Fantasy Tales of Raeligard

[AnonyMouse]

Falion "Falco" Cauphix​

Location: Oytenrand Woods, logging camp​

Falco was pleased to see Lucia accept his offering of assistance. After she took the sand, he returned his attention to cleaning his own gear, satisfied that their relationship was at least functional, if not yet cordial. Currently, that is all he wanted: for them all to function as a team. As he scrubbed the hooktail's blood from his daggers and began oiling the blades, his only thoughts were about how best to see his friends return alive. Ensuring they were 'friends' at all, or what that meant, could wait until after they were safely back in Tylsen.

Thea and Sen returned almost immediately after Risax's confession, likely soon enough to have heard it. They came bearing payment from the mayor. The arachne was given his share and given ample time to say goodbye --for now-- to his comrades, before heading back to town alone. Sen mentioned that the mayor was planning to send scouting parties into the parts of the forest closest to town, to see if it was safe to resume logging operations. Although the Syrieth gave him no orders, her sowrds seemed to suggest he could make he may want to consider assisting with that. If a Kriegslowen was going to stay in Oyten, he may as well do the guild proud and make himself useful. If nothing else, it might take his mind off of things.

Falco took a moment to gather his gear, securing each blade in its sheath and donning his coat of scalemail, followed by his cloak. As he applied layers, the others lined up for their pay and the Syrieth spoke, stating that she had gathered simple rations for them from the market. Living off of the land was her way, but hunting for an entire party was much more difficult than feeding only herself. There was also no telling what they would find deeper in, so it was best not to trust the forest to sustain them. There must be a reason it couldn't sustain the two hooktails, which is why they had traveled here. Sen had purchased hardtack, nuts, dried fruits, and jerky, using her own coin -- a point she emphasized heavily as she began separating the food into portions and giving each adventurer their share before they all headed back into the woods.

Sen Hyazari​

Location: Oytenrand Woods, traveling​

Their journey into the woods was much the same as it had been yesterday. Sen kept a steady pace, not rushing as she had done yesterday, but not dawdling either. She spoke to Thea along the way, though the others could clearly hear their conversation and that seemed to be intentional on the elf's part. Thea was in charge. As their leader, she ought to be armed with as much knowledge as possible, but Sen was not the type to keep the others out of the loop either. She seemed to have set aside her role as a mere observer.

The Syrieth explained that, after receiving a summons from Cephilia to rendezvous with some rookies, she had entered the Oytenrand Woods from the northeast and traveled straight to the town, as the crow flies. Although she was traveling quickly and not paying particular attention to her surroundings, she had seen nothing out of the ordinary along the way. Thus, she suggested these hooktails had come from the western part of the forest. Whatever was afoot, they would likely find it there.

"What's your theory?" Falco asked, a question that had been ricocheting around his head all night. He was sure he wasn't alone in that regard."About the hooktails, I mean. Why they're here. What's goin' on?"

Sen shrugged, before turning to face them, walking abckwards as she went. "I got a few ideas, but I find it best not to make shit up 'til I know what's what," she said, blindly avoiding branches and vines as she walked. "We'll follow the clues. First, we check out the corpses, then see where that leads. I'll leave it up to your fearless leader how we go 'bout this," she said, gesturing to Thea as she resumed facing forward. "Ask me any questions y'all have, but I'm gonna try to stay outta the big brain shit as best I can, at least for now, while we're in the 'safe' part of these woods. I'm still evaluatin' you guys, ya know, and y'all got some ground to make up after whatever the fuck that was yesterday."

As if on queue, they arrive at the clearing where they had felled the second hooktail, the one that had attacked Risax and Hyss. The creature was still lying where they had left it, slumped on the ground with the crossbow bolt lodged in its center mass. Its cold flesh was being pecked by a pair of crows who took flight when the adventurers arrived.

I doubt we're gonna find much here, Sen thought as they stepped into the clearing to begin their search. But let's see if the rookies have what it takes to be hunters.

"Ten minutes," she said, checking her nonexistent watch before beginning to wander the perimter with one of her makeshift spears, "then we move on to the other one. I ain't got all day."
Interaction(s): RedArmyShogun (Thea) / EmperorsChosen (Lucia) / Thalia_Neko (Hyss) / Topless (Sakura) / Huntertabbysandshark3 (Risax)

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Thea Schuerer
Location: Oytenrand Woodlands​

Handing the pay out and letting Risax say his peace, Thea was glad to keep most of them. Even if she didn't care for the two savages, one of them was a good tracker, and even if an idiot Hyss had stayed hidden for the shit show that seemed to unnerve the spider so. As the group head out to the previous kill site, Thea spoke in kind with Sen, even if the other had wished to be quiet about it, Thea preferred this.

Knowledge may be seen as power, but power was to be used and even to be shared to accomplish a greater objective. Learning the lay of the land, what they were speaking of, and the possible situation was something they all needed to know about the task at hand, that was not just information to keep to herself. It was akin to ignoring the advice of a local guide. Sure, it may make some people feel bigger about themselves, but it was better to not be that way.

"Ten minutes. Search about as you see fit or know to do but keep close. Report anything you find pf note." It felt a bit heavy handed, but she wasn't about to assume none of her fellow teammates wouldn't find a trail then just walk off on their own without telling anyone. Not after yesterday. She herself only had limited skills in this regard, while she knew how to track an animal or even conduct a hunt, this area was alien to her, still there were some things that didn't change no matter the landscape.

Crouching down a little bit as she looked over the body, there wasn't much to see here apart from the hooktail, off to the sides of them she could find but the scantest signs of game trails, there were signs here and there, but pretty old, the most recent tracks she could notice were those they made, together with the altercations that took place here, be it from the ambush they set up or the battle that took place. Looking over to Sen, Thea exhales a bit and shrugs, getting back up to her feet.

"Would what run them out actually come looking for them? Also, bit curious, do the males just never have the boney tail and in place have the grabber? All I see here is some old game trails, what little remains from the rain."

Interactions: EmperorsChosen Thalia_Neko AnonyMouse Topless

 

[Silver Wolf]

Location: Warehouse 5
Interactions/Mentions: King Crimson (Cressey), TreasureSniper (Talio), lunar_moth (Endymion), ERode (Lori), Reinhardt (God GM of Warehouses McGee)


​

Lupa gave a pointed look to Zest after he flipped the switch. She had frozen in her spot when he did for a solid ten seconds, ears darting to listen for any mechanisms turning or sliding of secret passages. She sighed in relief when nothing of the sort happened. Well, whatever, her comrades would be happy for the light, at least. While part of her really hopes the last warehouse was a fluke and she could collect her pay and experience to take home, a nagging feeling in her continued to investigate, to tell her something was wrong or not right. She had no idea why either, but she couldn't leave it be.

Then there was the proof, an open crate Endymion found. Her tail thumped in excitement after learning the box was empty and she rushed over to the first and began looking in the box. A thought crossed her mind and she stuck her head in the box dramatically, tail out and serving to display her emotions to Endymion in place of her face. Endymion would get a full view of her tail and what it was attached to. Lupa, on the other hand, was too excited to care as she took a number of different smells from the crate, hoping to catch a faint whiff of something, anything that could give her clues, even if it was simply an old piece of sweat, it would tell her something.

With one final inhale she took in the scent and catalogued mentally what she found: Salt, wood, metals and rusts from what was likely once stored there, and oddly enough a weird scent that really excited her nostrils. She took a look at the smell and realized two things: The moving was recent and there was the smell of...herbs? She then walked over to another box and performed the same scan, and again she found the same smells: Signs of recent sweat and a second strange scent that made her very...intrigued. Also, each time she sniffed the crates, Endymion had full excuse to see her tail and hind end up in the air, displaying various signs of her excitement as she took to sniffing each of the crates.

She then took a tap on the bottom of one crate where the scent was particularly strong. She tapped and received a hollow sound in return. Her ears squinted to hone in on the sound and she gave two more raps. She then tested the strength and then when that didn't budge she began fumbling around the edges of the box. Once she bent something, the smell got stronger. Her tail started wagging, advertising her joy at the fact she found something suspicious. She then lifted and pulled out a false bottom which sat on top of a layer of cushioning, but oddly clean linen whose density was uneven as she inspected it with her hands. Her gloves slipped in and she found an odd feeling through her gloves. Whatever this was is a plant?

