fumbled for his explosive vial, but was unable to get a proper grip on it. The vial slipped from his grip and rolled just out of reach.
((I'm out for the night.))
"If it helpz me to my perfect vorld... I CARE NOT OF ZE CONZEQUENCEZ!!"
Albertus continued his grip, blinded by his delusional rage.
Shadow Master was clearly being outnumbered... Currently 8 to 1. After dodging the last attack, he smirked.
"Numbers to overwhelm... I'll give you all credit. However... You are not the only one with numbers! Shadow Clone Technique!"
Shadow Master threw a smoke bomb in front of himself, and when the smoke cleared there were... 8 Shadow Masters!? They each dashed towards a hero/heroine/familiar, Shadow Blades ablazing.
(Yes, each one of you gets a Shadow Master, except for TENK, who gets 3. But who's the real one!? Have fun with your battles with hims.)
-
(I bet the real one is facing Riagan.)
-
Toshi - "Do you honestly believe that trick will work on the likes of me?" spinning her spear to deflect the oncoming Shadow blades, while channeling mana to her spear in for an electric attack. "Purazuma Kushizashi!" throwing her spear as it surges with plasma energy towards the Shadow Master in front of her.
Riyalie - "A cheap trick like this is nothing to me." she dodges the few shadow blades coming her way, "Eat Swift attack." she shot a barrage of stars countering the next barrage of shadow blades.
Grifter - "Why do I even bother..." he takes flight, effortlessly dodging the shadow blades coming his way. Then swooping down towards his target with his wings spread out, "Wing Attack!"
(Although Toshi uses water regularly, her spear contains other elemental properties, which she normally can't use without her spear fully assembled. It also runs on its own supply of mana, which is limited to the spear itself. In other words her spear is practically the only magitech in her arsenal.)
-
"Your... p-... perfect world...? Your perfect... world...?" The Professor fumbled for other items in his pocket, finally finding his vial of Flame Paste. He struggled with opening it, both due to being strangled and due to his own burned hands.
"You... don't... own... this... world...!" Finally opening the vial, he knocked out a globule onto his powder-dusted hands. The globule reacted violently with the powder and exploded from his hands in a crackling ball of flame.
((Hope someone has some bandages ready because his hands are toast.))
-
(Calien will have him covered.)
-
((Hope someone has some bandages ready because his hands are toast.))
(Mmm... toast (http://www.ivillage.ca/sites/default/files/imagecache/node_photo_gallery_single_view/b4.jpg).)
-
"Or not!" Fxeni said, casting his spell at the Shadow Master Clone before he could sync his spell with Pema. It goes off in a fiery blast before him, but the SMC jumps up to avoid it. Fxeni smirks as he pushes himself up into the air with wind, spear brandished and ready to pierce his foe.
-
While Fxeni soared at the SMC, Pema fires an Ice Blast at the same clone, giving him fewer options to escape the incoming barrages.
-
(Hopefully they can help each other with Pema's clone next.)
-
Albertus screamed in pain, the explosion was point-blank, and it burned. Dropping to the ground, and rolling around to put out any stray flames, Albertus clawed his way back towards the Professor.
"Vhat... Attachment... Do joo... Have vith this... Vorld... Joo were zhunned!!"
(Just dragging things a bit... So drag your SMC battles a bit too.)
-
(Wait....how can Albertus know that about the Prof?)
-
(Does that mean we control how the SMC's are hit and such?)
-
(Unfortunately due to the nature of my post I might not be able to drag it out too much, though the post itself is quite lenghthy. Not to mention shouldn't we have to deal with Omega Aile soon anyway? That's probably going to take a while too.)
-
(Wait....how can Albertus know that about the Prof?)
(He used to have a normal life before all this... And even then he knows of discrimination between the various species.)
(Does that mean we control how the SMC's are hit and such?)
(Yep, all of them.)
(Unfortunately due to the nature of my post I might not be able to drag it out too much, though the post itself is quite lenghthy. Not to mention shouldn't we have to deal with Omega Aile anyway soon anyway? That's probably going to take a while too.)
(Yes, but given the time zones and everything, I want everyone to at least post a battle with the clones. Plus you need to give Omega Aile time to power up. :P)
-
(Well is it okay if I do go ahead with my plan, I was planning for my characters to help Riagan due to his inexperience with Dodgey opponents anyway when they finish their clones off.)
-
(I see no problem with that. If PB's fine too, go right ahead.)
-
(Okay I'll wait to see what PB thinks when he gets online, I can probably finish those Clones with a single post really, especially since I have to control them myself now. But like I said the post itself is actually pretty lenghthy.)
-
Albertus screamed in pain, the explosion was point-blank, and it burned. Dropping to the ground, and rolling around to put out any stray flames, Albertus clawed his way back towards the Professor.
"Vhat... Attachment... Do joo... Have vith this... Vorld... Joo were zhunned!!"
(Just dragging things a bit... So drag your SMC battles a bit too.)
"This world... this world..." The Professor slowly got to his feet. He teetered a bit, but stood tall--at least as tall as he could.
"This world... still doesn't b-belong... to you!"
Balling up his fists, he stepped backward, and spun a roundhouse kick to Albertus's head in three whirling steps.
(([spoiler]Kung Fu Fighting- Carl Douglas (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRtrCq6LWt8#ws)[/spoiler]))
-
(( ULTRA COMBO FINISH! 8D ))
-
The Ice Blast flies by Fxeni, hitting the SMC's arm that was holding the Shadow Blade it was about to throw at Fxeni, freezing the Shadow Blade in place. Its eyes widen a bit as it tries to twist out of the way of Fxeni's spear.
Fxeni thrusts his spear upwards at the SMC, impaling its side instead of the vitals he was aiming for. The SMC grunts in pain and swipes the frozen Shadow Blade at Fxeni, sticking it in his left arm. Fxeni lets out a small yelp as he turns them in the air. The SMC tries to fight back but is unsuccessful. They hit the ground hard, the SMC on the bottom.
(Not quite dead yet, but I figure Pema's SMC could intervene here in some way)
-
(Well darn. XD)
Albertus felt the impact on his head, and was sent flying. To think that such a small stature packed such power... By now, Albertus was seriously struggling to get back on his feet. Trying to prop himself off the ground, he turned to look at his precious, who was still screaming in pain.
"... Zoon..."
-
(I really should have put this song in for the entire dialog between the Prof and Albertus.
[spoiler]Xenoblade Chronicles Music - Engage the Enemy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAW4xlbyu28#ws)
[/spoiler]
Then Kung Fu Fighting out of nowhere for mood whiplash! 8D
And this song for the Shadow Clones
[spoiler]Xenoblade Chronicles Music - One Who Gets in Our Way (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS7XVMNNZI8#ws)[/spoiler]
Yeah can't help with the Xenoblade mood really.
[spoiler]Especially if you know how the story in Xenoblade gets near the end.[/spoiler])
-
The Professor limped over to Albertus, holding his fists in front of him. The brace on his lame leg made for a nice counterweight for his kick. He may barely be able to walk, but it didn't mean that he couldn't fight.
His charred hands clenched into tight fists, he stood before Albertus, rocking his weight back and forth from foot to foot. "Do you... do you intend to fight me? For, for a man, for a man of your... repute... You, you, you lack the strength, the strength to b-back it up, yes? You t-talk of your power... b-but in a fight, in a skirmish... in a skirmish against one such as I... you fall."
He thumbed his nose at Albertus, smearing it with ash and blackened blood. "The Order, the Order... they taught me... my m-master had g-given me a... powerful ally. The heavens... they grant me strength. Strength forbidden to you... you with a heart of darkness. That is why... that is why you fall to an Acolyte of the Order."
-
(In the words of Krillin "SHOTS FIRED!" )
-
Albertus, still on the ground, began to laugh.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! ZE ORDER!? ZHEY FEARED CHANGE!! I VILL BRING ABOUT CHANGE TO THIZ VORLD!!" *grabbing his face again* "I waz caught off guard... Perhapz even undereztimated joo... HAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
-
(In the words of Krillin "SHOTS FIRED!" )
(Indeed, even with his mostly warped view of the Order that's the most badass thing in this RP so far, in my opinion, way more badass than how Doll Master was defeated and that was pretty damn badass too.)
-
((And now I'm stuck, because after a badass moment like that, I can't top it. XD Beat up some Shadow Clones, please, thanks.))
-
(Well Albertus just grabbed the Prof's face, and you don't really have to top that badass moment. Perhaps a out of place nonsensical sissy slap fight is in order now?
But yeah I have to wait until PB posts to see if he's okay with the plan I described.)
-
((I thought he grabbed his own face. Wily! Need context! Whose face was grabbed? D: ))
-
(Yeah that's what I thought but then I figured he grabbed the Prof's face, but yeah context is needed here.)
-
(Technically... Albertus grabbed his own face there. XD)
(DARN IT PEOPLE LET ME POST :W)
-
(Okay never mind.)
-
The Ice Blast flies by Fxeni, hitting the SMC's arm that was holding the Shadow Blade it was about to throw at Fxeni, freezing the Shadow Blade in place. Its eyes widen a bit as it tries to twist out of the way of Fxeni's spear.
Fxeni thrusts his spear upwards at the SMC, impaling its side instead of the vitals he was aiming for. The SMC grunts in pain and swipes the frozen Shadow Blade at Fxeni, sticking it in his left arm. Fxeni lets out a small yelp as he turns them in the air. The SMC tries to fight back but is unsuccessful. They hit the ground hard, the SMC on the bottom.
(Not quite dead yet, but I figure Pema's SMC could intervene here in some way)
(What do you mean "Pema's SMC"? We're fighting the same clone.)
-
(I mentioned that everyone gets a SMC. So yea... Peam has a SMC too.)
-
(Yeah you kind of ignored her SMC.)
-
Pema turned towards her neglected SMC, who tossed his arms up and tilted his head, "Hey, what gives?"
"I think he's feeling lonely..." Salem said bluntly.
"Oops, almost forgot about him!" Pema conjured a lightning spell, however, because lightning magic requires more mana than her other elements, she is open to attack due to the longer duration.
The SMC materialized three Shadow Blades and tossed them forward.
She deflected the blades with her staff, but when she looked back at him, he dashed at her, jabbing her in the gut with his knee. The impact sent Pema flying back, her body tumbling across the ground violently. Salem fell out of her grip and rolled away.
-
(Oof poor Peam, Fxeni strike back with righteous fury for that despicable act and avenge Peam!)
-
(Well is it okay if I do go ahead with my plan, I was planning for my characters to help Riagan due to his inexperience with Dodgey opponents anyway when they finish their clones off.)
(He's not inexperienced with dodgey opponents. He just doesn't like them)
-
(Oh my bad, kind of thought he was since he's never really ventured out of the Dwarven City and thought he's only sparred with like Dwarves and stuff. Sorry. So should I scratch that idea?)
-
(Haha, yeah. He's good.)
-
(Okay let me edit what I have typed up so far tomorrow then since Riagan doesn't need really need help after all. Though I get the feeling I'll have trouble ending it.)
-
The Shadow Master Clone threw a barrage of Shadow Blades at Riagan, attempting to get closer to him. Riagan managed to block or deflect them with his sledgehammer while dodging the rest. As the SMC got closer to him, Riagan suddenly threw his sledgehammer right towards the clones. As the clones dodged, Riagan jumped towards him while pulling out two small hand held battle axes from behind his back. The SMC's Shadow Blades clanged with the axes, followed by Riagan headbutting the clone square in the face, knocking it back.
-
(He's only fighting 1 clone, each character only has 1 clone.)
-
(Yeah don't know why that was plural. Only meant to be fighting one. Fixed)
-
(Maybe you confused the Shadow Blades and Clone somehow? :\)
-
(Probably just a typo)
-
(Actually I still see a few 'clones' still.)
-
((The only one not fighting any Shadow Clones is the Prof. The most he can do right now aside from kung fu is smear his bloody charred hands on their faces. Maybe that'll squick them out.))
-
(Well I meant excluding the Prof and Aya obviously.)
-
(And TENK. He gets 3!)
-
((*Smears the Prof's bloody charred flesh on the Shadow Clones' faces*))
-
(Oops I accidentally removed my previous comment, ugh. -AC)
-
((Restored it.))
-
(The powers of mods never cease to amaze me.)
-
Pema turned towards her neglected SMC, who tossed his arms up and tilted his head, "Hey, what gives?"
"I think he's feeling lonely..." Salem said bluntly.
"Oops, almost forgot about him!" Pema conjured a lightning spell, however, because lightning magic requires more mana than her other elements, she is open to attack due to the longer duration.
The SMC materialized three Shadow Blades and tossed them forward.
She deflected the blades with her staff, but when she looked back at him, he dashed at her, jabbing her in the gut with his knee. The impact sent Pema flying back, her body tumbling across the ground violently. Salem fell out of her grip and rolled away.
"Pema!" Fxeni exclaimed as she was sent flying. His dislodged his spear from the SMC on the ground and rushed over to Pema. He deflected Shadow Blades that were thrown at her, then rushed over to the SMC that was throwing them. It suddenly rushed at him and began to throw punches and kicks. Fxeni blocked and attacked back. Neither side could get a clean hit in.
-
Toshi - "Do you honestly believe that trick will work on the likes of me?" spinning her spear to deflect the oncoming Shadow blades, while channeling mana to her spear in for an electric attack. "Purazuma Kushizashi!" throwing her spear as it surges with plasma energy towards the Shadow Master in front of her.
Riyalie - "A cheap trick like this is nothing to me." she dodges the few shadow blades coming her way, "Eat Swift attack." she shot a barrage of stars countering the next barrage of shadow blades.
Grifter - "Why do I even bother..." he takes flight, effortlessly dodging the shadow blades coming his way. Then swooping down towards his target with his wings spread out, "Wing Attack!"
Toshi - "Got him!" as Toshi's spear hits the SMC, as it combusts in a plasmatic discharge...
SMC #1 - "You got who?" swooping from behind.
Toshi - "What?!" as the smoke clears her spear was suddenly stuck in a log; then as she turns around to face the clone, it lands a kick to her chest, knocking her back on the ground near her spear. "That's *cough* impossible his clones can use *coughKawarimi?"trying to catch her breath from the last attack. Pulling out her spear from the substitute log, she just barely deflected a few more shadow blades coming her way.
Hitting him clear in the chest, by Grifter's wing attack, the SMC was knocked aside but still able to get up.
Grifter - "Dang these clones are tough." he dodges some shadow blades thrown back at him, "If this is suppose to be 10% of that Shadow Moron's strength, how the hell do we fight the real thing?"
Riyalie - "Just hit them harder, I guess?" she chimed in, as she body slams her SMC to the ground, but not before the clone vanishes leaving a substitute log under her, rolling to the side just as a shadow blade grazes her shoulder from behind. "Ow! Damnit! I'm gonna get you for that. How 'bout some assurance, for your troubles." she counters.
-
Pema groaned in pain as she tightly clenched her stomach. Slowly, she crawled back onto her feet and began to cough rather harshly. However, as she attempted to stand, she fell to one knee, "Nngh!"
Salem floated from where he was sporadically discarded and glided towards her, "Pema, are you okay?!"
"My... My ankle..." She rubbed her ankle and gently prodded the flesh with her finger, "Why does it feel rubbery and, and squishy...?"
"Oh no..." He muttered, "Quick, show me where it hurts."
Pema partially rolled up the hem of her dress, revealing the area of concern; her ankle yielded a strange purple discoloration, "It feels funny."
"It's sprained," Salem spoke with contempt in his voice, "It's times like these that I wish I had my body back..."
Pema looked at Fxeni, who was fighting her opponent, "Mr. Fxeni... is fighting for me..." she smiled softly and tried to stand back up, but failed, crumpling onto her knees.
"Don't try to stand! I'll retrieve assistance," He floated to Sakura and Calien, "We have a little problem, here! Pema sprained her ankle from fighting that clone. I need one of you to take her to safety."
"N-No, Salem, I can still fight! I can... I can help!" She protested.
"Not in that condition, you can't!" He yelled, then turned to them, "Needless to say, I'll stay with her."
(I guess have her rest behind the door at the top of the spiraling staircase, out of sight. Can't really think of any other safe places.)
-
Albertus, still on the ground, began to laugh.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! ZE ORDER!? ZHEY FEARED CHANGE!! I VILL BRING ABOUT CHANGE TO THIZ VORLD!!" *grabbing his face again* "I waz caught off guard... Perhapz even undereztimated joo... HAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
The Professor regarded Albertus's ranting with a raised eyebrow. He relaxed his stance and looked over to Aya. Limping over to her prone form, he knelt by her head and removed the half-mask and ear pieces. "Aya... Aya, listen... listen to m-me... I, I, I know you're in there. Listen to me."
He stroked her forehead with one hand, smearing it with blood and charred detritus. "Don't, don't fall, don't fall to the darkness, Aya... The last Guardian must prevail. Listen to me, Aya. Listen to m-my voice. Follow my voice."
-
As if in response the rampaging aura begins to calm but remains visible. Clearly the professor's words are having effect.
-
(Phi I honestly have to thank you for that last post you made since I didn't have to retype the other one I made but make an entirely new one that I think is way better. Seriously I deeply appreciate it.)
"....Sakura can you hold these guys off until I get back?" Calien asked her.
"You didn't even need to ask that Father, I got your back, just go!" Sakura replied with utmost seriousness.
"Thanks, I know I can count on you." Calien nodded as he started to run off with a Clone trying to pursue him.
Sakura intercepted one clone with a swipe of her sword that it was forced to dodge while she hit the other in the leg with a Darkness enchanted Kunai when it tried to break through to stop Calien.
As the clones recovered they noticed that Sakura wasn’t moving and her expression was not that of her usual self, she wasn’t wearing one of disgust or rage, but of tempered, controlled, and ruthless, fury.
"You know I never did have a high opinion of you and each atrocious action you've taken makes me think less of you more and more.” Sakura started with a notable coldness in her voice as she also enchanted her sword with the element of Darkness “The way you belittle and underestimate anyone other than yourself, how you harmed Aya in such a ruthless manner, murdering Riagan’s Dwarven brethren with no remorse, your hand in Aya’s abduction which you took such sick and demented pleasure in, and of course the fact that you work for someone who doesn’t even deserve to be called a Pig.
I honestly didn’t think you could sink any lower, but you just did right now with what you did to Pema. In the name of my Father’s people….no…..in the name of the bloodline of the sacred line of our Matriarchs that runs in my veins I will make sure you answer for this, maybe not today…..but I promise you, from this point on your days are numbered.”
Sakura took out another nut like the one Calien used and threw it to the ground disappearing in a flash. The Clones quickly went into a back to back position to see where she could have gone only to be caught off guard with a downward stab that forced them to separate and hit by a shock wave that forced some debris to hit them and the roof to become slightly cracked.
The Clones then tried to throw a flurry of Shadow Blades at her since her previous attack put her in the middle of them and while some of them hit Sakura, causing a slight delay in her next course of attack, the others were deflected with a powerful Spin Attack of great force. With no time to prepare for such a measure the majority of the deflected Shadow Blades impaled themselves into the Clones causing them to winch and even make them stop in their tracks, as if paralyzed in fear.
“Don’t think that was even an 8th of what I can do to you pathetic scum.” Sakura stated with a stoic tone as she wiped some blood off her cheek from a cut one of the Shadow Blades made and prepared her next attack “I hardly even started.”
Calien made a beeline for Pema carefully maneuvering himself to avoid getting hit by any attacks his allies made trying to get the Clones and making a few quick strikes if a Clone tried to stop him without breaking his pace. When he was about 10 feet away from reaching Pema his leg was grabbed by the Clone that was downed by Fxeni but not quite finished off. Its grip was weak and shaky at best but it tried to do whatever it could to make Calien not reach his destination.
“….I know you’re not the real deal and your extermination would not mean much in the long run…..” Calien said as he picked up the Clone by its arm who was too weaken by Fxeni’s last attack to resist or try to break away though it did try to struggle fruitlessly “But you just made your last mistake….SAY GOODBYE!”
With that Calien hoisted the Clone over his shoulder and slammed it into the ground. The blow was enough to cause the Clone to disappear in smoke and cease to exist.
With the last thing standing in his way erased he walked over to Pema and kneeled down to her.
“Don’t worry Pema, I’ll get you out of here and take care of you so you can rest.” Calien told her gently.
([spoiler]As I implied before Calien and Sakura are descendants of the Impa line with Sakura's Grandma being the Impa from A Link Between Worlds. No I am not making that their last name, not that I had a last name planned anyway, because Impa Impa just sounds stupid unlike Mario Mario.[/spoiler]
Sakura's Downward Stab Attack is a Darkness Elemental Hyouretsuzan though being more like Aile's Energy Fissure attack in Megaman ZX Advent plus a minor shockwave due to the force of the impact.
And I hope you don't mind me taking out the Clone Fxeni downed.)
-
Pema nodded weakly, her stomach still in pain from the harsh jab, "Th-Thank you... and sorry... for slowing you guys down..." Her gaze drifted from Calien and off into the distance, her hands trembling.
-
"Don't say that." Calien shook his head as he picked her up and carried her towards the door they came through "You never slow us down."
Sakura performed a Darkness elemental Rising Slash on one Clone bringing it to the air and bringing it back down with a Darkness elemental Spin Slash before landing without losing her footing. The other Clone threw a Shadow Blade which, having no time to dodge stuck itself in her shoulder. With a winch Sakura removed the Shadow Blade and threw it at the downed Clone without even looking at it and countering the other with a Demon Fang when it tried to rush her.
(So a Dark variation of Ryuujin, Dark Kuuenzan, and for the hell of it a Demon Fang from the Tales series.)
-
(To be frank, I have absolutely no idea what these techniques are... XD)
-
(Most of them are Zero's attacks from Megaman X and Megaman Zero, though a lot of them are very similar and sometimes come in different elements, Demon Fang is from the Tales of Series performed by various swordsmen like Lloyd, Kratos, and Zelos from Symphonia and Guy from Tales of the Abyss among many others.)
-
Fxeni dodged and weaved as best as he could, managing to evade the various attacks thrown at him by the SMC. He couldn't get close enough to get a direct hit though, each attack barely missed or was parried away.
"Enough of this," Fxeni said as he spun his spear above his head. The SMC jumped in to slice him, but was too late. Fxeni slammed the spear into the ground beneath him, sending a sharp gust of wind upwards. The SMC is destabilized by this, which Fxeni takes advantage of.
"Feel lightning! Lightning Tempest!"
Fxeni stabs the SMC and lifts it off the ground, and a vortex of lightning engulfs around it. As the lightning subsides, the SMC drops to the ground charred over and dissipates into smoke. Fxeni pants slightly, feeling somewhat drained from the mana use.
-
The Professor regarded Albertus's ranting with a raised eyebrow. He relaxed his stance and looked over to Aya. Limping over to her prone form, he knelt by her head and removed the half-mask and ear pieces. "Aya... Aya, listen... listen to m-me... I, I, I know you're in there. Listen to me."
He stroked her forehead with one hand, smearing it with blood and charred detritus. "Don't, don't fall, don't fall to the darkness, Aya... The last Guardian must prevail. Listen to me, Aya. Listen to m-my voice. Follow my voice."
Albertus was still laughing. Did he break?
"Joo zeriouzly thought that ze half-mazk and ear-piecez were the culpritz? FOOL! All I did waz awaken vhat waz already inzide of her!!"
Regaining some strength, Albertus stood up, although still clearly wobbling.
"Joo vill not halt her destiny!! Zhe vill bring forth ze new vorld!!"
(Alright, you all can finish off your SMCs, and advance to bonus battle Aya!)
-
Thr Professor ignored Albertus's rambling and continued to speak to Aya. "Listen to my voice... follow my voice. I know, I know you're still in there. Follow my voice, Aya. Follow my voice. Come back to m-me, Aya."
-
(Is Calien staying with Pema, or did he just drop her off?)
-
(Staying with her for now, he probably won't leave until he treats her leg at the very least.)
-
Riagan clashes his battle axes with the SDC's Shadow Blades, knocking them away. He threw the axes at the SDC while running towards it. While it dodged the axes, Riagan grabbed the SDC and held him tightly in his hands, heading for the sledgehammer lying on the floor with the pick axe side pointing upwards. Finally, he took the captive SDC and impaled it throw the sledgehammer, watching it disintegrate away on it. He picked up the hammer and looked around to see if anyone else needed help.
-
[spoiler]Hey Wily which one is the real one? Is it okay if I make one of mine the Real one?[/spoiler]
-
[spoiler](The answer is... NONE OF THEM! The real one is hiding somewhere. But I guess I should one the real one, haha. XD
I only have one condition. Shadow Master must live. You can bruise his ego all you want, but he has to survive.)[/spoiler]
-
[spoiler]Ah that was my second guess really, and a gut feeling. Very well.[/spoiler]
-
(Sprains typically take a couple weeks to heal, but in this instance, it could only be a few days with Calien's treatment. So, if there's a time-skip after the upcoming battle with Aya, she should be nearly or completely healed; ready for all the other fights.
No worries, she won't break any bones or get sprains any more than this one time.)
-
Toshi - "Enough of this." she grumbled out of boredom, as she suddenly stood her ground, "Time for something different." closing her eyes, the SMC took advantage, attacking head on.
SMC - "Gotcha!" Swiping his shadow blade at her. However, his target suddenly reduced herself to a puddle of water, upon contact. "What!? Water Substitution!?"
Toshi - "Bakusai Hyōshō!!" before the SMC could react, his feet was suddenly encased in ice, from the puddle, as Toshi appears from behind; forming an odd hand sign, the ice began to grow, encasing the SMC's whole body. "Let's see you Kawarimi out of this..." using a unique sequence of single handed hand signs, "Hijutsu: Messatsu Suishō!!" the leftover puddle water around the SMC rises to the air, forming about a thousand water needles around her and the trapped clone. She jumps out the way of the needles, as the needles dart towards the frozen clone, pelting the sculpture, leaving nothing but shattered mess of ice chunks. "Welp, I can tell for sure that wasn't the real Shadow Master. What a waste really." as she looks over to Riyalie and Grifter, she can see them both trapping their prey in Grifter's Hurricane attack, as their clones too disintegrate as they hit the ground. "Again, what a waste." she mutters, as she now focuses her attention to Aya, who seems to still be struggling with the darkness within.
(Yeah, a little bit overkill against a clone, really.)
-
The professor's attempts to reach her seem to be working, Aya's rampaging aura finally calms but again remains visually present. At least she isn't trying to murder everyone for the moment.
(Yeah once the SC fights are done I'll post my bit)
-
(So is Pema still concious at the moment?)
-
(Yeah, she's conscious. Just in pain.)
-
Calien sat Pema down on the floor and took a look at her leg. As he examined it closely his brow furrowed in frustration.
"Dammit......that's a pretty nasty sprain." Calien grimanced as he started to take out some of the medical supplies he acquired from Iron Gate and the Dwarven city among other things "Normally one like that would take weeks to heal without any magical assistance, but even with my Curative Magic it would take a few days to heal.
Even if I was a proper Cleric or Farah was around it wouldn't make too much difference, injuries like that can't exactly be cured instantly with the current advancements in Magic in this realm, impressive as they are, and I honestly don't think we'd ever get to that point anytime soon. Such is the limitations of those who aren't Gods but I honestly think it may be best that way, especially with people like White Beard, those Masked individuals who seem to be very similar to Aya, and Albertus around...or Alberto as I think most of us prefer to call him at the moment, I honestly doubt Fxeni would still make that mistake after hearing that Mask Man state his name so clearly unlike Alberto with his heavy accent.
I'm lucky linguistics comes somewhat easy to me and my people in general but even something like Alberto's accent is somewhat difficult to understand, I get the feeling that he make have some speech impediment much like the Prof because I normally don't have such trouble with such accents as hard as it may be to believe.
Anyway we're very lucky it's not broken that's for sure, let me cast my Magic, apply an ointment and make a cast. Hopefully that will ease the pain a fair bit, but it would be best to reduce the swelling before I apply the oinment to it, I know this may be difficult to ask but can you still cast Magic, I need a small bit of Ice to reduce the swelling."
(Yeah even now Calien will ramble about the most random things, even if Pema may not even understand every detail. XD)
-
The Professor leaned in close and put his forehead against Aya's. He dropped his voice so that only she could hear. "Follow my voice, Aya... Don't, don't, don't fall to the d-darkness... Follow my voice. Follow my voice. I know, I know you're, I know you're still in there. Follow my voice. Come back to me, Aya."
-
There is a sudden flash enough to get everyone's attention making all within the battle feel as if they had just been hit in the gut by what ever force had awakened. The professor is lightly knocked back a little but not hurt. When he looks back toward Aya she is not longer prone but standing upright, the aura around her has stabilized and theres a emotionless look on her face.
Aya turns toward Albertus. "You dare attempt to enslave a vessel of the gods? You would dare disrupt the balance that maintains all life on Arcadia?!" It is not Aya's voice but that of another woman. It's the voice the professor had heard helping him retain his sanity during the nightmares.
((When I say hit in the gut I don't mean literally of course. ))
-
Sakura stood in awe at the being before her trying to deduce what was going on.
"Aya.....?
......No you're not Aya.......you're that presence I've been sensing around the Prof.....but you're not the one that's been decieving him but the one that's been guiding him to prevent the Keys from gathering.......who are you?" Sakura asked out loud.
Shadow Master was dumbstruck as well but decided to rush to his Master's side instead of taking advantage of Sakura being distracted.
Even though he doubt that he had a chance to stand up to this new threat he had to defend his Master should things get nasty.
(So yeah I figured even with his Ego the safety of Albertus over rides everything else for Shadow Master. Let's assume his other Clone was either destroyed by Sakura or he recalled it.
Also like the Chaos Presence Sakura and Calien were aware of the presence of who ever is possessing Aya, but didn't know what it was other than it wasn't the Mask Man's or Doll Master's doing, bur something else. They didn't know what she was telling him but they guessed due to what he was saying along with Doll Master being oh so talkative.)
-
The Professor's eyes widened. Immediately, he got to his knees and bowed reverently. "G-goddess of D-darkness...! Please, please, please forgive, please forgive my intrusion... I am b-but a humble Acolyte! I studied you, studied you, yes, and, and, and I tried... I tried to save you... but, but, but I mean not to interfere... Do accept my sincerest apologies, yes...?"
-
"Reva.....The Goddess of Darkness...that certainly explains a lot." Sakura nodded "You wanted to save your Guardian.....on behalf of my Father's people I'm sorry I failed to prevent this situation and forced you to take such extreme measures."
-
((Just going to wait on Wily to get a post in before Reva does anything))
-
(Also on the Front Page I notice something odd about Reva and Reya their element and Goddess of *insert element here* are really mixed up for some reason.)
-
((Fixed, thanks for pointing that out. Reva and Reya are twin sisters since they have a yin yang thing going.))
-
(Makes sense.
[spoiler]Speaking of Reva, is the Reva in RPM Adventure similar?[/spoiler])
-
((Just me being lazy with names. 8D ))
-
(Fair enough.)
-
There is a sudden flash enough to get everyone's attention making all within the battle feel as if they had just been hit in the gut by what ever force had awakened. The professor is lightly knocked back a little but not hurt. When he looks back toward Aya she is not longer prone but standing upright, the aura around her has stabilized and theres a emotionless look on her face.
Aya turns toward Albertus. "You dare attempt to enslave a vessel of the gods? You would dare disrupt the balance that maintains all life on Arcadia?!" It is not Aya's voice but that of another woman. It's the voice the professor had heard helping him retain his sanity during the nightmares.
((When I say hit in the gut I don't mean literally of course. ))
(Wellshi-)
Albertus gets onto his feet, and swats Shadow Master. Turning to look at "Aya", another mixed expression of awe... And dread.
"Balance? Thiz world never had balance in the firzt place! All I'm doing iz to help the world... BY REZETING IT! Az for enzlavement... I did no zuch thing... The darknezz inzide... IT WAZ BEAUTIFUL!!"
-
Sakura facepalmed and actually felt a slight tinge of pity for Shadow Master when he was swatted.
"<Yeah.....much, much worse than a Pig this guy.>" Sakura muttered and shook her head with her hand still on her face.
-
Reva holds out her hand and a sword with a golden hilt and a triangular translucent blade forms in it. "You sound like "him", I will not allow your quest for power to shatter this world's fragile balance further! With the powers granted to me by our queen I sentence you to deat--"
Mask Master suddenly warps in between Albertus and Reva. "It's a pleasure to meet you again Goddess Reva---no thats not quite right is it? You've really been there all this time."
"Mask Master--so you still remain loyal to your master after all these years? Do you not remember the death and chaos that man created in his petty quest for power and knowledge?" Reva frowns lowing her blade.
"My master hopped to use the Heart of Chaos to reshape Arcadia and free us from the tyranny of the gods and a dying empire. He very nearly succeeded." Mask Master remains almost causal in his posture.
"Your master would be dead now had Aya's sentimental attachment to his host had not prevented me from destroying him. But it doesn't matter I have no intention of allowing you to break the seal on the Omni-Gem. If you will not back down I will be forced to carry out justice for the crimes you have committed on the innocent." Reva begins to slowly advance.
"Sadly, you have again underestimated your enemies Reva." Doll Master snaps his fingers and four pillars rise around the center of the tower creating a barrier trapping Reva inside and the others on the outside. "Albertus NOW!" Doll Master yelled.
"W-what is this?!" Reva says in surprise glancing between the four pillars.
-
"Dammit!" Sakura said as she ran up to the barrier trying to break it with her sword switching between all Elements possible, but it had no effect. "LET REVA AND AYA GO NOW!"
-
Fxeni wasn't sure what to make of all this, but he knew better than to rush in recklessly. He remained motionless and began to slowly recover the mana he had recently used, preparing himself for whatever was to come.
-
Calien sat Pema down on the floor and took a look at her leg. As he examined it closely his brow furrowed in frustration.
"Dammit......that's a pretty nasty sprain." Calien grimanced as he started to take out some of the medical supplies he acquired from Iron Gate and the Dwarven city among other things "Normally one like that would take weeks to heal without any magical assistance, but even with my Curative Magic it would take a few days to heal.
Even if I was a proper Cleric or Farah was around it wouldn't make too much difference, injuries like that can't exactly be cured instantly with the current advancements in Magic in this realm, impressive as they are, and I honestly don't think we'd ever get to that point anytime soon. Such is the limitations of those who aren't Gods but I honestly think it may be best that way, especially with people like White Beard, those Masked individuals who seem to be very similar to Aya, and Albertus around...or Alberto as I think most of us prefer to call him at the moment, I honestly doubt Fxeni would still make that mistake after hearing that Mask Man state his name so clearly unlike Alberto with his heavy accent.
I'm lucky linguistics comes somewhat easy to me and my people in general but even something like Alberto's accent is somewhat difficult to understand, I get the feeling that he make have some speech impediment much like the Prof because I normally don't have such trouble with such accents as hard as it may be to believe.
Anyway we're very lucky it's not broken that's for sure, let me cast my Magic, apply an ointment and make a cast. Hopefully that will ease the pain a fair bit, but it would be best to reduce the swelling before I apply the oinment to it, I know this may be difficult to ask but can you still cast Magic, I need a small bit of Ice to reduce the swelling."
(Yeah even now Calien will ramble about the most random things, even if Pema may not even understand every detail. XD)
Pema nodded her head loosely at half the things Calien spouted out, due to her failure in understanding what he was even saying but also because she was somewhat distracted.
She failed, let her guard down for one small moment, and now look at her; out in the sidelines, while everyone else continues to fight the good fight. To save their dear friend.
She should be there, right with them. Perhaps she's not strong enough to protect the people closest to her, after all.
Pema grabbed the staff, staying unusually silent throughout the process, and materialized a fairly large block of ice.
-
(We need to do a training montage with Fxeni and Peam, so we can do cool dual techs!)
-
"Thanks." Calien said as he chipped a piece off putting it in a piece of cloth to make a makeshift Ice Bag and set it to her ankle "I need to keep this on your ankle for little bit but let me know if it gets too cold okay?
Also.....is there anything else you want to talk about.....I know there's been a lot on you mind lately......"
(We need to do a training montage with Fxeni and Peam, so we can do cool dual techs!)
(Training Montages for everyone! 8D)
-
Albertus pulled out a device from his pocket and fumbled with the controls, suddenly the four pillars began emitting a strong energy sapping field. Reva is clearly effected by it from the look of surprise on her face--soon she's brought to her knees as the mana draining fields weakens Aya's body. Mask Master approaches the edge of the field.
"Albertus and I had a theory Reva, you see the gods are pure incarnations of the elements; in other words they ARE mana. Even in a guardian's shell like mine or Aya's you are still an entity not unlike a soul. And souls can be drained, torn from their physical bonds; my master used a similar technique to abandon his old mortal body and take Aya's brother if you remember.
You see Reva I know what the keys are-they are fragments of your power-you split your self into three pieces as to prevent me or my sister from freeing the master. So--If I trap you in this vessel you will be powerless to prevent us from achieving our goal." He pulls a small keystone shaped device from his robe and points it at Reva.
"Ngh--I w--will not allow this!" Reva manages to say just as the aura surrounding Aya is pulled out and sucked into the vessel. With Reva no longer there her new blade vanishes and Aya collapses. Doll Master laughs as he runs his free hand across his mask, it's shape altering to mimic Doll Master's and several brute type dolls appear and place them selves in the way of the party as the barrier trapping Aya dissipates.
"Kill the "heros" and Aya while your at it." Mask Master opens another portal and motions for Albertus and Shadow Master to follow. "Come, it's time to meet with White Beard and finally break the seal."
-
"Not again, not more of these damn abominations!" Sakura roar as she rushed herself at the Brute heading for Aya. She enchanted her Sword with Fire and preformed a Rolling Slash on it mostly burning it but still quite a ways away from taking it down. "Danm cowards!"
-
Slightly disoriented from being caught in the field due to his close proximity to Aya, the Professor shook his head to clear it. His gaze went from Aya's body to Mask Master, back to Aya, and then to Mask Master again, and he ran toward the creature. "No, no, NO! I can't, I can't allow this! The Keys, the Keys must not come together! The Keys must not come together!"
Dusting his charred hands with more Lightning Powder, he built up a charge and took a flying leap at Mask Master, aiming the full blast of the charge at the creature. He had no intention of releasing it, as the longer he held the charge, the stronger it became.
-
Another Brute Doll put it's self in the Professor's path as he charged, he could only watch as the three vanished into the portal and it closed. What ever his attack plan the Brute Doll was about to see it.
((Hey at least we know the Omni-Gem is up at the top =P))
-
(Gonna wait for the others to catch up.)
-
The Professor slammed headlong into the Brute Doll, blasting it right in the face with a massive charge. The Doll's head exploded in light and debris, and whatever it was made from reacted with the excess powder and sparks from the charge, igniting into a fireball. The Professor fell off of the Brute Doll and flat on his back, knocking the wind out of him.
The Doll's head was no more and it collapsed to its knees and pitched forward, falling right on top of the short monk's prone form.
-
((Yeah definitely want to see everyone's posts before we continue. The Brute dolls, won't be a big deal at this point. Doll Master is just trying to stall all of you.))
-
After a long moment, the Professor crawled out from under the decapitated Brute Doll. He limped over to Aya and knelt beside her, leaning down and pressing his ear against her chest. Sitting up, he dug through his bag for a potion, uncapped it, and fed it to Aya. "You, you have to, you have to wake up, Aya. We can't stay here. We, we have a j-job to do. The Gods, the Gods, they entrusted us."
Finishing the vial, he tossed it aside and took Aya's shoulders in both charred hands and gently shook her awake. "We can't let the Keys be b-brought together... we have to go. We can't stay here."
-
Aya's eyes slowly open "P-professor?" she coughs and begins to sit up, glancing at her hands the professor can tell she's realized something is different.
-
"Alberta... Alberta took the Goddess from you. We have to go, time is of the essence." Taking Aya by the wrist, the Professor pulled her too her feet and led her by the arm as he quickly loped toward the stairs. His charred, bloodied hands left smears on her shoulders and arm, as well as her face when he fed her the potion. The burns had fried his nerve endings and he didn't feel any pain.
-
(......Alberta.....even though it's because the Professor is mispronouncing Alberto/Albertus I hope other people in the party use it too. XD)
-
Aya glanced back at the others, they would have to catch up after they dealt with the dolls. The two climbed the spiral stair cases past Albertus' labs and soon they found themselves at the very top of the fortress, at the center of the main tower's roof was the Omni-Gem and the three individuals behind all this chaos.
Doll Master turned toward the two. "Greetings Aya, you recovered faster than I anticipated."
"Arr--stop stalling and unlock the Omni-Gem, with the elemental power hidden within we can destroy these land lubbers once and for all!" White Beard's arms flailed around in the air impatiently.
Albertus simply stood there aware of the true plan.
-
(Am I seeing a typo, or did Doll Master reincarnate into a man?)
-
((Doll Master is a man. I thought he was an automaton, but he is humanoid.))
-
(I think what happened is Mask Master just used his Megaman Copy Powers to turn into Doll Master and Blue is just refering to him as Doll Master while he's using Doll Master's powers. However I think the first time she typed Doll Master was indeed a typo.)
-
(I see. I thought for sure Doll Master was a woman. So It's just one guy being Kirby, or something?)
-
(No Doll Master is a Woman, this should clear up the confusion.
http://forum.rockmanpm.com/index.php?topic=7370.msg465648#msg465648 (http://forum.rockmanpm.com/index.php?topic=7370.msg465648#msg465648))
-
((Doll Master was hanging around there, so she was already there. Mask Master just got up there with Albertus. White Beard is there. There are four enemies on the roof and only Aya and the Professor are facing them currently.))
((The rest of the party are dealing with Dolls. No specific number was given, just "several." I assume at least one per party member, but since they were meant to stall, then there's probably at least two per party member.))
-
(But Quickie Doll Master is dead, Riagan killed her and Fxeni burned the Corpse. There was no indication that she came back to life. Mask Master just used his Powers to Copy Doll Master and took her form.)
-
((Oh, right. Derp. Double-checking something else, yeah that's a typo. Only Mask Master, Albertus, and White Beard are there. Blue and I were discussing Doll Master at the time on Skype.))
-
(Yeah I can understand that, doesn't help that the Heroes never learned her name before she died. They just refer to her as the Doll Woman or the like since she never told them her name. I'm surprised that Sakura hasn't refered to her as Doll [sonic slicer] yet.)
-
((The Brute dolls, won't be a big deal at this point.))
(Well in that case...)
Toshi - "I'm really sick 'n tired of you meddling contraptions." holding onto her spear, as a couple of Doll brutes approached her, it glowed with a surge of plasma mana, as it forms itself into a ball between Toshi's hands; as she leaped up high, she raised up her arms, as the ball of concentrate mana forms several plasma shaped spears above... "Yari no Arashi!" throwing down her arms the spears darted towards the brutes, pincushioning them as the spears exploded, blowing the dolls to pieces.
As the smoke clears, Toshi's spear appears where the dolls once stood as walked up to it, dislodging it from the ground.
Grifter - "You sure that was necessary?" He commented on her rage, "I mean you can at least leave some for us."
Riyalie - "Now's not the time for games, Griffy." she chimed in, "I'm sure the generic mob thing was just getting to her." as she finished she notice Toshi running ahead attempting to join Aya and the Professor. "Hey! Wait up!" the two followed.
(... is it okay if Toshi wraps up her battle quickly, so that she could join Aya and the Professor?)
-
((The more the merrier. Though, I'm about to go to bed.))
-
(Right. By the time we get a response from the roof battle; Toshi and her two familiars should be there.)
-
((I'll post a little later, have some chores to get done first.
Also
Doll Master was a women, she is as of this point dead. Mask Master simply used his ability to mimic other people through masks to take control of her puppets to keep the main party at pay while they retreated to break the seal.))
-
(I'm so behind, haha. Thank you for the zombie move. If there's anything upcoming... I might need to be zombied again.)
-
(Yeah that's why I'm not posting anything else until people catch up unless it involves Calien and Pema having some kind of talk that I think she desperately needs right now.)
-
((I kinda want to wait, theres another White Beard mecha fight coming and I think we'll need the whole group at least here for it))
-
(I really hope after this we have some down time to make up for all the action.)
-
((Yeah after this big event))
-
(Good because my god so much is happening.)
-
"Thanks." Calien said as he chipped a piece off putting it in a piece of cloth to make a makeshift Ice Bag and set it to her ankle "I need to keep this on your ankle for little bit but let me know if it gets too cold okay?
Also.....is there anything else you want to talk about.....I know there's been a lot on you mind lately......"
(Training Montages for everyone! 8D)
Pema looked at Calien, "Yeah, kind of... well, actually more than kind of..."
She cleared her throat, "Mr. Calien, have you ever felt like you've disappointed others? Like, you have the ability to be better, but sometimes... you come up short. Helpless..."
-
"...Yes....yes I have." Calien nodded "I've certainly have felt like that before. At least several times in my life."
-
((Okay enough being lazy on my end 8D ))
The tower began to shake enough that both parties could fell it, the source became apparent as a large hand nearly the size Aya herself grabbed the edge of the tower and heaved it's self up revealing a large magitech armor suit. White Beard hopped onto it's shoulder as it climbed up and bagan moving between the Omni-Gem and second party.
"Albertus has made some improvements to my magitech suit, your little weapon won't be quite as effective this time guardian!" White Beard sneered as he hopped into the cockpit and the hatch closed behind him. The Mech raised it's large hand and attempted to crush the two heros, however Aya quickly picking up the professor managed to dodge back near the door they had come up from.
"Professor, please stand back!" She holds her hand out and the goddess' weapon summoned in place of her old lost Morph Blade.
-
(Can we just cut to the brutes being destroyed and start heading to the top?)
-
(sure)
-
"HAHAHAHA! Joo may have Aya back on your end, but victory iz already ourz!"
Albertus was laughing away, with Shadow Master behind him. The ninja had a look of displeasure.
-
Toshi - "I don't know what I felt just now..." climbing the stairwell as fast as she could, with Grifter and Riyalie trailing behind. "...but I've got a bad feeling about this."
Upon entry, she found Aya and the Professor, having 'big' problems of their own.
Toshi - "What in the world is that!?" noticing the giant mech sticking out like a sore thumb before her.
Grifter - "Woa-hoh! Dang these guys just bring bigger things to break." He said struck with awe, "Think you're little 'pizza-cutter' can cut that?"
Riyalie - "I don't know." She formed her sawblade axe, revving it up for battle, "But I can try." she showed a bit of confidence.
-
Sakura entered the room just finishing drinking a Green Potion that helps increase the rate mana regenerates to recover the Mana that she lost thanks to Doll Master and the other things that just got in her way.
"Ugh I don't know which potion tastes worse between the Red and Green one but I am so glad I don't have to use the Blue one yet, that tastes the worst of all." Sakura gagged as she stared at the Mech before her "So you're that White Beard Moron, 'bout time I get to see you in all your Moronic glory."
(So the Red Potion and the Green Potions have different kinds of stank that are just as bad as the other but in different ways while the Blue Potion either combines to different stank of the other 2 or has a different kind of stanks that's much worse than the other 2 combined.
And I'm using the word stank because I don't think smell is good enough.)
-
As Fxeni reached the top of the stairs, he sighted White Beard in his magitech armour. His hand gripped his spear tightly.
"Leave Aldia at once!" he bellowed at White Beard, pointing his spear at him. He slowly gathered mana, preparing for the worst.
-
(Dunno why I'm getting a sense of de ja vu. Maybe the heat's making me mad or something. Anyway, going to wait on either Blue or Quickie before I continue.)
-
"So.....this place is his home." Sakura thought as she started to look for weak points in the mech.
-
(Yeah need a post from Quickie and PB too)
-
(Yeah we need Riagan's reaction to a giant freaking robot.)
-
The Professor scrambled behind Aya, digging through his bag. He pulled out a few explosive vials and tucked them into his pockets. He didn't have any ranged melee weapons of his own, so he relied on his explosive compounds.
"I, I need, I need a polearm... a staff, a p-pole... I can fashion a weapon, yes?"
-
"What manner of strange device is this?" Riagan asked.
-
"To be honest.....I have absolutely no idea." Sakura answered as it looked like Fxeni was too concentrated on White Beard to respond "I wish I knew more about stuff like this but I don't, all I know is it's some sort of machine that Moron over there is using to try and fight us since he's probably not strong enough to fight us himself. It might be similar to some crab thing that fell into my forest but maybe this is a more powerful version. The point is that we need to smash it."
-
"Enough talk, then!" Riagan said while gripped the sledgehammer, ready to attack it.
-
Sakura enchanted her weapons with Electricity to see if that would help out and threw some Kunai at the joints.
-
White Beard tilts his head slightly "You look familiar lad...did I plunder your treasure?" He laughs as a barrier of mana raises around the machine. There is no way the party will be able reach Mask Master or the Omni-Gem as long as White Beard has them engaged.
"Quick professor, what ever you plan to do be fast we haven't much time!" Aya nods charging at the great machine with the others.
-
(So does the thing block magic attacks or just makes it so the heroes can't press forward?)
-
((It absorbs all damage BUT has a finite ability to do so. Just have to overwhelm the barrier with combined attacks))
-
The Professor handed a few explosive vials to Aya. "I'm afraid, I'm afraid I have... limited resources. We can bomb it, but, but, but for a direct assault, I... well..."
He showed Aya his charred hands. "I probably shouldn't use my p-powders..."
Turning, he pulled an explosive vial from his pocket and threw it at the barrier.
-
The Electric Kunais bounce harmlessly on the ground which made Sakura a little miffed.
"Great the barrier can block attacks." Sakura grumbled.
-
Aya nods keeping one Vial in her off hand as she charges at the barrier lobbing the explosive vial at the barrier and slashing just as the explosion passes. The quick combo hit has a noticeable effect rather than Sakura's single attack. Oddly White Beard doesn't not counter attack, perhaps the barrier prevents him from doing anything? Not that it matters as he is simply buying time for Mask Master.
-
"Oh I get it now." Sakura said as she waited so she can time her attack with the others "You really are a moron, you know that?"
-
Digging through his bag for more explosives and combustibles, the Professor hit upon an idea. However, he needed to observe the barrier some more. While the barrier prevented attacks, he wasn't sure if it would prevent others from passing through it. Watching the barrier, he passed more vials to Aya, keeping a close watch on White Beard and the giant automaton to see if any part of them would pass through the barrier unimpeded.
His mental gears began to churn as he pocketed his goldstone freeze charges. If the attention could remain on the attacking parties, he could sneak in through the barrier and attack directly.
-
(Going to wait for the others to post, but me and Aya should totally do a X-Strike next.)
-
(Deal, once the other catch up 8D )
-
(Also since Fxeni has expressed a desire to have a Training Montage with Peam to make Duel Techs they should be able to create Antipode Bombs. 8D)
-
"You've enslaved my town for long enough! Your magitech won't be enough to save you!" Fxeni exclaimed as he focused his mana into one spot. A green runic circle appears beneath him, ready to unleash when the others are ready to strike.
(So yeah, in the offchance I'm not around, one of you have him cast Thunder Blade as you strike.)
-
After gathering the plan from everyone, Riagan stands ready with his comrades, ready to strike on command.
-
"Everyone attack at the same time, Sakura!" Aya nods and charges holding her blade to the side as she approaches the barrier.
-
"Exactly what I was thinking." Sakura nodded as she approach the barrier from the opposite side of Aya.
-
"O darkened storm cloud, loose thy blade and run mine enemies through! Thunder Blade!"
The blade of lightning struck against the barrier fiercely. As it struck, Fxeni began chanting another spell immediately in preparation of the next strike.
-
Riagan charged the barrier, ready to hit it with all his strength and the might of his sledgehammer! "BEGONE!!!"
-
Sakura and Aya charged the barrier at the same time attacking in a X formation.
(Also Sakura's sword is still electrified if that means anything.)
-
In the intervening time, the Professor had fashioned a sling and used it to hurl his explosive vials at the barrier. With each throw, he edged closer to one end of it, waiting for it to go down just enough. He had a plan.
-
(Extra damage maybe?)
Aya's goddess blade left a clear trail of light as it cleaved at the shield in synch with Sakura's strike, the combined efforts of the party caused clear damage as the shield began to grow unstable.
((One or two more good hits should be enough since everyone responded so fast XD))
-
(Probably TENK since he was typing something then probably Fxeni again?)
-
(Whatever works. I'll hold off for a bit to see who's next in line, but I have my next post in mind if anything.)
-
(I certainly don't have anything more to add.)
-
((I'll hold off till Tenk posts then we fight the robot proper!))
-
(Then Sakura can attack the Joints like she was planning and Riagan can Smashy Smashy. 8D)
-
((Prof has a plan that I probably won't get to until after my appointment tomorrow afternoon.))
-
((I'll catch up tomorrow with posts, running on three hours sleep.))
-
((Prof has a plan that I probably won't get to until after my appointment tomorrow afternoon.))
(I assume his plan is to get through White Beard to get to the Omni Gem?)
-
(I'll post mine after TENK does, in that case.)
-
(Yeah I won't post anything else unless it's Peam related.)
-
(I assume his plan is to get through White Beard to get to the Omni Gem?)
((Nope. There's also Albertus, Shadow Master, and a GIANT FRIGGIN' MECH to deal with before that. He has a different plan. You'll see when I post it.))
-
(Okay then, also you forgot Mask Master.)
-
(Albertus and Shadow Master will not partake in this battle at all, hence Shadow's displeasure earlier. And if it isn't obvious by now... [spoiler]White Beard is just a pawn, used by both Mask Master, and Albertus.[/spoiler])
-
(What everyone else said)
-
(Yeah I figured since he really hasn't had a lot of presence in the plot, along with how everyone calls him an idiot.)
-
Observing how some of the parties attacks were somehow penetrating, Toshi focused the mana in her spear, causing it surge up with electricity.
Toshi - "Bigger doesn't make it invincible." she readies herself to throw her spear at the weakened spot in the barrier, as the spear glowed with electricity. "Purazuma Kushizashi!" Like thowing Jupiter's lightning bolts, her spear comes flying towards the giant mech, piercing the shield half way through, although it seems to be stuck. But with the combined electricity from the previous attacks, the surge of electricity began to grow, as if the spear was absorbing electricity from the other attacks. It seems like the area affected, was ready to discharge into a plasmatic explosion should it receive more lightning attacks.
Toshi - "How's that for a lightning rod." she smirked.
(Yes. Send in more lightning attacks to create a huge EMP, maybe?)
-
The combined attacks from every party member finally bring down the barrier in a rather spectacular explosion, the members still in melee ranged are knocked back a little but the Mecha is finally open to attack. White Beard curses under his breath as he opens several ports on the shoulders and chest. "Charge the Mana Cannons!"
The Mecha starts pelting the group with various elemental shots. (no larger than charged buster shots)
-
Sakura tries to dodge the blasts as best as she can while throwing Electric Kunai at each of the joints starting with the left arm to decrease its mobility and possibly to get it to overload.
"Prof!" Sakura shouted "Do you happen to have some kind of goopy expandy goop in your bag?"
(She wants to gum up the cannons.)
-
Although it seems easy for Toshi and company to dodge the many elemental blasts, from their distance; she, however, can't find a decent opening to retrieve her spear, laying dormant below the mech's feet.
Toshi - "Damn! This is nuts!" she cursed as she still can't advance through the elemental barrage, "There must be a way through these."
Grifter - "Toshi!" he called out to her while taking flight so to evade the barrage more easily.
Toshi - "What is it?"
Grifter - "Ever notice something weird about the blasts colors and shape?"
Riyalie - "Yeah, now that you mention it." she catches on as she can clearly see the blasts resembling specific elemental properties, "They do look odd in a way."
Grifter - "Toshi! Try using your Liquid Bullets on the fire blasts."
Toshi - "Right!" she readies herself, by forming a tiger hand sign "Suiton: Teppōdama!" as she fires a blast of water from her mouth, at the oncoming fire blasts <oddly shaped similar to the water based blasts>, as predicted, Toshi's water attacks are somehow canceling out the fire blasts. "Alright it wor... woah!" being a little too caught up in her success, she just managed to dodge another blast, "Easy there, gotta stay focused."
Studying the patterns of the barrage she can just barely make out where to find vulnerabilities in the blasts.
(I'll just wait on another post before taking action.)
-
Fxeni watched as the barrier went down, and his spell was already ready to go. He points his spear upward and the Napalm Bombs are sent in an arc in the air towards the mech. He barely dodged one of the mana blasts, watching the spot where he was initially standing freezing over.
-
((Heading out for appointment, be back later.))
-
Toshi - "Okay. Here goes something." She races through the mana barrage, firing her Liquid Bullets against any fire based mana blasts, as she makes her way to her spear.
As she gets closer, she makes a slide for her spear, grabbing a hold of it quickly as it begins to surge up with electric mana.
Riyalie - "Toshi! Heads up!" she alerts Toshi as a bright mana blast was about to hit her directly.
Toshi - "Oh no!" gritting her teeth, she held her spear tightly in front of her, as her spear and the blast collided, sending Toshi flying over the edge of the tower.
Grifter - "Hang on. I'm coming." He swoops down to save Toshi's fall, making sure he doesn't get hit by any of the mana blasts.
Riyalie - "I'm going to kill you for that!" she charged in trying to break through the mana barrage with her sawblade axe, swatting a side as many blasts as she could, although every time she hits one causes a surge of pain to hit her, yet she tries to shake off the searing pain.
Meanwhile, Grifter manages to catch Toshi in his arms, saving her from her free fall.
Toshi - "Thanks. thought I was done that time." she pants a bit from the experience.
Grifter - "No problem, ma'am." he replied as he redirects back up the tower, "We better get back up there, before Riyalie does something she's going to regret, painfully." He said out of concern.
Little does Toshi realize that her spear was suddenly glowing from the mana blast earlier.
(I'm going to use this to give Toshi's spear light elemental capabilties.)
-
The attacks begin to chip away the armor revealing some weak spots on the chest and lower left leg, several cannons are disabled or completely destroyed as well. Still the mecha seems functionalist and White Beard is slowly closing in and the party start to feel clostrophic as they begin to run out of tower to stand on.
-
As Riyalie manages to break through the worst of the barrage, ignoring whatever burns she may have contracted, she notices the mech feeling a bit shaky around the lower left leg joins, immediately advancing towards it.
Riyalie - "I've got you n... BWOAF!" as she got near, the mech suddenly kicked her a side as if it knew she was going for the lame leg. "Bloody hell! That frikken hurts, Goddamnit!" she cursed in pain, rubbing the horrible bruise left behind from the kick, as she gets up to try again.
-
Sakura tries to dodge the blasts as best as she can while throwing Electric Kunai at each of the joints starting with the left arm to decrease its mobility and possibly to get it to overload.
"Prof!" Sakura shouted "Do you happen to have some kind of goopy expandy goop in your bag?"
(She wants to gum up the cannons.)
The Professor was edging along the rim of the tower, working toward a defensible position nearest White Beard. He rummaged through his bag, even though he knew he didn't have anything that Sakura wanted, so he threw her a look and shook his head.
However, he found another goldstone cylinder and pocketed it, holding it in his charred hand until he was close enough.
Once he felt he was within range, he took the cylinder out of his pocket, uncapped it, put it in a makeshift sling, and flung it toward the mech. The compound inside explode in a frosty cloud as it hit the mech's left shoulder joint.
((Just got back, need to catch up.))
-
Riagan saw what the Professor did and moved to attack that very spot. He turned the sledgehammer to the pick part of it, then jumped towards the mech. He managed to strike the spot before being knocked back, sliding right towards the edge of the tower. He used the pick on the hammer and jabbed it into the ground, stopping him from flying off.
-
(I don't know what else to do so I think I'll wait for Blue unless someone has a suggestion.)
-
The blow did some serious damage to the joint and disabled the limb. White Beard Swore again and began to lose confidence that he was going to win. Turning his mech toward Riagan it looked as if he was moving to crush the wall he was currently dangling from.
As the foot came crashing down Aya jumped in the path her blade vanishing and reappearing as a gauntlet, creating the barrier she had used before and stopping the foot; however the mech used it's weight to press on the barrier and she could only hold it back so long.
"Riagan hurry, I can't keep this up much longer!"
((Decides to restore her powers with the goddess blade after all))
-
Riagan quickly got up and moved out of the way! "Many thanks, young one!" Riagan told Aya. "Now let us finish this behemoth off!"
-
(Should I use a Kuuenzan or does someone have another plan?)
-
Using the distraction, the Professor ran between the mech's legs and finally within range of Albertus and Shadow Master. "Coward! You, you, you refuse to face us, to face us yourself? Instead, instead, you hide behind these m-macinations!"
He handled one of the vials in his pocket, but was willing to rely on his hand-to-hand combat.
-
(Wait did White Beard fall off the Mech's shoulder at one point? I mean it would make sense if he did but it's not written if he did.....)
-
((I didn't know he was on the mech. Where is he?))
-
(On the shoulder, he jumped on it when the mech showed up. But I have no idea how the heck he's staying on after how much we've been damaging it if he's still on it.)
-
(He's in the cockpit)
-
(Oh I didn't even realize there was a cockpit.....)
-
((Okay, I'll go edit that to be Albertus or someone.))
((Fixed. I shall go through with my plan.))
-
Aya dashed away as the mech's foot crushed the barrier. "Right!" She attacks along side Riagan at the mecha.
-
Shadow Master took a battle stance in front of Albertus. The man just smirked, ignoring the Professor's words.
"Be gone, monk. Your business should be with dealing the pirate."
-
"I can get up to the chest to get at that part that's exposed, can you guys distract him?" Sakura asked.
-
Shadow Master took a battle stance in front of Albertus. The man just smirked, ignoring the Professor's words.
"Be gone, monk. Your business should be with dealing the pirate."
"My business is with your master," the Professor stood his ground.
"You harmed a goddess, and, and, and it is a slap in the face to the Order. As an Acolyte, my, my duty, m-my duty is to serve. You blasphemed the name and body of a goddess. Those who blaspheme must be put to death."
-
Albertus' smirk grew wider, but still remained silent. Shadow Master pulled out a Shadow Blade.
"Know your place monk. Your friends might be winning the battle now, but it is us who will win the war!"
-
((Professor is hardcore. 8D ))
"We've got it!" Aya yelled to Sakura as she prepared to make a distraction of her self. Charging at the damaged left foot she shifted the goddess blade into the goddess lance and jammed it into the broken armor. White Beard felt the mech shudder as it's ability to move became further hampered.
"CURSE YOU!!!" White Beard yelled over the intercom as he swapped at Aya with the remaining functional hand.
-
Riagan protected Aya by knocking away the incoming hand with his sledgehammer!
-
Sakura jumped up in the air performing her mid air spin attack directly at the Mech's chest area as the Electricity crackled and sparks started to fly everywhere.
-
Albertus' smirk grew wider, but still remained silent. Shadow Master pulled out a Shadow Blade.
"Know your place monk. Your friends might be winning the battle now, but it is us who will win the war!"
Subtly, the Professor reached into his pocket, taking care to minimize his movements, "It, it is, it is you who is mistaken. Your name is apt—you are not a guardian, but a mere shadow. And shadows vanish in the light."
Uncapping the vial he held in his pocket, he flung the goldstone cylinder right at Shadow Master, a wispy trail of frost and fog following it.
-
The mix of Sakura and Riagan's attacks had a huge effect. The chest armor shattered and revealed the magi-tech mana core while Riagan's strike forced it down on one knee to stop from falling off the tower.
-
Sakura landed on the ground as she noticed that as a result of her attack her clothes have burn marks everywhere along with some stray holes.
"....I don't think Daddy or I can fix this." Sakura observed as she also remembered the blood stain she acquired from Shadow Master's attack on her shoulder. She was able to patch up the wound, as it wasn't very deep, but of course the blood stain was still there and practically dried.
(Yeah I think someone else should finish it off.)
-
Shadow Master threw his Shadow Blade at the cylinder, causing a mild explosion, and releasing the contents within. Within moments, it looked as though Shadow Master was caught surprised, and was frozen by the descending mist... And yet Albertus was still smirking?
It didn't take long for the Profeasor to realize a Shadow Blade to his neck.
"Joo are zo perziztent... Fine if joo want to fight, joo will have vone!"
(This fight is totally not to help White Beard. :P)
-
The Professor kept his eyes on Shadow Master and slowly raised his arms in a show of surrender. Once his hands were almost up, he chopped the heel of his hand into the inside of Shadow Master's wrist, while his other hand folded the man's own wrist over. The Professor maneuvered his hands to grab Shadow Master's wrist and forearm, wrenching his arm backwards at a stiff angle to force him to the ground.
((This was a disarming technique I learned in karate years ago. Kung Fu Prof is more of Ishinryu Karate Master Prof, but that doesn't have as good a ring to it. :P))
-
"This ends now, you fiend!" Fxeni yells as he casts a final spell. The Thunder Blade pierced through the mana core of the Mech, sending lightning coursing through it.
-
The Mecha surged with energy twitching before multiple explosions rocked the mecha's frame and leaving only the cockpit head rolling on the ground, white beard tumbling out onto the ground.
"Gnnn...arr--what madness--how?!" he reaches for his pipe.
-
"Because you're a moron." Sakura answered "And a coward too."
-
White Beard grabbed his hate and cowered on the ground clearly no longer a threat, leaving only Albertus and Shadow Master left in between them and the Omni-Gem.
-
(I honestly didn't see that coming.)
-
"...Yes....yes I have." Calien nodded "I've certainly have felt like that before. At least several times in my life."
Pema stared at Calien, then looked down, "It's a terrible feeling, isn't it? Not only are you disappointing others, but a part of you feels like you're letting down yourself..."
She applied pressure to the ice bag on her ankle, "... One time a couple of bandits broke into our house. They said my Dad had something that they wanted. One of them... the man with the green eyes raided my parents' room while the other kept watch of me and Mommy. I remember it clearly; Mommy held me close, and she prayed under her breath, over and over. The man... the man said he'd kill her if she didn't... if she didn't shut up..."
Pema choked on those final words, her eyes watering as she partially pulled down her hat in front of her face, "She stopped and the green eyed man came back with a weird-looking jewelry box in his hands. Dad pleaded with him to leave me and Mommy out of this. The man laughed. He pushed Daddy onto the floor and yelled at him, demanding money. My dad pleaded again, then... the man pulled out a knife."
Her voice became slightly hoarse, "It was my turn to yell. I grabbed the kitchen knife on the table next to me... I started to swing. I swung as hard as I could, yelling at the men to leave us alone. But, I didn't want to actually hurt them... I didn't wish them any harm or ill-will. I felt sorry for them. They looked so... lost. The green eyed man, he- he kneeled in front of me and I raised the knife even higher, my grip becoming numb from fright. He grinned, one of his right teeth missing and he whispered to me, "Are you going to stop me, little girl?"
Pema went silent for a moment, almost as if she was in a momentary trance. Slowly, she gazed into Calien's eyes, "... I couldn't. I couldn't stop him. He saw me- right through me. A small, useless girl who couldn't even fight back. I tried, too, though! I really did! ... In my head, I thought about striking him, but I could never go through with it. I couldn't bear to hurt another human being. My family... I wasn't able to defend my own family. The other man, he held his dagger to my dad's throat, so he couldn't move. He reached into Daddy's pockets and pulled out all the money he had. Mommy bent down and picked me up, bringing my face close to her cheek. I could feel her tears on my skin..."
She leaned against the wall, "Thankfully, they left us... but they got what they came for. Our money and Daddy's mysterious box. Just now, when that Shadow Man thing struck me down and I was unable to fight and defend... I was immediately brought right back to my house. The day I failed to protect my family. And now I failed you guys... my new family."
Pema clenched her fists, her face becoming red and her mouth quivering, "Whenever I think I might be strong enough... I always end up failing! Time and time again..." She covered her face with her hands, tears rolling down her cheeks, "I don't know what's wrong with me... I... I really don't..."
Her voice cracked as she buried her face into Calien's arms, attempting to stop her tears.
-
Calien embraced her and stroked her back to comfort her.
"It's okay Pema....it's okay." Calien said as some of the memories of his failures and actions he regreted flooded through him as her experiences were similar to his, albeit in different ways.
(Oh my god Peam! O^O)
-
(PEAM O^O)
The Professor kept his eyes on Shadow Master and slowly raised his arms in a show of surrender. Once his hands were almost up, he chopped the heel of his hand into the inside of Shadow Master's wrist, while his other hand folded the man's own wrist over. The Professor maneuvered his hands to grab Shadow Master's wrist and forearm, wrenching his arm backwards at a stiff angle to force him to the ground.
((This was a disarming technique I learned in karate years ago. Kung Fu Prof is more of Ishinryu Karate Master Prof, but that doesn't have as good a ring to it. :P))
Shadow Master was surprised, Albertus even more so, seeing the Professor executed that move with ferocity.
"How could you... How DARE YOU!"
With his free arm, Shadow Master threw a smoke bomb, hoping to distract the Professor long enough to escape the grab. Meanwhile, Albertus turned his gaze to see White Beard groveling.
"Zhat fool fell fazter zhen expected..."
-
((Peam, jeeze. O^O))
((Going to wait before Albertus/Shadow Master and Prof finish before [parasitic bomb] hits the fan--err stuff happens! 8D ))
-
(PEAM O^O)
Shadow Master was surprised, Albertus even more so, seeing the Professor executed that move with ferocity.
"How could you... How DARE YOU!"
With his free arm, Shadow Master threw a smoke bomb, hoping to distract the Professor long enough to escape the grab. Meanwhile, Albertus turned his gaze to see White Beard groveling.
"Zhat fool fell fazter zhen expected..."
The Professor coughed, but didn't release Shadow Master's arm. Holding tight, he rocked his weight to his back foot and swung his braced leg into the back of Shadow Master's knees, hoping to finally knock the larger figure down.
-
(A caught ninja... Is a dead ninja. XD)
With a loud thud, Shadow Master fell, bruising his body, a lot more on his ego.
"What is happening!? Me!? Brought down by a midget monk!?"
-
Still with a solid grip on Shadow Master's arm, the Professor regarded him with a stern and level gaze, and then brought the heel of his bare foot down on Shadow Master's solar plexus.
((This is stuff I learned in my first year of karate. I was still a white belt.))
-
"I'll keep an eye on... this one," Fxeni said menacingly as he pointed his short spear at White Beard.
-
Sakura nodded as she understood that Fxeni wanted to make sure he didn't escape and then walked over to the Prof ready to intervene if Shadow Master broke free.
-
Despite been a Precursor creation, the amount of pain Shadow Master is currently experiencing was totally unknown to him. Even his previous battle with Aya did not give him such anguish. He barely managed to pull out a Shadow Blade with his free arm, and threw it upwards.
Albertus just facepalmed. "Juzt a little longer..."
-
(You know, I'm kind of glad that I couldn't fit Pema into WilyRP.
I think she works better in this setting.)
-
The blade sliced up the length of his leg, and the Professor fell backwards onto his rear, finally releasing Shadow Master's arm. He gritted his teeth and gripped his leg with both hands. His thick robe had afforded him at least some protection, so the gash was superficial. Nevertheless, it hurt and stung like the dickens.
Doing his best to ignore the pain, the Professor dragged himself to his feet. He couldn't let his guard down even for a moment. "An... an Acolyte... an Acolyte of the Order will not fall to the likes of you!"
-
As the group finished up with the Mecha and began to focus on Shadow, Doll Master continued his ritual, the three fragments of Reva floated in front of the Omni-Gem ominously glowing. "Fight all you want Reva--you have failed." He says silently to himself.
((Don't interfere with Mask Master for now))
Aya who had to climb over the wreckage began to advance on Shadow Master.
-
((Is Doll Master fair game?))
-
"YOU FOOLS!!"
In a state of sheer rage, Shadow Master got onto one knee, and threw out waves upon waves of Shadow Blades.
"YOU WILL ALL PAY!!"
-
((Is Doll Master fair game?))
((I think we had this discussion, Doll Master is dead; Mask Master just copied her powers back before. 8D ))
-
Sakura kept dodging the Shadow Blades, with some grazing her in the process, but she steadily continued her advance to get within striking distances of Shadow Master.
-
Fxeni dodged and deflected the Shadow Blades. As he dodged, he looked at White Beard and had an idea. He picked him up by the collar and held him in front of him.
"You're going to be my shield for a little while, if you don't mind..." Fxeni said as he slowly pushed his way towards Shadow Master.
-
(Damn Fxeni, though I honestly don't blame the guy.)
-
"W-what are you doing you blasted sea urchin!" White Beard pathetically attempted to wiggle free but he was hardly fit enough to escape Fxeni's grasp.
-
"Just using you as you used this town, quite simple really," Fxeni replied, hardening his grip as White Beard attempts to shake free.
-
Riyalie - "Power Gem!" she rushed forward firing, a barrage of gems to counter most of the shadow blades, while cutting up those flying directly towards her, with her sawblade.
Riyalie - "Lets see how you like a sawblade in your face!" as she got within mid-range outside of striking distance, she tossed her weapon with all her might, with the sawblade cleaving through any shadow blades it crossed.
(Lets assume Riyalie threw a Metal Blade at Shadow Master, in conjunction to the shape of her weapon.)
As Grifter rises to the top. He notices Toshi's spear glowing brightly.
Grifter - "Hey Toshi. Is that suppose to happen?" he asked concerning the brilliant light coming from her spear.
Toshi - "Huh!?" she looked closely at her weapon as she felt a sudden surge of energy fill her. "What is this power, I'm feeling?"
As Grifter lands safely at a distance where the Shadow Blades cannot reach, he sets Toshi back on her feet.
Grifter - "There you go. Wait here while I back up Riyalie." he tells Toshi, as he forms his rifle, steadying his aim at Shadow Master's head. "Just hold still so that I can..." he fires off a bolt of plasma through the clearing, heading straight for Shadow Master.
-
When Shadow Master had thrown his blades, the Professor had ducked and rolled out of the way. Sitting with his back against the low wall rimming the tower's rooftop, he tended to the wound on his leg. It only needed a poultice and a bandage, and he could fashion that quickly with little loss of time.
His hands, however, were another story. He had to thank the heavens for small favors, as at least they didn't hurt due to fried nerve endings.
-
Seeing multiple attempts to get close to him, or even to attack him, Shadow Master jumped away from whatever was aimed at him, though he crashed when he landed. Grinding his teeth, he unleashed another round of Shadow Blade danmaku.
Interestingly, one Blade struck the Professor right in his leg brace, while another comically got stuck in White Beard's... Beard.
-
The Professor looked at the Blade stuck in his brace and dislodged it with both hands. Opening his bag, he began to dig through it for various compounds. He had a new weapon and a new plan...
-
Grifter - "Damn it! I missed!" He seems miffed that Shadow Master actually anticipated, and dodged his attack. "How is this guy un-hit-able?" changing his plan, he starts providing cover fire for Riyalie, who was recently grazed by a shadow blade to the side; shooting down whatever shadow blade that might hit her directly.
As her sawblade misses, but needlessly splitting whatever remained from the mech's cockpit; the flustered Persian stepped back a little so that the constant shadow blade barrage, didn't hurt her as much as it did, when she got close.
Riyalie -"So that's how it's going to be, huh?" she fires more Power Gems at Shadow Master sending a barrage of gems to counter his barrage of shadow blades.
Meanwhile, Toshi takes a closer inspection of her now glowing spear; still baffled as to why it was glowing.
-
"... Should I even ask why your beard can stop blades like this?" Fxeni asked as he peeked over White Beard's shoulder, looking at the Shadow Blade stuck in place in his beard.
-
(The sheer amount of fuzz must have somehow caught the blade and caused it to tangle around the blade, his beard must be even thicker than Riagan's. Fxeni should totally tell Calien about this later so he can try to think about some random ass theories for hilarity, like the one above or White Beard is some kind of Cyborg. Or the Beard is fake.
Just to weird the hell out of Fxeni.)
-
(Wasn't White Beard already a cyborg to begin with?)
-
(In this universe he's human, a really short human but human. But yeah I think the 'Cyborg theory' would involve an accident that made him lose his chin and then he replaced his chin with an Automail Chin that also has a beard. The blade actually stuck into the metal part of the chin rather than the beard.
Seriously let me see how many bull [parasitic bomb] theories Calien can come up with later.)
-
(Shave off his beard and create impenetrable armor!)
-
(There's probably only enough to make a shield or a chest plate.)
-
As the party fought Shadow, Doll Master finally finished his ritual. "IT--IS--DONE!!!" He yells as there is a flash from the Omni-Gem and the whole party mostly Aya feel sick to their stomachs as the the mana in the air convoluted and twists. Large cracks form in the Omni-Gem and time seems to slow as it violently shatters creating a shock wave that knocks everyone off their feet and parts the clouds in the sky.
((Will see reactions before I continue))
-
Sakura raises her head up and slowly tries to get up to a kneeling position still panting from the reaction.
"Wh-what the hell just happen?!" Sakura cried as she looks to the sky.
-
"Get... off me!" Fxeni exclaims as he pushes White Beard off him. He breathes heavily, the mana around and within him churning uncontrollably. He tries to wrestle control back, but is unsuccessful. He manages to get up to one knee and looks up into the sky.
"This... this is bad," he mutters as he holds his chest.
-
The Professor looked up at the sky and then dug through his bag for his spyglass and notes. "No, no, no, this isn't good, this isn't good..."
Looking through his notes, he compared his drawings with the sky, peered through his spyglass, looked at his notes again, and shook his head. "No, no, no... The coming... the coming of the Elder Gods..."
-
"Elder gods?!" Sakura shouted "How many [tornado fang]ing gods does this world have?!"
-
((Less Elder Gods and more Elder being! 8D ))
The party notices that Aya is out cold, what ever they felt she seems to have felt one hundred fold. Luckily she is alive and breathing. Meanwhile a swirling vortex of chaos is forming at the point where the omni-gem shattered, holding the three shards of reva in place while the six shattered fragments of the Omni-Gem are sent flying into random directions across the wold.
-
"<Oh dear gods....it's like the legends of the Triforce father told me about!>" Sakura thought as the shards disappeared out of sight.
-
"The Old Ones! The Elder Gods! Those Who Walked Before Man!" The Professor dug through his notes some more. "The signs are there! The Omni-Gem, the Omni-Gem was a b-beacon! Much like, much like, much like when the Ancients would, would summon the Mogguloch..."
((He could just be rambling incoherently about stuff that has nothing to do with this.))
-
Calien carried Pema on his back, arriving with the others just in time for them to witness the Omni Gem shattering and dispersing.
(I figured they've already missed a lot of important stuff, so they're back.)
-
"<Sweet Goddesses of Creation! Just like the damn Triforce!>" Calien gasped.
"<Father....we were too late.>" Sakura stated.
"<Yes....I can see that...>" Calien nodded.
"<I'm sorry....there was just so much going on and->" Sakura tried to explain.
"<Don't worry about what couldn't be done....>" Calien shook his head "<Worry about what can be done now.....>"
"<Right....>" Sakura nodded in hesitation.
-
"We need to get Aya up... that Chaos won't close on its own," Fxeni says as he struggles to get standing.
-
"Yeah..." Sakura said as she struggled to move towards Aya with Riagan and the others also doing the same
(I'll control Riagan while PB is at PAX, though he probably won't have too much dialog.)
-
The swirling vortex of chaos did not seem to be a rift, it continued to compress until it exploded outward revealing--a humanoid shape. Mask Masker bowed immediately. "M-master you have returned!" his voice was oddly emotional.
-
"That's the Masked Man's master....the man who possessed Aya's brother?" Sakura gulped.
"<Wait...Aya has a brother?>" Calien asked.
"<Yeah, Reva said that the reason she didn't kill this 'Master' guy when she had the chance who knows how long ago was because he possessed Aya's brother and Aya didn't want him to die.>" Sakura explained with a straight face.
"<Reva....the Goddess of Darkness Reva?>" Calien repeated.
"<Yeah she was the presence that was helping the Prof stay sane and the energy that was making Aya scream a lot when her Brainwashing was breaking, but the Masked Man and Alberta trapped her in that thingy over there next to the thingy that they stole from the Dwarves and that other thingy that White Beard probably acquired from the Ocean.>" Sakura continued.
"<These guys....trapped a [tornado fang]ing Goddess?!>" Calien shouted.
"<Yup.>" Sakura nodded.
"<I knew some crazy [parasitic bomb] was happening while I was helping Pema with her leg....but I didn't think it was this crazy!>" Calien replied in shock "<Never in my experience....nay of our people's legacy has such a thing happened! Kidnapping Sages to unseal the Pig Demon fine! Kidnapping the Oracle of Seasons to make the Seasons spiral out of control in Holodrum to cause Destruction to resurrect the same Pig Demon sure! Possessing the Oracle of Ages and going back in [tornado fang]ing Time who knows how damn long to trick a heart broken Queen into building a 50 foot [tornado fang]ing Tower while creating a Night that never ends so the god damn Pig Demon can feed on the Sorrow of the people of Labrynna why the [tornado fang] not! But this....this is completely unprecedented!>"
"<Yeah I think we're going to see more [parasitic bomb] than that Link person you keep told me of....and his previous lives.....maybe.>" Sakura suggested.
"<Yes....you may be right......>" Calien said looking grave.
(Catching Calien up to speed in the most dire of circumstances is darkly hilarious.....
EDIT: Edited to make it more ridiculous.)
-
The figure was that of a tall man, fit wearing a long black cloak with precursor symbols running along the length of the zipper. He had short spiky black hair cold purple eyes and a set of small wings like Aya.
He stretches his arms out and took a deep breath as if to enjoy freedom for the first time in a thousand years. "Mask Master--you managed to break this accursed seal? Excellent." He nods and Mask Master raises. "Ah Reva--what a sorry state you are in!" He gathers the three shards with a grin. "Last time we meet you prevented me with merging with the heart of chaos-and prevented my accession to god hood, but now you can no longer help the last guardian." He opens a small rfit and moves the shards into them for safe keeping.
"Master--it seems your awakening has shattered the Omni-Gem. Without it we cannot open a gate to the heart of chaos like last time." Mask Master adjusts his mask.
"No matter--we will track down the shards--now before we leave I belive I have some lose ends to tie up. The man approaches the group as White Beard scurries to his feet.
"Arr--what is the meaning of this Mask Master?! This was not what we agreed to! If I helped you find the keys you would grant me unlimited elemental power!!" He yelled angrily, clearly seeing the omni-gem destroyed was not his intention.
"You were a tool--little more." Mask Master retorted. "We never had any intention of giving you anything--is that not correct Albertus."
White Beard's eyes widened as he saw Albertus grin and realized he was no longer in control of anything. "D-Damn you all!" Drawing his Flint Lock and pointing it at the man "I will not be made a fool of----AAAAAAAGH!"
White Beard barely was able to finish his sentence as the figure raised his hand casting the spell "Impulse" the kinetic effect sends White Beard flying off the tower into the sea below to his death?
"Now--I do believe introductions are in order master!" Mask Master glanced at the sea as White
Beard vanished from view.
"Indeed---my name is Mar, I was a magistrate of the First Empire. I am an Arcadian or "Precursor" as you have come to call us." Mar glanced at Aya who was beginning to wake up again.
-
"<Yup....a Moron to the end. A stupid, gullible, cruel, greedy, power hungry Moron in his last breaths....may you reincarnate into someone more pleasant and helpful to those around you lest these misfortunes be engrained in your soul and be repeated for all eternity.>" Sakura thought and shook her head as she looked to this Mar person.
"Magistrate, Heart of Chaos?" Calien questioned "Just what do you intend to do?"
-
The Professor once again dropped to his hands and knees and bowed deeply before Mar. "Most, most, most humble apologies! I, I, I had studied you, studied your lore, yes? Never before, never before have I seen such, such a p-presence! I beg forgiveness for any blasphemes... My colleagues, my fellow monks... the Order was, was... was not fully aware of your power... They, they did not approve of my study... Thus, thus, thus proper etiquette was, was lost to the ages..."
-
"I...don't think they're going to give a damn about the Order's misdeeds Prof......" Sakura stated.
-
Mar glanced at the Professor seemingly amused by his worship. He turned his gaze to Calien.
"The creator and her pet "gods" used the omni-gem to form the abyss into the "Heart of Chaos." in that state it was the "possibility" that permitted Arcadia and it's life to exist. It is the source of ultimate knowledge and power, a power I desired greatly in my academic pursuits.
As an aging mortal I could never hope to survive in the abyss, so I "acquired" this guardian, they are designed to be immune to the abyss after all--with an immortal shell I opened a massive rift above Pandora--the floating city and opened a direct path to the Heart of Chaos, sadly I had to sacrifice the empire and most of my people to do it but my theories were correct at least.
I very nearly succeeded until Aya and the goddess Reva battled me in the chaos and prevented my merging with the heart, however the girl's love for her brother prevented Reva from destroying me and so I spent one thousand years imprisoned within that accursed crystal watching what little of my race dwindle away as they mated with the lesser races and assured the Arcadian's extinction!
My intentions are simple barbarian--I will reform the Omni-Gem, merge with the Heart of Chaos and recreate this twisted world in my own image FREE from the tyranny of the gods!"
He extended his arms dramatically as a large two handed sword formed in his right hand,likely the morph blade belonging to Aya's brother.
((In short, any human looking race is likely the result of surviving Arcadians having children with other races.))
-
Sakura and Calien looked at each other as the massive amount of Deja vu just hit them like a ton of bricks.
"I don't think the Gods were ever a problem....." Calien stated "I think you just have no god damn heart or empathy."
"Not to mention you're a lousy spoiled brat of a coward and a sore loser who decided to throw the game board at the wall when they couldn't have their way." Sakura continued "Honestly 'academic pursuits' more like a text book case of power lust."
"I think that Doll woman was wrong...." Calien continued "Arcadia wasn't destroyed when the Precursors when extinct.....it lives on in their descendants. And now you want to betray your people for a misguided view that would surely destroy everything they worked for......that's unforgivable."
"How dare you sully your people's last wish!" Sakura roared. "You can't do that!"
-
"I don't expect a barbarian to understand my grand plans for the future. Now--I do believe I've entrained this banter long enough." Suddenly Mar just wasn't there, having cast a time spell he re-appeared in the center of the group just as Aya managed to get up. Plunging the blade into the ground at his feet a massive explosion of raw mana sent them all flying dangerously close to the edge of the tower.
((No you cannot beat the main villain this early. 8D ))
-
Fxeni careened towards the edge of the tower. He pulled out his spear and stabbed it into the ground, slowing him to a stop just before the edge.
"Wouldn't you just be making yourself a god in that case? Wouldn't you be turning yourself into the very thing you wish to destroy?" Fxeni states as he stands back up. He looks around for an exit, knowing that the group was in no state to fight him now. He looks up at the airship that was still docked, and started to formulate a plan.
(The airship still exists right? If not I'll edit this :P)
-
The Professor, already near the edge of the roof, went tumbling toes-over-topside and skidded right over the side. His hood and bag strap snagged an outcropping as he fell and he dangled precariously by his robe.
-
((Airship does indeed still exist))
-
Calien was nearly driven toward the edge making sure that he and Pema didn't fall off the Tower while Riagan and Sakura helped the Professor up.
Calien then followed Fxeni's gaze as he started to understand what he was thinking about.
-
Fxeni nodded slightly at Calien and pointed his spear at Mar. He intended to distract Mar as long as possible while the others boarded the airship.
"What do you intend to do with this city?" Fxeni asked Mar in a serious tone.
-
(( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5emSlt-4X9w (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5emSlt-4X9w) Battle music if you need ambiance! Because it think I accidentally based Mar off of Xehenort with the whole body stealing thing 8D ))
"I have no interest in this slum of a city, it will fall into chaos with the rest of this world once I merge with the heart. Now--Aya I merely have to kill you and the gods will no longer have the ability to interact with the physical world." He points his blade at the last guardian directly as she takes a combat stance with the goddess blade.
"I-I remember you!" Aya exclaimed eyes widened. "R-Rei! Brother! Please fight him!"
"Your brother can't hear you Aya!" Mar sneered as he charged locking blades with Aya.
-
Wriggling free of Sakura and Riagan, the Professor dug through his bag as he ran toward Mar. "An, an, an impostor! M-mar is not your brother! A doppelganger! A doppelganger! That voice, that voice, that voice is... he spoke in my head! He took the form of my master! He is not my master and he is not your brother!"
He produced the pilfered Shadow Blade and sliced at Mar once he was in range.
-
(I don't know even though it's not appropriate and I find it highly overrated I feel like listening to One Winged Angel instead....I mean I like One Winged Angel but there's so many better final boss songs out there, like Dancing Mad.
Also hopefully PB doesn't get too far left behind when he gets back.)
"Prof it's too dangerous!" Sakura cried as Riagan immediately ran over to hit Mar with his Hammer.
"Filthy coward!" he roared "You shall not harm these people!"
-
Mar with an upward slash broke the clash and kicked Aya back before swinging his giant sword with horrifying speed not only countering the two but also forcing them back quite a bit. Raising his hand up into the air a ball of flame swirled and launched out toward the sky. "FLARE!" Mar yelled as the fire pillar exploded and began to rain down on the tower AND the town.
((Spells like Flare, Holy, Ultima are lost to modern times. Mar was the most powerful mage in history after all. Yes he has Ultima! 8D ))
-
"Oh for the love of... get on the bloody airship!" Fxeni exclaims in frustration as he watches everyone start to rush towards Mar and get flicked away with little effort. Rubbing his temple, he decides to get on the airship himself to get it started up for when things inevitably go very bad.
-
(Guess we need to come up with some bull [parasitic bomb] spells that Sakura has to imbune in her blade that is not Holy. Maybe Bravely Default's Dark as well since that's the Ultimate Black Mage Spell since Flare doesn't exist.)
"Holy [parasitic bomb] run!" Sakura cried as she, Riagan, and Calien with Pema in tow ran towards the Airship.
-
The Professor started for the airship, but stopped and turned around. "Aya! We, we can't do anything here! We have to go! We have to go! I'm--we're... we're not leaving without you!"
-
Aya continued to clash with Mar but it was clear in her current state she was going to lose without the god's power. "Ngh--GIVE MY BROTHER BACK MAR!" She yells before being sent flying back.
Regaining her footing she realized the others where right, there was no way to win right now and their battle was only going to endanger the town further. Holding her blade forward it emitted a blinding light at Mar giving the party the chance to withdraw to the airship.
"Aaaargh!" Mar Yelled covering his eyes. "This isn't over you soulless puppet! I will find you!"
-
"Aya hurry up!" Sakura cried as she and the others reached the Airship.
-
Aya reached the Airship and glanced back, to finally remember everything and to have failed in her duty and promise was maddening. "Brother--"
-
"Here's to hoping I remember how to fly one of these..." Fxeni said as he began to lift off now that everyone was boarded.
(/Salute to the Cheval, which didn't get the flashy end it deserved.
Unless Albertus and Shadow Master steal it, therefore allowing it to have it's final moment of glory eventually... 8D)
-
(( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5emSlt-4X9w (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5emSlt-4X9w) Battle music if you need ambiance! Because it think I accidentally based Mar off of Xehenort with the whole body stealing thing 8D ))
(Coincidentally, Master Xehanort's goal is to merge with the true Kingdom Hearts; the one that emerged during the Keyblade War. That matches with Mar's goal to merge with the Heart of Chaos.
This is plagiarism, Blue! 8D)
-
Once he was sure that Aya had boarded the airship, the Professor finally joined the rest of the party. He limped over to Aya and reached up to put a hand on her shoulder. "It's not, it's not too late, all is not lost. We are not retreating, but, but, but rather, but rather a strategic relocation, yes?"
-
((Well merging with the source of creation is kind of a typical RPG trope in my defense! Also the Cheval will return! 8D ))
"R-right." She nodded looking heartbroken for many reasons at once.
-
Pema shook her head loosely, "No... we lost. There's no way we can beat someone that powerful, right? I mean, how can we..."
Salem floated from her grip, "That's enough. I know you're hurt and distraught, but you can't think like this. What happened to the Pema who always looked on the bright side?"
She stayed silent, glancing at her hands.
-
"Yeah....we're not running away.....not by a long shot." Sakura nodded. "There's still things we can do."
"Those fiends.....someday my hammer will be soaked in their blood." Riagan said as he gripped his hammer.
"What about your Axes?" Sakura asked.
"So too shall they." Riagan replied.
"Good answer." Sakura nodded.
Calien approach Fxeni as he stared at the vehicle in curiousity.
"Fxeni forgive my complete ignorance of such things but where in the world did you learn how to pilot such a thing?" Calien asked.
Pema shook her head loosely, "No... we lost. There's no way we can beat someone that powerful, right? I mean, how can we..."
Salem floated from her grip, "That's enough. I know you're hurt and distraught, but you can't think like this. What happened to the Pema who always looked on the bright side?"
She stayed silent, glancing at her hands.
"Pema....we haven't lost....there's a way we can beat them." Sakura told her.
-
Meanwhile back on the tower Mar opens his palm as if to attack the airship but stops.
"M-Master whats wrong?" Mask Master says stepping forward slightly.
"We will let them go for now--they will seek the omni-gem shards, for if they don't this world will sink into chaos. And when they have restored it I will kill the last guardian and take my place as the new god of my Arcadia." Mar turns to face Albertus.
"Master this is Albertus, I would not have freed you so soon if not for his assistance." Mask Master says calmly.
"I see--you wish to join us? You wish to see my new world?" Mar crosses his arms awaiting a response.
-
"Most magitech vehicles follow the same basic design theories, although there's always some variations," Fxeni replied to Calian. "Although I've already flown one of these once before... about 5 years ago."
With that statement, his gaze drifts off to the side. Giant plumes of smoke arose out of the city from the fires that were lit by the Flare spell. He sighs disappointingly as his gaze turns forward anew.
-
"I see....." Calien nodded "I assume....that my assumption that Skull Cove was your home was correct?"
(Yeah he was guessing the same thing Sakura was.)
-
((Wait Phi didn't Xehenort just want the knowledge in Kingdom Hearts, and to see what the true light was? Mar just wants to become a god. XD))
-
"Yes... Aldia was my home. I had hoped to free it, but now it lies in ruins," Fxeni said a bit grimly. He shuffled in place a bit as he piloted. "It stopped being my home though, once I escaped. Being back there didn't rekindle any good memories, only the bad ones. Maybe some day it'll go back to the way it was... but for now, we have more pressing matters."
-
((A lot of people likely died but the town is still there thankfully))
-
"Do you really think so?" Pema sighed, leaning against the wall of the airship, "I'll try then... I'll try to have faith."
Salem went stagnant, not accustomed to seeing her in this state.
"... I need to get stronger. The training at my hometown isn't enough," She stated suddenly.
"Yeah, you may be right," He agreed, "The Runemasters, while very powerful, have a singular focus in regards to their fighting methods. They're not one to break from tradition, that much is certain. You may need to think "outside of the box", so to speak. Versatility of the mind and body. Undergo training with fighting styles foreign from the one you've grown into."
A spark flashed through Pema's eyes; the first burst of energy she's felt since her injury, "Yeah, a new trainer... but who could help me?"
((Wait Phi didn't Xehenort just want the knowledge in Kingdom Hearts, and to see what the true light was? Mar just wants to become a god. XD))
(Nope, he wants to gather 7 of light and 13 of darkness; 7 Keyblade wielders and 13 Xehanorts. By doing this, he hopes to summon Kingdom Hearts to merge with it.
... Yes, the story can get confusing, more often than not. XD)
-
"Indeed." Calien nodded as he could understand his pain "We need to come up with a plan of action. I won't.....won't let the worst outcome possible happen.....I just can't......"
"<We can't let this world become like the Dark World......or Lorule......>" Calien thought.
((A lot of people likely died but the town is still there thankfully))
(Guess some didn't run for the hills......)
"Do you really think so?" Pema sighed, leaning against the wall of the airship, "I'll try then... I'll try to have faith."
Salem went stagnant, not accustomed to seeing her in this state.
"... I need to get stronger. The training at my hometown isn't enough," She stated suddenly.
"Yeah, you may be right," He agreed, "The Runemasters, while very powerful, have a singular focus in regards to their fighting methods. They're not one to break from tradition, that much is certain. You may need to think "outside of the box", so to speak. Versatility of the mind and body. Undergo training with fighting styles foreign from the one you've grown into."
A spark flashed through Pema's eyes; the first burst of energy she's felt since her injury, "Yeah, a new trainer... but who could help me?"
(Nope, he wants to gather 7 of light and 13 of darkness; 7 Keyblade wielders and 13 Xehanorts. By doing this, he hopes to summon Kingdom Hearts to merge with it.
... Yes, the story can get confusing, more often than not. XD)
"That's the Pema I know." Sakura smiled "But a new teacher....hmmmm what exactly are Runemasters in the first place though.....I just realized I never asked."
-
((Guess that was in Dream Drop Distance? Haven't beaten that yet, I only know his plan from Birth By Sleep so I'm innocent! 8D))
Aya silently slips away and finds a room and sits on the bed hiding her head between her arms she is no longer able to be strong, but was unwilling to show weakness to the others. Her thoughts on her failed duty and brother.
"I-I failed---again."
-
"I'm sure we can learn from each other Pema. I've been told that my fighting style with spells is a bit... unique... compared to the usual ways to handle magick" Fxeni offered, tilting his head slightly as he spoke.
-
The Professor finally took the opportunity to calm down. With the party settled and the air clear, he looked absolutely terrible. His robe was torn and spotted with blood, his face was still bruised, his neck was bruised from strangulation, and his hands were blackened and bloody. He smelled strongly of blood, charred flesh, and the stinging powders that he used.
Heaving a sigh, he retired to below-decks and went on a search for supplies. As he limped the hall, he heard Aya's voice in one of the berths and slowly opened the hatch. "Aya? Are you all right?"
-
"My fighting style is actually quite unique for my people's standard.....hell it's unique for my home's standards." Calien stated "My people typically are similar to what you call Ninjas from a weapons stand point while everyone else used spears, bows and arrows, the occasionally hammer and a whole mess of magical items and spells.
I'm the only person I know in my homeland who uses an Axe for fighting." Calien stated as he looked at his Chain Sickle "Though....I think I need to change something myself....I don't think I can use this effectively against my foes."
(Not including monsters as far as I remember.)
-
Aya sniffs "P-please I want to be alone--" She says weakly.
-
The Professor didn't go in, but he didn't leave, either. Instead, he slid to a seat on the floor outside the room, with his back against the bulkhead. "Sometimes... sometimes one shouldn't keep things bottled inside... I'll, I'll respect your wishes, but, but, but... if you need to talk... I'll be here."
-
Aya is quiet for a good while before she opens the curtain to speak to him face to face. "I remember everything Professor." She says with sad eyes.
-
The Professor stood. "It's not your fault. Alberta violated you. Violated your m-mind. You were a prisoner, a prisoner in your own mind."
He followed Aya into the berth which afforded them more privacy, rather than standing awkwardly out in the hall.
-
"That's the Pema I know." Sakura smiled "But a new teacher....hmmmm what exactly are Runemasters in the first place though.....I just realized I never asked."
