Fantasy Hunter's Moon: The Sin & Sentence [IC] [CLOSED]

[Doomevil]

The mist started to clear up a bit, leading them into puddles and wet grass laying about. Senya's boots met heavy resistance against the sludge, something she had to look out for if they were near an ocean of this stuff again. She moved at a slower pace than the others, conserving her stamina. When it was clear Gwenaelle wasn't just higher class, she actually claimed herself as a member of royalty, a Queen higher than all of them. She widened her eyes a bit, surprised to see someone like her travel in the Abyss. What is she doing here?

"You've caught me off guard, Queen Gwenaelle. I have to ask then, why is an Elven Queen traveling with an unusual band of mutants, demons, and werebeasts?" Senya asked before she saw Anya trip over into one of the puddles. She got up on her own before the Warden could respond though.

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

Loque offers her hand to help her back up, but it appears Anya doesn't need it. She does offer another cigarette, however.

"I don't know. I just don't know. Maybe she just doesn't like us people all that much. Maybe she wants to see us die horribly here in the Abyss like the spiteful bitch she is, because If she actually cared, she might've bothered to carry her metal derrière down here to do all this nonsense herself."

 

[Damian0358]

Takato smiled solemnly as Venextos asked his question, not really paying much mind to the terrain they were talking through, having walked through worse.

"Admittedly, surprised was I when I arrived in Adonia, to find nary many that still used 'magic' in some fashion. Perhaps it is the result of the Age of Darkness, but Redonia is... more sensitive to magic. From the many yokai that littered the land, to the humans which inhabited it, to even us oni, there are a great many magic users in Northern Redonia, at least. It is not unique to monks in the slightest, even a child could learn to wield magic, nor was practice unique to monks either," he revealed.

"However, this would cause an issue, especially when paired with the natural strength of many yokai compared to humans, not to mention the oni. About 800 years old am I now, and it was sometime between my second and third, perhaps even near my fourth, century of life that a new practice was popularized, a curious performance art that swept the region and became the preferred means of duel between man and yokai," he said, as he reached inside his robe and pulled out a box. Opening the box, he pulled out a talisman-like card, "mystic barrages, they were called, or as the Shoheirans would referred to it, danmaku."

"Designed to give not only humans, but also weaker beings a chance to win against stronger opponents in fair duels, two parties in question would wield cards, generally composed of multiple sets of five, which bore descriptions of their respective spells, akin to talismans, with both parties dodging the opponent's barrage, avoiding to be struck. An incredibly mental contest it is, where the most visually impressive and the least struck individual would be declared the victor. These spell cards dealt no physical damage to those they had been used on, unlike talismans, and thus used minimal qi. With the support of the Head Priest, it would become a game as common as regular playing cards, and enjoyed by even the youngest of users," he chuckled as he said.

"Though, unfortunately, the rules followed could only be enforced by those playing, which included the barrages not doing any damage - if enough qi is used, the danmaku ends up possessing destructive capabilities, and is able to cause the bloodshed the system wished to end. Of course, those that did such a thing, or attempted taboo techniques such as using multiple cards at once, or even utilizing a full set in tandem, would be punished in the the most holy manner, but it did not prevent assassins from adopting such techniques... very aware am I of that," he said in a glum tone.

"...as a siennyin, my practice, my hermitdom, was more attune with learning of the Dou, the way, of nature, of qi, which flew through all. Of course, us mystics have the strongest grasp on it, not even needing talismans or even these cards. Learning swordmanship, and magic, was second to learning of the martial arts practiced by many Doueans, but well-versed am I in all three," he tried to crack a smile.

 

[K0mori]

Shivering, now that she was cold and wet, Anya took the second cigarette in her clawed hand, holding it the same way as before. Loque then realized the reason for her strange habit; at some point in the past, Anya must have suddenly grown claws while smoking and slashed her own lips and nose. This way, there was no chance of that happening again. Now more visibly frustrated, the werewolf avoided talking further about Velin and instead brought up the expedition itself. "It does not matter now. We are alone..." she replied, leaning closer to Loque, "...and I want to trust nobody, especially not demon - is nothing personal - not yet. But, I must follow someone, Vincent, or Inari, or Riberta, or even you. I decide soon enough. But if you must follow, then who?"