She grabs the first stem she can feel and yanks it out of the linen. Soon, a bundle made of a foul smelling combination of medicinal herbs assaulted her olfactory senses and she felt like bile would rise through her throat. She immediately dropped it and ripped her head out of the crate before nearly stumbling into a support pillar or wall nearby before her senses cleared up. She then gave a lot of coughs and cleared out a few splotches in her vision by blinking before she finally cleared whatever it was out of her system.

"By Aurelia! That's potent, I can't even make out what's what. Endy, check the other open boxes for false bottoms, and identify the herbs if you can. I can tell you about what that I just opened was: Angelleaf, a very strange medicinal plant used to treat very nasty, dangerous, or painful wounds. If you were an amputee, this leaf would be part of your treatment. Aurgh, I forgot why I hated medical tents, this stuff is like trying to sniff a memory or something."

She held her head and decided to sit down on some more boxes that the hadn't opened. Upon mounting the six sided square, she noticed they were a bit taller than normal. Not by much, but probably by about how deep the Angelleaf wraps she found were. Ok, now she was suspicious. She could write down some minor problems, but this just raised alarm bells everywhere. She gave an annoyed sigh and said, "Great, a smuggling ring for medicine, just what we needed."

At this point she didn't care, and with Cressey the most experienced she began marching for the small one so she could report her findings, crates have definitely been stolen or misused. Her instinct to determine fault and report it to the appropriate party ticked in and she would explain what she found in highly technical terms.

"The North side of the warehouse has crates that have no contents save for a false panel and various valuable medicinal herbs including Angelleaf. I believe we should determine who is to blame and report them appropriately, do I have permission to investigate further."

The only difference is lack of salute, but her voice and expression all explain the same thing, something's wrong and they don't know what. They should really find out what it is, but until Lori returns, Lupa doesn't think she'll gain anything by counting what isn't there and discovering more when they could spend time getting to the bottom of why their client was involved in a smuggling ring for medicine.

 

[lunar_moth]

“…?…”

Ah!! He thought that some of those boxes looked askew. Endymion reaches out to nudge the lid off another, and indeed, this one is opened and empty of its contents as well.

“Lupa, come take a look at this. Someone must’ve already been in here and swiped whatever they—-gkk!”

Haha. Ha. Umm. Endymion quickly raises a hand to shield his eyes, and then just as quickly realizes that maybe that’s a bit of a melodramatic reaction and lowers his hand, hoping not to come across as particularly immature or offensive. And then, his gaze blessed with the sight of— well, you know, he instinctively lifts his hand back up to his eyes, and this process repeats a couple more times at light speed, until Endymion decides that the floor is suddenly a very interesting place to look. Oh, look, dirt.

Spoiler

“U-um, you know that I can— that is, the way you’ve— never mind. Did you find anything good?” His voice slowly rises in pitch as he speaks. Then when Lupa bursts into a coughing fit, his head snaps back up, embarrassment put on hold, and he rushes up to see what’s happened. The smell, albeit much milder for his human nose, hits him first. The autism kicks in moments after:

“Ooh! Angelleaf — that’s a strong one, for sure. I love the smell of it but I can only imagine it’s unbearable for someone with a more advanced rhinarium. Mm, what’s this for, I wonder? Silly question. Obviously someone’s trying to smuggle hardcore meds without an apothecary’s oversight. Still, must be someone who knows what they’re doing—!” He reaches out to rummage through the linen bundles and he comes away holding one that makes his fingertips tingle. “Not bad, in terms of storage. I wouldn’t put them in fabric bags before jars but I suppose there’s not much light here anyways to spoil them. Clearly they’re well-preserved enough; look, this one must be evergreen wax.” He peels open the top of the bag to peer at the little white bundles inside, and recoils with a hand pinching the bridge of his nose. “Phew, and strong! On second thought, don’t look at it too closely, you’ll probably melt your brain out through your nose. Man, this is wild. Clearly this is a much bigger operation than we thought, because the time and money it takes to import such potent herbs, especially off the records like this….” he devolves into technobabble. The severity of the situation has not escaped him, but also, what are the chances that his first mission is like perfectly entwined with his study field of expertise??

 

[Thalia_Neko]

Currently: Ready to set out
Thinking: "I hope she teaches me something today.."

Location: campsite
Interacting: Huntertabbysandshark3 AnonyMouse
Mentions: Sakura


"We were equally useful in taking down that monster," Hyss was quick to point out. "If I hadn't drawn its ire then Risax likely would never have been able to line up and get his shot off. I owe my life more to the brute woman than anyone." No, that wasn't fair. She turned to Risax. "Actually, I suppose what he said has some truth. Thank you for taking down that beast and saving my life, good spider sir. It was a very good shot." She complimented, recalling the shot that felled the beast, with a bit of awe.

"No one thinks of you as a liability, Mr. Risax. For what it's worth. But if you think you need to go, then you must go; it is up to ourselves to decide what we ourself needs most. Rest up well."

Thea seemed to imply investigating more wasn't apart of the actual mission, and while it wasn't on the paper, making her somewhat correct, she would be actually incorrect about that. At least to Hyss. Since there had been multiple targets, there was a high chance of others exhibiting the same dangerous behavior. Killing one beast (or two), but leaving other equally dangerous beasts around was definitely not following-through with the mission. Or at least that's how Hyss saw it. To 'stop the beast', for Hyss, that meant making sure no more dangerous beasts were threatening the locals. So she was on board, lifting up her pack and buckling it around her waist, standing up.

They came up to the scene of the fight yesterday. There the body of the beast lay, a prominent bolt sticking out of it. Once more Hyss was reminded of that particular spectacular shot. They were given some time to -uh- look for clues, or some such, but Hyss didn't really expect that to lead to much. Weren't they going to where they came from? Why were they loitering about here? Regardless, the hooded girl padded gently over to Sen. Peering up at her, she spoke.

"We may have got off on the wrong foot. If you teach me something today, then I will change my mind about you," she said up to the woman. Unfortunately, that line may have sounded a bit haughty. Which was not how Hyss intended it. But it was up to Sen how she took it.​

 

[TreasureSniper]

Location: Heine Warehouse 5
Interaction: Cressey King Crimson GM Reinhardt​

While Talio was a bit disappointed by the fact that Zest wasn't willing to land on his arm, all the same, he wasn't exactly the friendliest-looking bloke here, so he would have to just accept that Arien's companion was a lot pickier than most. The merchant sighed in defeat as he continued the inspection while listening to Cressey's short but insightful description of each and every one of the members of the other team. Thea, the pious knight. Sakura and Hyss, some outlanders. Based on their name alone, he could already tell they weren't from around these parts. Falco, the apparent fool with no worth. Though he will reserve the judgment of his character when he eventually meets him. Everyone has their uses, even idiots. Lucia, the close one to being her friend from what he could tell based on how Cressey talked about her. And another merchant, perhaps someone worth building bridges with?

Overall, he found the description of her whole squad to be exceptionally amusing. She described them as dysfunctional which could imply that they had strong clashing personalities. But he can theorize and worry about such matters later. "Hmm, they seem like an interesting bunch. I have a feeling that its never a boring quest with them around." Talio commented on the team's "chemistry" with each other. He would say more but seeing Cressey opening boxes left right and center didn't sit right with him. "Oh and Cressey, you might want to avoid doing that. I recall that the instruction specifically tells us we aren't allowed to open the boxes." Talio gave his shorter peer a reminder that they weren't supposed to rummage through any of the boxes, even if they did look like they'd been tampered with recently. That said, their finding was indeed suspicious, with missing items left right, and center.

