Fantasy Idas: Song of the Riftsea

[Shiyonichi]

“Bubbles...” Luna walked over to Maxie and flicked her on the forehead, hard. “Don’t get distracted! Mages need focus and a clear mind! There’s already enough outside distractions, you don’t need to add in to it from the inside! Any mistake in spell casting and you’ll get yourself and everyone around you killed, ya Third rate!” The former mage scolded the younger mage... before flicking Maxie on the forehead again. “Also, when you’re in the field...” Luna flicked Maxie again. “Be aware of your surroundings, just because we’re near town doesn’t mean that there isn’t any danger. Mages need time to prepare their defense, if you’re caught off guard, you’re dead and I don’t want to have to deal with that.” Luna sighed before wondering out loud. “What kind of third rate master did you have, that he didn’t break your bad habits?”

“Well either way.” Luna folded her arms before continuing. “Yeah I was already investigating the path, that was pretty obvious, but before that, I suspect you can feel the changes in mana? That’s what a Waygod’s existence does. It been here for a while I can tell you that. Though it seems to be anti social or a lazy ass like Golem. Now before we go on.” Luna grabbed a stick before doing calculations in her head slowly and writing down a sting of words in the dirt, eventually revealing it to be a spell. “Here, I modified a simple search spell, it should help us pinpoint the the changes far better than trying to sense it ourselves, it should make things less of a pain in the ass. Cast it.”

simj26

 

[Hanarei]

Maribel Schwefel​

As the others split off attempting to go their own way Maribel had elected to buckle herself down. She had taken her pack off setting up her ECD device down inserting the clip from her pistol she had used up earlier in order to start recharging it. The device itself hummed, its more makeshift construction looking perhaps a bit sketchy to most as electricity seemed to spark briefly at times from the device. Not at all ideal for safety but she wasn't all that concerned about such luxury if it didn't affect the over-all performance. If she managed to find a good insulated at some point she might but for now that was extra money best saved for other more useful things. The sound the device made in itself as well as its appearance acted as a deterence enough from someone stupidly getting close to it... and she wasn't liable if they did hurt themselves if they decided to get too adveterous near her devices. At that point they should pay HER for damages they might cause her device instead!

Maribel rolled out the sack glancing down at her various trinkets she had made to sell noticing most had broken apart in the scuffle. An annoyed groan escaped her lips as she shook her head picking up piece by piece checking which were might still work enough to be sold while putting aside the others she could scrap in order to take any valuable parts from. Given the little group she had found herself more so wrapped together with she wasn't going to hoard as many random shiny bobbles like she had before and would just need to focus on carrying more valuable pieces off tech that would be more difficult to obtain. She pulled out a few tools from her kit strapped around her waist as she began to dismantle some of the parts primarily attempting to take the 'batteries' in most cases elements like a fuse that could store energy in a more limited complicity. Enough for trinkets to act as a battery less for more useful devices but they still could be useful.

The young mechanic sighed as she glanced over noticing Varis still being around. She looked at him curiously as she continued to take apart one of the trinkets, one of the lights blinking as the other seemed to have stopped working completely. She wasn't quite certain what he was up to. Perhaps he wasn't bothering to go on a search like the others. She simple shrugged looking over doing rather trivial work as it was before speaking up.

"Yo... elf boy." She spoke wondering if it was the best way to get his attention. She had to admit his name had slipped her mind. She simple shrugged as if responding to something he said though more so directing it to herself and her own thoughts dismissing any worry about offending him. It wasn't like she cared if he called her human girl after all.

"Not lookin' to see if you can get info? You aren't that bad looking, no reason for you to be shy if you are worried about people thinking you are scary. Oh well... if not, you can help me dismantle my trinkets here if you want. Its not that complicated really, a little bit of grease maybe but that wipes off easy." She spoke completely downplaying how complex it would be for most people in understanding her little tech gadgets. Sure they were simple to her but its not like many people even had experience with such mechanical items. Even in the empire there is a good chance most people who just be left lost as to what they should do with a piece of tech in their hands, specially when it came to taking it apart. Her hands were a bit dirty and blackened from a few particularly messy pieces of the trinkets with more moving parts that all seemed to of broken in the process of the hasty retreat.

STATUS

HP █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
MP █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Location: Near the Center of Some Boring Town
Mentioned: Varis CerpinTaxt

 

[CerpinTaxt]

Varis

Just like that, the group had gone off on their separate ways to find something they weren't even sure was even here anymore. The cute mage had walked off with her large book in hand, and the other had gone off not much later. Muscle-girl had even wandered off towards the most likely place to find food. What a surprise that was. Varis let out a sigh and crossed his arms after dismounting his horse. What was he going to do? Talking to elders was hardly something he disliked; their attitudes and stubborn ways had always annoyed him. There was no way he could speak to children like Pitah either..he really didn't like children.

So what was left for him? In all honesty, a dingy and run down old town wasn't exactly places he stayed in long. These were the places he would lay low and be gone the next morning, the townsfolk none the wiser of his presence. He was content to just watch for a few minutes; the sound of someone speaking to him catching his attention. At least, he assumed they were referring to him, he was the only elf he could see. His attention went to Maribel, her hands dirty with oil and other unsavory substances the male had no intention of getting on himself. "Hmph. 'Not that bad looking'? I certainly look better than that." He pouted and lightly puffed out his cheeks. She raised a good point though, he was probably the least intimidating person in their little group; other than the adorable little mage girl.

He looked more the type to charm someone out of their money than force it from them that was for sure. "I'm sure I'll find someone I can talk with." With that they illusionist was off, confidently striding towards the small center of town. He heard Pitah apparently call out for someone. Someone named Hena, whoever that was supposed to be. "My dear, perhaps it'd be best to walk around and call them instead of standing in the center?" He spoke loudly as he approached her, gently putting a hand on her shoulder before lowering his voice. "The less we disturb the local's the better results we'll find..so please don't shout? It might unsettle people to see such a beautiful but ah..rather intimidating woman shouting."[/color]

It wasn't as if Varis had any better ideas though. He had no intention of breaking into some house of an elder and there were hardly any women he could charm. "Here..why don't we go into that common house that the big lady entered and ask around there. Just..let me do the talking?" He gave her a thumbs up and a wink before removing his arm from her shoulder and making her way towards the large building, gesturing for the horned woman to follow.

_Line 213 The One Eyed Bandit

 

[_Line 213]

Whomever Hena might have been, they entirely failed to show themselves. Some of the younglings merely stared at the Rhagakin, shuffling uncomfortably in place as they watched her shout for several moments. They, it seemed, wanted little to do with whatever was going on, yet nonetheless appeared too nervous to simply return to their prior play. They shuffled off to find something else to do after a while, yet not without casting glances back at the group of strangers, several seeming particularly wary of the horned priestess.

For better or worse, however, the shouting attracted a few adults from the village's fringes, some of the workers that had just put down their tasks splitting away from a small crowd heading toward the common house and moving toward the travelers in the village center instead. Though a few of them appeared rather guarded, the simple woodsman who spoke up seemed more puzzled than anything. "Why are you looking for Hena?" he asked, his voice attempting to remain as level as possible, even as the faces of his fellows just behind perhaps betrayed the protectiveness the villagers felt toward their own, "and how do you even know of her in the first place? No one in this village has done anything wrong."

