[IC] The Family Business

[Clockface]

---The Villians---
Walking along in a layer of filth in an underground cave wasn't exactly Eliza's definition of a 'good day', but it was for a good reason... Well, not a 'good' reason, but she didn't want to stress herself out further with semantics and they had a job to do. Behind her splashing in the ankle-high water was her faithful companion Mr. Graves. He wasn't much of a talker, but she honestly felt more comfortable with him than her other companions. Still, they were kind of forced together due to circumstance... And the post-mortem demands of their parents. Eliza shook her head, still unable to believe that her mother, a lich hundreds of years old, had managed to get herself killed. Eliza shook her head, dismissing the thoughts. She could think about that some more when they were back at the dungeon.

Eliza, along with her 'companions' who she admittedly didn't know them all that well (she had only met them two weeks before, and not exactly in the best circumstances). Somewhere in this cave was their goal. A kobold warren, deep below the surface. The plan was to reach them and attempt to persuade them to join our cause, either by diplomacy through force... And she was sure they had brought plenty of force.

Up ahead, the tunnel seemed to be growing shorter and thinner, which was both a good thing and a bad thing. It was good because hey, they were probably getting closer to the kobolds. It wasn't so good because they'd be stuck in tiny, cramped tunnels, barely big enough to hold them. Not to mention kobold's and their obsession with traps. A skill that surely be useful if the kobolds were on their side, but would probably be making their lives hell until they convinced them to help...

[SuperNinjaMagi]

-------------------------------------------Villain--------------------------------------------------------
Walking long distances had never been one of Soren's greatest skills having spent the majority of his times on increasing his magical power rather than his physical abilities and as such he was already winded from their long trip into the caves. On the plus side even though he was wearing fairly large robes he was still comfortably cold due to his ice aura that the gauntlet on his right arm gave off.

"I really should have stayed back at the lair..." Soren said quietly to himself as he trudged along behind Eliza and her pet Mr. Graves.
Soren wished he could have brought some of his own ice golems, but instead he had left them back at the lair to guard his floor. Just in case anything tried to steal his stuff while he was gone. Even though his mothers letter had implied he needed to work together with these people he was still having trouble trusting them. After all the only people
he had ever trusted were Sage, his mothers ice construct, and his mother. sadly they were both gone now and Soren felt it was partly his fault...

While pondering these thoughts he almost ran into Mr, Graves, which probably would have been bad. Looking around him he noticed the tunnel was starting to get smaller.
"Uh, is it just me or are we running out of space?" He asked no one in particular.

[Vulpes]

Villain

Unlike many others, Robin was enjoying the walk. As a beginning specialist of earth magic, ze was feeling pretty literally that ze was on zir element. The water was only thing which undermined zir comfortable feeling, but even that was completely bearable. All in all, Robin’s mood had been better than usually ever since ze had arrived into the dungeon. Mother’s death was of course always at the back of zir mind, but it was not like Robin had known her very well. And some of zir new companions were rather… annoying, to put it mildly. But they were companions regardless, which was slightly interesting. Robin hadn’t really had anything like that before.

Robin let zir hand travel around the wall of tunnel and feel its various shapes.

"Uh, is it just me or are we running out of space?" Soren suddenly asked. Robin looked around zirself and noticed that it really might be the case.

I didn’t notice that at all. Maybe I have focused too much on details and missed the big picture. That’s important to remember, I need to learn to see the whole if I want to really be useful in our mission.

“Maybe a bit”, ze said. “If you want to, I can broaden the tunnel.”

Edit: Added the word villain to the top.

[HylianRose]

Jonnie curled her upper lip as she walked behind most everyone. She was kind of falling behind, trying not to get too close to Mr. Ice Man up there. If things were getting cramped, she'd rather not be stuck next to him. Even Mr. Ze would be better than that guy. At least he couldn't freeze the hell out of someone.

Still, She marched on. This was better than staying back at the lair where there was bound to be nothing happening. Then again, maybe it would be better. She could mess with Mr. Ice Man's stuff. Heh... It was an idea. She let out a long sigh when a certain thought popped into her head. Why did they have to die? Soren's mom was nice if not... cold and I'm sure everyone else had something with their parents. Jonne couldn't say she missed her dad but somewhere deep down she might have missed the power hunger snob. Maybe... But probably not.

