FujiwaraPhoenix

From Realms Beyond — An Isekai Crossover RP (Now Accepting)

Kochiya Sanae

On the Road

With the most immediate—and most actionable—course of action set, Sanae felt it best to actually call upon one of the merchants the group was so apt to inquire for information on the state of the world rather than simply speak about it. With every topic of note in hand (or, at the very least, the intent to ask about them), the green-haired girl poked her head into the nearest caravan occupant (one not occupied with driving a carriage, obviously) and asked if anyone was free to answer a few questions that the group had.

To her surprise, though, it was the merchant that she had first asked about taking them here that had answered her call. The man seemed to still be somewhat reticent with regards to the group as a whole, but given how Syldon had managed to convince him...

Maybe there was some merit to seeing if he answered at all?

Having made his way to the back of the wagon he was seated within, the older man regarded the group with silence as they relayed to him, in no meaningful order, their questions.

"Mmm... Well, the Raven Heralds have been pushing more towards the east as of late, so I'm not sure why they would attack a frontier town," he would begin to say, "but hell if I know what the king of Eiderheim's plans are. I guess I should be stocking up on some more arms if they're preparing an offensive south, though... Well, regardless, the information's greatly appreciated."

The question as to the commonality of their strengths and abilities, however, did cause the man to pause and reflect for a little bit.

"Mmm... Well, I didn't really see you all go at it, but with how thoroughly I hear you all went at beating my hired help into the ground, you might be... Fairly rare as far as talent goes? Of course, I've heard tall tales of adventurers and heroes all my life, and the stuff the bards sing about is pretty outlandish even at the best of times... But maybe I just haven't been lucky enough to see them."

Regardless of his feelings on the matter, the merchant at least seemed to be willing to humor the otherworlders' other questions, provided they had any more he could meaningfully answer.

---

The next days came and went more or less without incident. Traveling along the dirt roads by foot was, to some, agonizingly slow—Sanae chief among them, given how she had been used to both mechanical vehicles and flight as regular forms of transportation until now—but with no apparent dangers ambushing them day or night, the young woman had no real reason to complain.

Well, no, maybe the meals could have been better; she was already beginning to miss the ever-essential staples of rice and eggs, and having to make due with rations meant for long-distance travel did her semi-modern palate no favors.

Though she was prepared for yet another day of mild boredom on the road, the abrupt halt of the caravan caused the young woman—who, at this point, had been riding on the back of one of the wooden carriages—to poke her head out to see what was wrong. Being near the rear as she was, though, finding out the cause of their sudden halt would mean poking around to see what the issue was.

More than ready for a bit of stimulation now, the shrine maiden quickly leaped out of the carriage and, after flying to the front where it seems the mercenaries had congregated, glanced around to see why they were suddenly on-edge and ready for combat.

"Uh... Mr. Hest?" she asked as she glanced around. "...Is there an enemy nearby?"

"Yes, actually, though not one I've seen before," the older man said as he gestured lightly with his chin towards a nearby hill. "Some strange creatures that look like... I don't know, purple slimes with yellow eyes? Seem to be moving towards the area. There's a town a bit further ahead, but I'm not sure if we'd make it there in time to reinforce or would be walking into a deathtrap..."

There was a brief pause as he looked at the young woman floating in the air before promptly smacking himself on the head with his free hand.

"I'm an idiot. Hey, young miss, would you mind taking a look to see how bad the situation is?"

Before he could even turn to see if Sanae was willing to accommodate his requests, though, Syldon watched the young girl zip by over the hill to see what it was keeping the group from moving.

The situation was... Not particularly far off from what the man had described, as far as Sanae could tell. The place seemed like it would have been a quaint little hamlet, had it not been for the oncoming mass of monsters moving towards the town. The description he had given her wasn't particularly inaccurate; they did indeed look like slimes with a pair of glowing yellow eyes, though it seemed that the man had failed to mention that they also didn't seem to be particularly intact, either.

Oddly enough, though, there already seemed to be combat breaking out around the hamlet, as the monsters seemed to be facing off against a massive, living tree brimming with spectral energy and a blue-haired girl wielding a pair of scissors.

They seemed to be doing well enough at fending off the horde for the moment, but from the air it was clear that the number of enemies bearing down upon them could very easily wash over the town regardless of their efforts.

Now with a slightly better view of the situation, Sanae quickly apprised both the mercenaries—and her other companions beside—of the situation at hand.

