Yuliya, Kaspar, Ayla, Zarina and Nibbler venture from the Silk Portal toward the Workman’s Quarter, coming across the large smithy where sound is distorted to the point of being completely inaudible. Upon rescuing the smith and investigating, Ayla and Yuliya successfully secure the invisible aberration - detected by Ayla’s abilities in sound - and assimilate it, feeding the Arslan with the Shadowscream Mana type in the process. The group continues until they come near the Proving Grounds, where they subdue a maddened Fire Boar, allowing Kaspar to purify it. After a thorough scrub of the arena, Zarina and Kaspar take in the smaller aberration in the area before heading out.
The group takes a boat through the canal and reaches the Hideout within the Borderwood. There, a Hungering Aberration sucks in Yuliya, Ayla and Nibbler into a parallel timeline desolate of most life with the air tasting like metal. They find an older Benedetto Corvi at the Forked Tower, and after mild hostility offers to send them back with the caveat of turning into demons. They agree and return to the distressed Zarina and Kaspar as demonic and incomprehensible versions of themselves. Yuliya and Ayla remained relatively mild-mannered with their appearances barely altered, while Nibbler takes a monstrous form and ruthlessly attacks the group. Luckily, he is pacified by a chill Yuli-demon and purified by Kaspar.
While the three were in the other timeline, a Kaspar empowered with the Demoncaller mana type through the Hungering aberration and Zarina encountered a supposed resident of the Hideout who assisted in helping against the demon Nibbler. He later provides information as to where the remaining aberrations could be, with the group opting to go North toward the Leviathan and ruins. Along the way, they face off with a F I S H E, a large flat one, that grows more and more aggressive as the group avoids and deflects its attacks. Zarina ends up missiling herself into its mouth and propelling it to its death.
They eventually arrive at the Leviathan, and inside the skull is the largest aberration they had yet to see in this ordeal. A black aberration that purifies Yuliya of her demonic form completely and leaves Ayla as a Quasi-demon, while also taking manas from them while booning the non-demonic members of the team. This is enough to discourage further exploring and aberration cleansing. They bypass the ruins and head back to the city, as the chaos appears to have died down since their departure.
After a series of harrowing experiences, the Biros gather at Balthazar Hall before a towering aberration and experience what can be best described as mass hysteria. They all crumble into a mess of uncontrolled and specific emotions, becoming relatively hazardous, but pretty hilarious for the most part. Then a second wave of spontaneous mood wings occurs, although this time they hear different pieces of a phrase depending on their affliction. They manage to piece together the following:
“Repeat in Avince's Preferred Order but touch in the rainbow's”
This clue allows them to figure out the order in which they are to enter the aberration depending on the colour they evoked. One by one, they all entered, and after a bright flash of light. Around them is a grove, and there are five clusters of five fruit trees each. Ten robed figures stand before them, two before each cluster of trees.
"You may take your pick of fruits," said a woman. She was pregnant and radiant.
Those of the first grove grew bright and beautiful. Their branches were laden with delectable passionfruit and pink apples.
Those of the second were well-pruned and tall, reaching for the sky. They grew golden apples and Buddha's Hand.
The third cluster were grand, verdant, and ever-growing. They had oranges and green apples upon their branches.
In the fourth were grim black trees with spiny bark and sparse darkened leaves. They grew Medlars and Brandæbles.
The trees of the fifth and final grove grew straight and proud, their leaves ethereally shifting between seasons. They held red apples and starfruit.
Some ways away from the other clusters is a single tree. One of its main branches appears to be broken. It is heavy with pomegranates.
"Take one and only one," advised a tall man with a hammer slung over his shoulder.
Each Biro (as well as some others such as Colette) take their fruit and indulge in its richness. A select few had found the sixth, hidden tree. And as they finish this delectable picnic in a land far from Ersand’Enise, they suddenly are back in Balthazar Hall with the aberration now gone and no longer a threat.
Fiske - Red Apple Dorothea - Medlar Zarina - Orange Abdel - Brandaeble Nibbler - Pomegranate Evander - Buddha’s Hand Yalen - Starfruit Isabella - Buddha’s Hand Yuliya - Pink Apple Ingrid - Golden Apple Maura - Red Apple Jamboi - Pomegranate Jocasta - Orange Benedetto - Brandaeble Penny - Pomegranate Manfred - Passionfruit Ismette - Passionfruit Sven - Golden Apple Ayla - Pink Apple Marceline - Medlar Jomurr - Starfruit Marlijn - Pink Apple Owain - Red Apple Desmond - Red Apple Colette - Pink Apple Esmi - Green Apple Niallus - Orange Ymiico - Brandaeble Kaspar - Buddha’s Hand Silas - Pomegranate Nazih - Green Apple Trypano - Golden Apple Casii - Green Apple
A Velles night had never felt this cold before. After sharing an evening of drinks and laughs with Yuliya, both she and Zarina ended up lying on the large island-bed amidst a sea of various things the Vossoriyan Princess had left lying around. The girls were on their separate sides, one asleep and the other awake, cold despite the covers and being fully clothed. It was all in her mind, of course, for the world would always feel colder than it really is without the warmth one desperately covets.
Zarina couldn’t sleep. She feigned being a lightweight to avoid losing herself to the stupor that came with such strong drinks. There was no way she’d slip. And yet here she was, so close to something precious - that warmth she denied herself for at least three years now. On her back, she turned her head to look toward the lovely blonde that had confided so much into her. Hesitantly, her hand reached out, stopping a few inches from Yuliya’s face before retreating back in complete silence after balling into a sturdy fist.
She sighed, and quietly rose from her side of the bed. The decision to leave had been made, but she took her time. The lights from the clear skies and the moon of Ipte shone bright over half of the sleeping girl’s face. Zarina lingered a while longer, watching, before reaching out again, content with only pulling up the covers a little more to cover her friend.
The little gesture made her smile. And so, she made another thoughtful one. A slip of her index had her use the gift to telekinetically lift the mess of clothes and other junk lying about, and had them fold in mid air. All in complete silence. Piles were made, neat and tidy, for Yuliya to find the next day, although without her friend to greet her.
In her dorm, the candles lit the moment Zarina stepped in, revealing a somewhat ordered home with a bit of Dormouse Hair spread on the furniture. The teen paced around, her thoughts diving into things she couldn’t simply forget or distract herself from anymore, and in that pacing she entered her small study room. Her recent winning from the Chamber of Greed awaited her, opened and readable only by her, apparently.
These Zenos are fucking crazy, I swear …
She shook her head and chuckled to herself as she peered into the Hierophant’s Secrets. A treasure trove of knowledge on Temporal magic, a lot of which allowed Zaz to grasp notions Jocasta couldn’t properly articulate without in-depth illustrations. It was … A particularly generous reward for a trial, especially compared to the list of goods for the final prizes. Although then again, three Kaempe Ko were perhaps worth more to someone like Zarina, but she had long accepted her preferences were not too common or to be flaunted. How she already regretted leaving Yuliya’s side.
There was no studying to be done tonight, she merely passed by to keep her legs active before heading to her bedroom where she’d find some remedy to her solitude. In a suspended cage opposite of her bed was Arlo, sleeping in his wooden home. Like clockwork, he never missed out on bed time with potential screeching if he was disturbed.
There were the eggs, or rather two sets of eggs. One was a pair, with an egg bigger than the other, all placed on a sort of incubator-like transparent box made to keep them safe and warm. They were Zarina’s precious Froabas eggs, made to take in sunlight every day while being shielded from the elements. The other set was on a small, potted tree she had brought in with a colourful nest she had gotten with the clutch of five eggs inside. They were Monkeybirds, almost ripe for hatching. All were visited by Zarina to ensure they were fine, before she headed to bed.
Finally, there was Nibbler on that very bed, curled up with his tail curved up to his head in an adorable ball. She did her best to not wake him, lying on her side to take less territory. Her mind never stopped racing, however. The mysteries behind this unusually strong and intelligent rodent made her drift to more unpleasant realms, fuelled by the recent revelation of Hugo’s death.
Jocasta.
The time in Djamant vividly came back to her. All the deaths, the murderous intentions and the horrible screeches. How could things get so bad? Who can be this detested to be hunted by a legion of people willing to die just to kill you?
Zarina reached out to hold her cat-sized Dormouse, prompting the little creature to open its eyes slightly and its ears to perk up. It didn’t move, and just nestled into her.
What the hell did you do?
She held her animal just a little tighter, as the screams of death from both the envoys of the Church and the screams of the Thresher resonated in her troubled head.
Oh Gods.
Like Nibbler, she curled up into a ball, fully into foetal position. It had gotten so cold and dark in this lit room on a Velles night.
I got a person killed. she mouthed these words in her head but only uttered exhales, I got an innocent creature killed for nothing. she held Nibbler tighter. The scene of that sea-creature dying an atrocious death kept playing over and over.
Never again. She forced these things in unnatural situations for her own gain. They needed to be protected. It was the least they deserved for giving their bodies to her will and exact goals that benefitted them not. No corners would be cut for her animals from this point forward. Obscene amounts of money were to be poured in protecting them, and a firm stance would be made to not use those in the wild as mere tools. It was a promise to herself and those creatures that trusted her. A promise to protect.
An unpleasantly sleepless night passed, with the sun promising nothing but a terrible day to come after Blood Victendes. Pessimism was at its most, even with Nibbler by her side.
And yet, the rays of light came with some warmth to Zarina. With all this death she had seen and the realisations hitting her all at once, it all felt hopeless, until the singing of new life loudly called out for her attention.
No way.
She darted out of her bed, only to find three of the five Monkeybird eggs hatched with the naked chicks crying out for attention, warmth and food. Zarina couldn’t hold back her tears anymore - after refusing to let all the darkness break her - and succumbed to the beauty she just witnessed. Sniffles, laughter and a stream of tears. These adorable little critters were carefully tended to with Nibbler watching with great interest on top of a branch.
All five were up and about, incessantly chirping for their mother. Zarina did her best to tend to their needs for food, and provided them with a warm ball of wool for them to press against while they huddled up together to stay warm.
Things weren’t so bad after all.
“Argh, Eshit.”
Ten or so minutes after the consensual knockout from Penny, Zarina awoke on the cheap lounge sofa that was clearly less comfortable than those picked by the other contestants. Her digits pressed tightly on her temples as the head pain remained, but the numbing from the pain lingered for the time being. The effects were potent enough to have her disregard the cuts she made to herself whilst massaging the sides of her head.
The Zeno Sectoxomactex had been called upon by Desmond, however any issues were dismissed as mild disorderly conduct from intoxication. There was no need to oust Zarina for something that was unconfirmed. Not yet anyway. The party was over with most attendants readying themselves for the coming Roses & Neskals matches. “So, what’s wrong with me?” she inquired with a gravelly voice to the person who had burdened herself with helping her, “Give it to me straight, doc, is it terminal?” and not without a little bit of sass and a forced grin.
That person was Penny Pellegrin, and the inescapable truth was that there was no love lost between the two of them, at least on her side. If it wasn’t hatred, it was at least a distaste for the other girl. She felt too much like a rival and the eager violence with which she’d delivered a beatdown on the Perrenchwoman’s prone form during the Melon Derby still smarted.
Penny was good at being civil to people whom she disliked, but not necessarily good at forgiving them. She held grudges. So, why had she stepped in? She told herself that it was for the others in the event. The interruption would cast a pall over matters, and she knew that Zarina’s problems would only grow more serious. She had somehow become infected. She was a wildblood of… something reptilian. Penny could guess that it was a dragon. The Virangish would hurt people eventually unless she was equipped to deal with it.
“Well,” she replied after what had appeared to be a moment of careful and unsmiling consideration, “it’s not going away, at least, though you’ve probably actually bought yourself more years, ironically.” She let out a snort. “You’ve had close contact with a dragon recently, yes?” She regarded her counterpart, head tilted, waiting.
“You can say that.” little thought was put into Zarina’s answer, and luckily little effort came with it. It quickly became evident to her that transparency with someone that likely didn’t appreciate her all that much wasn’t smart, even if that person came to her aid, “But loads of people meet plenty of dragons every day.” she peered as her misshapen nails she gritted her teeth, “What the fuck, Penny?” she asks with worry weighing heavy on her voice, “What’s going on with me?”
“Most people meet dragons, but they don’t… exchange fluids with dragons.” She paused. “Blood, saliva, or…” Penny trailed off. “Yeah, blood or saliva. You did. There’s an infection I’ve read about.” She smiled sheepishly and shrugged. “You read a lot as a printer’s daughter. Anyway, there are three moons out and you’re transforming. It’s simple: you’re a wildblood.”
“For the record,” Zarina pointed her mutated claw at Penny, “I’m no degenerate. In case there’s some insinuation going on.” she kept the digit up for a few seconds, eventually curling it and prompting some unusually loud cracks. She winced, “Sss. Fuck.”
“Wildblood.” she repeated, sounding almost outraged by the revelation, “Sounds like something that comes from long-eared land. Like monkey-shit.” she slaps the cheap leather of the couch out of frustration, “... Is there a cure?”
Penny pursed her lips. After a moment she shook her head. “Not that I know of, but I’m no expert. Three moons, you get something like this and, yes, it’ll hurt like hell each time. Four moons, it’ll be even worse: more pain, less control.” She regarded the taller girl evenly. “Five? You become the animal. You won’t remember a thing.” Her expression had gone from almost taking pleasure in it to sympathetic. “If there’s an upside, it’s that you’re a lot stronger now and… well, you’ll live as long as whatever animal’s blood you’ve got.” She shifted a bit. “Sucks for rabbit wildbloods,” she grumbled.
Zarina cocked her eyebrows as she was swiftly overwhelmed by the bomb Penny had mercifully chugged onto her without beating around the bush. For a moment she was speechless, hands shaking with one awkwardly seeking to cup her pulsating skull, “Each time. This.” her hands curled into fists and were desperate to find something to abuse, and luckily there wasn’t much of anything left around, so the Virangish ended up sort of awkwardly moving her limbs about, “Give me more of whatever you did. Please.” her golden eyes were wide, with her right one redder than normal, and she leaned in closer to the knowledgable Perrench girl, “I can already feel this dull pain growing. Like a headache you just know is going to get worse and worse.” she reached out to seize the other’s arm, “Please.”
“It’s… just chemical magic,” Penny replied awkwardly. She could use this to her advantage, it occurred to her. How she could keep Zarina on a leash! For a moment, she mulled it over, but the idea, beyond a brief initial appeal, didn’t feel all that good. She knew, in a different way, what it was to be kept dependent. She managed a reassuring smile. “Just chemical magic,” she repeated, “more the kind of stuff you learn with binding, to be fair.” She glanced at her counterpart, annoyed with herself for getting involved, for going soft here on someone who was just… not good, but now she’d crossed the event horizon of helping out and needed to see it through. She rested a reassuring hand on Zarina’s shoulder and used a variant of the spell from earlier. “I can… teach you how to use it, I guess.”
