ERode

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

Mmm yes, will post tomorrow after work. The lad is truly courting death.

Why Were We Reincarnated as Orcs?!

Aaand got a quick one out. Maybe this session be swifter than the lasttttt.

Why Were We Reincarnated as Orcs?!

It was tempting the spit at the idiot creature as her blood continued to rush through her brain, but Esfir held back the baser desires within her, managing to only tersely nod towards Auguz. She inspected the rat’s skull briefly.

“Same session tomorrow?”

Whatever the warchief’s answer, the ‘propah Orc’ would leave soon after, casting only a brief glance towards Akeno’s fight before striding towards the wooden house nestled in the crook of the mountain’s base. Xolkug was there alongside another, ostensibly guarding the rewards from any sticky-fingered runts, and she cast a nod towards him. As far as she was aware, Esfir had been one of the first arrivals, and thus had the pick of the litter. It didn’t take too much effort to decide either way. Considering that there was more mountaineering to be done on the day, the coiled length of rope was the appropriate choice, no matter how much have a fur pouch called towards her. As for clothing itself?

That wolf-fur cloak could serve as wonderful bedding. Wonderful as actual clothing too. Much better than the ‘cheap’ pelts she currently had wrapped around her chest and her groin. Bugs had gotten to her flesh, as did errant twigs when she was bushwhacking yesterday. While the cloak would bring up a different set of issues for marching through the forest, the comfort it brought presently…

Right, there was a Hunter or something in the Camp, wasn’t there?

Esfir would have to make a point of visiting them in the future. For now, however?

She turned her gaze up towards the peak of the mountain that oversaw the camp. Something higher up in the mountain. Either the underground was blocked, or something was plugged at the mouth. The Orc Runt let out a breath.

Water. Before all else, that would be what she wanted to solve today.

With that, she tightened the bracers around her arm, adjusted the cloak over her shoulders, held her spear as a hiking staff, and began to navigate up the mountainside, following the flow of water as best she could.

Skills

• Ingestion - After consuming a required amount of biomass from a particular Creature, 1 of that Creature's Skills can be copied at its lowest Rank.
• Frost Arc - Rank I - An expanding spray of icy cold, over 10 feet in one direction and 5 feet wide at its furthest edge. The cold is more intense the closer the target is to the origin, reaching its lowest temperature within a span of about 2 feet. It constantly expends Magic Power the longer the cone is maintained.
• Murderous Intent - Rank II - Focus hatred and the desire to kill through the subtle senses. A creature that is weaker than you must exert its willpower or be Intimidated (Intimidated creatures suffer reduced speed). A creature that is already Intimidated, Shocked, or Unaware may instead become Fearful and be unable to act for 5 seconds. Creatures that are stronger than you can only be Intimidated by this Skill if they are already Shocked or Unaware, but their willpower threshold is higher. At Rank II, creatures weaker than you will be made Fearful instead of Intimidated. If they are already Intimidated, Shocked, or Unaware, the effect of Fearful will be extended to 10 seconds. Creatures that are equal to you will suffer Rank I effects.
• Dusk Vision - Rank I - Orc Inheritance. One's eyes need less light to see by, allowing them to see normally in dim light conditions and half as well in darkness so long as it is not completely black. Color perception is half as accurate in dim light, and in darkness the perception of color is lost. This Skill does not apply to other vision-related Skills.