 

[Dmaster]

"Everyone's got regrets." Hudson started, stated quite flatly as what he was stating was common knowledge. "And you got no room telling me what I'm saying is bullshit when you're telling me the same story." the hunter said with a chuckle. "Main difference is you can stand to live with your family, you never think to yourself over how much you don't deserve any of it. You could have just kept on living despite whatever loyalty you felt to Valeria because that's what she would have wanted. But you decide to play the hero and potentially abandon them." he chastised, only to shrug soon after.

"You're your own man, though. I'm not here to stop you from doing what you have to. As for Camille? Well, she can do far better than me. I love her too much to stay the way I am, keep on living with what I've done." he says. Wistfully he looks out into the horizon and goes quiet again, lost in thought for a time. "She'll be okay. I've left her with what she's wanted the most."

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

"The same person I've been following all my life!" Loque taps her chest repeatedly. "Myself! Between you and I, I'm not sure if there are any capable leaders among us, so I hope none of you mind me taking initiative my way whenever I see fit."

 

[SniperComZero]

Gwenaelle offered a searing look at Inari. "This is hardly a second chance. There's maybe-- what, a couple thousand of us left? That's a generous estimate. If the lands around were barren of anything else, perhaps. But how would we do it when we're surrounded by nations of backwards pigfuckers who'd enslave and eradicate us in the blink of an eye, ah?" In retrospect, the words were harshly ironic to the girl. She now knew full well how it was to be on the receiving end of it all. She didn't enjoy it one bit. It was only a further dampener on her mood.

Gwen's eyes tracked across the ground. Puddles of abyssal 'water' that felt like thick mud, and caught on her boots. The actual ground itself was little better, clearly clogged with some sort of liquid, making the lightweight, dainty thing have a bit of difficulty in pulling herself through it. At the very least, the grass gave her hope of things looking less... well, dead, in these lands. "...Sightseeing." She replied to Senya with a dour look, before tipping her head up. "If you must truthfully know, then it's because I'd much rather not have what's left of my kingdom... my species, caught up in another Twilit Age that destroys us... for good, this time." At the very least, if demons didn't come to ruin everything, then an elven state may have a shot at surviving.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

"Yes, is rough spot I can see," Inari admitted. "But, you alive now when in past you were dead, so I say this step up. And if you live near country close to Abyss door up top, maybe I come help your land. I will visit this place again, I think. Much to see and do and I know where door is now. Sorta. Not exact, but not hard to figure out. If you live near, I bring troops. Good men and women. Strong fighters. We kill pigfuckers, easy." She didn't exactly know what those were, but they probably weren't too hard to kill.

"Also elf people welcome in Kowarata," she added somewhat slyly. A few thousand more workers and soldiers could be a fair bolster to some areas. "Many open land, good land. Trees, mountains, rivers. Very good land."

 

[Infab]

"Probably. You know Sazak is still looking for the artifacts...and there's that war going on down in Azgon's territory." responded Cassandra, dunking her rag into the bucket next to her. "You catch a few things when Azgon isn't beating you to death..." She glanced up to Mariette after a few moments, as she scrubbed away at the stain on the floor. Cassandra knew what was going on, really. She had heard about and seen some of the Hollows that occasionally wandered into the territories. The Abyss was getting to her, and she was slipping away.

From what Cassandra had heard from Sazak's minions that she occasionally spoke to, it usually took several decades to centuries for the Abyss to settle in and take its hold. Perhaps Mariette had just...let go? On one hand, she wanted to be happy that it was happening. On the other, since they had got to know one another like sisters over the past thirty years down here...it was really starting to bother her. If Mariette finally lost it, then who would she talk to? She'd be here, virtually alone.

"...Mariette." she said, looking at her for a moment. She couldn't believe she was doing this, as much as she hated the woman before. "You have to stay with me, alright? Don't turn into one of those...things. Don't lose yourself." She then grinned. "I wouldn't have anyone to argue with if you did. Or talk about things back home."

------
​

A few miles from the shoreline, the group soon started to come across weapons jutting up out of the ground. The hilts of swords, axe handles, spears, a variety of weapons left to rust. Just jutting up from the dirt. Vincent looked about, examining one of the weapons. They had easily been there for a few decades. Maybe even centuries. All were iron weapons, though. Perhaps a burial site? Whatever it was, it stretched on for quite a distance, so they simply continued on. Avoiding the larger clusters of weapons, as they couldn't step between them.

It also seemed that the ground had been scorched, blackened with faint embers still glowing here and there. Something was recently burned here. What it was, they didn't know.