Several of those behind nodded their heads vigorously whilst a select few that had failed to address the adventurers initially now stood upon the small flight of stairs leading up to the common house, staring cautiously toward the growing group not too far away.

"Yeah, did someone hire you or something?" one of the other forward-standing villagers said, stepping forward as she rolled up her sleeves, "you're not one of those Empire-types, are ya? Word's been goin' around that they go around snappin' up children to put into that army'a theirs!" A few of the other villagers seemed to concur, a certain amount of animosity brewing amongst some of their number, whilst others appeared more doubtful of that particular claim, or merely still curious towards the adventurers themselves.

Those upon the edge of the village seemed to escape the increasing scrutiny of the forest-folk for the time being, all eyes that could be considered even remotely a threat fixed squarely upon the previously-shouting priestess and those nearest her. Kolu'luka, poking her head out from the doorframe of the common house to check on the collecting commotion, pulled a few glances, yet only for a moment; after a few seconds spent scanning her form, those who briefly watched her seemed to think that picking on the party's slightly smaller members might be a bit of a better idea.

 

[simj26]

MaxieMaxie recoiled from the flick to her head. It stung, and she wasn’t one to easily take physical blows, especially ones to her forehead. “O-ow! That huuurt! Y-you didn’t have t-- OW!” she exclaimed again in pain when she received the second flick to the forehead. She swiftly ducked under the third one, still whimpering in pain. What an amazingly rude lady! What kind of person would take so easily to trying to physically inflict pain on others? Still, she seemed to know a lot about the arcane, so perhaps that was why she had so much confidence in bullying others. She spat out venomous words about her Master, but, as much as she wanted to tell her that her Master was a far better mage than this uncouth lady would ever be, Maxie restrained herself. Let her speak as much as she wanted to, her Master would have told her. Some people just had too much poison in their veins, they had to let it leak out somehow, even if it meant spitting it at others, he had said. Her heart burned with a fire, but she had to control those flames. There was no way she was going to let it consume her. Unlike this lady had with her poison. Maxie pitied her, almost. There must have been a lot of pain in her life. Maxie was no great mage, or anyone really, and for someone like this lady to try and cut someone like herself so deeply, well, she must have had some problems herself.

She peeked down at the spell that the lady had written. Within the second, her eyes lit up, and without waiting for the lady to finish speaking, she exclaimed aloud. “Oh! I see now!” she crouched down next to the scribbled writing, tracing it with one finger, deciphering the string of words that the lady had written, processing the processes of the spell. “I see, I see. This is indeed a basic search spell, yes, but apply it like this, and insert this factor into the equation...mmhmm, I see, I see. That’s how-- yes, yes, this is to search for changes in the mana around us. Why didn’t I think about this? I wonder if I can insert other types of factors into the equation, and what sort of results it would produce?” She felt giddy with knowledge, and laughed a loud, almost uncharacteristically manic laugh, as she pulled out her notebook once more, flipping to the page on Search spells, and started scribbling onto the page. She levitated the book with her magic, and continued scribbling, while raising her now-free hand. “Why...have...the other Masters...not applied this?” she muttered as she flicked her hand, creating a white, ethereal orb in the air. “Well, duh, it’s because they weren’t told to go looking for Waygods. Or they didn't think it warranted being written down, because nobody could be that dumb to not realise the applications! Well, I'm writing it down!” She waved her hand and, like an artist would paint a picture with a flourish, she grasped the idea of the changes of mana, brought it forth, and inserted it into the spell. The orb turned a fluorescent blue, then, with a puff, exploded into a myriad of small floating dots of light, like tiny blue fireflies. The dots lingered for a moment, then fluttered away towards the direction of the mana’s flow, leaving a small trail behind them. Another laugh escaped from Maxie’s lips, as she jumped around in joy. “Ahahahaha! It worked! You’re a genius, lady! C’mon, let’s follow after the lights!” She tugged at the lady’s sleeves, then, without waiting for her to actually come after her, the younger mage scurried off after the lights.

Shiyonichi

 

[The One Eyed Bandit]

The elf certainly hadn't forgotten how to run his mouth since their departure from Pyrr. As with most of their conversations, Pitah met Varis's strategizing with open ears but a closed mouth. While he'd been of great help in the battle against the witch, she had her suspicions about the man.

A dashing smile, a confident gait, a silver tongue, she wasn't quite so dense as to not notice that he had them all, and that was what concerned her. He was exactly the sort of person that she'd been warned about before leaving the Crater. A rascal that would turn someone on their head, empty their pockets, and then sell their grandmother to the Empire. That was the sort of impression she got from the man.

It was only as his mouth ceased to run and she took a hefty moment to mull over his words, that Pitah would design to respond.

"There is no need for two of us to look in the same direction." She stated flatly, making it clear that she had little interest in any other attempts that the elf might make at convincing her. "It would make more sense for us to cover as much ground as possible, no? I will remain here, and you will ask about the other parts of town."

True to her word, even as Varis begun to wander off Pitah remained firmly planted where she stood. It'd be best to not get involved with him, she'd decided. She was perhaps a bit rash in her judgement, she hardly knew the man after all, but it seemed that it would be far better to have him earn her trust in him, lest he try to abuse it for some sort of unsavory purpose.

His words though, were quick to prove themselves as ones charged with wisdom rather than malice. Just as Pitah was about to resume her 'search', other voices begun to fill the town square. First one of the locals, then another, and another and another. Just as hastily as she'd cast suspicion on the elf, they were casting suspicion on her, though this time she was dense enough to not notice the irony. As with Varis though, her patience beat out the urge she could feel welling in her chest to cut the lot off the moment they told her what she wanted to hear.

"So you know her, then?" As she spoke to the first of the protestors, it was clear that there was only one part of their complaints that she was interested in. "You used her name, so you must know her, yes? Please take me to her, it is quite important." Cutting through the crowd without any heed for their sour dispositions, Pitah came to stand nearly face to face with the man, unintentionally staring him down not unlike how a bull would a matador.

_Line 213 CerpinTaxt

 

[Shiyonichi]

Luna looked at the small child with the look of, what the heck did I just tell you not to do? Luna sighed, then waited for the young Ragnakin to finish up casting the spell. Ironically, despite losing the ability to use it magic was the only good thing was good for. The former mage looked at the younger mage’s handywork. The spell went off without a hitch.

Luna raised her brow at being praised as a genius, a something she hadn’t heard for long time. Hearing it now she could definitely say... what a joke. The former mage immediately scowelled at the word. She wasn’t a genius, just a fool, but even fools should try to keep people from making the same mistakes as them. “Hey, Bubbles you should-“ The young Ragnakin ran off, leaving Luna to place her hand on her forehead. “Keep your guard up... Seriously?” Luna put her hand on her forehead and sighed.

“Never run straight into unknown places, unprepared. The biggest basic of general mage combat, apparently not taught outside of Ascalon.” Luna muttered to herself in a deadpanned manner. Since there was no other options former mage followed the Ragnakin’s trail.

 

[CerpinTaxt]

Varis

Varis had only walked a few meters away from the priestess when things already began to go bad. As the elf had suspected the townsfolk weren't taking kindly to the girls prodding and loud voice, people stopping to watch and even look out from the common house he had been approaching. This was just no good at all, and he had to think of something to help the horned girl get out of the situation she'd put herself in. His eyes focused on the large woman that had escaped with them as she peeked outside from the building; his hand instinctively going up to give her a thumbs up and signal that he'd handle it. He seemed to be the people person of the group after all.

