Fantasy Of Distant Legends

[Birdsie]

Epiphany Inheritance Hanarei LostHaven

Azhi Armitage

As the group discussed, Azhi walked off to the edge of the foyer, where Sebastian (Cesimir's newly-hired monkey-butler,) was being tutored in the arts of servitude by a golem valet.

Azhi activated his charm and tapped Sebastian on the shoulder. The wizard turned and his eyes glistened when he saw the young boy. The two conversed for a moment, before Azhi nodded with a loud, "Thank you~!" and came back to the group, charm disabled.

"According to him," Azhi recounted, "Cesimir's bride will arrive from the eastern road, and is scheduled to do so in just this hour! Her name's Luna Calista Runagate. She'll be accompanied by three hirelings, including a mercenary bodyguard."

"I propose we go to The Raven's Arcana to take one of the crystals that Faust offered. Then we'll go down the road and prepare an ambush - big sister, you'll be in charge of the summoning, mom and Brom will fight the summon, and I'll support everyone with buffing spells to make it look even more impressive! What will we summon? A devil? A daemon? A demon? Ooh, ooh, let's summon a bone devil! I heard those are scary!"

Archdemon IamNotLoki Kylesar1 Reinhardt June Verles

Grog // Pig, Rat, Monkey - Stream Valley

Grog led the adventurers into the valley.

The terrain proved easy to traverse, though the light forestation obscured vision past a certain distance. Soon, the team saw why they called this 'The Stream,' as there was a small spring atop the mountain, leading down into the valley. Instead of converging into a single line of water, this spring split off into multiple, separate waterways, a few meters across at their widest, and never deeper than one foot. Gravel, stones, and sand lay in these streams, flanked by various plants and sought by the scant, local wildlife.

After ten minutes, they arrived at a sizable outcropping covered by bushes, which overlooked what looked like a small camp. The camp was protected by a wooden pallisade taller than Grog, with four towers placed in strategic locations near the two entrances, one of which was nearer to the group. There was a group of goblin guards near the entrance on their side, and the gates were open.

Within the camp, there were several tents and buildings, as well as chests and storage containers, some of them visibly filled with gold, food, weapons, or weird colorful dust. Some illegal activity was taking place, clearly enough.

Near one of the campfires, a man in an oriental rat mask was smugly looking down and admonishing a terrified goblin. A few meters away, a burly man in an equally exotic pig mask and comfortable dark maroon robes was drinking tea.

 

[Inheritance]

View attachment 549272
Brom Beararm​

Something that Brom was known for amoung his companions- when he travelled with them- was his nature to follow his morals, no matter who opposed then. Brom knew this, and it surprised him greatly when he started to think otherwise. The kid, Azhi, seemed so sure of himself, and so right, it was hard to believe he wasn't right. The boy was very charming, and as he spoke, a slight grin crossed his face. A wedding didn't sound terrible at all, and he deserved a celebration.

"The...kid is right maybe... maybe the wedding is a fine idea..." he found himself saying. He was about to say more, when the kid walked away. Brom quickly shook his head, trying to clear it while listening to the others. When he felt himself again, he spoke up.

"Alright well if everyone is so confident in this...I guess we can do your idea. I still don't think it's right to trick anyone into marriage, and fighting some beast that we set upon her isn't any better. I still say we forget the idea of a wedding all together. Or hire someone else to do it. I came here to save people and do good, and this is neither of those things. I don't suppose any of you have a reason for us to help him?" He looked at the strange family, his gaze moving between all of them until it stopped on the succubus.

"I know you demons may do things differently, but I for one don't love helping bad men do bad things. But...I suppose we're a team, and if everyone is so heartset on this I guess I'm outvoted, and I'll support the group. I signed up for this, and I'll stay loyal to the group." He finished.

Bottom line, he wouldn't betray the group unless they did something outright evil, but he would watch then all. Perhaps they had forgotten, or perhaps they never knew, but when you're a mortal man like the rest, doing evil things had a consequence. Lives matter, because your neighbor's life could be taken just as easily as yours. Perhaps these powerful spellcasters and demons didn't know, and were used to manipulating anyone to their will. He would watch them, and keep them in check.

They could probably kill him, or break his mind so that he would marry the archmage. The demon could send him to hell before he drew his sword, and the mage could turn him to ash before he could raise it. It didn't matter. He had come to terms with his own morality, and if he went out, he intended to go out as a good man.

 

[Kylesar1]

Sheub "Shelby" Mangoza
Enemy Stream​

The entire time they walked, Shelby was looking for high ground. A tree, a cliff, a mound, anything. Luckily it was easy to find since they were going into a valley of all things. When they arrived, she already had 3 places in mind, 1 of which was her primary allowing her to take out 3 of the guard towers from that one spot. The secondary spot would allow her to take out the last and covered a good amount of the area inside. The tertiary spot gave her a view of everything, but left her easily visible to long range enemy fighters. This place would be a strategic location to protect from a huge ground attack. So the people in the zodiac masks were all around.

Sheub looked over to the others in her squad. "I'm taking up a sniper position and I will take out the guardtowers." Shelby had her fortes. Sniping was one of those things and unless the team wanted to get filled with arrows while they charged in, this was well needed. Shelby steeled herself because nothing was about to change her mind about her role. If she charged in with the rest, she would probably die like a noob. She knew her limits and wouldn't even attempt to fight like she didn't have it. "I'll take down targets of opportunity."
Archdemon Birdsie June Verles IamNotLoki Reinhardt

 

[June Verles]

Mizu Nagoyaka​

A tear could be seen falling down Mizu's cheek as he saw Sheub stray off the group to get to a strategic position. His carefully planned, masterfully concocted and skillfully drawn sand diagram was now made redundant. But like water he must move on, so after wiping his tears away he continues on his day like nothing happened, how strong.

"Remember not to shoot the goblins unless they show hostility first or we tell you to okay?" he says as he waves her off.