"That said, the number of missing items cannot be ignored. Considering how clean the areas are where the items are missing, it is highly probable that we are dealing with some form illegal activities, a robbery perhaps?" His thoughts go back to Lori and how she was headed to the next warehouse alone, he couldn't help but worry about her and what she may find. He had seen all signs beforehand, he would have never agreed to allow the young bird folk to travel alone. "Zest." He called out the bird, looking up to see that it was on one of the shelves. "I don't know to what extent you're supposed to be helping us..but would you mind checking up on Lori for us? I fear that she may run into some... unsavory characters." He told the bird in a worried tone. He couldn't exactly just leave right now. The best he could do was finish up with this check-up as soon as possible before moving on to the next warehouse.

 

[ERode]

Location: Heine Warehouse 6
​

Oh, but it felt good to run!

The wind roared against her face, streams of air tousling her hair as she dashed through the shrubbery at a manic pace, her eyes narrowed to slits but still wholly capable of capturing her surroundings. It had only been two days, but the sensation of her blood through her veins, of her lungs pumping with her heart, of zipping past the world at a pace that only she could manage was a wonderful, invigorating thing! Sunlight glanced off her face, leaves danced with her hair, and her talons gouged the earth as Lori shot through the thick vegetation of the forest, unimpeded by the roughshod terrain. In a landscape like this, she could take the straightest route without being slowed, where horses would have to make detours and humans would have to stumble along!

So was it any surprise that it hardly felt like any time at all had passed before warehouse number six arose before her, standing as lonely as every other storage shed did in a non-distinct clearing? Before she created into the opening herself though, Lori skidded to a stop, enjoying the satisfaction of warmed thighs, of wind-chaffed cheeks. She pulled a caterpillar off her bangs, then took in a nice, deep breath.

Alright, she was here, and no one else was. So first things first…rubbing stray bits of dirt out of her ruby eyes, Lori began to quietly pace around the clearing, looking for any curious tracks or softened dirt around the warehouse, all while her ears were primed for any unnatural sounds.

Forests were quiet places, after all.

The quietness of the area made it easy for noises to resonate, though the subtlety of their sound was masked by the ambiance of the forest's ever-expanding reach that now nearly had the warehouse in its grasp. A pair of voices whisperingly echoed from inside the warehouse, seeping through the small gap between the building’s walls and its roof.

“Brother, how long must we stay here? We’ve already cleaned up the place.”

“Until the lieutenant comes.”

“But we already did what she ordered us to do! We don’t need to stay here anymore. Besides, she’s not even-”

“I know, but if she finds out we just left without her knowing, what do you think will happen, my dear sister?”

“Well…”

“Let’s not get on her bad side. I’d rather not learn firsthand why they call her the Redeye Demon.”

The conversation came to an abrupt halt as the footsteps from outside came in contact with a number of fallen branches and dried leaves, which resulted in rather loud crunching sounds. Some of the birds that were idling on the roof flew away in response to the noises.

Soon after, the door at the front of the warehouse slowly creaked open.

And Lori, naturally, kept on moving, playing the part of a beast that cared little for the presence of a warehouse.

She’d seen, already, how the doors swung open in the warehouse and knew as well it opened in such a way that so long as she kept going, she wouldn’t actually be seen. Such was the ‘advantage’ of scouting out a warehouse with hardly any windows and only one door, especially one that was so utterly surrounded by brush. Without a change in pace, without even increasing the amount of caution she took with avoiding twigs and leaves, Lori turned the corner to the side of the warehouse.

It was a good thing that the hinges of the door were rusty and a better thing that they were taking their time. By the time it fully opened, she would be behind the warehouse, well-immersed in verdant camouflage. And if they saw her still? Chose to give chase?

Well, then it became a race. And Lori didn’t lose those.

From the warehouse came out a pair of Illieths, one armed with a longsword, and the other with a shortsword. The two had pale white hair and orange eyes and were dressed in seemingly matching clothes. The first thing they did outside the warehouse was to investigate the tracks, which, fortunately, gave Lori a little more time.

“What do you think, sister.?”, the taller, male Illieth asked, his hand firmly grasping his weapon.

The female Illieth, who was crouched down and inspected the footprints, answered. “Could be just a large bird. Or one of those rarer beastfolks.”

The two nodded in silence and followed the tracks, paying much attention to every noise they could hear and every move they could notice. The tracks led them behind the warehouse, but by the time they arrived, Lori was long gone.

The young beastfolk had covered enough distance in the time the two Illieths spend following her tracks, but not quite enough to be completely away from the warehouse. As fast as she may be, her tracks came to a sudden halt as something grabbed her by the shoulder - a grip too strong and too intimidating to even risk moving.

Crimson eyes matched her gaze as a third person came into the fray without her noticing. “I am usually tolerant of meddling children.”, said the woman who held her in place by the sheer authority of her grip and gaze. The woman quickly noticed the badge on Lori’s person, as her eyes very swiftly glanced at it. “But this I cannot let go.”

All of a sudden, a powerful blow struck the back of Lori’s head, and her consciousness swiftly faded away as her body flopped onto the ground. Before she was completely out of commission, she heard a few words being exchanged as she felt her body moving further and further back into the place she wanted to get away from.

“Is it done?”

“Yes.”, the male Illieth said.

“For a while now.”, the female Illieth added.

“What of the other warehouse?”

“Uh…”, both Illieths answered.

“Take care of it. I’ll handle this from here.”

 

[Reinhardt]

Zest​

Location: Heine Warehouse 5​

The bird flew from one side to the other as the remaining recruits did their inspection. Some opened the crates and some simply followed through. Though their inspection was yet to be fully accomplished, the recruits seem to have paused in the middle of their job to either discuss with each other or investigate some oddities they have spotted. Not that how fast they do their job is of the bird's concern.

On one side, the beastfolk named Lupa could be found rummaging through empty boxes until eventually finding some supposedly significant clue, with the young lad Endymion right behind her. Well, more accurately, his eyes were focused on her behind until he eventually started blabbering some words. Noticing that the boy would most likely continue talking until his jaw dropped, and seeing nothing of note, the bird flew over to the other side.

The pair on this side was considerably more passive compared to the previous one. Sure, there was still a conversation being held, but it was done in the middle of their inspection. Eventually, the guy named Talio called out to the bird, who was perched atop one of the many shelves, overlooking the pair. He spoke of things in a certain tone, but the bird simply tilted its head and chirped, as it hopped from one area of the shelf to the other.

After a brief moment, the bird chirped again. Then it flew over to the pair on the other side.

Interaction/s: Cresslinde ( King Crimson ), Endymion ( lunar_moth ), Lupa ( Silver Wolf ), Talio ( TreasureSniper )

 

[King Crimson]

Current Location: Heine Warehouse #5​

"I am not 'opening' these boxes...I am 'investigating' them," Cressey rudely scoffed in response to the merchant's warning.
As if she didn't recall what Arnold had said!
...Although, despite her words, she had undone a corner of the lid on the crate before her...just to sneak a peek inside.
"According to the registry, this crate is supposed to be over on the north side, where Lupa and Endymion are surveying," she explains, shifting the small box around frenetically in her grasp, tapping, touching, and testing every panel she could find.
"But somehow, it's ended up over here...and what's more...there's something queer...about the weight of it that I can't just put my finger on...almost like there's a...a..."
There was a thought on what it could be on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't quite grasp it, not without violating the terms of her duty, and prying the box open to see inside.
As luck would have it, coming in the form of Lupa's fluffy, pale, and slightly wobbling visage, and a notably flushed Endymion just behind her, she wouldn't have to.
"A false panel? Medicinal herbs?" Cressey replied, her eyes raised in shock at the revelation, tearing her hands away from the crate to take hold of the small satchet of Angelleaf held in the beastkin's hands.
Bringing the bag close to her face, her senses were immediately assaulted by the familiar, bitter scent of the herb, nearly dropping the bag on the floor as she recoiled away, her face instinctively scrunching up to keep the fouling smell from reaching any further into her brain.
"Ugh...that damnable smell!...It's Angelleaf alright..." she coughed, memories flooding back of the days when she was bedridden with illness, and Miss Carmella would come to crush a handful of the herb into a fine paste, and spread the salve across the bridge of her nose.
It always did the trick, ridding her of any decongestion, letting her breath, taste and smell freely again.
...Only to make her regret the return of her senses with but one single breathful of it's horrid stench.
Rubbing her sinuses to rid whatever lingered of the foul odor out of her system, she turned her attention far away from the bag in her hands, and back towards Lupa, standing expectantly before her.
Her mood piqued slightly at the beastkin's tone towards her; so formal, so respectful...why, she was even asking Cressey for her permission! Almost as if the small lass was in command!
Such words coming from such a well-dressed, well-decorated officer, one could practically see the sense of authoritative superiority swelling rapidly to Cressey's head, sputtering out of her in a fit of smug, barely contained chuckles.
"Fufufu! Why yes, of course you have my permission to investigate further! In fact I think we all ought to check for any more secret panels!"
While she was enjoying the sudden ecstatic thrill of finally not being looked at as a little, lost child with a large, pointy stick by everyone around her, a stray thought of concern suddenly burst her egoistic bubble.
Lori. She'd forgotten all about her.
"Erm...but first, if we could check over the map for the next warehouse..." Cressey stammered, coming back down from her short-lived high.
"It's been quite some time since Lori went off to inspect the next warehouse, and I feel like we ought to have heard from her by now..."
Looking back down at the small bag in her hands, her brow furrowed deeper with worry.
"Hmm...secret openings hidden in plain sight, contraband being smuggled just beneath our noses, danger lurking we'd least expect it..." she grimly mused, loud enough for all others in the warehouse to hear.
"This is giving me bad memories of what occurred in the sewer."
Clenching her hand around the satchet in a loose fist, she offered a small, silent prayer, hoping her misgivings were wrong.
...That that idiot birdkin would come back to them, safe and sound.

