Active [Crimsonharbor - ????] Echoes of the Fallen

[Maxxob]

Develius | Agrigore
SixSense | Dreayth
Maxxob | Hiroshi
DarkKitsune | Naori
heartspan | Rosette
TheTimePiece | Zolgen

In the twilight realm of Crimsonharbor, a city that exists in a pocket between dimensions, multiple moons of varying sizes and colors hang eternally in the sky. Buildings of impossible architecture stretch upward, some defying gravity, others shifting their form when eyes aren't directly upon them. Here, in this crossroads of realities, the extraordinary is ordinary, and beings from countless realms coexist in an ever-lasting state of supernatural twilight. Sometimes, those who don't belong to it are drawn towards this place and this is one of such cases.

The events of the incursion against the Bug Queen are fresh in the minds of its inhabitants. Whispers among the diverse denizens - from shadow-weavers to merchants selling bottled starlight - speak of the heroes who fell in her hive, including a criminal named Hiroshi Nakamura.

In one of the city's winding streets stands the Crimson Lotus, the seediest of buildings that pulses with a faint, red heartbeat-like glow. This establishment serves as both a teahouse and an information hub for those seeking knowledge of the arcane and forbidden. Inside, the air is thick with incense, and peculiar charms dangle from the ceiling, their soft chiming creating an otherworldly atmosphere.

Behind the counter stands Madame Vex, an elderly woman with stark white hair arranged in an intricate updo, held together by what appears to be bone hairpins. Her eyes, a swirling mix of purple and gold, seem to pierce through anyone who enters her establishment. Her shadow splits into three distinct shapes, each moving independently of the others. She's known for having connections to both the mundane and supernatural worlds, and rumors say she knows of ways to bridge the gap between life and death.

As your group enters the Crimson Lotus, Madame Vex's eyes widen slightly at the assembly before her. In this place, Agrigore's towering form and Zolgen's demonic presence are no more unusual than any other patron. She gestures to a large circular table in a secluded corner, surrounded by privacy screens adorned with images of phoenixes rising from ashes.

Madame Vex
​

"I've been expecting you," she says in a voice that sounds like rustling autumn leaves. "The dead rarely rest quietly when those left behind carry such... intense desires." She pulls out an ornate box from beneath her counter, its surface carved with symbols of resurrection and renewal that seem to move and shift like living things trying to escape their wooden prison.

How do you wish to proceed with this mysterious woman who seems to know of your purpose?

 

[DarkKitsune]

​

NAORI DESTIEEN
INTERACTIONS: Maxxob

“Is the corpse of a man named Hiroshi Nakamura here? If not. Where is it?”

Naori was straight to the point, it was his chance to bring someone back from the dead, a chance to constructize a person and show a construct’s superiority to mortals. And the chance to begin a long-awaited project,
Hiroshi had been someone he worked with in the past, and although it hadn’t seemed like it surprisingly reliable. They could’ve even been considered ‘friends’! What role was Hiroshi to be once constructized? Either that of an uncle or older brother he was sure. Despite the number of times, he called him ‘papa’ as a cover-up.

“And are you aware of how intact the Dolt’s body is?”

In the mind of Naori going into the bug’s nest was a stupid idea, no matter how high the pay was. It did spark a little curiosity about where he came from to think that was a good idea. Wasn’t the Eastern Empire or the Fae see. As the bugs had sparked that war. Naori twirled his dagger in his hands.​

 

[heartspan]

Rosette Louvier
​

Rosette, in this life there are times when you will find yourself in bed with strange fellows. It is not your place to ask after them and their business, but to perform the duties required of you. You must always be the consummate servant, Rosette.

As she stood in a filthy bar, in a strange land, in the company of demons her mother's words rose from the depths of her memories. She casually glanced around the room, her ruby eyes taking in the other patrons. Her small hands clasped firmly on the leather rifle sling that held her weapon slung over her shoulder. A polite and easy smile given to any who returned her steadfast gaze. Soon though, her attention was shifted to a rather old woman whose voice had the sound of autumn leaves being trod upon.

"I've been expecting you,"

"The dead rarely rest quietly when those left behind carry such... intense desires."

Rosette was not really sure what the old woman was talking about and turned to gaze at her new companions while pretending to simply be looking about. Not one of them looked like the type to fill in a young maid who was floundering in confusion as to what was going on. Rather, they seemed the type to give a firm talking-to to any such maid they ran across. Rosette was not the type to enjoy such firm talking-tos and so she remained resolutely quiet. Her gaze on the other hand found it's way to a young man, Naori Destieen if her memory of his name was served correctly. His questions were straightforward though his tone quite rude by her estimation.

“Is the corpse of a man named Hiroshi Nakamura here? If not. Where is it?”