While the pathway was meagerly lit and... wet. Another reason Jonnie would rather be gone right now, she had put fire to her thumb in order to keep a light source near her. Darkness was another thing she didn't like. Cold and dark... Never a good combination.

She chuckled slightly when Robin offered to widen the tunnel. "That's be great but... then we might have a horde of kobolds on our ass." She remarked, rather rudely. She wasn't known to be the nicest person. But then... no one ever really tried. "Just keep going. If we have to crawl in nasty water..." She stopped, thinking about her situation more fully now. "Actually... I might just wait here. Even if I go in there with you guys, I'd be useless soaked in water. Unless someone brought a towel with them and knows how to use it with lightning speed." She told them, the last part a bit sarcastic. Just a bit.

[khavali]

--villain

Shasi had been one of the ones to stay behind, not confident enough in his abilities to not die to go crawling around in some dirty kobold den. Or nest. House, maybe. Whatever it was.

He didn't envy those who decided to go, but was starting to regret his inaction if only because he was bored out of his skull. In the two weeks he'd known his--companions, he'd been either bored, put out, or mildly disturbed. There was a plus in that he got his own entire floor, but a con in that he honestly had no clue what to do with it. He'd settled, so far, for absolutely nothing.

This was brief introspection as he sat outside the dungeon, awaiting the 'away team' as it were. Something about keeping watch. He considered the whole endeavor pointless, but was doing it anyway. His staff was propped against his side, and Jia Li was laying languidly on his shoulder. She seemed to be asleep, and he reached up and touched her smooth head. She was one familiar, comfortable thing, at least.

He could not recall exactly who had left and who had stayed, he'd only been present as they were walking out. And being that he was not actually inside of the dungeon, there was no telling, really.

He assumed that his companions wouldn't be back for some time and reclined, intent on taking a nap and trusting himself to wake up to a vision if anything unfortunate were to happen to him. In any case, if they were gone for longer than a day he was abandoning his post. He'd take warmth and a bed over the chills of night and an uncomfortable seat any day, and surely they could continue living without a 'welcome back' from him.

Something interesting, and not deadly, would have to crop up for him to do. At some point. Probably. With that in mind, he closed his eyes and relaxed.

[Jangel13]

Angelo smiled wide as he started to enter the next town. He forgot the name but it really didn't matter to him considering that he was told that he needed to be at the hero's monument today to meet up with the children of other hero's. Angelo couldn't help but wonder what they were like... and if their were any gorgeous babes he could talk to about getting a kiss from. Unfortunately Angelo got something from his father that could be both a blessing and a curse, he got his fathers suave charm that borders on being overconfident in himself but Angelo knew better and although his father was a lady killer Angelo was only a flirt to the ladies thanks to his mothers influence of not doing anything with a girl unless she was special to him. Angelo grinned as he walked down the streets feeling like he won the lottery as he kept his parents special sword behind his back and a normal one on his hip so he wouldn't use his parents special sword unless it was an emergency. Although he doubt it would come to it thanks to the bow and arrows he always used to try and stop a fight before it began. So Angelo kept walking stopping by a flower shop nearby to see the cute girl that was manning the stand angelo went over and smiled at her
"hey their beautiful, never thought id see someone that would make flowers look like nothing compared to them" Angelo said softly sniffing a rose flower to make his point and the girl blushed a bright pink at that, obviously it was her first time being charmed considering how young she looked probably no more then 14. "now may I have your name?"
"uh, uh its Lucia sir are you going to buy some flowers?" she asked softly
ah Lucia such a name can only match your beauty. I think I will buy a dozen roses" Angelo said dropping a small coin purse that was worth the amount needed. so the girl took the money and gave Angelo a dozen white roses and Angelo took them and he leaned in whispering a thank you to her and putting the rose in Lucia hair making her shiver and get distracted long enough for Angelo to get his coin purse back. As Angelo walked away he knew the girl was steaming and wasn't even noticing the money that was gone as Angelo stood in front of the monument of hero's waiting for the others to show up so he could charm the girls in the group with a white rose

[Cinderella Man]