Interacting:
Talio ( TreasureSniper )
Endymion ( lunar_moth )
Lupa ( Silver Wolf )

 

[lunar_moth]

Something runs down Endymion’s back and makes him shudder; he hopes it’s a sweatdrop and not a spider, though at this point, his luck would figure.

“…Actually, I have to agree. I’m starting to get a really bad feeling about all of this— let’s go find Lori so we can figure out what to do next, yeah?” He pinches the back of his neck as he speaks, rubbing gentle circles into the muscles. The balm leftover on his fingers from their investigation leaves a chilly-warm feeling where he touches. Ah, familiar feeling: he’s not often one for nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake, but in this case, the part inside of him that’s still a sickly little boy is slamming its hands on the walls and ringing the alarm bells. It’s probably just the stench of medicines that still sends him back to that mindset of imminent dread. Still…

“Something’s not right. We need to get out of here before the next shoe drops.”

 

[TreasureSniper]

Location: Heine Warehouse 5
Interaction: (Cressey King Crimson ) (Lupa Silver Wolf ) (Endymion lunar_moth )​

Talio's request for assistance from the bird was left unanswered, leaving him still quite worried about the current status of the bird folk friend. Cressey's somewhat haughty attitude did little to ease his nerves, though he still took the time to listen to what she was actually saying. Thankfully, her playful banter did not seem to hinder their investigation, with them discovering not only were stuff being placed in completely wrong areas, but also stuff that isn't supposed to be there, perishable ones. This was highly irregular, and the fact they were in a hidden compartment did not bode well.

Listening to Cressey enthusiastically give Lupa permission through the boxes was very....worrying granted they have good reason to, but there was still a risk of them accidentally opening normal. In the merchant's mind, there was already sufficient evidence of something fishy going on, while opening boxes may reveal more contraband, he felt that any more discoveries would be redundant. "I'd suggest against any more hands-on investigation of the inventory. This entire warehouse is now possibly a crime scene, and we are not equipped or trained to collect evidence. Our peaking and prodding could make it more difficult for the professionals to gather evidence later on. Also.." Besides, there was something worrying him a lot more than the presence of a few unlisted items. Where was Lori? That girl should be back by now if she was just doing a quick scout of the area. "We have more immediate matters to attend to, Lori has yet to return. And I worry for her safety. I suggest we put the investigation of this compromised warehouse on hold to check up on our feathered friend." It could just be nothing, for all he knew, she could out there playing with some other birds, but he wanted some peace of mind.

The delay of Lori's return as well as the subtle evidence of items being moved lead him to theorize that she may have seen something in the warehouse that piqued her curiosity. He was starting to realize how naive and risky it was to agree to let the girl travel to that warehouse alone without conducting a more thorough investigation into the area. The slight loss of efficiency in inspecting the warehouse is acceptable. The loss of a fellow guildmate was not. Thankfully, Endymion seemed to echo his sentiments regarding the concern for Lori's whereabouts. Though his choice of words on the last sentence was rather, interesting.

Swapping out his pesticide load for his usual venom, Talio prepared himself for whatever the other warehouse may hold. "Let's get going. Zest, are you coming?" he spoke up again to the bird, hoping that she would accompany him this time around, raising one finger, hoping that she would land on it. Talio made his way to the exit of the warehouse where he waited for the others to hopefully follow suit.

 

[Silver Wolf]

Location: Warehouse 5(?)
Interactions/Party: TreasureSniper (Talio), King Crimson (Cressey), lunar_moth (Endymion), ERode (Lori), Reinhardt (Elf Gang/GM)
​

Something was weird, Lupa felt a small tingle in her lips threatening to upturn them as Cressey seemed absolutely thrilled that she referred to her judgement. It was like a child being proud someone was relying on them, and it was cute. She kept herself mostly composed though, even though her tail would betray her by twitching and mildly wagging in amusement. To some extent, the confirmation was mixed. Part of her wondered how to respond. It wasn't like Cressey was her superior, but the small one had the most experience out of them, which should hold some sway, right? Regardless, the idea was quickly outvoted by Endymion and Talio suggesting they check on Lori. While Lupa fully expected someone with legs like Lori's to be back by now, she really hopes they're wrong about her possibly being in trouble. Regardless, the best decision was indeed to check on the eccentric one. She wouldn't be able to sleep if she let Lori die on her watch, and possibly her recommendation.

"Agreed, first we check on Lori, then we find out what our clues point to."

By the time she said that, they were already walking to the exit, which she didn't see anything wrong with. Nope, none whatsoever. And it turned out to be right, maybe. The warehouse was what, an hour away on foot? When that dawned on her she watched the horizon diligently, hoping, praying to see Lori sprint back to them on her tall legs so they could tell each other the news. That is, until nothing happened and she really started to get a pit in her stomach. Part of her wanted to think Lori was just...taking her time or something, but her tail was bristling and her hand hovered near her rapier. Endymion had heightened her sixth sense awareness, and whatever that nagging feeling was in her head wasn't going away.

Once they reached the entrance and the door was open, Lupa held out her arm and stepped further out into the open, hoping they would recognize her signal for them to stop and stepped out. She perked her ears and pointed them to wherever she was looking. Eyes darted from end to end, and only when she recognized nothing of particular note. The carriage was where they left it, and no sounds or sights that indicated movement. Good, the coast should be clear.

Lupa's arm dropped and she motioned the rest to follow if they hadn't already. She sighed and gave a small smile of assurance to her comrades before she began walking to the carriage.

 

[Reinhardt]

Zest​

Location: Heine Warehouse 5​

As everyone left the warehouse accordingly, the bird followed suit. Although Talio had offered the bird his finger to perch upon, it flew over and landed on the young lance-wielder's head. Zest pecked a few spots here and there before she finally settled in with a sound chirp. Surely someone from Cressey's background would have hair good enough for a bird to nestle in, and in the event that such would prove untrue, the bird would have to make do.

With Lori's uncharacteristic delay and a great number of theories in their minds, the group made their way towards where the carriage was left. However, the closer they get the faster they come to realize that the coachman was no longer present in the vicinity of the carriage. And as if there were not enough worries and thoughts swarming in the minds, strange things began to occur.

A sweet scent filled the air. Lupa, with her strong sense of smell, would be the first to notice this. However, the very moment the smell gets taken in, she would start to feel her body gradually become heavier and heavier. Soon enough there was a slight blur in her eyes, and her mind was a little fogged. She'd feel a strong urge to sleep despite the fact that she had rested well enough the last night. The rest would be subjected to the same phenomenon, albeit a little later than when Lupa would feel it.

Something about the scent and sensation it gave was familiar to many, though it wasn't quite enough to be recognizable.