Pema tapped a finger against her cheek, "Well, I don't know a great deal about them, but I know enough. There's a guild in my town called "Runemasters." They're divided into three classes: Exploration, Knight and Head. The Head Runemasters are mostly old people, though, and sometimes they smell kinda funny. They're super strict, too!
Exploration deals with escort assignments, which are reeeeally boring. But it can get exciting, too. We hunt down animals and gather food for our town, and harvest tasty fruits and veggies. Sometimes, there's monsters where we go, so they train us real well to defend ourselves.
Knights are sort of like, umm... well, they're like really cool warrior bodyguards, and handle the super dangerous assignments like exploring a cave or mountain to kill enormous beasts.
According to Daddy, Runemasters have been around for thousands of years, and their traditions have barely changed. But Mommy is actually the person who wanted me to become a Runemaster, while Dad wasn't very comfortable with that idea. She saw how much energy I had and wanted me to put it to good use. To help others. Daddy said that I was too young to become a Runemaster, but she never changed her mind. Mom inspired me and I agreed to use this power to help protect my people."
Pema idly fiddled with the ear flaps on her hat, "The Runemasters used to be all men, and it wasn't until recently that they allowed females to join. So, I guess that's one part of their tradition that changed over the years."
(BTW I was kinda waiting for Fxeni to chime in on training Pema, since he wanted to.)
-
Aya bites her lip. "I remember everything before I was put to sleep by Reva I mean." Aya says clearly trying to avoid dwelling on that ordeal.
-
(I did chime in Phi! But just to add on:)
"Ah, Runemasters... I've heard about them, but that's about it. I'm guessing you were part of the Exploration class?" Fxeni asked Pema.
-
(Didn't see that. Everyone ninja'd me to death.)
"I'm sure we can learn from each other Pema. I've been told that my fighting style with spells is a bit... unique... compared to the usual ways to handle magick" Fxeni offered, tilting his head slightly as he spoke.
Pema smiled, "Really? Then yeah, I'd love to be with you- I mean train! T-Train with you!" She scratched her head, her face turned away from him, "I look forward to it, Mr. Fxeni!"
(I did chime in Phi! But just to add on:)
"Ah, Runemasters... I've heard about them, but that's about it. I'm guessing you were part of the Exploration class?" Fxeni asked Pema.
"Mm-hm! Though, one of the Head Runemasters said that he saw "unique potential" in me, and I could become one of the youngest Knights if I trained harder," She explained.
-
Aya bites her lip. "I remember everything before I was put to sleep by Reva I mean." Aya says clearly trying to avoid dwelling on that ordeal.
The Professor nodded again. "What... what happened? Why were you put to sleep?"
He found a chair and sat, unshouldering his bag and setting it on the floor. His legs hurt and he wanted to get off his feet for a while. At some point, he surmised that he should treat his wounds, particularly the burns, but they didn't hurt, so he ignored them.
-
"Interesting." Sakura nodded "I don't think my Father's race is as strict as these Runemasters but they do sound similar in some ways.
Most of them have similar jobs, being body guards to important people and soldiers that fight in the Shadows.
However they are also renouned historians and keepers of lores, inventors and researchers of strange things, and also very good care takers."
"Also most of the more important members of our Race are Women believe it or not. Though they never discriminate others based on that though, I never really felt I was being belitted or anything from others of my race whenever I ran into them....once in a blue moon I have to add since I rarely ran into others outside my family." Calien continued.
"Yeah....my father's race is really spread thin to be honest, very rare and people aparently keep getting surprised that we're still around." Sakura titled her head.
"You have no idea how annoying it is to keep hearing people act surprised when they find out we're still around......." Calein sighed "Though it is an unusual advantage since we act in the Shadows."
-
(Didn't see that. Everyone ninja'd me to death.)
Pema smiled, "Really? Then yeah, I'd love to be with you- I mean train! T-Train with you!" She scratched her head, her face turned away from him, "I look forward to it, Mr. Fxeni!"
"Mm-hm! Though, one of the Head Runemasters said that he saw "unique potential" in me, and I could become one of the youngest Knights if I trained harder," She explained.
"The potential is clearly there from what I've seen, that's for sure... Well, I'll do what I can to help you get to that point! Err, if you want to become one of the youngest knights, that is," Fxeni said with a smile.
The Airship approached the area where the entrance to the Dwarven Kingdom lay. He looked around for a good place to drop anchor, but didn't see one.
"Umm... where can I land this without attracting too much attention..." Fxeni wondered aloud.
-
(Uh quick what would Riagan say even though PB is not here?)
-
"It's best I start from the beginning--my brother and I had just been created, we were undergoing our final trial to become guardians--but my brother Rei well he was strong but impatient, our teachers were not sure he'd be able to keep his cool if we were called to fight the chaos. Mar--he must have already been plotting his scheme to find the Heart of Chaos and saw Rei as the perfect host, he began to mentor him and teach him magic beyond the training guardians received. "
Aya pauses and thinks. "Mar's plan was to weaken the empire so they couldn't interfere--he opened chaos rifts across Arcadia and forced the guardians and army to respond, there were so many the empire was forced to make my brother a guardian and send him and I out. Mar knew that Rei would become stronger as he battled the chaos beasts but also knew most of the guardians would not survive the battles and the military would be weakened as they tried to defend our towns and cities."
Aya glances down. "By the time my old friends and I realized that Mar was behind Doll and Mask Master's gates he had already turned my brother against us we couldn't warn him in time. Mar called an emergency meeting gathering all the magisters, guardians and miltiary forces back to Pandora...the floating city. And when they arrived he used the Omni-Gem to open a massive rift above the city. All the people turned into monsters and the guardians were wiped out quickly. Mar had hoped to kill the guardians so the gods could not interfere, but my friends and I had been late to arrive.
I think my brother horrified at what he had let happened went to challenge Mar but--in the end he was possessed. I dove into the abyss after him but I was too late to prevent Mar from consuming a portion of the Heart of Choas; Reva then appeared and saved my life giving me the power to challenge him. Only--I couldn't kill my brother and Reva was forced to seal Mar away--she then split her being into the three keys to make sure Mar could never escape and I was put to sleep to keep my key and the Omni-Gem safe."
-
(Uh quick what would Riagan say even though PB is not here?)
((Land it in one of the pits. The dwarves probably have at least one strip-mined area where they can put vehicles and stuff.))
"It's best I start from the beginning--my brother and I had just been created, we were undergoing our final trial to become guardians--but my brother Rei well he was strong but impatient, our teachers were not sure he'd be able to keep his cool if we were called to fight the chaos. Mar--he must have already been plotting his scheme to find the Heart of Chaos and saw Rei as the perfect host, he began to mentor him and teach him magic beyond the training guardians received. "
Aya pauses and thinks. "Mar's plan was to weaken the empire so they couldn't interfere--he opened chaos rifts across Arcadia and forced the guardians and army to respond, there were so many the empire was forced to make my brother a guardian and send him and I out. Mar knew that Rei would become stronger as he battled the chaos beasts but also knew most of the guardians would not survive the battles and the military would be weakened as they tried to defend our towns and cities."
Aya glances down. "By the time my old friends and I realized that Mar was behind Doll and Mask Master's gates he had already turned my brother against us we couldn't warn him in time. Mar called an emergency meeting gathering all the magisters, guardians and miltiary forces back to Pandora...the floating city. And when they arrived he used the Omni-Gem to open a massive rift above the city. All the people turned into monsters and the guardians were wiped out quickly. Mar had hoped to kill the guardians so the gods could not interfere, but my friends and I had been late to arrive.
I think my brother horrified at what he had let happened went to challenge Mar but--in the end he was possessed. I dove into the abyss after him but I was too late to prevent Mar from consuming a portion of the Heart of Choas; Reva then appeared and saved my life giving me the power to challenge him. Only--I couldn't kill my brother and Reva was forced to seal Mar away--she then split her being into the three keys to make sure Mar could never escape and I was put to sleep to keep my key and the Omni-Gem safe."
The Professor gave a slow nod as he listened to Aya's story. Much of what she said matched with the few Precursor writings he had procured. Though he was unable to decipher the author of those writings, he assumed them to be someone with close connections to Reva and Rei.
After a very long moment of silence, he reached out and took Aya's hand in his. "We may have hit a setback, but, but, but we have not failed. We just n-need to find another way. If, if, if we find all the pieces, if we stay one step ahead of M-mar, we will succeed. You just have to trust in your faith."
He pointed to himself with his other hand and smiled. "I trust in mine, and it has not let me down."
-
"There's a strip mine over in that direction." Riagan spoke up and pointed "I'm sure it's big enough to contain this vessel."
"Riagan do the Dwarves have access to lots of Cloth and Leather?" Calien asked.
"Yes. Why you ask?" Riagan questioned as he raised an eyebrow.
"Let's just say I have quite a bit of work that needs to be done to prepare for the journey ahead. This is just the first step in that." Calien stated as he looked to Sakura and the state of her clothes as well as his own strange attire.
-
Aya smiled and leaned forward to hug the professor. "If-If we can find those fragments maybe we can set things right--without the gem this world will eventually fall into the chaos but maybe I-we can all fix things!" She keeps hugging the professor "Your a good friend Prof, thank you."
-
"Strip mine it is," Fxeni says as he spins the wheel around until the airship turns to face the mine. He slowly moves the airship above the pit and gently lowers it into the depths of the mountains.
-
Aya smiled and leaned forward to hug the professor. "If-If we can find those fragments maybe we can set things right--without the gem this world will eventually fall into the chaos but maybe I-we can all fix things!" She keeps hugging the professor "Your a good friend Prof, thank you."
"Anytime," the Professor returned the embrace.
After a moment, the airship lurched as it began its descent. The Professor glanced toward the hatch and gave a nod. "We, we should, we should probably return to the others. Or, or, or gather what supplies we can from this vessel. I was looking, I was looking for m-medical supplies, myself, because, well..."
He gave an all-encompassing shrug and nodded to his charred hands. He lacked the supplies to treat such wounds, as he had brought only what he felt he needed to treat wounds incurred in battle and general travel.
((Hopefully the Dwarves have good healers. Prof could use some help.))
-
(Hahaha... That was a bit to catch up on. XD)
Meanwhile back on the tower Mar opens his palm as if to attack the airship but stops.
"M-Master whats wrong?" Mask Master says stepping forward slightly.
"We will let them go for now--they will seek the omni-gem shards, for if they don't this world will sink into chaos. And when they have restored it I will kill the last guardian and take my place as the new god of my Arcadia." Mar turns to face Albertus.
"Master this is Albertus, I would not have freed you so soon if not for his assistance." Mask Master says calmly.
"I see--you wish to join us? You wish to see my new world?" Mar crosses his arms awaiting a response.
Albertus kneeled down onto one knee in response.
"Your vorld... Your new vorld... Vill be beautiful..."
Shadow Master meanwhile managed to stand up with the help of a nearby machination, the same one that Fxeni rode on. Seeing how Mar managed to completely thwart the heroes... He tsked.
-
"Good---well we need not linger in this slum of city any longer." Mar extended his hand opening a portal connecting to the floating city of Pandora. "Gather what you need my servants then let us depart."
-
Albertus stood up from his kneel, and turned to see Shadow Master propping himself.
"Bring zhat along... I vant to examine it thoroughly..."
-
((So, we're back at the Dwarven city. What's the plan, since everyone's itching for downtime?))
-
(Well I do want Sakura to interact with Riagan at some point later when PB gets back but there's other things I can do before that.
Things including having Calien treating the Prof and asking Sakura to enchant a Spoon with Blizzard so they can reduce the swelling on Aya's hickey, read about that on the internet, and then have him ask Aya to measure her body so he can make new clothes for her. I also want him to talk to Fxeni at one point so he can tell him what he learned about Pema.
Those are the main things I want to start with but I also want him to make a Boomerang and get Armor too.
Unfortunately I can't really think too much about what I want Sakura to do besides talking to Riagan because she wants to get to know him better.
But those are my tentative plans at least.)
-
(Wasn't there a rift that needed closing with Aya's help?)
-
(Oh yeah we got to fix that first, doy. Oh and Sakura still has Aya's shattered pendant.)
-
(Yes Aya needs to close that, honestly Aya doesn't want to even think about her capture; new clothes are going to be a must.)
-
(Yeah though it would probably take him like a day to make her outfit, then he'll make one for Sakura, and then one for himself and fix the Prof's cloak and make it shorter.
Also can he make gloves for the Prof at least?)
-
((Sure, but Prof will be sporting bandage mittens for a while at least.))
-
(Of course, it's more of a preventative measure for the future so hopefully the Professor won't go through that again. Hopefully.)
-
((Guess we'd better swing on over and close that rift.))
-
(Yeah might as well cut to the closing of the rift since everyone knows what to do and the Prof and Riagan don't use Mana in their attacks.)
-
((Prof also needs some nursing. He's not looking too hot.))
-
(Yeah Calien can take care of that. Oh and I think we need to make a crutch/walking stick for Peam for the time being.)
-
Pema heaved herself from the floor, using the staff as a cane to support her weight. She arched her right leg back slightly, as her ankle was still sore. She slowly hobbled around the airship in order to get a feel for this new method of walking, "Ugh, I'm like an old person..."
"Your ankle will only be sore for a few days. Just wait a little longer," Salem explained.
"Yeah, yeah..." She sighed, sitting back down to apply more ice to the sprain.
-
(Okay that works, I kind of underestimated the Length of Salem. And I have to remind myself she's the size of a preschooler.)
-
The Professor had resumed his wandering, in search of supplies. He wasn't sure the level of the Dwarves' technology, so he didn't expect them to have figured out indoor plumbing. He intended to get a bath at some point, no matter how it would be provided.
Unable to find the supplies he was looking for, the Professor returned to the deck, limped over to the railing, and leaned on it.
-
"Oh Professor there you are." Calien stated as he walked over to him "I was wondering where you went."
-
With a start, the Professor looked up. "Oh, oh, oh, you were? Well, I, I, I had gone b-below for supplies. I'm, I'm, I'm running out, yes? This quest, this journey has been m-most trying on my supplies."
-
"Oh I see." Calien nodded as he sat down next to him "I suppose that makes sense, given how you used quite a bit of them at the tower. Is that why you haven't used anything to treat your hands?"
-
"Supplies couldn't hurt, that's for sure... I lost all of mine back in Al- Skull Cove," Fxeni chimed in as he made sure the airship remained dormant.
-
"M-my hands?" The Professor seemed confused for a moment, and then looked at his hands, remembering the burns. "Oh! Oh, oh, I din't quite have the time. We've been quite busy, and, and, and I'm afraid I've forgotten. They don't hurt anymore. They look absolutely dreadful, but they don't hurt."
-
"Yes, though Sakura and I left most of our stuff here in the Dwarven City besides the stuff we had on our backs and some potions I brewed the night before. You lost your Cheval too didn't you." Calien nodded. "
"Our room is going to be smelling like mushrooms isn't it?" Sakura quipped.
"......Possibly......." Calien replied.
(They left things like Sakura's big book of Pokemon, other personal belongings, and ingredients that can't be used right away without refining them but he still has medical supplies and concoctions he made on hand.
I don't know if I should say Sakura brought her Magitek Sewing Machine with her though....)
"M-my hands?" The Professor seemed confused for a moment, and then looked at his hands, remembering the burns. "Oh! Oh, oh, I din't quite have the time. We've been quite busy, and, and, and I'm afraid I've forgotten. They don't hurt anymore. They look absolutely dreadful, but they don't hurt."
"Maybe so, but we can't leave them like that, it could get an infection if not treated." Calien shook his head.
(Can burns get infections, I'm not sure if they can, help.)
-
((They can. Oooooooh burns can get infections. Particularly serious burns.))
-
(Okay good thing I wasn't bullshitting and had a good reason to get those hands treated.)
-
The Professor nodded and picked a bit of charred skin off. "Yes, yes, they should be treated. Now that we have the time to do so."
-
"Seems like a good idea to me," Fxeni says as he cringes a little when looking at the Prof's hands. "We should probably attend to that ASAP, although that Chaos Rift we left here won't close itself..."
-
The Professor nodded and picked a bit of charred skin off. "Yes, yes, they should be treated. Now that we have the time to do so."
"Of course." Calien said as he started to get his medical supplies out "I guess the one good thing about your hands being in that state is that my remedies won't sting like hell."
"Seems like a good idea to me," Fxeni says as he cringes a little when looking at the Prof's hands. "We should probably attend to that ASAP, although that Chaos Rift we left here won't close itself..."
"Yes I'll try to get this done as quickly as possible, I don't know if the cave environment could possibly make things worse if I don't treat it now." Calien replied.
-
The Professor picked off another bit of blackened skin. "That rift, that rift should be closed as soon as you can. Don't, don't allow, don't allow me to take up your time, if, if, if you have more p-pressing matters to attend to."
-
"Nonsense this won't take too much time." Calien shook his head as he began with a simple Cure spell to heal some of it before he began applying his remedy.
-
"We still need to find a way to it now that it's blocked off, so I'd say there's enough to time make sure your hands remain intact Prof," Fxeni says as he pats the Profs shoulder. "I'd say that's more pressing anyways."
-
"Actually the path should be cleared by now since my brothers who were possessed had a head start before they came to their senses when that vile she demon left." Riagan stated "However the way to the Watch tower is still complicated to you guys so I'll lead you once you're done helping the goblin creature."
"Yeah I can vouch for that, even though I'm good with directions the paths kind of look the same since the cave is all rocky so I would still get confused without Riagan." Sakura nodded.
-
The Professor slid to a seated position and rested his hands on his knees, palms up. He had burned himself before, but not quite to the point where he could no longer feel any pain. The flesh was bloody, red, and mottled with a charred, blackened crust.
He gave off a sigh. It was going to be a while until he could use his hands again.
"Unfortunately, unfortunately I won't be of m-much assistance with closing the rift. I don't possess magic like you do. At, at least, at least I don't think I do. The Order, the Order n-never told me what I am."
-
"Actually it may be possible to teach you." Calien stated "It doesn't matter what you are, the majority of living creatures can learn magic."
"Yeah I mean if you can sense the energy of those special stones I found and Mana I'm sure you can learn Magic Prof!" Sakura smiled.
"Oh yeah.....I got to refine those stone into those communication stones we use too......" Calien sighed "Sakura why did you pick up so many."
"Well I figured it would be good to have extras, we don't know what's going happen on our Journey and we might meet new people we need to keep in contact with. Not to mention we still need to find Farah's sisters right?" Sakura replied.
"I suppose so....still I was surprised when you told me you found a dozen of them......" Calien shook his head.
-
"Everyone has the mana in them to use; that said, learning how to do so varies greatly from person to person," Fxeni explained further. "It can take years for some people. I'm not sure how long it would take for you, Prof."
-
"Yeah not to mention people learn in different ways, my magic is definitely really weird compared to everyone else......" Sakura said sheepishly.
-
The Professor gave a slow nod and concentrated on keeping his hands still so that Calien can treat them. "Doll Master... they said, they said that I was a... hobgoblin?"
-
(It was Doll Master who said it not Mask Master.)
"Hmm the thing is I'm not sure if that is correct." Calien pondered. "My knowledge of such things is still lacking."
"Yeah it was also weird that Doll [sonic slicer] knew I was Half Human, though I don't think she knew what the other half was." Sakura questioned "That [sonic slicer] was really weird."
-
((Derp. Fixed.))
The Professor nodded again, and then sucked in his breath in a wince. Evidently, not all of his nerve endings had been fried.
Glancing at his hands, he gave a shrug. "I suppose... I suppose it would have been wise of me to b-bring my gloves. Though, in, in my, in my defense, my departure from Iron Gate was quite... sudden, yes?"
-
"Would you like me to make you some later?" Calien asked. "I certainly wouldn't mind."
-
"If, it it won't be too much trouble," The Professor winced again. Debridement was fast becoming quite painful as Calien removed the blackened, dead tissue.
-
"Of course not, I could also fix up your robe later too." Calien replied while he continued the arduous process of removing the deade skin.
-
The Professor winced again and vocalized his pain. "Even... even my p-punishments don't hurt this much... You, you become, you become tolerant to that. Though, though it helped that some, some would pull their punches... made things easier."
-
Calien frowned when he heard that the Professor had gotten used to being punished. That really made him feel quite worried for him, especially since he still felt pain from those lashes he received, he noticed that the Prof would sometimes winch if you touch his back without warning or how he tried to sit carefully but still cause him to jolt when he felt a sharp sting. It was really sad to here him say he had gotten used to that.
"I'm so sorry......" Calien muttered as he continued his work.
(I mean yeah treating something like this after what the Prof did when he was fighting Aya and Albertus is pretty damn painful, especially since he's taking off dead skin and it's probably going to be a bloody mess until it's wrapped, but still that's really sad to hear that he got used to the pain of the punishments, even if it does make sense.......)
-
"I have many sins," the Professor gave Calien a sad smile.
He glanced down at his hands again. "This, this was all, this was all worth it, however. We saved Aya. We m-managed to strike a blow to Alberta. Though, though we were outmatched in the end, we had proven that we could be formidable when united in battle. We can't see this as a failure, as we still accomplished what we, what we set out to do. Have faith, we will triumph."
He looked passed Calien's shoulder in order to address Pema directly. "All of us. All of us will triumph. Including you."
-
"I agree with almost everything you say, however.....you shouldn't think of yourself as a sinner." Calien stated. "You haven't done anything wrong, in fact you're probably one of the least sinful men I've ever met."
(I mean sure he blew up the monastery who knows how many times but really he didn't have a proper lab so he really can't be blamed for that. Of course no one knows about that experiment thing.....)
-
((Work today so I won't likely get any chance to update till much later if at all. Wanted to bring something up now that the main villain for this plot line has finally been revealed. Up till now it's been sorta of linear on how we traveled, now that we have an air ship things are going to open up quite a bit.
First our main objective is to find and restore the Omni-Gem so that we can restore balance in the world, second we need to get stronger so we can challenge Mar and his allies where ever they try to attack. Finally we need to reclaim the shards of Reva so we can restore her.
So this is a good point to start introducing individual character background stories as we go since we'll need to travel the whole world to find all seven shards of the Omni-Gem. Might be a good thing to discuss one what kind of place we want to visit next))
-
[spoiler]Calien:......We might have to go to the village North of the Emerald Forest I exiled myself from aren't we.
Me: Maybe
Calien:.......God Dammit.........[/spoiler]
(Also no comments about Calien saying the Prof shouldn't think of himself as a sinner?)
-
((I'm waiting on Peam.))
((PHI! I addressed you! RESPOND ALREADY! :W ))
-
Pema regarded the Professor with a small smile, and a nod of her head, "Thank you, Professor. I'll try my best... we'll try our best!"
She stepped over to him, pulling out something from her sleeve, "Corn on the cob?" She offered.
"Wait, when the heck did you even obtain that...?" Salem said dryly.
"Oh, Salem, you should know by now. A magician never reveals their secrets!" Pema pumped out her chest confidently.
... At least she's getting some of her energy back... I guess... He thought to himself.
-
The Professor looked at the corn and smiled, and then nodded to his hands. "I'm, I'm afraid that I'm a bit... occupied at the moment."
-
Pema immediately covered her mouth, "Oh, I'm so sorry! I nearly forgot about that!"
"You completely forgot..." Salem corrected.
-
".....What?" Sakura questioned as she tilted her head.
"You didn't question how Toshi was able to put her equipment in a small bag but you're questioning the Corn?" Calien asked raising his eyebrow.
"Yes I'm questioning the Corn!" Sakura exclaimed "I mean not only did she literally pull that out of her sleeve but it's fresh too! How did she do that?!"
"Well she is a Magician of sorts so the act of storing the Corn in an unusual place doesn't surprise me too much. You remember what I told you about my friend right, how he somehow was able to carry things he shouldn't possibly carry all at once including, his Sword, a Sheild, a Bow, a Boomerang, 4 Magical Rods and a Hammer. Keep in mind that was only scratching the surface of what he was carrying, not to mention at the time he was about Pema's age too and not a Magician." Calien explained.
"I guess you got a point about that, but how does she keep it fresh?!" Sakura continued.
"That I don't have an answer for." Calien replied.
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Sakura nodded.
(Seriously 4 magical rods, 4 magical rods! And one was a really situational one too, extremely situational!)
-
"Much like, much like my bag. You see, you see, my master, he taught me some special tricks, yes? I only know a few, just a few, but, but, but I have used them. My bag, my bag, you see, it's b-bigger on the inside. Transcendental enchantment, he called it. So, so, so I can carry many things without, without the extra weight!"
The Professor was going to open his bag to show them, but he remained still so that Calien could treat his hands.
-
"Considering you were able to store those rocks I can understand that though....can you teach me how to do that sometime?" Sakura asked "I don't have too much to carry and I can keep some stuff in the air ship now but it would be nice to learn how to do something like that so I can carry my Pokemon book with me....."
-
"One of the few magics allowed by the Order, yes. A very useful one. All Acolytes are taught this, so, so we can carry our books. The books, our holy texts, they can b-be quite large. Quite large indeed."
The Professor watched Calien tend to his hands and wince some more.
-
"Yeah the Pokemon Book is big alright, I'm still surprised someone dropped that in the Forest one day." Sakura nodded "Same thing with another book I found that I used to learn my Magic and my Sword too, and it's a Magitech sword of all things!"
Sakura showed him the Sword as if to proof a point of how ridiculous some of the stuff she found in the forest was.
(And remember it is kind of a Magitech Beam Saber......)
-
(This just makes me wish that Pyro was in this RP. I'm sure he could make anything into a hammerspace.
Also, he and Pema would probably have an interesting dynamic. 8D)
-
(Maybe once he's settled down a bit more he can because I agree with that.)
-
"I had a similar enchantment on the Cheval. It's the only way the sidecars and storage would exist, since it's too compact otherwise to carry anything at all," Fxeni interjected. "Although the Prof's seems to be more effective than the one I had used."
-
"That actually explains a lot regarding the side cars." Calien nodded. "Though now that the Cheval is gone I kind of wish I had my own mount like Sakura does....."
"I really want to know how to make something like the Cheval so we can make another one.....I really want to learn how to make a lot of things, especially if it can help people......" Sakura said wistfully.
[spoiler]I'm really, really, really tempted to have Calien find a Gogoatt he can use to ride someday. Really tempted, and we don't even have to feed it either since it's capable of photosynthesis.[/spoiler]
-
"I don't mind showing you the basics, if we ever have the time and resources to do so. Maybe I'll have to convert one of the rooms on the airship to do so..." Fxeni said, drifting off into thought.
-
"Really?" Sakura said as she perked up at that. "That would be great!"
"It certainly would be nice to use some of the extra rooms for something like that, I could use 2 more to make a sort of green house and a room to make Potions and the like." Calien stated. "That way I don't have to plant my Herbs, Mushrooms, and Nuts in random places anymore and pick them up if we have to back track."
"And then our rooms won't smell like Mushrooms!" Sakura added.
"That is true." Calien nodded.
-
"OUCH!" The Professor flinched as Calien finished debridement and began treating the burns themselves.
-
"Hang on, I'm almost done here Prof." Calien stated as he continued the treatment "But the most difficult part is over with."
"I hope you'll be able to use them again soon." Sakura shuddered at how bloody his hands were and the worse they got after her father was done with the debridement "I mean Daddy said that Pema's leg would heal in a few days thanks to his Magic but I'm not sure about your hands even with his Magic."
-
Pema also said "ouch" as the Professor did, almost as if she could feel his pain.
She watched as the treatment continued and shuddered, "Poor Professor Bunny..."
-
"My powders, my powders can be a bit dangerous yes? I know the consequences, I do, but, but, but sometimes, but sometimes I get a bit... careless. Forget, forget just how p-powerful they can be." The Professor chuckled off the pain and tried his best to hold still.
-
"Not to mention you don't have your gloves either." Calien nodded "I'll certainly make you some new ones, if I have the right materials I can make them a bit more resistant too."
"Speaking of things you don't have, I notice you don't have any shoes either." Sakura pointed out "I can understand the one with the brace, but doesn't the other foot hurt without a shoe?"
(If I got that mixed up I'll edit the line about the shoes out.)
-
The Professor shook his head. "Oh, no, no, no. The Order doesn't wear shoes. Our feet are quite tough, quite resistant."
-
Sakura and Calien's eyes widened at the revalation of the lack of shoes.
"Nobody in the Order wears shoes?" Calien repeated. "I never heard of such a thing."
"Why the heck would they not wear shoes?!" Sakura questioned.
-
"Yeah, I know!" Pema nodded, "Shoes are comfy and easy to wear!"
( 8D)
-
"The Order is humble. We show our humility, our servitude to the Heavens, by not wearing shoes. The monastery, the monastery is a holy place, and we, we ask, we ask our congregation to remove their shoes b-before they enter," the Professor explained. He didn't see going about barefoot as odd, and was confused why others would think so.
-
"Do you think maybe the Heavens don't like smelly shoes?" Pema raised an eyebrow, rubbing her chin curiously.
-
"I can understand not wearing shoes when entering a Holy Place.....kind of, but not 24/7!" Calien replied "Professor the reason we wear shoes is not only because our feet would hurt without them but without shoes we'll get nasty infections diseases from wounds we get!
Not to mention the wilderness is far dirtier than the city, we've been walking on dirt, the rocks in the caves, and a city that was mostly Mining Coal thanks to that damn White Beard! Coal Mining! Do you have any idea how dangerous breathing stuff from mines is without proper equipment?! Very dangerous, and keep in mind the skin breathes too, so your feet are breathing everything since they aren't wearing shoes!
Hell even walking around Iron Gate like that would be dangerous with how many people are there, you have any idea how much crap dropped on the damn floor you stepped on?! The dropped food, potions and crap? What about the damn drunkards, the [tornado fang]ing drunkards that will carelessly drop their bottles on the street because they have no godamn idea how dangerous that is?! That's what's going to be on the feet of everyone in the Order!"
"And let's not forget the bugs, worms, dirt and the stool of Animals and Pokemon. People with Dogs, yeah some may clean it up but others won't and even those that do still don't clean up everything. Not to mention the birds, oh my god the birds. You have any idea how much bird poop I saw while looking for Pema? On the roofs and floors?! How about a ton!" Sakura ranted. "There's crap everywhere, and I don't think the Heavens would approve of having your feet dirty and sick, the Heavens don't want you get sick like that!"
"Professor.......I think I need to look at your foot after we close the rift......." Calien gulped "I think I may need to treat your feet and wrap them as well."
(You're welcome for that imagery, and the possibility that the Prof has nasty Foot Fungus......Not to mention everyone in the Order........)
-
"Now, now, now, this is why we frequently wash our feet. Our own and our brothers and elders. Though, though, I do have to wonder what your feet look like, trapped in sweltering leather boots..." the Professor glanced momentarily at Sakura's thick boots.
-
"Okay yeah I'll show you my feet." Sakura said as she started to take off her boots "I mean we wash our feet too, and Daddy has a way to disinfect them as well with herbal remedies. We don't have the wonders of Plumbing but the Lake we bathe in is clean, the blessing of Suicune ensures that. I've seen him plenty of times, and he's nice too!"
"Frequent washing can't protect everything Prof, sometimes it's not enough." Calien shook his head "That's why Sakura wears those boots, it's to protect her feet."
Sakura showed the Professor her feet and how they looked compared to his, though they were a bit wrinkly and smelly due to the sweat there wasn't anything wrong with them otherwise.
(I am so sorry for that bullshit but it's not too far fetch that Suicune lives in the forest right? But seriously frequent washing can't prevent everything without shoes right? If not I can edit it.)
-
(Sakura has some really ghey feet?)
-
(They, I'll edit it. Though maybe she can use some socks I realize, I think I'll add that they are smelly with the sweat since she doesn't have socks....)
-
The Professor looked at his feet. Aside from some mud and coal smudges and a few abrasions from the fighting, his feet looked just fine to him. He simply hadn't time to wash them, and the airship didn't provide such facilities. His soles were tough, his toes weren't cramped, and he didn't detect the slightest hint of smell that he could coming from Sakura's feet.
He looked at Sakura, still confused over why she is making such a fuss. He had been going barefoot for years, and he was raised to be humble and subordinate. He cleaned his feet daily, and the feet of the other monks during ceremonial washing. He was also careful about where he walked.
"I'm afraid that I don't quite understand. I have, I have worn sandals at times, yes. I have wrapped my ankles, yes. Wrapped my heels. But, no need, no need for b-boots have I."
-
"Well maybe not boots persay, but you definitely need some shoes, I wouldn't recommend boots for you to be honest. But anyway even wrapping and bathing isn't enough I'm afraid, it's much too dangerous to not have shoes, no matter how many calluses you developed without them. Especially for such a long period of time." Calien said as he looked at his feet "However.....I think Sakura does need some socks though..."
"What are socks...?" Sakura asked tilting her head.
"Something I honestly have a hard time making because they require a different sort of material that's not readily available in the forest, not to mention I'm not the best at knitting...." Calien admited "But it would make your feet smell less....smelly. Another problem is that you need more than one pair too...."
"Socks sounds difficult to get....." Sakura stated.
"Possibly....." Calien sighed "I really wish we could have bought some in Iron Gate......."
(You think the Dwarves have socks.......? Also did I spell the C word for developing tough soles right?
Also I think I need help with this arguement about shoes.....)
-
(... Why is there an argument about shoes in the first place?)
-
(Because apparently nobody in the Order wears them. Nobody. Sakura questioned Prof's lack of shoes and this is what happened.)
-
"But, but, but, as a servant of the Order, as an Acolyte of the Order, I must remain humble. We serve the Gods, we serve the Heavens, and we serve the People. As servants of the Elders, we are humble. We don't wear shoes. The elite, the aristocrats, those above us in society, they can wear shoes. I, I, I have p-pledged a life of humility. I am humble and respectful to those above me."
The Professor paused as his hands were finally bandaged. He still didn't quite understand the fuss. He had worn sandals on occasion, but he didn't like them. He wore his brace, but he was used to it. It helped him walk. His master had him wear shoes for one particular trek through the mountains, but he found them to be cramped and uncomfortable, and had soon removed them. They cramped his toes and rubbed his heels, and he preferred to feel the ground beneath his feet, as he was able to afford better footing.
-
"But Prof....you're not part of the Order anymore.....they exiled you......" Sakura stated.
"Not to mention I don't think any of us are really part of the elite or aristocrats, and I don't think they would mind you wearing shoes." Calien shook his head "Also, I never heard of a Religion that made people not wear shoes......"
-
(Because apparently nobody in the Order wears them. Nobody. Sakura questioned Prof's lack of shoes and this is what happened.)
(I still don't see how we can go round in circles. Whatever is comfortable for someone, does not mean we get to make someone else uncomfortable. I'm just saying we can move on to something more worthwhile, like new clothes.)
-
(The problem is that he didn't really mention anything about being uncomfortable, just the Order says that they should not wear shoes because they want to be humble, but yeah I agree this is just going around in circles.......)
-
((Besides, Prof's a goblin. Goblins don't wear shoes.))
-
(Yeah I think at this point Calien is just being a bit of an overbearing doting father and Sakura is just going along with him......ugh I wish we can pretend this didn't happen I am so sorry this happened. :|)
-
((It's okay, just excuse it as attempting to make conversation, finish patching him up, and we'll move on.))
-
(Agreed we'll go with that. :|)
-
((I will admit, I did derive some amusement over the Saga of the Prof's Feet. XD))
The Professor watched Calien carefully bandage his hands. "How long, how long do you expect, how long do you expect them to heal? I, I might have some poultices... I could brew some. Some remedies to accelerate the healing process, yes?"
-
(Yeah so did I. -u-'
But yeah if Calien can reduce the amount of time for Pema's ankle to heal from a few weeks to a few days with his Magic what effect would that have for the Prof's burns.)
-
"Brewing poultices? Is that like poultry?" Pema's eyes widened, "You're going to brew chicken!"
"Because brewed chicken is a common medical remedy," Salem muttered.
-
(But it is!)
-
(How do you brew poultry, is it like brining it? XD Oh god Peam.
Also what the heck is Poulitices anyway?)
-
((Poultice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poultice)))
"Oh, no, no... I have poultices in my bag, I used them to treat Aya's wounds. From her fight with Shadow Master, yes? Applied one to my leg after my fight. They help heal, help relieve pain. These are things that, that my master, my master taught to me," the Professor nodded and examined the bandages on his hands. His fingers had been wrapped individually, and then his palm and entire hand bandaged in a mitten. Only his thumbs were free--though bandaged--to allow for at least limited dexterity.
After inspecting the bandages, he looked to Calien and smiled. "Thank you, Scallion."
-
(I still didn't get answer on how long it would take to heal with Magic.....)
-
((I wouldn't know. Prof doesn't know magic. He only knows alchemy and apothecary.))
-
(Well how long would it take to heal 3rd degree burns? And how much would you think Magic would reduce the time of recovery?)
-
((Third-degree burns usually require skin grafts. For the purpose of this RP, though, with magic, he'd heal in a few weeks.))
-
(Okay that's fine with me, I kind of got the same result myself.)
"No problem though it's going to take a few weeks to heal." Calien smiled a bit sadly "Those were pretty serious."
Sakura was also glad it was over, though the image of Prof's bloody hands was going to be burned in her mind for a while.
-
The Professor nodded and smiled again. "I suppose, I suppose I'd best not brew up anything... combustible for a while, yes?"
((And I'm out for the night. Zombie where he needs to go if stuff happens in the meantime.))
-
(So when are we closing up the rift? I was planning on Toshi visiting a blacksmith {who will just be an NPC for short while}, in the meantime; to take a look at her spear, and see what's making it glow so much {which of course happened when it was hit with a mana blast, made of pure light energy}.)
-
(Probably when Blue is able to post we can cut to the Rift disappearing.
However....
1. Dwarfs are one of the least Magically inclined species shown so far so I doubt even the Dwarven Blacksmith can tell what's going on with her spear since Magic isn't really their thing.
2. Conversly I think most of the Party, especially Aya especially since she has her memory back and Fxeni since he's Fxeni, could probably figure out what happened. Even the Prof probably could if you tell him it was hit by one of the Mana Cannon's blasts I think.)
-
(I see. Although I was planning on bringing in Watts, from the Mana series, into the mix a little, but I guess that wouldn't work either way. But in the meantime, I'll try to post up something.
However, I think it's best for me to wait on either Blue, or Quickie to be available before I post it.)
-
(We can still bring in Watts, since I love the secret of Mana Series, even if his function was only to give people Gun Powder.
We also need a crazy guy trying to make Cannon Travel a thing even though we have an airship.)
-
((Sorry, been busy with work. I'll be free tomorrow to type up a post.))
-
(No problem, don't worry about it.)
-
(We can still bring in Watts, since I love the secret of Mana Series, even if his function was only to give people Gun Powder.
We also need a crazy guy trying to make Cannon Travel a thing even though we have an airship.)
(The other function was to upgrade your weapons from orbs. So I was assuming Toshi's spear produced an orb from the blast.
I sure hope we could work the Cannon Travel into the RP. It was surely one of the most convenient ways of travel gaming history, in my opinion.)
((Sorry, been busy with work. I'll be free tomorrow to type up a post.))
(No worries. I'll wait it out eventually. XD)
-
(Yeah I honestly doubt that's what happened, not to mention Weapon Orbs were only in one game. Really it just makes more sense that the pure concentrated Mana just did something to alter her Spear rather than create a Weapon Orb.
Besides Weapon Orbs only power up Weapons not imbune elements.)
-
While the Dwarves lacked any facilities to dock an airship they kindly allow the group to use an old stip mine near the top of the mountain, with a little work they manage to quickly build a structure to hold the vessel. Not pretty but it works. Once landed the party return to the dwarven city while the workers go about refitting the ship and learning it's secrets.
Closing the rift is luckily not an issue, with Aya's help the chaos no longer threatens the dwarves for the moment. Riagan is called to meet his father with the others the next morning after the party had a chance to rest as even they had felt the earth shattering events that happened in skull cove.
-
In the quarters the party was accorded, the Professor was mixing new potions and tinctures in order to replenish his supply. The Dwarves allowed him access to their supplies and cauldron, and he made new salves, more explosive compounds, and ground a new batch of Lightning Powder. A few Dwarves assisting him had the unfortunate luck of becoming unwilling test subjects, and they left the room with blackened faces and singed beards.
After seeing to his inventory, the Professor turned his attention to his newest acquisition; the Shadow Blade. With its edge and a sturdy wooden staff, he fashioned a halberd of sorts. The staff was a good six feet long and afforded him considerable reach, as well as serving as a walking stick. He knew that he couldn't rely on his explosives and he needed a melee weapon for close combat. The Blade perched in the split end and held with leather wrappings looked like a flat morning star.
Satisfied with his new weapon, the Professor left the quarters to go out to the old strip mine and practice.
-
(Well. That sure backfired for Shadow. XD)
-
(Shouldn't Aya have a Shadow Blade too, I remember she picked it up in the forest.)
-
((I imagine she gave it to the party or dropped it. Doesn't really need it, more so now that her morph blade transformed into the Goddess Blade. ))
-
(Can we have Calien somehow turn it into a Boomerang?)
-
(I have no qualms about it.)
-
(Read that as Calien turning himself into a boomerang...)
-
(Was just thinking the same thing.
For the time being, I'm going to have Toshi stalk the Professor a little. Was going to have her ask Aya about her spear, but thought it be better if she asked the Prof. instead.)
-
(Yes all this time Calien was a Boomerang type living weapon that escaped from Soul Eater. Or he wants to melt himself down to make himself a Boomerang.
Nah what's going to happen is he'll have Watts the Blacksmith melt it down, if it's not enough we'll say they picked up more somehow during the danmaku or Farah picked up another and gave it to Calien when she found Aya, to make a Boomerang.)
-
((Sure go ahead. As for the Spear form of Aya's weapon, unlike the morph blade the upgraded version seems to not need a physical form when not in use. You'll need to ask her to summon it, all it's forms have the same crystal blade like design unlike the Morph Blade's more typical weapon design.))
-
(I think he was more talking about Toshi's spear not Aya's, I think.)
-
((Aya's weapon does have a spear/javelin form so who knows. 8D))
-
(Yeah....so many characters, including Fxeni because he's Fxeni, with spears is confusing as hell. Also what are we going to do with Aya's broken pendant?)
-
((Prof has a halberd, so that will make things a lot less confusing.))
-
(Ah so more Battle Axe/Polearm/Spear like, that makes sense. I think I need to look at what kind of Axe Calien has exactly, I want to say it's not long but it's not too short either.)
-
(Pendant isn't important to Aya for her to summon the weapon anymore so the Prof could study the pendant to see if the remaining magic might be useful.)
-
(Gotcha, also I think Calien's Axe is 2 handed but is light enough to be wielded one handed.)
-
((Also the pendant is a catalyst not the source so perhaps it could be useful for creating magi tech weapons))
-
(I see, I'll to think about what to do with it then, maybe Sakura or Fxeni can use it somehow.
Also I really need to think about what I should do, I still want to run into Riagan but I think I would want to talk to PB about what to do to do that.)
-
((Once PB has caught up and discuses the mission with his Father we can meet and discuss our next move))
-
(Yeah admittedly we really need to get PB and Sapph caught up first and foremost, and I guess do that meeting.
Ugh I really wish we had like a timeline of what the hell happened in this RP for people since the Great Recap Thread has been debunked after a certain retconning in Wilypocalypse after a certain very controversial incident, then again probably for the best after another incident happened after that. Even then maybe it would have been better to have the recaps in the specific threads in the first place.)
-
((We can either have a dedicated recap thread for this RP or I can use my topic I used to post the sprite artwork and other stuff on))
-
(Probably your thread and leave a link to the first post of this thread if that's alright. Also I kind of want to discuss something I'm sort of hesitating to discuss with you for sometime. But probably a little later.)
-
((Sure, send a PM whenever.))
-
(Yeah maybe after next week I'll do it, it's not too important to the plot but rather character background related.)
-
((With the adventure opening up and the group having an Airship this is the perfect time to discuss backgrounds and having adventures involving them.))
-
(Well this is a bit different....actually maybe I should PM you now....even if it's embarrassing if it sounds stupid......)
-
((In the meantime...))
Out in the disused strip mine, the Professor hobbled to a spot toward the far outer edge, so as not to be in anyone's way, and to avoid accidentally damaging anything while he trained.
His bandaged hands hampered his dexterity as he practiced his slashes, jabs, and blocks, and a few flourishes sent the heavy-ended staff flying out of his grip. The balance was slightly off, but he could make do, as he had trained with similar long-handle bladed weapons.
As he went through the motions of his kata, he thought about Sakura's absolute distaste for the Order. She didn't realize that the Order had given him shelter and raised him. The Order trained him in martial arts; many of the monks were quite skilled in hand-to-hand combat. While aggression was frowned upon, the Order knew that when one's back was against the wall, one would need to be able to defend themselves.
The Professor stepped forward with a sharp forward jab, then raised the staff, rocked to his back foot, and used the momentum of the staff's weighted end to spin into a downward slash. His footwork was stiff and his handling clunky, though that was largely due to his injuries.
-
(Well Sakura is definitely the most vocal about it, even though almost everyone except Aya think the same way though Pema hasn't said anything regarding that as far as I know, and she doesn't really care about what the Order taught him if they are racist assholes who punish practicing forbidden arts such as Magic and Magitech since she doesn't find it wrong if they don't harm people senselessly like Albertus and Mar.
Even if she does mentally acknowledge that there may be a minority who aren't like that in the Order, and has wondered if it was possible if Riagan's parents could have been part of The Order though I never mentioned it but she has, she's probably not going to listen to the Prof's claims about the Order being Good especially since her Dad saved many of the Order's lives in the attack yet they still accused him of being a Demon.)
-
(I'm just looking forward seeing the Prof's reaction when we get to a place that embraces magic and magitech. In the cold north perhaps?)
-
((The thing is, the Prof can't read Sakura's mind and he doesn't know her reasons behind her opinions. If she wanted him to understand, she'd have to get him alone and talk to him. Since we have plenty of downtime, this would be a good opportunity to do so.))
-
(Yeah it would if we can get to that.)
-
((He's alone right now. Plenty of opportunity to approach him.))
-
(Yeah thing is I'm really confused of what the hell are we supposed to do right now, have a Meeting or Down Time stuff.)
-
(Have some downtime stuff while we wait for PB, and once he's on we cut to the meeting?)
-
((http://forum.rockmanpm.com/index.php?topic=7266.575 (http://forum.rockmanpm.com/index.php?topic=7266.575)
It's not that detailed but it's a quick recap of all major events up till now including the pre-RP era
Well waiting for PB to catch up, Riagan must have to report to his dad, the party needs to discuss events and plan how to restore the omni-gem and save Reva before the world falls apart. Also looking for ooc input on any back story stuff I can fit into new areas we visit. Also waiting for the PM sakura?))
-
(Okay.)
Sakura decided to haul Mushrooms to the Airship while her father was working on a few things in their room.
"Ugh smelly mushrooms, useful mushrooms yes but so smelly." Sakura muttered.
-
(You know, the Supplement Thread is also a good place to post recaps.)
-
(I'd rather not clutter it up, I think it would be better for it to be more self contained.)
-
((Just using my topic as a back up incase the other thread gets so big it becomes a pain to find stuff in.))
-
(Okay, that's fair.)
-
(Yeah that's why I would rather not use the Supplement Thread, especially since it became the Discussion Thread now. Also did you put that link in the first post?)
-
(editing soon))
-
As the Professor practiced a few flourishes, he again lost his grip and his polearm went flying toward the airship. Half-hopping, half-jogging, he went to recover it and continue his practice when he saw Sakura.
"Oh! Hello!"
-
"Oh hey, I see you're practicing with your new weapon. Not bad." Sakura whistled unfazed by it flying to the airship.
-
(Okay.)
Sakura decided to haul Mushrooms to the Airship while her father was working on a few things in their room.
"Ugh smelly mushrooms, useful mushrooms yes but so smelly." Sakura muttered.
Pema finished applying an ice bag on her ankle and set it aside. She grabbed the staff for support and heaved herself to her feet.
She hobbled around the Airship in boredom and immediately lit up when she saw Sakura, "Oh! Ms. Sakura!" Pema exclaimed happily.
She wanted to run toward her, but her sprained ankle restricted her from doing do, "Need any help? I'm using Salem, my trusty cane commander, so I won't be able to use both hands."
"Oh joy, I've been promoted..." Salem exuded sarcasm.
"But still, I'd like to help in any way I can, if possible!" Pema smiled and swayed in place, awaiting her response.
-
"Well I need to get these Mushrooms to the Airship, and find a room for them." Sakura told her "Daddy said he can plant them later but I wanted them out of our room since they were stinking up the place. He can't really help right now since he has other things to do so any hepl would be great."
-
The Professor picked up his staff and hobbled along with it as a cane. Looking at Pema, he pointed to Salem. "I could, I could fashion a crutch for you. It, it wouldn't, it wouldn't b-be too difficult."
The bandages on his hands had smudges and stains on them from his earlier tinkering and practice; injury had not yet stopped him from doing things for himself.
-
"You sure, I mean I don't want you to injure your hands more." Sakura stated "Though then again judging by the sounds of explosions and screaming Dwarves this morning and the training session now I guess it's too late to say that......"
-
The Professor nodded. "I, I dare say, I dare say I m-may need clean bandages soon, yes?"
Taking several steps away from the airship, he practiced a few spins to get accustomed to the weapon's weight and balance. Afterward, he glanced at Sakura and Pema.
"The Order, the Order taught us to fight. The Outer Gods don't like, don't like aggressors, but, but, but we know, we know that sometimes... sometimes we have to fight. So, we're trained to defend ourselves, should the need arise."
-
"The Order again huh....." Sakura sighed.
-
Hearing the exasperated sigh, the Professor blinked in confusion. "You do not agree with such teachings?"
-
"No I do agree with that actually, that's probably one of the few things about The Order I do agree with, for once....." Sakura stated "My Father has trained me how to fight all my life in case we had to."
-
"Well I need to get these Mushrooms to the Airship, and find a room for them." Sakura told her "Daddy said he can plant them later but I wanted them out of our room since they were stinking up the place. He can't really help right now since he has other things to do so any hepl would be great."
Pema nodded, "Okay then, just let me know where you want 'em, when you're ready!"
The Professor picked up his staff and hobbled along with it as a cane. Looking at Pema, he pointed to Salem. "I could, I could fashion a crutch for you. It, it wouldn't, it wouldn't b-be too difficult."
The bandages on his hands had smudges and stains on them from his earlier tinkering and practice; injury had not yet stopped him from doing things for himself.
Pema bit her thumbnail nervously, "I dunno, Professor... I don't want you to strain yourself too much. But, if you're absolutely sure you can- then I won't stop you."
She smiled, "Thank you."
The Professor nodded. "I, I dare say, I dare say I m-may need clean bandages soon, yes?"
Taking several steps away from the airship, he practiced a few spins to get accustomed to the weapon's weight and balance. Afterward, he glanced at Sakura and Pema.
"The Order, the Order taught us to fight. The Outer Gods don't like, don't like aggressors, but, but, but we know, we know that sometimes... sometimes we have to fight. So, we're trained to defend ourselves, should the need arise."
She rubbed her chin, "So, I guess it's kinda like the Runemasters. The Head class can be really strict, but they taught me everything I know about fighting. In case there's danger in our explorations and we need to protect ourselves."
-
The Professor rested his staff across his shoulders and propped his forearms on it. He nodded to Pema. "Yes, yes, much like other disciplines. They can be quite strict, but, but they, but they do so to make sure you learn proper."
He then looked at Sakura. "Why does the Order bother you so?"
-
"Well there's a few things about them I don't like, a few that I just can't seem to justify." Sakura sighed as she found a rock to sit on "For one I don't understand their need to punish and persecute those who practice 'Forbidden Arts' such as Magic and Science.
Sure there's people like Alberta and Mar who use those things to selfish and destructive ends but most don't right? I mean you, Mr. Fxeni, Pema, and Aya are some of the nicest people I've ever met and it seems there are others like that who use their gifts to help other. But the Order doesn't and shun people who do, like you and your Master. I don't understand why they punish people who want to learn or do things to help people and not harm them, especially like...well you know....."
Sakura pointed to her back regarding the whipping as she made her last statement.
-
The Professor gave a sigh and seated himself on the ground, his staff balanced on his lap. He wasn't quite sure how to address Sakura's complaint, as it had numerous points, so he addressed the most pertinent one.
"The Order does not deny the existence of magic, dark arts, magitech, Elementals, and P-precursor technology. We do not deny those. We know they exist. We acknowledge that they exist. However, however, we of the Order, we practice humility. There is a higher power, and we are subservient to it."
He nodded to his bare feet. "That is why we do not wear shoes. It is to show our humility. To practice the forbidden, to practice the forbidden arts is a status that the Order cannot have, for we are humble. Does that make sense?"
-
"Maybe....?" Sakura said raising an eyebrow to that "But isn't that going too far? I mean I can understand if someone wants to live like that, I've lived without Magitek and only learned Magic recently myself, but they seem to force that view on everyone, even those who aren't in the Order."
-
The Professor shook his head. "No. No they don't. We do not expect our congregation to live exactly as we do. We preach humility, and, and, and we do expect our congregation to be humble in the presence of those who hold a higher status, but, but we, but we don't expect them to live exactly by our teachings."
He gave a nod over his shoulder to indicate his back. "All of us, all of us are subject, all of us are subject to flagellation if we divert from the path."
He met Sakura's gaze once more. "We live humble lives. Is it wrong to be humble?"
-
"No of course not...but remember when Pema wandered off by herself....everyone who saw was calling her a Witch.....all she was doing was flying around because she was too small to see anything, she wasn't doing anything wrong....but everyone was screaming about a Witch.
Fxeni said that wasn't normal, even Daddy never heard had of such a thing as persecuting those who use Magic, and this was from people who weren't in the Order.
And the diverting from that path you were talking about.....why would you hurt someone like that for diverting from 'the path', there has to be a more sensible way to discipline someone that's not at devastating? Maybe something like making someone hold buckets of water for half an hour, or denying them supper for a day. Maybe even wash the entire Monastery by themselves with no help, even the toilets. That's what Daddy said a General did to Soldiers who slacked off during training, they never had to go to such extremes.
Not to mention if someone diverted from 'the path' even after so many lashings wouldn't it mean that they didn't want or can follow 'the path'? Wouldn't it make more sense to exile them from the Order than continue trying to force them to do something they didn't want to do? I mean not from the Town, just the Order. Why continue to try to make people do something they can't or don't want to?" Sakura continued.
-
"Perhaps, perhaps it's not the Order, perhaps it's not the Order forcing them to do, to do what they don't want to do... but rather that they want to live their lives by our teachings? And perhaps, perhaps the townsfolk, the congregation, perhaps they take away their own meaning; derive their own beliefs?"
The Professor bowed his head, realizing that he probably won't be changing any minds. Sakura had only seen a brief glimpse of the Order, and the rest was hearsay. Yes, the Order had some secrets, but everyone has secrets. And while the Order took his master from him, they had a reason. He didn't agree with the reason, but it was there.
Despite the derision he had received, despite being shunned, despite watching his entire livelihood be reduced to rubble, the Professor still had his faith. He was not about to discard it.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry that you, that you feel the way you do. And, and, and I know I can't change your mind, so I won't. Despite the darkness I had witnessed, and the things I've heard... despite all that, I still hold true to the good the Order has taught me. I owe them m-my life."
-
"I guess I should apologize too, even with the bad things there are some good things about the Order. I still don't like them, I really don't, but I guess they aren't all bad." Sakura shrugged "I mean at least you learned something good from them and don't practice the bad, so there's that. I don't like them but I do like you so I shouldn't worry too much. I think I have a bit of a better understanding at least, and maybe it's not as bad as I thought.
Though....I wish they didn't call Daddy a demon....but then again people have been doing that since forever and they weren't from the Order. Even some of the people in the Human settlement he was in before he became a hermit to raise and protect me called him that. Not everyone was like that, and some changed their minds....but some didn't...."
([spoiler]I should mention the reason he became a hermit wasn't just because he didn't want Sakura to experience that hate, as he was sure that those who did like him wouldn't allow that...it's a bit of a more personal regret.[/spoiler])
-
Pema perched herself atop a wooden crate throughout most of their discussion, her head turning left and right to whoever was speaking at the time.
Half of the Professor's assertions went completely over her head, "Flu... Flugelation? Flalalation? F-Flagellation?" She muttered to herself, lightly flicking the ear flap of her hat, "Hmm... this is hard..."
-
The Professor looked to Pema. He was about to answer her question and explain what it was, but decided against it. By explaining the whippings, he would have to explain why they were done, and then explain his own lashes. As it was a source of contention for Sakura, he decided to avoid the topic.
Instead, he addressed the other concern, namely the allegations against Calien. "That... that is something, that is something that was, was b-before my time, before they took me in. There was a schism. I, I'm afraid, I'm afraid I don't know much beyond that."
-
"A schism?" Sakura asked him "What do you mean?"
-
"Something happened, something happened between the Elven races and the Order... or, or, or was it between the town and the Elven? Or, or, was it with the Dwarves? It was b-before my time, I'm afraid. I haven't, I haven't found many records on it..." The Professor gave a shrug and pulled himself to his feet with his staff. The polearm was at least two feet taller than he was, and he tested the weight and balance again.
"Hm... hmm... perhaps, perhaps if I shortenit... but that, that wouldn't balance it..."
-
"Hmm so something happened between the Order and another Race but you don't know what or who, that sounds complicated." Sakura sighed. "I guess unless we run into them again we won't know, though I personally hope we don't.
Anyway I agree that might be too big for you, maybe cut it by a foot?"
-
(I'm just looking forward seeing the Prof's reaction when we get to a place that embraces magic and magitech. In the cold north perhaps?)
(I missed this post yesterday but it makes me think of Briggs Base on the border of Drachma and Amestris in Full Metal Alchemist, or Eternia in Bravely Default.
Freaking Automail and White Magic Cables everywhere!)
-
(Olivier Armstrong cameo for the [tornado fang]ing win!)
-
(Makes me think of Altena from Seiken Densetsu 3 too.)
-
(I was thinking something along those lines, yes. Fxeni's new hometown of sorts, most likely.)
-
(I was thinking something along those lines, yes. Fxeni's new hometown of sorts, most likely.)
(Does Calien actually have to do this now, make bear coats?)
"I don't know Grifter for a while now I've been considering hunting 2 bears a day for food. One bear for Pema and another bear for the rest of us." Calien laughed. "But come to think about it what would I do with all that fur? I guess I could make capes for everyone, but what would I do after that.....guess I can make bear dresses for the ladies.....but after that.....perhaps blankets?"
"Oh Daddy." Sakura smiled despite herself as her dad rambled on with the conflict of having so much left over bear fur.
-
"Hmm so something happened between the Order and another Race but you don't know what or who, that sounds complicated." Sakura sighed. "I guess unless we run into them again we won't know, though I personally hope we don't.
Anyway I agree that might be too big for you, maybe cut it by a foot?"
The Professor nodded. "Yes, yes, yes, I suppose shortening it would be wise. Now, I've used, I've used larger staffs, as, as the staffs we had, they weren't made, they weren't made for one of my, my stature."
He tested the weight again. "It could use b-better balance. Perhaps, perhaps if I add a pommel..."
As he looked at the staff, he examined the bandages on his hands. The edges were starting to fray and he could see moist spots. "But, but first, but first... I should probably change my bandages..."
-
"I agree a Pommel and something wrapped around the shaft to prevent splinters would help." Sakura nodded "But yeah we really need to take care of those bandages, we'll go see Daddy when I finish depositing these smelly mushrooms."
(I hope PB can catch up soon. I think Calien would probably be done with Aya's outfit by now.)
-
Fxeni was on board the airship, helping the dwarves examine it. He had piloted some before, but this was the first time he got to really take a look at the mechanisms deep inside. This lifted up his spirits quite well.
His mind turned to Aldia momentarily as he jotted down notes. The sad state of his hometown was depressing and angered him while he was there, however now he felt more passive about the situation. He was relieved that White Beard was disposed of, but the way the flames licked across the town was still fresh in his mind.
He wondered what had happened to it after they left. What had happened to the townspeople? The ones that didn't recognize him at all...
It didn't feel like home anymore anyways... he thought with a slight sigh as he went back to taking notes.
-
"Fxeni!" Sakura greeted as she found him in the airship "I'm not surprised that you're here, what are you doing?"
-
"I'm documenting how the airship works so I can try to repair it if ever it gets damaged," Fxeni replied as he finished the note he was on. He looked over at the bag she was hauling.
"Ah, the mushrooms I assume... you weren't kidding about the smell," he said as he covered his nose with his arm.
-
"Cool I wanna see them later myself." Sakura nodded "Anyway you know where I can put these mushrooms? Some place where Daddy can grow them and the other Herbs and stuff he has? I mean as smelly as these things are they are very useful."
-
"There should be a room at the back of the ship that should do," Fxeni replies as he points towards the back.
-
"Thanks, finally we can contain the smell!" Sakura nodded as she went towards the back to deposit the Mushrooms "Now we don't have to worry about running out of Agricultural Supplies anytime soon too, and Daddy doesn't have to worry too much about planting stuff in random spots that we might not return to."
-
"Once you're done in there, we should probably head back to town. We'll need to discuss as a group what we should do next," Fxeni called down the hallway.
-
"Yeah we really need a game plan." Sakura said as she put the Mushrooms in one of the rooms "Especially with enemies that have the tactical advantage at the moment, we need to figure out how to out maneuver them."
-
"We'll figure it out. I have some ideas, but I'll bring it up later in the meeting," Fxeni said as he tucked the notepad he had been using in a nearby drawer.
-
Pema deposited her share of the mushrooms next to Sakura's pile. She turned to Fxeni, taking notice of his notepad, "Did you write down all your ideas in that Diary?"
-
The Professor made his way into the airship. He wanted to search it for supplies, but never had the chance to do so, and by now, he assumed that any supplies were procured and he wouldn't find anything.
Instead, he followed the strong scent of the mushrooms. "Those... those smell quite delicious."
-
"....They do?" Sakura questioned "I mean Daddy can actually make a tasty soup with the right ingredients, but in their raw state?"
-
"They're an acquired taste, but, but, but, once acquired, they're quite good. I've eaten, I've eaten similar. The Order, we grow our own food. One of my favorite meals, it uses pickled cabbage, shredded pickled cabbage. The kitchen, it can take on quite a smell after that, yes?"
The Professor gave a nod, remembering some of the home-cooked meals in the monastery. Most of those meals were served with wine or ale. As he was raised on such food, he acquired a taste for it early, though he had seen new inductees struggle with the flavors and smells.
-
"I guess that makes sense, me and Daddy grew some of our food too, it helps when we can't hunt when animals hibernate." Sakura nodded.
-
"Been with the Order since, since they took me in. Since my master found me. I was, I was very young. Very young when he found me," the Professor nodded and thought about his life. Eventually, his thoughts strayed to something Doll Master said.
Glancing up, he looked to Sakura. "Am I a hobgoblin? What is a hobgoblin? Is it fae? I've, I've only procured, I've only p-procured sparse texts on the Fae Folk. My study, my study focused on the Precursors and, and, and only a few times, only a few times were the Fae mentioned..."
-
Pema deposited her share of the mushrooms next to Sakura's pile. She turned to Fxeni, taking notice of his notepad, "Did you write down all your ideas in that Diary?"
"Diary? Ohhh, the notepad. Yeah, generally it helps me recall everything in the future. Magitech can get quite complex, so I prefer not to leave anything to only my memory," Fxeni replied with a smile.
-
Toshi - "Well, do you think you could take a few notes on my spear?" she entered, presenting her Ronginasu no Yari; still glowing in her hands. "I can't seem to figure out why it's acting up so lately. Even when I've disassembled it, both segments illuminate."
-
((So has Calien made Aya's new armor yet?))
-
(I should say yes, at least the clothes part of it.)
-
Aya steps out of her room adjusting the new clothing Calien had made for her, it felt a little simple compared to regular clothing from the empire but anything was better than the clothing Albertus had dressed her in.
Heading outside she notices the others talking with the professor, she approaches waiting for a break in the discussion. "Hey." she says still looking a little tired.
-
"Oh hey Aya, guess Daddy finished what he was working on." Sakura remarked "It really looks good on you. Oh but before I forget."
Sakura suddenly took out a Spoon and enchanted it with an Ice Spell.
"Daddy says you should put this Spoon on your neck if you want to get rid of that mark on your neck faster, or else it's going to last somewhere between 5-12 days. Though I wonder why he knows that........Anyway we were talking to Toshi about her Spear, it's glowing with Holy Elemental Energy like my Enchantment spells but it seems more Powerful and lasts longer but we don't know why......"
(Yeah read about the Spoon thing on the internet, also we really need to ask why Calien knows about how to get rid of hickies faster....for hilarity.)
-
((Uh huh XD ))
"Perhaps you have some hidden elemental potential within you Toshi, it's not uncommon for certain magically inclined people to suddenly show new abilities, more so under stress. Anyway--I imagine you all have questions for me regarding Mar's revival and the "precursors".
((Now that Aya has her memories back she has a wealth of knowledge regarding magic that might be usefull, although she was no expert in anything other than being a guardian obviously.))
-
Toshi - "I don't think that may be." she replied, "I don't remember learning 'Light Style' jutsu. It might have something to do with the mana blast, that came from White Beard's colossal contraption's cannons. I remember it being made of pure light mana."
-
"Maybe the Mana was so condensed that it seeped through into your spear?" Sakura pondered "I remember a story my Dad told me about how a Man shot an Arrow at the Sun and a Goddess gave him Fire Enchanted Arrows for some reason. It's a really weird story.
But I think one question I have about the Precursors is why the Doll Lady's clothes smell so stinky? I remember your first outfit smelled a little bit too, but it didn't bother me too much. But that lady's just smelled awful, and I could tell she made that....you know....because of the smell.....yuck."
(Yeah I decided to go for that as to why Sakura didn't like Doll Master's clothes and wouldn't be caught dead in wearing something she made.)
-
"Diary? Ohhh, the notepad. Yeah, generally it helps me recall everything in the future. Magitech can get quite complex, so I prefer not to leave anything to only my memory," Fxeni replied with a smile.
Pema nodded, "Hm, that's a pretty neat idea. Usually, I just have Salem remember all the really complex stuff for me. I guess he's sorta like my notepad!"
"I never signed on for that..." Salem muttered.
Aya steps out of her room adjusting the new clothing Calien had made for her, it felt a little simple compared to regular clothing from the empire but anything was better than the clothing Albertus had dressed her in.
Heading outside she notices the others talking with the professor, she approaches waiting for a break in the discussion. "Hey." she says still looking a little tired.
Pema clapped her hands together, "Wow, you look really pretty, Ms. Aya! But, umm... what's that red mark on your neck?"
(Choose your words carefully. 8D)
-
"Maybe the Mana was so condensed that it seeped through into your spear?" Sakura pondered "I remember a story my Dad told me about how a Man shot an Arrow at the Sun and a Goddess gave him Fire Enchanted Arrows for some reason. It's a really weird story.
But I think one question I have about the Precursors is why the Doll Lady's clothes smell so stinky? I remember your first outfit smelled a little bit too, but it didn't bother me too much. But that lady's just smelled awful, and I could tell she made that....you know....because of the smell.....yuck."
(Yeah I decided to go for that as to why Sakura didn't like Doll Master's clothes and wouldn't be caught dead in wearing something she made.)
Toshi - "Nor would I prefer such a smell on me either. I guess personal hygiene wasn't a strong point, for her." she quipped.
-
((Smelly? XD))
"Uh--I didn't know I smelt, as for the mark well uh---" Aya fumbles trying to give a response tactfully.
-
(Back when Sakura met Aya you mentioned that Aya's clothes smelt of Magic, so therefore Doll Master's clothes, since she makes them herself with magic, smell putrid to her because her Magic was so corrupted. That's what I was going with.)
"It wasn't like the kind of smell that you get when you don't take a bath for a few days. It was a weird smell, something I never smelt from clothes before....." Sakura pondered.
-
(Ah okay)
"Arcadian clothes--well those given to nobility and guardians were often infused with mana to enhance the wearer's powers." Aya responds. "Perhaps--you "smelt" that?"
Looking back to Penma "Umm--so year I got--uh bit? Yeah bit--thats it." She coughs awkwardly.
-
"Must be, maybe since her Mana was so sickening her clothes reflected that?" Sakura pondered "But yeah Aya just got bit by a bug, don't worry about that."
-
"Yes--a big pathetic bug." Aya frowned.
-
"Yeah I remember Daddy was really mad at that bug when he heard about it......." Sakura frowned too "I wonder why......."
-
Pema bit her thumbnail and tilted her head, "That looks like a serious bug bite. I hope that spoon helps."
She turned to Sakura, "I'd hate if there was any of those bugs around here. I don't want those marks, either..." she rubbed her neck.
-
"I hope not either....it's a disgusting bug....." Sakura nodded.
-
Salem stayed quiet, knowing all too well what was really on her neck.
(Salem left many a hickey, in his day. 8D)
-
((Oh myyyyy.. 8D ))
-
([spoiler]So did Calien, but probably just one. And he's embarrassed about it since he didn't intend to do it, it was a moment of passion.[/spoiler]
But seriously am I the only one who keeps imagining that Salem should have been a Cat?)
-
(Cat or Broom bith fits really well))
-
(I mean this Salem.
(http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd124/sakuraleic/tumblr_ne8gn9uRyL1spv2zto8_500-1_zpslu0uhuo7.png))
-
([spoiler]So did Calien, but probably just one. And he's embarrassed about it since he didn't intend to do it, it was a moment of passion.[/spoiler]
But seriously am I the only one who keeps imagining that Salem should have been a Cat?)
(I created Salem to symbolize the "Black Cat/Witch" motif. A girl with a flying staff/partner, reminiscent of a girl and a flying broom/cat. That's why he can fly, and the incident with the "flying Witch girl" was a homage to what he symbolizes.)
(I mean this Salem.
(http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd124/sakuraleic/tumblr_ne8gn9uRyL1spv2zto8_500-1_zpslu0uhuo7.png))
(Yes, he's also based on this Salem, but obviously, without his hilarious, snarky personality.)
-
The Professor watched silently, every now and then fussing with the bandages on his hands. His training had rubbed them, and his palms had taken on a sharp sting, which he was trying to relieve by pulling the bandages, only to find that they were sticking to the moist spots.
He winced and stopped fiddling with them.
-
"Hmm I'm glad my spear didn't absorb mana like that... I don't think I'd be able to put it away if it did that," Fxeni said as he examined Toshi's spear. He touched it and closed his eyes to focus, sensing the flow of mana through it.
"Well as much of a jerk as he was, I must admit he sure knew how to build magitech. He really condensed the mana in those blasts from that magitech armour of his," Fxeni said as he lifted his hand off the spear. "It's keeping the mana stable enough for now, but if it starts acting weird let me know and I'll check it out."
-
The Professor also held out his hand and touched the spear, but immediately withdrew his hand as if he were bitten by it. "It surges!"
He put his hand on it again, carefully, and left it there in order to feel the energy coursing through it. It vibrated and throbbed with energy that he could feel rippling and crawling up his arm in serpentine waves.
"Fascinating... simply fascinating!"
-
Sakura pondered something as she took out a Kunai and enchanted it with a Holy Elemental spell.
"How is my magic compared to what's in her Spear?" Sakura asked as she held out the Kunai.
-
The Professor touched it and held his hand against it. While it had a similar resonance, it didn't surprise him as much as Toshi's glowing spear. "It has, it has a resonance, but, but, but not as, not as strong, yes? The spear, the spear, it felt like a shock, a b-bolt of electricity... it raced up my arm!"
-
"Your mana isn't as condensed into the Kunai as the mana from the blast from the cannons were, Sakura," Fxeni explained. He pointed at the spear. "That mana was meant to explode into a burst of light energy. Toshi was very lucky that it got absorbed instead, hence why I want her to let me know if it ever seems... unstable."
-
"Yeah that's what I was worried about, like I said I had heard of a similar circumstance with the Man who shot the Sun with an Arrow, but it seems her's seems to be more....unnatural compared to that?" Sakura said as she tilted her head.
-
The Professor touched Toshi's spear again. The energy radiating from it made his palms feel warm, and he put both hands on it to ease the pain. "It... it's warm..."
-
Pema gawked at Toshi's glowing spear, "Such a mysterious glow... It's my turn to touch it next!"
She limped toward the spear and touched it, "Hmm, yeah, I think I can feel the mana flowing through it, too. Sometimes, I have difficulties with sensing mana, even though I'm a Runemaster; Salem said I should work on that. But other times... I can feel it strongly, like right now. I can feel everyone's mana... It's... soothing and warm."
She continued to grab the spear, when suddenly, she quickly pulled her hand away, "AH! Why did it get so hot?"
The illumination from the spear dimmed considerably as she pulled her hand away.
"What the heck...?" Salem floated closer to it.
Pema stared, and then glanced down at the floor, something weighing on her mind.
-
"What's up Pema?" Sakura asked.
-
"Why did the glowing dim... Wait, don't tell me..." Salem mumbled to himself.
"It's, uh, it's nothing... Excuse me, I-I'm gonna go find something to eat... or something," Pema rushed out of the room.
-
(Pema took Salem. He's her staff, after all.)
-
(Oh I didn't know, didn't say she grabbed him, I'll delete the post.
Though maybe you should have her run into Riagan or something so PB can get back in? Though maybe you should PM him first.)
-
The Professor blinked a few times and then touched Toshi's spear once more, concentrating. Finally, he looked to Sakura. "She... she absorbed the energy. P-peam absorbed some of, some of the energy."
-
"That sounds...worrying....." Sakura gulped.
-
(Oh I didn't know, didn't say she grabbed him, I'll delete the post.
Though maybe you should have her run into Riagan or something so PB can get back in? Though maybe you should PM him first.)
(Yeah, sure thing.)
-
"The energy, the energy is decreased. It's still, it's still considerably strong, stronger than your, your enchantment, but, but, but, I can feel a decrease." The Professor adjusted his hands on the spear, closing his eyes and concentrating on the energy radiating from it.
-
"Uh I was talking about Pema absorbing the Mana" Sakura shook her head "I have never heard of something like that happening, is that safe?"
-
"Well, at least now I don't need to worry about it being too unstable..." Fxeni said with a sigh. He turned around and went to follow Pema. "Going to make sure she's fine."
-
"I'll come with you." Sakura said as she followed Fxeni.
-
The Professor followed along, as he wasn't sure what else to do and his bandages needed changed, something that he couldn't do himself.
-
(PM'd PB. Just waiting for his response now.)
-
(Alright, well, we have free reign to use Riagan and The King however we wish, until PB comes back.
So, whoever wants to commandeer him, please do so.)
-
(Oh didn't see that coming at all, let me see what I can do tomorrow I have something I need to do now.)
-
"Uh I was talking about Pema absorbing the Mana" Sakura shook her head "I have never heard of something like that happening, is that safe?"
Toshi - "I not sure if that can be safe for just about anyone. If I remember correctly, absorbing too much mana, even in it's pure state, might result in some form of mana mutation." She replied, as she disassembled her spear back into it's two segments, noticing them giving a very faint glow on the katar's blades, and the weighted ends of the staff.
"But for the time being, I think it's best if I don't depend on assembling my spear. At least it seems to show signs of stability when they're separated." She puts them away in her pouch, "As for Pema, we might want to check on her, we don't know if she's capable of maintaining that much mana, she absorbed."
-
"I have an idea---" Aya kneels down and gently takes the Professor's wrists. "This will only sting for a moment." Aya's face became serious as she began to transfer some of her own mana into the professor's body, the infusion would much like how healers worked on their patients speed up the natural healing of the body and reduce the pain felt. Aya's body glowed slightly as the process took place.
-
Feeling the influx of mana much like the rippling waves that radiated from Toshi's spear, the Professor blinked at Aya. "This... this is like what I felt from, from the, from the spear! How, how it travels up my arms... like an electric shock..."
As he considered the similar feelings, he started to wonder. "Could, could, could I have b-been absorbing energy, too?"
-
(... Really Quickie?)
-
((He didn't. He just doesn't know any better.))
-
(Okay I think I have an idea of how Riagan would act to Pema running into him, whenever you're ready I can go. But for now.)
Toshi - "I not sure if that can be safe for just about anyone. If I remember correctly, absorbing too much mana, even in it's pure state, might result in some form of mana mutation." She replied, as she disassembled her spear back into it's two segments, noticing them giving a very faint glow on the katar's blades, and the weighted ends of the staff.
"But for the time being, I think it's best if I don't depend on assembling my spear. At least it seems to show signs of stability when they're separated." She puts them away in her pouch, "As for Pema, we might want to check on her, we don't know if she's capable of maintaining that much mana, she absorbed."
"Mana mutation.....?" Sakura repeated.
-
Dismissing his own question--which was unfounded rampant speculation on his part--the Professor turned his attention to Sakura and Toshi. "Mana m-mutation?"
As he was raised and trained to use alchemy, he wasn't very familiar with magical concepts, hence his earlier confusion to the mana energy radiating from Toshi's spear.
-
Toshi - "In other words, you become a physical elemental entity, from absorbing too much mana." she added, "I'm not sure what to make of it, but I've heard rumors of creatures turning into elementals due to excess mana exposure."
-
"Uh Fxeni is that true?" Sakura asked as she wanted confirmation since it wouldn't be the first time Toshi was wrong about something.
-
"There are theories about that, yes... but it doesn't seem very likely. There are indeed creatures that have strong affinity with certain elements and exude it, but those are species that use their mana for self-defense, not elementals," Fxeni explained. He glanced over at Toshi's spear.
"If there are indeed elementals, they were born or created that way; it wouldn't be from absorbing too much mana."
-
"Thank goodness." Sakura sighed in relief.
-
Pema stepped out of the Airship, her mind in a haze. Her steps were lazy and shuffled, her gaze shifting to the sky as she walked.
"We need to talk about what just happened," Salem broke the silence.
She returned her gaze forward, "Not now, Salem..."
"On the contrary, now is exactly the time to do so. You can't just ignore it. You need to tell them-"
"I'm not ignoring anything!" Pema snapped, "I just... I need time to think. Time... how long before... will it happen again? Could it...?" She muttered incoherently.
As she continued on her path, her rampant thoughts clouding her senses, Pema bumped into someone's arm. She backed away, bowing her head, "I'm sorry, I didn't see... Oh... it's you, Mr. Riagan."
-
Riagan turned around and looked down to Pema.
"My Father has summoned you and your friends. Where are they?" Riagan asked bluntly not noticing Pema was not exactly acting normal.
(I hope I got that right, I figured he'd be more of a 'gettting down to business' kind of guy from what I've seen. But Pema can just run past him or something.)
-
Pema turned her head and pointed back, "They're on the Airship over there. I... kinda left them, so I'm not sure if they're still in there. You can check, though..."
Her voice was sullen, deprived of her usual euphoric tone.
"Anyway, I have to go," She brushed past him, though at a slow pace, due to her sprain.
-
"Hey where are you going?" Rigan asked not sure if he should go after her or go to the Airship.
-
Pema stopped.
She turned around slowly and met his gaze, a faint smile on her face. Her expression was weary and somewhat melancholic, "I wish I knew the answer to that, myself." She spoke in a low voice, "I just... I just need to walk. Look ahead and think about some things..."
-
"You shouldn't wander without knowing where you're going." Riagan stated, though he started to realize something wasn't right he didn't know how to handle it. "The caves are confusing and the trails twist into many paths. You might end up somewhere dangerous."
-
The Professor came out of the airship, his new weapon in hand. He saw Riagan and immediately disappeared back inside.
((Kinda like this:
[spoiler](http://i.imgur.com/eNLrNl.jpg)[/spoiler]))
-
(Huh I'm suprised he's still scared of him, then again I doubt Riagan had a chance to apologize to him yet like he wanted to.)
-
(Aren't the caves further off in the distance though? This is a town, right?)
-
(Uh no the Town is inside the caves, we're in the Strip Mine. Remember Riagan was taking us through Caves to get to Gimrak and a few doors out of Grimark is the place where the Dwarves homes are. Pema and Rigan are still outside.)
-
((Gimrak. Yes, it sounds like Grimrock, (and i got the name from the Legend of Grimrock's name generator), but it's Gimrak.))
((And the airship is docked in an open-air strip mine outside of the tunnels and Dwarven city.))
-
(Yeah I have a real hard time spelling that.)
-
[Okay here's a thought I had for introducing Sapph. He bursts out of the ground in the mouth of a daemon he was fighting.]
-
(Sounds hilarious, everyone cool with that?)
-
((Sounds fine to me. Nothing was really going on at the moment, and I honestly have no idea what to do with the Prof right now. He's going to hide in the airship until he's sure Riagan won't see him wandering around with a weapon.))
-
(Don't know why he would worry about that when Calien brings his Axe everywhere. Not to mention I'm sure Riagan does the same with his Hammer and Axes. XD)
-
(Oh right. Had the image of this place completely different in my head.)
"I'll find my way," Pema dismissed.
"Listen to Riagan. He knows this Strip Mine inside and out, I'm sure. These formations do, indeed, seem to be disorienting," Salem stated.
She faced Riagan, "You don't understand. I can't be here... Excuse me."
"Pema, think about what you're doing," He warned.
"I'm sorry, Salem..." Pema continued on her way.
-
"Please stop." Riagan said as he slowly kept pace with her slowed moments "I know not what is happening but you must not wander on your own like this. It's too dangerous."
"Uh Prof what are you doing?" Sakura asked when she saw him cower behind the door.
-
"Oh, oh, ah, n-nothing. Just, just didn't want to... intrude on p-private business between, between Padme and, and... ah... ahmm... Ragnarok, yes, that's it..." Trying to appear nonchalant, the Professor put his new weapon aside and quietly made his way out of the airship. However, he moved behind the access ramp, using it to hide his small frame.
-
"Wait Riagan and Pema....talking with each other....when he scares the crap out of her?" Sakura said with a strange expression of disbelief. "Okay now I know something is really off with her."
-
Pema paused for a moment, then stared directly at him, "Mr. Riagan, can I ask... why do you care where I go?"
"P-Pema!" Salem stammered out, "Why would you ask him that?"
Her gaze stood, unwavering, "My friends... I've seen them. I know them. They're really kind and I look up to a lot of them. You... I'm sure you're not a bad guy or anything, but... I honestly don't know how much I can trust you..."
"That's enough," Salem said firmly.
She rubbed her arm, brows furrowed, "I'm sorry... You know, my Mommy always told me to see the best in people. Find the light," She placed a hand on her heart, "Sometimes, that light is hard to find. Mr. Riagan, I want to understand you. I want to see you. Just tell me... why. Why are you helping me? All of that hate... anger... and what you did to that Doll lady... I... I can't..."
Pema ran a hand through her hair, her eyes shut as she shook her head, attempting to dismiss the haunting images of Doll Master's remains from her mind.
-
(Okay I really need to ask PB how to respond to that one, unless Sapph suddenly comes out of the ground.)
-
(Yeah, it'd be best to ask him.
Sapph's entrance during this tense moment would be pretty hilarious, though. 8D)
-
((Personally, I'd go with the honor and duty route, saying that he's duty-bound to protect his people and such. He doesn't have to delve into personal reasons at all. There was a threat to the world and thus his people, and thus it was a personal threat that needed to be nullified. He chose to do so swiftly. As for the aggression, that's just a Dwarven trait that you don't have to really get into.))
-
(Yeah, it'd be best to ask him.
Sapph's entrance during this tense moment would be pretty hilarious, though. 8D)
(Hench why I'm trying to stall as much as possible.
And Calien won't show up until the battle is underway and wonder what the hell is going on.)
((Personally, I'd go with the honor and duty route, saying that he's duty-bound to protect his people and such. He doesn't have to delve into personal reasons at all. There was a threat to the world and thus his people, and thus it was a personal threat that needed to be nullified. He chose to do so swiftly. As for the aggression, that's just a Dwarven trait that you don't have to really get into.))
(Maybe but I still think I need to talk to PB to make sure I get a proper answer. Not to mention she's probably going to ask about the williness of mauling through innocent people to get to Doll Master and stuff next.)
-
(What Quickie said. XD)
-
(Ah ninja PB!)
"It is my duty to protect my people and allies, and that Doll Woman had harmed them and your friend so she had to be stopped. I was angry because she would bring harm to my people and allies" Riagan answered "You are my ally as well are you not? So is it strange that I don't want harm to come to you as well?"
(Okay might be a bit weird but that's what i got.)
-
((After this scene, I'll take Riagan off your hands, if you want. He'll end up being a composite of Dwarven tropes in my hands, but hey. XD))
-
(Sounds good to me. I'll try to get back to writing once my work schedule is less insane)
-
(Yeah maybe that would be easier, I'm sure I can do it but I have too many questions.)
-
The ground beneath the group's feet started rumbling, as if something had started tunneling through the ground beneath them... Something big... That was coming towards the surface...
-
(My question now is would Riagan mistake that for a Excadrill.)
-
[I'm still sorta figuring out what variety of daemon it is, aside from an earth-elemental greater daemon.]
-
Sitting under the boarding ramp, the Professor placed both hands flat on the ground to better feel the vibrations. They increased in intensity, and he fled from his hiding spot, arms flailing. "Flee! Flee! Something's coming! Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"
Running to a safe distance, he threw himself on the ground and covered his head with his hood and arms.
-
"I don't like this, it feels like something is moving....and it's bigger than the Dugtrios in the forest." Sakura stated.
-
Soon, the ground started cracking as it got pushed upwards... A very wide area of the ground. Flames erupted from the cracks just before a massive creature burst from the ground, with thick, matted, dark brown fur, bright red skin on it's exposed paws, massive claws and fangs... And there was someone wedging it's mouth open with their body.
[It's a giant rat, for the record.]
-
"Is that....a rat?" Sakura questioned "And it's eating someone?"
-
Scrambling over the crumbling and collapsing ground, the Professor tried to get out of the way before he fell into the yawning chasm. He simply couldn't move fast enough due to his disabled leg and his injured hands, and he was swallowed up by the ground. Fortunately, he didn't fall to his death, but rather found himself in a moderately-deep chunk of crumbled earth.
Glancing up, he saw that he could scale the wall, but it would be a tough climb.
-
Fxeni rushed out of the airship when he heard the crash of the daemon rising through the ground. He made his spear appear and rushed forward.
"Riagan, is this a common occurence in these parts, or are we really just that unlucky?" He asked as he rushed up, sizing up the giant rat for an opening to attack.
-
The giant, rat-like monster let out a roar and shook it's head around, as if trying to dislodge the blue-armored idiot in it's jaws before letting loose a massive fireball. Or, at least, it tried to. The fireball, instead, exploded in it's mouth and sent the man in it's jaws flying right at the group of people.
-
"Wah!" Sakura cried as the man plopped in front of her. She looked at him and saw that he was breathing against all sense of logic "He-he's alive!"
-
Due to the odd earthquake, Pema was interrupted before she could answer Riagan.
"What in the world is that?" She cried, noticing a gigantic rat-type creature near the Airship.
-
The creature hacked a bit before spitting out a very shiny metal lance, that stuck into the ground next to the armored man, who was quick to get to his feet and take up the lance. "Of course I'm alive! It takes more than a blast of fire to get through this armor!"
-
"Okay then what in the world is that giant Rat and why was he eating you underground?" Sakura questioned again "And who are you anyway?"
(More spears, spears everywhere!)
-
Fxeni looked at the man on the ground, and swept his eyes around quickly to analyze the situation.The ground might not be stable, and the airship is nearby; using large spells was out of the question. The man, while seemingly fine, was in a compromised situation.
Fxeni focused mana in his feet, then flung himself high up into the air with wind magic. He twisted himself around in mid-air to face downwards, then brandished his spear in front of him as he careened towards the back of the giant rat.
(I remember a time when I took the spear/scythe because everyone was using swords... how things have changed :P)
-
(Spears are the new swords, apparently.)
-
((Mine is more akin to a halberd. And who has Riagan currently? Should I just take him?))
-
(I'll keep him.)
"I have never seen such a beast before!" Riagan roared before charging in with his hammer.
-
"Introductions later! That's a greater daemon, sorry it came here, fight, flee, or get eaten!" The man replied to Sakura, the lance turning into a large shield with a mirrored surface as the rat spat a fireball at the group on the ground, seeming to not notice the one who went into the air. The shield reflected the fireball, only for it to explode harmlessly on the daemon's chest. "Mirror shield."
-
"Maybe a bit Ice would be good." Sakura stated as she enchanted her sword with Ice "Ice Fang!"
Sakura swiped upward as a wave of ice headed toward the rat.
(Will still wait a bit before Calien comes in.)
-
Meanwhile, the Professor was struggling to climb out of the hole.
-
Fxeni landed on the beast, spear first. It began to shake around, and Fxeni did his best to hold on.
-
(....Electrocute it?)
-
The daemon roared as the spearman landed on it, attempting to shake it off. "Aim for the throat!" He called out, his shield shifting into a lance again before he stumbled a little. "Damn!"
-
"I'll... see what I... can do!" Fxeni yelled back, his footing less than stable due to the shaking of the beast. He pulled out his spear and jumped forwards. He thrust the spear into what he was hoping was its neck, sending electricity through its tip.
-
The creature roared in pain as it's body seized up momentarily from the electricity. Unfortunately, though, Fxeni missed the mark a little.
"Quick! Before it recovers!"
-
(Going to hold off and let others do their thing.)
-
After a few tries, the Professor finally clawed his way out of the hole. His bandages were shredded by rock and clay, and his exposed fingertips were bloodied. Pulling himself up, he hung onto the edge of the hole with his arms and took in the sight before him.
Everyone was fighting a massive demonic cave rat.
The Professor glanced over his shoulder at the chasm behind him and wondered if staying in the hole was a safer bet.
-
(I think this might be thw perfect opening for Riagan.)
Seeing as the beast was open Riagan proceeded to use the Pick side of his hammer to strike the beast.
-
(Didn't we establish that Quickie was commandeering Riagan?)
-
((I was going to wait until after this scene. I don't like taking characters mid-scene.))
-
((Mine is more akin to a halberd. And who has Riagan currently? Should I just take him?))
(I'll keep him.)
"I have never seen such a beast before!" Riagan roared before charging in with his hammer.
(There's your answer.)
-
[So, who else hasn't taken a turn before the greater daemon shakes off the shock?]
-
(Shouldn't that Ice Fang I shot a few posts ago hit it by now? And we still got Peam, Toshi, and Blue but she probably won't post until tomorrow.)
-
[Oh, I thought Sakura was getting ready rather than actually attacking. o3o; ]
-
(No I did attack, I fired a wave of Ice at it called an Ice Fang. Think of it like a Ice version of Demon Fang from the Tales of Series or that Ice Attack you get from the Wolf Maverick in Megaman Zero 4 if you fight him in a weather setting that's to his advantage.)
-
(There's your answer.)
((After this scene, I'll take Riagan off your hands, if you want. He'll end up being a composite of Dwarven tropes in my hands, but hey. XD))
(I was referring to this, Sakura; to which, you agreed.
In any case, after the battle, I suppose. And Pema can't fight efficiently with a sprained ankle. She'll have to sit this out.
She'll be fine the next day, however.)
-
(I know that, but I decided to take him for battle as you can see with the time stamp. We all got confuzzled to be honest.)
-
((I was going to wait until after Sapph's intro, which I figured was part of the scene. I'll take Riagan after this battle. Prof can't fight at the moment, so he's hanging out in a hole and watching.))
-
(Okay I'm fine with that since the Prof can't do anything.)
-
[Sapph's official intro won't be coming until after the fight.]
-
Toshi - "Let's see if this works." she quickly forms a set of handsigns: Tiger → Rat → Horse → Snake → Dragon... ending it off with a clap of her hands... "Suiton: Suidanha!!" she spews a high pressure stream of water from her mouth, aimed directly for whatever part of the beast, that she could consider its neck, following up Fxeni's attack from earlier.
-
((I was going to go to bed, but now I just want to draw Toshi using Hydro Pump.))
-
(Needs some surfing, with her Ronginasu no Yari as the surfboard.
I kind wonder if I should of shape her tail, like your Azurill/Marill/Azumarill shaped tail. This kinda hit me when her familiars were Pokémon, so I thought; why not make her a supple anthro-looking Azumarill.)
-
((Well, I sketched up a quick pic, so I'm going to bed. Character designs can wait until after I get some sleep.))
-
((Sorry not going to be able to post much today either, work is eating up all my time. *sighs*))
Aya summoned the goddess blade and slashed at the demon's limbs to keep it off balance while the others went in for the kill. "Demon...?" She muttered as attacked.
((Since demons are a thing in Arcadia now I assume the Arcadians/Precursors knew they existed if they ruled the world for 1000+ years.))
-
The daemon stumbled from the onslaught of attacks, none of them hitting it's vital point, mainly because it remained hunched over, protecting it's throat.
"Tch, this is going to be an endurance battle, isn't it?" The armored man grumbled, stabbing at the massive daemon's limbs with Aya in hopes it could reveal the monster's throat.
Meanwhile, the very tip of the daemon's long, armored tail was draped in the pit it burst from, in easy reach of the professor, an unarmored spot exposed.
-
"Ugh why does this thing have to have such a specific weak point!" Sakura growled as she tried throwing Ice Enchanted Kunais at its thigh to hopefully get it to stop hunching over.
(Let's just say Sakura is still close to where the Prof is since she's using a long range strategy. That way if the Prof can't attack the tail in his situation/status, due to his hands Sakura can give him a Kunai.)
-
((He's still in a hole and pretty much in shock.))
The Professor watched, realizing that he not only left his bag in his quarters, but his new polearm was over by the airship. Finally pulling himself out of the hole, he bent, grabbed a chunk of rock and earth, and chucked it at the creature's butt.
-
(Huh I read that as the tail was somehow in the hole he was in for some reason.
Also....)
(Needs some surfing, with her Ronginasu no Yari as the surfboard.
I kind wonder if I should of shape her tail, like your Azurill/Marill/Azumarill shaped tail. This kinda hit me when her familiars were Pokémon, so I thought; why not make her a supple anthro-looking Azumarill.)
(Why?)
-
[The tip of the tail is in the hole, yes.]
"Daemons are immortal and can only be 'slain' by destroying to their seals! And this one's only remaining one is on it's throat!" The armored man shouted, a ball of light focusing on the tip of his lance before he flung it at the daemon's face.
As the constant attacks continued, the daemon reared back slightly to expose it's throat for a moment. Only long enough to see that there was a glowing symbol on it.
[Yeah, sorta making this video game-ish, but hey, it's a reason for why it has such a specific weak spot.]
-
(Okay so I was right, the Prof has to go back into the hole to get to the tail to get it to stop hunching over.)
"Maybe next time it would be better to get to the harder to reach ones first?" Sakura remarked as she continued her Icy assault.
(I think I'll just have Calien show up after the fact wondering what the hell just happened.)
-
Casting a glance at the hole, the Professor saw the twitching tail. He lacked weapons, but his brace was quite heavy. Deciding to climb back into the hole, he made it a few feet before losing his grip and tumbling back inside. Landing flat on his back, the wind knocked out of him, he gazed up at the chasm's opening in a complete daze.
Taking a few moments to recover, the Professor pulled himself to his feet and made his way to the tip of the daemon's tail.
He brought the full weight of his braced heel down onto the tail.
-
As the professor struck the unarmored tip of the daemon's tail, it reared back and screeched in pain, fully exposing the seal on it's throat.
"Strike now!"
-
Aya nodded "Right!" she jumped high into the air and using her wings to glide down towards the seal she brought the goddess blade down on top of the seal and the demon's neck.
-
As the daemon's seal was stabbed, it let out one last roar before crumbling away into nothingness, an angry-looking ball of purple light floating where it's head had been before floating off and vanishing.
The armored man let out a sigh before simply flopping onto his back. "Thanks for the assist, and, again, I'm sorry for leading it here."
-
"Hey Sakura why are you taking so long on-" Calien hollered before he saw the group finishing off a giant Rat before it turned into energy and disappearing ".....The heck did I miss this time."
"Some demon rat showed up eating this man before we helped him kill it." Sakura stated.
".....Demon rat?" Calien said as he face palmed, even though the situation was not very surprising.
"Yeah I don't get it either, but at least it's gone." Sakura sighed "It was very pesky."
-
"Ms. Sakura, are you hurt?" Pema walked towards the group, most of her focus on Sakura. She was a bit hesitant to approach them, due to leaving them abruptly.
-
"Since I was keeping my distance I wasn't hurt too bad, I'm more concerned about the Prof, Fxeni, and that guy over there but they seem okay for the most part too." Sakura replied "But more importantly are you okay?"
-
Aya stands, her wings folding back her blade vanishes in a ball of light. "Lead it--explain now sir." Aya approaches the stranger looking rather serious. "One does not simply lead a demon around without good reason."
-
Pema rubbed the back of her neck, glancing down, "Yeah... I'm fine," She spoke in a low tone, making an attempt to smile.
-
After a considerable struggle, the Professor clawed his way out of the hole once more. His hands were a mess as he made his way to the group. "I, I, I apologize, I apologize as I wasn't, wasn't much help..."
He kept a marked distance away from Riagan and had gone around the long way just to avoid the Dwarven Prince and keep out of his line of sight.
-
Pema rubbed the back of her neck, glancing down, "Yeah... I'm fine," She spoke in a low tone, making an attempt to smile.
"Pema...you don't sound 'fine'." Sakura said as she knelled to her level "We were all worried about you..."
-
Pema nodded slowly, "I know, I shouldn't have left like that. I just... didn't know what to do, at that moment. I guess I was a little scared..."
-
"What are you scare of, it had to do with the mana absorbing thing right?" Sakura continued gently.
-
Aya stands, her wings folding back her blade vanishes in a ball of light. "Lead it--explain now sir." Aya approaches the stranger looking rather serious. "One does not simply lead a demon around without good reason."
The armored man sighed and sat up. "Short version, I was in some caves deep under ground to try to find more of the blue metal my armor is made of, in case it needs to be repaired or adjusted." He started, taking off his helmet to reveal himself as a young man with brown hair and a short beard. "I encountered that daemon, and one of my daemons decided it would be a good idea to provoke him by destroying all but one of his seals, and then not help finish it off, leaving me to try to flee."
-
"I would say that would probably be the dumbest idea I've ever heard, but it might have been for the best in the long run since that Deamon mostly would have eventually encountered the Dwarves who most likely have no idea how to face such a thing. Thus this action most likely prevented would be casualties." Calien stated.
-
"What are you scare of, it had to do with the mana absorbing thing right?" Sakura continued gently.
Pema sighed as she shrunk in her clothes, "Yes... it all started a long time ago. Before I could even remember..."
She opened her hands, staring at them, "This ability to absorb mana is really dangerous and honestly... it's scary... I-I could end up... end up..."
Pema's face contorted into grief and she looked away, struggling to disclose further details about her odd ability.
(I don't think now would be an ideal time for backstory, what with Sapph showing up.)
-
(I guess I'll just hug her.)
Sakura hugged Pema as tightly as she could.
"It's okay Pema." Sakura whispered as she stroked her hair "You don't have to say anything right now. We'll wait until you're ready to talk about it okay?"
