The Wastelands

[Grape_Drink]

((Alright, think I got everything, if I forgot anything/anyone just mention so in the OOC or send me a PM))

Yellow is Ruby, Blue is Shura/Elenwe/Marjory, Brown is Darius, and Red is everyone else.

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Dana

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

After Ethan's talk, you notice the old man hobbling off to somewhere without paying the creature any mind, a man in dark cloth heading in a similar direction, though the two don't seem to be following each other.

"Room for one more at this kalimari buffet?"

The soldier looks at you incredulously before seeming to remember you're a mercenary, shaking his head.

"This thing is a greater devilspawn- Our arrows are only pissing it off... Do you see that roof over there?" He points towards what you can only guess is the town hall. "There's a ballista up there. Got the ammunition blessed just the other day... If you've got even a lick of practice aiming, get up there and fire at it! Every second we waste is a second that thing has to grab hold of another passenger or crewman!"

Triana ((Or is it Tirana? Sorry, just using the name listed on your bio >.<))

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

GM Roll; Concentration- 16 - 1 (spiritually overwhelmed) = 15.
GM Roll; Perception- 5

You lie there motionless, holding onto a piece of wood that tore from the ship as a means to keep you afloat as the cool murky water slowly pulls you towards the docks, a set of "stairs" for small rowboats will likely serve well for getting out of this mess in a few minutes... The captain most certainly should be giving a rats ass. As you look back, you notice that one of the tentacles is wrapped around him as he desperately tries to cut it off. You call to the spirits, and feel their presence as it takes quite a bit of your energy to draw them out from the spirit realm enough to complete this task, but nonetheless you manage as you watch pieces of blessed wood begin to make its way out to the deeper sea in preparation to launch at the beast. You were right, and if the crewmen had just listened to you...

You watch as the blonde haired elf girl next to you casts a spell, her skin seeming to blend in with the surroundings as she begins to slowly swim forward only to seemingly stop out of nowhere a few meters ahead just short of the docks...

It's then that what at first felt like seaweed surfaces from the water over your back- the translucent coloration and thickness... That's no seaweed... It coils over your form, seeming to sift around your robes and under you as it trails across your neck, your chest... It lightly trails over the vines covering you, beginning to shift them out of the way. It passes ever so lightly underneath towards more sensitive regions before quickly recoiling across your stomach, closer to your thighs... You aren't truly sure if the beast is toying with you, or if it's trying to see if you're alive or not... Out of the corner of your eye you catch the pieces of wood in the distance seeming to prepare to launch.

If there's one bright side (as little consolation as it is to you at this moment), it seems that the spirits that were bombarding you with images and thoughts earlier have since stopped. Though given your current predicament that may be just as bad.

Kylie

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

GM Roll; Stealth Swim- 12 - 2 (Greater Devil tracks via multiple senses) = 10

You feel your skin begin to blend into the water as you approach the dock, deciding that getting there as fast as possible is just as bad as sitting in place. Just a little further and-

That's not good.

If only your arms were slightly longer... Your hand is quite literally inches from grasping at the docks as you feel a tendril wrap around your ankle, seeming to have detected you somehow! It begins to slowly snake upwards... You see an Orcish fellow you met earlier walk right by you as he begins to help people out of the waters, your hand still outstretched as you remember you're still under the effect of that spell! Ack! And now greenish blood (or at least that's what one would deduce) is getting on you from the tentacles that are being ripped when the Orc pulls people out of the water! Huh... This blood on your skin is beginning to make you feel funny... This is really not good!

On the bright side, the spirits that were bombarding your thoughts just moments ago are quiet for now...

Alaric

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

GM Roll; Spot- 7 - 1 = 6

You spot a number of people in the waters below as they scramble to get to the docks. With quick thinking (and quicker reflexes) you begin to help lift them out of the water. A few of them have tendrils wrapped around their ankles, but as you pull the tendrils snap off easily enough in a shower of green... Well you hope it's blood. You can't help but notice that as some of the blood sprays against your flesh, you begin to feel a bit warm...

Suddenly you notice some see-through person with flecks of blood on them reaching for the docks. The hell? How did you miss them?

Darius

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Through Krafla's sight you see a number of towers that appear to be abandoned just barely jutting out of the forest canopy, and, more interestingly from so high up, a valley in the mountain ranges, maybe a four or five hour journey from the base of the mountains. The valley itself isn't too interesting, but you notice that a makeshift house big enough to be an inn has been built within, and behind it is what can only be described as the entrance into some sort of ruin- though at your distance it's hard to tell what it may be a ruin of or for whom, deciding it best to bring your raven back for now.

You've uncovered a hidden area!

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You abandon the chaos that's ensuing on the docks, making your way up the steps as you look around. It takes you a bit longer than you would have liked in such a small town as you finally realize that what you thought was an extension to the jailhouse and possibly a barracks turns out to actually be a mercenary guild judging by the dingy sign above the door. As you enter, a small bell rings and a girl who looks to still be in her mid teens plops her head out from some cupboard underneath what you assume to be the "reception" desk. While outside it was horribly chaotic, the moment you step inside you notice that there seems to be an enchantment of some sort that blocks outside noise- the only sound you hear is a clock ticking in the corner.

"Well hiya! I take it you're one of those mercenary fellows, am I right?"

She leans over the counter, hands on her thighs as she grins. It's only now that you get a good look that you notice her hair is sea foam green, she's wearing a rather flowing white robe that covers her well enough and... Are those gills on her neck? Are her teeth incisors like a predatory fish? What the hell!? This thing can't be human! She looks (mostly) human, but humans don't have gills!

Rayle

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

GM Roll; Will Save- 1 Critical Failure ((WTF is with all these low rolls!?))

Your eyes look directly into the yellow of its own... You've felt the presence of demons, even the occasional lower devil, but this thing... This thing is old, and it's powerful... Your mind has never made contact with a beast like this one before... You feel tendrils toss you into the air before gently wrapping around you. They're lifting you above the ship's remnant further as it stares directly into your eyes, the world around you seeming to fade from thought. Blackish red and tendrils fill your vision... Is it... Are your minds meeting through Ravage itself?

You can't help but stare at this beast, monster, devil, master... Yes, that word sounds... Nice. Master... A voice rips through your head like an ocean storm, deep, booming as your heart seems to beat in synchronization with each vibration.