In tandem with the smell came a strange melody that grew louder the closer they came. The sound became louder and clearer until it was recognizable as a song.

"Starlit sky, moonlit sky~
The night embraces us all~
Like fireflies, you and I~
Follow our alluring fall~"

The singing voice that resonated in their ears sounded calming and soothing, like a mother's lullaby to her precious child - it strengthened the drowsiness they were feeling. Though extremely alert, the recruits would find themselves groggy at this point. The allure of sleep has become greater than ever, and it is rather difficult to fight it back.

Interaction/s: Cresslinde ( King Crimson ), Endymion ( lunar_moth ), Lupa ( Silver Wolf ), Talio ( TreasureSniper )

??? & ???​

Location: Heine Warehouse 5​

Two figures emerged from the forest's shadows close to where the carriage was parked. Both of the figures held their blades in their opposing hands, the male wielding a longsword with his right, and the female wielding a shortsword with her left. These two Syrieths appeared to have matching clothes, including a black mask that covered the lower half of their faces. A subtle green glow emanated from the female's left waist and a subtle blue glow from the male's right waist.

"It seems you are right again, sister.", the male Syrieth said, as the two approached the group of Kriegslöwen recruits, clearly poised to strike them down.

"The captain did say they rarely work alone.", the female responded, brandishing her sword. "It only made sense to expect that chicken-leg would have company."

"Good point.", the male responded, his eyes quickly scanning the four recruits, as if assessing them from afar. "I'll take on the shorty and her pal. Can you handle the fur lady and her escort?"

"Brother, shall we get rid of them or...?" the female asked as they split up to approach their opponents.

The male shook his head. "Not worth the risk, sister. Besides, the lieutenant probably wants to get something out of them."

The female nodded.

Interaction/s: Cresslinde ( King Crimson ), Endymion ( lunar_moth ), Lupa ( Silver Wolf ), Talio ( TreasureSniper )

 

[AnonyMouse]

Sen Hyazari​

Location: Oytenrand Woods, tracking​

The Syrieth prowled along the outskirts of the clearing, carefully observing their surroundings as well as the actions of the adventurers she was tasked with evaluating. This section of the forest was still relatively safe, in her opinion, and she doubted there was a third hooktail, but it didn't hurt to be cautious.

The knight appeared to be searching the ground, possibly looking for animal tracks or runs. However, Sen had seen nothing of note previously and doubted there was any evidence of such today. Still, Schuerer was thorough in her investigation and that was worthy of note. Meanwhile, the urchin was looking up at the trees. Not a bad idea, since the hooktail liked to travel via the canopy. But he didn't actually climb up there; he merely gazed up from the ground. Perhaps he was a poor climber, or perhaps her 'ten minute' limit discouraged him from getting too carried away.

Not far away, the Caskarieth was looking at the hooktail's corpse, which vastly improved Sen's impression of her. She didn't think the noble had the stomach for it, yet here she was, poking and prodding the dead feline. Lucia didn't appear to have much knowledge of forensics, nor did she know what to look for, but earned points for not being shy about it. A few seconds later, the boy joined her. Whether this was because he'd given up on the trees and saw value in inspecting the cat, or was simply simping for the elf was anyone's guess.

Sensing someone approaching, Sen stopped and turned as the snake-like beastkin drew near. The Syrieth gazed down upon her, like a boot contemplating stomping out a bothersome insect, but tried her best to keep a neutral expression. She had spared the girl yesterday, and even broken bread with her. The olive branch was not something to be snatched away lightly.

I'll listen to what she's got to say, the Syrieth thought, with only minor annoyance. But as the girl spoke, Sen's face slowly contorted into that of a demon spawn. Her somewhat-attractive features twisted into something grotesque and horrid. One could not say what this was. Shock? Horror? Anger? It passed in barely a second, slowly being replaced by what was quite clearly confusion. A slight furrowing of her brows, accompanied by a nigh-imperceptible tilting of her head, as if reorienting her brain might better attune it to whatever alien frequency this creature used for communication. However, just as quickly as this second 'look' arrived, it was washed away by another rolling tide of anger. Yup, definitely anger.

Sen's fists balled. Then relaxed. Then balled again. At last, she simply gunted. "Doesn't follow instructions," Sen declared, pretending to write the words down on an imaginary piece of paper. "Ungrateful. Arrogant. Dumber than a wet sack o' dry water. And doesn't follow basic-ass instructions." Her tone remained steady, but the erratic gestures which punctuated this listing of character flaws depicted the invisible paper being balled up and thrown away... or dramatically exploding. It was all very hard to follow.

She promptly turned and stomped away, quickly arriving by Lucia and Falco. "Found anything?" she said, her tone nearly the opposite of what it had been a moment ago. She knelt down, uncomfortably close to them both. The Caskarieth commented about the hooktail's size and bulk, saying it seemed larger than most big cats. To this, Sen replied that it was, but not unnaturally so. "Probably an alpha," she said as she ran her fingers through its fur, feeling the creature's thick muscles and... something else. Welts? Lacerations? It was hard to make out, but something definitely felt odd about its skin.

Her first thought was that the creature had been whipped. But she had never seen a trained hooktail and there was no other evidence to suggest this beast was domesticated. Nor did either hunter possess a whip; she had seen them before they attacked and lost some of their gear. No signs of a collar, muzzle, or any other control devices. While it had displayed intelligence, its behavior seemed more like desperation and wild lashing-out to establish dominance, not 'training.'

But why would an alhpa be driven to such desperation?

"Time's up. Let's keep movin,'" Sen said as she pushed such thoughts from her mind. They could check for further evidence at the next hooktail corpse, then pick up the trail from there.

As they traveled, Sen once again said she was pretty sure the treecats had come from the western part of the forest. It would be easy to simply charge in that direction and see what they run into. "But bein' an adventurer ain't just 'bout knowin' where you're goin," she said, wagging her spear at the hooded beastkin as the group walked. "Sometimes, it's about knowin' what's waitin' for you when ya get there."

Soon, they arrived at the stream they had followed the day before. The dead animals were still scattered about, picked over by crows and other scavengers. Sen slowed, but told the recruits to speak up if they wanted to check anything out, because she wouldn't stop here otherwise. Here, the knight inquired about the state of the corpses and if it was normal for hooktails to ravage their prey in such a manner, but Sen didn't have a clear answer to this. She had seen such things before, in other monsters, but never to such a severe degree. The only thing she could say for certain was that the kills were fairly fresh, probably in the last 24 to 48 hours. Whatever made them freak out and go on a murder spree took place recently.

To her surprise, the city boy made an interesting observation. "Is the water level always this... low?" the boy asked as he trod along the muddy bank. "I mean, after all that rain yesterday, I figured... ya know." He trailed off with a shrug before launching into a story about his time in the big city and how even a brief deluge would turn Achelreide's sewers and gutters into white-water rapids.

Sen put a stop to storytime rather quickly, but had to admit he was onto something. The river was definitely lower than normal. Was there a blockage upstream? Had a shift in the earth, such a landslide or sinkhole, diverted it? by the time they reached the rock shelter, where they had rescued the hunter and slain the first hooktail, she was sure of it. How had she not noticed this yesterday? Normally, the water crashed over these rocks, misting and churning as it fell. Instead, it was now merely a gentle stream.

"Ten minutes," she said again, slightly annoyed. not at the recruits, but at the fact that she had no idea what any of this meant.

Sen headed over to the dead hooktail. Lucia and Thea were already hovering near it, but with the burns and wounds of battle, this one was far less intact than the previous. Still, Sen only needed to check one thing. She felt along its limbs, moving from its paws to the thick trunks of its forelegs and even the stump of its neck. Sen could only surmise the beheading had been the knight's work. If so, the girl's blade was true and steady. T'was a clean cut.

"There were welts on the other one, like it'd been whipped," Sen said, standing and resting her hands on her hips. The Syrieth actually seemed to be in deep thought for once, which is not something she often did. Sen preferred to run on pure instinct, spiked with an ounce of chaos. Although she was no fool, theory-crafting was not her strong suit. She lacked the patience for it.