“And are you aware of how intact the Dolt’s body is?”

With those words the mystery seemed be somewhat cleared up. They were recovering a body, or something to this effect. Either way she supposed it wasn't really any of her business, she was just simply an extra person if things went sideways or so she had been informed at the outset of things.

 

[TheTimePiece]

Zolgen
​

Maxxob heartspan DarkKitsune SixSense Develius

Languages: "Common" "#Abyssal#"

Zolgen wasn't really a stranger to dimensionally strange places to say the least. He had been in that strange fae Forest where it had become everyone for themselves, now the tall demon man was in a pocket dimension of sorts of everlasting twilight, not a bad place, not far behind him should be his five goblin Javelineers which he had gotten after subjugating the cave goblins in that cave with the other monsters.

Regardless when he heard there was the opportunity to revive someone who was decidedly bad, why wouldn't Zolgen decide to help out? Not to mention he was working with Naori yet again, who he rather enjoyed previously, which didn't hurt either, as he knew that in some ways he and him were the same, a lack of really caring if most other lived or died, he wasn't entirely Sure if Naori felt the same thrill that he did when he took lives, but he did know that they both came into the world with this unique trait, of not feeling much empathy for most based on that interaction he had.

Even if the landscape was somewhat interesting, he stayed focused, continuing,

"If you were expecting us, then it sounds like you're just the one we've been looking for." Zolgen said sounding a bit entertained.

"What the boy said, we would like to know where the body of Hiroshi Nakamura is..I take it you won't be able to just take us to him as things are rarely that easy, so what is the best way for us to get to his remains?"

Who felt a bit more out of place was Rosiette Louiver, who he had yet to appraise, would he find a hardened criminal or maybe someone who was really a monster under that innocent looking maid appearance?

Goblin Javelineers



​

The gaggle of five goblins looked around Zolgen's legs curiously at the woman, sort of just awaiting for further orders from Zolgen so that he didn't off them.

 

[Develius]

​

---

Language Key:
| Common | ~Abyssal~|
Mentions:
| TheTimePiece (Zolgen) | DarkKitsune (Naori) | SixSense (Dreayth) | heartspan (Rosette) |
​

---

Drip... drip... drip...

As Zolgen and his crew of monstrous and criminal misfits gathered around the old woman to await their next assignment, they might notice something dripping from the dark shrouded ceiling above. At first it may seem like there was a leak coming from upstairs, perhaps a broken pipe or a bucket of spilled liquid seeped through the second floor. Whether this was common or an uncommon problem, only Madame Vex could say. Though if one were to inspect the substance, they'd see a black viscous liquid sticking to their fingers. It could be cleaned off with decent ease, but it was clear this was no mere water... nor was it ichorous blood.

...at least not in the traditional sense.

The dripping became more prominent. Already the floor was beginning to possess a growing black puddle near the side of the wall left of the group. Then something big dropped from the floor with a sickening plop. The puddle had now turned into a decently sized mass of stygian goo, bubbling and squelching as if it was a living entity. Bits of white bone-like protrusions seeped from the mass pulsating in place before a large yellow eye popped from the center. Within minutes the goo began to move on its own, forming a tall monstrous body as disturbing groans and airy hisses accompanied the process. A truly horrific sight to behold...

But for Zolgen, Naori, and Dreayth, they'd quickly recognize the monstrous cyclops taking form. Not that they needed to remember, as the monster groaned:

"~AAAAAAaaaaagriiiiiigorrrrrrrrrrrree...~"

Since their last encounter, the Agrigore had been following the group from the shadows. Not that it had any desire to make friends per say... but it recognized the benefits of working with a group. At least for the time being. It rarely made its appearance known like this, either keeping itself concealed in the shadows or traversing in a liquid state to avoid being detected easily in high-populated towns and cities. It only emerged when Zolgen asked... or in this instance, when opportunities arise like so.

It still attempted to stay concealed in the darkest portion of the Crimson Lotus, though it listened intently to the situation at hand. Rather than killing someone, they were tasked to actually rescue someone instead. Well... retrieve whatever was left at least. A shame... it would rather consume it if given the chance. For now, however, the Agrigore needed to show restraint... at least for the man named "Hiroshi Nakamura".

 

[Maxxob]

Develius | Agrigore
SixSense | Dreayth
Maxxob | Hiroshi
DarkKitsune | Naori
heartspan | Rosette
TheTimePiece | Zolgen

Madame Vex remains unperturbed by Agrigore's dramatic entrance, though her three shadows seem to dance with increased intensity. She regards each speaker in turn, her swirling eyes lingering particularly on Naori's twirling dagger, Rosette's confused but composed demeanor and Zolgen's apparent entertainment.