-
Pema embraced Sakura, "Yeah, that sounds good... Thank you. For everything."
She peered around at the party, a genuine smile on her face as she wiped a tear from her eye, "I couldn't ask for better friends."
-
Fxeni slowly got up and dusted himself off, as he had landed hard on the ground after the daemon had vanished.
"Would've been nice if I got a warning about that..." Fxeni said as he rubbed the side he had landed on.
-
(Why?)
(It just popped into my head when I introduced Riyalie and Grifter. Then I thought; what if Toshi was actually half pokémon {Azumarill}, and half elven; which was when this silly idea came up.
Oh, and a hundred pages already!?)
-
((I can't make the Azumarill tail work. It looked ridiculous with those thong-chaps. I don't even know what the back of Toshi's not-pants even look like!))
The Professor just watched the goings-on in silence and then went to retrieve his weapon and make his way back to the party's temporary quarters. If introductions were in order, he'd rather not be present, particularly when Riagan was there. He didn't want to incur the Dwarven Prince's wrath once more.
-
(Oh, and a hundred pages already!?)
(I wanted the eating contest to last for a quarter of them! 8D)
-
(It just popped into my head when I introduced Riyalie and Grifter. Then I thought; what if Toshi was actually half pokémon {Azumarill}, and half elven; which was when this silly idea came up.
Oh, and a hundred pages already!?)
(No.....just no. Half Elf and Half Rabbit is just fine, just stick to that for the love of god. I don't want to think of Elves sexing up a Toy Aquatic Blue Bunny instead of a Rabbit person. And no I don't care if the Azumarill is a Gijinka/Furry, I don't want to think about that. It will not add anything to the story, I'm sorry the idea just squicks me out.
I was fine with Riyalie and Grifter since they are kind of like ghosts so they have different freedoms to Pokemon, but this idea is not one I am comfortable with.)
((I can't make the Azumarill tail work. It looked ridiculous with those thong-chaps. I don't even know what the back of Toshi's not-pants even look like!))
The Professor just watched the goings-on in silence and then went to retrieve his weapon and make his way back to the party's temporary quarters. If introductions were in order, he'd rather not be present, particularly when Riagan was there. He didn't want to incur the Dwarven Prince's wrath once more.
"Hey Prof where you going?" Sakura asked as she let go of Pema for a bit "Don't you want to talk to the weird man in blue? It's kind of rude to leave before introducing yourself."
(I mean the little dude is going to have to deal with Riagan no matter what anyway.)
-
Aya sighs "I suppose after the empire fell there was no one around to keep their numbers in check. What is your name sir?" Aya relaxes slightly.
-
Calien immediately realized that the man was a demon hunter of sorts and hoped that he wouldn't mistake him for a Demon like many others have.
-
"My name is Shuu, and I am the 88th Sapphire Knight." He introduced, getting up to his feet and bowing slightly. As he did, his lance shifted forms again, this time becoming a large unicorn with a shiny, silvery coat. "And this is Grani, the first of my daemons."
-
Calien was a bit shocked when he summoned a Unicorn out of nowhere. While he had heard of Summoners he had never heard of Demon Summoners, nor did he expect him to befriend demons. However the thing that made the least sense was the existence of Demon Unicorns.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Calien smiled "My name is Calien, though I never heard of a Demon Unicorn before...."
-
"Um, what's a Sapphire Knight?" Pema tilted her head, then witnessed Shuu's lance transforming into a Unicorn.
"So cool..." Her eyes widened.
-
"Yes, what is a sapphire knight?" Aya added.
-
"The Sapphire Knights are warriors who fight for peace, justice, glory, and the balance of the world." He explained, holding his helmet under his arm. "The title is passed from one to the next, along with training and certain treasures, such as the blue metal my armor is made of."
He then patted Grani on the neck. "As for Grani being a unicorn daemon, he's actually a horse daemon, but takes the appearance of a unicorn due to wielding the element of light."
-
"I guess that makes slightly more sense." Calien nodded. "Still it sounds like your duty is quite admirable."
-
Aya smiles "So it seems the world has new Guardians in our absence."
-
"Well when stuff hits the fan someone has to take care of it." Sakura replied "No sane person wants the world to be destroyed."
-
"Indeed. However, it seems that all hell's broken loose while I was underground." Shuu sighed, scratching his head. "Anyone know what I missed?"
-
"....It's a really long story." Calien sighed.
"You probably might wet your pants too when we're done explaining." Sakura added. "I mean I'm not saying you're not brave, you seem plenty brave, it's just what's going on is pretty pants wetting worthy."
-
It was at this point that Grani spoke, his voice deep and echoing, but his language ancient and strange.
"Grani, you know I don't understand a word of your tongue." Shuu said, the unicorn sighing. "I figure he's been trying to tell me what happened..."
-
"I guess that makes sense for a creature such as him to have an idea." Calien nodded though he too had a very hard time understanding the creature since the language was very strange and unfamiliar. Even if he could understand what a Pokemon would say since he's lived with them for so long, the Deamon was another story all together.
-
The Professor finally spoke up after remaining silent for so long. He had returned to the group, but kept a careful distance.
"The, the Sapphire... the Sapphire Knights! I've, I've read about, I've read about you. Once, quite a long time ago, once we had, we had a visiting emissary, and, and, and he was, he was one of the Sapphire Knights! He came to the Order—err.... he came to the m-monastery to scout, to scout p-possible candidates, yes? Interested in my master's knowledge of demonology..."
-
"You know that honestly doesn't surprise me." Sakura said while tilting her head.
-
Fxeni listened in intently in silence, still rubbing his side. He hadn't heard of the Sapphire Knights before in detail, but he does recall having seen a similar armour before in his travels.
-
"Yes. The 86th traveled to learn about them after he was forced to retire from a crippling injury." Shuu said, Grani nodding. "Grani here is one of the daemons he contracted. Mainly to teach me how to do so."
-
"How long have you been a Sapphire Knight? May I have a Unicorn, too?" Pema approached his Unicorn Daemon and examined it closely.
"Wait, how did you get from A to B...?" Salem exclaimed.
-
"I was, I was too young, at the time. Still training, still training. Had b-been sequestered, cloistered, kept away from the p-public. It was when, it was when the Ord—the, the monastic order was trying, trying to hide me, keep me out of public eye. For my own protection, yes?"
The Professor stumbled over his words as he tried to remember the point he was going to make.
"My master, my master brought me to the emissary. Discussed my training. If, if, if I wasn't lame, I m-may, I may have been a suitable candidate. My master was devoted, was devoted to our... organization, and, and was older than, than the emissary. He couldn't be chosen. But, but, but I was young then. Young enough. But, I'm lame."
-
"How long have you been a Sapphire Knight? May I have a Unicorn, too?" Pema approached his Unicorn Daemon and examined it closely.
"Wait, how did you get from A to B...?" Salem exclaimed.
"I don't think it works that way Pema...." Calien stated though he couldn't help but smile a bit. "Maybe we can find a Ponyta someday which evolves into a Rapidash like Sakura's. Not to mention Rapidash is kind of a Unicorn too....just on fire....."
-
"Well, in truth, I've only had this title for a few months..." Shuu admitted, rubbing his neck. "Though I've been in training for a year before that." He continued, cocking a brow at Pema. "As for getting a unicorn... I think you'd have to find one first... In the meantime, who are the rest of you?"
-
"I'm Fxeni. I'm a mercenary of sorts I suppose you could say," Fxeni replied. "If there's anything you need to be done with magitech, let me know."
-
"I'm Sakura and Daddy already introduced himself." Sakura replied.
-
"I don't think it works that way Pema...." Calien stated though he couldn't help but smile a bit. "Maybe we can find a Ponyta someday which evolves into a Rapidash like Sakura's. Not to mention Rapidash is kind of a Unicorn too....just on fire....."
"Mm-hm, I'd really like that," Pema nodded, "Speaking of Rapidash, though, I miss Epee..."
"Well, in truth, I've only had this title for a few months..." Shuu admitted, rubbing his neck. "Though I've been in training for a year before that." He continued, cocking a brow at Pema. "As for getting a unicorn... I think you'd have to find one first... In the meantime, who are the rest of you?"
"So, you're still in training, technically, just like me!" She giggled, feeling a faint connection between them.
"Oh, and my name is Pema. This is my partner -slash- friend -slash- associate -slash- notepad, Salem!" Pema raised her sentient staff for Shuu to see.
"I'm basically everything she stated, sans the 'notepad' aspect... A pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Shuu," Salem spoke.
-
Realizing that he couldn't avoid introducing himself, the Professor spoke, though quietly and his introduction was uncharacteristically abrupt. "I'm called 'the Professor.'"
He neglected any further mention of his affiliation or identity, as he didn't want to anger Riagan, whom he was keeping a fair distance from and watching.
-
"Mm-hm, I'd really like that," Pema nodded, "Speaking of Rapidash, though, I miss Epee..."
"We can go see her soon, I remember where the Dwarves were keeping her to take care of her." Sakura stated.
-
"A pleasure to meet all of you." Shuu smiled. "I have two other daemons, one whom I'll introduce now, the other... I'm going to keep in his tablet..." He sighed, pulling a small rectangle of lavender stone with a simple picture of a tiger carved into it.
Shuu then began to say some incantations in, what sounded like the language Grani spoke. The tablet shone before vanishing into a spark of electricity. A moment later, lightning gathered in a ball nearby, taking on a feline shape before solidifying into a pale blue, nearly white, tiger with black stripes and dark, gray-blue, bladelike spikes down it's back.
"You summoned me, Gonsol?" The tiger daemon asked, it's voice deep like Grani's.
"Just to introduce you, Susanoo."
-
"We can go see her soon, I remember where the Dwarves were keeping her to take care of her." Sakura stated.
"Really? Yeah, let's go see her soon," Pema clasped her hands together and smiled.
-
"Gonsol?" Sakura asked though was glad it spoke a language she understood.
-
"In your tongue, it means 'Master'." The tiger, Susanoo, said. "As the knight holds my contract."
-
"Ah okay, so you guys are kind of like Toshi's mostly invisible, except to me and Daddy, Pokemon Familiar Spirits, kinda." Sakura nodded.
-
The Professor just watched quietly for a long moment. Once he was sure that no one was paying him any mind, he limped off to get his polearm and return to the mines.
-
"What the hell's a pokemon?" Shuu and Susanoo asked at the same time.
-
"Wait you never seen one before?" Sakura pondered "That's odd I thought they were everywhere. Well I have a big book of them with me so you can see them and some Pokemon that came with us."
-
"Well they're not all that common everywhere, actually. They certainly don't tend to like towns and cities, I can say that much," Fxeni interjected.
-
"I guess that makes sense, I only been to 2 cities and I didn't see too many unlike the wild." Sakura nodded ".....Does that mean White Beard scared all the Sea Pokemon away? They don't really have too many places to go......"
-
"Perhaps..." Fxeni said, pensively.
-
"I hope they come back someday....but that won't be any time soon......." Sakura nodded slowly with a frown on her face "I just hope they found good homes........"
-
"Speaking of White Beard... we should probably figure out a game plan. We could always go back to Heimdal... the mercenary networks there might offer us some information," Fxeni thought aloud.
-
"Heimdall, I never heard of that place before." Sakura said as she tilted her head.
"I think I might have years ago, isn't up in the frigid North?" Calien asked.
-
"Okay, so, give me the short version of what happened?" Shuu asked, tilting his head.
"Awaken me when I am needed for battle, please." Susanoo yawned, flickering away into small sparks of electricity and returning to being a small stone tablet in Shuu's hand.
-
"The Legendary Omni Gem is real. Well... it was, until it was shattered. We need to find the pieces, but we don't know where to start," Fxeni explained as simply as he could.
-
"Oh and there's some crazy 1000 year old hypocrite who wants to destroy and remake the world and become a god even though he hates the gods." Sakura added "He wants the Omni Gem too and he probably wants to steal it once we put it together since he needs it for his plans. I heard about those sorts of things in stories all the time, that's why he probably let us live even though he could destroy us all with a flick of his wrist as we are right now. So we need to get stronger.
He also has a creepy Mask Man and creepy Scientist working for him."
-
"I see." Shuu said as he put Susanoo's tablet away. "Supposedly, the first Sapphire Knight had visited the Omni Gem before... Where they declared that they would protect the world as it's mortal guardian." He said, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "So it is real... And in pieces... Chances are, daemons are going to be congregating around each shard, as they feed off of magic, which the Omni Gem is a huge concentration of."
-
By this point, the Professor had made it all the way to the mine entrance and was about to go inside. However, he hung back as while he was on relatively decent terms with the rest of the Dwarves, he was still nervous around them, particularly if he was alone. He also didn't want to be caught alone carrying a weapon, lest any of the less-trusting Dwarves assume that he planned to do them any harm due to his affiliation with the Order.
Glancing over his shoulder, he watched the party speak with the newcomer, and then decided to just stay outside. Resting his polearm against the rock wall, he slid to a seat on a chiseled block, he back to the wall. He put his hood up to shield his eyes, and cast his gaze to the ground to do some light meditation.
-
"That doesn't sound good....." Sakura gulped.
Calien's eyes widened as he heard that last detail. The thought of Demons attacking innocent people worried him considerably, especially if one piece happened to end up in the Village north of the Emerald Forest.....
-
"Which is why we should probably get this show on the road as soon as we can," Fxeni said. "Do you plan on tagging along, Shuu?"
-
"Actually, we shouldn't have to worry too much about them being hostile. Plenty of food should make them fairly sedate." Shuu said, shrugging. "Unless anyone here naturally absorbs magic at a very high rate."
-
Sakura's eyes widened when he said that, of all the times he could have said somthing like that, especially with Pema present......
-
"Which is why we should probably get this show on the road as soon as we can," Fxeni said. "Do you plan on tagging along, Shuu?"
"Yeah, we'd love to have you tag along!" Pema nodded, "It almost feels like our group expands more and more, every day. I think the first person to join after I did was the Professor-"
She turned her head and looked around, "Wait, where did he go? I could've sworn I saw him a minute ago..."
"Actually, we shouldn't have to worry too much about them being hostile. Plenty of food should make them fairly sedate." Shuu said, shrugging. "Unless anyone here naturally absorbs magic at a very high rate."
Pema involuntarily glanced at Sakura when Mana absorption was mentioned, as she felt closest to Sakura, than nervously fiddled her thumbs, a timid gaze shifting to Shuu, "I-I... I can absorb..."
Her arms collapsed at her sides, unable to finish her statement.
-
"Pema....." Sakura breathed as she grabbed her hand "We'll make sure nothing bad happens to you okay...we'll protect you."
-
Pema met her gaze and smiled lightly, nodding her head silently.
-
Shuu blinked, noticing how Sakura and Pema were reacting to what he said before turning to the latter. "Is it something you do subconsciously, like breathing, or do you have to consciously absorb magic?"
-
"My name is Aya, I'm a guardian of the old empire. It's my mission now to find the shards of the omni-gem and restore balance to this world." Aya says to Shuu "I think I may have a way to track them down--it will take some effort and some time though." Aya ponders.
((if Heimdall is the agreed on destination Aya's plan can point them there.))
-
((Heimdall sounds fine to me. Just let the Prof know. He's off by the mine entrance, minding his own business. I don't know what to do with him at the moment, so I got him out of the way.))
-
Pema turned herself away from him, staring off elsewhere.
Salem floated from her grip and approached Shuu, "Look, I'm sure you mean well, however... This is not a subject Pema can speak about. Not yet, anyway."
-
"Yeah she's not ready to talk about it right now, but I'm sure she will be someday, it hurts her too much right now." Sakura added.
Calien listened as he was shocked that Pema had yet another tragedy under her belt, and this one seemed worse than the one he heard yesterday. Though he was very worried for her he was amazed how despite all this she could be happy and smile so genuinely. She was stronger than she thinks she is.
(I really need to come up with a name for that Village at the North of the Forest.)
-
Shuu looked at Salem for a moment before sighing. "Sorry, I mean no disrespect or offense..." He said, turning his attention to Aya now. "Interesting... Are you a descendant, or an immortal?"
-
"I was--present during the fall of the empire. I am a guardian we don't age as the gods fashioned us to be their vessels should they need to interact with the physical world. I am the last guardian other than my--well It's my duty to restore the omni-gem before balance is destroyed for good." Aya looks a little sad as she cuts her self off.
-
The Professor looked up from his meditation, but he was too far away to hear the conversation. He heard something in the mine, and he looked to the entrance. He once again considered going inside, but decided against it. Instead, he bowed his head and returned to his meditation.
At the moment, he didn't feel he was needed.
-
((What kind of place is Heimdall by the way? I'll try to get a post in after work today.))
-
(Situated in the cold north, eternally around the snow and everything that comes with it. It would also be a somewhat smaller and more tight-knit community most likely. As such, it relies more heavily upon magitech and would be more advanced in that area than the norm.
How advanced, though, is something that would be up for discussion. My initial posts were filled with stuff that was higher tech, but then we've been in places that were more standard Fantasy fare so we'll have to scale that back I'm pretty sure... which is also why I've been systemically destroying everything I posted about one by one :P)
-
(You mean like that gauntlet with magic computers?)
-
(For example, yeah. Wrecked it good in that fight in Iron Gate.
-
(Makes sense, but seriously does Calien need to make coats for everyone who needs them?
Also can the time skip be a few days at the very least so armor pieces and a boomerang can be made?)
-
(Probably couldn't hurt to have coats, yeah.)
-
(Well with materials from the Dwarves I don't think we need to use a lot of bear fur now that I think about it.)
-
(I'd say Pema is dressed for the occasion already. 8D)
-
(Well if things get hotter perhaps we should make her a summer outfit?)
-
(Yeah, sure. I have a couple of outfits in mind.)
-
(I think Sakura's winter outfit would be similar to the new outfit I was thinking of but with fuzzy trim. Still don't know what should be under the poncho cape thing though, I want some armor but I wonder if the top should be partial or full?
I have armored boots and armored leggings not covered in shorts and I was wondering if I should have like part of her arm armored but the chest area is really bugging me, besides the cape.
I think the cape would cover her upper chest for the most part but under that I have no idea. Help?
Also some armor ideas for Calien would be great too, something not too heavy but not just clothes.)
-
(Looks like we're heading to Heimdall then. North it is! Anyone have any business to attend to before we leave? Getting Shuu to join should be first though.)
-
(We already did that, and I can make clothes during a time skip. I also wanted Sakura to talk to Riagan to get to know him better but I'll wait until PB has more free time.
So I got nothing.)
-
((Prof is set for winter wear. He has an overcloak in his Bag of Holding. He also has simple boot moccasins.))
((Yes, he will wear shoes. Just this once.))
((JUST THIS ONCE))
((Once inside, though, the boots go OFF!))
-
(I keep imagining he should be wearing like some toe shoes rather than regular shoes.)
-
((He'd have a pair of soft-soled mukluks to wear. Something he made himself, and just enough to keep his feet warm. They're basically glorified furry and leather socks.))
-
(Ah I see.
Meanwhile I must figure out my clothes dilemma.
Surprisingly I have Calien's winter outfit set, an armored long fur coat and pants.
But not his regular outfits.)
-
(Do you mind if Sakura takes Pema to visit Epee before we time-skip?)
-
(We can do that now.)
"Hey Pema, want to go see Epee right now?" Sakura asked her.
-
Pema perked up and nodded, "Yeah, I really do! Let's go see her!"
She adjusted her grip on the staff, thinking about how much she enjoyed grooming Epee's beautiful fur, "Hey Salem, why couldn't you be as pretty and majestic as Ms. Sakura's Rapidash?" She said jokingly, giggling.
"I keep myself awake at night, asking that very question," Salem replied sarcastically.
(Salem has the dry wit of an old Englishman. 8D)
-
(Even though he's not British I still occasionally imagine him with a British accent anyway. Also I'm really tempted to go with that superfluous idea I was talking about in the Supplement thread saying some Dwarves wanted to 'pimp up' Sakura's 'Battle Mount' for hilarity.)
"Right though I have to ask the Dwarves for directions, I know where she is but getting there is another thing all together. The trails are so twisty." Sakura stated "I'd ask Riagan but I know you kind of don't like him too much."
-
Pema bit her lip and pressed a knuckle against her chin, "Mr. Riagan seems very... complicated. I'm not sure how comfortable I feel around him. I mean, I'm trying real hard to understand him and everything, but he makes me a bit uneasy."
She sighed, then looked at Sakura, "But, if we need his help to find Epee, then I'm willing to have him help us. If we're going to be working together with him, then maybe... maybe I should try my hardest to get along."
As she said this, Pema thought back to his incredibly aggressive behavior, feeling the sense of dread all over again. She shuddered, "Easier said than done, though..."
-
"Yeah I kind of want to get to understand him better myself." Sakura nodded "He seems like a really complex individual and to be honest he keeps suprising me quite a bit. I mean a lot of us keep secrets, my Daddy especially has a few he's reluctant to tell the others about, some very complicated, not bad but very complicated secrets. Despite that I do know what the others are like for the most part.
But Riagan is someone I can't really read well, out of everyone here I don't have a good grasp of what he's like, and I have so many questions for him too. He's certainly someone who is more than meets the eye, as Shadow Master made the mistake of underestimating him, like everyone else mine you, but him especially. I did too to be honest. But I want to wait until we get more comfortable with each other more, more used to us so to say.
Though I can say this....his first impressions need work. I'm sure he doesn't bear the Prof much ill will like he did at first, but the Prof is still very scared of him. And the Dwarves in general it seems judging by his reluctance with going into the mines alone. Though he doesn't seem to mind using the Dwarves for target practice....don't tell Riagan that though....one thing I do know about him is he cares about his Dwarven Brethren very much....perhaps more than he does himself......"
-
"Do you think he's lonely?" Pema exclaimed, "He cares about his Dwarf brothers, but maybe he still feels out of place? I mean, Mr. Riagan is a human, right? That could be part of the reason why he's super cranky and angry. Growing up, I didn't have many friends, because of something that happened when I was born... I felt like I didn't belong among my own people."
She rubbed her arm, glancing down, "During that time, I was sad and lonely. But sometimes, I also felt... angry. I can't really explain why, but I just wanted to yell at the sky. As loud as I could. When I think back to it, I guess setting my mind to that was a way of ignoring my unhappiness. You think maybe... Mr. Riagan's scary fighting is another form of yelling at the sky?"
Pema looked over at Riagan from a distance, scratching her head, "I guess we can't really be sure."
-
"That might be one possibility, though maybe not loneliness exactly." Sakura shook her head "Since he loves his brothers very much and his adoptive father loves him very much too.
I think it's more of him experiencing what my father calls 'culture shock', he grew up with the Dwarven culture all his life, but he doesn't know too much about other cultures, and neither do the Dwarves. My father experienced a similar sensation when he first came to this land, though some things were similar to him they were also very different. I certainly still experience culture shock since there are many things I don't know about, things I desperately want to learn. But 'Human Society' is something he just doesn't understand quite yet, and our customs for that matter. I only know what I know because of my father, because he always told me what Society was like. The Dwarves and Riagan don't unfortunately.
In fact before this happened we were planning to leave the forest and travel the world to find a different place to live in 2 years, he wanted to make sure I would be ready for the world before we did. But Aya and the danger seems to have accelerated those plans.
As for his 'scary fighting' I think it has more to do with how those people harmed his brothers. That Doll Woman possessed some of them to fight us and Shadow Master and Mask Master killed others. Kidnapping Aya was something he was also very angered about, he has a sense of justice. I can understand how he felt, I too was very angry about what they did.
But I think he was consumed with venegence because of their misdeeds and transgressions. That venegence blinds him so much that he can't think about much else unless you point him in the right direction.
I think Riagan, and quite possibly the Dwarves in general, are more suffering from 'stunted growth', as if they have a narrow understanding of things they aren't familiar with. They don't have a 'Worldly View' so to speak because until now they didn't need to have one.
I think perhaps once Riagan learns more about what's out there maybe he'll change a bit. Though it would take a long time, and we shouldn't force him. Same goes for the Prof as I learned, as surprising as it is they are more similar than the other might think.
At least those are my theories."
-
((I literally have nothing to do right now. I think I'll take Riagan for a while.))
-
(Yeah that's fine, just pretend he didn't hear anything we were talking about. I think I will go with the Dwarves 'pimping up' Epee in Battle Armor just because.)
-
[Crap, got distracted by Monster Hunter today. >.<]
-
(Don't worry not much happened to be honest.)
-
Seeing Sakura and Pema start for the mine entrance, Riagan came up behind them. "I'm afraid I can't allow two young ladies such as yourself to wander my city alone. I'll take you to the stables myself. Your steed has been well cared for."
-
[Okay, so we haven't left yet?]
-
(No still here. If you need to ask Riagan about that metal do it now!)
"Oh yeah of course, thanks Riagan." Sakura smiled
-
"We've taken it upon ourselves to provide a proper bridle and saddle for your steed. All Dwarven craftsmanship is of the highest quality. Your steed has been fed, bathed, and shod." Riagan continued, propping his war hammer on his shoulder.
He tossed a glance to Shuu. "Newcomer! My father would like an audience with one of your repute."
-
".....Um what's a Saddle and Bridle.....?" Sakura asked in embarrasment. "And what does shod mean?"
-
Riagan barked out a hearty laugh. "Shoes! We've put shoes on your steed! She's got a fine leather saddle, and new reins, and she's taken to her bit nicely. A fine war horse, she is."
-
"Horses have shoes......?" Sakura continued in confusion and curiousity as the concepts weren't very familiar with her.
-
"You never heard of horseshoes, Ms. Sakura?" Pema raised an eyebrow.
-
"No I haven't to be honest, though maybe my father might have....?" Sakura continued "It wouldn't surprise me if he does and hadn't told me since I didn't need to know about them til now......"
-
"Her hooves had t' be filed down. But, we got her shod and saddled. Our finest leathersmiths crafted her saddle, and the new stirrups should help the wee one mount her."
Riagan's gaze grew distant as he thought about the meticulous Dwarven craftsmanship in all of their goods.
-
"I guess it's something I have to see for myself, though if Epee let them do all that I guess she must have been comfortable with it. Epee would have set them on fire if she wasn't....." Sakura laughed nervously "I read Rapidashes and their pre evolution will get violent around people they don't trust."
(She does know Flamethrower after all.)
-
Shuu turned to Riagan with a questioning glance. "Oh? I wonder why he'd want an audience with me?" He asked, Grani deciding to revert to a tablet like Susanoo had.
-
Riagan laughed again. "You think your scuffle went unnoticed? Hahaha, word travels fast, my friend. And as you are one of the famed Sapphire Knights, my father would be honored to speak with you."
He returned his gaze to Sakura. "Dwarven equestrians are among the highest caliber. We can tame even the most unruly of mounts!"
-
"Oh right you guys must have other horses too...to be honest I've never seen a normal horse....."Sakura said sheepishly.
(Because I'm assuming the Iron Gate guards took Epee themselves to the stables like a valet would for cars. So Sakura hasn't seen a normal horse.)
-
"Well, we should probably get going. Lead the way, Mr. Riagan. And, um... Thank you," Pema bowed slightly.
She noticed Shuu from her peripheral, coming towards them, "Oh, do you mind coming with us? We're gonna head to the stables to visit Epee!"
(I know he needs to ask Riagan something, but I figured he could talk to him on the way there.
And ninja'd everywhere!)
-
Shuu nodded at Riagan. "Right. Like I said a few minutes ago, I'm still kinda new to the job."
-
"So the Dwarves have heard of these Sapphire Knights as well." Calien stated "I guess I might be one of the few who haven't."
"Daddy do you know what all this stuff about Saddles and Horse Shoes are?" Sakura asked.
"I do but it really is something you should see for yourself, it'd be difficult to explain until you see it." Calien nodded.
(Calien will go back to his quarters off screen chained to the Magitek sewing machine, he came out because his fingers got stiff and desperately needed a break.)
-
"And see it, you shall!" Riagan barked as he walked along toward the mine entrance.
At the entrance, the Professor glanced up from his meditation, saw Riagan leading the party toward him, and quickly scurried out of striking distance.
-
"Prof don't be so scared, no one's going to hurt you." Sakura called to him.
-
Riagan ignored the pathetic creature and looked to Shuu. "Regardless of your novice rank, you still bear the title and armor of the Sapphire Knights. My people have an illustrious history, and my father had met with an emissary of yours years before. They came by caravan, as after the schism--" he regarded the Professor in his hard gaze for a brief moment "--the mountains were far too dangerous for traders to travel alone without protection. Marauders from the villages."
The Professor hung back for a markedly long time before he fell into step behind Sakura and Pema. He kept his hood up and his head bowed so as not to show his face, and he remained silent. His staff was held low and as nonthreatening as he could muster with a weapon of its size.
-
"Riagan do you know about the Schism?" Sakura asked "The Prof mentioned it before but he didn't know much about it....."
-
With the party leaving to meet the king Aya turns the other way and makes her way up to the highest point on the mountain near the airship, the professor notices the guardian close her eyes and go into what he could only assume was a meditation state of some sort.
-
"Speaking of the schism, how long ago was that?" Shuu asked, following along. "Might be able to tell you which Knight it was."
-
Realizing that such a topic would be a point of contention, the Professor left the group and wandered toward where Aya was meditating. Stopping first by the airship, he left his staff there, and limped over and began to climb the rocks.
Riagan ignored his departure and looked at Sakura. "The Schism happened long ago, before I was born. It is why we don't trust Elven people; they think they're above us, above everyone. And the Order! That cult and their ilk can rot in the darkest depths."
-
"Elves huh....I've been mistaken for an elf before by little forest Goblins many times because of my ears....they're that bad?" Sakura wondered.
-
Aya with eyes still closed noticed the Professor approach, or rather felt. "Hello professor, did you need something?" She asked politely.
-
"Just... needed to excuse m-myself from the others," the Professor had finally climbed the rocks and sat, removing his hood. He watched the party enter the mines and finally relaxed once Riagan was out of sight.
He let out a sigh and cast his gaze skyward. "I feel, I feel that, I feel that we're wasting our time... We m-must recover the shards, and time is of the essence! However, however, I feel that..."
He paused as his voice dropped so as not to echo through the canyon. "I feel that... that Chakra doesn't have the same urgency. This, this... this is not the first time that she had taken... too long to act. If, if I, if I hadn't m-moved... we would have still been outside the city gates."
He dropped his gaze to his hands in his lap. "We should tell her, or remind her, or, or... or even go ahead. Time is of the essence. M-mar is also after the shards. We need to be one step ahead, but, but, but we can't if we don't move."
"Elves huh....I've been mistaken for an elf before by little forest Goblins many times because of my ears....they're that bad?" Sakura wondered.
"You are of halfling stock," Riagan said simply. He didn't look at Sakura as he led her and the rest of the party through the mines. "You know not of the true nature of Elves. How they see themselves. How they carry themselves. How they talk. We have a saying for their kind; 'an Elf uses more words than necessary to say more than they know.'"
He fell silent for a moment, save for his bootsteps echoing off the tunnel walls. "The Schism concerns more than the Elves. They were only a part of it. The Order set it in motion."
-
"Well I am not an Elf....or a Demon....it's complicated." Sakura stated "But what exactly did the Order do?"
(Whoa wait, I don't think Sakura is to blame for not going ahead quickly. Also Aya doesn't have her scale Mail yet I think.)
-
Shuu sighed and simply went into thought. At the mention of the Order (again), he remembered a warning from his teachers. "Beware the Obsidian Knight and his order..."
-
(Wait is this a different cult for Obsidian?)
-
((I... don't know. I'm just winging the Schism as I go along.))
Riagan was silent for a very long moment, his lips frozen in a thin, hard line. He himself didn't know the exact details; he just knew that the Order was to blame. His once-illustrious brethren became the butt of Elven jokes and trade with outside clans became impossible. The Dwarven engineers were forced into indentured servitude by the Elves, followers of the Order decried them to be "demons" and "dirty," and of a subhuman race; taxes were levied, and any mention of the Order simply left a bad taste in his mouth.
"You should ask that shriveled creature you drag around."
((And as for Prof's opinion, that's just what he's observed. I'm not saying you're at fault for anything. Prof's just stating an observation.))
-
"He doesn't know either, when he came here he thought you and the Order were still allies." Sakura stated "He doesn't know much about the world outside the Order. They kept him sheltered for years for some reason, they didn't want people to see him.
While he does practice the Order's beliefs of being humble, I think he's innocent in the Order's treachery. They don't tell him much, he doesn't know about this schism, he doesn't even know what he is.
Plus the Order has been mean to him too, they didn't support his Precursor or Alchemist studies, and he said when we first met that the Order didn't trust him....because of his ears....he said they didn't trust his ears...and his face too. Not to mention...the lashings he had because the Order punishes him....they're everywhere......I know he says everyone who doesn't follow their teachings gets them....but I don't think it's right....."
-
[Obsidian's followers are a different cult. The Order of Black Knights.]
-
(Gotcha, I wish Quickie's Order had a fancy name.)
-
((The Order of the Triad. There. Done. Let's go with that.))
-
(So it shall be called and retroactively retconed into.)
-
"Pathetic creature," Riagan spat.
He walked along in silence for a long time, leading them down a different tunnel, away from their quarters. After a while, the tunnel opened up into a stable, with Dwarves hustling around and feeding the horses.
"Your mount is in the fourth stall."
-
"Fourth stall....okay." Sakura nodded as she headed to the 4th stall while looking at the other horses. Though she only saw their heads she did see that each of them had leather straps around their faces, though they were worn in such a way that didn't provide the horses with discomfort.
(I assume the stalls are like that right?)
-
((Yeah, pretty much. It's a stall with a Dutch door. The top half is usually open so the horse can look out and feed, and the bucket is hung on the bottom door. The door goes up to roughly the chest.))
-
After a while Sakura found Epee and opened the door to see her as well as look at the stuff the Dwarves outfitted her with.
"Wow that's a lot of stuff.....Epee are you okay with all that on you....?" Sakura asked hesitantly.
Epee uttered a series of neighs as she spoke to her.
"Oh that's good, I'm glad they made it comfortable for you." Sakura said as she looked down to the horse shoes "Um Riagan can you explain all this stuff to me........?"
(Decided not to include the battle armor.....but maybe later....)
-
Riagan looked to one of the Dwarves and motioned for them to come over.
The Dwarf waddled over and took the reins off the hook, and hooked them to the bridle. Opening the door, he led Epee out of the stall and knotted the reins to the hitching post.
"We've given 'er a bridle, and ye hook yer reins 'ere--" he pointed to the bit in Epee's mouth "--an' ye drape it over th' nape, 'ere, an' ye loop 'er 'round th' saddle 'orn," he pointed to a large protrusion on the front of the saddle.
Walking around Epee while dragging his hand from bridle to saddle, he indicated the blankets. "These'll make it comf'table for ye, and ye wannae be able t' git yer finger under th' strap, 'ere," he indicated the harness that wrapped around Epee's broad midsection.
He unhooked the reins, looped them around the saddle horn, and put a foot into the stirrup. With one hand on the horn and the other on the rear of the saddle, he hoisted himself up and swung his short leg over the rear of the saddle and mounted Epee.
"We've given 'er shoes," the Dwarf poked his heels into Epee's sides and got her into a slow walk up the stable aisle and back again, her newly-shod hooves clopping on the rocky floor. A tug on the reins brought her to a stop, and he dismounted, hitching her to the post once again.
Standing with his back against Epee's chest, he lifted her forefoot off the floor and held it between his knees to show the new shoe. "Smithy made 'ese shoes fer 'er t'day."
-
Sakura took it all in as all the pieces clicked together and made sense to her for the most part, however she still had one more question.
"I think I understood everything for the most part, and it seems like most of it will make it easier and more comfortable for both me and Epee. But there's still one thing I want to ask since I'm not exactly sure about the function of them.
Just what exactly are the 'shoes' for?"
-
"Why, t' pr'tect th' hooves, of course!" The Dwarf released Epee's leg and waddled around to the front. "She was wearin' 'em down, an' th' farrier filed and fitted 'er wi' long-wear steel shoes. If yer ridin' 'er, 'er gait'll be better fer it. If she throws a shoe, ye'll git a boot t' put on 'er til ye git t' a shop."
The Dwarf got closer to Sakura and dropped his voice. "Now, 'ese shoes, 'ey 'ave iron in 'em. Ye dinnae wan' yer lil fae friend t' git it. Cold iron, it repels th' fae."
-
"Repels the fae.....?" Sakura questioned "What do you mean?"
(I do know that Cold Iron is a Fairy's weakness, that's why Fairy Pokemon are weak to Steel types. But I didn't really read up on why.)
-
The Dwarf raised his eyebrows, as he could have sworn that this was common knowledge. "Y'see, it hurts th' fae. Ye wannae keep th' fae outta yer home, ye nail up a horseshoe."
Meanwhile, Riagan was conversing with another Dwarf about different matters.
-
"So it hurts them....and the Prof is one of the Fae.....? How do I make sure it doesn't hurt him?" Sakura asked.
-
Shuu just perused the stables while Sakura and Riagan talked to other dwarves, finding himself feeling nostalgic for his home.
-
"Don't let 'im touch it," the Dwarf gave a shrug. "Methinks yer hobgoblin was a changeling. An' 'e's got no magic 'cause of 'is lame leg. 'At brace 'as steel bars. Yer lil fae friend is weak. But, 'at's jus' me theory. Y'see, we've dealt wi' goblins 'round 'ere. 'Ere's a few tribes, an' 'ey've come maraudin' b'fore. Yer lil friend looks like 'e might be from one a' 'em local tribes."
The Dwarf clucked his tongue loudly. "Th' Order a' th' Triad, 'ey've been messin' wi' the fae now, too? Yer right t' git 'im out when ye did."
-
"Maybe I should tell him about that." Sakura nodded "He didn't know what he was, it's been bothering him very recently, and still bothers him since he doesn't know what a Hobgoblin is. Maybe we can find his tribe someday and he can learn more about himself. It seems The Order of the Triade either didn't know or tell him about this. I hope it's the former though......I don't want to think about the reasons for the latter......but it could be since the Prof really doesn't know anything outside The Order of the Triade.....
You mentioned something about Changelings, what are those exactly? I'm sorry for asking all these questions, Daddy and I were living a hermit's life until recently, and he didn't know what the Prof was either so I assume he doesn't know anything about this Fae stuff either."
-
"Aye, a changeling! Th' fae, 'ey like t' steal babies. 'Ey know humans got it good, so 'ey'll take a newborn an' put 'eir own baby in its place. Th' fae'll raise th' human as 'eir own, an' th' human'll raise th' changeling. If ye dinnae wan' th' fae t' take yer baby, ye hang a horseshoe above th' cradle. Keeps th' fae away. If 'ey git yer baby, ye can bring it back by treatin' th' changeling horribly. Th' fae will come back and make th' switch!"
The Dwarf glanced over at Riagan for a moment. "Now, I've 'eard a lot a things, 'ere. I've been workin' th' mines fer years. I've heard 'at one a th' goblin tribes, 'ey liked to pull 'at stunt. I've 'eard 'at one time, a fam'ly in Iron Gate 'ad 'eir baby taken. 'Ey dinnae keep the changeling, an' 'ey abandoned it in th' hills. Dinnae what 'appened t' it after, but ye say yer goblin was wi' th' Order? I cannae say fer certain, but... ye may wannae ask 'im how 'e got 'ere."
-
"He said his Master found him and took him to the Order of the Triade when he was very young." Sakura replied "Unlike the Order of the Triade he seemed to have been a kind man and taught him everything he knew about Alchemy and the Precursors.
But.....it seems the Order of the Triade had killed his Master for some reason....so I can't ask him why he was part of the Order of the Triade in the first place despite seemingly not following the Order of the Triade's teachings....it doesn't make sense......."
-
"They might have access to resources he might not have had elsewhere." Shuu chimed in, joining the conversation that Sakura and the dwarf were having. "People tend to get mixed with the wrong folks when there's somethin' they feel like they desperately need."
-
"I don't know, it doesn't seem like the Order of the Triade would have something an Alchemist would want. The Prof said they live a humble life style without luxuries and shun Magic and Magitek. They don't even wear shoes......" Sakura pointed out.
(I just realized that the Order of the Triade sound like Amish people.....)
-
"Well... Maybe he was born into it?" Shuu shrugged.
-
"Whatever it tis, better learn up on ye cold iron if yer totin' a fae 'round witcha," the Dwarf gave a nod and waddled off to tend to the other horses.
-
"Just... needed to excuse m-myself from the others," the Professor had finally climbed the rocks and sat, removing his hood. He watched the party enter the mines and finally relaxed once Riagan was out of sight.
He let out a sigh and cast his gaze skyward. "I feel, I feel that, I feel that we're wasting our time... We m-must recover the shards, and time is of the essence! However, however, I feel that..."
He paused as his voice dropped so as not to echo through the canyon. "I feel that... that Chakra doesn't have the same urgency. This, this... this is not the first time that she had taken... too long to act. If, if I, if I hadn't m-moved... we would have still been outside the city gates."
He dropped his gaze to his hands in his lap. "We should tell her, or remind her, or, or... or even go ahead. Time is of the essence. M-mar is also after the shards. We need to be one step ahead, but, but, but we can't if we don't move."
"Don't worry I'm not sitting idle either, this meditation is an art used by guardians and mages in the old empire; we allow our mana to mingle with the world's like a stream meeting a river and through this connection we can sense--if things are amiss. Normally we use it to trace down chaos, however with the Omni-Gem shattered I should be able to track the abnormal amounts of mana at the points these shards fell." Aya paused. "Hmm--Professor are you certain you do not possess any magical abilities I'm sense an odd mana within you actually."
Meanwhile at Pandora....
Albertus had been summoned by Mar, while he was preoccupied with setting up his laboratory he knew better than to anger his new "master". As Albertus entered the throne room Mar was sitting simply waiting.
"Ah-good, Albertus it's time to prove your self. I have a task for you." Mar leaned forward as Albertus approached the throne.
-
Sakura decided to try out Epee's new equipment to get used to it, though she didn't have Epee gallop around so as not to scare the Dwarves. Though it was very new to her she got used to it very quickly and reins and stirrups would make it easier for her to give physical commands.
"Wow.....I knew I had a lot to learn.....but I guess I might have underestimated what I don't know....but it seems like the equipment is easy to use so it's not too difficult understand how they work." Sakura muttered to herself.
(Hey I just realized something obvious...... Kunais are made of Soft Iron. I think we might have to retroactively retcon that one post where the Prof sensed the Mana of Sakura's magic compared to the unstable Mana in Toshi's spear.
Or we could say they're made of Steel.)
-
Meanwhile at Pandora....
Albertus had been summoned by Mar, while he was preoccupied with setting up his laboratory he knew better than to anger his new "master". As Albertus entered the throne room Mar was sitting simply waiting.
"Ah-good, Albertus it's time to prove your self. I have a task for you." Mar leaned forward as Albertus approached the throne.
Upon nearing the throne, Albertus knelt down onto one knee, and bowed.
"Vhat tazk do joo haf four me, milord?"
-
((Maybe the enchantment negated its effect and its iron content is also low (say 80-90% iron content to be effective). Let's go with that.))
-
"The first shard has surfaced in the north, Mask Master tells me there is a community called Heimdall there. Our plans have not changed, however I do not desire to be blind to our enemies actions so I want you to keep an eye on Aya and her friends and keep the illusion that we desire to steal the shard, do not give them reason to suspect we have our own plans.
Mar leans back casually. "Oh and Pandora's automated repair constructs should have kept the old airships docked here intact, use them however you wish from now on.
((One or two military warships are still docked at the floating city, Albertus can use them how he wishes.))
-
(I love how Mar underestimates everyone despite being smart and really powerful but he does have a good reason to. Even if the party does sort of suspect that they are being used to collect the shards they can't really do anything but follow their trap since they have no choice but to collect them since the world is screwed otherwise.
[spoiler]I mean something similar did happen in Ocarina of Time and A Link Between Worlds, but again the Party can't do much except try to become stronger than Mar, but that's not really easy to do in the first place.[/spoiler])
-
((At this point Mar has little to worry about, he just needs to wait for us to do his work for him. Then slaughter us all 8D ))
-
((At this point Mar has little to worry about, he just needs to wait for us to do his work for him. Then slaughter us all 8D ))
(Exactly. XD)
-
Fxeni hadn't followed the group. He opted instead to start prepping the airship for the long journey ahead of them.
-
"The first shard has surfaced in the north, Mask Master tells me there is a community called Heimdall there. Our plans have not changed, however I do not desire to be blind to our enemies actions so I want you to keep an eye on Aya and her friends and keep the illusion that we desire to steal the shard, do not give them reason to suspect we have our own plans.
Mar leans back casually. "Oh and Pandora's automated repair constructs should have kept the old airships docked here intact, use them however you wish from now on.
((One or two military warships are still docked at the floating city, Albertus can use them how he wishes.))
"Tank joo milord, I vill make ze preparationz..."
Albertus got up from his knee, and exited the throne room. Once back in his research lab, Shadow Master teleported in.
"Master... Is it wise..."
"Joo zhut up! Ze wallz haf earz..."
Albertus walked over to a familiar armoured knight, and pulled on the spear to reveal a swirly blue portal. Both Albertus and Shadow Master entered said portal, and were instantly back in a familiar large cavern. They were back at Albertus' hidden lab in Skull Cove Citadel.
"Joo fool! Joo nearly jeopardized us!"
"Sorry Master... However... This Mar character just cannot be trusted!"
"Joo think I don't know zhat!? However, all ze Precurzor technology iz now within my grazp! I CAN FINALLY BEGIN MY PLAN!!"
"... You don't mean..."
"YEZZZZZZZ! MY INSTRUMENTALITY PROJECT!!"
As if on cue, a huge sealed glass tube rose up from the ground. It was filled with what looked like a thick orange fluid, the multiple bubbles within slowly floating, and popping at the fluid surface. Suddenly, a human hand pressed against the glass tube from the inside...
-
(Wait are we going to have like Eva stuff coming and Aya clones?)
-
(No. Mar is still the main villain here.)
-
(Fair enough.)
-
"Don't worry I'm not sitting idle either, this meditation is an art used by guardians and mages in the old empire; we allow our mana to mingle with the world's like a stream meeting a river and through this connection we can sense--if things are amiss. Normally we use it to trace down chaos, however with the Omni-Gem shattered I should be able to track the abnormal amounts of mana at the points these shards fell." Aya paused. "Hmm--Professor are you certain you do not possess any magical abilities I'm sense an odd mana within you actually."
The Professor blinked a few times. "Really? I've, I've, I've never trained in m-magic... only in alchemy. It, it was what, it was what my m-master knew."
He cast his gaze to the horizon, feeling foolish for his concerns about Sakura. He didn't mean any ill will toward her, he was just concerned. He saw her as a party leader, as the one who took charge and made all the decisions, but he wasn't entirely sure if anyone was the leader.
Deciding to address those concerns at a later time, preferably with Sakura herself, he pushed the thought out of his mind and brought his gaze back to Aya. "What do you mean, an 'odd mana'?"
-
"This world has a natural order, the way things should be; when something is pushed out of whack the whole world--reacts to it. Mana flows around this world, like a river imagine if someone pushed a boulder into it, or redirected the flow. The Omni-Gem is the eye of the storm so to speak, the order in the chaos that surrounds our world, when it shattered the balance in our world was also shattered. I can home in on the places where the mana is flooding and use that to pinpoint the shards--in theory."
Aya isn't quite sure if she was explaining the situation very well.
-
(I think he was referring to himself not the world when he mentioned odd mana.)
-
((Aya is mostly trying to clear up her own unique view on the world. She was created to see mana like the gods do, and she worries that sometimes her explanations fly over people's heads. Trained mages likely don't have an issue understanding mind you.))
-
(I guess that's true, and it's probably in her character in that she get's confused about what the Prof is really talking about.)
-
(You have to understand she comes from a civilization thats one thousands years old, this world is new and strange to her, as is how a lot of people think. XD)
-
(Fair enough and to be honest I expected as much, I won't really bug you about it anymore unless it comes up in story with either Sakura or Calien. But I won't do it here at least.)
-
"This world has a natural order, the way things should be; when something is pushed out of whack the whole world--reacts to it. Mana flows around this world, like a river imagine if someone pushed a boulder into it, or redirected the flow. The Omni-Gem is the eye of the storm so to speak, the order in the chaos that surrounds our world, when it shattered the balance in our world was also shattered. I can home in on the places where the mana is flooding and use that to pinpoint the shards--in theory."
Aya isn't quite sure if she was explaining the situation very well.
The Professor nodded slowly. "Much like, much like how certain things, certain things contain a resonance? Vibrations? Energies? Different stones, they possess different energies, and what one is good for one purpose, it may, it may b-be wrong for another."
His gaze grew distant for a moment. "My master, he taught me to detect and harness that internal resonance. Many, many believe, many believe that there, that there is no m-magic in alchemy... but, but, but, only certain people can be alchemists. We just, we just harness that energy in a different way."
-
Shuu just stood back and watched Sakura get used to using the equipment the dwarves attached to her steed.
-
"Hmm I wonder, if this equipment is common place does that mean riding without it is unusual?" Sakura pondered. "If so then why?"
-
The Professor nodded slowly. "Much like, much like how certain things, certain things contain a resonance? Vibrations? Energies? Different stones, they possess different energies, and what one is good for one purpose, it may, it may b-be wrong for another."
His gaze grew distant for a moment. "My master, he taught me to detect and harness that internal resonance. Many, many believe, many believe that there, that there is no m-magic in alchemy... but, but, but, only certain people can be alchemists. We just, we just harness that energy in a different way."
"Exactly, there is mana in everything really; but not everyone has the ability to draw on it or even notice it's there. Sadly thats what created the caste system in the empire, and what allowed Mar to gain so much power."
-
"Hmm I wonder, if this equipment is common place does that mean riding without it is unusual?" Sakura pondered. "If so then why?"
Another Dwarf stablehand overheard and gave Sakura a nod. "Aye, weh doo soom-teems reed beerbach, boot fer loonger tracks, ye beest bee reedin' wee' eh sehddle, as eet's behttah fer ye an' yer herse."*
*"Aye, we do sometimes ride bareback, but for longer treks, you best be riding with a saddle, as it's better for you and your horse."
((I couldn't let the opportunity to write a really thick accent pass.))
"Exactly, there is mana in everything really; but not everyone has the ability to draw on it or even notice it's there. Sadly thats what created the caste system in the empire, and what allowed Mar to gain so much power."
The Professor nodded again. "So... so, what do you m-mean that, that you noticed an 'odd mana' within me?"
((NINJAS :W))
-
Sakura took a minute to figure out what the Dwarf said until she understood it.
"So for long travels it's almost necessary, I guess that makes sense." Sakura nodded.
-
Another Dwarf stablehand overheard and gave Sakura a nod. "Aye, weh doo soom-teems reed beerbach, boot fer loonger tracks, ye beest bee reedin' wee' eh sehddle, as eet's behttah fer ye an' yer herse."*
*"Aye, we do sometimes ride bareback, but for longer treks, you best be riding with a saddle, as it's better for you and your horse."
((I couldn't let the opportunity to write a really thick accent pass.))
The Professor nodded again. "So... so, what do you m-mean that, that you noticed an 'odd mana' within me?"
((NINJAS :W))
"I sense--power untapped in you, there is a raw mana inside you but you don't seem to know how to bring it out, or rather your alchemy is only a small example of what you are capable of. I've never encountered your species before, so I can't tell if thats simply unique to you or is common."
-
"I sense--power untapped in you, there is a raw mana inside you but you don't seem to know how to bring it out, or rather your alchemy is only a small example of what you are capable of. I've never encountered your species before, so I can't tell if thats simply unique to you or is common."
The Professor shrugged. "I, I don't, I don't even know what I am. Or even who my p-parents were. M-mask Master said, Mask Master said I was a... hobgoblin?"
He lifted his robe to his knee and was about to reach a finger under the leather binding of his leg brace to scratch an itch until he remember the worn and dirty bandages covering his hands. Instead, he dug in his pockets, found his quill, and used the end of it.
Covering his leg with his robe, he gazed out to the horizon. "My master never told me what I was."
Sakura took a minute to figure out what the Dwarf said until she understood it.
"So for long travels it's almost necessary, I guess that makes sense." Sakura nodded.
The stablehand nodded and waddled away to attend to another horse.
-
"Maybe it doesn't even matter, I consider you one of my best friends. Your race has no barring on that." Aya Smiles placing a hand on his shoulder.
-
The Professor was silent for a long moment as he gazed out toward the horizon. Most of the others had left the canyon, and while he saw a few Dwarves milling about, he didn't see Riagan. The large man made him nervous, mostly due to the disdain for him and his affiliation that hung about Riagan like a cloud.
He gave off a sigh and looked at his lap. "I had... I had studied a bit about, about the Fae Folk. Though, though all I know, though all I know is that they're magical creatures. Most of my studies were about, about the P-precursors."
-
Sapph tapped is chin and turned to Riagan to see if the dwarf was done with his conversation yet.
-
Riagan had since finished his conversation, and was leaning casually against the stable wall when he saw Shuu turn to him. Straightening, he stepped forward. "Something on your mind, Sir Shuu?"
-
Albertus placed his hand on the glass tube, just as more human hands pushed from the inside.
"Zooooooon... Letz uz return to Pandora before anyone noticez..."
"... Yes, Master."
As the two reentered the portal, the glass tube descended back into the ground. Shadow Master was hesitant on Albertus' project, but Mar seemed a more obvious threat.
Back in the research lab of Pandora, the suit of knight armour slid back to conceal the portal. Albertus walked over to a piece of machinery that Shadow Master helped to recover from Skull Cove Citadel.
"Shadow... Inform Freeze Master, and Blizzard Master zhat zhey haf an azzignment... Up north."
Shadow Mastet bowed, and disappeared. Albertus turned his focus back to the machine.
"Cheval... Ehh?"
-
"Yeah, you said your father wanted to see me." Shuu said, adjusting his helmet under his arm.
-
"I'm sorry I don't know much about the Fae myself, back then I was training as a guardian and running around fighting Mar and trying to find my brother I didn't have much of a chance to explore the world.
Say--I'm no master at this but I know how to manipulate mana rather well, with some training I could help you draw out your latent abilities." Aya offered sitting on the ground so she could speak eye to eye.
((Question is how should his mana abilities end up as? Maybe if he doesn't want to fight directly the power to infuse mana into others as buffs much like how he infuses mana into objects via alchemy? Up to you though thats just an example.))
-
"Yeah, you said your father wanted to see me." Shuu said, adjusting his helmet under his arm.
Riagan laughed. "We can speak to him after your friends are done here. It is not urgent, and a meeting has not been formally arranged. However, he will take the time to meet with you."
He looked to Sakura and Pema for a moment. "The matter is more that he would like to speak to you. Much as a family member would like to speak with an old friend. Our customs are not too foreign to the lot of you!"
His gaze darkened. "That, however, is where our similarities end."
"I'm sorry I don't know much about the Fae myself, back then I was training as a guardian and running around fighting Mar and trying to find my brother I didn't have much of a chance to explore the world.
Say--I'm no master at this but I know how to manipulate mana rather well, with some training I could help you draw out your latent abilities." Aya offered sitting on the ground so she could speak eye to eye.
((Question is how should his mana abilities end up as? Maybe if he doesn't want to fight directly the power to infuse mana into others as buffs much like how he infuses mana into objects via alchemy? Up to you though thats just an example.))
"I, I, I would like to learn, yes. These last few battles... I've seen, I've seen that I cannot fight like the others do. I lack their power. It is why I chose, why I chose to m-make a weapon. However, however, it is a bit... awkward. I've trained, I've trained, yes. I've trained, but to defend myself. The Order does not like aggressors. We train to defend."
He looked down at his hands. "I feel... outclassed."
((I'm still considering playing up the oneiromancy. As goblins can cause nightmares in some folklore, oneiromancy would be an innate ability. However, I'm thinking of playing around with it and having it require a meditative state in order to summon dream abilities or even constructs.))
((We have a ton of magic users, so while I want to tap into magic, I don't want it to become too crazy, so I'm nerfing it with a weakness.))
((Also, cold iron weakness. It sucks out magic, so as long as Prof has a brace on, his magic abilities will be pretty weak.))
-
(Make him a Red Mage, Jack of All Trades (Can use Healing Magic, Attack Magic, and equip Swords along with anything a Mage can equip along with some Armor I believe) but a Master of None (ie can only learn up to mid level Magic) Red Mages in general suck because of that, they are versitile, but they suck worse at everything compared to the experts. Unless they have Dual Cast and can pass it to other classes that can use it better.
Also Riagan was only talking to Shuu right?)
-
((Yes, but go ahead and jump in on the conversation.))
((The main problem with Prof's magic is the cold iron weakness. He can't walk without his brace due to his crippled leg, but with the brace, he can't use magic very well or at all. So, he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.))
-
(Didn't the Dwarve say it's made of Steel, and can't we just make another?)
-
((Does he even know about the Iron weakness?))
-
(If he doesn't Sakura will be quick to warn him when they meet next, along with telling him about the Hobgoblin tribe.)
-
(How does she know?)
-
(The Dwarves just told her about it when they talked about the horseshoes.)
-
((Prof wouldn't know about his own iron weakness. His brace may be of an alloy that has a low iron content, so as to only weaken his magic. If the steel had a higher content, it'd be a problem. Horseshoes are also made of steel, but tend to have a higher iron content.))
-
(Yeah that's fair enough.)
-
Pema tenderly groomed Epee, "Poor thing, she looks a little exhausted."
She turned away and peeked her head out of the door, fixated on the Dwarves, "Do any of you guys have food to give Epee?"
-
"They said they've been feeding her, but maybe she needs some berries to eat too. Daddy also some times makes some food for her and gives the occasional carrot. It could be that the diet of Rapidashes, much like other Pokemon, is a bit different from the other horses here." Sakura stated.
-
Riagan glanced at Sakura and then clapped his hands twice, summoning a Dwarfven stablehand. "Bring this horse more feed! She hungers!"
The Dwarf waddled off. After a few minutes, he returned and strapped a full feed bag to Epee's head, giving her a light pat on the muzzle before leaving.
-
"Does it taste good?" Sakura asked Epee who gave a neighs and snorts for her answer "Oh that's good.
Epee said we just caught her at a time when she was hungry for dinner, nothing to worry about."
-
"Thank goodness," Pema softly patted Epee, "Eat up. That's a good girl..."
She darted a glance at Riagan, recalling his actions a few moments ago. This double-clap technique was amazing, she thought.
Pema clapped her hands twice, and a brief moment later, the very same Dwarven stablehand presented himself. He looked to Riagan, assuming that he was the person who summoned him; that is, until he saw the tiny girl in front of him, hands pressed together with a sharp look in her eyes.
She cleared her throat, "Please bring this human some feed, but, you know, feed that humans eat! She hungers! Thank ye, good sir!"
"Assuming there's human food anywhere near the stables," Salem pointed out.
Pema smirked and crossed her arms, "You underestimate the might of the Food Clap!"
-
(... I really want to pinch Peam's cheeks.)
-
The Dwarf gave a shrug and walked away.
Riagan laughed heartily. "Well, then, shall we head to the mead hall? My father can meet with you there."
-
(Did he just ignore her? XD)
Pema nodded, "Yeah, definitely!"
-
((Yes. Yes he did. Gonna wait for Sakura and Sapph.))
-
(I think that could've afforded some dialogue. Also, shrugging suggests he doesn't know.)
"It appears you've overestimated the sacred 'Food Clap'", Salem chuckled lightly.
Pema glared at her hands, "Hmm, it may be even more advanced than I thought. Mr. Riagan made it look so easy. Is the trick of it in the wrists? The posture? Well, I'll master it soon enough!"
"Don't let all that power go to your head, now..." He said dryly.
-
(... ... *pinches Peam*)
-
"I think that only works for the Horses here Pema." Sakura laughed nervously "I could use some food myself too, I didn't think putting away the smelly mushrooms would turn into such an adventure."
(Sorry I fell asleep.)
(I think that could've afforded some dialogue. Also, shrugging suggests he doesn't know.)
(Honestly if I was controlling the Dwarf I would have done the same. If there was dialog the Dwarf probably could have said something rude to her, since there's obviously no human food in a stable, like he's a stable hand not a damn waiter go get some yourself you lazy idiot, or something along those lines or even presenting her with some hay and feed, because most Dwarves wouldn't have the patience to decline such a stupid request in a polite way. After all some Dwarves can be rude as hell, in fact most are, and Pema would have opened herself up to some smart ass remark with what she did especially if she been someone older. That sort of thing would be insulting to the Dwarf if it came from someone older, but with Pema it's a different story since she's just a kid who was imitating Riagan.
That kind of response, where the Dwarf would say something, wouldn't be an appropriate thing to do for the Dwarf, not only because she was a little girl but because he's in front of Riagan, and if you're smart mouthing a guest who wasn't exactly intending to be rude, especially one that doesn't know better, it would be bad. If Pema was older with every intention of being rude Riagan would have most like not only approve of the smart mouthing but he would have joined in and if she was a guy back hand the hell out of her for treating said Dwarf like someone lower than her, like how an Elf would act to them. An Elf probably would have done something like that as a mean spirited joke before he gets floored by every Dwarf in the room.
So due to the circumstances the situation didn't exactly need, or call for, dialog and Quickie did it perfectly by not including it.
Not to mention shrugging can also be seen as saying 'whatever man' while just blowing her off and ignoring her ridiculous idea. Plus it can still be seen as not having patience and being rude which is very appropriate for him. He basically said 'I don't got time to deal with this [parasitic bomb], I have Horses feed' with his body language. I used that reaction sometimes in fiction I think.
Yay for overly long responses that I probably could have made simpler but didn't!)
-
"Come along, then! Your steed is in good hands!" At his signal, a stablehand led Epee back into the stall to feed and relax, and Riagan led the group to the mead hall. As they walked, he summoned another Dwarf to summon the King and his entourage to the hall.
"Just a small affair, bit unusual for us Dwarves, but our cooks are busy with dinner. We'll have time to talk." Riagan glanced over his shoulder at Sakura, Pema, and Shuu.
-
(Zilpher is a kind Dwarf. Especially towards Pema, since he sees her as an exceptional culinary warrior, but to others, as well.
Pema revealed that she didn't know what "Insatiable" meant after Zilpher's speech, horribly mispronouncing the word. Most of the Dwarves laughed, and one teared up at how adorable she was. They weren't hostile or disrespected that she didn't understand the honorable title of their fellow Dwarven brethren.
And that's exactly the point, like you yourself stated. She's just a kid. The stablehand knows that she's merely oblivious. Not to mention most, if not all the Dwarves, were in the Mess Hall during the Eating Contest. So, if anything, some of the Dwarves in these stables should've welcomed her back, recognizing the one who was able to conquer Zilpher the Insatiable. Some may be sour by that fact, of course, however, she certainly has the overall respect of the Dwarven community.
He could've chuckled and given a brief response of "We don't have any of that near here." Or no chuckle at all, it doesn't really matter. He knows a child meant no disrespect.
That's it. Simple, clean, done.
Not sure why you put me through all this. It's a pointless argument, but okay.)
-
(Eh it is pointless, but that's just how I saw it.)
"See you later Epee, I'll be back soon." Sakura said as she went up to Riagan "I wonder if my Father is hungry too, sometimes when he's working on something he forgets to eat."
-
As the professor and Aya discuss their topic Aya's eyes widen. "Aha!" she blurts out as if she had just figured something out.
-
(Aya should've said "Eureka!" 8D)
-
((In hindsight.... 8D))
-
The Professor practically fell over from being startled.
"What? What??" Clawing at the rocks, he regained his balance and looked to Aya, wide-eyed.
-
"I've found it, the shard! It's to the north!" Aya grins "I believe it's near a town or city of some sort, I can sense lots of mana there besides the fragment."
-
"We, we must hurry! We must tell the others!" The Professor began to climb down the rocky canyon wall as fast as his body would permit without falling.
-
Aya carefully picks up the professor from under the arms and hops off the hill gliding down lightly with her wings setting him down gently as they touch down. "Yes, we need to inform the others quickly!" Aya heads into the dwarven city with the professor.
((Might as well make that picture you drew canon Quickie XD))
-
((Yay, wings! On that note, I'm out for the night. Zombie as you need.))
-
(Eh I think I'll wait til you're back tomorrow unless PB magically gets free time somehow. But if Pema or Shu start talking I'll control Riagan for the rest of the night.)
-
((Might be best, I'm working to later in the day so keep up your end of things, Aya and Prof can catch up later and reveal their findings. ))
-
(Yeah I might just shorten the time Armor gets made to the next morning in RP, maybe I don't know if that would be realistic.
As a reminder Calien only made the clothes, he can't make armor so Aya does not have her Scale Mail yet and he and Sakura are also getting some armor pieces.)
-
(That can even happen off screen if needed)
-
(Of course, and Pema's leg healing too. She still has a couple of days.)
-
(I might as well update my end of things, to catch up to Heimdall. :P)
Shadow Master reappeared in front of what looked like barracks. He entered to see multiple figures around and about. This was where all of Albertus' Masters gathered to train after being transported to Pandora. The internals of the structure was further separated into different... "Zones", and Shadow Master made his way towards one with what appeared to be an iced floor.
"Freeze Master... Blizzard Master... Our Master has an assignment for the two of you."
Upon hearing the names, a humanoid figure, along with what looked like a giant ball with limbs stood up. The humanoid looked pretty human, except his lower face had a mask of sorts, and there was a hole in his torso... The giant ball was just as described, but he had skis on his feet, and a snow cap on his... Head.
The humanoid spoke first. "Freezzzzzzzze. All will freezzzzzzzzzze... What does our Master want frozen?"
"I hope to do some skiiing, since you are joining me..." The giant ball said.
"Our Master wanted the two of you to take over a small community in the north, Heimdall's the name. A piece of the Omni-Gem resides there at the moment. Do put up a show for any that inteferes. Minions for the both of you will arrive as soon as you arrive."
"Freezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzze... Sounds fun... Finally some taunting!"
"Aye... And spinning!"
"Go now. In the name of ALBERTUS!"
(So yea, Freeze Man and Blizzard Man. Enforcements... Will be Cheval Joes. :P)
-
(Are you sure you want to set Fxeni off? It might not end well 8D)
-
(Updated my last post.)
(Are you sure you want to set Fxeni off? It might not end well 8D)
(If not now... When will Cheval go in a blaze of glory? 8D)
-
(Oh man, this'll be fun to write XD)
-
(Honestly I was thinking the Cheval was going to be used to make Turbo Master.)
-
((By the way, I've been awake and semi-active, so what's new? Riagan had led the group to the mead hall by now, and the King is there (anyone can take him, really, if they need a mouthpiece for their backstory and stuff), so we can do stuff.))
-
(Nothing really happened, and I would rather not control the King. What do you mean by mouthpiece for backstory and stuff exactly?)
-
((Just people to ask questions so others can give out their backstory. I'll take the King, then.))
-
(Yeah I would rather you take him, after all that's said and done Sakura would want to ask more about the Scism and why the Order started it since Riagan didn't know why they started it. Of course she would want to ask that in private since she knows it bothers Riagan and the Prof.
But Sakura can use this time to tell the prof what she learned about him. As for backstory for Calien we'll see if that comes up, Blue approved my idea and I finalized most of the details in my head.)
-
As the group entered, the King had already seated himself at the head of a grand table in the mead hall. His mug was frothy with an overflowing head. He laughed heartily as Riagan and the party approached.
"Ah, my son and heir! And you brought our newest guest! Come, come, come and sit down! Let us have a drink and do tell me about yourself, young Sir Knight!"
Riagan bowed and took his seat at the right hand of his father. Taking the proffered mug, he knocked back a long swallow and invited the others to join him. "He is a Sapphire Knight, Father!"
The King's aged eyes widened. "By Udrid's beard! A pleasure, a pleasure indeed! What brings you to Gimrak, Sir Knight?"
-
Calien was also already there as his daughter greeted him.
"Oh good you're already here, I was worried I'd have someone drag you out of our room." Sakura smiled as she took a seat next to him.
"I needed to give my fingers a break, I'm almost done with your outfit. Still need to get the cape embroidered and I had to take it to the Black Smith so he can make armor to fit around it." Calien stated "However I did bring the hat with me to show you, they already fitted armor for it."
Calien brought out a White and Dark Green hat and showed it to Sakura who looked at it in awe. It also had some silver metal trimmings and a small section with a tiny emblem on it, one that she was all too familiar with. It consisted of a stylized eye with 3 triangle 'eyelashes' and a tear drop coming from the eye, as if it was crying.
"So they managed to put the symbol of our people on to it." Sakura observed as she took off her fur cap and put on the new hat "Oh it's a lot cooler, I admit the other hat always got my head sweaty."
"Make sure you keep the other hat, if we're going North you'll need it." Calien stated. "I still need to make some warmer clothes for you, I already had some clothes from my travels in the past, though I could use a new fur hat myself."
"Man you have a lot of clothes to make." Sakura stated.
"Can't help it, since I didn't have too much to work with in the forest the clothes we had were a bit strange looking." Calien shrugged. "Don't want to bring too much attention to ourselves."
"Admittedly I did get some weird looks in Iron Gate, when they weren't looking at Aya, or Toshi." Sakura nodded. "Come to think of it, doesn't Toshi need a winter outfit too. I think she only has the clothes she always wears."
"I'll have to ask her about that later, though I don't know if she would let me." Calien sighed "She still reminds me not to 'try any funny business' with her sometimes, even though I don't even look at her when I'm not talking to her, or down there if you know what I mean. She's not even my type, in temperament or personality I mean.
I understand some creeps follow her around sometimes, I even saw some of them in Iron Gate, but I like to think I'm not on their level. I'm nothing like them or that Bug Alberto."
"Yeah....that Alberta guy really pissed you off." Sakura nodded.
"I'd rather not talk about it.....especially not in front of Pema or Aya." Calien whispered.
"Don't worry I won't." Sakura nodded.
"Good, now why don't you have something to eat, I know you didn't have anything since Breakfast." Calien suggested.
"Don't worry you know I'm used to that." Sakura said as she started to eat some bread.
"Yeah.....I wish you didn't have to be." Calien muttered as he continued to eat his stew.
-
(Honestly I was thinking the Cheval was going to be used to make Turbo Master.)
(Who said this won't happen? 8D Let's just say the Cheval will be put to good use before its blaze of glory. The Cheval Joes will be a mighty asset for the Albertus army.)
-
((Feel free to run in with the Prof.))
-
//Crap... I've lost track of things... So, we're in the feasting hall?
-
((Mead hall, yes. I zombied you there with everyone else. The King and Riagan have addressed you.))
As the group entered, the King had already seated himself at the head of a grand table in the mead hall. His mug was frothy with an overflowing head. He laughed heartily as Riagan and the party approached.
"Ah, my son and heir! And you brought our newest guest! Come, come, come and sit down! Let us have a drink and do tell me about yourself, young Sir Knight!"
Riagan bowed and took his seat at the right hand of his father. Taking the proffered mug, he knocked back a long swallow and invited the others to join him. "He is a Sapphire Knight, Father!"
The King's aged eyes widened. "By Udrid's beard! A pleasure, a pleasure indeed! What brings you to Gimrak, Sir Knight?"
-
Shuu bowed and took a seat, his helmet and almost all of his armor, save his chestplate, fading away in a dim, red light that congregated into the red gem of his chestplate. "Indeed, there are a few things that bring me here, M'lord. First of all, I was looking for some information on the blue metal my armor is made of, as the previous Sapphire Knights are unaware of where it came from." He explained, tapping the jewel in his chestplate. "And the only information I could get from the Sharpened Heart said that I would find more about it here."
-
"Wait if you're the 88th Sapphire Knight and the first was around since a really long time ago how could the current knights not know about the metal by now?" Sakura pondered. "Seems kind of odd to me."
-
"One of the knights probably wasn't able to pass on all the information before he died. Or records were destroyed. Or... both," Fxeni chimed in as he entered the room. He held up a pad full of notes. "Excuse my intrusion. I tallied the resources we're going to need for Heimdall, as you requested."
(I figured there would have been discussions made for this sort of thing already, so to quicken the pace along a bit there's a list of things we'll need for the trip.)
-
"How much is there?" Calien asked.
-
"Like Fxeni said, the information didn't get passed along at one point and the first apparently had a bad habit of not taking notes." Shuu replied to Sakura, sighing. "But, then again, they had collected enough of the blue metal to last this long, so I suppose it didn't matter until now."
-
"Damn that guy may not be a good note taker but he sure sounds like a badass to get that much metal." Sakura replied "Then again since he also saw the Omni-Gem who knows how long ago he must have had some kind of flying machine to store it. Still getting that much must have taken some diligence."
-
"Enough food to last the trip and a few more days. Furs that we could use to make clothes on the way there, due to the climate. Medical supplies, since we're bound to need them, supplies to repair the airship if it gets damaged, and a few other things," Fxeni said, reading off the list he had put together.
-
"Figured as much, Sakura's strange sewing machine is going to see a lot of use." Calien sighed "My fingers are getting stiff again just thinking about it.
I also had the Black Smith start making some Armor for me, Sakura and Aya. Considering what's up ahead we'll need it."
-
Riagan gave a slow nod and conversed briefly with the King. He addressed the group again. "I'll summon our quartermaster to acquire the items you need. We can supply you with up to two weeks worth of goods, without depleting our own stores. The North is a long journey, even with your flying machine. Last word from our scouts revealed storm systems, so your travels will become difficult."
-
"I see lots of turbulence in our future." Sakura sighed "Lots of turbulence."
-
((PB, if you want to take Riagan back, go ahead. Any input on the Sapphire Knights would require aspects of Riagan's thoughts that I don't know about anyway.))
-
(I will eventually. Work is still pretty busy. Today is a day off, but I need a couple before I'm ready to RP again!)
-
Shuu thought for a moment. "Maybe Susanoo can help keep things steady... Since lightning, wind, and water are his departments..."
[Technically, the daemon in question is just lightning and water, but since lightning magic here is an offshoot of wind magic, it's not too big a stretch, right?]
-
(Snow Warning activate!)
Freeze Master and Blizzard Master finally reached the outskirts of Heimdall, conveniently there was a small hilly range to camp out on.
"Freezzzzzzzzzzzzzze... Such a quaint town... It will look lovely when iced over completely..."
"And then we can go skiing?"
As Freeze Master stared at Blizzard Master for that question, a sudden gust of wind blew past them. Looking up, they saw a flying airship slowly stopping towards their location.
"Looks like Shadow was right... Freezzzzzzzzze..."
The airship started to descend, but didn't land. It just hovered above the two Masters heads, as a ramp lowered down from the underbelly of the airship. Sounds of engines revving could be heard, and soon, humanoids riding on what looked like Fxeni's Cheval sped down the ramp.
"Oh! That looks fun! But not as fun as skiing me thinks."
Freeze Master facepalmed as the humanoids lined up in formation.
"Freezzzzzzze... Time for some FREEZZZZZZZZZZE!"
Freeze Master began to charge energy around the hole in his torso, while Blizzard Master began to spin like a giant ball would. Strong winds began to blow into Heimdall, as Freeze Master fired his charged energy into the sky, resulting in a massive amount of snow to fall onto the town.
"And now... We wait... Freezzzzzzzze..."
-
"Enough food to last the trip and a few more days. Furs that we could use to make clothes on the way there, due to the climate. Medical supplies, since we're bound to need them, supplies to repair the airship if it gets damaged, and a few other things," Fxeni said, reading off the list he had put together.
"Boy, you really thought of everything, Mr. Fxeni. How many days of travel until we make it to High Doll?" Pema asked, taking a bite of mutton afterwards.
-
((Pema is still adorable XD))
-
((Good time to crash the party! 8D))
-
Aya and the Professor finally catch up with the party, they wait a moment for Sakura and the others to notice. "I've managed to to trace a shard of the omni-gem everyone!" She smiles looking rather proud of herself.
-
"Oh really where is it?" Sakura asked.
-
"I feel the shard is in a community to the north, I sense a lot of other mana there too, I'll be able to pin point it if we get closer though."
-
"Okay so our plans for now probably won't change too much since we were going to head North anyway." Sakura nodded. "We were think of starting at a place called Heimdall."
"Speaking of the North, Aya, how well does someone like you handle cold, particularly when it's snowing?" Calien asked. "Also did the Spoon helped with the 'Bug Bite'?"
-
"I, I do, I do have some salves for that... err, b-bug bite, if needed..." the Professor spoke up, stumbling over his words. The image of Aya acquiring the mark returned to his mind and he cringed.
-
"Eh you would need either a cold or warm compress for something like that, since it causes a swelling. So I've heard at least." Calien nodded.
"Why do you know how to treat this bug bite so well dad?" Sakura asked him.
Calien blushed at the question Sakura asked him in response.
"Oh uh well....." Calien said caught off guard as he rubbed the back of his head "I heard about it in the human settlement I was in many years ago......."
"Doesn't sound like you just 'heard about it'." Sakura countered. "Sounds more like you got one."
"You could say that......." Calien laughed nervously "I just don't want to explain it right now, it's too embarrassing."
-
"I don't really feel the cold, so don't worry about me; as for the bite well--it's fine."
-
"Given that you heal much faster than us the bite should be gone by a couple of days so you don't have to worry." Calien said still blushing in embarrassement "Also Professor do you have any equipment for the cold or do I need to make you some."
-
The Professor nodded. "I have a cloak. We do have, we do have seasons, and, and m-members will sometimes go on m-missions, which take them to, to different climates. I do, I do have a cloak, for cooler weather."
-
"Good, my fingers thank you both." Calien nodded though still red.
"Oh Prof by the way I heard some things you might be interested in, it's about Hob Goblins!" Sakura smiled.
-
The Professor's eyes widened and he quickly took a seat at the table. "What? What?? What about them?"
Meanwhile, Riagan was conversing with another Dwarf and giving them a list of supplies.
-
"Well you were wondering if they were Fae earlier and the answer is yes they are Fae!" Sakura answered "Since they are Fae they also have a common weakness to Iron so you should avoid touching Iron like from Epee's new Horseshoes."
(I'll say the next parts next post so it flows better and the Prof doesn't get overloaded thinking about it.)
-
"Boy, you really thought of everything, Mr. Fxeni. How many days of travel until we make it to High Doll?" Pema asked, taking a bite of mutton afterwards.
Fxeni looked over at Pema. He momentarily thought of inquiring about where the mutton came from, but he decided against it.
"Two or three days, I reckon. We could probably do it faster but it would depend on the weather, which tends to be a bit more unstable the further north we go," Fxeni replied.
-
"I'm... I'm fae...? Doll M-master... they, they said I was a... hobgoblin." The Professor dropped his gaze to the polished surface of the table and studied his reflection. He touched the tip of his nose and then examined his profile.
After a moment of inspection, he glanced up. "My master... he said I wasn't human... nor an elf. But, but, but he n-never said what I was. He said it didn't m-matter. He... he... he said I was his son..."
-
"Professor--does it matter what you are? In the end you are our friend, thats all that really matters." She places a hand on his shoulder as the news sinks in.
-
"Indeed, that is all that matters. In my travels, I have met many people that are far less... human... than you are Prof, for a lack of a better word," Fxeni chimes in.
-
"Your Master was a really good man, and to be honest it doesn't matter to me either since you're my friend too. But I know how much this has been bothering you since even before Doll Master taunted you about it and I want to help you because you're my friend.
Also believe it or not I also might have an explanation of how and why he found you. One of the Dwarves told me about it, along with the other thing I learned." Sakura told him.
"Even if it doesn't matter what he is, it can be very worrying on a personal level not to know where one comes from or what one is." Calien told Aya "I can tell you that if I had no idea what I was.....some of the aspects about myself would probably be terrifying."
-
"Perhaps, but it's what you do that determines who you are not what you are born or made as, if we all knew would it change anything?"
-
"That would depend on the individual." Calien stated "To be honest I have heard of a story about such a person who's parents died so he had to be raised by a different race. The results....were heart wrenching at times....."
[spoiler]Link from Ocarina of Time obviously.[/spoiler]
-
Fxeni looked over at Pema. He momentarily thought of inquiring about where the mutton came from, but he decided against it.
"Two or three days, I reckon. We could probably do it faster but it would depend on the weather, which tends to be a bit more unstable the further north we go," Fxeni replied.
(And given the outside interference, way more unstable than usual~ 8D)
-
"I, I just want to know something. Just something. It would give my studies focus," the Professor nodded, glancing up again. Of course, knowing what he was wouldn't change who he was, but he would feel better with a little light shed on his identity. Throughout his years, the Order had sheltered and secluded him due to his looks, but they wouldn't say why. They didn't tell him what he was or why it was a problem. It confused him and he hoped to find an answer some day.
-
"I wouldn't know about parents--I don't even have a soul, I'm a vessel remember?" Aya shrugs. "Anyway, perhaps we'll find out the truth as we travel; Arcadia is full of secrets waiting to be unveiled.
((Guardians are soulless vessels since they need to be empty for the gods or in the case of Mar a soul of some sort to inhabit it. But who knows if thats true of Aya anymore, how much of the Aya you know is really her or Reva talking? 8D ))
-
Pema paused for a moment, then looked at the Prof, "I am interested in what you are, too. But at the same time, I wouldn't mind not knowing. Who you are... you're whatever you create yourself to be."
She idly twirled with her bangs, "The adorable, cuddly monk who says really weird science-y stuff and is kind to us! You chose to be that person and to be our friend. So... that counts as an identity, doesn't it? I mean, it has to count for something." She smiled, swinging her short little legs back and forth in her seat.
Fxeni looked over at Pema. He momentarily thought of inquiring about where the mutton came from, but he decided against it.
"Two or three days, I reckon. We could probably do it faster but it would depend on the weather, which tends to be a bit more unstable the further north we go," Fxeni replied.
She pouted, "I really hope it doesn't take three whole days..."
-
"Well the Dwarf said that Hob Goblins, and Fae in general it seems, had a habit of switching their babies with human babies at birth. The Fae baby switched with the Human Baby is called a Changling." Sakura explained.
"Wait....they switch babies.....why would they do that?" Calien interrupted as he felt disturbed by this practice since he was a father himself.
"It seems Faes are envious of humans and their lifestyles so they felt they would give their baby a better life if they switched with a human." Sakura replied.
"Huh....that's an unusual way of thinking." Calien pondered as he had a hard time believing that, especially with his experiences and things he heard he had a hard time justifying that in his mind.
"But there is a way to get them to switch back, the human has to mistreat the Cahngling baby so the Fae parent will rescue their baby and switch with the human baby they took. Otherwise they raise each others babies, in the end the Fae parents just wants whats best for their babies, though I don't know how well the Fae raise human babies....." Sakura pondered a bit.
"I honestly don't know if there would be many human who would willingly raise a baby that wasn't theirs in exchange for losing their own child. I'm sure there's some exceptions, especially if the human parenst aren't very aware of this process, but in this day and age I think that would be 1 in 100, if not 1 in 1000." Calien shook his head "Sorry I'm rambling and I'm sure you had more to tell about this."
"Indeed I do." Sakura nodded "The Dwarf said there was a Hob Goblin tribe close to here that does such a thing. One day many years ago they switched their baby with one from a family from Iron Gate. Now here's the kicker, instead of mistreating the poor thing to get their baby back the human family decided to outright abandon the poor thing in the hills! I get the feeling they didn't know about the tales of Changlings like we didn't before I learned it today."
"Probably....still the humans were pretty cruel to the Changling in the end since they didn't choose to raise it and left the poor thing without it's parents. That's why the whole switching babies from birth thing bothers me a bit." Calien stated.
"Yeah it sounds really tragic but considering the circumstances and how the Prof's Master found him it could be plausible that the Changling from the story could be the Prof right?" Sakura stated.
"It could be, but we don't know for sure, anything else you learned?" Calien asked.
"Well other than Hob Goblins being really good at Magic not much." Sakura stated. "Oh and to prevent the switch in the first place put a Horsehoe above the crib."
"I see." Calien nodded.
-
"So, I'm... I'm a changeling..." the Professor nodded slowly, allowing Sakura's words to roll around in his head.
Though, there was something prior that Sakura mentioned that he wanted more clarification. "What, what was it, what was it that you said about, about iron?"
-
"The Hob Goblins and Fae in general are weak to it." Sakura repeated "I don't exactly know what it does to them, you or someone else has to ask about it, but you should stay away from it or bad things will happen."
-
[The question about the blue metal wasn't answered, was it? o3o;; ]
-
(Nope.)
-
Shuu cleared his throat before turning to the king. "So, do you know anything about the blue metal?" He asked, a scrap of the blue metal appearing in his hand in a flicker of red light.
-
((I'm trying to think of how to answer it! XD))
Riagan finally spoke up. "I have only seen what our smelters produce. You know that metal doesn't occur in sheets, young man."
He and the King laughed and he took a drink of his mead. "We have an ore that when smelt and finished will produce a blue sheen such as that, but the process is long and very, very difficult, and the ore is scarce."
"Indeed, our mines were swiftly depleted years ago when we first struck it," the King added.
"And as for fae weakness to iron... Cold iron burns and weakens the fae. It draws out their magic. If you want to prevent entry to your home, you hang up a horseshoe. Fae are repelled by it."
-
"So yeah avoid it like the plauge." Sakura nodded.
-
Riagan fumbled with something in a pouch and put a ring around his finger. He walked over to the Professor, grabbed his scrawny arm with one hand and pressed the ring against the bare skin with the other.
The Professor yanked his arm away with a shout and rubbed at the burn mark. "What was that, what was that?!"
Riagan took the ring off his finger and looked to the others while putting it back in his pocket. "You have a fae. A weak one, but fae skin burns the same."
-
"Ouch guess that was made of Iron." Sakura winched "Yeah definitely stay away from Epee's feet too or else that happens. Though what is that ring anyway Riagan?"
"Professor do you need me to treat that?" Calien asked "Come to think of it I realize I need to re bandage your hands again too."
-
"Sometimes, fae can disguise themselves. Wear the ring and shake hands with a disguised fae and it breaks their spell," Riagan said simply.
The Professor looked at the burn mark, but it was little more than a red, inflamed mark, so it wasn't a concern for him. Looking over to Calien, he shook his head. "Just, just the b-bandages need changed..."
-
"Right I'll change them right away after dinner." Calien nodded.
"Huh, I guess that explains how a Changling might be undetected initially." Sakura pondered "Even with my eyes I don't think I can tell the difference if it's shapeshifting. If it's an illusion spell that's another story."
-
Shuu seemed a little crestfallen by the revelation about the metal. "I figured it was a rare ore and a tricky process..." He sighed. "Well, I still have plenty of time to figure it out. After all, I only just started this job, I'll be at it for a long time yet."
-
"Is iron the fae's only weakness?" Pema scratched her head.
-
"Rowan wood can break a faerie's glamour. Boiling eggshells will break a changeling's glamour. Surround your home in a circle of salt, and the fae will not cross it. But your best bet be iron. You can kill a fae with enough of it." Riagan's gaze went to the Professor for a brief moment before it returned to Pema.
"Turn around thrice widdershins, spit, and touch iron," a barmaid leaned in to fill Pema's mug, "that'll keep the fae away from yer spirit."
((Bah! Forgot who asked.))
-
"Okay so no hard boiled eggs for the Prof." Calien stated as he suddenly pulled out a note pad and started to write it down, however his writting was not in the language which was spoken by everyone but rather something foreign. "And I am familiar with Rowan trees and their wood, there's a few in the forest I live in, so I'll make sure he stays away from that. Used to be a woodcutter when I was living in that human settlement."
-
"But, but, but... I have eaten hardboiled eggs. It's a staple of the--errr.... my, my organization," the Professor seemed confused.
Riagan cleared his throat. "Glamour is what fae use to appear human. If you boil eggshells, the changeling will ridicule you for it, thus breaking the spell."
He looked at the Professor again, and then to Calien. "Your fae has no glamour. That's why you see it as itself. Its magic is weak."
-
"Okay I misunderstood that one." Calien nodded as he changed his notes "So we don't have to worry about that or the Wood."
"What does Widdershins mean?" Sakura pondered.
"I think it's counter clockwise?" Calien replied with a bit of hesitation "I rarely hear that word, though I did hear some children sing it as a nursery ryhme once back in the day and they were turning counter clockwise. It was almost exactly the way the barmaid said too. Even though I am mostly fluent with this language I suppose there are quite a few terms I am still not familiar with."
"I guess that makes sense since this is your second language." Sakura nodded.
-
Pema hopped out of her seat, mug in hand, and occupied an empty chair next to the Prof, "Hey, are you feeling okay? You seem lost in thought."
She placed a comforting hand on the Prof's shoulder.
"I don't blame him. These things must be difficult for him to hear," Salem piped up.
-
"Just give him some time to let the information sink in." Sakura stated "To be honest it would be difficult for anyone to accept so much shocking information at once. But he had to know, and it's what he's been wanting for a while at least. It's especially fortunate that we know now considering we weren't even aware of his Iron weakness until now."
-
Shuu was, by this point, enjoying some food. Though, he was also thinking while he ate, wondering just how many daemons would be making their presence known to the world with the Omni Gem broken and scattered.
[I should probably take this moment to point out that, under his armor, Shuu wears brown trousers, a blue tunic, and shoes made from a faded, dark blue hide of some sort.]
-
(I think you somehow snuck in Shuu's beta name there, Jase.)
-
[OOPS! Jase is an entirely different character, who I've been playing as elsewhere. >>;
Fixed now.]
-
(TWO-TIMER! :W)
-
(Doesn't Quickie do Tumbler RPs?)
-
(Different Prof! :W)
-
Pema hopped out of her seat, mug in hand, and occupied an empty chair next to the Prof, "Hey, are you feeling okay? You seem lost in thought."
She placed a comforting hand on the Prof's shoulder.
"I don't blame him. These things must be difficult for him to hear," Salem piped up.
"Oh! Oh, oh, I'm fine. Just, just thinking. We should soon, we should soon prepare to embark on our journey. I've, I've made, I've made a large supply of p-potions and m-my explosives, but, but, b-but I'll need access to more supplies later," the Professor didn't look up and just took a drink from his mug.
After a moment, he turned around in his seat and lifted his robe up to his knee, revealing the brace. He placed his bare skin against the metal support bars, but didn't react to it. "Methinks... methinks the iron content of this m-must be low..."
((And yes, I do Tumblr RPs, along with offline tabletop RPs.))
-
"Yeah Riagan said they can provide us with about 2 weeks of supplies and the smithy is making some armor for me, Daddy, and Aya." Sakura told him "Everything's being taken care of, just eat and rest for now."
-
[Speaking of tabletop rps, I found a site where you can play those... I feel like I said this before...]
-
"Yeah Riagan said they can provide us with about 2 weeks of supplies and the smithy is making some armor for me, Daddy, and Aya." Sakura told him "Everything's being taken care of, just eat and rest for now."
"Oh! Oh, good. Good. When, when do we leave? I'd like, I'd like to prepare. I have many documents, many texts, yes." the Professor nodded.
Meanwhile, Riagan reached up and removed a horseshoe that hung above the King's chair. He walked over to the Professor and pressed the horseshoe against his bare skin. The Professor yelled and jumped out of reach, falling off the bench and onto the floor. The horseshoe left a dark red mark on his leg.
Riagan gave a nod, satisfied with the results and looked to Sakura. "My ring has a lower iron content than this horseshoe. That fae's brace has a much lower iron content than my ring, possibly less than 80%. You want at least a three-fourths iron content to be effective in repelling fae."
Turning, he walked back over to his chair and hung the horseshoe back up.
The Professor, meanwhile, threw a startled look to Riagan, but gathered his composure and climbed back into his seat. He was used to using himself as a test subject for his various experiments, and the Order had also used him from time to time to test the efficacy of various religious items, so he wasn't entirely surprised. However, Riagan's casual attitude irked him, and he would much prefer he be warned next time he was used for demonstration.
Muttering something unintelligible under his breath, he took a swallow of his drink and put up his hood; his standard show of wanting to be left alone.
-
"Riagan that's enough!" Sakura shouted "Why did you do that again when we had enough of a demonstration with the Ring, you could have just told us about the effects of objects with higher contents of Iron instead of giving the Prof a more serious wound! Don't do that again, he's our friend!"
"Prof are you okay, that looks pretty nasty." Calien said softly as he grimaced at the mark.
-
Pema darted a glare at Riagan, and slammed her hand against the table, "That wasn't very nice, Mr. Riagan! The Professor has already been through a lot!"
She turned to the Prof, briefly glancing at the burn. She leaned in closer, "Don't worry, if he tries anything like that again, I'll whack him good with Salem."
Pema flicked her index finger against the top of the staff and nodded her head reassuringly.
(Gah, ninja'd)
-
The King didn't object to the abuse, and Riagan's eyes darkened as he took a swallow of his drink. Once he was finished, he finally addressed it. "You've obviously never been involved in a goblin siege."
The King nodded. "We've been under siege quite a few times from the local tribes. What outsiders fail to realize is that the Fair Folk are not nice people.."
Riagan nodded and gestured to the party. "You've seen it yourselves in the towns, no doubt! The depictions of fairies as beautiful and peaceful nature sprites! We've seen it with the human caravans. The humans, they can't see the Hidden People. They only know of their glamour."
"Fae Folk snatch children as their own or even as slaves. If they can't take children, they'll take women! Three of our women had been spirited away, and only one was returned! And she gave birth to a fae!" The King added.
"Our people will be taken by fey moods and withdraw from society. If we're lucky, they only create these strange artifacts and soon return to their senses. Otherwise... they go stark raving mad. One Dwarf had killed two others due to a fey mood! The Fae played him like a puppet, and I had no choice but to strike him down and end his suffering!" Riagan was on his feet once more as he pantomimed his actions.
He sat down and lowered his voice. "I didn't recognize your fae as one of the Hidden People because it doesn't have its glamour. It has the stink of humans."
-
"And you think that just because the Prof is a Hob Goblin means that he's like them?!" Sakura shouted at them though tears had started to creep up on her eyes "I understand the Fae had hurt you guys, and to be honest such things can't be forgiven, but the Prof has nothing to do with them! Don't take your anger out on him, he's done nothing wrong, he's not like them or the Order, he's one of the nicest kindest people I know."
Sakura couldn't contain her tears as she fell to her knees crying.
"Just please, please don't hurt him any more than he already has, please, he's our friend, he's not like them, he's not!"
Calien sat silently as he felt he shouldn't say anything just yet, he needed to think.
-
Shuu sighed. He didn't make any verbal objection to the abuse of the Professor, as he only JUST joined the group and only really knew everyone by name only, but it was very clear on his face that he didn't appreciate bearing witness to it. "I can understand a prejudice you may have against particular groups of people that have done your people wrong..." He sighed. "Some peoples more than others... But the guy didn't even know he was of the fae until a few minutes ago."
-
Aya steps forward. "That is enough, Fae our not the professor is my friend and I will not stand for his abuse any further, if you wish to try you must go through me Riagan. Are you're people willing to make an enemy of the gods over spite?" Aya's tone was much darker than she normally spoke, down right scary along side her confident posture.
---Meanwhile back in Skull Cove On the city street where Rigian and the others battled Doll Master...
Wind blows through the empty street, the fires has long died down but it seems the town has simply been abandoned in the wake of the destruction...Doll Master's mask remains where the villain was struck down, suddenly a dark aura emits from it and the mask begins to shake as Mask Master appears before it. "Maria--our master beckons." Mask Master mutters as the dark aura grows in size.
((Maria was the name of the arcadian who's soul was transferred into Doll Master when Mar Made her. Arius is Mask Master's name too by the way. Also DUN DUN DUUUUN 8D ))
-
(I like this Dun dun duuuuuuunnnnnnn. 8D)
-
((I really hope no one really thought I intended to let Doll Master be killed off so early? XD Riagan has a rival now I'd imagine though! 8D ))
-
(Yeah I'm not surprised by Doll Master coming back.)
-
"That's no excuse! The Professor isn't like them!" Pema shouted, "That doesn't give you the right to harm our friend... your friend. I thought you were one of us, Mr. Riagan... I wanted to believe that!" the tone of her voice went hollow.
"I'm afraid my brother speaks truthfully, young Pema," A deep voice suddenly filled the room.
She turned around in her seat, facing the direction to the person speaking. It only took her a moment to distinguish the Dwarf walking towards the party, "Mr. Zilpher?"
"You've never bore witness to what the Fae are capable of; to what they have done. They decieve, manipulate and lack any value for other lives," Zilpher rested his Axe on his shoulder and stood beside Riagan, "The Fae cannot be trusted."
Pema went silent. She tipped her mug slightly and stared blankly at the frothy concoction inside, "Not you too, Mr. Zilpher... You can't seriously believe all that..." Her voice trembled and her head lowered.
Zilpher briefly closed his eyes and opened them again, "You are young. Lacking the cultural experience to understand what true suffering is. Our sorrow. Our actions that we must take, uninhibited and for the preservation of our people."
He stepped closer to her, "You have a good heart, Pema. Healthy. Pure. However, more often than not, it takes a broken and tempered one to decipher the truth. All my brethren and sisters bear the burden of loss. We've opened our eyes to what the Fae truly are."
Pema slumped in her chair, teeth gritted and nails grinding against the oak wood table. She descended from her seat and paced slowly towards Sakura, squeezing her friend's hand tight, "Ms. Sakura..." She whispered and pressed her forehead against Sakura's, closing her eyes.
Pema then faced Zilpher and waked towards him, a tear rolling down her cheek. She was mere inches from him and met his gaze. Her eyes were sharp, her posture acute.
"I don't need age or experience to know what you're doing is wrong. The Professor CAN be trusted. You should be ashamed of yourself... You all should!" She seethed.
-
The King let out a long, low, and loud breath. "Your hobgoblin was raised by humans in a human society. He is an exception. However, I want you to remember that. You can put your trust in him, but don't assume that all fae will be like him."
Riagan nodded. "I will carry protection against the fae. All fae. I will leave yours alone, as it's obviously not very powerful. If we enter a battle, I will fight by your side. I will fight to defend all you, including your fae."
He took a slow drink. "It will take some work on your friend's part, however, to get me to change my mind."
-
"We won't, to be honest the Fae do sound like a dangerous lot." Calien stated "However I don't see why you antagonize him when he's risked his life for your brothers, and without him Aya would still be Alberto's play thing. What more does he have to do?"
Sakura stopped crying but didn't get up from the floor just yet, she was deep in thought as she understood why Riagan was upset but didn't want him to be angry at the Prof. She didn't know what to do.
-
"Do not mistreat my friend again, and all shall be forgiven. As for the other Fae, I understand your misgivings." Aya says sternly to the king.
-
The King nodded and cleared his throat. "My son was merely demonstrating to you what iron can do to a fae. He wanted to make you aware of this. As you have seen, steel can be handled by fae, provided the iron count is low. There are goblin blacksmiths. Faeries have employed edged weapons."
"If you are to partner with a fae, you had best know their weakness to the fullest extent. Even your fae didn't know. That's why I showed you." Riagan cut in.
-
Pema glared at Riagan, "Stop. Talking!" She turned to him and took one step closer.
"Pema, just let it go... I know it's hard, and I don't agree with it, either, but please." Salem spoke firmly, sensing her mana level increase rapidly throughout this confrontation.