Next he would turn to their bigger troll friend and ask him;

"So you said the goblins would be willing to help us if they can see you're with us? So how are we going to make them see you without alerting the masked men?"

Archdemon Birdsie IamNotLoki Kylesar1 Reinhardt

 

[Hanarei]

Bethany Evelyn - "The Arcanist Absolute" Armitage

Evelyn rolled her eyes in response to her mother seeming to take the side of the warrior with doing something more fitting. It wasn't as if there was even a task they were given suited to their talents anyways. She seemed to blush lightly all while glaring upon her mother as she slipped out using her actual name. It seemed wasteful to not split up and just divvy up the tasks to make sure the work got done as effectively as possible. Then again, maybe she was overestimating their ability to take care of some pesky summoned creatures. She had to remember not everyone was as great and powerful as herself after all!

"Very well we can travel together. Not much point in needing to make a scroll I can just summon it myself if I'm coming along." She spoke giving a glance over to Faust thinking he might be in a round about way talking down her ability to use magic, although it was only partially true. He seemed to be more critical of her method of putting a spell into an object then her ability to actually cast something useful. Then again, she was certain he probably would find some way to criticize her magic. She had to admit he was slightly less annoying then he had been initially... or perhaps she had just become more effective in blocking out half the stuff he said?

Evelyn watched her little brother return after having scoped out a bit more information. She pouted a bit giving Azhi a glare as he spoke out giving commands. It was pretty easy to tell she wasn't fond of him issuing the order. It made it worst that it would of been her general plan anyways making it that much more of a 'nip' at her that she could at least 'correct' him in the process.

"It's my plan dork, you shouldn't be barking out what we do. Whatever though, that works fine. I don't really need aid in summoning but I suppose if it means I don't have to waste my own energy to summon something halfway decent that can work as well. I can easily fix anything if the crystal turns out to be a dud, and if I'm there I can always help fix the problem easily if you all decide to embarrass yourselves somehow." She spoke with a light shrug after snapping mildly at her brother. Naturally she had to gloat a little bit even if mildly at their expense. She did at the very least speak expecting they were more then capable of handling it themselves.

Mentioned: Epiphany Birdsie LostHaven Inheritance

 

[Epiphany]

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[/div][div class=statusText]Location: Cesimir's Estate
Tags: Inheritance Hanarei LostHaven Birdsie [/div][/div][div class=title]Shriandriath the Debased Maiden[/div][div class=text]Azhi's evident enthusiasm brought a smile to Shri's face. However, as the plan turned from hypothetical demon summoning to the selection of an actual demon, she shifted uncomfortably. Then, Brom's expressed concerns amplified her own. Accomplishing evil was not in her job description anymore. Besides, she'd promised her darling husband Thomas to at least try to think righteously before committing to a course of action. She'd even joined the Adventurer's League for the same reasons as the handsome musclebound warrior with washboard abs and a fetching beard and the-oh bother.

Clearing her throat, the Succubus stepped up and spoke directly to her two children. "You realize if your father ever found out any of his children were summoning devils or demons...can you imagine the trouble you'd be in? And after he's worked so hard to keep the city and this kingdom safe from invasion!"

"No, we couldn't possibly. It wouldn't be right." Those words, once utterly foreign to her, now fell easily from lips that had been kissing a fount of holiness for years. "But it's still not an entirely bad plan. Perhaps a tweak. What if instead of summoning a demon or devil, we summoned an angel? We could state our case before such a being, explain the situation and convince it to make our case directly to this Luna Runagate. We could accomplish the same ends without loosing supernatural evil into the world."

With a pause, she glanced down at herself and was reminded again that she still wore a housedress with an apron over it that bore the words 'Kiss the chef' on it. "Well, more supernatural evil anyway. Regardless, I need to change. Before we fetch crystals, would you be a dear and pop all of us home, sweetie?" she asked Evelyn, smiling as she made the most reasonable request imaginable. [/div][div class=text][/div][/div][/div][/div] [class=wrapper] background-color:#5e5560; box-sizing:border-box; color:#eeeeee; display:inline-block; position:relative; width:100%; text-align: justify; [/class] [class=title] color: #bfbfbf; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size:3em; font-style:italic; padding:0; text-shadow:0 0 1em; margin-bottom: 10px; [/class] [class=box] margin:2em 1em; padding:2px 4px 0px; position:relative; [/class] [class=boxBg] box-sizing:content-box; height:100%; pointer-events:none; position:absolute; width:100%; [/class] [class=boxBgLarge] top:0; left:-5px; padding:0 4px; border:1px solid rgba(255,255,255,.35); [/class] [class=boxBgTall] top:-8px;left:3px; padding:8px 0; width:calc(100% - 8px); height:100%; border:1px solid rgba(255,255,255,.25); [/class] [class=boxBgMedium] top:-4px; left:-1px; padding:4px 0; border:1px solid rgba(255,255,255,.4); [/class] [class=boxInner] background-color: #5e5560; overflow:hidden; margin:0.5em; [/class] [class=statusBox] box-sizing: border-box; border-right: 3px dotted white; padding: 15px; float: left; max-width: 250px; margin: 0px 15px 15px 0px; [/class] [class=text] padding: 0px 15px 15px 15px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size:0.8em; [/class] [class=statusText] font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.75em; margin-top: 5px; [/class] [class=characterPortrait] box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; border-radius: 20px; overflow: hidden; [/class] [class name=characterPortrait state=hover] opacity: 0.5 [/class]

 

[Birdsie]

Epiphany Inheritance Hanarei LostHaven

Azhi Armitage

"We're not doing a bad thing," Azhi assured Brom. "We're helping a skeptical, bitter man find the love of his life; which will improve not only his morale, but his work ethic, making life easier for us and the kingdom!" The boy flashed him with a small grin.

Azhi tapped his chin as his mom requested Evelyn to teleport them, then asked, "Mama, how about you go and change, and I'll take Mr. Faust and we'll go look for a crystal with summoning magic in it, and have a look for what's in there? I promise not to take anything supernaturally evil with us." The boy put a hand on his heart, and another one in the air with fingers extended vertically to show sincerity.

