Finished [Durban - Otenzian Empire] Crisis by the Oasis

[Blendeddinosaurs]

"its lovely to meet you as well, im Alveira, im honoured to work with you two" Alveira looked at kiyo smile and responded with one of her own

 

[Hecotoro]

CODE BY SEROBLISS

MOO

Certago

"I'm called Moo but yer can call me, Moo."

The horned lady started stretching her arms in front of her. "I donna care bout em hot sands. I can handle sweet summer heat like nutin." Moo walked over to the horse and stood by him. "I'll tag along dis fella, he seems likah good company. Now let's get it moving, k-mon!"

 

[Rev IX]

Fantasy-Cat | Kiyo
Blendeddinosaurs | Alveira Esne
Hecotoro | Moo

Seeing as pretty much everything was settled, Urgino instructed Titus to wait on the northern entrance of Certago. They'd get their provisions there. After fifteen or so minutes of wait, Urgino appeared. Giving them a barrel of water, a box with rations, a length of rope, and handed Kiyo a bowl with a red, thick soup and a piece of fresh bread. He saluted them as they made their way to the Durban dunes. Said place was a small desertic area that was between them and the actual village with the same name.

The ride would be pretty uneventful. Scorching sand beneath Moo's feet, hot winds circling the wagon occasionally, and the relentless sun shining above.

A few hours later​

The group would smell Durban first and foremost. A terrible stench surrounded the village. "Oh yeah, it should be visible after this next dune" Titus looked like he was about to empty his stomach again, but managed to hold it in.

Spoiler: Durban

The quaint village's usual cozy atmosphere was nowhere to be seen. Aside from the awful stench, bloodstains, groans, and exhausted villagers sprawled on the ground or barely walking was what would strike one's attention at first. A young woman, who seemed to be waiting for something, sluggishly made her way to Titus and the group. Or at least she tried, but collapsed halfway to them "Erika!" the elder exclaimed, not having it in him to quickly rush to her. Still, he did his best to come down the wagon as quickly as he could. Which wasn't much.

 

[Hecotoro]

CODE BY SEROBLISS

MOO

Certago

"Wooo-weee!" Moo called out to nobody in perticuliar. "Sure's hot n sweaty round diz parts, huh, catboy?" She looked over at Kiyo and then towwards Alveria. "You got any of em magics to putta ice block round meh head? Ha!"

Moo had walked along the horse the entire way. Despite the heat and stinking sun, she had managed to keep her mood up. "Y'know what's a good remedy for da heat? Beer." She told the horse. "Don'cha worry mate, I'll get ya one cold one later today."

As they entered, in Moo's opinion, the sad looking village, they were greeted poorly, Moo's opinion again, by a fainting woman. Moo noticed how slow the man who requested their help was and simply jumped over to the lady's side. The beast woman simply picked her up and waited for the worried man to get to her. "I mean it, y'all need to eat mor greens."

 

[Fantasy-Cat]

​

Kiyo Thankfully took the soup before climbing onto the wagon. He then quickly consumed the soup and bread leaving nothing left. Afterwards, he sat back with his eyes closed and a satisfied look on his face as he purred softly. After a few hours had passed he decided to look at Alveira in curiosity. “Where are you from, Alveira” Kiyo asked with his head tilted slightly.

Kiyo laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his head. “Sorry, I’m not experienced in that type of magic” He said in response to Moo's questions. He let out a small sigh and rubbed his brow with his arm. “I’m not used to this heat, it feels like I’m being cooked”

Upon reaching the village Kiyo suddenly winced in pain. The green seed in his palm felt like it was reacting to something but what?. “This place is rotting, life is withering” the female voice inside Kiyo’s mind had returned, sounding disturbed. After regaining his posture he climbed out of the wagon and walked over to the woman to see what was wrong with her. “How can I help!?” Kiyo asked quickly as his medical instincts kicked in.

 

[Blendeddinosaurs]

alveira looks down at the rope with a wide smile when being given it, thanking Urgino again.
as they leave alveira sees Moo walking beside ocasionaly walks beside her to talk but would soon go back inside retreating from the sun.
"im from the empire to the west but i dont hold much connection to the place, im just trying to set down roots now. so I can be from here instead" alveira responds to Kiyo's question.
"i also lack the magic to cool you down, Sorry" alveira makes a small shrug as she says this.
as they see the village, Alveira is forced to hold her nose from the stench she looks around at the state of the village be it the bloodstains or the total exhaustion from the villages, she says to herself "was all this really from just a rotten well."
she gets out the wagon and takes her hand off her nose not wanting to be disrespectful, and takes a further look around at the state of the village

 

[Rev IX]

Fantasy-Cat | Kiyo
Blendeddinosaurs | Alveira Esne
Hecotoro | Moo

Spoiler: Durban

Titus felt mildly concerned about Moo offering his horse beer, but he just assumed it was the heat getting to her. No harm done. "It is a small one, but a desert's a desert." He stated matter-of-factly to Kiyo "You're handling it pretty well, actually. But you should drink some water. Gods know it will do you better than what we have in my village," he added with a nod.

