Fantasy Let's Try That Again [IC]

[Birdsie]

Lucius Hearthaven
The Cracked Glass Inn

When Charon started fumbling about how a little curse wouldn't do anything to her, Lucius' tired eyes pinned her with a glare, as he reached out for her mind instinctively. It appeared the effects of alcohol were already affecting her: there was a cloud of static interference around her mind.

Fear, anxiety, uncertainty, nervousness, fame, reputation, adoration.

He kept looking, as he lifted and drank some more Angel's Chalice. A woman built out of fear and desire: she reminded him of teenagers.

After a moment, she stood up, making wild proclamations of bravery. Little bits of the green light of willpower began to shine through her emotional spectrum; streaks of it were derived from her desires and ambient hope and ate away at a majority of the fear. The constant flaring of different emotions and the static interference caused by intoxication hurt his brain a little, but it was mesmerizing to look at.

Optimism, confidence, cocksure, anxiety, uncertainty, fame, reputation, adoration.

That's amazing. I've never seen so many conflicting emotions! If I could eat them, she'd be a buffet.

Lucius smiled at Charon, then returned to his fifth Angel's Chalice and continued to drink. After a moment, the pioneer woman from the Guild came up to their table and introduced herself. He looked into her spectrum, just a glance, then narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

Compassion, willpower, love.

He almost spat out his chalice. Afraid of love? Why?

Alteras Hanarei Spoiled Bread Inheritance

 

[June Verles]

Adventurer 3The Cracked Glass Inn​

Adventurer's 3 reaction to the apparition of the shadow demon would be lackluster to say the least. Demons, from his own experience acted in their own self interests, this either meant that this magician was in control, but his interactions with her seemed that he trusted a tad bit more than his own shadow, as ironical as that sounded.

Hopefully nothing detrimental to their cause will come out of his adoration, though hope doesn't mean much when you need a license to speak to God.

All considering however, the experienced man didn't exactly dislike anything happening so far, sure it was rather boring that he had to wait while everyone else feasted due to not wanting to permanently traumatise them with his facial features. However, he could still indulge in the adventurer's favourite past time, alcoholism.

Ordering himself a tankard of beer he would begin consuming it, by pouring it through the air holes of his helmet resulting with a lot of the contents dripping down on the floor, good thing he had free refills.

After two hours passed he was barely somewhat tipsy, a result of 80% of the booze he was trying to drink landing on the floor as opposed to his mouth, but it was still enough to get him furious when he heard about the "7 generational curse". Angry enough that he applied too much force to the metal handle, resulting with it bending and ultimately snapping, making the tankard fall to the ground spilling all of it's contents.

Wherever it was true or not, threatening his daughter and his future grandchildren was quite a bit offence in the man's personal book, and no shadow monsters were going to save the mages from his wrath if they did anything to hurt them.

Luckily for everyone present he managed to calm himself down with some deep breaths, not embarrassing himself publicly. He couldn't exactly say the same for esteemed God-Slayer and her would be glutton challenger.

Both fumbling their words, drunk on booze and food respectively. Whatever, it's not like they were going to be removed from the group after the mage went through all these troubles to gather them here.

Other than that the only thing that still picked his interest was the blonde young man across him, who for the last few minutes kept staring at people and reacting in very visible manners.

"For someone who can tell what others are feeling you aren't very good at hiding your own emotions."

Inheritance Birdsie Hanarei

 

[Epiphany]

Lacuna Episkiazo

Inheritance
Elodin's casual familiarity with Lacuna was received with equal casuality. She plainly didn't mind his hands on her. Quite the opposite, when she shifted towards him at his touch.

Birdsie
The shadowy woman raised an eyebrow at Lucius' claim, glanced behind herself, then turned back with a smirk. "I'm not a demon," she said, that sultry purr of a voice heating with gentle laughter. The reaction of the crowd didn't seem to especially bother her but she was quite content to let other people resume talking before answering the question. "I'm not from this world...but then, neither are you. We're, all of us, refugees. I have no way of knowing your nature or your loyalties, sir, except by discovering them through time. I'm afraid you'll have to do the same with me. For what good it does, I'll offer you this; I've known our host a long time and he's never come to harm by me. Nor will any of you," she said, still looking at Lucius but plainly addressing the table.

The waitress returned with an ale, and later food followed. Despite a certain otherworldliness about her, Lacuna evidently ate and drank with much the same pleasure of her more worldly companions.

At last, when Elodin stood up to speak, Lacuan turned to face him and listened intently. Already aware of what the illustionist had in mind, at least in part, Lacuna answered his question by leaning back in her chair slightly, plainly having no intention of leaving. She had no questions to ask either so she mostly looked over the rest of the party, curious as to their reactions.

Spoiled Bread
And what a reaction! She'd never seen anyone, or anything, eat quite that much over the past few hours, nor had she seen it affect someone so profoundly. It would be amusing, if not for the threats. When the woman threatened to smack, however, Lacuna rose from her chair with considerably more grace than the Draconian. Despite no weapons in evidence, there was a confrontational physicality to the way she stood. Muscles tense, perhaps ready to vault the table in a moment's notice. Shadowy or not, the firelight lent her substance and on a further move from the draconian or a word from Elodin and she'd unleash it.

Hanarei
Charon's response, on the other hand, did much to settle Lacuna down. She didn't quite know what to make the 'Godslayer' but the warrior spoke words of peace rather than war. That would do. With a slow nod, Lacuan seated herself once more.

Alteras
The scrutiny of the other woman, once noticed, was answered only with a mysterious smile and a slight, inviting tilt of the head to join them. Assuming Lucia chose to keep her own company before Elodin calling her out, Lacuna only marked her out and returned to the food and drink. On Elodin's request, however, she rose and left the table for another room on some pretext before walking into a shadow and peering out from the shadows cast by Lucia and the firelight. She studied the Pioneer for many moments, concealed in the woman's shadow, before finally deciding she'd seen all she needed to. A warrior, an adventurer, possibly with a magical trick or to but no sorcerer. No evidence of a uniform, per se. No indication she worked for or represented a power that might work against Elodin's interests. Good enough.

Returning to the table, she whispered her observations into Elodin's ear earlier in the dinner and was otherwise content to socialize and imbibe until their host stood and made his announcement. When he called out the warrior in the corner, Lacuan was only too pleased to learn the woman's name when she introduced herself. Another welcoming tilt of the head acknowledged the Pioneer.

 

[OverconfidentMagi]

Twen Drazilthe magic lizard​

A loud burp could be heard just before the side of a wooden stein was transformed into an ornate door that opened to let Twen stumble out, along with the surprisingly little liquid still in the bottom of the large mug. The lizard took a few steps and promptly fell off the side of the table. "Yilf!" he slurred with an unfocused spin of his stick, which he was certain he'd lost in the bottom of that tasty well. A tiny pair of wings dropped Twen off back atop the table before disappearing. He nearly repeated his tumble off the table but was able to spin himself back around to fall on his tail. He looked to be passed out, understandably so given how much he'd drank and his literal light weight.

But Twen stirred at the mention of the Godslayer. The alcohol had slowed the kaleidoscopic swirl of inhuman thoughts that was his mind, but that had reminded him of something, he just couldn't remember what. "Dogs... reayls... niwe... dnyrf... dulb... niwe... paerg..." Twen's head hurt. He tapped his stick again his head. "Lea," he said, and his head immediately cleared. He'd forgotten whatever it was he'd been thinking about, but he forgot he'd forgot, so it was all okay.

The suddenly-sober Twen twirled his stick around and rode it across the room, looking like a tiny witch on a broom as he did. He stopped in front of the face of the bad-at-cards human he'd met two spins past. He flipped over to hang from the floating stick looking at Elodin with what might have been concern. There was definitely a facial expression barrier with Twen being a lizard. "Tsruk? Oow si tsruk? Ooy tsruk? Twen kaym on tsruk! Ooy si dnyrf! Twen pleh ooy!"

