Fantasy A Guild That Lumbers Forth [In-Character Area]

[Epiphany]

By Amber Wrought

LostHaven
Cassie accepted being Raum's footstool with the kind of indifferent grace that came from long practice. "Look on the bright side, my friend," the golem said to the bound arch-daemon. "At least this way you get out of the caravan a bit longer. Perhaps you'll find something shiny to acquire."

Birdsie
When the trio reached the Guildhall for the Foresters, Cassie's metaphorical heart sank. She looked down at the pile of application paperwork then shifted her gaze upwards to look at the receptionist. "I believe I still have membership in this guild from when I passed this way some years ago. Cassie Weaver. You might find my records under the name By Amber Wrought. I'm presently an employee of Ms. Emily Ashton here so if you need her records, please file mine under hers."

The arrival of Matthew drew an interested look from the golem although, to be fair, basically everyone was worth looking at when you were a decades-old war golem who had nothing but time on her hands. If nothing else, this Matthew seemed an expert at eliciting more information from the receptionist and Cassie shamelessly eavesdropped on the whole conversation, taking particular note of the man's evidently altruistic motives. For some reason, she didn't think his body language matched his words but she'd be the first to admit that mortals were a confusing lot.

Elenion Aura
Then the pirate showed up. A rather picturesque woman, both in natural looks and in her choice of wardrobe. Certainly Cassie hadn't seen anyone like her since the Void Wars nearly twenty five years ago. That had brought people of all nations and persuasions together. Even Elven pirates.

As did, apparently, woodcutting. Although Cassie was nearly certain this particular pirate was being sarcastic in her faux-enthusiasm for the tournament. Besides, most elves seemed to love trees. What was the woman's motive then? Ah, of course. Money.

At the casual inspection and the woman's equally casual compliment, the golem's impassive mask issued a warm, amused chuckle. "Coming from a beauty like yourself, your remark is a fine compliment. Thank you." Cassie tilted her head in acknowledgement, in respect, or possibly just to get a better look at the elf's bosom.

 

[Kylesar1]

Asmund Adonis
Infirmary
FireMaiden​

"I'll enjoy the company then. Thanks for tagging along, Valowen," Asmund said with an appreciative nod. He didn't often have people come with him. Usually it was just his shifter companion, who helped carry the wood. Otherwise, it was just him and the songs he learned as a member of his dissolved tribe........until something that wanted to kill him showed up. "I have a teleporter set up to continue my work where I left off yesterday." He was hired by a village some day or so away to chop trees and Asmund would be damned if he went on another day long trip.

"Whenever you're ready, we'll meet in the Old Conference Hall where I have a teleporter set up. You'll see my companion. Can't guarantee what you'll see, but it's an animal." The Old Conference Hall was a mostly abandoned room that, because it was mostly unused, Asmund began using it to connect him with the guild no matter how far he actually went away. Asmund stood up and left a bag of money on the table beside the bed he was on. "I'll be there after I make a few more preparations. Gotta get food and all that."

 

[Silver Wolf]

View attachment 713033

Leuthar
Current Location: Forester Guild HQ
Interactions: Cecilia ( Hanarei ), Receptionist ( Birdsie )
Mentioned/Nearby: Matthew ( Birdsie ), Cassie ( Epiphany ), Emily ( LostHaven ), Auria ( Elenion Aura )



Cecilia often had a funny speech pattern. The made up words and oddities of using them really amused him on a level he couldn't understand. Maybe it was the fact that she was trying to live up to being a celestial and being a "paragon of virtue" which often just ended up making her sound silly. Leuthar really didn't give two shits about how he acted. He wanted to be anything but a paragon. He really didn't want to have people take him seriously again. Though he couldn't really understand why the ancient people who had implemented a gate in his soul really wanted to take him seriously. Whatever, they were all dead. Right now, he had a huffy celestial to clarify two things to.

"Alright, how does me offering to repay someone tenfold if they feed me something yummy count as a threat? Also, there's a wood cutting competition. We could get a reward. Not like I need magic items or the commendation of the boss, but it's a competition. I wanna have fun!"

Leuthar let himself indulge a little in talking of fun. He grinned under his mask, not like anyone could see it. Though, his head was elavated and looking up. He turned his attention back to Cecilia and said, "Any comments on your overall capabilities aside, I'll happily let you take as much as you want in helping. Credit, material rewards, or even bragging rights are all yours. Hell, if you're not in it for the fun I'll let you have a chance to try and prove how superior you apparently are. If you don't want to help me, fine. If it goes against what you celestials stand for to help others, then I'll gladly find another way."

Leuthar turned around and started marching his way over towards where he would sign up. Since there was another different room for this, he decided to just walk through the building and its walls until he found where a few other people were. He didn't really bat an eye to how weird the procession was. Not like it mattered, being a weirdo himself, he wouldn't judge. The guild seemed like a place for weirdos to gather anyway, which was another boon to just randomly plopping down.