+++

Archdemon IamNotLoki Kylesar1 Reinhardt June Verles

Grog // Pig, Rat, Monkey - Stream Valley

The big troll shrugged at Mizu's question, scratching his head. "Goblins is friends of Grog for many years. They know Grog, and Grog know them. Either way, Grog knows not how to do that. Trolls is good at smashing and not being wounded. Dwarf, gnome, elf, human is good at thinking. You human, I troll. You think, I smash."

Down in the camp, another man, in a monkey mask came out of a tent and approached the Rat. The moment Rat saw him, he flinched in startlement and stopped intimidating the little goblin, and Monkey visibly laughed at that, to the point where a hush of his guffaw could be heard even from this distance. The two talked to each other for a while, until Monkey slapped a hand on Rat's shoulder. Pig, several meters away, did not mind whatever conversation they were having and simply sipped his tea before it got cold.

 

[Inheritance]

Brom Beararm​

Brom saw at once his voice was falling upon deaf ears. They didn't care what he had to say, obviously their moral code was much different from his own. He had been around the block a few times, and while he certainly didn't have the years that the others undoubtedly had, he had done a lot, and learned a lot. He knew he could never match their life experience, nor their intelligence or ability to learn, but he felt like while he wasn't the brightest he had a good amount of sense that gave him a strong moral compass. Still, he knew when he wasn't being listened to. With a sigh, he shut his mouth and listened to the rest.

Upon the request of the demon to return home, he was once again reminded of her strange apparel. While his question about her being a servant was hardly answered, he figured that she was at least tame and not a threat...to her allies. Still, he wasn't sure what this plan involved....a magic summoning crystal? Who knew. It seemed like magic stuff that he didn't know. Strangely enough, he felt more comfortable with the demon-at least she bashed skulls with her physical strength like he did. War was a universal language it seemed, and despite them being very different, he saw a portion of who she was in her fight. She was unlike any he had ever seen, and when he pictured a demon, he pictured great flames and hideous faces. She was none of these things, and was in fact...beautiful. She had a tail and horns, but she was beautiful, there was no denying it; with blue oceans as eyes, and a great figure that made him want to look at her for hours...

Snapping out of his thoughts, he gave a half grin at the magi. "Teleportation? I'd sure love to see that. I've seen people do it before but I've never been up close, and certainly never done it myself...Oh well, I guess I teleported here, but that wasn't very far. How does it work?"

He didn't expect to be able to go with them, but a pang of curiosity shot through him at the chance to see where this mage and demon lived. A call to adventure, one he hadn't felt since he served in the army. "I'm not sure what you'd all have me do, but I'll do whatever is needed. Though if I have a say, and we have to go through with this wedding, I'd love to go with the two of you." He beckoned at the demon. "I consider it a blessing to live long enough to travel anywhere, especially far away places!"

Epiphany Birdsie LostHaven Hanarei

 

[Birdsie]

Epiphany Inheritance Hanarei LostHaven

Azhi Armitage

"Well, how it works depends," Azhi answered Brom.

"Most mages teleport by-- actually, I guess big sister would like to explain this. She loves this stuff." The boy flashed Evelyn a self-satisfied simper, before turning his eyes back to Brom. "All that's important is for you to know you're likely to get nausea and vomit the first few times. I sure did - there was vomit all over the living room carpet! Though, you seem really tough, big brother, so I'm sure you'll be fine."

 

[June Verles]

Mizu Nagoyaka​

He sighs as the troll answers his question, while he was happy that the troll was content who he was it wasn't too bad to try and expand his horizons once in a while.

Nonetheless there weren't many ways to get the attention of one of the little grots without also alerting their criminal overlords, sighing realizing that he was somewhat of options he picks a random pebble of the ground and throws it out of the bushes that hid them, aiming to get one of the guards to come closer. Worst case scenario he can activate his power and just kidnap one of them here.

Archdemon Birdsie IamNotLoki Kylesar1 Reinhardt

 

[Kylesar1]

Sheub "Shelby" Mangoza
Enemy Stream- In a tree
"One Shot, One Kill"​

Shelby was looking out at the people in the valley, looking for the targets of interest, away from the other cohorts. No offense to Mizu's plan, but............ she was a SNIPER, not a speedy short bow archer. She needed space and time to take people out from afar. Mizu's formation just wouldn't work for her. It would only be effective if she was too far from to be part of the formation anyways, which meant "why not find a nest egg?" Also, the smell around the giant troll was just too much for her to be able to hold her aim. Twas a reason she wouldn't admit and would take with her to the grave........... that she left a teammate because they smelled like God's excrement. Luckily she had deniable plausibility because she actually was a sniper. Anyways, Grog said that goblins were friends. That was true. She had seen many a goblin getting along well with trolls. Orcs were also friends with goblins. On a battlefield, they served the orcs well as rogues, assassins, and thieves, far too quick to catch. Shelby didn't want to kill them, but she would if they attacked. Whatever.
She was growing a bit frustrated though as she looked out and took note of who to shoot. "Geeeeeezzz, isn't there a spell for this?" she grumbled as she adjusted her binoculars. She didn't know any vision spells, so that meant she had to use those and gauge a distance. While she definitely could, something like Zoom would make it even easier. Even better was Calculated Sight, which made her automatically see the distance she was from the target. Unfortunately, spell books were hard to read. Maybe she needed to just get a tutor. Maybe that cute wood elf girl she met after she left her almost unnecessary obstacle course of death. She was big on archery and hunting. Maybe she could teach Shelby a few things.

Mizu threw a rock and she knew he was trying to get someone's attention. Maybe he was trying to thin the herd by isolating as many as possible before they actually noticed. That was good..........unless they made noise. If the guard screamed, they may as well go hot. Another issue was Grog. If he so much as showed anything bigger than his finger, they may as well go hot. He was VERY noticeable and the moment he left those bushes, his stature would be enough to alert them, especially considering that they already went toe to toe with him before.