Zarina nodded, awkwardly retreating her hand as she then knitted them together over her thighs, “Right, chemical.” this was a humbling experience, as the simple answer was quite evident and her inability to either do it or think up the straightforward solution didn’t project the image she liked the most, “I’d like that.” she smiled and listened with unusual discipline.
“Say,” Zarina brought up after a brief moment, “You reckon more could be found about this in the Tower? You said you learned about this through reading, so … Maybe worth a shot?”
Penny rose and nodded. “I think that would be a very strong bet. For now, however…” she glanced about. Marlijn was approaching, waving for her. “We have matches to play. She started to turn, but hesitated. “Good luck, okay?” Zarina didn’t rise right away, afraid to cause a new chain of unpleasant soreness she never thought would’ve been possible at her age, “Hey,” she beckoned for Penny’s attention, “Thanks for that. You didn’t have to help the resident cunt.” both palms pressed onto the couch and she attempted to stand. It wasn’t too bad, for now, “I appreciate it, Penny.”
The Perrenchwoman nodded. “No problem.” Then, she was gone.
Penny’s guidance led Zarina here, the Forked Tower, in the hopes of finding answers to her ailment. One was to hope it’d be a quick find too, as the moons were to gather the coming Victendes. One bad Victendes was bad enough.
Arch-Zeno Harrachora leads the group of five towards the Forked Tower. The Violet Enclave is almost - if not quite - eerily somber and silent. "Sorry for the lack of reception," he apologizes. "This is usually a bigger affair. I remember when I made it in," he sighs. "It was a very warm welcome. We're... currently dealing with a loss, as you'd imagine."
It is rainy and so very overcast that it feels almost like that strange species of night when all five moons are out. Thunder mumbles softly from within the clouds. Puddles grow, but the magic users are safe from the rogue water, of course. Then, they're there. The tower looms before them and just craning one's neck up to look at it is utterly vertigo-inducing. The upper reaches remain ghostlike, shrouded in translucent fog and mist. Barely visible, a beam of pure red light leaps from its top, knifing into the low-hanging clouds and disappearing somewhere beyond them.
The five students - Trypano, Ingrid, Zarina, Kaspar, and Yuliya - are led up a curving staircase and found themselves at the door. The rest of the world seemed muted and distant somehow, now. No matter. The Arch-Zeno knocked in a particular pattern. There was an immense surge of energy.
Then, the door opened and they're inside. Waiting for them was a receptionist who bore a strong resemblance to the Zenith and... is that Jocasta? "Welcome to the Forked Tower," said the woman. They casted about for Harrachora, but he was nowhere to be found. "Your time begins now," she advised with a smile. "Enjoy yourselves!"
“Eyyy, Jojo.” Zarina's dull expression betrayed the forced enthusiasm in her voice, “The Tower AND our Spratzfield. You truly are blessed.” Zazzy being Sassy, as always, “Well, at least I'll have decent company.” the sass was redirected at her peers with a smirk on her face and her hand on her hip. Nibbler hopped on her shoulder and performed his trademarked wave that looked as clumsy as ever. Just a few raises of his paw without any real waving. Cute, of course.
It was time to do what she was here to do. So, she plainly asked, “Thank you, Zenith Upta,” she politely nodded before getting to the point with a hushed voice, “I'd like to know where your records on the Wildbloods are.” there was a little bit of temporal magic, allowing only those versed in the magic, or those close enough (like Jocasta) to hear her.
"I found my own way in," Jocasta answered with the hint of a smile. "I'll tell you about it sometime."
Then, the woman who bore an uncanny resemblance to the Zenith smiled and stifled a snort of laughter, pausing from her sorting of some interestingly-labeled books. "It's Madame Esseralc," she replied with a warm accent that sounded... well, nothing quite like anything Zarina had ever heard. There was perhaps a hint of Weggosi to it. "You'll find what you're looking for on the third floor, sugar. Head on into the study room on the right side of the hall and then right on through. First collection you'll see."
“Oh.” Zarina blinked with the slightest hint of a blush on her cheeks. What a dunce, “T-thank you, Madame Esseralc.” another nod, this one looking almost like a bow. She attempted to regain her composure and half-succeeded and forming a confident smile, “I'll see you around, nerds. Let's have dinner at an agreed time, yeah? Yeah.” with that, she headed toward the stairs.
Before reaching the third, she made a quick stop at the second to take notice of the nearest rooms. The singular book of Ahn-Shune definitely captured her attention, although she merely made a mental note before pursuing her initial goal: The Wildblood collection in the third floor. To the right and through the study room, she reached the shelves, “Okay ...” she mumbled, “First time I'm actually excited in studying.”
Soft, diffused light trickles in through the window, grey and somber, illuminating the swirling dust in the air and a large comfortable-looking red sofa. Closer by, however, are at least a few hundred books on the subject of Wildbloods. A smaller, single-person easy chair lies to Zarina's right as she enters and, in the midst of the collection, is an endtable with intricate woodwork that reminds her of a large puzzle box. On top is a candle in a holder, producing an amount of light that seems... almost unnatural.
Taking a moment to peruse the shelves, she notices that there are five subsections: 1) Wildblood Transformations 2) Wildblood Types 3) Wildblood Histories 4) Wildblood Hunting 5) Wildblood Records
The Animal Unleashed, by Juan Antonio Mendoza-Cardena.
Transformation Triggers: -Older book but not super old, bound in leather. -Forward written in the book by Count Mendoza, a dapper individual that lived over a century ago, could still be around. -Where did Penny learn this info? Father was a printer, so … -Stages of the moon: 3, 4, 5 exact mechanism is uncertain, at about midday near the hours of Oraff the transformation begins, the end of Shune usually. -3 moons is not that painful. Right. Last all day and the night. Ends completely at hours of Shune the next day. Lasts about 20 hours, 12 at full power. Remove yourself from combat when you’re waning. Not all that severe of a change. Can be generally hidden and explained away. -4 Moon is very painful, self-control is dubious and very limited. Should remove oneself from triggers of aggressive behaviour. Can’t be concealed, need to make oneself scarce, will resemble a chimera/were-beast. -5 Moon transformation will turn one into a human version of your animal. Author hasn’t mastered it but it is said that some have done so. Size matters, small animals can lead up to half your normal size. If large, up to double normally (froabases, elephants)
Something for the Pain: -Pain does get better and there is a way to improve it. -Circle of trust can help with internal chemical. Can be transformed unconscious if chemical magic is maintained and they’re very good at it. -Using it on yourself is a possibility, but never stop the transformation as it might hurt and even kill you. -Only way to stop/lessen them is a severe regimen of plushtail oil. To stop a five moon, you need 8 days worth of plushtail oil (two large glasses). Glass and a half for 4 moons. -Salves and numbing agents help. Balm of the nitpicker cactus. Eskand, don’t go on brandaebles (heightens senses). -You will bleed a lot. Very bloody transformations.
Guide to self-control: -Chemical preparation for coming hormones. Some are human, some are unknown. Target the ones that affect mood. -Full self-control is pretty much impossible. Find a good outlet for your anger and energy. -Have a friend set tasks ahead of time to keep busy and release aggression. -Create a list of triggers. Have others help record them too. Identify them and remove yourself from them. -Forgive yourself. Don’t shirk responsibility. Balance that you are yourself but not at the same time. The animal is still a manifestation of things that are inside of you. Self-help page Zazzy takes big notes on. -See contingency Planning for 5 moons. -Find anchors: Long term association toward things or people. Transform thinking of those things, it will blunt some of it. Can work 5 moons to an extent. Practice focusing on one, and then expand to potential 2 or 3.
Contingency Planning: -Get away from people if 5 moons are coming. Try not to rely on someone else. They might become the focus of your aggression. -Beast can use temporal, but very scattershot. Both time and space. -If someone can be trusted at a position of authority, tell them. Having a group that can provide a good cover. Exposure of identity as Wildblood to society is a bad idea. Don’t be parasitic, offer your strength/return the favour. Build a healthy network. -If you kill someone, it probably will happen, tell yourself they’re a bad person, or someone they won’t be missed. It is imperative that if you taste human flesh, that it doesn’t happen two transformations in a row. If you do so in three transformations in a row, you may be ‘lost to the animal’ and not transform back. -At 3 moons, eating someone is you, and you’re fucked up. -At two in a row, don’t let yourself transform and go full plushtail. You will be tempted more if you kill. -Four moons memory will be fuzzy, you won’t remember anything from five moons.
Hiding in Plain Sight: -Bring a second set of clothes if you’re going to isolate yourself when transforming in a place you’re familiar with. -Handling family, keep good cover and know who to trust, the cues, animal senses will help in 3 and 4 moons (with control). Senses are very refined, and can detect subtle cues like heart issues. -Sanguinaires are real. Be wary of them. They will attempt to prey on Wildbloods, and have the most delicious blood to them. They are your prey at 5 moons. You get a pass for eating them, and you see them as carrion.
A Comprehensive Field Guide to Each of the Terrible and Wonderful Formes of the Bestial Beings Known as Wildbloods, by Sir Chester Winnington of Bramforth, Hendland.
Intro & Defining Characteristics of the Afflicted: -No longer fantastical, more science. Keep folklore in mind but science before all. -Race (humans) has no discernible effects on transformation. Body size and health have a bigger effect. Species of animals has an impact obviously. Gender remains the same, and can have interesting consequences depending on the animal. Similar pigmentation removes the pain. -Aging is about a halfway point between how humans and animals age. Very unfortunate for small canine wildblood.
Dragons: -Genus Tyrannus are similar to Heart but none really match. Something isn’t quite right. -Sand Wyrm Wildblood isn’t really common, as it usually kills you if attacked. Very strong burrowers, grow 3-4 times the size of a human.
In Consideration of the Various Types: Advantages and Limitations due to body forme: -Certain types are not particularly viable, further away from human form the more painful transformation it is. Difference is based on animal size, so you can’t be of a small fish. Within 4x the size of the animal when transforming. -Lower intelligence to be expected, less rationality. Four moons is more in-between human and animal intelligence, three moons is mostly human. If it’s an aquatic animal, land might be a problem. Sky animal might often be in the sky, be ready. Prepare the right space. -Speed, strength, durability increased. Magics instinctively used by animal, you will use them.
Hybrid varieties: -Speculation that they exist, proposes mechanisms. There exist reports of some that become chimaeras. Possibly Sanguinaires that assimilate more than one bloodtype. Potentially experimentation of unholy nature. None enough is known or has been captured for study.
Wildbloods as yet unknown to study: -In some cases Wildbloods of extinct species can exist if they’ve been extinct in recent memory via human-to-human transfer. -There was a particularly known extinction phenomenon, the sky glowed and sparkled and the moon fell from the sky. Might be the cause of the extinctions. -Other animals can potentially transfer but they’re too large to pass on manas. -Cryptids, rumoured extra large species of dragons, yetis, etc.
-Zazzy feels great shame for what she feels, makes for a lonely person. -Recalls past events, from her winnings in the trials to Prickly Situation. -Vows to avoid another situation like in Djamant, especially toward her animals. -Monkeybirds are born the next morning, brightening her up. -Forked Tower starts, with Penny being the instigator to Zarina’s inquest. -Two books are researched with notes taken.
Location: Au Boeuf Rouge - Ersand'Enise Day of the week: Taldes Time: 4:XX HE Characters: Ingrid @dragonpiece, Maura @Ti, Zarina, Anna, Etienne, Frédérique Au Boeuf Rouge's Staff, Carving Contestants Mystery Player
Étienne walks through to the carving area, already holding his nose. Why he agreed to this was beyond him, perhaps the old weasel tricked him. Regardless, he is here, let’s see what these peasants can do.
He walks up to the slates, taking it from one of the assistants as he started crossing names off already. “These can go home”. He hands the slate back to the poor assistant who has to break the bad news, “Refund them and apologise” says Frédérique to the bewildered girl as she is already cleaning up her brother's messes as she sighs to him.
“Monsieur… Snood”, he could taste the disgust from the tip of his tongue, but he is Eskandish at least. “Show us why you are here.”
The Eskandish man got his hammer and chisel ready, standing tall and proud before the pouncy Perrench as he easily towers over them. He shouts over to one of the assistants before addressing the noble, “Bring me th' coo”. As the animal is brought into sight, he turns to look down towards Étienne. “Boy, we are the land of the Snowsweeper, and I am a true wolf-feeder. You don’t stab this magnificent beast with a wound-hoe or shoot it with wound-bees, as it seeps with its corpse-milk.
Thorin moves over to the dairy cow offered for his demonstration as he shouts in some Eskandish, as moves to stroke his hands along the cow's head, speaking towards it gently in a relaxing manner. “Animals, when frightened, can ruin meat. It needs to be relaxed and you work with precision.” The cow looks rather content and unaware of its surrounding situation as it was being fed. Thorin gives the nod as he moves towards the back of the animal, moving the chisel along the base of the skull. He draws upon magnetic magic as he causes a sharp electric current to project into the cow along the chisel to stun the creature, then using his hammer, smashes the chisel into the back of the skull, killing it cleanly and quickly. “Meat now succulent. Now we celebrate with a pool of malt.”, he cheers as he uses his impressive strength to chop the creature up and hoist the animal up onto a hook.
“If it wasn’t so savage, I might have thought I was just witnessing you, dear Frédérique”, his lips twist as he smiles towards his sister. “Always so kind, brother.”, as she smiles back towards him, her eyes for a moment telling him a different story. Étienne does look rather impressed with the result, the man seems to know a thing or two about meat for a barbarian, making a mark against his name for consideration.
Frédérique moves along to the next on the list, her eyes looking up and down upon Zarina’s form. “Would you be Lady Al-Nader?”, offering the girl an overly sweet pleasant smile. Étienne moves up alongside his sister, looking upon the cleaned surface with boiling water, herbs, spices, and other things, “la demoiselle, the cooks are in the next room. I don’t want to see a girl like yourself around all these butchers and sharp implements getting hurt.”
Zarina perks up at the call of her name. She is just about ready to give a steaming display to the audience by dunking the carcass into boiling water, allowing for aromas to permeate the air with a variety of colors, courtesy of the spices and colorants she added to the solution, “Hmmm? That would be me, yeah.” the butcher-ready Virangish worker turns to acknowledge the twins. Etienne added his own unwarranted comment as she let the cow's body dive into the hot tank.
“There's a girl almost half my size in the next room that's also butchering,” she claims as she tugs on the chain with her kinetic magic to hoist the scalded body up. The steam is indeed quick colorful and the smells invoked strong spices from the North, “I'll be fine.” she grins confidently, with two carving knives on her palms. With a deep breath, she makes the carcass spin at medium speed while still hanging from he chain, allowing her to elegantly swing her blade whilst circling the hanging piece of meat. Precise cuts enhanced by her Kinetic magic made the skin just loose enough to fall after a final swipe to the unhooked hoof. A fully exposed cow carcass, with the head quickly lopped off along with the hooves with the exception of the hooked foot. Zarina adopts a pose and bows, “Next, I will be selecting three quality cuts.”
