[IC] A Guild Adventure: An RP with Monster Girls! (ENDED)

[13org]

Freyr

"Hey don't worry about it. If I didn't get people to ogle at me, I'd be a terrible Siren." The girl said.

A siren... That explained a lot of things. He had never seen one himself, but he heard tales about those beings. If he said that he wasn't surprised, he would be lying. Her charm was truly intoxicating. Maybe the stories about sirens

As they walked, Freyr heard Bast talking with the siren, and Ryla explaining to her how the guild was formed.
He had never thought about it before, but who exactly was that Bartholomew guy? The members he gathered were very... very different. Both on species and personalities. And yet, that man was able to gather them all. Why...?

Freyr spent most of the time lost in his own thoughts. Bast was speaking with the siren, Haley, as she said a while ago, Ryla was also talking with the siren. The only one that was quiet was him.

"Well, you've got business on hand so maybe we can do that later. Come on, I'll take you to Rachelle Gardner." Haley said, catching his attention.

"Haley, when the mission is over, I would enjoy talking with you. I heard some stories about Sirens, but I've never saw one myself. I am very curious about you." He said, smiling awkwardly. He was rather embarrassed, but he had never saw a siren face to face, so it was only natural for him being curious.

A few minutes later, Haley pointed to a gloomy woman wearing some expensive looking clothes, saying that she was Rochelle, the very woman they were sent there to help.
She had a noble aura to her, but on her face, Freyr could see only sadness. He never had a loved one, so he couldn't know exactly how she was feeling, but her extreme sadness was evident.

"She must really love her husband..." he said, looking to the woman.

---

---

Bast Ragoczy

"Name's Haley, mister. Haley Wellington." the siren girl said, answering him.

"Haley... A beautiful name, miss. I'm glad to meet someone so willing to help a group of weird strangers." He said, taking off his hat to her.

Bast didn't say that only to sound polite. He was indeed surprised that someone gave them directions so promptly. After all, they weren't exactly the most normal group. A half ogre, a Viera and a gentleman... He thought that he would have to use his charm more, but Haley's willingness to help surprised him.

"That's Rachel. I'd bet my feathers her husband was taken by some monster in that forest." The Siren said. "But she isn't giving up so you get the lucky role of getting paid for saying the obvious."

"Losing a loved one can be a very hard to one's emotions." Bast said, looking to the woman. She was a fine lady, wearing beautiful noble clothes, but her sadness was evident even from a distance.

"Let me try to talk to her, ok? I believe a delicate approach will have a better result." he said, looking to the group. He knew a lot of things. Losing someone dear to him was unfortunately, something he also knew. But that was only one story amongst a million other stories that made him the mysterious man he was today.

"Miss Rochele, do you have one moment?" he asked with a gentle voice, taking off his hat in a polite greeting.
"Losing a loved one is a very painful experience, but you must be strong for him, ok?" he said, gently touching her hands, with kind eyes.
"We came here to aid you. We are from the guild." he said, once more, pointing to the rest of the group.
"I promise you we will give you an answer about your husband's whereabouts." He said, offering his hand for her to stand up.

@Lucius Cypher @PaulHaynek

[Lady Selune]

At the reveal that he was, indeed a cannibal, Syszi moved fast. Luckily, Mark moved faster, and by the time she had her blade pressed to where his throat should have been, he was already trussed up with water, some distance away. "Bloody overpowered enchanted weapon..." She grumbled to herself, but was glad. Fighting an actually insane individual was risky, even for a seasoned fighter like her, because they could sometimes keep going beyond what you thought was physically possible. She had heard tales of some people so maddened that they fought through the loss of limbs and horrible pain, with no chemicals in their system at all.

Syszi realised what Mark was doing immediately, and didn't like it. If you wanted to be married to a mamono, you damn well were married. You didn't pretend to be distant from her when it suited you. "Oh? Extra rations? There are some rations I'd just love to get my hands on a few more times tonight..." She laughed, looking at him with... Well, lust was certainly the right word for what was in her eyes "Husband"

Still, things to be done... Maybe. "What do we do now exactly?"

[The Irish Tree]

"...R-Really?" Magnus questioned once the man left, genuinely astonished that that...worked. Huh. Guess he had a really good message! Feeling confidence swelling in his chest, he left the alleyway and excitedly looked at his first quest's earnings in his hands like they were a shining priceless treasure. All things considered for a man raised on labyrinth mushrooms and wheat, this was practically a fortune in his hands and as such, he'd want to spend it wisely. Or...maybe not at all. After all, maybe he'd want to buy something super expensive like a house...or a boat. But who'd want to believe that a Minotaur would ride a boat?

Regardless, the gargantuan man chose not to get careless and stored his reward inside of his loincloth. Which surprisingly had pockets. Feeling an immense sense of pride and gratitude he sought out the friendly priest to report that the man went home right away, and sought to poke around town and ask about the location of said priest. If he'd find him, he'd thank him for choosing the Guild for this job, and also explain that he was able to end it peacefully. If not, then...he'd buy some chairs. Like, a whole lot of chairs for the guild and carry them back on his back. Being freakishly strong was amazing sometimes.