She paused and nodded, walking back to Sakura and falling to her knees, "Can you get up, Ms. Sakura? I'm not leaving your side. I know you wouldn't leave mine." She smiled with a slight sniffle.
-
Sakura looked at Pema and then back at Riagan.
"I'm not getting up until you apologize to the Prof, the Ring was enough of a proper demonstration for us but the Horse Shoe was too far." Sakura said sternly "The Prof has a serious burn now because of you, and you also created more work for Daddy. So I want you to apologize to him, that's the least you can do."
-
The daemon tablets slotted in Shuu's chestplate started glowing, sensing Pema's building mana. One in particular looking to be ready to release themselves into the room and onto the table. This topic was obviously a source of contention, and he felt that if it went on any longer, Pema's mana might attract some unwanted attention to the dwarves.
Clearing his throat particularly loudly, Shuu stood up and bowed to the king. "I apologize for any damages done to your mines in the earlier scuffle with that daemon. One of the daemons that are contracted to me decided it would be fun to antagonize them."
[He's trying to change the topic before Hellhound decides to make an appearance.]
-
Pema smiled at Sakura's remark and sat right beside her.
-
Riagan was silent for a very long moment. Finally, he sucked in his breath and looked directly at the Professor. "Apologies, as my demonstration had caused harm. My intent was to broaden the knowledge of your cohorts."
The Professor merely gave a nod and took a swallow of his drink.
-
"Good." Sakura smiled sincerely as she got back up "Come on Pema let's finish eating, I know you're not nearly full yet."
-
Pema nodded and glanced at Zilpher, who simply had his arms crossed, staring off elsewhere.
Focusing her attention back to the table, she climbed to her seat and continued the meal.
-
Riagan finished his drink and left the hall.
The King watched him leave and sighed.
-
Sakura glanced back at Riagan as well wondering if there was something else on his mind that was bothering him.
-
Shuu sighed and sat back down, thankful things had been resolved. That was close. Hellhound would've only made things worse... He thought, going back to eating.
-
((More of I screwed up on his character a bit and I wanted to get him out of there. :P))
The Professor remained silent as he folded his arms on the tabletop and buried his face in them. He had learned so much in such a short amount of time that he needed a moment to sort through it. He learned his identity and he learned his weakness--a weakness which he didn't realize was specific only to him. He and his master worked with iron from time to time, and he knew it burned him, so he wore gloves. His master also wore gloves, so he assumed it simply to be a property of the material.
-
(Yeah it's a bit weird since after he hit the Prof when they first met he wanted to apologize to him after the Dwarves accepted the group. It seems a little out of character, especially the part with the Horse Shoe, even if everything else makes sense.)
-
Pema continued to eat her meal, though at a sluggish pace, devoid of her usual vigor.
She was never on good terms with Riagan since the Doll Master slaying, but now? Well, now, she wasn't sure if she could ever trust him again. Not simply because of how he treated the Professor, but rather the inevitable actions that this man will take.
This is how he is. She could never dream to understand a person like Riagan.
-
The Professor finally lifted his head and removed his hood. His drink had been refilled by the barmaid and he helped himself to it. There was a basket of rolls before him and he took one and bit into it. Chewing the mouthful, he risked a glimpse at the burn mark on his leg. The pain had since subsided and the redness was starting to go away.
"Magic wounds heal differently..." he said that mostly to himself as he dropped his robe over his legs and returned to his partially-eaten roll.
-
Sakura sighed as she returned to eating her meal. She was very worried about Riagan and his behavior, but she felt it wasn't the right time to talk to him. He clearly needed to be alone right now, and she wasn't close enough to him to help him yet.
-
Fxeni remained silent throughout the whole ordeal. It allowed him to get a full picture of the party. He watched as Riagan walked off, and turned his gaze on everyone else. The majority were more naive than he had initially thought. When the time would eventually come, would they be able to do what needs to be done?
With a sigh, Fxeni silently got up and walked out after Riagan as everyone else was occupied.
(Alright so, since I missed everything, here's Fxeni being silent again. Now with some sort of purpose! I guess.)
-
After losing her appetite at the commotion happening before her; Toshi got up and left, but decided not to follow Riagan. Despite her urge to murder the guy on the spot, she felt she needed to clear her mind and focus on more pressing matters.
As she made her way outside; Grifter, in his spirit form appeared, roosting on her shoulder.
Grifter - "You know, I wouldn't of hesitated to run that bastard down. Hell, I wouldn't of cared if the king was watching. There's no way I'd let some [dark hold] treat the little guy like some lab rat experiment. I'd keep an eye on that one if I were you. Something about him really pisses me off."
Toshi remained silent, nodding her head forward as a tear suddenly dripped from her face.
(Just adding some filler, since I got nothing better to do with her right now, other than dressing her in a more winter themed outfit. But thank goodness Toshi never summoned any of her familiars to the table, otherwise things would of gotten worse than it is already.)
-
((Oh goodness, yes, she needs winter clothing!))
-
(I've already provided a suggestion on what it should look like in the Supplement thread. Still wondering who she'd go to, to provide/weave/knit one for her.)
-
"I'm sorry, I lost my appetite." Sakura sighed as she got up from the table.
"You going to go back to your quarters?" Calien asked.
"I think I need to go for a walk." Sakura replied "Need to clear my head."
"Okay....." Calien nodded.
Sakura exited the dining hall deciding to follow Fxeni.
(Yeah I changed my mind here.)
-
(Wait, so now she's on Riagan's side?)
-
(No, she's not, but that doesn't mean she's not worried about him. Riagan does have some points, but his anger blinds him. That's what's she's worried about. She's also feels bad since she can see he was honestly trying to help, but went too far, not to mention the tragedy the Fae caused the Dwarves.
Sakura beyond all else wants her friends to not fight, she knows the Prof is scared of him and she knows Pema likes him even less now. However they still have to work together, and she doesn't want them to fall apart. She doesn't just care about Pema and the Prof very much, she cares about Riagan too, so she's conflicted.
Not to mention she's seen how Riagan acted in the Watch Tower. She seen him treat the Prof with concern and even worry in the Watch Tower when the Prof was going nuts from hallucinations she's wondering if that was still evident in him or not. Even before that she's seen how he wanted to handle the Watch Tower alone and not let his guests come to harm. She sees that he cares about people, but he cares too much and gets too angry if they come to harm.
As Calien said it seems odd that he's acting this way even though the Prof risked his life, and sanity, to try to help Riagan. Even though the Prof couldn't do much, his actions were still there.
Sakura doesn't see in Black and White like someone like Pema, though the bad guys are still mostly black to her, she sees the grey as well, like when she learned more about the Order from the Professor their grey lighten slightly, very slightly but it is lighter. Riagan is a lighter shade of grey, he believes in Justice but at the same time his Justice is very near sighted, while the Order is still a very dark grey to her, though they might get a darker grey as the story gets on.
So it's not that she's taken Riagan's side, ie the abuse of the Prof was justifided, she's worried about Riagan because despite all this she still thinks of Riagan as a friend, a misguided friend but a friend. So yeah that's it.
I really should retcon the post before that but it could be that she doesn't know Fxeni is going to see Riagan.)
-
Pema hopped out of her seat and ran after Sakura, "Wait, where are you going?"
-
"I just need to take a walk." Sakura sighed "....I have a lot on my mind."
-
"Oh..." Pema rubbed her arm, "It's about Mr. Riagan, isn't it? Ugh, I can't believe he would do that to the poor Professor..."
"His actions may have been unwarranted, however, I can see why he went through with it..." Salem sighed.
Her eyes widened and darted a glare at Salem, "Now you're on his side? I thought you told me that you didn't agree with what he did!"
"Failing to agree and not seeing reason are two entirely different beasts," He stated simply.
Pema hunched over, shaking her head, "... Mr. Zilpher said I was too young to understand. I didn't have the experience. Do you think... he's right about me? Will I be left out because of it?"
Salem went silent, thinking of what to say.
-
"What do you mean left out?" Sakura asked.
-
Fxeni caught up with Riagan, who was looking out at the city below as he leaned against the railing. He decided to join him in silence; he knew better than to press a dwarf into talking against his will.
His thoughts swirled in his head as he gazed out beyond the railing. If they were to succeed in their quest they would need to be firm and not waver, even if it meant doing things that would go against their judgement. If it was for the greater good.
He let out a small sigh. He hadn't worked in a group for a while, after what had happened in the past. His previous group's conviction had wavered, and they paid the price for it. He wasn't about to let it happen again with this one.
-
"Your friends lack discipline."
Riagan didn't look at Fxeni as he spoke, his gaze on the Dwarves milling about below.
-
"Agreed," Fxeni replied, not looking at Riagan either. "We've been dallying here for too long, giving the upper hand to the enemy."
-
Riagan gave a slow nod. "When we were rescuing your friend, I gained valuable insight into how you operate as a group. And... I do have to admit that despite the difficulty your fae was having, he did show initiative."
He was quiet for a moment as he let that compliment drop and he finally looked at Fxeni. "The elven girl, Sakura... is she the party leader? Do you have a party leader? For effectiveness in battle, you need to have a leader. Your disorganization is from your group's utter lack of any sort of leadership."
-
Fxeni contemplated for a moment, thinking back upon the events from the forest up to now. He shook his head.
"No, we don't really have one. Everyone kind of did their own thing. It kind of worked for a while, albeit with injuries aplenty along the way. Mar was completely different though, he tossed us aside like the riffraff we were. We need to kick it up a notch," Fxeni replied as he looked over at Riagan.
"The only problem is, we need everyone to be able to drop their egos for the greater good. This isn't a unit of mercenaries or military; these are mostly civilians. It won't be easy to get everyone to gel together." Fxeni looked down at the railing, flicking a loose rock from the top of it.
-
Riagan nodded in agreement. "With a proper leader, your group will fall in line. I've witnessed dillydallying, over-planning, complete lack of initiative, people breaking down at the slightest provocation, and your weakest members taking point."
He returned his gaze to the chasm. "In the mead hall, I witnessed another detriment; emotions. Rampant emotions." His eyes met Fxeni's once more. "You have friends who will collapse and weep at only the barest of provocation! You saw it for yourself!"
-
"Emotions... emotions are tricky when it comes to controlling mana. Passion can lead to stronger magic... but that magic can be chaotic and unruly. It can serve a purpose; but I agree that in this case it would most likely not," Fxeni answered with a sigh. He thinks back to his training. His master showing him how to control his emotions, along with his mana.
Images of his previous group go through his mind. How they were undone by their emotions.
Then he recalls what happened at Skull Cove; how he let his anger flow. How, in the end, it amounted to nothing. His gaze hardens as images of Skull Cove in flames reappear in his mind. His mind then flits over to Heimdall, his new home. The home that may now be in greater danger than ever. His hand tightens into a fist.
"I am thankful that you have joined us. As displeasing as your demeanor seems to be to the others, it is sorely needed to balance us out," Fxeni said as he got off the railing. "I, for one, appreciate it. If you'll excuse me, I think it's time to set things straight."
With that, Fxeni turns around and walks back towards the mead hall.
-
(Can fxeni run into Sakura?)
-
"What do you mean left out?" Sakura asked.
Pema leaned her back against the wall and receded to the floor.
"I don't know, it's just that sometimes... I feel out of place. I want to participate and understand some of the problems you guys go through, but I'm not really sure if I can understand them completely. Even with Mr. Riagan, maybe... I'm not grasping his side of things as clearly as I should. The truth is, I just want what's best for everyone. For everyone to be happy and get along. Hurting our friends to prove a point, I just can't accept, but... there seems to be more to it. More than I'm capable of seeing..."
"... Or you can see it, but you're resisting not to. You don't give yourself enough credit, Pema. Something of which I've told you, time and time again," Salem spoke up.
Pema stared at him, then glanced at the floor, "I just don't know... Sometimes, I wonder what's right and what's wrong. Can we really be happy or are those days gone...?"
She sighed, burying her head in her sleeves.
-
"The thing is Pema the Truth is often very Grey, it's neither Black or White, or Right or Wrong." Sakura sighed "The Truth hurts but in order to advance you must see and accept things.
For example, while I think that Riagan's anger blinds him at times he does know more than I do about certain things. And as much as it may be hard for you to hear.....I had no problem with the way he handled Doll Master."
-
(Can fxeni run into Sakura?)
(I guess so? He was heading back to where you guys are anyways, but yeah)
-
Pema blinked at Sakura's remark, "You can't seriously believe that, can you?"
"Pema..." Salem said quietly.
She shook her head and stood up from the ground, "Is this who we are? What we've become? If we continue in this way, we'll... we'll be no different from the villains!"
"I'll stop you right there. You know that's not true!" Salem spoke firmly.
Her eyes drifted to Salem, "... How long before people are scared of us? Because of the violent actions we take?"
"It's not that simple..." He stated, an edge to his voice.
She stepped closer to Sakura and looked into her eyes, "Of all people, I thought you would feel the same, Ms. Sakura..." She spoke softly.
The sad truth was, Pema did understand, to a degree. However, something like this was hard to accept. This wasn't how she was raised. She was told to find the light. Keep everyone together.
But at what cost? That much, she never recieved an answer for... until now. And the truth was ugly. Terrifying. When the time comes, would she be ready?
-
Meanwhile, the Professor remained in the mead hall, where the barmaid flirted with him, but he wasn't interested.
-
( XD)
-
(Could use Fxeni right about now.)
"The fact of the matter is if Doll Master didn't die she could have went on to hurt more people like she already had. Some people can't be saved or helped, she was willing to destroy the world because it was 'boring', she treats people as playthings, she was ready to kill me because of a simple observation. She sent children against us, and she took pleasure in hurting people. Do you honestly think that we had a choice?
Not to mention.......if Riagan didn't kill her Daddy would have......" Sakura continued.
Meanwhile, the Professor remained in the mead hall, where the barmaid flirted with him, but he wasn't interested.
(Brilliant.)
-
"Calien would have died, yes. Who knows who else would've died too," Fxeni interjected as he walked down the hall. "The fact of the matter is if we're going to help Aya, we're going to have to do things that are not to our liking. We're going to have to pick up the pace as well. It may be outside of our comfort zone, but it needs to be done."
Fxeni started to continue towards the Mead Hall.
-
"Yeah, I think the Smith should be done with the armor by tomorrow." Sakura told him "What's the soonest time we can make way for the North?"
-
"As soon as that armour is done. We'll have a few days on the airship to make whatever other clothing we'll need with the materials the dwarves give us. I'm going to go speak with the king to make sure everything is in place bright and early tomorrow," Fxeni said as he looked over his shoulder.
"Oh, and Pema... we'll start with the training on the way there, if it still interests you."
-
"I think I'll have Daddy teach me about making Potions and Gossip Charms until he's done with the clothes. I might smell like Mushrooms but it'll be helpful to the team." Sakura nodded.
-
Pema looked at both Fxeni and Sakura.
Her arms grew weak and she rubbed her forehead wearily, then finally, rested her eyes on Salem, "... Do you think Mom knew, Salem?"
"Knew what?" Salem asked.
Her breathing was soft as her mouth curled into a faint smile, her eyes watering, "What I'd have to do, eventually? Not just as a Runemaster, but as someone who wants to protect others. I think maybe... she wanted me to find the light within others, so I wouldn't lose my own. She knew that I'd have to make tough decisions. Decisions that I might not go through with if I hadn't found hope."
She lifted her head, gazing at the two, "There's still good in this world. I've traveled far and wide, made so many amazing friends... I found something worth fighting for. The risk... is worth it."
"Yes, sometimes, that requires sacrifice. But that sacrifice doesn't have to be your soul. You're a good person, Pema; anyone can see that. You're not alone here and you can't allow the choices you make darken your heart," Salem spoke, "Your mother was a wise woman, that much I can certainly attest to."
Pema nodded and placed a hand over her heart, "Mom..." She smiled warmly, then stood from the floor. She brushed off the dirt from her dress and bowed, "I'm sorry, Ms. Sakura. I shouldn't have yelled at you."
"As soon as that armour is done. We'll have a few days on the airship to make whatever other clothing we'll need with the materials the dwarves give us. I'm going to go speak with the king to make sure everything is in place bright and early tomorrow," Fxeni said as he looked over his shoulder.
"Oh, and Pema... we'll start with the training on the way there, if it still interests you."
Pema nodded, "Yeah, definitely!"
-
"Sounds like a good idea to me," Fxeni said with a slight smile. He looked at Pema and nodded at her, then continued making his way to the Mead Hall.
Once there, he approached the king, who was busy conversing with a barmaid.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering if it would be possible to have all the supplies ready by dawn. The faster we get to our destination, the better," Fxeni asks him with a smile.
-
"It's okay Pema, I'm just glad we have an understanding." Sakura smiled "You're a brave person, just like a certain Bunny Man a good friend of my Dad met long ago. Although apparently he thought himself a coward but he was still a very brave man....who was dressed as a Bunny."
-
The whole argument left a bad taste in Aya's mouth and she made her way back to the airship where her bunk was, lying on her bed she felt a chill down her spine as Mask Master approached the mask back in Skull Cove; she sat up and glanced around--things were going to get worse before they got better she thought to herself.
-
"Umm, why was he wearing a Bunny suit?" Pema tilted her head.
-
"Sounds like a good idea to me," Fxeni said with a slight smile. He looked at Pema and nodded at her, then continued making his way to the Mead Hall.
Once there, he approached the king, who was busy conversing with a barmaid.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering if it would be possible to have all the supplies ready by dawn. The faster we get to our destination, the better," Fxeni asks him with a smile.
"Of course! Of course! I'll have our quartermaster resupply your stores as soon as possible. My son will be supplied for the journey, and he can get you the maps your requested. Do you have a cartographer?" The King shooed the barmaid away and sent a member of his entourage to go and hurry the quartermaster.
-
"I think I know someone who would probably be quite good at handling that," Fxeni said as he looked over at the Prof. "Hey Prof! Would you have a moment?"
-
The Professor looked up from mulling over his drink. "Yes? If, if it's, if it's to demonstrate m-my weakness to iron... I, I respectfully decline to participate."
-
(Pema is going to cuddle him so hard, one of these days.)
-
"Because he had to keep his face hidden I guess, he had to do a lot of hard things things people close to him didn't like, but he had to do it.
Some of his actions were weird too, that friend of my Dad I was talking about? The Bunny Man set up a shop in his house, without his permission, but he had his reasons. If he didn't do that then my Dad's friend couldn't have done the things he did to save my Dad's home, and he saved my Dad's friend's life twice before that. Though....they still don't know what happened to his pots......they went missing...." Sakura said with a bit of confusion in herself.
[spoiler]Seriously for those who have A Link Between World look at Link's house after Ravio makes his Shop. THE POTS ARE MISSING![/spoiler]
-
The Professor looked up from mulling over his drink. "Yes? If, if it's, if it's to demonstrate m-my weakness to iron... I, I respectfully decline to participate."
"That's... understandable. It's certainly not that though. Do you think you'd be up to being our cartographer? All the notes I've seen you take have been very detailed, and I'm sure it would suit you greatly," Fxeni called back, trying to avoid the whole iron discussion.
-
The Professor nodded. "Yes, yes, I could do that. Until, until we learned, until we learned of a destination, I was trying to determine the p-possible location of the shards. My, my initial guess was... somewhat close, as, as, as I had seen one shoot toward the north."
-
"Because he had to keep his face hidden I guess, he had to do a lot of hard things things people close to him didn't like, but he had to do it.
Some of his actions were weird too, that friend of my Dad I was talking about? The Bunny Man set up a shop in his house, without his permission, but he had his reasons. If he didn't do that then my Dad's friend couldn't have done the things he did to save my Dad's home, and he saved my Dad's friend's life twice before that. Though....they still don't know what happened to his pots......they went missing...." Sakura said with a bit of confusion in herself.
[spoiler]Seriously for those who have A Link Between World look at Link's house after Ravio makes his Shop. THE POTS ARE MISSING![/spoiler]
"Hm, that sounds... really confusing..." Pema admitted.
-
"The entire story is confusing, seriously if I told it to you right now you might not even believe me." Sakura admitted. "Anyway want to head back to the Mead Hall, I suddenly got my appetite back."
-
The Professor nodded. "Yes, yes, I could do that. Until, until we learned, until we learned of a destination, I was trying to determine the p-possible location of the shards. My, my initial guess was... somewhat close, as, as, as I had seen one shoot toward the north."
"Ah, that works out perfectly!" Fxeni says as he turned to speak to the king. "The good Prof will be the one to handle the maps. Could you have them delivered to his quarters on the airship?"
-
"Of course, of course! And, do stop by our chief medical officer. He'll treat your wounds." The King nodded. "We do have experience with treating fae. Many years ago, during a siege, we had a rival goblin tribe ally with us. We treated their wounded, and they put up a valiant fight, but in the end... they were struck down."
His voice dropped lower so as to avoid being overheard, should Riagan be in earshot. "This was long, long before my son's time. Long before my reign. As I pointed out before, there are exceptions, but do remember that."
-
"The entire story is confusing, seriously if I told it to you right now you might not even believe me." Sakura admitted. "Anyway want to head back to the Mead Hall, I suddenly got my appetite back."
Pema smiled, "Yeah. I got my appetite back, too!"
"We all know you never lose appetites of any variety," Salem chuckled lightly.
She giggled, folding her hands behind her back, "Come on, Ms. Sakura. Let's eat!"
A renewed sense of confidence washed over her as she looked ahead.
-
"Right." Sakura smiled as they headed back to the Mead Hall.
-
"As long as exceptions are possible, I have no qualms with being cautious," Fxeni replied, taking a quick glance to the Prof.
"With that, I'll be returning to the airship to prepare for tomorrow. Thank you for your hospitality," Fxeni says to the king with a bow, then he exits the Mead Hall and returns to the airship.
(Well, insomnia or no, I should try to get some sleep now.)
-
On their way to the Mead Hall, Pema noticed Zilpher at the table, quietly drinking his Ale.
She froze briefly, hoping that he wasn't angry at her for speaking against him. She slowly stepped closer to him when he turned his head in Pema's direction.
She nervously adjusted her hat and tugged on the ear flaps, fumbling the words around in her head. She then focused her eyes on him and opened her mouth.
Zilpher raised a hand in front of her, "Ah, ah, ah, not one word, young one. There's nothing to apologize for. You were merely speaking your mind. I respect that!" He lifted up his mug, a bright smile on his bearded face.
"Huh?" Pema was shocked, "How did you know I was going to apologize?"
"Hahahaha!" He bellowed in hearty laughter, "Why, I can see it written all over your face. Your posture. Most of all, your expression: I see you've yielded to ambiguity over the matter, have you?" He took a rather large gulp of Ale.
"Y-yeah, I've yielded to anban- a-ambly... Mm-hm, to that!" Pema nodded with determination.
"You can just say you don't know the word, Pema..." Salem sighed bluntly.
Zilpher pulled out a seat next to him, "Come! Sit, Pema."
She nodded hastily and climbed to the seat, "Thank you, Mr. Zilpher!"
He regarded her with a raise of his mug, "You know, I had a feeling your passion extended beyond that of food. I've witnessed how you act towards your peers. That same, raw energy. Honestly, I'm quite relieved you did speak out. It gets rather boring if everyone shares the same sentiment, as odd as it may be to hear."
Pema smiled and swayed in her seat, "Everyone deserves to be heard. I know that now," She thought back to Riagan and raised her mug, "To Zilpher!"
He cocked a grin, tapping his mug against hers, "To Pema!"
They took a long gulp of their drink, and belched rather loudly, at the same time. The two laughed and continued their meal.
-
((So, what now?))
-
(Start training montages on the airship when Blue gets back unless someone else has anything to add?
Oh and Fxeni it wasn't that Calien would have died it was Caien would have beheaded and killed Doll Master himself if he didn't let Riagan get the honor to do it.)
-
(Have Fxeni fire up Eye of the Tiger, so we can start the training montage between him and Pema.)
-
(Technically I did want to ask Pyritecrusher about the Schism but I don't think that's relevant anymore.)
-
((Considering it was before his time. I still haven't hammered out all the details yet, anyway.))
-
(Yeah I think we can move on.)
-
The next morning, the party received their supplies and departed Gimrak, acquiring two party members; Riagan Pyritecrusher and Shuu. Pema began her training under Fxeni, and Calien took a break from constant sewing, thanks mostly due to the Dwarven tailors who helped outfit the group with simple fur cloaks and boots. Toshi also received a much-needed pair of pants.
With Fxeni at the helm and the Professor charting a course, the airship began the long journey to the northern lands. It wasn't long until the group felt the icy chill of cold arctic storm fronts, and the airship lurched frequently from turbulence. What was expected to be a few days' trip was taking longer, as Fxeni and the Professor had to navigate around the hostile weather, else their vessel freeze solid at those high altitudes.
-
(Well, by the time you all arrive at Heimdall... It will be half-buried in snow by Freeze Master.)
-
((All the more reason for Toshi to get actual pants! 8D))
-
[So... Dumb question... But... Is it safe to assume that Shuu is part of the group now, or does he have to go through some event to be officially added as more than some NPC tag-along?]
-
(I was initially thinking of my 2 ice Masters to further interfere with your approach to Heimdall... But I think the artificial blizzard made by Freeze Master should be enough. :P)
-
(I get the feeling Toshi might thank the frosty duo, for the snow. She should have plenty of time brushing up her Ice Style Jutsu skills; not that it would be very helpful in the coming battle, but can prove as a perfect defense for her and the others, when things heat up.)
-
[So... Dumb question... But... Is it safe to assume that Shuu is part of the group now, or does he have to go through some event to be officially added as more than some NPC tag-along?]
*Shuu has joined your party!*
((Yeah, you're part of the group.))
(I get the feeling Toshi might thank the frosty duo, for the snow. She should have plenty of time brushing up her Ice Style Jutsu skills; not that it would be very helpful in the coming battle, but can prove as a perfect defense for her and the others, when things heat up.)
((She might be more thankful for warmer clothes because if she goes out in the snow with that bikini, her nipples would be hard enough to cut glass with.))
-
(Mmmm... Boobie-cut glass...)
-
((She might be more thankful for warmer clothes because if she goes out in the snow with that bikini, her nipples would be hard enough to cut glass with.))
(Yeah, that too. But now you've also given me a new idea for Toshi's demonic form. Which I'll probably draw sometime later.)
-
((...why do I picture spike-nipples...))
-
(... I fear it's more than just that...)
-
(... a pair of drills, that could pierce the heavens... nah... :P)
-
(We already had Riagan in the party before this and Shu was added when Fxeni pointed out they had similar goals.)
-
(Mmmm... Boobie-cut glass...)
(... a pair of drills, that could pierce the heavens... nah... :P)
(If Toshi was a Robot Master, this could totally work. 8D)
-
((I'll let Wily do the post for when we arrive.))
-
((...What does the airship look like?))
-
(I honestly have no idea, I was thinking it was a blimp in my head but it could look like anything from a blimp to a flying cruise ship to what ever the heck Final Fantasy 10's airship looks like.)
-
((Is the helm open-air? The rest I can fudge, but I need to determine of the helm is open to the air. Roughly how high would the airship go?))
-
(I always imagined it as this:
[spoiler](http://i.imgur.com/Q0KcHuW.jpg)[/spoiler]
The Airship from Treasure Planet. But maybe with fewer sails.)
-
((Is the helm open-air? The rest I can fudge, but I need to determine of the helm is open to the air. Roughly how high would the airship go?))
(I hope not, otherwise Fxeni and the Prof are going to be holding on for dear life with the turbulent winds.
Typically Airships can go over mountains.
Here's a list of different Airships you can see, the flying cruise ship I was talking about is under Bravely Default and Grandship, the Eschalot is a tinier airship.
http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Airships (http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Airships))
-
I pictured Whitebeard's airship the Dark Star looking like the Blackjack from FF6.))
-
(Okay so me thinking of the Falcon wasn't far off.)
-
((So, the helm is exposed to air. Though, it's not the winds I'm concerned about. It's the cold.))
-
(Maybe you can alter it a bit.)
-
((Actually, I want it open-air. Me plotting.))
-
((uh oh? XD))
-
((I'll let Wily do the post for when we arrive.))
(*buries the lot of you under tons of snow*)
-
(Blackjack works for me, although I do have a soft spot for the FFIV ones.)
-
((So we just want to arrive or are we going to encounter something in the air?))
-
((Give me a few, I'm trying to figure out what I want to do and how to word it. Bit distracted right this second.))
-
(This should be fun. 8D)
-
((No worries, your in charge for this bit then.))
-
Aside from some turbulence, the journey to the North was largely uneventful. However, the storm front the ship was approaching was far too large for the Professor to chart a course around without diverting their trip even farther away. The ship had to go into the storm.
The cold winds picked up and the airship lurched as the Professor held tight to his map, rolling it up and tucking it into his heavy cloak. He pulled out his compass and sextant and looked for stars and objects to sight. However, the clouds were too thick and the rain wall far too heavy.
As he tucked his instruments away, he noticed a gleam along the hull. Inspecting it, he ran his bandaged hands along it and found it to be ice.
The airship was icing up.
Turning on his heel, he darted from the helm, yelling and waving his arms. "We have to descend! We have to descend! We have to descend now!"
-
"We have to descend!" Pema waved back, then paused, "... Wait, why do we have to descend?"
"What's going on, Professor?" Salem asked.
-
"The ship! She's icing up!" The Professor pointed to the coating of ice forming on the hull. "If our rudders and engines freeze... if they freeze... We have to descend, we have to descend below the clouds!"
((Did some quick research on airships in cold weather and had to change something. The ballonets and balloon would actually be fine. The mechanical bits, such as steering and propellers, would not. I doubt they have de-icing in the Dwarf Fortress anyway.))
-
"This is worse than usual... I'll have to be careful," Fxeni said as he began the descent through the clouds, noticing that the rudders already felt a bit stiff.
-
"This Airship was definitely not built to withstand freezing weather like this." Calien shook his head.
"Even if the airship helm wasn't open air like this I don't think the rudder would have faired better. If we continued like this we'd crash for sure." Sakura sighed "Even though I never even been in a ship before I do know even just losing the rudder is bad."
-
The Professor looked around as the wind picked up, whipping him in the face with stinging ice pellets. The temperature was dropping quickly, and as he scrambled for the hatch, he slipped and skidded on the icy deck. Sprawling across the deckplates, he managed to crawl to the hatch and open it, climbing down inside.
As he made the descent into the stuffy, warm tunnel to engineering, he heard the unmistakable grinding and knocking of an engine starting to seize.
Sweat beaded on his brow as he stepped off the ladder and entered the engine room. A blast of icy air hit him as he opened the hatch and stepped into the half-open engine room. To his dismay, he didn't need to get any closer to see that some exposed pipes had formed icicles.
Turning, the Professor scrambled for the ladder and climbed it as fast as he could before popping out of the hatch. "The engine is freezing!"
-
"Fxeni if I use my magic to enchant the engine with a fire spell would it prevnt the engine from freezing?" Sakura asked.
-
"The sudden change in temperature would probably just make it worse... I'm shutting it down before it gets too damaged!" Fxeni said as he manipulated the levers next to the steering mechanism. The engine shuddered slowly to a halt. The airship began to descend slowly, and Fxeni did his best to control it against the harsh winds.
-
"I was afraid of something like that to be honest." Sakura sighed. "So there's really nothing we can do."
-
Having made his way back to the helm, the Professor looked from Fxeni to Sakura, and back again. "We, we may, we may be able to maintain our, our altitude, but, but, but without p-propulsion, without propulsion, we're at the m-mercy of the winds."
He glanced behind him to the hatch that led below decks. "I advise... I advise that we take cover... We're... we're in for a... a turbulent flight."
-
"You don't need to tell me twice." Sakura nodded as she followed the Prof as Calien was close behind and was lost in thought.
"<If the airship can't even withstand something like this maybe we need to find Nerine after all.>" Calien thought as he went down the hatch.
(Even though he knows this ship was probably the one used to get to Pandora in the first place he's worried the ship isn't going to last that long. Never mind the fact that Final Fantasy is kind of known for having multiple airships in a single game.
As for why he thinks he has to find Nerine well that's spoilers.)
-
The Professor didn't move from his post at the helm. He was pulling out his sextant and trying to sight objects so that he could assist Fxeni with keeping the airship oriented in its vulnerable state. "My lens... my lens is fogging..."
((Last one, as I must bed.))
-
Aya remained on deck, the cold didn't effect her anyway; she kept close so the winds wouldn't carry the professor away; there was little else she could do.
-
"This storm is... not natural. When I inspected the airship, it should've been able to handle the weather here... something is not right," Fxeni stated as he wrestled with the controls to keep the airship as stable as possible.
-
A particularly strong gust caught the Professor's cloak like a sail and blew him backwards into Aya. He apologized, excused himself, and continued trying to navigate. The airship was entering the rain wall as it continued its descent, blown along by the winds.
Putting the sextant away and checking his notes, he pulled out his compass to confirm their heading. "We're, we're still on course. If we, if we can, if we can maintain our north-northeast heading, we should m-make it..."
Tucking the compass away, he produced a small wind vane, but it just spun around. The winds were buffeting them in every which way, and he could only determine the barest hint of a direction by how long the vane held a position before spinning again. "This storm front... this storm front is a nor'easter."
-
(Shouldn't Pema be below deck?)
-
(Whoops, you're right. Deleted.)
-
As the airship slowly descended, a figure was speeding along within the forest beneath. Stopping to look up, it sped off in the opposite direction from which it came.
Back at Heimdall, Freeze Master and Blizzard Master were freezing random villagers just because. A Cheval Joe sped up to Freeze Master, and reported its sighting.
"It seems our guests would be arriving soon... Freezzzzzzze..."
"Oh, I can finally do that new spinning trick on them!"
"... Why do I bother... Freezzzzzze..."
-
(I... wouldn't have gone with rain, but oh well! I'll do what I can with it.)
The rain exasperates the issue, as the water freezes shortly after contact on the airship. The deck is pelted with hail, forcing everyone to stick away from the edges of the airship and towards the middle of the deck. Fxeni spots Heimdall off in the distance.
"Get below deck and hold on to something... this is going to be a rough landing!" Fxeni exclaims.
-
Calien and Sakura heard the announcement on the speakers and grabbed on to something.
"This isn't an ordinary storm." Calien stated "This doesn't make sense!"
"You been in something like this?" Sakura asked him.
"One time me, Farah and your aunt went to Horon Village in Holodrum to see Farah's sister Dinnae in the winter when we were kids. During that time there was a freak blizzard and we had to stay inside while it was storming. I couldn't sleep because the winds were so loud but the houses weren't really affected. Then when the blizzard stopped we spent the next day shoveling....there was a lot of shoveling." Calien finished as his arms suddenly ached from the memory.
"Uh Daddy can you get to the point?" Sakura said trying to get her Dad back to the situation at hand.
"Oh right, sorry." Calien coughed to clear his throat "Anyway the reason I think this storm is not a normal storm is because it's too fierce and the effects of freezing are happening too fast, even a Blizzard wouldn't do something like this this fast."
"So you think something is making this storm?" Sakura asked.
"Quite possibly." Calien nodded.
(I just imagine there's a horn next to Fxeni that he yelled into that connects to other horns like an intercom system.)
-
The Professor held out his arm to study the precipitation. Aside from the icing rain, he watched as little balls of ice bounced off his sleeve. "It's m-more than rain... it's sleet. As we, as we descend, we may encounter snow. The surface air may not be cold enough to support snow."
The wind blew stinging ice pellets against his face. He took out his compass and studied the heading. "Still on course..."
-
"I can project my barrier ahead but I can't expand it around the whole ship." Aya adds covering her eyes with one hand while the other keeps the professor in place.
-
As the ship continued its wild descent, the changeover from sleet to snow happened quickly as a shock of arctic air blasted the ship. The storm front was gaining strength and funneling more cold air into it.
The Professor tried to keep his hood up, but the cold winds blew it off his head. He pulled out a thermometer and watched the mercury plummet. His face was very quickly going numb from the icy air as he looked from Aya, to Fxeni, and back. "I suggest... I suggest that we... assume crash positions. Could we, could we possibly engage an autopilot?"
-
(Sakura and Calien are already below deck. Hench why I mentioned the horns.)
-
((Oh, derp. Editing that...))
-
"You're still up here? When I said everyone get below deck and hold onto something, that included you two!" Fxeni said to the Prof and Aya.
-
"What about you?" Aya frowns
-
"You need to get to safety, too!" The Professor shot back as the ice pellets became heavier and larger. A particularly large chunk of ice beaned him right in the head and he reeled for a bit before coming to his senses. "It's n-not safe...!"
-
"Alright--common." Aya helps the Professor get below deck and find a safe place to hold down.
-
"The autopilot won't minimize the damage... Although I guess we're in trouble in that regard any-" Fxeni said as he was smacked above the eye with a large hailstone. He shook his head and activated the autopilot.
"Down we go," Fxeni said as he headed towards the entrance down, rubbing the spot that was hit.
-
Calien and Sakura saw Fxeni, Aya, and the Prof come down noticing that the Prof and Fxeni started to show signs of bruising from where they were hit by chunks of hail.
"Yeah.....this is definitely not a normal storm." Calien shook his head.
-
"I think Mar knows we are here..." Aya frowns again.
-
"Either that or he knew we were coming." Sakura replied "Like I said before I'm still betting he's just using us to get the Omni-Gem for him, not that we can do much about it since without the Gem the world is out of balance."
-
Riagan came out of one of the berths as large chunks of hail pelted the hull and the ship rocked in the turbulent winds. He braced himself against the walls with both hands as he made his way down the corridor. "What in blazes is going on out there?! It sounds like we're being fired upon!"
The Professor merely rubbed his head, feeling a bump where he was hit. "Weather."
-
"There's a huge storm out there, and it's most likely not natural." Calien stated.
-
"We need to land or we'll crash."
-
"I'm honestly thinking the latter at this rate....." Sakura sighed.
-
At that moment, the ship shook fiercely as it made impact on the ground. It was cushioned by the snow that was accumulated on the ground and skid for a while, the insides reverberating as it slid to a halt.
"Everyone in one piece?" Fxeni asked as he picked himself off the floor.
-
"I'll let you know when my head stops spinning." Sakura replied as she held her head.
"You said before that this ship is sort of like your Cheval right, how's your Mana level?" Calien asked as he groaned from his sore arms.
-
"The airship has its own power source; thankfully, I don't have to use my mana to power it," Fxeni replied, looking towards the back end of the airship. "I doubt the engine is in working order at this point though. We'll have to fix it... once we're done with our work here."
His mind wandered to Heimdall, which was undoubtedly in trouble if the storm was any indication.
"Everyone get their winter-wear on. We're off to Heimdall," Fxeni stated as he made his way towards his quarters.
-
"Can I help you with the repairs later?" Sakura asked as she headed for the room where she made her potions while her father headed for their quarters.
-
"I don't see why not. Some individuals from Heimdall will most likely aid us as well," Fxeni replied as he reached his room. "Since they deal with magitech all day long, they should understand the mechanisms."
-
"I hope I can learn something." Sakura nodded as she passed Fxeni's room.
-
"With any luck you will," Fxeni replied with a smile.
He went into his room and looked around. Since his clothes were already rather warm, he had merely crafted a trenchcoat out of the furs that were given to them, along with thicker gloves and a cover for his boots. He quickly put everything on and exited his room, closing the door behind him.
"I'm going to take a look outside to see what we are dealing with," Fxeni said as he went topside. The winds were still blistering, blowing the snow roughly through the air. White powder started to gather on the deck slowly but surely. He sighted lights off in the distance, undoubtedly from Heimdall. He noted the direction of the lights, then shuffled back inside.
"Thankfully we're reasonably close to Heimdall, but we still have to trek through the snow," Fxeni stated to the others as he walked up to them.
-
(Once you all are out trekking... You'll encounter the first wave of Cheval Joes.)
-
"That's fortunate." Calien nodded wearing a long fur coat over his armor and an ushanka with the ear flaps down while holding Sakura's furcoat and gloves with one arm while he reached into his pocket with another and pulled out a Gossip Charm like the one he and Sakura have "Since I had Sakura make Potions during the trip I managed to make a few of these, I want you to have one."
-
The Professor, still reeling from the crash and being brained by an ice ball, staggered off to his berth to get his things in order.
Riagan had since donned furs and boots and emerged from his berth with his war hammer over one shoulder. "Hmph. I've had worse rough landings. An out-of-control mine cart is not as fun as it sounds."
-
"Do I even want to know how a minecart went out of control while you were in it?" Sakura asked as she came back with an entire crate full of potions that she set on the ground.
Calien handed Sakura her winter gear which she tried to get on as quickly as she could and taking off her cape with the same eye symbol her other hat had.
-
Pema emerged from her room, holding a white knitted hat with light blue snowflake patterns emblazoned onto it. She straightened out her bangs and lightly combed the top of her hair, "I'm already dressed for really cold weather, so I don't need any new outfits. Mr. Calien did knit me this really cute hat, though! Thanks again!"
Once her hair was the way she wanted it, she slipped the snowflake hat on her head and adjusted it to snug perfection.
Pema twirled around happily and giggled, playing with the ear flaps, "So, how does it look on me?"
She spoke to the group, though to no one in particular.
-
"I'm just glad I managed to get one right, you don't want to see the ones I did mess up." Calien laughed a bit nervously "Knitting is not my specialty."
(I'll have someone else answer her question, but awwwww Peam. :3)
-
The Professor emerged from his berth, clad in a thick overcloak and wearing fur mukluks and mittens. He had his bag over one shoulder and across his chest, and a thick woolen fur-lined hat of Dwarven design on his head. Of course, being smaller than the average Dwarf, the outerwear practically engulfed him and he walked with a waddle.
Riagan wore a similar style of dress, though his was more ornate and befitting of royalty. It also fit.
-
Toshi emerges from another room, in a less revealing white baggy ninja costume, wearing a muffler matching her scarf's red; it seems she could pull it over half her face like a mask, if she needed to. She seems a little uncomfortable feeling the inner fabric brush on her skin though.
Toshi - "I really wonder how does any Yukikage move around in these?" she moaned.
-
Riagan looked at Toshi and let out a hearty laugh. "Young lady! Have you not ventured into the cold? You need to wear layers! Come, come, I will get you some proper furs..."
He headed back toward his berth to get extra gear.
-
Toshi - "It's fine really..." she called back to him, realizing she was just talking to herself, when he disappeared "... just needs some getting use to." she gave a shrug, before following Riagan back to his berth.
-
After a few minutes of dressing and outfitting, Riagan fitted Toshi with a thick woolen coat, woolen trousers, a fur cloak with a woolen fur-lined hat, and fur boots and mittens. "There! Now you won't freeze solid! Poor dear, you haven't much experience with colder climates, do you?"
Out in the main hall, the Professor climbed out of the hatch and onto the deck. There was a significant coating of drifting snow on the deck and he squinted against the blinding and stinging squall. The snow was thick and he could barely see lights in the distance. With how the blizzard raged around him, he gave off a sigh and went back below decks.
Taking off his mittens, he fumbled through his bag with his bandaged hands and pulled out his compass. "We, we may, we may be requiring this for our journey. The storm outside, it's quite b-brutal, and, and with the coming nightfall, the temperature will drop even further. However, however, while waiting out the storm would be advisable, I'm afraid, I'm afraid that we, we... we m-may not have much time."
He checked the heading and then nodded to the hatch. "If, if, if it becomes too hazardous to travel... we may be forced to camp."
-
Toshi - "It's not the cold I'm too worried about." she tried walking around in her outfit, "It's just that I'd be at a disadvantage if I can't maneuver properly in battle." she examines her outfit a little more.
"The Yukikage I use to train with, were never phased by the sheer cold, as if they are somehow capable to adapt to such climates." she checks her mittens, looking a bit disgruntled as she tries to move her fingers. "Umm... you do know these mitts are going to hinder my ability to perform my jutsu. I need my fingers free, if I plan on using any handsigns."
(Yeah, the mitts are so not going to work in Toshi's favor if she plans on using jutsu. Unless she'd be wearing these (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5pKc29m1Nxs).)
-
"Admittedly this stuff is hard for me to move around in too but I can deal with it, I trained myself before hand in this stuff to get used to it before coming here." Sakura said as she finished putting on the rest of her stuff "It got sweaty but when you smell like mushrooms from potion brewing you really don't care.
Though I never seen snow before, I hope I can move in it okay, Daddy said snow is really hard to move in and I couldn't train for that."
-
"It will certainly take some getting used to. We're not going to be very maneuverable in deeper snow, so be prepared to feel slow," Fxeni stated to everyone. "The blizzard is going to make matters worse. Normally I'd like to wait it out, but I don't think we have the luxury of time."
After looking at everyone to ensure that they're all good to go, he headed back up onto the deck. Once topside, he unfurled a rope ladder down the side of the airship down to the ground below. It swayed in the wind, but remained connected to the ship just fine.
"Keep as close together as possible, the visibility is very low," Fxeni called back to the others. He then began the climb down the ladder to the ground below.
-
(No one is responding to Pema...)
-
Calien came down first and then picked up Sakura and put her down who stared at the view before her.
"Wow....when you said visibility was really low you weren't kidding." Sakura gulped "It's all white!"
"Yup, how do you feel walking in snow?" Calien asked.
"Hmm well this snow isn't too bad, though I guess we haven't seen the really thick snow yet, but I think I can move in this okay." Sakura nodded.
"Good." Calien nodded.
(By the way Sakura made enough Potions for everyone to have 3 each. Everyone should have a Red, Green, and Blue potion except for Riagan and the Prof who get 3 Red potions instead.
Calien also made about 4 Gossip Charms/Walkie Talkie Stones and gave them to Fxeni, Aya, the Prof and Shuu for now. When he makes more he'll give it to the rest of the party members.
I want to say he made another one before the trip and gave it to King Pyritecrusher since he's one of those people the party would want to keep in contact with.)
(No one is responding to Pema...)
(I wanted someone else to do it since Calien made the hat and by proxy Sakura already saw it. Riagan, the Prof and Aya most likely won't comment since it's not in their character to really care about that.)
-
(Everyone but Blue posted already, so unless Aya says something, Pema will be ignored.
And why wouldn't Aya care? Isn't she kind like Sakura?)
-
(Aya really doesn't care about clothes, she's nice but she's kind doesn't really know about fashion or what looks good on someone. Hell she didn't even know what was the problem with her previous clothes or Toshi's clothes which were not modest at all. Not to mention she's way to focused on the Omni-Gem.
Remember when she kept saying she doesn't care about what the Prof is because he's her friend? Same idea here, she's oblivious about stuff like that.)
-
(Haven't you dealt with young kids before? All they need is a simple "you look nice" and you're done.
You don't need to actually judge them.)
-
(Aya doesn't know that, what I'm getting at here is that she's so alien she doesn't know how to act with normal people yet. In other words she doesn't know how to treat a kid either and is just focused on getting the Omni-Gem at the moment. Most of the time she has a one track mind and doesn't even really listen to people.
Besides I'm sure someone else still can since you keep bringing it up.)
-
(I shouldn't even need to bring this up. It makes zero sense that people keep ignoring her; it's not very realistic to do so.
Anyway, I don't care anymore.)
-
(I agree it really isn't realistic but it happen to me too at the same time you brought up Pema's hat which was why I added the foot notes about the Potions and Gossip Charms. Calien held out a Gossip Charm to Fxeni but he didn't make notice of it so I just off screened it.
Just assume someone did already.)
-
After dealing with a few things and figuring out how he wants to access his items, the Professor looked over to Pema and smiled at her hat. "You look quite nice, Peam. I apologize, as I didn't hear you b-before. I'm, I'm a bit, I'm a bit hard of hearing, and somewhat distracted... Will you be warm enough?"
-
"You really think so? Thank you!" Pema held her rosy cheeks and smiled warmly, "Yeah, I should be warm enough. Back at my home, we had lots of cold days. Not as bad as here, but still super cold! That's why the Runemaster uniforms look like this."
She lifted up her boots and extended her arms out as she spoke, bringing attention to the rather intricate dress and accessories that kept her warm during the frigid weather.
Pema glanced at the Prof's mittens, recalling that he persisted on wearing bandages underneath, "Your burns aren't fully healed yet, Professor?"
-
"I like the colours, you should be rather warm too." Aya smiles at Pema unlike the others she hadn't changed, it seemed the cold did not effect her.
-
The Professor looked down at his hands. "Unfortunately not. They were, they were quite severe. In a couple weeks, they should have healed sufficiently, but, but right now, but right now, I'd rather, I'd rather they not be exposed to the elements..."
-
(Fxeni was too focused on getting a move-on, I'd say.)
-
"I like the colours, you should be rather warm too." Aya smiles at Pema unlike the others she hadn't changed, it seemed the cold did not effect her.
"Yeah, Mr. Calien did a great job!" Pema played with the cotton ball at the top of the hat, then took notice that Aya hadn't changed, "Huh? You're not freezing?"
The Professor looked down at his hands. "Unfortunately not. They were, they were quite severe. In a couple weeks, they should have healed sufficiently, but, but right now, but right now, I'd rather, I'd rather they not be exposed to the elements..."
Pema nodded, "So, it's worse than my sprain. My ankle feels a lot better now."
"Burns typically take longer to heal than sprains. The healing process can be quite arduous, too, depending on the burn degree," Salem noted.
-
"Hm? Oh-no I'm fine, we--I don't feel the elements like normal people." Aya smiles.
((Aya does have a nasty habbit of describing herself as not being truly alive doesn't she, she may not have a soul per say but she is sentient and alive in that sense. Guardians were disposable elite warriors, they were never training to feel like anything but tools for their creators.))
-
Pema rubbed her chin, "Huh, I never knew that. Be glad you'll never experience frostbite, I guess."
-
"I've heard it is rather unpleasant. It need be I can use my barrier to keep the wind at bay, it won't keep out the cold sadly though." Aya offers to Pema and the others.
-
[Sorry to keep asking to be caught up. Today my folks decided my brothers are swapping rooms while one of said brothers was at work, and they drafted me to help with things. =3=
So, from what I can gather, everyone's suiting up?]
-
(Pretty much. We're gearing up and heading out at any moment.)
"Yeah, any help would be great," Pema nodded.
-
[Another question. Does everyone have separate rooms on the airship? If so, then I can throw in the excuse of Shuu's absence being that he was getting settled in.]
-
(Yes however there was a timeskip so that might not be a good excuse.)
-
[... Accidentally sleeping in due to not actually having a decent night's sleep or an actual bed in a while?]
-
(The Airship also crashed due to the storm, don't think he can sleep through that.)
-
[... What else did I miss? o.o;; ]
-
(I think that's about it, also you should have a Red, Green, and Blue potion as well as a Gossip Charm or, as I used to call them, a Walkie Talkie Stone in your inventory now.
Red Potion is for HP recovery, Green is MP recovery, and Blue is both.)
-
[Okay. Then I need to come up with another excuse for his absence/tardiness. >.>]
-
(Shuu is the group alcoholic and had a rough hangover.
Problem solved.)
-
[Not sure I like the idea of Shuu being the group's alcoholic, but I think I can work with something branching from that idea.]
Shuu groaned and staggered from his room, feeling very sore, somewhat disoriented, and seeing double. He was wearing a long-sleeved, bright blue shirt, white wool trousers, and his dull-blue hide shoes. "This... This ain't worth takin' a sleeping potion f'r a good night's sleep..." He grumbled to himself, heading off to join the others while simply carrying his chestplate rather than wearing it.
-
(Hmm I feel like posting a small bit of mini filler while me and Fxeni wait for the others, should it be Sakura doing something weird or that ridiculous hilarious thing that has to do with the fact that Sakura smells like mushrooms I was hinting at.)
-
(That's what he wears during a blizzard?)
-
(That's what he wears during a blizzard?)
[Well, his head's a bit fuzzy from waking up from a sleeping potion too soon, and his armor is fairly well-insulated (once he's got it all on).]
-
(No one answered my question.)
-
((I had laid down for a nap and woke up JUST NOW.))
Riagan tossed a fur cloak to both Aya and Shuu. "Suit up! I will not be having people die from the cold on my watch!"
Around this point. the Professor had made his way to the hatch and went outside, clearing a path of snow along the deck and off the ladder. He climbed down part of the way, but slipped and vanished into a snowbank higher than he was tall.
((As for the mushrooms, go a head. Prof might want to eat one. They smell good to him.))
-
(No she doesn't have Mushrooms on her but smells like Mushrooms, as in something weird will happen because she smells like them.
[spoiler]As in she'll attract something.[/spoiler])
-
((Well... if the wildlife is hungry enough... then yes. Bring on the attraction!))
((Meanwhile, I should get Prof out of that snow drift...))
-
(Okay then I'll have Calien attempt to get him out, and fail.)
"Oh dear Professor are you okay?" Calien asked as he attempted to find a body part of the Prof to grab.
"Ummm Daddy......?" Sakura asked hesitantly.
"Sakura is something....wrong?" Calien asked as he noticed what his daughter was worried about.
Sakura was surrounded by a Tepig, a Spoink, and a Swinub who were sniffing her intently.
"Uh I think these pigs are Pokemon." Sakura stated a bit nervously "Ones we haven't seen before......."
"Yeah....looks like it......" Calien sweat dropped.
(So yeah Sakura has been confronted by Pigs, which she's not sure how to handle since they kind of aren't her favorite animals. Though it doesn't exactly make sense for a Spoink to be there it's there too.)
-
Shuu yawned as the coat was tossed to him, it landing on his face. "... It's cold out there... Huh?" He mumbled, putting the coat on with his chest plate over it. "Gimme a sec to get better shoes on..."
After taking a second to sleepily rub his eyes, he set a hand on the red jewel on his chestplate, a set of boots made out of the same hide as his shoes appeared in a flicker of red light and swapped his footwear.
-
Fxeni looked at the pigs, a tad confused as to why they would come out in this weather. The winds were strong, carrying the snow that was heavily falling from the sky. The snow on the ground was taller than they were. Yet here they were, sniffing Sakura's clothes intently.
"... Those mushrooms must be really strong to bring them out in these conditions," Fxeni said as he looked at them. He looked over at Calien, who was trying to dig the Prof out.
"Ah... let me help with getting him out," Fxeni said as he straddled over to the snowbank and started digging in to find the Prof.
-
As the fur landed in Aya's hand she looked down at it. "I appreciate the concern but I won't freeze I promise, besides it kinda uncomfortable when my wings are covered up."
-
"Thanks, to be honest I have very little experience finding people lost in the snow." Calien sighed as he continued to help look for the Prof seeing as Sakura was not in danger.
"The Pokemon say they're hungry." Sakura stated as suddenly a Piloswine joined them doing the same as the little ones "They're having a difficult time finding food, it's been like that for days. The Grey one with the Pink Pearl on its head sounds like he's crying......"
"Sounds like the conditions from the weather has made it difficult for them to find food. It's especially disturbing since most of those Pokemon look perfectly capable of digging. Maybe the ground became even harder to dig through or the snow is just too thick. If we needed more proof this weather was unnatural this is it, we need to find the source and fast. I don't even want to think about how long this storm has been going." Calien stated.
(Keep in mind Tepig is a fire type.......)
-
((I was picturing a dangerous wild encounter, but whatever.))
The Professor eventually tunneled his way out of the snow drift and emerged on the other side. He turned and saw Calien looking for him. Waving, he yelled to be heard over the howling winds. "Over here! Calienté! Over here!"
-
(Nah we already have too much [parasitic bomb] to deal with, these guys are more pitiful and weakened. The Tepig and maybe the Piloswine has a trainer, though maybe I can have some of them act aggressive to Aya. Maybe they encountered some of the Joes and would think Aya's one of them. Are Albertus' Precursor creations similar to Aya, without the ability to let Gods interact with the physical world?)
"Oh thank goodness." Calien sighed with relief. "You had me worried Prof."
"I-I'm sorry guys." Sakura said with regret "I don't have food on me, and I can't stay too long, but I promise we'll find out how to fix this."
-
As he stepped out into the snow, he pulled the collar of the coat up to his ears. "Good gods, it's cold! When the hell did this storm hit?" He asked, looking around. "I take it we didn't make it to where we were headed?"
-
"No though we are somewhat close, Fxeni said we still have a bit of a trek but it's where those lights are." Calien stated "Some of the wild Pokemon have also been attracted by the smell of Mushrooms on Sakura, but they don't seem aggressive."
"They seem....weak.....and scared...." Sakura stated "It's sad to see pigs like this...."
-
((And suddenly... shrinkage.))
Riagan had jumped down into the snow with a thump, the wind whipping him in the face, and the snow up to his waist. He trudged forward a few feet and then backed up, taking his snowshoes off the strap on his back and securing them to his boots. A few more wobbly steps and he managed to pull himself on top of the drifting snow enough to walk with less difficulty. He squinted through the blizzard and tried to sight the lights off in the distance.
Finally, he turned and looked to Sakura and Calien, who were fussing with local wildlife that was too fool-headed to be outside in such weather. "I suppose none of you thought to pack a sled?"
Out ahead of the group and making considerable progress, the Professor trudged through the snow that reached his armpits. His arms held up, he worked to make a decent path for the others to follow. Though he had experience with snowy weather, this was definitely the worst that he's ever seen.
-
"You have a nasty habit a running up ahead there, Prof... you should probably wait for the others," Fxeni said as he ran up and caught up to the Prof. "As slow as they may be."
-
"......What's a sled.......?" Sakura asked.
"Hmmm best way I can describe it is a large piece of wood with curved metal pieces. People ride on them on snow slopes and hills for recreation and travel, I rode one when I was a child on occasion. It's fast and somewhat nervewracking but fun and exhilarating." Calien explained.
"Sounds interesting." Sakura nodded "Umm Mr. Riagan where are the others, they're taking a long time......."
(Shrinkage?)
-
((Time to zombie! And shrinkage is... something that happens in the cold... 8D))
The rest of the party members eventually filed out of the airship, each similarly bundled up, and they fell into step behind Sakura and Calien.
"You have a nasty habit a running up ahead there, Prof... you should probably wait for the others," Fxeni said as he ran up and caught up to the Prof. "As slow as they may be."
"It's not wise if we take too long. We need, we need to move. The sooner we get to Heimdall, the better," the Professor nodded as he continued to trudge through the snow.
-
"Alright everyone's here, let's get moving and catch up to Fxeni and the Prof, I don't want to lose them or for something dangerous to happen to them." Calien said as he started to lead the group.
Sakura breifly looked back towards the Pig Pokemon who went back to hide again before looking forward with a determination to stop the source of the out of control weather, despite not used to walking in the thick snow.
(I think someone might need to carry Pema......)
-
((Time to zombie! And shrinkage is... something that happens in the cold... 8D))
The rest of the party members eventually filed out of the airship, each similarly bundled up, and they fell into step behind Sakura and Calien.
"It's not wise if we take too long. We need, we need to move. The sooner we get to Heimdall, the better," the Professor nodded as he continued to trudge through the snow.
"No need to tell me that, I was the first one off the airship!" Fxeni said with a chuckle. "It's still not wise to wander off alone, particularly in this weather. I am rather worried about Heimdall to be honest, so I agree the quicker we get there, the better... but not to the detriment of anyone with us."
-
The Professor nodded and slowed to a stop to wait for everyone. He turned his back to the wind and closed his hood around his face, squinting through the blinding snow.
Riagan, seeing Pema's difficulty with the snow, hoisted her onto his back. "There! The snow is liable to swallow you whole!"
-
(If everyone is up for it, I'll send out the Cheval Joes! 8D)
-
(Can Sakura said she heard from the pigs that they saw monsters or would that not be a good idea.)
-
(Well, I guess them seeing monsters make sense, since of course they have never seen such things, and the group would have thought they were corrupted creatures.)
As the group continued forward towards the lights, they heard a strange noise. Initially, they thought it was just the howling winds, however the noise grew louder as it seemingly got closer, almost sounding like engines revving up.
-
"I think we're going to have company." Calien stated as he brandished his Axe.
"Could those....could those be the monsters the Pigs told me about?" Sakura asked as she took out her sword.
-
"That sound... it may be slightly different, but I know that sound anywhere! That's the Cheval!" Fxeni said as he brandished his spear. "Stealing my tech... the nerve!"
-
"You think Alberta may have fixed that glitch, the Pigs said they were really fast." Sakura pondered.
-
"This is the first time I've seen Mr. Fxeni this angry..." Pema noticed his radical change in tone and expression.
Since she couldn't fight while hoisted on Riagan's back, she tapped his shoulder, "I'd like to get down, please."
-
Riagan nodded and let Pema down and he brandished his war hammer. "Bring them on! My hammer craves their destruction!"
The Professor fumbled with his bag and managed to produce a few explosive vials. His dexterity was hindered by the thick mittens, and he had forgotten to bring his halberd. He wouldn't have been able to brandish it very well, either. "If... if all else fails, I suppose, I suppose I could throw snow balls..."
-
"You want me to give you some Kunai?" Sakura asked "You didn't seem to react to it and Riagan said the Iron content is really low."
-
"You think Alberta may have fixed that glitch, the Pigs said they were really fast." Sakura pondered.
"No... the engine is rattling a bit more. Aim for the back of the bikes!" Fxeni yells after listening to it. He looks around, and sees that they're going to have a hard time moving around in the deep snow.
"Pema! Do you think you can help me melt some of the snow around here?"
-
As if on cue, the snow in front of them blasted upwards, and multiple figures appeared. The blizzard concealed most of their appearance, but as Fxeni noted, the figures were riding on Chevals. The figures began to circle the group, revving their engines loudly as a sign of intimidation.
-
The Professor squinted against the blinding snow, and he found it difficult to hear anything at all due to the roaring engines and howling winds. Sakura's offer was lost in the noise, and he didn't respond.
-
"No... the engine is rattling a bit more. Aim for the back of the bikes!" Fxeni yells after listening to it. He looks around, and sees that they're going to have a hard time moving around in the deep snow.
"Pema! Do you think you can help me melt some of the snow around here?"
"Mm-hm, I'm on it!" Pema yelled back, closing her eyes briefly as she materialized flames that engulfed the top of the staff. The dancing flames swirled around as she straddled to Fxeni's location, melting some of the snow around them.
-
"Mm-hm, I'm on it!" Pema yelled back, closing her eyes briefly as she materialized flames that engulfed the top of the staff. The dancing flames swirled around as she straddled to Fxeni's location, melting some of the snow around them.
"Perfect! Keep it up!" Fxeni said, as he focused his mana in his hands. He holds out his hand towards the staff and channels his mana into it, strengthening the fire just enough to increase its melting potential without setting everyone on fire.
"Prof... do you have any adhesives in that bag of yours?" He asked as he channeled the flames from the staff around on the ground.
-
As Fxeni was closer, the Professor was able to hear him at least a little bit. He nodded and dug through his bags, fishing out a few vials and handing them to Fxeni. "The vials will burst on contact, but, but, but this wasn't m-made for battle... I'm not sure how effective it would be..."
With his other arm, he tossed one of his explosive vials at the cheval that he could see.
-
By the time the vial connected, the original target Cheval had past, but an incoming one tumbled over the pothole the vial made. The circle formation broke as the unlucky Cheval pulled a wheelie and crashed into a nearby tree. The other Chevals stopped circling and charged at the group, all doing wheelies.
-
Pema continued scorching the snow, however, the Chevals were approaching them. And fast!
"Mr. Fxeni, look out!" She ceased the melting and fired a ball of inferno at one of the Chevals.
-
(I need a bit of time to think how I should do this.)
-
Pema continued scorching the snow, however, the Chevals were approaching them. And fast!
"Mr. Fxeni, look out!" She ceased the melting and fired a ball of inferno at one of the Chevals.
The Cheval dodged the attack, and continued to charge at Pema. However, there seems to be a small flame caught on the rider's boot.
(I'll update per Cheval.)
-
In a flash of red light, Shuu was in his armor and summoning one of his daemons in a haze of purple light. "I think we need some assistance from the weather. Susanoo!"
The spiked tiger daemon faded into existence and let out a roar. "Gonsol! Do you wish me to fight with you or settle the wind!? I can only do one with the power I have!"
-
Riagan sidestepped as a cheval sped toward him. Sliding on his snowshoes, he used the weight of his war hammer to propel him and swung it level with the Cheval Joe's head, batting it clean off. The momentum of the swing carrying him, he spun around on the slick snow and swung the hammer over his head, bringing the spike of it down into the cheval's engine in a blaze of snow, sparks, and flames.
-
(Darn. Beautiful, but darn. XD)
-
((I got a bit bored and dramatic with a character who can kick some ass. Unlike Prof, who is pretty much unarmed right now. I suppose he could find himself in a pinch and harness some untapped mana through sheer panic...))
-
(Well, that's still 2 Cheval Joes down. :P I'll see what the others have come up with. And Phi, Peam's Cheval Joe caught a small flame from her attack. Winknudge. 8D)
-
[So... Should Shuu have Susanoo mediate the weather for easier visibility, or just have him turn into a sword and join in on the fight with lightning strikes?]
-
Anticipating a Cheval Joe, wheelie-ing itself towards her. Toshi quickly pulls of her mitts; clamping them between her armpits, so that they don't get lost in the snow; then forming a monkey handsign, as the Cheval closed in...
Toshi - "Hyōton: Yuki otome no tatchi!!" she dodges slightly to the side as the Joe barely misses her, just so that she could simple poke the Joe with her finger. Before the Joe could realize what Toshi just did, its body froze from the inside causing him to slump over the steering; as unfortunate as it was, its cheval, along with its driver was sent off a cliff, crashing into the crevass below.
Feeling her hands beginning to freeze over a little, she quickly slipped her mitts back on; pulling out the staff segment of her spear, prepping herself for another fight.
(Still thinking I should just let Toshi lose the mitts, though.)
-
Fxeni barely dodged the Cheval that was incoming. As it whizzed by, another one started its charge.
"Thanks Prof!" he said as he tossed one of the vials at the ground in front of the incoming Cheval. It managed to push its way through with wheelie powerᵗᵐ, but it was considerably slowed down in the process. Fxeni channeled mana through his short spear and pointed it at the Cheval. A bolt of lightning struck the engine, causing a feedback loop which resulted in the Cheval going into overdrive and exploding.
"Susanoo! Could you calm down the winds?" Fxeni yelled as his target exploded.
(Leaving Phi's flaming Cheval intact for Pema to dispose of 8D)
-
"Calming down the storm it is!" Shuu declared, Susanoo nodding.
The daemon arched his back before letting out another roar, this one releasing an expanding burst of magic that calmed down the winds around them. "Gonsol, in order for you to assist your new comrades while I hold the winds, you'll need the horse."
"Already on it!" Shuu had Grani summoned as a lance and was charging straight at one of the Cheval Joes.
-
Aya raised her barrier gauntlet just as a cheval tried to run her down, the physical barrier deflected the joe away and left it spinning out. The snow had reduced Aya's mobility and to follow up on her attack she'd need to follow fast, jumping into the air and gliding with her wings she landed on the out of control Cheval and plunged her blade into it's engine hoping off before it could explode or it's drive counter attack.
-
The remaining Cheval Joes remain undaunted, and continued their wheelie charge at the group of heroes.
Back at Heimdall, random villagers were still being frozen solid by Freeze Master and Blizzard Master. A Cheval Joe rode up to Freeze Master, and reported its latest findings.
"Freezzzzzzzzze... It seems our guests are having a time with our welcome party..."
"Shouldn't we roll them over?"
"... No... Master Albertus has plans... Freezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzze... The Joes are expendable..."
The Cheval Joe gave a look at Freeze Master, and was instantly shot down by Freeze Master's glare.
-
(I almost read that last part, as if the Cheval Joe was literally shot down by Freeze Master's glare.)
-
(I feel like having 2 Cheval Joes crash into each other trying to crash into Sakura and Calien and then they finish them off.)
-
"Do you see that? He caught fire!" Salem exclaimed.
Pema nodded, "Yeah, and I know exactly what to do!" She found her footing and held the staff steady, the gems engraved into it glowing brightly. Electric surges flowed through the staff as she aimed it forward, firing a lightning bolt at the Cheval.
He narrowly dodged the blast and grazed her, knocking Salem out of her hand. The Cheval swerved back towards her and charged again. Pema stumbled out of the way and crawled to her feet; while she was able to melt some of the snow, it still wasn't quite enough. For someone of her height, these conditions were not particularly favorable.
She trudged through the snow to find where Salem fell. Soon after, he emerged from a snowbank, floating towards her, "Are you okay?" He spoke.
"I think that's my line," Pema smiled, then faced the Cheval, "I just need to concentrate."
She channeled her mana into the staff, once again, electricity surrounding Salem. Pema aimed, closing one eye and focusing on the flaming engine with the other. Once he revved up the engine and charged at her, she fired a lightning bolt at the flames.
The electric current from the blast immediately reacted to the fire, resulting in a massive explosion.
-
[So... How many Cheval Joes are there? And whose controlling them?]
-
((No idea the count, and I've been treating them like Wushu mooks.))
-
(Well, since this is the first wave, just one per hero/ine. Prof, Riagan, Toshi, Fxeni, Aya and Peam have settled theirs. Just left with Shuu, Sakura and Calien... Did I miss out anyone? >_>
As for control, unless you destroy your Cheval Joe, I'll take control. You are in command of how you defeat them.)
-
(Okay I'll just take care of Sakura and Calien's.)
Sakura and Calien were each being chased by a Cheval trying to run them down. Eventually the both of them decided to run as fast as they could into each other luring the Chevals with them. When they got close enough they both got out of the way which left the Chevals no time to turn as they crashed into each other in a firey explosion.
(Eh maybe not as flashy as the others but I couldn't think of anything better.)
-
(I never intended for this part to be long anyways, just a welcome party of sorts. :P Only left with yours, Shuu.)
-
((The journey on foot through a friggin' blizzard will take long enough anyway. You know how easy it is to get turned around and lost when all you see is blinding snow? Very, very easy. And that snow really hurts on exposed skin. And you can't hear for [parasitic bomb] in horizontal snow.))
-
(I just wanted something else besides white death. 8D)
-
(Guess we might have to camp after all.)
-
[Well, the blizzard is sorta being dealt with by Susanoo, who has a decent-sized bubble of no blizzard set. o3o]
Shuu dodged the last Cheval Joe as it charged him from the sides, repeatedly. "Damn! It's hard to move fast in this deep snow." The knight growled, having difficulty even turning fast enough. It was only by blind luck that he stabbed his lance into the Cheval as it came right at him one last time, exploding in his face.
-
(Guess we might have to camp after all.)
((Let's see how much progress they can make, first. The fighting will get their adrenaline pumping and warm them up enough to travel.))
-
(Good point anyway fighting's done.)
Calien looked around noticing the Chevals were all destroyed.
"Everyone still in one piece?"
-
Riagan looked around and gave one of the chevals another hit just to make sure it stayed down. He then made his way to Pema, ready to carry her again. "Those machinations were no match for me."
On the other side of the battlefield, the Professor didn't hear Calien over the howling winds, and just raised his hand to show that he was still there.
-
"There's probably going to be more of them, the Pigs said there were a lot of them." Sakura pointed out.
-
"Yeah, I'm fine!" Pema hollered as she was hoistened on Riagan's back.
-
"All good here," Fxeni said as he approached the wreckage of one of the Chevals. "These are certainly less sturdy than the original... but their numbers is nothing to sneeze at."
He looked back towards the lights in the distance, where the Chevals originated from. He was saddened that his worries were becoming all the more likely.
"Since we're all alright, shall we make some more headway before we are beset by more of these crude reproductions?" Fxeni said as well as pointing towards the lights in the distance to make sure everyone was on the same page. He began to trudge forward through the dense snow.
-
"Yes let's try to cover more ground." Calien nodded as he and Sakura followed him.
"Hey you think when we take care of what's causing the storm and get the Omni-Gem shard we can salvage the parts from these things so you can make a new and improved Cheval?" Sakura asked.
-
"I'd rather start from scratch, or make something new. Besides, the parts will undoubtedly be completely covered by snow and may begin to rust by the time we return," Fxeni replied.
-
Riagan trudged along with Pema on his back, keeping pace with Sakura and Calien.
The Professor was up near Fxeni, trying to plow through the blinding snow that was nearly up to his chest. He couldn't hear the conversation over the winds, so he kept quiet and focused on trying to make some headway. He could still see some lights in the distance, but the blizzard was making him disoriented and he couldn't keep his eyes open long enough to properly navigate.
-
"I'd rather start from scratch, or make something new. Besides, the parts will undoubtedly be completely covered by snow and may begin to rust by the time we return," Fxeni replied.
"Oh.....I didn't think about that." Sakura admitted. "I guess that's why Daddy keeps mentioning how annoying it is to shovel snow."
"It's absolutely tedious but necessary." Calien piped up. "But it still sucks."
-
"Oh, you won't be shoveling this! You'd plow it!" Riagan boomed to be heard over the blizzard. He sank in the snow, but still managed to stay on top of it thanks to his snowshoes.
Out ahead, the Professor stopped, turned around, and tried to check their heading on his compass. He couldn't see in the darkness, so he pulled out a torch and lit it, shielding it from the winds with his own body. From what he could determine, they were still on course.
Pocketing his compass, he turned around and squinted, trying to see. The lights in the distance were barely noticeable, but he saw enough to head toward them. His torch flickering in the howling winds, he held it above his head and hoped that the winds wouldn't blow it out. "This way! This way! We, we have, we have to remain aware of our heading! Too easy, too easy to get lost!"
-
"Plow?" Sakura asked while she and Calien kept an eye on the Prof.
-
Shuu had been covered in a small pile of wreckage from the cheval he destroyed, which he pushed off. "I'm okay! In case anyone was wondering." He said, apparently to himself, as everyone had already moved on.
"I don't think they're worried about that, Gonsol." Susanoo said, starting after the group with Shuu close behind.
-
"I recognize the route here... well, what little of it we can see," Fxeni said to the Prof as he trudged ahead. "Shouldn't be much longer."
-
(Prof has the torch.)
-
(Gah, sorry. Removed it.)
-
Slipping a bit, the Professor threw one arm out in front of him to catch his fall, while twisting his body to avoid dropping his torch. He plowed face-first into the snow, with his torch still clutched in his hand and held as far away as he could reach. Pulling himself upright and wiping the stinging snow off his face, he continued trudging through. " Good thing, good thing that, good thing that I designed m-my torches to survive the cold..."
Riagan followed along with Pema on his back, finally taking notice of the torch. "You have any more? The darkness is upon us, and we're liable to get lost in this weather!"
The Professor nodded, stuck his torch in the snow to prop it up, and dug in his bag for another. He tossed the cylinder to Riagan, who picked it out of the snow. "Rip off the top at the seam. It lights itself."
Riagan did as instructed and marveled as the torch blazed to life. "Fascinating..." That was said mostly to himself, as he was quite impressed by the sparkling flare, but he didn't want to make his fascination known. The Dwarves had torches and gaslights, but this was unlike any he had seen.
Retrieving his torch, the Professor gave its flame a quick sniff to determine how long it's been burning, and then pressed on.
-
"If you want, I can keep the fire from going out, Mr. Riagan," Pema pressed her gloved hands together and rubbed them, as if to provide warmth for them. She then hovered her hands near the torch and focused her mana, stabilizing the flames as best as she could.
(Haha, I ended up using my deleted post, anyway. 8D)
-
"Those things are definitely better than the indoor torches in my homeland, they're so unpredictable." Calien sighed as he pulled out a Lantern and enchanted the wick with fire to light it "Sometimes they stay on, sometimes the slightest wind puts them out, sometimes they spontaneously light themselves without warning, and sometimes....weird things happen.
I don't know who designed those blasted things, especially since this has been a problem for centuries and the torch designs do get updated, but the unpredictability has always been there. I'm surprised that there are very few accidents regarding those blasted things. It's come to the point that everyone had started to carry around lanterns such as these, and surprisingly they're much more reliable then those stupid torches."
"So let me get this straight your homeland has created things like fire rods and lanterns that don't need oil, but the indoor torches are terrible and unpredictable yet no one has figured out how to fix them?" Sakura questioned while raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, it makes no damn sense what so ever, it's even prevalent in the castle. Let me repeat even the freaking castle of our highness doesn't have good indoor torches!" Calien replied.
"That makes less sense than how Symmetry City works!" Sakura exclaimed.
"It really does." Calien nodded.
-
The lights got ever closer as they trudged forward through the snow. Fxeni pulled up his scarf to block the wind that was endlessly pushing the snow against them. He wiped his eyes, as they felt like they were frosting over from the frigid air.
"Almost there guys... give or take 10 minutes," Fxeni stated.
-
Aya raised her barrier in front of them towards the wind, it helped a little with the biting gusts but not the cold.
-
"How long have we been walking again?" Sakura asked.
-
"Too long..." Pema grumbled, her stomach also performing its own version of agitated protest.
"Too... Long..." Her head wearily rested on Riagan's shoulder.
-
"Pema don't fall asleep!" Calien shouted.
-
"I have some of the dwarven bread in my pack, would that keep you till we reached the town Pema?" Aya move closer to Riagan and offered the small loaf from her bag.
-
Pema groaned and slowly lifted her head, staring at the Dwarven bread. She spoke with a fragile voice, "Please insert the bread and other delicious items into my mouth..."
-
Riagan also gave Pema a few jostles to wake her up. "Keep your head up, miss! We're almost there!"
-
Aya sighs and pushes the small loaf into her mouth. "Make sure to chew okay?"
-
Pema nodded and took moderate bites from the bread. Thanks to Riagan's jostles, she was able to shake her mind out of the dreary haze and shuffled herself awake.
She extended out her hand and reached for the bread, finishing it in four bites.
"Thanks, both of you... I'll try to stay awake," She continued providing mana to the torch's flames.
-
Aya places the fur Riagan gave her over Pema to keep her warm, it also helped keep their dwarf companion warmer too. "Here this will help."
-
Calien sighed in relief seeing Pema was alright now as they got closer to the city. Sakura was also deep in thought about what just transpired.
"This cold.....this cold is scary." Sakura concluded.
-
Pema grabbed the fur with one hand and pulled on it, further covering it over herself and Riagan's arms.
"Thank you, Ms. Aya." She smiled warmly.
-
The Professor trudged forward until his foot hit a curb buried in the snow. He looked around, shining his torch through the snow until he saw what he thought was a wall. "There! Over there! I think, I think I see a barn! We can take shelter within it!"
-
"A barn? In a place like this?" Calien asked with a raised eyebrow.
-
"Or a shed, whatever you choose to call it," the Professor gave a shrug and hurried his pace to get to the building.
Riagan, catching the rough shape of the structure in the torchlight, hurried over the snow with greater ease, thanks to his snowshoes. He reached the building and after a cursory inspection, he found a hatch and opened it, shining the torchlight inside. He couldn't see much aside from rusted farm tools and piles of hay. Turning back, he yelled to the others. "It's a barn! We can wait out the storm inside and continue in the morning! Help me dig out the door, else we won't get inside!"
Adjusting Pema on his back, Riagan trudged over to the door and stuck his torch in the snow. Taking off his snowshoes, he sunk into the snow and began to dig with both hands.
-
"Of course." Calien nodded as he and Sakura helped Riagan with the digging.
(I kind of feel like bring the Pigs back again right now, I was planning to bring them back again later anyway.)
-
Aya also assists with the digging user her barrier gauntlet to push back the snow and save the others some effort and keep them dry and warm, after a few minutes the door is clear the enter.
-
With both hands, Riagan pulled the door open and grabbed his torch and went inside. Shining it around, he found a pile of hay near the ladder to the loft and placed Pema on it, covering her with the fur. He wandered around and looked at a few of the rusted implements and came across a dusty lantern hanging on a hook. Knowing full well that the oil would be long gone, he took the lantern down, opened it, and put the torch inside, propping it on the wick. The lantern shone brightly and he placed it back on the hook. "It looks abandoned. Not the most ideal, but it will keep the winds off of us."
-
"Everyone in, I can take first watch if we want to get some rest." Aya offered as she put up the barrier around the inside of the barn to help keep the wind from biting at them through any holes in the structure.
-
Calien went inside with Sakura soon following when she heard a sound from behind her, which luckily wasn't more Chevals. She turned around to see some familiar faces, the Pigs from earlier.
"What the, what are you guys doing back here?!" Sakura gasped.
The Piloswine among them explained that they were surprised that they survived the Chevals so they decided to follow them in hopes they could defeat the other monsters or at least find some shealter.
"I see.....well I see no point in not letting you guys in, it's too cold for most of you after all." Sakura sighed as she led them inside.
-
The Professor was the very last to get inside, having gotten turned around and taking a moment to survey their surroundings. Finally entering, he looked around for an old implement and propped his torch in another lantern, and then pulled the door shut with both hands. Struggling with the heavy wooden bolt, he slid it across the door and secured it.
"There. That, that should help keep out the wind..."
((I almost left Prof outside, and I'll just say that everyone got in, including our zombies.))
-
"Everyone get snug and sleep if you need to."
-
Pema's eyes felt heavy and fluttered open and close. Struggling to keep them open, she yawned and rubbed her eyes, looking around at the others, "I can... help with the look... the lookout, Ms. Aya..."
She was visibly tired, if her quiet, stunted speaking wasn't already indication enough.
"It may be best for you to rest. Save your energy," Salem suggested.
She turned her head to Salem, "Maybe... I'll close my eyes for just... a little while..."
Pema curled her body underneath the fuzzy blanket and shut her eyes, nuzzling her face into the soft fur. Before she knew it, Pema was sound asleep.
-
Aya chuckles and glances out of a gap in the wall keeping an ear out for other surprises. "Snow isn't getting any better out there."
-
"I don't think it will get better in the morning but it's good we found this place when we did." Calien stated. "We need to regain our energy."
"Daddy can put your Lantern over here?" Sakura asked as she pulled out her book on Pokemon. "I want to find out what these Pigs actually are."
"Of course." Calien nodded as he moved the Lantern to her position so she could read.
-
"Aye. It's best we wait til morn. We need to regain our strength." Riagan leaned his snowshoes and war hammer against the wall and busied himself with piling a mound of hay and draping his cloak over it.
The Professor didn't seem very comfortable around the pigs, so he grabbed his lantern and climbed the ladder to the hay loft. There was a small window where he could peer outside and survey their surroundings, and after hanging his lantern on a hook, he rearranged a pile of hay, some of it sprinkling down over the ledge.
After moving a small crate, he put the lantern aside so that it wouldn't be seen through the hatch, and he perched himself by it, occasionally opening the shutters to peer outside. "I can, I can keep watch up here."
-
"I'm surprised this place is still standing. Must be remnants of an age gone by," Fxeni said as he looked around in the barn. It was very much unlike the town they were heading towards. While Heimdall itself used a lot of magitech, there was nary a sign of any in this barn.
-
"Perhaps, then again Sakura and Calien both lived out in the wild compared to the people of Iron Gate." Aya added still glancing out the gap in the barn while leaning on the wall.
-
"Most of the places I lived before were a bit more on the rural side, but they have their own surprises." Calien shrugged. "Still it's nice to see a barn again even though it's in rough shape."
"So the brown ones are a Swinub and a Piloswine, they're related so Swinub evolves into Piloswine." Sakura stated as she watched the Pig Pokemon eat some hay that wasn't occupied by someone before going back to her book.
-
"Pigs... Bacon... In my belly..." Pema murmered in her sleep, shifting around in the fur then falling silent again.
-
Riagan nodded while reclining on his makeshift bed. "Aye... In winter when food is scarce, we're lucky to have pigs."
Up in the hayloft, the Professor snuffed his torch, but remained sitting by the hatch, peering out through the shutters in silence.
-
"Sakura and I usually have a hard time finding animals in the winter ourselves." Calien admitted. "Though Pigs....are somewhat controversial in my homeland. Symbolically I mean."
"Ah what?! Spoinks die if they stop bouncing?! That doesn't make sense, the Spoink isn't boucing now!" Sakura exclaimed pointing at the Spoink who indeed wasn't bouncing as it was enjoying the hay.
"Maybe they didn't have enough information so they made something up." Calien pointed out "It wouldn't be the first time something like that happened."
"Maybe......" Sakura sighed
(That's one of the Pokedex entries I absolutely refuse to believe.)
-
"These pokemon did not exist when the empire was still around, I'm thankful the world recovered after Mar unleashed the chaos; these new creatures seem to have adapted well.
-
"Yeah....you'd be surprise how tenacious an ecosystem can be despite what's thrown at it." Calien stated. "Some things may go extinct but other creatures can take their place. It's honestly amazing when you think about it."
"Tepigs breath fire with their nose." Sakura stated absentmindely "They also enjoy roasting berries to eat, but sometimes they burn them when they get too excited."
-
"They aren't going to light this barn on fire are they?" Aya raised an eye brow.
-
"Not sure having them here is such a good idea..." Fxeni said, looking around at the remnants of hay on the ground.
-
"Pig Tepig Pig!" The Tepig cried. "Te Te Tepig!"
"He said he would never do something like that indoors." Sakura translated.
"He said his master wouldn't allow such a thing without supervison......so he has an owner....." Calien stated.
-
Riagan gave a tired shrug. He had disrobed enough to use his coat as a blanket and his hat was over his eyes. "Our pigs were stabled. Otherwise, they roam free. Though, it's not very appetizing to watch your future dinner wander the mess hall when you're about to dine."
-
"The thing is people don't eat Pokemon." Calien stated "There are a few reasons for that such as them being almost as intelligent as humans, unlike most animals, and most being too powerful to hunt due to their unusual powers, especially when threatened. As such people have begun forming a sort of partnership with them.
The Pokemon either gets a true home and/or stronger under the ownership of a Master and the Master gets companionship/protection."
-
There was a flash of light and a loud boom, and the shutters in the hayloft blew open, snow and ice blasting in as the Professor shut and secured the shutters. Using the lantern light below, he moved across the hayloft to another hatch and peered out.
After a moment, he climbed down from the hayloft and made his way to the barn door, opening it enough to look outside. He stepped out just enough and bent, putting his hand down in the new fallen snow. Straightening and shutting the door, he turned to the others. "The b-blizzard is getting worse."
Lightning flashed again, followed swiftly by thunder. The Professor pointed to the roof as confirmation of the worsening storm.
-
"I never seen or heard of lighting during a blizzard." Calien remarked.
The Tepig jumped slightly but kept control of himself as it wasn't the first time it experienced a Lightning storm while the Swinub nuzzled next to the Piloswine who had no reaction.
The Spoink got spooked and immediately bounced to Sakura cowering next to her crying.
".....It's okay Mr. Spoink." Sakura whispered as she scooped him up in a hug "Don't cry."
(The Piloswine is a badass.)
-
((I'll post something once the party all drifts off))
-
"HUH?! Wh-What, Who, Where?!" Pema immediately rises from the fur, swinging Salem around in frantic motions.
"It's just some lightning. No big deal," Salem stated.
"Oh... Heheh, boy, that startled me," She yawned and stretched her arms, reclining back to her makeshift bed. She removed her hat and placed it underneath her head.
While she couldn't go right back to sleep, due to the thunderstorm, she decided to rest her body, at the very least. Providing mana to the torch, along with using the lightning spells, drained her quite a bit.
-
"Thundersnow," Riagan said simply before adjusting his hat over his eyes.
The Professor nodded and climbed the ladder to the hayloft once more. He didn't make a bed out of hay because he didn't like the way it felt, so he cleared some space to just lay on the wooden planks. "We best wait until morning. No, no sense in going outside now."
-
"Thundersnow..." Pema repeated quietly, "So, it's like Thunder, but at the same time... it's also snow."
"Yes. Hence, Thundersnow." Salem said.
"When you least expect it... Thundersnow!" She shot her arms out, creating loud sound effects with her voice.
"... Try to get some rest, Pema."
-
Riagan grumbled and lifted his hat to look at Pema. "We have a tough trek ahead of us, little lady. I'm taking the opportunity to get some sleep. You should, too."
-
"Oops, sorry!" Pema whispered to Riagan.
-
The Spoink wouldn't stop trembling which worried Sakura until she got an idea.
"Maybe what we need right is a lullaby....." Sakura said softly as she softly pat her leg in time like a metronome.
"Which one are you going to sing?" Calien asked softly.
"The one in that fairy tale you told me about with the Hero of Time calming a little baby Goron who was missing his father." She replied.
"Ah yes, I'd play it on my flute but it's much more suited for drums or if not available sung vocally." Calien nodded.
"Yeah....." Sakura nodded before she started to softly sing the lullaby.
Goron Lullaby (Majora's Mask) [cover] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFU0waWkM_k#)
([spoiler]Honestly Zelda's Lullaby doesn't song too Lullaby like to me.[/spoiler])
-
Although Toshi was startled by the lightning, unlike everyone else. She could hear loud knocks against the roof of the barn getting ever louder.
Toshi - "Is it hailing?" on further inspection of her hearing she just barely make out the sound of glasslike crashes against the barn, "No... It's Razorhailing!" she dreaded.
(If the blizzard is getting worse, I thought why not make it a Razorhail (http://gearsofwar.wikia.com/wiki/Razorhail) storm.)
-
(... -AC)
-
(... -AC)
(Agreed.)
-
Up in the hayloft, the Professor had checked the hail by opening the shutters and letting some through. He examined the ice ball, and then shouted down to the others. "Oh, oh no, it's just hail. Just hail. The reason, the reason it sounds like glass is due to the barn's m-materials."
-
Sakura didn't hear the Hail or the words of Toshi and the Prof as she continued to sing the lullaby as if she was in a trance.
The Spoink stopped shaking as he listened to the lullaby until he started to drift to sleep himself.
-
((Hail can be plenty dangerous on its own without being razorhail. A sizable hailstone can be fatal of it hits you in the head, and even smaller hailstones cause damage. And running through a hailstorm hurts. It's like rocks from the sky. Cause a hell of a racket, too.))
-
Grifter - "Come now Toshi." he appeared, perching on Toshi's shoulder, "It maybe hailing, but that rumor of Razorhail, is just a silly rumor. Besides, if this weather was, by any chance, being manipulated by some of Alberta's goons, I doubt they'd even know how to create one."
-
(METAL BLADE RAIN :W)
-
((Only if bacon results.))
Riagan, unperturbed by the noise, had fallen asleep and begun to snore. For a Dwarf of his size, he could snore with the best of them, and the hat over his face did little to muffle the noise.
Up in the hayloft, the Professor settled down again and drifted off into a light sleep. He was awakened a few times by thunder, but fell back to sleep.
-
(Isn't Riagan a human who was adopted by the Dwarven community?)
Pema slowly began to wade into sleep, as well. She turned on her side and held her staff close, "Goodnight, Salem..." She said involuntarily, her voice a dull whisper as her mind drifted off.
Salem was silent for a moment, a bit surprised that she fell back to sleep that quickly. She must have been truly exhausted.
The gems on the staff glowed very faintly, illuminating a gentle glow on Pema's face. With one brief glimpse at her innocent sleeping face, he spoke softly, "Goodnight, Pema."
-
((He is, but for all intents and purposes, he's a Dwarf.))
-
Fxeni had drifted off to sleep before the others in his own little corner, unfazed by the weather. It seemed to be worse than the usual fare, but he had experienced enough blizzards in this area to be used to it.
-
Sakura stopped singing when she finally noticed Riagan's snoring. She looked ahead and saw the other pigs already asleep and looked to her left seeing her Father had dozed off as well before she looked around to the rest of the room. Everywhere she looked she saw everyone was finally asleep. She then looked to the bundle in her arms which was sleeping peacefully. Feeling exhausted herself Sakura laid down with the Spoink still in her arms and shut her eyes before finally drifting to sleep herself.
-
((That Spoink is looking delicious. PSYCHIC BACON :W))
-
(Unlike the others that one is wild, and while it is a bit cowardly it will not hesitate to levitate and drop someone if threatened.)
-
[Okay, so, taking a break from coding after a period of being brain-fried... I take it camp has been set up?]
-
(Everyone is camped inside a barn for the night, fast asleep. Shuu should be resting, as well.)
-
As the party slumbered Aya continued to keep watch, she felt what ever was causing the storm must be reasonably close by. The barn wouldn't hold up to a direct attack if the source decided to strike Aya thought to herself as she quietly raised her barrier and stepped through the door into the darkness beyond.
Glancing back and forth she focused on the mana causing the storm hoping to pinpoint it.
((up to Wily what happens next))
-
Susanoo, also not sleeping, approached Aya, his tail swishing. "You do not smell like the other yamkin* whom you and Gonsol are allied with." He spoke, raising his nose to the winds to smell the mana of the storm. "Almost as if you are one of those from the stories my peoples' elders speak of..."
[*Yamkin is the daemons' catch-all word for the humanoid races (humans, elves, dwarves, etc), and literally translates to 'short life'.]
-
((up to Wily what happens next))
Outside in the blizzard, a lone Cheval Joe was observing. After a bit, it rode back into Heimdall. The community is mostly frozen into human popsicles, with Freeze Master and Blizzard Master still doing their thing. The Cheval Joe rode up to the two, and reported its findings.
"So... The heroes are all holed up in a barn not far from here... Freezzzzzzzze..."
"Should we attack them now?"
"... Yes. We should. Send out the next wave of Cheval Joes! FREEZZZZZZZZZZZE!"
The Cheval Joe saluted to Freeze Master, and rode out.
Back near the barn, the revving of engines could be heard in the distance.
(I'll be late to respond to any updates today. Just wing it, the ratio this time is 2:1, 2 Chevals Joes per hero/ine.)
-
(Dammit Wily, we barely rested! XD)
-
(That's the point! 8D Plus... I have to keep up appearances! 8D)
-
(Calien's going to be so pissed and cranky.)
-
((Prof has a whole barn full of implements to use. Lots and lots of flammable things.))
((Molotov cocktails, anyone? 8D))
-
(If he didn't have an amazing fire source he could have used the Tepig.)
-
((Nah, he's set. He has torches and paste and volatile substances, and is in a barn full of hay, dried-up old wood, various implements, and possible some type of fuel oil stored somewhere. Oh, and paint. Prof could set the whole damn place ablaze with very little effort if he got bored.))
-
(*searches for Goodwood for the Prof to set ablaze*)
-
[Is it bad that I wanna have Susanoo whip up his own weather anomaly to hinder the Cheval Joes?]
-
(Lol, that's very cheap of him! 8D)
-
Susanoo, also not sleeping, approached Aya, his tail swishing. "You do not smell like the other yamkin* whom you and Gonsol are allied with." He spoke, raising his nose to the winds to smell the mana of the storm. "Almost as if you are one of those from the stories my peoples' elders speak of..."
[*Yamkin is the daemons' catch-all word for the humanoid races (humans, elves, dwarves, etc), and literally translates to 'short life'.]
"You're people know the Arcadians?" Aya raised an eyebrow as she stopped to speak to deamon. "Yes, I'm not like the others" she stretched her wings to make the point. "I'm a guardian created by my people." She paused as she heard the reeving of engines in the distance. "Do you hear that?"
-
Susanoo narrowed his eyes at Aya. "It was thought that the Maokin* went extinct long ago..." He said, turning his attention to the sounds the guardian mentioned. "I hear it. Even through these drenched winds." The spikes along his back started growing. "I will impede the coming of any intruders."
[*Maokin is the daemon word for Arcadians, specifically the guardians like Aya. It means 'hollow life' and can possibly be seen as derogatory by those who speak the daemons' tongue.
And yes, I'll be making one of these explanations every time a new word is introduced until I put together a daemon dictionary.]
-
((Prof is deaf as a post, so someone may need to wake him up.))
-
((Yes sounds good for any terms.))
"Lets wake up the others." Aya heads over to shake awake up Sakura "We have company."
-
Riyalie - "Toshi!" trying to wake up Toshi, in her spirit form "Toshi... get up!"
Apparently Toshi kept mumbling in her sleep.
Grifter - "Let me try." the Pidgeot spirit stepped in, moving closer to her ear; throwing his voice by uttering a phrase, that sounded oddly familiar to Toshi, but offensive.
Still fast asleep...
Toshi - "[tornado fang] OFF DADDY!" she cursed as she swung her fist at Grifter, only to phase through him, slamming the floor hard, waking her up from the sudden pain in her fist. "Ow... Goddamnit!"
Riyalie looked upon Toshi with utter shock, as if it was the first time she actually heard Toshi curse in such a way.
Grifter - "Don't worry she'll get over it." he smirked, as Riyalie glared at him.
(I'm just putting something random to wake Toshi; whether it's meant to be related to her father, or not.)
-
(You might want to change that phrase......it's kind of......really squicky in that context......really squicky.....like sexually abusive context squicky.....)
"Aya *yawn* what's going on? Are there more Chevals out there?" Sakura said sleepily as the Spoink woke up as well and started to shiver.
Calien awakened as well with a grumble and a sour look on his face as he tried to listen over the sound of the storm to determine what's coming.
"Yeah.....it's definitely more Chevals." Calien said with irritation "I should have known we wouldn't get a decent rest, but at least we have something to take our frustrations out on."
-
(Does it sound okay now?)
-
(Yeah that's a lot better.)
-
Fxeni woke up with a slight startle at Toshi yelling. He looked around and saw that a few people were already wake.
"Do we have visitors?" Fxeni asked with a yawn, stretching slightly as he got up.
-
"I'm hearing some more Chevals." Calien stated while still being very irritated and cranky "At least twice as many as the first group."
Sakura went over to Riagan and Pema to wake them up as well.
"Riagan, Pema I'm sorry to wake you guys up but we got more trouble heading this way." Sakura stated.
-
Pema groaned and slowly arose from her makeshift bed, rubbing her eyes, "Wha... What's going on... Izzit morning already?" Her speech was slurred a bit, then proceeded to yawn while scratching her head.
"It's only been roughly one hour since everyone fell asleep," Salem noted.
It took Pema a moment to process the danger that Sakura warned her about. "Is there another Chevy outside?"
-
"Seems there's twice as many as the last wave." Sakura nodded "How's your Mana level? If it's still low you might want to drink that Green Potion I gave you."
-
The Professor, up in the hayloft, was still fast asleep. He had his head covered and didn't react to the yelling.
((Someone will need to physically wake him up, because unless you get up close and yell at him, he's not going to hear it.))
-
(What about Riagan.)
-
"Oh right, good idea!" Pema fished around inside her hat and pulled out a Green Potion.
"You still store possessions inside your hat...?" Salem muttered.
"Sometimes, yeah." She nodded, "Most other times, I use my pockets or sleeves. I ran out of sleeve buscuits, though..." Pinching the cork and twisting it, she popped open the Green Potion bottle, then gulped it down.
-
((Forgot about him.))
Riagan had gotten up and was hurriedly putting on his cloak and grabbing his war hammer. "So, we've got company, aye? What are they, how many are there, and what does it take to kill them?"
-
"More Chevals, sounds like twice as many as the first wave." Calien replied "They're heading this way."
Sakura climbed up to where the Prof was while the other pigs woke up and the Spoink explained the situation.
"Prof, wake up, more Chevals are coming." Sakura stated as she started to nudge him.
-
The Professor sat up in a daze and blinked groggily at Sakura a few times. "What? What's going on? Are we being attacked?"
-
"Not yet, but trouble's heading this way. I think Shu's Tiger Daemon Susanoo is holding them back but we need to hurry!" Sakura told him.