The woman Titus referred to as Erika barely managed to stay on her feet, even with Moo's aid. She lacked the energy to help herself up, so Moo was holding all her weight... which wasn't much, as she seemed quite malnourished. Just like Moo thought, she certainly hadn't eaten well. Pale and with purple spots splashed around her skin.

"We don't know... maybe try what you did with me?" the elder chimed in when he finally managed to get to Erika, growing panicked with her decline in health "Stay strong, my child. These people have come to help us." Titus encouraged her.

Alveira's superficial glance would make her notice that the stains were not only blood, but also a purple substance.

 

[Blendeddinosaurs]

alveiras concern has been slowly rising as shes started to realise that this will be more complicated than just cleaning a well. "its lovely to meet you miss erika, sorry for my boorish manners but may i ask you and titus a few questions, starting off with if youve already investigated the well before? if youve tried boiling the water? and most of all what are those purple stains i saw some come out of titus as well it dosnt look natural?"

 

[Fantasy-Cat]

​

Leo nodded and like before he placed his hand on the woman followed by his eyes glowing green. A wave of green and yellow healing energy washed over her while Leo attempted to bring her back to health.

 

[Hecotoro]

CODE BY SEROBLISS

MOO

Certago

Moo just nodded along with whatever the others were saying. In reality, she had no idea what they were going on about. Where she's from, if you're sick, they prepare your grave or just take care of you from the predators so you can die peacefully. Then again, she noticed humans have a tough time accepting their doom and do everything they can to survive.

As the green light made her look away, she held on to Erika. The least she could do was make sure she didn't have to use up any strength to hold herself up. Moo did wonder about the water situation though. Usually when the water wasn't clear in the rivers or lakes where she lived, they found the source. That source was most of the times just an obstacle that slowed the water down and got it stuck. One good punch from Moo and that usually got the water flowing again.

"Just tell'meh where'da punch, and we can end diz." Moo nodded, agreeging with herself. "Water must've stuck somewhere."

 

[Rev IX]

Fantasy-Cat | Kiyo
Blendeddinosaurs | Alveira Esne
Hecotoro | Moo

Spoiler: Durban

The young woman went into a coughing fit. Which produced concerning noises, but Kiyo's quick response did manage to slowly help Erika overcome it. Her poor appearance slowly leaned to look better, very slowly. To a point where it halted altogether. But at least she looked more stable.

In the meantime Titus answered to Alveira. "The water of the well looks and smells clean, but after it's brought out, it... sours? and it turns into that color you see. If anything is done to it, it remains looking clean, until it's still for long enough. Then that happens." The elder took a deep, worked breath. "But then there's also that smell, in the last few hours, even the well has started smelling like that. That's when I decided to look for help."

"Punch? You..." Erika spoke up, gathering the strength to stand on her own surprisingly fast "...The scouts that were healthy went through the trouble to add checking upstream to their to-do lists. But they were last seen since yesterday morning. No messages or updates since." Erika gently patted Moo's toned shoulder to let her know she could manage standing on her own for now. "If you're here to help, go there instead. You'll only get sick staying here. Trust me."

 

[Hecotoro]

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MOO

Certago

"There ya have't." Moo nodded while smuggly corssing her arms over her chest. "Just point which-ay I needago n I'll take care ofda rest."

The horned woman walked over to the other two companions on the journey while placing her hands on her hips. "Maybe healing magic cat needa stay n help round here? I could use a backup just in case. I need white hair to come with me, but you do wacha think best catboy." She turned towards Erika and Titus. "Ya two, lessgo. If you got nutting else to add, like my red echidna friend back home usta say, show me da way."