[PaulHaynek]

Exotic Appetites
~@BCTheEntity, @Lady Selune (SZI), @Kafka Komedy (TUE)~

"The hell d'ya think you're doing?!" The cannibal yelled, struggling against the water tendrils holding him. "You monsters eat humans right?! The hell am I doin' wrong?! And I'm by myself! I'm a man who depends on no one!"

Meanwhile, the merchant person violently freed himself from Tue's grasp and quickly grabbed the cannibal's knife, aiming it at... practically everyone. "What the hell's happening?! Who are you guys?! TELL ME!" He yelled, clearly scared and panicking as well as confused as to why his captors were suddenly onto the cannibal farmer.

---

Absence Makes The Heart Go Yonder
~@Lucius Cypher, @13org (FYR)~

"Haley, when the mission is over, I would enjoy talking with you. I heard some stories about Sirens, but I've never saw one myself. I am very curious about you."

Freyr

"Sure F...Freyr, right? Just hit me with any question you have." Haley replied.

The Siren watched Bast talk to Rachelle about your request and had a skeptical look on her face. "Are you guys really going to look for the husband? I mean, I'm not stopping you but you may be wasting your time. Men in that forest get abducted all the time and you may never find him."

~@13org (BST)~

"Miss Rochele, do you have one moment? Losing a loved one is a very painful experience, but you must be strong for him, ok? We came here to aid you. We are from the guild. I promise you we will give you an answer about your husband's whereabouts."

Bast Ragoczy

"Oh... oh." Rachelle responded before taking your hand, getting up from the bench to properly talk to you. "Thank you for coming. I shall tell you everything I know."

"He disappeared a couple of days ago." The woman began explaining. "I have requested the local guard to look for my husband and while they did say they would look for him, I have never seen them exert any effort doing so." She glanced aside. "I think they believe that my husband has been taken by a monster. I can't believe they would fall easily to rumors and resign my husband's fate to the unknown."

"He said he would just gather herbs as a request from the local apothecary. Then off to the woods he went." Rachelle continued. "He has a fair skin, black eyes and spiky, black hair." She described her husband. "He should be wearing some expensive clothes. After all, I have hired the most talented tailors in this region to have them made." She added. "He spent his fortune to buy us a pair of gold rings with a beautiful sapphire rock embedded on them. Here's mine." Rachelle showed you the aforementioned ring, worn on her ring finger of the right hand.

"Please. Please find my husband. My heart cries out for him."

---

~@The Irish Tree~

Your search for the priest man yielded you no results with people pointing you to the church structure in Boreal Port for probable answers. Upon closer inspection, you find out it really was a church that belonged to the Order. At least it used to belong to the Order. Despite the religious imagery and symbols embedded on the structure, a woman wearing saintly-looking clothes moved a broom side to side just outside the church.

However, her clothes were dark and purple in color. You see a purple tail extending from her backside wrapped in chains and her ears were pointed. It was obvious this woman was not human but her presence in the church's vicinity was quite ironic. Or fitting, depending on the viewpoint.

"Priest?" The woman repeated, pondering the question. "There haven't been priests here since the Order garrison here sacked this port and left. Perhaps he just looked like a priest?" She gave an answer. "Anyway, if you want some chairs, you can just take some from the abandoned homes for free. No one's using them anyway."

---

~@Lady Selune (JEZ), @Lunar~

Before Jezamine could reply to Neil, a strange-looking Elf appeared.

To Nimb, what greeted her was a building old and dilapidated and ready to fall down at any second but apparently not abandoned since she could see a brown-haired boy and a woman in dark robes on the building's roof. It appeared that there was no one else there.

"Oh, hello!" The boy greeted Nimb. "Are you- Are you also invited here by Bart?" He asked. "If so, then... you're a little late to the party but hey, better late than never, right?"

[Lady Selune]

Ok, now Syszi was pissed. Her tail flame, normally a dull glow, roared up, and she stormed over to where the cannibal was held, pressing her blade to his throat for real. "We don't eat humans, and the true monster here is a cannibal like you. We're taking you under arrest by the Order of Andrale where you will be tried, and hopefully hung." She scowled at the man. "Regardless of if you are by yourself or with others, you still have to obey the laws put forth by others in this realm, which you are in clear disregard of." She pressed the tip of her blade just above his collarbone, the tiniest bead of blood building up around it, and she forced him down to the ground, the tentacles of water bending down as she pressed.

When she had done with that, she turned back to the man whom they had dragged back to the farmer, the salamander sheathing her blade. When had she become so strict and serious? She supposed being married to a knight of The Order might have done it, but she felt powerful... Almost in her element again. This was a situation she could handle, unlike when Mark prattled on about obscure laws that seemed absurd to follow. When she saw that the man was armed, she rolled her eyes and stepped forward. When he clumsily swung at her, she let the blade be directed off of the scales around her hand, before twisting the knife out of his hands and tossing it into the underbrush.

"Mark, please explain to our two guests exactly what we're doing, or the next thing I twist is someone's neck."

---

Jezamine sighed and nodded. "Yeah, we're late. Which was a shame, because there looked to be a lot of... Interesting folks in the guild, I have to say." She stopped for a moment, before hovering down, brushing off her dress. "My apologies. I'm Jezamine, a priestess of the Fallen God. It's nice to see new faces, as it always is." She offered her hand out- to kiss or to shake wasn't clear.