-
(Now that everyone's awake...)
The second wave of Cheval Joes appeared over the horizon, and sped towards the barn, engines revving loudly. This time, the Joes riding on top were carrying metal chains, and spinning them over their heads.
-
"We need to hold this barn, they can't just drive through it; anyone with ranged mage hit them as you can everyone else we need to deal with the survivors!" Aya offered as the cheval joes continued to speed at them.
-
The Professor didn't climb down from the hayloft. Instead, he dug through his bag for his explosives, pocketed them, and went for the hatch. Grabbing a few dusty old rags and his torch, he opened the shutters and after a cursory examination of the roof, he climbed out and onto the overhang.
The wind had shifted and was blowing in his favor. Seeing the lights ahead and barely hearing the engines above the howling winds, he ventured toward the edge of the roof and planted himself there, using the packed snow for stability.
The Professor uncapped one of the vials, stuffed half of the rag inside of it, and then lit the other end with the torch. Letting the flame get going, he reared back and threw a Molotov cocktail at the oncoming enemy line.
-
Shuu was up and summoning Grani in the form of... A crossbow? That was different. And he didn't even bother putting his armor on as he groggily stumbled to the door. "I'm too stiff to fight right... I'll help shoot at 'em..." He said, aiming the shiny, silver crossbow into the storm.
-
Riagan, lacking any ranged weaponry, stood at attention, allowing the ranged fighters to do the work. He resisted the urge to rush out into the fight, as he wanted to see how well the party could work as a team. The strategy of having the ranged fighters attack from a distance worked for him, but he was ready to go out and swing his war hammer at the enemy.
Looking around the barn, he wondered if he could find something to use as a ranged weapon, but could only find melee weapons, including a sizable scythe. When the fight came to them, someone could use that as a weapon, and he had an inkling on who.
Glancing up to the hayloft, he didn't see any movement. "Where is your fae?"
-
"I think he's on the roof so he can throw his explody stuff at them!" Sakura said as she started to throw Lightning Kunai at some of the Chevals hoping to strike some vital spots.
Calien took out a silver colored metal Boomerang and enchanted it with a Wind Spell.
"I'll be honest, I just finally Mastered how to use the Wind Element and this is the first time this thing gets a field test." Calien admitted as he took aim "I hope this works and my theory was correct. GALE BOOMERANG!"
Calien threw the Boomerang and thanks to the Wind Element formed a mini Tornado heading straight for the Chevals.
-
((Prof's on the roof. With Molotov cocktails.))
-
(Fixed.)
-
The Cheval Joes managed to deflect most of the thrown projectiles by spinning their chains in front of them. However, that failed when it came to the explosives, and tornadoes. Most were able to dodge the attacks, but 3 went down exploding. The reminder began to rev their engines, this time, the front of the Chevals began to glow, as fireballs began to fire off at the barn.
-
"Oh no Toshi, get those Fireballs before they get to the Barn!" Sakura cried as she tried firing off Demon Fangs at the Chevals when she saw her Kunais not cut it.
-
Shuu was carefully taking aim. "Tch... I'm not the best shot, and this storm messes aiming up..." He grumbled, aiming his crossbow at the fireballs and pulling the trigger. Each of the bolts that fired from the crossbow shimmered brightly and bounced the fireballs they collided with back in the direction they came from. "Mirror Bolts."
Susanoo, meanwhile, was waiting patiently for the Cheval Joes to get close enough to be considered in melee range.
-
Riagan was getting impatient as he shifted his weight from foot to foot, gripping his war hammer.
On the roof, buffeted by the winds, the Professor made another Molotov cocktail and threw it at the Joes. During the first explosion, he had gone back inside to grab his bag and a few more rags and items. During his search, he procured a fuel can.
Amid the howling winds, he soaked a rag with his flame paste and uncapped the can, stuffing the rag inside. Taking it out long enough to see that it was starting to soak up the fuel, he put it back in and took his torch to the draped end of the rag. The rag immediately burst into flames.
With both hands and a slight spin to he step, the Professor hurled the flaming gas can at the Joes. "Incoming!"
Down in front of the barn, Riagan saw the flaming can fly overhead. "What the--?! Your fae had better be careful, lest he burn himself and the barn down!"
-
(Gonna let it marinate a bit longer, see if the others want in.)
-
((Good idea. I'm going to bed.))
-
"Oh no Toshi, get those Fireballs before they get to the Barn!" Sakura cried as she tried firing off Demon Fangs at the Chevals when she saw her Kunais not cut it.
Toshi - "I'm on it!"
Focusing as much chakra to her hands... "Sunōfurēku Tate no Jutsu!!" stretching her arms out in front of her she projectsa snowflake-like barrier shield, large enough to protect the barn from the frontal fire assault, cancelling out any fireballs that already penetrated the others attempts to deflect them.
Toshi - "Don't worry about me. I'll stay here and shield the barn as much as I can." she called out to Sakura and the others, "Just don't let them in too close."
(I'm going to have Toshi stand back and shield the barn from an more fire based attacks.)
-
Fxeni chanted under his breath, mustering up the mana within him. His mana was a bit lower than he would like, but not quite low enough for the potion yet. He pointed his spear out towards the Chevals, where a spot on the ground erupted into an explosion of flame.
-
Riagan was getting impatient as he shifted his weight from foot to foot, gripping his war hammer.
On the roof, buffeted by the winds, the Professor made another Molotov cocktail and threw it at the Joes. During the first explosion, he had gone back inside to grab his bag and a few more rags and items. During his search, he procured a fuel can.
Amid the howling winds, he soaked a rag with his flame paste and uncapped the can, stuffing the rag inside. Taking it out long enough to see that it was starting to soak up the fuel, he put it back in and took his torch to the draped end of the rag. The rag immediately burst into flames.
With both hands and a slight spin to he step, the Professor hurled the flaming gas can at the Joes. "Incoming!"
Down in front of the barn, Riagan saw the flaming can fly overhead. "What the--?! Your fae had better be careful, lest he burn himself and the barn down!"
"Just trust him, he knows what's he's doing!" Sakura called out as she continued her Demon Fang assault on the Joes.
Calien simply threw his boomerang again whenever it came back to him as the Wind Element hadn't worn off yet.
-
Aya charged mana into the goddess blade and released several beams of concentrated energy at any Joe that approached her directly, these attacks while strong needed time to charge and so she left the others to deal with main group while she picked off any trying to break off.
-
(Anything to add, Phi?)
-
Pema donned her hat and dashed to a window. However, she was far too short to reach the opening. Flustered, she scanned the area for something to stand on. It took her a moment to spot a large wooden crate. Pulling her entire weight onto the crate, she pushed it towards the window.
Once it pressed against the wall, she grabbed the top of the crate and heaved herself up. Stationed and able to see outside, Pema aimed her staff through the window, looking for a target.
She divided her attention on two of the Chevals approaching the barn. The gems glowed as bright red particles began to culminate at the top of the staff. Shining brighter and brighter, Pema fired two large serpent-like fire blasts, each blast heading towards its designated Cheval.
-
(Oh boy... Time to summarize evarting!)
Seeing their fireballs being countered and deflected back, the Cheval Joes prepared to charge up another round of fireballs, only to get smacked by tornadoes of energy, eruptions of energy, blades of energy, and gigantic flaming dragons. Barely recovering, a fuel can landed in the middle of the group, unleashing a large explosion that sent most of the Joes flying towards the barn. 3 barely standing Joes made a last ditch effort, and spattered towards the barn as well.
Strangely, one Joe was seen spattering away from the barn.
-
Aya launched another blade beam at one of the surviving cheval joes heading their way while she noticed one trying to escape. "I'm following that one, we need to figure out where their leader is!" Aya began chase of the escaping cheval leaving the others to finish up without really discussing the danger of such an action.
-
(Should some people go after her?)
-
((Maybe save the barn first,snow might slow Aya down?))
-
"Blast it..." Riagan, realizing that he was useless in the battle, ran after Aya as fast as his snowshoes could carry him.
Meanwhile, the Professor had vanished inside the barn once more and began work on a mysterious construction...
-
(Yea, the makeshift Cheval Joe bombardment will seriously damage the barn, unless you planned not to rest for a bit after this. Aya can handle one barely operating Cheval Joe.)
-
"Daddy I'm going after them!" Sakura shouted as she dove past the Chevals and followed Riagan.
"Dammit, not again." Calien muttered as he groaned at Aya's impatience and enchanted his Axe with Fire and sped towards a Cheval
-
(Just be be clear, there are 3 Cheval Joes heading for the barn, and 6 Cheval Joes flying through the air due to Prof's fuel can bomb, and headed for the barn. 5 were blown up by the previous combined attack.)
-
(Oh jeez 6 flying in the air, really? Can't Toshi's barrier take care of that?)
-
Aya continued to follow the protests of the other members of the party lost in the chaos of the battle, she stayed back enough to keep the joe in sight but not close enough to alert it of her pursuit.
-
Seeing Sakura follow him, Riagan turned his head and yelled at her. "What're you doing?! Hold the line! Hold the line!"
-
"That Cheval could be leading Aya to a trap, like what happened last time when she was kidnapped!" Sakura shouted "I don't want to let that happen again!"
-
(From what I can infer, that barrier seems to counter fireballs, and not things that get too close, like big flying chunks of metal. Hence why I said the barn might be badly damaged if not dealt with. Unless TENK comments on the barrier, I'm sticking to this.)
-
"That Cheval could be leading Aya to a trap, like what happened last time when she was kidnapped!" Sakura shouted "I don't want to let that happen again!"
"Hold the line!" Riagan snapped. "Your comrades need you! You have attacks that can aid them! Hold the line! Don't go rushing fool-headed on this chase when you are more effective with your group! Get back there and help them!"
-
"....Fine I understand." Sakura nodded while she bit her lip "But you be careful and bring her back okay? I have a really bad feeling about this, the Tepig mentioned some other 'monsters'. Ones different from the Chevals."
-
((I'm going to wait for others. Prof needs some time to finish his mysterious construction, and Riagan needs to catch up to Aya.))
-
"Tch... What a pain." Shuu grumbled, shooting more bolts, this time consisting of heavy metal wrapped in light instead of magic mirror shards, at the flying Cheval Joes, intending to either stop their momentum or smash the machines to harmless bits before they can hit the barn.
Susanoo decided to take to action, charging at the three remaining Cheval Joes and ignoring the airborne ones as lightning wrapped around his body.
[At most, Shuu might be able to hit one or two.]
-
Pema's gaze darted above and around. Soon enough, it fell on the top of the window sills. Fairly large ice stalactites formed near the top of all of the windows.
Her eyes widened as she pounded a fist into the palm of her hand, "I have an idea!" She hovered her hands near the stalactites, each individual shard of ice snapping off one by one, hovering in front of her.
Pema raised Salem above her head and channeled her mana into the floating shards. The stalactites glowed and expanded 10 times in size, gravitating around her like guardians.
She pointed Salem at the airborne Chevals, the pointed edges of the shards condensing into an extremely fine point. "Fly, my pretties! Fly!" Pema yelled, firing the gigantic deadly ice shards at the airborne Chevals.
-
(Oh jeez 6 flying in the air, really? Can't Toshi's barrier take care of that?)
(From what I can infer, that barrier seems to counter fireballs, and not things that get too close, like big flying chunks of metal. Hence why I said the barn might be badly damaged if not dealt with. Unless TENK comments on the barrier, I'm sticking to this.)
(The barrier's durable against anything, but it only secures what's projected in front of her; in other words she can only protect one side of the barn against a single wave. Having them near could making impossible for her to cover up the vulnerable sides, though. Since there are flyers coming their way, she's going to have trouble defending two waves coming at two directions, on her own.)
Toshi - "Finish those... on the ground... quickly." she pants from exhaustion, "I can't handle them... and the ones... flying... at the same time."
Quickly chucking down a red vial to keep her stamina up...
Toshi - "Hyōton: Kōri no taretto!!" she creates a makeshift turret of ice. Using her senses to aim the turret at the flying attackers, firing freezing shots their way, however in her current state she may not be able to hit them easily.
-
Sakura quickly ran back seeing that her Father held back one with a flaming aerial spin attack but the other two were still getting closer.
"I won't let those 2 come back to a destroyed barn." Sakura muttered as she emchanted her sword with fire and dashed towards another Cheval with her sword pointed in front of her "Flame Needle!"
(Just think of it as the Dashing variation of the Raijingeki in Megaman X4 from Megaman Zero 4 but on fire.)
-
It took a while, but the door to the barn was pushed open. The Professor stepped out into the snow, a large vat strapped to his back, with an attached hose that he held by the nozzle. In his other hand, he held his torch.
"I, I advise, I advise that you m-may want to step back..."
He lit the wick that was attached to the front of the nozzle, and then gave the nozzle's trigger a quick squeeze. A jet of flame spewed forth.
"I apologize, as, as I, as I tried to complete this in time, but, but, but I m-may have taken too long."
-
The attacks connected with the various Cheval Joes, both the ones on the ground and in the air, and various explosions could be seen. As the blizzard blew away the smoke, a lone Cheval Joe continued to spatter forward. The jet of fire from the Prof's machination hit the Joe, setting it ablaze as it pulled a wheelie towards one man.
Fxeni.
(BLAZE OF SUBSTITUTE GLORY)
-
Susanoo pounced on and tore apart the last of Cheval Joes, letting out a triumphant roar as it exploded in his face.
[I know I'm taking Fxeni's thunder, but Susanoo was already charging out into the snow at them. >3> ]
-
(Lol, I think this is becoming a running gag with regards to Fxeni and Cheval wheelies. XD)
-
(... left out again. Along with the Cheval wheelie?! The hell guys.)
Fxeni let out a sigh as the final one was demolished. He looked around to make sure no one around the barn was hurt, then he looked out in the snow.
"I'm going to go get those two back... We need to have a chat about sticking together, clearly," Fxeni says a tad miffed as he trudged out beyond the various wreckages of the Chevals.
-
As the sound of roaring engines quieted down...
Toshi - "I hope... that's the last... of them." the constant panting causes her ice turret to disintergrate back into snow, along with her ice barrier, "I need... some breathing... space."
She walked back inside the barn, opening up her coat's chest area, to get some needed oxygen. She somehow doesn't seem, or feel bothered by the cold air coming in, though.
Grifter - "Hey! Are you okay! You look kinda pale from all that commotion, outside."
Toshi - "I'm... fine. Now leave me." she shooed Grifter away, in the dust.
-
(Dick move, Sapph.)
"Huh, that was an interesting stunt you pulled there, in regards to the stalactities. You're usually pretty oblivious to your surroundings." Salem observed.
Pema frowned, "Hey, I'm not that oblivious! Besides, I was thinking back to my training with Mr. Fxeni. He told me to 'use the environment to my advantage'."
"That he did. It's good that you were paying attention," He replied.
She grinned and nodded, "Mm-hm! With everything Mr. Fxeni is teaching me, I'll be able to become a stronger Runemaster; maybe I'll even be promoted to Knight, one day!"
"Now, now, one step at a time. After all, you were only recently christened with the Insatiable title. Tack on the Knight rank to that? Why, that may be too overwhelming to bear." Salem chuckled.
"Hmm..." She rubbed her chin, "Pema the In-say-dee-able Rune Knight! Conquering beasts, dragons and the dinner table! It kinda has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"
"Perhaps too long of a ring, if I were to be honest..." He said curtly.
-
(Ser Pema the Insatiable does have a nice ring to it 8D)
-
((I'm going to do something for Fxeni...))
The Professor was turning toward the group when one remaining Joe emerged from behind a snow drift. Turning again, he aimed his flamethrower. However, he was out of range. The Joe saw him and immediately changed its trajectory, heading straight towards Fxeni.
((Yes, I'm cheating a bit because I lost track. But, there. Have a Joe.))
-
Fxeni heard the sudden revving of the engine of the sneak attacker, and quickly turned to face it. The Cheval rider, in a streak of sudden cockiness, decided that he would run his target over by boosting into him. As the Cheval sped up violently, it's front end up rising up into the air with mana flowing out of it's lower end.
Fxeni, reacting as quickly as he could, blasted a sudden strong gust of wind downward, blowing snow up into the air to hide his location. He then quickly jumped to the side, barely avoiding the Cheval streaking by.
The Cheval rider, now blinded by snow, furiously tried to wipe off the snow that now covered his face. As his vision returned, the last thing he saw was a tree careening into his face. The Cheval exploded violently against the tree.
"... and that is the turning problems I was talking about, Sakura," Fxeni noted as he stood up and wiped his clothes off.
-
(I'm sorry I'm just trying to register what just happened, I'm assuming that it can't turn in boosted mode?)
-
(Can't turn well, yes. Because it's doing a wheelie.)
-
(So wait the Wheelie is boosted mode? Sorry I'm just trying to get my facts straight.)
-
(Like every ride chaser in the X series, indeed it is.)
-
(Okay now everything makes sense!)
"Wow......" Sakura gulped "No wonder boosted mode is so dangerous....."
-
(Dick move, Sapph.)
(I know, but I was already in-action, and got called away and people posred before I could follow up. ;n; )
-
((I threw in an extra, so it's all good.))
-
Aya using her wings to glide when hopping over rocks, stumps and hills managed to keep up with the damaged cheval joe without alerting it to her pursuit eventually the fleeing minion reached it's destination near the town Fxeni mentioned before.
As the cheval joe came to a halt she quickly ducked behind a near by tree and waited to see what would happen.
((Wily is up))
-
Riagan had caught up with Aya and similarly ducked behind a snowdrift, his war hammer gripped in both hands. He looked to Aya, his voice low. "Finally caught up with you, lass. Figured you might need some backup."
-
"Thank you, for the moment lets just see what happens; find out what we are up against." Aya nods to Riagan and moves over to give him some more room.
-
The Cheval Joe spattered loudly to a halt, alerting Freeze Master and Blizzard Master of its arrival. Freeze Master turned, and looked at the Joe, clearly noting the damage.
"Let me guess, the heroes won... Freezzzzzzzzzzzzzze..."
The Joe nodded, only to be frozen solid by Freeze Master. Blizzard Master poked the frozen block of Joe, and it shattered into multiple chunks.
"So... What now Freeze?"
Freeze Master looked unfazed as he froze another villager.
"Let them come to Heimdall... Freezzzzzzzzzze... Us Masters are not to be trifled with. Plus, there's still more of those Cheval Joes..."
"But... Didn't you hear of Napalm Master?"
"BAH! Fire-type Masters are weak. *creates a Freeze Cracker in his palm* We will crush the heroes... *crushes the Freeze Cracker*"
-
[Beware, a native daemon lord and/or a swarm of lesser-mid daemons may appear in Heimdall.]
-
"Sounds like they expect us to come to them, want to slip away and get the others?" Aya whispers to Riagan
-
"That would be the best idea, lass. Already, I've had to tell your comrade to stay with the group where she was needed." Riagan nodded. He had good reason to follow Aya, as he wasn't a ranged fighter and was of no use to the party in a ranged battle. Sakura, on the other hand, was more powerful and needed to stay with the group where she would be the most effective.
"We need to learn how to operate like a team. Else, your quest will collapse, if everyone goes off on a fool-headed jaunt just because one person does it."
-
"That would include you two, I'd say," Fxeni said quietly as he approached them. "Let's head back and regroup before they find us."
-
"Right." Nodding to the two Aya silently slips away with the group to return to the barn.
-
"Oh, you guys came back!" Pema jogged over to them, "Umm... where did you go, exactly?" She bit her nail.
-
Shuu was stretching and getting himself un-stiffened.
Susanoo on the other hand, was right behind Pema, his tail swishing and his ears alert.
-
"Yes please tell us where you two went." Calien said with his arms crossed while Sakura was holding the Spoink absentmindedly petting it with the Tepig, Swinub and Piloswine behind her.
Calien looked like a father would when he needed to scold a child.
-
"We tracked that machine back to Heimdall, looks like two of Albertus' lackeys are behind this snow storm. They are waiting to spring a trap on us once we arrive."
-
"It smells as though Heimdall may be within a Lorde's Nest." Susanoo spoke, sighing. "It was difficult to smell through the magic that is making this storm."
"Which means we may be getting some daemon interference." Sapph added, armored up and rolling his shoulders. "That said, the lackeys you mentioned are planning to ambush us, we can catch 'em off guard since we know that they're there."
[Lorde's Nest = Daemon Lord's territory]
-
"Demons? Albertus doesn't have the power to control them though."
-
"No. But it is territory that others of my kind have claimed, and we are on the edge of it." Susanoo explained, shaking his head.
"Daemon lords are actually pretty reasonable as long as you don't attack them. But the magic in this storm might attract attention."
-
"So close to a human settlement?" Aya tilts to her head
-
Riagan gripped his war hammer. "That doesn't sound good..."
The Professor was off somewhere in the barn, making new items.
-
"So 2 Masters and a possible Daemon attack, and from what Sakura told me Daemons are quite the nuisance to fight." Calien groaned while pinching his nose. "This is already more ridiculous than what my good friend has dealt with when he was around Pema's age, and that's saying something."
-
"A Lorde's Nest is vast, and we are on the edge of it." Susanoo said, sniffing the air. "So long as HE doesn't show up, the native... Daemons, as you call us, should not be too aggressive..." He added, giving a cautious look at Shuu, who, in turn, directed the look down at one of the daemon tablets slotted into his armor.
-
The Professor emerged from some corner of the barn, still sporting his flamethrower. He had taken the time to finalize it and make it less slipshod. "I, I don't, I don't suppose that, that this would be of any use?"
-
"Hmm, I'm surprised the Daemons haven't attacked Heimdall, considering all the magitech there..." Fxeni muses to himself.
-
"Unless the Masters and Daemon Lord are somehow Fire Elemental I think that Fire Spitting thing will be perfect Prof." Sakura stated "Just be careful with it and don't burn the wrong things."
-
"If you guys are alright with waiting for a little bit after we chase out these 'Masters' and daemons don't show up, I'm gonna go pay a visit to the local daemon lorde to see what's going on." Shuu said, sighing a little at the mention of fire.
[So... Ignoring the blizzard, what would you say Heimdall's natural environment is like?]
-
(Still perpetually snowy, it's like Siberia.)
-
[Hmm... A giant ice wolf for the daemon lord (if they show up)?]
-
"Once we deal with Albertus' forces I still need to track down the Omni-Gem fragment, I'm sure we'll have time."
-
"We'll see what the mercenary network knows... if there's anyone left there," Fxeni says. "Those two Masters up there seem to have cleaned up shop rather well."
-
"Mr. Tepig told me his Master was frozen by 'Monsters' more dangerous than the Chevals." Sakura sighed "Guess that's what the Masters have been doing huh."
"If that's the case there might be a slight chance of them being saved. A slight chance but a chance nonetheless." Calien stated.
"What are you talking about Daddy, they were frozen! You kind of can't spontaneously unfreeze them and expect them to be fine!" Sakura cried.
"In normal circumstances yes, however they were frozen by Magic." Calien replied "If we defeat the Masters the Magic might undo itself and the victims might recover. Theoretically mind you, I'm definitely not certain if it would work, but there may well be a chance."
"Let me guess this sort of situation happened hundreads of years ago in the history of your homeland?" Sakura facepalmed.
"Well the Zora's homeland actually but yes." Calien nodded.
"Ugh if we weren't dealing with what we were dealing with I would think you're crazy." Sakura sighed "Especially since no one is going to understand what you're talking about right now...."
-
Shuu nodded. "Well then, we should be getting our last-minute preparations done and head in to battle." He said, nodding. "It'd be better to get this done quickly without collateral. Or, at least, as little collateral as possible."
-
"We should wait out the storm. Wait until morning, and then we can move out." Riagan had settled down for a light rest.
The Professor had since retreated up to the hayloft with his flamethrower and an armload of junk.
-
"Storm's probably not going to clear in the morning, but we still should rest." Calien stated "If those Masters are causing the Storm as well they probably won't let up even for a trap."
-
"Yeah... But it'll be less expected to strike in the middle of the night." Shuu said, tapping his chin. "Then again, having more energy to fight would be advantageous..."
-
"I see no point if they're expecting us anyway." Sakura shrugged "Can't really surprise someone making a trap. We just have to go in knowing it's a trap."
-
"Resting would be the wisest course of action; that much is certain. We've hardly rested since our arrival. We all need as much strength as possible," Salem stated.
"I'm with Salem!" Pema cried as she leapt and face-planted on the fur she was sleeping on.
-
"I've never seen someone literally jump into bed....." Sakura mused.
"Says the girl who climbed a really tall tree in the forest and dive bombed her father at 7 years old?" Calien quipped.
"It was totally worth it." Sakura smiled.
"My back sure didn't think so." Calien sighed.
"What can I say, I love heights. If it wasn't snowing and this barn was in better shape I would be sleeping on top of the roof." Sakura stated.
-
"I will keep watch." Susanoo said, moving and standing guard at the door of the barn. "My kind need less sleep, and I need no sleep to be wielded as a weapon."
Shuu sighed and yawned. "Damn, and I went to the trouble of stretching and warming up to fight." He said, shrugging. "Oh well..."
-
"Shuu may I ask you something?" Calien asked.
-
"I will answer to the best of my abilities." Shuu replied, turning to Calien.
-
"When you channel Daemons either via summoning or turning them into Weapons does it use any of your Mana?" Calien questioned.
-
"Yes. Daemons feed on magic." Shuu answered, nodding. "Not too much, though. Just enough to fuel themselves."
-
"That explains why you don't seem so drained compared to some of the other Magic users." Calien nodded.
-
"Umm... That's a good question, actually." Shuu said, turning to Susanoo, who decided to come back from the door.
"We only consume enough for a single spell." The daemon explained. "So it is only a single 'cast' to wield us."
-
"So it's kind of like my Weapon Enchantment spells, usually I only need to cast it once unless it wears off or I need to switch elements. If I use something like Demon or Ice Fang it uses a little bit of Mana too but not much, but most of my sword techniques don't use Mana so I just use one Spell until it runs out." Sakura nodded.
-
"Close enough." Susanoo said, nodding. "Gonsol's armor and this storm have magic infused in them as well."
-
"Yup, anyone who can sense Mana can tell that." Sakura nodded as she petted the Spoink.
-
Susanoo nodded. "My kind can feed off the magic in this storm." He said, starting back for his claimed post at the door. "I advise you try to sleep. They may send another attack if you stay up too much longer."
Shuu nodded. "Indeed. The sooner we get back to sleep, the sooner morning comes."
-
((So how are we planning to move forward? I'll be able to post again after work today.))
-
(Well I kind of want to have Sakura apologize to Riagan but other than that I got nothing. I also need to update Wilypocalypse.)
-
(Riagan is resting.)
-
(Ah, missed that detail.)
-
((Yeah, we can move forward. Riagan is asleep and Prof eventually fell asleep (he didn't build anything else and just konked out in a pile of junk).))
-
Day finally comes, the blizzard still rages but the extra light makes moving around slightly easier. Aya is confident she can retrace their steps and leads the party back toward the spot from the night before, better to plan their next attack rather than walk into the trap without a plan.
-
Grifter - "Hey Toshi." He appears.
Toshi - "Mmm... ?"
Grifter - "Are you prepared to take on the enemy?"
Toshi - "Why do you ask?"
Grifter - "It's confirmed that our enemy leaders, are ice manipulators. Since you're jutsu is very much water and ice based; don't you think you're at a disadvantage here?"
Toshi - "Well... there is my Ronginasu no Yari..."
Grifter - "But are you prepared to risk it? Your spear may not have the right elements to counter these guys."
Riyalie - "She does have light, as a source of heat energy..." she appeared after overhearing the two's conversation.
Grifter - "Yeah, but in this weather that spear might not absorb enough solar energy, to be powerful against them."
Toshi - "Then why don't we just rely on our fire users here." she gave a quick glance at the others "We've got plenty of firepower to melt these freaks. C'mon you're worrying too much, Grifter." she sounded confident in everyone's abilities. "Besides, I can still use my jutsu to protect those, who need it."
Grifter - "I guess you're right... but don't get too cocky. These guys might not be so easy as you claim them to be."
-
"I'm not particularly a fan of the fact that there's more than one Master this time," Fxeni said to the group. "It might be wise to attack from multiple directions while they're distracted. We'd need a distraction for that though..."
-
(If only Bianca the 'chicken' was here.....)
-
Riagan wiped the snow from his face as he followed along. "Our best bet would be to use the blizzard as cover. We can barely see and hear over these winds; think of how our opponents are dealing with it! We stay downwind."
The Professor lagged behind the group. He didn't bring his flamethrower, as it wasn't built very well and he had ran low on fuel oil. Instead, he carried the broken handle of a rake.
-
"I'm not sure that would work considering the fact that they are making the storm in the first place." Calien pointed out. "Not to mention they are Constructs who don't have the limitations that we do, they can most likely see and hear things we can't and most importantly don't feel the cold like Aya herself.
You can't think of them like us, they have extraordinary capabilities and can do things that aren't possible even by experts in the field of magic. For example the last one blew Aya clear across Iron Gate...and she landed quite a distance outside the city limits according to Farah, Fxeni, and the Prof....and then he turned most of Iron Gate into a field of death and rubble, with many casualties that I was barely lucky to be able to heal, and that was just one of them. Don't make the mistake of thinking they are you run of the mill warriors, they're cold hearted machines following the orders of a madman and will not give you mercy."
"Not to mention they would probably sense our Mana right away since they were made with Precursor technology." Sakura added. "We can't conceal our Mana completely so sneaking in isn't exactly possible either, never mind them hearing the sound of our feet crunching in the snow. We need to think of another way if rushing in head first and sneaking in isn't an option."
-
"Even so, it's still best that we use the environment to our advantage. Your defeatist attitude over the situation will help no one. So, rather than turn away any suggestion and advice from your comrades, why not spend that energy on planning how we can be advantageous?" Riagan's eyes narrowed and his voice took on a patronizing tone.
The Professor didn't hear any of the conversation over the winds. He didn't hear anyone wake up and had to be physically roused from sleep. His poor hearing was muffled by a hood and a furred hat, and noises were drowned out by the winds.
Riagan took note and decided to bring that up. "Your fae is deaf. If you wanted to talk about something without him hearing it, you would turn away so he can't read lips, and discuss it in a low voice, surrounded by noise. You could freely discuss plans in a dining hall while he's right beside you, and he wouldn't hear a single word. You used the environment to your advantage."
He moved his gaze to Calien. "Instead of worrying about Mana and what advantage our enemy has; consider what advantage we have. We have our smaller group; we have autonomy; we have a bloody fae and a tiny girl who can't see over the snow, and would make good scouts. The fae can be the eyes and the young lass can be the ears. Send them ahead."
-
"I was thinking a pincer attack would be good. The magic users striking from different angles so that they would have a harder time dodging, and the more melee oriented people keeping them occupied in the meantime," Fxeni suggested. "Since there's two of them, we'll have to be careful no matter our approach."
-
"I agree with Fxeni's idea." Sakura nodded.
"Indeed, sending in the Prof and Pema alone is much too risky especially since Pema has the highest Mana reading among us so she would detected right away even with her size." Calien nodded. "Fxeni's idea has the lowest risk and greatest potential of working."
-
"Our enemies also expect us to walk into their trap, why not after getting a feel for the situation spring it with only a few of us while the others prepare to ambush them." Aya crosses her arms sounding as if she is volunteering herself as bait.
-
"Scouts are not there to attack. They're to scout ahead and report back. We should at least know what we're up against so we can plan accordingly. Our enemy will not use the same tactic twice." Riagan clarified.
-
"In that case why not have Toshi make a few Water Clones and have them report back to us?" Sakura asked "It worked last time."
-
"Hmm... yeah, maybe the water clones might be a better way to go. While the Prof and Pema are indeed the smallest of the group, they would be in greater danger if discovered," Fxeni said, mulling over what the others suggested.
"We'll need volunteers for the initial assault. To be honest, I think at least Aya and Riagan should approach them, but that's entirely up to you two," Fxeni stated as he looked over the group. His eyes fell on Toshi.
"Toshi... I'm not sure how effective your attacks would be against them. You should probably use your barrier abilities to protect one of the casters like you did at the barn. Most likely Pema, since she's more likely to be vulnerable in these conditions," Fxeni continued. "No offense intended, Pema."
-
"I'll go for that, they'll be on the lookout for me either way might as well play the bait; anyone who goes with me needs to be sturdy this won't be an easy battle." Aya nods at Fxeni's comment.
-
"That sounds like the best idea." Calien nodded.
"Riagan can I see your Hammer and Hand Axes, let me use my Magic to give you an edge since these are Ice users." Sakura suggested "I can enchant both of them with my Fire Spell right before you guys head out."
-
"It's okay. No offense taken," Pema smiled at Fxeni then lifted her staff from the fur. "So, wait, am I going with one of Ms. Toshi's clones?"
-
"No you'll be with Fxeni and the real Toshi." Calien shook his head.
-
"Oh, okay!" Pema nodded.
"Just because you'll have a barrier protecting you, don't think it'll be fine to drop your guard. Not for one moment." Salem stated firmly.
"Yeah, I know. You worry too much," She brushed hay off of her hat and adjusted it on her head.
"Not nearly enough..." He sighed.
-
Shuu had been listening to the discussion on what to do as he looked towards the target of their assault. "Well, if it helps any, Grani's magic can reflect mana-based attacks and projectiles, and Susanoo's can interfere with these Masters' abilities to control this blizzard." He suggested, turning to the group. "I have a third daemon, but... It would probably be a bad idea to let him out unless things get REALLY dire. He's still a very recent addition to my arsenal and only about as loyal as his contract requires him to be."
(Sorry for being gone if I was holding anything up. I've been playing Hyrule Warriors and being sick for the past couple days. >>; )
-
(no worries)
-
"I can go with Aya. I can take a hit." Riagan nodded, but didn't give up his war hammer. "As for my hammer, it works just fine."
The Professor had eventually took notice to the discussion and tried to join in, but he could barely hear a thing. "Are, are we, are we discussing a p-proper course of action?"
-
"Yes, Riagan and I will be bait; once the trap is sprang the rest of you will spring a trap of our own, you and the others will need to find good hiding spots." Aya kneels down to speak eye to eye with the professor.
-
"I can go with Aya. I can take a hit." Riagan nodded, but didn't give up his war hammer. "As for my hammer, it works just fine."
The Professor had eventually took notice to the discussion and tried to join in, but he could barely hear a thing. "Are, are we, are we discussing a p-proper course of action?"
"Don't be so sure, my Axe alone was ineffective against the last one since it wasn't imbued with the proper Element." Calien pointed out.
-
Riagan either didn't know what Calien was talking about, or he didn't care. "My hammer's purpose is to hit things. I hit things and they break."
-
Shuu cringed at the term 'proper element'. "And what would be the proper element to use against something that can make a blizzard?" He asked rhetorically, getting the sinking feeling that fire may be required for the battle.
-
"Hmm... yeah, maybe the water clones might be a better way to go. While the Prof and Pema are indeed the smallest of the group, they would be in greater danger if discovered," Fxeni said, mulling over what the others suggested.
"We'll need volunteers for the initial assault. To be honest, I think at least Aya and Riagan should approach them, but that's entirely up to you two," Fxeni stated as he looked over the group. His eyes fell on Toshi.
"Toshi... I'm not sure how effective your attacks would be against them. You should probably use your barrier abilities to protect one of the casters like you did at the barn. Most likely Pema, since she's more likely to be vulnerable in these conditions," Fxeni continued. "No offense intended, Pema."
Toshi - "No problem." she nodded, "But in this case, I might want to exchange water with ice... umm... you'll get idea." she tries to bring the idea of being able to create clones from ice.
"Oh, and don't count me out on offense, just yet; I still have Ronginasu no Yari, to assist in non-ice or water attacks."
"I can go with Aya. I can take a hit." Riagan nodded, but didn't give up his war hammer. "As for my hammer, it works just fine."
The Professor had eventually took notice to the discussion and tried to join in, but he could barely hear a thing. "Are, are we, are we discussing a p-proper course of action?"
She turns her attention to Riagan, with a bit of concern.
Toshi - Also, do be careful on what you just said, Riagan. Getting hit by something that may induce frostbite isn't going to make the situation better."
(I'll need to catch up a bit later, since I need a bit of sleep before continuing.)
-
Shuu cringed at the term 'proper element'. "And what would be the proper element to use against something that can make a blizzard?" He asked rhetorically, getting the sinking feeling that fire may be required for the battle.
"Fire would probably be the best one to use first since Fire is the Opposite of Ice. One element is usually the weakness of the other and vice versa and the opposite pairs are Fire and Ice, Earth and Wind and Light and Dark. The Fire one we faced before was weak to Ice so these guys are probably weak against Fire." Sakura explained.
-
"Cold will m-make objects brittle. M-metal in cold environments have, have decreased tensile strength and b-become embrittled. The, the resultant, the resultant fracturing would have little to no deformation. If our foes are constructed of metal, then, then they, then they will be at a disadvantage to us. They will be unable to take damage," the Professor pointed out helpfully.
-
Pema blankly stared off into space during the Professor's explanation. When he mentioned that the foes would be 'unable to take damage', she snapped back to reality.
"Ooh, that's what you meant by brittle and tonsil strength! Yeah, Salem was, um- he was confused by what you were saying," Pema crossed her arms and nodded.
"If you're going to lie, at least pronounce all the words correctly," Salem spoke curtly.
-
"And that's why I don't feel I need to have my hammer imbued with elemental energy. I've lived in cold temperatures and have been around the smithies enough to know what happens to metal when it gets cold. I hit it, and it breaks." Riagan folded his arms, confident in his strength.
He looked to Sakura and Calien. "I feel your magic abilities blind you to the strength that us laypeople possess. I may not have magic, but I can assure you that I am not weak."
-
Pema's mind flashed back to Doll Master's grizzly murder with Riagan's last statement. "I don't think anyone is doubting your... strength, Mr. Riagan. We know what you're capable of..."
Her gaze was averted from him as she spoke, and idly poked at one of the gems on her staff.
-
"And that's why I don't feel I need to have my hammer imbued with elemental energy. I've lived in cold temperatures and have been around the smithies enough to know what happens to metal when it gets cold. I hit it, and it breaks." Riagan folded his arms, confident in his strength.
He looked to Sakura and Calien. "I feel your magic abilities blind you to the strength that us laypeople possess. I may not have magic, but I can assure you that I am not weak."
"Ummm why would Alberta make a Construct that uses Cold that is vulnerable to Cold?" Sakura pointed out "That makes no sense, I don't think he would be stupid enough to do something like that."
"I'm just going by my own experience before I was forced expanded on my Magic, because of my own ineffectiveness using brute strength alone on the previous Master I faced." Calien sighed "I certainly don't doubt your strength at all, but Sakura just wanted to help. We meant no offense."
-
((All my playing Hyrule Warriors has made my brain start putting together a Mana-verse version of Dynasty Warriors (HW being a Zelda version for those not in the know). X.X ))
-
(Who would Aya be? XD )
-
(Fi or Lana?)
-
(Maybe Kid Link moveset wise, uses a big sword kinda transforms?)
-
(Obviously Pema is Lana. Just look at her.)
-
(Oh.....I wasn't thinking about fighting styles I was thinking of characterwise........)
-
(Toshi would very much resemble Tetra {if only she was in the roster, that is}.)
-
(Toshi would very much resemble Tetra {if only she was in the roster, that is}.)
(......How? Just because she's a Dark Skinned Blond?)
-
(Don't forget the red scarf {as apposed to Tetra's neckerchief}, and that she wears a blue costume... actually scratch the costume bit :P.
Although, personalty wise, a bit so-so. So it's very much appearance alone.)
-
((Meanwhile, Shuu would be the guy with the long list of weapon types.))
-
((What would Prof be?))
-
(Well the problem is most of the characters use Magic or at least a strict Warrior of some sort so he doesn't really fit anywhere. Best I got is the most unexpected Lethal Joke Character in the Zelda Universe to show up in that game since to be honest the Prof is kind of a Lethal Joke Character of awesome to me.
Agitha, Insect.....Princess?
That is literally what she's called. She uses a Parasol and summons bugs.
Also Toshi is probably Ruto in fighting style....maybe.)
-
"Ummm why would Alberta make a Construct that uses Cold that is vulnerable to Cold?" Sakura pointed out "That makes no sense, I don't think he would be stupid enough to do something like that."
"I'm just going by my own experience before I was forced expanded on my Magic, because of my own ineffectiveness using brute strength alone on the previous Master I faced." Calien sighed "I certainly don't doubt your strength at all, but Sakura just wanted to help. We meant no offense."
"Indeed. If one were to make metal constructs to control ice and snow, one would most likely use some form of enchantment to increase the resistance to the cold or a specially-treated metal." Shuu added, tapping his armor. "Like the metal my armor is made of."
-
"Then I will just have to hit it harder," Riagan gave a stern nod.
The Professor glanced at his bag for a moment as he considered the items he had stored away. Of course his simple wooden staff would be of no use--he only grabbed it for use as a melee weapon--so most of his fighting would be dependent on his many concoctions. "Well, I, I, I suppose that m-my explosives will suffice, yes? If I, if I, if I knew what they were constructed of, I could determine a proper mode of attack..."
-
"Nature denotes that someone or something that thrives in the cold wouldn't like the heat." Shuu added, thinking a moment before sighing. "Which means I may have to use HIM in this fight..."
-
"Then I will just have to hit it harder," Riagan gave a stern nod.
The professor glanced at his bag for a moment as he considered the items he had stored away. Of course his simple wooden staff would be of no use--he only grabbed it for use as a melee weapon--so most of his fighting would be dependent on his many concoctions. "Well, I, I, I suppose that m-my explosives will suffice, yes? If I, if I, if I knew what they were constructed of, I could determine a proper mode of attack..."
"Yeah the Explody stuff should work just fine." Sakura nodded "And maybe if there's enough wreckage you can study the materials. Maybe Daddy or I can chop off an arm or Riagan can bust a leg or something."
"Nature denotes that someone or something that thrives in the cold wouldn't like the heat." Shuu added, thinking a moment before sighing. "Which means I may have to use HIM in this fight..."
"The dangerous one?" Sakura gulped.
-
"Yeah... The dangerous one..." Shuu sighed, removing his helmet to rub his temples. "Well, he's not so much dangerous as he is an ass. When he DOES cooperate, he becomes either an axe that's too big for me to wield or a tiny knife that is literally almost too hot to handle."
It was at that point an unfamiliar (to the group) voice came from one of Shuu's tablets. "Aw... No need to be telling your new friends about how you're barely worthy to wield me, Sapphire Knight." The voice said in a condescending tone. "I'll behave, so long as the local tribe stays out of my field of vision."
-
"So what's your name?" Sakura asked politely "I'm Sakura."
-
"Feh! You yamkin and your need for names. Only Lordes can give us Zotokin* true names." The voice scoffed. "But if you must call me something, my 'gonsol' calls me 'Hellhound'."
Shuu sighed, rubbing his temples more. "It's the only thing he'd respond to, as he is a dog daemon and the territory he comes from is a fiery cave deep under ground." The knight explained, putting his helmet back on. "And his territory's Lorde is named Hades, so it seemed to fit."
[*Zotokin means 'full life' as is what daemons call themselves.
And yes, only daemon lordes can bestow a true name to any daemons, most daemon lordes having received their names from the previous lorde of their home territory.]
-
Riagan didn't respond, as he was concentrating on the battle to come and his task.
The Professor heard the additional voice, but didn't hear what it said. He froze where he stood, his eyes wide. Finally, he looked to the others. "You, you, you all heard that voice... d-did you...?"
-
"Just another one of Shuu's Daemons." Calien replied "Seems he doesn't trust him yet and we are to refer to him as Hellhound since it seems he's a dog with a connection to Fire."
"What does Zotokin mean?" Sakura asked.
-
"That's right, you imbeciles call us 'daemons'..." Hellhound's voice grumbled. "And why should he trust me? I am a greater daemon from the depths of a fiery hell from your worst nightmares!" As he spoke, a black, wolf-like silhouette with glowing, flaming red eyes seemed to fade into existence in the blizzard. "I am the brother of Hades! Lorde of the many Hells and one of the most powerful Lordes this or any other world has ever seen!"
"Shut it. Or do you want me to explain WHY you accepted my contract?" Shuu asked, making Hellhound go silent before the silhouette vanished.
"I hate the cold anyway..."
-
The Professor blinked a few times. Shrugging, he continued through the snow. "At least, at least that, at least that voice wasn't in m-my head..."
-
"Yeah....thank goodness for that." Calien sighed.
"Hmm Mr. Hellhound seems interesting." Sakura remarked "I hope I can get to know him more....though that will probably take awhile."
-
"He sure doesn't shy away from the theatrics..." Salem said dryly.
"Yeah, I wonder if he can sing, too?" Pema tilted her head.
-
"If he can sing, he's far too proud to do so." Shuu said, sighing.
Hellhound grumbled something in daemonic that was, undoubtedly, not very polite.
-
"Hellhound?" Aya seemed to find the name familiar.
-
"We should probably get to the plan. We'll have more time to talk about things and bicker with an ornery daemon when we've got the masters taken care of." Shuu suggested, turning to look towards Heimdall.
[Why do I now have the sudden mental image of one or both of the Masters overwhelming the group only for Hellhound to just fully manifest himself and either eat them or incinerate them?]
-
(Not as good as my mental image of Hellhound's incredible singing talent.)
-
((Karaoke at the tavern? ))
-
"If we're quite done with the theatrical daemon..." Fxeni said, shaking his head. "Shuu and the Prof should approach from a different angle, so that the Prof can attack with his explosives while they are probably distracted with the sudden barrage of magic the mages will hit them with."
-
"I'll let them talk abit then you should all strike." Aya adds.
-
The Professor nodded, though he wasn't sure what the exact plan was as he didn't hear it. "You, you, you may have to repeat our strategy, as I'm afraid that I m-might not have heard it properly..."
-
"Professor, Riagan and I will act as bait and draw them out; the rest of you will find good spots for the ambush then when we give the signal everyone attacks. Either from range or melee."
-
Shuu nodded. "Then I'll be going to get myself into position." He said, starting off through the snow. "I can figure something out without getting seen."
-
Toshi - "Well then... let's get started." she said, before removing her mitts so that she could from a Tiger handsign... "Hyōbunshin no Jutsu!!"
With a puff of mist, an ice clone was created for each separate group, other than her own.
Toshi - "Oh, one more thing, guys" she said as a word of caution, "These are ice clones. They may be dressed warm like myself, but believe me, they're the complete opposite. If any of you're hypothermic, I suggest not being too snuggly with them." she quipped.
Turning her attention to her group leader.
Toshi - "Right, lead the way, Fxeni." she signaled to him, keeping the two segments of her spear ready, avoiding assembling them; so as to avoid exposing their positions.
(I forgot how many groups we'll be divided into; so assume there's 1 ice clone for each group, other than Fxeni's group, which the real Toshi'll be supporting.)
-
"Alright... now's as good a time as any," Fxeni said as he drew a quick map in the snow with his spear.
"Aya, Riagan and Calien, up the middle," he said as he drew a circle with a line pointing up the middle.
"Toshi and Pema, with me," he said as he drew a triangle on the left, with a line curving around to the side.
"Sakura, Prof and... Shuu?" he said as he looked up, seeing Shuu walking away already. He shook his head, and quickly drew a square in the ground with a line curving to the right. "You three go up the right."
"Shall we?" He said as he pointed forwards, and began to walk up to the left side of the town.
-
Sakura and Calien nodded as they headed towards their respective directions.
-
((Soon heading home, so I'll post later.))
-
Fortunately, Shuu was already headed in the direction for Fxeni's plan. He always liked taking the right for some reason.
"So, Gonsol, do you have a plan?" Susanoo asked, his voice echoing in Shuu's head.
"Not really. Aside from getting into position on the right and waiting to strike until things go down." The knight replied, turning to make sure that Sakura and the Professor were behind him (as he had still been close enough to hear that part of the plan when it was spoken). "Besides, I think we're still gonna need to formulate a plan anyway."
"And, of course, I'm in reserves for when [parasitic bomb] happens." Hellhounds voice chimed in. "It doesn't matter to me, I suppose, since I won't be letting you use me as any more weapons any time soon."
[The italics mean that this conversation is going on in Shuu's head.]
-
Toshi and her 2 clones all nodded towards each other, before dispersing among the three groups.
-
Aya and Riagan walked out toward where they heard the two master's converse near the gate of the town. Keeping their guard up neither knew what to expect but at least knew an attack was likely to occur soon.
((Will need wily to post.))
-
Pema nodded and walked with Fxeni, hiking up her dress when she trudged through the deep banks of snow.
-
Calien followed behind Riagan and Aya til he found suitable cover to hide behind and waited for when the Masters to spring whatever trap they had planned.
-
The Professor hung back with Shuu and Sakura. He advanced far enough to gain a better vantage point and position himself so he could hear things carried on the wind, but still looked toward Sakura and Shuu for visual cues.
((Sorry, sickness has made my posting slow.))
-
By now, most of Heimdall's inhabitants have been turned into ice sculptures for Freeze Master's collection. Out in plain sight for all that still resist.
"Shouldn't we plan a strategy for the heroes?"
"Freezeeeeeeeeeee... Plan? We are both Masters of snow and ice. This blizzard is an extension of our bodies! Meaning... WE KNOW YOU ARE THERE!"
Freeze Master fired off multiple Freeze Crackers at the general direction of Aya's group, as Blizzard Master spun in place, causing the Freeze Crackers to grow in size.
-
Aya raises her barrier as the first of projectiles hit, while the smaller ones were easy enough to block the larger ones forced her back a bit, glancing to Riagan she gave the impression she'd keep their attention while he moved around to attack them with his hammer.
"So much for taking them by surprise I guess!"
-
"We may as well be the bait that they want, lass," Riagan nodded as he swung his war hammer against the onslaught. The Freeze Crackers shattered as the point of his hammer smashed into them.
-
(If I know my Megaman I think Riagan just made a huge mistake.)
-
The ice clone in Aya's group stepped forward...
IC Toshi #1 - "Sunōfurēku Tate no Jutsu!!" reinforcing Aya's barrier with a more durable barrier that could absorb the freeze crackers. "Riagan, you might want to reconsider your options. You're going to get frozen if those hit. Get behind my shield."
-
The Freeze Crackers that were shattered by Riagan's hammer continued as shrapnel, bombarding the powered up barrier. Some smaller pieces got caught in Riagan's attire, freezing up patches.
Freeze Master laughed. And strangely stood still. As if... Waiting. Blizzard Master was still spinning, this time, giant snowflakes began to bombard the group, his... Blizzard Attack. *crickets*
-
(Cricket? Also should I assume we have to take out Blizzard Man first?)
-
(Fourth wall... Blizzard Attack sounds lame. In a blizzard. And it depends on what strategies you have for the Masters.)
-
(Right. I think I'll wait for everyone else until I post.)
-
"A minor distraction!" Riagan took a moment to crackle the ice that caked on his fur cloak. Now that he knew the physics of the Freeze Crackers, he could coordinate an attack better. Smashing was a bad idea, so he swapped the heads of the hammer for more deflecting shots.
-
"With the Masters' attention on those three, we should broad-side 'em." Shuu said, summoning Susanoo as a sword, who seemed invisible in the storm. "Sakura, Prof, what do you two got to get 'em with?"
-
The Professor indicated his staff and his bag of explosives. "I could, I could b-bomb them."
-
"I can enchant my sword and kunais with Fire magic. I can throw my Kunai or attack with my Sword." Sakura stated.
-
"And with Susanoo, I can make a short tunnel of wind through the blizzard to make sure your projectiles hit." Shuu said, nodding. "That said, our best bet would be to get up close and personal while their attention isn't on us."
-
"So sword fighting it is." Sakura said as she enchanted her sword with her Fire Magic "I wonder if I can melt those projectiles but I don't know if it would actually work considering what just happened when Riagan hit them. Then again my sword isn't solid either, it seems to be made of energy."
-
IC Toshi #1 - "We need to distract them a bit longer." the clone beginning to feel the weight of the Blizzard Attack, wearing out its ability to maintain the shield, "According to the clone in Sakura's group, they're preparing to attack. We can't allow these two to catch on. Aya, you're going to have take over, I don't think I can hold this up any longer." she groaned as the barrier continues to weaken, due to the clone's chakra consumption.
Meanwhile at Fxeni's group.
Toshi - "Any ideas would helpful right about now. They seemed to be too focused on Aya's group. Shouldn't we be forming an attack of our own?"
-
(I have plans for the 2 flanking groups... Namely the final wave of Cheval Joes. I'll send them out after you come a bit more closer. 8D)
-
[Oh my. Hellhound might make an actual physical appearance after all.
... And why the hell am I seeing him as being bipedal and smoking a cigar?]
-
"Aim for the one that's spinning, Pema," Fxeni said quietly as he began to gather his mana. He focused it as much as possible, and pointed his short spear out towards Blizzard Master. He waited until Pema was ready to cast his spell.
(Just have Fxeni cast his spell when Pema does, Phi!)
-
(That's a perfect trigger! I'll wait until that combined spell is fired off.)
-
Noticing the charged mana from Fxeni's spear, giving off a lot of light, Toshi seemed a bit nervous about the idea.
Toshi - "Umm Fxeni... don't you think that's going to give away our position?" she asked.
-
(I suddenly have an idea of Calien taking out a Joe and hijacking a Cheval to use as a 'Jousting Horse'.)
-
Pema steadily increased her mana, aiming her staff at Blizzard Master. "Alright, just like we practiced! Get ready."
Fxeni nodded, both of their mana unanimously in sync, focusing the power on one entity.
"Now!" Pema fired a lightning bolt, and Fxeni unleashed a wave of fire that swirled around it. The electricity from the bolt combined with the intense flames, forming a huge white, crackling fireball.
Brilliant sparks and static emitted from the white inferno, the combined might heading straight for Blizzard Master.
(This is fantasy, who needs science? 8D)
-
Shuu saw the combined magic attack of Fxeni and Pema. "Looks like it's our turn. Let's move!" He stated, starting to rush through the snow, with Susanoo's magic clearing an easy path for Sakura, the Prof, and the ice clone to go down.
-
Sakura nodded as she planned to perform a Rising Slash on Freezeman.
-
As the attack was about to hit Blizzard Master, Freeze Master laughed aloud as the loud revving of engines could be heard. A wall of Cheval Joes burst out and surrounded the two Masters, shielding them from the combined might of Pema and Fxeni.
"Like I said earlier... This blizzard is like an extension of our bodies... We knew of your... Flanking plans... Now FREEZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZE!!"
The remaining Cheval Joes broke formation with loud revving, and split into 2 groups, one headed towards Fxeni's group, the other towards Shuu's. Freeze Master and Blizzard Master resumed their bombardment on Aya's group.
(Final wave of Joes, 18 in total, so 9 per group. 8D)
-
Sakura facepalmed and then performed her Rising Slash on the first Cheval that headed towards her and finished with a Downward Stab on the same Cheval.
"Okay from now on we're assuming these guys have an army of small fry at their disposal for each attack." Sakura thought as she headed for the next one.
Calien didn't come out despite knowing they knew he was there but quietly observed the situation trying to form a plan.
-
Aya's barrier caught one of the larger ice crackers, as it pushed against the barrier it seemed to succeed in pushing through; however Aya focuses all her mana into the point of contact and yelling out forces the Ice Cracker back at it's own caster.
While the two Masters forcused on the group and the reflected attack Aya jumped high into the air using her wings to glide down quickly as she attempted to split what ever master was closest in half with her goddess blade.
-
Shuu let out a low growl before boosting forward quickly and slashing one of the Cheval Joe's heads off, using a small tornado to fling it like a projectile at the Masters (unintentionally, as he was aiming for another Joe).
-
The Professor through one of his bombs at the approaching Cheval; brandishing his staff in the even that the bomb missed its mark.
Riagan swiped his hammer at the Freeze Crackers in an attempt to deflect them.
-
"FOOLISH GIRL! YOU WILL BE THE FIRST TO FREEZE!"
The reflected Freeze Cracker hit Freeze Master right in his torso, and a huge Freeze Cracker formed almost instantly. With a "HA!", Freeze Master fired it right at Aya. Blizzard Master continued his Blizzard Attack at Riagan and his ally.
-----
The head of the Cheval Joe would have hit one of the Masters, if not for one of the surviving Joes catching it and throwing it back at Shuu.
-----
Riagan's attack only managed to shatter more of the Freeze Crackers, even though that wasn't his intent.
-
Aya cleaved the attack but it predictably exploded sending Aya flying back into a snow bank not for from the two masters, thankfully a soft if not chilly soft landing at least.
-
Shuu spun and cut the head in half before cutting another Joe in half, ice starting to collect on his sword.
[It's Susanoo's ice, not Freeze's.]
-
The Freeze Cracker shards rained down again, but Riagan had at least altered the angle of the strike so that they wouldn't hit him. A few hit his arms and legs, but the patches of ice were thin and crumbled with his movement.
"Too fragile to deflect. Best just smash them and aim them away..." those words were said mostly to himself.
-
Calien was trying his best to endure the Blizzard attack with his Flaming Axe when he noticed the Cheval with the Joe Shuu beheaded was still intact. He started to head for the Cheval hoping Riagan can distract Freeze Man and keep his attention away from him.
-
(Technically, Riagan would be distracting Blizzard. The previous attack did have Freeze involved, but his focus was diverted to Aya.)
-
The snowbank exploded as Aya jumped upward again raising her hand up into the air mana began to focus and form into a ball hovering just short of her palm "Take this!" she yelled to get Freeze's attention again as she lobbed the energy ball at him.
The attack however was not aimed at him directly but rather hits just short of the two master throwing up a lot of snow and debris. Just as their vision cleared Freeze saw Aya had moved in close in the commotion and was in the process of trying to skewer him with the goddess blade.
((Not really one of her powers, but given how she manipulates mana to make weapons it's not to far fetched she could create a simple energy ball spell))
-
The Professor just chucked bombs.
((Yes, he's still doing stuff.))
-
The Cheval Joes continue to outmaneuver some of the attacks thrown at them, though some were blown up rather spectacularly, by bombs, mana, whatever the works. Unfazed, the survivors continued to rev, wheelies abound.
-----
Freeze Master did not react fast enough, and found himself skewered. With a look of shock, his body began to encase in ice from the feet up. When the ice reached the torso, where Aya's blade was, a smirk appeared on Freeze Master's face, as the blade was encased along with Aya's hand and the whole of Freeze Man in the blink of an eye.
"I told you so many times... We can sense your every movement in this blizzard! NOW YOU ARE FROZZZZZZZZEN IN PLACE!"
When the debris fully cleared, Freeze Master was standing just behind his frozen substitute, though Blizzard Master was struggling to get his footing back.
-
Shuu let out another growl and swung his sword at another Joe, flinging the ice that had gathered on the blade as a spike. "We need an area of effect! Sakura! Professor! Take cover! I'm about to bring the thunder!" With that, he pointed his sword straight up, lightning sparking and shooting into the sky.
-
"Gotcha!" Sakura nodded as she temporarily retreated.
-
Aya desperately pulled as her hands had been encased by the ice as well, thankfully she didn't quite feel the biting cold like a human would. "Ngh--!" Her body began to glow somewhat as she focused her mana into her hands and blade hoping to melt the ice.
-
Riagan ran over and smashed at the ice with his hammer. "I hope I don't break your blade, lass!"
Meanwhile, the Professor took shelter behind a snowdrift.
-
"It's just Mana anyway, don't worry!" Gritting her teeth she pulled one more time finally freeing her hands thanks to Raigan. "Thanks, now how do we get past that defense of theirs?"
-
(I'm just gonna pause here to let Phi, Fxeni, and TENK to catch up. Aya's ice should last until then. :P
EDIT: Guess she's free. XD Still gonna pause.)
-
(Yeah I'll wait for a bit before Calien does his thing. Just make sure Shuu conveniently leaves at least one Cheval motorcycle intact.)
-
[So, should I wait too, or do the attack I set up?]
-
((I think we're all waiting.))
-
(Stay in limbo... Do the limbo!)
-
"Well, that's unfortunate," Fxeni said as he watched the Cheval Joes approach. "Well, shall we?"
Fxeni began to chant, focusing a larger amount of mana together for his next spell. A green runic circle began to form at his feet. It shone brightly as he lifted his short spear and pointed forward. A small tornado formed, sucking up a few of the Cheval Joes.
"Now, Pema!"
(All yours, Peam! 8D)
-
Toshi and her clones set their focus on the Cheval Joes, leaving main offense against the Robotmasters to the others.
Spreading out their arms...
Toshi & Clones - "Hyōton: Hasunohana no Shuriken!!" forming a wind demon shuriken, in each hand, shaped like lotus flowers of ice; throwing a total of six large shuriken at the converging chevals.
Some dodged the incoming shuriken, only for the ones behind them to be decapitated, while some of the wheelie show-offs got split in half by some.
(Toshi used Kienzan, ice shuriken edition :D)
-
(OK, once Peam does her thing, Shuu can let loose whatever he was charging up.)
-
[Okay. Also, I had a thought for getting Hellhound into the fight that involves Freeze Master targeting the Prof.]
-
((Yeah, Prof's not really doing a whole lot right now. Also, he's still injured. His hands won't be healed until after Heimdal. He's short and weak. Prime target material. And if Freeze Master has cold iron on him... 8D))
-
(Honestly doubt he would have Cold Iron on him, his attacks are all Ice.)
-
[Which seems more plausible? Prof getting frozen and Shuu getting PISSED, or Shuu getting in the way of the attack, getting frozen instead, and Hellhound having to begrudgingly come out to save him?]
-
(The second one.)
-
((With Prof's behavior before, him getting into a situation where he is frozen is plausible. He doesn't think ahead before rushing out, aside from that he has a plan and thinks he has the element of surprise. The second one is equally as plausible for the same reason; Prof gets himself in a dangerous situation.))
-
Pema dashed towards the tornado and leapt in the air.
"Salem, fly!" She yelled and perched herself horizontally on the staff. Like a witch, she glided through the air, maneuvering around freely without the deep patches of snow interfering with versatility.
She soared around the tornado, searching for an accurate point to hit all the Chevals at once. Racing through the wind, Pema held onto the top of her hat, maintaining her focus... and the hat's position. Soon, she found her chance.
"Pew! Pew! Pew!" Pema gestured her right hand into a "gun", as she fired three large Ice Blasts from her staff. The Icy barrage collided with the Chevals within Fxeni's tornado, instantaneously creating an ice sculpture, trapping them inside.
Pema descended from the sky and landed on her feet.
"YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" She raised the staff above her head and forcefully jammed the bottom into the ground, in Lord of the Rings-esque fashion.
A large geyser of flames erupted through the sculpture, creating a sudden explosion. Particles of ice, metal and snow glittered the sky, illuminated with the bright red glow from the fiery combustion.
-
(And I think when Prof or Shuu gets frozen I'll have Sakura follow up with a Fire elemental Kuuenzan on Freezeman, which I'll probably call Fire Pinwheel to differentiate it. Calien is probably going to go after Blizzardman on the hijacked Cheval.)
-
((Maybe they should both get frozen! 8D))
-
(Also very plausible.)
-
[Sakura, you wanted me to leave one of the Joes for Calien? Or just not explode all of them?]
-
(I don't need a Joe I just need a functioning Cheval/Motorcycle.)
-
[Then you can have the once Shuu decapitated. |D]
Shuu almost lost his focus from Pema's display of magical prowess. "My turn to bring an end to this!" He called out, swinging his sword down, calling lightning to descend and almost all of the Joes that were still on the attack, making them all explode. "Now... We can focus on those two."
-
Calien arrived at Sakura and the Prof's hiding place which Sakura was confused about.
"<Daddy?>" Sakura asked in the language only they understood "<What are you doing here?>"
"<I have an idea, I just need that Cheval.>" Calien replied "<I might need Shuu's Unicorn or Tiger too. I want to get to that Spinning one over there, and I think I need you guys to distract the frozen one over there.>"
"<Gotcha.>" Sakura nodded as she came out of her hiding place "Shuu I need Grandi or Susanoo. I can't explain why but they should know what to do when the time comes, we need to keep the attention of the Frozen one if not both of them."
-
((Will respond later. Got some things to do.))
-
Shuu nodded, tossing the small stone tablet that Grani was in to Calien. "Grani! Obey him as if he were me!" He called Grani's tablet glowing and his voice saying something as a confirmation.
-
Calien caught it and waited until he could make his move.
-
Both Freeze Master and Blizzard Master jumped a few steps back away from Riagan, though for Blizzard Master, it might have been rolling.
"What now Freeze? They somehow defeated all the Cheval Joes with little effort..."
Freeze Master was clearly twitching. He scanned the advancing groups of heroes, and noticed one of them was slightly lagging behind.
"FREEZZZZZZZE! You continue with your Blizzard Attack... Since going after the so-called Guardian was a mistake... I'LL PICK OFF THE WEAKEST ONE!!"
Freeze Master charged up a large Freeze Cracker, and fired it off at the Prof, while Blizzard Master spun in place again and bombarded the rest with his Blizzard Attack.
-
Shuu's eyes widened at the sight of the giant freeze cracker heading in the direction of his group, along with somehow hearing the word 'weakest' over the storm. He knew exactly who the target was: the Professor. Instinctively, he dropped Susanoo and rushed to try to keep the crippled hobgoblin alchemist from getting frozen. His intent was to push the Prof out of the way of the attack, but, instead, found himself intercepting it instead... With himself.
-
(Come on out from behind the frozen Shuu, Prof~ IMMA FREEZE JOO TOO 8D)
-
(Or use some bullshit to say the blast was too close and froze the Prof too. 8D)
-
The Professor was thrown out of the way. Getting to his feet, he turned and saw Shuu standing frozen. "Shoe!"
Running out from behind the frozen body, he stood in front of it and frantically dug through his bag for something to thaw the ice. "I have, I have something, I have something that could work, if, if, if I could find it..."
((Sorry, I was getting dinner and spending quality time with Mabel.))
-
(No worries, time for the climax!)
Freeze Master laughed as he saw Shuu frozen solid, and the Prof trying desperately to help.
"Your mistake! You will now join your ally! FREEZZZZZZZZZZZZE!!"
Freeze Master charged up another large Freeze Cracker, and fired it directly at the Prof. Blizzard Master increased his bombardment to hold the other heroes back.
-
The Professor barely heard the warning, and only turned around when he felt the sudden gust. By then, it was too late and he was frozen in place.
((Back to dinner and cuddle time!))
-
(And now... Mostly one-sided battle! XD)
Freeze Master laughed even louder, seeing the Prof frozen.
"And to think you all were dangerous! More like just meddling annoyances! You all will FREEZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZE!!"
-
[Hmm... Should Hellhound possess Shuu, or just come out and complain about the cold before going on the attack?]
-
Sakura heard the sounds of Shuu getting frozen, the Prof digging, the Prof saying 'thaw' and then the sounds of the Prof getting frozen as well.
"Big mistake you bastard." Sakura muttered as she suddenly started to use her Flaming Saber to spin towards Freezeman at high speeds. The motion also created a flaming barrier around her causing the snow in her path to melt.
Calien in the mean time used the opportunity to head towards the Cheval and got on it. He started to channel his Mana into the vehicle being careful not to channel too much as to activate the vehicle's boosted mode.
"Okay Grani, I need you to follow me and protect me from the blizzard. We can't let Shuu's action be in vain here." Calien stated as he summoned the Unicorn. Grani looked forlornly at his master as she nodded.
Calien then started to drive the Cheval with Grani right behind him casting a Reflect spell on him. He drove around Freezeman while he was distracted and headed towards Blizzard Man with his Flaming Axe low and level towards Blizzardman's shins.
(So Sakura with her flaming Kuuenzan just became a human Scorch Wheel, which is one of Freezeman's weaknesses, while Calien is finally acting like the Pirate Job class as I planned long ago.
Basically I figure this is how the Pirate's debuffing attacks works, the Pirate uses a regular attack aimed at a specific point which cripples them in some way. In this case Calien is going to use Shin Smash which lowers Speed by 25%. There's also Skull Bash which lowers Magic Attack, Defang which lowers Physical attack, Shell Split which lowers Physical Defenses and Scale Strip which lowers Magical Defenses. I have no idea what would be aimed at for Scale Strip.)
-
((What are the residual effects of being frozen? After the person is thawed?))
-
(I imagine lots of shivering, hypothemia and numbness if we're going realistically. I mean otherwise in a fantasy setting it would fall under the Harmless Freezing trope. It would be the same as Petrification I believe.
http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Freeze_%28Status%29 (http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Freeze_%28Status%29))
-
[Hmm... Should Hellhound possess Shuu, or just come out and complain about the cold before going on the attack?]
(I say, come out and complain.)
-
[I imagine they'd be, if you excuse the pun, out cold.
And I'll have Hellhound appear after everyone else has gotten a post in. Then, it's showtime!]
-
((Get the chicken soup ready, then! I can see the flu in Shuu and Prof's future.))
-
(Ugh along with the shrinkage that's got to be rough. X()
-
((They'll have innies! 8D))
-
(What's a innie in that context dare I ask?)
-
(As for thawing Frozen... Well... I'll go with realistic in terms of shivering, hypothermia and numbness.
EDIT: SHADOW MASTER'D)
-
(What's a innie in that context dare I ask?)
((Shrinkage. 8D))
-
(Ah more shrinkage. Hope Heimdall has a random Hot Spring for the men.)
-
(I'd love a typical anime hot spring scene.
Except, it'd be weird to have Pema in there.)
-
(Don't forget to thaw the Heimdall citizens too. :P)
-
(Don't forget to thaw the Heimdall citizens too. :P)
(Of course, after all the Tepig, Swinub and Piloswine's Masters got frozen. Not the Spoink since he's a wild Pokemon.)
(I'd love a typical anime hot spring scene.
Except, it'd be weird to have Pema in there.)
(Well it shouldn't be unisex.)
-
(I know, I'm just saying for the female hot spring, I don't want to write for a nude 12 year old.)
-
(Yeah I guess that would be awkward even if she was wearing a towel.)
-
(There should be a "kiddie" spring then!)
-
(I don't think that would solve the problem.)
-
[So, who else needs to react before Hellhound breaks loose?]
-
(Peam, Fxeni, Toshi, clones if needed. Aya and Riagan too.)
-
((No need to wait for Riagan. Whatever Aya's doing, he's doing something similar.))
-
(Fxeni, Pema, and Toshi's attacks should probably be after Calien cripples the shins.)
-
(Don't think you'd be able to turn while boosting, but eh.)
-
[Then you can have the once Shuu decapitated. |D]
(Toshi already decapitated a few with her ice fuuma shuriken, earlier. Could of used my post instead, but whatever.)
Toshi - "Professor, No!" leaving her clones to fend off the remaining cheval joes, she turned back, assembling her Ronginasu no Yari as she ran towards the Robotmasters. It then gave off a bright flash of light, as the blades of the spearhead glowed as if they transformed into pure light energy, similar to that of a beam weapon. "I'm going get you for that!" she roared in a state of pure legit anger.
(Right now I was going to have Toshi do some Shining Finger Sword knock-off with her spear; but since Calien still has to make his move, it'll have to wait.)
-
(Don't think you'd be able to turn while boosting, but eh.)
(Oh would it be too slow without boosted mode?)
-
(Nah, should be fine. I think I mis-read it.)
-
((Go ahead, Aya will be trying to catch up after re summoning her blade.))
-
[So... Who is that 'go ahead' for? o3o]
-
(Wily.)
-
((Yeah, Wily, you're up. In the meantime, I may draw an awkward all-male hot spring scene wi Prof.))
-
(I still don't know where to put the tatoo I wanted to give Calien but I definitely can't put it on the left side of his chest and I sure as hell not putting it on his ass before someone suggests that.)
-
[Maybe on a shoulder? o3o
Also, Shuu has a scar on his chest from making his contract with Hellhound.]
-
(Yeah shoulder would probably work. Reason I didn't want it on the left side of his chest was because Calien also has a scar there.)
-
(I sure as hell not putting it on his ass before someone suggests that.)
(Dammit, Sakura, stop reading my thoughts!)
-
[Shuu's scar is right over his heart, where Hellhound tried to blast a fireball through him.]
-
(Yeah Calien's got his right around the same area from a knife or something.)
-
((I can already see the awkward naked hot springs scene now... 8D))
((Prof: "I, I--I didn't... didn't know you had a... tattoo..."))
-
(Well most of us should already know what the tattoo is going to be anyway but for Quickie's visual reference and for those who avoided my spoilers if any.
[spoiler]http://zeldawiki.org/Eye_Symbol[/spoiler])
-
(Put a Triforce on Calien's left cheek.)
-
(But Calien doesn't even drink. Besides if he had any other tattoos it would probably be the Goron mark since he became an honorary bro to them.)
-
((While we're on the subject, if you have a basic ref for Calien, could you toss it in the Supplement thread, please? Thanks.))
-
(Yeah let me see where I put that in the thread and double check to make sure that's what I want.)
-
((While we're on the subject, if you have a basic ref for Calien, could you toss it in the Supplement thread, please? Thanks.))
[Need one for Shuu out of armor, or is he not yet at the point of being included in arts? o3o]
-
((Sure, throw one in the thread. The more the merrier. I've been toying with making miniatures of everyone anyway.))
-
(Also from now on Sakura won't look like Genderbent Davy Crocket.)
-
(... *shakes fist*)
Blizzard Master was spinning until something hit him, causing him to stop and flip onto the ground with a loud thud. Freeze Master turned to look at Blizzard Master, and barely dodged the incoming attack from Sakura, thanks to the sound of raging flames.
"Owww... My back..." Blizzard Master was flailing on his back, unable to get back up.
"Darn you girl... DARN YOU! You think we are that afraid of flames!? WE FREEZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZE THEM!!"
Freeze Master charged up a Freeze Cracker, and fired it straight up into the sky. Soon after, large icicles started to rain down upon the heroes.
-
Riagan glanced up and saw one of the icicles heading toward him. Knowing full well what happens when he hits them, he launched himself bodily at Aya to get both himself and her out of the way. "Get down!"
-
Aya fell back into the snow as Riagan tackled her out the way of the incoming attack. "Uhh--ah-t-thanks." she says looking a little awkward as Raigan realized in an effort to catch himself on the fall he had accidentally placed his hand on Aya's chest.
(( Sorry couldn't resist 8D ))
-
(Such a manly grab. 8D)
-
(At least they didn't get frozen like that >..> <..< )
-
(... 8D *mental images*)
-
(Think some psychological warfare is in order, or at least some Hellhound provoking.)
Sakura quickly dodged out of the way before and icicle threatened to impale her head.
"Oh so you aren't afraid of Fire huh?" Sakura quipped back as she started to counter with some Fire Fangs back at him while she looked at the frozen Shuu and decided to try something unexpected "Hey Hellhound you hear that? This guy says he can FREEEEEEEZE any Flames we throw at him! You gonna take that? You gonna let him say that your Flames from Hell can be tamed by a little snow storm?
I thought you Daemons were supposed to be immortal and yet you let him imprison you like a weak mouse caught in a snake's grasp? Why don't you break out of that little ice cube and show him what the flames of hell are really like! Make this pathetic man tremble at the power of the Brother of Hades! Let him fear the name Hellhound and burn your mighty visage in his mind before he perishes to your terrible power!"
Calien in the mean time stopped the Cheval and signaled Fxeni and the others to strike Blizzard Master while he's down while dodging the icicles and melting others with his Axe.
"Hurry, strike him before he gets up and recovers his mobility!" Calien shouted.
-
[Time for Hellhound yet? o3o]
-
(Hell yes, Sakura is speaking his language if you know what I mean.)
-
[Time for Hellhound yet? o3o]
(Pretty much. Go and unleash the beast.)
-
As if Sakura's words reached him, Hellhound's tablet shone brightly through the ice. "So, not afraid of fire, is he!?" The daemon's voice called, the ice starting to crack with hot steam shooting out. The light increased until, suddenly, the entire block of ice was engulfed in flames, a large, bipedal figure becoming visible.
As the flames faded, there stood a massive, werewolf-looking man with black fur, dark red mane and wrists, curved horns, and piercing yellow eyes. "Normally, I would say flattery would get you nowhere, but his proclamation is an insult!" Hellhound bellowed, trudging towards the Masters. In the place he had been were Shuu and the Professor, thawed out and laying in a crater in the snow, a fire keeping them warm.
(It's not the best description, but what I'm visualizing for Hellhound's appearance is like the Hyrule Warriors version of Ganon, but with a wolf's head instead of a boar's head.)
-
Freeze Master tsk'd under his breath, and raised his right hand. He gestured for Hellhound to bring it. Blizzard Master almost managed to prop himself back up, however, Hellhound's flashing entrance caused him to roll over back onto his back, and flailing again.
-
(What about Sakura's Fire Fangs?)
-
The giant daemon looked down at Freeze Master, a grin spreading across his muzzle. "You must have a death wish, golem!" He mused, pointing a finger at the Master before changing his target to the knocked over Blizzard Master. "How about I cut off this bothersome blizzard and show you just how deep in over your head you are?" He asked, fire gathering in a white-hot ball at the tip of his claw.
-
(What about Sakura's Fire Fangs?)
(Let's just say he dodged them.)
-
The giant daemon looked down at Freeze Master, a grin spreading across his muzzle. "You must have a death wish, golem!" He mused, pointing a finger at the Master before changing his target to the knocked over Blizzard Master. "How about I cut off this bothersome blizzard and show you just how deep in over your head you are?" He asked, fire gathering in a white-hot ball at the tip of his claw.
Blizzard Master continued to flail violently, while Freeze Master looked unfazed by Hellhound's words.
"All flame beings are the same, hot-mouthed and rash. I say we will bring on the FREEZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZE!"
-
"I admit I kind of admire this guy's Courage.....but man is he an idiot for adding more fuel for Hellhound's fiery rage." Sakura thought as she decided not to get in the way unless it was necessary.
-
((I take it Shuu and Prof are out-cold. Literally.))
-
(Yeah but they are also very warm and toasty.)
-
Hellhound merely seemed to get more menacing. "Fine then. I will show you I've got bite." He sneered, releasing the white-hot fireball at Blizzard Master. The unfortunate robot would never get to stand on his feet again, as the attack would easily be able to vaporize him on contact, leaving a considerable crater where he had been trying to get to his feet.
-
Aya fell back into the snow as Riagan tackled her out the way of the incoming attack. "Uhh--ah-t-thanks." she says looking a little awkward as Raigan realized in an effort to catch himself on the fall he had accidentally placed his hand on Aya's chest.
(( Sorry couldn't resist 8D ))
(Oh yeah Quickie this also happened.)
-
((I saw, I just haven't responded. 8D))
-
Hellhound merely seemed to get more menacing. "Fine then. I will show you I've got bite." He sneered, releasing the white-hot fireball at Blizzard Master. The unfortunate robot would never get to stand on his feet again, as the attack would easily be able to vaporize him on contact, leaving a considerable crater where he had been trying to get to his feet.
Freeze Master jumped away just as the fireball hit Blizzard Master.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!! IT BURNS!! IT BURNS!! I STILL WANT TO SKI-"
As the light faded, Blizzard Master has indeed vaporized, leaving behind a burnt-out crater with a floating glowing sigil. Freeze Master looked at the crater, then at the sigil, and laughed.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! It seems that my fellow Blizzard Master could not take the heat! But I'm a different matter! My FREEZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZE Crackers will prevail!"
With that, Freeze Master began to fire Freeze Crackers into the sky, causing even more icicles to crash down onto the heroes. Without stopping, his torso began to shoot out Freeze Crackers at the heroes as well.
-
Hellhound's brow twitched. "No compassion for a fallen comrade? You really are scum." He growled, releasing a hot aura that melted the freeze crackers. "How about I crush you like the bug you are?" The greater daemon asked, swiping his hand at Freeze Master.
-
Toshi stopped her advance towards Freeze Master at the sight of Hellhound.
Toshi - "W-what am I looking at, here?" she stood still as the light from her spear suddenly shut off.
Grifter - "Take it easy, Toshi. Lets sit this one out. This must be Hellhound, Shuu was talking about. We're very much not needed, now that this daemon's around."
Toshi - "Agreed." she sat down cross-legged, after seeing Shuu and the Professor free from their frozen prisons, with relief. "Freeze Master's pretty much doomed, trying to take on an eternal being, by himself." Resting her head in her palms, she continued to watch Freeze Master's inevitable demise.
-
Fxeni looked up at the shower of Freeze Crackers that started falling liberally to the ground. He started to gather his mana, but then realized that he was almost completely out. His hand started to make it's way towards the green potion that was given to him, but then stopped when he saw Hellhound.
"Let's get out of range of his spells, Pema. Think you'll be able to fly, or should I carry you?" he asked as he looked up, keeping an eye on the trajectories of the Freeze Crackers.
-
"You... C... Carrying me? Um..." Pema said quietly, a hand placed on the side of her face as she looked away.
Salem spoke up, "Well, I could definitely fly her and-"
"But, we might accidentally crash into, uh... A tree!" Pema interrupted, slightly flustered.
"... When has that ever happened...?" He stated dryly.
Pema turned to face Fxeni, "You can... You can carry me... Mr. Fxeni." She rubbed her arm nervously.
-
"Alright... come on, let's get out of here before we're frozen solid," Fxeni said as he kneeled down in the snow, his legs disappearing below the powdery surface.
-
"Y-yeah, let's go!" Pema felt like she was dreaming for a moment when he swooped her up and held her. She stowed the staff away and grabbed onto him tight.
-
Calien looked at Hellhound as he effortlessly destroyed Blizzard Master and turned the other way.
"<I imagine Dinnae would have acted in a similar fashion if she was here and heard that person's boisterous claimes.>" Calien thought as he spotted Fxeni picking up Pema with Pema looking strangely happy "I really wonder how long it's going to take Fxeni to realize Pema has a crush on him."
He then looked over to Riagan and Aya's compromising situation.
"..........He's really lucky it wasn't Toshi in that situation, she would have gouged his eyes out in an instant." Calien shooked his head as he once again took cover.
-
(Pema is a growing girl.
The crush may not even last the entire RP... Or maybe it will. 8D)
-
(A pity PBPB will never know of their relationship.)
-
(.....What?)
-
(Somehow, I expected that response from you.)
-
(Well yeah because you just expressed pity that Peebs would never get jealous of a 12 year old girl getting the attention of her object of sexual lust.)
-
(Now why would she be jealous? Does she really idolize him that much, that even an under-aged girl would make her jealous?)
-
(Okay wait a minute what the hell were you even talking about in the first place then?)
-
(I was joking that PBPB would never find out that Fxeni had an under-aged girlfriend, before he became Peebs' sex idol.)
-
(..... -AC)
-
(Just forget I even tried to humor. I dunno why I bother. B()
-
(TENK, just stop.
You're making things weird again.)
-
(And very squicky.)
-
Riagan, realizing his faux pas, quickly got up and pulled Aya out of the way of more Freeze Crackers; this time by the arm to avoid any more accidental contact. "Apologies, lass."
-
"Riagan, Aya this way!" Sakura said as she motioned to them from behind her cover.
-
"Hold on!" Fxeni said as he began to run away from the Freeze Crackers. They fell around them, Fxeni doing his best to avoid the falling ice magic. He stopped behind the closest wall and kneeled down once more.
"I think we should be safe here..." he said as he looked around.
-
Pema stepped onto the ground, briefly looking around, as well.
She returned her gaze to Fxeni, who was only a few inches away from her. Lightly tugging at her sleeve, she looked up at him. "Um, thank you for... carrying me... and stuff." She glanced at him for a few moments before turning away.
"Be still, my heart..." Pema whispered to herself.
"Huh? Sorry, I didn't quite hear you." Fxeni raised an eyebrow.
"Good job out there!" She blurted out.
(Sorry, hope you don't mind that I added a line for you, Fxeni.)
-
((What the f---did I miss? :o ))
"I-It's alright." Aya clears her throat before following him to Sakura's cover.
-
(I'm sorry you had to read that.)
-
Grifter - "Hey, don't you think it be dangerous for Shuu and the Professor to be near those two?"
Toshi - "What do you mean?"
Grifter - "Sure Hellhound's helping us, but I don't think he's the type to avoid 'collateral damage'."
The thought of Shuu and the Professor being incinerated suddenly popped into her head.
Toshi - "Oh [parasitic bomb]! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua20Hxx8xDE)" she got up quickly.
Grifter - "Watch your tongue young lady. Riyalie's allergic to that you know."
Riyalie - "Easy for you to say." she grumbled.
She ran towards the two lying unconscious, dodging as many of the icicles falling her way. Opening her communications with her clones...
Toshi - "Everyone, get over there and horde the Prof. and Shuu outta there, hurry!"
IC Toshi #2 - "Wait, but if we touch them..."
Toshi - "Don't argue, and just do it. We'll think of something later." she chimed in.
Ice clones - "Roger... that." they cut communications and did as they were told. Racing over towards the two, shielding them from any icicles falling down on the two unconcious allies, with their ice barriers.
Toshi grabbed a hold of the Professor over her shoulder, realizing the clones grabbing him might endanger his body temperature. Ice clone #1 pickup Shuu trusting Toshi, that its body doesn't send chills through his armor.
Toshi - "Hold the line, while we escape." she ordered the second clone, who seems to be holding the shower on its own.
IC Toshi #2 - "Just go already!" it stood its ground keeping its ice barrier in check to secure Toshi and the other clone's retreat, along with Shuu and the Professor carried along the way.
By the time, Toshi and clone #1 got to a safe distance, clone #2 let down its barrier, out of exhaustion allowing the rain of icicles to fall, pelting and very much transforming it into an ice statue.
Clone # 1 set Shuu down on the snow, trying to avoid any risk of frostbite to occur upon the knight.
Grifter - "Nice save there." he complimented.
(I kinda realized Shuu and the Prof. was still out cold. So I did the honors of saving them, at the expense of a clone, though.)
-
Susanoo shifted back to his normal form, shaking off flecks of ice. "There was no need to worry about Hellhound harming Gonsol or the Professor." He said, approaching Toshi. "Contracts prevent my kind from harming our contract-holding gonsols."
-
Pema stepped onto the ground, briefly looking around, as well.
She returned her gaze to Fxeni, who was only a few inches away from her. Lightly tugging at her sleeve, she looked up at him. "Um, thank you for... carrying me... and stuff." She glanced at him for a few moments before turning away.
"Be still, my heart..." Pema whispered to herself.
"Huh? Sorry, I didn't quite hear you." Fxeni raised an eyebrow.
"Good job out there!" She blurted out.
(Sorry, hope you don't mind that I added a line for you, Fxeni.)
(Nope, I don't mind at all)
"Hey, you did pretty good out there yourself. We make a good team," Fxeni said with a smile.
-
Calien sat down next to Fxeni and Pema slightly exhausted with Grani close behind him.
"That stunt I did took more out of me than I thought it would." Calien panted. "I don't know if I overshot how much Mana I put into it or the inferior copy of the Cheval required more Mana to put into it to get it going, but I'm just glad I didn't trigger the Boost function on it."
-
(... Huh. -AC)
Freeze Master flew into a store from Hellhound's swipe, causing half of the building to collapse. A moment later, the store froze up, and exploded into multiple ice shrapnel. Freeze Master limped out, clearly battered.
"You... Dog... You... Will... FREEZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZE!!"
Freeze Master glowed, and started to fire giant Freeze Crackers at Hellhound.
-
A grin spread on Hellhound's face again. "So, taking me seriously now that I've damaged you?" He asked, raising a large fireball to melt the freeze crackers. "And fire isn't even my most terrifying power!" The daemon declared, raising his fist before seeming to turn and punch into the ground behind him.
Normally, one would expect the ground to shake and his fist making a crater. However, his massive fist merely... Vanished. After a few minutes his fist emerged from Freeze Master's shadow to strike him.
-
Susanoo shifted back to his normal form, shaking off flecks of ice. "There was no need to worry about Hellhound harming Gonsol or the Professor." He said, approaching Toshi. "Contracts prevent my kind from harming our contract-holding gonsols."
Toshi - "Oh... right." she scratched her head looking confused at Susanoo. "Never realized that was a thing."
-
Susanoo nodded. "Well, it never came up." He said, eying Hellhound. "There are consequences for one of our kind being responsible for our gonsol's death are dire..."
-
A grin spread on Hellhound's face again. "So, taking me seriously now that I've damaged you?" He asked, raising a large fireball to melt the freeze crackers. "And fire isn't even my most terrifying power!" The daemon declared, raising his fist before seeming to turn and punch into the ground behind him.
Normally, one would expect the ground to shake and his fist making a crater. However, his massive fist merely... Vanished. After a few minutes his fist emerged from Freeze Master's shadow to strike him.
Freeze Master flew into the air from the punch, and landed a small distance away from where he once stand with a thud. A short moment later, he slammed his right palm into the ground, and large icicles erupted from the ground, and snaked towards Hellhound.
-
"Jeez this guy is really durable." Sakura stated as she observed the battle.
-
Freeze Master flew into the air from the punch, and landed a small distance away from where he once stand with a thud. A short moment later, he slammed his right palm into the ground, and large icicles erupted from the ground, and snaked towards Hellhound.
Hellhound grinned and seemed to get sucked up by the shadow he had punched into, completely avoiding the ice. "You are a fool! A golem who believes himself equal to a man or greater when you're nothing more than a construct of metal and magic!" With that, the shadow under Freeze Master's feet started expanding quickly. "Normally I dislike eating metal, but you'll be an exception!"
After saying this, Hellhound's jaws extended from the shadow and clamped down around Freeze Master, followed by Hellhound crawling out of the shadow all the way and angling his head up. Once he was out, he opened his mouth and released a blast of white hot flames.
-
(Nope, I don't mind at all)
"Hey, you did pretty good out there yourself. We make a good team," Fxeni said with a smile.
Pema regained her composure and smiled warmly. "Thank you... Yeah, we do make a good team, don't we? I couldn't have done all that without your help."
She giggled and folded her hands behind her back, swaying in place. "I'm glad you're training me! I know I still have lots to learn, but... I hope I was able to teach you some things, too."
Pema turned to an exhausted Calien. "Are you okay? Do you need to rest for a bit?"
-
Hellhound grinned and seemed to get sucked up by the shadow he had punched into, completely avoiding the ice. "You are a fool! A golem who believes himself equal to a man or greater when you're nothing more than a construct of metal and magic!" With that, the shadow under Freeze Master's feet started expanding quickly. "Normally I dislike eating metal, but you'll be an exception!"
After saying this, Hellhound's jaws extended from the shadow and clamped down around Freeze Master, followed by Hellhound crawling out of the shadow all the way and angling his head up. Once he was out, he opened his mouth and released a blast of white hot flames.
Freeze Master smirked and laughed maniacally as his body slowly vaporized.
"YOU MIGHT HAVE WON THIS BATTLE! BUT MASTER ALBERTUS WILL WIN THE WAR!!"
With one last laugh, Freeze Master disappeared, although he left behind one frozen tooth on Hellhound, as well as a glowing sigil that slowly floated to the ground, and hovered at Hellhound's feet.
(So yea, I guess that's that. That frozen tooth should give Hellhound a bit of a toothache... At least until we leave Heimdall. Blizzard Attack and Freeze Cracker sigils are up for grabs, and of course, have the kanji for water... Since ice is derived from water. The spells are exact replicas of the Master Weapons in MM6, and MM7... So... Go grab them.)
-
"Tch... He actually caused me harm..." Hellhound growled, a seal appearing on his forehead that seemed to cause him to... Shrink? Yes, Hellhound was definitely shrinking. And as he shrank, his fur changed, from mostly black with bright red accents to a dark red with bright red and black accents. The daemon remained bipedal as he finally stopped shrinking at the a more human size, complete with the addition of ragged, dark gray trousers, a matching cloak, and a cigar in his hand.
"Well, I suppose shrinking to this dulls the pain." He grumbled, putting the cigar in his mouth and lighting the end of it. "So what are these things those golems left behind?" Hellhound asked, crouching and looking at the sigil that had been left behind by the Master.
-
((I'm going to sleep. Riagan will need zombied when needed and Prof is still out-cold.))
-
"Well when those things get destroyed they leave behind a Spell." Sakura said as she walked over to him "When someone steps into the sigil they learn the Spell, though according to Fxeni it seems the Spell learning process is a bit forceful and invasive.
However they have to be able use to use that element to get the Spell so someone like Daddy or Fxeni can't get it because they don't use Water, which I'm assuming that's what the sigils translate to in ancient Precursor language. Though I can't be sure since the Prof is sleeping."
Pema turned to an exhausted Calien. "Are you okay? Do you need to rest for a bit?"
"Yeah I should later." Calien nodded as he looked at Hellhound again "Huh.....he shrunk."
(I think I'm partial to Freeze Cracker myself, I can think of a few ways to use it.)
-
Toshi - "Wow... that took longer than I thought it would." noticing Hellhound having his smoke-break after a long cold-heated battle. "But I'm glad that's over with."
She looked over towards the two sigils, bearing the Mizu kanji symbols.
Toshi - "Hmm... those look... familiar to me somehow." she pondered as she walked over towards them.
(I wonder if I should let Toshi grab one.)
-
(Let's see if Phi wants one though like I said I kind of want Freeze Cracker.)
-
(Pema should get one of them. Napalm Bomb + one of these = good times 8D)
-
(Pema didn't obtain the Napalm Bomb. I thought Fxeni grabbed it? She was devastated that Napalm Master killed all those townspeople, right in front of her. So, she refused.
Pema can take the Blizzard Attack, though.)
EDIT: (Nevermind, misunderstood it.)
-
((For sake of translation, I'll wake up Prof for a bit.))
Cold and wet from thawed ice—which was refreezing in the winds—the Professor began to stir. After a moment, he groaned and opened his eyes. "Unnnhhh... wha... what h-happened...?"
-
(Pema didn't obtain the Napalm Bomb. I thought Fxeni grabbed it? She was devastated that Napalm Master killed all those townspeople, right in front of her. So, she refused.
Pema can take the Blizzard Attack, though.)
(Duel Techs. Fxeni's Napalm Bomb + Pema's Blizzard Attack = Good Times.......or Antipode Bombs.)
"Ah Prof you finally woke up!" Sakura cried.
-
(Yeah, I understood what he meant, like 5 minutes after posting that... >_>
Okay, sounds good then!)
-
(I just thought of something else, Fxeni's Electric Attack + Pema's Blizzard Attack = Thunder Snow.)
-
The Professor started to sit up, but instead curled into a tight ball and shivered. "What, what happened...? Are we still fighting...?"
-
"No it just stopped and more of those Runes appeared again." Sakura shook her head "Hey Prof are these the symbol for Water?"
-
After a long moment, the Professor sat up and squinted at the sigils. He shivered some more and started digging through his bag, but his thoughts weren't coming together correctly. He was cold and tired and he fumbled with a few things before he finally dug out a book, clumsily paged through it, and compared the sigils with the text in the book. "Yes... yes, I do, I do b-believe they are..."
Dropping the book back into his bag, he bundled his cloak tighter around himself and shivered. "p-perhaps, perhaps we, perhaps we should, sh-should seek shelter, y-yes?"
-
"Considering both you and Shuu were just frozen solid a moment ago that might be for the best. I'm sure most of us need it too." Calien said as he walked over to the Prof to take his temperature and pulse and then did the same for Shuu's "You 2 especially need to rest for a few days, your condition took a pretty bad hit."
Sakura looked over to the frozen villages as well.
"Is there a way to unfreeze them too?" Sakura asked.
-
Salem floated to the sigil above Blizzard Man's remains. "Well, Pema? I think you've earned a new power, don't you think?"
Pema crossed her arms. "I guess it would be pretty cool, yeah..." She turned to Sakura and the others, "Does anyone want this weird glowing letter thing?"
-
Hellhound looked at the frozen villagers when Sakura mentioned them. "I can thaw 'em easy." He said, letting out a puff of smoke. "I'll figure out something for you yamkin to do for me in return for being such a nice guy later." He said, cracking his knuckles. "This ain't gonna sit well with the tooth that golem froze."
Then he turned to Pema. "And the armored idiot over there should get one of those, since I killed the golems." He said, pointing at the still-unconscious Shuu.
[I describe Hellhound as an ass, but he's a pretty decent guy when you get down to it. He's mostly just grouchy because of some consequences for something I'll get into detail about later.]
-
(Aw I wanted Freeze Cracker.....)
-
[You can have it. Shuu can't actually use water magic without Susanoo. Hellhound's just being self-entitled. |D]
-
(Okay gotcha.)
"I don't think Shuu is in any condition to learn either unfortunately." Sakura pointed out sadly "Not to mention I don't think he actually could learn it if his Magic comes from you guys."
-
"She is correct." Susanoo stated, walking up to Hellhound and sniffing the sigil. "Gonsol can only use this sort of magic when wielding me. On his own, he is only able to use Light."
Hellhound sighed. "Whatever, I've got work to do." He grumbled, rolling his head. "Someone get me a map of this place so I can figure out the best places to start the thaw."
-
"Fxeni should have one since he kind of lives here." Sakura stated.
-
(Pema is taking Blizzard Attack, though. All that's left is for you to grab Freeze Crackers.)
-
(Not to be a party-pooper, but would Sakura or Calien be able to even use Freeze Cracker? Neither seem to use magic to fire projectiles directly.)
"Most of my maps were on my gauntlet, sadly. I'll swing by the Mercenary HQ, there should be one there," Fxeni said as he began to wander towards one of the larger buildings. "Worse comes to worse, I'll show you the best routes, Hellhound."
-
(Pema is taking Blizzard Attack, though. All that's left is for you to grab Freeze Crackers.)
(Why did I imagine Peam using the attack to create a blizzard, and sledding in it with Salem?)
-
(Not to be a party-pooper, but would Sakura or Calien be able to even use Freeze Cracker? Neither seem to use magic to fire projectiles directly.)
(Technically as long as you have the Elemental Mana Wily said you could use it. Not to mention the Fangs that Sakura uses, which for simplification are bases of of Lloyd's Demon Fang, are in fact projectiles. So yeah Sakura should because she has her Ice enchantment spells but Calien can't because he doesn't have Water elemental attacks and I'm not really planning on giving him Ice attacks at the moment.
Not to mention like I said I have a a few ideas to implement Freeze Cracker in different ways.)
-
"Most of my maps were on my gauntlet, sadly. I'll swing by the Mercenary HQ, there should be one there," Fxeni said as he began to wander towards one of the larger buildings. "Worse comes to worse, I'll show you the best routes, Hellhound."
"Very well, I'll follow along." Hellhound said, trudging along behind Fxeni before turning to the group. "By the way, you should get those two someplace warm so they don't get sick."
-
"Kind of too late for that." Calien shook his head "It's more like we have to find a place so they don't get worse."
-
Still curled up and trying to keep himself warm, the Professor drifted off. He was marginally conscious, though not entirely lucid.
Riagan came over the the group, with Aya following. "We need to get out of this blizzard! Is there shelter nearby? We're near the town, we should seek shelter there. There may be barns we can stay in, if the town itself is frozen."