For a moment she pauses to acknowledge her audience, and then she points right at Etienne, “You.” she raises her chin, “Show me the cuts you wish to have served.” she smirks, “Unless you're afraid of a little blood and guts, of course.” and just as she says that, a deep cut she had made to the abdomen of the corpse opens up, with the innards seamlessly pouring into a bucket under it. All very clean, the audience did not have to see them for more than a second.
Étienne gives a wide grin as he finds himself interested in this Vigrandish girl as he eyes her figure. I wonder if she is this feisty in bed. He approaches the carcass as he points towards the sides of the spine. ”You may serve me Filet Mignon. Though I like to treat the servants well, so cut me a Ribeye and Porterhouse for them.”. It is not unexpected for a man of his pedigree to demand the rarest and most choice cut of the beef. It doesn’t bode well for the Snowsweeper.
Frédérique gives her brother a glance as she recognises the beef isn’t the flank of meat he is interested in. Étienne is unable to filter out that disgust directed towards him completely. Being a twin can be a curse in moments like this.
Zarina checks out the pieces that are requested. Butchering isn't her specialty - far from it - but she is the only one in the team with concrete experience. So she goes for it, “Very well.” her fingers hover the appropriate knife, but before actually seizing it, she actually takes the twig and snaps it, “Do you expect an actual steak for your meal, dear guest?” she turns to face Etienne, hands behind her back, and posture straight.
Étienne smiles as he looks towards Frédérique, ”I think a cut for my dear sister and myself is in order.” He aims to soothe some of that unpleasantness in the connection they share.
As the stick is snapped, there is silence for a moment as it appears nothing happened, then a music beat started. The twins looked around to see who was making the sound, along with some of the other guests who were mumbling. Only person not completely surprised was the one who activated the trigger herself.
It seemed as if almost on cue, the music began as the castanets started clapping. Zarina is prepared.
There it is, the quick succession of cord notes that serve as a prelude to a spicy theme from home. Right as the percussions start, Zarina draws both her carving knives, raising them over her head in a Y stance before she slightly tilts her body, right foot forward and flexed to have it stand on the ball of her foot and toes. And then she starts!
A breeze brushes by the guests and all the viewers that curiously peeked in Zarina's quarters. Empowered by her keen grasp of Kinetic Magic and the air filled with aromas from the brew she had been making combined with her chemical magic, she got to work. The Ribeye first. Her footwork is discreet as she was wearing but light, dancing shoes, all emphasized as she circled her carcass. The ribs were her target, and she make sure to properly isolate them, before carving them up in singular, precise slashes. They were the easiest, as the bones essentially draw the lines for her. The next was the porterhouse, and she has to be careful to not sever the tenderloin. She holds herself on one leg, the other fully flexed with the sole of her shoe pressed to her knee. And then, with a new knife in hand, she perform a quick jab and then a tugged downward to get the right cut.
All of it resembled a dance, with Zarina adding unnecessary waves of her arms and pauses to pose. When she gets a piece, she makes a point to quickly turn to her audience, blades extended and the steaks presented to them in a row of plates she had set up. Finally comes the Filet Mignon. She needs the Tenderloin she had been careful to preserve. [1:50] She does aim for the cut itself, but instead proceeds to chop down all the other bits that could be served up. Each piece is part of her dance, and eventually, with the tenderloin fully isolated, she perform a final, closing slash. The two pieces of meat rest onto of her knife, stacked, as she bows to her audience.
“A Tenderloin for My Lord and Lady, each.”
Étienne claps to the beat of the music as the girl twirls around in front of him. Frédérique, despite a desire to dislike the girl, cannot help but be impressed by the performance.
What before them was something most certainly unique, butchery to music. Some of the competition simply walked out in protest at the judges reaction, others that they feel they cannot compete at such a level. It was almost as if Zarina was having the judges eating out of her hand if she had cooked the steak as it was served to them.
Frédérique led the clap at the end of the performance as blue rose petals fell around the girl who well and truly stole the attention away from the room. ”Fantastique”. Étienne handed Zarina two notes as he took his sister's arm, guiding her towards the competition who were fleeing from the pair.
Nia showed an incredible display with her sword work as the metal sliced and dices upon the flesh. Her honed swordplay was certainly better than Zarina’s own, but without the music and fanfare, it just seemed to pale in comparison. Destined to be second best as always.
The Huulendamn boy chose venison as his choice of cut. He was able to expertly skin the creature, showing great masterwork and consideration of that of a practised gamehunter. His knife peeling away the layers like they were nothing. Except this competition was no longer based on skill, but who can do the prettiest dancing. After the unimpressed boredom upon the judges faces, he lowers the tools and leave.
The Eskandish Beserker, Thorrin was the only other to get a ‘passing grade’ after Zarina’s performance. The man swept his blonde hair to the side as he looks upon the cuts at the end. “Sloppy. Perhaps you’ll be a dancer as I work the meat.”
Anna looks a little deflated afterwards but cheered on Zarina during her dancing.
Zarina looks down at the notes within her hands. The first is recognition of her passing the judges inspection, the other is… an address. “Baignes-toi et viens ici ce soir" bathe and come here tonight.
With her ploy delivering greatly, Zarina takes the time to prepare different plates to be delivered to Ingrid. Given what has been said, she figures making more than one dish is the way to go. She sends the following:
-Tenderloin, Makes a Filet Mignon typical dish -Ribeye make something fancy. -Make Bourgignon with with Porterhouse meat. -Not Eskandish
Then comes the note for her. She raises a brow as she reads, "Fucking Prenchies." she shakes her head, and goes to witness Ingrid's work.
Location: Ersand'Enise Day of the week: Lepdes Time: Post-Auction and Rewards Characters: Ayla @Ti, Gina Zarina, Riesco, Nibbler, Arlo
With the chamber of greed long passed and the auction recently finalised, the students scattered about to finally get a breather from the tiring five days they had gone through. The rest was as rewarding as the prizes for quite a few, although many ended with nothing but the relief of liberation. For both Zarina’s and Ayla’s groups, however, they were greatly compensated for their efforts with the former walking out with a vacation at the Forked Tower, three big Eskandish cows and a literal diamond-shitter. What was there not to love?
“So, you’ve become quite the big, bad lion, eh?” a voice called out behind Ayla. It was Zarina, who was prepping Riesco for the return trip to the dormitories as he had been parked at the school before the beginning of the final trial. “Waiting for your time to strike, and taking your prey from behind. Never thought you’d be so ruthless.” she smirked as she turned her head while her hands went on auto-pilot while readying the saddle, “When I even sweetened the deal too!”
Ayla looked towards her as she tilted her head, her hands stroking Gina’s nose as the pony is busy nuzzling her muzzle within her long hair. “Offering to trade votes was my idea, that is true. It seemed Silas seized the opportunity to offer the deal to everyone without informing us.” she sighed out as it appeared Zarina was not the first to accuse her of foul play with the last minute shenanigans. “Don’t think anyone expected that outcome.” She fed Gina a delicious carrot from her hand, offering another one to Zarina to take. “Disappointed you didn’t come second, at least. You played a mean game out there.”
“So it’s Silas, huh?” Zarina’s lips parted slightly, showing her tongue pressing behind her left canine. The gears in her head were turning, a scheme was being formed and malice accumulated but controlled. “Doesn’t surprise me. I’m going to pay the shit a little visit.” she warned her friend whilst seizing the carrot to feed flat-handed to an eager Riesco, “I want those points. I’m getting them one way or another.” the horse was then dragged out of the pen and to the outside. The Virangish girl chuckles, “Even in our worst, we still rose to the top. No wonder we were the favourites~”
They started to pace through the city, making way for the dormitory area Merchants and Nobles more-or-less shared, “Well, now you’ve got a fancy cape and a sword. What’s the next step, kitty cat?” she hopped onto her steed after giving the beast a couple of neck-pats. It looked as though she was already convinced of whom the culprit was.
Ayla is somewhat fortunate that team Zemana had got ahead, especially as she has her lovely cloak, which would have not been an option otherwise. “My big ideas seemed destined to be unsuccessful during the trial, and often the plans were forgotten about. Can count on many blessings that we succeeded as well as we did.” She offered her friend on a warpath a smile, “Wish it were you, Kaspar, Yalen, and Jo… now that would have been an unstoppable team.” She sighed as she imagined the so-called wonder teams performance at the trial.
She strokes her hand along Gina’s neck similarly to those neck pats. The pair certainly looked like little and large upon the choice of horses. “The next step… that is a good question” a few ideas ran through her mind at such possibilities, though not fully able to share them all. “Would happily settle to have a long sleep… haven’t been able to rest at all during the trial. See these dark patches under my eyes?”, she gives a grin towards Zarina, though make-up is able to do wonders.
“Nope.” politely replied Zarina in a very performed lie. Even herself, the master of hiding her chronic insomnia, couldn’t hide just how much of a toll the event had taken on her, “I could use a bit of sitting on my ass, actually. Especially with the birds that are going to hatch.” she facepalms, “Fuck me, I’m going to be raising five monkeybird-babies. That’s like, three times a human child.”
Ayla grinned as she imagined Zarina as a mother, the picture was a very amusing one, as Zarina ended up as more the father role, whilst Kaspar was the… she blushed and looked down, perhaps he did deserve one of his tall girls after all, they have both most likely grown closer during the trials, much like the rumours spread about Jo and Yalen. “Do you suppose your motherly instincts will kick in when they hatch?”, she coo’d a tease toward her.
“Eh?” Zarina squinted over at Ayla who matched her horse’s pace with Riesco, “That’s such a fucking weird thing to say.” she turned to look forward, perplexed over the notion Ayla had just shared, “Now you’re making me imagine it. Babying them a-” and right on cue, Nibbler emerged from her bag after having taken a small nap and sat on her shoulder, “There he is, the little naughty bugger!” she reached out to seize the creature. It looked at her with the most innocent, beady eyes imaginable, pacifying her night instantly, “Awwwh. Who’s the cute little heroic Nibble, hmm?” and now he was cradled in her arms with little scritches given to his exposed tummy. His little paws opened when her hand was off, and closed on her hand when she went for the belly rubs.
Ayla could only smile sweetly as the dormouse was now tucked up within Zarina’s arms and cradled like a baby. She guides Gina closer as she takes a closer look at the cute creature, “Looked like they have awoken already~”, she reached forward towards Nibbler as she waggled her fingers to him in a hearty hello. “You have definitely taken lost animals under your wing this last week, from blueberry dragons, this cutie, those moo’s…”
Nibbler playfully reached out to Ayla’s hand, although his limbs were much too small to get anything, and his position kept him from rising, “Bad little boy snuck into my bag when I went to Greed. Tsk.” despite the scolding she couldn’t stop herself from petting the creature. He was clearly very content. “Yeah, uhm, I might have a problem.” she awkwardly tittered, scratching the back of her head, “Don’t have anybody telling me NO to all these cuties and awesome lads.” she sighed, “Then again, most of these poor things would’ve died. And I’m not one to stay on the sidelines for long, even toward Oraff.” Nibbler’s floofy tail rose up to her belly as he adopted the legendary sleeping position of the dormouse. Looks like he really was tired.
Ayla smiled as she watched it get off to sleep, continuing to ride upon Gina at that gentle pace. “Not been so innocent as well, brought back a puff lion cub back from Revidia with me from the Doge’s personal zoo. He does have an almighty roar. Named him Asier, after my great ancestor.” she ponders a moment as she considers the geography, “Who may have ridden through here 800 years ago. He most likely rode a lion through these very streets, adorning shining metal armour like that Thierry of yours.” she mused as she directs the topic into girl talk.
Zarina snorted, “On a lion? With armour and everything? You know that’s not possible, right?” she raised a brow and then rolled her eyes, “Haven’t heard from the guy, actually. Nor have I seen him, as a Century.” she replied, looking somewhat dejected by the remark she had made, “Anyway, a Lion’s a bit complicated to raise. Gonna keep it in your home as some big house cat?” she asked as Nibbler was slowly but surely tucked closer to her chest while one hand got back to Riesco’s reins.
Ayla frowned at the remark, “There are paintings. He saved Relouse by burning the Eskandish fleet. Angry at what they had done, he travelled to their capital, Meldheim, rescued the fruit of Oraff as the Eskandish burnt down their own city in trying to stop him. They formed together another large army, then at Solenne…” she could tell Zarina was not interested in a history lesson, “He was a brave man. The Perrench tried to write him out of their history books, saying it was a myth. Clearly they had not seen the fruit trees that sprung from those seeds, for they would know it to be true.” She rode quiet for a moment before she addressed the other question, “They don’t grow as large as the Arslanian Lion, so should be okay to keep as a house pet if given plenty of opportunities to roam.”
Zarina was indeed only half-interested in the historical feats of a long dead man. A lot of history was exaggerated, after all, and she had yet to see a feline rider. Ever. “Prenchies do be like that, I agree.” she conceded, as they entered an alley shortcut while nearing the dorm area, “There was a big orange tree in the middle of ass-nowhere in the desert. If it wasn’t the big, special tree seeds, you certainly had strong contenders for the best.”
They neared the Merchant dorms, where a blue reptile hovered over both of them, only to land onto Zazzy’s shoulder. It was Arlo, and by Zarina’s petting and lack of reaction, this appeared to be a common experience, “So. What about that Mantolien guy. Been talking to him?”
Ayla shook her head at the question, “Things tend to be one-sided in our conversations as he talks at you, not with you. He is currently writing a treatise on Nikan and has been updating me on how that is doing.” she sighed out, “Imagine this is more of a ploy by my father than a serious betrothal, he is most likely after something he feels only Alexandre can get for him. If he was serious, he would be offering him Maria” she curls a finger around her the curls in her hair, “The family runt is only good for her name”.
Zarina raised a brow, “Family runt?” then a moment was taken to perform an exaggerated ‘check out’ of Ayla on Gina, “The little tart that won the Trials is the runt of the Arslans?” an exacerbated cocking of both of brows followed, “Don’t be too much of a victim, Ayla. You’ve got way more going than most people do.” a little neigh escaped Riesco, prompting Arlo to briefly take off, and land onto Ayla’s shoulder next.
“What do you think he actually wants- your dad, I mean?” Zarina leaned forward over her horse’s mane as she continued the talks, just as they were nearing her stables.
Ayla raised an eyebrow as she looks up at Zarina as the girl and her horse towers above her and Gina, being the runt is an obvious statement of fact. “It has been rather liberating out here, and been to more places within the last week than in my entire life.” Her fingers reached up to pet upon Arlo as he landed upon her shoulders, stroking along his bearded neck, and reaching around to scratch the back of his head.
As the topic drifts toward her father, she only offered a shrug of her shoulder. “He is after someone or something, given Alexandre is a scholar with knowledge of Callanast continent, it must be a legendary artefact of some kind, perhaps a tool he can use against Casa Frannemas, or his goal is on the continent itself.”
