Fantasy Cursed Island

[Deadwood Deer]

Oh, hell. "You don't have to look at me like that, I know I fucked up."

"Am I... is this personal?", Lyak asked, peering around Erina, "i can leave, if it is."

 

[Fangs9090]

Erina giggled. "We can discuss it later, in private." She looked at Lyak. "You're fine."

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"Are you sure?", Lyak didn't sound convinced.

"Don't worry about it," Adran waved the little goblin off, "This is an adult issue, we'll take care of it later."

 

[Fangs9090]

Erina nodded. "Indeed we will. For now, I have work to do." She paused for a moment. "Actually, Adran, you keep up with the furniture, don't you? Do we have anything that I could use for dyeing fabric and threads?"

 

[Deadwood Deer]

Adran went through his pockets for the deck and found it wasn't there. "Jerry," he muttered. "I know Joanne brought a pot with her you can use to boil dye, and we've got bottles to store it, but Jerry's got the decks, I don't know what we've got for furniture at the moment. I do know that dye making smells horrible, though."

 

[Fangs9090]

Erina nodded. "I'll make sure to do it in the open then. Perhaps get someone to keep watch for me outside the forge."

 

[Deadwood Deer]

Adran nodded, taking a seat. "I think Jerry was planning to make a body for Urodor at some point, Niudisa and I were gonna make him tell us how he kept feeders out of his territory." He shrugged, "He might have some kind of repellent device he used." As he was saying that, tents were springing up as Jerry unfolded them.

Once she had them unfolded, she went into each to unfold a few more cards within, and made a mark on each with her stylus so that the occupents could identify their tents once it was finished. "Alrighty," Jerry went around and alerted everyone heading for a tent that theirs was up and ready for them.

 

[Fangs9090]

Erina nodded. "That would make the grove much more pleasant..."

Emil looked over as Jerry made her announcement before looking at Veo. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm rather tired."

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"Yeah, the hope is we'll be able to avoid everything corrupted if we can replicate it, then the ruins'll be a lot safer from then on." Adran looked towards the tent village, "I think Jerry just finished up."

Veo nodded in agreement, giving a yawn, "It's been a long day," she agreed.

"Yours is the third brown one," Jerry nodded, walking past to go get something to eat from Nyah, since Adran was occupied.

 

[Fangs9090]

“It looks like it. Seems it’s been a long day, but I’m not really sure how to tell.”

Emil gave Jerry a nod before heading for the tent.

Shuffle was just letting out a yawn as Jerry approached, not because she was bored but because all of her hunting was catching up with her.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"I've been meaning to make timepieces," Adran's turn to facepalm, how had he never gotten around to that? "I'll figure it out at some point, Thoradin's bound to have scrap leather once he finishes everyone's packs." He glanced up at Erina's carapace, "Between you and Asta, I think that's where most of the leather's going. Armor doesn't take as much as a saddle and bags."

Veo followed after the bard, dropping the flap behind. Inside the tent it was decorated much the same as Jerry and Asta's, with a lantern hanging just off center to provide light, a couple chairs and a table, and beds at opposite sides of the tent.

"Are you two tired?", Nyah asked, seeing as Shuffle was yawning, Fia probably wasn't very far behind.

"You guys have a tent that's got a," Jerry described the marking on Shuffle and Fia's tent, assuming that Nyah would stay with them. "Nyah, can you do me a favor? Adran's not really able to summon any food right now." If Jerry popped another Goodberry, she'd be in the same boat Emil had when he'd eaten two in the same day.

"Here," Nyah snapped her fingers and dropped a fish into Jerry's hand, this one cooked. "Some noble's out there having a fit." She and Jerry grinned.

 

[Fangs9090]

Erina glanced back and nodded. “But you brought back plenty of hides. It should be more than enough.”

Emil looked around at the tent and smiled. “This is a nice setup. Reminds me of my travels on the surface.”

Shuffle nodded. “It’s been a long day.” She looked over at Jerry before going to find the tent with the mark she described. Fia hopped up and followed after her.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"Hopefully," Adran nodded, "I don't want to have to take them hunting down here again." He stood up and brushed himself off. "I'm gonna go see what Jerry's done."

Veo glanced around and turned the table to line up with the wall instead of across the tent, "Are these... common, on the surface?"

Inside the tent for Shuffle and Fia were three beds. They didn't have any furniture, since most of the time they were all over the place everywhere else except when they sleeping. "This looks comfortable," Nyah noted, appearing in the room as a puff of smoke before she reformed.

Jerry returned to her tent with Asta and her fish, "You feeling okay?", Asta looked a little tense when she left, maybe he'd sorted some stuff out while she was gone.

 

[Fangs9090]

Erina nodded and got back to work.

Emil gave a nod. “Tents, yes. They’re mostly used when traveling to keep the weather off when you settle down for the night, if there’s nowhere else to shelter.”

Shuffle nodded and flopped onto one of the beds before looking over at Nyah. “...where’s your feet?”

Fia settled onto one of the other two beds.

Asta had been pacing after Jerry left, unsatisfied and worked up by his inability to say what was on his mind. The table was shifted slightly to the side from him bumping against it repeatedly. Apparently he’d been psyching himself up, because as soon as Jerry walked in, he stopped and looked over. “I would like to father your children!” He was lucky no one else had walked in.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

After a while Adran returned. "For some reason I expected a tent that big to have some internal support poles."

-------------
"That sounds like a portable house," that was basically what these were for, too.

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"Would you like me to have feet?", Nyah asked. Smoke solidified into a pair of blue legs with bare feet, the bottom of her outfit appearing as a hazy silk skirt, the smoke connecting Nyah to the puzzle bod appearing more as a tail than the bottom half of her body.