While she spoke, Falco was kneeling by the head, prodding its open jaws with the tip of his blade. It was eerie, the way the beast's thick tongue lolled out and its glassy eyes remained permanently open.

"Feels like this one is the same, though it's kinda hard to tell, what with the burns and no-head and the crushed ribs," she went on to say, her brows lowering as she looked from one adventurer to the next. "And they say I'm a fucking savage..."

"Do they graze?" Falco asked. "Like, eat grass and leaves and such? It's got... umm... green stuff in its teeth."

Sen rolled her eyes. The boy was grasping at straws here. "I don't know. Maybe. Sometimes. Whatever," she said dismissively, before turning to Thea. "I'm pretty sure they came from the west, probably followed the water. What I don't know is 'why'? What's your call, knight? This is your show, do we keep goin?" She grinned as she pointed toward the rock shelter and the small cluster of boulders creating what should be an impressive waterfall. "We cross that and we're into what most folks consider the real Oytenrand Woods, not the 'safe' zone close to town. I, for one, am pumped. I don't know what the fuck's goin' on here and that's just how I like it," she said with a sinister smile, "but I also know this ain't what y'all signed up for."
Interaction(s): RedArmyShogun (Thea) / EmperorsChosen (Lucia) / Thalia_Neko (Hyss) / Topless (Sakura) / Huntertabbysandshark3 (Risax)

 

[Silver Wolf]

Location: Outside Warehouse 5
Interactions/Party: King Crimson (Cressey), TreasureSniper (Talio), lunar_moth (Endymion), ERode (Lori), Reinhardt (Elf siblings)


​

As soon as the sweet smell hit Lupa's nose, her head felt like a brick along with her limbs not obeying all her finer commands. Instinctively she related the two and put a hand behind her and turned to the rough source of the smell. Her vision blurred and her head even started to stop filtering out some static, leading to flashing points of darkness. In the distance she noticed two figures. The ears identified them as caskarieth, but the black masks confused her vision some and she looked to them and for some odd reason started growling in a low pitch and took a step back.

Most of what she picked up once the figures had been triangulated by her ears was that someone wanted something from them. Ok, so they weren't seriously looking to kill them, probably. Something flashed on the edge of her mind and she gave her wound a small kick. She hissed and the fog cleared somewhat from her head. Ok, good, she was no longer seeing dancing sprites of mental void in the background. Lupa then reached in to her dagger and ripped it out along with her rapier. In a flash she gave a somewhat deep but far from deadly laceration to her right side. Next, Lupa focused. Images briefly flashed before her eyes as she remembered whatever it took to make her feel fear, the encounters with bandits that haunted her, the reasons she swore not to let another comrade die on her watch if she could help it. She took all those images and flashed them and then she felt it, like a level to pull at the most desperate of times, she yanked it and she had it.

First, her heart sped up, and simultaneously she was visibly taking in more oxygen. Her vision cleared and she looked to their two ambushers and gave a low warning with her throat as they approached.

"Listen to me, run and get help," she almost whsipered to them. "I don't care who, but someone need to get Arien, something. I'm not going though, I'll hold them off as long as I can, but I can't promise anything if you follow me into this fight. Do so at your own risk."

She took a few tentative steps away and winded up her rapier arm while the other gripped a dagger.

"Sheathe your weapons and stop, if you don't I am not obliged to hold back."

While she said it with an air of affirmation without doubt, her eyes rattled wildly as they kept a steady gaze upon the two that switched rapidly. She then readied her wider stance and the training visibly kicked in. No unnecessary movements, just a solid wall that had both of them in her eyesight.

"That's the only warning I'm giving."

She wasn't even looking beside her to see if anyone joined her, she was ready to go. As soon as they made another movement after her grabbing their attention, had they moved after that declaration, she was going to charge them and make her way around to the one away from the warehouse's direction. Once that strike was given she would retreat or charge away to gain some distance and look back at whoever was left and yell, "Go, now!"

Now that she was much closer she looked at her opponent and waited. Her actions would be determined by the next three seconds or less.

 

[TreasureSniper]

Location: Heine Warehouse 5
Interaction: (Cressey King Crimson ) (Lupa Silver Wolf ) (Endymion lunar_moth )
​

This odd smell in the air, it was worrying. Especially since a sensation of feeling drowsiness followed suit. Was it some sort of sleeping powder? He wouldn't know, but Talio would immediately realize the danger of it upon seeing two armed figures approaching them as they exited the warehouse. Who are these "people"? Are they the ones responsible for Lori's delay? They looked a lot more well-dressed than your run-of-the-mill bandits. Professionals perhaps? Either way, their body language, and words conveyed strong hostile intent, one that Talio did not take kindly to. Opening the vial of Holzekt guts, he took a whiff of the putrid aroma, using it as makeshift smelling salt, to give temporarily keep the feeling of drowsiness at bay.

"So...it's bandits." Talio muttered to himself after recovering from the drowsiness. His disdain for these types of "people" could not be conveyed by words alone. The mere existence of these people was causing a lot of unnecessary expenditure and loss of funds. The parasites of society, who take value from the economy and give nothing in return. His hatred towards these people aside, they still didn't know what happened to Lori, did these people dispose of her? While he wasn't against a tactical retreat. There is no guarantee that they will see these people again, and seeing as they are the only lead they have to Lori, who may or may not be alive, he was reluctant to leave.

Hearing Lupa give the order to retreat and find Arien while she held them off was unacceptable. They were a team, right? They are supposed to lean on each other, so it's only fair all of them stayed and fought instead of leaving Lupa. That said, he did agree that someone should indeed go look for Arien. Turning to the bird, he once again, tried his best to communicate with her. So far he has had no luck in talking to her. But he did remember Arien said that if they were in need of serious aid, all they needed to do was inform the bird that his presence was needed. Talio sighed, disappointed that he wasn't as confident in his own abilities. But now was not the time to worry about relatively trivial things like pride. "Zest. Listen to me. We need Arien's help. We'll hold them off until his return." He made one final attempt to communicate with the bird, hoping that she will understand him.

"I say...we trust Zest to get Arien. Afterall, he did leave us in her care. And he said so himself, if we need him, we need only tell Zest about it." Even if this basically forfeits their prospect of an instant promotion, professionalism and duty come first before personal pride, no matter how bitter that fact is for Talio to accept. "We'll take them together." Unsheathing his blade with his right arm, he rested the sword on his shoulder, trying to bring attention to himself, more specifically his right arm, while his Manatech arm remained free. He didnt knows how strong these people are, but the least they could do is stall them until Arien's arrival. "For now we have the numbers advantage..let's use that. Me and Cressey will take on the male. We'll leave the female to both you." He whispered to the group as he stepped forward. "Cressey, I'll distract him up close. With any luck, you'll have an opening that you can take advantage of with that spear." he whispered to the girl, painting himself as the designated distractor.

Talio shifted his body to the sideways stance, making himself a smaller silhouette while also making the position of his other armless visible. "You two wouldn't happen to have seen our feathered friend have you?" Talio said out loud with his usual calm tone. With his arm in position, he would have more than any enough time to perform his upwards disarming strike with his manatech arm while also parrying the attack with his other sword and spraying them with a good dose of his poison. Talio slowly walked forward, preparing to strike whoever was willing to come to his range with a sheathed sword, seeking to break either their fingers or even their entire arm with a single powerful strike. The only reason he was even considering using nonlethal force was they may still possess useful information. "We are the inspectors from the Kriegslowen, hired by Heine. Who are you two?" Talio spoke with a deceptively friendly smile. It's best to ask these people these questions while they still had functioning jaws.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Thea Schuerer
Location: Oytenrand Woodlands​

While a bit disappointed that her trackers seemed to have caught nothing, though it seemed one of them wasn't even trying. It was what it was. Still, she had found nothing in her search, least nothing worth reporting. The search of the first kill was rather uneventful, well it would have been if Hyss didn't seem intent on angering the C rank. Thea was about to say something or to give the woman permission to do what she saw fit. However, Sen was showing remarkable restraint, Thea would not let that just go to waste.

"You heard her, move out."