“Uh-huh.” Zarina listened attentively, but her response put distance between her and the subject, feigning disinterest. Arlo flew back up and hovered over the two after Ayla’s impromptu shrug, “So, do you intend to go along with it, or are you gonna show off these Arslan fangs?” she chuckled and hopped off her steed to open the gate into the stables, “Wanna park Gina with Riesco tonight? I’m sure it’ll make them both happy.” she suggested as she gestured toward the entrance, keeping her own horse back for now.
Ayla brought Gina into the stables before she dismounted from her, and spoiled the pony with warm affection as she nuzzled upon her neck. “Five years to consider, and besides, he may decide to elope with one of those Virangish Striped Manatee he spoke so fondly of during our betrothal.” she bared those Arslanian fangs towards Zarina with her mischievous smile. She moves under the cover of the thatched roof as she goes towards the bag seated upon the saddle to bring out the horse brush, to use it lovingly upon the creature.
Zarina tended to her own horse now that he was parked and sticking his head out expectantly. As was routine, she offered him a carrot to indulge in, caressing his cheek simultaneously as he nibbled rather than swallowed up. Then, she snorted, “He did love those dugongs, didn’t he?” a complicit smirk was returned to the Torragonese, “By the way.” she chimed with a higher pitch, “That Coldfire class I sold to Dory, I’d like you to join.”
Ayla considered the proposal with superficially, “That is Alizée’s magic. Da would pay a lot for that book.” she sighed for a moment as she thought deeper, she wrestled with the thoughts in her mind. The silence lingers for a moment as she puts down the brush as she approached the other girl. “The truth is… the last time we used fire, people were hurt.” her face distorts as she recalls the memories of the event in her mind, even that of her recent night terrors. The sound, the sight, that smell. “They were hurt, Zazzy… I hurt them.. She approached as she moved her arms to hold upon her friend. “We don’t want to hurt you.”.
Zarina flinched, arms opened from the surprise. It took her a moment, but she eventually coiled them around Ayla’s frame. Her hands reached over the cub’s mane as she pushed against the smaller critter’s back to tighten the embrace, “You won’t hurt me, kitty cat.” she cooed over Ayla’s head, chin rested upon her scalp, “I’m indestructible, after all.” a back rub was warranted, and she’d keep her friend there for a while, until Gina went on to nip Ayla’s wavy top and tugged on it a little.
“One thinks Gina is getting jealous now” She laughed softly as she wiped her tears. “One needs to confront her. Alizée. Will you help me?” she looked up towards the Virangish girl expectantly.
Zarina paused, arching back a little to properly peer down at her distressed friend, “I’d love to help, kitty cat.” she forced a confident smile, “How can I help take down your bitch of a great-great-gran?”
Ayla smiled playfully in response, “You shouldn’t say that so lightly about a so-called Grand Demon. Especially when you are playing around with their magic”. She feels Gina’s head nuzzling it between them as she stepped back to allow it to come in. Her hands move to stroke upon the pony, giving it an ear rub. “Thanks. We will attend your class. If you will have us both.” she playfully references to Gina who is now moving her nose into Zarina’s pockets in the sure for food.
As luck would have it, there was a spare carrot by the sack she had carefully stored Nibbler in after the dismount. The dry but still tasty veggie was fed to the pony, prompting many crunches and a jealous Riesco flapping his lips as she outstretched his head to get a bite, “Nuh-huh, you’ve gotten enough, bud.” she gave a couple of pats to his snout and he eventually conceded, “Alright, I’ll see all three of you soon, then? Like … A few days. I’ll tell ya’.”
Ayla giggled gently as her friend was overrun by all her animals. “Sounds like a time and date. Look forward to spending it with you.” She moved towards the building after putting Gina away for the night, waiting for Zarina to finish to return to her place. “Next time, we’ll introduce you to Asier, and no, you cannot take him home with you.”
INTERACTING: Sidi, Chamonix People EVENT: Ebbs and Flows || LOCATION: Chamonix
Arnaud had come to this war with around a dozen men that had followed him since he had been converted into the Constantian fold. Only one remained alive. Sidi. A woman that was neither his best nor the eldest. Just one that was lucky enough to not get torched or impaled in the cruel battlefield, but just as loyal as any of his men. It’d come to no surprise that she would be the first to zip through the fields once she took notice of her Lord’s pained approach to Eleanor’s fold. With Sidi’s help, both Sir Bobignon and the Aheri himself would avoid the worst, with the latter’s heart just barely withstanding the strain.
The massive man whispered to her concealed ear, “Chamonix. They come.” Sidi’s helm nodded as she held her master’s head near her’s and then gently posed it back down onto the ground and delivered the message herself to Queen Eleanor. All the while, the behemoth of a man stared up at the sky, the same way he had as he had slain Olaf. It was all repeating itself again. Him at the precipice of death, bodies littering the battlefield and a maiden to judge whether he would live or die - Here she was again, Sidi. Over his head, her expression hidden but her body betraying her true feelings. She feared for her fallen King’s life. She was no healer too, and the few the queen could dispense were lagging behind the extremely swift soldier of the North.
“You are not destined to die yet, Arun,” she muttered as she clenched the dark man’s cheeks with her leather gloves, “Darhanna has foreseen this fate for you.” she cleared the long, greasy hair that got in the way of his visage, that was itself partially veiled by his since grown and greyed beard. Not the clean shaven man he had been at the start of it all.
“Do not call me that.” he uttered every word with a loud exhale, “I am Arnaud. And only Dami will decide my fate.” he replied with apparent surrender, leaving Sidi with no words. The help soon arrived, and by this point the Aheri had closed his eyes. A wave of panic washed over the armoured woman, prompting her to remove her helm and call out for her lord. He was still breathing, but he had hoped he could finally rest. He had been through enough.
…
Neither Darhanna nor Dami would grant Arnaud reprieve, as he was back on his feet in about an hour. Not fully recovered, but functional enough to be equipped with new armour and command the same authority and intimidation he had always done. The Queen had gotten his message, and now he had his own mission to pursue: Ensure the protection of Chamonix, and kill all Eskandr.
An aggressive push was made to gather men, although the success rate was underwhelming. The reputation of an executioner, especially one known to not be originally Parrench, never inspired much trust. His very concealing gear did little to help, as only Le Bourreau Royal wore these colours and odd attires, as well as his soldiers. Well, what remained of them anyway, with the rest of the few men that could be spared to him wearing the flame of Parrence. A low turnover overall, but given they were looking at a siege, perhaps less mouths to feed was a boon in a way.
A call was made for all able bodies to retreat and defend the major city, and he heeded it without hesitation. The doors to Chamonix hadn’t locked yet, and opened gracious to the massive man’s arrival, axe held in one hand while his other hid its wounds that hadn’t fully healed. There were no speeches or theatrics. The Executioner was here, Arcel’s main guard and the one to shed blood for the King’s Justice. He did not need any introductions. He was the death of the enemy. The one that killed an Æresvaktr member by himself, and nearly killed another while facing down their ace. No, this was not a man that needed to assert anything anymore.
Locations: Ersand’Enise - Perrence - Belzagg - Eskand Loft Ersand’Enise - Virang - Eskand - Mudville Day of the week: Pandes Time: All Day Characters: Too many people
Zarina woke up to claws digging into her itchy scalp. What was once an irritated eye migrated to her head. At first she thought nothing of it, it was very early in the morning still - even for her - but as she got a tad more lucid, the pain awakened with her. What she was scratching wasn’t just her scalp but a very unusual lump that was mirrored on the other hemisphere of her skull. Not only did just touching that tender mass make her want to scream, but the ‘scratching’ was more like clawing with dried blood leaking all over her face and hair. It was gross, it was atrociously painful and it was terrifying.
She rushed to the restroom in pants of pain and drool oozing from her lips. The nearby, half-melted candles were immediately turned ablaze in an intensity she didn’t realise was far too much. The mirror reflected a stained face and a very red eye. Although if she focused, she could see that her pupils were cloudier than usual, yet her sight was completely unaffected. Not that the details would matter much to someone in as much pain as Zarina was. Just a minute of panic later and her sink was shattered from the enormous physical might she was ‘blessed’ with. The ceramic shards lodged into her hands brought attention to them, and there she noticed the claws along with the black, little scales running through her fingers and the back of her palms. Easy to miss, looking like little pricks were actually thick scales of obsidian that tugged on her skin like infected growths. Her whole body was inspected throughout the hours of Ipte, with only her feet and chest looking to be the most affected. The thickest of the scales were near her breasts, and the sight made her vomit. Well that and the unending soreness that came with her transformation.
The why of it all was very secondary in the agonising mind of the Virangish half-dragon. All that mattered was getting rid of this pain. With a quick cleanup and fixing of her visage, she didn’t bother to do her hair or even pick out proper attires - she just had to GO. And the best place was where she had gotten shit-faced last time: The Hegelans. When she sniffed them out, the jovial party was to come to an end between Vyshta’s Favoured, Shortlisted and the guests. She gobbled up what she could find.
“More.” she demanded, “MOAR!” she bellowed.
The patrons too exception to her behaviour and were preparing for violence as the furious beast that had downed three mana shots was now threatening to bring down anyone who denied her the drinks. They did little to help, but that didn’t matter, they at least did something. The day would be saved by Penny, who extended an empathetic hand toward Zarina despite their history. Their gazes met, and the afflicted Zaz recoiled from her overly aggressive state and hoped only for some sort of salvation when Penelope appeared to at least understand. The offer of putting her to sleep was eagerly accepted with rapid nods before Zarina was brought to a slumber and a tragedy was thankfully avoided.
What happened during the ten minutes of slumber was very much a blur to her. Flashes of Penny explaining things to Ingrid, Mister Secto making an appearance and collaborating with Penny to get Zarina on her feet and her ingesting a cocktail that, while it didn’t remedy her of anything, dulled her senses enough to make existing somewhat bearable. For now, it seemed there weren’t too many eyes on Zarina’s new predicament, to her great fortune.
The matches were without incident, for the most part. Both Teams Afraval and Colloy made it to the final brackets, where they would be facing the usual rivals. While Colloy simply fell short in terms of points, Afraval would end up succumbing to a different problem: Itself. The favourites by a considerable margin, it’d be a shock for many to find out they would be disqualified in their final game, costing them the necessary points to qualify to the five-way finals. A tremendous shock to the betting rings, many clamoured foul and a recount was necessary. However, neither team Solstice nor team Afraval had a desire to revisit this issue.
For now, though, the treasures for each of their arenas had to be addressed! Abdel himself had a relatively mundane morning and started off with a Zeno Bucks Breakfast and immediately got to hurling Neskals with his magnetic talents. And then of course, he too would hoard a few riches during the event.
His first destination would be Perrence, in a cool evening near forests and cabins. He would end up venturing toward one of these old sheds where he’d end up investigating a well. Growls and screeches of nearby fauna prompted him to be quick in drawing in the bucket at the bottom of it, only to find it filled with just a whole lot of mud and rocks.
“Darn.” he sighed, only to notice something metallic deep within the muck thanks to his refined sensing for anything metal. A little digging later and he found at least some compensation for his search!
Very Small Reward: A small sack with a few coins. Inside is a set of five neskals, one of each type, from ... 650 years ago. It appears that a collector stashed this treasure here and ... forgot it?
Next was Belzagg, where he’d visit a market. Naturally, he’d be attracted toward the textiles given his job as Isabella’s helper and he himself acquired a taste for the stuff. He ended up striking a decent bargain with a shopkeeper he helped extinguish a fire from his stand.
Minor Find: A sheet of pearlcloth. Very rare and made of Lumina Moth silk, it is renowned for its durable crossweave and natural swirling pattern. As well as 3 lustrous puff-lion pelts.
Finally, the final stop before a return to Ersand’Enise would be in Eskand Loft. More forests, although this time he was accompanied by Isabella in a more cooperative endeavour. They end up finding a log house with a family of bears inside. Narrowly avoiding them and finding a treasure hidden under the floorboards, they both end up with a pretty remarkable item. For now, they’re keeping it at Izzy’s.
Spoils acquired: Lost scepter of Inga I, Empress of Eskand. It is actually a runically-imbued stiletto and has never been taken out of its sheath since lost. +2% casting power. Found in a spooky dilapidated cabin in the woods (clearing sub-path), buried/well-hidden.
First stop: Virang! A familiar place for her, and she would need familiarity given how bad her affliction was making her impatient. Though as the day went by, the pain dulled out. Left to explore, she climbed around the cliffside toward a large branch, only to find a recently attacked nest of some kind. Noticing a clutch of eggs, she acquired both the nest and the eggs themselves, as they would likely die with the parents clearly killed by the signs of struggle and stains of blood left around.
Minor Treasure: A clutch of monkeybird eggs. The limbs of these mostly-flightless birds have become long and spindly and they are known for spending their whole lives on the overgrown cliffsides, amid the vines, roots, and crevasses.
Next Stop: Eskand Ath, and what a cold place it was even in the middle of the year. It got to Zarina more than usual, too, prompting her to recoil into a more reserved state and giving off very inapproachable vibes. She went for a long trek until she found a shack of sorts, one that would be in the way of a Kaempe Ko stampede! The Monsigneus chasing them is stared down and distracted long enough for the herd to scatter into the forest. She felt … Compelled to assert herself before it, as if the small creature that she was could show off against more mass and power than the biggest dragon known to the modern world.
Power asserted, to an extent, she would end up retreating to the forest for now, only to be licked to the face by a calf! Endeared, she forgoes the potential mysteries the shack may have had to help the little one find its mother. This ended up consuming all of her free time, but she did get a second lick from the baby cow.
Massive Treasure: Lick of the Kaempe Ko calf x2. Very precious. Worth the greaves that stabilise Wildblood transformation a little. Absolutely.
Finally, the last stop was none other than Ersand’Enise, or rather Mudville. Not the most charming of spots, but at least the carnies were around for some entertainment. Zarina enjoyed the experience with Zymachias, who was probably more of a burden than anything else. The first visit was with none other than Dog Man. A … Very hairy man. And oddly enough he got along decently with Zazzy’s own odd behaviour, likely induced from the changes and pain-addled brain of her’s. His recommendations end up guiding Zaz and Zym to three of his associates.
The First was the beard lady, who gossiped and mentioned ‘The Boss’, being the Toad that held the ‘best’ events and how legit hee was. Although she didn’t say much, she did remark that the ‘blonde boy’ that came out of the half-woman’s tent came from time to time. That boy being Benedetto, although Zarina made a point of not expanding on her knowledge about him.
The Second was the half-lady after she had finished her show. It was clear that Zaz was never one to be with a silver tongue, and her current state made things all the more gauche. But, in her awkwardness and half-honesties about in reality being Benny’s opponent, she manages to discover the following:
- Benedetto is her brother. Adopted brother, but they were raised together with him gaining his attitude after acquiring magic. He is naturally powerful. He was found in odd clothing that seemed far too old for this era yet noble/regal. He comes to visit from time to time, but not too often. The location of one of the treasures, as well as indication that The Toad would be the most valuable encounter to find anything else of value.