The mage walked up to the receptionist as they were talking with Mr. Charity, or so Leuthar would just enjoy calling Matthew. As soon as he walked over he leaned on the desk and said with his usual carefree tone, " Hey, I'm here to sign up for the competition." All he really expected was a piece of application paper and that would be the end of it. Though, he had probably bumped into a few people or walked through them walking up.

 

[Noble Scion]

Hibiscus - Guild HQ

Spoiler: Appearance

".. Alright then." Hibiscus mumbled to himself as the man left with the skeleton in tow. How the skeleton continued to be animated while seeming very much dead was beyond him, but he had the rest of his life to figure it out after he'd dealt with this whole anti-life issue, whether it got answered in a few weeks or a few decades didn't matter all too much. He wasn't all that curious, after all.
June Verles Ace Cream

It seemed like randomly approaching individuals wasn't exactly gathering him the results if that strange fellow was anything to go by, which meant it would probably be best if he resorted to a more... primitive solution. Sighing as he ran a hand down his 'hair', several white hibiscus flowers bloomed and began emitting pheromones by way of a gentle fragrance, making the alraune suddenly seem much more approachable to those affected. Perhaps now he'll get his answers.

The last time he'd made use of such an ability was when he was but a fledgling many years ago, the very thought of which made him shudder in embarrassment at such indelicacy for someone of his own standing. The temptation was still there to play the pander given that he'd spent so long with nothing but his friend Julie and the forest to soothe his lonely soul, but once again, time was of the essence, and such indulgence could always wait until after.

Hearing a particularly loud number of people back at the reception, the alraune wandered his way back the way he had come, this time with a smile on his face as he ran his eyes over the seven people in attendance, who were presumably all there for the tree-cutting event that was so prominently advertised. "Ah, hi~ I'm looking for a partner for this happening, anyone interested? I'm fairly new around here so I'll just have a few questions, but I'm sure any one of you could answer them." he smiled slyly at the mass, addressing no one in particular.

It seemed like a few of them weren't even human, but that didn't matter all too much. Biz only needed one of them to tell him what he needed to know, after all.

Thinking slightly more on his situation, it seemed that joining the guild was probably also along the best course of action, given that it seemed to be related to the insurgence "Also, I believe I need to sign up for something? Could I perhaps get the application papers for the guild, my friend?"
Silver Wolf Birdsie Epiphany LostHaven Elenion Aura Hanarei

 

[LostHaven]

Emily Ashton

Forester's Guild | Epiphany Birdsie Noble Scion Elenion Aura Silver Wolf ​

"Thank you, sir," Emily thanked the receptionist, who seemed more akin to a bubble of blubber than human, but Emily didn't judge based on race except for undead. She had been travelling with a literal living-weapon, and a demon, after all. Pen in hand, the girl stared at the sheet of paper for a considerably extended period of time, seemingly deep in thought. Her azure eyes scanned the page back and forth, as if scouring for the fine text that usually lay in ambush at the very, very bottom of the page. In reality, Emily was simply contemplating how she would fill in the answers. To begin with, her 'place of birth' doesn't exist anymore. Last she knew of it, the old barony out in the middle of nowhere had become a waste of corpses and ash, blanketed by a thick, deathly miasma. Probably plagued by undead, too. Whatever, she put it down anyways. As for residence, she wrote 'The Raven's Arcana'. For job experience, she simply listed anything from her years of playing merchant that would presumably have practical applications.

Finally, what really peaked her interest were the final, seemingly redundant questions... Political standing? Thoughts on the regime? She paused once more, pondering the implications of such queries. Was this to root out potential rebels? Surely, nobody was moronic enough to fall for such an obvious trap, right? This was the equivalent of putting a pie out on the porch, then literally hanging a piano above said pie. Next to 'Political Standing', she simply wrote: 'indifferent'. Then, she looked down toward 'Thoughts on the Regime'...

Why was there so much writing space...? Biting her lip lightly, Emily's hand began to move furiously, literally writing out an essay, literally just talking about how beneficial the regime was to the prosperity of the empire, ensures peace, healthy economy, blah blah, Emperor Turenval was great because he put a swift end to a bloody war, et cetera et cetera. There. That should be enough to not get arrested. She slid the application paper back toward the receptionist, before around and- oh. She hadn't even noticed that such a large gathering had accumulated, nothing short of a pirate, a suspicious masked guy (who gave off the same, uncomfortable and somehow irritating vibes as her former 'mentor'), and... "is that a Dryad?" Emily found herself wondering out loud upon laying eyes upon Hibiscus. Somehow, something seemed odd about the plant creature, and it wasn't just because it was a humanoid plant, or because flowers had began to sprout from its hair.

"Nope. Close, it's an Alraune," the Raven perched atop Cassie's head would reply uninvited. "The biggest difference is that Dryads are trees, and Alraune are flowers. Oh, and Alraune are lewd as heck, they can emit this fragrance that basically work as an aphrodisiac." Following Raum's (rather rude) lesson on the difference between a Dryad and an Alraune (that nobody asked for), the raven flew off of Cassie's head, and proceeded to land on Hibiscus'. Then, extending out one of his talons, the bird took hold on a cluster of the Alraune's 'hair', and tugged on it, tearing loose a hand(talon)ful. "Ah, but the leaves on their head can be used to make tea. It's especially good with the flowers blooming on top, see?"