"Hmm... Yes, you have red hair, and a witch too... You must be the one that brother spoke of, my pet..."

You feel its tendrils beginning to work over your skin as your mind screams at you to resist, to break free of this horrid creature. Images flash by of what looks like an average man aside from the horns on his head speaking to this beast, seeming to give it instructions... More images flash by; ruins, instructions on how to get there, an orb deep within, or is it an orb... You aren't entirely sure what it all means, but you definitely could make your way there with how vivid these images are. You see that man again, a crown being placed on his head by a strange green humanoid creature with glowing blue eyes and enormous claws. You see images of-

Oh! That... That's not what you expected your master to be doing. Just a moment ago it was sending thoughts to your head, but now you feel a rather thick appendage wrapping around your chest, lightly flicking over your rose buds as another appendage tickles at your mouth... ((Up to PC whether they accept the invitation or not))

No, no this is wrong. This thing is a greater devil, it's not your master! If you don't stop it, it will, will... You have to break free, your mind screams at you to break free of this... This thing!

But it feels soooo good... Why is master holding you in the air like this? You wouldn't resist... Not him... That beautiful yellow eye stares into your own- All that seems to matter is master and what you're feeling right now... Your face is flushed as (whether you want to admit it or not) this creature's simple touch is getting to you. No, no this thing is not your master and you are not it's pet! What is wrong with you!?

"You resist. Perhaps you are not the one, as I sense another nearby... Hmmmm... It simply means two slaves to handle, my pet..."

You feel a tendril rub lower, snaking underneath your garments as the thick slimy appendage traces circle over your most private of areas... This feeling, this being... You feel your pants being pulled down as you look to see a tendril preparing to make the plunge. Your master, no, this devil chuckling at your futile attempts at resistance as it-

Thunk... Oof!

You feel gravity return as you land on what remains of the ship deck, the monster's voice shrieking in pain through your skull as the connection is cut for now. Looking around, you spot one of the tendrils that had been preparing to enter your body now pinned against the side of the ship, sizzling lightly. Your mind is racing over what just happened as you come to the realization of how far you had lost control of yourself. This... Thing... Was about to enter you! You look back at the docks almost in slow motion as you watch a Dark Elf steady her bow after a successful shot.

As much as you may want to reflect on it (or possibly forget it), your safety may be a more important priority. You're exposed, pants pulled down, more than a bit flushed at the moment, and now you have an angry tentacle-snake-fish-devil-thing right behind you...!

Acharnel

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

GM Roll; Attack- 13 + 3 = 16

Overpriced maps, annoying knights with egos the size of dragons... Today just keeps getting better and better- oh, and to top it off you now have a giant Loranna-only-knows-what monster tearing apart one of the safest ships off this island. Lovely. You take aim, looking for a good target as you notice a few writhing tentacles still in the remnants of the ship- And a red-haired woman who seems to be about to make love to this thing. Sounds like a perfect shot to you!

Your arrow whistles through the air as it makes contact with one of the tentacles quickly approaching the girl. You swear the thing shrieks a bit as you notice the slithery appendage is pinned against the remnants of the ship's wooden frame. By the way it's sizzling, that definitely has to hurt...

Sidra

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

GM Roll; Attack- 15 + 1 + 1 (time to aim)

The Serenithian shrugs as you take off.

You notice a number of people quickly swimming away, and while you can't help them when the tentacles are underwater, the moment they surface you open fire on them. Your bolts fly through the air, making contact with the smaller ones long enough to drop people back into the water as they squirm away. You notice a green fluid blasting out of the wounds caused by your bolts, some of the people hit by it seeming to debate whether they want to come back to the docks or not as they float on the water.

Elspeth

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Completely caught off guard, you watch as the ship is being destroyed!

Everyone at the docks

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

A number of adventurers seem to take it upon themselves to try and kill this thing, pulling out darts, bows, crossbows, even the occasional shuriken. Some just picks up rocks and begin chucking them at this beast. The beast itself seems to be focused on disentangling itself from the ship wreckage that it's forming, and taking as many people as it can with it, wherever it's going... Ser Ethan shouts out over the crowd.

"Move forward! Get those ropes out into the water to pull people in, and stop wasting ammunition! You're only pissing it off more! Those folks further out towards the ship are goners, they'll never make it out of there... Don't bother."

You watch as the Rastanite soldiers (and those sailors not on the ship) begin to tie ropes around building foundations and docking points, tossing them into the water as a number of struggling victims grab hold of them.

"Heave!" They shout, pulling as the waters around the docks begin to turn a sickly green from the small tendrils ripping, each time they pull they're met with just as much resistance, they could use some help...

Some of you notice a red haired priestess of Cara begin to strip as she runs towards the end of the pier, jumping off and into the water towards the beast? Wait a second, some of you recognize her as the Serenithian from the other night! She begins to swim towards the beast, who's eye seems focused on her now.

Meanwhile elsewhere...


Elenwe, Shura, Marjory, and Ruby

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

You had gone like the others to board the ships heading to the Wastelands, but unfortunately they had all departed by the time you got there! Without much luck, you searched for a fisherman or perhaps company to take you there on a private vessel. You did happen to find a new starter company, but the sailors didn't seem trustworthy and the cost was too steep. Thus, you had all but given up hope of finding passage...

Until an apprentice mage approached you.

He had been told by his instructor that he had to present teleportation magic the following day, and you had unwittingly agreed (with some others) to participate in the experiment. He'd teleport you to the island, you'd respond to him through the stone, and all would be well. You remember the Arcane Magics funneling around you, pulling you in as you felt as if you were being turned inside out (minus the pain that such an experience would bring, of course). It was an experience that left you all with an unpleasant feeling in your gut as you blacked out...

Shura

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Your eyes shoot open as you glance about- did the spell work? You seem to be in a forest, and the stone the mage gave you is nowhere to be found. More importantly, you notice a number of large blue butterflies fluttering about peacefully in the trees, almost nonexistent with as little sound as they're making. A human with pointy ears is laying a few feet away with her arms outstretched, one of the butterflies on top of her.

You find yourself spooning around an Elven Huntress, her hair lightly blowing from a late spring breeze as it gets in your face. Your arms wrapped around her chest as you notice an all too familiar feeling lower down given the position you're in...