With that they went to the second spot which proved more enlightening, it seemed that while carnivorous this was a bit out of hand for them and all the kills were fresh. It was then that Falco added in something that she had not taken into account. The water depth, or rather the lack thereof. "Hmm, I had thought this was a runoff rather than a water source. Still are we sure about the times on those kills? It took days for information to reach the guild then to send us out I assume, same with the attacks."

The Knight was a bit puzzled by this, she wasn't sure about what it all meant, as Sen mentioned what she said and other things started to add up, what it meant she couldn't say, as she voiced her thoughts out loud. "They are bigger than usual, one had marks that may be from a whip, the water source is a lot lower or slower than it should be, they are more vicious than usual maybe. They've been here for a few days at least but only started to kill now, the attempts aside..."

With that she sighed and shook her head, addressing the rest. "I have thoughts of my own, chiefly that the hand of man may have a role in this. Either way, I... No. My view of the code is that we serve the people and help our allies. We should not just stand by like vultures leaving a problem that brought our mission here in the hopes of earning more money down the road. Or hoping it just goes away. We have more questions than answers."

With that Thea turns her attention to Sen and nods. "It isn't what we signed up for, no, but it's part of being a part of the Kreigslowen. I aim to advance and cleaning up messes around the City won't get me there. Still, should any others wish to back out now, this is your last chance. Just turn and follow the stream back. I can't promise anything more than I will fight alongside you and do my best to see us back safe and sound. We venture into danger, likely more than this, be it man, beast or natural disaster.

Otherwise, let's move out, west it is."

Interactions: EmperorsChosen Thalia_Neko AnonyMouse Topless

 

[lunar_moth]

There’s a weight in Endymion’s head and it’s dragging him down, down, down like a sack of stones through still water and at the last moment he swings his head back up, stumbling a few steps back with the force of his momentum. Ah, familiar feeling. He is well acquainted with the feeling of his own body working against him; though the intensity at which the woman’s spell seeps into him causes a wave of sickness to roll through him.

That’s the thing about magic: whereas a potent herbal draught festers heavy in your stomach and makes you queasy, a spell tears through you. It’s sicker. Fills you up from the inside out, veins first, and pumps all through your system until you can practically taste it. It’s an infectious sort of feeling; incomparable to anything else, and for the first time in ages, he acnes for that familiar feeling like a rabid dog aches for water.

Endymion’s vision wobbles again and he with it. He opens his mouth to take a gasping breath; the smell of singed hair and burnt skin fills his nostrils, and then just as fast fades back into a sickly sweetness. He can feel a droplet of sweat roll down his back, because suddenly his mother’s cottage is stifling hot, and he knows too much about how it got that way.

Oh, when did he end up on his knees? That’s alright; there’s no use trying to keep things straight when he’s already this far gone. His thoughts run together like he’s an inky parchment that someone’s smeared their thumb across. His hands curl into fists against the ground and the damp forest soil clings underneath his nails.

Dirt. That can’t be right, mother always keeps the house spotless.

This close to the ground, he can’t smell burnt hair anymore. All he’s getting is soil, and sweet air, and the leftovers of petrichor that cling to the greenery.

…

…Ah!

He’s jolted back to the present moment all at once. Right— no time for feeling sorry about his childhood. He’s got the chance to do something important now, and to fumble it would feel unforgivable.

Slowly, he rises back upright, walking stick clutched white-knuckle in his favoured hand. There’s a way out of this that isn’t turning tail and running; he’s just got to figure it out. No use in being too proud and he’ll follow Zest to fetch Arien should things take a darker turn, but until then, there’s something that catches his attention first.

“Wait,” Endymion calls out to the pair of bandits. “What does your boss need to know from us? Ease off the sleep spell and maybe we can just come along voluntarily.” In and out, like a last-minute errand. Wouldn’t that just be a treat.

 

[Reinhardt]

??? & ???​

Location: Heine Warehouse 5​

The recruits' swift response to the assault on their senses earned the attention of the two elves. Seeing one of the recruits injure herself and another sniff a pungent scent just to regain composure helped them assess just exactly how they would deal with the obstacles that now lay before them. Although witnessing the staff-wielding lad flop to the ground was a rather pitiful sight, the recruits showed a strong front as Kriegslöwen in the face of danger.

Talio's words to the bird were unfortunately wasted, for as soon as one would take another look at the bird, one would see that it was already fast asleep, perched atop the Cressey's head. Contacting Arien was indeed a wise choice, but that can only occur if Zest was awake and if they were able to communicate with Zest what they needed. Waking the bird would be the first step in achieving this, but given their current circumstance, that may prove to be a little bit complicated to do.

The elves finally arrive face-to-face with their chosen opponents - the female against Lupa and Endymion, and the male against Talio and Cressey.

"Ah, so you are, indeed, with chicken-leg.", the male responded to Talio's words. "That makes this much simpler."

He brandished his sword and poised to strike. "As much as I'd like to talk...", the elf added. "...you're way too obvious with your intentions!"

Just as another wave of drowsiness struck the recruits, the male elf swiftly maneuvered away from the reach of Talio's exposed unarmed side and swung his blade to the other side, aiming to disarm and knock off the recruit's weapon. Using the same momentum, he would kick away any attempt of Cressey to strike at him before it could even come. He positioned himself between Talio and Cressey, but never truly showed his backside to them - a clear sign of an experienced fighter. His confidence was brimming brightly that it would not be illogical to conclude that he could take on both recruits at once.

The female elf gave a swift look at Lupa in silence. The woman that stood before her was clearly confident in her abilities to say that she would hold them off while her comrades would flee and get help. "Let's get this over quick, brother.", the elf called out to her companion. Without hesitation, she charged toward Lupa and swung her blade straight at her core, and it just so happened that it occurred at the same time the wave of drowsiness struck the recruits. A small knife came flying towards Endymion, from the same direction where the elven woman came - was it sleight of hand, or was she just that agile?

It appears that the odds are stacked against the recruits - but a challenge always incites growth.

Interaction/s: Cresslinde ( King Crimson ), Endymion ( lunar_moth ), Lupa ( Silver Wolf ), Talio ( TreasureSniper )

 

[Silver Wolf]

Location: Outside Warehouse 5
Interactions/Party: Reinhardt (Enemies), lunar_moth (Endymion), King Crimson (Cressey), TreasureSniper (Talio), ERode (Birb in Destress)


​

While she listened to the conversation her partners tried to set up, she already knew how this ended. Drawn swords and sleep spells, this wasn't the actions of people who could even conceive a misunderstanding. Thankfully, she took a little notice of the whispering behind her and took a glance at the bird. Something wasn't right, but she didn't have time to take it into full consideration as her attention snapped back. The moment the elves responded, she felt her heart sink a little.

Lori's in danger, Lori's in danger, Lori's in danger! This repeated in her mind and she felt like her teeth would crack with how stressed her jaw felt right now, but she didn't have time to think. No, they need backup, and she will be damned if they take anyone under her protection hostage again now. Zest was on Cressey's head, and Talio already had his weapon drawn. She cursed in her head.

"Whoever has Zest, GO!" was all she managed to say before the elves upped the spell and a flash of sleepiness took over.

Fighting her urge to collapse as a wave of renewed sleepiness was cast on her, she blinked and opened her eyes in time to see the female elf lunge. She noted the core movement and a ring broke the silence of the forest as Lupa parried the strike with her rapier which bent at the parry, but the goal of redirecting the strike was done. She then stepped back, waving the edge of her rapier to distract the elf into thinking whether she would strike or retreat and flipped the mental coin. Lupa immediately after backstepping would commit to a forward lunge after pulling back. Should the elf call the spacing feint, she would be in prime position to punish the lunge, but if she was briefly distracted and chose to follow up on the backstep, Lupa would be in prime position to punish a charge, provided it was not itself feint. This would in turn help her study her opponent. More likely to play safe or take risks? These all spoke to different kinds of fighters, the safer ones were easier to hold back, but they could play the long game. Riskier ones tended to suffer for their recklessness. What she really was hoping they aren't, is smart and experienced. Those were the ones to watch out for, and it would be a sign that something was probably much worse than a simple small time crew trying to make it big. It meant usually that they had a reputation, a life, something to maintain and would be studying her as she studied them, at that point it would be a game of wait, and with her bandages probably being exposed due to the kick she gave to her ankle at the start, she didn't like her odds.