Twen pulled himself back on top of his floating stick and raised his hand to do magic... but found his stick not in his hand as it was beneath him. He thought about this problem. "Worg!" From the end of the stick grew another stick, which he broke off and brandished above his head. "Lea tsruk!" The stick ignited with a sharp white light that filled the room and attempted to chase away any evil magics present.

Twen is currently bothering: Inheritance

 

[Inheritance]

Elodin Evernight
"But the light was far too pure for the sinners that roamed about the surface of the world, and so the first shadows were cast as a mark of their sin."
---Hilax the Unchained---
​

Lucius's accusing tone made Elodin's eyes narrow for a second before he resumed his stage face. He wanted to tell the man to shut up, but he knew it would just make him seem foolish. Lacuna could handle herself, probably better than he could; but that never stopped him from feeling defensive on her behalf. Though his feelings of annoyance were quickly removed when this now obese fighter was threatening him on behalf of the Godslayer. He gave a half smile but didn't bother responding. He knew that if Charon didn't handle it, Lacuna would be there should something happen. Ignoring the rambling of Charon, he stood up again.

"Feel free to leave if you don't wish to swear secrecy, but because nobody has left, I'll assume you all are interested in what I have to say. So, let's begin. Ever since we came to this world, I have had a great sense of-"

He raised his hand over his eyes as a blinding light illuminated the space around him. It seemed the lizard that was either extremely lucky or some prodigy at cards was trying to tell him something. Elodin wasn't a fan of bright light in general, and certainly not when it was being flashed in his eyes by a lizard. He batted his hand in front of his face to no avail, cringing as the light still shone in his face. He swatted again, but again the lizard dodged out of the way. Finally he had enough.

"Great sense of curiosity about- Grotharis!- about what caused the downfall of the last world." At his spell, the shadows in the room seemed to move into his hand, concentrate into a ball, then spray out at the lizard. The lizard was probably decently powerful, but sheer size would allow his spell to overpower the light that was around him. Twen spiraled onto the table covered in shadows that seemed to stick around him like molasses before melting off of him, leaving the lizard cold and tired. "Even in our great libraries, there was very little that I could find about the old world. I have searched for a long time for information about them, but nothing in our libraries gave any hint to what happened to the old world. Finally, I asked the head of our order, hoping the wisest of us all could shed some light on this."

He paused, giving the room time to digest.

"The head of my order wanted nothing to do with my research project, and chastised me about my work..." He chuckled to himself. "Well I have never been one to accept a 'no' very easily, and decided to pursue it anyway. If the knowledge I wanted wasn't in our easily accesable books, I would look in Ygrasmundhil's personal collection. Now, his stash offered a lot more than anything I had ever read, and he had many strange books that were protected by spells and circles that I had never seen. By the time I was able to get my hands on what little I could, Ygrasmundhil had found me, and was...well furious. Not that he would ever react, but he was the angriest I had ever seen him before in my life. Only reason I am still alive is because I was able to escape to the Shadows before he had time to comprehend his anger."

From his inner jacket pockets, he pulled out a small handbook and dropped it on the table. It was small but rather thick, with a dark green color and an ivory symbol of a constellation on it. Anyone that knew anything about astronomy would know that it was the symbol of the God of Time and Space, which matched his constellation in the sky. Many astronomers claimed that on the night of the Reckoning, when the survivors entered the new world, the constellation of the God of Time and Space was not in the sky, leaving a black void where his stars normally shone.

"I wasn't sure what this meant. I knew what it was, but I couldn't understand why he would have it. Most anyone who tries to worship Gods today get...well you know. They caused our destruction, and it is almost blasphemy to support any of them. So why then, did the master of my order have this book?" He paused for a second, then continued. "Try to open it. Any of you. I wasn't able to, but perhaps one of you could?"

After watching each member of the team unsuccessfully open it, or those who tried anyway, he continued.

"I believe, and you will have to take me at my word for this, but I believe that Ygrasmundhil knows something we all don't. I believe he knows what happened, and for some reason, he doesn't want to share it. Why would he hide such information? What could be so terrible he couldn't even tell a member of his own order?" He took a long breath, and once again locked gazes with each member of the team. "This led me to other suspicions. Who is Ygrasmundhil? Where did he come from? Over the past 3 months I have questioned every scholar that still lives, and nobody has any idea where he came from. How was he able to figure out in a span of days how to travel between worlds? As much as I hate to admit it, we need answers to these else we risk destroying this world just as the last one was destroyed."

He put the book back into his pocket.

"Such information needs to be exposed. I don't like going against a member of my own order any more than the next man, but I have gathered you all because I need help to discovering what he is hiding. The only thing I was able to figure out was the location of some ruins of some place called "Sanctum". I don't know what this is, but there has to be some reason that Ygrasmundhil had 3 books entirely on the location and layout of the place." He sat back down and leaned back. "I ask you all to come with me to this Sanctum, and I ask you all to help me figure out what Ygrasmundhil is hiding. I know most of you might not be concerned with this, but unless you wish to see this world end up like the last, we must find out what he is hiding... and if nothing else, I'm sure you all want vengeance against whatever caused our last world to die. Perhaps in the process of finding this, we can get that vengeance."

He leaned forward. "So what do you all say?"

Birdsie Epiphany Hanarei Spoiled Bread June Verles OverconfidentMagi Alteras

 

[Hanarei]

Charon Ashbringer​

Charon held back a giggle as the lizard seemed to be causing mischief, the alcohol not helping her much to her dismay biting her lip as she couldn't quite hide a bit of a smirk she had about it even after trying to be more diplomatic. She could only mentally berate herself for giving into drinking that much more even if it was in some part encouraged. At the very least he didn't seem to really react much to her words... perhaps simply finding them satisfactory enough to not react directly to them? She couldn't help but glance towards Lacuna noticing her reactions from before along with the mysterious mans. They did seem to have a connection something even in her mildly intoxicated state she took some observation of even if her eyes darted back relaxing a bit.

His words were...a little unnerving. It was the nature of the task alongside what he was raising as his suspicions. She wasn't quite sure what to make of it. It seemed a little strange that given Ygrasmundhil had effectively saved them from utter destruction that he would be questioned in such a way. It did seem a little suspicious for certain, but the fact it would fuel someone to look so strongly into it seemed rather odd in itself. She wasn't at all in the wizard world though, there was so much she didn't understand. What magic she knew was minimal at best, it wasn't as if she had been the type to go to an academy or receive specialized training in the general use of magic. There was a lot more to that side of things she didn't know nor likely could even understand. If there really was something strange going on chances are she wouldn't even have the faintest clue of the consequences of it.

"Given what he has done for us as a whole, i find the requesht a little... unnerving." She spoke fumbling briefly despite attempting to try and fight back her fumbling words and slurring. She shook her head a little bit attempting to get a better hold of herself. "But, if this.. is... just checking something out... I don't shee anything wrong with it." She fumbled again after purposely announcing out a few other words in order to stop her slur mentally kicking herself for the screw up. She gave yet another salute in an attempt to put up a strong front again as if it might suddenly dismiss her fumbling in speaking.

Inheritance

 

[Graystone713]

Chum Teeth
The Cracked Glass inn.

The people of the Cracked Glass were obviously not used to housing those of the nocturnal persuasion, given how they reacted to the goblin's request for a room at the crack of dawn and the fact that they immediately went up to sleep. Then, of course, they overslept. They meant to be moving by now, and they still had to get a bottle of brandy for the road! So they grabbed their things, readied to travel, and made for the stairs. A few words said in a sharp tone stopped them.