Sharon sat at the side of the Hero's Monument, curled up into a ball of nerves with her knees held up to her chest. Her eyes showed signs of wear, as she had light bags underneath. She was quietly humming to herself as she noticed a young man approach the monument, and watched him from the side, not sure if she should make her presence known or if she should just stare at him awkwardly from behind the side of the monument. Deciding that it would be best to further examine him, she backed up quietly so as to not be so close to the corner and observed quietly. The book she had at her side was moved so that she wouldn't kneel on it and ruin the binding. That was a quality book, it'd be rude to ruin it in such a selfish fashion. Her hand almost instinctively touched her dagger, although she knew that she'd have almost no reason to use it on him. He was a hero, right? Calming herself slightly, she lowered her arm from her side, placing it on the ground lightly to help her transition into a crouch. This plan of quiet sneaking was foiled rather quickly by her own hand. She felt as though something was crawling along her thigh and squealed slightly as she turned her head to see a rather large lizard stalking across her leg and lost her balance, falling from the crouch and to the ground with a slightly audible "thud." Good job Sharon. Good job.

[Background]

VILLAIN

---

Catherine, too, had chosen to stay at home. Her new home, anyway. Whatever! Their new hole in the ground. There was still dirt inside it. Her present company was intolerable. And grimy. She hated everything.

And she was living in a tent. A tent! She had never known such indignity. The whole situation was unbelievable, really. Some of these bumpkins-- the other 'villains,' if you could call them that-- hadn't even brought tents. Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable. It had occurred to her at some point a week before that she vastly overestimated her compatriots. Some of them were probably even peasants. Ew. There was so much dirt about that even she was dressed plainly, in a simple blue tunic. And pants. Maybe she was catching the poor. A brief moment of terror caught her, but she banished it right away. As if.

She sighed, shook her head, and poked her royal head out of her misery tent. They barely even had a chance to fight over who would have the bottom floor of the dungeon before the away team took off. It was obviously going to be her, but she wanted to firmly establish that fact with the rest of these bozos. These bozos, however, weren't here, and the first boy she saw was, well. He was taking a nap with what she could only assume was some kind of scaly rodent, and in clothes that, in her opinion, would look much better on her, to boot.

She pulled the flap aside and trudged out, posing and casting an imperious shadow over him. He had plebeian tastes when it came to snoozing spots. But his fashion sense was acceptable, and she was clearly going to have to lower her standards.

She nudges him with her foot. What was his name? Sha-something. "Hey. You're some kind of wizard, right?" Her eyes flicker toward the staff. "I'm bored and cursing stuff. You." She makes a deliberate show of pointing to him. "Are invited to be my assistant. All I've got right now is a cursed blanket that makes you breathe manually, and if you decline, I'm going to drop it on you."

She folds her arms and impatiently awaits his response.

[Jangel13]

Cinderella Man said
Sharon sat at the side of the Hero's Monument, curled up into a ball of nerves with her knees held up to her chest. Her eyes showed signs of wear, as she had light bags underneath. She was quietly humming to herself as she noticed a young man approach the monument, and watched him from the side, not sure if she should make her presence known or if she should just stare at him awkwardly from behind the side of the monument. Deciding that it would be best to further examine him, she backed up quietly so as to not be so close to the corner and observed quietly. The book she had at her side was moved so that she wouldn't kneel on it and ruin the binding. That was a quality book, it'd be rude to ruin it in such a selfish fashion. Her hand almost instinctively touched her dagger, although she knew that she'd have almost no reason to use it on him. He was a hero, right? Calming herself slightly, she lowered her arm from her side, placing it on the ground lightly to help her transition into a crouch. This plan of quiet sneaking was foiled rather quickly by her own hand. She felt as though something was crawling along her thigh and squealed slightly as she turned her head to see a rather large lizard stalking across her leg and lost her balance, falling from the crouch and to the ground with a slightly audible "thud."