 

[Birdsie]

Matthew Ryals // Receptionist Agateth
Guild of Foresters HQ

Agateth seemed not to dislike being called a porkchop. He gave the pirate woman a smile, then handed her an application, before sliding an identical copy towards Hibiscus. He put an inkwell down between them, to share, as well as snapped his fingers to magick up a pair of quills with which to write. "Of course, ruddy."

Just as she was done, the pot-bellied receptionist accepted Emily's application and looked it over with a visage of ennui. His eyes squinted more and more, the further down he went.

At a certain point, Agateth took out a magical ring from his pocket. It was a band of smooth electrum, adorned with a lambent crystal of purply shade. He put on the ring and ran it over the application like a scanner. The crystal beeped and became candescent once it reached the lower parts of the application.

Agateth smiled and put the jewelry into his pocket once again, before laying the application down, taking a green rubber stamp and hammering it into the stamp field. The space was marked with a green, bolded 'APPROVED' in a thick border. Agateth moved his finger clockwise and the application document replicated itself as if photocopied. He took one copy from the top of the stack and slid it over to Emily, before hiding the rest in a filing cabinet under the reception counter.

Without too much wait, he took out two, more distinct application formats and handed them to Matthew and Leuthar, alongside quills and an inkwell of their own.

The former man took his quill, and started to fill out the questionnaire there while glancing at Leuthar with an eye of surmise. The archmage, wearing a dark robe and a mask, didn't paint the image of a clandestine confrere, but something like a disaster about to happen. But it was hard to deny a versatile mage wasn't powerful...

"You up for the competition, too?" Matt asked the mage. "Say. Would you and your friend be opposed to cooperation? Get up together, increase our chances of victory, and whoever finds themself on top splits the rewards with the rest?"

Splitting the reward was a classical move in competitions of this kind, and the rules technically hadn't mentioned anything that prevented them from doing such.

Silver Wolf Noble Scion Epiphany LostHaven Elenion Aura Hanarei

 

[Hanarei]

Cecilia
*The Guildhall*

A competition? She heard about those! Not just some drunks game of rolling some dice or sticking a ball under a cup but a full fledge display of skill! That seemed rather exciting to her, a step up from the more 'lowlife' activities that seemed to just rely upon chance that she couldn't quite understand the appeal of. It was a little disappointing it wasn't quite a festival as she imagined, though perhaps all the partying came alongside it? It seemed like it would be fun to watch! Wait... but he was asking her to join and work with him. She wasn't really expecting that. When he explained what she gets if she joins and wins was one she reacted particularly as he mentioned one thing.

My superiority? Wait... is he saying I'm not great? Is he doubting me? Is this all apart of some elaborate ruse to expose me, or perhaps they know I couldn't lift an axe for the life of me? Maybe they are onto the fact I'm not very good at things? Oh no what do I do? Quick Cecilia you gotta thing you can't get exposed you need to make Celestials and particularly yourself look great!

Cecilia shuffled quickly up towards the counter following the 'strange one' as she seemed a bit red as if a bit feisty at some seeming slight against her though also quite worried about her image. She noticed a few more people had slipped in at this point as well as others having made their exit. An automota was now at the counter with a young woman with a bird-demon on her shoulder. There also seemed to be a pirate? Well this was an odd assortment of people to say the least gathered by the receptionist. These competitions really did bring in an odd assortment of individuals. She looked to the plant man staring at him as he seemed to be asking to team up with someone though her attention shifted quickly back to Leuthar.

"I'll have you know a Celestial is about serving the inner workings of the world as you know it. We are only meant to guide you. I'll have you know I don't need to do any sort of proving that I am great, that should be a given by my very presence!" She spoke wagging her finger less so attempting to assert superiority as much as she was trying desperately not to look week. It probably wasn't that helpful that she had her wrap still on her arm on top of the bandages. Her long twin tails flowed as she shook her head resting her hands on her hips.

"I mean really if I DID give you help that would be going above and beyond what I should and if anything you should be practically begging me to. After all that... wait... what the blazes are you doing here?" Her voice picked up as she suddenly shifted her attention to the crow pointing her finger at it. She had completely slipped over the fact a demon had been there the whole time even listing off the fact he was there in the first place. She had got herself so caught up in looking bad that her mind only now caught back up to thinking about him. The fact he was with the girl all but making her that much more suspicious. She watched him picking at the alraune's head picking at it. She extended both her fingers out forming a sort of makeshift cross lifting her fingers up pointing it towards the bird.

"Back you! You're terrorizing that poor pl...plant aren't you? Trying to fill her head with false promises like giving them powers, or bringing back a dead one, or giving her a life time supply of snacks aren't you? Leave that poor young... man... alone!" She pushed her crossed fingers towards the bird in a rather fruitless gesture given it wasn't as if there was any holy power in it at all as much as she was just gesturing with her hands to what most probably just registered to be a bird and nothing more.