[BCTheEntity]

Marxello Catchanale

'Yeah okay, sure, great job just ruining the... yeah okay.' Mark had half a mind to yell at Syszi for not going along with his plan, deliberately or so it seemed, and in particular mentioning Andrale by name, of all things, but for what the cannibal's words had done to her, she was now plenty angry for the both of them, and he didn't need that turned against him. For now, he did need to consider the present state of affairs, including calming down a man who his ally and... his new, more platonic ally had unwisely taken hostage.

'First of all, sir,' he politely informed the merchant, his voice as soothing as he could get it, 'I need you to know that we mean you no harm. The knife isn't necessary. Clearly, you were defending yourself when you broke this man's leg, and you will not be considered at fault for it. I will make sure of that.' Even if it means not telling anybody it happened, he concluded silently.

'As for what my- hem partner. Has stated, we have been sent to investigate disappearances that have been happening around this area, and clearly...' He gestured to the cannibal, no words needed to describe their success. 'Hopefully, he's telling the truth about being "a man who depends on noone", and the disappearances will stop as a result. Other than that, our mission is done; I am obliged to escort you to Ambran, since he needs to be transported there and you may be needed for the purposes of acting as witness to this man's crimes, but otherwise, you'll be free to go. I can brief you on the details as we travel. Is that alright, sir?'

[13org]

Freyr

"Sure F...Freyr, right? Just hit me with any question you have." the siren replied.

"Thank you." Freyr said, looking to her with a smile.
He was a little worried in sounding a bit rude or weird due to his curiosity, but Haley's favorable answer made him feel better.

Before he could talk again, he was interrupted by Bast's delicate words, and Rochelle starting to talk.
"Oop, it would be better if we let the questions for later..." he exclaimed, as Rochelle started talking.
It would be better to pay attention.

Fair skin, spiky hair, expensive clothes, went to the forest to gather herbs for the local apothecary... right. It shouldn't be too hard to find him in a forest.

"I don't know if it'll be of any help, but we vieras have incredibly sharp senses. Especially if we are in a forest. We are also accomplished hunters and trackers. I think I would be able to at least find some clues about him." Freyr said, looking to Rochelle.

---

---

Bast Ragoczy

"Hm... I see... Someone like you described should stand out like a sore thumb in the middle of a forest." Bast said, looking to her.

"Well... I'm not the one to talk about it, but what can I say? A gentleman must always look good, am I right?" he said, smiling.
He was sure they would be able to find something. Even if it was only pieces of his expensive cloth, but it was too early to think about that, he could still be alive.

"Are you guys really going to look for the husband? I mean, I'm not stopping you but you may be wasting your time. Men in that forest get abducted all the time and you may never find him." Haley replied, with a skeptical look on her face.

"That may be true, my adorable Haley, but we still need to offer Miss Rochelle an answer." he said, looking to Haley.
"It doesn't matter if its good or bad, but I don't think she will be able to continue with her life without knowing if her husband is alive or dead." he said, with a serious tone.

[The Irish Tree]

Huh. No...priests? Magnus was frankly confused, but figured that maybe he wasn't actually a resident of this port and instead had traveled here...but wait, then how would he know his friend was... Magnus' head was starting to overflow a bit with the possibilities of what-ifs about the priest, but he made sure not to forget his gratitude to the nice purple snake woman. "I see...t-thank you for your time then Miss." he said, bowing respectfully while taking great care not to bonk her with his horns before leaving to go and find some chairs.

"That lady was right...there's so many chairs in these!" Magnus thought excitedly as he fumbled around in an abandoned house on his own, before giving one of the chairs a good 'ol sit test. Creaky, and barely able to hold his weight...must mean its just fine for normal people. Somewhat dissapointed that his girth wouldn't hold in these chairs, he figured that these would have to do for now...free was better than nothing by a long shot, especially if it meant he could at least earn some favor with everyone else. It was a lot easier to talk to people if they liked you, after all. So, gathering up a veritable mountain of twenty some chairs, Magnus made off like some kind of mad Chair Bandit as he started his journey back to the guild, holding eight bundled chairs a piece in his arms, and four dangling off his horns. It was goofy, but it wasn't like he wanted to spend the money to hire a ride back. Besides, Minotaurs had stamina to spare. With a small smile present on his face underneath his helmet, the young Minotaur felt pride in having completed his first job. Now he was one step closer to...well...not being a weenie.

[PaulHaynek]

Exotic Appetites
~@BCTheEntity, @Lady Selune (SZI), @Kafka Komedy (TUE)~

'...I am obliged to escort you to Ambran, since he needs to be transported there and you may be needed for the purposes of acting as witness to this man's crimes, but otherwise, you'll be free to go. I can brief you on the details as we travel. Is that alright, sir?'

Marxello Catchanale

"Yeah, yeah, sure." The merchant person replied. ""It's funny, isn't it? Aren't monsters supposed to be the ones eating humans?" He remarked.

Once the cannibal was properly bound, the four of you head back to Ambran. The merchant person preferred not to talk so any conversation to be had was only between you three.