"Mmm... Well, that's rather concerning. With numbers like that, I'm not sure if we'd survive getting attacked head-on. Maybe we should retreat and find another way around..."

"Eh? But there are people down there—"

"Look, I know we brought you along because you and your friends were strong, but we're here to protect our clients, not play the hero," Syldon cut Sanae off with a stern look on his face. "You're welcome to act as you want, so long as you're not endangering the rest of us."

As he spoke, a few of the creatures seemed to be moving around the hills and towards the group—a fact which did the group absolutely no favors.

"All right, you guys! Don't panic and start moving the caravan around! There aren't enough of them coming at us right now, so get those things turned around while we stall! If things get too rough, abandon the goods! Better to live at a loss than die greedy!"

@VitaVitaAR@EchoWolff@Izurich@Lugubrious@Drifting Pollen@Raineh Daze@DracoLunaris@Rezod92

Shadow Contract: An Urban Fantasy Action RP

Time for me to chuck a character into the pile.

Gamba go

• Name: Tenjou Seika
• Age: 16
• Gender: Female
• Appearance: "Rather nice out today, isn't it?"
  Seika is a modest 5'6" (~167cm) with a figure that doesn't particularly stand out among the crowd of other Japanese people, much less other students. Her choice of clothing is also often rather low-key, opting for ensembles that are simple rather than gaudy whenever prompted.
• Personality: Seika could be considered to be a rather friendly and outgoing individual, though not necessarily on the level of a social butterfly like some of her other more-popular classmates might be. At the very least, the young woman positions herself as something akin to a 'side character' (as her brother might put it) able to reach across the usual stratifications of friend groups in the class. To that end, Seika has become adept at both leading and maneuvering groups and social situations from the shadows—a distinct oddity given how her popularity might have shot up if what she spent her free time doing in lieu of accepting offers to hang out playing at arcades or singing karaoke came to light.
  That being said, Seika doesn't desire the shallow popularity provided by student cliques; though peer approval is a meaningful part of her motivation to continue as she has, it is a desire to be acknowledged for what she has done and what she can do that pushes her to further and further heights.
• Backstory: Though she originated from a rather mundane household (even by normal standards), Seika's childhood was punctuated more than anything else by the deep impression that the media her older brother consumed as she grew up. Games and anime that were popular among his peers were oft played while their parents were off working, and in so doing they became her introduction to the mass market appeal of otaku culture. In so doing, however, the young Seika found a connection to her sibling... And with that, a penchant for voice acting in turn.
  With the boom in internet media where anyone could become an amateur videographer, Seika's brother found himself dabbling in experimenting with content to toss up on NND and YouTube, and began his slow grind through the content algorithm with something decidedly tried-and-true: gameplay with commentary. Seika, still quite young at this point, had one day chimed in and asked him if she could help. Curiosity of a child notwithstanding, the young man decided it reasonable enough to humor her request and prompted her to try reading some of the lines of a character in the game he was playing at the time. Her performance was surprisingly well-received by both him and by the pittance of an audience he had gathered at the time, which really just meant that she was unsurprisingly asked to do it again.
  One thing led to another, though, and the young Seika soon found herself in talks with her parents about going to afterschool voice training classes to refine the one skill that she might not have ever found otherwise. Since then, though, that ability of hers, as well as the vocational tracks that they often lead towards, have become core parts of her identity and have remained as such since then.
• Skills: Seika's voice could be considered one of her greatest strengths, and even if divorced from any connections to voice acting, her ability to speak and sing clearly could very well have opened other avenues for her to explore over the course of the years to come. Her ability to dance on stage is, in comparison, a bit lacking; while acting and movement through acting seems to 'click' at a glance, those movements serve a "purpose"—to convey the feelings and emotions of a character she is presenting. Modern dancing choreography is a bit too much for her at times, which really just means that being an idol was never really in the cards for her future—at least, not without extensive training to make up for her occasional two left feet.
  Otherwise, though, Seika is rather adept at improvisation. Regardless of what the world throws her way or what tools she has at hand to try and break through a situation, Seika will do her best to figure something out to resolve it.
• Spiritual Energy Grade: B
  
  • Contracted Being: Menreiki
  • Contract Rank: C
  • Contract Abilities: Seika's contract allows her to, after paying a fixed amount of spiritual energy, summon a set of random masks for her personal use. Each mask has it's own set of abilities that can range from "completely useless" (such as increasing her ability to read faster) to summoning weapons (which she could or could not have any proficiency in using) to even increasing her physical capabilities or transforming her outright. The sheer randomness inherent in this ability leaves it's potential as inconsistent, and being coupled with the fact that Seika can only have one mask equipped at a time means that her actual usefulness in combat can vary wildly even over the course of a single battle.
  • Cost: In order to continue using the effects of her contract, Seika she needs to 'perform' in some way, shape, or form to an audience. This can take many forms, be they singing, dancing, or acting to an audience, but obviously anything that incorporates all three provides the biggest benefits. Those 'benefits' primarily take the form of relative increases her "luck" whenever she next needs to invoke said contract, but may be subject to change in the future.