Interacted: Silver Wolf LostHaven
Mentioned: Noble Scion Birdsie Epiphany Elenion Aura

 

[Elenion Aura]

The Pirate Queen

Forester's Guild HQ; June Verles Birdsie LostHaven Epiphany

Auria winked at the automaton before snatching up the quill pen. She filled out the more boring bits - place of birth, yadda, yadda, yadda. All lies. Some more glaring and obnoxious than other’s. Unless she really did live ’up your mum’s arse’ as the paper now read. When it came to the real stuff, Auria deftly circumvented the truth once again, only this time she included a crude drawing of their bag o’ bones overlord and his top overseers in a rather unflattering position. She pulled back and gave her work one last admiring look before sliding the sheet face up across the desk to the portly chap who was ready to receive it. She watched his reaction carefully, without trying to show it.

"Oh, cripes, something smells good." Auria pulled on those syllables with the trained lilt of a natural flirt, craning her neck around until her gaze landed on the plant boy, a look of practiced mystique on her face. She even licked her lips.

 

[LostHaven]

Raum

Forester's Guild | Noble Scion Hanarei Elenion Aura Silver Wolf Epiphany ​

At first, Raum paid little heed to the new arrivals, including a white-haired, amethyst-eyed girl who, for one reason or the other, had bandages wrapped all over various parts of her. "Now that I think of it, we have a surprisingly small variety of plant-goods," the archdemon continued, still on top the head of the Alraune who he literally just injured for no reason. He came to a pause upon Cecilia making some cross-symbol (which, contrary to popular belief, crosses didn't affect Raum in the slightest), while ludicrously exclaiming that he was terrorising the young plan- wait, the Alraune was a male?! Off the point, but Raum, evidently, was not pleased about being accused of crimes he had never committed once since his conception.

However, instead of settling the dispute in an orderly fashion, or even apologising to the poor plant whom he had indeed essentially terrorized, the Raven instead hopped off the Alraune's head, landing on the floor before, in a puff of smoke, morphed into the form of a human. His expression shifted to one of pure malice as the raven-turned white-haired man took a bow, so exaggeratedly low that his hair was almost touching his shoes. "Why, I would never think to carry out such diabolical acts!" He exclaimed loudly. "Besides, we demons are not as wicked as you so believe, milady! Or perhaps -great and mighty Celestials such as yourself would prefer something along the lines of 'your eminence'?"

Of course, this was all said in an incredibly sarcastic tone, that it took hardly a brain to figure out that Raum was, in reality, mocking the celestial. Being able to detect truth and lie like a sixth sense was sometimes a convenient thing, and with that said, damn that girl fibbed harder than a petty girlfriend. Each time the girl emphasised on how 'great' she was, Raum's stomach churned as it threatened to spew out all the contents of his breakfast (two worms, a duckling, and... Old Ms. Mac's pet cat?). "May I, perchance, ask for this Great Celestial's name?"

 

[June Verles]

Location - Forester's Guild HQ
Date - 1099, 4th of Aardvark

Current appearance.

"What no, insecticide is a particularly bad fuel source for chainsaws, which by the way are quite inefficient at cutting wood in the wide scheme of things."( Ace Cream ) He'd respond to his skeleton companion, he couldn't blame him though after all his information was probably quite... bare bones. After chuckling to himself the man would turn around to stare back inside of the guild hall, the commotion from earlier having gone up quite a bit higher in the phons category, a phon being the unit of subjective loudness.

Regardless, in laments terms, a large of commotion means something interesting was going on and like a moth to a flame the man would stop in his feet before making a 180 degree turn. "That looks fun Joseph, let's go write our own names in the list." The man would urge his new found companion as he then re-entered the building.

As he did though the moment he took one inhalation of the air he could feel his shoulders relax, a idle grin rising on his mouth as he his steps got longer and more suave as if he waltzing towards the receptionist. By which point he was within close enough earshot to answer the buckaneer's question.

"You're right madam! This smells just like freshly released pheromones, chemicals used by many organisms to convey information, this particular one smells like it'd be used to make you more susceptible to seduction. I can tell because I altered this body to make it's senses more acute, so I get more enamoured by it's effects but live and forget right!" Elenion Aura He'd say while letting out a healthy, almost intoxicated chuckle. By which point he'd turn to look at the alraune.

"Lovely flowers your highness!" Noble Scion He'd compliment with no other comment before turning around to look at the receptionist, leaning over the counter before addressing him.

"Look, Mr. Receptionist, I know you're trying to tempt me with your thick trunk like arms but we can't be together, I mean what would we tell our families? Oh wait my family's dead, hahaha silly me. Anyways you hunk can I have a sign up sheet or whatchamacallit?" Birdsie He's totally delirious.

 

[Ace Cream]

C.J

As they walked outside the guild, the attention of the man next to the skeleton seemed to be drawn back into the hall when a commotion suddenly occured and he seems to be eager to join. C.J silently followed him, despite his intelligence it seems the man has the curiousity of a child because he then eagerly explain about the pherowhatever it is to another person. C.J just let out a small chuckle and sighed, he would let the man for a bit. It's not like they're in a rush anyway.

