Carnival of Rust

[RandomRoninKitten]

Ophelia/MiscChaos

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Ophelia cannot help looking over the Temple with something approaching awe. She wanders how she could have possibly thought she would have trouble finding it given that she could probably have found it from across the continent. It's so massive that it makes the fanciful displays back home seem like children playing in the dirt. She finds herself curious as to the meaning of the carvings she's found, but the answer is likely to take too much time if she doesn't wish to be left behind by her companions. Inside, she can't help but think that this place would make a very good fortress with its many floors and many doors that cannot be told from one another easily. If someone was trying to find something or someone within this place, an abhorrent amount of research would have to be done prior to and fighting ones way through it would be an ordeal. The circular nature of the hallways would very easily confuse the unwary and she is not sure if she wants to know how long they go for. She wonders if it is possible to starve to death before finding ones way out. It'd be for the best not to find out, she thinks. At least not by first hand experience.

She opens the double doors in front of her and takes in the central room of the Temple, including the man in front of her. Just given his armor and weapons, she would not want to mess with him, but given what Alice told her this man is an Inquisitor. Which means that the consequences of making him hostile to her would be beyond what she is willing to consider. "Greetings, sir. I am new to the religion of Masino and was looking for more information while I consider converting. The basics have been explained to me, but I was hoping for a second voice."

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Walking into the central room of the temple reveals something even more amazing than the outside, the room is mostly filled with a colossal mechanical-looking entity, sitting on a shining throne. The entity itself is so tall that from where she's standing, Ophelia can't see the upper body, only the legs to the hips. The entity's body is covered in bronze armor with metal cogs jutting out of it. Far above, Ophelia can see two glowing red eyes, however the creature is sitting completely still.



The Inquisitor near the doorway speaks in a gentle voice "Masino is the Lord of innovation, leading all people on the path to discovering the answers to all of life's problems through technology, and using those solutions to create a world in which all therein can be happy." he said, nodding slowly as if to confirm what he said.

Just as he finished speaking, Alice came walking towards them from the direction of the massive mechanical entity on the throne and gave the Inquisitor a high five "Well said! You see, solving all problems through innovation is the one true way to grant great JUSTICE for all, as happiness and JUSTICE go hand in hand." she said, giving Ophelia a smile.

The Inquisitor spoke up against after Alice had finished "If you desire to worship Masino, all you must do is go before the shining throne and be honest with them. As long as your thoughts are directed as Masino, you will be able to hear each other. You will be able to come to an understanding that had been beyond one's reach before." he said, in a reassuring voice.

Alexander Telluria/Centaurific

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

He'd named his mare Fire Agate because her coloration reminded him of the gemstone, and because she had a warm and confident personality. He appreciated that confidence when he lead her into the bowl of the catapult.

As he and his horse hurtled through the air, Alexander felt simultaneously excited and afraid. This was far from his first ride on the "catapult express" but the mixed terror and exhilaration had never left him. When he and Fire Agate slammed into the tree, and snapped it in half, his feelings shifted to relief and a faint longing. The sensations of flight always gave him pleasure; the wind rushing past him, the world rushing by beneath him, the closer proximity to the clouds.

He righted himself, and briefly looking over her to ensure his horse was stable and uninjured, before mounting her and setting her off at a trot towards Dartmoore. He felt quite grateful for the makers of his equipment having the forethought to make it impact resistant.

As he drew near he felt a little awe as he looked over the town. The wall was incomplete, and so were the houses, and much of what he saw was built of wood, but it was new. Then he spotted the group of goblins making their way towards the burgeoning city. Knowing that the town was worried about the presence of a nearby camp of orcs made him concerned about the squad of goblins. He urged Fire Agate to hurry in the direction of the goblins before thinking over which weapon to draw, and decided on his bow.

During his approach he contemplated shooting without warning, to potentially catch them by surprise and reduce the likelihood of them escaping or reaching him. He felt uncomfortable with the idea, and in the event that they weren't hostile to the town it would possibly make his job considerably harder. When he gets to an appropriate distance to shoot from he stops Fire Agate and levels his bow before calling out, "Halt! Explain yourselves goblins!" As he speaks he draws an arrow, but doesn't nock it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The group of Goblins stop at their current position and one of them shouts to Alexander in a language he doesn't understand, then the group starts walking towards him with their weapons put away. When they're close enough for conversation without shouting, one of the Goblins, one wearing what looks like bone armor and holding a staff, begins speaking in long sentences to Alexander, but again, he's speaking in a language Alexander doesn't understand, but one would possibly guess that what he's saying is incredibly profound, simply because he keeps stroking his long, greasy, black beard and waving his other hand.

Lilith Rose/Mark3000

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Paying Metia no mind, Lilith descended to find a girl trapped in a steel cage. Most likely she was the Red Cap's latest victim. Approaching the cage, Lilith tried to get the girl's attention. "Don't be afraid little one, the Red Cap won't harm you anymore. Me and my ... friend has taken care of him"

Looking around the basement, Lilith tried to find a key to free the girl from her prison. If it wasn't close-by, it was most likely on the Red Cap's Corpse. "Don't worry, I'll free you and take you with me"

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The girl whimpers and quiets down, letting herself move to the middle of the cage "H-he's dead?" she asks, softly and almost disbelieving of the information she had been given.

Lilith chooses to check the room for the key, however there's no sign of one, or anything which resembles one. The room is pretty bare, aside from a rotting wooden table.

She moves closer to the cage and grabs the bars, hesitantly and speaks up again "He keeps the key on him, you won't find it in here..." she says, still trembling where she sits, on her knees.

When Lilith goes to check the RedCap's body, back in the main room, she finds that the key isn't on it, but a melted mass of bronze IS found on the body, and may have resembled a key at one point.

Anastasia Ursa/LittleManKitten

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Anastasia wasn't the best plan maker in the world, but even she knew she can't go in attacking, and climbing the walls would probably end in misery. Her only real choice was to get in first and then try and explore from there. She had to feign being a traveler and hope both that the guards will let her in and that none of them identify her from the last time she encountered Bartons. Taking a deep breath, she walked to the gate and tried hailing the guards. When they noticed her she would say. "Mind if I stay with you guys for a little while? I just fought off some jackass monster that couldn't tell it was way in over its head facing me. Yet I gotta admit it took a lot of fight out of me and I need to rest and recuperate for a while." It would be easy to believe she thought, her clothes were still torn up and potions dont repair clothes, and she was so tired she probably had to face of someone who just went through some stuff.

The two guards in matching suits of grey armor, wearing cloaks with the House Barton Emblem on them, looked at Anastasia with suspicion, and drew their Gun-Swords from the scabbard on the inside of their rather large shields. "Might we see evidence that you're telling the truth, Spectross? Some of our soldiers were attacked by a Spectross matching your description. We're currently on high alert, surely you understand." they said, in a very neutral and professional tone.

Anastasia tried to maintain a good poker face. She was already committed to the act. If she ran now they would surely chase, so she had to convince them of her lie. Anastasia huffed irritably in a very Spectross fashion and nodded. "Fine, well, did the spectross in question have gilded armor?" She pointed to her new armor. "I had spent a good amount on this back home, you aren't likely to find many with it." Anastasia hoped her slight change in equipment, as well as the fact they might be racist and can't tell one spectross from another, will help her here.

The two guards looked at each other, then back at Anastasia. "It's a simple task for anyone to change armor, simply asking whether they had that specific outfit or not would not prove that it is or is not you. We can't let you in until you give us evidence which verifies your claim." one of the guards said, both of them maintaining their position.

Anastasia huffs again. "Ok. I'm not sure what would be considered verifiable evidence for you, considering all I got to show is my equipment, which apparently wont do at all and I doubt you guys could distinguish between personalities so, unless you guys have a way for me to prove myself I don't know what to tell ya."

Anastasia just shook her head after a few moments. "Whatever, I'll just take my chances then" She gave up on trying to convince them and headed down into the tree line. When she was sure she was no longer visible she would get into a more hidden position and try and rest until night came around.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

When Anastasia attempts to sleep, she finds that the knocking continues in the absence of doors. Each time Anastasia is on the edge of full sleep, the knocking returns on a nearby tree and forces her wide awake. On the third time Anastasia is forced awake by the knocking, she sees before her a trail of blood leading along the ground and deeper into the woods.

Amun Khufu/MrBlah

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

"Seems like an adequate plan to me." Amun simply replied, eyes glancing over to Lyanna. Her shower was just too short, he thought, but there was always next time. Hopefully.

He made to stand, but then looked down at Lucia as she noticed she wasn't moving to follow him. Instead, she seemed to curl up in herself, trembling lonesomely in the manner of a kicked puppy. Amun frowned at the pitiful sight, then crouched down to place another hand on her arm and gently pull her up. "There's room on the bed for three, my dear. You don't need to sleep in such an uncomfortable position." He smiled at her, in a kindly manner of course. Then, if she didn't resist, he'd insist and lead her over to the bed, where he'd get in first and cuddle close to Lyanna... of course, to allow more room on the bed and uh, to conserve body heat, of course.