 

[joshuadim]

Takato describing their strange ways, especially this magical card game, was genuinely fascinating to the wizard and he listened closely to every word the monk spoke to him. "My... that is indeed quite fascinating monsieur! I have never heard of magic being that widespread, even in such a quaint format, for more than a millennia! Now I must visit Redonia once this quest is done and see this for myself." Venextos said with an uncharacteristic grin. Hearing this kind of fascinating information made him giddy and excited, for he hadn't heard of magics this foreign and fascinating in such a long time. The field of study in the arcane ways had somewhat been... stagnating in the past few centuries, without much new material to go upon other than try to create new things with existing knowledge or refine existing spells. Nonetheless, there was almost always something new to learn for members of the Raven Court... unless if you were the Arsenal Magus.

 

[Damian0358]

Takato smiled sincerely, as he watched Venextos get rather giddy over what he had told him. He was glad that he had found someone who was truly fascinated by their arts, especially since it drew his attention away from other potential questions.

"Willing am I to show you around, if you wish for a companion on your travels, Grand Magus Venextos," he told the mage, opting instead to use his title over the usual Sir, "though, if you wish to see our magics, no doubt is there in any usage from my end," he said with a smile.

"Though first, this qi within the Abyss, understand it, I must," he said in a serious tone. If he wanted to be efficient with magic, he needed to get a grip with the atmosphere here, otherwise he would have to rely on the qi inherent to all internally, a proposition he didn't like as a result of his Douean practices.

 

[Doomevil]

The Queen gave her the truth that she's here for a similar reason, preventing demons from reclaiming the mortal plane. Knowing the Elves were at a huge disadvantage reminded Senya of the stories where the Church would hunt down every single dragon to extinction. For some reason, it gave the Warden goosebumps. Senya turned to the High Elf as her mood lowered talking about the future. Although Senya sympathized for the Queen and her kingdom, at the end of the day, Gwenaelle wasn't her Queen. She owed no allegiance but to the Monarch of Florentina and House Melgaeron. Once this contract was over Senya doubted they will ever see each other again. She'll aid Gwen whenever she needs it, but that's all she can do.

When they arrived to a burial site, Senya witnessed a cluster of iron weapons as they passed through. She wondered if someone in the group wanted to take these weapons as souvenirs. In her opinion, no reason to unless they were that desperate. Besides, it was better that way. All those weapons, forged for a different purpose. If only she could witness what happened here. Then there were the appearance of embers. Her senses started to set in as her eyes glowed, closing them for a moment until she exhaled through her nostrils. Senya fell behind from the others, kneeling down to get a feel for the ground. She pressed her left hand, the other hand drawing her family sword from the scabbard. She had to make this quick, lest suffer the impatient ones. In a quick motion she stabbed the sword into the ground, closing her eyes.

By the first flame. In Karnax give them strength, In Aldras give them resolution, In Freya give them peace. We are steel, the flame runs through our veins. And they shall know our history. And now, I shall remember yours.

A minute passed, she finally opened her eyes with the rest moving on without her. The Red Warden rose, giving an nod of approval. It's the best she can do. And so, she resumed with the expedition.

 

[K0mori]

Mariette finally looked up from her work, revealing dull red eyes devoid of interest or liveliness. A faint smile of resignation adorned her lips. "I made peace with myself by coming here. All the torture, the boredom, and hopelessness..." she stared a moment, as if looking over the endless horizon of the eternity ahead, before speaking so slowly that Cassandra wouldn't have been surprised if Mariette had nodded off asleep, although she was wide awake.

". . . I deserve this . . . All is as it should be . . ." Her head slumped afterward, eyes falling back onto the stain as her hand rubbed a rag in circles.

---

It wasn't all that surprising, but mildly disappointing, that Loque expressed no confidence in any member of the expedition aside from herself, and not even in the role of leadership. Anya nodded, however, as she had a valid point. "If you run off on your own, I may join you?" she asked with a subtle smirk. She was only partially kidding.

Upon seeing the iron swords scattered about, Anya immediately felt vindicated after the earlier argument with Jakob and Hudson, and she immediately set about picking out one which would suit her best. It would need to be lightweight, somewhat short, and not too rusted. While Senya seemed to be praying, Anya dislodged several swords, noisily discarding them one-by-one in her search, but after the fifth or sixth blade nearly came apart in her hands, she shook her head in annoyance. "Useless," she remarked.