Equipment, Inventory, Shelter

Equipment

• Swaddling Pelts - Equip, Clothes - Old animal skins used to keep an Orc baby warm as they sleep. Once the Runt is old enough to start hunting, these are usually just enough to cover the parts that need the most covering.
  [*Leather Shoes - Equip, Clothes - They're shoes.
• Wolffur Cloak - Equip, Clothes - A simple fur cloak to be draped over the shoulders and pinned close with a jagged bone. Light Defense Boost!
• Antler Bracers - Equip, Armor - A type of bone armor used to protect the arms. Materials such as fangs, teeth, horn, antler, etc can be quite tough, but typically aren't as hard as metals. They are somewhat resistant to physical damage, though less so against Blunt impacts. Light Defense Boost!
• Sharp Rock - Equip, Weapon/Tool, Material Component - A rock with a slightly sharp edge. Useful as a primitive knife or chisel. Can be thrown.
• Flint Hatchet - Equip, Weapon/Tool - A sharper edge than a Stone Hatchet of equivalent size, but lighter and more brittle. Requires more strength and proper alignment to get a good chop, but most wood will be cut faster.
• Borrowed Antler Pickaxe - Equip, Weapon/Tool - A pickaxe made with a sturdy piece of wood and a sharpened antler. Can harvest softer stones and some ores! It can be used as a piercing weapon, even on hard shelled creatures, but it wasn't designed for that. High Quality. On Loan from Bowbh.
• Jackalope Spear - 2H Weapon - A decent, if primitive spear. Not suitable as a throwing weapon due to its weight, but made of tough, sturdy materials. Jackalope horn is surprisingly sharp, almost as much so as metal.
• Bolas
• Stomach-Bag - Small bag, improved from an Elwet's stomach.

Inventory

• Gizzard Sparkstone
• Elwet Feathers
• Tungem Branch x3
• Jackalope Point x3]
• Tatzelwurm Fang x2
• Tatzelwurm Claws x3
• Tatzelwurm Coilbone x1
• Crushed Tatzelwurm Eye x2
• Harpy Tooth x1
• Harpy Talon x3
• Harpy Screech Valve x1
• Rope (30 ft)

Shelter

• Primitive A-Frame Shelter
• Poisoned Bone Caltrops - Small Thrown Weapon/Trap - These bony, unevenly shaped shards have been coated with a poisonous mixture. If stepped on hard enough they'll likely break skin, delivering poison that causes a painful reaction in the nervous system as it spreads. If ingested or inhaled, can cause severe coughing or digestive distress.
• Raw Chalcopyrite Ore x3
• Bufonite x3

@Zeroth

Iris Ascendis

_@Nanaya

Wasn’t Hrunting the name of a sword?

Despite the almost embarrassingly audacious storefront, Otis strode in without hesitation, his only expression of discomfort coming from the twitching of his nose as he was struck by a veritable tidal wave of perfume. It would take a while for him to adapt to this, no doubt, but the pieces displayed were a worthy distraction. Certainly, this was a step above his own capabilities as a tailor. The fabrics were high-quality and the stitching so seamless that he had to work to find them. It would be interesting to stress-test the products as well, though that’d be overstepping the bounds of a customer that had not yet paid. Still, the Strigidae allowed his gaze to linger for only a moment longer, before settling them upon the eclectically-dressed goblin.

“I intend on repairing a dress,” Otis replied, unfolding the scorched and punctured remnants of Chloe’s attire. “And I intend on doing so alone, while maintaining as much of the original material as possible. If you sell fabric here, direct me to the aisle and offer me your recommendations. In order to avoid future incidents, I have plans of weaving fortifying essence into the dress itself, as well as water-and-fireproofing it using various alchemical compounds. Do you deal with such reagents as well?”

There was a slight pause, as he took a step back and gestured towards his own clothing: a collection of brown and tan garments with ethnic patterns woven into it with brightly colored threads.

“I make my own clothing, and have my own tastes. This dress, however, is for a half-elf that has, if nothing else, the pretensions of nobility, so if you could point me towards resources that I could take inspiration during the redesign process, that would be appreciated as well. Also, in terms of names, I am Otis Tan Arillo. You are Hrunting?”

Why Were We Reincarnated as Orcs?!

Ey Zeroth, mind going over what the reward is, so I can attach it as part of my post? Esfir's otherwise going to head off to the mountains to figure out the whole water situation.

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

Such pristine walls.

Such beautiful, untouched things.

She reached out with a hand, blue arcs crackling over her forearm.

What mark could she leave upon this?

…

Kreszenz Leichenberg had chosen to walk. The cost of a carriage was prohibitive if one’s starting destination was the very edges of the Forbidden Realm, and anonymity was, in theory, a better defense against bandit attacks than an armed escort. Her father had disagreed, of course, but her mother, the bluer-blooded Leichenberg, understood the desire for a child to see the world at her own leisure. She ought to experience the world before swearing the oath to protect it.