Reborn in a Fantasy World, This Time I Shall...!

??? — ??? Forest

Despite being a massive creature that looked like it had no right to be in the air to begin with, the armor-clad bird was moving uncannily quickly through the skies as it pressed down upon the group of wayward travelers. The distance between them had rapidly closed as the four readied themselves for combat, but the avian seemed wholly unfazed by what they were doing.

Just as Jace had predicted, though, the bird's head deftly moved out of the way of the incoming spears of ice. With no other long-range tools to utilize otherwise, though, the beast quickly drew within melee range of the group.

Nyana's quick thinking was, arguably, the only thing between them and a faceful of bird talons; acting as the vanguard in the direct trajectory of the bird's dive meant that she would be the one bearing the brunt of the impact, but that just as well meant that she had become primary target number one.

After all, her shield had been large enough to mitigate the impact of the attack, but with how massive the bird was, the fact that it would choose to pick her up as it loosed another howling gale—this one far more potent given how close it was now—was not something to be expected.

Swiftly, the creature began to rise back into the air, apparently less burdened by carrying the slimegirl-knight than would have been ideal—as it prepared to leave.

There was a brief chance to try and latch on (or leap onto the bird outright), but time to consider if such a course of action was worth it was a luxury they could ill afford at the moment.

@Crusader Lord@Thunder999999@Crimson Paladin@Expendable

Reborn in a Fantasy World, This Time I Shall...!

??? — Ruined Inn

A quick once-over through the inn in search of mobile storage would reveal little more than a few burlap sacks in the kitchen, clearly meant for carrying loads of produce more than they were for traveling at length. It was possible to improvise some makeshift equipment out of what little was left here otherwise—maybe even looting the bedside stands for sundries that fleeing travelers might have left behind.

Examination of the innkeeper's old room—which itself would take a fair bit of force to open, if not knocking it off its hinges entirely—would reveal much of the same decor as that which the group had awoken to. The only difference here, however, was a coil of rope and a now-empty lantern off to the side, untouched by the elements (though dusty all the same).

After retrieving whatever they could, any brave soul who chose to wander outside would find themselves along a rather long, open road. The bell, still tolling in the distance, could be seen swaying back and forth atop a belfry in the distance. The road, it seemed, led towards a town square.

One filled with plentiful undead drawn to the sound, visible even from here.

Around them, though, were signs that the once-lively town had certainly seen better days. Gashes and cracks marked the paved streets, the stone itself broken by the grasses and lichens that had begun to reclaim them. It was clear, though, that the inn was far better off than more than a few stores that surrounded it. A few seemed to be little more than charred wood atop crumbling foundation, while others, though intact, had their windows or doors smashed through by something or another.

At the very least, the variety in buildings meant that there were other places to explore if need be. A faded sign hanging off a rusted chain of one, for example, seemed to have the faintest outline of a hammer. At another, the remnants of a multitude of broken tables and overturned chairs lay strewn about within the interior—a sure sign that people had once gathered there for some reason or another.

@VitaVitaAR@RolePlayerRoxas@Aku the Samurai@SilverPaw

---

Neir — Guardhouse

"A... Doggy bag?"

Though Meira was clearly confused by the term presented to her by "C", the context around the phrase was enough to clue her in as to what the young man wished to do.

"...Oh, you wanted to bring him leftovers," she finally said before glancing back towards where the elf had thrown up mere moments earlier. "...I don't think he'd be able to keep it down, to be honest. It'd be better to just let him drink water for now and let the healers—and maybe a chirurgeon—do what they need to. I'll treat him some other time."

Once Cassius' condition was made known to the guards (and that they would be aware that she would be heading out for a meal), though, the catgirl promptly led the young man to the gates of Neir proper. There, though, the adventurer would be promptly stopped by a guard who seemed to be ever so slightly on edge.

