@UndeadSpartan So, just checking because I think I got a neat idea: could I have Zorua or Zoroark as my character's poke-buddy and use their illusion ability for deceit-based criminal shenanigans?
SilverPaw Member
- Last Seen: Online
- Joined: 7 yrs ago
- Posts: 1171 (0.45 / day)
- VMs: 0
-
Username history
- SilverPaw 7 yrs ago
-
Latest 10 profile visitors:
-
Most recent →
CitrusArms,
Xaltwind,
rabidbacon,
thedarkness,
Remram,
ColdAtlas,
princess,
Damycles,
PapaOso,
KingofSerpents
Status
User has no status, yet
Bio
User has no bio, yet
Most Recent Posts
Asteria
Observing the unknown light spell unfortunately hadn’t reveled any new information, but Asteria’s other endeavors were more successful. Mother rat had physically inspected her after her telepathic probe, but otherwise seemed unperturbed. Good. This meant she could gradually acclimate the non-human in their party to telepathy and perhaps spark her cognition into evolving. Surely if she had evolved there were ways for her to induce something similar in mother rat. Now she only had to remember to communicate with mother rat daily, perhaps focus on actively teaching her, even…But for now, there were also the parts she’d collected to consider. She was considering making the bloodingfly’s stinger into a weapon but concocting a medicine out of the unknown plants was still a priority, since those things could wilt. While collecting the monster parts she’d been successful in knapping a flat rock into a blade, and she used that as inspiration for further crafting.
First, she dug around for a rock large enough that she’d have to hold between both paws and was a tad larger than a head. Asteria then used the rough stone blade as a chisel, using another rock to hit against it. It was a slow and grueling process, and she cut her hand against the blade several times. Out of curiosity, she used her own teeth at one point to try and gouge pieces out of the large rock. She considered using the stinger for the job, but didn’t want to damage something so precious. So, she continued her efforts with the rocks and occasionally teeth in an attempt to craft something akin a stone bowl. As long as the final product at least vaguely resembled a mortar, she’d attempt to smooth the insides by patiently grinding a rock at the irregularities left behind the blade and teeth. For the pestle, she’d just dig around until she found a long oval rock that she’d only have to alter a little to make the handle part.
At one point, Ed brought her some food outside. “Oh, thanks, I was a bit busy with these,” she said, accepting the bug meat and gobbling it gleefully. “Early morning sounds good, hopefully more of the people will go sleep by then. Just let me have the first watch, because I want to try combining those flowers into a salve that would be similarly effective to the healing herb. Mind lending me one of those by the way?” as she said this, she peaked into the hole for long enough to use Plant Analysis I on each of the plants she’d picked up on the plains earlier.
Jandar Varan
Winged Boar Inn, Askavi
So either they are rebels or just a bunch of disgruntled Eyriens, Jandar thought sarcastically to himself, though he was also well aware Terreile hadn’t been how it should be for a long while. And at least these people saw the root cause of it; certain people’s corruption that had spread almost throughout the whole land. It was a wonder there was still a Queen such as Fatima left – one that seemed to actually care for Terreille, something that was apparently a rarity in this Realm.
“Be careful if you do go,” Jandar warned Fatima, though he was fairly certain she would go, and already knew to be cautious. But really, all that coating a mountain in blood was dramatic. It wasn’t as if Fatima had an army, and while there were plenty of Eyriens, there were only Jassen and himself to go against them. A small barrel worth of blood at most, that. It was a morbid consideration, but if these warriors were so eager to spill blood, Jandar would oblige them. “So that’s how it’s going to be, after all,” he commented, rather peacefully – perhaps resigned, even. He vanished the bow and arrows with a touch – they’d be useless in such close quarters – and summoned his sabre and shield. Fighting multiple opponents alongside a stranger who had a dislike for him wasn’t going to be pretty, but Jandar hoped Jassen was aware that in such a situation watching each other’s back was not only optimal but necessary.
“Show me what Eyrien warriors are made of, then,” Jandar called out to the group, admittedly getting fired up about testing his mettle in a real fight. The tournaments he’d been in so far might have been ferociously competitive and a good way to better his own skills, but this would be something else; a real battle, though a small-scale one. There was also the fact that Eyriens weren’t as common in Kaeleer and were said to be fiercer in Terreille. He supposed he’d get to see exactly what they were like. The thought of going against such a well-known warrior race made him grin as he took a fighting stance, eyeing each opponent. He’d start on the defensive, not only because they were outnumbered and he had to learn a bit about the warriors he was about to face, but because Jassen, a technical ally of his, was also an unknown.