"What I tell you today must be kept secret, and I ask of you all swear upon your name and upon your honor that you will not tell anyone about anything I say unless it is permitted by me; else you be damned and cursed for 7 generations. If you do not, feel free to leave knowing that you got a free meal and a glimpse of an adventure. Now, who will stay?"

Chum should've tried to leave. Sprinting past them now would be suspicious as hell, and Chum certainly wasn't invited to this party. They couldn't back out through their room either, Chum asked for the one without the windows and busting through a wall was far from subtle. He HAD offered to let people leave, and the others in the room debated the merits of leaving or argued about someone being offended. It was a good distraction. Chum could've used it. But what adventurer wouldn't shoot a goblin on the run? And hadn't someone said the name of the Godslayer? The one who killed... Was it the god of war? Fire? Something. Maybe they should just play it casually.

"Feel free to leave if you don't wish to swear secrecy, but because nobody has left, I'll assume you all are interested in what I have to say. So, let's begin. Ever since we came to this world, I have had a great sense of-... Great sense of curiosity about- Grotharis!- about what caused the downfall of the last world."

THAT stopped Chum cold. If this guy was curious about the end of the world they all knew and loved, and had some secret voodoo knowledge about it, Chum had to hear it. If this guy was crazy enough to end this world too, Chum couldn't let it happen. So they had to know. They listened closely... VERY closely. Then, relief. These guys weren't ending the world a second time. They were trying to make sure that nobody ended it like last time. The spear was stowed, and Chum considered the options. They could wait the adventurers out. But they were likely to rest in the other rooms upstairs, and noticing a goblin lurking on the stairs would end poorly... Wait. An idea formed. Chum tiptoed back to their room, walked back in, and silently closed the door. Then they kicked it open, a loud WHAM resounding through the bar. Then they stumbled around upstairs, singing in a drunken manner.

"And we'll pay Paddy Doyle for his BOOTS!"

they sang as they stumbled and danced to the stairs. Just had to pretend to be absolutely under the table drunk, not paying attention to anything but getting more booze. Yep. Just a drunk bargoing goblin, nothing crazy. Nothing to notice.

"We'll all drink Brandy and gin!"

They were downstairs, moving to the bar, swaying like a ship in rough water. Just had to seem drunk and oblivious. They clambered on a barstool, a shark-tooth grin as they called out to the Barkeeper that wasn't there.

"KEEEPEEERRR, A BOTTLE FOR THA ROAD, IF YA WOULD! RUM, BRANDY, GIN, WHATEVER'S STIFF!"

Just had to keep it up. They'd pretend to notice the Barkeeper's absence in a moment, and leave in a huff. Maybe they'd sing something different on the way out. Just needed to wait until it was believable before they stumbled out. Just a minute...

 

[Birdsie]

Lucius Hearthaven
The Cracked Glass Inn

Lucius stared at the darkness-wreathed shadow spirit, narrowing his eyes. She was suspicious as fuck, still. He didn't trust anything that had black juice in its emotional spectrum. And that gentleman who called them here was clearly bonding with this darkness shit.

Then, Elodin began to tell them about how he stole a tome of incredibly esoteric nature from the most magical motherfucker in the five cities who pretty much did all of the heavy liftings when it came to saving all of mortalkind from the apocalypse.

Yup. That's the red flag, right there. Time to bail out.

Lucius stood up from the table, his chair sliding.

His tone was frank, as he said, "Ohp. Alright. Let me summarize my feelings for this. Mr. Evernight, I have great respect for your misguided curiosity. I also respect that you might feel there's some kind of grand conspiracy to a bunch of gods and spirits rocking each other's shit so hard the world ended. Believe it or not: I even respect the illegal theft of the highly esoteric tome of magic, which you took from the literal wizardiest motherfucker in the five cities."

He lifted three of his fingers. "However, three things. Firstly, you're a literal magnet for angry wizards and New Dawn supporters, with a red crosshair on your forehead for them to aim at. Secondly, what you've done is probably a felony, what you're planning to do isn't even breaking the law - it's probably like... worse. Thirdly, I can see people's auras, and yours is literally bathed in some kind of black, grainy shadow substance. Mr. Evernight, let me put it in simple terms: I do not fuck with the dark arts. Additionally, I may be unkillable, but life in prison is still on the table, and I do not like being behind bars."

Lucius picked up his helmet from the table and placed it on his head with a pang of finality.

"Normally, I'd feel obliged to arrest you in the name of the law and deliver you to the nearest guard, but you did me the service of paying for my breakfast, which was rather nice. In the light of this, I will pretend I did not hear any of this and proceed on my merry way. Okay? Okay. Okay? Okay. Great!"

Inheritance Hanarei Graystone713 Epiphany Spoiled Bread June Verles Alteras OverconfidentMagi

 

[Epiphany]

Lacuna Episkiazo

OverconfidentMagi
The sight of a flying magical lizard on a broom led Lacuna to cast Elodin an incredulous look. It seemed as if the Shadow doubted her very senses for a moment.

Graystone713
In the brief year she'd lived in the Material, Lacuna hadn't encountered many goblins. This one's behavior was absolutely unsurprising, though. She watched them singing as they passed by the table, evidently drunk, and the possibility that they might have overheard anything significant or pose any kind of danger simply didn't occur to her. It seemed that remote of a risk. When the goblin claimed a bar stool, Lacuna promptly lost interest and returned to listening and watching the table.

Birdsie
The antipathy of the man required no special ability to discern. Lacuna gave him an interested look a few times before deciding that Lucius' hostility would be unrelenting but of little risk of immediate danger, so she turned her attention towards people engaged in getting to know each other and then hearing Elodin's mission.

However, his diatribe drew her full attention once more. Lacuna leaned back in her chair slightly, sipping at her ale, and immediately looked intently curious at his remark about being unkillable. As he helmed himself and prepared to leave, the Shadow spoke up at last. "A useful technique," she said to his back. "One you might employ on Ygrasmundhil himself. My dear Elodin may traffic with my plane but he's not the only one, nor is he with the most dangerous intent. You feel that exposure has tainted him but what if others have done worse? Are doing worse?"

"Or what if they've already done worse?" Lacuna sat up in her chair before rising to her feet, the stein of ale set aside as she stood. "None of you know what was done to save your people a year ago from the ruin of what you knew. None of you even knows for certain that you've actually been saved. Our host has a plan to find out. Would you really pass up the chance to know what's been done to save you, especially if what's been done didn't actually save you after all?"

The shadow smiled before delivering her finishing remark. "Where I'm from was separated from you by the Exodus. Whatever ritual they enacted that took you to this Melicau took you away, sundered the tether between our planes. I've no doubt you might consider that an improvement," she said with a smirk towards Lucius, assuming he opted to listen. "But what if my plane isn't the only one you've been separated from? Your peoples are forbidden to worship spirits, except under rules a few have imposed upon the majority. Perhaps it's meant to protect you from exploitation. But it's also cut you off from the cosmology you once knew. What's more, it may have cut you off from your ancestors. Your souls used to fly to certain places upon death...places that may have lost their tie to you, just as my plane did."

"So you see, Elodin's 'misguided curiosity' might very well save all of you. But only if he has the right help."

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Ricotta​

"That is an interesting babble you are going on, mister Elodin." Rico chimed in while pointing at Elodin with a mug of Ale on her hand. She was angry that Elodin didn't even reply to her before, if only the Godslayer wasn't here she would already stomp on his crotch. The ale was there to douse her anger.

"You seems like a smart person, or maybe not, do you really think regular civilans like us would trust you over Ygrasmundhil? He saved our ass." Rico agreed with the rather fancy knight over there. She also thought this Elodin guy was unnecessarily paranoid, but she left that unsaid.

