FujiwaraPhoenix

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

??? — Streets

Forcing the door to the smithy open wouldn't take too much effort, owing in part due to the rotten wood that had once held the lock in the doorframe in place. With a conspicuously loud cracking noise as the door gave way, Bianca—and anyone who followed after her—would be met with a cluster of undead soldiers. Scars marked both their equipment and bodies, and none seemed to be in great condition, but that didn't change what they were now.

Given how they had been trapped within the building, however, the bell's ringing seemed to have done little beyond gathering them all in one place up until the door opened.

Now, however, there was a new noise to follow—a new existence to chase after and strike out at. Though their reactions to the noise seemed staggered, it didn't take long for the zombies to begin lurching towards the broken door, rusted and shattered weapons at the ready.

@VitaVitaAR@RolePlayerRoxas@Aku the Samurai@SilverPaw

---

Neir — The Drunken Bear

Though Meira had given a bit of a curious glance towards the young man as he half-shouted for beer, the way he had spent the next few seconds freaking out pushed the assumption that he was desperate out of her mind. At this point, he seemed more awkward than anything—a bit of an oddity for someone who looked as old as he did—but the catgirl chose not to judge and instead offered suggestions for their meal as per his request.

"Menu's up there on that signboard," she mentioned offhandedly as she pointed to a plaque of wood marked with papers nearby, "but if you want suggestions for someone who hasn't eaten in a day... Probably something not too heavy would be fine, so I'd recommend the rabbit stew."

After the waitress returned with their drinks and left with their orders, though, the adventurer would take a sip of water before hearing the young man's next question. By this point, Meira had begun to feel that Cassius' outlandish story didn't seem too far-fetched if someone was asking questions on this level to her, but without revealing any such thoughts she simply replied in turn.

"Monsters nearby... If we're talking about within vicinity of the town and past the slums, you'd probably be likely to find meridian vipers and the silverspine rabbits; there's been a bit of a population boom of both lately, though, so I'd expect to run into those in the plains nearby. If it's Bero Forest, that list grows a lot longer; blackfang boars, whipvine wolves, poison slimes..." Meira trailed off before shaking her head. "Well, they're not too worrisome if you don't cause a fuss. I can't help much when it comes to plants, though, since I'd probably get smacked upside the head by the botanists at the guild if they found out I was explaining those badly. You'll have to get that information elsewhere. That aside... What other non-humans are there beyond beastfolk and elves here? Ogres, dwarves, and the occasional daemon is probably the best answer I could give if we're talking regular residents, but I think I've seen a few lizardmen walking around as of late. Couldn't tell you why they're here, though."

Hopefully, that much would be enough to let the young man ruminate on whatever it was going through his mind while they waited for their meals to arrive.

"Oh, right, I don't ever think I got your name... Or you, mine?" she added in. "It's Meira, by the way."

@Zeroth

---

Neir — Slums

After the chaos had settled and the offending ne'er-do-wells promptly dragged away, the residents who lived or "worked" in the slums quickly got to work. While one body had been dragged away by Connor, the other had been left unattended by Meira in favor of Cassius' survival. This meant, of course, that those who were more curious (or opportunistic) quickly got to work, taking what they could off the corpse (or what remained of it) before moving to dispose of it.

They had the decency to clean up after themselves, at least.

Unfortunately for Petra, however, the focus of the others on the dead did not exempt her from catching the eye of someone else—a young child who had to be no older than ten. Donning dirty hempen clothing and wielding a stick from somewhere or another, the boy began to poke at the slime out of pure curiosity.

Whether or not it would be a problem... Well, that was up for the slime to decide.

@TheMushroomLord

Pokemon: Dream

Richard Evans

Route 5

While not as centered upon slowly grinding the opponent into the ground, Richard couldn't really deny how this new improvised method of attacking was panning out. Something like this—forcing a 2v2 into a pair of 1v1s—would probably be worth examining in the future, but the young man quickly brought his focus back towards the battle at hand. With the Sneasel slowly being worn down by the Leech Seed and Wrap on top of the continued barrage of Vine Whips, taking a few smaller blows here and there wouldn't really amount to much after the fact.

A quick glance at the Munchlax at Luna's side, however, showed that the situation wasn't as ideal as the Trainer might have otherwise preferred. The Pawniard that had since been left to run rampant was quickly becoming a problem, and it was only a matter of time before it folded to the pressure.