Once again the skeleton sat across a random woodcutter who was busy slurping his soup amidst the commotion named James.

"No disgusting story please." James said to the skeleton.

"Easy there. I just want to rela- oh my glorious victory!" C.J just caught the sight of a beautiful figure. A big healthy cunk of metal shaped like a woman clad in armor. If he still have his eyes, he sure it would popped out of his eye sockets right now. He wasn't sure if this was the effect of that pherowhatever, but the moment his sight fell on the metallic figure he felts like he would get a... boner.

"James, lend me that ukulele of yours." C.J asked the woodcutter without even peeling his sight away from the golem.

"What would you use it for- wait, I will lend it. Just don't bother me for the rest of the day. Allright?"

"Deal."

Having received James' ukulele, the skeleton slowly approached the figure while playing a simple cheerful chord. His playing wasn't perfect, but he played it with such confidence that most people wouldn't notice his misplay, at least until the tip of his index finger, one of his distal phalanges, got entangled on the strings and ended up propelled upward, bounced off the ceiling then took a dive into James' soup.

"Damn it Joe!! I just want to eat my soup peacefully!"

The skeleton could hear the woodcutter yelled at him but he just ignored it and acted as if it was all part of his performance. He smoothly twirls the ukulele on his skeletal hand before giving the golem a bow, lowering his head while slightly pulling his right foot to the rear.

"I hope you enjoy my little performance, milady. I, Calcium Joe, Knight of The Desolate Manor, is enamored by your presence. Please grants me the blessing of knowing your name, O my iron maiden." C.J said with eloquence that he thought was befitting of a knight. Though his next words would reveal that he was just a horny skeleton, if that's even possible.

"And let's go on a date! Just you and me, under beautiful moonlight. Wink, wink."

June Verles Epiphany

 

[Silver Wolf]

View attachment 713033

Leuthar
Current Location: Forester Guild HQ
Interactions: Matthew ( Birdsie ), Hibiscus ( Noble Scion )
Mentioned/Nearby: Cassie ( Epiphany ), Emily ( LostHaven ), Auria ( Elenion Aura ), ( Hanarei ), Noone ( June Verles )


Cecilia quickly bored him as she spoke of how great she and the celestials how they were guides to mortals and blah dee blah dee blah. What the hell were celestials, did some race of people litterally fall from the sky? If they claimed to be what Cecilia described them to be he would have to ask when were celestials guiding anybody? Did they seriously stuff themselves in the heavens and expect people to bow down and circle them like cattle while staying out of sight and having no interaction? Leuthar's gaze was shifted though when he caught a whiff of something good. Something very, very good. He looked to the source to see an Alraune with flowers on his/her head. The gender was very fuzzy. Females definitely existed that masculine, and males could also exist that feminine. Though since it was a plant, was it a hermaphrodite? Could this plant person self fertilize like other plants? Leuthar didn't particularly care after the pheromones began rattling his thought process, which was already fairly screwy.

Though it was interupted by a talking raven and Cecilia pointing it out as a demon. Though as the bird morphed into a rather queer looking human form, Leuthar turned his head back to a new distraction, Matthew.

"Depends, I could use some extra hands in deliver methods, but I have yet to earn a conclusive answer from Cecilia on her answer." Leuthar then turned to Cecilia and Raum and back to Matthew. Then he immediately caught another whiff of the pheromones and his thought process was out the window again. "There in pie gravity num- Heeeeey, who made pancakes? I want some pancakes now, though nothing smells like pancakes. I want pancakes! Pancakes are soft and fluffy. Can I have something to drink to, like a glass of creamy white-"

Within the middle of his outburst Leuthar sneezed so hard a glob of greenish blue glowing goo resembling a putty hit the floor. There was also a very small hint of purple in some parts. It wasn't on purpose, probably, but it was glowing mana rich mucus mixed with some kind of nature essence he couldn't exactly figure out. Leuthar placed his hand in his mask, the hand phasing through it as a brief blue glow emitted and the hand re-emerged with the goop covering the top two fingers. Leuthar looked at it intently and flicked it on the floor.

"I have no fucking clue what that was...or is..." After a pause of several seconds staring at it the Enigma Mage in all his glory added, "So how much do you think someone would pay for that?"

The next thing to address was the reason he just proceeded to cover the floor in bodily fluids and turned to the Alraune. "As attractive as your hormones make you, could you not try poofing out magic sex dust? Because now I'm hungry for pancakes dammit!"

 

[FireMaiden]

Valowen Devenril
Location: Guild Hall - Infirmary
Interaction: Kylesar1 (Asmund)
Mentioned:
Valowen nodded, reaching up to tuck some of her bangs behind her ear. "I should be there soon then, enjoy breakfast Asmund." She turned her head slightly to look at him, watching him leave before she moved to the bedside table to grab the money. He always paid well, though it wasn't like anyone really skipped out on that part. Bouncing the coins on her hand for a few moments, she turned and moved over to the large table and squatted down. From underneath the table, she withdrew a small chest, grabbing a well-hidden key do unlock it. It was empty, but she sat her payment inside and locked it again before sliding it back into place. After that, she stood and grabbed her traveling satchel.