Given what had just been reported, maybe that was to be expected.

"Don't worry about that one," she quipped before revealing her own adventurer plate, "he's with me. I've already checked in at the guardhouse outside, if you really want to be paranoid."

The guard gave the item a brief glance, then tossed a slightly less trustful gaze towards the human behind her before nodding and letting the pair through.

Past the latticed gate overhead and the stone arches supporting it, what could only have been described as the quintessential Western fantasy town lay splayed out in front of Connor's eyes. Though nowhere near as fancifully lively as media might have made things out to be, the place seemed to be quite clean—a far cry from the slums sitting just outside it's walls.

"Anyways, you wanted to know about more adventurer stuff, right? I'll fill you in as we go," the catgirl remarked. "Materials are the general rule of thumb, though, yes; not sure why you'd assume letters at a glance, since not everyone speaks the same language. Wood, tin, copper, iron, bronze, silver, gold, platinum... Up until that point is where you'd expect the top 'normal' adventurers to find their limits. But beyond that—moonsilver, orichalcum, mithril, and the like—is the sort of thing meant for legends. Not like I've ever seen anyone past moonsilver here, though, but honestly half the tales around those ranks feel so exaggerated they may as well have been spun up by a drunk bard on his tenth ale of the night."

By the time she had finished her explanation, though, the catgirl had come to a stop in front of what was undeniably a tavern of sorts, complete with a sign of a wooden mug hanging overhead.

"Welcome to 'The Drunken Bear'. Place is a bit rough later at night, but that's because it's pretty popular with the locals," Meira said as she opened the door and motioned for "C" to follow.

It didn't take long for one of the barmaids to notice the pair and bound over towards them, nor did it take much longer for them to be seated at a small table off to the side.

"Shall I get you some water to start? Or would you like to try our signature beer, instead?"

"I'll be fine with some water," the catgirl replied simply before glancing towards her companion. Hopefully, he would have at least some restraint despite his first impressions...

@ERode@Zeroth@TheMushroomLord

Pokemon: Dream

Richard Evans

Route 5

Though he winced when Luna took the brunt of the Rock Smash to the face, Richard quickly righted himself—and just in time to notice that Luna's one-two combo had managed to land without issue otherwise.

That was one benefit to having an enemy willingly close the distance, at least.

At this point, though, there really wasn't much else to be done; caught in the Wrap as it was, the enemy Sneasel was more or less forced out of combat. That didn't mean that they could simply wait for it to be choked into fainting, though; with the advantage they now had, it only made sense to try and keep that momentum up.

"Luna, keep whacking it in the head with Vine Whip, and don't loosen your grip for anything!" Richard called out. The Snivy nodded her head in response and, as requested, began to slap at the bound Sneasel's face.

There were other ways of brutalizing the opponent, of course, but seeing as how he didn't know the extent to which Luna could move a bound target, Richard chose to reserve any more aggressive callouts for emergencies. Hopefully Laurel could keep the Pawniard occupied long enough for them to beat the Sneasel down—or, well, maybe even help with that so that Luna could tag out sooner than not.

There was only so much she could do against this specific combination of opponents, after all.

@Rune_Alchemist

Shadow Contract: An Urban Fantasy Action RP Interest Check

Hello, I am here.

From Realms Beyond — An Isekai Crossover RP (Now Accepting)

Kochiya Sanae

On the Road

Sanae had been rather quiet as she followed the rest of the group alongside the caravan, if only because the entire situation was growing increasingly more complex the more she thought about things. The keywords of 'capital' and 'danger' had obviously been at the forefront of her mind, and coupled with the whole mess that had apparently allowed her to call out to Suwako-sama as she had..

Well, it was a giant question of "where to begin" now. Before she could spend too long lost in her own thoughts, though, the Scarlet Devil had spoken up, prompting the group into a conversation as to how to proceed with their plans. The green-haired girl listened in silence to the conversation that followed, all the while thinking about where to best focus her own efforts in the process.

That didn't mean that their current plan, vague as it was, was without flaws, though.

"I think Rayne's got a point," the shrine maiden chimed in as she crossed her arms and tilted her head ever so slightly to the side. "That said, it'd have to be some uncannily lax kingdom to let a bunch of strangers claiming to have come from another world into the audience of the most important figure in the nation, and I don't know if we'd get an audience if we just presented the Raven Herald attack to him as evidence. At most, we'd probably get, like... I don't know, some cranky old military man to check things out?"