Elenwe

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Oh that was a good nap... Your eyes slowly begin to flutter open, the world blurry around you as you feel a warmth wrapped around you. The grass underneath is soft like silk, the spirits here calm and soothing as you watch a number of butterflies the size of your torso fluttering about.

It's then that you notice a pressure on your breasts and something poking against your bum, the feel of someone breathing on your neck.

Marjory

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

You begin to feel yourself wake up, your arms stretched out as you notice a giant butterfly sitting on your chest looking down at you. Just a few feet away appears to be lovers spooning as they also begin to stir. The ground beneath you is soft and comfortable, you could almost take a nap here. Your keen senses pick up the sound of buzzing in the far distance...

You also feel a small stone tablet underneath you, depending on your experience with magic, you may be able to deduce it as the stone the apprentice targeted for the long distance teleportation.

Ruby

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Here i am ^^ as i've said before, i would prefer a solo play *-*

((Careful what you wish for!))
GM Roll; Circumstance- 3
GM Roll; Perception- 9 + 1 (rogue) = 10
GM Roll; Memory- 12

Ugh, your head... You slowly begin to wake up- Why did you ever agree to that teleportation spell? Oh right... You didn't have enough money to wait three weeks for another ship...

The lights are dim, you seem to be at the bottom of some ruin as traces of light slip in from holes in the walls and the staircase...

You look around... Where are you? Why are you naked? Wait... That's right...

You remember a group of bandits as the teleportation spell finished, a sap hitting you in the back of the head, consciousness fading as they dragged you off... They brought you before their leader who took one look at you before ordering them to take you out to the forest and kill you- something about people appearing in flashes of light out of nowhere being a bad idea to keep around the camp.

And so you were blindfolded and dragged off elsewhere. You remember cold stone, being lead down a flight of stairs as the smell of feces and wet dog passed by you- You were still a bit disoriented. You remember them taking your supplies, stripping you and searching your clothes before tossing them to the floor with the supplies in a heap after realizing you had little of value to them beyond basic adventuring gear. A voice up above told them to hurry up as they informed you they'd be back later in the evening, the sap hitting you once more as you slipped out of consciousness.

Here you are, your equipment in a heap on the floor right around the corner. You notice they've tossed your sword and clothes into a cage in the distance, what you can only guess to be a rare breed of wolf given its canine features and white fur inside of it looking over the items curiously, seeming to not notice you at the moment. You see a small basin draining and filling with water that seems to flow in from some stream outside. You can only assume it to be a bath, the cool crisp water sparkling, exciting your throat as you remember you haven't drank anything all day.

It's then that you notice your hands are tied in front of you with rope, and an iron shackle has been fastened around your right leg, seeming to stretch far enough for you to reach (and even enter) the bath, but not much further than that... Well shit.

On the bright side, judging by the lack of noise around you and time of day (you assume it's still daytime), your captors won't be returning for a few hours at least.

[Zender_Solarheart]

Welp...the old man from earlier is clearly acting with self-preservation in mind, but she can't really blame him; he lacks the youth that she possesses, and it seems someone else is escorting him to town.

Speaking of town, there's a ballista with sacred bolts at town hall...and it looks like Dana's gonna get some turret action with it. "Sir, yes sir!" she replies, before hoofing it for town hall. This is why she deferred to the soldier's advice; skillful as her swordplay is, its effect on such a beast is rather negligible alone, and while she's no sniper, she figures aiming a ballista can't be that hard. The rank-and-file at castles do it all the time, so why can't she, y'know?

(Heh...squid was always best served speared, if you ask me.)

[[Brand_Name]]

Kylie scrambled to get to the docks but it as to no avail; she was just inches short. Her hands were still free, so she took the opportunity to throw Porkchop from her shoulder onto the safety of the docks just ahead. Well, at least the voices were quiet now so she could concentrate. She knew that Alaric would help her, but only if he knew she was there. "Alaric! It's me! Kylie! Help!" She took one of her swords from its sheath and tried to chop off the tentacle while simultaneously reaching for Alaric with her free hand.

[Argonaut]

Without a ranged weapon of her own, Elspeth simply assisted the sailors pulling various passengers in and out of the beast's reach.

[Phoenixcz]

Remembering what happened to women caught by the monsters back home, Elenwe almost panics when she feels someone or something touching her and breathing on her neck. Thought of mage's betrayal flashes through her mind. Quickly, she reaches for her knife while trying to roll away from the source of that feeling, not caring for all equipment she's having on her.

[berserkerhorn]

Marjory stares at them for a bit longer as she lies there watching the butterfly on her chest. She smiles to herself and then looks around her and notices the two other people there in a spooning position. She gently moves the butterfly with one finger and transfers it to a patch of grass beside her. The hermit told her once to "respect nature and nature will respect you back." She smiles at the butterfly almost hoping nature understood that she was trying to say hello.

She shifts her back as she realizes that she was lying on a stone tablet. She flips around and pushes herself off of the ground. She tries to read what was on the stone if there were any words. She then looks at the other two and tries to pick up the tablet. She thought perhaps she should return it if it was liftable and moves towards the mage to tell him she knew where the stone was

She quickly notices Elenwe and holds the tablet up hoping to defend herself from the woman holding the blade. She remains silent as to not draw any attention to her.

[Nobudi]

Sidra mmediately stopped shooting as soon as she saw that she only seemed to make the situation worse.
Demon ichor was typically either acid or aphrodisiac. Given the nature of the Wastes', she had money put on the latter.
Instead, she tried to help with the retrieval of the people in the water. She was careful not to touch any of the ichor or letting it near her.

[MiscChaos]

A smile plays across Nel's face as her arrow rings through and pins on of the tentacles to a holy ship piece and makes it start sizzling. That she managed to save one of her fellow mercenaries while she was at it is a delicious plus. As icing on top of this cake, she now has a working plan of action: Aim to pin the tentacles to the ship's remnants and let the blessings in it do the rest.

"If you've got the aim, try to pin the tentacles to the ship pieces. It definitely does more damage than simply nailing the thing." She calls out to anyone who will listen then she starts following her own advice and aims for the tentacle nearest a ship piece. Should be fun to see what happens next.