Amun Khufu is a gentleman with no ulterior motives. This is just what's most efficient. Yep.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The three of them sleep soundly through the night, however in the morning, Amun sees that Lucia had awakened before him, and was standing on the other side of the room, drawing her gun, while facing away from them. She puts the gun to her head, and while Amun is still groggy, she fires it.

What one would expect is for blood to spray across the nearby wall, however that doesn't happen. The bullet somehow misses at point blank range and just harmlessly blows a hole in the wall. After her apparent failure to shoot herself in the head, Lucia looks at her gun in confusion and drops it on the floor, crying.

The racket apparently woke Lyanna, who says nothing, but stares in confusion at the scene before her.

CeeCee/Lilbooth

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Cee Cee enjoyed most of the ride to Baskerville. The landscape between the towns was rather different than her home in Calt. She found the traveling quite refreshing. Normally she would just stalk the same forest for weeks at a time before moving to a near identical forest. The undead issue had really stunted her hunting grounds but she was enjoying her new work. Before long she could see the partially destroyed town of Baskerville enter her view. She circled the town once on her mount, scanning between buildings and searching out for danger. It was eerily quiet in the town and she saw no immediate signs of danger. She pressed onward and quickly arrived at the only mostly intact building, It was of Barton building no doubt, and the scene inside was gruesome. Bodies are torn to pieces, half eaten, charred to a crisp. A holding cell for four chimeras was in disrepair. She learned a great deal investigating the building before she ventured back outside following a set of bloody footprints. She took the old mercenary orders as she went and made sure to count the number of bodies inside the building. It seemed the burned ones had been killed long before the mercenaries had arrived. They appeared to be human, and a bare human foot in town was a strange occurrence. She quickly discovered the bloodied footprints ran dry before even exiting the town. And whatever this thing was, it wasn't heavy enough to disturb the ground with its steps. With no other option left she went back to the Barton Building and starting building a scent portfolio. After several minutes sniffing and tasting the air, she set out and began scent tracking the creatures. She still hadn't gathered any intel on the chimeras and that was her purpose for coming here, so until she managed to see one she would continue her search. A few hours in she finds the corpse of a giant spider, relatively freshly killed.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The spider looks as though it was crushed by a great force, rather than cut or stabbed by traditional weaponry, and its blood is smeared across the cliff face, as if it had been smashed against it. The corpse itself is, as one would expect, manged horribly. Otherwise, a crater could be found nearby, but the area seems as though the only casualty was the giant spider.

The scent leads through the area and towards the ruins of Monsteropolis.

[lilbooth]

Cee Cee's scent tracking had led her to the scene of yet another battle. This one seemed as one-sided as the first. She took less time to investigate the area than before, it seemed that her target was keeping a good pace despite the battling and Cee Cee would have to make up for some time. She shrugged when she found that the scent was leading her back to Monsteropolis, she had just gone in the most massive of circles. But there was really no fault on her part, she had only just begun the scent tracking, it was a shame she was now backtracking but little could be done. She was determined to find the chimeras.

[mrblah]

As groggy as he was from waking up, Amun hadn't processed the fact that their new companion seemed to be in a dangerous state. He mumbled out her name in confusion as he was rubbing his eye to clear the fog of sleep, when the gunshot had sounded out. His eyes snapped wide open and the situation was made to be immediately clear. She... she just tried to kill herself. He made no immediate moves seeing as she'd somehow missed (maybe her hands were shaking a lot and she pulled it away at the last second) but Amun thought about how he'd try to help with this problem...

If that's even possible? Lucia had just tried to kill herself. He's no therapist — he doesn't know how to deal with suicide attempts...

The best thing he could do was just to try and calm her down. Amun got out of bed, still wearing his ripped and torn Noble rags from before, and walked over to Lucia. He looked at her with a saddened expression, and pulled her into a hug. One he couldn't really enjoy considering the circumstances. "... It's not bad luck that you missed this time, Miss Lucia. In fact, I'm glad you did. Please... don't end it like this." He wasn't exactly sure if those were the words he should say, but he hoped they'd at least register in her mind.

[Mark3000]

Lilith cursed under her breath as she found the melted key. In truth, the only reason she wanted to free the girl below was to have someone other then Metia to travel with.

Speaking of, she looked to the napping Dragonkin with a grin. Approaching her chair in the throne room, she tapped it try and awaken Metia and get her attention.

"Hey Metia, I found a girl down in the basement. She must have been held captive by the Redcap." She said showing her the melted key. "I'm gonna need your help to get her out."

Metia slowly opened her eyes and stared at Lilith for a moment "And what do you want me to do about it? I'm sure you can figure something out on your own. It may or may not involve sucking dick." she said, in a cynical tone, without moving off the seat.

"Hmm. I took you for a Nour follower. I figured you'd jump at the chance to save some hapless damsel." Lilith said with a bit of sass. "I've seen how strong your fire breath is. You could probably melt the lock, no problem."

Metia straightens up and looks embarrassed, blushing for a moment, then stands up out of the seat, grumbling to herself. "I'm doing this for Nour, not for you." she says, just barely loud enough for Lilith to hear, then stomps off to the basement where the cage is located.

When Lilith arrives, Metia is looking at the bars of the cage "You couldn't get this open by yourself? Pathetic." she grumbles, before grabbing two of the cage bars and inhaling, then firing a jet of flame onto the bars, melting them, along with some of the stones in the walls. The girl in the cage yelps, surprised, then jumps back against the wall.

By the time Metia is done, the bars are puddles on the ground, and the stone walls are charred and partly melted as well, while the girl against the far wall is weeping and trembling, but unharmed.


Lilith smiled a bit as she got Metia to help her. Following Metia back to the basement, she watched as the were-dragon burned through the bars like they were nothing. Lilith had to admit, Metia was was strong, but her people skills left something to be desired given how scared the girl looked.

Once the way was cleared, Lilith entered the cell to fetch you girl. "There's nothing to be afraid of, she's with me. " She said as she slowly approached the girl. "My name is Lilith and this is Metia. What's your name?" Lilith asked as she offered her a hand.

Metia growled and walked back out of the room , presumably to resume her nap. The girl seemed perplexed by the question "I don't have a name, I was born a slave to a band of mercenaries. They... uh... tried to kill the RedCap, but abandoned me when it didn't work." she said, sadly.

Lilith wasn't surprised. Her and her mother had narrowly avoid being taken as slaves on multiple occasions. She could sympathize with the girl. "Well you're coming with me now. I'll be sure to take good care of you." She said as she reached out to brush her hair.

The girl leans into Lilith's hand as she rubs her head, but still trembles with fear. "Well, I don't really have any other choices, so I'll travel with you if you'll have me." she says.

"Of Course. We'll leave here as soon as possible." Lilith said as she helped the slave girl out of the dungeon. "Before we go, do you remember the Redcap keeping anything on the upper floors?" She asked with a glow in her eyes.

She shook her head as she followed Lilith from close behind "I've never been up there, but most of this place seemed pretty bare." she said quietly.

A little deflated, Lilith returned upstairs to Metia and the Redcap's corpse. If there wasn't anything else to find, she figured they'd best be on their way. "I think we're done here." She said grabbing the rope connected to the redcap. She would have made the slave girl take him, but she's probably freak out getting close to it "Well lets get going ..." Lilith paused for a moment. "I can't just call you slave girl. How about I give you a proper name? Hmm ... maybe Camilla?"

[MiscChaos]

She's not sure what she was expecting. Alice said she was headed to the temple, so it should be no surprise that rather than getting a calm explanation, she gets one punctuated with Alice's... enthusiasm for JUSTICE. ...is it a bad thing that she's begun shouting JUSTICE even in the safety of her own mind? This is a question she can ask herself later. For now... what she's heard of Masino isn't a bad thing. Technology and innovation leading to better living isn't the crazed ideals Her Lady made all religions out to be. Innovation is something she can personally subscribe to as using the same tactics over and over again would lead to her targets escaping or her death long ago. She's not sure about making the world a better place. She knows that she's making it better for her Lady, so she supposes that is good enough. So she walks in front of the statue and kneels.

"I am not sure if you would take one such as I into your service but if you would allow for it, I would like to worship you, oh Lord of Innovation. I am not sure my actions would be what one would describe as bettering the world, but I shall endeavor to better the lives of those I hold important and through them better the world." She's not sure if Masino would bless someone like her, but the sentiment is earnest at least. She'll have to hope that is good enough.