Angelo smiled laughing a little seeing the girl fall on the ground like that, even though the girl had a dagger she was in no means an assassin considering she dropped to the ground by the power of a little lizard! Angelo smiled seeing that the girl was very cute and seeing she owned a book that looked valuable to her meant she was one of the shy bookish types Angelo liked and Angelo went over taking one of the white roses with him and he went over smiling "im Angelo a hero, to be honest I didn't think I would find such a cute girl trying to sneak up on me so early in the day" Angelo said smiling putting the white rose in her hair for her as he helped her up "son of the charming rouge and religious mother if you don't know. So may I have the honor of knowing your name my lady?" Angelo asked thinking the chivalrous knight routine was the way to go to get her to open herself up to him so they could have a conversation before the other hero's arrive

[khavali]

--villain

There are things that people seem to hate universally, and one of those things is being woken up by a complete stranger. To his credit, Shasi doesn’t fall from his seat or make any sort of high pitched noise, though he does breathe in harshly. His face flushes from the minor adrenaline imparted from that wake up call and he sits up straight, clutching his staff. Jia Li takes the moment as a chance to escape into the hole in his top and he pitches forward, trying to subtly get her out. She refuses to exit, and he refuses to embarrass himself further. He sits very still and looks up at the person who woke him.

He knows who this is… vaguely. He didn’t know her name, or he didn’t remember it. He’d spied her a few times, though he tries not to look at anyone more than once. She was simply too noticeable, the way her black hair contrasted against her white skin, and her red lips contrasted even further against that. And the fact that she was noisy, that stuck out in his mind as well.

When he actually bothers to register what she’s saying, he grimaces. A wizard? No, not quite. “What--” he starts, then remembers the promise of having the cursed blanket dropped on him. While he’s certain he could deal with having to breathe manually, he’d really just--rather not. And hadn’t he wanted something to do?

Though he hadn’t wanted anything to do with a spoilt little girl. He decides to just cut his losses. ‘Character building’, he reminds himself. Character building.

“I’m not a wizard,” he says, eyes narrowed in a way that he hopes is unwelcoming enough for her to perhaps move on (otherwise, he was out of luck). Despite his better interests, he continues. “And I don’t do spells. But since you didn’t actually give me a choice in the matter,” he didn’t consider a curse a choice, frankly, and his mother always told him to be diplomatic (as if!), “I will be your assistant. But don’t get upset when I can’t actually help you, because you brought it on yourself.”

Well, he assumed she would anyway, she seemed to have that sort of personality, but still, fair warnings. If it would break the monotony and probably not kill him, he didn’t have much to lose other than his dignity--which he didn’t have much left of in the first place.

[Background]

VILLAIN

---

She idly tilts her head from side to side as he wakes, fixing him with her best royal expressionless stare. She continued staring all through his unpleasant little spiel, which she listened to intently but would later claim she paid no attention to if he ever asked. Nope. Didn't hear a word. Dweeb. As soon as she heard, 'I'll be your assistant,' she turned around and walked back to her tent, giving him the 'you're not really important but come hither' finger wiggle mom loved so much. The one where you waggle your fingers without turning around all condescending-like.

Gripping both flaps of her tent, she threw them open with a great big dramatic gesture, then rushed inside before gravity shut them on her and she ended up looking dumb(er). Him, though. He could open them himself. Her tent was small and sparsely decorated, with a cot in the back. She felt a shiver of revulsion just looking at it. The dungeon was going to full of these. There wouldn't even be room to stand. It would just be cots. And blood. Forever. A chest, closed, sits at the foot of the cot, and a tall, pointy-tipped wardrobe on wheels rests in the center, acting as both clothing repository and tent triangulator. A blanket laid in the dirt-- the cursed one? She had a chair, one chair, and a small desk with a golden gem-studded goblet on it.

Catherine pulls the chair out and takes a seat. There was a reason she only had one chair, and that was because mom's instructions forbade her from having the peasants uproot the entire castle and carry it to the dungeon, but she was going to pretend it was so she could sit and her guests would have to stand all inferior-like. She came alone, after all, with only a gaggle of comically incompetent demons to do the manual labor: carrying her stuff and carrying her. They were promptly dismissed afterwards and she just wasn't desperate enough to try demon-summoning a second time. Besides! She had a new mook now, and he surely would move her stuff for her. For sure. She mentally marks him as Lackey #1, then thinks better of it. Lackey #3. The first two spots would stay empty. Give him something to work for.

She was comfortable now, and, assuming he followed, spoke up. "I'm working on this--" she plucks the goblet from its resting-place-- "Right now. It's supposed to change whatever's put inside it into blood." She pauses, then adds, "And give whomever drinks it nightmare diarrhea. That part of the spell works. We'll probably need it for a puzzle or something later and I'm just thinking ahead."