Shelby wanted to just go hot. From where she was, she wanted to just start shooting. Stealth in this situation was seeming impossible. Shoot a Ghost Arrow, release smoke right outside the front gate, have them charge, and then she begins her destruction of their heads. Diplomacy first though.
Archdemon Birdsie June Verles IamNotLoki Reinhardt

 

[Hanarei]

Bethany Evelyn - "The Arcanist Absolute" Armitage

Evelyn looked at her mother as she spoke in protest of her summoning a demon. It was much worst then her brother chiming in. He could just come off as an annoying little brother, her mother on the other hand was far more embarrassing to her. She always worried she came off too much like her mother as it was. In truth, it was pretty clear to see in many ways she tended to take after her mother quite a bit particularly in attempting to be a bit of a rebel.

"An angel would clearly give a wrong impression! I'm sure da... father wouldn't be happy about us slaying an angel either. All I'm doing is summoning some measly demons that we would be killing anyways. It's not like I'm planning on keeping them under my servitude. Of coarse it would be easy for me to do so with my talent but it's not what I was going to do." She spoke out adding the last bit as if feeling the need to boast a bit as if someone might doubt her ability to be able to control a summoned demon. She shook her head a bit letting out a frustrated sigh in response. She shifted her attention over to Brom having seemed to protest mildly against their new 'mission' before though it seemed as if some bit of interest had been sparked in him inadvertently due to her mother.As her brother spoke up refering to her to explain it she was rather a bit smug rather then annoyed finding it a chance to show off.

"Arriving here I'd assume you would of been teleported unless you happened to of just walked here instead. Anyways... on the most simplest explanation I can provide, teleportation works by displacing someone in one location to another. With the arcane, you are able to effectively move an individual between world existing beyond the mortal plane. From there the user's body is effectively 'jolted' into the correct location based upon the caster's intended locations from when the spell was casted. This works by the caster being able to subconsciously recall a certain location or an object with a particular type of attraction to it to cause them to appear. Given you are moving not in the material plane but effectively between planes you are able to travel vastly faster, though longer destinations might require more time though it only usually lasts a few seconds at most. There are of coarse several different methods as you can teleport in many ways, but that is the most basic and common form of teleportation."

She finished speaking being a bit long winded for the sake of flexing her intellect while trying to 'simplify' it, both perhaps succeeding and failing at it at the same time. She looked to her mother letting out a soft sigh again realizing after speaking up about it what it meant that her brother would be traveling to pick up the crystal. She would have to take her mother alone to their home. While she could just teleport her mother there alone, it was far better if Evelyn traveled with her so she could immediately teleport both of them to her brother. She couldn't make a scroll or anything of the sort for her mother to use to directly teleport to her brother, it would only work if she had an exact location she wanted her to teleport to.

"Alright... let's get this done quick." She spoke as she let out yet another sigh though this time being a bit more long and drawn out. She walked over to her mother looking to her briefly before muttering a few words, a bit longer in the incantation then some of the spells she had done before though not overly complex given her familiarity with the location she was traveling to. A circle formed under them just large enough to fit them both. The circle along with the two suddenly vanished in a flash of blue light as just a few particles were left where the two had been before vanishing completely from sight as if the two weren't there to begin with.

A flash of blue light flickered as the two appeared back at the Armitage house as Evelyn shook her head as if in some protest without saying a word. A light glow lingered on her cheeks seemingly a bit embarrassed to be back at her home. She looked to her mother as she crossed her arms attempting to be rebellious again now alone with her mother, one of the most embarrassing things for the young woman to be around.

"I'll wait here... don't take too long or I'll just leave without you." She spoke seeming quite resolved to staying outside as if venturing in the home was far too embarrassing for her to even conceive of, even if it meant being stuck outside waiting for her mother to change and get ready.

Mentioned: Epiphany Birdsie LostHaven Inheritance

 

[LostHaven]

Faust Windfallow
Now Stuck with Azhi and some Warrior dude with an annoying moral code. | Birdsie @Inheritence

Oh lucky day, Faust thought to himself. What was that kid? A fucking angel? Well, figuratively, of course. Faust already knew what Azhi was, not that that really mattered. All that was important was that this little brat managed to get him away from the annoying arcanist that Faust had misjudged as being useful when all she did was degrade his own sanity to the point of breaking.

"I really don't think summoning an angel will work, being cambions and archdemons and all. If anything, those prideful fuckers gonna put a hole through your chest first. And priests. I wouldn't try my luck with those. Some of them are into really weird shit, and I would prefer to not meet one at all, even if the odds are like one in four." Faust trailed off with his abstract thoughts and useless observations, until Evelyn teleported away, along with the succubus thing.

Without warning, Faust let out an exasperated sigh and imitating the motion of taking in a huge breath of air. "PRAISE THE LORD!" Faust exclaimed with needless exaggeration. "THE AIR IS BREATHABLE!"

The floating skull turned to Azhi, finally free of that stupid spellcaster. "Shall we get going, too? The Raven's Arcana is just..." Faust began giving directions to the Raven's Arcana, expecting the boy to follow.

 

[Birdsie]

Epiphany Inheritance Hanarei LostHaven

Azhi Armitage - The Raven's Arcana

The floating skull offered to head to the Raven's Arcana, and Azhi nodded, smiling. "Let's go, then!" Following the bodiless lich's direction, the little boy walked as guided through the streets of the bustling city.

~

After not too long, the two of them arrived.

Azhi hesitated, looking at the building. A middle-sized wooden house with a repurposed architecture, following suit to the rest of the medium-density zone stores in the area. Surely enough, there was a raven insignia over the entry door, with the text 'The Raven's Arcana' beneath in hard, black gothic letters. Azhi noticed the structure had moss growing on it, and bird feces staining the walls. The windows had yellowed curtains drawn over them, and with some of them, the glass was cracked or just plain smashed in. There were plants outside, but they were left unattended and malnourished.