So far, the Bearded Lady, Dog Man and Selena the Half-woman were all somewhat uncomfortable to discuss the Toad. This motivated Zaz to explore further. And upon arriving, she was presented with four options after paying a fee to get private visits: The Snake-woman, the Mermaid, the Ape-man and the two-headed woman. The poster showed the snake-woman to resemble Sirrahi, naturally intriguing the teen that had encountered them just yesterday - and coincidentally started to become somewhat reptilian afterward.
The snake-woman was a disappointment - some lady that danced with a snake. The next, however, was a mermaid. And this one looked a LOT like a Sirrahi, but far more fish-like in some ways. A saucy girl named Tiph, who tried to swindle Zarina for some cash, but none of that happened. She, like all other carnies, noticed she was what they called a ‘Wildblood’. At least there was a term for it. A deal was made between fish and monkey: The secret treasure for a favour, being relaying a message to her lost sister should she be found. Zarina agreed, and walked away with a few goodies!
Treasures: Fireblood Greaves: made of fire resistant materials and imbued with fire resistant manas, these hegelan-crafted boots allow one to walk on burning ground and even wade through lava for short periods. Dragon Spurs: guaranteed to help you prod your dragon to move faster (without breaking the skin). Bubble-marker: A strange machine that makes bubbles. Also has some documents hidden inside. Spratz Dress: A very heavy dress with spratz bags hidden all over inside of it. Cha-ching!
The battle between Team Afraval and Team Solstice was going as expected. Both were powerhouse teams that would need to chip at one-another before dealing any sort of heavy damage. For all the flashiness going on, it was relatively uneventful overall with roses being displaced and rarely even damaged. The monsters at the front of both teams were simply ushering a stalemate that bored even the most fervent followers in the audience. They didn’t have the courage to boo them, however. Eventually, a break is taken, and in that time the Ice King had gone missing the entire period, but re-appeared just as the match started again.
Something had changed about the Godly behemoth that defined their team’s power. They could all feel it - the unnerving cold that stagnated in the air rather than being brought in by a swift gust. The Ice King locked his shining eyes toward one in particular: Brother Ash. The Sanguinaire stared back, a tad confused and probably not in the mood to rumble with a monster like him. But nobody was asking for his opinions.
"Justice.”
He uttered as steam escaped his wide grin. He had moved so fast, none had realised the Clanger he was holding was hurled. The shockwave was delayed and repulsed all those around and nearly flung the audience away too. Ash, being the powerful being that he was, mustered just enough strength to survive and take it, and his regeneration would allow him to get back up after a moment downed. A clear foul that baffled the referees and ignited the fans into cheers for more.
Benedetto was getting none of it and immediately charged for the Ice King with his ‘hero of the people’ zeal at full swing (plus a bit of booze in his system). Zarina denied him that and went for her own smack, “Get off my lane, jagoff.” she growled.
And then it became a downright brawl. Brother Ash rose back from his ‘slumber’ and duked it out with the Ice King who had abandoned any half-hearted attempt to keep it confined to the game. He had a bone to pick with this man. Obvious team Covenant wasn’t going to let this slide and were doing their best to control the situation, but they would have to then handle a second Sanguinaire seeking to get some revenge on the one that had done her wrong twice now.
It was a mess, and a very dangerous one at that. Jomurr in particular would be targeted by the Mudville audience, prompting him to fume up and threaten to lash out at them. Marci and Benny were not going to have it and went at him whilst Zarina attempted to shrug off Cadence’s and Marly’s illusions. Given her pain and current state, she was much harder to pacify than expected, nor did illusions particularly help in stopping a rampage.
Augusto pulled Penny back, warning her that this wasn’t worth getting involved with, while the rest of CUBED somewhat retreated back with Kaspar, avoiding the clash of the titans going at the front. Eventually, Covenant would manage to put a stop to it without Wolf’s drastic measures, which came with separating Ash from the Ice King whilst the Trials Staff urged all those involved to get out of the field.
In the end, Team Afraval had thrown the first clanger that led to this mess, essentially disqualifying them. They’d take 6th place, but Solstice would gain the final spot in the finals.
There was a silver lining to this loss: More Treasure! Before and during the game, Zarina and Abdel would have more time to get to sleuthing. So why not go together? A ragtag team of Virangish pushovers looking for treasure. What could possibly go wrong?
With the staff preparing the arena and audiences gathering at the stands, Zarina thought it’d be a good idea to investigate the arena itself and the fancy statues there. Surely, things these exquisitely carved had to hide some treasure. Surely. Well, it seemed Evander had the same idea, leading what was expected to be a rivalry would end up being some odd cooperative measure with mild banter. Well, mostly thanks to Abdel, who carried most of the answers to the riddles found upon the statues of the four Emperors of old.
With the right offerings and puzzles solved, as well as mockery from Benny, they would figure out the secret, and acquire a book after the final riddle: ”What is Blood Magic, yet not Blood Magic?”
Treasure: A small booklet containing the secret Magnetic School spell Bloodwarping.
Bloodwarping: allows the caster to manipulate the iron content in blood and metallic content in the body to cause deficiencies, weaponize it, or even exert subtle control. (Offense/Defense: tiered 4-6, Magnetic School)
An agreement is made between the three knuckleheads, Zarina being the biggest one, on how they would collaborate on learning it and keep it between them. Overall, pretty smooth.
Then came the finals, and Abdel opted to simply spectate and hang out with his friend, Isabella, and cheer on Solstice that had Marceline. Zarina, on the other hand, once she was content with the effects of her device on Team Mozaru and Good Guy Team, went on to get a drink and take a breather outside. There, she would find an odd brazier among the bones of the colosseum that hadn’t been fully renewed yet. A rather perilous mass of passages if one didn’t have magic, and it was hard to see.
Lighting up the brazier revealed a system of wooden planks that appeared to lead somewhere, which piqued the Virangish’s interest. As she stepped on one, she realised that it was beginning to dissipate, so she retreated, until the plank vanished into nothing. The brazier was fed some more fuel after a quick investigation, revealing another set of planks she approached, only to remark that they began to dissipate as she made contact with them. This time, she sprinted forward, as the dark made it impossible to know where they led.
After some cool parkour, she ends up at the end of the disintegrating maze with a ball of wood floating about near a pillar connected to a broken buttress. Without thinking, Zarina touched it with her sweaty fingers, causing the wood to dissipate and reveal a metallic box inside, with the answer to this puzzling situation.
Treasure: A small booklet containing the secret Chemical School spell Coldfire
Coldfire: Creates invisible flames that do not require combustion and can near-instantly be turned into a raging inferno with minor chemical manipulation. Under the right conditions, they can produce powerful directional shockwaves for a hybrid Kinetic spell. (Offense/Utility: tiered 3-5, Chemical School)
A being as bright as the sun itself gracefully shined a beam of light that consumed all that stood against her word. Born-on-Solstice had stepped forward into the battle just as the vampiric monster had begun to show murderous tendencies. The youths stood strong, but they were clearly no match to this man - A man without a clear goal or purpose here. How could they possibly defeat what they clearly did not understand?
The light was finite, however, unlike the sun. The glimmer faded more and more as Sunny obliterated her way through the enemy’s defence and pushed him to a point not even Abdel’s perfect strike could. More and more, the heat steaming out of her outweighed the energy output, and soon Sunny appeared to be at a complete disadvantage to the hooded beast that laughed. That was until …
The sun shined a bright Zenith for the third time this day.
How could she suddenly have this much energy? The answer was going to appear far quicker than expected. Behind the Sanguinaire appeared a figure of the same size and build as the bright mass of energy that was assaulting him. One that immediately stabbed him in the back. If it weren’t for his immense power, he would be dead already. It didn’t matter. The monstrous 10 RAS twin levitated in the air, both hands charged with orbs of light that were condensed with as much power as the swift foe could muster up with his entire being. He had to escape.
Fades-in-Moonlight, the woman who ruled the shadows and dove into the secrets of Dark Magic nearly as deeply as Paradigm himself, would not let him escape. Bound by her powerful Kinetic and Chemical magics, the Sanguinaire did not have the ability to escape. Not with the intervention of the students that withered him down even more.
With a clap of her hands, Sunny conjured a massive serpent of pure, gold light that slithered around and above their one enemy. Maw agape and descending down onto the one that dreaded the very sun she mimicked, he was blessed with searing light that no being could hope to normally survive, let alone a Sanguinaire. After the bright flash that turned the sky blue for a mere three seconds, only a black, scorched spot was left where the target was previously, looking to have been vanquished …
My Gods. What is this demon?!
A panicked Viktor was watching half a block away, sitting behind a corner and only peeking from time to time. The warnings from some of the other volunteers and the sounds of battle had brought him to rush over, only to hide when he saw Evander he ejected from the stadium and into a home. He clutched his gun and utilised his most advanced skill: Concealment. A worthy skill for a hunter, and a coward. Although who could blame him? He clearly had as much experience as the students with this.
Lissanon you fuck. What have you done?!
And then came the great lights. One that dimmed, and the one that flashed throughout the whole city, and was visible from Relouse. And suddenly, he was gone. The monster was gone, replaced by two Zenos, Oh thank the Pentad. Never thought I’d be so happy to see a Zeno., although that relief would be short lived. The very one that had ‘slain’ the beast suddenly turned on the others, “Wh-” his heart sank as he saw the chaos unfold. Three other students were nearby: One with a bandana over his eyes, one with a gun, and one that was far too tall for a girl.
His grip on his gun loosened as he witnessed something extraordinary. Something he had seen once before. All of them, upon hearing an echo he had managed to just barely capture, fell to their knees, many of which staying unconscious. This included the spectral Zeno that could even catch the Sanguinaire off-guard, The Holy See! he saw them and their magic. The five of Covenant, breaking off from their patrols to handle this matter, Which means they have eyes here! he kept perfectly still, making it nearly impossible for Charity to sniff him out thanks to his concealment. Although if she really focused, she could detect how much he profusely sweated.
A traitor. The Volti. And the Traveller … he overheard it all, as he was just at the edge of Cadence’s bubble, We need to leave now. This is getting way too hot. In the wake of many inhabitants stirring on the streets to see what was up and the Holy forces working their way to mind-wipe, Viktor found his chance to slip through and make it back to the distillery early.
“Arch Zeno?” inquired Lissanon at the arrival of a clearly panicked Viktor, “Holy See.” he replied as he gathered the little bit of gear they had brought, “And Zenos. Very powerful ones.” he quickly briefed his partner, “Who gave you this lead? This is a madhouse!” he growled at his partner as he flung his bag over his shoulder and prepared to book it. Lissanon didn’t appear in as much of a hurry, “The liaison did. What did you see?” he calmly inquired. Viktor stopped his frantic preparation and glared at the other Magusjager, “A monster.”
The darker skinned man sighed, “Then our intelligence was correct. But I didn’t expect one this old to show themselves in the Free City so carelessly …” he shook his head as he reached for his rifle, “Why didn’t you warn me?” he asked with an adamant tone, “Scheisse! Did you see how many got hurt?! They could have all died! I could have died.” Lissanon shrugged, “You knew the risks.” Viktor was not having it, “I could have died! Your partner, Guy …” an air of sadness came from his voice. Viktor’s body language softened, “But you knew.” Lissanon nodded again, “I did. I just did not expect it to turn out like this. Everything indicated a young Sanguinaire. And no survivors are expected from a High or Elder.”
High? Elder? the feeling of betrayal grew in Viktor, “Did you expect me to die in that case?” he asked with a shaking voice. Lissanon, after checking his empty gun and putting it back next to him, gave a half-hearted smile at his partner, “Yes.” and with that, with blinding speed that matched Yuliya’s, he was in front of the betrayed and shocked Viktor. His hand impaled the Kerremand’s chest, “Huh?” it was so fast he didn’t even have time to cough out the air and blood in his lungs. His eyes were wide and looking down at Lissanon, “I’m sorry Viktor.” he uttered in a soft voice as he rested his idle hand over the other’s shoulder, “You were caught at the bad end of-”
Lissanon’s head exploded. Behind him was the barrel of a smoking rifle with no noise escaping from it. The impaled Viktor disintegrated into a mass of meat and linen kept together by weak chemical and kinetic magic, while the Viktor wielding Lissanon’s rifle stood firm at the back, “You were never good at tracking. Even for a bloodsucker, it seems.” he sighed and took a swig of whiskey to down what he had just experienced. The kids would be here soon - He had to clean up.
There were three vials of Holy Water of the Sanguine Order they had brought along - He seized one and poured the contents over Lissanon’s body. It quickly began to dissolve: The clothing held decently, but anything organic was melting like butter. It was an abnormally potent acid from the looks of it, and its ‘holiness’ didn’t really appear to discriminate. All that would be left once the volunteers would return would be a pile of red goo, a lot of black, decomposed matter and thin, skeletal remains riddled with holes. The very tethered clothes revealed Lissanon’s identity, and have the school someone to blame.
“Prost, little pups.” he raised his glass to the distillery. Viktor had opted to leave Lissanon’s own funds as a bonus to the group, as well as two vials of the Burning Order’s Holy Water, a Sanguinaire killing kit, and 62 Magi. They would not see Viktor in Ersand’Enise anymore and the Burning Order would have a few loose ends to tie up.
FIN.
On this Adventure, the players of High Stakes have obtained the following:
✤ Vial of Holy Water of the Sanguine Order x2 - A very potent acid that can dissolve a body in seconds. Potentially very valuable to study, or use.
✤ Sanguinaire Killing Kit - Make sure to check its contents!
✤ 62 Magi to be shared among the participants!
✤ Lissanon’s Rifle - A rifle that, while not enchanted, is purposefully made to ease silencing via magic. Packs a serious punch as it is made to kill Sanguinaire.
Lambs to the Slaughter loot will appear in Silas’ post, equating to:
A tall, Virangish teen steps up among the fray with the droplets of rain seemingly avoiding her as if she has some sort of aversion field around her. Jocasta would be pleased to witness Zarina elevating her gravitational loops for everyday purposes and seemingly without any effort whatsoever. The lack of confident grin suggests that this wasn’t going to be some banter or something of a too personal nature, “Do you remember a name or a face?” she asks plainly, arms crossed and her proximity to Jocasta making her closeness to the quest giver known to the newer faces, “I remember Abdel getting some scraps back when I told him his old family’s name. Maybe we can find someone from your old town as a lead?”
As they go through the portal, Zarina keeps at the back of the group so she could catch the powerful Tethered before she’d leave them to complete the task, “Hey, Jo,” she pipes up and twists to peer down at the blonde, “Save the coin, I owe you after Torragon.” she flashes a gentle smile to her friend, “Do you remember a pet? When you were a kid, I mean.” she inquires, her voice is hushed enough to keep it between them, “No kid could resist micro-creatures.” she giggles and continues, “Maybe it’d do you good - Having a little companion to care for. I noticed you were good with them. Would you like me to find something on the side?”