"If you want to hire us as mercenaries, then you should say that from the begining. I wouldn't let you take advantage of the Godslayer's drunken state!" Rico went protective mode and put herself between Elodin and Charon.

Inheritance Hanarei

 

[Inheritance]

Elodin Evernight
"...Strangely enough, I can still see the moon in the world of Shadows. By all reasoning, there should be no moon here; yet when we experience a New Moon, Groth-Lakkar is lit up by the light of a full moon..."
---Elodin Evernight---​

Elodin prided himself in being very calm. He was usually very in control of himself, and even when he had two people opposed to his plan he kept his cool. Though his a look of great confusion and annoyance danced across his face as a seemingly drunk Orc barged into the common room. Nobody else was supposed to be here tonight, and a flash of anger welled up in him as he saw himself losing a bit of control here. He exhaled sharply, then leapt up and spread his arms.

"AH we have more company! Tirak menusorn!" At his command, a wave of shadows swirled around the orc, pushing him towards the table. The doors to the tavern began to ripple, as if they were made of water, until they solidified into the wooden walls of the inn (of course, this was all an illusion-though Elodin was confident in his work that it would keep people listening). He needed to wrestle some control back.

"Welcome to the company friend! I'm sure after hearing all that the only reason you came out of the kitchen was so you could join us! I'd be happy to have you! Have a seat!" As he growled the last word, the shadows shoved him down into a chair. Of course, most of his magic was based on intimidation, and he hoped that the orc didn't actually try to start something. His shadows wouldn't hold down an angry orc.

"And miss Ricotta, I'd advise you to sit down before you embarrass yourself. Our Godslayer was more than happy to join in on this and judging by your obsession with her, I'd say so are you. Let's not waste our time with idle threats, I'd be shocked if you could make it over here without falling."

What part of swear to secrecy did they not get here? There's no way they could leave now, he had just told them everything! He wasn't too concerned with Charon's bootlicker-she would probably follow her to hell and back. Nobody else seemed to give much of a reaction, so he narrowed his eyes at Lucian, listening to Lacuna speak.

"I have to agree with the Lacuna here! Being unkillable is quite the talent! And as Charon said, what's the harm in checking out a place? If it ends up being nothing, then you are all a bit richer and got to go on a fun adventure!" He narrowed his eyes at Lucian. "We have a great group with diverse abilities and talents. Being unkillable seems to be a great asset, but if you're afraid of getting your hands a bit dirty I understand. Or perhaps you're afraid of the dark? No matter, there are people to do the big things, and people to do the small ones. I just assumed an unkillible man such as yourself wouldn't be scared of anything!"

This was off to a great start.

Epiphany Birdsie Hanarei June Verles Alteras Spoiled Bread OverconfidentMagi Graystone713

 

[Birdsie]

Lucius Hearthaven
The Cracked Glass Inn

Lucius watched Elodin intently, eyes practically boring into the man. The dark shroud over his aura was strange, oscillating like a swarm of black grain. It would've been sufficient against a lesser empath, but Lucius saw how Elodin's loss of control over the situation affected him; saw the underlying reasons, and each second, he was growing more wary of the man.

Soon after, the draconic woman stood up and became defensive of the Godslayer, for whom she had such worshipful regard. Stupid girl. Worship of people, of things, of concepts, is what destroyed the last world. Was no one seeing the game being played here?

Elodin began to tell him about how Lucius had no reason to be afraid of anything.

"I'm afraid of the fact that you're a sociopath," Lucius stressed the last word. "Or at least close enough to it."

Lucius sat down as he proceeded to explain.

"You basically just enslaved everyone here. Under the threat of death, wording things in a manner so careful they probably wouldn't have noticed. That, or they'd be too drunk to care, like she is,"- Lucius glanced at Charon -"but you expect utter cooperation, and get annoyed at loss of control. Your soul literally oozes darkness. If you're not a demon worshipper, you're the next closest thing as far as I can tell. I have good reasons to believe that, though I may be unkillable, there are fates worse than death, and you're immoral enough to provide them. This relationship is off to a nice start! Should I start calling you 'master' as well?"

Lucius removed his helmet again, throwing it onto the table, where it clattered. He rubbed against his face, muttering, 'what kind of secret society bullshit did I get myself into' or something to that effect.

Epiphany Hanarei June Verles Alteras Spoiled Bread OverconfidentMagi Graystone713 Inheritance

 

[Graystone713]

Chum Teeth
the Cracked Glass inn, TABLE OF HEROES.

Chum’s whole goal was to be convincing and uninteresting. She was convincingly drunk. Unfortunately, a few words from a living shadow threw them off, shook them ‘out of character’ so to speak.

"But what if my plane isn't the only one you've been separated from? Your peoples are forbidden to worship spirits, except under rules a few have imposed upon the majority. Perhaps it's meant to protect you from exploitation. But it's also cut you off from the cosmology you once knew. What's more, it may have cut you off from your ancestors. Your souls used to fly to certain places upon death...places that may have lost their tie to you, just as my plane did."

Now there was a dilemma. Chum KNEW the Answers to those questions. Well, mostly. It wasn’t like they studied it. But they’d spoken with the dead. Or at least made it so other people could. And a common question was what lay beyond. Chum briefly considered turning around and offering answers. That one man’s bright voice spoke first, contrasting the dark meaning it held.

"AH we have more company! Tirak menusorn!"

Oh shit. Shadow magic fiercely gripped the barstool and the goblin’s limbs, restraining them as they were dragged to the table. In an instant she went from playing at being lethargic and drunk to showing just how awake, aware, and ALIVE she was. She fought, struggled, swore in her native tongue and generally raised a ruckus. But the magic, though perhaps unable to hold a strong human, or an average orc, could easily hold the wiry goblin fast. They weren’t strong enough, not quite...

"Welcome to the company friend! I'm sure after hearing all that the only reason you came out of the kitchen was so you could join us! I'd be happy to have you! Have a seat!"

Upon being roughly put in their place, they saw the door vanish and took a good look at all present. Two armored knights, one more spoiled and rich than the other, who was frankly much more intimidating. Did he ever remove that helmet?... But Chum was far, far more intimidated by the sight of the god slayer and her companion. The God slayer herself was scary, no doubt, but her companion looked like she’d eaten a whole other person! Or, Chum thought, TWO GOBLINS. So terrified was the goblin that the tiny lizard/wizard escaped notice, and they needed a moment to get back to the present.

“OKAY! Okay, I heard errything, I think it’s da right thing ta do! People AIN’T goin’ to da afterlife like they used ta! I spoke with the dead, I can do it for ya ‘gain, just LEMME LIVE!”

Were their panicked words, tumbling out as they tried to at least scoot their stool away from the bloated... Human? Tiefling? Whatever, they were terrifying to the little goblin.

Inheritance Spoiled Bread Hanarei Birdsie Epiphany June Verles

 

[Alteras]

[div class=LucFlex] [div class=LucImage] [div class=LucTitle]Lucia Fountaine[/div] [div class=LucMentions] Character Sheet
Location:
The Cracked Glass

Interactions:
Inheritance Spoiled Bread Hanarei Birdsie Epiphany June Verles Graystone713 [/div][/div] [div class=LucContent]The situation moved fast. The revelation about Elodin's defiance was certainly a surprise to Lucia. And perhaps even more the other people's willingness to follow Elodin. Rather, the adventurer's outburst is the natural reaction to such claims, however he was convinced otherwise. As he explained, they definitely were all being held hostage, but Lucia wasn't overly concerned. She was well aware of the authority she held and the steps she would need to take to remove any threats to herself in the future.

Right now, she was more interested in learning more about Elodin and this "quest" of his. In fact, I should officiate this quest...