Azhi leaned down and tried to cast a healing spell on the plants, but one of them grew sharp teeth and almost took a bite out of his hand. Azhi recoiled, stepping back, and turned to Faust, a drop of sweat on his forehead.

"Oi, are you sure this is the right place? How is it even possible for a building to get this bad without being demolished? This city is maybe a decade old, how can things get this bad? This place is magically deteriorating. These plants are so saturated with negative energy they've basically become undead, somehow - even though normally they should wither away in contact with it. And plants and pigeons both seem to be supernaturally attracted to the place, like it's a root of prana or something... What kind of twisted, paranormal place is this? This isn't a node or a leyline, is it? Did you make an artificial one?!" Azhi grasped his own head and screamed out in frustration: "AAAAGH! I didn't even know that was possible! Cesimir said some suspicious things about you, but I wasn't taking him seriously! How does this even happen!? Who the hell are you?!"

The boy stabbed a suspicious finger in Faust's direction.

 

[LostHaven]

Faust Windfallow & Alexiel Pendragon
The Raven's Arcana | Birdsie @Inheritence Hanarei Epiphany

It didn't take long for the boy to reach their destination, and even shorter for him to begin criticizing the exterior of the store, worn from years of neglect. He did attempt to warn to boy to stay clear of the dying plants, though it seemed to fall onto deaf ears, with Azhi cutting close to losing a hand in the process. The boy seemed to be rather learned for his age, commenting on the sickening amount of negative energy that saturated the air, and something about an artificial leyline. Unfortunately, there wasn't one. Just a very potent, and annoying, unholy ward.

"Yes, making an artificial leyline is possible, and I am Faust, an elder lich who was defeated by an eldritch monarch of unimaginable power," Faust began to answer Azhi's questions one after the other. "Now, can we please just go inside, I understand flesh-eating zombie plants are fascinating, but they aren't for sale..."

As they entered the Raven's Arcana, one would likely notice that the interior was just as bizarre, if not more so than the rotting, run-down exterior. For one, the strange, carnivorous plants that were planted outside seemed to be of plenty, even inside the store, growing in small pots, it's toothed flowers growing across decaying vines that clung closely to the old, musty shelves that were lined with all forms of strange and curious items. There was even a broken phylactery on sale, with a price tag attached to it, reading 'NON-FUNCTIONAL PHYLACTERY, 40 SILVER'. The crystalline object sported cracks running across the surface, with a small circular dent on the side, as if someone had viciously stamped onto it with high-heels. God knows what somebody could do with that thing if anything at all.

As they approached the reception, it was apparent that there was something akin to a commotion going on. A well-dressed man, who looked to be in his twenties, had both his hands pressed down on the reception desk and seemed to be bickering with the woman who was sitting on a chair behind the desk, legs up on the table, staring at the young man with a disinterested expression. And yes, she was wearing a dress. I'll let you imagine the implications on that one.

"Do even know who my dad is?! If it weren't for the fact that he's a regular, your shitty store would be bankrupt!" The man shouted angrily at the receptionist, seemingly expending a large amount of willpower to stare the woman dead in the face, and nowhere else.

"If your dad wasn't such a stuck-up no good noble-tradition stupid honor-bound pussy-ass bitch, you'd be calling me mommy right now." The woman retorted with a smirk.

"My dad will get you thrown in a dungeon!"

"Last I recall, he was on the floor and calling me auntie in there."

The man grumbled angrily, attempting to formulate an insult to reply with. Alexiel allowed herself a taunting smirk, taking her legs off the table, and standing up and placing her own hands over the table, similarly to the troublesome customer, leaning over to the man, her face unnervingly close to his. In fact, she leaned over so low that the open area of her dress dangled down a bit too low for comfort. The annoying brat began to become flustered, trying to come up with a way to say 'I can see your boobs' without making it sound like he was a creep. Faust watched on silently, knowing Alexiel probably knew exactly what the guy was thinking.

"Oh my, left you breathless, did I? Shall I tell your daddy how much of a little pervert his boy is~?" Alexiel whispered into the guy's ear. At this point, the poor guy was fuming with anger, yet flustered beyond comprehension. "I know you're upset that the little security guards almost bit off your hand, and you do look like a young man with a lot of confidence in his arm strength, but it just doesn't cut it, you know~?"

The young man was biting his lips and trembling now, and Alexiel's smirk twisted into that of a sadistic grin. She fall back onto her chair, and crossed her legs over the table again. "I still abide by my previous statement, these sealed-spells are prepared by the owner, and nobody else can match the quality. You're paying full price, or get the fuck out. And let me tell you, you're paying the full price because it isn't hard to set you up for being falsely accused of sexual assault."

The rich brat practically dumped the money on the desk, took a small bag of what appeared to be glowing crystals, and bolted out the exit. Alexiel let out a tired sigh, her grin fading. "Fucking virgins, they're all the same..." Noticing the presence of another customer, Alexiel glanced over toward Azhi's direction, where she noticed the floating skull. "So then, what could this cute little boy~ be needing in a store like this?" She questioned Azhi, paying her employer's floating skull no heed. He probably just got himself caught in a stupid experiment or something.

"Sealed spells. With a greater summoning ritual." Faust rudely cut in.

"Can't you see I'm talking to this little boy?"

"Fuck's sake, you're probably imagining weird shit, aren't you?"

Alexiel ignored Faust, as she turned her full attention back to Azhi. "Now then, what does this handsome little beast need from here~?" She asked, leaning over toward him with a dangerous grin spread across her pale face.

 

[Birdsie]

Epiphany Inheritance Hanarei LostHaven

Azhi Armitage - The Raven's Arcana

Azhi didn't have much time to peruse or browse upon entering the store, as he was too busy watching the commotion near the desk. He did turn on his aura-sight, and discerned the lust the woman felt, as well as the anger, frustration, and... sexual tension, the nobleman was feeling. When he sensed the nobleman was about to leave, he stepped aside and looked at the saleswoman, trying not to show his fear and letting Faust do the talking, until she spoke to him, asking what he needed.