-
"Uh Riagan we're already in town and the Blizzard was starting to calm down when that Spinning guy was destroyed and has been getting weaker and weaker because his Mana is disappearing. Plus we need to ask Fxeni where we can stay to find shelter since he lives here." Sakura stated. "There's plenty of buildings around but we don't know what's what. Except for that one that was destroyed by Freeze Man crashing into it, that looks like a shop.
Plus Fxeni said this place doesn't have barns, the barn we found was just one that was left behind to the times. That's why it was so old and broken."
"Not to mention the land doesn't seem suitable for farming in the first place. I suspect this place was once a bountiful land but climate change and the times have not been kind to it." Calien added.
(At least that's how I think a Blizzard made by Magic would disappear.)
-
"The blizzard was enhanced by Albertus' golems however it's not the cause, I can still feel the shard near by; It's safe to assume unless we remove it from where ever it landed we won't be able to stop the blizzard completely. We need to help these people, meanwhile I will focus on tracking that shard." Aya interrupted the discussion with a serious look on her face.
-
Sakura closed her eyes as she sensed the Mana around her.
"Yeah....you're right. This Blizzard still has quite a bit of Mana in it." Sakura nodded "Then we need to find out where it is before this place can be safe."
-
(Demon Fang is technically a projectile, yes, but it stays on the ground. Ah whatever, do as you wish.)
"Let's all go to the HQ. Chances are everyone who wasn't frozen would be holed up there, and they might have more information. The building is kind of hard to miss at any rate," Fxeni said as he walked along, pointing at the rather large building at the edge of town. Large metallic cylinders protrude from the sides of the building, stretching out across the ground and connecting to the back of the other buildings in town.
-
"Oh so that's the HQ?" Sakura asked "What are those cylinders for?"
-
"Providing energy and heat to the town. It allows the town to survive in the harsher weather here. This applies to both homes and other buildings. We have to grow everything indoors as well, so we have a few greenhouses that provide for the town," Fxeni explained as they walked closer to the HQ.
-
"Oh that's really neat!" Sakura smiled.
-
Susanoo lowered the spikes on his back and put both Shuu and the Professor on as passengers. "Let us be going." He said, Grani already making his way there.
-
(Why did I imagine Peam using the attack to create a blizzard, and sledding in it with Salem?)
(She will now! 8D)
Pema paused in front of Blizzard Man's sigil. Hesitantly, she swatted her hand through the floating kanji and examined it closely.
"Go on. It won't bite... probably." Salem said jokingly.
She darted a glare at Salem, then slowly stepped into the light. The sigil vanished as the light glowed brighter.
The energy swirled around Pema as she absorbed its power. Soon after, the light was no more.
"Hm, I don't really feel any different..." She glanced at her hands, opening and closing them.
"Perhaps your body needs to grow accustomed to the power first." Salem replied.
-
(Should I just get the power now?)
-
(Yeah, might as well.)
-
"Oh yeah forgot about those." Sakura stated when she saw the sigil glowed "Might as well get the other before we unfreeze everyone since they would have more things to worry about than asking what the sigils are."
Sakura walked over to the other one and absorbed it. After she did she kept seeing visions of how to form Freeze Crackers over and over again.
"Now I understand why Fxeni was really off that day in Iron Gate." Sakura commented as she went went back to heading toward the HQ "It's hard to think about much else."
-
Riagan followed along, sniffing the air. "The sooner we get out of this cold, the better. Lest you don't want your friends to survive."
-
"You can say that again." Sakura said as she caught up to him. "Ugh Fxeni how long do these visions last exactly?"
-
"Huh? What vision?" Pema tilted her head.
-
"When you absorb the spell from the sigil it shows you how to use the spell." Sakura repeated "The same thing happened to Fxeni when he absorbed the last one. Are you saying it's not showing you anything?"
(It's basically the Weapon get tutorial.)
-
(With the respective game theme playing in the background! 8D)
-
(Does that mean mine comes with a comedy routine?)
-
(Nah, that would be too much for the brain to handle the puns. Just the tutorial for the MM7 weapons.)
-
(Yeah I was just joking. :P)
-
Pema frowned. "My spell didn't come with a vision... Can I get a refund?"
"Well, that certainly is odd. There could be a number of reasons why you haven't experienced this vision," Salem exclaimed, "At any rate, it isn't that important right now. We should focus on getting to shelter."
-
(No refunds. Once a sigil is absorbed, it's considered sold. 8D)
-
"Hmm that's kind of weird." Sakura said as she continued to walk "Then how would you know how to cast the spell?"
-
"That's a good question." Pema scratched her head, "Umm, maybe it will just... come to me?"
"Out of the blue, you mean?" Salem didn't sound very convinced.
"I dunno, I guess? This whole thing is new to me. I'm not one hundred and ten percent sure what's happening here." Closing her eyes, she tried to focus on the distinct foreign mana that emitted from the sigil. After all, it should have become one with her.
Failing to sense it, Pema lightly pounded a fist against her chest, in an attempt to jar it to the surface...
All that did was make her burp. "Nope, nothing."
(There definitely is a reason why she didn't see the vision. You'll have to wait and find out.)
-
"Guess we should figure it out later." Sakura sighed.
-
([spoiler]I'm tempted to say it's because of her training as a Runemaster that lets her cast the sigil spells as if it's her own.[/spoiler])
-
"Either way, we'd best get inside and worry about it then," Riagan grumbled as he headed for the HQ.
-
"Yeah I'm worried about the Prof and Shuu especially, he didn't wake up like the Prof." Sakura said as she was close to the entrance.
-
"Let's get in, then," Fxeni said as he pushed on the heavy doors. It took a moment before they began to move, but soon they creaked open slowly.
"Sit calor radiantia," he uttered as he peeked inside, hoping for a response. There was none. He sighed and walked in. "Come in. There isn't anyone here, it would seem."
-
"I see..." Calien sighed as he went in with Sakura close behind.
-
"Why did you speak in that strange language?" Pema asked Fxeni.
-
Riagan entered and found a place to drop his hammer and shake off his cloak. "Nice and warm in here. Should liven your friends right up."
-
"We still have some work we need to do for them though." Calien said as he pulled out a big medical book written in his strange language "We need to get them into a room take off their wet clothes and put them in some dry ones, or at least some dry blankets."
(I looked up how to treat hypothemia and know the steps.)
-
Susanoo nodded. "Indeed. The cold wind has dried their clothes a little." The daemon said, looking to his passengers. "But we still should take them to be fully dried."
-
"Even then they need some fresh clothes or blankets to start warming them up." Calien replied "Sakura can you do something simple for me?"
"I think so, what do you need?" Sakura asked.
Calien took out the Ginger Root the Professor gave him when they first arrived at the Dwarven City and gave it to her.
"I need you to slice that up thinly and make a tea out of it, would you be able to do it?" Calien asked.
"Yeah that should be fine." Sakura nodded.
"Thanks." Calien said as Sakura looked for a kitchen.
(Who knew I would find some use for that Ginger Root.)
-
Aya remains outside walking down the street examining the frozen villagers, this was the cause of Albertus another crime he'd have to pay for eventually but not the shard or the chaos; however tracking the "Scent" of the omni-gem shard was going to be a lot harder with the swirling mana storm around her.
Trailing near the rear gate Aya's eyes open as her gaze focuses on a ruin visible in the distance. "It' can't be--" Aya runs forward slightly until she can get a better view. "The temple of the gods--this land has changed so much but it still stands." she smiles as if the nostalgia had lifted her spirits slightly.
-
The Professor had since lapsed back to unconsciousness since translating the sigil.
Riagan looked to the unconscious duo. "You know what happens when you dry your clothes in the winter? They freeze."
He stooped beside Shuu and the Professor and rumpled their clothing, showing that it was frozen and stiff. "When they warm, it'll become damp. Get those clothes off of them, and I'll look for something dry..."
He wandered off to find supplies.
((Cold, dry wind will not dry wet clothes.))
-
"Exactly, that's why we need to get them out them immediately, help me find an empty room." Calien stated. "And we have to be careful start by warming up their trunk but not extremities, otherwise they could got into shock."
(Hey guys look what I found.
http://www.geekychef.com/2012/12/elixer-soup.html (http://www.geekychef.com/2012/12/elixer-soup.html))
-
Hellhound had decided to follow after Aya. "So, you are one of them." He said, making his presence to her known. "One of the Maokin. Your scent is unmistakable. It clings to Sol Hades even to the day I had to leave my home." He grumbled, letting out a puff of smoke. "He was the Hellhound before me, before he became the Gonsol of Hell. And he was among those who faced off against your kind."
(*Sol = Lord/Ruler. Gonsol, being 'master', literally translates to 'Great/High Lord/Ruler'.
And there's a bit of Hellhound's backstory. Sorta.)
-
Pema walked over to the unconscious Professor and gently rubbed his ears. "Poor thing... I'm going to give him such a hug, when he wakes up."
-
Shuu remained out cold... And encased in his armor.
[Should his clothes be wet underneath? Also, the way to remove the armor is to touch the gem in the chestplate, which would make all of his armor except the chestplate vanish.]
-
(Yeah I think they should be wet.)
Calien found an empty room with 2 beds setting the Prof in one and Shuu in another.
"Susanoo how do I remove his Armor?" Calien asked as he started with the Prof while waiting for Riagan to come back with the fresh clothes.
-
"The red crystal on his armor." Susanoo answered, pointing at the red gem over Shuu's heart. "It will make the armor disappear."
-
Calien nodded as he finished removing the Prof's clothes and touched the Red Crystal making the armor except the chest plate disappear. He removed the chest plate and removed the rest of Shuu's clothes before he started the wrap both of them in blankets except for their extremities.
"That should do for now until Riagan returns with the clothes." Calien sighed "But we have to keep an eye on their vitals and temperature."
-
As Calien removed Shuu's clothes and wrapped him in blankets, he would notice that there was a scar on the knight's chest, as if something large and hot attempted to pierce through to his heart.
-
Calien noticed the burn scar as he continued tending to him.
"That's one nasty burn scar......" Calien muttered.
-
Riagan entered the room with an armload of woolen blankets and furs. "I found some dry linens. And Pema, lass? Rubbing cold flesh can harm it."
He arranged the blankets on a table and hauled it over. As he unfolded some blankets, he continued to talk. "On the mountain, we've had some nasty winters. You can get frostbite in those winds. Now, if you want to prevent that, you need to warm those parts slowly."
-
"Yeah that's what my mother told me when I was young. That's why you don't warm the extremities first since they're more sensitive to changes in temperature so they lose and gain temperature faster than other parts of the body." Calien nodded "My mom's a nurse and caretaker, like many of our ancestors before us, as well as a body guard when she was in her prime, again like many of our ancestors.
That book I had was one of her medical books that I used to read a lot, I remember a lot from it but if I need to remember something it's good to have it on hand just in case."
-
"That was a passcode, Pema. It would have told anyone who was here that we were friendly and that it was safe..." Fxeni explained as he rummaged around for a map of the area while the others attended to the two unconscious members of the group. Finding one, he turned around to speak to Hellhound but noticed he was gone.
"Umm... where did Hellhound go off to?" Fxeni asked with the map folded in his hand.
-
Toshi - "I think I saw him outside with Aya, just now." she replied to Fxeni, "I guess Aya's a bit popular with Shuu's friends, I suppose."
-
"Ahh... I will bring this to him. Thanks," Fxeni replied as he headed outside with the map in hand.
-
Toshi - "You're welcome." she replied back, then she went her way to go look for a cloak room; eager to change out of her winter clothing, so that her body could be get some needed fresh air.
-
"I'm likely the last guardian left on Arcadia, and yes I remember your ancestors; they tried to make pushes into our world in the wake of the chaos Mar caused. Not that our old battles matter much now, neither the empire nor my creators are relevant anymore the world has moved on and from what I've seen it's all for the better." Aya leaned against the wall of the town as they spoke.
-
"A shame, really." Hellhound said, looking towards the building Aya had been going towards. "I was just lesser back then. I would have loved to see how well I could do against one of your kind." He shrugged, letting out a long, smokey sigh. "But that I suppose is the result of a traitor killing off your people, isn't it?"
[Y'know... I originally thought I was gonna have Hellhound just being an angry SOB to Aya, but he's acting sentimental... Maybe it's because he doesn't have an audience?]
-
"Yes, but our empire had been dying for a long time truth be told; Mar was just the straw that broke the behemoth's back. People now seem to have a very idealistic idea of what the Arcadian Empire was."
-
"Tch... I suppose I should say that it's a shame your kind couldn't truly be killed like my kind, but then that implies that my people cannot be destroyed." He said, sighing. "Whatever, I should get that map of this place so I can start thawing things out. Might make things a bit damp and snow-free in this city for a while after I start things."
-
"We live on through the younger races if Mar is to be believed. Anyway I'll keep scouting out here, I need to see how much things have changed over a thousand years."
-
"Ah, there you two are," Fxeni said as he approached Aya and Hellhound. "I managed to dig up a map of the area."
-
"Oh? Here let me see." Aya glances over the map, the world can change a lot in one thousand years, but thankfully the nearby mountains had remained mostly consistent from the looks of things.
"This map is reasonably recent right?" Aya glanced away to Fxeni.
-
"Yes. It was made by my mentor, who established this town about a decade ago. This area hasn't changed much since then," Fxeni replied, looking up at her.
-
Pema glanced at the Prof again, his ears twitching as he murmured something in his sleep.
"Aww, look at him and his cute little ears, Salem." She held her cheeks and smiled. The mere sight of the sleeping Professor warmed her heart. "So adorable and small, he's just so... ahh! Just the cutest!" She squealed and sat next to him on the bed.
Pema shifted the Prof on her lap and cradled him in her arms. "I wanna cuddle him and squeeze him and call him George!" She chirped happily, lightly kissing his forehead.
"... Remember what Riagan said. Be carefully not to rub cold flesh, else you may harm it... but wait, why George?" Salem stated, against his better judgement.
"Umm, well, he kind of looks like one, don't you think?" She bounced the Prof on one knee and hugged him. "And don't worry, I'll be gentle!"
-
Calien stared at Pema in a bit of shock that she was able to lift him and bounce him on her knee but shook his head and addressed her.
"Pema I'm sorry but the Prof is still in very bad shape at the moment." Calien said gently "Any sudden moments could be dangerous for him right now."
-
"Yes. It was made by my mentor, who established this town about a decade ago. This area hasn't changed much since then," Fxeni replied, looking up at her.
Hellhound peered over Aya's shoulder at the map. "Hmm... Several smaller flames scattered through the place will thaw it better." He said, mostly to himself before starting off. "Shouldn't take me more than about half an hour to get my 'torches' set up."
-
Back in the HQ, Riagan smiled at Pema. "Nah, let the lil lass hold him. Might help warm him up better."
He had taken the time to brew some tea, using the available kitchen equipment, and he was sitting in a chair and sipping it. "Hypothermia won't make you fall to pieces. We've held our brethren when they're suffering."
On the bed, the Professor let out a strained groan and opened his eyes. He wasn't entirely lucid and looked around in confusion. "Where... where are we...?"
-
"Well it seems you may be right." Calien nodded and smiled "Admittedly in my homeland hypothermia isn't terribly common, I just know how to treat it and heard the horror stories about it.
Regardless I'm glad you're awake Professor we're in the Mercenary HQ that Fxeni is part of."
-
Unlike the Professor, Shuu was still out cold, but he was now snoring lightly, as if sleeping peacefully, despite having been frozen.
-
Riagan let out a hearty chuckle. "At least we now know how the other one is--sleeping like a baby!"
The Professor didn't sit up, as he felt weak and cold. Shivering, he looked around in confusion with a half-lidded gaze. Finally, he saw Pema staring almost hungrily at him. "What's wrong...?"
-
"I finished with the Ginger Tea daddy." Sakura said as she came in the room "Took me a while to find a Teapot and cups not made out of Iron though."
"Perfect timing the Prof just woke up." Calien stated "Let me try some of it."
"Sure." Sakura nodded as she poured a cup for him.
Calien took a sip to taste and nodded in approval.
"You did a good job." Calien smiled.
"Yay!" Sakura cheered.
-
"Oh! Are you cold? Need blankets? Do you want the tea, maybe? Ah, I'm so glad you're awake!" She gently stroked his ears.
Pema grew silent for a moment and then grinned, a sparkle in her eye. "And now that you're finally up... Cuddling intensifies!" She pounced on the Prof and snuggled with him, rubbing her cheek against his.
-
"....I'm suddenly getting flashbacks to when you were 7 when Sharla and Leon gave birth to Fenri." Calien said suddenly. "You always cuddled him when you 2 weren't playing with each other."
"Well Fenri was so cuddly as a Riolu and he didn't seem to mind it." Sakura laughed.
"True." Calien shrugged.
(I finally gave names to Sakura's surrogate Lucario parents in Wilypocalypse at random it seems. Not sure if I like the name Leon though.)
-
The Professor softened in Pema's arms and enjoyed the warmth. "It's... it's s-so cold in h-here..."
Riagan merely chuckled while drinking his tea. "Looks like the lil lass has herself a new baby."
-
"Yeah seems like she does." Sakura laughed.
"Prof you want some tea?" Calien asked him.
-
[And I just came up with an explanation for why Shuu doesn't seem sick: Hellhound warmed him up when making his entrance.]
Shuu continued sleeping soundly, rolling onto his side and making one particularly loud snort before quieting.
-
(And his beta name, Jase, showed up again.)
-
[Not his beta name, different character altogether. >>; ]
-
(I know, I'm just going to joke about it being his beta name every time it shows up. :P)
-
It took a moment for Sakura's words to register, either because he didn't hear them or because he wasn't entirely lucid and his mind kept wandering. "Yes, yes, y-yes, I'd, I'd l-like some tea..."
-
"Okay then." Sakura nodded as she poured him a cup and gave it to him "By the way Mr. Riagan what kind of tea did you make?"
-
Pema helped the Prof sit up on the bed, in case he was too fatigued to do so. Next, she wrapped the blankets around him as he accepted the tea from Sakura.
"There, that should help keep you warm." She stated proudly and leaned her head on his shoulder.
-
[Stupid thought: Shuu gets woken up by someone spilling tea on him.]
-
Riagan glanced up from his tea. "Just a mint tea with honey. Something to clear me nose."
Sipping the tea, the Professor shivered and tried to keep from spilling his mug. "What happened...? How did we, how did we g-get here...?"
-
"We carried you inside, you and Shuu were frozen." Calien answered.
-
At the words 'mint tea', Shuu's hand shot up. "I want some." He said, almost instantly dropping his arm and letting out another snore. Sleep talking?
-
Calien stared at Shuu for a moment before looking at Susanoo.
"Is that normal for him?" He asked.
"Clear your nose? Riagan are you getting a cold?" Sakura asked him.
-
Susanoo sighed. "Yes. He has an odd habit of vocally responding to things when he's asleep." He said, shaking his head. "Or he briefly wakes up to hear and reply to some comments before going back to sleep."
-
Riagan snorted and shook his head. "Nay, just some winter stuffiness. Been out in that blizzard for too long."
-
"I see." Sakura nodded and then became quiet for a bit "Hmm maybe it would be a good idea to make some soup right now."
-
"That would be for the best. We've fought long and hard and we need to rebuild our strength. All of us," Riagan took another sip.
((PB, any time you're ready, Riagan's all yours again.))
-
"Soup sounds nice." Shuu said in his sleep, leg kicking.
This caused Susanoo to sigh. "Sometimes I think he hears the entirety of conversations in his sleep..."
-
"Alright these maps should be usefull, once we all recover we need to head to the temple; has it been in use at all or are the old defenses still up?" Aya inquires looking back at the old temple.
((Not even going to describe how stressful getting my internet has been, So all I shall say is I'm back.))
-
"There's been investigations into the temple, but the general populace isn't allowed to go up there," Fxeni replied. "Only small teams go up, and it's usually the highly trained individuals that do so."
-
Hellhoud continued on his way trough Heimdall, leaving a fist-sized, bright red fireball every several steps.
-
"Hmm--I have a feeling our visit will be interesting, if the shard fell in there I can't imagine how it's power will warp time and space within the temple grounds." Aya turns back towards the town, it would be to dangerous to go up there now; the full party will be needed.
-
(I take it you have something fun planned for the temple run?)
-
(It's totally going to to turn into a Zelda dungeon even though that wouldn't even make any remote sense for it to happen. Good thing we have lots of 'Dungeon Items'! :P
Nah that's probably not going to happen.)
-
(Well, you do have the Lens of Truth...)
-
(Not that we really need it since Sakura and Calien's eyes function as one. But if someone else needs to see the unseen we do have it.
There's also some other inventory items I haven't exactly utilized yet either.)
-
((There is going to be some time and space twisting to make it a little dungeon-esq yeah.
-
((Waiting on everyone else before I push forward, either way I likely won't post till tomorrow when I have more free time.))
-
(I don't have anything else for Toshi to do right now. She'll be switching back to her regular costume, when things warm up again.)
-
(I've been kind of lazy but I'll post when my tablet stops acting stupid. Also want to know if PB is ready to take Riagan again like Quickie was asking.)
-
(Nothing else for Pema to do.)
-
((Prof's being cuddled and Riagan is drinking tea. I've got nothing.))
-
[Shuu's still asleep and Hellhound's scattering fireballs to thaw out Heimdall. Though, Susanoo is sitting around doing nothing if anyone needs exposition on Shuu, Hellhound, or daemons in general.]
-
(Eh I think I can work with that.)
After Calien gave Sakura the recipe and instructions on how to make the soup she wanted to make she left the room to start gathering the ingredients. Calien then decided lie down on the floor to relax from the strain he put himself through but decided not to take a nap.
"So Susanoo, do you happen to know why Hellhound suddenly shrunk?" He asked.
-
Susanoo nodded in response to Calien's question. "He sealed himself. It is an ability that those you call 'greater daemons' and 'daemon lordes' have so that they may travel more discreetly." He explained, tail swishing. "In doing so, they revert themselves to how they were in their weaker mature form."
-
((So I think I'll hold off pressing the story forward till monday, this week leading up to and mother's day it's self is a really nasty stretch of work days for me and I'm already pretty exhausted.
Does anyone mind waiting till then? Filler can keep everyone busy in the mean time.))
-
(Nope, don't mind at all.)
-
(No problems here, I can wait.)
-
((Yeah, I can wait. Been busy this weekend anyway.))
-
The next morning Aya brings the party members able to travel again to the foot of the mountain, as the path begins to ascend Aya stops and turns to the group.
"The shard is here, or rather at the peak of this mountain; the temple of the gods."
-
"Figures... that place was troublesome enough as it is without the influence of the shard," Fxeni said as he looked up at the temple.
-
"Why, what's so bad about a Temple?" Sakura asked innocently.
".....You really shouldn't ask that." Calien sighed.
-
"The temple was the testing ground for Mar's attempts to open chaos rifts back in my time, my brother and I closed the rift and the empire sealed off the temple--with the shard there now I dare not guess what lurks inside and what it's done the grounds them selves."
-
"If you get scared in there, don't be afraid to hold onto me tight..." Pema whispered to Salem and tightened her grip.
"Seeing as I lack any limbs whatsoever, I'll take a wild guess and say you'll be doing all the holding..."
-
"This won't be a safe visit, I won't think less of anyone who wishes to stay behind and help the villagers." Aya looks to Pema pondering on events thats transpired many life times ago at that very temple.
-
"Oh please, after the crap we've been through already I don't think any of us are going to stay behind at this point." Sakura shook her head. "It sounds like you need all the help you can get."
"Well what exactly should we expect, not taking into account the shard bending time and space mind you." Calien asked. "What exactly was this place used for besides Mar's Chaos Rift experiments."
-
"Before? A place of worship, the largest temple on the surface second only to the one at the capital. Hundreds came daily to pray to the Reva, her sister and all the other elemental gods. The Empire used this temple and the religion around it to keep the "lesser" races in check as my brother and I soon discovered, but the interesting thing is this temple was not built by us or any other race. It's possible this might be one of the first structures build by the gods after our world was forged, there was many places inside even the monks never were able to access.
But to answer your question, the temple's main area is a large room; larger enough to hold hundreds at once, beyond that is where the monks lived and did their work. Above there were places to hold guests and below--well thats where the tombs of monks is located and further below is the sealed labyrinth I just spoke of."
-
The Professor was very silent as he looked upon the temple. Unnoticed by the group, he had knelt and bowed his head, his hood up in a show of humility and subordination. He wasn't sure how he felt about charging headlong into hallowed grounds. To him, it felt wrong; almost vile. He didn't want to anger the Gods, as with how that holy place had been violated and perverted by Mar's deeds, he figured that the deities would be pissed off enough as it was.
-
Calien took it all in as he nodded noting the details in his head, even though it most likely won't be of too much use.
"I get the feeling we may have to deal with an even more complex labyrinth with that shard messing with things." Calien stated. "Makes me kind of wish my friend were here at the moment, but we just have to go through this ourselves."
-
"Truth is I'm not sure how the shard will affect things, it being broken--thats never happened before. All I know is there is dangerous creatures below, I'd guess the labyrinth was build as a prison or something, the people here don't even know the truth purpose of the temple."
-
Calien took it all in as he nodded noting the details in his head, even though it most likely won't be of too much use.
"I get the feeling we may have to deal with an even more complex labyrinth with that shard messing with things." Calien stated. "Makes me kind of wish my friend were here at the moment, but we just have to go through this ourselves."
Riagan stepped up behind Calien. "Your friends are here."
((PB, any time you want Riagan back, feel free to take him. I'm just zombie-ing him at this point.))
-
"Yeah....you're right." Calien nodded "Not to mention he has his own duties to fulfill and I have mine. I may not have been an ace Dungeon explorer like he was, but I think we should be able to get through this together."
-
"Right! We can do this, as long as we stick together." Pema nodded.
-
(I'm suddenly thinking that the warped labyrinth would be like Silent Hill... PYRAMID HEADS D:)
-
(And then scar Pema for life...)
-
(SHE'S THE CHOSEN ONE D:)
-
Shuu had been quietly listening, all three of his daemons sitting in his armor as the stone tablets.
"Feh, the scent is faint, but that 'temple' used to be the center of a Lorde's Nest. There is no mistaking it." Hellhound's voice came, his tablet glowing faintly as he spoke. "And it smells as if some have returned to try to reclaim that territory."
"How can you smell in there?" Shuu asked, lightly tapping Hellhound's tablet.
"None of your fu-!"
"Language, Hellhound! There's a kid present!"
-
Toshi - "Wait, so if this labyrinth was meant to seal off access to this shard; wouldn't Mar be in the same situation we're in, trying find it himself?" she asked Aya, "I mean, we'd be doing him a really big favor, should we somehow succeed."
-
"It's possible the temple was made to seal away a Lorde, as for Mar yes if the shard crashed deep into the temple he'll likely be hoping to grab it too. Expect to see more of Mar's allies I doubt he'd just send two warriors."
-
(Hmmm... Space... Time... HMMMMMMM...)
-
((Uh oh O^O ))
-
(I wish he (https://youtu.be/BVn1oQL9sWg) appeared in this short scenario.)
-
(It was his re entering the atmosphere that causes the crash not the shard then? 8D )
-
The Professor finally spoke up. "Since, since this is a holy place, we, we, we m-must be respectful. Regardless of what, what, regardless of what it's b-been put to use in recent times, we, we, we need to remember that."
-
"I don't quite believe in deities, but there are indeed forces at work in there," Fxeni chimed in. "It would be best not to disturb anything if possible, although I doubt we'll have much of a choice."
-
"Yeah especially if our enemies makes things explody, is really fast or is as big as an Orc." Sakura added.
-
"You hear that, Pema? Don't touch anything you're not supposed to." Salem exclaimed.
She nodded, "Yep, no touching."
"That means even if something looks "cute" or shiny, do not be tempted to mess around with it. And I know you like pressing buttons and switches, for whatever reason, so none of that either." He warned her.
Pema sighed, "Salem, I'm not a baby, I can control myself... But like... If there's a huge red button-"
"NO!"
-
((Uh oh O^O ))
(Haha, don't worry. The only one that seems to fit the bill is Centaur Mistress. But that would mean she was already there when the shard crashed, too plotholey. XD I'll leave the madness to you, Blue. 8D)
-
Shuu remained quiet about his beliefs and disbeliefs, Hellhound, however, was content to talk. "There's not Lorde sealed here. The Lorde that used to reside here was chased out for this temple to be built. Or talked out. The Lordes of this area never seem to be that aggressive."
"You're considerably talkative today." Susanoo's voice came. "And your mood has been shifting too."
"Can it, Cat. I'm in a good mood but it's cold."
-
Aya leads the party up the mountain path, as cold as it was in town the higher they get the worse the biting cold becomes; after about an hour of climbing stairs they stand before the great temple. The structure was properly massive and despite being thousands of years old was still in near perfect shape all things considered. The Doors remained sealed.
"One moment." Aya said as she placed a hand on the door channeling her mana into it. The Arcadian runes along the door's surface began to glow as Aya broke the seal and with a deafening noise the mythril gates began to slide open revealing the inner hall. Aya summoned her blade and stepped across walking forward until she stood at the center near a small crystal.
As if responding to the party's presence the torches magically lit themselves with blue fire. Aya leaned down and claimed a small shard of the crystal from bowl below and offered them to everyone. "Here--each take a shard and touch the crystal." Aya places her hand forward attuning herself to it.
-
Calien and Sakura both nodded each taking a shard and touching the crystal.
-
Pema claimed a shard from Aya, touching the crystal.
Peering her face closer to it, she presented it to Salem, "Look at how the inside sparkles and glistens. It's kinda cool, right?"
"Indeed, it certainly is." He replied.
-
Toshi quietly took a shard from Aya, touching the crystal with it. She didn't feel the need to ask as to what was the crystal's purpose.
Riyalie - "Can we keep it?" the eager poké-spirit blurted out in excitement near Toshi ear, causing her to twitch her eye a little, "I guess that's a no then..." she replied to Toshi's long silence.
-
"The shard will allow you to quickly return here should you need to, but it only works with the master crystal. But keep it if you wish, I doubt any will mind." Aya smiled.
-
(How big are those shards anyway? Also wasn't it established that only Toshi, Calien, and Sakura can see Toshi's Pokemon in spirit form or can Aya do the same? Unless she was just answering rhetorically. )
-
((Rhetorically then, I forgot about that 8D
Shards are small enough to be pocketed.))
-
(Okay then.)
-
Toshi - "So this master crystal is actually in fact a gate crystal, and these shards we're carrying are teleport stones, right?" she suddenly asked as if she's familiar with gate crystals.
(The description oddly reminded me of Final Fantasy XII's gate crystals, and how they function.)
-
((Big difference though is it that it's just the temple, other ruins with the system are the same.))
-
(Yeah I'd say it functions more like the teleporters in Zelda.)
-
Fxeni took one of the shards and touched the crystal. He quietly pocketed the shard and looked around the room.
-
The room is built to hold literally hundreds of worshipers at once, there is a podium far above the ground level for where a priest would preach. The stairs to the side of podium seem lead deeper inside.
-
((Ack! Missed a lot! Gimme a few to catch up...))
-
As the others did, Shuu took a shard and touched it to the crystal. "I wonder what the range on these are, in case we ever have to come back to the temple for some reason..."
-
"Maybe try holding it outside a window or knock it against something, to get better reception?" Pema pondered aloud.
"Right... Let's see what Aya thinks." Salem stated.
-
"Sadly it won't work over a great distance outside this temple but in any place within the grounds even down below it'll return us to this very point basically it can be a way to retreat to the surface if we need to rest or escape. I imagine the living areas up above are quite safe, I recommend we use them as a base for the moment." Aya shook her head lightly to the question.
((Also for ambiance here is out BGM for the Temple of the Gods. 8D ))
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx1LlmKMwJI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx1LlmKMwJI)
-
(We're gonna need some Chrono Trigger music, eventually.
I call Corridors of Time (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzC0MEDHcv4) for the final location!)
-
(We're gonna need some Chrono Trigger music, eventually.
I call Corridors of Time (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzC0MEDHcv4) for the final location!)
((Oh don't worry I have plans for Trigger and Cross music in the future 8D ))
-
((Okay, I need caught up. Gimme a quick summation so I can do something.))
-
(Just grab a shard touch the crystal and do whatever. Also I think you might have to PM PB to see what's up with him and if he needs to be caught up he should talk to Blue.)
-
((PM or Skype online right now if anyone wants to ask me something))
-
The Professor picked up a shard and was about to touch the crystal with it, but stopped. He looked to Aya for a moment. He didn't hear the explanation due to the bad acoustics of the temple. "What, what will happen if, if, if I do this?"
-
"Your mana will attune to the mother crystal here, then if you use the smaller slave crystal you can teleport back to this point at any time within this temple, we used to use networks like this in our cities this is merely a simple version of that."
-
"Oh," the Professor nodded and did as he was told. He felt a strong buzzing feeling, which he assumed was his mana being attuned, and the shard glowed briefly. When instructed, he withdrew the shard and tucked it into a robe pocket.
-
Calien and Sakura were wandering around the area with Calien answering Sakura's questions when asked varying from the concept of religion and other things related.
-
Riagan had also done as instructed, but didn't infer if he felt any odd sensations. If he did, he concluded it to be gas and simply tucked the shard away.
-
Aya wanders to the back of the temple near the doors and climbs up to the podium frowning she glanced down what seemed like a hole leading deep into the mountain before glancing up and confirming her theory about the shard. "Hmm-seems like it came down here, guess we will be heading into the sealed ruins after all."
-
"Perhaps it was drawn here? If so, it might make hunting down the remaining shards easier," Fxeni wondered aloud as he looked down the hole.
-
"It's possible--hmm if thats true then the shard may be at locations of Arcadian importance or at least areas made by the gods hmm." Aya nodded.
"Everyone head up stairs and leave your gear you don't need, careful of the hole; once we are ready I'll lead us down to the seal."
-
Riagan headed up to deposit some things, but the Professor stayed behind. He deemed everything in his bag to be useful, and had no intention of leaving it behind. "I do b-believe that I am adequately prepared, yes."
-
Aya nodded to the professor before moving downstairs to the back door and slowly pushed it open, awaiting the others to prepare.
-
Calien and Sakura followed Riagan so they could deposit their books and other things like Calien's flute, a strange mask and other miscellaneous items.
-
Pema discarded some of the gear upstairs, then climbed back down.
"Okay, all set and ready to go." Pema crouched and stretched out her legs.
Salem floated in front of her. "Wait, there's still this strange girl that goes everywhere with me. I think I should leave her upstairs." He said in a joking manner.
"Stop that, silly!" She giggled and lightly slapped her hand against him.
-
Shuu didn't bother going upstairs to deposit his things, as they were stored in the amulet on his chest. "I am fully prepared for whatever may be down there."
-
((I will hold off till everyone posts and continue tomorrow when my brain is more awake. I also need to plan a few events 8D ))
-
Toshi - "No need for me to drop anything." she said, knowing that all she's carrying in her pouch are her spear's segments, two potions, and a few kunai, "Got everything right here." she patted her pouch.
-
Fxeni walked over and quietly took off some of his winter gear and left it with the rest. He then wandered back over to where he was.
-
((Assuming everyone is ready))
Aya leads the party down below through a spiral stair case, as they approach the burnt out torches they spring to life with magic blue flame giving them a decent field of vision. After fifteen minutes they reach the bottom floor and stand before another large door.
"Here we are--I had hopped not to return here but I suppose there is no choice." Aya mumbles to herself.
The door is odd compared to the rest of the temple, the symbols carved into it are not of anything the professor or other academic minded member of the party have ever seen in Arcadian ruins. The symbols show creatures that look simply alien compared to even the most unusual monster.
-
Toshi - "Anyone have an idea what these hieroglyphs mean?" her attention was more focused on the creature-like symbols, "These don't look like the kind of hierogplyphs, my ancients use to write." she quipped.
-
"I'm not sure, the past of my culture was not something I ever had a chance to study." Aya shakes her head "I--have never been inside, just seen the creatures that lurk within."
-
"What kind of creatures are we talking about?" Sakura asked.
-
The Professor was studying the hieroglyphs closely as they descended into the catacombs. He lagged behind the group, busying himself with taking rubbings and writing notes.
Ahead of him and with the group, Riagan took notice. "It would be wise if you stayed with us. The writings aren't important."
"But, but, but, they are! We must know what they mean! If, if, if I recall, if I recall, in some locales, there are temple guardians, and, and, and they have riddles and puzzles, and we should know the writings, as they could, they could b-be warnings. We should know what we're up against!" The Professor protested.
-
Pema groaned, "I'm not very good at puzzles... but, I think the Professor is right. I mean, aren't you the least bit interested in what they mean, Mr. Riagan?"
-
"I agree with the Prof." Calien stated "If even Aya hasn't been beyond the door it would be wise to figure out what the writings mean. Not to mention if this place is like the Temples and Dungeons in my homeland....the puzzles will be very complex."
-
Toshi - "The Professor does make a point here; no guardian in some folklores, that I've read, are something a fool-hearted explorer should simply ignore."
-
"They were neither chaos beasts,monster or animal they were something older; all I can say is keep your wits and do not trust everything you see."
-
"This—" the Professor pointed at a particular set of glyphs "—this, here. This says 'beware.' If I can decipher the rest, if I can decipher the rest, we'll know of what we should b-beware."
Riagan was silent for a moment, but then nodded. "Very well, then. Don't lag too far. You'll get lost."
((I'm having some trouble keeping track of Riagan. What say we pass him around for a bit? Like every couple days or so, someone else takes him for a bit?))
-
(I think I can take care of that, I'll PM PB for help if needed.)
-
(I'll pass on that offer. Even if I did know what to do with him.)
-
(I can but right now I'll be focusing on dungeons and events.))
-
(Sure, he should be simple enough to handle.
In some regards, he's almost like a male version of Phi.)
-
((If you don't mind that would be great.))
-
((Thanks, that would be really helpful. I'm in four other RPs on Tumblr and I'm having trouble keeping track of things.))
-
"We never ventured in this area before, so I'm afraid I don't know much more than anyone else of what is past this point," Fxeni said as he looked around at the glyphs.
-
Sapph tapped his chin, looking at the hieroglyphs. "Hmm..." He held a hand in front of his chest as the crystal started to glow. After a moment, a large book materialized in his hands in red light. "Let's see..." He flipped through the large book. "Well... Some of the previous Sapphire Knights studied these, but had very little success in deciphering them." He sighed, closing the book and storing it in the crystal again.
-
Aya with some hesitation pushes on the door, her unique mana enters the mechanism and it begins to open rather loudly. She reaches over grabbing two of the torches from the near by walls and passing one to Riagan and the other to Fexni. "We'll need these, there is no light to speak of down here from the looks of things."
Aya began to lead to the party down the hall way, it was to narrow to allow any sort of party rank forcing them into single file. After some time they emerge in a semi large cavern, at the far end looked to be another structure it's design was similar to the door not matching the rest of the temple and was clearly other some other origin. At the center of the room was a massive hole, too large to jump and there seemed to be no other way to cross. "This--is not what I expected to find." Aya remarked.
((Lets see some problem solving everyone, this will require some teamwork; no pulling some random item or spell out our butts to solve it. I'll reward posters who use examination and problem solving skills to bypass puzzles in here.))
-
(So no Pema flying us over or somehow making an Ice Bridge?)
-
(Perhaps we can make it that our magic doesn't work here? Because it'd be strange that we do this without even attempting to use our spells.)
-
(And I doubt Calien or Sakura can see some invisible path.)
-
((Try something and I'll respond. Not spoiling anything. 8D ))
-
(So yeah probably no on there being an invisible path.)
-
((Examine the room more closely in character and I'll point out what is and isn't there.))
-
(Okay.....)
Calien and Sakura looked around carefully to see if there was something they could work with or if the people who made this temple used a sort of magic to make things invisible to the human eye.
-
The room was roughly rectangle in shape give or take some random rock formations, the structure across the gap oddly enough seemed to be on an angle as if some force had disturbed it's place; perhaps an earthquake? It was impossible to tell for sure from this distance.
Sakura noticed two massive pillars on their side and the far side, two had been destroyed by time or intent but one on their side and another one the far side was still standing, perhaps with the right amount of force they could be knocked over; their height was certainly enough to bridge the gap.
However as Sakura looked upward toward the pillars she noticed something above, a faint blue glow from stones embedded in the rock ceiling.
(Anyone in the party know anything about ores?)
-
"Hey what's that shiny thing?" Sakura asked.
(Probably Riagan or the Prof?)
-
((I'd imagine so, I'll hold off till everyone catches up and gets a chance to recommend something))
-
(If it involves getting the Ore I can imagine Calien can throw his boomerang at it. Hey it works in Zelda and other games for some reason.)
-
(Sounds good, this is pretty much how puzzles in dungeons are going to work from this point on; waiting for someone to try magic still but again I'll wait till everyone chimes in))
-
"Hmm... seems to be an ore of some sort, though sadly I am not familiar with it. Any ideas Riagan?" Fxeni inquired as he looked at the ore.
His eyes went down to the pillars. He examined them, wondering how they could be of use to cross over. He made his short spear appear, and he began to write down calculations on the dirt.
-
(For who ever is controlling Riagan right now: The shards in the ceiling are Magicite, crucial for powering magitech devices. In their natural state they absorb mana and draw it into them, this makes them popular to line an area as it can mute magic users while in it's effect range. There is about three large shards that will effect the group in this room.)
-
(In that case Riagan wouldn't know about that and I'm not sure the Prof would either.)
-
(Is Quickie still controlling Riagan?)
Pema cracked her knuckles and grabbed her staff. "Don't worry about that, guys, I can get us out!"
She aimed Salem at the massive hole and attempted to fire a spell.
...
Nothing happened.
"What the--" She tapped a finger against the gem on the staff, then aimed it forward, once again, "Ice Blast!"
...
Pema furrowed her brows and tightened her grip. "Freeze! Ice Bridge! Feel the chill! Popsicle... ization?"
Salem sighed. "Saying different things won't change the result, Pema. It would appear magic is somehow distorted, in this area. Perhaps cancelled out."
"What? Th-That's crazy... How is that even possible?" She raised an eyebrow.
-
(Oh... Fxeni could have known about that then, since he makes magitech. Maybe he just knows it in it's refined state, I guess? Oh well, I'll use that to explain it.)
"Hmm... The ores must be Magicite. I've only dealt with the refined ore, but I've heard that larger deposits can absorb mana. I don't think our magic will be of much use until we get rid of those larger deposits," Fxeni said as he looked around the room for any large deposits that might be absorbing their mana.
-
Aya watches Penma fumble with her spells a bit before opening her hand to summon her weapon---nothing. "Hmm-me too, Fexni can we destroy or at least drop those large shard down into the pit down there?"
-
(Are all 3 on the ceiling?)
-
(yep!)
-
Calien looked at the 3 big pieces of Magicite on the ceiling.
"I think I can knock those down." Calien stated.
-
"Give it a try, I think Pema is running out of words over there." Aya nods
-
Calien took out his boomerang taking aim at a piece of the Magicite and threw it.
-
The boomerang hit the shard with a loud ting sound effect, it began to wiggle free, a few good more hits would knock it down.
-
((I need to catch up! D: ))
-
"Okay it's loose, just got to hit it a few more times." Calien stated as he threw his boomerang again.
-
"Nice! Keep it up, Mr. Calien!" Pema cheered.
-
((Until I catch up, Prof is lagging behind and studying hieroglyphs, and Riagan is zombied to wherever.))
-
(I'm sure we won't ever encounter these magicite ores ever again. 8D)
(Psst..I'm a dirty fibber =P ))
-
Eventually the Magicite Ore broke free and fell to the abyss below.
"Okay now to work on the other 2." Calien stated as he aimed his boomerang at the next one.
-
"I can feel my strength returning--how about you Pema?"
-
Pema nodded, "Yeah, I can feel it, too!"
She looked at her staff. "For a second, I thought maybe Salem was broken or he fell asleep..."
"Your words. They wound me." He responded.
-
Calien knocked down the second one and got started on the third while Sakura looked at her sword which wasn't functioning at the moment due to the Magicite.
"Hmm maybe after we're done here I should invest in a metal sword." Sakura mused "I don't want to be caught in a fight without a sword if there's more of that Magicite stuff. I mean I would still have my Kunai and I can fight hand to hand but I don't know if it would be enough."
-
"Wouldn't hurt to have one that would work without spells, indeed," Fxeni said as he watched Calien chip away at the ores. "We should invest in more long-range weapons too, methinks. Slowly chipping away at these is fine right now, but in the future we might not be so lucky as to have this relative peace."
-
"What kind of long range weapons, like Bows and Arrows?" Sakura asked while tilting her head.
-
"Hmm... maybe. I might be able to craft some special arrows that might help. Actually... that's not a bad idea..." Fxeni said as he began to stroke his chin, thinking of all the possibilities.
-
"Daddy told me his friend was an expert Archer and Swordsman. Well he used a lot of things really but he was really proficient with those 2 in particular." Sakura stated.
-
((Could someone dump a quick summation in the Recap thread for me? Today moved too fast and now I'm lost.))
-
(We just got in and are in front of a giant hole as a result of some kind of earthquake that happed years ago it seems, maybe. The party can't use Magic because there's some huge pieces of Magicite on the ceiling which Calien is knocking down.
I'm assuming that after Calien is done knocking down the Magicite Riagan can knock down one of the huge pilars to make a bridge and with the Magicite gone Aya would be able to open the door.)
-
Shuu seemed to completely halt. "Uh... Guys? I think my armor's stuck."
-
"That's probably because of the damn Magicite." Calien said as he threw his boomerang again "Hang on, I'm almost done here."
-
Riagan took a swing at the magicite and managed to crack a large piece. Steadying it with his hammer, he directed its fall until it hit the ground within a few feet of them. Moving it with his foot, he jammed it into position and stood on top of it to allow himself more reach. "Where you want me to hit the next one?"
Meanwhile, the Professor was still busying himself with his notes, scribbling them down and taking rubbings of the walls. "I may, I may soon, I may soon be able to figure out m-most of this..."
-
(Oh I forgot to mention the Magicite was on the ceiling so Riagan can't reach it. Sorry.)
-
"Magicite... Well, that explains it. My armor's powered by magic." Shuu said, still motionless. "Um... Please don't bump into me. It'd be uncomfortable to fall over."
-
((He jumped and swung really high with his hammer at the lowest-hanging of them all. And the piece was a teeny one. >.> ))
-
(I'm pretty sure they're all hanging above the giant hole......)
-
((Riagan is nearly 6 ft tall. His reach without a hammer is about 3 ft. If he stands on his tip-toes, he could touch a 9 ft ceiling. His hammer is 6 ft long. Holding it at the end gives him a 9 ft reach. If he holds it above his head and stands on his tip-toes, he would be able to reach a nearly-20 ft ceiling.))
-
(Okay fair enough.)
"I think I just need one more hit thanks to that." Calien said as he threw his boomerang one more time. The last Magicite Ore fell down the hole out of sight.
Sakura tried her sword again and it finally started to work.
"Finally!" Sakura cheered.
"Okay one problem solved, now we just need to find a way to get across." Calien stated.
-
Riagan looked at the chunk that he had knocked down. It was a fair-size stalactite, but it wasn't long enough to cross the chasm. With a grunt, he pushed it into the pit. Looking over his shoulder, he shouted to the Professor. "Fae! You have any rope on you?"
The Professor finally stopped obsessing over the hieroglyphs and walked over to the group. "N-no, I don't. However, however I do have a flash-bomb..."
He dug around in his bag and produced a vial. Uncapping it, he lit the short fuse with his torch and tossed it into the pit. It fell a short distance before exploding in a bright light, enough to illuminate the walls of the pit for a few moments.
-
The flash from the bomb illuminated the hole a bit but they still couldn't see the bottom.
"That's a really deep hole." Sakura remarked.
Calien looked to the pillar next to them and looked at the length. It seemed long enough to bridge the gap between them and the hole.
"Riagan do you think you can break that pillar to make a bridge?" Calien asked.
(I mean the hole has to be really deep for the Magicite to not absorb Mana anymore.)
-
Aya moved toward the one remaining pillar on their side. "You know if we could knock this down it might bridge the gap." Aya remarked.
((No one remembers the OOT Shadow Temple's last area? 8D ))
-
(That's what I was saying, besides the only thing I remember about the Shadow Temple was the Hover Boots and Mind Fucks everywhere.)
-
((No, I don't remember it very well.))
Riagan walked over the inspect the pillar. Giving a nod, he motioned for everyone to step back as he raised his hammer. With a strong swing, he smashed the point of his hammer against the base of the pillar, chopping at it like a tree. Pieces of flew off with each chop as he dug a hole into it.
-
Shuu slowly started moving again, summoning Grani in the form of a massive blade. "Riagan, step aside please. I'll get it in one strike." He said, getting into a stance that looked like he was getting ready to do an overhead swing.
-
(.......Why would you use an overhead swing......?)
-
[Diagonal downward slash to make sure it falls towards the pit rather than away from it.]
-
Riagan took notice of Shuu's position and held up a hand. "No! Your form will just crack the pillar and we'll lack a proper bridge! Have you ever been in a mine? Have you ever trained in masonry? Judging by your vocation, I think not!"
With that, he returned to his careful work.
-
"He's right, not to mention we don't know how that pillar has held up in over 1,000 years. Just let Riagan take care of it." Calien shook his head.
-
Shuu halted before swinging, Hellhound taking this moment to chime in. "Dumbass! I could have told you that what you're planning wouldn't work!"
"And the reason you waited until I was told no is because...?"
"I wanted to see if anyone else in this group had any brains and knew what they were doing." Hellhound answered with a smug tone. "Besides, would you have listened to me if I did?"
"... Valid point..." Shuu sighed, Grani grumbling something and turning back into a tablet. "Remind me again why I'm letting you talk?"
"Because I'm the oldest, wisest, and most powerful of us you have contracts with? Not to mention I saved you and the short guy when you both were frozen."
"You're never gonna let that go, are you?"
"Nope."
-
Riyalie - "Can I help?" she chimed, feeling eager to use her sawblade.
Toshi - "Not now. Let Riagan handle this." she whispered softly.
Grifter - "Besides, I don't think everyone would be tolerant to the amount of noise your pizza-cutter would make from grinding into that pillar." he tries to whisper back, "Especially... you know who."
However, that last remark from Grifter suddenly made Toshi's eye twitch for a moment, as if she knew.
-
The pillar begins to tremble before it keels over and with a loud crash bridges the gap quite nicely, although it does knock a few lighter party members off their feet on impact.
Aya leans down to inspect the pillar "As long as we don't do anything silly this should hold." aya comments looking back to the others.
-
Toshi - "Then we should probably cross one at a time, I suppose?" she suggested, "No use all of us weighing this bridge down, if we plan on surviving the void below us."
-
"Yeah thats likely for the best, I can go across first and make sure everything is safe unless someone else wants to?"
-
"I think it should be alright since you can glide with your wings if something goes wrong, but still be very careful." Calien stated. "Like I said I'm not particularly sure how well that pillar has held up for a millennium."
-
"Well here I go then." Aya tentatively places a foot on the pillar--nothing, carefully she steps onto the fallen pillar and spreading her arms and wings out slightly to balance herself she begins to cross--while the damp moss covered pillar proves to be slightly dangerous she is able to cross without too much issue.
"Seems okay, it's a little slippery so be careful okay?" She cups her hands to her mouth and yells across the gap.
-
"And away I go~" Pema yelped as the massive impact caused her to jump and fall on her back.
"... Easy there, Salem, you know better than to ask, by now." Salem muttered to himself.
-
(Pema is my favorite party memeber XD)
-
"Are you alright, Pema?" Fxeni asked as he regained his footing from the shock of the pillar impact.
-
Riagan crossed with ease, and waited at the other side in case anyone needed help.
The Professor stared at the makeshift bridge, and then put his left shod foot on it and let it slide. The sole of his brace proved to be extra-slippery, so rather than risk falling or having to resort to being carried, he backed up and sat.
Lifting his robe, he fussed with the buckles and took the clunky thing off. His leg was weaker and his balance would be affected, but he would have proper grip.
Standing and slinging the leg brace over one shoulder, he wobbled and took a few careful steps. "I think, I think I may n-need a spotter, but, but, but I think, I think I can m-make it just fine..."
-
"I can spot for you." Calien offered.
-
Pema slowly shuffled herself from the floor and brushed off her dress.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks!" She nodded to Fxeni, then looked at the fallen pillar.
"So, shall we go?" Salem asked her.
Pema took a deep breath and steadily placed her foot on the pillar. "Okay... Here goes nothing..." She tucked the staff away and spread her arms apart, carefully maneuvering across the frightful gap.
(Ninja'd. Just assume she went after Riagan.)
-
Shuu simply crossed his arms and waited, deciding to go across after everyone else.
-
Carefully, the Professor crossed the bridge with Calien following after him. His steps were slow and wobbly and his limp was more pronounced as he struggled to force his lame left leg to cooperate. Eventually, he made it across and found a spot to sit and put his brace back on.
-
"Thankfully we will not need to return this way, the crystals will get us back to the entrance." Aya smiles patting the professor's shoulder.
-
[So, how many more people to go across?]
-
(Just Sakura, Toshi and Fxeni.)
-
[Well, after them it's Shuu's turn to go across.]
-
(Yeah I just want to make sure Phi doesn't have anything to add even though I think Pema should have gotten across no problem.)
-
(Yeah, Pema made it across.)
-
"Guess I'll go next." Sakura said as she walked over and began to cross the pillar with cat like tread.
-
"My turn, then..." Fxeni said as he carefully made his way across. His footing slipped once or twice on the damp moss, but he made it across with little issue.
-
Toshi - "Welp, here goes." she stood in front of the bridge, taking a deep breath, she focused chakra to her feet, so to tighten her grip to the slippery surface; watching Fxeni slipped kinda made her a bit nervous. Taking her time she seemed calm as made her way across.
About half way across... she could hear cracking as she went along, before reaching the end.
Toshi - "Careful Shuu, this bridge looks like it could go any moment now." she yelled across.
-
(And now Sapph can't get across.....)
-
(Don't worry, I'm fixing that post now.)
-
(Thank you.)
-
[Wait, isn't there more magicite on the ceiling or was there only the chunk that got knocked into the pit?]
-
(All of it is gone.)
-
((If need be, I'll DM up another rock pillar.))
-
(Nah it's been fixed don't worry.)
-
Shuu nodded. "I guess that means either I'm super cautious or fast." He said, mostly to himself.
"Or the pillar breaks before you're even halfway across and you fall in." Hellhound pointed out.
"Pessimist." Shuu sighed, stepping onto the pillar and starting to inch across. Sure enough, just as he made it halfway across the pit, the pillar gave way and started falling into the pit. "[parasitic bomb]!"
Before Shuu could react, Susanoo materialized under him and bounded to the rest of the way to the other side.
-
(Is he across?)
-
[Yeah]
-
The party stand before the entrance to the underground structure now as the pillar finally crumbles into the abyss below, yet something is amiss; the temple looks as if it has partially merged with the wall in places and not simple built there as if some great force moved it. Thankfully the door seems functional but will require some muscle to push open.
-
"You need some help Aya?" Calien asked.
-
"Ugh..y-yes this blasted thing won't move!" Aya's wings twitch in her frustration.
-
"Let me see if I can help." Calien stated as took off his cloak and got into position to help push the door "I'm much stronger than I look."
-
The two manage to move it a little but the stone doors are ridiculously heavy, it's not long before they find themselves slipping as the dirt under their feet gets pushed back by their efforts.
-
"I guess we're not enough." Calien shook his head "Those doors are strangely much heavier than they should be. Doesn't help that this floor doesn't have a lot of traction either, it's very difficult to get the proper footing due to the dirt. Riagan I think we need your help as well, if we all use our strength it should theoretically be enough to get this blasted thing open.
But be careful, the floor is very slippery."
-
"This is not a magic lock either.." Aya said her tone growing annoyed from the door's refuse to give in.
-
Toshi - "Hey, Shuu." she called, looking his way, "Any of your daemons strong enough to budge these doors?"
-
Pema wanted to assist her friends, however, she conceded that this was a job for the adults.
"I think they could use your help, too, Mr. Fxeni." She turned to him.
-
(Bet if she was convinced there was a feast on the other side she'd charge it open! 8D)
-
(Oh, no doubt! 8D)
-
(Or at least leaves a Pema shaped hole in the door >w< )
-
(Poor Salem is getting too old for her shenanigans. XD)
-
(No one is too old for loony toon physics!)
-
"Yeah, I believe so." Shuu replied to Toshi, getting off Susanoo's back.
"I am not certain I can open it alone." Susanoo sighed, looking at the door, Grani's voice coming and speaking in that ancient language.
"Oh you all are such whiners! I'll show you how it's done!" Hellhound snapped, summoning himself and barging against the door, paying only enough attention to the rest of the party to not step on or kick anyone.
-
The Door is beginning to budge, a few more good hits should do.
-
(Are Calien and Aya still pushing the door?)
-
In the meantime, Pema crouched near the gaping pit, and stared down into the abyss. She collected some pebbles next to her and threw a couple of them down below.
Now laying on her stomach with her legs idly kicking about, she leaned an ear close to the opening, waiting to hear a clatter.
-
(yes they are)
Pema is rather surprised when she doesn't hear anything at all.
-
Sakura saw what Pema was doing and listened as well.
".....I don't hear anything either." Sakura remarked.
-
"That's so spooky... I wonder if there's a bottom, at all?" Pema bit her thumb nail and stared suspiciously.
-
Hellhound continued shoving at the door, periodically shifting a little to slam his massive fist into it.
[I imagine Hellhound punching the door to try to force it open is more likely to break it. |D]
-
"I uhh... I'll see what I can do," Fxeni said as he walked up to the door. He began to push hard with his body, his feet sliding on the floor as they failed to gain traction.
-
The mix of all of them working together finally had some effect, the door began to push open further and further before blasting them with rather stale air.
-
((I'm going to assume that Riagan, the resident tank, at least helped a little. Since he is a fighter and all.))
-
(Yeah he did, Calien specifically asked him to.)
-
((Yep everyone helped out))
-
((Okay, I must have missed that.))
Meanwhile, the Professor was watching from the sidelines, wondering if they required anything from him.
-
Aya covers her nose as the foul air escapes the temple "Ugh--"
-
"Yup.....that's definitely the smell of a ruin." Calien gagged.
-
"Lovely..." Fxeni muttered as he held his arm to his face to cover the smell. He peers through the door, holding out his torch in front of him.
-
It is quite dark, almost like the shadows are consuming any light intruding on the old ruin. Or perhaps thats just Fexni's eyes playing tricks?
(wooooo... 8D ))
-
Finally, the Professor spoke up. "Could, could I, could I p-perhaps be of some service? I had explored catacombs b-before, when, when I, when I was in the service of the Or—err... of m-my, my, my monastery..."
-
"Anything would help, what do you recommend?" Aya smiles.
-
Pema retreated from the pit and followed along with the party.
-
"Well, if, if, if need be, I could attempt to translate the writings, or, or..." Walking over to the door, the Professor dug through his bag for another torch. Ripping the cap off and lighting it, he tossed it along the ground and a fair ways into the temple.
-
The writings on the wall are again in that alien looking hieroglyphs however much older, perhaps the previous ones were carved later? They show non humanoid entities being worshiped by what look like non descript humanoids.
-
(So this time the Prof wouldn't be able to understand them?)
-
((Suddenly... Lovecraft. >.>
And I'm gonna duck out for a short walk while it's still daylight out.))
-
((Hey thats what you wanted! 8D The Prof might not understand it directly but I'm sure he can get a meaning out of the pictures through reasoning.))
-
Hellhound growled at the stale air before retreating to his tablet on Shuu's armor. "Damn that place stinks! Probably has been closed since the Maokin vanished."
Susanoo shook his head as he unsummoned himself as well, Grani taking his place in the form of a broadsword.
-
((Yeah, Prof can read pictures just fine and extrapolate some meaning from them. Translating the actual text may take a while, though.))
Carefully, the Professor entered the room, seemingly unperturbed by the stale air. Pulling out his pen and parchment, he began to transcribe the drawings and take rubbings of the writings for later study. "Fascinating, fascinating..."
Riagan wrinkled up his nose. "Stinks of miasma in there."
-
[Think Shuu should offer the Prof some extra light with Grani's light magic?]
-
((Go for it.))
-
Seeing what the Professor was doing, Shuu entered the room behind him, also not too bothered by the room's smell. "Eh, not as bad as certain things from home..." He commented, standing behind the smaller humanoid. "Need some extra light?" He asked, Grani's blade starting to glow fairly brightly.
-
"Thank you, that's, that's m-much better..." the Professor didn't look up from his scribblings.
((Me go for walkies. Back in a few.))
-
"Ugh I don't even want to know what can smell worse than this." Sakura said covering her nose.
"Honestly this is nothing compared to a Volcano or other places I've been, but it's still pretty unpleasant." Calien added.
-
Pema glanced at the Professor intently studying his notes and then she turned to the hieroglyphics, attempting to understand the meaning behind them.
"Thiiiiiiink, hrmmmmm..." She squinted and scrunched up her face, narrowing her focus on the history inscribed on the walls. "There's a story here... speak to me..."
"You got anything yet?" Salem decided to humor her and spoke nonchalantly.
"Oh, my dear Salem, these things take time and patience! Let us professionals handle it." She turned her head at a 90 degree angle and peered closer.
"Kiiiinda think you need experience to be a professional, but hey, don't let me stop whatever it is... you're even doing." He replied.
Pema's head was now practically upside down as she crouched down and tried looking at different angles.
-
"This stuff is not like anything from the empire--also anyone else notice how oddly built this place is? Who makes a temple on an angle?!" Aya comments.
-
"Yes....it's quite unusual." Calien stated.
-
"Any luck figuring it out, Pema?" Fxeni said with a small chuckle as he watched her examine the walls. He felt somewhat uneasy, although he wasn't quite sure why.
-
As the group stood in the dark room, Grani started speaking. As he didn't speak the common language, it would sound like jibberish.
"... Susanoo, what's Grani going on about?" Shuu asked, looking to the tablet the tiger daemon was in, getting a sigh in response.
"I do not know... He is speaking in an older dialect." Susanoo sighed.
"Even to me it sounds like jibberish." Hellhound tagged on, earning some very sharp-toned words from Grani, no doubt some sort of insult or curse words.
-
"You think Grani actually knows what it says?" Sakura asked.
-
"Non-euclidean geometry," the Professor said simply as he continued to study the hieroglyphs. "These are, these are the hallmarks of, of the Outer Gods. Stories speak of worlds, cities that m-make no sense. Angles that b-baffle the, the m-more prosaic. When, when my master and I, when we studied the forbidden arts, we learned of, of, of these cities and temples, and lands before Time. My m-master... he wanted, he wanted to find Unknown Kadath..."
-
"....Unknown Kadath?" Calien questioned.
(Is this more Lovecraft stuff?)
-
((Ee-yep. You mentioned weird angles, so I went the Lovecraft angle. 8D ))
"Unknown Kadath... a fantastic city of gold hidden in the dreamlands," the Professor said simply as he studied the carvings.
-
(I've got an idea involving some Lovecraft inspired stuff at the very least 8D )
"Hmm hey look at this picture, seems the further down this hall we go the more they change, this one shows--huh? These kinda look like the demons from my time--Hmm." Aya seems rather confused by all this.
-
Grani continued to just talk away, as if he were just having a conversation with himself or some invisible, mute friend.
"Well, if he speaks in a dialect so old that Hellhound thinks is jibberish, it's possible." Shuu replied to Sakura, shrugging. "That said, nobody would be able to understand him anyway."
-
"I wish we could understand him. It must be frustrating not speaking a language anyone understands." Sakura noted.
"Speaking from experience I can say it is really frustrating." Calien sighed. "I'm just glad I was able to learn how to speak this language. Though I still have great difficulty writing in this language admittedly."
-
"Demons, hmm? Do they have a link with whoever made this temple?" Fxeni asked Aya, looking at the carvings she was observing.
-
The Professor studied the changing images closely, and then dug out one of his texts, flipping to a well-worn page. "The Mogguloch had a similar change. Those, those who worshiped the Mogguloch were also sacrificed to, to n-nourish it."
He flipped a few more pages and then pointed at another carving. "These, these resemble Chaugnar Faugn, an elephantine god of the Great Old Ones... See, see how, see how the p-picture looks like it is feeding from the, the humanoids? Chaugnar Faugn is nursed by, by the b-blood of its worshipers."
-
"That's just morbid." Calien shuddered.
"So these people worshipped demons?" Sakura raised an eyebrow.
-
Shuu sighed, looking between the various hieroglyphs as Grani continued talking away, his voice quieter now.
-
"These look a lot like the deamons that existed in my time, it couldn't be---" Aya suddenly cut off leaving the party in suspense.
-
The Professor turned around to look at Aya. "Is something the m-matter...?"
-
It was at this point that Grani went quiet, Shuu also turning to Aya.
-
"The empire was the first time in history where all the races were united under one banner--by force or other wise but it's not the beginning of civilization, my creators called it the Dark Age where all the tribes worshiped all manor of things. That stopped once the real gods made them selves known and embraced the Arcadians.
This temple--it might be from that era, these newer pictures are obviously demons like Shuu's allies; that means this might a temple they created to worship one of their deities and I know they existed back then. Right?" Aya looks to Hellhound.
-
At this, Hellhound materialized in his smaller form. "Yeah, I suppose." He answered, looking to what was on the walls. "It'd explain why this place smells like a Lorde's territory." The greater daemon said, turning to Aya. "Still can't read any of this crap though. It's from before me."
-
"Well hopefully we don't attract the attention of anything still in here, we should move one sooner rather than later." Aya turns to look down the hall.
-
"Pretty sure you jinxed us by saying that..." Fxeni said as he held his torch forward and walked forward down the hall.
-
Pema listened to the Prof's explanation and Aya's proclamation of demons. Then she looked back at the hieroglyphs.
Head nodding, she motioned her hands around the illustrations, "Hey, and- and look at these weird tall figures right here! That must be, uh... must be the neck right there, so... Oh! So yeah, I think these are giraffes? And they're eating- eating those cloud... things above them. So logically, they're demon giraffes eating... clouds."
Pema shook her head and rubbed her neck, "Wait, no, no- I almost have it! Umm, hold on, lemme think some more on this!"
She mumbled incessantly to herself. "Maybe when- When Clouds Attack..."
"Well, I guess I have to give her points for trying, at least." Salem stared blankly.
-
Grani's voice could be heard sighing before he resumed talking.
"He knows nobody can understand him, right?" Hellhound asked, earning another strong word from Grani.
"Just let him talk. He doesn't get to explain things very often." Shuu sighed, Grani deciding to turn to his normal form and release a bit more light into the hall.
-
Sakura decided to try to listen to Grani, even though she had no hope of understanding him, when he came out while Calien decided to look at the hieroglyphs and illustrations Pema was looking at despite the fact that he wouldn't be able to understand them. It also didn't help that Calien had no idea what they really were or what the hell a giraffe was.
(Yeah I get the feeling that Calien has never heard of or seen a real giraffe, before and Girafarig looks more like a giraffe colored pony really......)
-
((Killer Giraffes are canon now, I'll post tomorrow after I stop being tired XD ))
-
[Hmm... I did a bit of digging... Think giraffes could be included as Cow daemons since they're genetically in the same Order (Artiodactyla) and Infraorder (Pecora)?]
-
((Ack sorry for the lack of updates O^O I've been busy at work))
The party begin to head inside, after a few minutes of a long dark hall they enter what is likely the temple's center, an altar takes up the center of the room with four statues placed at the corners of the alters base. A large door is at the raised altar past the stairs while four other doors are placed at equal sides of the room, all but one are shut and unlike the main entrance do not seem to be made to be pushed open manually.
-
"...This place feels kind of creepy to me." Sakura remarked.
-
"It is rather unnerving," Fxeni replied as he walked up to the altar. He held his torch towards it to have more light to examine it.
-
"I'll be honest, some altars almost send shivers up my spine especially big ones like that." Calien stated "The statues certainly don't help shake that feeling either."
-
((Will add Prof in a bit. Busy right now.))
-
"Do you think there are demons in this room, Ms. Sakura?" Pema whispered as she held Salem close. Hunched over, she walked next to Sakura and raised the staff slightly, in case something suddenly jumped out at them.
-
"No, I don't sense anything like that." Sakura shook her head "Demons have a particular Mana signature that can be sensed by those who are trained in that sort of way. This room seems to be safe."
-
Toshi - "Now's not the time to feel intimidated." she said firmly, seemingly impressed at the altar stature, "Not everything was built to make one quiver at their appearance. Speaking of demons, if there were any right now they would jump us by now."
-
"Depends on the demon actually." Calien stated "Some would swarm their target, others wait for them to let their guard down, and some will only attack a lone target. Only the less intelligent ones would attack a group like this so foolishly."
-
Toshi - "Besides, I'm amazed something so ancient like this is still holding out over the millennia."
-
"I-I'm not intimidated! I'm just..." Pema's hands trembled a bit, and she closed her eyes, trying to shake the dread from her mind.
"Are you going to be alright? There's no need for worry, everyone is here with you." Salem assured her.
She sighed wearily, "Yeah..."
-
"Pema do you want one of us to hold your hand?" Sakura asked "I'm sure it would help you feel better."
-
Pema tugged on her own sleeve and quietly stared down. Holding her hand would certainly help to keep her calm, and perhaps that was what she needed right now. Or perhaps that was simply what she wanted.
She glanced at Sakura, nervously pinching her sleeve and shrinking in her clothes. Pema began to open her mouth, but stopped herself. She couldn't do it. She can't be the same scared little girl that failed to stop the bandits, all those years ago. She's better than that now, and it was time to prove it.
Pema smiled and looked ahead. "Thank you, Ms. Sakura... But, I don't need to. I'm sorry for bringing it up; I have to be brave. For everyone, but mostly for myself."
-
"I'm glad you're feeling better." Sakura smiled.
-
Riagan didn't really pay much mind to the room, but instead chose to inspect the doors to see if there was a way that they could be opened.
The Professor, meanwhile, was fascinated with the altar and was examining it while consulting his notes. "Fascinating..."
-
Shuu sighed, following behind the group a little as Grani continued a little bit forward. Raising his horn, the unicorn daemon scattered small orbs of light to fully illuminate the room.
-
The doors proved to large and too thick from the looks of it to be forced open, but it stood to reason something might open them. The four creepy statues were perfectly placed at each of the four doors and all were holding some sort of torch-leaving only the one door open to explore.
As for the Altar it too was closed or rather the door at the top-perhaps what ever turned on these torches was connected to the doors?
-
The Professor continued to examine the altar, noting that the top resembled a lid. Putting that in the back of his mind, he turned his attention the to four statues and the items they were holding. Approaching one of them, he reached up and gave the item a tug.
-
Dust keeps it in place but with a strong tug he managed to dislodge it, seems that was intended.
-
Taking the torch, the Professor approached the corresponding door and looked for a place to put the torch.
-
As he looks the idea dawns that perhaps it's less how they are placed but rather them all being lit, the one door is open after all--perhaps a test or mechanism for opening other doors and finally the main one?
-
Glancing back at the open door, the Professor returned to the statue. He lit the torch and placed it back where he found it. Moving to the other three statues, he took down their torches and lit each one.
-
The light--oddly enough did not stick but was rather snuffed out, perhaps the rooms had a certain flame that could light it?
-
((I *opens Inventory* Torch *selects Torch* Use *uses Torch* S *search*))
The Professor carried his own torch with him as he returned to the altar. The top looked as though it could be removed, so he examined it closely. He looked around the sides and the base for any possible switches or buttons or anything that could be used to activate a hidden mechanism.
-
The professor does find four indents that fit the torches.
-
Returning to the statues, the Professor takes the torches one by one, placing each torch into the indent that corresponds with the statue placement of those torches.
Meanwhile, Riagan had settled with the group and lit his pipe.
-
Sakura looked at the pipe Riagan pulled out having never seen such a thing before and was curious what it was while Calien wondered if the Prof could figure out the secret of the room.
-
"Don't you think we should go over there and help the Professor?" Pema asked.
"It looks like he has everything under control. Besides, I think he's enjoying himself." Salem said with a light chuckle.
"You can enjoy puzzles?!" She gasped.
"Hey, everyone has a hobby." He replied.
-
"I'm quite fond of puzzles myself." Calien stated. "They're quite relaxing."
"I like them too...but I haven't done many." Sakura admitted.
-
"Hmm, how strange..." Pema rubbed her chin.
Salem sighed. "Pema, you can barely stand still, so is it really a mystery why you dislike puzzles?"
"It's not my fault adventure flows through my veins!" She crossed her arms and shouted proudly.
"That, and at least 5 different kinds of sauces from the last time you ate." He exclaimed.
"I can still taste it...!" She clenched her fists, reminiscing her last meal.
-
Aya approaches the Prof "You think these torches will activate the main door?" Aya seems to have been watching his investigating
-
"What, what I think, what I think will happen is, is p-perhaps the torches will activate the altar, which we could then use to finally activate the doors. Sometimes, sometimes, numerous steps are required to do one simple thing." the Professor placed the torches in the indentations and waited for a result.
-
Nothing seems to happen but given they fit it must be right just perhaps missing a step.
"Hmm-I think that open door is the key, what ever lies beyond perhaps can light this torch--then maybe it'll help us with the other rooms." Aya theorizes.
-
"It's quite possible..." Getting up, the Professor proceeded through the open door and shone his torch around to illuminate the area.
-
"This whole places kinda feels like some sort of test doesn't it, given our luck I'm sure the shard fell behind that altar door too."
-
Shuu sighed and simply crossed his arms, Grani simply standing near the alter.
-
"Hmm, how strange..." Pema rubbed her chin.
Salem sighed. "Pema, you can barely stand still, so is it really a mystery why you dislike puzzles?"
"It's not my fault adventure flows through my veins!" She crossed her arms and shouted proudly.
"That, and at least 5 different kinds of sauces from the last time you ate." He exclaimed.
"I can still taste it...!" She clenched her fists, reminiscing her last meal.
"Adventures often involve solving puzzles, it's a very important skill." Calien stated "Same can be said for fighting and out manuvering your opponent."
-
"I guess I never thought of it that way..." Pema blinked.
-
"Well, I don't feel comfortable leaving the Professor wandering alone so..." Fxeni said as he followed the Prof through the door.
-
(Isn't Aya following him?)
-
(I assume she should be, I'm honestly confused about what exactly is going on at the moment.)
-
((Aya is with Prof. They went into another room. I'll draw a map later, because I was confused by the layout of the dungeon.))
-
(( Imagine a square room with an high stair case from the center leading to the back wall on a high altar. Up there is main door we are trying to get open.
However on the left and right sides of the room are two doors each. One on the right is open but the rest are closed. The torches seem to be part of the puzzle of opening each door finally leading to the main one. Basically we need to enter that one open door.
Only other way to go is back the way we came and that doesn't lead anywhere new.
It's kinda like the forest temple where you needed to light the torches in the main room to go forward. ))
-
((Before we press on people more in the mood for combat or puzzles? No reason for asking...nope 8D ))
-
(I'm leaning towards combat.)
-
(Yeah I wouldn't mind some combat.)
-
[Either's fine.]
-
((Doesn't matter to me.))
-
(So being torn apart by monsters? Alright I'll plot some stuff for tomorrow then!))
-
(FINALLY SOME BLOOD, GUTS AND GORE :W)
-
((Been nice knowing you, Prof. 8D ))
-
((Going to zombie everyone for a moment.))
Prof and Aya lead the party into the open door and down another dark hall, after a few minutes they enter another large room, the new area had a thin walkway around the outside of the room, enough for one person to stand while the rest of the room dipped down one floor and was filled with an odd black liquid like substance. At the center was a raised platform and on it was a blue flame.
( >BD Muhahaha have fun! >w< )
-
Shuu looked at the black liquid in the room. "Well... That's kinda... Ominous..." He said, bringing a long, wooden staff from his chest gem and cautiously poking it into the liquid to see if something would happen.
-
"Sure hope that isn't flammable, or else we'll have to be careful..." Fxeni said as he looked down at the black liquid.
-
The liquid clung to the staff as if it was trying to pull it down, Aya managed to grab Shuu's arm just in time to prevent the unsuspecting warrior for being pulled over.
"Okay, thats not just water." Aya commented once Shuu had regained his stability.
-
"Seems to be some type of Slime creature." Calien stated.
-
"Or perhaps some sort of substance that feeds on matter?" Salem pondered aloud.
Pema stared at the liquid. "That kinda seems scarier than it being a creature..."
-
"At least you've never seen a Slime eat its prey." Calien shuddered.
(I kinda wanted to add a line from Sakura about a Slime eating a squirrel but I think that might be too much.)
-
The Professor crouched down close to the slime in order to get a better look. Rummaging through his bag, he found a scoop and an empty vial and proceeded to reach out to get a sample.
-
((Been nice knowing you, Prof. 8D ))
-
Toshi - "Be careful, Professor." she tries to warn him, "It's not safe to touch that."
-
As the professor reaches down the black liquid reacted to his close proximity, a tendril of slime whipped out around his arm and suddenly pulled him in!
((Quickie you make it so easy 8D Don't worry this isn't the slime from the Blob movie so no flesh melting!))
-
(So he's already in and we can't pull him out?)
-
(Depends how you try to save him 8D )
-
(I like this new development. [eyebrow])
-
(Om nom slimes? 8D )
-
(Om nom slimes! 8D)
-
(Yay!)
-
(And the Prof seems to be Too Dumb to Live.....)
-
((Scientific curiosity! Just waiting for everyone else to chime in))
-
Toshi - "Hang on Professor, I'm coming to save you!" she rushed in, grabbing a hold of whatever part of the Professor was grab-able, attempting to pull him free from the slime monster.
(I dunno. I feel like having Toshi get dragged with him. :P)
-
Toshi's intention while good only served to get her dragged into the goo as well! Both find it hard to move at all as it seems to try and pull them down!
-
Grifter - "No good. It's too strong! You got to break loose."
Toshi - "No!" she shouted pulling in vain, as she was being dragged in "We can't lose the Professor. Not like this!" she struggled.
-
Thinking fast, Pema crouched down and extended out her staff to them. "Ms. Toshi! Professor! Here, grab onto Salem, and I'll try to pull you out!"
Of course, Pema was far too small to support the weight of two people, so Salem piped up.
"Someone, grab hold of Pema while she tries to pull Toshi and the Professor out! Then, someone else grab hold of that person, and so forth! We need everyone to use their weight and pull them out together!" Salem proclaimed to the group.
(Basically, I see this as a quicksand situation, and Salem is the "stick" used to pull them out. And everyone participating is like tug-of-war, in a way. 8D)
-
"Gotcha!" Sakura nodded as she grabbed hold of Pema and Calien grabbed hold of Sakura.
-
"I'm not sure this is the best of ideas but..." Fxeni said as he held Calien. "Riagan! Is there some way for you to keep yourself grounded before you join the chain?"
-
Riagan lashed his cloak around his waist and to a sturdy pillar. Bracing himself, he grabbed hold of Fxeni. "Pull!"
-
Fxeni grunted as he began to pull on Calien, hoping this plan would work.
-
With the Prof and Toshi latched onto the staff, Pema heaved as hard as she could, using all her strength to pull them out.
-
The Professor popped out of the slime like a grape, covered in goop. Panting a bit, he wiped the slime off his face and looked at the slime covering his body. "Well... it appears I procured my sample after all..."
-
"Well, he's a tenacious one, I'll give him that..." Salem stated as he watched the Professor go right back to studying the samples.
Suddenly, Pema leaped at the Prof and hugged him. "My poor slimy Professor Cuddles..."
"I'm honestly a little surprised this worked." Salem said with a chuckle.
-
(And then the Slime detaches itself from the Prof forming a smaller Slime and we get a pet Slime that thinks the Prof is its Daddy.)
-
((Suddenly... slimy Peam))
The Professor returned the hug. "Occupational, occupation hazard, I'm afraid. M-my, my, my scientific studies m-may have gotten the better of me..."
Scraping a sample off of his robe, he put it in the vial and tucked it away. It was a viscous and sticky slime and proved difficult to remove from his clothes. The slime left a tacky, gummy residue on his face and hands, and his eyelids kept sticking together.
-
Pema squirmed a bit when she noticed her clothing. "Eww, haha, yuck!" With a small giggle, she lifted up her sleeves to reveal how slimy she was.
She hummed a soft tune as she scrapped off the slime from her dress, and helped the Prof remove some off his hands.
-
Aya sighed as she helped Toshi stand after being pulled from the goo "That was a little too close for comfort." Aya reaches into her pack and offers a towel to Toshi who is as slimy now as the others.
Meanwhile the mass of black liquid still remains a father big obstacle to reaching the flame at the center of the room!
-
Toshi - "I feel so... violated. I can't tell which is worse; having freaks stalking you all day, or having a thick liquid subtance spilled all over you." She ranted on.
-
"I'd imagine drowning in slime would be worse--perhaps the town has a bathhouse we can use once we unfreeze everyone."
-
(I thought everyone was unfrozen off screen but recovering. Also TENK did you really have to mention that first line?)
-
(Then what do you suggest me to describe how Toshi feeling uncomfortable, in her current situation? Or is the word squicky, too squicky for you to handle?)
-
(Just leave the 'I feel violated' part and omit the rest of the line after her wiping off the slime. That part I really don't think needs to be implied. Otherwise it's fine.)
-
(Okay, okay, let's please not start another argument.)
-
(Sorry about that, I just felt it was too TMI. '>.>)
-
(There, it's fixed. Feeling better now?)
-
(Yeah it is.)
-
((*Buried under innuendo* FREAKIN WAT))
With his newly-acquired slime sample, the Professor scraped off a bit and placed it on the floor a fair distance from the main blob. He then attempted to set the slime alight with his torch.
-
Pema held Salem in front of her face, in case the slime exploded.
"I feel so loved." Salem said dryly.
-
Fxeni observed the slime that the Prof touched with the torch, curious to see what happens.
-
((Well Aya theorized getting the Omni-Shard under control might speed it up))
-
(I didn't really remember Aya saying anything like that, I only remember her saying that the blizzard won't go away until we get the Omni Shard. I was talking about the work that Hellhound was doing in the town before we went to the temple.)
-
((Maybe Aya is just going insane 8D ))
-
(Yeah she still kind of gives me 'she's not all there/her mind is not on this planet' vibes, at least that's what I'm seeing.)
-
(Are you sure you're not confusing her with Pema? 8D)
-
((Maybe Aya is just going insane 8D ))
(Yeah she still kind of gives me 'she's not all there/her mind is not on this planet' vibes, at least that's what I'm seeing.)
(I wonder why... 8D [eyebrow])
-
(Too soon... *shudders*)
-
(Are you sure you're not confusing her with Pema? 8D)
(Nah Pema is normal in her own way.)
(Too soon... *shudders*)
(I second this.)
-
(Too soon... *shudders*)
(Iz it now? RUIN FEVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR)
-
(( O^O ))
-
(Zthere, zthere... I von't let joo come to harm... [eyebrow])
-
((The shivers--the spine--- O^O ))
-
((So... what should the slime do? I left it open for you to decide what it does.))
-
(OM NOM SLIME :W)
-
(I still vote for the Slime on Prof and Toshi gathering into a smaller slime so we can have a pet slime. :3)
-
((He has the vial of slime already. The slime he's burning is leftover slime.))
-
[Sh*t! I got distracted by things! What did I miss? @_@ ]
-
(We pulled Toshi and Prof out of the Smile after they fell but we still need to deal with the big Slime. Prof is trying to burn some to see what reaction it would have.)
-
(Pet Slime Approved 8D))
"We need to find away across this slime--anyone have any ideas? I mean I could try to glide there and back with the torch if someone let me jump from their shoulders?"
-
((Oh hell, I'll figure out what happens to the slime.))
The flame touched the slime blob and set it alight. It shriveled and melted and produced a thick plume of oily smoke. The burning slime smelled horrible as it bubbled and finally, it expanded and exploded into a putrid burst of hot slime.
"Well, it apparently reacts to fire..." the Professor nodded as he fanned the air.
-
"It smells worse than the mushrooms." Sakura said as she covered her nose.
"Hmm I kind of wonder what happens if you freeze it." Calien pondered "Perhaps it would freeze long enough to get across?"
-
(... Why did I imagine the slime screaming in agony as it was burning? D:)
-
((It screeched with the haunting sound of escaping steam. And then it blew up like a balloon and exploded.))
-
(Mini-Slime me-Chan! ;~;)
-
"Did someone say freeze?" Pema desisted on using her staff as a shield and raised it high.
"Oh, am I no longer your hostage?" Salem chimed in.
"Yeah, sorry about that, Salem..." She laughed sheepishly, rubbing her neck.
-
"Yes, I was curious about what would happen." Calien replied.
-
Pema aimed her staff at the slime and fired an icy mist spell. A flurry of frigid cold wind and ice showered the slime.
(I should leave it to Blue to decide what happens.)
-
The spell seems to have the effect Pema intended and the slime begins to freeze on the effect area.
-
((I was gonna do the same for the burning, but got impatient and wanted to blow something up. >.>))
-
(Honestly that's what I expected from the burning anyway.)
"I see." Calien nodded "Perhaps we can walk across while Pema, and maybe Toshi if you want to help, keeps freezing it until we get the flame across to this side?"
-
The Professor stood. "Perhaps the lightest of us should cross, yes? If, if, if, say, Aya were to use Riagan's height to launch herself over, p-perhaps act as backup should the spell fail?"
Riagan nodded. "I can give 'er a good toss."
-
"That sounds like a good back up plan in case the freezing spell doesn't work out as it looks. As for Plan A should we have Pema or the Prof go across since both are pretty light." Sakura asked.
-
"Send the fae. You need the lass to maintain the spell." Riagan pointed out helpfully.
The Professor nodded in agreement. "He, he makes, he makes a good p-point. We require Peta's undivided attention with maintaining her spell. I will go across."
-
"That seems like a fair point." Calien nodded "Though just in case the worse happens again we should prepare to form the chain again."
-
Toshi - "Lets see..." she performed sequence of handsigns:
Snake → Ram → Tiger → Horse → Snake → Rabbit → Horse → Snake → Rabbit
Then holding both her palms out towards the slime... "Hyōton: Hyōga taisho-hō!!" ...she fire's a powdery beam of snow, freezing the slime's area of effect on contact.
-
"Umm... Sorry to interrupt when we've clearly got a plan..." Shuu cut in, clearing his throat. "But... Susanoo can fly."
-
"Please no interrupting the voyage of the SS Pema Unlimited. Once you've boarded, there's no stopping this baby!" Pema replied to Shuu and gestured her hand towards her mouth, as if she was speaking into an intercom, then continued to dish out her ice spell.
She already started to maintain the path for her 'passengers', and fully intended to see it through.
"I personally wouldn't recommend this cruise, as the captain has been known to eat everyone's food." Salem remarked.
"Hide your food, people, this is going to be a wild ride!" Pema cheered.
-
"The crew must be starving." Calien quipped.
-
"Send Susanoo too just encase that slime tries something while the professor is gathering the flame." Aya nods to Shuu
-
Waiting for a path to form, the Professor gingerly stepped onto the frozen slime. There was a crackling sound as the slime gave under his weight, but he didn't sink very far. Taking another step, he began to forge a path, trying to keep up with the frozen portions while the slime thawed behind him.
-
There are a few close calls but the prof avoids being violated by slime a second time and reaches the center platform (assuming with Susanoo in tow) at the center is a rather elegant brazier with an odd blue flame flickering at the center, it oddly enough not producing any heat.
-
"Hmm..." Curious, the Professor reached out to touch the flame itself. It seemed odd, and he wasn't concerned with burning himself, and he wanted to test a theory before just grabbing the brazier.
-
".....Is the Prof seriously trying to touch the Flame itself?" Sakura asked dumbfounded.
"Hmm.....could that flame actually be what I think it is?" Calien pondered as he was reminded of something he heard from his youth.
-
The flame neither burns nor damages his flesh, if it is indeed a flame it could be magic.
-
"Hmm, fascinating..." Fxeni said as he watched the Prof's hand go through unburnt. "Do you think you can handle bringing it over here, Prof?"
-
((He does have that handy dandy torch from the main room 8D ))
-
Nodding, the Professor produced the torch he had procured earlier. Holding it out, he touched its end to the flame.
-
The torch does not ignite but rather the flame simply floats off the brazier migrating to the torch, almost like a small spirit from the Prof's books on the supernatural elements of the world.
However as the flame is taken and the slime begins to react violently multiple tendrils raise from the pool and begin to thrash about, far too many for the party to handle even as a group.
-
(SLIME TENDRIL RA- *dissolved*)
-
Shuu gritted his teeth. "Susanoo! Get him back here! Quick!" He snapped, the daemon materializing himself under the Professor.
"There are too many! I can't get him across!" Susanoo called, creating a barrier of wind and lightning in an attempt to keep the tendrils from grabbing the Professor while the others could figure out how to get them back across safely.
-
((The boss of the Water Temple is a good example of how it attacks, the tendrils are all over the pool attacking everyone so have fun figuring out a solution : > ))
-
((I'll be busy for this afternoon and won't be able to post right away.))
-
(I wonder what happens if we steam the slime, would it shrivel?)
-
((Bad news everyone! You sequence broke the temple and failed to get the hook shot. campaign is unbeatable now 8D ))
-
(Yeah I was thinking that after this dungeon Calien woud make a hook shot. Though even if we did have a Hookshot I don't think it would help in this situation since the Slime doesn't seem to really have visible organs.
I still think we should try steaming it since blowing it up isn't really an option since the party would just end up tarred.)
-
(Pssh... I get myself out of unbeatable situations all the time!)
"Can't use fire, that will blow us all up. Hmm... maybe we can blow it away with wind though..." Fxeni thought out loud as he readied his spear.
-
"I think the Slime is too heavy for that!" Calien shouted as he used his Axe to cut the tendrils only for them to slither back and become part of the slime again.
"Okay so we can't explode it, we can't really freeze it, slicing it does nothing........" Sakura said as tried fending it off while she watched Riagan try smashing it with his hammer. However the Slime instead tried grabbing the hammer it self forcing Riagan to pull it away quickily "And we can't turn it into a pancake! Ugh there isn't many options here!"
(Hope no one minds me borrowing Riagan for that.)
-
"I think I'd prefer a giant boulder instead of this!" Pema cried out as she dodged the incoming tendrils, knocking some away with the brunt force of her staff.
-
Shuu could only step back, since he didn't have anything that could help... Then Hellhound let out a frustrated growl.
"Use the damned spells you got from those golems I destroyed!" The daemon shouted, less than pleased that he had to help.
[Did everyone forget about the Masters' spells?]
-
(The who what now?)
-
(*plays Okkusenman in the background*)
-
((I just got back from a thing. What did I miss?))
-
(We're trying to fend off the slime tendrils.)
-
((Reading back, I didn't miss a lot. Good.))
-
(The Master Spells we got were Fire, from Napalm Master, and the 2 Ice ones. Not really going to help on this situation.)
-
(Oh, those things. I didn't know they were called that.)
-
(Honestly I don't know what they're really called.)
-
[The ice ones should have some effect. And I hope we figure out something, or else Hellhound might do something stupid...]
-
(Not really, we were freezing it already to get the Prof to cross and it didn't do much but slow it down.)
-
[And slow it down is all that's needed for Susanoo to get the Prof back across.]
-
(Can Pema use that Blizzard Spell?)
-
(Honestly I don't know what they're really called.)
(Let's just called them Master Sigils.)
-
((Got an early morning tomorrow, so I'm heading to bed. Also, I'll be busy all day.))
-
(Can Pema use that Blizzard Spell?)
(Not yet, I have a plan for that.)
-
(I kind of figured. Okay then can her and/or Toshi somehow freeze the entire slime like Sapph wants or is that not possible? I mean i have Freeze Cracker but it's not going to do much against something as big as that.)
-
(Pema, using Salem, could glide around the slime and shower it with her Ice Mist spell. But doing so may cause her to be the prime target, and she wouldn't last long.
Perhaps some of you can distract the tendrils by continuously attacking them, while Pema deals with freezing the slime?)
-
(I think everyone can take care of that, Riagan probably needs to switch to using his Hand Axes though since his Hammer isn't really effective against the Slime.)
-
(Um, can someone zombie Shuu around? I'm going camping and won't be back until Tuesday. ^^; )
-
(I could have Toshi either create a bunch of Ice turrets/clones, spread out, firing ice beams consecutively, to maximize the freezing capabilities.)
-
(That sounds pretty good to me too.)
-
((I'll let you guys deal with the tendrils for now, a bit of creative magic/weapon use should be able to deal with them, I'll post when you all have chance to kick some butt ))
-
"Even if it doesn't push it, it should get rid of some of these pesky tentacles at least," Fxeni said as he dodged a few attacks, swiping at them as he went. When there was a relatively slow moment in their attacks he began to chant, a green runic circle appearing under his feet.
"Howl O raging wind and cleave mine enemies with your blade! Turbulence!"
A vortex of wind began to swirl above the slime, pulling in some tendrils into it before cutting them up.
-
As the tendrils were pushed back Pema noticed something out of the corner of her eye, a red orb like thingy swimming around down below the slime.
-
Still stranded in the middle of the slime, the Professor held tight to the torch as he watched the battle around him. He wanted to help, but he didn't want to risk damaging the altar.
-
"A red orb-like thingy!" Pema shouted when she spotted something odd within the slime.
"What?" Salem piped up.
She grabbed her hat and slanted it sideways, then ferociously pointed her finger at the slime. "Turn the SS Pema Unlimited to starboard, matey, and you'll spot a strange red orb over yonder!"
"... What?"
Pema twirled her staff and unleashed a blast of fire into the air, getting everyone's attention. "Okay, crew, this ship is now on full offensive mode."
She looked at everyone with pride and dignity. "First, you were simple passengers, but now, you're soldiers! Now, listen up. Mr. Fxeni, continue dealing out your tornado of doom on those tentacle things! This will give us a better chance to target that red orb inside!"
She directed her focus to the orb. "We never back down on this ship! Everyone else, focus on attacking this orb, right here, and be weary of the tentacles. I'll man the cannons!"
"Wait, are we on a family cruise ship or an assault vehicle...?" He stated.
Pema dashed ahead and gathered her mana. Raising the staff, she materialized five massive ice shards that gravitated around her.
"Both offer fun for the whole family!" She battle-cried, and launched her attack on the red orb.
"Surely, you must know what an assault vehicle insinuates!" He yelled.
-
(Darnit Peam... Why are you so cute!?)
-
Susanoo kept his barrier up to protect the Professor from the tentacles, fur bristling.
Shuu, meanwhile, listened to Pema's instructions. "Don't usually take orders from a kid, but what the hell? Grani!" He called, the daemon unicorn appearing in his hand as a crossbow, like earlier. "Let's see if some mirror bolts will part the way." He took aim and fired several bolts of mirror magic at the red orb Pema had pointed out.
-
Fxeni nodded and continued to cast his spell. He focused mainly on the area where the orb was spotted.
-
Aya Projected her barrier gauntlet at the slime forcing it apart so the others could have an easier time attacking the core, their efforts seem to be having an effect!
-
Toshi - "Hyōbunshin no Jutsu!!" perfoming her ice clone jutsu, she split herself among 5 clones.
Splitting up surrounding the slime so that they could get a clear shot at the red orb Pema pointed out.
"How 'bout some extra cold spice on that order." she quipped as she and her clones performed the same long handsign sequence to her Glacial Remedy.
Toshi & clones: "Hyōton: Hyōga taisho-hō!! all individually focusing their beams at the ice shards, fired by Pema, pretty much doubling their size and weight as they, came crashing down on the red orb.
(Glacial Remedy is actually the translation to Toshi's ice beam attack.)
-
((Okay so on the 13th I will be heading out camping with my friends until we return on the 18th obviously I won't have any ability to connect online--well unless the trees have wireless. 8D
Joking aside I was wondering if someone else wanted to take control and finish this fight then think up challenges for the remaining three rooms while I'm gone? I would only ask that the group not open the main door until I have returned as I have some important story stuff to do there.
If anyone is up for that post before I leave or if you would all rather pause till I get back, up to you all!))
-
(I'd be fine with pausing.)
-
((I'm good with pausing.))
-
The parties' efforts manage to reveal the red shiny core like thing that Detective Pema noticed earlier, leaving the slime monster open to a counter attack (hopefully!)
-
((Should I ninja everyone for this encounter then?))
-
(Go ahead if no one's volunteering. Or I could just have Toshi finish it off instead {which I don't feel like doing without the others, though}.)
-
(if no one else posts anything by tomorrow go ahead I'll respond after work 8D ))
-
(Okay. ;))
-
(Yeah I was busy with Finals and turning in Research Papers during that week so I was too burned out to write. At least I passed all my classes. I really wonder if I should type something now though.)
-
((I'd say let Toshi do something, I want to move on from this room to the other three reasonably soon. Also congrats on finishing finals!))
-
After watching and waiting, Susanoo saw his opportunity. "Hold fast, Intelligent Yamkin, I am going to get us across!" He said, waiting for the Professor to brace himself.
[Edited to clarify specifically who Susanoo is addressing.]
-
Riyalie - "Do it Toshi! Fire a photon torpedo at it!" she clamored Toshi
Toshi - "W-what!?" utterly confused as to what Riyalie was saying.
Grifter - "I think she meant use a light-javelin attack, with Ronginasu no Yari."
Toshi - "'kay..." she followed suit as she assembled her spear "Illuminate!"
Reacting to her command her hand started feeding chakra to the spearhead's blades converting it into light mana as it glowed brightly, just barely lighting up the room in the process. As Toshi held it back...
Toshi - "Photon torpedo..." the spear started to light up intensely, "FIRE!!"
Throwing her spear aimed towards the vulnerable red spot, like a missile made of pure light.
Grifter - "Please come up with a better name, next time. You don't have to call it that, just because Riyalie said do." he critisized Toshi's choice in attack names.
(I'll just throw this in. In case time isn't on my side.)
-
Riyalie - "Do it Toshi! Fire a photon torpedo at it!" she clamored Toshi
Toshi - "W-what!?" utterly confused as to what Riyalie was saying.
Grifter - "I think she meant use a light-javelin attack, with Ronginasu no Yari."
Toshi - "'kay..." she followed suit as she assembled her spear "Illuminate!"
Reacting to her command her hand started feeding chakra to the spearhead's blades converting it into light mana as it glowed brightly, just barely lighting up the room in the process. As Toshi held it back...
Toshi - "Photon torpedo..." the spear started to light up intensely, "FIRE!!"
Throwing her spear aimed towards the vulnerable red spot, like a missile made of pure light.
Grifter - "Please come up with a better name, next time. You don't have to call it that, just because Riyalie said do." he critisized Toshi's choice in attack names.
(I'll just throw this in. In case time isn't on my side.)
The attack pierces the core without any trouble, the red orb shatters and dissolves as the organ dies, without the monster to control the slime it begins to thrash in every direction as it too begins to dissolve.
-
((I'm gonna be busy this evening, so zombie as you need.))
-
Seeing that the threat is over, for now. Toshi stepped forward, raised her hand...