Varis turned on his heels right as Pitah got in the face of one of the villagers; he swore it was if she was trying to make his job harder on him. He took a moment to compose himself as the villagers questioning filled the town center. It certainly made sense that they would have acted defensive when a stranger began asking around for someone by name. Though he couldn't help but feel a tad offended when they asked if Pitah (and presumably the group by extension) were with the Empire. He was totally better dressed than some lame empire.

Varis was careful to approach Pitah and the villager that she'd decided to get way too close to; it seemed she completely lacked the idea of 'personal space'. She wasn't acquainted with getting dangerously close to someone it seemed. Not only was he going to have to calm these people down, but he also had to come up with a reason as to why they were looking for Hena was. After all, they couldn't just tell these villagers that a Waygod had essentially died before their eyes due to some witch, sending the group off on some sort of quest. He could hardly believe it had happened and he had lived through it after all.

Not to mention that if someone at the village knew about a group of 'runaway fugitives' that may or may not have murdered a Waygod, they would be chased out or worse. It was best to not bring up their true reasons at all. Just who was Hena exactly? The way the villagers were talking she sounded like a child. He had a few ideas floating around but..getting Pitah out of her situation was priority number one.

"Now, now..let's not get so apprehensive everyone!" He spoke as he gently took Pitah's shoulder once more and stepped between her and the man in a way to create a bit of space between the two before sliding beside the man as his arm left Pitah and went about gesturing towards her clothing; avoiding eye contact with the man as he did so. "Sir, I don't mean to insult you but does she look like she's with those Empire lugs?" He gave him a friendly smile and looked towards the man. This wasn't the first time he'd slipped into someone's personal space without them truly realizing it.

"She's a religious woman can't you see by those clothes? I apologize for her rather rash behavior; she's not exactly one of those 'village-to-village' converts. Ah.." He let out a fake laugh and gestured to 'Muscle Lady' in the common room. "She and I and those others that walked off are traveling together; apparently we have the same destination so we all figured 'why not'?" So far so good..now he just had to come up with why she had that outburst. "As for Hena..apparently, Miss Priestess here was sent on some sort of 'religious pilgrimage' that involves a someone named 'Elira'? She decided to ask those children and they told her about Hena."

With that, Varis took a few steps away from the man. "See? Nothing but good intentions here..just a poor execution is all. Isn't that right?" She looked towards Pitah.


The One Eyed Bandit _Line 213

 

[Hanarei]

Maribel Schwefel​

Maribel had kept to herself after the elf wandered off shrugging a bit at his seeming disinterest in helping her. What could you say, some people were boring and didn't see the joys of dismantling tech. It was a bit baffling to her given she figured anyone would love to get a bit of a view of the wonders Maribel created even if it was mostly haphazardly done in order to save on costs to maximize her profits. It was a type of art that deserved reorganization, and in particular that of coin that would purchase it from her at a premium price. Then again, perhaps such a backwater town rubbed off on the elf boy and made him less appreciative.

Maribel finished dismantling the alst gadget, extracting the parts of value from it as she added it to her pack taking up far less room over-all then it had initially carrying it in the makeshift blanket bag she had used initially. Some scrap was left over, though even as stingy as she was she simple would have to leave it behind. It wasn't as if she had anyway to melt the scrap metal nor that it could be useful for all that much. It was far better to take what she could put in her pack without overburdening herself. The more space she had for valuable pieces along the way the better. She took a rag wiping off her greasy hands glancing up to notice a few people in particular seeming to give her rather suspicious looks over. She could notice the game seemed focused in particular on her recharging station. Maribel's own expression soured quite a bit as she waved her wrench a bit pointing at them.

"Doncha go defiling my beautiful ECD and tarnish it with your scornful gazing! I'll have ya' know I built that all myself, and it ain't for sale if that is wacha thinkin' about asking!" She spoke quite sternly as she came to realize a bit more what was going on. It was clear she had been getting some looks herself, though she noticed a bulk of it had been centered around the others in the center of town. It seemed some sort of commotion had started though she couldn't say exactly what it was. Had they gone and done something to cause trouble? It seemed likely as a cause given the dirty looks she was getting herself as she was quickly associated with the group. It seemed the only reason she was only getting mild scorn focused on her was the fact she had separated with the group not drawing as much ire for now from those in the village. It wouldn't likely last for that long given plenty had likely seen her traveling as part of the group before.

The young Engineer stood up, moving to her ECD turning the device off as she extracted the cell slipping it on her belt. She picked up the device slinging it over her back taking the bag and rolling up the blanket that had been a makeshift bag and rolling it up and attaching it to the top of the pack slinging it over her shoulder. She stretched a little bit seeming to act as nonchalant as possible. Better to just lay low and keep myself away from the others until either stuff passes over or they relax. If it goes bad I can just scurry out of town before they realize I came into town with them all. She decided in her own mind a plan of action still feeling some eyes upon her though keeping her focus on the town center to see what might happen there.

STATUS

HP █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
MP █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Location: Near the Center of an Uneasy Boring Town
Mentioned: None (vague mentioning)

 

[The One Eyed Bandit]

"Do you mean to belittle me?" Pitah's response to the elf's ramblings was not one of appreciation nor cooperation. "What exactly does my faith have to do with my ability to conduct this investigation? In fact, if anything, I would have to call your own ability into question, considering the things coming out of your mouth."

In some manner or another, Varis had at least succeeded in pulling the villagers from Pitah's crosshairs. He, however, had also found himself as their replacement.

"One. My pilgrimage has little to do with the reason behind behind your or my visit. While the decrepit state of this place is enough to warrant it as a site worth remembering, it would be prudent to say that our true reason for coming here is a shade more dire." As she spoke, Pitah shook off Varis's grip on her shoulder, and begun to size him up in the same manner that she had the villager. Her eyes locked with his. "Two. I do not believe there was anything lacking about my execution. I asked what needed to be asked, and was on the cusp of the answers before you saw fit to interrupt. Please restrain yourself in the future."

For a moment, Pitah's vision remained fixed on the rogue of a man before she returned her attention to the villagers. She'd been correct in her assessment. A man of decent physical competence, but lacking in trustworthiness beyond that.

"Back to the point. I would like to speak to this 'Hena'. It is of critical importance, so please bring me to her or her to me."

_Line 213 CerpinTaxt

 

[_Line 213]

"What could you possibly want with a little girl?!" one of the villagers shouted, one of the women of the small settlement moving over to several of the kids, beckoning them close. "Children," she said lowly, "go get your fathers and go to Hena's house. It's important, okay?"

Several of the children frowned. "...But Hena's not home," one of them replied, surprising the woman.

"...What?"

"W-We're being honest!" said another, the new conversation causing several of the other villagers to glance over, "she said she was going to try and find that person she keeps talking about!"

"You mean you let Hena enter the forest alone?!" shouted one of the men, stomping over to the children before giving one of them--perhaps his own--a solid hit on the side of his head.

"She said she was angry with us! She didn't want us to come!" the boy bawled, clutching the back of his head as he sunk to his knees, "we're soooorry!"