His eyes widened in hysteria, and he tried to keep his breathing steady despite the unreality of what was happening. His heart was practically beating out of his chest. Is this what his Charm Aura felt like to other people? No, wait, they didn't have such inappropriate thoughts when thinking of him, did they?

Azhi weighed whether or not activating his Charm Aura would lead to her channeling all of her emotions into an act of unspoken depravity, or if it would get him a lower price, as she clearly wasn't intent on listening to Faust if he were to tell her to give it up for free (though, in another way, she might have done just that.)

After exactly three seconds of mentally weighing the cost-benefits, Azhi took a deep breath. He wanted to ask Faust if this onee-san wasn't a pedophile, or a pervert, or worse yet a rapist or child molester, because many of those tags were disturbingly believable for what little he could read of her aura. At least she seemed bisexual or lesbian, which was marginally better than a straight person; marginally, since he was already girlish enough to pass off as a little girl with a bit of a hair-do and the right skirt.

He tightened his hands until his knuckles were white, and averted his gaze, trying not to blush and failing, as his cheeks heated up with a beetroot color.

"I-I'll have one sealed spell, with a greater summoning ritual, preferably of a neutral spirit; non-evil, and non-good. A-and a discount, please," he said, gulping, closing his eyes in horror, and activating his Charm Aura as if it were the last thing he did before being executed like a witch in balefire.

 

[Birdsie]

Kylesar1 June Verles ( Archdemon IamNotLoki Reinhardt - Ahem)

Grog // Pig, Rat, Monkey - Stream Valley

The moment the rock hit the ground, one of the goblins in armor shifted and looked at it. He made a motion to the others, then raised his spear and walked into the bushes, and instantly looked up to see Grog looking down at him, and smiled, then frowned quickly. "Grog is back? We thought you run, when humans take over."

"What happened?" Grog asked.

"Humans tell us to make palisade, let no one out or they kill us. We too weak to refuse, if we run we get caught easily." The goblin looked at the rest of the group and scowled. "Who humans?" the goblin asked with a low hiss.

"They here to help, so is orc-woman. They get other humans to leave."

The goblin nodded. "What we do?"

"For now, go and tell other goblins to ready. They do anything else?" Grog looked at Mizu and Shelby expectantly.

 

[June Verles]

Mizu Nagoyaka​

As the goblins entered the bushes Mizu instinctively squatted to be on the same level to listen to the conversation that was unfolding between them and the troll.

"So they are strong enough to scare grog away?" he said as he begun rubbing the back of his head, they probably were too strong to take them into custody nicely.

Mizu let out a tired sigh before standing up and addressed the goblin;

"I need you to get me, the dead guy and the masked guy as close to the camp without being noticed and then when we start fighting to run over to the bushes."


Archdemon Birdsie IamNotLoki Kylesar1 Reinhardt

 

[Epiphany]

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[/div][div class=statusText]Location: The Armitage Home
Tags: Birdsie Hanarei [/div][/div][div class=title]Shriandriath the Debased Maiden[/div][div class=text]Shri was still unconvinced by the wisdom of this mission, but seeing her son and daughter working together on a plan warmed her heart. So she finally nodded, smiling approvingly at their cooperation. Evelyn's offer of teleportation resulted in another smile and the Succubus stepped up to her daughter, gratefully accepting the teleportation.

Upon arriving home, she stopped by the kitchen to hang up her apron. Shri then stepped into her bedroom and emerged minutes later clad in the blue and gold custom fitted armor she'd commissioned before joining the Adventurer's League. The Demon paused at the threshold of her house, glowing blue eyes taking in the sight of her embarrassed daughter, noting the girl's embarrassment with all of the keen insight of a species that spent a thousand years discerning the best ways to bend someone's will. Which made her current estrangement that much more difficult for her, for it would be simplicity itself to manipulate the cambion child, bend her to her will. But she couldn't do that to Thomas' only daughter. Couldn't do that to the young woman she still remembered as an infant, as a stumbling toddler, a gangly child or the studious teenager.

And so she simply gazed upon Evelyn and finally sighed aloud. Once more, Shri stepped up to her daughter's side, ready for the pair to teleport once more. Leaning in, shrouded in the privacy of the Armitage home, the Succubus whispered in her daughter's ear. "I'm proud of you, you know."[/div][div class=text][/div][/div][/div][/div] [class=wrapper] background-color:#5e5560; box-sizing:border-box; color:#eeeeee; display:inline-block; position:relative; width:100%; text-align: justify; [/class] [class=title] color: #bfbfbf; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size:3em; font-style:italic; padding:0; text-shadow:0 0 1em; margin-bottom: 10px; [/class] [class=box] margin:2em 1em; padding:2px 4px 0px; position:relative; [/class] [class=boxBg] box-sizing:content-box; height:100%; pointer-events:none; position:absolute; width:100%; [/class] [class=boxBgLarge] top:0; left:-5px; padding:0 4px; border:1px solid rgba(255,255,255,.35); [/class] [class=boxBgTall] top:-8px;left:3px; padding:8px 0; width:calc(100% - 8px); height:100%; border:1px solid rgba(255,255,255,.25); [/class] [class=boxBgMedium] top:-4px; left:-1px; padding:4px 0; border:1px solid rgba(255,255,255,.4); [/class] [class=boxInner] background-color: #5e5560; overflow:hidden; margin:0.5em; [/class] [class=statusBox] box-sizing: border-box; border-right: 3px dotted white; padding: 15px; float: left; max-width: 250px; margin: 0px 15px 15px 0px; [/class] [class=text] padding: 0px 15px 15px 15px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size:0.8em; [/class] [class=statusText] font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.75em; margin-top: 5px; [/class] [class=characterPortrait] box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; border-radius: 20px; overflow: hidden; [/class] [class name=characterPortrait state=hover] opacity: 0.5 [/class]

 

[Birdsie]

Noble Scion June Verles

Sareth Glamis Ethengarde - Temple of Shurima

A long motorcade of horses climbed through the uneven field. Pretty much the entire plain was a length of parallel mounds going on for a kilometer in either direction, and unfortunately, the rest of it was surrounded by mountains, lakes, and rivers, or hazardous environments. The caravan was led at the front by an armored drake and atop it sat an armored knight, his body clad in plates of metal, dark gray in places and near-black in others. Some pieces of it had blue gems set in.