On the way, however, the merchant person suddenly stopped, crouched and pointed to something. "Guys, look!" He said quietly. He pointed to a column of unmonsterized Dwarves moving towards Ambran several meters away from the main path. They did not look like an army though, just a really large group. They were armed sure but they wore more conspicuous clothing rather than the shiny armor the Dwarves were known for.

Some of the Dwarves took regular glances at their surroundings since they were deep in enemy territory after all. Fortunately for you, you were at the peak of a pretty high hill, hiding you from the Dwarven contingent. Should you go over the hill though, you will definitely be spotted.

"Dwarves. What do we do?"

---

Absence Makes The Heart Go Yonder
~@Lucius Cypher, @13org (FYR & BST)~

"I don't know if it'll be of any help, but we vieras have incredibly sharp senses. Especially if we are in a forest. We are also accomplished hunters and trackers. I think I would be able to at least find some clues about him."

Freyr

"Oh, oh thank you." Rachelle replied. "Please... just find my husband."

"That may be true, my adorable Haley, but we still need to offer Miss Rochelle an answer. It doesn't matter if its good or bad, but I don't think she will be able to continue with her life without knowing if her husband is alive or dead."

Bast Ragoczy

"All right then." Haley shrugged. "Hey, mind if I tag along? I wanna see how this one plays out."

"But before that, I'm... I'm curious..." Haley took a more serious tone. "If Mr. Gardner was indeed taken by a monster and is now living with her, are you going to break them apart?" She asked. "Don't worry, I'm not going to judge you for whatever you will do. I myself am a little... eeeh on the matter."

---

~@The Irish Tree~

As you trip back to the guildhouse with an unsusual amount of chairs on you, the trot of hooves reach your ears. It belonged to a carriage that came up behind you with a familiar figure driving it. A young-ish man with red-orange hair that reached down to his neck and fair complexion wearing a brown coat over his clothes. "Oh! Magnus? You're Magnus right?" The person in question was none other than Bartholomew Barker, the man who invited you to join the fledgling guild. "Are you on your way to the guild? Toss those chairs to the back and hop on!"

And with that, you were on your way to the guildhouse with more convenient conditions. The carriage Bart was driving appeared to have lots of things covered by a white sheet. "I was out gathering more requests for our guild to do. I found four and they seem to pay well." He said.

"So, have you just arrived or have you been to the guild?" Bart asked. "And what's with those chairs? What were you doing out here?"

[BCTheEntity]

Marxello Catchanale

Rebinding the cannibal's hands and feet with rock rather than ice was simple enough. Far harder was convincing his two allies to let him escort the merchant and the prisoner to Ambran alone. He'd pointed out, of course, that if any members of the Order saw him with them, he'd wind up being considered a traitor at best. Apparently, that hadn't dissuaded them one bit. He had explained to the merchant (however little response he gave) that first of all, he wasn't a traitor to the Order, and secondly, he had his ways of ensuring these two monsters remained as docile as possible, even if they were maneaters, which they weren't, but it was still best that he didn't say anything about his being with the monsters to the authorities, as they wouldn't understand the circumstances he was in. That, however, would be meaningless if he couldn't get Syszi and Tue to go back to the guildhouse before they reached Ambran.

But of course, that would also be meaningless if these dwarves killed them all. He was certainly powerful, and he knew for a fact that Syszi was too, but a small army was a bit beyond what he knew they could handle, especially considering they were crossbow-armed, giving them great range compared to anyone else there. Not to mention Tue, who might be anywhere from incredible to utterly useless in a fight. It was a shame that the dwarves felt the need to fight the Order, when their kind were so few nowadays... at least, the unmonsterised tribes.

'Well, this is a bit of an issue. I imagine it'd be best to stay put until the dwarves pass for now,' he suggested to the rest of the group, 'but if they happen to be headed to Ambran as an invasion force, I suppose we'll want to follow on after and ensure the city isn't overrun. Non-fighters excepted, of course,' he added, more for the merchant's benefit than anyone else's.

[The Irish Tree]

"M-Mr. Bart!? Magnus exclaimed, surprised to see him on the way back. And in a carriage...he kinda seemed more of a walking kind of guy. A bit stunned to see his boss here, Magnus didn't even begin to question his orders to jump in and put his chairs in the back. It was nice to not have to walk, and his feet were a bit sore...sun was hot out today too, so his hooves were like hot coals to walk on. Even if the port was close to the sea, the coastal winds could only go so far...so being able to take a breather like this was a relief.

"More jobs? That's great!" Magnus said excitedly, before remembering that he'd succeeded in his first job and giddily pulling his reward money out of his pocket, looking like an enthusiastic child. "I did the job for our mystery client and without having to hurt anyone either! Kinda strange though...he was dressed as a priest but everyone I asked said the church hadn't been around for a long while...and he kinda looked like Neil. Do you know him? Oh! And a nice lady told me where I could find chairs for free in some of the abandoned houses..I-I figured that when everyone comes back tired from their jobs they'd like a place to sit. No tables...but maybe next time I can bring some too!" the minotaur explained, before taking a minute to catch his breath. THis feeling of accomplishment, of doing something super helpful...was this what it was like to be an adventurer?