Location: Au Boeuf Rouge - Ersand'Enise Day of the week: Taldes Time: 4:XX HE Characters: Ingrid @dragonpiece, Kaspar @Wolfieh, Maura @Ti, Zarina, Zarra @BreathOfTheWoof Anna, Au Boeuf Rouge's Staff, Carving Contestants
Au Boeuf Rouge, a renowned establishment that catered to the most wealthy in Ersand’Enise. Not quite a restaurant - the service industry had yet to truly blossom - but it provided chefs of considerable quality for households that sought to have feasts for the evening. Occasionally the building was used for events where servants would essentially serve as waiters with menus proposed to the rich. It was a first for Zarina, and she did take some time to absorb the many aromas coming from the kitchens.
A twig was given to her by Maura, prompting the young Virangish to blink rapidly whilst pinching it at the base, “... What exactly is it? Do I just snap it or burn it?” her eyebrows rose as she was left perplexed. Still, she stored the peculiar item into the pocket of her apron.
“Yeah, no, we’re going to get creamed by the competition.” confirmed Zarina as she adorned the fresh, white apron and tied her hair in a way that it’d avoid being a hazard for the coming challenge, “So we gotta be smart about it. Starting with our dish choice.” she peered over at Maura, “Apart from a singular Virangish pepper, the cost shouldn’t be too exorbitant, I reckon.” she then pulled the knives from the slots to inspect each one, nodding in satisfaction after a brief inspection of the equipment.
The Virangish lady’s attention then went to Ingrid, “Glad to see you’re not too shaken after earlier today.” she chuckled, “I’m going to have to insist that you don’t grace us with Eskandish delights - or anything Eskandish whatsoever - during this cook-off.” Zarina had plucked the last knife out and passed her digits over the surface of the blade. This was what she was going to use to carve the proper cut out of the carcass once she had properly treated it, “So, I propose A Boeuf Bourguignon. It’s like Beef stew, but with a specific Burgundy Wine you can buy in the winery here. Very Perrench.”
A few taps of her index to the tip of the blade left her with her lips pursed before she waved the blade in Ingrid’s direction, “I’ll leave you to decide what comes with the main meat and sauce.” her attention then went to Zarra and Kaspar, “The competition is a butcher and a chef,” the tip of the knife as pointed right at them, “So, instead I’d trust you guys to run interference on the other teams. They’re better than us, so we gotta play like dicks.”
The carving room. A very spacious set of rooms where the contestants could bring their creatures to slaughter and later butcher them. Zarina, being who she was, opted for the carcass of a perfectly average cow. Of course, as the rules stipulated, she had to butcher it, meaning the whole process had to be completed, from emptying, to skinning to carving out the perfect slice. She sighed at the sight, but winced at the sounds of hoofs and calls of animals that echoed through the rooms. This wasn’t going to be pretty.
”Hi! Food, yum?” greeted Anna as she pointed at the carcass.
“Well hey you,” Zarina replied back with far less enthusiasm, though she could muster a smile, “That’s mine, yeah.”
Kikimoras was with her and on him were various bags with supplies to prepare the meats, most likely. A convenient giant to handle dumb labour for this minuscule girl, ”Luck good! Win yes.”
“Hah! You’re on you little shit.” Zarina smirked right as Anna did the same. They didn’t need to speak the same language to understand their fiery desire to win.
Zarina’s Plan for the Carving:
❖ She is going to begin by cleaning her workspace, the carcasse and get some water boiling in the basin. The tail will be severed and the body will be dipped in the wanted to make the skinning easier.
❖ A marinade of soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, water and grated and dried Virangish pepper kept at a minimum to not burn some Perrench tongues!
❖ Once skinned, the animal will be emptied and the head severed along with the hooves. The carcass is ready to be carved. From there, she will show the world, after a good couple of months, what a dancer can do with a pair of sharp blades.
❖ Lacking a beat, she will lose her tempo. And so, she will snap the twig ...
Within the crevice Zarina had detected during the Halassa race, there was a trap door that revealed a chest containing ancient Darhannic relics. As always with lost treasures, there were traps as well with the Virangish adventurer nearly succumbing to a pitfall. The hole clearly led to something much deeper. Her attention was first on the contents of the chest she had bothered to find:
❖ One Half of a scarab with a left eye engraved onto its shell, representing the Seer of What Has Been. It is blue in colour. ❖ A six-pointed star. ❖ An old bronze hourglass with sands that start red and turn black as they flow through the middle. ❖ A Parchment Scroll with writing similar to what is inscribed on the nearby wall.
Zarina then peered down into the hole. It wasn’t too deep, as even with the dim lightning she could distinguish a floor a few feet down, Like fuck I’m going down there alone. with the newly acquired items stored in a leather bag she had brought, she set off to gather a few people she could trust to not completely mess things up as they snooped around.
❖ Ayla, someone I think I can trust with anything. If anything, she’ll keep our spirits up in these dank and lonely passages. ❖ Jocasta, a powerful person and someone I very much consider a friend. If things go south, she’s reliable to at worst get us out of the gutter. ❖ Ingrid, another powerful individual and someone that at least has a reason to not fuck me over. Decent person, no reasons to overthink. ❖ Desmond, I know the least about among the four. Said to be competent and can handle himself without magic. Probably has the skills to handle creepy undergrounds.
The team was gathered and they were now back where Zarina had left off, with Jocasta suggesting a translation of the parchment, which matched what was written on the wall. Zarina revelled in the fascinating goodies she had acquired. All of which would make fine additions to her future home. The parchment got her to raise a brow, “I uh, I can try to translate. Can't promise much, though.” her Zaqhory was rather underwhelming, let alone ancient Zaqhory. Nonetheless, they all shared roots to Inipori languages.
As expected, she wasn’t able to make out everything, but she noticed that the matching lines are prefaced by a word that meant something like, "read" while non-matching lines refer to the matching lines. They all have a word that she thinks essentially means, "respond." They were since down into the ruins where the walls held even more scriptures, and dangers lurked at every corner.
The group scrambled to figure out what the items and words meant, leaving them vulnerable to attacks. Luckily, Ingrid was quick to pick up on the incoming threat.
“Uh-oh.” Zarina was late to react and looked over her shoulder to notice the juvenile wyrm rear its head and threaten the group. While Ayla tried to figure stuff out, Zarina was more on the defensive with a blade drawn, “Puzzle or not, we’ve got the welcoming party to address first.” Zarina tilted her head to prompt a crack before attempting to zero-in on the creature's nervous system with her soothing chemical attack, "A pleasant call”. Ayla added to the effort by singing to the beast, eventually getting it to stay still and eye the group warily.
"Lovely," Jocasta whispered, "I didn't have to blow it up, but how do we get it to leave?" the creature was perhaps only about thirty or forty years old, regarded them warily with its underdeveloped eyes, not budging for better or worse. “Just don't look like prey.” Zarina stared down the creature, adamant and tall for a human. She exhaled softly from her nose and attempted to passively add to the soothing effects of her ability. If it wanted us dead, it would have done so. Keep calm. It looks young, but unwell.
The dragon proved very resistant to chemical magic. It appeared that something else may be agitating it as well.
"Go to sleep, little one, leave the nice humans alone, go to sleep little one, nap and go away for some time." sang Ayla with Zarina’s chemical assistance.
However, a particular tone appeared to soothe it somewhat. It groaned, flicked out its massive tongue, and appeared to look upward, towards the trapdoor that they came from. Then, it lurched forward, passing by the humans and looking up at the trap door, bumping it open. It was much too large to fit through, and too weak to break through. It let out a long, low moan that echoed through the underground chamber's cavernous interior.
Ayla suggested using binding to let it free and Jocasta agreed, “It wants out. I agree with Ayla, then.” remarked Zarina. Ingrid would add that it looked unhealthy, Looking as though it was trapped here. Can’t imagine what it would even eat … a dreadful thought indeed. After keeping it calm for a while and opening a path for it, it eventually ascended and found the freedom it coveted. Although, before leaving, the critter return, peeked out of the hole, and stared at Ingrid.
Bleb.
A big lick for the road as a thank you, “Awww.” Zarina giggled before waving the creature goodbye.
Zarina scratched the back of her head, still amused by the whole situation, “Right, back to it.” she whipped out the scarab from her satchel and hovered it over the hole, “Man, does fitting appropriate shapes in stuff feels enticing somehow.” as Zarina inserted it, however, Jocasta shouted, “Wait!” but she was too late. A section of the wall began to slide back. Then, from above, behind, and both sides, four other slabs slid back. Hundreds of pointy stone darts hurtled towards the group. With Ayla being struck particularly hard on the arm.
No! Zarina internally screamed, Not her! she rushed to try and help her best friend, attempting to shield her from more debris. Luckily nothing more came of the rockfall. As the stones slid away, a dark narrow passage was revealed beyond, both beckoning to the group and filling them with a strange apprehension. Jocasta, meanwhile, reached for Ayla. "Ordammit, Ayla, I'm sorry!" She pulls the material from some vines and begins healing. "Also, I think the inscription mattered. We were probably supposed to say something when opening the door to avoid the traps." Zarina grit her teeth, Eshit, she’s right. Think Zaz, THINK!
Fortunately, Ayla was healed both quickly and completely. After squeezing her shoulder reassuringly, Jocasta looked up worriedly and twisted. "We sure we wanna do this, people?" Zarina brushed the sweat off her forehead, “May as well keep going. Maaaaaybe hold back on fitting stuff into things so eagerly.” she turned to Ayla, “You gonna be alright, Kitty?”
But all these traps. The symbols. The shape of the walls. I hope it’s not … she shook her head. The group was in agreement and they moved on with Jocasta taking point while carrying the bag of relics on her lap.
Then, with newfound caution, the group began to travel down the hallway, those with some arcane ability lighting the way. The walls and ceilings appeared to be covered in paintings and plasterwork from differing ages: some dating back to truly ancient times and others more recent, perhaps 'only' a couple hundred years old, often partially covering their ancient counterparts. Cobwebs clung fast or dangled, ghostlike, everywhere they looked. Insects skittered about, and the musty dead smell of dust and distant decay hung thick and scratchy in the air. As she wheeled along at the head of the quintet, Jocasta squinted up at some of the frescoes, trying to make them out.
While Jocasta and Zarina struggled to make things out and Ingrid was more concerned about looking ahead for possible dangers, something caught Desmond's eye: They were pictures of people ... bringing offerings and bowing before great snakelike semi humanoid beings. Desmond quietly whistled as he tapped Ingrid's arm and pointed to the images of the Snake like people, "Looks like we're back on the island. This'll be interesting"
Jocasta's and Zarina's examinations revealed some other things that Desmond had also noticed. The people in the pictures seemed to be surrounded by mummy-like figures, almost as if they were walls around them. Zarina blinked, “Huh.” she looked over at Desmond, “An Island, you say? May need to spit out what you know before a Monsigneus with no wings comes to eat us next. Or, like, half-human Wyrms like those.” she pointed at the illustration. “Fish people. Short rock people. Now slithering people?” Zarina tilted her head as she beckoned Ingrid for a response, “It sounds like a few of you know what's up.”
“The All-Knower”, something repeated frequently by Ingrid and Desmond. They knew something about these creatures. Ayla and Zarina were beginning to prod more are the two, while Jocasta seemed more concerned with the path, or rather paths ahead.
"Which way?" Jocasta asked, enhancing her eyesight and trying to shine some light down both. Faint sounds of more small animals echoed up one. A whiff of sulfur came from the other. Both seemed very long and she could not see to the end. Jocasta scowled as she both sensed and listened. "It's... weird," she murmured, "patchy, almost." She shook her head. "I can sense some things, and... there's a weird kind of... energy like... snaking through the place, but a lot of it is just..." She trailed off and glanced up to meet the other four pairs of eyes, wrapping her arms around herself. "Void." She swallowed and her eyes darted about. "Guys, it's me. You know I'm not one to sit things out from any kind of fear, but I'm really getting the feeling that this is a bad, bad idea."
Patchy? Void? But- This isn’t a Pyramid. It’s just some shitty ruins. And yet, I can help but feel the same, wicked thing she is. Zarina’s heart was beating faster. Ayla being hurt was already disheartening enough, but with her piecing things together, the whole prospect of exploration was getting exponentially less appealing by the second. A decision had to be made, still.
Jocasta forced herself to put hands to wheels, unwrapping her arms from her body, and rolled up beside Ayla, the two of them ensconced in a little bubble of light. The black thing almost appeared to have a yawning blue mouth, great and gaping, surprisingly squarish. Something about it didn’t sit right. "I... don't think those are moons... or the VOID. It almost looks like some kind of primitive god-monster." Strangely, it didn't appear to have eyes. It was all very symbolic looking. Perhaps it was the planet and moons? But why so much blue? Why so squarish?
Finally, the notion of Sirrahi was out of the bag, courtesy of Ingrid. From how she and her friends befriended them to how some kissing may have happened. Even in these unnerving times, there was a will to tease within them all. Worries of them staying in one place for too long, however, was very much founded with Desmond bringing up the issue firsthand. Glad that I wasn’t wrong about his expertise.
Desmond is correct that the group was lingering too long in one spot. Zarina and Jocasta both began to feel an unplaceable kind of energy starting to build up in the distance.
Ingrid was enraptured by the strange old paintings, however, that clearly depicted Sirrahi. At first, the people appeared to be terrified of them, but most of those appeared to have been plastered over. There are a few Sirrahi that seem to be covered or splashed with blood. A few humans appeared to be lying prone on the ground before them. The rest were covered by plaster pillars or newer paintings depicting the eyes of Vashdal and other religious motifs.
Further on, the humans appear to be worshipping the Sirrahi, almost, bringing all sorts of food, stone, and material offerings. The direction that oozed of the smell of sulphur was the most attractive to the group, as the Blackflag duo confirmed they were telltale signs of Sirrahi activity. Familiarity bred a sense of security, it seemed. Sensing something approaching through the other tunnel, the group quickly steered right.
An inhuman howl cut through them like an icy dagger and the rumble of sliding stones caused the entire place to shake. Jocasta bolted from her wheelchair, floating down the tunnel, pale as a ghost.
“There are Hundreds!”
"Hundreds!" For a split second, as they glanced back, there was a flash of movement and what looked like a human face, but .... monstrous. Then the stone slid shut, blocking it from pursuing them further. "We're trapped," Jocasta laments, "trapped in here with them! Can't you sense them? Can't you feel them!?" Her hands were visibly shaking. She seemed to be close to a full-on panic.
Vashdal’s Nightmare … What are these things? Oraff. Dami. What am I seeing?!
Zarina, the moment she could sense them too, got a tad paler. Immediately, she drew her darker shamshir and clenched it uncharacteristically tight, “We're not trapped.” she looked around, “Worst case, we dig through and condemn behind us.” still, she did her best to locate SOMETHING, like a hole to insert an item, “Need some lighting here, people!” In their panic, the group stepped incautiously. A floor tile was depressed. They could hear things clanking and moving behind the walls. There was a very slight but nonetheless-perceptible low-pitched hum. "What did we just trigger?" Jocasta demanded. "Do you guys hear that?" the hum was incessant, despite Ayla attempts to suppress it, it was just everywhere. Ingrid confirmed that the sound was similar to machinery they had heard from the Sirrahi. A good sign, perhaps?