The small expedition stopped when the knight at the front raised his hand, and he looked out into the temple before them. A grandiose construct from dark sandstone, rectangular with four towers at each corner.

They were given a charter by the king, to explore this place. Sareth gave the mages the order to cast long-range scanning magic, to check the temple for any obvious traps, but they detected nothing. Either the place didn't have traps or whatever civilization built this could ward their tombs from divination like no one's business.

Sareth accepted a telescope given to him by one of the rogues, and he observed the temple through it. It was difficult, sticking a telescope into your helmet's visor, but he managed it.

"Move in. This will be an easy operation. A quick in and out. Grab..." He hesitated for several seconds, then spoke again with a firmer, harder voice, "Gather any cultural artifacts, magic items, and treasures you find. Be careful not to set off any traps."

"Adventurer One," Sareth called, in a louder and looser voice. "You'll be accompanying me. This should be easy enough."

~~~~

"What a shitty place to die," Sareth said, breathing heavily. Had his armor not been enchanted adamantium, he'd have died thrice, even with his excellent endurance; thanks to it, he'd get off with major bruising, maybe a bit of internal bleeding. He lumbered through to the next (hopefully final, or so he prayed to Hann and Bahamut,) chamber, still hearing the sound of poison darts firing off of walls behind him, of the floor suddenly opening up to reveal long pitfalls into punji sticks, and of literal flamethrowers. The screams of their expedition died out not long after the explosion of the oil barrels.

And that's not mentioning those zombie-mummy-things that were a bitch to kill. One of them kept walking and fighting even after Sareth cut its head off. They needed total dismemberment or you wouldn't stop them, and even with dismemberment, the limbs sometimes kept moving on their own.

Sareth, applying pressure to the area of his ribcage to prevent the bones from moving out of place, turned to Adventurer One. His voice was pained, gruff, and raspy, but he managed to speak intelligibly, "Did you see how many traps there are? And the hallways are like a maze! This place is a fucking nightmare."

He looked forward. In front of him and Adventurer One was a large hall, with a cardinal staircase from four simultaneous directions leading to something reminiscent of a pedestal. There was an object on the pedestal, like a sarcophagus, with a column of aurorial sunlight shining on it from a hole in the ceiling above it.

"This is the last chamber, I think." Sareth threw in a stone as a test, and after nothing happened, he walked in. "Let's go."

He tried not to think of the fact that he'd already used up all but one of his health potions. He was saving the last one for a time of real need, rather than just curing wounds. He'd avoid being hurt from here on out. More importantly, he tried not to think of the fact that some of the deaths caused here were directly his fault, and a lot of them were indirectly involved in his decisionmaking. He rushed things, wanted to go in quickly, make it a fast one, but the hastiness was foolish. There was a black void in Sareth's chest, a tear of grief for the people that died, but right now, he was in enough pain to keep his morality drunk with it and find a way out before it sobers up and makes him puke at what happened, and what his decisions resulted in.

 

[June Verles]

Adventurer 1​

As some of the more astute readers might've realized Adventurer 1 wasn't his real name, you see before he became a somewhat respectable adventurer Adventurer 1 was just a simple NEET degenerate like any of you. But he was a careful NEET degenerate, you see in the chance that he'd ever be transported to another world he'd make his character like a perfect Gary Stu, unfortunately he was a lot more lucky and lazy on his second character.

Nonetheless at this point it was pointless to remember his past, this was going to be his last trip. After being transported to another world he'd lived his life, having married a beautiful wife who'd gave birth to a strong baby girl. He'd already save up some money but he was going on a final high rank mission to get some extra dough before retiring.

Throughout fighting in the structure he and the young prince's other party members just sat back as he ran ahead and got mob agro and triggered traps, the rich can afford quite a bit of revives huh? By the time they got to what seemed the final room he'd conserve a lot of potions, waiting for the obvious pharaoh themed lich to come out and attack them.

Noble Scion Birdsie

 

[Noble Scion]

Illyana Shurima - Temple of Shurima

Spoiler: Appearance

A small crack of light shone on the sleeping beauty's face, nothing but a flicker, but enough to awaken the ancient being that appeared to have slept through several civilizations in one singular go.

The cover of the sarcophagus slipped open in response to the awakening of its contents, and landed soundlessly onto the bed of sand that had consumed the solid rock beneath it, and from within, the gentle opening of eyes began from a strangely-clad woman wielding an ornate staff.

"Is.. It done?" A gentle voice rang out with curiosity with a stretch of the arms preceded with the most noble-sounding yawn one could imagine. Illyana Shurima, the ancient empress of the world, was awake.

She was dressed as one would have expected of her time. Glimmering gold that seemed to both show, conceal and accentuate each part of her body, from her skin to her hair to the figure that seemed to be chiselled perfection, the pinnacle of beauty in another time that seemed to still hold up to the present day.

This creature of elegance took a gentle step out of what she had assumed was a rather strange up-right bed as her groggy eyes adjusted to the light, which led to the rather unceremonious performance of a queen falling and sliding down the small ramp of sand, featuring a soft squawk, to arrive at her destination at the centre of the room, quickly recovering from it with confusion as she rubbed the sapphires that were the burning blue of her eyes in almost disbelief.

Her mind struggle to make sense of what she was seeing as the number of confusing things compared to what she had expected was mind-boggling. The first to reach her tongue being the unprecedented sight of foreigners in her bedroom, followed soon by the rather glaring fact that this was not her bedroom, which, in-turn, led to the finale of this trifecta of confusion of, why she wasn't in her bedroom as she had explicitly asked her servants before the entire procedure of becoming a lich.