[Reaver]

Towers, forests, valley in mountains, house and ruins. Darius committed each of the landmarks to memory, making a mental note to check for any similar locations on a map. He could hear the fight escalating in the background but it didn't sound interesting enough to give it a second look. He'd hear plenty about the fight from all the mercenaries afterwards, if they all survived. In his opinion fighting the first monster they saw was stupidity. It was probably just a pawn, a way to test everyone's defenses and weaknesses, and Darius didn't want any part in being exploited. The boost in his dark magic had only confirmed what he knew. The Unnamed One and Irilin were active in the Wastelands, to what extent he didn't know. That would be his first priority, let the clueless mercenaries fight their small battles, Darius would win the war without them knowing.

His thoughts carried him across town, finally ending with the ring of the bell as he entered the mercenary guild hall. It seemed a lot quieter in there. Perhaps a mute spell of some kind. It could come in handy if I wanted to leave in the middle of the night or-Whoah! Like before, his train of thought was interrupted, only this time by the receptionist. He was slightly taken back by her appearance but his curiosity quickly got the better of him and he decided to approach the desk.

"Well.... Mercenary is a crude term and doesn't really apply to me. Most of my services aren't for sale and I'm only here to insure the spread of Myn's teachings, the destruction of unholy artifacts and cleanse any tainted ruins. Ser Ethan said the first twenty to get here were to be given free room and boarding. I'd like to collect on that but right now I'm more interested in you. Your gills and hair give you such a lovely complexion and I was just wondering if you had any shark-girl genes. It would explain the predatory teeth as well as your alluring aura." Darius leaned over the desk, giving the receptionist a solid wink as he put sweet honey into his words.

[LoneWolf]

As he pulls people from the water, Alaric notices several broken tentacles spraying ichor. As some splashes across his skin he feels a faint heat rising... Damn. Power in its blood? Well, it is a greater devil, so maybe it's not that surprising that its bodily fluids are dangerous. Still, with the increasing amount of blood in the water that could mean yet another problem...

"Alaric! It's me! Kylie! Help!"

Suddenly, he notices the Elf from earlier in the water near him - half invisible, which must be how he'd missed her. A quick look shows that he'll need to get lower to reach her, so he quickly swings down to brace himself against one of the pier supports and reaches out to grab her hand and pull her out of the water.

As he does so, he notices the red-headed human girl from earlier diving from the far end of the pier - naked, which seems like a bad sign. Especially since the beast seems to be concentrating on her now. Between last night and Ser Ethan's comments, it looks like she was involved in whatever-it-was that summoned this thing here... which suggests that nothing good is going to come of it getting its tentacles on her. He briefly considers trying to catch her, but there's no way he could fight his way back out of the water if the beast really got hold of him - and it looks like the red-head is at the center of its attention.

Well, he can keep at least a few other people out of this thing's grasp... that'll have to do for now. He turns his attention back to hauling Kylie out of the water.

[Hazard1325]

Rayle squealed as she was lifted up into the air by the creature. She thought she was about to be eaten when its voice boomed in her head and she saw the golden eye. She remembered as much as she could about the visions seeing the orb and wondering what it might be. Rayle gasped as the thing began to toy with her body and turned her head when its appendage prodded at her mouth. She felt it against her cheek and thought quickly, if it wanted to kill her it probably would have already and the visions she felt in her mind earlier it was probably best to play along and keep it happy. She opened her mouth letting it do what it wanted at least for the moment. Once it pulled at her pants however she thought she probably had made a mistake to trust it at all. She was about to consider trying some magic for what little good it might do against such a creature when it dropped her. Stunned for a moment she tried to get her barrings before standing up and looking to the docks it was time to get out of here, hopefully it would be to busy with actual threats to target her out as she grabbed up her cat and moved to the edge of the boat to jump into the water and swim to shore. Her mind kept returning to the visions the creature had imparted as she slowly realized she intended to follow the path, she wasn't sure why exactly but something told her that place was important. But first she paddled through the water as hard as she could trying to get away.

[Shura]

Shura glanced around, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Did it work? His memory of the incident seemed cloudy, but only for a moment. He had quite literally missed the boat to the Wastelands. Thinking back on it, perhaps he shouldn’t have spent so much time dillydallying with that raven-haired scullery maid. Then again... he wasn’t the only adventurer who had managed to get left behind, though their reasons probably weren’t as fun and illegitimate and his had been. Shura would make it a point to visit her again should he make it back from lands unconquered by civilization, and abound with unspeakable horrors. First things first however, he would have to make it to the Wastelands before he could return triumphantly.

Though it was more speculation than anything else, Shura figured that it would probably be some time before he could catch the next ship out, provided that there even was another ship. Eager to expedite their own personal quests for glory, or more likely, their humiliating defeat, Shura overheard some of the remaining adventurers in discussion about securing other means of transportation. At that point, he figured that he didn’t have anything to lose, so he included himself in the conversation. Pooling their resources, they opted to hire a private vessel to take them to the Wastelands, but that didn’t quite pan out. The group had all but given up hope when a miracle of sorts happened. Out of the blue, as if guided by the hand of some higher power, a mage appeared before them. The mage was an apprentice, and he was on assignment from his instructor, something that required volunteers. He offered to teleport the group to the Wastelands the following day, free of charge, and all they had to do was report in via a magic stone to tell him that the spell had been a success. The arrangement sounded almost too good to be true, but against better judgement, they agreed, not that they were really given the option to decline.

Despite further dillydallying, Shura was on time. He met with his fellow adventurers at the location that the mage had instructed, and before he knew it, he was lying on the ground, holding a... woman?! He sincerely hoped that it was a woman, otherwise he was having the weirdest boner right now. The trip had been disorienting to say the least, but it was unlikely to have made him gay. Looking around, Shura could feel the person he was cuddling start to stir. Loosening his hold, the person in his arms rolls free, revealing an elven woman. Shura greets her with a smirk before standing up, and picking his weapon up off the ground.

