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

[Doomevil]

Senya's eyes looked down for a moment as Detective Jakob calmed Hudson down before he did any harm to himself or the others. It was hard to say what they could do for him, but this demon Sazak is truly a bastard for cursing the Witlock Inquiry. She laced her hands together, sitting in silence before she had anything else to say. Her eyes turned to Wesix the Incubus, leaning forward, "What do you think of these events happening within the Abyss? You and the other demon working here seem pretty cheerful serving us, so far." Her words didn't come out as she initially thought in her mind, tempted to clarify but she didn't.

 

[Infab]

"My my, aren't you all the day drinkers?" responded Wesix. "All before lunch." He smiled, and began fetching each of their drinks. Venextos' was easy enough. He found the bottle quickly, cleaned out a glass, and poured it before sliding it to him. For Henderson, however, he offered a warning. "Salacity, a type of premium blend Abyssal tequila. Made by a pair of retired incubi named Braxon and Dracear, and approved by Sekath herself. Its been known to kill mortals even in small amounts." he said, fetching a shot glass. He found the bottle that Loque had been using, a bottle that resembled a black heart. There was writing on the front, in a pink color, but it was in demonic. Takato could potentially figure it out, but Vincent was the only one that could really read it. He poured some into the shot glass, then placed it gently in front of Henderson. "Should you start to feel ill, inform me and I'll flush your system."

As he put the bottle aside, he looked to Senya. "Myself? I try not to involve myself in political affairs...but..." he said, looking around the room. He then looked back to Senya. "...I'd prefer if things changed a bit. And I love Lady Tariun's line of thinking, if you catch my drift. As does my associate, Cat. So if you're here to help the Lady...then we're happy to serve you as much as you'd like." He then chuckled. "Well, we're actually HAPPY to serve you, unlike most of the patrons we're forced to serve on the train."

He looked to Takato afterwards, as the Oni spoke of a medicinal brew. "We craft fine medicinal mixtures as well, should you want one."

 

[Damian0358]

Takato chuckled, before raising his hand as to decline the offer.

"Perhaps another time, when there's a need to detach from the troubles of the world and enjoy the moment further, to become further transcendent if even temporarily," he responded.

"Though, if it isn't an issue to ask..." Takato spontaneously said, taking into consideration the mention of Madame Tariun and what she knew, "...what are the opinions on the Oni in the Abyss? Grudges would be one thing to expect, assumably..." he didn't know what to expect with such a question, but it would be better to find out now than later, his logic spontaneously dictated.

 

[Infab]

"Though, if it isn't an issue to ask...what are the opinions on the Oni in the Abyss? Grudges would be one thing to expect, assumably..."

Wesix scratched his jawline, before folding his arms. "Well, that varies from demon to demon. Some welcome our Oni cousins with open arms. Others hate them, and consider them weak because they've lived in the mortal realm so long and have adapted to life there." he said, before shrugging. "I have bear no ill will towards the Oni. I've met and laid with a few."

 

[Damian0358]

Takato nodded as Wesix elaborated, before looking on in surprise after Wesix revealed his own views.

"F-fascinating..." he could only respond, as initial thoughts swirled around his head of Abahai being involved in this somehow. He did recall hearing stories of oni 'joining qi' with others, so the saying goes. Exorcising his mind of such thoughts, a thought popped into his head.

"...in consideration of the discussion beforehand, what of the Icons?" Takato continued, "Presumably the same sort of variance, though if you're unaware, then no issue."

As they move further in, figuring out if the Icon of that land had some sort of prejudice, or at least small dislike, for oni would be good to know. For all the theoretical dislike they'd receive for being intruders, he wouldn't want to be singled out... as he has experienced before. Though, he felt as though he might be forgetting to ask something.

 

[Infab]

Wesix nodded. "It varies among the Icons as well, though Sekath and Sagath both hate the Oni personally. A group of Oni killed their mother, Ibaraki. Taranoch isn't a fan either, as Ibaraki was his left hand."

 

[Damian0358]

Takato nodded as Wesix brought up Sekath and Sagath, making sure to take a mental note, before he revealed why they hate the Oni- wait what

"H-hold on..." Takato said in a worried tone, "I-Ibaraki?!"

The stories of Ibaraki having offspring were true?! And now two of them are Icons?!

"Ibaraki, the Great Demoness, the head servant of Taranoch's retainer?!" he repeated, almost not taking into consideration what Wesix had said about her being Taranoch's left hand, unless referring to her being his de facto left hand in Upper Redonia with his retainer assisting him elsewhere.

"Slayed by the blade Umagiri, the Demonslayer, wielded by the great Gan Zhongyi [干 仲义], and his band?!" he continued before pausing for a brief moment and thinking what he said over.