Madame Vex
​

"Direct questions deserve direct answers," she says, opening the ornate box. Inside, a three-dimensional image materializes - a sprawling underground network of tunnels, its walls still bearing the organic, chitinous architecture of the Bug Queen's domain. The image zooms in on a particular chamber, where a body lies among others, partially preserved by the unique properties of the hive's atmosphere.

"Your friend's corpse remains where he fell, in the heart of what was once the Bug Queen's sanctum. While her death has indeed weakened the hive's defenses, her children persist - leaderless but dangerous. They've become... territorial rather than organized. The body is mostly intact, protected by a coating of the hive's preservative resin, though time is not on our side."

She waves her hand over the box, and the image shifts to show a ghostly blue flame floating in what appears to be an endless void. "But retrieving the body is only half the equation. Hiroshi's soul has already begun its journey through the Shadowlands - the realm between life and death. It must be retrieved before it passes beyond the Veil of Final Rest, after his vessel is secured, or no amount of necromancy will bring him back whole."

She produces two items from beneath her counter: a crystalline compass that points to nothing visible and a vial of swirling black liquid.

"The compass will guide you to his body in the hive. The vial... well, you will need to drink it to enter the Shadowlands and track his soul. Both tasks must be completed within three days of each other, or the resurrection will fail." She pauses, looking particularly at Naori, as if peering into his very mind. "And yes, child, constructizing him would be... possible, but only if both parts are retrieved. A soul-less construct is just a puppet, after all."

Her shadows converge into one as she leans forward. "The question is: are you all willing to brave into hive and then the Shadowlands? Both paths will hold their own unique dangers."

 

[heartspan]

"~AAAAAAaaaaagriiiiiigorrrrrrrrrrrree...~"

Rosette gave a little start at the suddenly shouted words. Her body twitching ever so modestly with sudden surprise. This in turn caused her to blush rather fiercely in embarrassment. After all, Rosette was not a girl who enjoyed being surprised by sudden shouts and other such tom foolery. So without thinking she quickly turned a cute but angry pout at the Agrigore fellow; at first fully intent on scolding him. However, she quickly remembered that they were there on business and so continued her silence with cheeks puffed in indignation. It was then she noticed the goblin lancers all huddled about their masters legs like little baby ducklings crowding their mamma.

They were the sort of ugly that Rosette found adorable and her pout quickly faded as it was replaced with a shining smile. She waved discreetly at the little things as she absentmindedly listened to the old woman. The woman spoke about a bug queen, a hive, and something being territorial. Thus Rosette continued her half-assing-it until the words fully registered in her mind. Then in sudden professionalism her head whipped back around so that she was fully facing the old woman. Her attention fully locked onto the strange gravely voice as it continued spelling out her future.

Rosette was no longer confused, as it had all been so wonderfully laid out for her. She also quickly realized that she was in fact cannon fodder as her mother would have put it. Nevertheless, her duty was to help recover a body presumably from bug town. Then they were to go into the dead world and help get a soul back. After which someone would preform a necromancy and bring them back. She firmly locked these jobs into her memory; not being of a mind to stay firmly rooted in the position of Cannon Fodder Maid A. She also firmly vowed not to end up a dead; at least in her own mind. She didn't dare to speak while such clearly dangerous fellows were doing their business, and she new well that a good maid was a silent but competent maid. Of course these distracting thoughts and memories of her fooling about only moments ago made her blush once again.

It was turning out to be a very embarrassing time for a certain young lady, and she could only hope that things turned around from this point forward.

 

[TheTimePiece]

Zolgen
​

Languages: "Common" "#Abyssal#"

Maxxob heartspan DarkKitsune SixSense Develius

“#Ahhh Agrigore, so glad you could make it, as I was saying, we’re going to help revive a very bad man who’ll hopefully be interested in helping us.#” Zolgen said with a rather as friendly as one could in Abyssal tone toward the new monster ally who he felt he had made at least for the time being.

Zolgen wasn’t naive in that sense he knew working with monsters and criminals meant you could be betrayed at the flip of a hat, but they were generally the only ones willing to work with him with rare exceptions.

With the elderly lady speaking again Zolgen listened, it pretty apparent she was no ordinary lady.

“Now that’s what I like to hear right to the point.” He’d chuckle a bit as she said direct questions deserved direct answers.
He’d nod.

“Right..the hive which I’ve heard about, I wonder if they might be willing to work with me in the future, what we want isn’t all too different..” Zolgen pondered briefly before he continued listening.

Good thing she said the body had been preserved, it sounded like the physical body itself wasn’t what they had to worry about most, with the follow up she had.