[Littlemankitten]

Anastasia was not very happy. Why couldn't she just waltz in, grab Idalia, then walk out without anyone blinking. Some sleep would also be great. She was starting to think that just maybe this wasn't such a great idea. Like what was she gonna do when she gets in? Kindly ask for someone to take her to Idalia? Who was she kidding, she would need more people than just herself. It wasn't like she was the best at sneaking or anything... Anastasia had almost missed the trail of blood, she stopped attempting to sleep a good while back and was mostly just thinking when her body tried to drift off on its own. "Well, that wasn't there before." she mumbled to herself, slowly picking herself up. Let's see here, should she follow the ominous trail of blood leading into the woods, or be smart and try and go somewhere else and be alive for another while? Who are we kidding, this is Anastasia we're talking about. "Fuck it..." She grumbled to herself, thinking maybe there will be a 5 star dinner waiting for her at the end of the trail. She readied her hammer, and pretty much completely forgetting the entire reason she walked here, followed the trail

[RandomRoninKitten]

Weather remains sunny

CeeCee/Lilbooth

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Cee Cee's scent tracking had led her to the scene of yet another battle. This one seemed as one-sided as the first. She took less time to investigate the area than before, it seemed that her target was keeping a good pace despite the battling and Cee Cee would have to make up for some time. She shrugged when she found that the scent was leading her back to Monsteropolis, she had just gone in the most massive of circles. But there was really no fault on her part, she had only just begun the scent tracking, it was a shame she was now backtracking but little could be done. She was determined to find the chimeras.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

On her way back to Monsteropolis, following the scent, she finds that there's a very strange absence of Monsters between her previous location and Monsteropolis, and upon arriving there, the scent brings her in a large circle within the walls of the ruined city, and back out through a hole in the wall, with the trail leading in the direction of Lord Barton's castle.

When CeeCee comes to a stop, she can't help but shake the feeling that she's being followed, however, upon taking a look behind her, she finds nobody there.

Amun Khufu/MrBlah

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

As groggy as he was from waking up, Amun hadn't processed the fact that their new companion seemed to be in a dangerous state. He mumbled out her name in confusion as he was rubbing his eye to clear the fog of sleep, when the gunshot had sounded out. His eyes snapped wide open and the situation was made to be immediately clear. She... she just tried to kill herself. He made no immediate moves seeing as she'd somehow missed (maybe her hands were shaking a lot and she pulled it away at the last second) but Amun thought about how he'd try to help with this problem...

If that's even possible? Lucia had just tried to kill herself. He's no therapist — he doesn't know how to deal with suicide attempts...

The best thing he could do was just to try and calm her down. Amun got out of bed, still wearing his ripped and torn Noble rags from before, and walked over to Lucia. He looked at her with a saddened expression, and pulled her into a hug. One he couldn't really enjoy considering the circumstances. "... It's not bad luck that you missed this time, Miss Lucia. In fact, I'm glad you did. Please... don't end it like this." He wasn't exactly sure if those were the words he should say, but he hoped they'd at least register in her mind.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Lucia only responded by crying harder and wailing "I can't even hit my target at point-blank!", she accepted the hug and buried her face in Amun's shoulder as she cried bitterly, and weakly returned Amun's embrace. Lyanna got out of bed and made her way to the two, but stopped right beside them. During the events, she had apparently fully dressed herself, and didn't seem to know how to react to the situation. After several moments, she finally spoke "Miss Lucia, we're about to leave, and we'd be happy to take you with us. Please help us take revenge on the people who destroyed Cielo... you'd be a great help to us." as she picked the guns up off the floor and handed them back to Lucia. Lucia remained silently weeping for several moments, then finally nodded slowly. As they got ready to leave, Lucia continued to weep bitterly.

Lilith Rose/Mark3000

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Lilith cursed under her breath as she found the melted key. In truth, the only reason she wanted to free the girl below was to have someone other then Metia to travel with.

Speaking of, she looked to the napping Dragonkin with a grin. Approaching her chair in the throne room, she tapped it try and awaken Metia and get her attention.

"Hey Metia, I found a girl down in the basement. She must have been held captive by the Redcap." She said showing her the melted key. "I'm gonna need your help to get her out."

Metia slowly opened her eyes and stared at Lilith for a moment "And what do you want me to do about it? I'm sure you can figure something out on your own. It may or may not involve sucking dick." she said, in a cynical tone, without moving off the seat.

"Hmm. I took you for a Nour follower. I figured you'd jump at the chance to save some hapless damsel." Lilith said with a bit of sass. "I've seen how strong your fire breath is. You could probably melt the lock, no problem."

Metia straightens up and looks embarrassed, blushing for a moment, then stands up out of the seat, grumbling to herself. "I'm doing this for Nour, not for you." she says, just barely loud enough for Lilith to hear, then stomps off to the basement where the cage is located.

When Lilith arrives, Metia is looking at the bars of the cage "You couldn't get this open by yourself? Pathetic." she grumbles, before grabbing two of the cage bars and inhaling, then firing a jet of flame onto the bars, melting them, along with some of the stones in the walls. The girl in the cage yelps, surprised, then jumps back against the wall.

By the time Metia is done, the bars are puddles on the ground, and the stone walls are charred and partly melted as well, while the girl against the far wall is weeping and trembling, but unharmed.


Lilith smiled a bit as she got Metia to help her. Following Metia back to the basement, she watched as the were-dragon burned through the bars like they were nothing. Lilith had to admit, Metia was was strong, but her people skills left something to be desired given how scared the girl looked.

Once the way was cleared, Lilith entered the cell to fetch you girl. "There's nothing to be afraid of, she's with me. " She said as she slowly approached the girl. "My name is Lilith and this is Metia. What's your name?" Lilith asked as she offered her a hand.

Metia growled and walked back out of the room , presumably to resume her nap. The girl seemed perplexed by the question "I don't have a name, I was born a slave to a band of mercenaries. They... uh... tried to kill the RedCap, but abandoned me when it didn't work." she said, sadly.

Lilith wasn't surprised. Her and her mother had narrowly avoid being taken as slaves on multiple occasions. She could sympathize with the girl. "Well you're coming with me now. I'll be sure to take good care of you." She said as she reached out to brush her hair.

The girl leans into Lilith's hand as she rubs her head, but still trembles with fear. "Well, I don't really have any other choices, so I'll travel with you if you'll have me." she says.

"Of Course. We'll leave here as soon as possible." Lilith said as she helped the slave girl out of the dungeon. "Before we go, do you remember the Redcap keeping anything on the upper floors?" She asked with a glow in her eyes.

She shook her head as she followed Lilith from close behind "I've never been up there, but most of this place seemed pretty bare." she said quietly.

A little deflated, Lilith returned upstairs to Metia and the Redcap's corpse. If there wasn't anything else to find, she figured they'd best be on their way. "I think we're done here." She said grabbing the rope connected to the redcap. She would have made the slave girl take him, but she's probably freak out getting close to it "Well lets get going ..." Lilith paused for a moment. "I can't just call you slave girl. How about I give you a proper name? Hmm ... maybe Camilla?"

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The girl nodded and smiled at Lilith "Camilla sounds pretty, I like it!" she said, excitedly, while Metia got up out of her seat slowly and made her way to the two, plus the corpse "I guess we're dragging this girl around with us now." she said grumpily, punctuating the statement with a sigh, which sent out a small burst of flame, which quickly dissipated.

Since Lilith had decided that they were done there, the group left the Redcap's castle, and began making their way towards the Friendly Mushroom Guild in Azraq.

They began making their way through a forest, however, Metia suddenly stopped in her tracks and held her hand out towards Lilith, motioning for her to stop "Wait. Something is wrong." she said, looking around at the area, a look of concentration on her face. As the group stood there and waited, Lilith could see that the sun was shining off of some places in nearby bushes, and allowing her eyes to focus would reveal that what she was seeing was dark green-armored figures well-hidden in the greenery.

Ophelia/MiscChaos

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

She's not sure what she was expecting. Alice said she was headed to the temple, so it should be no surprise that rather than getting a calm explanation, she gets one punctuated with Alice's... enthusiasm for JUSTICE. ...is it a bad thing that she's begun shouting JUSTICE even in the safety of her own mind? This is a question she can ask herself later. For now... what she's heard of Masino isn't a bad thing. Technology and innovation leading to better living isn't the crazed ideals Her Lady made all religions out to be. Innovation is something she can personally subscribe to as using the same tactics over and over again would lead to her targets escaping or her death long ago. She's not sure about making the world a better place. She knows that she's making it better for her Lady, so she supposes that is good enough. So she walks in front of the statue and kneels.