There’s only one other person that Shura can see with them, although he suspects that they might be missing someone, he isn’t quite so sure given the jarring method that they used to get here. It didn’t seem like the mage had betrayed them, but this probably wasn’t quite what anyone had in mind when they agreed to participate in the teleportation experiment. The stone that they were supposed to communicate with was nowhere to be found, but that was not one of Shura’s immediate concerns. Shura quickly patted himself down, making sure that he had survived the trip all in one piece. His self-check was halted when he took further notice of the butterflies surrounding them. There was something odd and almost otherworldly about them. Shura didn’t remember butterflies being that big, at least not ones that he had ever encountered before. Did it work then? Had they really been transported to the Wastelands? Only time would tell.

“Is everyone alright?” The first words out of Shura’s mouth were not an apology. While he had possibly fondled, and/or groped one of his newfound companions, there were more pressing matters to attend to.

[redkeri13]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

You're right it is Triana! Sorry I misspelled that in my last post

Triana held onto the broken wooden beam from the torn-apart ship to keep herself above water, feeling the current of the dark cool water slowly pull her towards the shore as she remained still as possible. She felt a flicker of hope when she saw her path would take her nearby a set of access-stairs for rowboats, a way to climb out of the dangerous waters and onto the relative safety of the docks. She turned her head moving as little as possible to look back towards the ship and the carnage the leviathan was wrecking, seeing the Captain desperately trying to fight off the tentacles which ensnared him with his cutlass. Despite how he had treated her she still felt terrible for his plight, but with her powers drained and unable to move for risk of attracting the beasts attentions there was little she could do to help him. Her only hope was that the beast would drop him when the spirits launched their attack, which she was grateful to see was almost ready, but it was only a slim hope.

She noticed a blond elf girl in the waters next to her suddenly cast a spell of concealment on herself and disappear, and she was still able to make out the silhouette of the girl swim slowly through the water towards the dock but then stop suddenly, unable to move further. The beast had probably sensed her movements and ensnared her with another of its tentacles, Triana thought. She hoped the Huge Armored Ork standing on the docks hurling people out of the water might be able to rescue the Elf Girl, and hopefully herself if she was lucky.

Unfortunately it turned out luck wasn't on her side, as her worst fears were realized when below the water she felt the tip of one of the beast's smaller tentacles trace its way up her back along her spine, using all her willpower to stop from trembling as the tendril coiled itself over her, trailing over the exposed skin of her neck and shoulders until she could see the thick translucent appendage dextrously glide between her breasts and between her and the wooden beam she clung to in order to explore her body further, it's writhing and coiling against her stomach causing her a moment of fear that it might stroke more sensitive areas to elicit a response from her, but was relieved when it diverted its course, wrapping over her smooth hips and towards her thighs instead.

Despite the fear gripping her heart she remained as still and motionless as possible, out of the corner of her eye seeing the blessed pieces of ship's hull ready to be launched at the creature. She closed her eyes then, trying to calm herself and enter a detached and meditative state despite the beast's toying with her so that no matter what it did to her she would not react and give it any signs of life.

[Urhr93]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Ruby

Here i am ^^ as i've said before, i would prefer a solo play *-*

((Careful what you wish for!))

I think this situation is quite interesting *-* thumbs up for solo play XD Ah, and sorry for the lengthiness XD

Darkness. Only darkness, and a pounding sensation at the back of her head. Still stunned, Ruby begins to open her eyes, but she doesn't recognize this dark place.
Her right hand goes behind her head, where the pounding feeling is coming from, and while she caresses it she tries to remember how she got there.

Her mind is hazy, and so are her memories, but slowly she starts to put things together.
Right, just yesterday she went to find a ship that would bring her to the wastelands, but all of them already departed and she was stuck at the port. She tried to find other boats that would bring her there but it didn't go well, for a reason or another. And then... then... right, that trainee. Along with other people with her same destination, she agreed to his teleportation experiment. Then came evening, night, morning, and finally the time for the teleport. Lights channeled all around, and then nauseous feelings, very uncomfortable ones, the worst she ever experienced. Well, at least no pain. Ah, wait, there was pain.
Just when her eyes began to set onto the new surroundings, a very sharp pain behind her head made her unconscious.

That's when her memories begins to be more blurred. When she regained consciousness she was before a man who, after roughly looking at her, order her head. There was something about lights and people, but she doesn't remember well. Blindfolded and stunned, she doesn't remember anything useful. The only thing of use is that she went down some stairs, but that only confirms that she is into a sort of dungeon, as she already guessed from her surroundings. Nothing new. Then they started to take her things, stripping her and fondling as to make sure she wasn't hiding anything. Then voices from above, something about returning that evening and, again, a sharp pain on the back of her head.

Recollected her memories, as her head is now much cleared, Ruby starts to scan the area in which she's imprisoned and how she's bound.
The first things she search for are her weapon and clothes, followed by her items, and soon spots them. The equipment is on the floor, near a corner, while her dual kodachi and clothes are being subjected to the curious looks of what seems to be a wolf, a magnificent white wolf. Her eyes then go towards a large basin with water flowing inside it from some external source. It seems that could be used to take a bath, but she isn't in any condition to do something so easygoing. Instead, it makes her throat ask for it, as for a long while she hasn't drank anything.

Finally, her eyes go towards herself. She doesn't like being naked in a place like this, but she likes even less the rope that binds her hands and the shackle around her leg. While the rope would be easier to snap, the shackle could prove to be much more troublesome.

If her memories are right, she should still have time till her captors return, as it seems that it's still daytime, but for all she know they could be back anytime and so it would be better to start acting as soon as possible. Slowly the girl gets up, approaching the basin. Even if she's thirsty, she doesn't know if this water is normal or drugged, and so being cautious would be best.
She brings her head near the water, trying to smell it for strange smells, and after taking some with her tied hands she tries to see if there is any anomaly. Since it seems to be constantly flowing from somewhere, if there is something wrong with it then it means that the problem comes from the source and there is nothing she can do about it, so at least she's trying to see if it's ok to drink it.
If she doesn't spot anything strange, then she would drink a bit from where it's flowing in, before starting to work on her "freedom".

First and foremost, she has to free her hands, and luckily for her it's "just" rope. A good way to get rid of it would be to damage it by rubbing and scratch it onto a something sharp. The basin doesn't seem to be a good choice for this, as his angles doesn't seem to be much sharp. Instead, the angles of the wood pillars along the walls seems to be better for this, not only for being sharper, but also because the get harmed too during the rubbing, and so there would be an increase of irregular surface and so more damage to the rope that binds her hands. Obviously if there is on the ground a piece of broken glass or a particularly sharp stone she would try that first.