 

[Rev IX]

Fantasy-Cat | Kiyo
Blendeddinosaurs | Alveira Esne
Hecotoro | Moo

Spoiler: Durban

Erika would once again slowly going weak, but Titus was close enough to support her instead. And turning to the only vocal person of the group. "I got her, worry not." A tired, but sincere smiles were thrown Moo's way. "That way." Erika pointed towards an invisible spot beyond the sand. "Just keep going south. A path in the sand will appear, it will guide you to a cave-" Erika got a mild coughing fit, so Titus continued "That cave is the only spot where the river that feeds the well is accesible. That's where our scouts went."

The sickly residents turned to Kiyo, then to Alveira. It didn't seem like they wanted to say much "That's okay, we could also use some help here." Erika spoke to move. "Fath- The elder, seems too tired to join you. And the rest of us are too sick. Should you hurry, you might be able to spot the scouts." Erika's face turned grim "If they still live..."

"If you go in a straight line from here, the path should guide you the rest of the way." Titus pointed out again. "May the gods be with you."

Should Moo agree and not request any sort of provisions for the road, the walk would be pretty uneventful. Sure enough, the line pointed out by the Elder and his daughter led to a worn sandstone path. Which after a tiresome while, would end near a cave opening amidst the sand. Two horses with some bags stood in a shade provided by a rock formation.

Spoiler: Cave

The cave had a worn out stair-like formations that led to the dark depths of it.

 

[Blendeddinosaurs]

Alveira acompanies Moo down to the cave, shes gone mostly silent trying to come up with a reason to whats going on with the water being fine in the well and even i treated and seperated it will rot soon. her only guess is the poison could be from the air and it goes into the water, along th way she vocalises this but makes sure to enthesise that its just a theory and she isnt sure at all yet. "lets just investigate the river and the scouts to see if we can find more info".

apon arriving at the cave she pulls out a torch to see and says "getting lost in here would be bad i can pull the rope i can use the strands of this rope to mark where we have been if its too complex, getting lost may be why the scouts got lost"

 

[Fantasy-Cat]

​

Leo frowned in sadness while taking in the state of the town. “Young One, you must find the source of this corruption that taints the land and DESTROY it” the voice in Leo's head boomed in anger making it feel like there was a storm in his brain. “I will, I promise,” he responded to it while wincing in pain.

He followed the group cautiously with a nervous look on his face. He hoped the lost group were still alive and that they got lost or something. He was also wondering if the water poisoning was natural or magic in nature, but there was not enough information to go by. “She is right we do not want to get lost in these caves” Leo said, nodding in agreement.

 

[Hecotoro]

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MOO

Certago

"Nah dis, dis mighty fine cave if I ever saw one." Moo walked up to the rocky cave walls and smacked them a bit, looking around as if waiting for a reaction. "Mhm! I would harbinate here for sure. Sadly, I can't sleep for months like the rest of em, so I just hang around. But boy o boy, let me tell ya. I would be happy guarding my mates in this fine cave."

The muscular woman walked aroud a bit more, kicking some stones and picking some up to check them out. "Can see a bit of moisture on these, we in the right place for sure." She threw the stone and smiled as the echo sounded back the landing of said object. "Gonna look for a good ol skipping rock, I bet there's a nice smooth one around, yup."

 

[Rev IX]

Fantasy-Cat | Kiyo
Blendeddinosaurs | Alveira Esne
Hecotoro | Moo

Spoiler: Cave

As the group ventured deeper into the cave, sunlight was quick to disappear, leaving Alveira's torch, which she likely got from one of the supply bags of the horses outside, as their only source of light. As they advanced, it became clear that this tunnel had some people working on it. A very long time ago, that is. With a main path roughly sculpted, and side paths which, should they try to explore, quickly led to dead ends or dangerously narrow passages.

Moo was indeed able of finding two stones that would skip on water mighty well.

A few minutes of walking later, the sound of rushing water reached their ears. Quickly followed by the pungent stench that plagued their noses when they entered Durban. At that time, murmurs started to be perceptible from a particularly defined side path, but not enough to be understood.

 

[Hecotoro]

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MOO

Certago

"Wow that's ah stinker ain't it? Smells like when a bear eats sum rotten fruit then sprays poopers all over da place. Or like when you forget you caught sum fish n ya leave em ther under ya pillow forah week then you like, woooweee whasdat smell? Then ya see that ugly black blood under yer pillow and you're like darn it all to the crappers I forgot mah fish! Also, whenya challenge sum puny human to a drinking contest and they throw up in ya shoes but you don't notice and ya go all night like that until next mornin you like oh whasdat?! You realize ya shoe and foot is all covered and vomit heated up by the morning sun n walkin, know what I mean?" Moo said while holding her nose.

