Topic: The Mana-Verse

[Sakura Leic]

(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? )

[Phi]

(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? )

(I want to see this. )

[Sakura Leic]

(I know right? )

[Fxeni]

(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..."

[Sakura Leic]

"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?"

[Fxeni]

"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.

[Sakura Leic]

"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.

[Blue Valkyrie]

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.

[Amatiramisu]

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..."

[Sakura Leic]

"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.

[Strider Xhaiden]

(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?)

[Sakura Leic]

(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.)

[Strider Xhaiden]

(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.  )

[Fxeni]

"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."

[Phi]

"Are you two feeling better?" Pema looked at Florence and Fxeni with a worried expression.

[Fxeni]

"I'll be fine, I've had worse than this before..." Fxeni answered, giving a small smile to Pema.

[Sakura Leic]

"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.

[Phi]

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.

[Dr. Wily II]

(Dawww Pema.

I guess with the next destination being a windy area... I guess I'll start throwing stuff at you all again. )

[Blue Valkyrie]

((I'll send you a PM soonish regarding the location Wily  ))

[Dr. Wily II]

(Things go BOOM tiem! )

[Blue Valkyrie]

(Things go BOOM tiem! )

(Lots of booom!)

[Amatiramisu]

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..."

[Blue Valkyrie]

"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.

[Suppercut ♡]

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."