You may find it odd that was in the infirmary, but she often had to go and meet people at the sites of their injuries if they were unable to move. It didn't happen as frequently as one might expect, but enough to force this. Anyway, she began to pack a few items that she and Asmund may require later in the day, not that she was entirely expecting either of them to get hurt but you never knew. Herbs, bandages, clean water, some needle and thread. And some holy water. Made it herself of course, since she knew how to do that. In fact, anyone could make holy water if you know what the proper pressing was. She once blessed her beer just so it would saying when she dumped it on a mouthy necromancer. Fun times.

Anyway, once it was packed with the medical supplies and a few other things they may need, she slipped the strap over her head, pulling the long braid out from underneath it before she turned. Of course Valowen would wait a few minutes before going and finding the teleporter. Just on the off chance someone needed her assistance before she left.

 

[Epiphany]

By Amber Wrought

Silver Wolf Noble Scion
The arrival of an enigmatic masked mage and a Alraune turning up for a wood-cutting competition swiftly surpassed the novelty of a pirate in this guild. What was going on, that such curious people were arriving to join the competition? Cassie naturally had the good sense to say nothing, a natural state for a golem and a useful tactic for being ignored. She didn't mind being ignored. The element of surprise was all too often hard to gain so she took it whenever she could.

LostHaven
Emily's open curiosity made it even easier for Cassie to simply stare at the unusual beings. What was good for the boss was good for the minion, after all.

Birdsie
Even the novelty of the secretary's magics only briefly caught the golem's attention before she shifted her gaze back to the people. However this guild chose to conduct its business wasn't all that interesting to her, at least at this point.

Hanarei
The rather fetching woman who turned up wasn't as distracting to Cassie as the piratical lass was but her reaction to Raum certainly was. The golem's eyes narrowed, a rather noticeable effect given their steady iridescent glow. "That's Raum," she offered by way of explanation to the rather comically panicked young woman. "He won't thank me for saying this but he's harmless. Don't give him another moment's thought."

Despite her words, she promptly offered her shoulder to the raven, if he wanted to retreat to a safer perch. She liked his wit and he'd been with the business long enough to have established a certain kind of permanence in her life. Given the hypothetical lifespan for a Punim Automata was forever, chances were good that long after Emily perished from hopefully natural causes, that demon might still be around. No sense in not thinking of the long-term, however painful the notion was.

Ace Cream
The display between Celestial and Demon was distracting enough that at first Cassie didn't notice the music. But she did notice a skeleton advancing on her position. Cassie had destroyed enough of the undead to shift a step, more firmly positioning herself between the skeleton and Emily. Only this skeleton plainly had her as its target.

She was so charmed by the attempt, even the dislodged finger bone did little to detract from her enjoyment of being serenaded.

Cassie stared at him once he finished his song and introduced himself. With a warm chuckling voice, she replied, "Your performance was both memorable and welcome. I was commissioned as By Amber Wrought but my first family called me Cassie. Cassie Weaver. You're welcome to call me that, Sir Joe." What were the odds that a skeleton was actually knighted? What did she actually care, anyway?

Ace Cream LostHaven
Being outright propositioned, and by a skeleton of all things, tickled a funny bone Cassie didn't even know she had. "My services are at my employer's discretion," she said, with a tilt of the helmed head towards Emily. "...Did you just say wink wink?" Oh, of course, he didn't have eyelids. She did but she shared his lack of eyebrows. What she wouldn't give for a good eyebrow!

 

[Birdsie]

Matthew Ryals // Receptionist Agateth
Guild of Foresters HQ

The receptionist proceeded to take care of everyone's paperwork-related needs with the alacrity of an experienced bureaucrat. Although he was heedless to Hibiscus, The Green Prince, he did make absent note of the pheromone density reaching critical mass and causing everyone to act delirious.

Without even looking up, Agateth reached under his desk with one arm and pulled out a magitech fan, sliding it next to himself. He pressed the button labeled '4' and the fan began to spin furiously, dispelling the sweet, noxious pheromones that made everyone high, and more than a little horny.

"Your form looks good, Matt," he told Matthew, giving the document a green stamp then filing it away. "It seems like a lot of competitors are going to be participating."

He looked up at Matthew with a smile.

Matthew, none the worse for wear, despite the redness and leaking tears near his eyes as the residual pheromones told him to love Hibiscus even more than he already did - how can you love a sibling more? - sniffled loudly. "Thank you, Agateth."

"No problem," Agateth answered softly. Taking a sniff of the air, he frowned, then set the fan on '5' and kicked back. He yawned as he reached for one of the magazines on top of his filing cabinet. This one, a Millennial Empire-approved special called the 'Dapper Cadaver' had fashion advice for the undead! Oooh~!

In the meantime, Matthew turned to look at Leuthar and Cecilia - the former high on pheromones, the other arrogant and... huh, apparently not a local, because he didn't feel like jumping in front of a carriage to save her if it were necessary.

Without much preamble, Matthew took both Cecilia and Leuthar by their arms and proceeded to drag them outside the building, in the direction of the forest.

