Danyel
datadogie
The Red Seelie
rush99999
Xiro Zean
Cu Chulainn
Alfhedil
Ojiro Mashirao
Gerlando
Izurich
Team Nippon
@VitaVitaAR@PKMNB0Y@Crimson Paladin
“Yep! I do.” She replied with a self satisfied grin. “Probably more than the hunters, heheh! Well, about the forest anyways. They only go there to hunt, but if you spend a bit of time looking elsewhere you can find some odd things in there! I’m pretty sure I found a fairy once, though no one believed me.” She pouted a bit at that, but quickly changed the subject.
The young girl turned her attention to Nobunaga’s question.
“Mhm! Well, aside from a few hunting festivals and occasionally Kyrinth getting too close, but those happen so routinely it’s not really anything exciting.” They had reached the village now, and the group could see other people as Lazhira led them towards the center of the small town. “So travelers like you are the only real fun thing that happens. So try me, hehe.” She flashed a grin to Misaki. “I’m gullible and if it makes a good story, I’ll listen!”
While most of the others didn’t seem to pay them any mind, it was clear more than a few were giving the outsiders wary looks as they approached what was clearly the center of the village. A circular space had been cleared out in front of a number of wooden huts, a large stone slab situated in the center in an almost altar-like fashion with what seemed to be writing of some sort upon it. Most of the people were dressed similarly as Lazhira, though most did have a few more layers or were wearing more furs to help keep warm. Oddly though, none seemed to have a tattoo similar to Lazhira.
The village itself seemed to sprawl alongside the waters edge, not going too far into the forest to the west and stretching mostly to the North and South along the water's edge where Nobunaga and the others could see a number of canoes and fishing equipment. More to the north was a large longhouse decorated in what seemed to be several hunting trophies and decorations.
“Soo, uh...I should let the Kadisht know you're here, but how about I take you to my place first? I could tell you guys lots of things-”
Lazhira was cut off mid sentence by a shout from somewhere to the east side of the village, towards the forest. Several men armed with spears and armor made from animal hides scrambled into the area.
“Move move!”
Not seconds later they were followed by a large, four legged beast the size of a horse. Its front two feet had only two claws, while its back had four. A large, armored tail whipped angrily behind it as it growled, slamming its feet onto the ground. It locked eyes with Nobu briefly, and in its pointed snout was undeniably the remains of what seemed to have once been a person.
The beast snapped its jaws, a human arm falling from its mouth and onto the ground.
“Another one!?” One of the men shouted.
The beast's most notable feature however, was its coat of silver scales that covered its back and hung off its side. Almost like a coat of armor or armored skirt, it hung off the top of its body and completely covered its back creating a natural armor save for its seemingly vulnerable underside.
It hissed, the apparent hunters surrounding it with spears in a standoff.
"Are you any good with that sword of yours?" Lazhira asked the group.
The Roma Mob
@ERode@Pyromania99@PaulHaynek@Guy0fV4lor
The stairs led down, the chain around Octavia’s neck clattering against the stone floor. She seemed to make sure she never lost sight of the others, but always made sure to stay just out of Isidore’s reach, stopping occasionally and giving him a playful yip before quickly continuing towards whatever destination the hound had in mind for them.
The stairs eventually changed from the smooth flat surface of the floor to what seemed to be older, more rough hewn stone that one might find in some old ruin or castle. The walls too, soon changed from that smooth black surface to something seeming far older. Had the place above simply been built atop an already older place? Octavia didn’t seem to be thinking too hard about it, trotting down the stairs at a fairly quick pace.
Should they recently formed quartet follow the pup, they would eventually reach the bottom fairly quickly. This place looked less like the fancy prison above, and far more like a dungeon with its old, rough stone walls.
Donovan and Isidore would be the first to smell it. A faint cloying scent mixed with repulsive rot. It wasn’t very strong yet, but it was easy to assume it was coming from somewhere within. Octavia didn’t seem bothered by it, wagging her tail happily, glancing warily at Donovan but seemed to want to keep leading them. The dim lighting in the area made it difficult to see, for there were no windows or other visible light sources, but they could faintly makeout bodies of more of those experiments upon the lifeless floor, and upon the walls it seemed more of those black vines were growing upon the wall, protruding from somewhere on the floor.