"...two members of his band being the oni twins, Šun Abahai [舜 阿巴亥] and Šun Haihūn [舜 水獺]..." he slowed down as he remembered that Tariun suggested the former was in the Abyss. It was at that moment that Takato actually decided to sit down, and put his hand to his head.

"...to think, it was all connected like so; the Dou, it must've done this..." Takato said, as he tried to get his bearings together.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

"Hey-loooo!" Inari announced, shouldering the door of the bar and eating area open. She wanted to do some stretches before she got around to exploring the train again, and she felt nice and limber now. Energized, even. Her eyes swept over the damaged bar, the amount of heavy drinking ongoing, and a passed out Loque in a chair. "Ah, I see party!"

Takato seemed to be babbling to himself over some Dou nonsense again, but she paid him little attention as she approached the bar and leaned on it. "Wesix-san! Is tea made? Good tea, spicy tea? I have tea," she said, looking over the others in various states of... whatever they were in. A smirk played across her face as she spotted Loque again, passed out. "And ink, like to use on paper, or charcoal."

 

[Infab]

Wesix raised a eyebrow. "The Dou?" he asked, giving Takato a confused look. Probably something to do with one of the Oni religions from Redonia. Most were odd twists or bastardized versions of old Abyssal religions or legends shared amongst the demons of old. A good chunk of them worshipped Adriel, the first ruler of the Abyss, as a messiah. Others followed the teachings of Adriel's Icons or Zazriel, whom was the second Ruler of the Abyss. There were several that spawned afterwards as well.

He then looked to Inari as she walked in, as cheerful as ever. "Yes, we do. I can make a nice pot of tea right now, if you wish. As for ink or charcoal for paper, I can fetch some."

 

[Emperor Sagan]

"Yes, is good, I take all that," she nodded, still leaning against the bar. Hopefully she could get something good to drink that wasn't going to be alcohol. As for the ink and charcoal, well, that was just for some good fun.

 

[Damian0358]

Takato looked over at Wesix, himself now wondersome. Taking into account what he had said about Ibaraki, could it be that myths and stories on the same time had diverged and altered? If so, they might've emphasized the Oni more in their stories, abstracting the Douean faithful, while the common stories in Upper Redonia abstracted the Oni in some areas, such as there being twin oni siblings in the band of the Demonslayer. That would explain some things, and it was likely only those few with direct connections that knew what truly happened, such as the head of Shouki Shrine, who was the one who had told him about the twin siblings based on the journal writings of Zhongyi (otherwise known as Boying [伯英]) and... the sisters Sekath and Sagath. Before he could continue dreading the notion of meeting either, who likely not only disliked oni but also the Doueans, he decided to fill Wesix in:

"The Dou is the Way, the One, natural, spontaneous, eternal, nameless, and in many ways, indescribable - the beginning of all things, and the way in which all things pursue their course, the underlying natural order of the universe. In Redonia, there are many in the north-west of the continent that believe in the Dou, believed in it even prior to the arrival of demons, and after their departure was the dominant belief; Doueans, and Doueanism. It may be a belief of human origin, but it is one I adopted wholeheartedly. And so too did the twin oni siblings who joined great Boying against Ibaraki."

As he explained, Inari arrived and promptly ordered herself some tea and asked for some writing material - he wondered what she wanted to do, perhaps calligraphy.

 

[Infab]

As Wesix moved to prepare the tea for Inari, he listened to Takato's explanation. "Ahhh, that's quite similar to Zazriel's 'Divine Order.' Perhaps the Oni adopted it and modified it to separate themselves from Demons."

 

[EdwardDewey98]

This crazy bitch again. Jakob looked at Inari as she walked into the bar. He glared at her before going back to his drink, trying to down his stress in liquor. He had no thoughts on the conversation Takato was having with Wesix, despite being a fan of history and theology. He didn't care much for the Oni, their relations with the demons or their strange religions. Why he never found anything interesting about Redonia was a mystery to him, even his 'ancestral' homeland Mwassi was a boring subject to him.

 

[Damian0358]

Takato pondered for a moment, hearing Wesix's response, before responding himself.

"Perhaps that is the case for the Southern Oni. The Southern Clan has a religious... 'creole', the Atracan term would be? Taking some elements of the Douean systems of belief and philosophy, while retaining some old. Perhaps this 'Divine Order' you speak of, played a role in this. Unknown is it what beliefs those demonic settlers had, but perhaps the teachings of this Zazriel was among the more prominent ones.