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

Loque shrugs. "If you wish." For the moment, she has no plans of running away since the mission so far hadn't gone tits up... yet. Though if Anya or any of the others decide to leg it due to this operation probably having been bungled since the beginning, Loque wouldn't say no if they wanted to retreat with her back into the mortal realm.

 

[Infab]

Cassandra went quiet for a moment, before reaching down and suddenly grabbing Mariette's hand. It was quite abrupt, making the chain connecting them together jingle a little. "You...deserve this?" she said, her tone bearing a hint of anger. "You don't deserve this. That child playing dress up as a fucking knight put you here. Nothing is as it should be, and you know it." A moment later, she released her hand. "You're letting the Abyss get to you. Don't. Its what that armored bitch wants. And its what these 'Icons' want. They want to see you suffer and waste away. Don't give them the satisfaction."

------
​

Riberta overheard Jakob and Hudson's conversation, and silently listened as Jakob spoke of his kids. Eventually, when they had finished talking, Riberta spoke up. "...What happened to your son?" she asked. Then she heard Aliana suddenly fire off her weapon into one of the holes. She turned about and gave her a look. What the hell are you doing, girl?!

 

[Fubuki]

As Aliana was walking about, she figured that the sludge could still be splashed about if she jumped in the right way, probably. Much like the puddles she remembers splashing in back when she was a kid. She lets go of Riberta's hand, preparing to jump.

She hops into the air, and into the water. No splash, only managing to land solidly into the water. All her attempt did was make her pants wet, so she hiked them up and caught up with Riberta after walking on the drier parts of the land. "So much for that.." She says to herself, "Is it like this forever?" Looking upon the horizon, there was seemingly no end to the wetlands besides the occasional hill or mountain peak. Living here must be boring. She was so used to the colorful skies and trees of her birthplace, but she finds none of it here, a pang of homesickness hitting her stomach. She powers through it, shaking her head. The horny lady said she'll bring us all back home...

Aliana puts her amulet back into her pocket after a while, hoping to keep it safe and dry as she carries on. If her amulet cracks anymore, she won't have any way to calm herself. Well, Riberta's looking after her, so she has nothing to worry about... She still has her claws out however, though it seems she has no way of returning her nails to normal, leaving a pout across her lips. Riberta must have figured that out long ago, seeing that she has complete control over herself. Jakob as well. She'll have to ask at some point or else she'll never look like she should.

The rifle she keeps slung across her chest wiggles and bounces as she trundles along through the water and grass. She takes hold of it after wanting something to interact with, putting her finger into the metal hole with the stick inside of it absentmindedly. "Maybe if I press on this..." She starts to press the pointy stick contraption in the middle of the hole.

-BANG-
​

Aliana screams in fear as she manages to accidentally fire her rifle into the water, though no splash was made at the impact site. She'd never heard something so loud, and the way the gun fought back as if she angered it terrified her.

"O-...oops." She ekes out, her entire body shaking from the blast of the gun.

 

[EdwardDewey98]

"Heh... look man, like I said, you can believe what you want. I ain't judging you, ain't in no place to do so. But your children could use a father, y'know?" Jakob then looked at Riberta as the barbarian asked him about Abraham. The detective looked up to her and at first was unable to give her an answer, when he was ready to speak however, the sudden discharge from Alianas rifle made Jakob almost drop to the ground, aiming his shotgun while looking at his surroundings. "D-dear Thiasis..." He looked at Aliana and walked up to her. "Girl, you almost gave me a heart attack, you need to be careful with your gun. Do you know how to use it?"

 

[Doomevil]

At the moment a gunshot rang, Senya felt her heart stop. She turned to the source of the noise, sword drawn in an instant.

Oh. It’s just a misfire. She breathed deeply, switching her view to her grip. Her left hand refused to stop shaking for a moment until it disappeared. Senya sighed, staring at the Elf.

 

[Dmaster]

Upon hearing the gun sound off, Hudson stopped in his tracks, pivoting around to see where the source of it came from. He clenched his fist, his ears ringing slightly even though he was not directly near it. Trembling, his open palm clenched into a fist as his hand gripped the hilt of his sword even tighter. Whatever Jakob had said to him was immediately forgotten, and while he may have walked up to her slowly, Hudson was on a warpath as she trudged through as fast he could to reach her. "What in the FUCK are you doing?!" he shouted, immediately snatching the gun from her for the safety of himself and others. The hunter hated guns with a passion, especially in the hands of a complete amateur. His off-hand held the weapon tightly by its middle while he brought it to his side, jerking it about angrily as he loomed over the poor elven girl.