The hallway itself was still something of a prison. Cells lined the walls, perhaps once filled with prisoners. As they traveled the vines would give way to more elaborate structures - more of those tar like plants they had seen above formed into the shape of various flowers. Some had overtaken those experiments, sprouting more of those tar-like plants from their bodies.
The further they went, Nick would soon realize something was very wrong. Whatever was ahead was exceedingly dangerous. Dangerous enough for his entire body and newfound senses to tell him to flee. Not to mention the bodies of those things laying on the floor. He was getting just as bad vibes from them.
Octavia sat at the end of the hallway, at the top of another set of stairs that seemed to spiral downwards for another level or two. A large iron door had been wedged open by the vines some time ago allowing passage. Would they keep going, following this demonic hound into the depths of this place? If Isidore happened to approach, she wouldn’t flee this time and allow him to hold the chain once more.
If anything, the dim lighting seemed to cause its unnervingly long mouth to grin at the group.
Team feet pics
@Cu Chulainn@Click This
It could be said that Malphas’ hope was arrogance. After all, humans reaching for things they shouldn’t is painted upon their history. Kings reaching for more than they can reach. Dictators squeezing every last drop of life out of their country. The Atheist spitting in the face of God. Yet, without such arrogance one could never reach for the stars. Arrogance with a mix of foolhardiness, perhaps that is the nature of the collective human condition.
Malphas, was certainly arrogant and foolhardy enough to make up for any who lacked.
Malphas’ declaration of flight seemed to elicit a small pause from the giant, almost as though it had understood. Was it mocking him? Letting him attempt to do so in what it thought was going to be a failure? Yet, it watched as Malphas continued to run for the wall, leaping desperately into the air in a last ditch attempt to flee this place.
Yet, however briefly Malphas would get just a taste of that dream of humanities.
He did not fall, not instantly. As his feet left the ground, he felt light. Incredibly so. He leaped high, almost as though the wind - or perhaps the world itself was pulling him forward, higher and higher to clear the obstacle in his path. Yet at the apex of his arc, it would cease. Whatever he had attempted ended, causing him to fall. He hit the top of the wall, barely clearing it before tumbling down the other side, his face meeting the snow below.
He looked up.
The rock wall was behind him, along with the gatehouse. In front of him was the narrow pathway into the cliffs.
He had made it.
The giant shrieked at having apparently been made a fool of.
He had a moment to gather his breath and rest, and wait on his former companions, if he should desire...or would he chance taking on the world alone outside, without allies?
Narkissa turned to see Malphas’ feat just in time...wait, was...was that just a trick of the light? Tiny, almost bird-like wings of light seemed to manifest behind him, flickering with movement. She blinked, and they were gone. Yet, he succeeded even if it was only for an instant.
With the giants attention entirely on Malphas and the gatehouse, it seemed to have forgotten entirely about her at the moment and left her to flee to the building. The building to her left was the one those who had previously succeeded in leaving. Weapons of any kind she could imagine lay strewn about, the spear was still firmly planted in the wall.
The giant swiveled its head, scanning the area looking for its other quarry giving her time to collect her wits.
The Lonely Pixie
@1charak2
“Heh,” A slight reverberation was added to the creature's smooth voice as it chuckled lightly. A toothy grin nearly split its entire face, revealing teeth that could easily rend flesh from bone. “Then let us be off, fairy, and have a fruitful...partnership.” Alice would find herself having no time to react as the short creature lashed out with a claw, grabbing her body in a surprisingly strong grip.
If it had wanted to, her second life would have certainly ended right there.
“Stay put or you’ll end up elsewhere.” Instead though, she found herself being shoved into a pocket in his cloak. In its other claw, it still held onto the arrow. He walked over to the bottom of the stairs where the bottom met the floor, tapping his foot against the floor. “Pay attention, you may learn something.”
Taking the red colored arrow, the creature knocked it in a bow that was being kept at his side. Leaping into the air with an acrobatic flip, he aimed loosed it towards the floor.