So the young daughter of a fallen House packed up her finer clothes, drew a cloak over her shoulders, plotted a course different than the one she had taken when her parents accompanied her to obtain her grimoire at the edges of the Common Realm, and allocated a month’s worth of rations to make her journey to Kikka.

In practicality, there were bandits desperate enough to attack even lone travellers. Of course, it was the season for Magic Knight prospectives to be heading towards Kikka, their pockets filled with travel funds. Perhaps those bandits had some reason after all, though Kreszenz didn’t dwell on it when she dropped a lightning bolt or three in their general direction.

That, perhaps, was the most excitement she got out of her journey. Maybe in the years to come she would look back fondly upon the days she spent crossing ravines or striding up switchbacks, the nights she spent upon crude mounts or by gurgling falls, but after having seen three villages and shared the road with a dozen other travellers before their paths diverged, Kreszenz found that they all blurred together. Just villages in desolate places, self-reliant but bland. A few held landmarks worth raising a brow over, but what of it? The Castle stood tall in the distance, a mountain all on its own. Her steps drew her ever closer to that grand fortification, where the future of the nation was decided far beyond the voices of the populace.

No wonder that in every village and town she had passed through, Kreszenz heard at least one loud-mouthed buffoon speaking ill of the Royals and the Aristocracy. Enemies within and without, yet those walls remained so pristine still, as if it hadn’t seen conflict since the inception of the Kingdom.

Kikka came to focus as she crested a hill.

At the base of the castle-town’s walls, there was someone in the drab clothes of a custodian, removing what stains others had left.

That explained it.

…

The crowds were almost overwhelming. A life spent in the far west and a month-long trek had meant that even at most, Kreszenz saw maybe thirty people in a place at a time. In Kikka though? There were hundreds, each of them shuffling along or picking fights or selling their wares or making friends. She could throw a rock up in the air and it’d land on two people, that was how many there were in a single street. The queues snaking up to the application tents were a hydra in reverse, dozens of lines merging into each other before they connected to only one of five tents, while the smell of cooked food, after weeks on nothing but hard bread, cheese, and river-water, was so enticing that she reckoned that she’d be able to gain an easy five pounds…if she had money to spare.

But, of course, she did not.

Her boots had worn down to the thickness of sandals. Her cloak smelled of earth and the tang of ozone. Her hair was in such need of washing that she had half the mind to save herself the trouble and cut it off. Deep in the recesses of her pack was coin and fine clothes, but those were for emergencies and the future, not to be squandered on frivolous displays of vanity. So Kreszenz kept her eyes forward, her face up, her strides long and purposeful, as she marched with the countenance of a noble even in the garbs of a vagrant, her gaze settling in with unnerving focus upon the officials in the distance, before gradually ‘resting’ in an expression of imperial disdain.

Far too much time passed before Kreszenz Leichenberg received her badge. She swore that the queue seemed to have traverse the width, rather than the length, of the line before she was at the front, but there was nothing for it now. The Exams awaited her and the chattering and cheering and brass band cacophony was making her nauseous, so she stormed for the portcullis without another word.

Or well, tried to.

Twenty paces in, and there were yet more imbecile children clogging up the streets, and Kreszenz was seriously beginning to consider taking to the rooftops instead.

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

Alright, child sufficiently bullied. Time to get out a post.

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

Imma go bully a child.

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

Go for this evening. No point in delaying what could be done immediately.

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

@ZerothYeah, I was looking at the picture and reading the wiki at the same time going ??? over the positions on the map vs the text.

Anyhow, I altered the Fear somewhat to communicate a bit more clearly the vibes I was going for. Basically still stems from the idea of not being the same person that she was when she started on her goals. Kinda like "wew, I want to be a benevolent conqueror of the continent, not just a regular ass conqueror of the continent!".

@Xaltwind Was originally going to make her super aristocratic but that was mostly a response to counteract all the peasants and criminals that were present when I first formulated the idea.

Dunno how much high-pitched ohohoho-ing she'll do, but I definitely need to get this in