Shadowlands..soul leaving the plain, yeah sounded about right about what could happen when someone was killed.

“Three days..of each other, sounds like we’ll need to be getting a move on soon then.”

“Are you some kind of arbiter then? Or maybe a witch and or necromancer? You seem awfully knowledgeable about all of this..not that it matters much to me what you are, the important thing is that you shared with us in good detail what we need to know, so thanks for that.”

Zolgen spoke appreciatively.

He chuckled a bit at seeing Rosette’s reaction to Agrigore as well.

Goblin Javelineers
​

One of the goblin Javelineers tilted it’s head curiously at Rosette, before some of the others looked at her as well, and by the point she was waving a few of them actually waved back somewhat enthusiastically, while the other two just sort of tilted their heads inquisitively, confused as to why this would possibly be happening given what they were.

“And..what’s your deal?” Zolgen asked looking to Rosette wondering why someone like her was out here helping to revive Hiroshi, more the merrier of course but compared to their rest of the group she stuck out a good deal decidedly.

He then looked to Naori.

“Maybe before you decide to try to fully ‘constructivize’” him you should see if he’d be open to the notion of being a cyborg, you know, baby steps.”

Zolgen suggested, that and he didn’t know how much this guy would appreciate being brought back as a complete construct without permission, and part of the major reason Zolgen even wanted to do this to begin with was to build relations.

 

[DarkKitsune]

​

NAORI DESTIEEN
INTERACTIONS: Maxxob TheTimePiece heartspan Develius

“I didn’t say the contructizing bit out loud. Can’t say it is not the strangest thing to happen though.” Naori answered blankly.

“Seems to be quite the task, I’ll take the vial and compass for the road. I know some about [navigation]” Naori spoke, though whether his navigation skills were to be on par would yet to be seen.

“Hello. Agriogore.” He said to the monster. Wondering if this thing was capable of saying anything else in common. There a tiny bit of bitterness in his voice. Likely that slight resentment towards the monster for ruining a perfectly good corpse prior to all of this. He turned to Rosette.

Something about the personality she displayed was familiar. Maybe it was a reminder of one of his ‘sisters’ from the orphanage before most of the kids there got murdered.

“You know. This group isn’t full of what society deems ‘the best of people’ we could kill you, or I can experiment on you alive if you made the wrong move.” It was more so a warning. This was a job that clearly needed to be handled with care. Failure was unacceptable.

He listened to Zolgen. “I was not attending to do it all instantly, I would have to do it half way to see how his body reacts to the newer parts and mechanical organs.” ​

 

[Develius]

​

---

Language Key:
| Common | #Abyssal#|
Mentions:
| TheTimePiece (Zolgen) | DarkKitsune (Naori) | SixSense (Dreayth) | heartspan (Rosette) |
​

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It sensed the shadowy energies around the woman writhe and dance intently to his sudden presence. Luckily, the Agrigore made no such attempt to violate their employer, though it heard as if he produced a subtle airy chuckle at this display.

The wretched monster's eye then glared at Zolgen as he briefed him briefly on the situation at hand in abyssal. His expression was vague, a disturbing open maw with no indication about what he's truly thinking. "#Aaaaaaagrigore...#" he hissed bluntly, telling Zolgen how he heard and understood what the hag had said... though clearly stating his displeasure of not being able to eat Hiroshi that seasoned his overall tone. Though he will comply with their goal. If eating bugs is what he's reduced to it will suffice for now.

The Agirgore's eye then scoured across the room, viewing over the other companions. The only one he didn't recognize was the small girl, with hair red like blood and wore an outfit of black and white duology. Very much in the line of what colors he sported himself... save for the lack of yellow. She looked timid at first, but her courage to pout at the lanky Agrigore was commendable if not foolish. He could very much eat her as a snack if allowed... something he hinted as his mouth appeared to grin just a bit more. As a taunt... a greeting... and a threat. Either way she looked to be of little threat to someone like him... was she even meant to be here?

The boy was familiar to him though. Naori if the Agrigore remembered correctly. The same kid he apparently saved back during the Waeplin Forest skirmish, dragging the guardsman into the bushes and snapping its head off. "Agri... goreeeee." the monster gurgled, attempting to replicate a common "hello" in his limited tongue. His ears also flickered in response, receptive to their efforts in communicating with him.

Glaring at the two gifts provided by Madame Vex, the Agrigore seemed little interest in fiddling with either device. Though the vial of black liquid briefly captured his attention, his eye focusing on it with intent curiosity. Still, his expression made it clear he was willing to dive into the depths of these... shadowlands. And rescue their target from the cold grasp of death.

"#Agrigorrrrrrrrre...#" he impatiently growled in the monstrous tone, more than ready to move forth...

And start killing.