If so, he could get used to it. With his explanation through, Magnus could only wait for an answer as he put his money back in his pocket, just kind of admiring the last hint of coastal wind before they'd be too far to feel it anymore. "...Speaking of, Mr. Bart, you invited Neil too, right? I-I don't mean to be rude, he's really nice, but...I can see why Mr. Marxello was invited, being a hero and all, but why Neil? I-I really shouldn't ask...Sorry."

[PaulHaynek]

~@BCTheEntity, @Lady Selune (SZI), @Kafka Komedy (TUE & BUN)~

'Well, this is a bit of an issue. I imagine it'd be best to stay put until the dwarves pass for now, but if they happen to be headed to Ambran as an invasion force, I suppose we'll want to follow on after and ensure the city isn't overrun. Non-fighters excepted, of course,'

Marxello Catchanale

"Okay, I guess we can do that."

The four of you stealthily trailed the Dwarves until you were close to Ambran. The group of Dwarves then made a sharp turn to avoid Ambran and headed off to the distance. The hills have ended and so you could no longer follow without being spotted. The Dwarves then promptly disappear from sight. "Well that could've been worse." The merchant remarked. "The Sunless Roads truly are a magnificent work of the Dwarves for them to penetrate across Order territory and into monster lands."

"I guess there's nothing stopping us from reaching Ambran now." The group entered Ambran and the merchant took the initiative to explain to the town guard what had transpired. The guards were grateful to you and handed you the reward with a little extra added for capturing the culprit alive.

Your mission has ended. You are free to head home if you wish but you could also explore Ambran for a little bit.

---

~@The Irish Tree~

"I did the job for our mystery client and without having to hurt anyone either! Kinda strange though...he was dressed as a priest but everyone I asked said the church hadn't been around for a long while...and he kinda looked like Neil. Do you know him? Oh! And a nice lady told me where I could find chairs for free in some of the abandoned houses..I-I figured that when everyone comes back tired from their jobs they'd like a place to sit. No tables...but maybe next time I can bring some too!"

Magnus Eisenheoff

"So that's why you had those chairs." Bart said. "You shouldn't have, Magnus. I already have some camping equipment with me so we'd have a place to sleep for the night. But hey, at least we don't have to worry about chairs once we repair the guild house."

"And a priest that looked like Neil? Well... I don't know anything about that. That's pretty weird. Maybe they're related?"

"...Speaking of, Mr. Bart, you invited Neil too, right? I-I don't mean to be rude, he's really nice, but...I can see why Mr. Marxello was invited, being a hero and all, but why Neil? I-I really shouldn't ask...Sorry."

Magnus Eisenheoff

"Oh, you think he has no use to the guild?" Bart guessed what you were implying. "Heh, probably if you don't count an extra pair of hands as being useful." He gave a surprising answer. "If you're really wondering why then it's the same reason why I invited an Order Hero despite the presence of monsters." He continued with a smile on his face.

------

~@The Irish Tree, @Lady Selune (JEZ)~

Twilight had fallen when Magnus and Bart reached the guild house where they saw Jezamine and Neil looking at the ground with the latter holding a piece of metal. "Hey Neil! I'm back with Magnus!"

Neil replied before anyone. "Oh Bart, you're back! The other guild members arrived before you did and I had them accomplish the missions just to kill time waiting for you." He said. "Jezamine and I mapped out the guild in the meantime."

"Yeah, sorry for disappearing for a while. I was out gathering stuff and requests. I admit, it took a little bit longer than it should." Bart replied, scratching the back of his head. "Anyway, we should set up a fire soon. It gets cold at night. Now then, who wants to gather some firewood while I set up the camps?"

"I'll go." Neil volunteered. "Anybody wanna come with me?"

[Lady Selune]

"That was weird, but fairly easy all things considered." Syszi nodded, handing the cash to Mark. Not that she trusted her husband any more with the money than she did herself, it was just that she hadn't taken her carrying pack and had nothig to put the sack in. "The dwarves could have gone a lot worse I must say. The unmonsterised ones... Not fun to go against." She shook her head. Even mamono dwarves were damned annoying to fight against, what with a neverending supply of tricks, traps and weapons up their sleeves, but ones that weren't sex crazed... She shuddered a little bit.

"I got nothing for what I want to do here. If you guys want to stick around, I'll find the blacksmith and give my blade a quick polish, but otherwise I'm good." She shrugged. Mamono didn't need much, and they had travel rations. Maybe a mug of something strong as a reward, sure, but she was fine without.

---

Jezamine had been bored the entire day, what with Neil actually being serious about what he was doing, but when the others came back and Neil volunteered to gather firewood, she knew she had a chance to spread the word properly. "Sure," she said with a smile, dusting off her clothes and floating up a little bit.

"I'm game for a..." she inwardly giggled, "wood hunt."

[BCTheEntity]

Marxello Catchanale

Whilst he'd still done what he could to convince Syszi and Tue to return back as they snuck around, he had once again failed. At the very least, this wasn't a heavily Order-aligned city... which wasn't particularly soothing for him, for if even one Order Knight saw him, word would spread to the more conservative nations like wildfire, and that would utterly end any credibility he had in those regions. Not to mention the reaction any monster would have upon sighting him, though he wouldn't exactly consider himself their allies either. That said, the extra money they received for bringing the cannibal in alive was quite nice. And as for exploring Ambran...