Jandar Varan
Winged Boar Inn, Askavi
When Jandar woke up several hours later, washed his hands and face in a basin, dressed himself, equipped his dagger, bow, and quiverful of arrows while the sword and shield were Vanished. He shouldered his backpack before making his way down to the main inn room, paid for some bread, cheese, and even a fill of ale for his leather flask for the way, and finally went to saddle and rein in Teo as well. Jandar thought he saw the thief watching him as he left alongside his new travelling companions, though it might have been someone else. Jessen, Fatima’s other companion hadn’t been pleased at Jandar’s presence, but the Warlord ignored the other male, while he reciprocated Fatima’s gesture in getting to know each other. He realized she was keeping him in the dark regarding the details of where they were going and why, but as far as he was concerned, that was simply a sign of a good dose of sense and cautiousness.
The fondness with which Fatima spoke of her rambunctious youth seemed to hint that she was still a mischievous, energetic, perhaps even slightly childish woman. Though he by no means knew her well enough to draw sure conjectures as to her character or judge her. Actually, the only thing he could ever possibly judge her for was foolishness or injustice, and she’d not shown an inclination to that so far. In exchange for her stories, Jandar shared a bit of what it was like for him to live in Kaeleer. He told her of his grandfather and father, of memorable hunting trips, exhilarating tournament wins, and his research interest. He hinted at the frustration that grew in him due to having evidence of strange things befalling people from Kaeleer who went to visit the courts in Terreille, yet being unable to do anything officially. He was vague on certain details so Jassen would not be alarmed further, but otherwise honest with Fatima.
Thus, the time till they arrived at another inn in what was apparently a village dominated by Eyrien warriors passed pleasantly. There was something off about the inn’s patrons, but Jandar couldn’t discern what exactly that something was before the inn-owner, a grizzled Eyrien Warlord Prince approached them – rather offensively, he couldn’t help but note. Could these be some sort of a local rebel group? Though he was dubious of such a conclusion based on the information he had, Jandar still considered this situation to be a potential opportunity, though certainly a dangerous one. He waited curiously for Fatima or Jassen to react, though slightly tense at the possibility of swift and unfortunate escalation of hostilities.
Thankfully, Fatima seemed fairly well versed in de-escalation and mediation, though he couldn’t help but turn to stare at her in surprise at her…explanation. She mentioned weaving, webs, visions, and a person who dealt in those, and who else could she be referring to other than a Black Widow? He turned back to the inn-owner, assessing the male’s mood. How would he respond to that? Would he be prepared to hear them out? Or was that input of Fatima’s enough for him to turn them all away? In any case, Jandar did not believe that him responding to the inn-owner until the Eyrien said his piece would help right now. The Eyrien had had most of an issue with Fatima, so even if Jassen or himself chipped in at this point…it would most likely be unnecessary.
Asteria
Asteria's attack was successful! She’d landed on the fly and tore into its wing and back forcefully, ripping off a part of its wing. Mother rat’s attack injured it even more, and though it attempted to escape, the fly only managed to destabilize Asteria and throw her off with its trashing. The insect managed to tumble onto Asteria, exposing its belly in the process. One of her other companions took the opportunity to deliver the killing blow, and Asteria wriggled out from underneath the dying creature. Its legs continued twitching a while after, as was common with insect. Asteria inspected herself for injuries thoroughly, just in case the tumble had caused some sort of sprain or break. It was also possible she’d got scratched while under the insect, which could be a danger if the bloodingfly was venomous.
Just then, her attention was redirected to a blinding flash which was shortly followed by two others, all originating from the forest. Asteria closely observed the lights, wondering as to its purpose and effects. It disturbed the soil and put out the fire, and this made it all the more apparent this was some sort of magic rather than the product of technology. Who could have cast such a thing? More importantly, she had to get information on the spell itself! It was perhaps a larger scale one than she’d ever witnessed before, so there was merit in trying to figure it out. Mana analysis! Mana sense! She activated her skills, but beyond that, she focused intently on the lights, observing them carefully and trying to actively feel the residual magic that was surely present.
When the spell was done, the fire put out, and the plains saved, Asteria blinked, regaining awareness of the rest of her environment. In the distance, villagers were shouting, the sight of such grand magic awing them as much as it had her, and it seemed they were now on the lookout for more magic. The sun had also set, and their night-time vision was better than the humans’, so if there was any sneaking and stealing to be done, now would be the time. However, Asteria had some things to do before that.
