Finished [Nan Gau] May Even These Wayward Wanderers Have Respite

[saxon]

Eris Granstone

B Grade Character

Titles: Human, Priest, Holy Smiter, Hero of The Fae See, Mage, Fae, Spirit of the Battlefield Ally F, Faculty of Celestine F, Ordained, Mundane, Caster

mentions: Tau LightningJay Maverick Six Uasal

Notes: This is considered the final round, once you make your next post you're characters are free.

Eris face palmed herself as he used a child's game to decide who he was going to talk to. "You know that, there is not real logic to that right?" Eris inquired as she tried to think of any way to really justify the whole event. When the man in the robes was decided to be the first individual they spoke to while at the market, she was about to speak when John went ahead and walked over to the man and started to ask questions. Eris followed as he approached the Stand and then offered a few more rykes in exchange for the information that might potentially be shared.

The robed man looked over as John approached his stand, tossing the coin purse. Without a word, he held out a loaf of bread from his basket; further inspection would show leather-like cracked skin, revealing the man was well into his years. "Undead? Situation?" The man repeated as he brought his hand up to his chin and stroked it a few times before continuing. "Oh you mean the attack that happened a few months back, well I don't know if I would call them undead. They seemed to be far stronger, even arrows that pierced the brain didn't stop them. Though the odder thing though was the fact that the freshly departed would rise up and join them. Though, mind you, I never saw this myself, and this is purely word of mouth," The man spoke as he leaned on the table and lowered his voice. "Though the guard commander might know more since he was here during the attack," The old man concluded. The duo would speak to the others in the market; however, no new information that was given to them besides the eyes of the creatures were a light blue color.

Meanwhile, at the fort, the officer didn't flinch when Yume finally spoke up, releasing the arrow it landed in the center. "I think you might need to try a little harder if you want to scare a member of the guard young lady. Grandpa?" He repeated as Martin walked over and started to explain further the information they were requesting. "Well I can say that I've never seen anyone fight like they do, they were tough to kill. Though we never once saw a mage or anyone leading them, so we have no idea where the source of the undead is coming from. However, its always odd....There is always a snowstorm that follows them when they were here. Though we have gotten reports of them out in the sunlight," The officer explained as he set the bow down on a nearby barrel and started to loosen the bracer that was on his arm. Once it was off it revealed a scar that was for sure a bite mark.

"Well I can tell you that whatever it is doesn't spread through contact, as for how they multiply, well we have a theory but we don't know how it works exactly. If someone or something dies around them, they rise up to join their ranks. Now, regarding any samples, we burned the bodies rather quickly. That seems to be a sure way to keep them from getting back up," The man concluded as before applying the bracer once again. Though the two wouldn't find any more information besides that and were told that more details would be made available to them tomorrow.

Eagle-1 never received a response to any of her hails no matter how high she climbed or how many channels she tried. As she descended back to safe altitudes, she noticed a snowstorm off in the distance, heading away from the smoke. As the scanners were activated, she noticed only a single heat signature that would be considered an actual person. As the hamlet came into view below her, she could pick out that the place was completely demolished. The odd part about it was that there was no bodies, which could have been hidden by the snow or maybe they were gone? Only time would be able to tell on that matter.

However, none of her equipment was picking up anything weird, mainly because it was not attuned to magical energy, which might have lent more information about what had happened here. However, as she flew over the hamlet, she noticed a bit of jamming that hit her scanners for a moment, and it was hard to pick up exactly where the heat signature was in the area below.

Several hours later, the group would meet back up at the Tavern to begin sharing the information. "John if you would be so kind as to explain to the rest of the group what was found since you were the one to speak to the man that gave us most of the information," She concluded.

 

[Maverick Six]

Martin
Mentions: saxon Tau
Equipped Titles: Abomination, Human (Mundane), Construct, Novice Tinkerer, Isekai

The man above the gate was...less than receptive to Martin's inquiry. So he would join Yume quickly after, making his way down the stairs and appearing by her side mid-conversation. He posed the same questions to him as he had to the Officer at the top of the Gate.

As the man spoke, Martin would withdraw from his coat -- a weatherproofed notebook and a pen.

The smooth sound of pen on paper would be heard as he wrote down some of the things the man was saying on an open page. They rest near other notes and drawings he'd made by hand. Some of it concerned with the Arcane, and others concerned with the "natural forces" of science that he was familiar with. If one caught a glimpse of it, there'd often seem to be little difference in his eyes. Keywords and tricky phrases from the man were added.

Scribble scribble

"Tough to kill," "Accompanying snowstorm," "Nocturnal but spotted in sunlight."

The man seemed to have more information than the person he was previously speaking to. Particularly in having actual experience with them. While they had no bodies, what information he did have was pleasing.