'I think I'll head back,' Mark decided. 'I don't have any good reason to wander round the city, myself. If you want your blade looked at, though, Syszi, then don't let me stop you.' He handed a few of the coins he'd been given back to his partner, hopefully more than enough to let her get her sword examined alongside any other expenditures she wanted to make. And then, if neither of the two monsters wanted to return, he'd go back alone if necessary. Syszi could definitely take care of herself; Tue... Tue would probably be fine if she stuck with Syszi.

[13org]

Freyr

Freyr would like Haley's company, but one thing she asked made him think.
What if miss Rochelle's husband ran away with a monster girl? Would they have the right to bring him back? What could they do? Would they lie to Rochelle? They had to give her an answer...
Questions flooded his mind. For himself, he had never fell in love before, so he wouldn't know how it felt. Did they really have the right to deny his happiness? But if that was true, his happiness would cost Rochelle's happiness...

"I... don't know..." he said, looking to Haley.
"Sure, you can come with us... In fact, I would be happy to have you accompanying us. But regarding the husband... Do we really have the right to put ourselves between his happiness? But at the same time, that would cost her happiness..." he said, thinking hard about that.
"I'm not that good with such things such as love... So I may not be the best one to talk about that..." he said, looking to the group.

---

Bast Ragoczy

"Of course miss Haley. The more the merrier, am I right?" Bast said when she asked if she could tag along.
"That is indeed an interesting question, my dear Haley." he said, walking away from Rochelle with a small bow.
"But if its indeed the case... She doesn't need to know about it, correct?" he said with a conspiratory smile.
"If he is indeed dead, Rochelle will have to get over it. Time will heal her wounds and she will move on with her life. It will take some time, but she will do it. After all, the thought of her husband being dead is more... comfortable, and easier to accept than the fact that he left her for someone else." he said, to Frey and Haley.

"Sometimes, lies can be better than the truth. Sometimes, the truth is best to keep hidden." he said, with a mysterious expression.
"After all, 'The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of...' That is exactly what it makes so fickle and elusive... But with practice and time, manipulating it becomes rather easy..." he said, ready to go to the forest.

[The Irish Tree]

In retrospect, Magnus felt a bit ashamed to have asked that. He didn't...think he meant to say that Neil was useless...just...he seemed so...normal. Hanging his head in shame, Magnus felt a tinge of red come to his cheeks. He really wished that he could take that back. Rather than looking t Neil as a potential injury waiting to happen, Magnus inwardly felt that he should instead see it that he was a Hero-In-The-Making! After all, he was...nice...and heroes were nice too! He thought at least. That and Bart even said he invited him for the same reason as Marxello.

Once they arrived in the hall, Magnus unloaded his chairs and started to arrange them where it was about four in a circle with each other, as if there was a table for them to sit by. At hearing the prospect of going to gather firewood, Magnus smiled. "I can go too! That way we can get a ton...maybe even some spare wood for making tables if I chop down a few trees."

[PaulHaynek]

Absence Makes The Heart Go Yonder
~@13org (FYR & BST)~

"Sometimes, lies can be better than the truth. Sometimes, the truth is best to keep hidden. After all, 'The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of...' That is exactly what it makes so fickle and elusive... But with practice and time, manipulating it becomes rather easy..."

Bast Ragoczy

"Hmmm... I see." Haley was intrigued by your answer. "Well, thanks for answering me and thanks for letting me come."

The sun had begun to set when you reached the boundary of the forest. "Here we are, Lozagon Forest." Haley said as she gazed upon the wall of trees and vegetation that stood before you. "This place is... really, really large so I suggest we split up to find him faster. If you know any tricks about finding people, we could certainly use that. Also, be careful of any monsters in there. Single monsters if you know what I mean." The Siren explained.

"Some of us should go north while the others head south."

-------

To those heading north

"Alright, let's go."

Haley had decided to come with you to search the northern parts of Lozagon Forest. The two of you searched for a moment before happening a pond with a male who was just placing a lid on a basket. He immediately noticed you.

"Oh, hey there. What're you people doing here?" The man was wearing very simple clothes. He had fair skin, black eyes and spiky, black hair. "Night's about to set in so I suggest you accomplish it as quickly as possible. Things get hard to do at night." He said. "I'll help if I can. So long as it's nothing complicated of course."

"You..." Haley remembered a certain description. "...Are you Rachelle Gardner's husband?"

The man's face grimmed. "Wh... Who are you? H... How do you know her?"

Haley faced you and extended a wing towards the man, letting you take things from here.

To those heading south

You search for an hour or two in the southern parts of Lozagon Forest. You have yet to encounter a monster of any sort and that is probably for the best. However, as you search further south you begin to hear muffled screams. They were faint but they were definitely someone's screams. You immediately pinpoint the general direction.