Toshi - "To me, Ronginasu!" she uttered, as the spear flashed for a moment before teleporting back to her hand. She quietly disassembled her weapon, before putting it away. She then turned her attention to the Professor, hoping he wasn't hurt in anyway.
(Waiting for the zombie-ing to take over.)
-
((Heading to work soon so I'll post after I get back))
-
Alive but slightly slimy the party managed to escape back to the main room with the blue flame. The Professor slowly approaches the statue and light it with their flame--thankfully Aya's hypothesis proves true and the flame sticks.
After a few seconds of silence a loud sound fills the room as mana streams through lines in the satue activating the mechanism for the second door. Aya turns toward it as it slowly opens raining dust down on the whole room.
-
The Party moved into the second doorway with more caution than previously, the long hall eventually led into a similar large square room but lacking a slime pool this time. Along the walls on the left and right where three mirrors apiece, each had a symbol engraved above the glass but the party would need to examine it closer to see what they all said.
However it was the swirling chaos rift like thing floating near the high ceiling at the center of the room that was the biggest cause of worry.
-
Toshi - "So now what do we do about that up there?" gazing towards the rift above the party, "More importantly; what obvious purpose do these mirrors do to help? Not that I've figured them out yet."
Although she thought of the use of light being maybe useful, but doesn't have a clue as to what the mirrors' purpose were, as apposed to the more concerning problem of sealing away the rift, above.
-
"Odd, this rift almost seems--stable? Is that even possible?" Aya tilts her head approaching the rift before glancing at the mirrors to her right then to her left. "I don't think this is posing any danger to the area, plus I doubt it'll open randomly at least--we can try to figure out this next test."
-
"I'd rather keep away from it still, to be on the safe side; rifts haven't exactly been kind to us," Fxeni said as he went around the edge of the room to one of the mirrors. He held up his torch so that he could read the symbol above the mirror.
-
Pema walked up to Fxeni and gazed at the mirror he was examining.
Frowning that she was too short to see the symbol above the mirror, she jumped up and down, attempting to get a glance. She waved her hands wildly as she hopped. "Nngh! Hwuh! Higher... Higher!"
"Oh boy..." Salem groaned.
-
Fxeni turned to watch Pema hopping in place. He smiled as he knelt down.
"Want a lift? You'll need to hold my torch for me though," Fxeni said as he held the torch out.
-
"Oh! Mm-hm, thanks, Mr. Fxeni!" Pema chirped as she grabbed the torch, then carefully climbed on his back.
-
"Perhaps we need to use these mirrors to reflect something." Calien stated as he began inspecting the mirrors.
-
"Alright, here we go!" Fxeni said as he slowly got back up and got closer to the mirror.
-
Pema giggled as she was hoisted up and illuminated the light from the torch onto the symbols.
"These look really strange... I wonder if the Professor can understand them." She pondered aloud.
-
The symbols seem to artistic interpretations of the elements as far as Fxeni and Pema could guess, all six seemed present.
-
The Professor studied the symbols closely and nodded assent. "Highly stylized, yes. Highly stylized. But, but, but, I do believe that their meaning is quite, quite simple. They are elements, yes? Elemental symbols..."
-
Pema scratched her nose and tilted her head. "So, umm... what does that mean exactly?"
"Perhaps the symbols are conveying the need to use magic spells on the mirror?" Salem chimed in.
-
"Hmm, where's the Darkness elemental mirror." Sakura pondered as she looked around.
-
"You think if we all fire our spells into the mirrors, we can close that rift up there?" Pema asked.
"That does seem to be a possibility." Salem replied.
(Which element is Pema and Fxeni by?)
-
The Professor scratched his head as a possibility occurred to him. "What it, what if, p-perhaps, what if the mirrors corresponding to the symbols, what if... What if they're part of the puzzle? Perhaps, perhaps you are to use the reverse of the element?"
-
"That's a good possibility a well." Calien pondered.
"So I might need to find the Light elemental mirror?" Sakura questioned.
-
((Fxeni and Pema are near the water elemental mirror))
As the party discuss how to solve the puzzle the larger door suddenly begins to shut, the group is too far back to escape in time and they are left in a now even darker room only lit by the torch-that is until the glow of the chaos rift begins to create a oppressive glow over the party. What ever is inside is beginning to stir.
((As for the position of each mirror don't worry too much just say you aim at it.))
-
(So Toshi must be standing in front of either the Fire, Earth, or Darkness elemental mirrors. Since Wind is a prerequisite for learning ice, I might have to throw in a one time wind ability for Toshi...)
Toshi - "I guess Water is the reverse of Fire, I think." she pondered, "So who's got Earth and Wind."
Grifter & Riyalie - "Ahem!" the two poké-familiars chimed in.
Toshi - "Oh right, I forgot about you two."
(...or... I could have Grifter and Riyalie {her Power Gem is a Rock type move, so I could use that} assist.)
-
(Not going to comment on the door locking and the Chaos Rift going nuts? Also I don't think Wind is a prerequisite for learning Ice, I think it's just another state of Water.)
-
(Agreed. Although, I did realize Grifter's Flying type moves are already wind based, so I could use him instead.)
-
(Not sure we really need Grifter's Wind element since quite a few party members have Wind elemental attacks and Calien and Sakura do have Earth elemental attacks too, though as I noted before Sakura rarely uses Earth attacks in the first place, but I'm not sure we need the Power Gem from Ryalie either. But it's up to you.
However let's see what the heck is going on with the Chaos Rift first.)
-
"Wh-what's going on? Why is the rift glowing all bright like that?" Pema grabbed onto Fxeni tighter.
"We'd better not wait and find out. Quickly, let's try the Professor's hypothesis: Use the reverse element of the symbol indicated!" Salem spoke quickly.
"Roger that!" She nodded and prepared a fire spell.
"Fxeni, it may be best for you to try another mirror, so we use as many elements as possible." Salem stated.
-
"Very well. I'll go to the Earth mirror in that case," Fxeni said as he gently knelt down to let Pema off.
-
Toshi - "No sense standing around." she performed a hand seal sequence: Boar → Dog → Ram
"Suiton: Hahonryū!!"
Forming water spiraling in her hand, she thrusts it against the mirror bearing the fire symbol.
(Not sure what happens next. So I'll probably be waiting on Blue for the response.
But now I'm concerned about one thing; who uses darkness?)
-
(Sakura does, it's actually her specialty among the elements, also Fxeni you want to find the Earth Mirror since we're trying opposite elements first.)
Sakura and Calien went to the Light and Wind mirrors respectively and hit them with Demon Fang and a Earth Enchanted Boomerang respectively.
(Sapph should probably go to the Darkness mirror since he apparently can use Light Elemental Spells by himself.)
-
Pema climbed down from Fxeni's back and casted a flamethrower spell on the Water mirror.
-
The Professor just watched, hoping that his hunch was correct. He didn't want to find out of the wrong actions proved deadly.
-
"Not the choice I would have made, but... here goes," Fxeni said as he pointed his short spear at the Earth mirror. He muttered an incantation under his breath, and a various blades of wind began to fly into the mirror.
-
As the elements hit their respective mirrors---nothing happened?
Before they could comment on what might have gone wrong the portal began to lower to the center of the room, a single blue energy sphere appears around it orbiting the chaos rift. Suddenly Blizzard spells begin being cast and the party.
((Wait to see if everyone figures this out 8D ))
-
The Professor looked around for an escape, not wanting to be frozen again. He was standing in the middle of the room, looking up at the portal. As wind and cold whipped around him, his gaze went to the blue energy sphere.
"Has... has Blizzard M-master returned...?"
-
Toshi - "That can't be." wrapping her scarf over her nose, covering her mouth, as if to shield her face from the blizzard. "He was vaporized by Hellhound. There's no way he could of survived"
Realizing she's not wearing her winter outfit, the chill began to take its toll on her body. "Goddamn, what a horrible time to have a blizzard in here!" she complained, trying her best to shake off the unbearable cold.
-
"No, I don't think that's him," Salem said. "This may be part of the puzzle."
Pema stared at the blue sphere that seemed to be casting the Blizzard spells, then turned her head to the Water mirror. "Hmm, maybe if I..."
She aimed her staff at the Water mirror and unleashed a large fireball, hoping to combat the Blizzard spell with the reverse element.
-
The fireball connected and the Water themed Mirror shattered, the vortex then summoned a green sphere and began casting small cyclones that slowly moved around the room trying push around the party while lightning bolts randomly rained down.
-
"Eureka! One point for me!" Pema cheered.
"Don't celebrate quite yet, we still have to deal with whatever this... thing is." Salem stated and glided to the right, dragging Pema away from a lightning bolt that struck near her.
"Nice save! Thanks, Salem." She regained her bearings and watched cautiously for the incoming onslaught.
-
"Okay let's try this again!" Calien shouted as he threw his Earth Enchanted Boomerang at the Wind Mirror.
-
Like before it seemed to have the desired effect the earth magic shattered the wind mirror and the vortex summoned a red orb, however this time two smaller vortexs opened at the far side of the room spewing corrupted ghost like creatures that while barely a threat individually could pose a issue if allowed to spawn.
-
(Is that a Dark element effect or just generic ghosts.)
-
"Quick, Toshi, get the Fire mirror!" Fxeni said as he went to distract the creatures.
-
(We still waiting for Sakura's question to be answered, whether the effect taking place right now is darkness related. But since the orb's red I'll assume fire.)
Toshi - "Right!" she aswered; ignoring whatever specters spawning from the two locations, she then repeated her previous jutsu.
"Hahonryū!!" striking the fire mirror with the spiraling water in her palm, hoping it'll work this time.
-
(Well, even if we did know, our characters shouldn't. Wouldn't make a difference :P)
-
(Yeah I know the Orb's Fire but I was wondering if Darkness was happening at the same time. Should have clarified that.)
-
((They are just trash mobs, no real element))
-
(Okay then we just need to see what element is after Fire.)
-
The Mirror shattered as expected, the next sphere was a earthy brown colour and it's spells began to summon spikes of earth below party members at random. The minor minions continued to spawn no matter how many Aya and the others slew.
-
"Fxeni get to the Earth Mirror!" Calien shouted as he felled a ghost with his Axe while Sakura barely avoided a Spike causing a gash on her leg to appear.
-
"Whoa!" Pema cried as she leapt back, narrowly avoiding a spike. She tightened her fists. "We have to be careful not to touch those spikes; that's automatic death!"
"I... don't know what you're talking about, but in any case, keep a watchful eye on those ghost creatures. One of them is coming towards you!" Salem warned.
Pema nodded and rushed at the creature. "You don't belong in this world!" She casted another fireball.
-
"On it!" Fxeni said as he disengaged from the creatures, quickly making his way back to the Earth Mirror. As he runs towards the mirror, a stalagmite rises from the ground and narrowly misses. It was close enough for him to momentarily start to lose his footing though and he collides with another one, stopping him in place. He takes a deep breath and begins to run towards the mirror once again, finally reaching it.
"He goes nothing..." he mutters under his breath as he casts the wind spell anew towards the mirror, the razor sharp gusts cutting through it.
-
"Fxeni get to the Earth Mirror!" Calien shouted as he felled a ghost with his Axe while Sakura barely avoided a Spike causing a gash on her leg to appear.
At the corner of her eye, Pema noticed Sakura's wound. "Ms. Sakura, your leg! Are you alright?"
-
"I'll be okay." Sakura winched whenever she moved her leg while throwing Darkness enchanted Kunai at the ghosts "Daddy can take care of it when we're done here."
-
The Professor, realizing he wasn't of much use in the fight, began to dig through his bag for a poultice and bandages. "Here, here, here, allow me..."
Crouching beside Sakura, he began to clean and bandage the wound.
-
"Okay, that's good." Pema smiled, then turned to another creature. She summoned large razor thin Ice Discs with a raise of her staff.
Pointing her finger at her target, she smirked. "You know what to do." With those simple words, her icy projectiles launched forward.
-
"Ah Prof don't do that in the middle of battle!" Sakura shouted at him and having trouble keeping balance "You'll get hurt!"
-
The Earth Mirrior shattered causing the onslaught to halt, however the two portals each changed colour one white one black indicating they had shifted in element themselves, both began charging a unified spell that if permitted to go off might spell doom for the party!
(Note these can be attacked)
-
The Professor finished treating Sakura's wound and retreated to a safe distance while watching the mirrors. "Perhaps, perhaps if, if the mirrors were to fire into each other...? Use their own power against them?"
Not waiting for someone else to test his theory, he rushed out into the fray and toward one of the remaining mirrors in an attempt to adjust its position.
-
((I'll just wait for everyone else to chime in before we test that theory! Let it be known that I was never afraid of throwing weird puzzle challenges at you all rather than constant mobs of enemies. 8D ))
-
((Ringman and I have been playing a bunch of old text adventures lately, so I've got obtuse puzzles on the brain.))
-
Toshi - "We need to hurry." she took out the katar spearhead of her spear; feeding chakra to her hand, grasping her weapon, she uttered... "Light Saber, activate!" ...causing the spearhead to form bright lucent blades in the process, causing her nearby pursuers to flinch from it.
Turning her attention to the two portals.
Toshi - "Whatever those portals are doing we need to stop them, quickly!" she stated, repelling most of the pursuing ghosts with her spearhead, while striking down those trying to flail at her.
Toshi - "Hang on Professor, I'm coming to help!" she called out, fighting her way to the Professor, growing concerned over the ghosts closing in on him, who seemed vulnerable for the time being.
-
(I don't think the characters exactly know what the Prof is doing.)
-
"You mean to direct these spells at the mirrors? Alright everyone split up near the mirrors and get ready to dodge!" Aya yells to the others striking down a chaos minion.
-
(Lemme try 'n fix that last post, a little... there.)
-
((Yeah, he's trying to direct the mirrors. I wasn't sure if he could move them, though.))
-
[Er... What's happening now? >>;; ]
-
(In a room full of 6 elemental mirrors with 4 of them already destroyed. Now the last 2, Light and Dark, are casting 2 spells to make......Almighty for lack of a better term and the Prof is trying to see if he can move the mirrors to see if the Spells would destroy the mirrors.
Also there's lots of annoying ghosts in the room. I'll post something tomorrow.)
-
(Start from here (http://forum.rockmanpm.com/index.php?topic=7408.msg483648#msg483648), unless you're going to suddenly leave again.)
-
[Sorry about vanishing, I had been waiting for a post and got distracted... >>; ]
Shuu had been slaying minions while wielding Hellhound and Grani as a knife in his left hand and a sword in his right.
[Maybe he can use Hellhound's darkness and Grani's light on the mirrors?]
-
(Sakura has Darkness and I thought Hellhound was just Fire.)
-
[No, he's fire and darkness. But maybe a team attack can work?]
-
(Let's just see how Quickie's plan works first.)
-
[Okay]
-
((Guessing quickie is busy? I'll hold off till she's able to post. :) ))
-
The Professor, with help from Toshi, managed to angle the mirrors so that they were facing each other. Ducking out of the way, he awaited the results.
-
The targeted party members managed to dive out of the way as the portals fired their light and dark elemental beams, the reflective surfaces diverted the mana at the opposite mirror and much the same way as before they shattered likewise causing the Rift to be surrounded by glowing orbs of all the elements.
As the party waited to see what happend-they notice the small portals close and any remaining minions dissipate before the elemental orbs merge into the vortex stabilizing it as the ones encountered before. Aya breathes in relief before sensing a build up of mana.
"Everyone down!" Aya motions as she runs to the side of the room looking back to see the vortex explode into a new flame burning brilliantly in multiple colours. The flame floats above the ground awaiting the next torch.
-
"We did it!" Pema exclaimed happily and hugged Sakura.
-
The Professor dug around for the other torch and held it out at arm's length. Timidly, he approached the flame, ready to dive to the floor in case anything goes wrong.
-
Oddly enough The Prof does not explode or burst into flames, or get electrocuted, or eaten, or sucked into the void. The torch does send a kinda tingling feeling down his arm though.
-
Oddly enough The Prof does not explode or burst into flames, or get electrocuted, or eaten, or sucked into the void. The torch does send a kinda tingling feeling down his arm though.
(Oddly enough? I wanna see Prof get eaten! XD)
-
(om nom?)
-
(OM NOM :W
... Maybe next time. XD)
-
((I feel like we've had this conversation before! 8D ))
-
(You are imagining things! 8D)
-
-edited out because I wasn't paying attention-
-
(I don't think the explosion caused a large enough shockwave to send anyone flying. I mean, Pema would be halfway across the room, if it did.)
-
[If Shuu was a little too close (as in not paying attention)?]
-
((He would've had to have been standing pretty much next to the energy coming from the two mirrors.))
-
Toshi - "It's okay, Professor." she replied, as she stood next to him and the multi-colored flame, reacting to the torch he lit with the new flame, "It doesn't appear to harmful, or anything, does it?"
-
The Professor shook his head. "Oh, no, no, no. In fact, in fact, it's just what we need..."
-
The Party returns to the main chamber and again the flame takes to one of the torches and further lines of mana fill the room toward the final door, two more to go. As before the next door opened as if accepting their victory as proof of worthiness to proceed.
After progressing down another similar hallway the find them selves in a much larger room, a library or archives. Blue torches give the room some light and countless tomes fill the shelves, the room is laid out in two floors; and a stone epitaph lies at the center of the first floor.
-
"Well, this certainly seems much tamer than the previous rooms." Salem observed.
"Yeah, but if it's similar to the others, there might be some kinda trap waiting for us..." Pema hopped on a stair railing and idly looked around the room and the various tomes.
"This is true." He conceded. "So, what do you think? Do you want to check out the second floor?"
"Mm-hm." She nodded and climed down from the railing. "Hey, does anyone wanna walk with me to the second floor?" She asked the entire group.
-
"I wouldn't mind." Calien volunteered.
-
"D-do be careful. Appearances aren't always what they seem..." the Professor wandered around the room, investigating the objects and decorations. He wasn't sure if they were actually in the clear, and he was careful not to touch any protrusions in the walls, in case they were switches.
-
"Hmm... I wonder what these books contain..." Fxeni said as he eyed the books.
-
The members searching around notice the odd stone slap with writing on it at the center of the room.
-
"Hmm there's something over there but I don't wanna touch it." Sakura noted.
-
The Professor approached it carefully and studied the writing in an attempt to decipher it.
-
"I hope it's not some kind of prophecy the monks made about some kind disaster or something." Sakura quipped while Calien headed up the stairs to explore the second floor.
-
Once more, Grani was behind the Professor and speaking in his ancient language.
-
The characters are nothing like the letters in the current alphabet, that while slightly different to that of the Arcadians was still close enough to allow smooth translations--this however was very very different and obviously older. As he continued to examine the letters a sudden spark of inspiration came to him, his old master's books he remembered seeing something similar in one of his journals.
-
"Ah-HAH! Yes, yes, yes, that's it, that's it!" Dropping his bag to the floor and rifling through it with both hands, he produced a well-worn leather-bound journal with loose pages poking out. Opening it and stuffing in anything that came tumbling out, he flipped through the yellowed pages until he came upon what he was looking for.
"This, this is it! This is it! My master, my master, he studied a similar language, yes? The text of the Great Old Ones, he said. The ancients wrote vast texts, vast texts! Lost to time, they were! But, but, but my master, he kept records and taught m-me to read them!"
Reading over the writings, he looked over the etched text and began the diligent work of translating it.
-
Lacking the time to really study them in detail and with his master's notes not by any means complete themselves he is only able to decipher a few phrases here and there.
"Primal"
"Cycle"
"-rld Eater"
The last work he is only able to guess as as the stone had eroded somewhat with time, although perhaps it was better to say someone had damaged it intentionally. After a half hour of study he is able to make some sense of the image carved into the stone.
A picture of a special tome, a large demon like monster and flame.
Aya kneels down next to the professor "I wonder if the monks from my time studied these books too--I'm not sure when they sealed this place away and clearly the people of this town never dared to open the seal." Aya commented
-
The Professor studied the broken segment for a long moment and attempted to extrapolate a possible meaning. "...World Eater, perhaps?"
He looked to Aya, as while he possibly had notes to corroborate, he didn't know where they were and it would take too long to find them.
-
"Great, just what we need; another glutton we have to deal with." Salem exclaimed, half-jokingly in response to World Eater.
"I bet I can take 'em! Eating Contest, Act 2!" Pema pounded a fist into her palm.
"Something tells me the 'World Eater' demands a bigger dinner table..." He muttered sarcastically.
"But really, I wonder if that really is what it means? Maybe it's something else." Pema contemplated.
-
As the group jokes the Professor is sure he can see the stone tablet shake?
-
(.....What?)
-
As the group jokes the Professor is sure he can stone tablet shake?
(The Professor stone tablet shake to disappear? 8D)
-
(Yes.)
-
(Fixed :| ))
-
Jumping back a half-step, the Professor could have sworn he had seen the tablet shake. Though, he wasn't sure, so he reached out to touch it.
-
Grani, still behind the Professor, looked at the tablet warily.
-
"Has it been so long that the lesser races no longer fear trespassing on these hallowed grounds?"
A voice fills the room seemingly from the stone.
-
Pema crossed her arms and stared at her staff. "Well, that's not a very nice thing to say, Salem!"
Salem sighed. "Wha- No, that wasn't me. What you're looking for is the other mystical, disembodied voice, that seems to be coming from the first floor!"
She leaned over the railing and peered down below. "Oooh, okay, that makes a lot more sense then. Haha, I guess that voice just sounded kind of similar. Whoopsie!"
He paused. "... What in the world gave you the impression that I would even say something like lesser races?"
"Hmm, I dunno, I mean, sometimes you have your grumpy days." Pema said, swaying back and forth with her arms folded behind her.
He groaned.
She proceeded to take the staff and hugged it. "Sorry, Salem. You're still my favorite mystical, disembodied voice!"
"Only Pema..." He muttered. "Anyway, we should head downstairs and determine exactly where the voice is coming from."
"Right! Come on, Mr. Calien." She turned to Calien, then headed down the steps.
-
Calien headed back down stairs after being thrown off with Pema's conversation with Salem.
-
The Professor dropped whatever he was holding and promptly got down on his hands and knees and bowed low in reverence. "Most, most m-most humble apologies! Please forgive our intrusion—we are mere explorers on a holy mission!"
Crawling backwards on his hands and knees and his head still bowed, he held out both hands. "May I ask, may I ask, to whom are we speaking?"
-
At the sound of the booming voice, Shuu, who had been quietly observing what was going on, stood at attention, like a soldier.
Grani, on the other hand, let out a sigh and didn't seem to flinch. He knew something...
-
"Holy grounds--hmph "holy ground", we once worshiped your false gods and called this place "holy", now it is a prison." The voice responds to the Professor.
"I am Byblos, I am the keeper of Demon knowledge; and the keeper of the seal; why are you mortals here?"
-
"Well we're kind of looking for something important." Sakura said still not sure she could trust the voice "The fate of the world and the town below is on the line if we don't find it."
-
((I'll let everyone chime in before I move on))
-
Grani sighed and simply shook his head, the daemon unicorn now decidedly not speaking, as if he was waiting for something...
-
Toshi - "There is a disturbance in the balance that holds this world together." she spoke, "We're here to fix the cause of this. Should you hold us captive here, then you're only helping a false god that will eventually destroy us, including yourself, should you let that happen."
-
"A sacred rune... it was shattered and, and, and a great evil is upon us!" The Professor remained bowed and reverent as he spoke. "Please, we implore you... We did not intend for such an intrusion... As, as a, as a humble acolyte, I ask for forgiveness on b-behalf of our party. We only mean to stop the evil that was unleashed... and, and, and we ask, we ask, Benevolent Byblos, Great Keeper of Antiquities and Sacred Knowledge, we ask, we ask for your guidance."
He paused for a moment and peered up to where he assumed Byblos to be. "Would you want this workd to come to ruin?"
-
"Why should we care for a world that has forsaken us, your gods abandoned us when we proved to difficult to control--and soon they will abandon you." Byblos pauses and sighs "The fragment of the primal crystal--what you call the "Omni-Gem" has come to rest within the fourth room--take it if you wish the fate of this world is not my concern, but do not take the last flame and open the final door for you will unleash my master lord Atmos upon this land and a wayward mage will be the least of your concerns "heros."
A flame appears before Grani "My lord I don't know why you travel with these mortals but I belive it is foolishness to try and stand in the way of this world's fate--but perhaps it is not my place to question your actions. Perhaps-- you see something in these mortals? Like I once did with Mar? Hmph it doesn't matter I will continue to watch over this archives and the seal of my lord till the end of this cycle finally arrives." The stone stops shaking and goes quiet, although perhaps it is possible to converse further?
-
"Wait a minute you knew Mar?" Calien questioned.
-
Aya likewise looked interested in that point.
"Yes-long long ago the Magister of Arcadia stood before me seeking forbidding knowledge, power enough to change his corrupt and failing empire. I told him the truth behind your "false" gods and granted him the knowledge to seek primal power of his own. It would seem he was partly successful--as the world has changed much I sense." Byblos laughs dryly and Aya looks less than happy with this revelation.
-
It was at this point that Grani finally spoke again. Once more, he used that old language. However, some names and modern words could be picked up from his speech, namely 'Sapphire Knight', Mar, Atmos, Byblos's name, and Cerberus (that last word earning a growl from Hellhound).
[Blue, I'll message you the gist of what he's saying to Byblos shortly.]
-
((I'll hold off posting till then))
-
//And sent.
-
((Reply sent))
-
(Just waiting on a PM for what you Grani actually said))
-
"I see--I will not interfere with your quest. However be warned time and his hunger have twisted my lord beyond what he what was, in your current state I do not think you possesses the power the match him--perhaps if these mortals grow stronger you will one day be able to reclaim your previous strength."
Byblos responded to Grani yet again.
((Sorry for the wait, Work got in the way XD))
-
The Professor maintained his reverence. "I appreciate your forgiveness and your concern. We will p-prevail. We may not, we may not be immortal, we may not be gods, but, but, but we, but we will prevail. We ask for, for your guidance in our quest."
-
"Since my Lord desires to see this world preserved I will respect his wishes--but you are not ready to know the truth about this world and the elementals you worship. Return to me when you have restored the Primal Crystal--the Omni-Gem as you call it and then return, I will answer any questions. Until then follow that puppet that led you here."
Byblos suddenly begins speaking in the old tongue to Grani yet again. The Professor and the others manage to understand the worlds "Tiamat, Kraken, Maralith and Garuda" but nothing else. What ever they are speaking of neither wish to go into detail right now.
-
Grani spoke again, this time mentioning the names 'Cerberus' and 'Leviathan', though his tone would suggest him asking a question.
Shuu just stood there and listened before looking to the tablet that Susanoo was in. "Any idea what they're talking about?" He whispered.
"I do not understand their speech, as it is older than the language my kind speak now." Susanoo replied. "All I can understand are the names of the current lordes."
-
Aya crosses her arms and frowns "I am NOT a doll."
"Arn't you?" Byblos responds "You dance to the elemental's plans, you are just a shell purposed to house their souls--yes you may have a personality but in the end how much free will do you really have?" Byblos' tone is less than polite.
Aya grits her teeth but doesn't respond--in truth everything she's ever done has been at the command of other people. She gazes down to her feet much to Byblos' amusement.
-
"Hey don't treat Aya like that! I don't care what Aya is, she's our friend and that's all that matters!" Sakura yelled at the tablet.
-
"It's, it's not wise to upset my friend. And, no matter what, I will not stand idly by while you do so."
The Professor finally stood from his bow, hands clenched and face determined.
"Used or not, Aya is a valuable asset to this team, and no one has the right to treat her in such a manner! Not as long as I have a say about it!"
-
Pema paced up to Aya and grabbed her hand. "Don't listen to him, Ms. Aya. You're in control and decide for yourself, just like the rest of us. And if you ever feel lost... that's what your friends are here for!"
She smiled, then turned to Salem. "I'm reaaally sorry I compared you to this tablet jerk guy. This... This Jerk McVoice!"
-
Byblos laughs again "Don't get too attached to the doll--I think she and I both know how this will end if she wants to save this world."
Aya smiles at Pema, Sakua then the Professor "Thank you--I'm fine, It's okay I'm proud to have served the empire but now I am happy to serve Arcadia." Aya oddly ingores Byblos' second comment.
-
Pema scrunched up her face, heat quickly rising in her cheeks as she rolled up her sleeves and stormed towards Byblos.
"P-Pema!" Salem stammered out and floated in front of her. "At this point, taking extreme measures will do more harm than good for us. Whether we like it or not, we need him..."
"... Okay..." She glanced at the floor, her mouth quivering slightly.
-
"To fight a tablet would be a waste of our energy," the Professor shook his head slowly. Instead, he faced the space above the tablet. "Regardless, regardless of the outcome, which, which for all we know, which for all we know would, would happen well b-beyond when the rest of us have left this m-mortal world... Regardless of all that... You have no right. No right to drag us down."
He stepped backward and pointed to the space above the tablet. "This, this is you p-plan, isn't it? Isn't it? It, it is, it is a test! You are testing us, testing our mettle! By attacking our friend, you attempt to bring us down, bring down our strongest member!"
He shook his head. "Your plan has failed. Your words, mere words will not stop us."
-
"I don't think that was a test, I think Mr. Tablet just became really bitter after being betrayed and sealed here." Sakura sighed.
-
"Hmph after everything I've said you still think the gods care what happens to any of you?" Byblos responds.
-
Salem glided over to Byblos, and stopped in front of him. Two disembodied entities face to face. "The Gods can think whatever they please. We didn't come this far-- shed our blood and strengthen our resolve-- to back down to anyone. And certainly not to you. These are good people! If the Gods take prejudice with that, then they can get off their asses and FACE us themselves!"
"Salem...?" Pema hovered a hand over her mouth, eyes widened.
"I-I'm sorry you had to hear that, Pema..."
Pema stepped closer to him, and smiled faintly. "I'm... actually kind of glad you did say it." Her voice was soft and her demeanor was less tense than a moment ago.
-
The Professor was about to say something to Byblos, but had forgotten what it was. Instead, he turned around and stared at Sakura quizzically. "...why do you refer to Byblos as 'Mr. Tablet'?"
-
Toshi - "I don't think Sakura, or anyone other than Aya and Shuu's daemons, are familiar with this miserable pile of secrets." she replied to the Professor, "We just don't see him the way you do, Professor. And I don't think he's willing to listen to reason, as far as I'm concerned."
-
Fxeni had stayed silent through most of the conversation, but when he saw that the current course it was taking was going nowhere, he decided to step in.
"I don't particularly care what the gods think, to be honest," Fxeni stated to Byblos. "If they care little for us mortals, fine then; we'll take care of ourselves."
He turned to look to the rest of the group. "The shard was behind the fourth door, was it? Shall we get going, instead of speaking to our biggest fan here?"
-
Byblos scoffs at their retorts "You still don't understand what I mean-but it doesn't matter continue to claim the shards and you will know the follow of your faith." He then goes quiet no longer interested in continuing this line of conversation.
-
"What's wrong with Mr. Tablet?" Sakura raised an eyebrow as she headed out the room.
"Ugh finally we don't have to listen to that arse drone on like that for the moment." Calien sighed.
-
The group return to the main room leaving the archives behind for now.
They find the final door of the four sub rooms open--where the shard is claimed to be. Aya pauses and closes her eyes. "It's here." She confirms feeling it's swirling mana now filling the room. "Wait--there is something inside there too." Aya suddenly adds.
-
"There's no point in loitering around when we've come this far." Salem responded.
Pema nodded. "That's right. We can handle whatever comes our way."
"I think we're all ready to face to final sub room, Aya." He stated.
Pema twirled the staff and spoke dramatically into the top of it like a microphone. "Alllrighty, Ms. Aya! Show us what's behind Door number four!"
"....."
-
Aya nods smiling slightly at Pema's enthusiasm "Right-everyone fall me what ever is in there will likely not want to us to take it's source of food."
Leading the party inside through the hall they come across whats--left of a room, the crash from the shard decimated the are leaving little hint to what it was before. The Shard floats at the center of the room-it is oddly quiet inside however with no sign of any monster or beast.
-
"It's eerily quiet and creepy in here. I don't like it..." Pema kept an attentive eye on her surroundings.
"Keep your distance from the shard and stay sharp. There's no telling what's going to happen." Salem spoke quietly.
-
Glancing back toward whence they came, the Professor took a few careful steps toward the center of the room and the shard. Curious, he dug through his bag and produced the vial of slime that he had collected earlier. Holding it out, he studied it to see if it reacted within close proximity of the shard.
-
"Prof, I uhh... I'm not so sure that's a good idea..." Fxeni said as he stepped forward.
-
As the professor surveyed the area around the floating shard the debris in the area began to shudder and then float off the ground themselves, Aya is just barely able to grab the Professor and jump out the way as the rocks and debris closed around the shard using it as a core to form some sort of Rock Golem.
"I was worried this would happen, with it's power unchecked this shard is imbuing mana into everything even the stone!" Aya comments drawing her goddess blade.
[spoiler](http://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/images/thumb/1/16/Golem1.jpg/400px-Golem1.jpg)[/spoiler]
-
(Where is that image from, Spy Kids or something?)
-
Shuu gritted his teeth as Grani turned into a lance in his hand. "Great. Looks like the shard's gonna fight us." He said, growling a little.
-
"What the heck are we supposed to attack anyway?" Sakura asked as she drew out her sword and Calien brandished his Axe.
-
(Where is that image from, Spy Kids or something?)
(Clay Golem from Final Fantasy XIV, well all golems use that model)
-
Toshi - "I don't know..." pulled out the staff segment of her spear, "...but if the shard's attacking us, it's pretty obvious we're not aiming for the rocks that formed its limbs." she stood ready, in her bojutsu stance.
-
((Gonna be slow to reply. Ringman's over, I'm still getting over being sick, and we have a busy weekend planned.))
-
((Thats fine I won't be consistently around anyway till monday.))
-
"This is the earth elemental fragment of the crystal---it must be passively injecting life into the earth--literally!" Aya comments as the Titan begins swinging at the closest party members--while rocks cover over the Shard protecting it's new core.
-
((My net's down and the connection I'm using is spotty at best, so I'll try to keep up as best as I can, but I probably won't be able to make any in-depth post until Thursday. Zombie as needed.))
-
((Will do, hope you get that fixed O^O ))
-
(So wait this is the Earth Shard, not the Water Shard? What?)
-
((Did I specify what element it was before? If so I apologize I meant Earth. X( If not the shards kinda fell in random spots--their presence kinda makes things go out of whack since they were never meant to be out in the open like this in pieces.))
-
(I kind of assumed Water since it's causing a Blizzard but if the element doesn't matter then I guess that makes sense.)
-
((Well the Blizzard was caused by Albertus' creations remember, the crystal certainly didn't help the weather patterns here through the disturbance in the mana however.))
-
(The original intention I had was that it was always cold in this area, but... :P Anyways, probably doesn't help things either way.)
-
[I figured that the weather was always snowy, just made a lot worse by the masters. o3o]
-
(I was also convinced that the blizzard was caused by Blizzard and Freeze. I'm also fairly certain we were around a high mountain peak area, where snow is likely to occur, IIRC.)
-
(I personally thought the Blizzard was caused by Blizzard and Freeze, but the shard is also screwing things up to the point that it's still not a Natural Blizzard and still much colder than it should be. I mean that's what I got when we destroyed Blizzard and Freeze.)
-
Aya jumps forward kiting it's attention onto her and hoping to show it's flank to her friends, He jumps back as it attempts to squish her with it's large rock hands--as her feet touch the ground she pushes forward and hops onto it's arm jabbing the sword into it. The Golem responds as expected and seems to be in the motion of trying to swat her off.
-
Shuu charged at the golem as it's attention was turned to Aya, aiming to stab at it's side with Grani.
-
Shuu felt the stone give a little and chip away at it's defenses slightly.
-
((Casts Raise on the topic O^O ))
-
[Where did everybody go? o3o; ]
-
(I have a bit of a writer's block, currently.)
-
((I'll be back tonight.))
-
((Okay I'm pushing forward tomorrow regardless okay guys? ))
-
((Sounds good! I'll be ready.))
-
The Golem reacted angrily Smashing it's fists into the ground causing four large pillars to rise at the edges of the room, suddenly small lines of mana connected from them to the shard within the golem and it began to charge some kind of attack up.
-
Pema backed away. "What do you think he's gonna do?"
"I don't know, but charging up is never a good sign. Be on your guard." Salem stated.
-
"It might be a good idea to destroy those pillars before he's finished." Calien stated.
-
(Long casting times are never a good thing. 8D)
"Right!" Aya runs toward one of the pillars and begins hacking away at the stone making some progress in it's destruction.
-
Pema noticed what Aya was doing and rolled up her sleeves, stepping up to a pillar. "I'm gonna whack it!"
"Uh, I very much doubt slapping it with a magical stick will prove fruitful. Hmm, perhaps you could somehow weaken the structure by freezing the materials." Salem suggested.
She nodded her head slowly, then squinted her eyes. "Yeah... what do you mean?"
"Basically, destroy the pillar from the inside-out. Freeze the pillar to extreme conditions, then you could--"
"Oh, I get it! If I do that, then the stone will become frail!" Pema exclaimed suddenly.
"Precisely. Concentrate the ice spell onto the contents, not the surface; otherwise, all you'll end up accomplishing is creating a layer of ice." Salem explained.
She pumped her fist forward. "After that, I can whack it, right?"
"Heh, that's the plan. Keep, um... "whacking" the fragile structure until it breaks."
"YES!" Pema placed her hand on the surface. With a deep focus, she attempted to freeze only the materials within.
-
It thankfully doesn't take to long and just as Aya finishes cutting down the first pillar--that seems to hamper the Golem's charging of it's self Pema feels her pillar go cold and likely brittle enough to break now.
-
"Well, I'll give this a shot..." Fxeni said as he ran up to one of the pillars. He searched the largest crack in it that he could find, and rammed his spear into it. He chanted under his breath and a green rune appeared before him, which began to glow as Fxeni channeled wind magic through his spear into the pillar.
-
Fxeni's pillar began to shake it's self apart--requiring only a slight bit of force to demolish. This leaves only Pema's and one other Pillar left.
-
"Looks like it's ready." Salem observed the fruit of her labor, and a few cracks began to form on the pillar's surface.
"You mean, I can finally...!" Pema positioned the staff like a baseball bat.
"Pema."
She glanced at him, "Yes, Salem?"
"Smash!" He said confidently.
Pema smirked and arched her arms back, using the momentum from her body to help propel the staff forward, she swung and bashed the staff against the pillar. Large chunks of ice and stone broke off from the impact, and she continued to swing over and over again.
(Okay, I'm sorry, but I had to parody that, at some point! 8D)
-
((haha))
The pillar collapses under the might of the Pema, leaving only one left and nearly canceling the casting of what ever spell the golem is attempting.
-
"Daddy I'll try using the Freeze Cracker to make the pillar vulnerable and you hit it with your Axe okay?" Sakura said as she began casting her Spell.
"Gotcha." Calien stated as he enchanted his Axe with Earth Elemental Magic.
Sakura fired the Freeze Cracker at the pillar and when the spot was frozen enough Calien began hacking away with his Axe.
-
These pillars to Sakura and Calien's surprise are rather easy to destroy thankfully and it goes down with their combined assault.
With the spell broken the golem reels back as if the shock of the mana links being broken had damaged it slightly--the rock covering the shard in it's chest breaks away revealing their goal. Aya without a word charges forward jumping up past the failing arm and jams the sword between the shard and the golem's rock body forcing it free.
As it does so however everyone is knocked off their feet by a massive explosion of mana, more a shock wave than anything dangerous but the party are disorientated by the explosion none the less.
((I'll give people a chance to respond before I post what happens next))
-
Fxeni is knocked to the ground by the blast. He sat up slowly, groaning a bit. "Is everyone alright?" he asked as he got back up on his feet.
-
"Ugh I think so." Calien groaned and held his head "Are things like that going to happen every time we conquer something with high amounts of Mana?"
"I'd say it's likely." Sakura said as she grabbed a bottle with the green potion and began to chug it to replenish the Mana she lost.
-
As the group pick themselves up they notice something--odd. Aya isn't on the ground with them but rather floating where the Golem's torso used to be with the shard floating not far off. Aya seemingly knocked out from being so close to the blast is unaware as the shard seems to turn into light and enter her body. As the merging ends she falls down to the ground still out cold.
-
"Oh no, Aya!" Sakura cried as she tried to get her to wake up.
"Did....did the shard just merge with Aya?" Calien gulped.
-
"Aya!" the Professor ran over to her, but backed away in case something else were to happen. "Give her space, give her space! Should she siphon off the extra energy, it, it will n-need somewhere to go!"
-
"Eek!" Sakura shouted as she quickly backed away.
-
"Ms. Aya! Can you hear us? Please wake up... please..." Pema wanted to walk towards Aya, however, she knew the Professor would stop her.
-
To the Prof's surprise there is no mana exploding out, however more worrying is that Aya isn't waking up. She's breathing at the very least however--perhaps retreating back to town might be a good idea as it won't be long before the villagers will need help there too now that the cause of the disturbance has been removed.
-
Pema stared at the unconscious Aya and bit her lip. "Is it... safe to go over to her, yet? I don't sense any mana pouring out."
-
"Let's get her out of here... maybe the doctors back in town might know something," Fxeni said as he walked over to Aya. He cautiously reached out his hand towards Aya, and when he saw that nothing was happening he picked her up on his back. "Oof! Heavier than I expected."
-
((Must be the wings, or the armor 8D ))
The party manage to escape the temple without any issues and soon find themselves outside the main doors again on the mountain-the blizzard has all but stopped and a slight warmth (relative to the area) has returned. Hopefully the spell that had been used to freeze the civilians has begun to break. Either way they will have their hands full helping them while they wait for Aya to recover.
(Not sure if we should wait for the others to chime in?)
-
(If we're simply making a trek back to town, I don't think there's anything we need to chime in. You can skip ahead.)
-
((Skip ahead.))
-
It barely takes two days for the ice to melt and as suspected the town's folk are in rough shape--the healers of the party have their work cut out for them. Unsurprisingly the townsfolk are more than willing to give the group a few rooms at the local inn. Aya is put into one while the others see to the civilians.
((Give the group some time to talk to civies or interact outside a dungeon/combat situation. Little down time before the next shard anyway XD))
-
(Time for a long overdue Albertus update! 8D)
Back in the Floating City, Albertus had been working towards his ultimate plan, when Shadow Master appeared behind him.
"Joo really need to learn how to knock." Albertus said, without turning to face Shadow Master.
"Sorry Master, a force of habit. I bring bad news. The first shard..."
"I know. They haf it."
"How did you know?"
"My Aya clonez... They reacted bery violently... Thiz data vill prove bery uzeful..."
"Master... What should we do? Should we update Mar?"
"He haz hiz vayz... There'z no need to update him..."
"But Master..."
"ENOUGH! If joo vant to update, joo update him. Now leave me..."
"... Yes, Master."
-
[ASDFGHJKL what did I miss now!?!]
-
(Just go back to the previous page and read from where you left off.)
-
[So we're toodling around in town until Aya wakes up, huh?]
-
(Pretty much, I'll write something tomorrow since I needed to figure things out.)
-
(Now I have to think of something for Pema to do...)
-
(Do what she does best. Gouging down in the inn. 8D)
-
[Actually, I think I have an idea for an errand for Shuu to run, if anyone wants to meet a daemon lorde tomorrow.]
-
((Sure, Prof can do that. Otherwise, he'd just be hanging around Aya the whole time.))
-
(Calien probably wouldn't since he's probably going to help heal everyone in town but Sakura probably will.)
-
(Do what she does best. Gouging down in the inn. 8D)
(I'll consider it. 8D)
-
((Yeah go nuts everyone, we are having a bit of down time while I think up or next location))
-
Shuu sighed, sitting out of his armor and staring out a window, with Hellhound and Grani standing next to him, the former being in his smaller, sealed state. "Why are you so interested in seeing the local daemon lorde?" He asked, turning to the canine daemon.
"It's none of your business what bones I have to pick." Hellhound growled, letting out a puff of smoke. "Besides, Sparkles here seems to want to go see them too." He added, getting a jab from Grani's horn. "OW!"
Shuu couldn't help but snicker at Grani stabbing Hellhound. "Fine, since Grani seems intent on going, and it's probably going to be a while before Aya wakes up, we'll go." He said, getting up. "I'm sure the Professor would want to come along too." The knight made his way to the room where Aya had been set to recuperate, knocking lightly on the door. "Professor, are you in there?"
-
Opening the door slowly and quietly, the Professor poked his head out into the hall. "Yes, yes, of course. But, but do, but do be quiet. Aya still rests."
-
Shuu nodded. "Yeah, I know she is." He sighed. "And I'm certain she'll be asleep until her body adjusts to the power she got from that shard. In the meantime, since I'm not exactly the most skilled healer, I'm going to pay the local daemon lorde a visit. I wanted to know if you were up for a bit of a trip while Aya recuperates and the others help patch the town up."
-
It took a long moment as the Professor looked back over his shoulder. Finally, he gave a sigh and relented, emerging from the room and his silent vigil. He left his bag behind and he closed the door quietly. "I had, I had applied a p-poultice to bring down any fever, but... but there... there isn't m-much I can do for her right now..."
-
Aya seems to be sleeping more peacefully now then when they brought her back but there is no telling when she'll wake up.
-
((So question-everyone want to have some down time before Aya wakes up and we find out next destination, we'll be heading to a major city so some political stuff might pop up in our misadventures 8D ))
-
((Sure. I'm mostly waiting on Sapph right now, anyway.))
-
((Down time as in story not me taking another break, everyone waited too long for an update as it. XD))
-
((I'll be happy to just move forward, then.))
-
[Sorry I haven't been posting. RL has been giving me writer's block... And I'm having trouble thinking up the daemon that Shuu would go visit... >>; ]
-
((So push forward? More than a few members haven't even posted so I'm unsure what to do?))
-
(Can't do much, in my case.
A hyperactive girl like Pema requires multiple posts and since no one is typing anything up, I'm kinda stuck in one place.)
-
(I'd rather wait to see if Sapph comes up with something but if not I say it would be okay to move on.)
-
(Okay--Sapph tell what you plan to do if not anything I can push things forward.))
-
(I'm not sure what to do with Toshi right now. Was going to have a random citizen interact with her, at a bathing area, but lost interest in doing so. I guess I'll just wait this one out, for now.)
-
((If Saphh doesn't want to do his own thing I'll press forward then))
-
[Umm... How about we push forward? My brain's not cooperating and I don't wanna hold anyone up too much longer. ^^; I can probably revisit the idea later...]
-
(Alright, give me a bit to think up how I want to proceed and we'll continue))
-
(I probably ought to write something due to this being Fxeni's second hometown, but I'm coming up blank.)
-
(I mean I had some ideas but I'm honestly coming up blank on how to and if I want to execute them.
The only other idea I have is that we still haven't had a scene with all the men in the hot springs for fan service but that's really it.)
-
((I'll type a post up after work tomorrow-need some time to think up a name or two anyway))
-
-A week passes and the town begins to return to normal, and so too does the land around it. While always a little cold the bitter winter that had threatened the people and creatures had finally giveaway to warmer weather. The townsfolk were understandably grateful and Fxeni too has some catching up to do, the townsfolk offer some supplies and some hands to help get the airship repaired for the next leg of the trip--once Aya awoke.
Aya herself finally begins to stir after what seems like an eternity groaning slightly her movements catch the professor's notice.
-
(Just a friendly heads up, it's spelled "grateful", not great full.)
Pema was outside, sitting besides the airship with her legs crossed. Resting on her lap were 5 peaches that were freshly preserved in the market. She grabbed one and proceeded to take large bites.
"So yeah, I think it would be "bunch", right? Like, "I have a bunch of fruit, right now!" Or maybe I should just say "I got myself a bounty of fruit!" Hmm, no, that can't be it..." She crossed her arms.
Salem sighed. "Like I stated yesterday, "a lot of fruit" is serviceable enough."
"Yeah, but it's kinda boring though... how about bushels? That's a thing, right?" Pema took another bite.
"Well, bushels can, indeed, be used to measure a large amount fruit or other dry commodities. That being said, it's not really a word people toss around much." He replied.
"Aha! Then we'll be the 1%" She proclaimed proudly.
"Wrong context, Pema."
She kicked out her legs and reclined on the exterior of the airship. With her hands folded beneath her head, she smiled warmly. "I can't wait to see what kinds of exotic food the next town will have! We'll get 'em by the bushels!"
"Why... Why was this even a conversation just now..." Salem grumbled.
Just then, Pema noticed something at the corner of her eye. Adjusting herself upright, she turned her head to the left and saw a young boy leering in her direction. His shirt seemed a bit muddy and his shoes were torn. His body was half hidden behind the wooden crate that was stationed in front of the shop.
"Hey... didn't I see that same boy hanging around the Inn, a few days ago? I was eating outside the building, and he was standing on the opposite end of me." Pema exclaimed.
"Huh, I think you're right." He agreed. "That is a little odd, though granted, this is a fairly small town. You're bound to run into familiar faces."
She got up and walked towards the shop. "I think he might be hungry. That's why he's looking over here."
The boy noticed her and darted his eyes around, slowly retreating backwards.
"Wait, don't leave!" Pema hollered and handed him a peach. "This is what you wanted, right? Have you tried them before? They're some of the best fruit I've had -- super refreshing!!"
"Uh- Um..." He looked at the peach, then back at Pema. Without a word, he backed away hesitantly and ran off.
Pema blinked. "Oh, I guess he wasn't hungry?"
"What a strange kid..." Salem spoke.
-
((Want me to help out with this, or do you have your own ideas? Also typo fixed-used the auto correct without really looking. 8D ))
-
(The kid isn't a ghost is he?)
-
(Spooooooky =D )
-
(Well if he was Calien and Sakura would be able to see him too.)
-
((Want me to help out with this, or do you have your own ideas? Also typo fixed-used the auto correct without really looking. 8D ))
(Thanks for the offer, but I can handle it fine.)
-
In the meantime, the Professor was still seated at Aya's bedside, keeping a constant vigil. She was moving and making noises and he surmised that she might awaken, but he dutifully dabbed sweat from her brow until then.
-
Pema made her way back to the airship. "Who do you think that boy was? You don't think he's, like, a ghost or something, right?"
"If he was, you probably wouldn't be able to see him." Salem replied.
"You have a point there..." She bit her thumb nail. "Thinking about it now, I'm pretty sure I've seen him when I was walking with Ms. Sakura a few days ago, too."
"Really? Hm, this is certainly getting weirder by the minute. I mean, he seemed normal enough, up close. Perhaps a little nervous, but still..."
Pema strolled around for a few minutes, and spotted a metal can on the ground, near the bakery. "Anyway, I hope Ms. Aya is feeling better. Maybe I should buy her a get-well-soon pastry." She lightly kicked the metal can into the bakery, which landed inside a garbage pail.
"As long as you don't eat it on the way to her room." Salem joked.
She giggled and was about to step inside, when she noticed the same boy across the street. He was walking towards her.
Pema waved to him and smiled. "Hello again! Umm, what happened last time? You just kinda ran off without saying anything."
The boy stepped in front of Pema and glanced at the floor, holding something behind his back. He looked at her briefly, then focused his gaze elsewhere.
She tilted her head. "Hey, what's that you got behind your back there?"
He closed his eyes for a couple of seconds and took a deep breath. Slowly, he presented what he was hiding, and held out blue flowers. "Th-These are.... for you..." He spoke in a quiet tone, his voice slightly trembling. His eyes were still averted away from her.
Salem chuckled. "Ah, now I see what's going on here."
Pema gasped and retrieved the flowers from him. "Oh my gosh, these are so beautiful! You got these for me? You're such a sweetie, thank you!" She leaned in and pecked him on the cheek.
His face immediately became flushed and he rubbed his arm nervously.
It was then that Pema noticed the bruise on his left arm. She took a closer look. "Hey, you're bleeding. What happened to you?"
He stared at the ground. "I-It's nothing... I just... some of the other kids came up to me and... It's stupid, really, just forget about it..."
Pema furrowed her brows. "They hit you? Why? No, they have no right... Come on, let's go! Show me where they are."
"Huh? Go where?" He asked.
She turned to him and stared with an incredibly stern expression. Something that was quite unlike her. "We're going to teach those jerks a lesson."
(Does anyone have something to add, like involving Aya and the Professor? I just have one last, rather important, post to make, then we can move on.)
-
(Was planning to wake up Aya after everyone else finished their business.)
-
(Nothing of importance, involving Toshi. I'm pretty much waiting for everyone else to finish up.)
-
"You really don't have to do this. It's nothing..." The boy insisted.
Pema proceeded into an alley way. "Those kids... They pick on you often, don't they? There's always that tiny bit of hope that they'll stop, and maybe they'll see you for who you really are... But there's also the scary part of yourself that thinks it's your fault."
"Yeah, it happens a lot. But, how would you know the feeling? I mean, y-you're... like, really pretty and everything, so..." He scratched his head, "Forget it, I didn't mean to, um..."
Pema giggled and folded her hands behind her back. She was about to speak when a couple of kids who were up to no good, started making trouble in... the alley way.
The two kids knocked over a trash can as Pema and the boy arrived by their hangout; an act of provocation to intimidate them from going further.
"Kliem, Kliem, Kliem. Didn't we already kick your ass?" A huge 14-year-old boy got up from the steps, and his friend approached them.
"Haha, what's this all about? You brought your girlfriend to protect you? You shouldn't have come back here, loser." He smirked and cracked his knuckles.
Pema stepped in front of Kliem. "Please, I want you to leave him alone. You don't want to continue this any further. You're better than that."
The large kid chuckled. "Awww, that is just precious, the nerd got himself a groupie. You know, you should've brought this chick over here a long time ago, Kliem. She's got more balls than you!"
"This was a bad idea... I think we should leave now..." Kliem whispered to Pema.
Pema steeled her gaze forward. "So, that's it? You're just going to give up? If everything else fails, you need to fight back."
He stared at her, his hands trembling.
"Yo, what're you two talking about over there? I don't like people who ignore me. Because when you ignore me..." The teenager picked up his baseball bat and stormed towards them. "I tend to take out my frustration on their face!"
Kliem backed away. "We need to leave NOW!"
"You don't want to do that." Pema exclaimed suddenly to the bully, a smile on her face.
"Heh, oh yeah? Why not?"
"Because there's something you two don't know about Kliem. He has a special gift. And through all the pain you've caused him, he has no choice but to use it." She explained.
"Oh, he's special, alright. Let's see his little gift save him now." He reared back his arm for a swing.
Pema turned to Kliem and smiled reassuringly. "Give me your hand." She whispered softly.
He reached out his arm and she grabbed it. Pema moved his hand towards the baseball bat, and she lifted her finger. A fireball materialized and launched forward, knocking the bat out of his hand.
"Wh-what the hell?! The nerd can use magic!" He stumbled backwards and fell on his back.
His friend ran towards Kliem. "You're freakin' dead!"
She whispered to him again. "Extend out your hands."
He did as he was told, and Pema quickly slipped behind his back, extending her arms forward underneath his. She resonated with Salem to amplify her mana and raised her index fingers. "Pew~ Pew~"
She unleashed two Ice Blasts at the bully's feet, which appeared as if it was coming from Kliem. He was immediately frozen in place. "[parasitic bomb]! Dude, we gotta get out of here!"
Pema walked forward, then stomped her foot down. "And don't ever think about bothering him again!" She yelled.
"Y-Yeah, yeah, no problem! You got it!" The teen slammed his baseball bat on the ice, freeing his friend. The two bullies dashed through the alley, tripping a few times on the way.
Kliem gazed at Pema, his eyes wide open. "Th-that was... That was amazing! I don't know what to say... I... Thank you."
Pema giggled and pulled out Salem from her sleeve. "Don't mention it! The more delicious food I eat, the stronger I become!"
Salem chuckled. "That totally isn't an excuse for you to pig out whenever you want, or anything."
"Whoa, did that staff just talk?" Kliem looked closer.
"Oh yeah, I didn't introduce you to him. This is my trusty staff, Salem; he's my best friend in the whoooole world!" She cheered happily, moving her arms in a circular motion as she proclaimed this. "And my name is Pema!"
He rubbed his neck. "Pema... I see. Thanks again." He thought for a moment, then looked at her again. "Hey, uh, if you don't mind me asking... did you ever have anyone that... hurt you? I mean, before when you were talking about people picking on others, when you just want them to like you. You know the feeling?"
Pema stared at the ground, then her eyes shifted to Salem. She slowly walked to a flight of stairs and sat on the steps. Kliem sat next to her.
She sighed, then began. "Yeah, it happened to me, too. Actually, it happened all the time."
"There were people that hit you?"
She shook her head. "Well, no, they didn't hit me. It was more like what they said to me."
"So, it was verbal abuse..."
Pema dipped her head down, softly tugging on her hat's ear flaps and quietly gazed at her lap. "I didn't have any friends growing up. Everyone... everyone hated me. Even some of the adults threw things at me, so mommy always had to walk with me when we headed outside... I remember her face whenever that happened. She would quietly bend down, kiss me on the forehead and softly squeeze my hand. She didn't speak or call out to me. But I could see all of what she wanted to say in her eyes and her smile... "It's time to go outside, Pema. Things will get better, I know they will." Daddy tried his best to stop them, but according to him, "People are stubborn and refuse to listen to reason," He said. I wondered if that was true..."
Pema dug around inside her pocket for two of her peaches. She handed one to Kliem and took a bite of the other.
Kliem nodded. "Why did they act that way towards you?"
Her chewing slowed down and her eyes fell silent on her hands. Her voice was very quiet and quivered slightly. "I... I was born with a defect. My parents called it a 'special ability', though. I have the potential to absorb mana, and store it as my own." Her eyes steadily began to tear up. "There was a tragedy... that I caused. Something that I can never take back, and many have suffered because of it..."
Pema wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm really sorry, but I'm not ready to talk about it yet..."
"Ah, n-no, I'm sorry for bringing it up."
She stared at the sky, sniffling softly as the breeze combed through her hair. "You know, words can cut deeper than any blade or bruise. That feeling... Being unwanted. Unloved. I wouldn't dream it on anyone, no matter how bad they may be. It's the worst feeling in the world. I think everyone deserves to be loved. And the worse part about the whole thing is that... I didn't love myself. I saw how everyone looked at me, the things they said to me... Even with how much my parents said they loved me... A small side of myself felt like maybe they... regretted having me..."
"Stop right now. You know that's not true, Pema. They cared more than you could ever know." Salem exclaimed.
"I-I know..." She wrapped her arms around her legs and shut her eyes briefly. She then looked at Salem. "But now, I know what I have to do. There's people that care about me, and I care about them."
The sun began to set and Pema leapt from the stairs. She turned her head to Kliem and grinned. "Always remember to defend yourself to your very best, okay? From fists and from word of mouth."
Kliem smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I will! Thanks for everything."
She waved bye to him and made her way back. "Oh right, I need to buy Ms. Aya some get-well-soon pastries! Umm, where was it again?"
"Heh, you forgot already?" Salem remarked.
"I made the mistake of trying to remember with my head, when I should've went with my gut feeling. Tummy, don't fail me now! Take me to: THE BAKERY!!" Pema pointed ahead and ran into the light.
-
Aya's vision blurs as she awakens--however not where she had assumed she'd be. Glancing around Aya is befuddled by the distinct lack of---anything? A dark void-the Abyss?
"Where--am I?" Aya asked-not really expecting any answer. Aya reluctantly took a step forward the void providing something solid to stand on-as her foot touched the void a flash of light momentarily blinded her-
"Ngh.." Aya covered her eyes winicing as the light faded and revealed--a planet, Arcadia but not the Arcadia she recognized, the position of the land masses were all wrong--was it the past or future she couldn't say for sure-but as quickly as the images of Arcadia appeared before her so did a nostalgic presence, followed by a ball of light floating slightly ahead of her.
"Titan--" Aya identified the Elemental-remembering the shard they had discovered had been of titan's element. Aya touched her head as the Elemental spoke to her-without words directly into her mind.
"This is-Arcadia in the past?" Suddenly the image of Arcadia shifted-once again landmasses of different sizes and shapes, then again and again.
"What are you trying to tell me? I don't understand!" Aya said--as a dark mass appeared behind the image of the planet, it's maw opens drawing in the mana-the life force of Arcadia into it, again and again for each cycle of the world Titan showed her. Something about the beast unnerved her to no end-it felt alien but at the same time familiar.
"Please tell me--what are you trying to show me Tita--!" The Beast roared as if noticing Aya and with a great inhaling motion began to suck the Guardian into it's maw-Aya desperately tried to fight back her wings flapping wildly but it was all for naught as Aya was pulled up off her feet -the dream ending as the abyss within it's maw greeted her.
"Ahh!" Aya woke up nearly screaming-drenched in sweat-and liking making the Professor jump.
-
The Professor almost fell out of his chair, but he quickly recovered and grabbed Aya by the shoulders to hold her and soothe her. "You were dreaming... Calm down, calm down, it was just a dream... Take, take a deep b-breath..."
-
[Actually, now that I think about it, maybe I can just have Shuu's subplot of meeting the local daemon lorde on off-screen event. Maybe with mention of Prof and maybe Sakura tagging along?]
-
((Remember the local one would by Byblos-the Lordes would all be the big ones like Atmos, do you want to hold up till we go after the next shard so it's a new location?))
"It was more like a nightmare--" Aya panted leaning back down-she grimaced as she found it was oddly hard for her to move.
((Not moving for a whole week means her body would be a little weaker))
-
Shuu had been sitting at a window, watching the city progressively return to normal while thinking over what had transpired over the past several days...
When he, Grani, and those that accompanied them arrived at the local Lorde's lair, expecting to meat the daemon who was in control of the territory, only to learn that the lorde in question was currently out attending to their own personal matters and wasn't expected to be back for another month. While that wasn't very long for a daemon, it would be too long for the party to wait, so they had to return to the rest of the party.
"That was a waste of time." The knight sighed, rubbing his temples and getting up. He had heard Aya's scream and figured it meant she was finally awake. "I guess a bad dream is to be expected after absorbing that much power and sleeping for so long..." Shuu said to himself, lightly knocking on the door. "Can I come in?"
-
"A-ah yes come in." Aya responds her voice muffled through the door.
-
Shuu quietly opened the door and entered, closing it behind him. "It's good to see you up and awake again, Aya." He said, smiling at her. He was particularly calm. "I hope that scream was just a bad dream. It would be pretty distressing if something else was wrong."
-
Aya was still lying in the bed, the Professor was off in the side room doing something or other now that Aya had woke up, she glanced over to Shuu and smiled although with a tired expression on her face. "Yes-just a bad dream, sorry to have worried everyone." Aya apologized, struggling to sit up-the sheet slips back nearly revealing more than Aya had intended forgetting that she wasn't wearing her armor at the moment.
"Ah!" Aya grabbed the sheet thankfully before anything truly embarrassing happened, although the blush on her face is rather amusing. "S-sorry I wasn't thinking." Aya apologizes again.
8D
-
When Aya's blanket slipped, Shuu's face turned bright red and he quickly looked away, having caught quite the eyeful. "I-it's alright. Probably should've asked if you were decent first." He said, clearing his throat. "Anyway, that was a lot of power your body had to adjust to... Do you remember what happened before you passed out?"
[eyebrow]
-
"Aya, Prof is everything okay in there?" Calien asked as he was knocking on the door though his voice was noticeably horase and everyone heard some coughing as well.
-
"Before the shard absorbed it's self into my body? No-not that much-it kinda felt when Reva possessed by body last time I fought Mar. But-without a elemental to assert control over my body." Aya leans back on the backboard with the pillows while she tucked the blanket around her body.
She glances at Calien "Yes-everything is fine--umm are you sick?"
-
"Unfortunately." Calien said as he came in. He was completely pale and he had dark rings around his eyes. "I've been helping the town's people however I could and it took quite a toll on my body, especially the healing."
-
"Maybe you should rest too--umm you should both take a seat at the very least." Aya offered to them both.
-
"Thank you." Calien coughed as he sat down. "By the way, Sakura's in town looking to get some non magical weapons for the both of you in case we run into more places with heavy amounts of Magicite."
-
After buying pastries and pies, Pema made her way to the Inn.
She stepped inside and knocked on the door. "It's me. Can I come in?"
-
"Yes-everyone else is pretty much in her now." Aya tightens the blanket not wanting a repeat of the previous slip.
-
(Thought we were in the inn.)
-
((We are but I'm assuming Phi meant to come into Aya's room. XD))
-
(Ah, I said she was going inside the airship, by mistake.
Fixed.)
-
Shuu crossed his arms, having stepped aside when Calien entered. He cleared his throat. "Well, I guess you know that you have the shard absorbed into you... It must have a LOT of power, since you were out cold adjusting to it for a week." He said, turning to face Aya again.
-
"Nothing like this has ever happened to a guardian so I guess I shouldn't be surprised--I don't really feel any stronger though." Aya Shrugged. "Well I can feel alot of Earth Mana in my body but thats it."
-
Pema walked inside with two bags hanging on each arm, and a fifth bag dangling around Salem, who was hovering next to her.
"I come bearing goodies!" Pema cheered and lifted her arms.
"I still think five bags is a little too excessive." Salem stated.
She shook her head. "Oh, Salem. There comes a time in everyone's life where no amount of food is excessive! Besides, since everyone is here, we can all eat these together!"
Salem noticed how happy Pema looked, especially at that moment, then conceded. "Yeah, point taken."
She skipped over to Aya's bedside. "Umm, these are for you, Ms. Aya. I didn't know which kinds of pastries you liked, so I bought a whole bunch of tasty treats! I hope you're feeling better."
Salem floated to Pema, and she grabbed the fifth bag from around him, placing it on the table next to her.
-
"Sounds like you had fun shopping for treats." Shuu said, grinning a little at Pema.
-
"I was starting to get hungry myself." Calien said as he helped himself with a pastry.
(I'll a few more posts till I bring Sakura back.)
-
"Thank you Pema-they look delicious. I haven't had sweets--in what a thousand years now?" Aya jokes as she bites into a chocolate filled croissant.
-
"Sounds like you had fun shopping for treats." Shuu said, grinning a little at Pema.
"Mm-hm, I sure did!" Pema smiled and handed a cupcake to Shuu. "Here you go, Mr. Shuu."
She then lifted one of the bags. "Welcome, one and all, come and get it! We got doughnuts, we got crossiants, crullers, cupcakes, pies, empanadas, we have so many delicious treats, it'll make your head spin!"
Salem chuckled. "I, for one, nominate Pema for Vice President of this fine bakery establishment."
"Cast your votes!" She winked.
-
((Dangit, I missed a lot. Quick summation?))
-
((Aya forgot she wasn't wearing anything of note under the sheet and flashed Shuu by mistake when she sat up, everyone showed up to visit Aya and Pema brought food! 8D ))
-
(Not much. Pema came in with tons of sweets, Prof, Sakura and Sapph didn't see the Daemon Lord off screen because he was gone, and Calien has been sick. Sakura has also been Weapon's shopping and should be back soon.)
-
((Aya forgot she wasn't wearing anything of note under the sheet and flashed Shuu by mistake when she sat up, everyone showed up to visit Aya and Pema brought food! 8D ))
(The perfect comedy setup! 8D)
-
"Mm-hm, I sure did!" Pema smiled and handed a cupcake to Shuu. "Here you go, Mr. Shuu."
She then lifted one of the bags. "Welcome, one and all, come and get it! We got doughnuts, we got crossiants, crullers, cupcakes, pies, empanadas, we have so many delicious treats, it'll make your head spin!"
Salem chuckled. "I, for one, nominate Pema for Vice President of this fine bakery establishment."
"Cast your votes!" She winked.
Shuu smirks and sniffed the cupcake, picking up the light, sweet aroma of the frosting. "It smells wonderful." He said, taking a bite and chewing slowly. "You have an eye for picking out the good stuff. And please don't call me 'Mr', it makes me feel old."
-
((Aya clothing malfunction is best malfunction? 8D ))
-
((And Shuu is gonna get lots of flashbacks, maybe making this face: o//////o))
-
The Professor had used the distraction to go off and get Aya some proper clothing. Returning, he handed her a folded pile of clothes. "When, when you're feeling up to it, I've, I've, I've fetched you some clothing."
-
Aya smiles at the Professor "Thank you-I nearly got up without thinking before." Aya coughs awkwardly
-
At Aya's mention of almost getting up, Shuu turned and looked away, blushing.
-
Pema took a bite from her cupcake and noticed Shuu's face. "Huh, why is your face all red?"
She said while chewing, looking between Aya and Shuu.
-
Calien looked at both of them and the fact that the Prof brought clothes putting two and two together.
"I think it best we don't know." Calien sighed.
"Daddy are you in here?" Sakura asked from the other side of the door.
"Yes." Calien coughed a bit "Aya's finally awake."
"Ah perfect timing." Sakura said as she came inside with a bag of swords.
"Sakura please tell me that you didn't buy all those swords." Calien gulped.
"Nah don't worry, I just had a hard time deciding what to get Aya and Me that the shop keeper let me bring some samples to choose from." Sakura shook her head "They're fake, but once me and Aya choose what we want I can go back and get the real ones later."
"Oh that's a relief." Calien sighed in relief as he took a cruller and Sakura laid out the fake swords.
-
*Aya glanced between the swords* "Hmm this one maybe?" Aya points to a blade with a wide triangular blade that looks about the same weight as her old weapon
-
"Seems like a good one to me." Calien said as he took a look at the fake sword.
"Hey Daddy's what's in those bags?" Sakura asked.
"Some pastries, you should try one." Calien coughed again.
"Okay." Sakura nodded as she tried a fruit pie "Mmm it tastes yummy."
"Glad you like it." Calien smiled.
-
"It would probably be wise for you to choose a sword as well, Gonsol." Susanoo's voice spoke up, coming from a pocket that his tablet was in. "We may not always be available to assist."
"Yeah... That's probably a good idea..." Shuu said, looking at the sample swords Sakura brought.
-
"Perhaps... p-perhaps we should give her some space... and privacy. Might, might I, might I suggest we leave the room for a bit?" The Professor suggested helpfully, wanting to prevent Aya from getting overwhelmed.
-
"Right that'd probably be for the best." Calien coughed as he got up "Let us know when you're done changing."
-
Shuu was quick to take his attention away from the fake swords and leave the room after the suggestion to do so was made.
-
Aya moves from her bed as the door closes-her leg shakes having not used them for a week and she frowns-annoyed at her body's current state. "No time for that--" she mumbles her self as she slips on her adventuring gear-the armor looked a little different, made from sturdier materials. "A gift from the villagers perhaps?" Aya smiles "I'll have to thank them for this before we leave."
Soon Aya opens the door clothed and hinting that she wanted to continue their quest-although given how pale she still looked that would likely be a bad idea. Not to mention Calien was likewise not at his best for travel.
"Sorry for the wait."
-
"It's no trouble." Calien shook his head as he and Sakura came back in with Sakura still looking at the swords.
-
"I suppose we'll be waiting for another few days before the airship is repaired? If so I will put my efforts to tracking the next shard." Aya says as she invites them all back inside to sit down.
-
Pema nods and steps back inside. She ate a jelly-filled doughnut, then proceeded to grab a slice of blueberry pie.
"How in the world... did you manage to get jelly on your forehead?" Salem exclaimed.
She licked blueberry filling from her fingers. "Huh? Um, I'm not really sure, actually. I grabbed a doughnut, and the next thing I knew, it was gone."
"That is frightening, in more ways than one." He said, dumbfounded.
Pema patted her stomach. "At least it's in a better place now!"
Salem flew over to a bag and prodded the end of the staff inside a layer of napkins, lifted a few up from the stack, then floated back to Pema. "Here, take one."
"Oh, thanks!" Pema retrieved a napkin and cleaned the jelly from her mouth and forehead.
(Salem, best sentient object Father of the Year. 8D)
-
(You sure Peam ate a jelly-filled doughnut, and not an onigiri? 8D)
-
-Elsewhere in Arcadia...
Far to west within a great city and a golden castle-the doors to the throne room slowly slide open-revealing a long hall with a red carpet and rows of knights dedicated to protecting their lord the Emperor of Aldia-the greatest military power in the modern world. The two stop short of the stairs leading to the throne and bow on one knee.
"Speak." The Emperor said-with a calm but commanding voice.
The Male cloaked figure's head rose "My Lord we return with ill-tidings regarding---" He pauses.
"You may leave." The Emperor looks to his royal guard-they salute turn and quickly march out closing the doors leaving only the emperor's loyal minister. "Continue."
"Yes my lord-as per your instructions we investigated the rumors of the floating precursor city of Pandora and it's suspected rediscovery--it appears a sky pirate was responsible for these rumors. However, they appear to be true-in fact ill rumors have spread across the uncivilized lands of shards of great elemental power falling like comets--even within the empire." The Male Hooded figure continued.
"Shards?" The Emperor leaned forward slightly.
"Yes-My sister and I belive this can mean only one thing-in an attempt to harness the Primal Crystal's limitless energies the fool shattered the crystal sending it to the far corners of this continent." The male hooded man continued.
"That is ill-news indeed--if the tome stones of my ancestors are correct the crystals absence will cause great chaos." The Emperor leaned back.
"Indeed my lord---yes rifts from the void of chaos have already been sighted across the lands even within our empire, if this is permitted we may have a great cataclysm on our hands." The Female hooded figure added sounding almost giddy.
"What do you recommend?" The Emperor responded tapping his finger on his chair.
"We for the moment focus all our efforts on the capture of these shards, claiming them all will allow us to restore the Primal Crystal and return it to the hands of the truly worthy." The Female hooded figure responded.
"Hmm--I will order my forces to focus on the discovery of these shards, it will however move up our plans to civilize these barbarians sooner than I had intended however." The Emperor looks to his Minister who begins to jot down his lord's orders.
"Very wise my lord-there is something else though, It appears the sky pirates meddling has awoken an ancient precursor guardian-she has been sighted across several towns and cities. It's safe to assume she has started collecting the shards as well to protect the primal crystal."
"Truely?! An ancient "Guardians" has survived? The ones from the old tomes--I see. Yes I will have my scouts keep an eye for such a person-surely a winged being would be hard to miss even in the untamed lands." The Emperor raised an eyebrow at the possibility of claiming more precursor magi-technology.
"Then we shall continue our search for the shards and this guardian." The Male Hooded figure bowed standing up with his sister. They took one step back in respect and turn to leave.
"It has been ten years since you two came to me..." The Emperor suddenly said-the two stopped turning to face the emperor again. "Thanks to your insight I learned of my ancestors and their great power-yes without you two I would have never been able to translate the tomb stones, unearth the ruins and understand their technology, yes I owe you two much--but how did you come across such rare information." The Emperor said suspiciously.
"My lord--my brother and I have only the purest intentions, we study the ancient precursors-the Arcadians and their great culture-we also know this empire is the greatest chance to unite our troubled world. That is why we share such information so we might serve the empire and her people." The female responded bowing.
"I see-you are true heroes to the empire then-could we all be as selfless as you and your brother." The Emperor nodded-perhaps not convinced of their true intentions. "You may go-I will arrange what we discussed."
The Two hooded figures bowed finally leaving the throne room as the guard returned to their emperor's side. Once alone they moved to their room within the castle. "Hmpf--I so despise playing the servant to such a man." The female said in a frustrated tone-as she dropped her hood revealing herself to be Doll Master.
"I understand but the Aldian Empire is the greatest military force in the world now-and keeping them in control will certainly be to our advantage. That man's greed for Arcadian magi-technology is the leash that keeps him firmly within our grasp."
"Either way once the empire begins invading other lands to search for the shards we'll effectively be keeping our enemies busy while we wait for Aya and her friends to gather them for us! Doll master giggled "You are rather brilliant brother."
"A realm in chaos cannot mount a defense against us and only the emperor's air force could threaten Pandora, an air force we effectively control-Mar has been focused on restoring Pandora to a operational state while the doctor continues his efforts into resurrecting our Chimera program-until then we must continue to hound Aya and her allies enough to slow them down but not so much as to interfere with the collection of the shards."
"And if the empire finds some first-it won't really matter they'll encounter Aya sooner or later!" Doll Master stretched.
"Indeed-now the good doctor has managed to track down two more of the shards we should return home and plan our next move." Mask Master nodded.
"Please let me be the one to go after them next brother--I wish to repay the favor they showed me before--that dwarven barbarian more than any other! Oh yes I wish to see him kneel at my feet." Doll Master eye's flare with rage.
"Perhaps--but remember we need them alive--but I suppose we must test your new body and abilities-if you promise to behave I don't see why you can't go-assuming Mar doesn't have other plans for you." Mask Master sighed.
"Yay! Don't worry I won't kill---all of them, I just want to play." She giggles and teleports away with her brother back to Pandora.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile back at the inn.
Aya sits on her bed cross legged her eyes closed meditating on their next shard-suddenly she gasps and opens her eyes.
"I've found another--no two more!"
((Sorry for the long post-the Aldian Empire will be more relevant soon-wanted to step them up))
-
(Ze plot thickenz... *Gendo pose*)
-
((Yep Doll and Mask Master have been manipulating more than just White Beard in preparation for their master's return-generally sabotaging any group that poses a threat to Mar--anyway just need to wait for responses before we head to the next location.))
-
Fxeni sighed as he wiped the sweat from his brow, wrench in hand. He had been busy helping with the repairs on the airship, doing his part in getting it back up and running.
"Are you sure you're alright with working here? Your friends would probably appreciate having you around," a woman with short red hair said as she approached, food in hand.
"The quicker we get this ship up and running, the better. Who knows what havoc those shards are causing elsewhere," he replied, going back to tinkering with the airship engine.
"Yes well, you won't be much use over there if you're too tired to do anything! Speaking of which, have you eaten recently?" she asked, glancing over at a plate sitting off to the side full of food.
"I uhh... haven't been hungry, too focused on this," he replied sheepishly, looking over at the plate she was eyeing.
"EAT. NOW."
"... Fine. No need to be so pushy, Ariani," he replied as he grabbed a sandwich off the plate and chomped down.
"I know how you get. You'll thank me later!" she said as she walked off.
"Yeah Yeah..." he grumbled as he took another bite out of the sandwich.
-
((I read Wrench as Wench. XD Just waiting on Sakura and Quickie then. ))
-
"Two of them?" Calien questioned "Are they in different places?"
-
"They felt reasonably close to this one town--it was near a lake, I saw boats and felt all sorts of races living together-near the Jagged Peaks?" Aya frowned trying to think of the details.
Suddenly a voice from the door way caught their attention.
"It sounds like you are talking about Haven Rock, it's a large community near the great lake between the Jagged Peaks and the Dead Lands across the bay." A young women who the group recognized as one of the workers helping with the repairs.
"Haven's Rock?" Aya asked
"Yes-I'm sorry I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I was told that there is dinner and everyone is welcome to join us at the town hall-a celebration for everything you've all done for us." The women smiled still peaking around the slightly open door.
"Thank you-but can you tell me more about this Haven's Rock?"
"Oh of course-On the other side of the Jagged Peaks where the dwarves live there is a great lake, that feeds into the ocean on our side of the lake is a growing town called Haven's Rock where refugees from the war with the Aldia Empire have colonized-at first it was the beast tribes from the grasslands but soon humans, dwarves, elves even goblins have come to make that small town their home-it's more a city now. They fish-and trade with countries across the sea."
-
Shuu had been occupying himself with eating some more of the baked goods that Pema had brought while thinking about a potential stand-in sword should he not be able to wield his daemons.
-
(Pema would've dashed out of that room at the speed of light, upon hearing of the dinner announcement.
But she IS currently stuffing her face with all the goodies she bought, so maybe after the conversation ends and everyone leaves out for the celebration.)
-
((The celebration diner can be something we do or we can skip to move things forward-what does everyone want to do?))
-
(I think it's about time to skip.)
-
(Likely skip, myeah.)
-
(Alright I'll need some time to come up with a post-either tonight or tomorrow after work)
-
The entire town takes part in the festivities-and the song, dance, and feasting goes well into the wee hours of the night-eventually however as Pema polishes off the last of the food the party decide to retire for whats left of the night.
The next morning they say their farewells and board the Darkstar, the repairs allow the battered airship to return to the sky and carry them to Haven Rock. The journey there is thankfully uneventfully and most of the party are able to sleep off the festivities. Soon Fxeni notices their destination appear on the horizen and is surprised about how large it is for such a new community.
"Unknown airship-identify yourself and state your intentions!" a voice suddenly came over the radio.
-
"This ship is the Darkstar. We are here to investigate an odd energy source in the area, we mean no harm," Fxeni replies, opting to leave out the nature of the shards just in case.
-
The voice pauses and mutes on it's end for a few minutes before finally turning back on. "How many passengers are on board?" The voice continued.
-
"Ermm..." Fxeni muttered as he counted them up in his head. He then realized that he was counting daemons, invisible creatures and a staff that could talk. He shook his head and considered only the ones that most people would count.
"Nine, including myself," He replied.
-
"Dock at landing pad four-leave all weapons on board and await instructions." The stern voice added bluntly cutting off communications.
((Fxeni you have a chance to gather the party prior to landing))
-
Fxeni eyed the radio as he listened to the orders given. He wasn't particularly fond of the tone, but he conceded that they were outsiders riding on an ex-pirate airship, which is plenty enough to cause suspicion.
"Everybody, could you please gather on deck," Fxeni asked over the radio to the rest of the group.
-
Sakura and Calien came up on deck at Fxeni's orders while Sakura wondered what was taking so long.
-
((Sorry, I've been really distracted lately. I'll sum it up as such: TCG illustration contract.))
-
(We arrived in a new place with strict security and have to leave our weapons on the ship, you can get the details on the page before.)
-
Pema nodded and did as she was told.
-
Toshi seemed nervous leaving her Ronginasu no Yari behind, when...
Grifter - "It's okay." uttered the pokéspirit through her mind, "Your weapons on board will be safe. Besides, there are some weapons they can't confiscate, if you know what I mean."
Toshi gave a short glance at Shuu, before leaving her weapon stash behind, as if she just remembered what his daemons are capable of.
-
(I'll wait for the rest before I say anything else, methinks.)
-
Shuu yawned as he went up on deck as requested. Even though it was just a short trip, he, once again, needed to use some assistance in getting to sleep. There were dark circles under his eyes from his sleep issues.
-
As the party disembarked from the ship they found themselves surrounded by soldiers-or rather Haven Rock's Militia, the unit where dressed in various armors and clothing; and some had makeshift weapons-clearly not a trained fighting force but likely a band of volunteers. Most were of the beast tribes-various humanoid animal like beings although some humans and even a dwarf was among their number.
"I hope you didn't think you could bring a known pirate ship to our town and just waltz right in did you? Now where your captain--that thrice damned White Beard!" The Lizzard Man at the front of the unit in the heavy armor and wielding an Axe says clearly the commanding officer.
-
Toshi - "Pretty much dead if you ask me." she remarked, "Sent plummeting to his doom, from his 'superiors', If I remember correctly." she went on.
-
"You'll forgive me for not taking that at face value--what ever you are." The Lizzard Man Commander hissed at Toshi.
-
"Like we would work with a [Bumpity-Boom!] like him, especially with one of us being a former resident of Aldia before he messed up the place in his quest for power." Sakura sighed.
-
"I hear you talking but I ain't seeing any proof Missy." The Commander begins to lose patience.
Aya steps forward extending a hand to the side to calm the situation "Perhaps if we surrendered ourselves into your custody, while you search the ship?"
The lizard man commander raises a reptilian eyebrow at Aya, a little confused what race she was meant to be.
-
"Probably the wisest course of action really, we'll be getting nowhere otherwise." Calien sighed.
-
"Men put them in irons and take them to the cells-I'll question them soon, you lot head on board and search the ship!" The commander barks--(hisses?) orders and they quickly get to work. The group have their arms cuffed in irons and led down the main street many weary eyes watching as they are led to what Aya can only assume is the militia headquarters.
The building looks new and surprisingly well made for a town with no backing from any of the kingdoms, the group soon find them selves admiring the craftsmanship from within a large holding cell.
"Cool yer heels till I return-try anything funny and I'll gut the lot of you." The commander hissed to oversea the search of the airship leaving the party along for the time being.
(Give the others a chance to catch up)
-
Pema grabbed hold of the bars. Her shoulders slumped down wearily as she stared out through the doors. "I just hope Salem will be okay out there..."
She impatiently tapped her fingers against the metal cage. It was clear as day that Pema preferred having her friend by her side.
-
"I think he'll be fine Pema," Fxeni said relatively relaxed. "He'll likely blend in with the rest of our equipment, as long as he doesn't speak up too much. Worse comes to worse, we'll go get him."
He looked around at the cell, examining the craftsmanship. He wasn't quite used to being on this side of the bars, but he's broken through cells like these before.
"Let's stay calm for now though. We may have to work with these people soon enough, so it's in our best interest to not cause any ruckus."
-
Toshi - "I'd escape if wanted to." she stated, "But even if I did, I doubt it be helpful to everyone else here." she glanced at the Professor with concern.
-
Shuu had propped himself up in a corner and gone back to sleep, still clearly under the effects of whatever he took to get to sleep last time.
-
Aya slumps against the wall glancing at her manacles for a moment before sighing "This brings back memories." Aya looks down looking a little nostalgic.
((Press what she means if you want some delicious backstory-if not I'll press on.))
-
"Urrgh these things are so uncomfortable!" Sakura whined as she fiddled with her restraints a bit.
"That's kind of the point of them Sakura, being imprisoned doesn't exactly lead to comfort." Calien stated as he slouched against a wall.
"I guess that makes sense, doing something bad would land you in a bad place huh." Sakura sighed as she calmed down. "I just hope Yin and Epee will be okay, I mean Epee doesn't seem to mind others as long as you don't bug her but Yin is so uneasy with other people she doesn't know."
"I'm more worried about the Mushrooms." Calien sighed.
"I'm sure no one will steal your precious stinky Mushrooms Dad." Sakura retorted dryly.
"I'm not worried about them stealing them....I'm worried about someone eating one." Calien shook his head.
"Don't see why anyone besides the Prof would want to eat one. Besides what's so bad about eating one, I mean you even cook those things sometimes.....and somehow make them taste good." Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You have to prepare them a certain way, otherwise bad things will happen....very bad things." Calien stated seriously.
(I really should have put this up sooner.)
-
"Hopefully they will see we aren't part of White Beard's crew-I suppose we should have seen this sorta thing happening, it was his pirate ship." Aya shrugs.
-
Pema took notice of Aya's earlier comment and turned to her. "What do you mean by that? Have you been imprisoned before?"
-
Aya nods "Sorta-this was way back when the empire was still around before we knew about Mar's betrayal. The empire was in a long drawn out conflict with the beast tribes and we had a lot of issues with out lower classes and the slave races-a rebellion was brewing and my brother and I were sent on our first mission to sniff out their operations. We had been traveling for some time, even made some allies-but at the time we didn't know Mar was pulling the strings-or even involved, and he had been leaking information on our movements to their leaders, they captured us at some old ruin we thought they were operating from-It was a huge mess--the escape that is." Aya chuckles.
((Since the party is stuck for the moment it's a good time to inquire about the empire-Mar or even Aya and her past.))
-
"So even on your very first mission Mar was up to no good, huh? Was he always like that?" Fxeni asked, shifting his wrists slightly in his restraints.
-
"Mar wanted to change the empire-remove the caste system and end the slavery of the races we conquered, he tried at first to do it through the system but the other Magisters did everything they could to sabotage him, I can only imagine how frustrating that would have been. I guess thats when he began considering more extreme methods to take out the ones who stood in his way. Manipulating the rebel forces, opening a rift over Pandora to kill the magisters and nobles, stealing my brother's body to enter the heart of chaos and become a being that could match the elementals. I sometimes wonder if he was mad from the start or just lost all hope for the world he served." Aya shakes her head.
-
"I can certainly sympathize with why he would go to such extremes with such noble intentions but such extremes would hurt everything he was standing for in the first place, never mind the fact everything he knew is gone now." Calien stated seriously.
"Daddy what are slaves and chaste systems?" Sakura asked curiously.
"I'll explain later....it's a bit difficult to explain something so wretched and complicated to you in a place like this." Calien sighed and shook his head.
-
"I think Mar hopped to start over from scratch-he lured the other Magisters to the capital along with the Guardians and Air Fleet then unleashed his giant chaos rift-everyone was gone in seconds and the Guardians were quickly wiped out by the chaos beasts. I doubt he had any interest in ruling what was already there. But what ever his reasons a lot of innocent people died that day-and I can't imagine the chaos that followed in the absence of the empire.
-
Pema balled up her fists. "That's dreadful..." She said quietly and slouched against the wall.
-
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions..." Fxeni mutters quietly as he leans against the closest wall. "I wonder if he'd ever be content with any outcome. I'm not convinced he'd be happy even if everything went his way."
-
Calien listened to Fxeni's words intently and had faraway look on his face focused on a point no one could determine.
"No.....I don't think he would stop even if his initial goal was accomplished." Calien stated "He'll keep destroying everything until nothing is left."
"He has to be stopped." Sakura said with determination "Before he gets to that point he must be stopped. I'm sure that's what the once kind Mar would have wanted before he lost his way.....and Rei too......."
-
"I'm going to save my brother this time no matter what, he's suffered to long." Aya looks determinedly at her hands clenching her fists.
Some time passes and the group start to feel more anxious-thankfull as boredom really sets in the Lizzardman Commander finally returns "Alright-we found nothing on board to contradict your story, despite that I would like to question one of you before we even talk about allowing you into our city. Decide who will speak for the party."
-
(Pema should speak for the party. 8D)
-
"I think Fxeni would be the best person for that." Sakura pipped up.
"I agree with the suggestion." Calien nodded.
-
((Majorty vote wins unless everyone votes for them selves then..ragh! 8D ))
-
Pema smiled to herself and began to twiddle with her sleeve. "Yeah... Mr. Fxeni."
-
((Pema being the one to speak for the party would be quite funny though. 8D ))
-
(I fear the party may not be ready for that, quite yet. XD)
-
((Fair enough. XD ))
-
(Certainly wouldn't be ready for Sakura either, no one would have the patience to answer her incessant questions about things she doesn't understand. Never mind the cussing habit she picked up.)
-
((Alright, we'll wait for Fxeni to get caught up then!))
-
"Looks like it'll be me," Fxeni said as he looked around at the others as they spoke up. "Will we be speaking here, or will I be questioned elsewhere?"
-
"Looks like it'll be me," Fxeni said as he looked around at the others as they spoke up. "Will we be speaking here, or will I be questioned elsewhere?"
The commander opens the gate and motions for Fxeni to follow. "We'll speak in my office." Fxeni is led down the hall to the room and he motions for him to take a seat at his table. The commander slips behind the table and sits down. "Alright-my men finished searching White Beard's ship-nothing you had seemed to link you to his crew-but I want to know how you came into possession of it and where is White Beard now, his piracy has plagued this city before and I would very much like to see him behind bars."
-
"White Beard... is likely dead," Fxeni said with a slight pause, putting his hands together. "He was thrown off his tower at Ald... at Skull Cove. We had infiltrated the town to take back something important he had stolen, but we had to retreat. That's when we permanently borrowed his airship."
-
"Thrown off the tower--By you and your party?" The Lizzardman raises a reptilian brow.
-
"If only..." Fxeni mutters under his breath. "No, it wasn't us. It was Mar... a revived Precursor. His resurgence shattered the reason we were there, the Omni-Gem. He beat us rather soundly, hence our strategic retreat."
He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts, leaning back in his chair. "Since then, we've been attempting to gather the shards of the Omni-Gem to restore it. We hope it will stabilize the rifts that have begun to spring about everywhere."
-
"You expect me to believe that an ancient long dead race suddenly returned and shattered some crystal from a bed time story--and that you all just happened to be there? I hope you realize how crazy you sound."
-
"Yes, well... it's certainly not something I ever thought I would be saying," Fxeni replied, leaning on the table in front of him. "I guarantee that if you ask anyone else in that cell you will get the same response, though."
Fxeni hesitated for a moment before speaking anew; then with a sigh, he figured he might as well just come clean. "The woman in the cell with the wings... she's a Precursor too. She's the reason we've has all gathered together. I mean, lets be honest here... does our group really look like it would have come together if there wasn't an important reason to do so?"
-
*He taps his clawed finger on the desk* "I'll admit the lass is not of any race I've ever seen." He ponders before smiling-although with his chiseled features it's a rather frightening smile. "I'll allow you and your party to remain in Haven Rock on ONE condition--that you pass a test to prove to me you will be of use to our people while you stay." He pauses perhaps for dramatic effect?
-
"A... test?" Fxeni asks, raising his eyebrow. "What exactly do you have in mind?"
-
"You all look like seasoned adventurers from the gear we saw on board the airship-thus I'd like you and the others to take care of a little monster problem we've been having."
-
"Monster problem, huh? As long as we can have our equipment back to do it, I don't think anyone will mind," Fxeni stated. "What exactly are we dealing with here?"
-
"Of course, your items will be returned to you. Now as for the mark, you'll be hunting an aquatic beastie. Several of our citizens have claimed this monster has been slipping into the city at night attacking maidens or stealing other items, truth is we don't have much of a description beyond that-however I'd wager this monster is smarter than the typical breeds around here and thankfully no one has been hurt; one of my men managed to track it to a cave near the edge of the lake here."
-
"Aquatic in nature, huh... we'll be sure to keep that in mind. Well, shall we get to it then?"
-
"Of course-my men will escort you back to the cell, once you inform them of our deal they'll lead you to the cave." As Fxeni is escorted out the captain speaks up "Oh one more thing-the goblin thats traveling with you? He's an alchemist right?"
-
"Indeed he is. Any reason in particular you ask?" Fxeni inquires, stopping in his tracks momentarily.
-
"Our community is in need of good alchemists to brew potions and other remedies, if he agreed to assist our other alchemists and you all return alive I'd be willing to lend a moderate sized home to your group if you intend on staying any length of time."
-
"I don't think he would object," Fxeni answered, deciding to gloss over the 'returning alive' part. "Thank you for your offer."
-
He nods and Fxeni is led back to the party and their gear returned.
"So-how did it go?" Aya inquires rubbing her wrists as the manacles are removed.
-
"Well enough. I don't think they believed me when I told them what we're doing, but they gave us an offer nonetheless. We are to kill a monster for them in exchange for our freedom - except the Prof, who they asked to help brew potions," Fxeni said, looking at the Prof as he spoke the last part. "The monster is apparently aquatic in nature and quite intelligent, so we'll have to be smart about dealing with it."
-
The Professor seemed a little nervous about being left behind with strangers. "I don't think they mean any harm Professor-if they had they would have done so already." Aya comments to reassure her friend.
(I'll let the other catch up)
-
"I think it should be fine Prof. It'll be safer than what the rest of us are going to be dealing with, if the captain's face was any indication when he came up with the monster hunting idea in the first place," Fxeni added, rubbing the back of his head. "We might even get some free lodging, if we survive."
-
Pema nodded upon hearing Fxeni describe their next objective. "Head out, destroy aqua monster, get back in time for dinner. Sounds good!"
"If only these missions were ever as simple as they sounded." Salem stated.
-
((I'll have an update up tomorrow after work-little busy today))
-
The party are led through the city by the member of the town militia assigned to them who introduced herself as Jessie. While the party couldn't explore Haven Rock she did point out that the city had pretty much everything a community would need-even if it was all still in various degrees of construction.
After leaving the town gate they travel along the main road for about an hour before Jessie stops turning to Haven Bay "Okay-from here travel down to the shore then go left-follow it until you reach that cliff, keep walking along the base till you run out of shore and you'll see the cave. We tracked the beast into there. I can't offer you much else but I hope you all return safe, for what it's worth I believed your story." Jessie hands Sakura a small pouch of potions. "A gift of good will from the captain." Jessie smiles and bids them farewell-the party won't be permitted to return to haven rock until they complete the mission.
-
"I hope we won't be needing those, but they're good to have at any rate," Fxeni says, peering at the pouch.
-
"Hey Daddy you think these things will be as good as yours?" Sakura asked.
"I'm sure they're comparable." Calien shrugged.
-
"That's certainly good timing. You've exhausted your potion supply, right, Pema?" Salem inquired.
"Potions have been exhausted." She crossed her arms and nodded.
-
"Yeah I hadn't had the energy to make more while I was sick and Sakura refuses to make them again anytime soon." Calien sighed.
"I can never get used to that smell." Sakura shook her head.
-
"Back when I was still a guardian they had these peppermint tasting potions-do they still make those?" Aya asked smiling with a slight nostalgic look on her face.
-
".....Why Peppermint of all things?" Calien asked quite bluntly.
".....What's Peppermint?" Sakura asked.
-
"It's a type of mint-also a flavor in these DELICIOUS little sweets I used to buy when ever my brother I could get back to Pandora, I used to eat them by the airship load---what?" Aya notices everyone staring as she squees about ancient lost candy.
-
"Heh, can't say I've ever had any... sounds good though," Fxeni remarks.
-
"You've never had Peppermint before?" Calien asked him "It's actually quite refreshing and has quite the punch at the same time though it's an acquired taste to some."
(I actually despise peppermint myself.)
-
"I used to add some peppermint to my potions--my brother always avoided them for some reason."
(I don't like peppermint candies myself but I love the smell of peppermint.))
-
"Like I said it's an acquired taste." Calien shrugged. "Though it's still highly unusual."
"What, making potions taste good? I think it's a great idea!" Sakura exclaimed.
"Not as good as one would think, the reason most people make medicine and potions taste bad is because drinking too much medicine when you don't need it is bad for you." Calien shook his head. "This way you can ensure that medicine is drunk only when you need it. Though I suppose it's okay for someone like Aya who probably doesn't have an immune system like ours, if any at all."
"Oh.....I didn't think there was an actual reason....." Sakura pondered.
-
"Anyway shall we head inside and deal with this monster?" Aya shrugged.
-
"Into the belly of the beast!" Pema pointed her staff forward.
"Although I doubt any form of beast could rival your bottomless pit of a belly, yes, onward." Salem agreed.
She giggled and proudly patted her stomach, waiting for the others.
-
"I must admit I'm very curious of why this beast has been giving the militia so much trouble." Calien stated as he followed the others.
-
"One thing bothers me though, this beast is slipping around the city-and no one has died. Thats kinda odd right?"
-
"That does seem weird, maybe he's looking for something?" Sakura pondered.
-
"I must admit I'm very curious of why this beast has been giving the militia so much trouble." Calien stated as he followed the others.
"Perhaps their militia are not quite as experienced as they seem?" Salem guessed.
"Or maybe they underestimated this monster's power? I hope it's that one, 'cause I could really use a fun, challenging fight, right about now!" Pema smiled and ignited her adventurer spirit.
"One thing bothers me though, this beast is slipping around the city-and no one has died. Thats kinda odd right?"
Pema's smile from a moment ago dimmed a bit. She scratched her head. "So do you think the monster never actually hurt anyone?"
-
"I don't know I would to have liked to at least talk to the maidens who reported the monster." Aya frowns as she approaches the cave entrance.