"I am not sure if you would take one such as I into your service but if you would allow for it, I would like to worship you, oh Lord of Innovation. I am not sure my actions would be what one would describe as bettering the world, but I shall endeavor to better the lives of those I hold important and through them better the world." She's not sure if Masino would bless someone like her, but the sentiment is earnest at least. She'll have to hope that is good enough.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

When Ophelia had finished her prayer, the eyes above her glowed a bright red and she could feel an immeasurable pressure on her heart. Suddenly the voice of a woman filled her mind, speaking in a language which she had never heard before, but understood perfectly. The clicking, buzzing, and whirring articulated the meaning in a way that no other language Ophelia had ever heard before could have. Ophelia could understand that Masino didn't personally care what Ophelia's past actions were, or what her race was, or what she believed herself to be, as to Masino what mattered after pledging oneself to her was what an individual did from that point forward. When Masino had finished, she stated in the common tongue "You are blessed, Ophelia. Go and do what is just, and your blessings will become greater and greater." then the voice faded away in her mind, and the eyes grew dim once more.

Anastasia Ursa/LittleManKitten

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Anastasia was not very happy. Why couldn't she just waltz in, grab Idalia, then walk out without anyone blinking. Some sleep would also be great. She was starting to think that just maybe this wasn't such a great idea. Like what was she gonna do when she gets in? Kindly ask for someone to take her to Idalia? Who was she kidding, she would need more people than just herself. It wasn't like she was the best at sneaking or anything... Anastasia had almost missed the trail of blood, she stopped attempting to sleep a good while back and was mostly just thinking when her body tried to drift off on its own. "Well, that wasn't there before." she mumbled to herself, slowly picking herself up. Let's see here, should she follow the ominous trail of blood leading into the woods, or be smart and try and go somewhere else and be alive for another while? Who are we kidding, this is Anastasia we're talking about. "Fuck it..." She grumbled to herself, thinking maybe there will be a 5 star dinner waiting for her at the end of the trail. She readied her hammer, and pretty much completely forgetting the entire reason she walked here, followed the trail

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The trail didn't take Anastasia far, leading her behind a nearby tree. What she found was simply the end of the trail, and the trial slowly soaked into the ground and disappeared while she was still looking at it. However, suddenly the sound rustling behind her, followed by further rustling to her right drew Anastasia's attention. the rustling then stopped for a moment and was replaced with several armored figures climbing out of the bushes and surrounding her. In all, the total number was three.

One of the armored figures spoke up in a nasally voice after clearing his throat "Spectross woman, your reign of terror ends here. We found our guild-mates ripped to pieces and partly eaten in Baskerville, and have been told by the scout who followed them that you are responsible. Have you anything to say in your defense, or will you surrender quietly?"

[mrblah]

He was glad she was calming down, and Amun was also grateful for Lyanna's timely intervention to get things speeding along. They had a big day and much to do. "Right... then, shall we be off? I believe our first move should possibly be to scout out shops for new gear. I'm afraid I have few funds on me at the moment, but if you two would be so kind as to pitch in, we may be able to make a few important purchases. Food and water would likely be the most important, but new weapons and clothes would be nice." Considering he only had a rusted dagger for a weapon and his torn noble rags for clothes, Amun really needed new gear if he was to survive in such a dangerous world.

He lead the group of them out of their temporary home and out into town. Amun looked around for any shops selling food, guns, clothes and armor, or anything else that could be useful. He'd go to check out the shops to see if there's anything they could afford, but if not, he'd continue searching.

[MiscChaos]

Ophelia has a moment of worry as she sees the red eyes and feels the pressure on her heart. For that moment, she fears she failed whatever Masino looks for in a follower and was going to have her heart crushed. It would be an inglorious end for one such as her, but likely more than she deserved since her cause of death would be being put down by a literal god. When Masino speaks to her (and she is somewhat confused because people insist on calling Masino a he even though the statue and the voice in her head are feminine. Perhaps it's a lifestyle choice? Or maybe Masino is simply indifferent) and confirms this is not the case, she can't help but feel relief. She doesn't mind spontaneously learning a new language as learning new skills for Lady Techra is a common occurrence. If she is to serve a god(dess?), putting said god in at least the same priority class seems like a wise idea. With her assignment from Masino given, she raises up from her kneel and turns to Alice.

"I have been accepted into Masino's service. I have been tasked with serving JU..." She interrupts herself before she can scream JUSTICE like Alice always seems to do. She's mostly sure Alice heard it, but it is the principle of the matter. She can feel her cheeks burning with her error, an unusual feeling but one she's had happen more the longer she's been with Alice. "With bettering life through innovation. I believe I have completed everything I wish to do in town. I will be heading to the meeting point."

[Centaurific]

Alexander relaxes, slightly, as the goblins approach without obvious violent intentions. As the goblin armored in bone begins his speech, Alexander regrets not learning this particular lingua. He patiently waits for the current speaker to finish before saying, "I'm sorry but I lack fluency in that language, would you happen to be able to communicate in the one I'm presently speaking in?"

[Mark3000]

Lilith takes her time to focus on the dark green-armored figures, trying to discern their exact number and location. If she can get that information, she'll pass it along to Metia. Still wobbly from the bloody rain and their battle, Lilith wanted to proceed with caution. She looked to Camilla and patted her on the head. Putting her finger to her mouth, she signals the girl to be quiet.

Trying to shake off the effects once more, she turns to Metia " So what's the plan?" Lilith whispered "I don't know if they've noticed us yet, we might be able to take them by surprise."

[lilbooth]

Cee Cee was a bit confused, and a bit unsettled as she neared the end of her tracking. Why had the chimera gone this way, and why head back towards the Barton castle. She scratched her head for a few moments and kicked at the dirt beneath her feet. The Chimeras were created by and imprisoned by the Bartons for quite some time. And they seemed to have made short work of all the mercenaries and monsters in their wake. Maybe they were out for revenge and they were headed straight for the Castle. Strange that they would know where it was but that was something she would find out later. For now continued her tracking, hoping to catch a glimpse of the chimera before she made it all the way back to where she started.

[Littlemankitten]

Anastasia was very disappointed when there wasn't a all you can eat buffet at the end of the trail, instead finding just a bunch of arrogant fools who probably couldn't distinguish a tree branch from their dick. Looking back down, she noticed the trail was completely gone, well then. That was weird. She was to tired to care though, with a yawn, she shrugged at the figures and leaned against a tree. "Ah yes cause I of all people would be the one to stoop low enough to eat some filthy flesh of other sentients." Anastasia let the sarcasm hang in the air for a bit before proceeding. "Seriously, any Spectross eating another sentient sounds absurd, are you sure your scout doesn't have beetles where is brain should be?" Anastasia looked at them with that same kind of superiority a Spectross would normally give people.

As the one in the lead inhaled to speak again, one of the others behind him tapped his shoulder and whispered to him, however loud enough for Anastasia to hear "I don't think Spectross would feast on what they consider lesser creatures, the cunt has a point" he said in a raspy voice that could easily be mistaken for sand paper on a chalkboard. The one in the lead froze upon hearing that and sheathed his sword "URGENT BUSINESS HAS COME UP, AND WE SHALL RETURN WHEN OUR INVESTIGATION DEMANDS SUCH. GOOD DAY, MA'AM." he said in an extremely loud voice, before the group quickly figuratively grabbed their collective shit and retreated back into the woods.

Well, it seemed those three did have at least five brain cells between them, even if they did need some prodding before being activated. She wasn't even lying about what she said, sure she helped kill who they must be talking about, but she would never eat them! With a sigh, she tiredly looked towards the castle. Her eyes felt so heavy. With so much time to think, perhaps trying to sneak into a castle with who knows how many guards was a bad idea. She would need backup if she would even attempt that. "Sorry Idalia." She muttered to herself and began walking towards the South-east. She was pretty sure she was close to Nirvana, and perhaps there would be something that could help her rescue Idalia there. A companion, some more money, bigger weapons... Anything.

[RandomRoninKitten]

Amun Khufu/MrBlah

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

He was glad she was calming down, and Amun was also grateful for Lyanna's timely intervention to get things speeding along. They had a big day and much to do. "Right... then, shall we be off? I believe our first move should possibly be to scout out shops for new gear. I'm afraid I have few funds on me at the moment, but if you two would be so kind as to pitch in, we may be able to make a few important purchases. Food and water would likely be the most important, but new weapons and clothes would be nice." Considering he only had a rusted dagger for a weapon and his torn noble rags for clothes, Amun really needed new gear if he was to survive in such a dangerous world.

He lead the group of them out of their temporary home and out into town. Amun looked around for any shops selling food, guns, clothes and armor, or anything else that could be useful. He'd go to check out the shops to see if there's anything they could afford, but if not, he'd continue searching.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Lucia remains silent the entire trip around the city, while Lyanna just follows close behind Amun, looking as though she has seen the city already. At the very least, the inhabitants are very friendly, waving as they see the group pass by and welcoming them.

The first shop is filled with cheap armor and weaponry, made from rusted scrap metal, with the shop owner wearing his own suit of similar armor, and holding a sword similar to the rusted scrap swords on the shelves. The man introduces himself as Fuuuuurd and welcomes them to his dusty, broken, rotting tore as they walk in.