"The Northern Oni though, their beliefs are more 'traditional', natively created, supposedly based on their demonic ancestry. To them, their faith is part of their identity, a notion found much less with the Southern Oni. Wondersome am I on how corrupted their beliefs are based on those originally found in the Abyss. They reject the Dou, seeing it as anathema due to it being the major force which pushed the demons out of Redonia. It is normally said that the oni manifested proper by the time the demons left, the mortal coil supposedly being such a strong influence. The demons themselves already likely viewed the oni as separate. Whether they had a term or not, such information is lost. Oni, after all, is the name the humans call us, and the one we adopted and made our own," he said, remembering that both Wesix and Tariun used the term 'oni' rather than some native demon term. Perhaps whatever the demons called them was more convoluted than the human name, and they just switched to that after their departure, for they were of the mortal coil now.

"Still, faith wouldn't be necessary to differentiate an oni from a demon. Humans could tell the difference, and by the end, the oni could see it too," he made his final comment.

 

[Breadman]

"I've drank deadly things before, so what's the worst that could happen?" Henderson said as he slammed the shotglass of the tequila. Afterwards he listened to Wesix talk to Takato about the state of the oni-demon relationship. Thats when it started. Like a minor pain in the pit of his stomach. It steadily grew in intensity as the conversation let on. Eventually like a rat in a maze, the ball of pain started darting around not just in his stomach, but lungs, throat and head. He tried to maintain composure during the entire ordeal. While he was sitting one arm was resting on the counter. In an effort to seem non-nonchalant he tapped the surface with his fingers, the pace of the taps started to rapidly increase as the seconds would go on. At the same time he would grit his teeth and his eyes began to water as his body started firing on all cylinders in reaction to the concoction going through him. Henderson slightly shook in place while his desperate attempts to hide the fact this thing was ripping though him were beginning to fall apart.

He could feel something inside melt and mend at the same time. Eventually he closed his eyes for a few seconds and tried to breathe. His massive hand that was resting on the counter turning into a fist. Eventually he would open them again. Wesix was no doubt on standby considering what was poured. Henderson raised a finger either to signal for help or to tell him to wait. The other hand gripping the counter. He was still shacking, but at one point they stopped. It seemed like he was gonna throw up before he gulped whatever was crawling out back. He let out a loud haggard sight before saying anything in a very weak, for him at least, voice.

"That hurt...a lot..." he coughed out something on the counter. It was too dark to be blood. Or so he thought at least. "... I'll heal." He shook his head try and regain his composure. That drink didn't kick, it mauled. "I think that's enough drinking for today."

 

[Infab]

As Inari's tea was heated, he nodded at Takato. "The Northern Oni likely follow the more basic beliefs of the demons before Adriel became ruler of the Abyss. Primitive. And as for what we know you as, its either Oni just like the other mortals refer to you as, or Daimons as some of the other older demons know you."

He looked to Henderson, watching him as he reacted to the shot of tequila before finally settling down. He gave him a surprised look afterward. "Impressive." Soon, Inari's tea was done, and he poured it into a cup for her before setting before her.

 

[Damian0358]

"Daimons... fascinating," Takato nodded as he heard Wesix explain. He was learning a lot more now, and it was distracting him from his impending dreading.

"You speak of Adriel, and of Zazriel and their 'Divine Order'. Could you elaborate further?" he asked, waiting his turn as Wesix dealt with other matters.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Inari noticed the look Jakob had sent her way, and she returned it by sticking her tongue out and using one finger to pull the skin under her left eye down to make a silly face. He was another one of the dullards of the group, as so many were. It was a shame Gwen had been so withdrawn lately, and Anya was... around here somewhere. Senya was alright, too, and Henderson wasn't bad. Speaking of who... Inari eyed his struggle with bemused curiosity. It looked like he was getting ready to lose his stomach, but the big man powered through whatever the alcohol was doing to him without too much of an issue. There was the coughing up blood, but, well, she doubted that would take him down. She snatched up her tea with a quick "Arigato" and blew on it for a few seconds before she took a deep, non-tea-etiquette like swig from it. Inari smacked her lips as the hot tea burned a fair bit. Still, it tasted pretty damn good.

"Is good drink," she commented. Wesix and Takato were having some discussion about the Oni, and she listened in as she waited on her art supplies.

 

[Infab]

As Wesix dug under the counter and stood up with bottles of ink, a small stack of paper, and a small paint brush, he responded to Takato. "Adriel was the very first ruler of the Abyss...the first Demon King, in a way. Adriel brought order to demons here in the Abyss, which were in a sort of a warring tribal state at the time. Adriel was...powerful. The single most powerful demon that ever existed. They made this place...well, livable. If you wish to see what the Abyss was like before Adriel...venture north to the wastes. Its...unnerving to say the least."

He handed the supplies to Inari, then continued. "Adriel was assassinated by a demon named Nobunira, and Zazriel assumed the throne next. Nobunira was condemned to death for his crimes by Adriel's Icons, and publicly flayed alive. Afterwards, Zazriel ruled the Abyss as best he could in Adriel's wake...and did exceptionally well with the help of Adriel's Icons. He was the one that spawned the idea of the 'Divine Order', which you already know about."