After saying that, however, Sanae figured that following in Lewa's footsteps and figuring out more about the world—and of the threat prophesized to be bearing down upon them—seemed to be the most reasonable course of action.

"If you want to handle politics and high society, by all means. I'm going to do what I do best and go around trying to figure out the culprit behind whatever's threatening the city," she added before thinking for a bit more. "...Are we just going to be splitting into teams for this, then? It certainly feels like everyone's got different priorities..."

@VitaVitaAR@EchoWolff@Izurich@Lugubrious@Drifting Pollen@Raineh Daze@DracoLunaris@Rezod92

Reborn in a Fantasy World, This Time I Shall...!

Neir — Guardhouse

Though she still felt a fair deal of responsibility for Cassius' current troubles, Meira couldn't help but nod her head in silent acceptance at the elf's assertion that he was the one at fault for his current situation. The catgirl didn't share those sentiments, but whether or not the injured elf truly believed that or was simply speaking pleasantries the young woman felt it as good a time as any to simply drop the topic for the moment.

It was at that moment that Cassius' odd companion, paranoid as he had been since the last time she had seen him, had chosen to enter the room. The fact that he was here meant that the guards were done questioning him, and it was at least admirable that he had chosen to check in on the elf instead of fleeing with his...

Newfound spoils of battle?

"...I guess that explain where the knives on that bastard went," she remarked, noting how odd the ensemble looked on the young man to herself before Cassius suggested that a meal was in order—though, obviously enough, not for him.

"I feel like you'd probably be owed a bit more than a meal, but that's fine by me," she replied as she glanced towards 'C'. "If you want to work on your own time, though, it might be a good idea to stop by the Adventurer's Guild..."

The catgirl trailed off before simply shrugging her shoulders.

"If you want to some of that work you were asking about for some coin, though, you'll need an adventurer plate. That would take a while, though, but I'll let you decide what you want to do."

@ERode@Zeroth@TheMushroomLord

Reborn in a Fantasy World, This Time I Shall...!

??? — Ruined Inn

As the pair who had entered the cellar resurfaced from it's depths, they—and those still waiting above—would be met with the sound of something that would feel quite out-of-place for what little they had seen of the town.

The sound of a bell tolling could be heard from somewhere off in the distance, and each ring seemed to echo throughout the otherwise-empty town. A cursory glance out the window would show that the otherworlders were not the only ones to perceive the sound; it would have been difficult for anything not deaf to not, after all.

The undead that had been milling about the shattered glass earlier, however briefly, seemed to slowly be moving towards the bell and away from the entrance, leaving the path more or less clear if the group wished to explore the area outside the inn.

The cause of the event remained to be seen, of course, but that didn't change the opportunity that had been so fortuitously presented to them.

@VitaVitaAR@RolePlayerRoxas@Aku the Samurai@SilverPaw

---

??? — ??? Forest

Though the massive bird seemed to be content simply drinking water for a while, the continued discussions of the group took long enough for it to finish what it had initially come to the lake to do. After straightening it's body back up, the avian creature slowly turned itself towards the four that were still busy debating their options.

Whatever their choice would have been seemed to matter little as it let out a cry and flapped it's massive wings towards them. With that came a strong gale that, even from this distance, could be felt.

Doubly so, now that the bird had lifted off from where it had been standing and began to fly at the four.

There was some time before it drew close enough to do whatever it planned to do, but any opportunities to plan seemed to be very quickly running thin.

@Crusader Lord@Thunder999999@Crimson Paladin@Expendable

Pokemon: Dream

Richard Evans

Route 5

"Ah, crap."

Richard swore lightly under his breath as the battle began to unfold in front of him. The Sneasel's taunt was, unfortunately enough, the exact thing to stop his and Luna's standard strategy in its tracks. The Grass Snake Pokémon floundered about for a brief moment as it's flow was disrupted, but it didn't take long for it to her back up with what felt like a rare desire to repay it's aggressor in kind.

For what it was worth, the situation wasn't wholly out of his control; losing access to his primary strategy just meant having to improvise a new one on the fly.

"Focus the Sneasel? Sure, I can work with that," the Trainer remarked before calling out to Luna. "Luna, Vine Whip into Wrap! Aim for the limbs!"

Without so much as a sound in response, two whiplike vines shot out towards the Sneasel from Luna's body. The Pokémon seemed wholly intent on repaying what damage had been done to its still-burgeoning pride, though to what extent it could improvise remained to be seen.

@Rune_Alchemist