"Hmm. Sounds almost like a healing factor." He said, thinking of a worse case as he rubbed his chin. "A pity there is naught to study. But understandable. Dismemberment I can do with my abilities, typically. But likely a source of fire will have to come from someone else. I'll see if I can't conduct a quick study on the scene then. Before the bodies are properly disposed of anyway." The man says in some contemplation. He realized the word "healing factor" was a term from his world, and he'd likely better adapt to the terms of this world. He suspected himself to be ill-socially adjusted to this new world and focused on obtaining power quickly.

While old, he was accustomed to study. He'd only been a mage for roughly a year. Though in that same vein, it had only taken Martin a year to become the level of mage he was.

He noticed the bitemark on the man and kept it in his mind for now. He'd watch him very closely for a time, waiting to see if anything unusual happened to him. What he was saying could likely be true.

"I suppose we'll know more later. Sometimes, there is no better place to learn than on the job." He said simply, keeping the information in mind as to what to expect. More than likely, they'd be dealing with something above the run-of-the-mill George Romero "Night of the Living Dead" zombies. They were likely fast and strong enough to prove dangerous to ordinary people. There were a myriad of explanations.

"Perhaps they might be controlled from a distance by an entity. Or they are something unto themselves. In observing them, we can find motive." A shrug.

"That'll be it then. Thank you for your time, sir." He said politely before turning to Yume.

"I'm going to go see about registering for this..." adventurer's guild." I hardly need the pay, but perhaps the experiences might yet grant me something. If there is a place to register here, anyway." Information did not flow so freely in this world. Even common knowledge in this world couldn't be simply summoned up from one's fingertips, let alone the things he'd sought. With that, the man left. Yet he smiled as he left. The thought of discovery in this way was somehow...pleasing.

Regardless of whether or not he could register from this town -- he'd assuredly return to the inn to share his findings towards the end of the day.

 

[Tau]

Yume

Fae

saxon Maverick Six LightningJay Uasal​

"Hm?" Yume flipped around just in time to see Martin's cloak vanish behind the doorway. Sorrow filled her eyes for a moment, but she recovered fairly fast. "Scare you? A sweet little zombie hunter like me? I'd never~!"

Slowly nodding, Yume listened as the man gave her way more information than expected. Her eyes turned to give Martin a worried look as he returned, but she soon recognized the look of familiarity in his eyes, causing her to sigh in relief.

"Oof..." she winced at the toothy scar. "And you're definitely sure you're not a zombie? You didn't react much to my touch, after all~" After badgering the guy a little while longer, Yume turned around and returned to the inn with Martin.

"Hm... wouldn't an academy of some sort be a better pick for you?" Yume answered, glancing at the notebook. "Well, maybe I'll join you someday... but not just yet."

---

When Martin returned, there was a strange lady with swirly white hair wandering alongside him. A shiny coin danced between her fingers, challenging anyone who could, to declare its purpose and claim it. Meanwhile, she spoke, "Good news: a guard earned himself a strong bite on the arm, and he's still mostly human. I guess you have to die properly before they'll welcome you in."

Shrugging, she continued, "Oh, he also mentioned a snowstorm following the zombies around, so you might want to bring a scarf." With a long sigh, the girl lamented, "As if it wasn't already cold enough around here..."

 

[LightningJay]

John

Mentions: saxon ​

“And you know that there’s no need to overcomplicate simple things right?” John smiled at Eris when she face palmed herself. Taking the bread from the man, he then handed it to her. “For you, O great hero.” Listening to the old man, John was dubious if the info he was given was even in the least bit helpful because the info just seemed like the usual zombie antics. Perhaps he really just wasted his rykes and time on the wrong guy. But as it turns out, no one else in the market knows any more about the situation than the old man did. With that, the duo headed back to the inn where Eris instructed him to lead the discussion.

“Alright then, though truth be told there wasn’t much info to begin with.” John said, before continuing. “These zombies are strong enough to take an arrow to the brain. Also, they can somehow convert those who are downed into zombies too... You know what? Just in case, I’m going to report this information back at the adventurer’s guild and hopefully we can get more help coming our way.”

While he said all that, in truth he was going to use this opportunity to escape! I mean come on, a whole entire zombie infestation? He had more than enough disgusting zombies in his previous adventure, and now he had to face them yet again? And he could even be transformed into one himself?!!! It took John all he had to maintain a straight serious face, but on the inside he was more than terrified. Oh well… He felt bad for leaving them, but the least he could do for them was to find a couple of adventurers to take his spot. Hopefully they would forgive him then.

 

[saxon]

Eris Granstone

B Grade Character

Titles: Human, Priest, Holy Smiter, Hero of The Fae See, Mage, Fae, Spirit of the Battlefield Ally F, Faculty of Celestine F, Ordained, Mundane, Caster

mentions: Tau LightningJay Maverick Six Uasal

Notes: This is the end for the Prelude, the main thread is up for those continuing and the fresh bloods!

Eris shared the information they had learned from the market with the group before the group would part their ways for the night. Though the question still lingered in the air, what just the hell were these things? Where did they come from?

FIN