Lucia pulled out a piece of paper, an inkwell, and a quill from her item box, placed them on the table lightly as the room's attention turned to the goblin newcomer. Within seconds, she had written and filled out a full Guild of Adventurers Nominated Quest Acknowledgement. A quick look around the room told her that everyone else was focused on the claims of goblin and was starting to ignore the adventurer after he had dropped his helmet back on the table. She slid the paper toward him with a note.

"Note: Sign this, and the Guild will make sure no damage comes to you."

It was a stretch, but Lucia knew the rules and protocols needed for this situation. The contract itself held no mention for the actual details of what has been said, nor was there any inkling attempting to signal to anyone. It simply stated that they have taken up a quest that regarded confidential matters of the requester. Using Lucia's authority as a Pioneer and to protect those who agree to the quest, the Guild will recognize the Nominated Quest and that the circumstances around it have made refusing the quest extremely difficult.

It was a stretch to say that much will protect them, even Lucia didn't have faith in the document itself, but it was the first step. Lucia had no intentions of declining the quest now that so much has been explained, but was well aware of the troubles that could come out of it. Regardless, she'll have to trust on her reputation, something she wouldn't do, to push this through with the higher ups. [/div][/div] [class=LucFlex] width: 100%; max-width: 1000px; margin: 0 auto; justify-content: center; align-items: stretch; display: flex; flex-flow: row wrap; box-sizing: border-box; [/class] [class=LucImage] position: relative; width: 300px; max-width: 100%; min-height: 300px; max-height: 800px; background-image: url('https://i.imgur.com/OBC6pGh.jpg'); background-size: 450%; background-position: 17.5% 20%; margin: 5px; [/class] [class=LucTitle] position: absolute; bottom: 10px; left: 10px; right: 10px; height: auto; width: auto; padding: 5px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; text-align: center; font-size: 32px; font-family: 'Cormorant'; color: #dbd0c3; background-color: rgba(0,0,0,0.8); [/class] [class=LucMentions] position: absolute; width: 100%; height: 100%; top:0; padding: 5px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Montserrat'; color: #dbd0c3; opacity: 0; background-color: rgba(0,0,0,0.65); transition: opacity .5s; [/class] [class name=LucMentions state=hover] opacity: 1; [/class] [class=LucContent] position: relative; min-width: 200px; flex: 1; height: auto; padding: 0px 15px; margin: 5px; font-family: 'Montserrat'; [/class]

 

[FearItself]

Emma Sauchin
Oakenwall Northern edge

The first Swing came for her left knee which she casually backstepped out of the range of, afterwards she stepped forward swatting aside the second swing which came for her neck and merely rotating her blades edge towards the foe and bringing it down only a few inches stopping it just short of the younger mans neck. "You telegraph your mmovements, and your swings are painfully slow. You know you dont have to restrain yourself against me, it wouldnt be wise to create a habit of hesitation." the man she was sparring with was a young cook with dreams of taking a sword and moving to Sparhard. They had been training about an hour each day for a little more than a week now. While the boy showed improvements, a solo trip to Sparhard at his current level of skill would likely result in his demise. "Again, and this time why dont you use that eye of yours." the young man said confidently. Emma rolled her eyes but obliged having her right eye turn the glowing purple shade it was so well known for. "This will be our last bout of the day. I am beginning to get hungry." the young man smiled widely as he readied himself yet this time Emma started the assult, seemingly telegraphing her swing so that her foe raised his blade over his head to block, which she punished him for instantly. The moment the swing connected she took a step forward planting her foot atop his and with the forward momentum of the step she slammed her shoulder into his chest knocking him off balance, as he tried to regain his balance she stepped between his legs with her other leg and this time pushed him with her hip causing him to sprawl out on his back. "The sword is never the only thing you need to worry about, mind your surroundings and watch your positioning. Now i would like some venison and you shall prepare it." She said as she helped him to his feet and they began their walk to his home.

Lee sauchin
Oakenwall outskirts, in the woods.

The younger sauchin looked around himself at the many glowing eyes which he had just noticed. Wolves, a decent sized pack of them, and he had just strolled into their ambush being none the wiser. "My my what sharp teeth you have...lemme show ya mine." he said as he grabbed his ssword with his right hand, the human hand. The other arm he held up like a boxer blocking the left side of his head and neck. The animals eyes the blade warily and he knew the ones in front wouldnt be the ones to worry about. The very instant the thought crossed his mind he heard the twig behind him snap and whirled around delivering a savage backfirst to the wolfs midsection with enough force to shatter bone and launch the poor pup into a tree. Yet no sooner had he spun than the wolves in front had attacked on managing to sink its teeth into his left shoulder, only to have those teeth shatter on the jet black skin beneath the bandages. He grabbed the beast by the scruff of its neck slamming it headfirst into the ground with a sickening crunch. The third wolf however was right behind the second and managed to knock lee over before swallowing his blade involuntarily. Apparently the second or third was the alpha, or maybe the pack had just given up because they were quick to scatter after the blade drew blood. "Yeah ya better run ya dumb dogs i wasnt even looking for yall." he shouted likely alerting his true prey of his presence. He had come into the wopds for a reason after all, rumors of a roaming band of cutthroats in this area was enough to bring him out in search of a fight, and he intended to get what he sought. So onward he pressed, deeper into the woods leaving the safety of Oakenwall behind him.​

 

[Hanarei]

Charon Ashbringer​

Charon had been rather neutral to all of this... her own natural curiosity getting the best of her. A 'street rat' of sorts in her youth was only naturally excited to check out new things... and being intoxicated made it much easier to not think things through further. It made her own fibs that much more real in her mind... something that could be an issue even when she wasn't a little drunk. She was a little aloof half catching onto what was said as said by Rico as she stood between her and Elodin.

"Huh?" She muttered softly blinking a little taken back and confused indirectly making herself likely stand out as intoxicated more due to her clueless response. She lifted her hand scratching the side of her head looking a little questioningly at what was going on. The fact she was dazing out a bit wasn't good as it seemed the alcohol had hit her a bit more then she had thought. She looked over as Elodin seemed to be speaking to Rico mentioning her obsession with her. It practically snapped her to some extent back to attention having forgotten all about it. She shook her head looking forward as it seemed he was addressing Lucian as she seemed to be brought into things again further.

Did... wait did I say more then I realized? Why am I being brought up so much? I didn't say something stupid did I? She thought in her head a little worried she might of said something extra she didn't remember. She remember being willing as the mysterious wizard said though it was typically those extra remarks she made when she was intoxicated or not thinking things through that always got her into trouble. It didn't really give her much time to dwell in those thoughts as Lucious as he seemed to bring her up pointing to her making her blink. She seemed to frown a bit before standing up, slamming her hands on the table as if to emphasize a point... while also working to keep her balance standing up likely to of stumbled or fallen over without a little support to help keep her from rising up too quickly.

"Lishten you, even if I where a lil intoxshicated, a Knights word is a Knights word. I would never sssay something that I didn't have at.. least... some.. belief in it." She spoke losing her words briefly as she shook her head trying to keep composed again already managing to say a bit without too much slurring. "Jus..t checking out shomething isssn't going to cause trouble. If what is found is... suspic-shous or I feeel he shouldn't have it I just w.. would refuse to give it to him. Nothing bout the job shaysh more then checking a place out." She spoke as best she could trying to get her words out clearly managing to at least not wobble around keeping straight on her feet though keeping her one hand on the table just to be safe.