In terms of food, all the group can find is a shop filled with strange green and blue striped radish-looking plants, which the shop owner, another man, named Mirble, also in rusted scrap armor, with a rusted scrap sword, says is the only thing the city has to ear. "Yessiree, these here are the best Alqarfs you'll find on the entire continent. Probably." he reassures them. Lucia, in response, just stares at her feet, while Lyanna picks one up and examines it. Despite the place being, much like every other structure in the city, made of rotting, broken, wood, the Alqarfs are spotlessly clean.

Ophelia/MiscChaos

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Ophelia has a moment of worry as she sees the red eyes and feels the pressure on her heart. For that moment, she fears she failed whatever Masino looks for in a follower and was going to have her heart crushed. It would be an inglorious end for one such as her, but likely more than she deserved since her cause of death would be being put down by a literal god. When Masino speaks to her (and she is somewhat confused because people insist on calling Masino a he even though the statue and the voice in her head are feminine. Perhaps it's a lifestyle choice? Or maybe Masino is simply indifferent) and confirms this is not the case, she can't help but feel relief. She doesn't mind spontaneously learning a new language as learning new skills for Lady Techra is a common occurrence. If she is to serve a god(dess?), putting said god in at least the same priority class seems like a wise idea. With her assignment from Masino given, she raises up from her kneel and turns to Alice.

"I have been accepted into Masino's service. I have been tasked with serving JU..." She interrupts herself before she can scream JUSTICE like Alice always seems to do. She's mostly sure Alice heard it, but it is the principle of the matter. She can feel her cheeks burning with her error, an unusual feeling but one she's had happen more the longer she's been with Alice. "With bettering life through innovation. I believe I have completed everything I wish to do in town. I will be heading to the meeting point."

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Alice's smile grows broader, not only when Ophelia tells her that she has been accepted into the service of Masino, but even more when she almost shouts JUSTICE, "Oh, Ophelia, I'm so proud of you for accepting Masino. First you, then the rest of the world, then a new age of JUSTICE and happiness." she said, as she began to walk with her out of the structure so that they can head to the agreed-upon meeting point. As they traveled, Alice seemed to remember who they were meeting there "That reminds me, we'll also need to convince Annie. There's no hurry, though, I'm sure she'll come around when she sees us embodying truth and JUSTICE on Masino's behalf. Living by example is the best way to show others that your way is the true way." she rambled.

Other people smiled and waved at the two as they made their way across town, passing by the furnaces that kept the town from freezing over, and the various legions of Inquisitors, who also waved, however if they smiled, their helmets hid it, as their faces were completely covered by them.

When they arrived, Annie was already there, leaning against the booth beside the main gate. Upon seeing the two approaching, she pushed herself off of it "I see we're all here and ready to go?" she said, more as a question than a statement, which Alice seemed to pick up on "Absolutely, and now that Ophelia has accepted the will of Masino into her heart and become a warrior of Great JUSTICE, we're more ready than we could have ever been before!" she said, quite loudly, causing Annie to shrink back a little "R-right..." she said, giving Ophelia a questioning look, but making her way over to the booth anyway, as if to use it as an emergency exit to the discussion. She started to sign the clipboard, however, Alice grabbed her by the hood of her overcoat and pulled her backwards, clearing her throat "They're with me, don't worry!" she said, to which the Inquisitor simply nodded and motioned for them to go ahead, adding "Come back soon, the hospital has been requesting that you visit them again." Alice nodded as he opened the gate to let the group through, replying "I was intending to visit today, but I have to help beat up a bad guy. don't worry, though, tell them I'll be able to come visit once we're done! The JUSTICE of Masino needs me to do my part!" she said, with a smile.

After the three head out, they start heading directly for the Colosseum of fools, now that they would be let in for having a party of three.

The three exit the city, the gates shutting behind them, and then proceed to make their way towards the Colosseum of Fools, however after making it some distance, they come upon an Orc Camp in the distance, which blocks their path. Going around the camp to the left would take them into the mountains, and going around the camp to the right would take them through flat-lands, making them easier to see, but would take them to the Colosseum faster.

Looking up ahead at the camp, Alice speaks up first "Dastardly villains! These orcs are the infamous Skall-Fisturr clan... we should descend upon them and slaughter them all, bringing swift JUSTICE down upon them!" she then strikes a pose, drawing her blade. Annie, however, grabs her by the back of her corset and to keep her from running ahead "Uh. No. We have to hurry to the Colosseum or the criminal would get away... I suggest we go through the mountains, we're less likely to be spotted there, it's much safer." she says, quietly, yet loud enough for Alice and Ophelia to hear.

Alexander Telluria/Centaurific

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Alexander relaxes, slightly, as the goblins approach without obvious violent intentions. As the goblin armored in bone begins his speech, Alexander regrets not learning this particular lingua. He patiently waits for the current speaker to finish before saying, "I'm sorry but I lack fluency in that language, would you happen to be able to communicate in the one I'm presently speaking in?"

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The old goblin stares at Alexander after his question and inhales deeply, before launching directly into another speech, without changing language at all. He waves his hands and nods his head, while also stroking his beard at intervals, however not a single word is understandable by Alexander, however, after the Goblin apparently finishes, he turns to the other Goblins and nods to them, after which they begin traveling towards the village again, apparently ignoring him entirely at this point.

One of the Goblins throws a torch passed the incomplete wall, after which is lands on a house and begins slowly burning. The other Goblins take this as their que and run into the village, with their weapons raised.

Lilith Rose/Mark3000

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Lilith takes her time to focus on the dark green-armored figures, trying to discern their exact number and location. If she can get that information, she'll pass it along to Metia. Still wobbly from the bloody rain and their battle, Lilith wanted to proceed with caution. She looked to Camilla and patted her on the head. Putting her finger to her mouth, she signals the girl to be quiet.

Trying to shake off the effects once more, she turns to Metia " So what's the plan?" Lilith whispered "I don't know if they've noticed us yet, we might be able to take them by surprise."

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The figures seemed to total somewhere around seven, however with their armor blending into the greenery and their various positions, in trees, behind bushes, and pressed to the ground, figuring their exact number proved difficult.

Metia looks at Lilith as if she just said the dumbest thing she had ever heard. "They're looking right at us, so yes, they've seen us. As for what to do, harlot, they haven't done anything yet, so I'm reconsidering my original plan of setting them on fire..." she said quietly, as she looked back at the armored figures hiding in the greenery. The figures began shifting around, changing their positions slightly, saying nothing, but also not turning their heads away from Lilith, Metia, and Camilla's direction.

By the time the figures were done moving, they had surrounded them, but still weren't making any moves or speaking at all. One of the figures had actually changed position to a single plant, which was only a foot tall, and not nearly large enough to hide even his foot, let alone his entire body, however despite this, he was still crouching there as though it covered him completely.

CeeCee/Lilbooth

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Cee Cee was a bit confused, and a bit unsettled as she neared the end of her tracking. Why had the chimera gone this way, and why head back towards the Barton castle. She scratched her head for a few moments and kicked at the dirt beneath her feet. The Chimeras were created by and imprisoned by the Bartons for quite some time. And they seemed to have made short work of all the mercenaries and monsters in their wake. Maybe they were out for revenge and they were headed straight for the Castle. Strange that they would know where it was but that was something she would find out later. For now continued her tracking, hoping to catch a glimpse of the chimera before she made it all the way back to where she started.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

CeeCee's continued tracking almost takes her to the Barton Castle, however the scent sharply turns in the opposite direction of the castle and, after a short distance, brings her passed a wooded area, until she can see a girl, wearing black chains around her ankles, wrists, and neck, hunched over and eating a gigantic decaying wolf-like creature. She had an entire leg in one hand, while hunched over and eating the muscle, flesh, and fur off of the chest area, while making growling noises and using her other hand to slowly rip the head off. Despite being partly eaten, the creature was still weakly kicking and whimpering while slowly bleeding out from its wounds.

The girl is only a short distance off and hasn't seemed to notice her yet, her red eyes completely focused on her meal.

Anastasia Ursa/LittleManKitten

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Anastasia was very disappointed when there wasn't a all you can eat buffet at the end of the trail, instead finding just a bunch of arrogant fools who probably couldn't distinguish a tree branch from their dick. Looking back down, she noticed the trail was completely gone, well then. That was weird. She was to tired to care though, with a yawn, she shrugged at the figures and leaned against a tree. "Ah yes cause I of all people would be the one to stoop low enough to eat some filthy flesh of other sentients." Anastasia let the sarcasm hang in the air for a bit before proceeding. "Seriously, any Spectross eating another sentient sounds absurd, are you sure your scout doesn't have beetles where is brain should be?" Anastasia looked at them with that same kind of superiority a Spectross would normally give people.