The arrow sailed towards its target.
Yet, it never reached the floor.
Instead, it passed through the target as though there was nothing there.
From Alice’s perspective she would barely be able to see small wisps of light - almost a tether of some sort connecting the creature and the arrow. She would however, blink and lose all sight of it and they were no longer in the library.
No, they were standing at the bottom of another staircase in some long, dark stone hallway. The staircase itself was in worse shape than the one above. Had it been intentionally damage? Odd blue lights filled the corners of the hallways ceiling and floor, a pulse of darker blue flowing forwards deeper into the hallway. The arrow was embedded in the floor not far away.
The creature roughly pulled her from its pocket.
“There, see? Getting into places is easy for me.” He chuckled. “Learn anything, pixie? Or was that too fast for you?”
The cat girl
@Crusader Lord
The tapestries didn’t seem to provide anything useful. At one point they were likely high quality, but age had certainly done a number on them. As best she could tell, they seemed to depict a large, black tower with angry, black clouds throwing lightning bolts towards it, and a mass of people fleeing from it, but whatever it meant was something was left to her own imagination.
Eventually her search would lead her up the stairs. The path was easy enough, none of those things lying in ambush. The top floor was about as what one could expect in this place for the most part. Black stone consisted of the entirety of its construction, the only noticeable difference was the large glass window that circled the room, giving a full 180 degree view of the area outside. A large chandelier that hung from the ceiling and a carpet that covered most of the floor. In the center of the carpet was a desk, and as Leannah’s eyes scanned the area she’d come to quickly find something perhaps, a bit unpleasant if she hadn’t already become somewhat numb to it.
A human skeleton was sitting in a chair behind the desk. Its clothes were old, the colors faded and dull, but at once might have been a colorful ensemble reminding one of something of a victorian-era esque clothing.
It looked like it had been holding something once, but it had already been taken. The desk in front of it seemed to have been pillaged, too, contents emptied. It seemed recent, too. Was there someone else here besides them?
If she looked towards the gatehouse and the giant, she’d be just in time to see Malphas’ miracle manifesting, leaping over the wall and falling onto the other side.
@VitaVitaAR@PKMNB0Y@Crimson Paladin
“Yep! I do.” She replied with a self satisfied grin. “Probably more than the hunters, heheh! Well, about the forest anyways. They only go there to hunt, but if you spend a bit of time looking elsewhere you can find some odd things in there! I’m pretty sure I found a fairy once, though no one believed me.” She pouted a bit at that, but quickly changed the subject.
The young girl turned her attention to Nobunaga’s question.
“Mhm! Well, aside from a few hunting festivals and occasionally Kyrinth getting too close, but those happen so routinely it’s not really anything exciting.” They had reached the village now, and the group could see other people as Lazhira led them towards the center of the small town. “So travelers like you are the only real fun thing that happens. So try me, hehe.” She flashed a grin to Misaki. “I’m gullible and if it makes a good story, I’ll listen!”
While most of the others didn’t seem to pay them any mind, it was clear more than a few were giving the outsiders wary looks as they approached what was clearly the center of the village. A circular space had been cleared out in front of a number of wooden huts, a large stone slab situated in the center in an almost altar-like fashion with what seemed to be writing of some sort upon it. Most of the people were dressed similarly as Lazhira, though most did have a few more layers or were wearing more furs to help keep warm. Oddly though, none seemed to have a tattoo similar to Lazhira.
The village itself seemed to sprawl alongside the waters edge, not going too far into the forest to the west and stretching mostly to the North and South along the water's edge where Nobunaga and the others could see a number of canoes and fishing equipment. More to the north was a large longhouse decorated in what seemed to be several hunting trophies and decorations.
“Soo, uh...I should let the Kadisht know you're here, but how about I take you to my place first? I could tell you guys lots of things-”
Lazhira was cut off mid sentence by a shout from somewhere to the east side of the village, towards the forest. Several men armed with spears and armor made from animal hides scrambled into the area.
“Move move!”