"Oi, come on. If we're gonna win this tournament, we should begin as soon as possible, to maximize our chances of going to the next round."

Silver Wolf Noble Scion Epiphany LostHaven Elenion Aura Hanarei

 

[Hanarei]

Cecilia
*The Guildhall*

Cecilia looked to the demon bird as he flew down transforming himself as to take a bow much to her chagrin. He seemed to just be putting up a show at this point rather attempting to be serious, not that her own attempt at a makeshift 'cross' was really much but show. She wasn't remotely close to the type of celestial who would go on taking on demons. That was a specialization she wasn't even sure how many really even took part in such a thing. It was a rather old and outdated model of celestial work back in what might called the medieval ages. She wouldn't doubt if they just had some poor sap constantly filing subpoenas day in and night against demons and bogging them down with paperwork rather then engaging with them. She hoped one was being written up right now by his tone of voice as she could tell he was being sarcastic as the celestial puffed out her cheeks giving a stern gaze back.

"I'll have you know I am not one to ever buy into what a demon says is anything more then a lie, even if coated in a layer of half truths to try and play innocent." She spoke pointing her finger at his direction as if to gesture being some teacher attempting to scold a child. She crossed her arms lifting her head up attempting to look headstrong. "Cecilia is my name, not that a demon like you should even be worthy of spouting that name." She spoke looking away a bit defiantly trying to put on her tough act. Her head turned to look over at the robotic woman looking at her as she spoke blinking a bit uncertain how to react. It was strange to say the least to see such a being. She shook her head finding herself to be acting a bit rude taking time just staring as she uncrossed her arms quickly nodding.

"Ah I see, thank you.. miss!" She spoke feeling as if she was making a guess though feeling far more confident she was getting it right then with the plant. She found it strange that such creatures existed, going beyond what a normal golem created from magic might. Still it wasn't her place to really inquire more at least right now. It seemed rather rude and the fact she associated with the demon did make her a little skeptical although feeling more trusting of her words that that of bird brain. The sound of music had reached her ears though she didn't manage to see who it was from as her attention returned to the ethereal one seeming to be questioning whether she was willing to team up with him. It mattered little what she would say as she suddenly felt an arm grab her as she was suddenly dragged with Leuthar by her arm.

"H... hey! Wh... who said you can grab me? B... best let go or else! I never agreed to such a thing you... you... donkey... posterior!" She spoke out a little panicked flailing a bit with a deep red blush on her cheeks. She was quite easily dragged out not putting up much of a fight. It wasn't as if she really had much physical strength to do so anyways. Despite all her bravado she didn't really compare that much differently to what you might of expect from a typical pampered human woman that just so happened to have some very specific cosmic power tied to her.

"I mean this is probably breaching several regulations and... like sub section B-27 in the dealings with the non-ascended." She spoke as her voice had turned from soft protest to more mumbling to herself as if to find reasons despite not even being certain that was even the regulation... or the paperwork that might contain a rule. She only knew the basic tenants she wasn't exactly the best at recalling things exactly, not that anything she said would come off as pure gibberish to a non-celestial anyways.



Interacted: LostHaven Epiphany Birdsie
Mentioned: Noble Scion Silver Wolf

 

[Noble Scion]

Hibiscus - Guild HQ

Spoiler: Appearance

View attachment 715855

Biz hissed at the crow as it attacked him before watching it transform into a human itself. ".. If it is human customs.." the alraune muttered, apparently upset, before making his way to the crow-turned human and leaping up and biting a chunk of their hair in return, piercing through it via sharp teeth and landing on the ground as gracefully as one could manage with a chunk of hair in the mouth spitting it onto the ground and frowning out the unpleasant texture. LostHaven

Taking the piece of parchment and hoping that he didn't have to act out that greeting with everyone he met, Hibiscus scribbled down his details and slid it back across the counter to the apparently rich receptionist, if his old memories of human culture were still anything to go by. Birdsie

Catching the eye of what could only be assumed to be a pirate, Biz smiled at her in an approachable way before making his way forward. "Hello! You're a pirate, aren't you? That means you must know a lot about the world. What do you say we partner up for a little bit?" he grinned coyly Elenion Aura

As he leaned in closer, the man from earlier caught his eye, and they seemed to be having a particularly strong reaction to the pheromones as far as Biz could tell. "Why.. Thank you." he preened, flicking his hair affectionately before they moved on to the receptionist. June Verles

"I'm not entirely sure what pancakes are, and I'm not 'poofing' out any 'magic sex dust', but I'm afraid I can't do that until I'm well on my way to saving the world from sticky little human fingers. Preferably soon, so if you want it to stop then you can always try helping me." he grumbled, slightly disgusted at the viscous gel lying on the floor. Silver Wolf

The metal creature gave him a look which he returned in kind, but aside from that they seemed mostly uninterested. He was curious about the material, given that it didn't look very natural to him, but those were answers he'd get later. Epiphany

A rather monochrome woman seemed to have garnered the interest of the crow-man and was making something of a fuss about it. It made him feel a little bad for them given the detestable attitude they apparently had, but he supposed she'd just have to deal with it on their own given they were inside and he couldn't do all too much without his servants. Hanarei