If she fails at her first attempt to damage and snaps the rope, then she would go at it until she finally manage to break it. While she does so, and during the breaks in between, she'll try to find anything that could be useful to open the lock of the iron shackle attached to her leg, anything from a iron thread or iron string to what could be used to open it. After all, she's no amateur in lock-picking, and if she finds anything useful she'll try to open it.
Obviously, if she finds what she want for the lock, this will take priority even on the work to snap the rope on her hands, since if she can get her legs free she can roam around to find something better to take off those ropes.

[Phoenixcz]

When Elenwe frees herself from Shura's embrace and actually have time to check what's going on, she calms herself. When she sees the woman nearby reacting defensively, she doesn't understand at first, even turning around to see if there isn't anything or anyone behind her. Eventually she realises she must have been scared by Elenwe's knife, and not seeing anything dangerous nearby, she returns the knife back to it's sheath. She breaks the awkward silence by a quiet "Sorry."

When the man which embraced her during her awakening ask his question, she turns to him. "I'm not sure."

[Grape_Drink]

The three of you stand in a small flower-filled clearing in the forest...

The_Forest.jpg (73.35 KiB) Viewed 867 times

Elenwe- Paralyzed!

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

GM Roll; Perception- 12
GM Roll; Reflex- 1- critical failure
GM Roll; Fortitude- 6
Knife drawn, you quickly manage to roll away to come face to face with your would-be fondler as he stands up and picks up his weapon, asking if everyone's alright. Placing your knife away, you tell them you aren't sure...

You now notice small little sparkles in the air around you, your whole body beginning to become very unresponsive. You look up and notice the butterflies seeming to flap their wings, a small current passing through them sending these sparkling particles your way. You can only assume your sudden movement (which you now notice crushed a number of flowers) caused them fright. You instinctively inhale without even realizing it, and get a handful of dust into your system as you find your body taking much longer than it should to react, almost as if you were paralyzed from the neck down... What the hell is!?

You notice that Shura also seems to be affected, though not nearly as badly.

Shura- Slowed!

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

GM Roll; Perception- 7
GM Roll; Fortitude- 13

You watch as the elf rolls away from you, holding a knife with a look of fear in her eyes, as if expecting you to have been someone (or perhaps something) else? It's hard to say...

You aren't sure why (though you suspect it has something to do with these butterflies), but you find your limbs far less responsive. You feel sluggish, and you notice that the Elf seems to be unable to move? This isn't exactly the best of scenarios...

Marjory

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

GM Roll; Perception- 19
You watch as the butterfly gracefully leaves your finger onto the grass below. You seem to be at the edge of a flower patch, the other two standing in it. You also notice that when the elf woman rolled away from her lover and stretched out her knife, she smashed a number of flowers, and the butterflies above seemed to control the wind currents, directing bits and pieces of their scales towards the two as you stood up on the sidelines. The combination of the sudden movement and flowers being smashed likely spooked them.

All the words on the stone seem to be in some archaic language that makes little sense to you. They read "Ercae tolkaha bo sihea, bo ji conma."

You lift up the heavy stone tablet to defend yourself only to watch the two seem to get into a predicament with the butterflies...

It's then that you feel one of the butterflies land on your back, seemingly intent on staying there for now.

All three of you

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

You hear a light buzzing in the distance. The sun above seems to be far to the west, and will likely be setting in an hour or two... You also hear the wails of a massive aquatic beast that sound demonic, though they are thin and sound a long ways off.

Darius

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

GM Roll; Seductive diplomacy- 9 + 3 (warlock) = 12 "Well.... Mercenary is a crude term and doesn't really apply to me. Most of my services aren't for sale and I'm only here to insure the spread of Myn's teachings, the destruction of unholy artifacts and cleanse any tainted ruins. Ser Ethan said the first twenty to get here were to be given free room and boarding. I'd like to collect on that but right now I'm more interested in you. Your gills and hair give you such a lovely complexion and I was just wondering if you had any shark-girl genes. It would explain the predatory teeth as well as your alluring aura."

"Well, there is a bit of registration..."

She smiles and trails off, her cheeks turning a slight shade of red as she looks to the side. You aren't entirely sure if she's embarrassed or scared?

"Oh this? It's nothing... Just a little spell Papa- Erm... The Guildmaster whipped together and taught me to keep my complexion from scaring away folks... Mother's a... Well, you see, the Guildmaster was dumping lust potions he had confiscated from witches into the basin connecting the Great River and ocean to get rid of them, and while usually mother just kills her prey, they were making her a bit woozy at the time... She sort of... forgot... About taking him upstream and just had her way with him instead..."

She looks at the ground, chuckling awkwardly. You do happen to notice there seems to be a mild magical aura around her.

"Well, two weeks later and I hatched from the egg clutches, only one to survive... Mother tried to handle me for a while, but then I got a taste for flesh being a Siren's daughter and all, so she ended up telling the Guildmaster she'd bring down her grubfish friends to the docks if he didn't take care of me. I've been working the desk here ever since... I take it you've had experience with uh... Folks like me in distant lands Mr. Priest?"

She holds out a piece of parchment with a number of places to sign indicating the mercenary guild isn't responsible for incinerations, lacerations, falling rocks from the sky, divine beams of energy, etc.

You also notice a number of mercenaries who seemed to have the same idea as you approaching the guild.

"Oh, and when you're done registering I'll give you your pocketbag. Whenever you kill a creature you can cut off it's head and put it inside this bag here. The corpse will travel straight here and we can log it as yours, so when you're visiting we can give you an appropriate bounty paid by the church for your kills. Your number will be 0853. Keep this number in mind, because we track by number rather than name. Papa- Er... The Guildmaster says that this method keeps things easy."

Dana

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

GM Roll; Military Ballistic Weapons Use- 17 and 14

A priestess of Radamis inside the Town Hall leads you to an access hatch on the roof as you spot the ballista. You're actually quite surprised to find that it's more difficult to work than one would think, but you manage to crank the lever until the bow is pulled back all the way (which is still difficult given you're by yourself) and load a heavy metallic bolt into the slot. Here goes nothing, now all you need is a proper target since most of the beast is underwater.