Not seconds later they were followed by a large, four legged beast the size of a horse. Its front two feet had only two claws, while its back had four. A large, armored tail whipped angrily behind it as it growled, slamming its feet onto the ground. It locked eyes with Nobu briefly, and in its pointed snout was undeniably the remains of what seemed to have once been a person.
The beast snapped its jaws, a human arm falling from its mouth and onto the ground.
“Another one!?” One of the men shouted.
The beast's most notable feature however, was its coat of silver scales that covered its back and hung off its side. Almost like a coat of armor or armored skirt, it hung off the top of its body and completely covered its back creating a natural armor save for its seemingly vulnerable underside.
It hissed, the apparent hunters surrounding it with spears in a standoff.
"Are you any good with that sword of yours?" Lazhira asked the group.
The Roma Mob
@ERode@Pyromania99@PaulHaynek@Guy0fV4lor
The stairs led down, the chain around Octavia’s neck clattering against the stone floor. She seemed to make sure she never lost sight of the others, but always made sure to stay just out of Isidore’s reach, stopping occasionally and giving him a playful yip before quickly continuing towards whatever destination the hound had in mind for them.
The stairs eventually changed from the smooth flat surface of the floor to what seemed to be older, more rough hewn stone that one might find in some old ruin or castle. The walls too, soon changed from that smooth black surface to something seeming far older. Had the place above simply been built atop an already older place? Octavia didn’t seem to be thinking too hard about it, trotting down the stairs at a fairly quick pace.
Should they recently formed quartet follow the pup, they would eventually reach the bottom fairly quickly. This place looked less like the fancy prison above, and far more like a dungeon with its old, rough stone walls.
Donovan and Isidore would be the first to smell it. A faint cloying scent mixed with repulsive rot. It wasn’t very strong yet, but it was easy to assume it was coming from somewhere within. Octavia didn’t seem bothered by it, wagging her tail happily, glancing warily at Donovan but seemed to want to keep leading them. The dim lighting in the area made it difficult to see, for there were no windows or other visible light sources, but they could faintly makeout bodies of more of those experiments upon the lifeless floor, and upon the walls it seemed more of those black vines were growing upon the wall, protruding from somewhere on the floor.
The hallway itself was still something of a prison. Cells lined the walls, perhaps once filled with prisoners. As they traveled the vines would give way to more elaborate structures - more of those tar like plants they had seen above formed into the shape of various flowers. Some had overtaken those experiments, sprouting more of those tar-like plants from their bodies.
The further they went, Nick would soon realize something was very wrong. Whatever was ahead was exceedingly dangerous. Dangerous enough for his entire body and newfound senses to tell him to flee. Not to mention the bodies of those things laying on the floor. He was getting just as bad vibes from them.
Octavia sat at the end of the hallway, at the top of another set of stairs that seemed to spiral downwards for another level or two. A large iron door had been wedged open by the vines some time ago allowing passage. Would they keep going, following this demonic hound into the depths of this place? If Isidore happened to approach, she wouldn’t flee this time and allow him to hold the chain once more.
If anything, the dim lighting seemed to cause its unnervingly long mouth to grin at the group.
Team feet pics
@Cu Chulainn@Click This
It could be said that Malphas’ hope was arrogance. After all, humans reaching for things they shouldn’t is painted upon their history. Kings reaching for more than they can reach. Dictators squeezing every last drop of life out of their country. The Atheist spitting in the face of God. Yet, without such arrogance one could never reach for the stars. Arrogance with a mix of foolhardiness, perhaps that is the nature of the collective human condition.
Malphas, was certainly arrogant and foolhardy enough to make up for any who lacked.
Malphas’ declaration of flight seemed to elicit a small pause from the giant, almost as though it had understood. Was it mocking him? Letting him attempt to do so in what it thought was going to be a failure? Yet, it watched as Malphas continued to run for the wall, leaping desperately into the air in a last ditch attempt to flee this place.
Yet, however briefly Malphas would get just a taste of that dream of humanities.