The woman looked up to the man, shaking her head as she looked between the various travelers. "...Please go tell Hena's father," she said to the man before her; he glared down at the surrounding children, his desire to punish them further more than apparent, before stomping off toward one of the village's older houses. With her hands now clasped in front of her chest, the woman looked toward the travelers, her pleading appearing in her eyes long before she even spoke. "...Hena is a troubled child," she said softly, taking a few slight steps toward the Elf and Rhagakin travelers. Kolu'luka returned to the group with her greatblade resting on her shoulder by the handle, looking between her current companions and the villager as she moved to speak again. "Ever since her mother died, she's become more and more obsessed with someone that we've never met, someone named Elira. We try our best to look after her in the village, but she's been listening to us less and less. She must have had another argument with someone...Every time she does, she runs off to the woodlands just beyond the village--it didn't worry us too much at first, but she started going deeper and deeper into the forest. The farther one goes, the more magic and monsters one encounters..."

The woman fell silent for a time, before slowly working her way down, first to her knees, before pressing her palms and forehead into the worn dirt pathway. "...Please...Everyone here tries their best to take good care of Hena...We were only angry because she's such a lovely girl when she's happy, and we all love her very much. If you really aren't here to harm us, could you please go into the forest and help look for her, at least until her father gets ready? There's only so much we can do..."

 

[_Line 213]

The strange series of hanging lamps continued far into the forest, stretching out into the underbrush as the dappled afternoon sun provided the light the lamps did not. Small groups of inch-across fire-mites darted through the air along the pathway, peppering the dilapidated woodland road with small, inconsequential dots of red light. Trees and vines had long overgrown the marking stones that lined the way, with only the slightest hints of former cobblestones peeking up through many years of dirt and grass.

The only sounds at the outset of the deep forest were the footfalls of the spellweaver and summoner, the light lines of birdsong, and the quiet rustling of the overhead breeze as it passed through the treetops, too weak to penetrate the deeper levels of the forest as the leaves and branches of bushes were left unmoved. The trees seemed to move ever-upward, growing taller and taller as they stretched off into the distance, their trunks fattening and their branches broadening, the sky just past the small gap in the leaves provided by the spacing of the path dominated by a great upward stretch of green, the tallest trees in the forest all crowding for space around some central, far-off point, the only indication that such was no tree-clad hill being the massive branches stretching out and away from the huge green form.

The line of lamps, after a while, nearly seemed to stop; upon closer observation, some seemed to have fallen by the wayside, roots and leaves concealing their existence, whilst others had been reduced to mere posts in the ground, broken in some cases, or in more drastic circumstances, seemingly bent off or chewed away. Unlike before, there were no ruins of older times hanging just off the beaten path, the forested space on both sides of the neglected walk stretching out as nothing but forest until whatever might have been just beyond was obscured by plant life.

The spell pointed onward, along the pathway and toward the looming mass of green peeking in through the smaller trees. Yet, the signal it gave was uneven, pulsing weakly as it picked up on something either far away or nearly dormant--it was perhaps no wonder that the two had had a difficult time pinpointing the energy's epicenter without the help of their new navigator.

 

[CerpinTaxt]

Varis

Well, he thought things had been going well. At least until his own partner essentially threw him under the carriage. All that effort he put in to keep the crowd from ganging up on her for her to just...badmouth him? Hmph, he saw how it was. He was about to turn on his heels to respond when a man in the crowd spoke to the children from before. He observed the exchange silently before allowing the woman to approach. They were pleading with them to help find Elira; were they this desperate? He took a step back as the woman dropped to her knees and begged for their help.

The thoughts he had of talking back to Pitah dissipated; figuring it was best to just deal with it at a better time. "Ah..Miss.." He dropped to one knee in front of her, his hand resting on the ground as his other motioned for her to raise her head up. "You don't have to do all this for us to help you! Just asking would have been fine so would you please stand up?" He looked up at the berating horned woman and Muscle Lady before looking back at the woman. "Is there a specific direction or place she goes to?"

Before long he rose to his feet, crossing his arms as his eyes met Pitah's. He opened his mouth, ready to finally unleash whatever snarky comeback first came to his mouth; only for nothing to come to mind. The girl wasn't some lackey hired on a job he could abuse when they decided to get smart with him, and this certainly wasn't some minor little quest they'd been given. He couldn't worsen the relations he had with his new 'teammates'.

"I just want to say I wasn't planning on belittling you." His head moving to look out at the trees that surrounded the small village. "You just gotta understand that what we're doing and the task we've been assigned aren't exactly things people will just believe on a whim. Giving people a reason to tell us what we want to know instead of demanding it was what I was going for; that man looked ready to fight you rather than tell you what you want to know. I..let's just drop the subject."

Varis hated that feeling. Just dropping a discussion; he felt as if he was admitting he was at fault. He most certainly wasn't..was he? He certainly thought he'd done his best to help her and she turned it down? He hadn't dropped an argument in decades. What was wrong with him? His own pride and ego demanded he defended himself.

"This is a fight between yourself and your conscience, you know who should win." Those words from years ago rung in his head. Out of all places, he wasn't expecting a small village like this for them to come back.

"Let's go try and find Hena." Putting his mind into the most pressing matter at hand would help clear his thoughts. "We should hurry; the longer we're here the more likely it'll be something happens." He was already beginning to move, his hand resting on the hilt of his saber to keep it from moving around.

The One Eyed Bandit _Line 213

 

[simj26]

MaxieHer pace began to slow reasonably as the path narrowed, and the trees grew ever upwards, higher and higher, until she wasn’t sure if it was the effect of just having been in the woods for too long, the effect of some Waygod’s influence, or an illusion. The path began to be overrun by nature itself, but the manmade cobblestones remained stubbornly visible, poking out of their constrictive confines, though choked by their green prisoners, they tried to remain in this world. Maxie felt uneasy. She was approaching something unknown, untouched for years. Was it right for her to tread this way? She felt as if she should recall the fireflies, and turn around. However, as she glanced behind her, and gazed down the long, unbidden path that they had just tread through, she felt a shiver come up her spine. Going back now was as bad as going forwards, if not worse. She didn’t know why she felt that way- she just felt it. She turned back and continued moving forwards, careful to not stub her toe on the fallen lamp posts.

The forest was now dense enough to begin hiding their view around them. She had difficulty just locating the lamp posts lying on their sides, much less catch view of the ruins that, earlier, dotted the scenery around her and her companion. How deep did this verdant labyrinth go? What would they find at the end? She hesitated to take her notebook out to pen this down. Something told her that this was not something that should be writ at all. However, she struggled against that ‘something’, and her penmanship won out in the end. This time, however, she did not resort to magic. She brought out her notebook and her feather, and began writing upon the pages by hand, detailing the duo’s progress through the now almost invisible path, chasing after their mystical guide.

It would seem that their answers were coming soon. The spell suddenly halted, then indicated forwards, rather than proceeding along. They were coming to the end. Maxie whisked away her feather and her book and took in a deep breath, then exhaled. She turned to her companion. “It seems like we’re here. Ready?” In truth, she was trembling in her shoes, out of both excitement and fear. What would she find? What would happen once she found it? What lay beyond?

 

[The One Eyed Bandit]

The elf and crowd continued to babble on, but she'd not the time nor the malice to concern herself with their woes. This Hena, whoever she was, seemed have to gotten her into some sort of trouble or another. Under normal circumstances she would have left it at that. If the girl perished that was just how things were meant to be, and if she survived through her own strength then she'd have been stronger for it. In this case however, this person was her only lead.