"Who gave you this? Do you even know how to fucking USE it?!" Hudson spat, suddenly thrusting the rifle in her face before pulling it away again. "You have absolutely no idea just what these things can do, yet you go around using it like a fuckin' toy or whimsical instrument to explore! Any single shot from one these can be fatal, and you're a whole lot fucking better off offing yourself with it than accidentally shooting someone in the back that doesn't deserve to go out like that..!" His anger reverberated through his voice, teeth grit behind his helmet as he scowled and stared straight through Aliana.

 

[EdwardDewey98]

"Hudson! Calm down, she's a young lass damn it!" Jakob was quick to get in between him and Aliana. "I'll teach her the basics on how to use her rifle. Give it back to her, you don't have to worry about anything else."

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

The interrupting loud shot causes Loque to wince heavily. She didn’t expect the fighting to happen this soon. Immediately she gets on a knee and pulls up her own rifle to scan the area. But nothing happens. As she looks around more, she finally sees Aliana trembling with her rifle quaking in her hands. Smoke was rising from its barrel, marking her as the one who did it.

“ELVEN IDIOT!!” she screams at her. For once, her and Hudson actually agree on something. “Are you trying to get us noticed?!”

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Inari sniffed the air as they approached the area of burned ground and over abundance of ancient, forgotten weapons, scattered all about the landscape like poppies sprouting from a battlefield. There was no doubt there had been some kind of fight here, though the question was - how long ago? Judging by the condition of the weapons, it must have been years, if not longer. She avoided disturbing the weapons as some, like Anya, tore through them looking either for something to wield or sell. These weren't usable. Regardless, a place like this was an honorable site to rest, and if all that remained of the warrior was their weapon, then that wasn't something she wished to disrespect.

When the gun went off, she ducked low into the ground and already had her sword a millimeter drawn, the blade nearly vibrating from the scabbard as the spirit awakened at the sense of its master. Her eyes narrowed on the horizon, but it was fast apparent this was no attack, but a misfire. She snarled slightly - both at the freight of an ambush she hadn't detected, and at the fact that the knowledgeless girl accidentally fired a gun.

She stood and brushed dirt away from her knees. "Why child have gun!?" She called out, also irritated. "Too dangerous! Give her doll or kite or stick! Jester man right, she no need gun!"

 

[EdwardDewey98]

"Could y'all stop yelling at girl?" Jakob looked at the others trying to deescalate the situation. "I'll help her with her gun. Riberta is already watching over her, there's no need to continue shouting at her." Jakob looked a bit nervous as everyone continued to shout their frustration at Aliana.

 

[Infab]

And then Riberta saw Hudson march over and snatch Aliana's rifle away and yell at her. It was only a few seconds later that Riberta reached Hudson, spun him around, and planted her fist into his helmet. The impact spun him about, falling into one of the sludge like puddles as he dropped Aliana's rifle. "You talk to her like a fucking person, you worthless sack of shit." she spat. Her voice had shifted to how it had been when they were down in the dungeon of the Cathedral. "She's practically a child. She didn't know any better. She likely doesn't even know what the fuck a gun is." She then stepped over, picked the rifle up, and handed it to Jakob. "Teach her how to use it properly." she said calmly to him, before looking back to Hudson. "And if you even breathe in her direction wrong, I'll rip your fucking throat out."

 

[K0mori]

-BANG-

There was a clatter of old iron as Anya spun around and fell in terror at the rifle's sound, badly cutting herself in several places on the jagged weaponry jutting out of the ground. Upon realizing that it was a misfire by one of the incompetent members of her own group, a mixture of fury and terror - at herself - took over her features as her eyes turned bright yellow. Anya screamed, and then again, and yet again, each more beastly than the last as her entire body retched and twisted all at once. Unlike her earlier, chaotic shifting, in which she could focus on reversing individual changes, this time Anya was in control of nothing- the fur exploding out of her skin, the bones breaking and rearranging themselves from the tip of her nose to the base of her spine, and the stretching and swelling of her muscles feeling like a constricting straitjacket over her taught, arched, twisting and breaking frame. Her final scream was a roar as she lifted herself from the ground in a predatory stance, a black-furred monster.

Her yellow, evil eyes set their mindless hatred upon the elf responsible as she gripped the pommel stones of two of the swords in the ground, ripping them loose from the earth and hurling the two of them at Aliana, full force.