He did not fall, not instantly. As his feet left the ground, he felt light. Incredibly so. He leaped high, almost as though the wind - or perhaps the world itself was pulling him forward, higher and higher to clear the obstacle in his path. Yet at the apex of his arc, it would cease. Whatever he had attempted ended, causing him to fall. He hit the top of the wall, barely clearing it before tumbling down the other side, his face meeting the snow below.
He looked up.
The rock wall was behind him, along with the gatehouse. In front of him was the narrow pathway into the cliffs.
He had made it.
The giant shrieked at having apparently been made a fool of.
He had a moment to gather his breath and rest, and wait on his former companions, if he should desire...or would he chance taking on the world alone outside, without allies?
Narkissa turned to see Malphas’ feat just in time...wait, was...was that just a trick of the light? Tiny, almost bird-like wings of light seemed to manifest behind him, flickering with movement. She blinked, and they were gone. Yet, he succeeded even if it was only for an instant.
With the giants attention entirely on Malphas and the gatehouse, it seemed to have forgotten entirely about her at the moment and left her to flee to the building. The building to her left was the one those who had previously succeeded in leaving. Weapons of any kind she could imagine lay strewn about, the spear was still firmly planted in the wall.
The giant swiveled its head, scanning the area looking for its other quarry giving her time to collect her wits.
The Lonely Pixie
@1charak2
“Heh,” A slight reverberation was added to the creature's smooth voice as it chuckled lightly. A toothy grin nearly split its entire face, revealing teeth that could easily rend flesh from bone. “Then let us be off, fairy, and have a fruitful...partnership.” Alice would find herself having no time to react as the short creature lashed out with a claw, grabbing her body in a surprisingly strong grip.
If it had wanted to, her second life would have certainly ended right there.
“Stay put or you’ll end up elsewhere.” Instead though, she found herself being shoved into a pocket in his cloak. In its other claw, it still held onto the arrow. He walked over to the bottom of the stairs where the bottom met the floor, tapping his foot against the floor. “Pay attention, you may learn something.”
Taking the red colored arrow, the creature knocked it in a bow that was being kept at his side. Leaping into the air with an acrobatic flip, he aimed loosed it towards the floor.
The arrow sailed towards its target.
Yet, it never reached the floor.
Instead, it passed through the target as though there was nothing there.
From Alice’s perspective she would barely be able to see small wisps of light - almost a tether of some sort connecting the creature and the arrow. She would however, blink and lose all sight of it and they were no longer in the library.
No, they were standing at the bottom of another staircase in some long, dark stone hallway. The staircase itself was in worse shape than the one above. Had it been intentionally damage? Odd blue lights filled the corners of the hallways ceiling and floor, a pulse of darker blue flowing forwards deeper into the hallway. The arrow was embedded in the floor not far away.
The creature roughly pulled her from its pocket.
“There, see? Getting into places is easy for me.” He chuckled. “Learn anything, pixie? Or was that too fast for you?”
The cat girl
@Crusader Lord
The tapestries didn’t seem to provide anything useful. At one point they were likely high quality, but age had certainly done a number on them. As best she could tell, they seemed to depict a large, black tower with angry, black clouds throwing lightning bolts towards it, and a mass of people fleeing from it, but whatever it meant was something was left to her own imagination.
Eventually her search would lead her up the stairs. The path was easy enough, none of those things lying in ambush. The top floor was about as what one could expect in this place for the most part. Black stone consisted of the entirety of its construction, the only noticeable difference was the large glass window that circled the room, giving a full 180 degree view of the area outside. A large chandelier that hung from the ceiling and a carpet that covered most of the floor. In the center of the carpet was a desk, and as Leannah’s eyes scanned the area she’d come to quickly find something perhaps, a bit unpleasant if she hadn’t already become somewhat numb to it.
A human skeleton was sitting in a chair behind the desk. Its clothes were old, the colors faded and dull, but at once might have been a colorful ensemble reminding one of something of a victorian-era esque clothing.
It looked like it had been holding something once, but it had already been taken. The desk in front of it seemed to have been pillaged, too, contents emptied. It seemed recent, too. Was there someone else here besides them?
If she looked towards the gatehouse and the giant, she’d be just in time to see Malphas’ miracle manifesting, leaping over the wall and falling onto the other side.