Given how Laurel's plan seemed to center around turning the fight into a 2v1, though, Richard quickly came to the conclusion that using the opponent to speed things up in the interim was a good an idea as any to do so.

"Luna! Use the Sneasel as a shield for Munchlax and block that attack!" he ordered—and the Snivy he had asked to do so seemed more than happy to oblige.

Maybe that Taunt had done a bit more than just block off any debilitating moves, for better or worse...

@Rune_Alchemist

Shadow Contract: An Urban Fantasy Action RP

@Aku the Samurai: I have been summoned, and so I shall provide input for thee (because it's late and it'd be better to provide this statement than not).

My problem with using Ryujin is that he (unlike the other more choleric choices people have proposed) doesn't seem the type to force that sort of physical transformation on people? Given how one of the major traits of Ryujin (and a lot of Eastern dragons, honestly) is access to a human form that doesn't retain any of those classically draconic features, forcing those more animalistic/serpentine traits onto someone doesn't feel like it makes sense. The rest of the cost also doesn't really hold up; unlike Western dragons, Eastern dragons (and the dragon god especially) are not generally presented as avaricious to the point of forcing the collection of treasures in any context. The other part of that is...

Taking really long baths or swimming in a pool? I dunno, seems more like a reward to some people to me.

There's also the dangling thread in the backstory that is the serpent, which is sort of used as an "ooh, look, danger noodle!" sort of reference that is promptly forgotten to tie the character to the school. I assume this is in part a holdover from the Orochi concept from earlier, but still.

That aside, the powerset feels sort of scattered to me. A focus on the ocean and water makes sense, but coupled with the limitations in play that we have for both this character and Rain's own and we end up with a bit of overlap. Immunity to toxins and poisons I'll... Sort of give a pass for now, since he holds fairly notable ties to medicine and healing in mythology. Healing blood I'm not going to say too much on for similar reasons, and talking to sea creatures...

Well, that's the sort of Aquaman ability that we have to force scenarios to have that be useful in at best. Funny, but can be superfluous, so I'm not going to needle at that one too much.

My suggestion is to lean a bit more into some of the mythologies associated with Ryujin if you want to go all-in here and not find a different route forward. For example, Urashima Taro is tangentially related by dint of traveling to Ryugu-jo, which is still his domain, and the myth of Tawara Touda slaying the oomukade also features the Dragon King as a notable side character. Either way, there's a bit of room to draw upon syncretism and more abstract things beyond what's being presented...

But, well, that's just my opinion and not something you need to follow to the letter.

Edit: @Teyao (not like the mention will lock in, but still), I don't think I have any qualms about Mr. Narrator here. It's not usurping control, so I have no reason to shoot it down.

Shadow Contract: An Urban Fantasy Action RP

Oh, I guess I've gotta do my part, huh? Lessee...

@King Cosmos: Well, Reina (or Heihachi) jokes aside, I think the problem is that the big counterplay other than pure LoS-breaking tactics is to never engage in continuous combat... For any longer than six seconds before trying to disengage. One could argue that six seconds is a lot of time, but I would argue this makes it very difficult for us GMs to design any sort of slow encounters or ones that don't have conveniently placed obstacles that might break that LoS. Any of THOSE would effectively be forced to be placed against any team or scenario your character isn't on, which I would argue limits how interesting we could make encounters both in terms of environment and enemy concept.

I would also argue that a core problem of this kit is that enemies, at a glance, wouldn't really know how to work around "break LoS for 9s", and depending on how many targets you can track, this could make her really strong at AoE cleanup on top of a really solid DoT-centric fighter... And this is also ignoring the question if if you could incidentally turn her into a sniper by slapping scopes onto her eyes, but I digress. Either way, I'm in the camp of "probably not workable if not tuned more towards utility/ability unlock at 9s" over "9s autohit burn until all LoS is broken"... Y'know, on top of the 15s poison application that makes it even easier to force the DoT...

That is also ignoring how the autohit DoT immediately resumes as long as any eye catches sight, and given how you can sorta just run a target down because eye 1 gives X-ray tracking after 3s it's just... Really difficult for anything trying to flee to ever succeed.

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.