Against her better judgement, Pitah did at least did for Varis to finish consoling the woman before she took her leave, watching him and listening to his words intently. Nonsense, for the most part, but unlike with his previous ramblings, she could at least sense a seed of genuineness in his voice.

"Wait." Before Varis could break away into the woods, Pitah caught his shoulder firmly. "I will go ahead. Before you accompany me, you should first fetch the rest of our companions. You seem to be fond of your tongue, so I believe you'd be a better fit for the task than I." As she spoke, her body grew warm, and then bubbling hot as magic begun to pump through her veins. From what the woman had said, it seemed as if they had little time to spare, so she couldn't afford to be conservative.

"I will see you soon." In a sudden sprint, Pitah parted ways with Varis, the crowd, and the village soon after. She wasn't quite so brash as to go running off in a random direction and hoping that Hena had picked the same one, so instead she followed the moss-ridden path that led deeper into the woods. The deeper she found herself, the more nature seemed to take hold of the path, steadily reclaiming the land that the Upright Races had been so bold as to take as their own.

Really, it was a beautiful thing. It was a shame she'd not the time to admire it. She could even feel the forest itself resisting her advances.

Branches slashed away at her as they closed in on the path, shattered cobble dug into her heels, and even the rotted undergrowth of the forest floor had a role to play, hiding the way forward from sight. But, she was fortunate. The signs were few, but there had definitely been someone else who'd passed through here recently. She was no tracking expert, but the odd broken branch or disturbed patch of turf was enough to give her a direction to look in when the path vanished from her view entirely.

Despite her magically-enhanced strength, it was a slower process than she would have liked. Brute physical prowess could only take her so far in a situation like this, it seemed. In her haste, she'd led herself off the path more than once, and had to waste precious time backtracking. Surely enough though, she'd eventually hear a young, chipper voice in the distance, bouncing between the trees with an energy that couldn't possibly be any truer to the youthful spirit of childhood. The moment that voice filled her ears, the path mattered no longer. With a burst of strength, she cut into the forest, ignoring the foliage as it nicked away at her and homing in on the voice and its owner.

As she broke the treeline, a bit of disappointment washed over her. Rather than Hena, she'd instead managed to dig up two of her companions. Two of her, might she add, particularly not-physically-inclined companions.

At least the mechanic wasn't among them.

"...Your faces are not the ones I was expecting to see." Her eyes flitted over the two, and the odd ball of light that hovered in front of them. Surprisingly, they seemed none too worse for wear. "There is likely a reason you are here, though. What is it?"
simj26 Shiyonichi CerpinTaxt _Line 213

 

[Shiyonichi]

The shrubbery and nature grew more and more as they went along. Normally such a forest would be of great interest to even the former mage Luna, but in her current state she couldn’t do anything but loathe it. “Bubbles. Slow. The. Hell. down... Oh good, you can actually listen.” Luna was already out of breath. Hiking was not her main specialty and it showed. It was even worse with having to catch up with the younger mage and dealing with the uneven terrain.

The former mage caught her breath, unlike her companion, Luna dealt with the sense of awe at meeting with a Waygod like meeting with a friend for a nice Sunday brunch... mostly because any sense of awe of meeting with Waygods have been stripped away by dealing with Duyane and Golem. “Bubbles, don’t worry too much, interacting with Waygods aren’t as special as people make it out to be.” The former mage had a look of utter disappointment (In Golem and Duyane. Thought I should clarify.) as she said that statement. The surprise crash in from the Bull priestess just added to the disappointment.

“I didn’t expect to see your face too, Babysitter.” Luna responded to the sudden and fairly violent appearance of Pitah. “I’m pretty sure said what I was doing a while back, no wait you were messing around with children weren’t you and nobody told you? Basically, I decided to go look around for the local Waygod to answer our questions and Bubbles here decided to join in. We’re currently using a search spell to find the Waygod, since they seem to be a shut in and then you appeared out of nowhere.” Luna explained. “So, since you’re here, I’m guessing either you found something out or everyone got chased out of town again? Well either way, we’re currently encroaching upon the Waygod’s territory.”

simj26 The One Eyed Bandit

 

[Father Gigantor]

Greenery stretched all around Durgan as he traipsed further and further into the sprawling forest, hacking away the dense undergrowth with his axe as he went. The forest known as Kaza'garia, the 'Green Sprawl', had certainly lived up to the nickname the nearby dwarf fortresses had bestowed upon it, boasting Oaks as tall as the mightiest fortress walls and all manner of wildlife and fauna. Durgan had not journeyed here in search of lumber or game however, and what he sought was not atop the canopy nor prancing through the woods. His goal was fungi, and the forest certainly did not leave him wanting with its myriad of mushrooms and toadstools dotting the lush grounds of the forest.

The underground fungi found and harvested in dwarf fortresses were vile in every sense of the word; foul tasting, indigestible and fit only to be brewed into some of the strongest booze known to dwarvenkind. Being introduced to the various mushroom dishes in human and even elven cuisine awoke something in Durgan, and finding a way to cultivate surface-growing fungi within fortresses had been one of his priorities ever since.

Trekking forward, he spied a patch of forest ahead that was sparser the rest and made for it, the trees soon opening out on a circular sunlit glade. The reprieve from hacking away at vines at shrubbery was much needed, by Ulmar's beard his muscles were aching. How dwarven rangers could spend decades on the surface in these conditions would forever mystify him, but at least he certainly understood more clearly the alleged beauty of the forest much better now. Taking a seat on a grassy knoll, Durgan whipped out his notebook and begun to pen down his various observation and findings. Those wimpy elves certainly had the right idea (for once), incoporating plantlife into their architecture and leaving the soil unmolested to help with their farming. Maybe breaking some walls and importing topsoil to place in freed areas could work in a fortress, or perhaps an engineered cave-in within mined out areas...

Durgan's musings were cut short as the echoes of several voices rang out though the nearby trees. Voices this deep in the forest? Human loggers wouldn't dare jaunt far past the edges of the forest, let alone the depths of it, and elven waywatchers never scouted in groups either. Something was afoot, and he didnt fancy being on the arse end of any sort of bushwhacking attempts.

Quietly and very un-dwarflike, Durgan stowed his satchel and begun his measured advance towards the direction of the voices. Drawing closer, he spied several figures gathered around a ball of light, previously hidden behind some a dense patch of undergrowth, in the middle of conversation. Two beastlings, or rather 'Rhagakin' as the more politically correct humans would call them, and a human girl, considerably different from the sort of folk one might expect to find this deep in a thick forest. All the more reason for Durgan to continue his surreptitious eavesdropping

"It seems like we’re here...”

"...a search spell to find the Waygod..."

"...encroaching upon the Waygod’s territory..."

"Mages," he scoffed derisively to himself. Of course that would explain this gaggle of misfits, chasing spirits into the depths of a gargantuan forest was so very typical of those who dabble in the arcane. No doubt, the trio of magic users could likely handle themselves in a scrap or two, but their glaring lack of any proper preparation or basic gear and their general air of ineptitude was more than enough to irritate the dwarf into intervention.

"Oi wazzocks!" Simultaneously yelling and crashing through the foliage, Durgan made his presence known in characteristic dwarf manner. "You trying to out yourselves to every kobold and gobbo in the county? Prancing about like milksop elves with your little floating bauble you got there? You'd best find your own sense when you get your arses out of bed so you don't need strangers to knock it back in for you!"