 

[Damian0358]

"Know as much as you've shared, that is," Takato nodded as he responded to Wesix on beat, for the 'Divine Order' and the 'Dou' could still have differences, not just in belief but in philosophy too.

"Though this speak reminds me of the belief of how the Abyss functioned in Northwestern Redonia - Diyu, as they referred to it, was a maze of various levels and chambers, to which souls are taken after death to atone for the sins committed during life. Eight courts, each ruled by a judge, whom dealt with different aspects of atonement and different punishments, as well as ten offices, each headed by a magistrate, culminating in the eighteen levels through which sinners are tortured repeatedly. How they spoke of the Abyss was reminiscent to their Heavenly Empire, which lasted until the arrival of the demons; very bureaucratic, with even its capital, Youdu, being akin to a typical capital city of theirs, though surrounded and pervaded with darkness. And Diyu itself was headed by the Great Emperor Yan.

"Of course, now they know of the Great Demon Emperor Taranoch, but the belief in Diyu had remained largely unchanged..." Takato paused for a moment before deciding to ask.

"...was there a point when the Abyss was so bureaucratic? By the sound of it, Zazriel brought about grand order, perhaps ripe for such a development. Or perhaps his successor?"

 

[Dmaster]

Hudson shuffled through the emergency rations in the kitchen, finding some kind of therapy in examining their labels for legitimacy. Fortunately they were genuine rations, the cans and packages finding their way into his pack before he stood back up and began to step out of the kitchen. The hunter did not care to look at any staff that were there, if any could be seen at all.

Those gathered at the bar could see Hudson making his way back to the cabins, not making eye contact with anyone. Those who did not witness his latest episode would not know why he was looking even more on edge than usual.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

"Ah hah hah." Inari downed another deep sip from her tea before setting it aside, snatching up a bottle of ink and the paint brush while ignoring the paper. She hurried over to where Loque was passed out in the chair. Earlier she had thought that maybe Loque was sleeping, but her posture indicated a more advanced state of unconsciousness. For good measure, she poked the demon in the shoulder a few times and lightly kicked her leg. Out cold. Typically, this was better done on an actual face, but Loque kept her's chained up behind this theatrical mask. Even if she were more maliciously minded, she probably wouldn't have attempted to take it off. After how the woman reacted to a little push and shove, anything more serious would probably cause her to lose it entirely. But a little artistry... no harm done there. She had more than enough practice, too, for when some of the men passed out from drinking too early into the night, people got creative. The early sleepers would wake up to find themselves painted like a geisha, or something similar.

Inari pulled the cork from the ink bottle out with her teeth and dipped the paint brush in, not wasting any time to start drawing on Loque's mask. She had wanted to gift the woman a riceball earlier as an apology, but she couldn't very well do that if she was passed out. Now she could have a little more fun and perhaps the demon would lighten the hell up. First, she started with big, bushy eyebrows that slanted down, followed by an equally bushy mustache. She couldn't do too much since this was just a near blank face mask, but she added some choice characters along the edges and forehead, some that read: Sleepy, Commander of the Weak Stomachs, Foolish Fool, Demon of Bores.

 

[Infab]

Wesix watched Inari for a moment, before looking back to Takato.

"...was there a point when the Abyss was so bureaucratic? By the sound of it, Zazriel brought about grand order, perhaps ripe for such a development. Or perhaps his successor?"

"Adriel brought order. Zazriel brought vision, structure, and purpose. Kaizen, before Taranoch, revived the ideals of both of the first rulers after several centuries of disorder. Between Zazriel and Kaizen were several kings that brought varying types of rule. Both good and bad."

 

[Damian0358]

Takato looked suspiciously at Inari as she approached Loque and revealed that Takato was partially right - she did some calligraphy... He'd be sure to tell Loque later about what Inari had done. Turning back at Wesix, with a nod;

"Fascinating. No such intractable, bureaucratic nightmare then. Considering what I had heard people speak of the last Heavenly Emperor and the state of the Empire's bureaucratic by the arrival of the demons, perhaps that is a good thing," he commented. There wasn't much else he wished to ask, especially as there was much that could be elaborated upon. However, as such thoughts went, others came, and it brought Takato to speak up one last time.

"If it isn't any trouble, perhaps a medicinal mixture would be good right about now. Perhaps one in a Northwestern Redonian style, if such a recipe was accessible."

 

[Infab]

"Its no trouble at all." responded Wesix, turning about and beginning preparation of Takato's drink. Hudson would pass Cat, whom gave him an odd look as she noticed he was carrying canned rations. Soon, she arrived where the others were. "Hello everyone! I'll begin preparing your lunch now. I was preoccupied with another patron on the train. She happens to be just down the hall from you all." She gave them a polite bow, before moving in the direction of the kitchen.