The hum continued and the walls pulsed with strange energy. There did not appear to be any sources of light that they could recognize. If there were, they were inert. The five of them continued deeper and the smell grew stronger. On the walls there appeared to be a continuation of the old paintings. Still ancient, they are somewhat more recent. The drawings represented humans being devoured by Sirrahi, although hordes of monstrous humanoids wasn’t something Ingrid or Desmond had seen prior. Also more kiss teasing. At least the levity removed some of the fear and stress they were all feeling.
"Let's get to the bottom of this bitch. I wanna kiss me a snake person too."
“What is wrong with you guys today?”
The suddenly, "Chemicals!" Jocasta shouted, "in the air! Don't breathe!" She pulled from them with everything that she had,, but her manas seemed... strange hesitant to respond. It was as if a scagbeast was near, but there was no such creature. Instead, when she turned, she saw them ahead: two points of yellowish light blazing golden in the distant blackness, twisting and sparking. “Shit!” Zarina’s top's collar was pulled up to cover her nose and mouth. Panic reigned supreme, and breathing was getting hard to limit. Drawing became slow, to the point where Zarina felt far too exerted to employ magic and instead she began to quickly pace toward the lights with Ingrid in tow. Suddenly, a voice rumbles through the air, ancient and crackly.
"What the hell is it saying?" Jocasta demanded of Zarina, hoping that she, of anyone, might know. How would I know?! I don’t speak dead auditory diarrhoea!
Zarina, still holding her breath, heard the incessant chanting and stopped on her tracks. It actually started to sound familiar to her, close to her mother tongue and Inipori- Close to Zaqhory, “Back ... Evil thing inside-” she crouched down to potentially get a tad bit of fresh air, perhaps use the little bit of energy she could muster to oxygenate herself, “Death awakens.” she mumbles.
Whatever Jocasta was feeling after hearing that, she kept it to herself. The mist pouring in revealed something else. Dozens of... blades of light crisscrossed the room, only evanescently visible where the smoke hit them.
"HfAw rmT Xbd xpt nD."
“Snake people-” Zarina paused, looking around her to notice the lights becoming clearer through the gas. She piped up, “Kill people. The snakes kill people!” She squinted at the final bit she heard. 'Death' was identified, but the second was odd, “Death Preserves? Keeps?” her heart rate wasn't doing too well with all that breath control. Ayla tried to translate the passage "Run back, evil ones alive inside. Death walks. Snake people kill people. Death protects this place?"
The golden lights! Jocasta looked at them, there were two. The twin lights disappeared. The hiss trailed off. The blades of light... Jocasta made a low with her hands, but the blades were one. They did not appear to have the power to cut anyhow… The five of them stood back to back in a shrinking perimeter, waiting for whatever came next, whatever horror might emerge from the depths. Their magic flickered, illuminating the cobweb-covered walls intermittently, flickering and dimming.
With the bit of magic Zarina had left, she tried to dissipate as much of the noxious substance in the air as possible, “... I just realized why your team name is what it is.” she had a moment there, “We can't run back though, so ...”
People spoke their theories out into the void, but the noises were gone. They coughed occasionally. Jocasta jumped when a drop of water hit her. With her flickering magic, she noticed something up ahead: smoke rising from two long... ropes? Gathering her courage, she broke their defensive formation and drew closer. Not ropes, she thought, cables… She could feel the heat coming off of them. Following them upwards, she could see where they snaked along the ceiling. The moment that the twin lights had stopped, there had been a 'pop!' and the strange gas and hum had disappeared as well.
Zarina coughed a few and brushed her hand through her now loose hair, “Do you still feel them, Jo?” Jocasta shook her head. "Faintly, whatever they are. I think we're headed in a different direction." Her front wheels bumped against a piece of debris and she nearly pitched out of her wheelchair. "Ordammit," she hissed, catching herself and resetting her legs on the footrest. "Does this place never end?" Doubling over to push the debris out of her path, Jocasta slid it out of the way only to perk up when she heard it strike something distinctly hollow. She sat bolt upright, exchanging a glance with Ayla. "Did you notice that?" she demanded, "it sounded..."
"Hollow!" Ayla responded. Shining a light towards a wall, she noticed something hunkering in the shadow of a pillar: an ancient clay jar. “Like your head.” she teases, giving the little lady a couple of soft knocks on the head. Jocasta lifted it cautiously onto her lap. There were scarabs running all over it. Half of them were black and red. Half were black and blue. It gave her the heebie-jeebies. "Anyone else wanna be the one to open it?"
Zarina was quick to immobilise one of the scarabs with Kinetic and tried to subdue it with a small dose of chemical. She then dragged it toward her, “Interesting colour scheme.” now she focused on the jar, the details of it and all, “How about you open it from a distance, yeah?” the reds seemed to be headed uniformly right, while the blues were going left. Glancing between the others' eyes, Jocasta reached up to hand the jar to Ingrid. She paused when Ayla spoke. "Black and red!" she exclaimed, "like your hourglass. Blue and red," she concluded, "like that.... thing they were worshipping."
Ingrid ended up being the one to open the jar, revealing half a scarab, and clearly the other half of the one they had previously inserted. Speculations galore followed this finding, from wanting to return where they had started to pushing forward. But before a decision was made, the sulphur returned in the air they breathed just as Jocasta was gathering the energy to make a spatial jump back to safety. A cold, bony hand laid itself on her shoulder …
From nothing appeared the shape of a man: tall and cadaverously slender. From nothing appeared the shape of a man: tall and cadaverously slender.
A shamshir was immediately drawn and the pointed tip directed right at the emaciated figure. An intense glare was shot at the mystery being, with Zarina's forehead covered in sweat drops. Sensing people's alarm, Jocasta bolted from her wheelchair, floating backwards.
The being only smiled a lipless grin and faded into the swirling dust. "What the fuck was that!?" Jocasta hollered, patting her shoulder down frantically as if it were poisoned.
That’s it. This isn’t just some random hole. We are WAY over our heads. Maybe we’re not too late.
“We need to leave.” Zarina said with complete resolution, “This isn't some random ruins with a few mystery people messing with us.” although her demand wasn’t heeded as most of the group’s attention fell onto a new illustration. In the middle of the wall was a pattern that looked like arteries or veins, headed towards a heart from all directions. It was blue and shaped like half of a scarab. There was a hole shaped just like the right side of one. Once again, this wall had inscriptions.
“No.” Zarina pointed right at the slot, “No, no, no! I should've known from the start. But fuck it, we've got to BAIL.” she ordered in clear frustration, “You should know this, Ayla.” Ayla refused, "There is no going back now. Face those monsters out there, or go deeper. Don't want slenderman to creep on Jo again."
"nis snf pr-aA. anxw sbH."
More glyphs, different than just listening. Still, she could try to make some sense of it. Zarina brushed her digits over the drawings and focused on them for a brief moment, “Call- Uhhh, Bring? Blood. Call Blood.” she squinted at the last one. It was a term she was not familiar with, “King? Maybe. Call Blood King.”
What am I doing?
Zarina clenched her jaw as she gazed upon the "response". It took her a moment, “Those with life ...” she shakes her head as the last term is more or less translated in her head, “We're not doing this.”
I can’t. We’re all going to die.
"Can we maybe not 'Summon the Blood Pharaoh?'” Jocasta shudders. “That's the first part, I think: Summon the Blood Pharoah."
"Don't fancy being stuck here for eternity, we need to press on forward, Zazzy. We have overcome worse together before." berated Ayla. "Those with life? You mean like: The living?" suggested Desmond.
“You have NOT overcome this, Ayla. YOU should know what this is about.” she looked very agitated, pacing around with her hands gesturing restlessly, “We should be able to find an exit some-” she threw a dirty glare toward Desmond.
Idiots, all of you! You do NOT know what you are doing. I was an even bigger fool to bring you all here. Zarina was gritting her teeth.
"DO YOU SUMMON THE BLOOD PHAROAH?" spoke a voice from everywhere and nowhere, as if demanding a response.
Zarina went pale and twisted to stare at the inscriptions.
"The Living Cry Out!" Desmond roared in response.
"The living cry out?" Ayla tried to make out the inscription.
Something rumbled beyond the wall. It lifted a sliver and scarabs began trickling out, first a few, then by the dozens, then pouring by the hundreds. The blue scarab shape on the wall lit up, beckoning. "Put the Scarab in the Scarab hole!" ran to grab it and pushed it in. Zarina first thought of intercepting, but then she noticed the flood of scarabs. “... Put it in!” The scarab clicked in and the door slammed down, cutting off the flood. A door revealed itself on the left side of the wall and it grated open, stone on stone.
The group seized the chance to escape, away from all the bugs. Beyond is a stone passage. At first, it was pitch black, but for the dim glow of the scarab's light. Then, as they began to peer down it, a pair of lanterns flickered to life, and then another. Staring close to them and stretching off into the distance, they light the tunnel.
The walls were ornate and the design was different, with the pillars in a style that they've seen before but never around this region. It was Nikanese.
They continued down the passage and there are further pictures on the walls, these ones much newer and more sophisticated, but still hundreds of years old. The illustrations were in Nikanese style. They showed the Sirrahi again, but they also showed a great humanlike figure, tall and pale, standing in front of them.
Zarina felt overwhelmed. Perhaps this wasn't what she thought. But then again, it also felt like it was in a way. The new architecture and art put her off quite a bit “Did they have ruins like this when you met them? With different arts and languages?” Ingrid denied the notion and instead suggested they were studying humans instead, although perhaps they had been in Nikan for a time. "These Snake People worshipped a human... ... Grand Demon?" wondered Ayla.
As they walked, the pictures evolved. The next one showed that same great figure, now transformed into something larger and more monstrous, doing battle with the snake-people. Dozens of them lay dead before him and he rose, covered in blood. “So much for these great beings that kill people.” Zarina crossed her arms and scoffed at the sight, “Big man took exception to them.” Ayla added, "What if the snake people created or used him, and then he turned on them, or them on him?
Up ahead, the smell of sulphur grew ever greater. Jocasta coughed. "I'll admit to morbid curiosity," she huffs, "But we should probably find some way to breathe in there, because it's probably only going to get worse." Zarina attempted to make the air somewhat breathable, though she was but a lower chemical mage, and there ain't no animals here, “Agreed. Let's just get through this. I don't even know what to think of this anymore.” Desmond agreed as he said, "Yeah feet don't face backwards". As he attempted to help the best he can with chemical magic. However it would be minor at best.
The pictures continued as they moved forward, Jocasta trying to draw away the chemicals in the air or at least rendered them inert. It was not so much the smell as the toxic nature of the gas. The next one depicted the people bowing down before him, by the hundreds. Once again, they brought tribute, but it was unambiguous: they offered humans to him.
“... The Evil One.” Zarina suddenly piped up as she squinted at the face of the depicted being. Jocasta twiseds and, glancing Zarina's way, offered a question. "You know of him?" The Virangish was quick to reply, “No-” she shook her head, “I don't think so, but-” she stepped closer to the illustration, “They spoke of an Evil One that rests here.”
Then, Jocasta sensed it: an immense energy beginning to stir far ahead. It was like nothing she had ever felt, not even from Hugo Hunghorasz. The corridor continued and there were depictions of ten other figures. The writing on the walls changed. Most remained in Nikanese, but the ten other figures appeared to come from numerous other peoples. There were Old Eskandr runes beneath one: a cloaked woman wearing white and black beneath a mighty tree. Beside her appeared a man in dragonscale armour, kneeling.
Zarina noticed Ko, “Hey, wait. I know that armour. Though it's darker here.”
Another wore the garb of a great serpent, his appearance Xochiyec. His mighty war club was covered in blood. More of them came from all over the world: A hulking Belzaggicman wearing a Lion's pelt, A tall, lithe Kerreman woman with a bow and arrow, A dark-skinned yasoi of Sawand, holding court over the night. "Guys," Jocasta warned, "there's something up ahead. Something really powerful. Do we think it's a friend?"
Desmond and Ingrid seemed inclined to be optimistics, but not Zarina, “No.” she was quick to give her answer, but then she peered at the depictions, “But I doubt we'd have a chance to escape if it's as bad as they remember it by.”
More of them were shown: A Yasoi brandishing long, whiplike chains.
Two bulky Retanese standing shoulder to shoulder, arms folded across their chests.
Next came a large pale man with a long beard and the crown of St. Yuri upon his head.
"These... all seem to be royalty... Grand Demons rule Sipenta?" wondered Ayla. Jocasta looked back worriedly at Ayla and shrugged.
The next panel depicted two mighty kings: one in black and fiery orange and the other in white and blue, clashing over a walled city with chalky white cliffs. Ayla looked towards the white cliffs. "Looks like those cliffs might be the White Cliffs of Relouse..." making an observation
Up to this point, they had been able to keep the sulphur at bay with their magic. Then, however, it grew uncomfortable and difficult. "We're close," Jocasta warned. The penultimate panel reveals the white king. He is standing above a knight of Lindermetz, one holding twin shortswords, and knighting him. The knight rises and stands beside the king, his hair having turned white.
A tent was made to encompass the group, preserve the oxygen they had left and limit the entry of the gas inside. They were still on borrowed time, but at least they had more of it.
Another twenty yards down, the last of their magic flickered out. The last of the ten portraits appeared before them. It was a Yasoi woman, almost lifelike. Jocasta froze. She blinked.
It was Ismette.
"Ismette," Ingrid let out. Desmond began to look around, "What the fuck is this place?" Zarina added, “Handlebars. Huh.” for a moment she appeared completely blasé, “... Oh shit. Kind of looks like her, yeah!” Jocasta blinked. "The resemblance is uncanny. It looks a lot like her." speculation on Leluun, the mysterious Biro group and the implications of this illustration followed, leaving some more distressed than others. “Maybe it's her mom. Or grandma. Or great grandma.” Zarina shrugged, “All them tree people look the same to me.”
Ahead loomed the end of the passage in an ornate archway. All magic was gone. The archway was sealed and, in it, was one more shape. It was the star with the split points, five branches, ten endings, and a large gem in the middle. Jocasta fished it out of the small chest.
"Tyrel and Myret look similar too. They all could be related." remarked Ayla, "I guess so," Jocasta agreed. "Her ancestor is... clearly someone of great power."
The hourglass was in the chest too. All of its sand had retreated to the top and was sticking there, as if gravity itself was reversed inside of the item. She held the two items up and looked among the others. "You know, we could all just be signing our death warrants." Zarina sighed, “We've gotten this far.” she then crossed her arms, “I tried to stop you guys. May as well commit.”
Quick discussion is made about inserting the star into the hole, and when it was time to decide, Desmond did the deed. The star medallion shot back out and into Desmond's chest. After fumbling with it, he snagged it. Smoke and heat rolled out of a ring-shaped chamber. Beyond lay… another door.