-------------
Jerry was convinced one of those potions had a hallucigenic effect for a moment. She stood there blinking for a few moments, processing that announcement. Several questions rose to Jerry's mind. Did Asta actually say that? What was her own opinion on that? Did Asta count as an beast or a person by this point? Did Jerry count as a person by this point? As a man or a woman? This was hardly a question of should elves and humans be allowed to intermarry and interbreed, this was a size-changing mutated chimera and a steadily mutating human-turned-dragonewt. And the entire time Poli was still on Jerry. Good thing, too, because having to overcome Poli to move might not have been something Jerry was capable of in that instant.

"C-c-can you r-r-rep-repeat that p-please?"

 

[Fangs9090]

Erina looked over. “That works out for me. I’m sure I would struggle walking around a pole.”

—————

“Mm, yes, pretty much.” Emil found a place for his lute before sitting on one of the beds.

—————

Shuffle blinked as Nyah formed legs. That woke her up. She lifted herself up on her arms. “You can do that?”

—————

Now that the outburst was out, this whole was suddenly really awkward, and Asta’s psych up quickly faded away. “I...would like to....father...your...children... I mean, if it’s fine with you, of course. And...if it’s possible...” Asta put his ears back awkwardly and looked down at his paws.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"I mean... actually, no, you're right." Adran shook that image out of his head.

--------------
Veo slid her bag under the bed, taking off the parts of her daily outfit that were uncomfortable to sleep with. Her apron, earrings, she wasn't quite comfortable enough around Emil to take the skirt off, and laid down on the bed opposite Emil. "Do you think we'll ever make it to the surface?"

-------------
"I can do a lot of things," Nyah shrugged, legs vanishing, "I'm made of smoke, how that smoke looks depends on what my master- my mistress wants." She corrected herself last second, Shuffle was a girl, not a man.

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Jerry squeaked, getting flustered. "P-poli d-do me a fav-favor and l-leave us for a b-bit." Jerry's stuttering was getting better, if that meant anything at the moment.

 

[Fangs9090]

Erina stretched as she stepped away from her loom. “I suppose I should rest now. It seems everyone else is.”

—————

Emil nodded. “I hope so. We have a good group here, and our recent victories are leaving us better prepared for whatever lies ahead.”

—————

Shuffle sat up. “So, you can look like anything?”

—————

“Ah, yeah, sure.” Poli quickly pulled off and scurried out of the tent.

Asta glanced up at Jerry. “I’m sorry. Perhaps I shouldn’t have said anything...”

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"Do you want your loom in there with us?", Adran asked.

------------------
"Hmm," Veo smiled, "No one in the village has ever been this deep before, I don't know what's ahead."

------------------
"Anything," Nyah shrugged, "Would you prefer I look differently?

------------------
"I...", Jerry needed to sit down, pulling the chair. "Asta, I..." Jerry didn't know how she was supposed to explain this, "We... Asta, even if we could... you know, I don't think we would even be able to have kids."

 

[Fangs9090]

“Hm... I suppose it’s fine here. Otherwise I’m liable to get up and keep working instead of sleeping.”

—————

“I don’t think any of us do. We have to be prepared for anything.”

—————

Shuffle paused for a moment. “Can you look like my maker? I wanna know what she looked like.”

—————

Asta nodded. “Yes...I had considered that... But we don’t know for sure.”

 

[Deadwood Deer]

Adran didn't have a response for that and followed Erina back to the tent. Much like Veo and Emil's tent, there were two beds, but instead of a table there was a space where Jerry had anticipated Erina bringing her loom. Erina's four-poster took up the most space, a twin-size on the other side was Adran's.

--------------
"I hope we are," Veo nodded and rolled over to get comfortable.

--------------
Nyah thought about that for a moment. "I... I don't know what your maker looked like," she shook her head, "I've been in my puzzle box for the last seventy years."

--------------
Jerry rubbed her face with her non-scaled hand. "I... Asta, I'm not ready for that. I... I wish I knew how to explain it without freaking you out, I just... I can't."

 

[Fangs9090]

Erina looked around inside the tent before going to settle on the larger bed, turning to face the other bed.

—————

“As do I.” Emil glanced up before laying back on the bed.

—————

Shuffle’s ears drooped a bit. “Ah...” She perked back up after a moment. “Can you be a fish?”

—————

Asta paused for a moment before he nodded. “I see. As you wish.”

 

[Deadwood Deer]

Adran settled on the smaller bed. He didn't actually sleep, so he just pulled out his book of secrets to go through. "Your chain fit okay?"

---------------
Veo smiled, "Good night, Emil."

---------------
"I can be," Nyah nodded. She dissolved into smoke and reformed as a shiny blue fish swimming in the air.

---------------
"Thank you." Jerry probably wasn't getting much sleep tonight, with that conversation swirling around in her head.

 

[Fangs9090]

“Ah, right.” Erina took the chain from where she’d rested it on her backside. “I have no idea how to use this.”

—————

Emil likewise smiled. “Good night, Veo.”

—————

Shuffle smiled as she watched her. “Ooh...”

—————

“I suppose we should rest.” Asta went over to one corner where he could curl up and not be underfoot. “Don’t forget about Poli outside.”

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"It's magic, like my book," Adran started, sitting up on the edge of the bed, "It lets you take control of creatures by branding them with it." He worked a summoning circle to conjure an imp. "Give it a try, decide what you want the imp to do, point a hand with the chain on it at its head."

---------------
After a moment, Nyah dissolved back into smoke and into her dancer form. "I don't think it's a good idea, though, I can't talk in that form."

---------------
"Yeah," Jerry poked open the flap to look for Poli and let the mimic back in, but not to be worn, and crawled into bed, sleeping on her side with her tail hanging off of the side of the bed from under the blanket.