Firstly, there were her skills to consider. She was almost tempted to not invest them into anything yet, but according to the system, she was close to another level up. I should get something I’m not likely to level up by myself…One of those heal skills could be useful, but we do have leftover herbs and the unknown plants. For now, then…7 points into Telepathy, 3 points into Plant Analysis. She tested one of her skills right away, still remembering how Jason had used and trained it. Not only could she and Ed communicate unobtrusively with it, perhaps even Mother Rat could be taught, just as she’d seen Mother Slime had been.
With that in mind, she approached Ed first, touching him with a paw. She closed her eyes and focused on transmitting her thoughts, getting a feel for the spell. “Got telepathy. Will train. Could help. With Mother. And stealing,” she sent the five short thoughts in intervals, though doing so felt embarrassingly similar to a senior unused to technology trying to use a phone for sending messages. When she was done, she removed the paw from Ed, and opened her eyes. “I hope that worked. I’d like to get it to level 2 soon, maybe even before we get near the humans, but I don’t know if I have enough mana for that. Let me just try this with Mother rat, to see how she responds,” she trailed off, and approached her Mother. She nuzzled up to her, so they were touching, but this time, instead of transmitting words, she used the telepathy to send her feelings of affection, calm, soothing, and slight concern. She hoped the other dire’s rat reaction would be positive rather than bewildered.
When she was done testing her new spell, she went over to the bloodingfly, examining its parts. There were two things she wanted from it currently; its stinger, the hollow needle-esque end to its proboscis, and the wings. Asteria took her time to carefully dislodge the stinger, the needle, and the remaining wing from the corpse. If her claws and teeth proved futile, she’d sharpen a small piece of rock to help with the removal. She also closely inspected the fly’s antennae and claws. Examining one corpse this reminded Asteria there was still the dead ant to consider. The most obvious part she might be able to use were its antennae, and she plucked them off carefully. It had a hard, tough chitinous exoskeleton, but Asteria wasn’t confident she could harvest, or more difficult yet, use it to craft anything yet. Just in case there was something she’d missed about the ant, she used Monster Analysis on it as well.
Lastly, to prevent further incidents, she stored all the plants (and monster parts) she’d gathered deep into the hole they’d dug, making a small niche for them. “When we get all the parts that we could use from these two,” she indicated the insect corpses with a nod, “We should either eat, store, or burry them. Just so no other monsters are drawn to us because of the smell,” she noted. "Then...we can rest a bit and wait till the humans are asleep, or try do the heist right away," she added, curious for Ed's opinion on the matter.
Asteria
After the bloodingfly – and really, that thing was a fly of all things? – was hit by her rock, Asteria stayed where she was, still, silent, crouched low to the ground as she had been. She observed the insect and Ed in turns, to find an opportunity where she could deal a better attack. Mother rat had leaped at it once, but was driven away by the stinger. So, either they’d have to break that off somehow or attack it in a way that prevented the bloodingfly from being able to sting them. There was also the alternative of risking a sting and killing it in that moment, but based on the insect’s description, that would be incredibly risky. Asteria kept watching as the insect dove at Ed, stinger pointed at him, while Ed called out to it. He was ready to keep its attention on him, then.
Asteria creeped closer, until she was within leaping distance of both the insect and Ed, and got ready for a jump. She crouched as low as she could, tensed all muscles, building power in every single fibre of her being, until the right moment. Then, when the insect was entirely focused on Ed, its trajectory set to attack him, Asteria released all the energy she’d been able to store, shooting off in a manner similar to a coiled spring, only she had more weight behind her, and had added some of her own force by pushing off the ground as she jumped. She flew at the insect, claws and teeth ready to grab onto any part of the insect, bring it down, and claw and bite into it, specifically targeting its wings.
Asteria
Rather than being put out by the system’s response, Asteria was thrilled. Of course, it’s tracking the progress, just not in a way visible to me until I either level up or ask it to show me. So, if I only word the request differently, I could get the desired result. A system that responded to her commands was even more indicative that this world was game-esque than the skills and level-ups had been, but it wasn’t yet clear how well that could be taken advantage of. Something to think of later, as moments she’d begun digging, they were disturbed by the purple hell-wasp. Every part of the insect screamed danger, from its stinger, to the antennae, the proboscis, and even the fucking claws it had on each leg. Moreover, it had easily evaded the stone she’d sent flying, and charged them. Asteria rolled away, staying low to the ground. The bug didn’t seem to want to get close enough for them to hit with melee attacks, yet it continued circling, lowering menacingly until its body brushed the tall grass stalks. If it wanted to hit them, it would have to get low enough, and that was a moment they could aim to hit it in turn.