"Who are you and why are you here? Also where is here? And where are my slaves?" she blurted out, her eyes narrowing at the invaders with crossed arms, taking on a faintly hostile and defensive tone, yet filled with authority, like she had never even heard the term "unexpected" used in her presence before and immediately took the commanding position of the room.

As confused as the world's empress was, she was still in control, as far as she was concerned.

Birdsie June Verles

 

[June Verles]

Adventurer 1
​

As the tomb infront of them opened Adventurer 1 was already pulling out a fire flask that he'd try to burn the potential mummy away. However he was stuck in his tracks by the fact that instead of a decrepit old high priest came out what one could only call a exhibitionist with a attitude. But her appearance wasn't what perplexed him, no it was what meant by her appearance.

His widened behind his mask as he sat on his ass in awe, yes this was what he was afraid of the most, as he looked up towards the young prince he realized. He wasn't the main character, no this somewhat socially challenged edgy as knight fucking white haired boy was the main character, and this girl was just the first conquest in the story.

Adventurer 1 would place his hands to cover his ears as he would begin screaming;

"NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO"

Birdsie Noble Scion

 

[Birdsie]

Noble Scion June Verles

Sareth Glamis Ethengarde - Temple of Shurima

Seeing Adventurer One panic at the woman's sight, Sareth felt a wave of dread crash over him. His trusted companion suddenly bent over in fear?! This must've meant this woman was dangerous.

But they couldn't yield, not even in this situation.

"What are you doing? T-this isn't the time to panic! It's not like she's a lich or something!" Sareth obtrusively whispered to Adventurer One. Realizing the woman was still expecting an answer, Sareth straightened his back and looked at her. There was a hint of defiance, of pride in him, despite his wounded state - and both his body and mind seemed harmed in some regards.

He lowered his hand from his ribcage, instantly feeling a fountain of pain erupt from his chest, and trying to keep himself from screeching. His lowered hand went to his sword's hilt, and he drew it in one motion, placing it crossguard-up in the ground. He put his hands on the pommel, completing a knightly stance.

"I am Sareth Glamis Ethengarde, crown prince of Kingdom Ethengarde, and proud son of Ozirmok Glamis Ethengarde! I have been sent here by my father, along with an expedition, to search this dungeon. Thus far, the expedition has been unsu--ugh, unsuccessful," he finished, beginning to bend over in pain and raising one hand to his ribcage, pushing it with substantial force.

It was undignified, it definitely showed weakness in a moment where he couldn't allow it, and because of that, Sareth grit his teeth and looked up at her, straight in the eyes, through his helmet.

He answered the rest of her questions curtly, the pain forcing him to bark the words out in a gruff, raspy voice, "We are in the kingdom of Ethengarde, several kilometers northwest of Orthrus. And slaves are illegal."

"Now, it is my turn to ask you questions!" he declared with what pride he could muster, and one could feel the desire to scream from the burning pain in his ribcage as he spoke. "Who are you and what is this place? Why are there so many traps everywhere? Why is one of them a giant hammer that hit me in the chest?"

 

[Noble Scion]

Illyana Shurima - Temple of Shurima

Spoiler: Appearance

Her ears met with a terrible screeching sound that caused her face to contort in a disgusted wince. Such a sound appeared to be produced by one of the knights, and he didn't appear to intend on ceasing such a thing any time soon.

She closed the gap between them with a few gentle steps and swung her staff, delivering a swift strike across the yelling knight's semi-exposed face. Graceful yet crude, but hopefully enough to shut the buffoon up, and force the agony being inflicted on her ears to cease before she could figure out what exactly was going on.

"What makes you think I will answer to the likes of you, intruder?" Was all she gave in return to the clearly struggling knight. She determined to create a façade of knowledge where she had none, the place they were in was unknown to her, but she wasn't about to let those who appeared to be of a rival kingdom to know that, especially given that the name of their lord was one that she had never heard of before. For all she knew they were probably assassins sent for her head, attempting to take her head.

"Now you will continue answering my questions or I will kill you on the spot, 'prince'! Who is this foolish 'Ozirmok' and what made him believe intruding in my temple was wise? And what do you mean 'slaves are illegal'? Perhaps in your heretical little castle, but they are the foundation of greatness for mine!" she scowled, defaulting to rage as her mind failed to piece together what little information she was being given and simply over-ruling the prince's questions.

She had to admit though, she pitied the knights with their wounds. As a monarch she had helped deal with many problems and it hurt to see her own hurt. These weren't her own, yet they treated her with respect. The speaker even appeared to be her age, if a bit younger., but sacrifices had to be made, Illyana supposed,, and intimidation was her only means of maintaining the fake leverage she held.

Of the things she knew, the most confusing was clearly that they didn't appear to know her name. How that was even possible considering the size of her kingdom, she didn't know, which led her to believe that this could be some kind of twisted joke.

The second was where she was. If the knight known as Sareth's words were to be believed, why was she within a foreign kingdom? Why was her temple, containing her, in a foreign kingdom? Had one of those performing the lichdom ceremony kidnapped her in the brief time she had spent unconscious and brought her here? And if so, why? Whatever it was her first foreseeable goal was escaping this place

"Lead me out of this place and we shall discuss more outside! I might consider answering a question if you do as you're told." Lady Shurima told them all, her posture a perfect line compared to the pained slouches of the group, seemingly unrelaxing in the presence of strangers with glaring eyes that appeared strangely unblinking. A fact that Illyana herself noticed as they began their trek.

She felt different in a way that she couldn't quite pinpoint. More than just as a lich, but like even her body had changed.

Rubbing a hand down her forearm gave off the impression that she still had skin, still was human, but the absence of heat was strangely unnerving. The little details. No doubt she would notice more as time went until, but until then, she had no great insight on what the true effects of being a lich had done to her.
Birdsie June Verles