"It was.. not just evil godsh... out there... plenty of 'beingsh of light wrecked havoc ash well. Trying to fit darkness as light... as just good and evil does... nnnot make it so. I've s.. seen that supposed light take plenty of lives.. those supposed angels leading to the deaths of thousands. A book shouldn't just be judged by their cover.. and like I shaid, checking something out doshn't mean if we find shomething we don't want him knowing or having we have'ta give it to him." She spoke seeming to show a bit of passion to her speech if it was impeded by the alcohol. It wasn't hard to tell she wasn't exactly happy either with those supposed 'Good' gods either given all the things she witnessed. It was something that raised a little bit of anger in the Godslayer seeming to almost hold back some of her fiery passion behind it. She eased up a little bit pulling back from the table slightly as her eyes shifted over.

"Holy shit it'sh a goblin!" She spoke as her demeanor quickly changed to a bit of shock pointing towards Chum who she had manage to not notice until that very moment.

Inheritance Birdsie Spoiled Bread Graystone713

 

[Epiphany]

Lacuna Episkiazo

Elodin's ability to inspire this group seemed to have come up short. Or perhaps his choice of recruits were unusually surly. Probably the latter, she mused, reflecting on the past year in his company. Her...partner had good stage presence, a flair for the dramatic and he'd been amply charming to a great many people. Many of those assembled seemed determined to resist him for reasons that were inexplicable to her. And as Rico and Lucius doubled down in their resistance, she latched onto the goblin's sudden but unexpectedly welcome contribution to the conversation.

"That goblin's said something all of you should listen to," she said, raising her voice while echoing the Godslayer's words. "They claim they can speak to the dead and that the fate of mortals is no longer what it was. Whatever Ygrasmundhil might be, hero or villain, his actions have had lasting consequences to all of your futures. My colleague isn't proposing anything wicked. He wants to ensure what happened never happens again. I would hope all of you have enough vision to realize how important that is."

Spoiled Bread
"Ygrasmundhil may have saved your asses," Lacuna said, fixing Rico with a stare from her unnaturally luminescent eyes. "Elodin wants to save your souls. Although if money alone is the only thing that motivates you, even this heroic mission may not be enough to save yours."

Birdsie
Turning to face Lucius, the shadowy woman's eyes hardened though her lips approximated a smile. "In no way is my colleague a sociopath," she rebutted. "And I would know, having met any number of sociopaths in my years. You speak of the state of his soul as if you had first-hand knowledge but your description lies at odds with his actions and with his intent. Elodin asked for secrecy for this job because all of you are now ruled by a minority who have put themselves in power, having already toppled their religious rivals. He doesn't trust them any more than you trust him, but the difference is that he's not going to kill you or worse. They might."

Lacuna had risen to her feet during the conversation and now made a point of sitting. "My colleague is the one most at risk right now in this venture. The only thing he has to gain is a truth hidden from all of your kind. That's why he's approached all of you, because each of you have skills and abilities that could lessen the risk and increase the odds that all of you will discover what really happened to your world. If you're only motivated by money, we can ensure you're well compensated for your troubles. But he hopes that you, all of you, will see this for what it is; an opportunity to serve everyone still left alive."

She leaned back in her chair and sipped her ale, having said what she wanted to. Her face looked relaxed but to those with supernatural senses, she radiated mild frustration, irritation more than anger, and a worried concern for Elodin.

 

[Birdsie]

Lucius Hearthaven
The Cracked Glass Inn

Lucius looked at the document that the Guild Pioneer slid towards him, then looked up at Lacuna and Elodin, ignoring the Pioneer's offer. At least for now.

"Actions? Intent? Lady, I'm looking at a guy who stole from Ygrasmundhil and is asking me to follow him into some dark, forbidden place. That is enough for me to nope out. The fact his soul is a wellspring of darkness doesn't help!" he challenged, folding his arms.

He looked at the two of them. At Elodin and Lacuna, both difficult to read, then looked deeper. Past the outer walls of their emotions, and into the underbelly.

Spoiler: Layer

Darkness, shadow, lie, refuse, absence of light, darkness, deception, unlife, illusion, corrupt, shadow- Lucius felt sick, just looking at this, intermingling with it on a spiritual level.

This man must have been truly talented at what he did, to not be corrupted by all of this. For all of the refuse and darkness, the layer was... surprisingly orderly, he had to admit.

Spoiler: Layer

Mostly darkness, corruption, negative light down here. A little closer to the core. If Lucius was brushing on a sort of dirt layer before, then this place was black tar, smoldering at low temperature. But there were other things: resentment, anger, mostly locked away, under careful control. There were ties to the darkness and contamination: it was affecting his psyche, definitely, but he had enough willpower to keep himself in check.

Lucius' inner eye focused and peeled away the layers of darkness and refuse to peer underneath with a lidless gaze.

Spoiler: Layer

The darkness was malignant but decaying here, holding little power, but there was a solid wall of willpower atop the layer, keeping it from leaking further down. Appreciably composed.

Other things floated around. Momentary whims, anxieties, dreams, ideas, and tiny frustrations Flashes of them, really; mostly conscious. Human things, as far as Lucius could tell, which was good.

Spoiler: Core

Elodin felt frustrated with his inability to discover the truth, with how Ygrasmundhil shut him down, and it's what drove him to discover the reality behind the whole matter. There were flecks of ambient compassion here and there, but hard to say if he was truly benevolent: compassion could be a twisted force. During the apocalypse, the angels that almost killed Lucius were also feeling very compassionate, but their definition of compassion was different from his. There were fears and hopes, but that was par the course for most sentients.

He looked to the other, to Lacuna. Frustrated they couldn't get everyone on their side much like Elodin, but there was something else. Lucius reached further and saw... huh. How about that.

To Lucius' surprise, she also had something of a wall, but instead of being made of willpower; kept at bay, it was made of more corruption, vastly more solid than any other. Like an eggshell to the inside, which was composed of surprisingly human-like emotions, if with a spiritual twist to them. Little in the way of fear, but there were whims, desires, and hopes. She didn't seem to be getting the momentary pangs of irritation that the man was getting, or at least not to his extent.

Misfortune, misleading, shadow, illusion, absence of light, deception, no light, lie, shadow, darkness, corruption, contamination, illusion... nothing new here. Not even a new flavor of darkness, really.

Illusion, misfortune, misleading, deception, lie, shadow, illusion, no light, darkness, absence, void, refuse, deception, darkness, contamination, emptiness, deception, absence of light- It seems the same couldn't be said about Lacuna. He saw corruption, untamed, wild: not even slightly decayed. Even at the uppermost layer, it was an integral part of her.

Darkness, shadow, lie, refuse, darkness, absence of light, deception, unlife, illusion, shadow, deception, emptiness, void, misfortune, shallowness of spirit, evil, corrupt

After staring at Elodin and Lacuna with an extremely strange, neutral look for a few seconds, Lucius' face was adorned by a soft smile. He closed his eyes and relaxed in his chair.

"Alright. I change my mind: you've convinced me. But there's a condition to my participation: you'll pay for travel expenses, including food, and I'll be compensated appropriately after the ordeal, upon which I get the choice to back out if I decide the whole thing is stupid after all. Deal?"

Epiphany Inheritance Alteras Spoiled Bread Graystone713 Hanarei June Verles OverconfidentMagi Reinhardt

 

[Inheritance]

Elodin Evernight
"Nothing is without a price. The price of power is perhaps the steepest of all, and your ability to walk between worlds is no exception. When will that price become too high, young Evernight?"
---Hilax the Unchained---
​

"He sees you. Your mind is no match." The whispers of Hilax made him shiver, even when he had Lacuna near him. When she was near, Hilax didn't talk to him much, and when he did, it was always unnerving. As cruel as Hilax was, he wasn't an idiot. Whenever he spoke, he spoke with purpose; usually it was to drive him mad, but sometimes he was warning him of something. He was right about a lot of things, and it seemed that when death was closest, Hilax was there to get him out of it. Lacuna was there to keep him grounded, to keep him sane. Her voice was like being dropped into a frozen lake-a shock and a sensation unlike any other. But it seemed that after she spoke, the storm within him would calm, and he would rest easy. When Hilax spoke, the storm surged to life, and kept him confused and panicked. Even now, with Lacuna so close, Hilax revamped the storm within, despite giving him a warning.