Asteria saw Ed had a similar idea, as he took up a batter stance, ready to smack away the bug once it got close enough. But this thing was smart, so Asteria observed its actions closely, focusing on all its minute movements, trying to get a read on its intentions. If only they knew a weakness- Asteria almost smacked herself as it occurred to her that not only did she have a skill for that, but also the necessary mana. She skidded to the side, letting the enemy focus on Ed for the time, while she used Monster Analysis II on the insect. Until she got the system notification regarding the beetle, she would sneakily gather a few stones into a heap, then wait for the opportune moment when the insect was too busy either getting pummelled by Ed or avoiding the Ratman’s attack to avoid her projectile. Wrapping her tail tightly around a stone, Asteria crouched low, intensely watching the insect, the direction of its body, the movements of its head, wings, and body, committing the unfamiliar movements of an insect to memory. In this way, she could detect a hesitation, an opportunity, a weakness or a distraction on part of the insect. And when the time came, she would let loose her projectile with all the force her body was able to muster.
Asteria
Asteria took a moment away from digging as the system mentally pinged her and notified her of her growing skill list. The ones nearest the next level were her Beast sense, Dextrous, Mana Sense, Charisma, Soil manipulation and Plant analysis. She knew where most of the points for these came from, but couldn’t help but wonder if the latest points in charisma were gained from intimidating that goblin girl. But no, if she’d gained anything at all from that, it’d be a negative counter-point to charisma – there likely was a skill dealing solely with intimidation or threatening others. All things considered, she was much more interested in some of the odder skills, especially Mana flex, Lucid dream, and Spiritual awareness. As far as what seemed useful, there were plenty others she could now set as a goal to work toward. It was only Ed’s question that caused her to realize she’d been idle for as long as she had been. “Yes, the system responded. Makes me wonder if I can…just to test something…System: track progress for the skill Soil manipulation.”
She then went straight back to digging out the tunnel, trying to expand it so it would be a better fit for Ed. Asteria was so absorbed in her task, that she didn’t notice a potential danger until after Ed had been away for her to finally notice. When she turned from the trio’s new temporary home to look for him, she noticed an ominous shadow, which Ed already had a plan for, if the way he was on the way to re-equip his weapon was anything to go by. And since their enemy was a flying bug, a weapon wasn’t that bad of an idea. It was nothing if not convenient that their digging had unearthed several stones, and Asteria wrapped her tail around one, swung the appendage in a circle, and released the stone, aiming to hit the flying insect with it. She’d continue pelting the beetle with the projectiles until the beetle reacted, after which she’d focus on dodging and keeping its attention on her for now.
Jandar Varan and "The Opal Witch"
The attic, Root's Teeth, Dhemlan Terreille
Ready for trouble as he was, Jandar wasn’t quite expecting the witclh to go ahead and kill the Prince. Judging by the Opal witch’s reaction, neither had she. This complicates matters, but all else aside, the racket might have drawn someone closer to here. Knowing that, the Kaeleer Warlord simply shook his head, and whispered calmingly to the witch. “I’ll ‘ide the body, you better take care of ‘at,” he pointed his chin at the revealed Black Widow coin, which he strongly suspected belonged to the witch and must have somehow fallen from her as she knocked Gendry down the stairs. While it was possible it had been an item that fell from Gendry, it was simply much less likely that that was the case. Not to mention the Opal witch had clued into what he was thinking so fast – if she were a Black Widow that would certainly make sense.
Worried that someone else would show up to look at the commotion any time, Jandar tapped into his Blood Opal to float the nearest piece of attic furniture (a chest) and a piece of the old bedding behind him as he descended the stairs. He set the chest he’d grabbed next to the corpse, careful that no blood got onto the piece of furniture. Scanning around him to check if anyone nearing, Jandar mopped the blood with the bedding piece, and wrapped it around the corpse’s injury the best he could. Next, he simply put a sight shield around the deceased Gendry, the wrapping around him, and any other remaining blood traces around. Finally, Jandar picked up the temporarily concealed dead Prince and carried him upstairs, depositing him in an attic corner.
“’Ere we go,” he puffed, rather tired from all the physical and psychical work out he’d gotten today. “Now, we best ‘urry out of ‘ere. Some quiet place, so we can chat. Alone. You ‘ave fings I want to know, and I promise some of what I know will interest you,” he muttered gruffly, low but just clear enough for her to hear. He gazed at the witch, possibly a Black Widow patiently, though he knew their time was running out slowly but surely, and wished she was willing to co-operate.