Should you head to the screaming, you would find quite the scene: You spot two men. One of them had simple black clothes on but had fair skin and had a shaved head with a knife in hand while the other was taller, larger and clad in armor that likely indicated that he was not a nice person. Upon closer look, you spot a third person who was tied to a tree and appeared to be a prisoner by the other two. This one's clothes were tattered and he had numerous cuts and wounds. A white but bloodied rag was tied onto his mouth to prevent him from screaming.

"...this on yourself." You hear the man in the black clothes say. His voice was plain but at the same time, cold and dark. "If you'd like, you can tell me something about the rebels and maybe I'll let you off with a slap on the wrist. You know, other than... the wounds you've sustained." He offered the prisoner. But the prisoner was gagged and could not reply. "What's that? You don't want to talk? Well that's a shame." He then sliced off the prisoner's ear off, eliciting another muffled scream.

"A fitting punishment for deserters, Lord Caldeyron." The armored one complimented the man in black. His voice was mighty and commanded respect yet he was not the one in charge here. "Again, I am honored to bring Varjo's wrath alongside you."

"Likewise, Thorgar." Lord Caldeyron replied. "Though, I suppose we should finish up before we--" He stopped suddenly. "Did you hear that? Go and investigate Thorgar."

It appeared your presence was noticed and the huge, armored Thorgar began checking the perimeter. You could make a break for it but that would guarantee your detection or you could stay hidden and hope Thorgar does not find you. He does not seem to be an adept spotter anyway. Or you may have a trick up your sleeve.

-------

---

~@BCTheEntity, @Lady Selune (SZI)~

You reach the guildhouse as night had fallen. There was only a carriage there with a familiar man nearby.

"Oh, hey! Mark right?" Bart called out to you from atop the wagon. He disembarked to properly meet you. "Neil, Magnus and Jezamine went to gather some wood for the bonfire. They should be back soon."

Bart then went around and removed the sheet that covered the contents of the carriage and revealed some materials for tents like poles and rope. "We should get some furniture once we get the building back in order. For now, we'll set up some tents for us to sleep in tonight." He climbed onto the carriage and grabbed hold of some rope and pegs. "Come on, lend me a hand will you?"

"Oh and, how's the request you took? How'd it go?" Bart asked as he worked. "And how many of us are there?"

---

~@The Irish Tree, @Lady Selune (JEZ)~

The three of you reach the edge of Valoras Woods in a short while although night had fallen. "All right, let's start collecting some wood." Neil said, shivering a bit from the cold. "Some twigs and sticks will do but if you find any large ones or any large pieces of wood, grab those." He told you two. "Man, nights here are colder than back home."

And so, the gathering of firewood began. It would have been a quiet activity but Neil decided to indulge his curiosity. "Say guys, where did Bart find you? And why did you agree to join his guild?" He asked. "As for me... Well... Bart just found me. I'm uhh... kind of lost... In a way." He continued. "I'm not exactly from around here. Heck, I was flat broke if it weren't for my..." He stopped as if he almost slipped out a secret.

"Oh and Magnus, didn't you go with the maid girl and the... uhh... two purple girls? What happened to them?"

[13org]

Freyr

"Here we are, Lozagon Forest." Haley said when they arrived.

As they arrived in the forest, Freyr's ears immediately started to move, listening to every sound in the forest.
"It's been too long..." he said to himself, gently touching the trunk of a big tree in front of him
"Far too long..." he said with a serene smile, closing his eyes in an extremely peaceful expression.

The sound of the leaves flying with the wind, birds chirping, the energy running through the forest... The connection between the wild and a viera was strong. It was not just physical, it was almost like his soul was becoming one with that forest's life.

"Some of us should go north while the others head south." he heard Haley saying.

"I'm sorry... Its just been too long since I've been in a forest... I just got a bit distracted." he said, getting out of his almost 'trance-like' state.
"I'm going south. I can move through the woods pretty quickly, so if I find him I'll meet you guys." he said, without being able to hide his smile as he started running through the woods. It was somehow adorable and impressive at the same time, how he moved with such agility and without making a sound in the forest, running and jumping.

The forest was quiet. Gladly Freyr hadn't encountered any monsters yet. But as he pressed on, he was able to hear some muffled screams coming from the south. They were faint, but thanks to his hearing, he was easily able to pinpoint the source. But there was also something else on the wind... Blood. Something was wrong.

Quietly approaching from the source of the smell, he was able too see three man. One was just a simple man wearing black clothes and wielding a knife, but the second one, wearing heavy armor, looked very menacing. The third one was tied to a tree, very wounded and wearing only tatters. The two men were apparently interrogating their prisioner.
Rebels? Which rebels? What were they talking about?

"What's that? You don't want to talk? Well that's a shame." one of them said, as he sliced the prisoner's ear off his hear, the bloodied rag on his mouth muffling the poor man's screams.

"A fitting punishment for deserters, Lord Caldeyron."
"Again, I am honored to bring Varjo's wrath alongside you."
"Likewise, Thorgar."

Thorgar and Lord Caldeyron... Who was this Varjo? Freyr was genuinely surprised when he realized that the man in armor wasn't actually the one in charge. The simple man wearing black appeared to be his superior. This... Lord Caldeyron...
Freyr's curiosity got the best of him, as he approached them, curious. But to his dismay, one of them realized that they weren't alone thanks to Freyr's bow getting stuck into a small branch and breaking it as they passed.