As the one in the lead inhaled to speak again, one of the others behind him tapped his shoulder and whispered to him, however loud enough for Anastasia to hear "I don't think Spectross would feast on what they consider lesser creatures, the cunt has a point" he said in a raspy voice that could easily be mistaken for sand paper on a chalkboard. The one in the lead froze upon hearing that and sheathed his sword "URGENT BUSINESS HAS COME UP, AND WE SHALL RETURN WHEN OUR INVESTIGATION DEMANDS SUCH. GOOD DAY, MA'AM." he said in an extremely loud voice, before the group quickly figuratively grabbed their collective shit and retreated back into the woods.

Well, it seemed those three did have at least five brain cells between them, even if they did need some prodding before being activated. She wasn't even lying about what she said, sure she helped kill who they must be talking about, but she would never eat them! With a sigh, she tiredly looked towards the castle. Her eyes felt so heavy. With so much time to think, perhaps trying to sneak into a castle with who knows how many guards was a bad idea. She would need backup if she would even attempt that. "Sorry Idalia." She muttered to herself and began walking towards the South-east. She was pretty sure she was close to Nirvana, and perhaps there would be something that could help her rescue Idalia there. A companion, some more money, bigger weapons... Anything.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

After not too long, Anastasia makes it to the Fungal Wastes. The area is covered in small swamps, and wet, muddy grasslands. Seemingly in place of trees, the area is covered in massive mushrooms, leaving most of the area in shade.



The only exception is a small, wooden cabin nearby, with the lights on and smoke pouring from the chimney. Traveling between the mushrooms off in the distance, Anastasia could see small groups of Mushroom Men, carrying spears. Swimming beneath the water of the ponds are mushroom fish, releasing spores into the air from beneath the water.

Towering over the Fungal Wastes, miles upon miles off in the distance, Anastasia could see the city of Nirvana, known for being the preferred homeland of most kinds of Were-Beasts.

[Littlemankitten]

Anastsaia has never been to the fungal wastes before. She wasn't very impressed. It was fucking hot and humid and she could feel the larger spores smack against the few exposed parts of her skin. everything was this weird, dreary shade of blue that even Stellia rejected in her color palette. Not to mention the damn sound of absolutely everything ejecting spores, the fauna, the flora, the damn ground kept on puffing out spores at her. The ecosystem must be pretty hard to be in even as a mushroom with all the real-estate being taken up. Thankfully, she could see the walls of Nirvana slowly getting closer, soon enough she'll be in relative safety. Assuming Nirvana didn't succumb to the wastes the last time a messenger updated the other cities about its status.

While traveling through the Fungal Wastes, Anastasia passes by several log huts with smoke pouring from the chimneys, just like the first one. Movement could be heard inside each of them, but the glass was dark enough on the windows that the inhabitants and their actions couldn't be seen.

After traveling several miles into the Fungal Wastes, encountering only harmless creatures. One dog-like creature, several flying creatures, and some Mushroom men who seemed to pretend Anastasia didn't exist as they moved from one place to another, all of them either made of or covered in mushrooms, spreading spores and causing more to begin growing. At one point, Anastasia encounters a cow made of mushroom, mushrooms sprouting from its back as it fires spores into the air, barely sparing her a glance and simply 'Moo'-ing.

It seems everything was content with just ignoring Anastasia, and for once in her life, she was ok with that. Even in her tired state she knew better than to think all of these creatures were originally this way. She knew that if she overstayed her welcome in these wastes she would become just like them. Sure she was a bit surprised she didn't meet some kind of mushroom dragon thing but she didn't want to jinx herself so just kept walking. When she comes across the cow she just keeps walking to, it definitely wasn't good for food anymore, and served no purpose to her, and was just more opportunity to become like them.

Soon after passing by the Cow, Anastasia starts to hear footsteps behind her, followed by a low growling, however when she turns her head, the creature and noise are gone.
About the third time she turns her head, the creature is standing there in front of her, slowly taking form as it walks out of one of the mushrooms, appearing as though it phased through it. The creature is a green-colored wolf, covered is moss and mushroom growths, shooting spores into the air.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

annnnnd she jinxed it... Oh well, it doesn't sound all that big based on the noises it was making. She just wished it would stop hiding and show its damn face. Just as she thought she was finally losing it she sees the wolf coming out of one of the mushrooms. Yea, thankfully not a weird mushroom dragon. Welp, it looks like she needed at least one more fight before she found some semblance of safety. With a yawn, Anastasia reached to her back and unsheathed her weapon, getting into a battle stance.

(Fight:)

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The wolf didn't seem all that keen on attacking first, so Anastasia took that opportunity to charge it and hit it directly in the torso with her hammer. The wolf flies back into the mushroom it came from and a bunch of spores and what looked like some kind of blood came out of it, judging by the sound it made it wasn't expecting such a serious hit. The wolf then turns around and opened it's mouth. It's tongue apparently doubled as a harpoon and it shot out of its mouth towards Ana. Ana yelped in surprise and jumped out of the way, making its attack miss as its tongue retracted back into it's mouth. Anastasia hits it on the head with her hammer, wanting to get rid of whatever that attack was. A sickening crunch resounds from its skull, but it keeps moving, despite its head now rolling at strange angles. Now that Anastasia was in slightly closer proximity to its head, it fires it tongue at her again. This time it pierces her skin, and she could see it draining something out of her and into it's body. It's head starts to reform its normal shape as this happens. Not having any of this, Anastasia hits it on the head again, causing its skull to fully cave in this time around, and it falls limp. She rips the tongue out of her arm and throws it on the ground.

Just as she was about to thank Avenir for this victory, two more of those damn things sprouted out of nowhere! Hey that wasn't very fair. With a growl, one of the wolves moves it's body around strangely, and suddenly all the drifting spores in the air suddenly all converge on Anastasia at once. Those things were surprisingly sharp to! Blood spurts onto the ground as Anastasia is minorly lacerated. Anastasia cries out in pain and only barely manages to dodge out of the way of the second wolf using its tongue attack on her. Anastasia's temper flares momentarily, but she quickly calms down as she thinks about the situation. Her skin mending itself back together as she does. Quickly digging a potion of regeneration out of her pocket, she chugs it. Throwing the bottle on the ground, she concedes to herself that she is still a little pissed off. With a roar, a red mist forms around Anastasia and pulses through the wolves, causing them to reel back and whimper. One of the wolves tries to use the spores in the air again, but her psychic attack seems to have done the trick, and it can't execute it properly, causing all the spores to fall harmlessly on the ground. The Other wolf uses its tongue again, but this time around it was incrediblely easy to dodge.

Anastasia attacks one of the wolves. These ones seemed squishier than the other, and her hammer easily sinks into its flesh. Causing a huge indentation that would be fatal for most creatures, but this thing seemed to barely keep a hold on life. Both of the wolves try and bite her now, she dodges one of them, but that leads her right into the jaws of the other. Luckily for her, it seems these things bites were to weak to pierce her flesh all that much, and only a small trickle of blood came out from the small wound. The other wolf tries to use the gathering spores in the air again. This time it does work, and more spores hit her, causing more lacerations. Thankfully, that regeneration potion was keeping her in the game. Anastasia tries attacking the other, healthy wolf, but it dodges out of the way barely. She curses under her breath. She then suddenly coughs up blood, probably due to all the spores and damage she's taken so far. The wolf bites her again, once again causing only a tiny wound. She also dodges out of the way of another tongue attack. Anastasia sends another wave of red mist through the wolves, causing the injured one to keel over on the spot, and the other one to howl in pain. The remaining wolf makes a last effort to tongue Anastasia, but this time it fires it straight into the ground, making dodging uneccesary. With that, Anastasia hits the last wolf in the face, causing its head to detach from the body.

Anastasia huffs, glad the fight was over. She was in a surprising amount of pain, especially since she wasn't doing to hot even before the fight. Gathering any useful items the wolves may have dropped, Anastasia continued hobbling in the direction of Nirvana, hoping to get there as soon as possible.

[MiscChaos]

Ophelia has a brief moment of... not regret, but worry as Alice rambles on about the faith they now share. She does not think she is likely to go back on her decision, but she thinks she might be more comfortable sharing her faith with someone a bit less... enthusiastic. Her internal attempts at tact appear to be working. She thinks. She would need to test it externally to be sure, but she's unsure if her companions would take offense if it turned out her efforts were not sufficient enough. Well, she rather doubts it in the case of Alice. That brings up the question of whether her fellow follower would object to being her guinea pig in this endeavor. It's something to ponder when she has some flexible downtime. For now, however, they've met back up with Annie. And Annie looks somewhat worried about her conversion to the faith of Masino. "Have no fear. I am not as enthusiastic as our friend." She whispers to the nonbeliever, trying to reassure her that she wouldn't have two people yelling about JUSTICE to her. As they make their way out of the city, she has a moment of regret that they have to leave. Besides Ferraille, this is the only place she's been to where everyone accepts her and even seems to welcome her without regard to her race. It's... nice. It's enjoyable to be able to wander without fear of drawing someone ire or being forced to defend herself or even having to hide her appearance to prevent the previous two outcomes. It's pleasant to not be called a plague or a slut or something derogatory simply for existing. She will miss it if she does not find any others.