The witch had a look of slight confusion when Jandar had mentioned that she ought to take care of the coin. Plucking it from the ground she stared at it wondering why the strange man was bothering with such an odd little trinket. It was no currency she knew of. The Blood dealt in paper marks of gold and silver. "I- What?" Looking up she found the body had been successfully hidden away. Still stunned from the shock of accidentally killing the man she shook like a leaf, the coin falling from her hand.
Jandar turned to stare at the witch disbelievingly. "So it ain't yours? Ne'er mind then," he shook his head, going to where the coin had been to pick it up himself, and examine it with a frown. If it weren't the witch's craft that this has been connected to... He turned to look at where he'd put the invisible Gendry, Vanishing the coin as well for now. "I said, let's get out o' 'ere. Now," he stressed with a quiet but forceful growl. Tempering his need to go check over the corpse again right now, Jandar glanced down the stairs, to see if anyone had yet arrived to check on things. Whether there was or not, he levitated the 'fallen' chest back up, then turned to look at the witch once again. "C'mon," he said, with a visible effort to gentle his tone. "Show me to a be'er place than this, some'er nice, quiet, an' private." He held out his hand to her expectantly, letting her decide if she would take the opportunity for contact or not.
Jandar Varan
The attic, Root's Teeth, Dhemlan Terreille
Jandar followed the Opal witch, not particularly caring what Gendry thought of it all or whether he was following closely or not. The Kaeleer native noticed that it grew progressively dustier as they proceeded up a stairwell toward the attic, and automatically checked for tracks. As the witch opened the heavy door, they got a good look into the attic, but there was only the loud sound of rain and a bunch of deserted furniture around. There were absolutely no signs of life - not any recent ones, in any case. Jandar nonetheless entered the room after the witch, glancing around.
“I’m not up ‘ere to get to know ‘er,” he mimicked mockingly, a ‘you dolt’ implied with his tone only. “I’m searchin’ for the damn pouch. Not sure why you so scared when it's my neck on the line,” he grumbled sourly. Though he’d addressed Gendry, Jandar had not even turned to look at the other male, instead thoroughly inspecting the attic visually, then moving to quickly check through the furniture (with a focus on the already disturbed chests and the old sleeping places), knocking on the walls and floor here and there to see if there were any lose floor-boards with hidey-holes beneath them.
All in all, the search was rather superficial and quick, however. “Weren’t any tracks – wif all the dust we’d’ve seen some if anyone’d been ‘ere,” he explained. He causally moved around the room as if looking for any signs that would indicate otherwise. The meandering, minute-long trip of this final check-up led him seemingly naturally very close to the Opal witch, where he stopped for a bit right in front of her. “Lucky for us you ain't cleanin' the place no proper, eh, witchlin'?” he asked mockingly, gazing at her steadily. He gently placed a hand around one of her wrists (his left on her right), as if he either wanted to measure her pulse or was simply keen on touching her.
“Plenty 'elpful, that,” he uttered entirely nonchalantly, though his neutral tone was belied both by the intensity of his gaze as he met her eyes directly as well as by an incredibly subtle gesture – his last three words were accompanied by a light tap-tap on her wooden tray (with his left thumb) followed by a jerk of his whole left arm into a shrug that he hoped would indicate to her he wanted her to have a go at Gendry. Though whether the witch would understand that or not was questionable. Now that her wrist was free once again, he moved behind the witch in a slow, predatory, almost sensual manner. Standing behind her, Jandar placed an encouraging hand on the witch’s back, his gaze flicking to check on Gendry and what the Prince was doing, then to the attic's exit with a mild frown as he considered the time that yet remained for him to try and discover the pouch's contents in private.
“Time to go to the next place, innit?” He slowly breathed out a sigh, his breath disturbing a few of the female’s hairs due to how close he was standing to her. “Let’s go to the next ‘idin place, eh?” As he said this, he cocked his head at Gendry, then the stairs, as if encouraging him to ‘go on, then’ – and it honestly would be incredibly helpful if the Purple Dusk Prince would be the first one to head down, though Jandar couldn’t count on that. The worst that could happen now…well, actually, in this very moment, there was the possibility of the witch attacking him rather than Gendry, which would endanger them both significantly more than they already were. Jandar could only pray to Mother Night that the Opal witch would do what would be the most beneficial to him, and subsequently to her as well. He gave a reassuring push to the Opal witch's back, then stepped away to give her some space and let her do as she would. Yet, he was keeping a close watch on the situation, tense and ready for any hints of trouble, whether that would be trouble to him or trouble to the Prince. If there were no trouble yet, he could still simply head to wherever the witch took them next, and craft another plan.
© 2007-2024