 

[CerpinTaxt]

Varis

Just like that the Rhagakin was gone, speeding off towards the woods and leaving him to retrieve anyone from their party that wasn't already going that way. Fair enough, he supposed. At least she admitted he was better at talking to people than him. Varis looked around the small village as he tried to recall where everyone had gone when they arrived. The two magically-inclined members had wandered off somewhere while the mechanically-inclined one had taken it upon herself to just clean her equipment. At least she was easy to find; she hadn't moved.

Varis looked towards the muscular girl nearby and shrugged. "Guess we'll round everyone up before heading out." With that, Varis approached Maribel, careful not to kick up any dirt and get it on her equipment as he came closer. "Hey, we're heading out; apparently got a little girl that's gone missing and we've been tasked to find her. Once you're ready we're gonna head.." he raised his finger to point towards where the village woman had directed him. "That way." He gave the girl a thumbs up and walked off, saying one last thing as he went. "I gotta go find those other two!"

The village was small and at least one of them should have stuck out and been easy to spot but..Maxie and Luna were nowhere to be seen. There went finding them, though to be fair... he sort of stopped paying attention to where they had walked off too after he headed into the village itself to help Pitah. Had they gotten a headstart on the rest of the group? It seemed plausible. After a couple of minutes of searching, Varis stopped to ask a nearby villager if he'd seen them; giving him a quick description of the two girls. Looks like he was right, they had gotten a headstart and started walking into the woods not long after they arrived if the villager's story of him spotting them walking inside was to be believed.

That was..everyone, right?

--

Varis figured there was no time to waste, gathering the two people that remained of their group out towards an old abandoned path that went in the same general direction of the way they were meant to go and drawing his sword from its sheath. "It looks like the others went ahead without us! Sort of rude if you ask me but..whatever! I guess there's no time to complain about it, we gotta find them and this missing girl!" He turned to face woods and began to make his way in.

Varis slashed his sword at any foliage that blocked their path while his mind wandered. This place seemed..dangerous. In more than the "go too deep and monsters might pop out" kind of way. It had the whole "One false move and I slip and ruin my clothes" vibe too. The worst kind of vibe. He just kept moving down the path at a steady pace, fast enough to not be too left behind and slow enough that he could at least be sure of his footing when he moved.

It was hard knowing if he was on the path with all the overgrowth, the seemingly endless amount of grass and weeds determined to get him lost. At least the lamps overhead and the signs of the ground in front of him having been disturbed gave him hope that he hadn't gotten them completely lost on their journey to the missing girl. The farther he went, the more the lamps were consumed by nature and it became harder and harder to stay on the path.

"I'm sure we're almost there! I..frankly doubt those two were able to walk through this very well." Not like he was faring too much better though, the overgrowth just kept getting worse. All he could hear was the sounds of nature, and someone yelling about..elves. Well, that's a bit raci- Wait, yelling! People! "Think we found our mark!" Varis exclaimed with excitement, suddenly picking up the pace and heading towards the yelling.

It didn't sound like anyone from the party, it was far too manly and unless Muscle Girl could teleport no one else would be able to yell that low, implying that it was even possible for Kolu in the first place. Within a few moments, the elf was able to make out some sort of movement nearby and changed course towards it. "Ah..hey!" He spoke out as he cut apart a piece of foliage that separated him from the rest of the group, bringing him into view.

"Ah, there you are everyone!" He smiled with confidence. "I knew my amazing navigation skills would bring us here!" Yes, he could gloat again! He deserved it! He spotted Pitah, Maxie, and Luna all close by..and someone else? Someone stumpy. "Ah..was someone speaking about elves earlier?" He looked towards Kolu and Maribel. "I..guess we found everyone! Er..who's this?" He pointed towards the dwarf his brain had yet to actually register as an adult and not a small child. "Is this Hena? Kinda hairy for a girl bu-" At least his brain finally caught up with his mouth now as he focused on the stumpy, and probably alcoholic, man. "Wait..what's a dwarf doing here? Is he related to Hena?"

The One Eyed Bandit _Line 213 Shiyonichi Father Gigantor simj26 Hanarei

 

[Hanarei]

Maribel Schwefel​

Maribel had finished up dismantling the pieces, the eyes lingering on her making her sigh a bit in response. I suppose trying to casually walk away leaving the scrap i don't want would be too obvious... people looking directly at me and all. Such a pain. She thought to herself rather annoyed. It was probably for the best she cleaned up her own mess anyways. It wasn't exactly the nicest thing to leave behind a mess to have others clean it up for you. She gathered her things this time placing much of the useful components in her pack while using a smaller sack to store the junk metal parts. I wish I had one of those bottomless bags, darn things are too darn expensive though. I wonder though... maybe if I find a way to utilize some tech and combine it with that sort of magic I could create an even more effective pocket dimension that not only can store so much more things but also make it easy to retrieve!

Maribel had gotten up to pull out the recharged cell as the elf wandered by speaking up as she was bent over glancing over at him waving her hand. "I gotcha, just cleanin' up anyways." She spoke casually to the elf as he ventured off to find the others grabbing her device slipping it onto her back with her other bag. While the ECD was a nice devise, it was becoming more and more of a burden. She would have to try and compress it down... or better yet attempt to make the cells she used self charging. It wasn't going to likely be as effective at her device but if she got enough materials and she came up with a good enough system that could work with her pistol... perhaps given some minor modifications she could manage to have a much more compact system just adding a few more Cells to her arsenal to make up for the charging being a bit slower. A few of her companions were magically inclined and from what she observed it seemed wizards and the like tended to garnish more residual magical energies around them that made her device charge much faster.

Maribel ventured forward following the Elf's lead as she had all her things on her. Her pistol was strapped now to her side to give her a bit more room for the extra scrap she was carrying around in her back. A little bit bulky but it wasn't a big problem for her. While she might not be some bruiser fighter like the big muscular lady of the group was she was far from a wimp. The benefit of living in a more rural town and lugging around heavily pieces of scrap and the like all her life. Hearing the sound she followed along the elf rather perplexed as they made it to everyone else hearing him gloat. She cocked her eyebrow looking at him.

"Oh? You were navigating us?" She questioned him before continuing. "Thought ya were stumbling about." She commented briefly looking to see the odd looking dwarf. She tilted her head a bit not having really seen a dwarf before. It was a bit surprising perhaps given she lived in what was essentially a mining village, though it was more so a stereotype about the dwarves anyways. She looked back to Varis as she scratched her chin. "Perhaps lost much more then just in direction..." She muttered more out-loud to herself rather then meaning to be speaking to anyone else.

STATUS

HP █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
MP █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Location: Near the Center of an Uneasy Boring Town
Mentioned: CerpinTaxt

 

[_Line 213]

Past the edge of the town and some distance into the forest, the party finally managed to reconvene--though not without some confusion, especially when a new, unfamiliar figure was added into the mix. Stepping forward, the tall, dark, greatblade-sporting foreigner leaned over their new, far shorter guest, seeming far more curious than anything else. "Perhaps there is a dwarven stronghold near here," she commented, returning to her full height, free hand extended over her eyes as she attempted to peer past the tree cover. "I do not see a great many tall peaks, so perhaps they reside at the edge of the forest."