Such thoughts take up her attention until they come across the orc encampment. It's smaller than the one she already snuck her way through, but being caught by the barbaric bitch prevents her from being too confident about her stealth skills. Especially since she isn't alone this time. And one of her party is apparently not tolerant of the continued existence of these orcs in particular. She agrees with Annie's assessment that if they loiter long enough to clear this encampment, it is possible for their target to escape. She places her hand on Alice's shoulder. "JUSTICE must be done, but it does not always have to be swift. We know where they are. They are not likely to go anywhere, unlike our target in the Colosseum. Once our business is done there, we may come back to bring reckoning upon them." She says, trying to convince her fellow follower to agree to Annie's plan. Unspoken is she's worried about their chances. She doesn't know how many orcs are in the camp or how strong or well armed they are. Attempting to do so before going to the Colosseum could result in them not making it at all or arriving so tired that they don't get anything done. She'll be more willing to risk it afterwards if she's still on speaking terms with her current party.

[lilbooth]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Cee Cee perked up somewhat as the scent turned from the castle. She was close, the scent was growing stronger. It wasn't far off now, but she was quite tired after tracking all day long. When she happened upon the Chimera she was confused. What stood before her was a rather normal looking young women. Who possessed a gnarly set of eyes and an immense amount of strength. Cee Cee figured she'd been tracking some strange half-human half-monster all day... but she looked rather normal. Some sort of magic propelled her inhuman traits but it was nothing like what Cee Cee expected. She took a few mental notes of how the girl looked and where she was. She knew that the chimeras were dangerous but she had reason to believe that this girl would attack her, and she could run away if need be. She stood tall and strong and threw her voice as far as she could. "Hello? Are you alright?" She called out ready to turn and run if need be.

The girl straightened up and turned her head slowly towards CeeCee, a piece of the creature still dangling from her teeth as she looked. She spat it back onto the body as she stared at CeeCee and squinted her eyes. After what seemed like several minutes of her eyes adjusting, she finally spoke “Is that YOUR shield?” she asked, seemingly confused by it, her voice no stranger than any other girl’s.

Cee Cee spun to the side glancing down at the shield strapped to her back. "I suppose? It was a gift I received after defending Monsteropolis. I’m not of Barton blood if that’s what you're asking."

The girl scowled at the shield from the distance and ripped off another chunk of the monster’s flesh, chewed it, then swallowed it almost wholly “Oh really. Where are you heading?” she asked, almost sarcastically, as she went in to tear off a big chunk of the monster’s throat, as it finally died.

”I’m on an assignment from the Black Dragon Mercenary Guild, they issued a search of Baskerville. I found a building there that seemed to be less destroyed than the rest of the town, but it was full of dead mercenaries. And unless you have been trying to disguise your scent, you were there as well. I’ve been tracking you all day. "

The girl froze for a moment and licked the blood off of her lips “Oh, you’ve been following me and you have a Barton Shield?” she said, accusingly as she straightened up from the creature and started moving towards CeeCee, dragging the black chains hanging off of her wrists, ankles, and neck along in the dirt.

"Look, I’ve not come to harm you. You are clearly very capable and I would pose you no threat. I used to have a full set of Barton Armor, I worked with their knights to hold the undead horde from Monsteropolis. It ended up not making a huge difference because of the whole falling city thing but I was struck down twice in the battle, and the Barton’s saved me."

The girl seems to only get angrier and starts lurching forward in long steps, leaving the carcass behind, screaming at CeeCee “YOU WORKED WITH THEM, YOU’RE ONE OF THEM, YOU AND THEY DID THIS TO ME, I’LL EAT YOU!” with one of her steps, she crushes the ground into rubble, then grabs a bolder from the mass, seemingly brandishing it as a weapon. [Indris has entered Extreme Range]

Cee Cee sighed as the women flew into a rage screaming at her. She had nothing to do with what was done to her, but apparently, it didn’t matter. She turned on a dime and mounted Slongvir, fleeing as quickly as she could.

After a few moments in which it looked like the screaming, roaring girl would catch up to her, Slongvir manages to outrun her, leaving her behind. As she fades out of view, CeeCee could see her ripping a tree out of the ground and throwing it in anger.

Within minutes of swift riding, Cee Cee neared the gates of Barton Castle. She hurriedly hailed the door guard, in fear that the women may still be chasing her. She turned to the first knight she saw and said, "Take me to Lord Barton at once."

The knight at the door, who looked like literally all of the others, in terms of armor and body type, nodded at her and waved his arm towards the other knight, who slowly cranked the gates open for CeeCee. After entering the structure, she is immediately greeted by two more knights, one of which speaks up “Lord Barton didn’t expect you back so soon, milady. How did your mission go?” he asked, as he and the other knight led her towards Lord Barton’s chambers.

"It ended quite abruptly, unfortunately, but otherwise it was mixed. It started off well but went downhill since the start of this morning. "

The knight nodded understandably, as he knocked on the door to Lord Barton’s chamber “Milady is here to see you, milord” he announced. Lord Barton opened the door quickly, though only a crack, then opened it fully, and motioned for CeeCee to enter the room. “Please, come in Lady CeeCee,” he said, stepping aside. The room looked the same as it had before, however, this time in the center of the floor, with a stack of shapes and a board made of wood, with the same shapes as the stack cut into it. Sitting next to the board, and the shapes, trying to jam a triangle into the circular hole, was a little girl. (https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/320297872270688277/493546295240163328/3f2235f952acfd8ebafd953a7e8e2eff.jpg)
She looked up at CeeCee with a questioning look, and let out a small “Awoo?”. Lord Barton noticed CeeCee looking at her, and spoke up in response “Ah, I should introduce you. This is our as-of-unnamed creation from your companion’s, yours, the Frost Cragg’s, and my own likeness. She’s been matured to assist you, however, has a lot to learn. I thought that you may want to name her yourself, so I have not done so.” he said, with a nod.

Cee Cee walked closer to the girl and crouched down next to her. "I hadn’t really stopped to consider a name. Maybe Magnolia, in honor of my fallen companion." She took a few moments to examine her, looking for her own features hidden amongst the mixed gene pool. She looked the girl in the eyes and placed one of her hands under her chin, "You are Magnolia. I’m CeeCee and this is Lord Barton." She said gesturing to herself and then the Lord. She stood up and walked a few steps away from Magnolia, standing by Lord Barton’s side.
"So, a slow learner you said?" She questioned, gesturing at the blocks Magnolia was struggling with.

Magnolia let out a “Hoot hoot?” when CeeCee touched her face, and didn’t seem to register what she was telling her, she merely returned to trying to pound the triangular block into the same hole, as if trying enough times would make it fit. Lord Barton nodded slowly when CeeCee asked him about Magnolia’s learning problem “Well, you see, a problem I’ve never encountered with my other creations happens to have occurred with this one. I’m not sure which part it was, as I’m used to OwlBears exhibiting higher intelligence than… you know. I have been attempting to teach her the basic shapes, and she has made some progress… she now knows the Triangle does not fit in the square hole.” he explained, nodding slowly.

"So all of the others were of normal intelligence when they were formed? I didn’t know what a triangle was until I was eleven so I’m not too worried about that. But this is troubling. I have news from Baskerville. The whole town is ruined, the facility you own in the center is partially destroyed and full of dead mercenaries. And I only found one of the Chimeras, who was very upset to learn that I had worked with you. I tried to speak to her but she seemed very keen to eat me. I can tell she was chained and held there against her will. What exactly where your men doing to them in Baskerville? " She asked.

Lord Barton frowned when CeeCee gave him the news “That’s terrible… all of those people dead because of my own experiments. Those poor people.” he said, sitting down on his bed and gently rubbing the top of Magnolia’s head. At this point, she had stuck the triangle block into her mouth and was sucking on it, while trying to jam the circular block into the square hole. “You see, Lady CeeCee, that one had quite the temperament… she had attacked several medical personnel who were trying to feed her, so she had to be put in chains for safety. The scene that you saw in Baskerville is a result of those creatures escaping. I want them captured to keep them from hurting others, to rectify my mistake of letting them loose. I also believe that I can make them safer to have around, like our dear Magnolia. As you can see, she’s quite docile.” he explained, a grief-stricken expression on his face. “We did, however, manage to capture one of them, and she’s being held in a much safer location.” he finished, nodding slowly.