Sidra and Elspeth

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

With your added help and the mercenaries who follow by example when they see you helping, you begin to pull who you can out of the water via the ropes, overpowering the tentacles that hold the passengers and crewmen down.

The work is hard, sweat running down you as with each pull, the lives you're trying to save grow closer and closer! You can do this!

Alaric and Kylie

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

GM Roll; Willpower- 16 and 15 respectively.

Kylie, Corruption: 17

The tentacle begins to snake at an increased speed, you feel something pressing ever so lightly against your sex as an orcish hand grasps you. With the added support, you swing at the outstretched tentacle, cutting it in two as the piece around you goes limp and falls into the waters below, spraying the two of you in the green ichor of its vileness... Looking towards Alaric, the dirtiest of thoughts begin to form of what you could do out here in front of everyone... The green liquid on your skin seems to bring a new warmth to you, and you aren't entirely sure if these thoughts are your own or being caused by the goo. You manage to shake these thoughts from your head though (unless you don't want to).


Alaric, Corruption: 20
With great strength, you manage to pull the woman out of the water. It seems you just can't get her off of you! You look at her, you aren't sure if they're your own thoughts or if this green liquid is causing them as you notice how easily you could probably take her in front of everyone as she lays there on the pier, panting from the encounter... You easily manage to shake these thoughts from your head though (unless, of course, you don't want to).


It's obvious that this goop is probably best avoided in the future (though hope is probably still there that you don't even encounter this beast in the future).

Rayle, Corruption: 30

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

((I'll send the directions to you in a PM some time today))
GM Roll; Swim- 12 - 3 (monster tracking and flushed) = 9
GM Roll; Strength- 16 (The witch wins on a strength check... This is hilarious)

The tendril that was in your mouth leaves a thin trail of some green fluid running down your chin as it slowly shrivels up on the ground. It was hard to notice much at the time given the combination of sensory overload and lacking much control over yourself. Its tangy sweet taste is still in your mouth as it sends small almost electric sparks through you- leaving you giddy with pleasure, and yet you know it was only a taste, that it hadn't even gotten started...

No, this thing is an abomination, and besides, you need to get off this ship before it's a pile of planks! Grabbing your cat, you dive into the murky water below...

A joke comes to mind about a certain animal sharing a name with the female anatomy getting soaked as your cat looks at you unamused at the sudden wetness surrounding the two of you, keeping a strong hold onto your clothing. The two of you begin to swim frantically back towards the docks, seeing as you're quite a ways away, The Unnamed One follower passes right by you on her way towards the beast as you don't even care, being focused on making your way to the docks.

Except the docks are far too far away and you think you just felt a slithering something touch your foot...

With all your might you paddle to the end of a rope, managing to grab hold of it as you begin to feel warm again from the demon blood mixing with the water from various archers just moments ago. A much smaller tendril than the ones from earlier wraps around your leg as you hold onto the rope, wrapping it tightly around your wrist to keep hold of it for dear life as the tentacle tugs, your free leg kicking towards the sailors and mercenaries trying to help pull you (and others) out of the water!

Acharnel

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

GM Roll; Attack- 8 + 3 = 11
"If you've got the aim, try to pin the tentacles to the ship pieces. It definitely does more damage than simply nailing the thing."

A number of adventurers begin to follow your lead. You manage to land another shot, but aren't nearly as lucky this time as you narrowly avoid shooting one of the sailors that it was holding... It's learning.

Triana, Corruption: 5

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

GM Roll; Meditate- 1 (critical failure) ((I swear I'm switching to regular dice or my electronic dice roller. I'm beginning to think the wizards dice page has a pattern to it.))
GM Roll; Perception- 13

You begin to get the strong feeling that it is, in fact, trying to get a reaction out of you to see if you're alive or not. This beast has plenty of playthings at the moment between the various sailors in its grasp, and is attempting (as bad as the attempt is) to retreat. It doesn't have time to fool around, and is likely just seeing how many extra snacks it can get.

Despite your best efforts, you let out a slight shiver as the beast seems to pause around your ankle, preparing to depart... Did it notice that? Surely it didn't notice that???

It begins to work its way back up, alternating between your thighs, growing ever closer to your treasure trove... You feel the slimy tendril encircle your thighs, your hips, seeming to grow ever closer with its erratic movements as it slithers over your most sacred of areas, the vines acting as the only barrier between you and it. You feel it prod ever so lightly here, beginning to pull the vines aside as it presses gently against your sex...

Despite the tingly feeling shooting through your body between its ministrations and this green fluid in the water, and despite your best efforts to stand completely still, even knowing that the chances of this thing entering you right now are slim to none, you reflexively clamp your thighs shut to prevent it access. This... Thing was-

Oh no...

The tendril quickly slithers away, and you wonder if it's decided you aren't worth it for a moment before a much larger tendril lifts you out of the water! That sickly yellow eye underneath the water looks over at you for a moment, and you swear you see the lightest of smug grins on the devil's fishy face. You feel the tendril wrapped around you begin to lift your silken dress, pull down your vine covering-

Suddenly a wail emanates from the beast as it chucks you.

Everyone at the Docks

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

A mass of wooden planks launch from the deeper seas, pelting the creature as it lets out a shrill screech from pain (or perhaps annoyance), its whole body sizzling as with a torrent of water as it rears its ugly head. Those held by it feel the tendrils growing ever tighter, as it seems to be seriously pissed off now, it tendrils growing more erratic in their movements.

With its head above the water though, Dana sees the perfect opportunity to take a shot at it. A spear-sized metal bolt shoots through the air, making contact inside the mass of tentacles on its back as a loud pop emanates for a solid distance, green fluid spraying out of the creature's back. If the blessed wood pelting it was painful, this seems to be like a kick to the nuts as the wails of the massive beast echo for miles around.

It lets go of all prey that aren't immediately next to it, chucking a half-naked Triana with her robes and vine lingerie pulled aside (though not completely removed) into a pile of mercenaries on the docks whom act like a cushion as they topple over.

Lining up a second shot, Dana tries to save what remaining crewmen she can, firing into the beast as the metal bolt embeds just above its gills and it drops a couple of the crewmen that it hadn't gotten "busy" with yet, a second screech ripping through the air, though not nearly as pained as the last.