Regardless, she was ready to see what her opponent would do next so she could begin began thinking about how could she even the odds further before she would have to respond to the inevitable counter-move to this lunge. She didn't even bother looking back, she just locked eyes with her opponent and did not let her shaking gaze drift for even a second. So far all her motions were fluid, but until the adrenaline she just gave herself wore off, she was on a ticking clock and she knew it. She just hoped the opponent didn't too.

 

[TreasureSniper]

"Bandits, why did it have to be bandits."
Location: Heine warehouse 6
Interactions: Reinhardt (Male Bandit), King Crimson (Cressey)​

The new wave of drowsiness hit its mark, temporarily debilitating Talio's senses. His eyes were heavy, his vision becoming blurrier than usual, the last thing he could make out was the silhouette of the bandit approaching him at great speeds, prompting him instinctively press the gas trigger on his blade, spraying the area right infront of the attacker with a poisonous vapor. And in the next second, he reluctantly shut his eyes despite still being mostly awake, the sleeping spell was powerful one, to think these bandits would be smart enough to such tactics, truly a dark day for this merchant. He felt his hold on his blade loosened, giving the his opponent an opportunity to perform a disarming strike. The blade flew of his hand, its edge grazing pass his cheek, giving him just enough pain to stimulate an adrenaline rush.

His eyes were wide open from the pain, and with that a momentarily renewed sense of vigor. "No...not like this not to some filthy bandit." Talio, in response to having himself disarmed, without delay, immediately struck back with his own disarming strike not wanting the opponent to have a chance to back off, a strike that was three times the speed of a normal human. Gripping the remaining sword on his hip, he unshackled his sheathed blade from his belt and struck with a powerful upward strike, seeking strike the opponents arm with great blunt force trauma, enough to snap person's arm bone upon impact. Even if the weapon were to only strike his opponents blade, the sheer force of the attack would likely forcefully rip the weapon off his hands, in a similar way he was disarmed from before. "Bandit scum." he mentally yelled as he made full use of the adrenaline surge to perform an immediate follow up.

From an upwards strike, he would perform his signature helm breaker strike. Even though he using a sheathed blade, the blunt force power of his strike was not to be underestimated. Regardless if the previous attack had struck, Talio performed a downwards strike, aimed at the shoulder of his opponent's sword arm, wanting to maim the fiend to prevent any further attacks or at least greatly reduce their effectiveness. After all, even for a skilled sword's man, it would be difficult to dodge such an attack at this range without leaving themselves upon for another opponent to strike.

To this end, he was hoping this would provide Cressey with an ample opportunity to perform her own strike. Though he has personally fought using a spear, based on the sales pitch of other merchant that do sell such a weapon, would provide their user a exceptional range advantage. Regardless of what happened, he knew that at this point has manatech arm was at the edge of overheating, meaning that it good for one more attack. And how he would use this attack might be a deciding factor of whether they would walk away from this encounter in one piece. Though the opponent would have no way of knowing this, unless he too was privy to how his manatech arm functioned. In fact, from his perspective, it would look like his left arm was in fact his dominant, even though that is far from the truth.

Right after finish his two strikes, Talio would take a few steps back, opening the vial of holzekt guts once more to get another whiff, just to keep himself mostly awake before refocusing towards his enemy with a defensive stance. Bracing himself for any possible retaliation.

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Location: Oyten
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As they looked over the beast, there were a few things said that stood out to Lucia, things she would focus on over Hysydice's lackluster attempt to reconcile with Sen. Perhaps the Caskarieth would need to teach her to hone her tongue. Sure, the others were less than impressed than her handling of the belligerent oafs, yet Lucia wasn't exactly trying to be their friends. She knew how to play nice, she just—really did not want to with those people.

Regardless, as they arrived to the next site, Lucia glanced to Falco, then to Sen as she spoke. "You said there was greenery in the other's maw? Are they not carnivorous predators?" The other bit of information was that the elder elf noted the welts were from lashes.

She wasn't sure what to make of the greenery, but any oddity that accompanied these things had to point to something. Were they captive creatures and released? Or broke out, perhaps. Lucia did not know, though she rolled her eyes at Sen's comments inferring "overkill".

"I do believe you smashed at least one of the things with that maul of yours," Lucia replied as she kneeled down next to the deceased animal, getting a bit of her tongue back clearly. Though, while dry in tone, it was still more playful than Hysydice's attempt at conversation.

As Thea spoke and listed their findings, Lucia nodded in concurrence. "The hand of man certainly has a role in this, though whether this was a mistake, unseen consequence, or someone's intention remains to be proven," She stated as she stood to her full height once more. "I intend on seeing this through, now more than ever."

@Team A

 

[Topless]

Location: Oyten

Sakura had kept herself quiet throughout the whole investigation. She stick to the shadows and hopped of from tree branch to tree branch as she went along with the group. From the clearing, to the river and then all back to the corpse, Sakura looked down as the rest have taken a very closer look. She had listened to everything that the group have said in their observations.

Sen called to head for the west, which Thea heeded by ordering her comrades to head on over. Sakura acknowledged, said nothing further.

AnonyMouse Reinhardt RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Huntertabbysandshark3 Thalia_Neko
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[Reinhardt]

???​

Location: Heine Warehouse 6(?)​

After some time, the young beastfolk would finally regain their consciousness - only to find herself in some kind of holding cell, stripped of her equipment along with her Arcanizer. Her arms and legs were restrained by steel shackles that carried a faint, white glow at their center. Several more cells like it, albeit empty, could be seen on the opposite side of the corridor that was just outside the beastfolk's reach. Several cheap Manatech lanterns were mounted onto the walls, with a countable few already flickering, which provided dim illumination to the entire area.

Just outside the beastfolk's cell stood the woman bearing red eyes, the very same one that stopped Lori in her tracks. Her presence remained to be intimidating, but it felt a little more relaxed that earlier. The woman pulled out a wooden stool and sat on it, though her gaze wasn't entirely set on the beastfolk it was rather clear she was paying attention.

"Finally waking up?, the woman said. "So, kid, why were you snooping around this place?"

Interaction/s: Lori ( ERode )

 

[ERode]

Location: Heine Warehouse 6
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Her head felt heavy but her head felt light as well. It was a weird feeling, but it was that bad. Her jaw was alright, she could still feel her hair tickling her ankles, and outside of her head, nothing else throbbed in too painful a matter. And if she could breathe in that damp air, if she could feel hard stone rub against her knees and ribs, then she was fine. Alive.

Three, two, one.

Lori opened her eyes and found herself in jail. Shackles, glowing shackles, bound her ankles and her wrists and she moved them a bit, the links of chain snaking against the ground. It wasn't too short, so she took it as her opportunity to hop up onto her feet instead, talons scraping against the hard ground once again, before twisting her body while reaching up as high as she could. Ah, a stretch after a nap always felt good! Even better to work out the kinks in her body from snoring away in such an awkward position! She gave her head a bit of a shake once more, then frowned slightly. Made sense that her pocketwatch was gone (though that sucked!) but to think they'd take away all her little accessories too!

...well, no point in getting mad at this either. She was still alive and clothed, so worst case scenario they just leave her here to starve to death.

"Mm, morning!" Lori chirped, plopping back down onto her butt as the red-eyed woman spoke. "You look too pretty to be a demon! But you have red eyes...well, I guess I have red eyes too. Anyways!" The birdfolk girl clapped her hands together, then separated them and pointed her thumbs towards herself. "I'm not a kid, I'm Lori Delivery, same day rates no matter the days! Was hired by Mr Hedwig Heine to check if his warehouses were still in good shape and everything, but well, between this and the bugs in the other one, it looks like a lot happened since the last time he's got them checked. Who are you? Should I call you the Redeye Demon? Lieutenant? Or can we be on a first name basis?"

She cocked her head to the side, looking right at the nearly-glamorously gorgeous lady. How much did she have to eat to start looking like that?