But Elodin wasn't a fool either. He knew that Hilax cared not for his well being, he just wanted to keep him alive. He was an investment, and while he couldn't figure out what exactly Hilax had invested in him, he knew that the only reason Hilax didn't want him dead was because he was still useful for something. Unfortunately that meant when Hilax spoke, he was probably right.

"He SEES you! Go to the Shadows! They will hide your mind!" The voice resonated in his head, and Elodin found himself stepping back into the shadows. Could Lacuna hear it as well? He didn't bring it up very often, and would much rather talk to her about...anything else. Everything else. Elodin loved talking to her, it gave his life an extra meaning. If he wasn't obsessed with opening every locked door and unveiling secrets that were better left alone, his entire life would be her. It already almost was, something that alarmed him at first until he slowly accepted it, then began to relish it.

When they met, he assumed she just wanted what the others wanted-his ability to walk through worlds. He treated her with a cold disdain, but as she persisted, he decided that he would take advantage of her and pick her mind about the Shadows. He figured it would be an easy task to use both Hilax and Lacuna to unlock the secrets of Groth-Lakkar, and he figured the two of them would act as resonators for his questions. If he asked Hilax something and got half an answer, he would bring that half answer to Lacuna, or vise versa. This was a good plan for a while, until he realized that both of the beings were far wiser and perhaps far more clever. They were ancient, and his attempt to unlock their secrets was met with failure. Instead, they both got alarmingly close to owning him, which forced him to run to one of them in hopes that they could keep the other away. Either by accident or on purpose, he ran to Lacuna, and the two of them started an unlikely friendship that neither of them would admit to.

So could she hear him? Probably. But it didn't matter- Hilax was right. The stare that Lucius gave him was a knowing and smug one, and Elodin found himself unable to do anything about it. With a few subtle movements hidden by darkness, it seemed that the shadow in the corner wrapped around him a bit more than normal. He noted the paper that was slid toward him, and looked at the one who slid it to him. He would have to get to know her soon enough, as this party now had 2 guests that he didn't plan for.

"Your terms are accepted, and it goes for everyone else. You will all be paid handsomely for this." He kept his eyes on Lucius, not liking being in the dark of what the man knew. "Do we have any more questions, or-"

"HE KNOWS! Protect your soul and erase his memory!" The voice was loud this time, louder than it had been in a long time. Elodin cringed in pain for a minute, before looking up. Erase his memory of course meant kill him.

"Or...or have we all decided?" He put on a cunning face. One that was in control of the situation. "I will have bought rooms for everyone here, and we will leave in the morning. Are we all satisfied?" He would ask the man what he knew later. Hilax was usually right about what was happening, but was not always right about the course of action. "I am glad to have our Godslayer's support. Nobody else seems to object, so I ask you all, will you join me?"


Epiphany Birdsie Hanarei June Verles Alteras Spoiled Bread OverconfidentMagi Graystone713

 

[Graystone713]

Chum Teeth
table of HEROES

listening to the Godslayer’s speech about keeping one’s word even while drunk as a proper sailor, and not judging books by covers gave Chum an odd mix of admiration and jealousy. Getting into thoughts this deep and sounding heroic while slurring drunkenly was a skill with few masters. But they couldn’t help but be jealous of that drunkenness. She got enough free drinks to get THIS mega drunk? Drunk enough not to notice Chum until just now? And apparently Shadow-man was buying? Chum was about to demand a bottle of the best stuff when the Lady-Shadow chimed in about what Chum said, and had plenty of comeback statements for everyone else present. Rich boy wasn’t going with it at first, but something changed his mind. Chum thought they saw glints of light in their eyes, and flickering shadows, but... Well, Chum was never sure if weird things were weird or magic weird. But Rich boy did say something that caught Chum’s attention: They’d go if Shadow-Man paid the way. So when he asked who was in, Chum said

“Pay da way and buy me a bottle’a’good stuff, An’ I’m in... Also, leggo witcha shadow, is uncomftabull.”

She said, wriggling just a little bit, since the shadowy restraints were still quite tight. But a bottle of rum would taste enough like forgiveness for Chum to let it go.

 

[Birdsie]

Lucius Hearthaven
The Cracked Glass Inn

Lucius coughed. Less of an attention-drawing cough, and more of a wet, sickly cough that came with disease.

There was a warmth at the apex of his spine, the bending point, behind which stomach became chest. It slowly crept up, then outside the spine, as if it had more interesting directions in mind. He wasn't entirely unfamiliar with the feeling. Feedback from using magic took many forms, but this time it was worse, at least by a magnitude of two or three.

There was a sickly-sweet feeling of vomit in the back of his throat, and he almost gagged.

Where did it come from? He wasn't out of mana; reading that deeply wasn't so energy-intensive as to provoke such a reaction... Was it corruption? The pollution that he brushed upon and waded through?

Lucius looked at his would-be employer, frowning. "I'm fine with that plan," he said, trying to conceal discomfort. Lucius tried to ignore the bound goblin and the slurring drunk woman.

Was it the after-effect of looking at them? They were corrupted, different. It was like a computer connecting to two others, with a virus installed on them. Obviously, something was wrong-

Lucius coughed again, then got up. "Excuse me. I need to use the restroom." He walked out.

Epiphany Inheritance June Verles Alteras Spoiled Bread OverconfidentMagi Graystone713

 

[Alteras]

[div class=LucFlex] [div class=LucImage] [div class=LucTitle]Lucia Fountaine[/div] [div class=LucMentions] Character Sheet
Location:
The Cracked Glass

Interactions:
Epiphany Inheritance June Verles Inheritance Spoiled Bread OverconfidentMagi Graystone713 [/div][/div] [div class=LucContent]Lucia watched as the odd conversation ended with the goblin joining the party and Lucius leaving for the restroom. She merely shrugged and pulled out another sheet of paper and began writing out another Guild of Adventurers Nominated Quest Acknowledgement. Dipping the quill in and out of the inkwell, Lucia began to speak in a crisp tone.

"I, Pioneer Lucia Fountaine, hereby accept the Nominated Quest of Elodin Evernight. Likewise, by my authority, the Guild of Adventurers acknowledges this nominated quest and formally extends guild rights to the signatory parties."

Lucia signed her name at the end of the document before turning the paper towards Elodin. With her index finger, she tapped right below her name and looked at the man, clearly telling him to sign it. Her eyes gave off a look that said she will have his signature on this paper. [/div][/div] [class=LucFlex] width: 100%; max-width: 1000px; margin: 0 auto; justify-content: center; align-items: stretch; display: flex; flex-flow: row wrap; box-sizing: border-box; [/class] [class=LucImage] position: relative; width: 300px; max-width: 100%; min-height: 300px; max-height: 800px; background-image: url('https://i.imgur.com/OBC6pGh.jpg'); background-size: 450%; background-position: 17.5% 20%; margin: 5px; [/class] [class=LucTitle] position: absolute; bottom: 10px; left: 10px; right: 10px; height: auto; width: auto; padding: 5px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; text-align: center; font-size: 32px; font-family: 'Cormorant'; color: #dbd0c3; background-color: rgba(0,0,0,0.8); [/class] [class=LucMentions] position: absolute; width: 100%; height: 100%; top:0; padding: 5px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Montserrat'; color: #dbd0c3; opacity: 0; background-color: rgba(0,0,0,0.65); transition: opacity .5s; [/class] [class name=LucMentions state=hover] opacity: 1; [/class] [class=LucContent] position: relative; min-width: 200px; flex: 1; height: auto; padding: 0px 15px; margin: 5px; font-family: 'Montserrat'; [/class]

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Ricotta​

"I'm afraid I must refuse, then. Looks like this one will be quite a lengthy quest. You should know I am under contract of someone else right know." Rico counted her days off, it might not be enough to follow this job until it finished, she didn't wants to do half-ass job like that. She approached Elodin.