"Damn..." he thought to himself, as he quickly jumped, landing on top of a big tree.
Pulling a small fruit from the tree, Freyr threw it on the opposite direction, far away from the other man and the prisoner. The sound it would make would make Thorgar to walk away, if he was lucky.

---

Bast Ragoczy

"This place is... really, really large so I suggest we split up to find him faster. If you know any tricks about finding people, we could certainly use that. Also, be careful of any monsters in there. Single monsters if you know what I mean."

"That is actually a good idea, Miss Haley. Although I'm quite certain that our Viera friend will be able to find something rather quickly, am I right?" Bast said, looking to Frey, only to see a very interesting scene.

"Hm... Interesting. I have never seen a viera in a forest. Its rather interesting the way that their senses are 'linked' to the forest itself." Bast said, as he observed Freyr, which said that he would go south, disappearing on the forest with a smile on his face.

"Its actually very interesting isn't it? So adorable, yet so menacing if you look at it cautiously. The forest is his hunting grounds."
"Well Miss Haley, shall we go?" he asked, as they went north.

Getting on a tranquil pond, they stumbled upon an unexpected character. A male man, putting a lid on a basket. Fair skin, black eyes and spiky, black hair. That man was exactly how Rochelle had described.

"Well... This will be interesting." Bast thought to himself as the man approached them.

"Oh, hey there. What're you people doing here?" he said, approaching them.

"Night's about to set in so I suggest you accomplish it as quickly as possible. Things get hard to do at night."
"I'll help if I can. So long as it's nothing complicated of course." The man said, looking to them.

"Don't worry... We have already found what we were searching for." Bast said with a sly grin on his face.

"...Are you Rachelle Gardner's husband?" Haley asked to the man. As soon as he heard that, his expression changed noticeably.

"Wh... Who are you? H... How do you know her?" he asked, surprised.

"Hm... So he didn't come back on purpose?" Baat thought to himself.

"This adorable miss over here is Haley, and I am Bast. Pleased to meet you. We were sent by your adorable wife, which is grieving over your disappearance on the city." Bast said, looking at his face and carefully studying his reactions.

"Don't worry. We can take care of ourselves, and I promise you it wont take long. We just need to talk for a little bit." Bast said.
"So, would you care to explain what is happening?" Bast asked, looking directly to the man's eyes.
"Oh, don't be alarmed. I'm not here to judge anyone, nor I will put myself between a man and his happiness." he said, looking at him curiously. He was hoping that he would understand what he meant with those words.

[BCTheEntity]

Marxello Catchanale

Bart was back, then? He'd wondered where the man had been earlier. The Knight nodded at the request to help set up the tents, and moved to assist the guild leader; he had experience with setting up tents in the wild, since he'd often needed them to survive more vicious nightly environments... he'd leave any jokes along the lines of tent-making to Syszi.

'The request went well, actually,' Mark chatted as he began putting up the poles for one of the tents. He could just use magic for that, but then why bother with enhancing his own physical strength? 'It turns out a human had the wrong idea of how monsters work, and promptly decided cannibalising others was an appropriate response. Something about a real man not needing anyone else's help to survive? He's in a cell in Ambran now, if he hasn't been executed already, and his would-be victim is safe and sound.' But as for how many people they had... he'd honestly lost count. Aside from Syszi and himself, there was Tue and her Living Doll, as well as the three people he'd listed... on the note of Magnus, he also recalled the other male monster, the Viera, and since they were discussing anomalies, whatever Bast was as well.

'I think we have at least nine people around,' he concluded, 'not including your fine self, Bart. Speaking of whom, do you mind if I ask what you've been doing? You weren't around when we first showed up, is all.'

[The Irish Tree]

"Just sticks and twigs...got it!" Magnus said before promptly yanking an entire fallen tree branch off the ground like it was nothing, despite it being like...at least a hundred twigs put together. He didn't seem at all perturbed by the cold, in fact surprised that Neil thought it wasn't too warm. "Eh? I thought it was getting too hot to be honest...the sea breeze made it feel more cool, like back home." the Minotaur said, scratching the back of his head. Going about his task of collecting firework, Magnus' ears perked up a bit once Neil began talking again.

"Well...Mr. Bart came to my family's labyrinth a month or so ago. I joined because, well...dad said adventuring would build character. That and, Mr. Bart seems like a really good man." he said, gathering a mountain of twigs and sticks in the form of literal logs in his arms, absentmindedly continuing his task despite his desire to carry a conversation. "Um...I really, really don't know what happened with them. They just kept arguing and arguing and arguing...and there was no time to waste in getting the job done, so I thought it'd be okay to go take care of it. When i went back to split the reward with them, they were just...gone. I hope they're alright." he said, looking up at the dimming sky, hoping the best for his argumentative companions of questionable loyalty.

"Neil, do you have a brother? The priest that hired us looked just like you. But...blond-er." Magnus asked, having enough fire by himself to start a funeral pyre or a bonfire. He didn't know if it was a touchy issue or not, but he felt it was in some way related to Neil mentioning he'd be broke if not for...something.