"The one I met seemed to have quite the bloodlust and rage. That coupled with the inhuman strength she possesses makes her a danger to everyone." Started Cee Cee, feeling quite conflicted. Lord Barton had created these creatures, the girl she met didn’t seem to enjoy the life she currently had and she blamed Lord Barton for her suffering. But, if she was so unstable perhaps holding her somewhere was safer? "I don’t know much about these experiments Lord Barton but these chimeras are unnatural, and you don’t seem to have any control over them. Now, I’m not a fan of keeping them locked up but if you think that is the safest thing to do I’ll leave you to it. I’d like to leave Magnolia with you for some time, I don’t think I’ll have much to teach her while on the road. One of the Chimeras that was in Baskerville is only a few minutes ride from the castle, though I can’t fathom how your knights could hurt or detain here. I’d like to collect my other gear as promised and be on my way." She said while sitting down next to the man.
"I should be back in only a few days to help care for Magnolia but I have a report to turn in for the Black Dragon Guild."

Lord Barton gently wrapped his arm around CeeCee’s shoulders “It’s a very difficult task, and specialized equipment is required, however, even then we do lose some men. With those creatures running loose, I do highly suggest taking Magnolia with you, as she would greatly increase your chances of survival against both the normal threats that one always faces and the creatures as well. She may not seem like much to you, however, she’s every bit as strong as your former companion and even stronger.” he nodded reassuringly as he spoke, then motioned to one of the nearby Knights to open his vault, which the man did immediately, once again revealing the vast wealth of equipment that Barton owned from his many exploits as a Mercenary.

"Fine.She’ll learn the way I did." Said Cee Cee as she stood up. "Have you got any other work for me, my Lord? I’m not sure when I’ll be back but if there is a reward involved I’d be happy to return."

Lord Barton nods as CeeCee agrees to take Magnolia with her, then replies “Hmm. Well, I have gotten reports of a Spectross woman attacking other Mercenaries that we have hired to track down and help us capture the loose creatures” he explained before continuing “I would very much appreciate it if you found her and ensured she didn’t keep stopping us from capturing those dangerous creatures. Not necessarily through violence, we don’t mind what method you use as long as she no longer interferes with us. We don’t have many specifics, however only so many Spectross are outside of Solstace. If you find her and stop her, I’ll gladly give you something else from my vault.” he explained, again giving Magnolia a gentle pat on the head, then added “Are you intending to spend the night, Lady CeeCee?” he asked.

"I suppose it’s late already. I’ll stay till morning. If you’d like to come to meet my new mount I’ll have to go stable him before I head to bed. Thank you for your hospitality again my lord. "

[Centaurific]

Following a further series of confusing sounds and gestures, Alexander is left befuddled. This befuddlement vanishes when the torch is thrown. Regretting his prior decision to attempt conversation, though suspecting that he would have felt bad had he attacked without warning, he leaps into action. He starts shooting the goblins, aiming for the one covered in bones first. He also yells, "Goblins are attacking!" He really hopes he didn't just ruin someone's life.

[Mark3000]

Lilith almost smacked herself when she realized the armored figures were looking straight at them. As the figures began to shift position, Lilith began to feel her body tense up. That is until one of them tries to hide behind a foot tall plant. "What?" Lilith blurted out as she watched the armored figured attempt to hide. This thing must have known we could see it. Looking to Metia and Camilla, she decides to at least see if she could talk to them.

Lilith approached the armored figure behind the plant slowly trying to come off as nonthreatening as possible. "Hello? My name is Lilith. Me and my friends are just trying to get through the forest. We don't need any trouble"

[mrblah]

collab post

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Amun's initial impression of the shop and its owner could be described with one word; disgusting. He had to bite back the bile rising up his throat at the sight of Fuuuuurd, but the prospect of goods eventually won him over and he checked what the shopkeeper had to sell. His eyes were amateur, and he wasn't sure how to properly spot weapons of interest, so he deemed it appropriate to lean on Lyanna for advice. "Miss Lyanna, would you think this is any good?" He picked up a random... sword, or some kind of weapon, and held it out to her.

Lyanna looked with disgust at the weapon, but her face only showed it for an instant before turning into a look of disinterest "I don't recommend anything in this store" she whispered "I think this is just what they have... not what they deem to be suitable weaponry." she finished, grabbing it carefully from Amun's hand, as if it was made of glass, then putting it back on the shelf. Meanwhile, Lucia was just staring at her feet.

He had a feeling, really. Amun sighed in his disappointment. He'd been hoping for a chance to arm himself better to prepare for what was to come, but... this place didn't seem like it'd match his interests. "Yes, I suppose you're right. Let's continue on then." The group of three make their way out of the rusted shop, and continued to journey randomly through the street, hoping to spot another shop that'd be selling something more... useful.

Amun's prayers would be answered—or half of it would be. The next destination seemed to be a strange... shop, that at least sold food. Amun inspected the so-called alqarfs as Lyanna did, then turned to her for her expert (or, well, more experienced than his) opinion. "Are these worthwhile, Miss Lyanna?"

Lyanna looked closer at the Alqarf, then sniffed at it "Well, they seem to only live off of these, so they must at least be edible..." she said, sounding unsure. LuLu continued just staring at her feet, beside Lyanna as she and Amun looked around. Lyanna put the Alqarf back on the shelf and looked at some of the others.

"Then it unfortunately looks like this is the best we can get." He sighed. Amun took a few of the Alqarfs and headed toward Mirble with a bunch of them in his arms. 1, 2, 3, 4... and 5. "How much for all of these?" He hoped he had enough to pay, that is, assuming they're even using the same currency.

Mirble smiled as Amun approached the counter, while Lyanna and Lucia followed close behind him. "Ah, I see you're a man of culture as well." he said, as Amun placed the Alqarfs on the counter. He then slowly poked each one, counting out loud and nodding with each, then stopped short after the fifth "Hmm, well, each of these is half of one [C], so I'd suggest either getting one less, OR one more." he said, smoothly. After he had finished speaking, he glanced over Amun's shoulder at Lyanna and Lucia.

Half of one [C]?! For these... measly foods? The former noble felt offended, more so because that would completely deplete his entire supply of [C] than anything. It felt humiliating... and he was going to further humiliate himself. Amun looked back to the other two. "I don't suppose either of you would have any more [C]?" He didn't mention the fact that he couldn't pay, just so as to not alienate the possibility of haggling with the shopkeeper. But it would be nice to know if they had anything to pitch in so as to better plan in the future.

Mirble doesn't respond to any of it, opting to remain silent. Lyanna whispers to Amun softly "I lost everything but my armor in the destruction of my home, I didn't have any [C] on me." while Lucia doesn't say anything, she just stares at her feet, not seeming to register that anything is going on. When Mirble notices Lyanna whispering, he finally speaks up "If you think that's too much, I guess I could give you three for one. If I go too much lower, I'll be practically giving them away. We do have to feed the people living here, and it's not as though these aren't valuable... they have regenerative properties, and they never rot." he explained, sounding a little nervous.

"..." He was on board with the deal, but now it was ringing somewhat suspicious to him. Food that had regenerative properties and would never rot? He might be new to this world, but that sounded too good to be true. Amun spun back around to face Mirble with one of his wide, noble smiles. "Oh, that does sound like a much lovelier deal, good sir! Truly, it's very kind of you, but I must ask; how exactly did you come upon such a bounty of magical foods? Surely it's not as if there's many farms of these rare items! The demand for supply must be high, I'd imagine?"

He nodded his head slowly "They are somewhat difficult to grow, the healing property is too weak to outweigh the danger in obtaining them, and nobody is foolish enough to travel between cities on foot to deliver them..." he said sadly. He then picked one up and examined it "They're also too small to be considered a meal, so most cities would rather grow something else... " he set it back down on the counter.

... Wait, that sounded kind of logical, actually. He was hoping to see something faulty in the man's words to spot what he thought would be a swindler, but it... well, it checked out. "Oh. Well, that... is truly a shame." Amun felt a little awkward for doubting the man's integrity so quickly. Maybe he's just being too paranoid about the world. "I'll... I'll take 6." He handed Mirble two [C].

Mirble nodded and pulled a sixth Alqarf out from under the desk and set it beside the other five, then accepted the two [C] from Amun "Thank you for your patronage, please visit us again." he said, bowing to the three of them. Lyanna nodded, then grabbed Lucia by the hand in preparation to leave the store.

With the transaction made, Amun took the purchased goods and left in tow with his companions. "Next, next... perhaps we should find some place to reconvene, discuss and plan further. We got less out of this trip than I hoped." The only place he felt even slightly comfortable and secure in would be their temporary abode, and that place was falling apart. Still, Amun made his way back to the rusty abandoned shack they'd been given, and once they'd done what they could to get comfortable, he began.

"So, we were able to acquire food for cheap, but not weapons nor armor. We're a slight bit lower on funds than I'd like, but that's less important than our... or, I suppose moreso my lack of weaponry. I don't believe this place has anything of more importance that we can use, unfortunately, so perhaps it'd be time to move on to the next town?" He looked to Lyanna. "Assuming we could make the trip, where's the closest town you think would have something useful for us? Either a way to make more [C], or obtain new equipment..?"