Indeed, the tallest shapes amongst their surroundings remained the tall, overgrown heart of the wood not too far away down the path. The delver looked back to the dwarf, studying him for several moments more; it was becoming clearer and clearer that her homeland, wherever and whatever it may have been, was lacking in more diminutive members of the Upright Races. "Ah--but Dwarves are good and spirited people, from what I have heard!" she said with a grin, adjusting her weapon's position on her shoulder briefly, her other hand maintaining a tight grip on the large metal slab's long handle. "And--they have a knowledgeable culture. Again, so I have heard." Despite words that were no doubt uncertain, her voice rang with nothing but deep-seated confidence.

With that, Kolu'luka turned to the rest of the party, thumbing her free hand at their new, apparent tag-along. "Perhaps we should see what he has to say about the one for whom we search," she said, moving to glance over her shoulder at the Dwarf with another grin, "we seek something important in this forest, friend. From what we have gathered so far, there may be a local girl who could lead us, but what of yourself? What do you know of Waygods, Dwarf?"

From the edges of the faded pathway, a short distance beyond the faded, unused wreckages of lamps, a rustling seemed to come from the underbrush. Before thoughts could be entertained in regards to whether the sound could be that of friend or foe, the initial noises were paired with low growls, betraying the presence of beasts of a sort, keeping themselves hidden as they stalked the suddenly-wary adventurers.

 

[Father Gigantor]

Kaza'garia was certainly turning out to contain far more than simple redcaps and toadstools, thought the lone dwarf as he surveyed the mismatched party before him that had since doubled in size. The odd bandit or scout were common enough sights this far into the woods, but the people that stood before him looked about as out of place as a sober dwarf at a post-battle banquet. Durgan quickly took the opportunity to glance over the six figures that now stood before him conversing amongst themselves. First there was the trio that alerted him with their ill advised and very loud banter, a human woman with light hair clad in piss poor trekking garb and a pair of young beastling females. The excitable one bore the ears and tail of a mutt while the other appeared to have drinking horns glued to the side of her head.

The other three newcomers looked just about as clueless as their fellows, but there was no doubt that they differed from them in many other ways. Another two girlies to further bring up their numbers, soon there'd be enough to fill a sorcery school sorority. There was a spunky tomboyish lass, likely a tinkerer or artisan of some sort judging by her wear and little gizmos. Her companion appeared to be a large and boisterous foreigner, desertfolk perhaps, but who could ever keep up with the hundreds of manling tribes and cultures out there. Much more interesting was her blade, covered in unfamiliar runes and likely dripping with foreign magics. Lastly, and most certainly the least, an elf. A bonafide snivelling, lily livered, glass boned, basket weaving, pointy eared elf. Nothing notable, just like the whole lot of the pansies, time to move on.

The six travellers exchanged words and greetings with one another as friends would, before expressing their confusion at the newfound dwarf elephant in the room. He gathered that they were on the search for something waygod related out here and his intrusion wasn't part of the scheduled program. The elf shot what sounded vaguely like a snide question-insult combo towards him, the same kind his entire race seemed to be very fond of, but his high-pitched babbling fell on deaf ears as Durgan directed his attention towards the towering figure addressing him. The imposing warrior lady was studying him with mild curiosity, further confirming his suspicions she hailed from lands where Burchts were far and few between, and she greeted him with an air of confidence and honesty that resonated deep within his dwarfy heart.

"BAAAHHH HA HA HA HA HA!"

Completely forgetting his own prior advice, Durgan erupted into a fit of raucous full bellied laughter, completely taken with her total straightforwardness. "Knowledgeable and spirited you've been told have ye? I like the sort of company you're in then, because that's nothing but the truth!" he replied, pausing momentarily to let out another hearty, self-absorbed chortle. You've a good eye on you there lass and I like the way you carry yourself, manlings all over could stand to add a wee touch of dwarfiness into their lives!"

The dwarf stretched out his stumpy arm to give his newfound friend a clap on the back, but his poor reach meant his hand made contact with her waist instead. Unabashed and oblivious, he continued his reply to her question.

"Hmm, back on topic though, I'm certainly no expert about your so called 'Waygod' spirits and all that mystical hullabaloo. The only one we dwarves hold above all is blessed Ulmar himself." He scratched his bearded chin thoughtfully, his brow furrowed with concentration. "I apologise but Ancestors know we dwarves are right flummoxed by anything to do with magic, we can't even tell the stuff's there. Best I can do is stick around since you've come this far out into the arse end of this forest, maybe point out some shrooms and herbs for you lot.

Durgan cut his musings short as he spun around, arming himself with his axe and hammer in one fluid motion as he did so. The quiet but unmistakable snarls of an unseen beast of prey echoed through the underbrush directly behind him, likely out for blood. Holding his weapons at the ready, his ivory beard bristled with anticipation as the dwarf assumed a fighting stance. "Well, looks like my company isn't going to be debated anytime soon, I take it?"

 

[simj26]

MaxieShe could only muster up a small squeal when the dwarf emerged-- no, it was more accurate to say he ERUPTED from the foliage, his boisterous voice shaking the very ground she and her companion stood on. Every fibre in her body told her to quickly scurry off and hide behind something or someone, though she reasoned that would be her innate Rhaga blood speaking to her. Smaller Rhagakin like her had reasonably high flight tendencies, rather than fight. However, the light of discovery won out against her survival instincts. Almost a habit now, she extracted her book from her pouch, pen at the ready, her eyes sparkling with genuine interest. A dwarf! A dwarf! How amazing was that?! She had never met a dwarf before! Or maybe she had, she just didn’t have that much of an opportunity to study them. After all, dwarfs were never really a common client of Master’s. According to what she had learned, the dwarfs had unreasonably high resistance to magic, for better or for worse. It would seem that their race was just not gifted with the ability to wield anything from the Riftsea. The pages dedicated to them seemed to confirm this. Their own shut-in ways of cooping up in their fortresses also gave Master rare contact with them, since he, like them, also tended to avoid the outside world unless called upon. And, indeed, just like the book described, this one was just as loud and aggressive as they came. His build was stout, and stocky- he barely came up to half her head, but was probably twice her size in girth. His arms alone could probably rival her physique. There was certainly no doubt about his strength. In fact, it kind of reminded of her other companion, and she wondered what the large lady would think about the dwarf’s stout strength. Was that an inherent trait of dwarfs? She had never seen a dwarf who wasn’t stout.


She scrambled about the dwarf, studying his words and mannerisms with an inquisitive eye, in spite of the arrival of her companions. Loud, rude, brash, extremely fascinating! It reminded her of certain kinds of Those Beyond, who barely cared about what others thought of them. Maybe it was the same with the dwarfs? According to her notebook, they only saw one Waygod as the true Waygod, and barely cared for the others. Maybe it was the same with life. They just didn’t care about what others thought about them, and lived life as they wanted to. She turned her pages, and her eyes scanned through the words. There was much to be written about them by her predecessors, but it was mostly historical knowledge- none had any personal experience with a dwarf. Possibly because they detested the loudness that they brought with them, and possibly because one of them was called a ‘fucken pointy hat crinkle-toed slimey wizard rat basterd’, as was apparent by an angrily scribbled sidenote, alongside a warning to never try and socialise with one unless bearing the courage of several knights.