Hibiscus gave the fan-man a scowl, but said nothing at the appearance of the evidently magic-enforced fan as it dispelled his fragrance, but he thought better of saying anything about it. Perhaps maybe it was a little too highly-concentrated in-doors. Birdsie

 

[LostHaven]

Emily Ashton

Forester's Guild | Epiphany ​

Emily eyed the receptionist as he brought out some sort of ring and ran it down the paper. However, she shifted noticeably upon noticing the ring give of an audible 'beep' upon running over the 'Thoughts on the Regime' section, the only part where she hadn't told the complete truth. However, her slightly concerned stare morphed into one of confusion, as Agateth simply just smiled, and accepted the application. Emily wasn't one to question, though. It had become a habit to ask fewer questions - most the time, she didn't want to know the reasons some customers were buying what they were.

Her attention shifted toward the girl, whom Raum later identified as a Celestial, who had spouted several accusations toward the demon. She remained silent however, as Emily had no intention on assisting the bird in any way shape or form. She did, however, smirk in amusement upon the Alraune exacting vengeance upon his torn hair (leaves?) by biting Raum back in the head, tearing out a chunk of the archdemon's platinum hair. The demon himself did yelp out in surprise, which only garnered another snicker from the merchant.

She noted the behaviour of the surrounding people returning to normal (sort of?) following the receptionist turning on some sort of fan. Then she remembered Raum's previous statement, something about Alraune being able to emit spores or something that serve as an aphrodisiac. Was that what the plant was doing? In that case - Emily presumed it had to have been some strong stuff, considering that it had somehow made a skeleton propose to Cassie. Speaking of the skeleton, the undead earned only a scornful glare from Emily when he approached Cassie, though even Emily admitted that the creature somehow seemed relatively pleasant, unlike the mindless, bloodthirsty pawns of necromancers that she was familiar with.

Raum on the other hand was grieving his head, which now looked rather ridiculous. After the Alraune's assault, he now sported a rather large bald patch right in the middle of his head, and saying that it looked hysterical was an understatement. He shifted between human and raven several times, but it appeared as though the bald patch remained even after shapeshifting. Finally overcome with desperation, the demon walked up to Emily, snatched the hat off her head, and placed it on his own head. "Sorry! Let me borrow thi-"

The demon could barely finish his sentence before Emily booted him in the crotch, causing Raum's expression to contort into one of horror, dropping to his knees. Emily retrieved her hat silently, while Raum surrendered himself to seeking refuge on Cassie's shoulder. "Animal cruelty should be ill-eagle," Raum groaned to himself.

"Let's not waste time now, how many trees do you think you can cut before the deadline?" Emily asked Cassie, dusting her hat and putting it back on her head.

 

[Birdsie]

Matthew Ryals
Guild of Foresters HQ -- Exterior

"I don't really care about your regulations, missie," Matthew answered, shrugging with one arm. He pushed her out through the door, let go of Leuthar more gently, and then grabbed a nearby wood-axe. "Go pick a spot to cut, I'll go reserve a couple of carts." He strode over in the direction of the Quartermaster's hut.

You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.

He was cursed. Boundless love for all life gushed forth within him, for as long as the life was sentient and approached humanity, but the extent of his care for others went to the same degree as a care for a close sibling: he didn't want to see people 'so close' to him suffering on the streets from homelessness and starvation, but, for instance, if someone tried to kill him, he'd try diplomacy, but wouldn't hesitate to cut them down if necessary.

So he bossed around Leuthar and Cecilia to achieve something else for the rest of the 'family,' as it went in this metaphor. To his mind's eye, this was no different than a trio of privileged people (older siblings, in the metaphor,) cooperating to make a lot of money, his share of which he'd spend on younger, more unlucky siblings.

By all rights, this curse should have turned him into a friar, but he wasn't quite at the breaking point yet. He could distinguish between his own thoughts and what the curse implanted him with rather easily; his own flaws and subtle hatred was there, beneath the dazzling white-gold barricade of forced benevolence.

So why... do I not care in the slightest about that girl?

As he took the permission slip from the Quartermaster, he glanced back at Cecilia with a suspicious eye. His curse wasn't forcing him to give a single shit about her. It didn't even seem to register her presence in any shape, like a wound in the world.

Is she a demon? A god? She mentioned something about the non-ascended... I'll ask about it later. Let's cut wood for now.

He walked back to the team. "I have the ticket. Let's go."

***​

Receptionist Agateth
Guild of Foresters HQ -- Reception

The obese receptionist accepted Hibiscus' application with a glance - another one of his ring scans - and a positively satisfying 'thunk!' of his rubber stamp. After copying the application a couple of times, he filed away all but one copy, which went back to Hibiscus instead to do with as he pleased.

"I wish all of you the best of luck in the competition. I believe one team's already started," he said, to everyone in front of his desk, though more directed to Emily and her group.

Silver Wolf Noble Scion Epiphany LostHaven Elenion Aura Hanarei
Let's move it.