She then held up her finger to her lips. "Shhh. Y'all hear sumtin?"

 

[Blendeddinosaurs]

Alveira grimaces to herself as she imagines Moo's experiences being getting grosser and grosser, even more so than that smell. just as she opens her mouth to ask how Moo hadnt realised that the shoe wasnt filled with puke when she had put it on, she is immediatly shushed in response to the voices. it takes a second for Alveira to get back her bearing, shaking her head stilling herself and now ready to listen to the voices

 

[Rev IX]

Fantasy-Cat | Kiyo
Blendeddinosaurs | Alveira Esne
Hecotoro | Moo

Spoiler: Cave Depths

Moo's odd experiences aside, she was indeed able to quiet herself and Alveira down just in time.

The echoing murmurs became more clear clear enough to roughly understand. "...Shame... kid... time..." a voice stated, with another responding "... yes... look... one?..." asking something in the end of the sentence.

Somehow, the voices picked up on something. Was the group? Was it someone else? It wasn't clear. But the voices clearly spoke up to be heard more. "Who goes there?" It sounded wary, but not panicked. A couple of clicks followed.

It's worth noting that the unknown people sounded more echoed than themselves as they spoke.

 

[Fantasy-Cat]

​

Leo couldn’t help but laugh a little at how Moo described the awful smell. The smell reminded him of a small animal from the See that produced a similar disgusting smell to keep away predators. A playful grin formed across his face as He thought about the times he threw one into his older sister's
bedroom while she was asleep to prank her.

“What is it? is someone there?” Leo asked quietly while squinting his eyes to get a better look into the darkness ahead.

 

[Hecotoro]

CODE BY SEROBLISS

MOO

Certago

"Well, not like we can just hide in this big ol cave, now can't we? I mean, I stand out from these rocks and so does white hair girl. Cat boy, hide behind one of em boulders, got it? Come out only if I say come on out." Moo sighed loudly and straightened her back.

"K'mon Barbara, let's check what these humans are doing." She said to Alveira. Moo began to walk forward and raised her right hand, waving it as if saluting the group. "Hey there! Name's Moo and this'er mah friend Larvina, we snooping around here ya know? Y'all locals? Why this place stink so much? One of y'all ain't bathe in a while, huh?"

 

[Rev IX]

Fantasy-Cat | Kiyo
Blendeddinosaurs | Alveira Esne
Hecotoro | Moo

Spoiler: Cave Depths

Upon Moo announcing herself, the unknown noise source stopped dead in its tracks. "Right. Sounds like you're not infected. Good." The noise resumed.

Moments later, the clicking noises, which now could be easily recognizable as steps on stone, grew louder and louder. A light also appeared and grew brighter as moments passed. Until it finally revealed a beastkin, one which had mild canine features, which was covered in dirt, blood, and purple goo. "I take it Erika sent you here?" She asked, still wary yet not aggressive.

Moo's casual attitude seemed to rub the scout the wrong way. With her eyes narrowing, and a more severe tone, she commented "We're here to rid our sickened village of certain death".

The beast woman sighed. "Whatever. Follow me."

Should the trio (or duo) comply. The scout would lead them to what seemed the entrance to an underground lake. "Erika managed to find us some extra hands, Perry." A man, likely to be Perry, knelt next to a dimly lit, grotesque purple blob. "Kind of late to the party, ain't it?" the man stated while not even turning.

"Keep an eye around while us two get rid of this stinking pile of disease. We overheard something stalking around the other growth. Didn't have the balls to attack, but might as well give you something to do" That said, the two filthy scouts focused on preparing something around the massive blob.

 

[Blendeddinosaurs]

"indeed were here to help with the sickness same as you, you seem to have alot better an understanding than we do so ill be doing just what you say, no need to worry"
I stick with moo but focus on looking around for whatever they were cautious of.
I ask perry and erika "you said something was wanting to attack you and you were cautious of us, could you tell us what we should be looking out for."

 

[Hecotoro]

CODE BY SEROBLISS

MOO

Certago

Moo's smile faded at the site and with the conversation of the two men. "Anything comes near us, I'll punch its lights out." She stated firmly. The muscle woman kept her eyes on the new additions to the party. She wasn't too excited to be working with them, specially with that attitude. It also made her wonder why they didn't report back to the village. But if she learned something from living in the woods for so long, it was that sometimes you just had to stop and listen.

Moo stood near her companions, her suspicious eyes on the two strangers while making sure she was at a secure distance to pick up white hair girl and cat boy, then run away if necessary.