She did not get the opportunity to speak up after her companions as the dwarf immediately noted the sounds of beasts coming from the thick underbrush. She gave another squeak and scurried behind him. She could hear it too, and by the sounds of it, they were looking for prey. Small prey, just like her! By the Waygods, it was one thing after the other. They were so close. She can’t have her friends be bogged down by some nasty beasties after all this way. If they were injured in any way, it would set them back. Added to that, she still had a bad feeling about the village they had passed through. It didn’t sit well with her. That, and the fact that the truth was so close to them. She had to prevent a fight, no matter what. Scared as she was, she had to do something. “Master Dwarf, stand back!” her small voice cried out, as she returned her book to its saddle. The formulas flowed easily enough in her mind, and the equation that presented itself to her was as clear as the cloudless skies. With a wave of her hand, a crimson magic circle was etched upon the ground between the party and the direction of the bestial sounds. She gathered the flow of magic into the circle, and with a snap of her fingers, released it. The reaction was imminent, creating a loud fiery explosion, setting the underbrush aflame. Her ears still ringing from the explosion, she readied another formula in her head. What next? A gust of wind? More fires? Perhaps more loud noises?

 

[The One Eyed Bandit]

As worthless as ever, Pitah thought. They spoke, but they did not discuss. They moved, but they did not progress. These companions of hers were far more trouble than they were worth. As the other party members babbled and rambled back and forth, Pitah fixed her senses on the forest.

Beasts scrambled about the underbrush. Ash was filling the air. There was far too much noise.

A rare break in the bull-woman's stoicism formed as her brow furrowed at the situation. Something was not working here. Finding one little girl, be she in a forest or not, should not have been this difficult. The answer was clear enough; the lot of them were just as disorganized as one would expect a band of ramshackle vagabonds to be. There was one or two exceptions to her complaints, but they were not the rule. More than once, the thought occurred to her the she might be better off on her own. It was more than a little frustrating.

"I would request you take responsibility for that before it becomes dangerous." Over the crackling of flames, Pitah spoke with a muted frustration. "That aside, as pressing as the threat of magicked mutts seems to be, I would request we continue to press forward. I doubt this Hena girl, should she still draw breath, is faring too well in these woods."

"I do not suppose you've seen any children in your wanderings, Dwarf?" While mentioned by the barbarian-woman, the topic seemed to have been lost amongst the back patting and the spell-slinging. "As convenient as the little-one's spell is, I believe it would be best if we cover all of our bases. It is surely no coincidence that Elira has chosen to commune with this child, especially not when considering the circumstances that led us here."

simj26 Father Gigantor _Line 213

 

[Hanarei]

Maribel Schwefel​

Maribel looked on seeming a little lost about what was going on though it wasn't an expression that really lasted very long as her attention had so quickly shifted away. It wasn't worth the hassle to go really questioning stuff, winging it seemed to work better generally until there was trouble. At that point she would resort to finding ways to use companions as convenient distractions to either come up with a solution of her own or make her escape. The dwarf seemed like an easy pick for a first choice decoy when he let her down in having anything interesting to say. She had hoped a dwarf would of at least talk about their interesting metal work or some other stereotypical dwarf thing that Maribel at least had some care about. With the sound of a growl it seemed a good thing she had been thinking about such things looking to the dwarf wandering if he might be an appetizing choice for some wild beastiest to chow on.

Maribel watched as Maxie seemed rather scared though quickly jumped into action. She smiled approvingly at the girls use of force setting fire. It seemed perfect to her a she reached into the sack of junk pulling out what was a broken toy she had torn down not having gotten the chance to toss. She squeezed a bit at the metal parts as some more of the strange fluid oozed out forcing its contents out more. She held it up, looking a bit strange though preparing to set a spark that would light the thing up in what hopefully would turn into a great ball of flame. It was hard to tell despite her time messing with such things just how effective it might be she just knew it was a fire hazard so at the bare minimum it would contribute and help make even more intense flames.

Unfortunately a stuck up Pitah spoke up seeming to want to kill the fun resorting to Maribel shrugging a bit and casually dropping the leaking toy into some nearby brush not wanting to get it all over the other stuff. It was too damage at that point to bother with storing away... even if she did wrap it up in some cloth it would just end up seeping through and potentially causing more problems for her later on.. It wasn't like it would spontaneously blow up or anything unless some spark managed to find it... but that can just be left for someone else to worry about. For now they had the problem of finding some child it seemed? She wasn't really sure what to even do to start there search but figured she might as blurt out what little she could think off at the top of her head to say she at least contributed to the conversation.

"Well if we need to find a lil child, and sadly not having enough budget or time to devise a device to do so, perhaps one of ya has a keen nose like these lil mutts out here might to sniff a child out... or we have a way to temporarily tame one of em' to help us look? I mean I'm just shootin' from the hip at this point, not like any of ya know a place they may be goin' in the woods here to head towards right?" She spoke not really sure what to really add in as she stood a bit more casually not seeing much reason to raise her guard... granted if she did she was decent enough at drawing her gun rather quickly to shoot if she needed to.

STATUS

HP █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
MP █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
Location: Not being Wild Beast Chow
Mentioned: simj26 The One Eyed Bandit Father Gigantor

 

[_Line 213]

With the way backward blocked by Maxie's fire and flames--along with the beasts they were meant to ward off--Kolu's attention peeled away from the main group and towards the overgrown path and stubs of lanterns marking the route deeper into the forest, and toward the tallest trees overshadowing the rest of the forest. Were it not the case that the thickly-shrouded path still parted the trees just enough for the sky to be visible beyond the farthest leaves, the nearly mountain-high boughs of the deep woodland likely would have cast naught through the canopy directly above the party but further green. And, all the while, that odd spell the magical duo had cast mere moments before continued to point directly toward the massive trunks.

"Ah, but perhaps we will not need a nose of any sort, yes?" the large foreigner said as her gaze then drifted to the spell at hand. Her load-bearing arm adjusted the position of the massive sword resting up on her shoulder, the woman offering a vigorous nod as she positioned her lone weapon defensively as the beasts continued to skirt the edges of the fire on all-fours, bearing their wolfish fangs and snarling lowly at the promise of meat. "We will have to take care of these flames and the beasts--I have the feeling they will outrun us if we attempt otherwise."

Indeed, a few in the pack seemed to be growing bolder, drawing nearer and nearer to the flames as they sought a way through, even as most of their band held back. The element of surprise had gone awry for the furred hunters, and their path to their prey had been well-obstructed, but they had yet to lose their faith in numbers. It was perhaps only a matter of time before a few of them dared to chance the flames, three wolves following one particularly fearless one as they darted back, building up speed before dashing through a particularly thin portion of heat and light. A dangerous gambit, no doubt, considering they were lacking within the space of the fiery circle, but the adventurers' space of safety seemed to grow far more crowded than it was mere moments before all the same. There was barely any space for the wolves themselves to maneuver, yet their natural agility ultimately made such a far easier endeavor for them than it would have been for any of their upright opponents.

Though Kolu stepped forward, her sword at the ready, there were four wolves matched to her sole being, and though they had set their sights on foes other than herself, there was only so much she could do to stop their advance. One swing of her blade sent a single beast flying out of the fiery circle, alive despite its return to square one with fresh injuries as remembrance. The other three dashed straight past her, a testament to the beasts' mobility. Two went for the dwarf, likely fancying him a good first feast--perhaps his size had something to do with that. The third lept for the Rhagakin priestess, likely due to her proximity. The fires continued to burn around the ensuing scuffle, with no telling as to when further beasts may attempt to enter the fray.