The goblet makes a coughing noise, and she baps it with the back of her hand. "Need some mood lighting. Candles are in the chest. They're the unlabeled ones. The labeled ones aren't candles." The chest had an assortment of vials, pouches, beakers, and candles in it, almost all of them labeled with ominous things like 'MURDERWAX.' 'EYES OF SAD FROG.' 'TEARS.' In a mini-shelf in the chest are a handful of unlabeled, empty beakers and the candles she mentioned.

"Mood lighting! Chop chop. Face the sun. One arm up, other arm down and out. Quarter turn every minute or so. Oh, and I need you to crouch." Her commands flowed forth quickly, naturally, almost as if from someone very used to telling people what to do with very little consideration for how inconvenient that might be. The last bit was more for her tent's sake than for the spell's sake. "Oh, and can you sing? It'd help if you could sing."

[Dessie777]

--Hero--
Ella walked through the crowded city towards the monument with one hand resting on her sword. An overwhelming feeling of anxiety had settled in her gut hours before followed by an urge to find the nearest tavern. With a heavy sigh she calmed herself as she turned the last corner. The monument quickly came into view in all it's splender. She was to meet the other "Heros' there. Why they were called 'Heros" when none of them had fought like their parents had she would never understand. From afar she eyed a young man, arms full of white roses, who seemed to be flirting. Judging from the sword he carried she knew he must be one of them.
"Great. One of THOSE people." Bri chuckled in her head.
"Oh hush. He may be a perfectly nice guy. First impressions are not always right ." Ella calmly replied.
[I]"Oh yeah? Well they could be improved by a pint of Ale."]
All the while she crept slowly towards the two fellow "heros".

[Cinderella Man]

~-Hero-~
Sharon almost immediately revolted away from the physical contact, feeling awkward as he put the white rose into her hair. She backed up slowly, so as to avoid being too close to this odd man. "Sh-Sharon.." She mumbled quietly, collecting her stuff(namely her tiny bag and her precious book), and sat on the ground once more, pulling her knees up to her chest. She gave Angelo an odd look from down on the ground. What was he trying to accomplish by putting a rose in her hair? That's just a waste of a good flower.. She thought to herself, removing the flower from her hair, and placed the white rose into the page she was saving in her book to use as a bookmark. "...a hero, you said?" She looked back up at Angelo from her busied hands, then back down.

[Jangel13]

Sharon? A nice name for a sweet girl like you" Angelo said smiling sitting back down with his roses before answering "yeah I'm a hero son of a great thief and a religious nun. Only I can control the very sword on my back" Angelo said smiling pointing to his holy thief blade that would burn the hands of a holy man our a demon but only in the hands of those that embraced both like Angelo. Angelo relaxed waiting for another female hero to show up as Angelo picked up another rose smelling it lightly

[Vulpes]

Villain

---

Robin just shrugged to Jonnie’s answer. Ze was pretty sure that they were the ones who would gain more from additional space but didn’t feel like arguing. Robin didn’t see kobolds as a great threat, but if they were fighting against themselves they would definitely be an easy opponent.
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” But it’s a bit annoying to be the only one to see it. Argh, better to just stand it. It’s not like I really have any options.

Robin could not help but wonder how zir companions’ parents could have stood zir mother without killing her on the spot. Robin was pretty sure that she had been an extremely annoying person. Well, it’s not like ze actually knew anything or would have chance to know.
This is the most random orphanage I’ve ever heard or. Ze uttered a bit laughter for thinking this place as an orphanage. Technically this place kind of is. We ended up here after our parents died, after all.

When Jonnie said that she might wait unless someone had a towel and was able to use it with the speed of light, Robin answered: “Well, I may be able to use some drying magic, but definitely not with the speed of light. “

“May” was a pretty accurate term. Robin had just a while ago started to learn that spell and zir chance of succession with it was about 50-50.