-
"Seems like this situation might be more complicated than we realized, and incredible suspicious at that." Calien sighed "I don't like not having the entire story."
-
"Well one way to find out." Aya shrugged.
-
Toshi - "I'm not one to be merciful here, but I get the feeling this creature isn't terrorizing the city, without reason to do so." she implied, "Maybe something... or someone is behind all of this." she wondered.
-
The party entered the cavern-taking a slow and carefull pace-there a few wild monsters roaming the cavern like man eating bats-and a few types of shell monster and killer plants-nothing the party couldn't handle at this point.
They soon enter a large room filled with a lot of nothing but empty space-it has however become rather cavernous and they can't quite see the ceiling anymore. Aya-and other members with more sensitive ears do begin to hear an odd sound echoing lightly above them.
"Does--anyone hear that?" Aya raises an eyebrow.
-
"Yeah I hear it loud and clear." Sakura nodded.
"It's coming from above." Calien stated.
-
Sakura is sure she hears a "Uwee hee hee".
-
"Okay.....that sounds a little creepy....." Sakura gulped and got ready to pull out a Kunai.
-
"I-I don't hear anything..." Pema said, but readied her staff anyway, since Sakura and Aya were on edge.
-
Sakura hears the sound of something metal moving not to far from her dad's location-well rather above him.
-
Toshi - "Sounds like... laughter?" she said keeping her katar segment ready in-case of an ambush.
-
Sakura hears the sound of something metal moving not to far from her dad's location-well rather above him.
(Is this a trap? Like a cage?)
-
(Maybe-maybe not! Either way might want to warn him of in coming falling metal objects! 8D )
-
(Well he has the same ears as Sakura.)
Calien heard the sound and quickly moved out of the way while drawing his Boomerang ready to throw.
-
The two heard a whistling sound, Calien's quick reflexes allowed him to jump out of the way as the metal object smashed into the ground where he stood--an--iron weight reading "1 ton".
-
(Looks like we're having Calamari tonight.)
Calien panted wondering what the hell is going on seeing as he was almost crushed.
Sakura stood there wide eye seeing that something dropped that weight with the intent to crush her father.
-
"Uheeee---don't you knooooow it's rude to arrive at someone's home uninvited?"
The voice echos from above them-Calien is able to pinpoint the source of the voice more or less if he decides to attack with his boomerang.
-
"I don't know, I think it's ruder to drop a damn weight on your guests!" Calien exclaimed as he threw an electrically charged Boomerang.
-
The boomerang vanishes into the darkness-followed by a wet thud and the sound of electricity "uuuuuuwaaaah!" the boomerang flys back to Calien as a form comes crashing down. The creature is a mass of tentacles with a dopey toothy grin. "D-Don't cook the octopus!" the creature screamed out pathetically.
-
Toshi - "On second, thought." she looked upon the creature with disgust, as if she maybe remembered it from somewhere. "Maybe mercy was not the thing I had in mind here." she charged mana to her katar, causing it to surge with electricity, as she got ready to attack.
(Kinda wish I had a fire spell here, instead of lightning, though.)
-
"What is this thing?!" Aya stepped back in mutual disgust.
"Uweeeee-such fair maaaaaaidens have come to play hehehe!" Ultros begins to blush dancing around oddly.
"I don't know-as creepy as this thing is it doesn't look that dangerous." Aya crosses her arms.
-
Toshi - "Trust me on this one, Aya." she said as a warning for her, "You don't want to go easy on this creep; even if he looks weak."
-
"Despite having a 1 ton weight almost dropped on my head, you might be right." Calien sighed. "But don't let your guard down either."
Sakura looked at her Dad in shock since he was almost killed but he did have a point. The Octopus looked scared and nervous. Maybe he just needs someone to talk to him?
"So uh do you have a name Mr. Squishy person?" Sakura asked cautiously though still ready to strike if the need arised.
-
"Try to keep your distance from that thing, Pema." Salem exclaimed with unease.
"Huh? But he doesn't seem like much of a threat we can't handle." Pema replied.
"It's not that aspect I'm worried about." He stated, taking notice of Ultros' strange, perverted behavior. "Just... back away a few steps."
She still didn't understand why Salem was uneasy, but did as she was told.
(Dad level: Salem)
-
"Uweeee-Ultros kiddos! Was just minding my own business enjoying the view when a bunch of muscle heads chased poor ultros out of town! How ruuuuuude!" He flails his tentacles around getting all flustered.
"Egh-I guess that explains why only maidens were bothered." Aya shakes her head.
-
"Yeah....that definitely explains it." Calien face palmed.
"Uh what do you mean enjoying the view? Like the Ocean?" Sakura asked while tilting her head.
"I don't think he was talking about the Ocean my dear Daughter." Calien still not understanding why he's letting Sakura talk to him like this. But he's not doing anything at the moment, and he better not.
-
"Why I mean-fair skin---slender legs---shapely boso---" Ultros' blush returns as he giggles.
"Oooookay I've heard enough!" Aya intrupts "You--squid thing--you are bothering the people of havens rock, it's time to move on!"
"Uhhah? There are such variety of shapely maidens! Ulty just wants to make frieeeeends! Don't worry I'll be your friends too! Just not the muscle heads---hate em!" Ultros begins to bounce around again.
Aya's eye twitches starting to lose patience.
-
"But the muscle heads are our friends too." Sakura shook her head starting to get why Aya, her Dad, Toshi and Salem were so cautious but also still trying to get through to him without violence. "They're not bad they just want to make sure the maidens are alright. The thing is.....maidens don't like being stared at like that. It's better to talk to them so they don't feel scared. The muscle heads too, muscle heads can be really nice."
Calien in the mean time still couldn't believe his daughter was still talking to him, and speaking in his language at that.
-
"Uncle Ultros isn't a bad octopus he's always geeeeentle." Ultros doesn't seem to be listening to their points all the much.
-
"Maidens don't like to be touched either." Sakura sighed. He was obviously starting to annoy her now, but she really couldn't attack him either. Despite almost killing her father, which normally would result in him being dead by now, it wouldn't sit right with her to attack him no matter how disgusting he was. He wasn't evil, but what he's doing isn't right either. "Mr. Ultros please don't be bad any more, you're scaring the town's people......and if you continue bad things will happen to you. And they probably won't be as nice as us......"
-
((Want to see how the others react before I decide if a fight happens or not. 8D))
-
(I don't know I think making friends with Ultros is the only viable option at this point. Even if it doesn't make sense. 8D)
-
((You want to make friends with a lecherous octopus? 8D ))
(https://katella.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/ffxiv_10312014_214318.jpg?w=627&h=352)
-
(Reluctantly yes. 8D
Plus it would give everyone the biggest WTF moment ever. Even Sakura wouldn't understand what she just did. 8D)
-
((Either way Ultros is going to be hounding us for the RP. 8D))
-
(I doubt Toshi's going to happy, if that ever happen. Chances are she's bound to break him, if he starts flirting with her.)
-
(Oh no I don't mean travel with us-mean more he'll pop up and give the party trouble.)
-
(Like Zubats in a cave. Better get the Ultros repel. :D)
-
((Just recruit a lot of "Muscle heads" that'll keep him away--or suplex him!))
-
(Like Zubats in a cave. Better get the Ultros repel. :D)
(For the record I want at one point for the group to run out of a cave and suddenly we notice a Zubat is on Calien's shoulder. Then the Zubat joins the party. Just saying. 8D)
-
(Then stuck in a box somewhere never to be used because--well it's a zubat. 8D ))
-
"What in the world is up with this creep? At the very least, he seems to only display affection for a specific type of female. You should be safe, but just in case, stay on your toes." Salem stated.
"I'm safe from what?" Pema questioned.
"Oh, that, uh... Don't worry about it." He quickly dismissed.
Pema crossed her arms and pouted. "Aww, party pooper, you know I don't like it when you treat me like a little kid..."
Salem chuckled a bit as he watched Pema's cheeks puff out from disappointment. Truth be told, it was difficult to see Pema as anything but a child, with how utterly innocent and squeezable her face is.
It's when she's fighting and demonstrating just how powerful she is, that she becomes something more. She won't be a cute little munchkin forever. Still... it's hard to watch her grow up.
"Sorry, you're right. Just trust me on this one, you're better off not knowing." Salem exclaimed.
"Fiiiiine." Pema sighed and lightly scuffed her foot against the ground.
-
((Just waiting on TENK))
-
Fxeni eyed Ultros suspiciously, his short spear drawn. He quietly mutters under his breath and focuses his mana, just in case swift action is needed.
-
While still holding her electrically charged katar ready, she seemed to be eagerly waiting for something.
Riyalie - "I don't mind being friends with this guy." she chimed in, still in her spirit form,"But, maybe you think we'd be a little nice to him?"
Grifter - "Say what?" he looked shocked at what Riyalie was saying, "Out of all the creatures you're willing to be friends with; are you really willing to be this guy's plaything, if he starts... you know... with his tentacles?" he tries to give her a fair warning.
Toshi - "Other than that, he nearly killed one of us, moments ago." she implied, "Do you still feel like befriending him?"
Riyalie - "Uhh... yes, I think?" she seems unsure.
Toshi - "Besides, I'm not willing to be this creeps plaything either, whether or not if he's friendly." she said as Ultros' gaze seem to be examining her figure more often than the others, "If we're done talking, maybe we could end this quick and painlessly." she said, feeling a bit nervous at the constant stares from Ultros, while still clenching her grip on her electrically charged weapon, in-case Ultros was willing to target her first.
(I kinda forgot Riyalie in all this, about being a beastmaster. If she was on the field right now, she'd probably try to befriend Ultros, than be concerned about what horrors he'd be likely to do to her.)
-
"So what are we planning to do? Annoying or not I don't really want to kill something that hasn't really hurt anyone." Aya frowns. Upon the world "kill" Ultros backs up "Uweeee--those nasty muscle heads have used these beautiful maidens to trick poor uncle ultros! But I'm warning you! I'm ARMED! EIGHT ARMED THAT IS! Mweeeheeeheee!" He begins thrashing around as if ready to fight the party. Aya just sighs.
-
Pema nodded her head. "I'm with Ms. Aya! We shouldn't attack him if he hasn't harmed anyone. I think Ultros is just misunderstood. Don't you think so, Salem?"
"Hm..." He quietly thought to himself.
"Salem?" She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yeah, I'm thinking, I'm thinking." He addressed his uncertainty to let Ultros leave unscathed.
-
Sakura sighed as she tried so hard to avoid certain words.
"Please don't Mr. Ultros we really don't want to harm you, we just want you to leave the towns people alone." Sakura continued.
-
"Ultros will leave since you all asked so nicely--" He begins to turn and slither off toward a path before coming to a stop. "Nooooot!" *Suddenly a barrage of tendrils whipped from each deep pool of water around the cavern swatting at the party. "Ain't I just a stinker Meeheehee!"
-
"Eeek!" Sakura cried as one of tenticles slapped her leg and she backed away ".....Okay I'm through trying to be nice, just remember you brought on yourself!"
Sakura started throwing Kunai after electricfide Kunai from a distance while Calien decided to try chopping some tenticles with his electrified Axe.
-
"Ultros is being gaaaaanked!" He jumps into a pool and the tendrils that got cut quickly retreats appearing behind sakura and slapping at her rear. Aya is thankful wise to his plot and manages to jump and glide away from the pools near her current position. "Just knock him out, don't kill him!" Aya says against her better judgement.
-
"Doooooodge!" Salem yelled.
Pema tried her best to do so as Ultros thrashed around his tentacles. She "backhanded" a tentacle with her staff, flipped it around to the front, and fired an ice blast which froze most of it.
"Please, you have to stop this! We don't want to hurt you!" She bellowed and rolled out of the way as one tentacle slammed down in front of her.
-
Ultros's damaged tendrils retreated back into the pools before reapearing behind the attacking members and made more slaps at them-some aimed less aimed to attack and more to take advantage of the chaos of battle. "G-gah what was that!" Aya yelped.
-
"I should use that new technique we were working on, two weeks ago." Pema exclaimed as she blocked a tentacle.
"Are you certain? You haven't perfected it yet." Salem responded.
"Yeah, but I think now would be the best time to try it out again. You know, with all the tentacles and stuff, it's kinda sorta similar!" She pumped out her fist, rearing to go.
"You do have a point... alright, go nuts." He agreed.
She concentrated and focused her mana into the staff. However, Ultros' persistant assault proved more than a little difficult to find time to prepare the spell.
Pema quickly ducked behind a huge rock and continued to form her experimental spell. She murmered the words "constant stream of mana" over and over again under her breath.
Flame embers began to spark on top of the staff and steadily materialized into a firey whip. The make-shift whip faded and flickered a few times before she implemented more mana to stabilize the form.
She raised the staff above her head with great enthusiasm. "Pema Style: Flaming Whip! Look, Salem, I did it!"
"I'm proud of you, but you're not out of the woods quite yet. It's extremely difficult to maintain the whip formation." Salem cautioned.
Part of the flaming whip suddenly combusted and nearly burnt Pema's hand. She squeaked. "Eeep! That was close..."
"See what I mean? Keep your mana in check at all times. You need a steady, constant flow of mana to maintain the form. You're not used to doing that. Be careful, okay? I don't want to see you hurt." He explained.
Pema nodded and focused her attention on Ultros' tentacles while regulating her mana output. This just became another training session for her.
"Tentacles. Why did it have to be tentacles..." Pema said with a smirk and prepped her flaming whip, Indiana Jones style. "Let's see what this thing is made of. Hiyahh!" She lashed out the whip at some of the tentacles, successfully burning the skin on contact.
-
"Weeeeeeegh!" Ultros came flying out of his pool of water as the tentacle was cooked "Yaaaouch! Seafood soup is not on the menu!" He backs into the corner nursing his now deliciously cooked tentacle as the party approach. "W-Wait! Wana see something neat?" He asks his dopey grin returning.
-
Toshi - "How 'bout no!" she replied irritatingly. Seems she's not willing to be nice this time as she reared up with another electrically charged attack from her katar.
Riyalie - "Wait, easy there, Toshi." she tried to reason with her, "Let's hear him out first, before..."
Grifter - "Cookin' him up real good, for dinner." he chimed in.
Riyalie - "N-no, that's not what I meant." she said.
Toshi - "I'm with Grifter here. Really wish I had some fire styled jutsu, for this occasion." she quipped.
-
"Eeeee-come now I promise you'll all like this!" He grins sucking in some air. "From me to you! IIIIIIINK!" suddenly he spits a cloud of inky stuff that quickly fills the cavern causing everyone's eyes to water and making a less then pleasant smell. "Uncle Ultros will leave but don't worry my fair maidens your hero shall return some day! Uuuuwaaaaah!" Ultros jumps back into the pool managing to slip away.
-
"Uuuuwaaaaah! He got away!" Pema cried as she rubbed ink out of her eyes.
"Why are you making the same sounds as him..." Salem asked dryly.
"I was hoping to use this technique a little while longer." She ceased supplying mana flow to the flaming whip, and the flames dispersed.
"Well, if it's any consolation, you maintained the form longer than you were able to, last time." He exclaimed.
"Hmm, yeah, I think you're right." She smiled.
"So... what happens now? That Ultros creep slinked away." Salem sighed.
-
Toshi - "We find him." she replied, trying to wash of the ink from her face, with her water jutsu, "And deal with him the moment, we get the chance." she said, looking really disgruntled with the current situation they're in.
-
"Ugh I don't know, don't know if those guys would be happy with us but I don't think he'll show his face here for a while." Calien grunted as he desprately tried to rub his eyes to make the irritation subside.
Sakura not only had to deal with her eyes being irritated but her bottom being sore as well. However the worst thing about the situation was how much of an idiot she felt she was.
"I'm sorry everyone......this is all my fault......" Sakura stated while looking down and refusing to make eye contact with anyone.
-
"How is this your fault?" Pema asked Sakura.
-
"No reason to throw blame around-that lecherous squid is gone for now at least." Aya rubs her eyes.
-
"This stuff sucks," Fxeni states as he wipes away the ink.
Should've fried him when I had the chance... he thinks to himself as he continues to wipe away the ink.
-
The party return to Haven Rock, and are escorted back to headquarters of the city. Aya and the others explain their unique encounter, the commander is not as annoyed at their failure to fell the beast as they had expected however.
"So you are sure the beast has been driven off for the time being? If what you said is true this creature wasn't the threat we had believed?" The commander glances at the party who still look rather---inky.
-
Salem floated forward. "Indeed, that octopus beast who called himself Ultros wasn't much of a threat, at all. He's... uh, eccentric, I'll give him that, but not particularly deadly."
"Nngh, I still feel all sticky and goopy..." Pema stated in disgust as she attempted to wipe more ink off her fingers.
-
"I'll have my men keep an eye on the area incase he decides to ever return. Now I am a man of my word-in return for you're service to the city I'll permit you all to remain in Haven Rock, but not only that should such a time you decide you wish purchase property you will be permitted to do so. The owner of the local inn, an Orc named Grak will allow you a few rooms while you stay free of charge for all you have done.
Now, as for the airship-the goblin mechanics guild is currently working on fixing it up; I see no reason to take it from you-that being said if you want to help this community more come talk to me sometime.
Oh one more thing, "The Professor" I've had him take over the position of head alchemist in the merchant quarter-the position has been open since his predecessor passed away-she had two students but neither is experienced enough to run the store on their own-the position is his if you all plan to stay. As for your quest, when you are ready we can discuss that; my men have mapped out this area perhaps that might help the search.
-
(Perhaps a bath break is in order, since everyone is dirty from the ink?)
-
((Was thinking that was a good idea, I'll wait till everyone chimes in though. Think of the Inn as hour base for the time being, we'll be using this city as our hub from now on before we set out on future adventures.))
-
(No need to wait on me. Move along once everyone's done.)
-
"Goblin mechanics guild, huh? I'd like to speak with them sometime... once the ink is dealt with, of course," Fxeni said as he looked at the ink on him.
-
"Wow, Head Alchemist? I'm glad the Professor is part of something he enjoys doing here!" Pema smiled.
-
The party retire to the inn for the evening, after cleaning up and resting they are all permitted a few hours of rest in their new rooms-the inn "The Spoony Bard" is rather spacious, now free wander they quickly discover Haven Rock is not some haphazardly constructed community of refuges but rather a carefully planned and built city benefiting from the experience of many cultures. The Inn is well furnished and trade has clearly permitted the people of haven a rather impressive level of wealth and security for a city barely twenty years old.
The owner of the inn, an old Orc named Grak claimed to have been an adventurer himself in his younger days and explained that since the empire of the east began to expand into the northern lands many people were forced to flee their homelands in order to remain free-haven rock is literally made up of all races, but it's the efforts of the overland dwarven population, the elves and the goblins who managed to build their sturdy city, protect it with powerful magics and even help bring trade and commerce with their neighbors. Grak promises that at the moment the empire seems to have no desire to risk conflict with haven rock and such the group should be quite safe.
Aya later in the evening summons the party downstairs to meet, wishing to discuss their mission in greater detail.
-
The party soon found themselves sitting at a long table in the tavern on the ground floor of the spoony bard, Aya cleared her throat to get their attention-well except Pema who was in the middle of murdering a three course meal; while those sitting to her left and right tried in vain to avoid the flying crumbs of food cast aside the in the horrific massacre.
"I've been thinking about our quest, when we found the earth shard it was basically by luck we stumbled onto it right? Finding the last five I figured we will need a more reliable method of tracking them-my ability to sense the shards only goes so far-a basic direction and nothing more. So I've been pondering on a better way to go about all this-and I think I have a decent idea-we found the earth shard deep below the earth in that temple, so what if all the shards have rested in areas that best represent their element? We know three fell in the Haven Rock area-so all we need to do is figure out if anyone has seen any "shooting stars" lately and pin point that to areas that match the remaining elements!" Aya grinned again looking rather pleased with herself.
((while the party is discussing their options that might be a good time to introduce new characters?))
-
"I don't know, that's kind of a strech for the Earth Shard since it was on a snowy mountain right? Not to mention the fact anything speeding that fast would theoretically smash through a few floors anyway, especially with how old the place was." Sakura questions in a skeptical tone.
"Maybe but you have to keep in mind that most of us don't know what the world was like 1,000 years ago, that place might not have been always blistering cold." Calien replied. "For all we know the place could have been a very fertile land before climate change hit it hard within the course of centuries if that shed we found was anything to go by."
"I guess that's a good point." Sakura shrugged. "Either way asking the towns people about shooting stars sounds as good a plan as any than relying on a magic metal detector alone. Having a idea of which direction to go would make finding the shards faster and easier."
-
"This area is rather expansive too-hmm, we should find a map of the area then compare it with the city guard's records; it might help us narrow down any possible landing sites."
-
(Blue, you wrote "Penma" XD)
-
"I'll have a chat with the head guard later, he's bound to know where we could rustle up some maps," Fxeni chimed in as crumbs from Pema's eating flew past his face.
-
After a very long amount of walking, Caetlynn stumbled upon The Spoony Bard in a less than favorable mood. She was attracted to the general area after witnessing an odd magical lightshow somewhere in the area akin to a star falling. Figuring she would need a place to crash temporarily, and hoping the establishment could potentially house an encounter with a new ragtag group of adventurer escorts, she strode through the door.
As she walked in, she caught the eye of a lot of patrons -- some ogling, and some wondering what exactly brought a young girl in such an... interesting outfit to The Spoony Bard. Some lowered murmurs mixed into the usual merriment as Caetlynn passively attracted attention.
Collecting herself, she sauntered over to the bar where Grak, the owner, was, and proceeded to fish around for her money. The various charms clinked together as they hung from her Chaos Band, a mysterious armband that practically had an aura of its own separate from Caetlynn's. As if nothing was unnatural about the situation, she calmly asked the orc with a hint of exhaustion in her voice, "Hey, are you the owner? Is there a room open?"
((The idea is that she was left for dead by the last group she was in due to an unsettling reveal; whether or not the reveal was her real gender is up to the coin flip when we check, haha.))
-
(Blue, you wrote "Penma" XD)
((Hush you I was tired at the time. 8D ))
Grak looked over his shoulder at the young girl "Just had a group of adventurers fly into town *Grak motions to the party* but aye lass I have a few rooms open, 50 gill per night and that includes a breakfast and dinner; that a fair deal to you?" Grak turns toward Caetlynn.
-
"Fly in, you say..." Caetlynn casually fished around the bag she kept concealed in an unknown area, pulling out 50 gil and sliding it on the bartop towards the orc. She eyed over the party Grak had motioned to, sizing them up.
Naturally, Pema caught her eye first. The appeal of an adorable little-sister character in the party practically drew Caetlynn in herself, and she cracked a bright smile. Overall the group seemed rather appealing to her. Picking her bag back up and concealing it again, again with nobody witnessing where it went, she casually moved closer to the table.
"Hey there! You seem like you're from pretty far from here. Are you guys travelers?" Caetlynn started, hoping that pretending like she didn't know they were adventurers would get them to talk about their quest.
((Also, the spell system is nearly complete, I just need to copy over the 50+ spells from the notepad I had into the format the program reads them in... It actually features a cool little tagging system thingy, where I can have certain elements of spells be random as well. For example, Summon Sword's effect text says to summon [Sword], which triggers the program to search for a random Sword and insert it there, resulting in one spell potentially summoning anything from a long sword to a claymore to a buster sword or even faux versions of legendary blades.))
-
A few seats down from the bartender, a single sharp eye caught a glance of a somewhat appealing glitter of money changing hands. She counted it. Fifty gil. Chump change. She was planning on stopping for a drink and heading back on the road, but the prospect of travelers certainly sweetened the deal. Easy pickings. They'd be on the road for hours before they realized they were missing a bit of money. Certainly not enough to break the bank, but enough that they'd miss it and the perpetrator's purse will be that much heavier.
That was usually the plan, anyway.
"Oy! Barkeep! More ale!" She called in a husky voice. Maybe not tonight. She was already tipsy, and she couldn't afford any errors. At the best she'd run off with less than she'd intended and a wasted effort. At worst she'd wake up in a prison cell and one more hold she could never return to. She slammed her mug on the hard wood. "Get movin', lardass! It's colder 'n 'yer wife's arse in 'ere!"
She eyed the group. The ruckus was intended to gauge their level of attention. If she went unnoticed at this point, there was hardly any risk if she happened to walk by with a few hundred gil more.
-
Grak glanced at the drunk patron with a raised eyebrow-he didn't look overly convinced at her display but poured her another ale regardless. As Aya glanced at the ruckus then at Caetlynn "Yeah-something like that, we've been traveling around for a little bit now." Aya smiled politely-Caetlynn noticed Aya had wings-something most human like races did not, she couldn't recognize Aya's race.
((Sakura, Phi you two too busy to post right now? We're waiting on you both and anyone else still involved XD))
-
Pema glanced up at the newcomer. "Oh, are yoush a travahler, ash well? Ish vewy nice to meet yoush!"
Salem watched helplessly as she cleared off her servings with a righteous fury. Her mouth was full of bread, as if her expanded cheeks weren't evidence enough. "I think Pema here is storing food for the winter..." He said curtly.
-
Fxeni kept the woman at the bar who seemed to be drunk in his peripheral vision; he figured she could be trouble in this state.
"Haha, as she usually is," Fxeni said with a chuckle to Salem's comment, then looked at Caetlynn. "How do you do, Miss...?"
-
"Ah, Caetlynn," she nodded to the man inquiring her name. "I'm a traveler, too. I'm kinda in the need of a group of ragtag adventurers to help me find someone I'm looking for. He's a magician..." Caetlynn measured her hand about six feet from the ground and stated, "about yae tall, though about this tall with his hat on," she moved her hand about a foot and a half up, standing on her tippytoes at this point. She exhaled from exerting her hand in her measurements as she came back down to continue in the party's direction, "Kind of an odd person. Smells like daisies. You've probably never seen him, but I have a couple leads at least." She brought her arm up to attempt to stuff a tuft of hair that escaped her long braided ponytail back into its place, drawing attention to her Band of Chaos.
-
"Why do you need to find this man?" Calien asked curiosly.
"Honestly I think the better question is why does he smell like daisies of all things." Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow.
-
"Eheh...It's a long story, really," Caetlynn said tiredly, and added, "The most important part is that I need him to get this cursed thing off of me." She shook her right wrist angrily, the charms attached to the Band of Chaos jingling around but the trinket itself not moving at all, almost as if it were affixed to her skin. "It's a sort of magic trinket that still confuses me to this day. It wields the potential of one of the greatest sorcerers in the universe, but every time I use it, it's always a completely different spell. I still don't think I've managed to go through all of them, and I've only gotten the same spell a few times in the past year or so I've been using it. It does almost any kind of offensive or defensive magic, from fireballs to thunderstorms. It's even summoned a really powerful sword at one point. I think they called it a 'maw-za-moony' or something. Disappeared after an hour, though."
-
"Can't say I've heard of him, sad to say. Interesting trinket though..." Fxeni said as he leaned closer to examine the band on her arm. He thinks he senses a slight flicker of mana flow through it for a moment, but he figures that he just imagined it. "Most interesting indeed..."
-
"Why is it always the bracelets that do the weird things?" Sakura said as she stared at the bracelet with scrutiny.
"Cursed equipment huh?" Calien shook his head "I had heard that only a powerful practioner of the Holy Arts can remove something like that, and I unfortunately am not near that level to do so."
"Yeah daddy can't even use Curaja, even too many Curagas tires him out way too quickly for him." Sakura sighed.
"Indeed, this land's magic is very difficult for me to grasp unfortunately." Calien sighed.
(For the record Borock-bot probably could remove cursed equipment, but I doubt he could remove something as powerful as the Band of Chaos.)
-
A smile briefly crept across the woman's face. She chugged her drink and stood up. One of them, she noticed, was suspicious. No big deal. She'd be able to handle this if anything went wrong. She crept towards the group.
"The most important part is that I need him to get this cursed thing off of me."
Something jingled. It looked to be some kind of jewelry? She leaned back along the bar and watched for a moment. Suddenly the prospect of money was slightly less important than a good show.
...
Yeah, she was definitely drunk.
They were talking about magic. Mages. She never really cared for the art. Too unpredictable. Even still, curiosity took over.
"Oi. 'Scuse me. Overheard 'ya guys. Wha's that about that bracelet now?" Her speech was definitely a bit slurred. Maybe a good thing that she had the sense to reconsider stealing from them. "Mind'f I took a look?"
-
Fxeni eyed the drunk woman cautiously. Something definitely seemed off about her.
"You don't quite seem like the... Holy Arts type. You have more knowledge on jewelry, I'd presume?" he inquired, leaning back in his seat with mug in hand. He was perhaps a bit more straightforward than usual due to the drink in his hand, although he still had his wits about him.
-
"Oh dear... have I encountered a female bard?" Caetlynn quipped, raising her eyebrow at the smashed patron in interest.
(For the record Borock-bot probably could remove cursed equipment, but I doubt he could remove something as powerful as the Band of Chaos.)
(Yeah, I'm going off of the idea that only the crafter can remove it, and that he gave it to her for a very specific purpose.)
-
"Doesn't look like any bard I've ever seen." Calien muttered.
-
The woman merely furrowed her brow and shrugged. "Jus' curious. 'Ya said that thing's stuck on 'ya, right?"
-
"Well, yes. Cursed, to be exact." Caetlynn replied, wrapping her hand around the trinket and trying to move it in vain. "Magically, it's practically affixed to my skin. Thank god it doesn't cut off circulation or anything. It's also rather resistant to damage, to the point where I could probably support my body weight with the chains these charms are on."
-
She chuckled. "Huh, an' 'ya ain't tried to just chop off the arm right?" She broke into laughter. "Ahahaha! I'm just yankin' 'yer chain. Hoooly hell I'm hammered..." Without warning, she pulled up a chair and kicked her legs up on the table. "So what we talkin' about 'ere?"
-
"Oh--umm--well we're planning to explore the areas around Haven's Rock, my friends and I only recently arrived in the city." Aya responded seeing no harm in sharing some info on their quest but obviously not mentioning the search for the primal crystal shards to a total stranger.
-
Nodding along with Aya, the single-eyed woman thumbed towards the door. "Haven's an okay place. Cold but cozy'n a way. Been here about... A month or two now? Been lookin' for - direction, you could say. How 'bout you guys? Just out on adventure aren't 'ya?"
-
"Just recently got here actually on our airship-barely been here three days, looks like we'll be making our home here for the foreseeable future though. But I suppose we are on an adventure of sorts." Aya gives a friendly smile.
-
Cracking a friendly grin back, she raised a finger. "Oh! I've been kinda rude ain't I? I go by Florence. Figgered y'all would prefer an introduction."
-
Aya nods looking at the finger perhaps not quite sure how to respond to the gesture. "Aya, it's a pleasure to meet you. So what about you-what brings you here to haven rock?"
-
"Little ol' me?" Florence breaks into laughter. "Nothin' much. Fact 'a the matter is I'm lookin' to ship out pretty soon. Ain't nothin' I'm gonna find out here. See, I've been lookin' for an... Acquaintance I guess you could say. Poor guy accidentally left somethin' behin' with me and I'm lookin' to pay it back."
-
"What did the acquaintance man leave with you, Ms. Florence?" Pema asked as her legs swayed back and forth in the rather tall chair.
Well, average sized, but huge for her.
"I don't even need a nose to tell that this woman reeks of booze..." Salem thought to himself as he observed a fairly tipsy Florence.
-
(Pema really makes me happy.)
Bringing her finger to her chin in thought, Florence snapped her fingers after a second. "Ah! Somethin' reaaaaally valuable! It's a secret what it is though. T'would be rude 'ta share someone else's secrets, wouldn't it?" Reaching down to a pocket, she produced a single gil and flipped it. Catching it, she opened her hand - and it was gone. "Worth a lot more'n money to him though, tha's fo' sure!" She pointed at Pema. "By 'tha way, there's somethin' shiny stickin' out of your hat." Reaching over, she pulled out the foreign object and dropped it on the table in front of the younger girl. It was the same coin from before. "Huh. How the 'ell did that happen...?"
Without warning, she collapsed on the table. "Criiiiipes. I'm really gonna be sick... You guys wouldn't 'ave a place I could crash would 'ya? I'll pay 'ya back in the morn..."
-
(You should've been here for her Eating Contest, it was really fun to write!)
Pema blinked when Florence opened her hand with the coin missing. "Whaah! H-How did you-" She began to say, when Florence reached into her hat and dropped the coin on the table.
"Ahaha!" She bounced in her seat and giggled when she picked up the coin. "That's so cool, can you do it again?"
However, she was startled when Florence suddenly collapsed right afterwards. "Miss...?" She reached over and gently rubbed her back, waiting for one of the adults to help her to a room.
-
"I suppose you can use my room." Aya stands up and moves to Florence "Not like I sleep much anyway" aya thinks to herself as she helps Florence up and leads her up the nearby stairs to the second floor of the spoony bard-reaching the door she fumbles with the key only having one free hand but manages to get it open. Eventually Aya leads her to the bed and helps her down "Can I get you anything-water maybe?" Aya tilts her head looking concerned having never suffered the effects of alcohol herself.
-
(Are we waiting for Suppercut?)
-
((Guess so 8D ))
-
(I am. :T)
-
(I'll just post this while we're waiting I guess.)
"Hey Daddy are you okay?" Sakura asked "You've been pretty quiet since that funny stinky Florence lady came to our table."
"Huh?" Calien said snapping out of his thoughts "Oh, I'm fine."
"Not sure I believe you but okay." Sakura shrugged.
"I'm getting a really bad feeling about that woman, but I don't understand why." Calien thought "Other than obviously having trouble managing her liquor intake she doesn't seem to be that bad. I'm hope I'm just on edge and being overly paranoid....."
-
Florence waved her hand in dismissal. "Juuus' gotta sleeeep..."
As Aya left the room, her voice yelling could faintly be heard. "I'M NEVER DRINKIN' AGAAAAIIIN!"
Typically, she would by now be rifling through the kind patron's belongings, but Florence definitely took in more than she could take, for the first time in a long time. She had been sitting there drinking heavily for the past... Three or four hours now? It was getting frustrating. She was hot on the trail of that important person... And she had lost it. Three months in town wasted and now she was ready to puke her guts out all over the floor of a stranger's rented room.
Absolutely grand. She'd have to actually pay back their kindness now, she considered as she drifted off to a fitful sleep.
-
Aya smiles and made her way toward the stairs-in truth she never understood the appeal of drinking, perhaps it was because her creators intentionally made gardians like her to be immune to it's effects-their last line of defense being in such a state would have done the old empire little good. Aya assumed miss Florence had her reasons for doing such things however.
The others soon noticed Aya return to their table. "I think our friend just needed some rest."
-
Feeling a bit restless. Toshi decided to talk.
Toshi - "Shouldn't someone check up on her?" she asked out of concern, "I don't buy the old sob story."
-
"I don't know about that... she seemed real tired and kinda sick, too. We probably shouldn't bother her." Pema bit her nail.
"In any case, we could always question her in the morning, if need be." Salem chimed in.
-
Toshi - "True; but we may need to check to see if she's okay in there." She said, looking baffled at Pema's response, "Whether she's sick, or not, chances are we might not be getting that chance to question her; I'm still eager to know who this 'Acquaintance' of hers, is."
-
"Huh? But didn't Ms. Florence say she was going to pay us back in the morning?" Pema exclaimed.
"To be fair, who knows how much of the truth that woman was even telling. The bottle seemed to be doing some of the talking." Salem stated. "Whether she is or isn't lying, one thing is for sure: She would have passed out right on the table, if Aya hadn't carried her to bed."
"How are you so sure?" She inquired.
Salem chuckled. "Well, I used to be a bartender, remember? Let's just say you see it all when you're behind the counter. Florence is most certainly drunk. Really drunk. Therefore, she'd have zero credibility if we question her in that current state."
Astonished, Pema clapped her hands together. "Wow, you sure know your drunk women, Salem!"
"H-hey, don't put it like THAT. It makes me seem like a creep..." He grumbled.
-
(*imagines Salem as a creep* 8D)
-
Caetlynn exhaled an irritated sigh. "She'll probably regret tagging along in the morning and slip out before we know it. Probably with some valuables in tow." She rolled her eyes, before succumbing to a long yawn that ended in a cute little squeak. "But I'm pretty tired myself. I'll be in room, uh... was it seven?" She glanced over at Grak, who gave a nod of approval, and then returned her attention to the group. "Seven. Just bang on the door real hard for me, okay? I'm a real heavy sleeper..." She began to walk off in the direction of the rooms, before stopping and wheeling around to add, "D-don't actually break the door down or anything. I usually rig some sort of protection charm to the door... And it will most likely explode."
Once behind the door of her room, she fished around in the hidden pocket in her dress for a small rune. "Heh... 'it will most likely explode'. They wouldn't buy that at all..." She placed it on the ground in front of the door, then stripped down and got in bed. "Just prefer my privacy, is all..."
-
"I hope she's not a thief, I've a low tolerance for Thieves unless they're just stealing food or trying to support their family or village due to harsh conditions and corrupt politics." Calien grumbled. "Otherwise they're just selfish greedy bastards that cause uneeded distress and panic depending on the situation."
-
(...8D)
-
"... We'll need to keep an eye on her, at any rate. I've been around enough to recognize shady types, and she falls right under that heading," Fxeni said, taking a sip of his drink. "She was likely too smashed to try anything right now though. "
He leaned back in his chair, taking another sip of his drink. The group was perhaps a little bit too trusting, he found, but then again that's part of the reason he likes them all. Pema in particular had a rather glowing innocence to her that he hasn't seen in a very long time.
"I didn't know that you used to be a barkeep, Salem. This was before you became a staff though, I'm assuming?" Fxeni asks with a bit of a chuckle, imagining a staff serving drinks in the back of his mind.
-
"Maybe-there isn't much of value in my room anyway, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt." Aya shrugs. "Salem I have to ask-how DID you become a staff anyway-if you don't mind me asking."
-
(I'll be keeping an eye on this. Might be able to work Saden in at some point....)
-
((Just a heads up, updates have been slow-90% of the people involved haven't been posting much lately.))
-
(S'not really a problem. I don't mind waiting around. :) )
-
(We're probably waiting on Phi to get things going.)
-
(Like I said, no worries 8)
I've still gotta figure out which of my characters I'd wanna bring in here. Leo, Saden and Aaru'd probably work fine as is. Xhai and Bell could work, but I'd need to tweak their backstories and skillsets a little to fit them in. Typhon and Alastor are right out.
Anyone got any thoughts? If there's a particular character of mine you'd like to see I'll be more than happy to oblige. 8) )
-
(We could probably use more melee-oriented characters, I'd say. We're pretty squishy for the most part :P)
-
(That means pretty much everyone still on the list......I think Alastor, Minty and Typhon are the only characters I have with ranged capabilities....Eh, I'll just list a basic combat approach for each character and if any of 'em take your fancy I'll go with that. :P
Xhai: Scythe, very much a "charge headfirst" kinda guy. I'm kinda hesitant to include him since I'm writing him for Wilypocalypse too. Gotta show everyone some love, y'know? :P
Aaru: Backstabs for days, though the fact she can't talk might complicate things.
Leo: Just a sword during the day. I guess she'd fit the Paladin archetype, though.
Saden: She'd be a threat to the group if she's not able to "refuel" regularly enough. That, and if she's not using her spider-limbs, she's s l o w moving around. Might make town scenes kinda awkward either way.
Bell: Her basic approach is pretty much just "Kick it 'til it falls over and stops twitching." Might have to censor her language though. She's kinda foul-mouthed. That, and she'd likely spend half the RP sleeping.
So, ah.....yeah. I'll be happy to use whichever one(s) you guys think'd work best given the current group dynamic.)
-
(*preps up Blade
Man Master and Sword Man Master* 8D [eyebrow])
-
(I'd say Leo and/or Bell.)
-
(Right. Here we go. I've re-read the last couple pages to (hopefully) get a decent feel for the current setting. Feel free to chew me out if I make any glaring errors, though. Once I get into the rhythm of this I should smooth out a little.
Oh, and one last question. Should I censor Bell or not? It's not like she'll be dropping cursewords in every post but she IS pretty foul-mouthed if/when she gets riled up.)
The tavern door creaked open, and Grak looked up from the tankard he was cleaning as a blonde-haired girl stumbled through the entrance. A tattered-looking travellers' cloak hid most of her body from view, though a slight bulge near her left shoulder indicated some sort of concealed weapon. More eye-catching was the large, ugly-looking scar that bisected her face across the bridge of her nose. The discolored skin only served to accentuate the gigantic black rings under her eyes.
Casting a bleary gaze around the room, the girl stopped at the sight of Grak and almost shambled across the room towards him, her footsteps suspiciously heavy-sounding for someone of her build. Stopping just short of the bar, she mumbled something that could be interpreted as a request for a drink, and fumbled for the required coin once told how much to pay. Accepting her tankard (though Grak was interested to note that she'd didn't use her other arm to steady it), she turned and moved towards the furthest unoccupied table, collapsing heavily into the chair and slumping over the table. Grak shook his head, amazed at how some humans insisted on drinking even when it was clear that doing so maybe wasn't a good idea.
A few minutes passed, when again the door to the tavern was thrown open and a large, angry looking man stormed in. His eyes darted around the room and eventually stopped on the prone form of the blonde girl from earlier. Stomping over, he grabbed the collar of her cloak and hauled her back to her feet.
"OI! I jus' got back inta town, and my bruvva comes runnin' over, cryin' and tellin' me he got beat up by some bird wiv a scar and some sort of cursed sword. That wouldn' 'appen to be you, would it!?"
The girl blinked slowly, as though she'd just been woken from a nap. Stifling a yawn, she responded.
"....might be."
Releasing his grip on her cloak, the bandit shoved her into the main floor and pulled a wicked looking knife from somewhere on his belt. Several of the other patrons tensed, and hands slowly went for their weapons as he started speaking again.
"Smart mouth on ya, 'eh? Won't be so smart when I give ya annuver sc-"
He was cut off with a dull CRUNCH as the girl's foot connected with his groin. Free of the confines of the cloak, the reason for the strangely out-of-place footsteps was revealed. The bottom of her boot was covered not with the standard leather or cloth, but a large slab of what appeared to be iron. As the man crumpled to the floor, clutching his wounded pride (and other things), her left hand shot out and snagged the coin purse hanging from his belt. She held it next to her ear and gave it an experimental shake. Seemingly satisfied with the result, she tossed it onto the bar in front of Grak.
"....That should pay for the trouble....sorry...."
As she turned to head back to her table, one of the man's hands wrapped around her ankle. When he spoke again, his voice was dripping with venom despite the comically high tone it was delivered in.
"W-where....are you going...you bit-"
He was cut off again when her free leg snapped out and she planted a vicious kick across his jaw, knocking several teeth out and sending him sprawling backwards onto the floor, unconcious. She paused for a second, then moved over and propped the door open with a chair. Returning to the man, she grabbed a handful of his hair, dragged him over to the doorway and tossed him out into the street. For a moment, she looked like she wanted to say something, but instead returned the chair-turned-doorstop back to its' original location. Staggering back to her table, she fell back into her seat, downed her drink in one and collapsed back onto the table, seemingly oblivious to the world around her.
(Not the best intro, but....eh, it's late and I'm tired. Just give her a nudge when you wanna interact. I neglected to mention this in her bio, but Bell's default expression is pretty much a 50/50 split between "Bored" and "Half-asleep".)
-
"... Well that escalated quickly," Fxeni stated, followed by taking a swig of his drink. He seemed to be rather unfazed by the goings-on, likely due to the creeping buzz that was coming over him. "Wonder what his brother did to deserve the whoopin' he got."
-
".....Wow....." Sakura gulped.
"I'll be honest he was lucky, she could have easily done much worse." Calien sighed as he took a sip of his water. "If she wasn't going easy on him I guarantee he'd have several broken bones at the very least, and probably some internal bleeding."
"Such a lovely subject to talk about during dinner." Sakura stated while rolling her eyes.
-
((So gonna be honest here-there way to many people involved now for me to juggle personal stories and events as DM, to make matters worse several key members of the original party have outright stopped posting and I can't just write them out of the story. I'm really not sure how to proceed to be honest.))
-
(Well, Sakura, Calien, Fxeni, Aya are fine. Prof is in good alchemy hands. Pema's stuffing herself, Salem's shy... Albertus is quietly plotting... I guess Riagan's a bit unaccouted for. Did I miss out anyone?)
-
(Toshi's still wondering whether the party should keep an eye out on Florence, or not. Not much she can do, unless she sends a water clone, and perhaps stumble upon Caetlynn {not disturbing her of course} on her way. Other than that, I've got nothing to add at this point in time.)
-
(We were mostly held up by Phi because he never finalized Salem's backstory......
Also Wily I think we need you to post in Wilypocalypse for the mech battles.)
-
(I think we should just stop short, call it a night for the cast, and then get our bearings and account for what's going to be done next. That always worked when things got too hectic whenever I GMed.)
-
(Sounds good to me. I only just introduced my character anyway, so a fresh start might be the best way to get her involved in the plot. I'm fine with whatever, though.)
-
(Yeah, I never finalized Salem's backstory, nor have I decided if Pema played a role in affixing his soul to the staff or not. I thought people were going to ask about Pema's story, I didn't imagine they'd be interested in Salem's.
Also, Suppercut barely visits RPM, so I say we cut him loose. And Riagan doesn't have dialogue anymore, so that character is pretty much done.
Xhaiden, I hope your character is worth while, because Blue isn't the only one having trouble with keeping track of everything. We have way too many people.)
-
(Yeah PB has been too busy, especially since it's Super Bowl Season and he's been very behind in the RP.
As for Suppurcut I say wait for him, since we haven't been updating he wouldn't been able to post here.)
-
(Additionally I have Supps on Steam so whenever he flakes I can just go nag him.)
-
(Additionally I have Supps on Steam so whenever he flakes I can just go nag him.)
(Speaking of which do you have anything you wanted to post in Wilypocalypse?)
-
(Not at all. Nothing I can do until the harpy's grounded.)
-
(Gotcha, I guess I can post next then to add a little bit of filler before the next post. Just want to wait a bit since I'm a little under the weather at the moment.)
-
(Xhaiden, I hope your character is worth while, because Blue isn't the only one having trouble with keeping track of everything. We have way too many people.)
(I'll try to meet your expectations.)
(Not at all. Nothing I can do until the harpy's grounded.)
(My last post there was intended to set up that exact scenario. Should happen VERY soon. Hopefully.)
-
(I'll try to meet your expectations.)
(Excellent. Make me proud, kid.)
-
(You got it. 8)
I had a couple neat ideas on how to alter Bell and Leo's backstories for this particular RP, but I'll need to wait until the main party retires for the night before I can implement any of 'em. This is gonna be fun.)
-
(Ayy, uh... I'm actually going to be including plenty of melee-happy spells in Caetlynn's arsenal. She already has Blade Summon, too, and if she summons something she can't handle outside of the initial summoning (such as a Buster Sword or something, which she gets a ten second period of mastery of it until she drops it for being too heavy) she can easily hand it off to anyone else strong enough.
Other than that, as I said to Uncle Why, I have FTAC classes to attend, and I have CDCs that are long overdue to complete, heheh. I'll see if I can't post during class or something. Otherwise, I can 100% post Friday... if you really want to wait on me, anyways...)
-
(Calien would probably be strong enough to handle the Buster Sword.)
-
"I like her boots," Caetlynn chimed in, smiling. "They're kinda like mine, although maybe less stylish." At this point, others may have noticed that the footwear in question was also of strange material, possibly armor. It was, at least visibly, the only armor she wore. The bottom of the boots were blackened, possibly from fire, but not necessarily fire that was ejected from the boot... rather, some sort of flame source that remained under it for an extended period of time. They also sported white wing details on them. The boots possibly did fly at one point, but from wear and tear, as well as a magical analysis, they appeared to have run its course and no longer function. The right boot's heel also had a small stain of blood, probably from performing an act similar to the newcomer's.
-
((So how does everyone feel about me continuing the DM the main story and plot progression but every player handle their own stories-introducing things when you think it's a good time? Obviously you can PM me to discuss stuff but with so many people playing now there is no way I can remember everything and juggle so many back stories.))
-
(I'm totally all for that.)
-
(Isn't that basically how Wilypocalypse runs? I'm cool with it.)
-
(So if I'm understanding this correctly, you're in charge of the overarching plot and all the important-to-the-group events, but individual character arcs are down to the people writing them?
Sounds good to me. Though, as I mentioned in an earlier post, getting my character's story underway is dependant on everyone else retiring for the night. Once that's done, I can write everything up a point where she can logically join the group. When she joins is down to everyone else, I guess.
By that, I mean it'll make sense after I post it. Hopefully. ;) )
-
(Isn't that basically how Wilypocalypse runs? I'm cool with it.)
In a way but I'm still in charge of the primary plot-World Building is mostly my job here; the party has a main quest their own right now basically.
(So if I'm understanding this correctly, you're in charge of the overarching plot and all the important-to-the-group events, but individual character arcs are down to the people writing them?
Sounds good to me. Though, as I mentioned in an earlier post, getting my character's story underway is dependant on everyone else retiring for the night. Once that's done, I can write everything up a point where she can logically join the group. When she joins is down to everyone else, I guess.
By that, I mean it'll make sense after I post it. Hopefully. ;) )
Yeah again I run the RP's main story-side stories and personal character plots are player dependent-although I'm more than happy to try and work it in to current events.
-
"Maybe-there isn't much of value in my room anyway, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt." Aya shrugs. "Salem I have to ask-how DID you become a staff anyway-if you don't mind me asking."
"Oh boy, it's gonna be one of those days, huh..." Salem grumbled, insinuating this wasn't the first time someone inquired about his past, nor would it be the last.
"...! Story time?" Pema exclaimed suddenly as she raised her legs onto the chair seat and huddled her knees close to her chest, feeling to need to get comfortable for a "bedtime story".
"You already know how I became the being I am today." Salem stated.
"Mm-hm, I know, but it's never a bad time for a story!" She chirped happily, a bit of gravy on her cheek.
He chuckled lightly. "Napkin."
"Napkin?"
"Napkin."
"Oh, gotcha." As if they had their own secret language, she brushed her cheek with a finger after finally noticing the gravy and extended out her arm for napkins resting on the table.
Salem began. "Anyway, I'll mainly be going by bullet points here. To answer your question, Fxeni, yes, I used be a barkeep when I was... well, a person. I also held another position as a traveling agriculturalist. This was, of course, in Pema's village, but I didn't live there, so you may be able to surmise how cumbersome it was to commute back and forth between residences; particularly because the weather was unusually frigid."
"Super frigid!" Pema proclaimed to the group with a dramatic raise of her arms, then focused her attention back to the story.
"Indeed." He continued. "The pay kept a roof over my head, and most of the people there were kind and courteous, so I'm not really in the position to complain. However... that's not to say I never got involved with a dangerous organization during my ignorant years. I didn't believe in their radical causes, but I just felt... lost. Life hasn't treated me particularily well. Heh, they say karma is a [sonic slicer] and I suppose I'm living proof of that. Bartending and managing crops is a living, though I was just barely scraping by. Let's just say that I knew some very sensitive information about that organization and traded it for money to keep my future financially sound... And you can probably guess what happens next."
Pema became silent and her body language conveyed that she knew this part all too well.
Salem spoke again after a brief pause. "A few men from the organization broke into my home and kidnapped me. The entire time I was blindfolded, the only thing that ran through my mind was my life until that moment. The choices I've made, the people I've bonded with... Truthfully, all anyone can do in a moment like that is to cling to life in the face of death. I knew what was coming. I was terrified out of my mind, but there had to be consequences."
She cradled her arms around her knees tighter and pressed the crumpled napkin against the corners of her eyes.
"When they removed my blindfold, I was standing in front of a strange altar." He exclaimed in a lower voice. "Men in purple hoods circled around me with daggers. And that- that is when he revealed who he really was. A Runemaster from the village disguised himself as one of these men and confronted the leader. Some went to fend him off and a couple others threw me onto the altar, planning to finish what they came to do. I caught glimpses of the Runemaster from the corner of my eye, trying his best to fight them off with truly amazing spells and abilities... But he was an elderly man and was quickly overwhelmed by their numbers. I desperately struggled to break free, but it was no use. A hooded man raised a dagger above me and... and jammed it through my stomach."
Pema shivered and squirmed in her seat, tugging on her hat's ear flaps.
"Through what little strength I had left, I twisted my head towards him and noticed a sizeable gash across his chest. He extinguished most of them, including the man who stabbed me, but some ran away. I rolled off the altar and fell to the ground. We were both losing blood. He crawled to me and asked for my name, then he asked questions about my family life, my personal ideologies, and how I became involved with this organization. It felt like... a test. In return, he told me his name - Tälja. Then he became quiet. Real quiet. His eyes flickered open in short intervals and he told me of a way to keep living, however, at a cost. My soul would have to be severed from my body and breath anew within his staff. I was quickly losing consciousness, and had no strength to protest that he should live on instead. He must've seen the hesitation in my eyes, as he assured me that he has already lived a long life. The staff Tälja used was one he personally handcrafted for his daughter during her battle with a severe illness at a very young age. Unfortunately, weeks later, she succumbed to her ailment."
Salem pauses again, as if to respect the Runemaster's sacrifice. Pema gently holds the staff and smiles softly. "I'm sure she was a very brave girl."
"Yeah, I'm sure she was." Salem replied and picked up from where he left off. "So, then he... Tälja chanted a spell with the last of his energy. My body was completely numb by that point and before my vision went blank, I could see his staff floating above me as the light enveloped my body. When I awoke, the first thing I noticed was that I was living inside... well, you know..."
She nodded solemnly and tightened her grip on Salem. "So much for only bullet points, huh?" She laughed slightly.
"Oh, right... Haha, yeah, I guess I got a little carried away."
-
Aya's expression becomes serious "I-I had no idea, it must have been horrible; imprisoning a soul onto an object-it was a crime only inflicted on the most hated of our enemies back during my time; perhaps death would have been a kinder fate?" Aya shakes her head "I'm sorry-it's not my place to say-but I must ask-how did you and Pema meet after this...incident?" Aya leaned forward on the table resting her face on her hands.
-
Ear pressed against the door, the thief-assassin took a moment, sighed, and backed away. The commotion from the other woman's arrival woke her up with a hell of a headache, but the noise of the story wafted its way to the room, and she couldn't help but listen in. She had heard enough. Good enough on the information front. She could play with the details later. She went back to bed with a groan.
-
(Oho....I'm liking the backstory there. Interesting.....)
-
Fxeni nodded attentively as he listened to Salem speak, taking a break from his drink during the tale. He hadn't wanted to inquire too deeply into his past, but he paid attention now that it was being detailed. As the story ended, he took a quick sip of his drink as he gathered his thoughts.
"Thanks for telling us that. For what it's worth, you handle your... position... rather well," Fxeni said with a smile.
-
"Wow I had a feeling you weren't exactly sealed in there of your own will but I didn't think the events could have been so grisly." Sakura stated with a look of disgust from the imagined gore.
Calien in the mean time looked really pale and Sakura looked worried.
"Daddy you okay, you're acting strange. Well okay stranger than you are normally." Sakura questioned.
"Sorry, I just wasn't expecting something so macabre." Calien shuddered.
"Oh yeah you mentioned altars kind of freaked you out before, is that why?" Sakura pondered.
"Something like that......I'm just wondering why they went to such length just to silence someone." Calien muttered as he took a large sip of his water.
(Guess you can say certain occult stuff such as ritual sacrifices creeps him the hell out, even though it probably was just murder and not a ritual sacrifice it sure as hell sounds like one.)
-
Aya's expression becomes serious "I-I had no idea, it must have been horrible; imprisoning a soul onto an object-it was a crime only inflicted on the most hated of our enemies back during my time; perhaps death would have been a kinder fate?" Aya shakes her head "I'm sorry-it's not my place to say-but I must ask-how did you and Pema meet after this...incident?" Aya leaned forward on the table resting her face on her hands.
Pema tapped a finger against her chin and smiled. "Hmm, actually, me and Salem knew each from before the incident. Whenever I visited the tavern, he used to make me this really awesome root beer float and it had just the right amount of ice cream and syrup! It was like nothing I've ever tried before! But sadly, I couldn't visit too often because kids weren't really allowed during the late hours, and the root beer floats were only being served around that time."
Salem laughed. "Oh man, I definitely remember that. Particularly the way you asked for the dessert with a bright grin and the one baby tooth missing. Do you remember the words you said to me when you ordered?"
Pema nodded. "Root beer floats my boat!" She giggled and playfully rocked in her chair as she reminisced.
"Yep, that'd be the one." Salem replied. "But anyway, that was when we first met. We didn't have the opportunity to know each other well, aside from our names. The manager was against having children in the tavern, which was ultimately for the best given the vulgar and... abrasive customers we often had."
She rose up from her seat. "Suddenly! Fast forward to 4 years in the future! The Fateful Encounter!" She exclaimed out loud.
"... Pema, what are you doing?" He asked.
She turned and looked at him. "Building suspense. Don't worry about me, you're doing great out there!"
"Heh, I never would have never presumed that someone in my current state would be telling stories. In any case," He continued, "A few years have elapsed, and by then, I had already taken this new form. I was in search for a host; a person who could find a way to mend my soul into a new body. One day, I heard the cries of a beastly creature in the distance. Flying through the trees and bushes, I came across a forest clearing - then I saw a familiar sight. Pema was fighting off a gigantic wyvern with a staff supplied by the Runemaster Guild. For just a beginner, she was remarkably talented in spell casting and quite agile; however, the wyvren was much faster and a swing from its tail nearly caused her staff to break in half. That's when I intervened and offered my services. Given the dire situation, she was in no position to question who I was, so she wielded my power and fought with renewed strength."
She nodded. "Whenever I'm using Salem, I can feel the staff's mana flow and it amplifies my magic! I didn't know who he was at first, but it was much better than using that flimsy old staff the headmasters gave Runemaster recruits."
"You know, I think it was at that moment that I knew I found the one who would fight alongside me; at least for the time being." Salem conceded, "After she defeated the wyvern, I explained who I was and she seemed quite ecstatic to help me. That being said, we haven't exactly been, uh, successful in our efforts thus far. However, little did I know that I would end up forming a deep bond with Pema. We've traveled the world in search for answers, trained so Pema could become stronger, made friends-"
"Ate lots of exotic delicacies!" She held her face, which was filled with absolute bliss.
"Ahaha, yeah, I think we're frighteningly aware of that. It's been an amazing journey. And for that, I would not trade for the world."
Pema planted a hand over her mouth and then hugged him tight. "Awwwwww, Saleeeeem..."
"Geez... I probably should've expected this." He chuckled sheepishly.
-
(Okay some stuff I don't really want to get into has been preventing me from pushing forward so Friday I'm advancing the story regardless of what people are talking about-so lets try and wrap up stuff before then, sorry for the long period of inactivity---again.)
-
(Things happen. Don't worry about it. *pats*)
-
((Thanks for understanding. :) ))
-
(Hey, no worries. Personal issues have taken me off site for months at a time before, so it's no problem at all, believe me.
Pushing the story forward is fine. Depending on how it goes I might edit the post I have written to be more flashback than present happenings, but I think I can get it to work. I'll save the details, but what I've basically got is my character acting once the main group/party has gone to bed, then leaving things open for a potential recruitment the following day. Hopefully.
If that's alright with you. )
-
(Feel free to proceed. I don't have anything I could possibly add in right now.)
-
(I've been waiting on bedtime, clearly.)
-
(Clearly the answer to this is for Fxeni to start feeling the affects of his alcohol prompting everyone to decide to retire for the night.
But I doubt that would happen since I would think Fxeni wouldn't drink himself drunk or tipsy, right? 8D)
-
(Clearly the answer to this is for Fxeni to start feeling the affects of his alcohol prompting everyone to decide to retire for the night.
But I doubt that would happen since I would think Fxeni wouldn't drink himself drunk or tipsy, right? 8D)
(I want to see this. 8D)
-
(I know right? 8D)
-
(Done! This eternal night must end!)
Fxeni continued to listen intently, drinking more as time went on. A queasiness quietly crept up through his body, unnoticed until Fxeni took a final swig after Salem finished his tale.
"That wush great, Shalem. Do you aave any osher shales?" Fxeni slurred out, having clearly underestimated the strength of the many drinks he had had by this point. His stomach rumbled a bit, and suddenly the queasiness hit him full force. "Ugh... I shink I overdid it..."
-
"You are looking kind of green. And wobbly. And kind of stinky and talking funny like that lady." Sakura noted.
"Yeah he's pretty drunk." Calien said bluntly. "Need help getting to your room too?"
-
"Nah... I've been worsh than thish before," Fxeni replied, getting up slowly and keeping himself steady on the table. "Note to shelf... take it eashy on the house drink."
With that he quietly began to make his way towards his room, wobbling a bit as he carefully kept track of where his feet were going. He couldn't quite remember the last time he had gotten himself like this, but it was memorable enough to recall how to focus on keeping his balance.
-
"You think he's going to be okay Daddy?" Sakura asked.
"He should." Calien stated as he took a sniff of one of Fxeni's drinks to try to discern how strong the drinks were. However being a teetotaler he couldn't tell just how strong it might have been, though it seemed weaker than what the Dwarves usually drank while still stronger than 'weak' drinks "If he had one or 2 more he might have definitely been in worse condition."
"That's good." Sakura sighed in relief.
"However he still might not feel too well in the morning, I think I'm going to start working on a hangover remedy just in case. If not for him then at least for that Florence woman, she's definitely going to need it." Calien sighed as he started to get up.
"Can I help?" Sakura asked.
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to teach you how to make it, it might come in handy." Calien shrugged.
-
The party eventually retired for the night-some likely to regret the evening festivities more than others, Aya retired to her room but continued to pour over the map as her bed was still in use and would remain awake for the better part of the evening. Eventually the morning sun began to poke up behind the jagged peaks in the distance and Haven Rock's population began it's daily routine.
Aya soon gathered the group to tavern setting her map at the largest table in the room-rolling it out she used several small objects to pick out various locations. "Morning everyone-I know it's a little early still but I think I manged to figure out a few places we can start searching." Aya gives the group a chance to find their seats. "Okay so we know at least four shooting stars were seen falling around the same time our encounter with Mar at Skull Cove took place, so it's a safe bet the shards landed around Haven's Rock-problem is we didn't see where the shards came down and without direction we could end up searching this land for months before we find one of them-but if our last encounter was any indication then the shards homed in on locations that fit their element, we found the Earth Shard deep underground in the temple for example."
Aya points to one location "I asked around this morning and there are a few points in the area that certainly have dominant flows of mana-like here, "Siren's Call", it's located here." Aya points to the map "It's a small gap in the Jagged Peak mountain range-seems like it's shape causes "interesting" wind storms-and it's pretty much a no fly zone for airships, I say we start here-it's only three days away on foot and there is a Dwarven company mining in the area to trade supplies with-they might have even see the shard fall. The trip should take three days on foot at most." Aya pauses to answer any questions or hear any better ideas.
-
Stepping down stairs, Florence massaged her head. "Friggin' 'ell... Can you lot keep it down?" The splitting headache and nausea ravaging her body she searched for a seat. Finding one suitably empty she nearly sat down on Pema. Muttering a hasty apology she sat on the seat one over, not noticing she was actually on Caetlynn's lap. "Whazzat about dwarven miners?" She leaned forward and poured over the map, but couldn't make sense of it. At least not right now. "...I gotta get some coffee in me..."
-
"Tea with Honey would be better for that hangover." Calien stated not really fazed about where she was sitting or the fact she just barged into a somewhat private meeting. "Or Tamato Juice with some Cayenne Pepper. Not a Bloody Mary, just Tomato Juice."
"Uh you're sitting on Caetlynn's lap Ms. Florence....." Sakura smiled awkwardly failing to not laugh.
-
(Ack, I'm being left behind! Okay, so this takes place AFTER the party retires for the night, but BEFORE sunrise the next day, if that's alright?)
Grak watched with satisfaction as the tavern slowly emptied, some patrons staggering out the door to return home, others retiring upstairs to their rooms. Everyone except....
Grak approached the blonde girl, still slumped over her table, and cleared his throat. "Er, 'scuse me, lass? I'm closin' up for the night. If yer not gonna pay fer a room, yer gonna hafta leave."
The girl shifted, and slowly stood up from her seat. She locked eyes with him and regarded him cooly for a moment, then nodded and headed for the entrance. Grak blinked. She'd practically stumbled across to him when she'd entered, and now her movements were smooth and confident. Pausing just before she reached the door, she spoke, her voice confident and carrying an authoritative weight that had been lacking when she'd dealt with the man from earlier.
"Thank you for your hospitality."
With that, she pulled the door open and stepped out. It may just have been the wind, but Grak could've sworn he'd heard the muted rasp of a sword being drawn as the door swung shut. Shaking his head, he turned back to the bar and began walking towards the stairs, stopping short as a thought struck him.
Wait. Were her eyes always blue?
Daybreak would see that same girl slumped outside a building opposite the tavern, her cloak thrown over her peacefully sleeping form, and a sword lying on the ground to her right, glimmering brightly in the morning sun.
It wouldn't be until later that day that the bodies of the McDonal brothers were discovered. Both had been stabbed clean through the heart, and the elder was clutching a bag full of illegal potions. Rumours would begin to fly that the older brother had been involved in a bar fight the night before, but with no witnesses, the matter would quickly be forgotten...
(I haven't had a chance to re-read some of the older posts, but I DO remember one or two members of the party being able to sense/identify cursed objects. I figure that'd be a good way to get Bell to interact/join up with the party. If everyone's cool with that?)
-
(The majority of the party can sense Magic at least, Calien being a....War Priest I guess can probably tell if something is cursed but there could be some others who can depending on if curse magic vibes are different than magic vibes.
Calien and Sakura can also see things that normally can't be seen like ghosts, objects hidden by magic and the like while illusions can't affect them for that same reason. Sakura can turn it on and off but Calien has it on all the time since Sakura is half human and he's not. Within story context nobody knows what race Calien is but he has pointy ears and red ears so some people mistake him for an elf or demon while Sakura is mistaken as an elf or half elf.)
-
(Ah, I see. Well, Leo's sword IS cursed, though she's sealed inside the sword during the day. It works for the plot, either way.
Thanks for clearing that up for me. :) )
-
"It's likely our best bet for now," Fxeni replied to Aya, fighting off the headache he had awoken with. "I'll be in my element with the wind, at least. Hopefully by our return we'll have some more information about the potential location of the others."
-
"Are you two feeling better?" Pema looked at Florence and Fxeni with a worried expression.
-
"I'll be fine, I've had worse than this before..." Fxeni answered, giving a small smile to Pema.
-
"I think I'll go get that Tea and some bananas, Florence you can have my chair. I'll get another when I get back." Calien said as he got up to get his tea pot.
-
With a sigh of relief, Pema smiled back at Fxeni. "Okay, that's good."
Salem noticed that she began twirling her hair as she continued to look at him. He chuckled a bit. "You're staring again." He muttered.
"W-water!" Pema stammered out suddenly. "Boy, I'm thirsty!" She grabbed the glass in front of her and started to chug down the water, her cheeks slightly flushed.
-
(Dawww Pema. :3
I guess with the next destination being a windy area... I guess I'll start throwing stuff at you all again. 8D)
-
((I'll send you a PM soonish regarding the location Wily 8D))
-
(Things go BOOM tiem! 8D)
-
(Things go BOOM tiem! 8D)
(Lots of booom!)
-
Shifting over into the offered chair, she waved at Calien in appreciation. "Anyway... Dwarves. Good traders. Dealt with 'em before." She ran her gloved hand through her short hair trying to will away the headache. "Ugh. Usually I'm more... Ar... Arti- I can talk better. Between the bein' drunk las' night and bein' hungover today I'm kinda outta it..."
-
"We'll need to get some non-perishable food stuffs-water and whatever medical supplies we can carry-there is also a stable on the outside of the city-perhaps we can rent a carriage." Aya sipped her tea and stretched her wings lightly.
-
With her hands shoved in her lap and a blush on her face, Caetlynn glared over at Florence in irritation. "May I ask you don't do that again? You know, lest you wake up with an eldritch critter of sorts in your bed attempting to cure your future hangovers."
Turning her attention to the group, she started, "So, if the shard is there, what kind of resistance do you think we'll be getting? You all seem to be a..." She looked around the table briefly, before continuing, "...rather well-armed troupe, so I'm assuming we've had our difficulties before."
-
"Well... it's hard to say for sure. Magical constructs are highly likely though," Fxeni answers, thinking back to the Masters they've fought. "The temples tend to have plenty of magical defenses as well."
-
(I'm officially stepping out of this, everyone. Made some rather radical changes to certain backstories, and I've also trimmed my character roster considerably. Bell's no longer a part of it, though she still exists in the expanded universe. Since she never officially joined the group here anyway, no loss to anyone, right?
I'm happy to just watch and see where this goes for now. If anyone wants me to get back into this later, I should be able to work something out, but I figure it's easier on everyone currently involved if I remove myself and my characters from the goings on while I get my new headcanon together.
Thanks for putting up with me. 8) )
-
"Not sure if we'll find some temple or the shard lying in the dirt-I'm not sure if I know this location to be honest-this map doesn't match the ones from my time, the world has shifted a fair deal since the time of the empire after all. Maybe the dwarves there will be willing to gives a heads up of the area?" Aya shrugs leaning on her elbows. "I'd expect the shard to create some disturbances though."
-
"I think it's fair to assume Alberto will send some goons after the shard, again." Sakura mentioned.
-
As if on cue, Albertus sneezed in his research lab on Pandora.
"Muzt haf been a draft..."
-
"I think it's fair to assume Alberto will send some goons after the shard, again." Sakura mentioned.
*Aya sighs lightly* "Knowing our luck I'd imagine so-I suppose we should leave sooner rather than later."
As if on cue, Albertus sneezed in his research lab on Pandora.
"Muzt haf been a draft..."
((Ha! XD ))
-
(So, um....having reworked some of my characters, Im'ma just throw this out there...
Is there any conceivable way I could rejoin this?)
-
(Yeah we haven't actually moved yet so it should be fine.)
-
(Mm.
That makes sense, but I'll wait for Blue's permission before I attempt anything. If adding another character (pair of characters?) to this would make things too hard to keep together, I'll hold off.)
-
(Send me a PM of the character and their story, I need to see what you want to do before I decide if I can handle another character.)
-
(Will do. Might be a little while, though, I'm juggling some other writing stuff at the minute, and I'd like to wrap that up first so I don't get my canons confused.
In the meantime, I'll binge-read this to get caught up on everything and work out which of my characters'd be a decent fit if things go well. I did see the "anything works in this world, better with a fantasy twist" post on the 1st page of the thread, so that helps.
Hmmm.....actually, if it helps, I can drop a brief summary/list of the characters that COULD work in this RP? If there's a particular one that everyone who's already participating thinks would work, I can tweak their stories to fit this 'verse.)
-
In the meantime, I'll binge-read this to get caught up on everything and work out which of my characters'd be a decent fit if things go well. I did see the "anything works in this world, better with a fantasy twist" post on the 1st page of the thread, so that helps.
Hmmm.....actually, if it helps, I can drop a brief summary/list of the characters that COULD work in this RP? If there's a particular one that everyone who's already participating thinks would work, I can tweak their stories to fit this 'verse.)
(Honestly at this point if I were to let a new player in they would need a simple story-not have a butt load of NPCS behind their character and would have to respect the lore of this world.)
-
In the meantime, I'll binge-read this to get caught up on everything and work out which of my characters'd be a decent fit if things go well. I did see the "anything works in this world, better with a fantasy twist" post on the 1st page of the thread, so that helps.
(Wait, you're going to read the entire topic?)
-
(Honestly at this point if I were to let a new player in they would need a simple story-not have a butt load of NPCS behind their character and would have to respect the lore of this world.)
(I can do simple. I meant "tweak" in as much as I trim off some of the extended backstories so they're not constantly referencing it.)
(Wait, you're going to read the entire topic?)
(Well, yeah. Don't wanna feel like I'm wasting everyone's time if I do end up participating. I've got no personal or work obligations for at least another week, and it's not like I have much else to do with my spare time besides write.)
-
(I mean I gotta be honest you went overboard a bit there Xhai. You can have a multi-layered backstory to your character without having to create a ton of characters. Just look at what I did with Florence. I made named characters part of her history but decided to delve into their personal stories through exposition, not by creating separate profiles for them. The same will apply to Ammy.)
-
(That's why he's limiting himself to 2 per RP at max, the others will be cameos/minor characters as far as Wilypocalypse is concerned while most likely non existent here. He already has a confirmed main for Wilypocalypse, he just has to make the profile.)
-
(That's definitely a good path to take. It's too much to remember all at once and characterization suffers if they get too much detail too early on.)
Florence coughed. "Uh, who's Alberto?" She asked as she leaned forward on the table, wondering where the hell that tea was.
-
(I mean I gotta be honest you went overboard a bit there Xhai. You can have a multi-layered backstory to your character without having to create a ton of characters. Just look at what I did with Florence. I made named characters part of her history but decided to delve into their personal stories through exposition, not by creating separate profiles for them. The same will apply to Ammy.)
(You've got a good point. I intended all of my characters to work as stand-alone as I was coming up with them, but if I could see a way of tying their backstories together, I went with it. I have used unnamed "NPC" characters in one or two profiles already, but if I'm going on my characters as a group, I'd always intended there to be a kind of family dynamic between them. I get what you're saying, though.)
(That's why he's limiting himself to 2 per RP at max, the others will be cameos/minor characters as far as Wilypocalypse is concerned while most likely non existent here. He already has a confirmed main for Wilypocalypse, he just has to make the profile.)
(Yup. WilyPocalypse is probably going to have two characters. The "main" character Sakura is referring to hasn't been introduced in any capacity anywhere yet, and I'm leaning towards Ky as a second, just for the fun I could have playing him off against Asch and Doc's various elite mooks. If I do end up taking part here, I'll try to go with just the one character to keep things as simple as possible. Saden'd be the only exception here, but that's only because story-wise her and Leo pretty much have to come as a pair at this point.)
-
"Some degenerate bastard who's wants inflict major harm and suffering to anyone he can." Calien spoke with heavy venom as he brought some tea along with some bread, honey, bananas, eggs and tomatoes procured by him, Sakura, and Grak. He tried to restrain himself from revealing other major details for now until he was absolutely sure he could trust the newcomers.
"By the way his name is actually Albertus but we just call him Alberto as a form of insult." Sakura mentioned as she snagged some bread for herself.
"Someone like him doesn't deserve to have the respect of being called by their proper name." Calien sighed as he started to pour out the tea.
-
Albertus sneezed multiple times, almost causing himself to trip over.
"Vhat iz happening... Guezz I need to cloze ze windowz..."
(Yes, I'm turning it into a running gag. :P)
-
"Aruberuto...." Toshi uttered, as if trying to mix Alberto in her moonspeak, while stirring her drink.
"Hey, shouldn't we tell her about Mar too?" Grifter said, knowing that he can't be heard or seen by Florence. Strangely Toshi merely shook her head, in response. "Still don't trust her huh?" he added, as Toshi remained silent, sipping her glass.
-
Florence let loose a chuckle at the 'insult' part. She nodded in thanks to Calien. "Assholes who hurt innocen' men for their own gain are the wors'." She said, realizing the irony of her words. Figured she may as well play off some form of good morality in front of this group. They... Could be useful. Traveling with a party could bring her closer to her targets and upon further (and actually sober) deliberation, merchants such as the dwarves could attract thieves... Both herself and those others she was a bit more curious about.
"Well, I fancy myself pretty alright at gougin' information outta people. If those dwarves aren't all that cooperative, maybe I should tag along? Like I said, I've dealt with 'em before." She sipped at the tea and then examined it, deeming it not all that bad. Her hangover was already starting to subside, notably with her speech being slurred a bit less.
-
(This is just a set-up post to make a later introduction work better. I've already cleared this with Blue, so....)
Unmapped Landmass, Location Unknown
The library door creaked open, and a young man with two-toned hair quickly strode through, kneeling in front of the wizened priest seated at a table at the far end of the room.
"You wished to speak with me, Elder Vision?"
The Elder regarded the man with a warm, almost fatherly expression. "Indeed I did, young Xhai. It would appear the time has come for you to earn your wings at last."
Xhai's eyebrows rose in surprise, and he couldn't help raising his head slightly to try and get a glimpse of the Elder's face. "Really?"
The Elder chuckled at the barely-concealed eagerness in Xhai's tone. "Yes, really. I trust you are aware of the distortions in reality that have been occuring with alarming regularity in recent times?"
Xhai nodded. "Yes, Elder. The other Aspects speak of little else at mealtimes."
The Elder gave a grunt of something akin to disapproval before continuing. "I see. Regardless, we believe we have a rough location for the source of these distortions. They appear to be emanating from somewhere on the mainland. I have spoken with the other Visions, and we have reached the consensus that one of our young Aspects should be given the task of resolving this issue."
This time, Xhai could not keep the surprise from his voice. "Me? I am honoured to be selected for such a task.....but.....I do not know if I am ready for this...."
The Elder's tone was warm, but reproachful. "You think too little of yourself, Xhai. You are young, and still learning the ways of the Aspect, true. But you have great potential, and this will serve to grant you the experience you need to truly realise your talent, of this I am certain. So, Aspect Xhai, your mission is as follows: Travel to the mainland, locate the source of these disturbances, and do whatever you must to silence their threat for good. Do you understand?"
Xhai's head lowered again in a respectful nod. "I understand Elder. I accept this task and swear to dedicate everything I am to ensuring its completion."
The Elder responded with a warm smile. "Well spoken, young hunter. Rest up tonight. One of our Warbirds will take you to the mainland in the morning. I have no doubt that when you return you will have many new stories to share with us." Clasping a fist over his heart, the Elder recited the first part of the Falcon's Creed "May your wings beat strong...."
Mirroring his action, Xhai finished it "....and your talons strike true. Please excuse me, Elder. I must prepare for my journey." Rising, he again gave a respectful bow to the Elder before turning on his heel and striding from the room, eyes glittering with newfound determination.
-
((I like it-the other landmasses have little to no lore so always welcome to see some stuff made up for them. :) ))
-
(I'm glad you approve. Hopefully everyone else does, too.)
-
(I like the idea of other cultures being brought in helps the world feel more like a lived in place. :) )
-
(And so it begins... And I see this is the route taken... Good... Good... [eyebrow])
-
(Ominous!)
-
(Oh hell, I just realised something.
In very broad terms, Xhai's a falcon and Toshi's a rabbit. That can't end well for anyone involved.....)
-
(Emergency food supply?)
-
(Mmm.....Xhai's still pretty much human, mindset-wise, so I don't think he'd ever actually attempt anything like that. Still gonna make for pre-tty damn awkward interactions, though. XD )
-
(Oh hell, I just realised something.
In very broad terms, Xhai's a falcon and Toshi's a rabbit. That can't end well for anyone involved.....)
(I see where that's going. However, in terms of who's the prey here, it could go either way.)
-
(I see where that's going. However, in terms of who's the prey here, it could go either way.)
(Makes for an interesting dynamic though, eh?)
-
(Assuming he doesn't end up frost bitten, if the scales turn in Toshi's favor.)
-
(Alright, let's see if I can push this little plotline/intro thing along a little....)
Unmapped Landmass, Location Unknown
Xhai fastened the traveller's cloak around his neck as he climbed the stairs to the Aviary. The Elder had told him that he'd be using a Warbird to travel to the mainland, but hadn't said much else. Xhai figured he'd have to choose one himself.
Stopping just short of the doors to the Warbird's roosts, he did a quick spot check to make sure everything he needed was present. Most of his preparations last night involved finding clothes that wouldn't look too out of place outside the temple. A simple black shirt, a pair of dark brown leather slacks and a pair of traveller's boots with steel plates over the shins had seemed like enough. He'd bandaged his hands and forearms to hide the scars he'd given himself when he'd started to learn the art of crafting a wind-blade, and he'd picked the hooded cloak almost as an afterthought. He'd no intention of trying to hide who or what he was, but it seemed like a good idea to have something that could hide his eyes in a crowded place. He'd heard stories from some of the other warriors that eyes like his weren't exactly common in the outside world, and he'd rather avoid awkward questions if he could help it.
Satisfied that everything was in order, he pushed the doors open and was surprised to find one of the larger hawks already saddled up and ready to go. He approached it slowly, and gently rested a hand against its neck. The hawk leant in at the touch, seemingly happy with the attention. Turning his head to stare out across the sea of clouds that dominated the open section of the room, he could barely keep himself from jumping with shock when a pair of hands clapped themselves over his eyes from somewhere behind him.
"Guess who~....!"
He couldn't help the amused snort that escaped him at the childish tone his "assailant" used. "Only you would do something like that, Maia."
She let him go, and he turned around to speak to her properly. It looked like she hadn't been awake long, her vibrant red hair was ruffled and missing the beads and feathers she normally worked into it, and her tunic was crumpled and coming loose at the belt. Stifling a yawn, she grinned at him, wings flapping in excitement. "I know, but you're the only one that still lets me get away with it, Xhai."
He laughed. "True, but then I never could say no to you, could I? Even as little kids I couldn't do anything BUT follow your lead." He fell silent for a moment, a smile on his face as the pair reminisced. "What're you doing here, anyway? You're not normally awake so early."
She shot him another grin. "One of the older warriors told me the Elder had finally given you a task. When he said you'd need a Warbird, I thought I'd do you a favour and get one ready for you. You have the worst taste in mounts, you know! I can't think of any other warrior who'd be happy to ride into battle on a pigeon, of all things."
He tilted his head, an expression of genuine curiosity on his face. "And what, exactly, is wrong with the pigeons? They're as capable a mount as any other."
Maia stuck her tongue out at him. "Nothing bad, I guess. They're fine for novices who just want to fly, but they're not particularly intimidating. Could you picture Lucius riding one?" Laughing at his defeated shrug, she calmed herself and adopted a more serious expression. "Really, though, promise me you'll be careful, alright? I know you've always been fascinated by stories of the world outside the Temple, but second-hand knowledge isn't the same as actually experiencing something." She studied him for a second. "You're not carrying any provisions or weapons?"
Xhai shrugged. "I don't wanna carry a bag full of gold around with me when I can scavenge what I need from the environment. Did you forget the survival training we did in the forests? Lucius said I had a knack for hunting."
She shot him a flat look. "He also said you were the only one dumb enough to sleep in the treetops when we had perfectly good sleeping bags available."
Another shrug. "Eh. Just means I won't need to worry about finding accomodation. If I can rough it here when better options are available, I'll be fine roughing it when better options aren't available, right?"
The hawk next to him gave an impatient cry, and his cheeks coloured with embarassment. "Well, seems he's getting cranky from all the waiting, so....." With practised ease, he hopped up onto the hawk's back and positioned himself as comfortably as he could in the saddle. He had no idea how long the flight would take, but he wanted to be able to nap without the risk of falling off mid-flight. Turning his attention back to his friend, he gave a jaunty salute. "Well, I'm off. See you when I get back from saving the world."
Maia nodded. "Yup! And when you DO get back, and you've finally got your wings, maybe we can go flying together....?"
He responded with a warm smile. "I'd like that."
He nudged the hawk with his foot, and it started moving towards the exit, wings already in motion in preparation for the flight. With a final wave to Maia, Xhai shifted his attention back to the open air in front of him, mind already running through his plans following his arrival on the mainland.
Maia watched the hawk as it disappeared over the horizon.
You'd better come back safe, Xhai. I can't shake the feeling that bad things are about to happen.....
-
(( Nice-i'll try to update here tomorrow too if I feel well enough to post. X( ))
-
(Hey, there's no rush. Hope you're feeling better soon. :) )
-
The party joined by the newcomers finally set out into the city to finalize their preparation. They gather the needed foodstuffs and water and with the help of the town guard gather cart with a roof and a sturdy horse to get them to Siren's Call.
By midday they had made for the road-the trip was for the most part uneventful a few carts and passers by. The carriage is larger enough for three of them to be inside the small room on the back of the carriage two at the front and the rest on foot-taking turns help rest feet. They get about half way to their destination by nightfall and Aya currently sitting on the side next to the driver stretches her wings slightly stiff from the journey.
"It's getting dark-should we camp for the night?" she recommends slightly excited to stop and stretch.
-
"I'm not against the idea," Fxeni replies, his legs a tad stiff. "Let's stop here."
-
Aya hops off the side stretching allowing her wing span to extend fully before she unhooked the tent packs off the side of the cart. placing them down by the wheels she looks around for a decent open spot to start a fire-noticing a few rocks she begins to move them to make a decent set of seats. "Two should be able to fit inside the cart-rest of us will need to sleep in the tents I think." Aya comments as she preps the area for a fire on a sandy spot. "Who wants to get some wood?"
-
"I can go do that." Calien replied as Sakura got out of the cart to help Aya set up camp.
-
Aya pointed Sakura to a dry spot-perfect for building a campfire on, she arranged some stones around the area and proceeded to move the larger ones with her help to make some seats. "Hopefully this weather holds out for the rest of our trip." Aya smiles to Sakura before turning to reach in the cart and pull out some food and water bags for dinner.
-
"I hope so too, but Mother Nature can be a tricky mistress." Sakura replied.
-
(Don't tempt me! 8D Nah, you'll have your fun later. [eyebrow])
-
"Looks pretty clear to me." Aya glances up at the sunset.
(XD)
-
(... That's it. XD)
A gentle breeze blew across the campsite, providing a tiny bit of comfort from all that trekking earlier.
(And that's it. 8D)
-
(an evil breeze)
-
(Shhhhhhhhhhh it's gentle! >0<)
-
(Evil can be gentle. Sometimes.
Um, I was gonna leave the timing of Xhai's intro up to everyone else, if that's cool? If someone spots his Warbird flying overhead at some point, that'll work. Or I can have him do his own thing for a while and meet up with the group through sheer coincidence. Whichever's easiest for you guys. :) )
-
Florence yawned as she leaned up against the cart. "I'd chip in with the wood, but heavy lifting is... Not my... Thing." Clearly she had gotten over her hangover, since she was not speaking in complete, proper sentences. Stretching her arms, she scanned for the tallest tree in the immediate area, and started clambering up the branches. "I'll try and get us a vantage point, scout out for wildlife, water sources, the like. I'll help you two when I finish." She gestured to Aya and Sakura.
(Alternatively she can spot the warbird if you want to jump in Xhai.)
-
(Alternatively she can spot the warbird if you want to jump in Xhai.)
(That could work. You sure you want me in so soon, though?)
-
(Up to you. I can either spot the warbird or she can go about her business since this is a bid to gain the trust of the group anyway. What I do next is your call. :3)
-
(Ok, we'll go with that, then. First, though.....)
Skies above the Mainland, above the clouds
Xhai was woken from his nap by a soft warble from his mount. Blinking the last of the sleep from his eyes, he shot a glance up at the silvery moon hanging above them.
"It's night-time? I guess taking a break would be a good idea. If this IS the mainland, then I don't wanna be wanderng around in the dark." - He blinked - "And my friend could probably use a nap, too...."
Leaning forward, he gently patted the back of the hawk's neck. "Take us down, OK? Let's look for a safe place to sleep tonight. You're probably exhausted, huh?"
The hawk responded with a sharp cry, and tucked its wings in, dropping through the cloud layer like a stone and levelling off just above the tree tops that had appeared beneath them.
(Bleh. Probably coulda written that better, but....)
-
Florence yawned as she leaned up against the cart. "I'd chip in with the wood, but heavy lifting is... Not my... Thing." Clearly she had gotten over her hangover, since she was not speaking in complete, proper sentences. Stretching her arms, she scanned for the tallest tree in the immediate area, and started clambering up the branches. "I'll try and get us a vantage point, scout out for wildlife, water sources, the like. I'll help you two when I finish." She gestured to Aya and Sakura.
"Leave the water to me." Toshi chimed in, "I can use my jutsu to gather up any underground water, if we need any. And be sure to keep a look out for any suspicious activity. We don't know if Alberto is plotting an attack, while we're asleep." she added, as went off with a buncha flasks, to fill with water.
-
Half an hour of work finally produces a rather comfy fire pit and with a little of the kindling Aya manages to get a fire going-they will need further wood to make it larger but for now it'll do to keep them all warm for the night, Aya then begins spreading out the two tents keeping them away from the fire but close enough to make things convenient-soon they have some shelter with a few bedrolls inside.
"I'd imagine we'll reach Siren's Call by late evening tomorrow if we manage to keep up the pace." Aya says to Sakura.
-
Having helped set up as promised, Florence decided to once more make her way up the tree and scout. With the sun setting, she felt herself growing more alert and restless. Nighttime was when she went to work, after all. Lounging on a thick branch, she watched the sunset until she noticed movement in the distance. It looked like... A person on some sort of flying mount? Was she losing her mind? She hadn't seen anything like that before. She couldn't tell how far away it was. Depth perception wasn't really her strong suite either. Contemplating telling the others, she decided to creep deeper into the thicker, leafier branches in order to watch it.
-
In a more lush area of foliage, using the dousing rods she brought with; Toshi formed the necessary hand seals for her jutsu.
"Suiton: Suiten Hōfutsu"
Water began to be extracted from beneath the soil; then using her water bending techniques, started filling up everyones flasks. In no time, she was able to walk back to camp with everyones flasks, and water bottles full.
Although, she feels safe; she can't seem to shake the uneasiness that someone's following her. However, it doesn't feel like the same presents of those who still stalked her, recently.
-
The hawk continued to slowly descend, eventually landing in a small clearing surrounded by trees. Xhai dismounted with practised ease and bowed respectfully to it.
"Thank you for your assistance."
The hawk responded with a sharp cry before taking to the air again - surprising Xhai, who had expected it to want to sleep for a while - and shot off in the direction it had come from, obviously intent on returning home. That the residents of a nearby city would discover the mutilated and partially eaten bodies of several cows the following morning was completely unrelated. -_-
With an amused snort, Xhai pulled the hood of his cloak up, covering the top half of his face in thick shadows despite the lack of any real light to begin with, and took a look around the clearing in an attempt to get his bearings.
We flew east to get here, so that means north is.....that way.
Nodding to himself, he then turned his attention to more pressing matters.
This seems like a good place to bed down for the night.....but....I'm not sleepy. Huh. Guess now's as good a time as any to get some practice in, then.
He stared intently at his hands for a brief moment, and finally a pair of shimmering domes appeared around them, their shape slowly changing and growing sharper before finally settling. With a smirk of satisfaction, he began moving through the forms he'd been taught back at the Temple.....
(If it makes things easier to picture, Xhai's air-powers, be it the blades or one of his "bubbles", can be identified by a disortion in the air where they're present. Think of a cloaked Predator (http://i.livescience.com/images/i/000/027/213/i02/invisibility-cloak-predator.jpg?1337145274), and you're not far off.
Also, I done goofed. I did some basic research when I was designing Xhai and his backstory, but it turns out that Peregrine Falcons mostly eat other birds. Probably gonna hafta retcon that into something else sometime soon. '>.> )
-
Some ways away, the thief watched the figure descend into the sea of trees beyond her and she sneered. There was no way that was just an animal. In an instant, she had made her way back to the ground. "Hello all." She announced to the others reminding them she was still there. "Whenever the lot of you are ready to call it a night, I'll take watch. I fancy myself more of a night owl as it is."
(Also, I never really made this clear, but Florence speaks in something of a cockney accent, just a little better articulated. Y'know, provided she's not drunk. Just to help the lines flow a bit better. I decided to kind of keep the language clean for the same of readability but if you'd rather I can type things out more realistically.)
-
(Would that include the use of rhyming slang? It's rare to see anyone with a cockney accent in anything outside of English TV these days, so it's refreshing to see! 8)
Also, research done, and Im'ma go back and edit anything that might indicate otherwise in a moment. Xhai's an Osprey now. Not a falcon. That's my final decision, and I'm stickin' to it.)
-
(I contemplated the slang haha but it's really just too foreign to me and honestly a lot of the references aren't really appropriate in an alternate universe.)
-
(Hah, fair enough.
I never really thought about any of my characters having accents, 'cept for Saden. Maybe I should look into that....)
-
"Thank you, Florence, but I think Pema has already called it a night..." Salem exclaimed as he glanced at her.
Pema didn't even make it inside the tent and passed out on the grass with disheveled clothing, a blanket haphazardly resting on her legs and one hand scratching her belly as she softly mumbled in her sleep.
"Perhaps someone should carry the world's littlest sleepyhead inside?" He said with a chuckle.
-
Florence rubbed her temples. She was getting a headache, and she felt like she was forgetting something... Important that she saw recently. She sighed. "Alright little one, time for bed." She strode forward and gingerly picked up the child. She turned to the talking staff. "Long as I don't have to sing 'er a song, right?" She spoke quietly with a grin. Moving to the tent, she leaned in and carefully tucked the child inside a bedroll. Finally, she moved away and leaned next to Salem. "Little one like that deserves the luxury. Us, we're fine on the grass. What do 'ya think, mate?"
-
(The mental image of Pema snuggled inside a bedroll is giving me diabetes)
Salem chuckled at Florence's remark. "Ahaha, yeah, though sometimes I wonder if that luxury goes to her head. She certainly eats a feast fit for a King... or Kingdom."
He floated away from the tent. "Of course, I do not require sleep, so I can keep watch with you."
-
Night quickly fell on the camp luckily getting the tents and fire going is done long before that becomes an issue. Aya sits on one of the stones and stares into the flames-considering what they will encounter at Siren's Cry.
"My friends back then-we used to tell stories around the campfire when we weren't using an airship-I'm assuming that hasn't changed after all these years?" Aya asks to no one in particular.
-
It's a full moon out, and returning back to camp, Toshi drops off her load. Noticing Aya on her lonesome, she felt the need to talk with her; if not for the sudden stinging pain hitting her left back shoulder.
"D-damn it! Not now." she grunted, gripping tightly against her shoulder, trying to hide what appears to be a crescent shaped mark, causing some pinkish ooze to flow out. Eventually the pain stopped, and she got back on her feet.
She gave a small glance at the moon, "Hmm... looks like that talk will have to wait. A pity I can't stay out in this moonlight." she mumbled to herself, as she made way for her tent, to sleep off the pain.
-
The thief cracked a half-smile at Salem. "I wager the girlie goes through food like I go through drink." Easing up, she stared at the empty sky. "Appreciate it, aaah, Salem aye?" It was then that one of the other travelers sat down, speaking of campfire stories. Florence had a laugh at this."It'll take a little bit more ale to get me in a story-tellin' mood." She watched another one of her companions gripping her shoulder, sneaking along to a tent. Her eye narrowed, but she paid it more mind. Everyone has their secrets.
-
It's a full moon out, and returning back to camp, Toshi drops off her load. Noticing Aya on her lonesome, she felt the need to talk with her; if not for the sudden stinging pain hitting her left back shoulder.
"D-damn it! Not now." she grunted, gripping tightly against her shoulder, trying to hide what appears to be a crescent shaped mark, causing some pinkish ooze to flow out. Eventually the pain stopped, and she got back on her feet.
She gave a small glance at the moon, "Hmm... looks like that talk will have to wait. A pity I can't stay out in this moonlight." she mumbled to herself, as she made way for her tent, to sleep off the pain.
"Is everything okay Toshi?" Aya tilts her head in concern
-
Inside Toshi's tent.
"Ninpo: Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Toshi performed her summoning jutsu quietly. In a puff of smoke Riyalie was summoned.
"Hmm... what's the matter now, Toshi?" she grumbled, as she stretched out a bit, "Isn't it a bit late too..." before she could finish, Toshi was exposing the crescent marking on her shoulder.
"How bad is it?" Toshi asked.
"Oh, man. How long have you been in the moonlight?" Riyalie replied with concern, looking at the pink ooze slowly encroaching Toshi's shoulder from the mark, outwards.
"I don't know. Just tell me how bad it is already?" Toshi asked impatiently.
"Right now, you're going to need to cover that up. This tent isn't helping to block out the moon. You're going to have to cover that shoulder up until dawn." Riyalie replied, as she went through Toshi's belongings, to take out a winter coat for her. "No use going out and getting that thing any worse than it is." she added.
"Right." Toshi said taking the thick coat from Riyalie to make sure the mark isn't exposed to the moonlight. Making her way into her bedroll. "Oh, and keep an I eye out. I don't want any unwanted trespassers." Toshi instructed.
"No problem, ma'am." Riyalie smiled.
"And please, try to behave, okay?" Toshi plead, as Riyalie nodded.
(For those who aren't familiar with Riyalie's physical appearance; she's an anthropomorphic Persian {pokémon}, wielding a whirlygig saw for a weapon. She acts as one of Toshi's familiars when summoned.)
-
(Did we want anything happening that night at camp or shall I push on?)
-
(I vote we push on.)
-
(Push on.)
-
(p-push on, s-senpai~~)
-
After several long days of travel the party begin to notice the mountain slowly come into view, it's not long before they find themselves at the base of "Siren's Call" the howling of the wind through the oddly shaped rock formations do give the distinctive sound of "singing" suddenly the name makes sense.
As they weave through the paths at the base they begin to notice a guard post. "Halt!" the one spear wielding guard calls raising his free hand-he appears to be equipped with common leather armor. Obviously not a high paid worker here. "State thy business." he says again.
-
(Soon... [eyebrow])
-
Salem floated forward. "We're here to speak with the Dwarven mining group. We wish to enter their mines in search for a shard."
-
*The guard raised an eyebrow at the talking--broom?" "You'll have to to be more specific than that---uhh sir? Their are many shards within these mines, we also don't make a habit of letting in random strangers into our operations."
-
"Oh, yes, perhaps I should elaborate." Salem conceded. "You see, we're on a journey to collect all the missing shards of the Omni Gem, and stablize the rifts that have appeared."
-
"Oh, yes, perhaps I should elaborate." Salem conceded. "You see, we're on a journey to collect all the missing shards of the Omni Gem, and stablize the rifts that have appeared."
The guard blinks-and looks to his partner on the tower as if he's not sure what to make of the explanation. "You-mentioned rifts? Hmm one moment I will call the commander. Wait here." the guard turns and heads into the work yard toward one of the larger wooden buildings.
Aya turns her head to the others "Hm-he may not know what you were talking about but the rifts must have opened up in this area already-this might work out after all." she smiles crossing her arms.
Soon the guard returns with another woman following, she is rather tall in part to what seems to be an orcish decent-although her skin is paler implying she may only be half so. "My name is commander Yotul-I am in charge of all security here, I've been told you have come to seek a shard of some sort? Normally we would not permit outsiders on our premises especially ones seeking ore from our own mines-however Ive been told you have some information concerning these rifts?" She motions to her guards and they begin to open the gates allowing entry.
"Now let me make myself clear-any funny business and I'll have you all thrown out-that being said perhaps we can come to an arrangement if you do indeed have information on these rifts-come we'll speak inside my office." Yotul leads the party into the main building-plenty of gaurds and miners go too and fro most seem on edge likely thanks to the recent rifts. Soon they enter her office and she offers them seats although there aren't enough for everyone.
"Alright-tell me what you know, and about this "Omni-Gem". She sits behind her desk and leans on her hands eyes squinted.