Grabbing hold of the naked red-headed woman in the waters, the beast plunges back into the ocean's depths, a trail of green slime following it as it retreats from the gulf, the mercenaries around all of you letting out massive roars and shouts of victory. A burly sailor takes the opportunity to give Elspeth a big wet kiss on the lips as he raises his arms, cheering. Others simply lay on the ground panting as their dragged onto the pier and docks, seeming to just be happy to survive right now. Some mercenaries lift Acharnel into the air and onto their shoulders, parading her around as some sort of hero given the weakness she noted, and a number of sailors who are now back on land thanks to Dana's ministrations turn to her and salute.

Some of you closer to him notice Ser Ethan shaking his head... "In eight hundred years that thing has never attacked a Church vessel, and suddenly out of the blue it decides that it's going to do so? Something is very... Very wrong..." He sighs, making his way up the dock steps into town.

You all notice that it seems some of your adventuring friends weren't in the fighting mood and had snuck away to go register at the guild. The Guild! Ohhh, all those free rooms are probably taken by now! A number of mercenaries stop their cheering, rushing towards town as if desperately hoping there will be some free rooms leftover.

Ruby (posts remaining until bandits show up: 3)

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

GM Roll; Move Silently- 8
GM Roll; Perception- 18 + 1 = 19
GM Roll; Strength- 2
GM Roll; Strength- 20

The room smells like feces and wet dog, your supplies just out of reach, your clothes and swords inside the wolf's cage...

The water is cool, crisp, fresh... It leaves a calming feeling over you as you sip from the small fountain where it's coming in from, it's definitely clean, some of the best water you've had in months.

Looking around, you notice to your luck a nail sticking most of the way out of the wooden support, likely once holding a picture or something of the like. Using your rope-cuffs as leverage you manage to rip it out, and use it as leverage to loosen the knots on the rope until it simply falls off. Easy enough work if not requiring patience and a bit of time. Looking about, you can't find anything anything in the immediate vicinity to pick the lock on this shackle, though you do notice the base in the wall is old and loose, perhaps you can tug it out with enough force? If only your equipment wasn't so far away, you swear you had something to pick locks in your clothes pockets... ((Player will be given charge of this part of the scene. They will originally have no success and if they try again will pull the entire frickin' brick out of the wall allowing slow travel))

You notice out of the corner of your eye that the wolf is staring at you. It seems to have the slightest hint of intelligence as it scoots your weapon and clothes further into its cell and away from the bars. It lets out a low growl... It's not a snarling sort of growl of a beast preparing to lunge, it sounds sort of... Strange honestly. Whatever the case is, if that wolf starts to make noise things could get bad. You don't know for sure how far you walked to get here, and if you are still close to the bandits, there's no telling how many might come to check out what's going on. With your temporary moment of clarity, you realize your stomache is growling.

((Everything should be in (I think). In the future I won't highlight the avatars, figured I'd give yah a heads up of who is who outfits-wise (though I'll make a post in the OOC later when I'm finished with everyone's outfits).))

[berserkerhorn]

Marjory notices the scales falling from the skies form the butterflies. She shudders and then tenses up as she feels another butterfly land on her back. "These creatures seemed to paralyze the girl... what else could they do" she thinks to herself and decides to not to remove it. Whilst the other two are paralyzed she slowly moves west making sure not to alarm any of the butterflies. She wants out of the fields here and now and nobody was going to stop her from this.

[MiscChaos]

Nel's eyes widen a bit when she sees that she almost hit a crewman, but she can't do much more than mouth an apology to the man for possibly scaring the shit out of him. At the very least, she still did what needed to be done. As she's lining the next shot up, thinking of aiming at the base of one of the tentacles to switch things up and make it drop another one of it's captives, the entire situation is taken out of her hands as it seems like the hand of one of the gods reaches down to bitch slap it. Oh wait, someone just launched a bunch of pieces of the ship at the beast. Well, how the hell is she supposed to aim at a target moving so much in such an unpredictable manner!? Then it turns out she doesn't have to when the ballista turns what the launched ship did into a love tap. Well, there goes a good chunk of the hostages. And the second one saves even more, but then the thing finally gets the picture about it not being wanted here and leaves. What the hell was with the red-headed woman who willingly went with it though?

She doesn't have much time to contemplate it before she's chucked into the air and onto a couple of shoulders. Well, this is different. A hero's parade? She's used to the total opposite of that, so she completely loses her composure, starting to blush and stutter to be put down and generally get more and more embarrassed the longer this goes on. She will admit though, people celebrating her presence rather than despising it? It feels kinda good, even if it is completely alien to her. Due to her fluster she doesn't hear what Ser Ethan says, though she does note, somewhere in the back of her mind, that he seems troubled and that him being troubled can't mean anything good for any of them. She decides now is as good a time as any to get disentangled from her little parade as they're starting to disperse anyway to try to get some rooms at the Guild. She personally feels that's hopeless at this point, but whatever. Deciding that she'd like to be alone, or at the very least away from a crowd, at the moment, she decides to wait by the ballista until the crowd disappears then go looking for a nice quiet place to regain her bearings. While she's there, she decides to speak with the woman who fired it into the beast and pay her a compliment or two for the shooting.

"Nice shots. Nicely timed too." Is all she says though, her composure still not up enough to say too much more.

[Phoenixcz]

As Elenwe loses the ability to move and starts panicking again, only thing she can do is to express her thoughts in words. "What the hell?!"

[Reaver]

"I've meet dozens of hybrids but most of them aren't as interesting as you or have your looks. Part siren and the daughter of the guildmaster? That's one hell of a story." Darius said as he finished scribbling his signature on the paper. "I bet you have tons of stories above this place and your dad. I wouldn't mind hearing some of them, especially if they keep me alive longer. The name is Darius by the way, calling me Mr. Priest makes me feel holy and I have bad habits just like most men." He glanced at the door as some mercenaries started coming in to register. He hadn't expected the fight to have finished so fast but if they were done then he needed to get moving. He didn't want to take any chances with so many Holy warriors being around. It only took one magic spell or a slip of the tongue to reveal his loyalties. He needed to leave before something gave him away. "Now that I'm registered I'm guaranteed a free room? I'd really like to scout the area out before they get picked clean by overeager greenhorns."