[Dessie777]

"BURRRRRN! He just got rejected. Ouch." Bri chuckled in her head. "He had it coming"
"That's enough. You don't need to judge them so abruptly."
Ella strode up to the two ignoring the banter in her head. As she stood in front of the pair she inspected them further. A young man equipped with multiple swords and a young girl who seemed to shy away. "Hello. Are you two some of the 'heros' that I am to meet?" Reaching her hand out to the boy for a handshake she continued on. "My name Is Gabriella. Please call me Ella. Daughter of the wayward adventurer and Haphazard..." She sighed at her use of the word. "hero'. Which makes you..?"
"I'm in here too! Let me out!" Bri nearly growled the whole sentence.

[Jangel13]

On shante madam musel!" Angelo said smiling holding her hand and kissing it like a gentleman "I must be a very lucky man to have met another hero that has eyes that sparkle in the sunlight." Angelo said romantically as he grabbed a rose and put it in her hair "my name is Angelo son of the charming rouge and religious mother. it is a honor to meet a woman with such grace" Angelo said piling on the compliments waiting fit the smile that many she liked Angelo wit and charm on her beauty to him

[khavali]

--villain

His first thought, upon entering the tent, was that this entire situation was utter insanity. His second thought was that he was well used to that by now, having dealt with his mother and his neurotic aunt. This brand, though, was fairly new. Neither of his matrons had a superiority complex. Inferiority, in his aunt’s case, yes. And he thought he was arrogant.

He stood, awkwardly, at the mouth of the tent, unsure of what he was waiting for exactly. He held his staff at the horizontal, it being too tall to be stood up in the small tent. The girl sat, and he eyed the sparse opulence of the… abode, as it were. Mostly empty, but what it did have must have cost a fortune. He eyed the wardrobe in particular, his mother used to have one like it, and he’d taken ownership of it after a while. And then she visited one day and tipped it out a window and into the small stream directly next to the house. That was a busy day.

She spoke, and he listened and made a face when she mentioned what the goblet did. He couldn't understand why anyone would drink from it if it turned all the liquid to blood in the first place, so he passed it off as mostly harmless.

'Mood lighting,' she'd said. He would have said 'I don't appreciate being told what to do,' in a similarly haughty way, if he thought she would listen or care. Had he a better head on his shoulders, he'd have said it anyway.

As it was, he set his staff on the ground and knelt down. He opened the indicated chest and rifled through it, grimacing every time he accidentally touched something with a strange label. He would need to wash his hands later. A lot. The candles were gotten with no ill effect, probably, and he stood once more to set them around and light them. Of all things, he could at least consider himself an excellent candle lighter.

At the end of it, he couldn't really say the mood changed or was enhanced in any form by the candles, but, well, he tried.

As per her second set of instructions, he crouches and briefly wonders what in the hell he's doing. He feels ridiculous with his arms up, and is fairly certain he's going to end up falling over.

"I can sing," he says. Sort of, is what he doesn't say. He'd only ever done hymns, and his voice had changed since then.

[Dessie777]

With a small chuckle and grin she pulled her hand away. "Thank you kindly, but I fear flattery will not get you far with me." Despite her words a small rosy blush appeared on her cheeks and she felt slightly flustered.
"EW. You fell for that crap?'
"Oh shut it. Excepting a compliment is not falling for anything."
"You like him. That's disgusting."
Ignoring her other half Ella continued to converse with the man. "Is it just the three of us?" She looked around and saw no one that stuck out to her.

[Art of Fun]

Hero

---

The Heroes Monument was the broad sort of monument, not specifying any names or depicting anyone specific. It was a 'good job, champ' to those who had bravely fought for good over the years, but ultimately carried no real meaning due to how unspecific it was in its praise. A statue of an armoured knight, stone blade impaled in the ground before him and vigilantly looking out to the horizon.

"I do believe this is all accounted for, minus two of course."

Said a haughty voice from the other side of the monument, the owner making herself evident a moment later. Elise stood before the other three, hands folded behind her back. The blonde had the eyes of a viper, doing a poor job of hiding the potentially lethal nature of the girl. She appraised each of them, letting out a contemplative hum. In her mind, she attempted to place the three in terms of potential threat - with Sharon being placed near the top with a note of 'ambiguous'. She was the one who called them together after all, and she would be a fool to not take some mental precautions - just in case.

"Do complete your introductions. I will wait." And that she did, a light smile tugging at the end of her lips. It's not a nice look on her with those eyes, in fact its downright intimidating.