"I will leave, but Mr. Fancypants, I hope you haven't forget the reason why I come here in the first place." Rico extended her hand. She already finished the request of participating in the meeting so she had the right to claim the promised reward. After she got her reward she would leave immediately and spent time running back to Sparhard. Yep, running. She wanted to burns the fat and train herself to become worthy of being slashed by the godslayer.

 

[Hanarei]

Charon Ashbringer​

Charon's comment about the goblin didn't seem to have the impact she expected as it seemed as if they all already noticed. She felt a bit awkward uncertain what to react as she lifted her hand up as if to clear her thought attempting to play out her rather uncharacteristic reaction with a mild sway in her stance in doing so. Even as intoxicated as she was she at least had the whereabouts to know there was more going on then she was picking up. You don't spend a large chunk of your childhood sneaking around the streets and causing a bit of trouble without being able to pick up on those things... even if she might try and hide that side of her. Her current state though wasn't very helpful in really deep diving into the information she could gather from the meeting to really piece much together.

She turned to see the goblin speaking having its focus seemingly upon alcohol and some other trouble though she didn't quite catch onto what it fully was. Her mind was far too much focused a bit suspiciously on the creature even if it wasn't just open hostility. Goblins were... complicated creatures to say the least. Not something you wanted around, but in terms of trouble they could range from a low threat danger to annoying troublemakers. If it was in the town, chances are it at least wasn't going about murdering dogs or anything of that danger else it would of swiftly been dealt with by the guards. Her focus on the goblin didn't even give her much chance to notice Lucius make his way to the bathroom nor her mind really picking up what had happened with him at the moment.

Lucia seemed... strange to her. She tilted her head eyeing the woman up with how she seemed to act. She seemed very... bureaucratic which was rather strange to see in person. In truth there was likely some of those dealings going on behind the scenes during her time as a knight though it was quite far removed from herself when she served under her captain. She didn't think he even really had to deal with all that much paperwork, a lot of it tending to work along the lines of 'problems in such and such area, check it out'. Her new position pretty much allowed her to have free-reign with more often just having requests given to her at times to make her presence known. Usually it was her own big mouth that got her into actual work which most of the time no one even seemed to dare throw any papers in her direction. It seemed rather burdensome at the very thought of it.

Her eyes shifted glancing over at Lacuna briefly before being once again drawn away from her. Charon heard the voice of her biggest fan looking a bit surprised. She waved her hand kindly smiling a bit awkwardly in the drunken state she was in. It would of likely been better for her to keep her mouth such but the booze did the talking.

"It wa-shh nice to meet ya brave Ri...co!" She spoke seeming forgetting her name for a second before quickly capping it off without too much of a delay. "Itsh a sha-ame you won' not be coming it woulda been my pleashure to s...erve a fine warrior like you be my sth-ide." She fumbled her words a bit raising her fist to her chest as in a saluting gesture to her trying to live up to being the girls idol as nervous as it made her be given her earlier push to spar her. Luckily she caught on to how out of it she was to hold back saying more granted she still seemed to be tempting fate as it was.


Inheritance Birdsie Spoiled Bread Graystone713 Epiphany Alteras

 

[Inheritance]

Elodin Evernight
"Whoever said that lighting a candle is better than cursing the darkness is a damn fool...Why would you do either when you can embrace the shadows?"
​

From the shadows, he watched Lucious walk out. As soon as he was gone, he stepped a bit into the light, only to be met by a piece of paper that he had no intent of signing. Some strange woman that eavesdropped in on his secret meeting now wanted him to sign something! It didn't matter what she did, he would not be ordered around or even forced to do anything he didn't want to!

After signing the document with a quill that seemed to appear out of nowhere, he looked up at Ricotta. She wanted money? She just ate a free meal and threatened him! Who did she think she was?

"Your reward? Of course!" He waved his hands and the walls seemed to ripple, and the door to the inn returned. He turned around, and with a quick whisper he faced her again with an empty sack. "Here you go!" He said cheerfully as he tossed her the bag. She glared at him with an angry look which he returned with a cheerful smile. It looked as though she was about to do something, before storming off out the doors.

Admittedly, he didn't expect her to walk out. He figured she was going to sit back down and join the group, realizing that it was foolish to expect payment for something she didn't do. But as she stormed out, he realized that she could be trouble if she went and started blabbering about his words here. He gave Lacuna a glance before turning back to the group. To anyone watching it would be a blank look that might have just been him scanning the room. But to someone who knew him as long as Lacuna had, it was a look of slight worry and frustration. He had messed up on that, and would need to fix it in some way.

But that was a problem for another time. After sliding the contract back to this 'Lucia', he addressed the group.

"Ladies and Gents, we have nobody else opposed, and I say out little chat tonight is over! Let us all go to bed-you'll find your rooms are already paid for- and we can be on our way tomorrow! Breakfast will be served hot and at 7am sharp, and we will be leaving in an hour after that. Please don't be late, I would hate to have our Godslayer wake you up!" He flashed her a quick smile, before backing into the shadows and vanishing once more.



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Timeskip: The Next Morning 9:00am​

Surprisingly, the group had gotten up and on their way early the next morning. He was up at 6:30 waiting for the group, and had already finished eating by the time everyone had come down. Of course he only had a big of eggs and some water, but he supposed he wasn't hungry anyway. For some reason he was still feeling a bit ill and didn't have much of an appetite; yet the small appetite he did have was only satiated by certain foods. It worried him a bit, but he figured it would pass eventually. A few weeks ago he had eaten a huge meal and had vomited almost all of it, and ever since then he could only eat the tenderest of meats and fresh fruits. He had visited a healer who hadn't found anything wrong with him, and he figured the sickness would pass. He didn't feel terrible, he just wasn't eating much and if he did eat too much he would vomit it up. No big deal.

Now they were about an hour outside of the town, staring into the northwest as a cool morning breeze blew through the party. Elodin figured it would be easygoing until they reached the deeper parts of the forest; the parts where people disappeared and where local ghost stories emerged. Not that he was a believer in those sort of tales, but only a fool would ignore what an entire town had said, and he knew well that there were many types of hidden horrors that lurked just beyond the light of the towns.

"Beautiful day isn't it?" He said to Charon. The grey morning was full of clouds that blocked out the sun with a wind that would chill you even more just as you thought you were getting used to it. "How's the hangover?"

The rest of the group was near as they walked now, and despite him knowing she was there he constantly kept glancing at Lacuna. Even though it had been years, he still got a thrill every time he saw her face. He was glad she was here, and without her probably wouldn't have even considered standing up against his former master.

The group approached the edges of the wood, its large trees towering into the sky as a mark of an uncivilized world. The few towns that did exist here hadn't even begun to explore the inner reaches of this place, and it seemed whenever a group did try to venture in something bad came out of it. Elodin had taken to calling it Darken Wood, something that others had quickly caught onto and spread. The name fit it well, as looking into it all one could see was an ocean of darkness that seemed to pulsate from within the trees.

The safest route would probably be to go around it. His mission was already sensitive enough as it was without adding some hidden dangers from the dark, so it seemed the smart thing would be to go around it. But of course, it would also take an extra 2 weeks to go around it, and Elodin had never been afraid of the dark. So no, he would not do the safer thing and go around it. He was going to plunge right into it and walk out the other side with every member of this group in tact and in great condition.

Epiphany Birdsie Hanarei Alteras June Verles Graystone713 FearItself