The walls were covered in further pictures. The first showed the figure from the beginning, the one who had laid low the Sirrahi. He stood beside a woman of similar stature, holding her hand. Around them gathered many people and many beasts of assorted types. "We should look at the rest," Jocasta recommended. The miasma was thicker in here and their tent was losing its effectiveness.
The next fresco revealed yet more. Now the man and the woman stood across from each other, as if in a standoff. Countless beasts and countless people lay dead around them.
The next depicted yet more of the story: the man and the woman in combat. The latter appeared almost bestial.
They moved on to another and the woman had turned into a great black dragon.
"You know if that is real, that is horrifying." remarked Desmond.
“Wow. Now she kicks ASS.” she uttered, purging worries from her system for a brief moment.
"Wow, Sven's kind of girl." joked Ingrid.
"Perhaps she knows the trick on how to defeat Grand Demon Ismette." Ayla tried to keep a straight face.
The second to last showed the results of their battle. The Sirrahi fled and the dragon was struck down. She was turning back into a human again. The man held her in his arms, but his face was stern.
The final one depicted a great palace in the desert. The woman was shown laid inside, at the centre of it, in a deep sleep. The man left, sealing it behind him and leaving the bodies of the dead to stand guard.
The final door beckoned.
"That's... who are these people?" Jocasta asked, "some kind of gods?"
“Wait.” Zarined inspected the last statue, especially the guard. The horde. “... Kept by death ... Protect by the dead. Stop.” Zarina piped up, “We may very well be unleashing something foul into the world.”
Wracked with indecisiveness from her morals of respecting her friends and beliefs of life and death, "I will choose to abstain for now and will only vote if necessary." Ingrid didn't seem comfortable abstaining but it was better than choosing right now.
Ayla looked ahead to what may be the final door and what is ahead. There have been many trials and tribulations to get to this point, this is like an epic story of old, a dungeon, one of adventure and hardship. She could experience a mix of emotions from dread, fear, and excitement, the anticipation of coming to the end of this trek. She was overcome with an urge to do something, to go further, and like the old stories, complete their destined mission. "We have come so far and a little further to finish. We passed through all the trials, we have gotten further than any of the others, perhaps this is our destiny. To right a wrong in this world. Heroes of legend...". Ayla moved towards the box to pick up the Hourglass, "Perhaps we are the new Hourglass Order?", she looked towards the pair from team Luna, "Desmond and Ingrid, if it is more the money, what about the riches that may lie just ahead?"
"Perhaps instead of those old men who decide our fate, who drag us closer to a war that will destory our world. We get an opportunity to actually do something, something to save it? Perhaps it is a relic, perhap it is secret knowledge, we dont know, but we can. It also can be a complete bust!"
“Or we destroy it ourselves,” Zarina raised her chin and looked down at Ayla with her arms crossed, “in one act of youthful foolishness. Heed the tales of old, Ayla.” her golden hues peered to the statue with the fallen "queen" and her undead guard, “Of the resting places of Zaqhoria.”
The debate went on, involving Zarina and Ayla, and Desmond eventually opting for opening the door. "I think we should do it," Desmond turned to them as he continued, "We have nowhere else to go, our only 2 visible ways of escape are: Try and teleport and contend with whatever touched Jocasta and vanished. Seemingly an intangible but tangible threat. Or we fight our way through the many dead that had filled the halls. The many hundreds you both say there is. We may be good, but I only have so many bullets and those who are dead have no fear."
Desmond huffed and sighed as he then said, "I think we need to attempt this. If anything, all we will be doing is opening the tomb of a dead woman. There might be nothing but some corpse, and then this was for nothing. But if it is anything to help us out, then I think taking it makes sense. There are many mages here, and maybe they can stop whatever disaster is to occur, after all, Even Hugo is active".
Desmond sighed as he then continued, "If something so horrid is gonna happen that the world shall end, then they can just turn back time to stop us from ever going in. After all, that is the power of the Temporal magic I have seen. The Sirrahi we interacted with said if they wished they could have turned back the time by a few hours so we never met and we'd have never remembered. So if our actions are to damn the world, then it would save us too, save us from ever needing to have done any of this. But we would also be unable to remember some of these things. Some things that are much too strange to let sit. Yet sadly some things must be done".
Jocasta looked at them dimly, a bitter, profound hatred building inside of her. Repeatedly, she had warned against this. Repeatedly, she had been ignored. That there was no saving the stupid from themselves, she had long been certain. The choice was starkly obvious and mind-bogglingly simple: walk back a couple hundred yards, pull on the fabric of space and time, and leave this cursed place, or press forward further into a den of horrors and unleash an ultimate evil they had been repeatedly warned about in no uncertain terms. If they could not see the simple reason, they were either insane, incurably stupid, or their minds had been addled by some strange magic in here.
She would have taken Zarina and left them to die in a heartbeat at this point, but she would have suffocated before reaching safety. She was one small girl with no magic and half a body, not Volto Certosa and not Veleno. It would take one bump or small obstacle and she'd be trapped. Her heart was hammering. Her hands shook. The world felt faint and she could feel her pulse in her ears. You're really gonna do it, she thought to them disbelievingly. This was not some adventure. They had no magic. They had no safety net. It was like they were in denial of their own vulnerability or they were actively trying to die. How could you be so stupid!? She screamed at them inwardly. Eshi! I hate you! I hate you, you idiots: you fucking idiots!!! Truly, however, it was herself that she hated.
Jocasta took as deep a breath as she could and stifled a cough. "We've had our share of tough scrapes before," she began, trying to keep the tremble from her voice, "But we've always had magic. We don't have it, this time. There's no 'reset' lever." She swallowed. "Nobody knows that we're here. We have received warning after warning that what waits ahead is horror." She regarded them all calmly, rationally, despite the all-consuming terror that she felt. "We can turn around now, walk a couple hundred paces back, and I can pull upon space and have us out of this place. There might be dangers, but we will be equipped to face them. We can tell people who are much better prepared to handle it than us when we get out. Our other choice is to walk through that door where we have a very good chance of dying horribly and likely unleashing some ancient evil upon the world. That is an unfathomably stupid thing to do and I am helpless to stop you from doing it except for my words. Please don't. I am furious at your blindness right now, but I am begging you not to."
Zarina opted to keep her breaths limited and wasn't going to add more to what was already said, they needed the air no matter the choice they would make, “You know our stances.” she then peered over toward Ingrid, “I know better than to take on three alone, with one being a Magusyaeger. ” she stood by Jocasta, a hand over the chair, “I won't beg, however. I would also not put all my faith onto a man that needs kids to do his international errands.”
Resistance still came from the Ayla camp, but it was all for naught. A crack formed in one of the walls. The stone rippled and their eyes could follow it as it snaked down. It was deafeningly loud against the silence of their muffled breathing. Dust swirled into the air. Tiny pebbles clatter to the ground. The crack widened. It began to snake up the ceiling. It branched. Dust and pebbles rained down.
Desmond went first for the hourglass and tried to jam it in. When it didn’t fit, he took the star from earlier.
"MMMMMMMNNNNNNNNGGGGG"
A massive curtain of wall fell to the ground. Dust billowed out. Blood-red veins branched and snaked from the symbol, covering the door like a virus. The edges of the portal lit up, glowing in the all-consuming murk. Stone began to grind and grate. Jocasta looked back at the broken wall. There were .... faces inside of it. "Eshi-dammit, what the fuck is that!?" A pair of great stone doors began to iris apart. All of the light was blood-red but for the eyes.
The eyes. They glow in the darkness.
"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMWWWWWWOOOOOOOOAAAAAHHH"
The doors slid apart.
Chaos erupted. The monsters lurched out from the walls and assaulted all the intruders, starting with Desmond and Ayla. Zarina, deprived of magic, relied on her blades while Jocasta, helpless as she was, ended up flung to a wall and nearly knocked out. It was an uphill battle, leading to Zarina nearly ending up devoured by the long-clawed creatures. This looked to be the end.
Then, Ayla flipped an hourglass.
A cold, blinding pulse of red light arched across the chamber of horrors, revealing its contents. There were dozens of these beasts. As one, the undead beings craned their ragged necks. All of them turned to look at the hourglass, stopping mid-action. Zarina scrambled back, horrified, trembling, grateful, a whole lot of other things. Then, as one again, the horrors raised their heads and let out a long shrill cry that every living human present could feel in their bones. The second door exploded outward.
Chunks of stone and bronze showered the area. One took Jocasta in the midsection and she let out a pained sound and slumped to the side. People ducked and covered instinctively. From inside poured a deep bloody light. One vast cold eye opened, gleaming in the bright darkness. Then, another.
Zarina kept low and rushed to the room in panic. Just in time to notice the EYES. The room shook. A hand reached out and grasped Zarina by the neck, effortlessly lifting her from her feet. She rose, one, two, five feet off of the round. An immense fang-filled maw opened before her. "HHHHHHHUUUUUUUMMMMAAAAAANNN." She could feel great nostrils sniffing her. The voice was immense, sepulchral, regal.
Zarina was caught off guard, seized and left paralyzed by the sheer might of the being before her. Also her neck was constricted. Her sword fell to the ground and her hands clenched the wrist of the abomination lifting her. She was at the end of a very long arm. The hand that gripped her was scaly and covered in ssspines.
At first Zarina’s eyes are wide in surprise, and with quite a bit of fear, but she still tries to stare down the foe, teeth clenched. If you’re going to finish me, monster, do it now. I won’t beg or squeal. A long snakelike tongue flicked out, tasting Zarina's face. The prey’s eye twitched. Fuck. You. The others had little time to do much but react.
With howls of hunger and rage, the undead streamed through the door. They grabbed hold of Desmond, Ingrid, and Ayla. They swarmed over the fallen Jocasta.
The being that held Zarina dropped her like an unwanted toy. It stalked forward and roared. The four humans were brought to their knees. Zarina gasped for air, hand on her throat, as she looked up at the beast. The undead wailed and clutched at their heads. But the being was not finished. So quickly as to be almost imperceptible, it hurtled into the monsters and tore them limb from limb with such violence that it was difficult to comprehend immediately.
They caught flashes of it: lean and towering, pitch black and scaled. It tore at the lesser monsters with the pain and rage of something that had been caged for thousands of years. With teeth and claws it ripped them limb from limb, spattering the walls, floor, and ceiling with their vile black blood, hurling pieces of their flesh so that they stuck fast to surfaces. Then, it gorged upon them, feeding. Bones snapped, sinew crunched, and meat slurped. Ponds of blood covered the floor.
“Fuck.” Zarina fumbled to reach for her weapon, “The woman we saw ...” she remarked, "The one who fought the Grand Demons..." Ayla completed the thought. The group gathered itself after the will-shattering screech the beast had imposed upon them.
Its eyes flickered, rolling back into its head. It was a woman. "Hsssssssssiiiihhh," She let out a long sound of pain and satisfaction. It rose on two feet, swaying as it regarded them from above. Then, its back arched and it began to contort. In fits and starts, it twisted and began to shrink. It let out an ear-piercing shriek. Then, it collapsed onto all fours: human, or something like that. She was naked and covered in blood. Her chest heaved slowly. Her hair is drenched. They are deep at first, and then shallower.
Desmond began trying to stand up, shakily as he stands fully up and looks to the woman and said, "Well fuck."
After a few more breaths, she raised her head and looked right at him. "Well fuck," she replies.
Zarina blinked, “The fuck?” she fumbled to hold her weapon, and slowly stood.
Ingrid began to stand as the woman was coming back down from her fury. Ingrid repeated, "Are you the one that man imprisoned?" Her voice was strong here. Desmond went near her and knelt down trying to check her now, she seemed sick or injured in some way.
The woman stood. She was tall, with skin pale from lack of sun, hair dark and bloody, eerily beautiful. She looked human but for the claws that grew from her fingertips and the deep soulless blackness of her eyes. "Im...prrriiisoned." She regarded Desmond. With thunderous speed, her hand flicked out and grasped his shoulder tightly.
"Thhhhank yyyou."
Then, it stalked towards the door, incandescent with eagerness. "Nnnnow, mmhhhhy turn!" A wicked smile split its face.
“Your turn.” Zarina inhaled deeply and finally regained some of her composure, “What will you do ... Isfty?”
"Deeeatttth!" hisses the monster. A stray undead Sanguinaire came after her and she decapitated it with a single slash of her inhuman claws.
“Death to what?” Zarina inquired in clear confrontation, although she flinched from the killing.
The being ignored Zarina, leaping for where the ceiling met the wall in the chamber beyond. Her hand pierced clean through and tore something out of it. This, she crumpled and tossed on the floor like so much scrap. "We need to get out of here right now," Jocasta whispered. "Right now." The being rushed around to another point and did the same thing, tossing a second black box-like device onto the floor. Jocasta's magic flickered. She could feel it, somewhat, just. “Agreed.” Zarina rushed over to help Jo get on her chair, and then went on to the room that is being trashed.
"DEATH!" screamed the woman. "DEEEEEAAAATHHH!!!!"
Zarina inspected the tossed devices nonetheless, trying to keep an eye on the rampaging creature. The only exit so far was back after all, “Wait, those are what dampen our abilities?” Desmond confirmed this to be true.
"Let go of me!" Jocasta shouted, as more sounds echoed from the other side of the ring-shaped room. She reached out with her magic and crumpled the last remaining box. Jocasta burst free of Ingrid and Zarina and all of the others trying to help her, rising into the air.The other four felt the familiar immense power of their friend's draw, crushing in its sheer weight.
The monster appeared around the corner, its head forcibly wrenched around by Jocasta's magic. It bared its teeth. "Oh shut up," Jocasta sneered. "You will answer our questions." The woman-shaped thing hissed at her. "The rest of you," Jocasta quickly murmured, "get out of here. Now."
Ayla drew too, far less impressively, though peered up towards Jocasta, "What about you?" Zarina clicked her tongue, “Not unless you come along.” Desmond started to feel his body churn as he felt her energy grow yet he remained standing, he needed to stay on his feet. His falling was not good here, Jocasta seemed to have been angered and is now using her overwhelming power, similar to what Benedetto did. The others did not seem to move so neither did he. Ingrid kept pleading to avoid conflict, although it consistently fell into deaf ears.
"I can understand you," said the monster, grinning evilly. She shattered Jocasta's kinetic hold.
Jocasta tossed a smile back over her shoulder at them. "Stupid brave," she said. Then, the beast spoke. "We freed you," Jocasta reminded her. "That is why you are alive," replied the beast.
Then, suddenly, Ayla assaulted the creature. Likely in an attempt to help Jocasta get away from a dangerous situation, but it would end up biting her back- Hard. Ayla, you idiot! No! Zarina dashed toward her friend, knowing full-well things were going to get ugly.
The beast, who had seemed on the verge of speaking, flinches for a moment, flaring its nostrils. "Not bad, girl." She turned to Ingrid. "Your friend does not seem to agree," she hissed. "For that, I shall extract a toll." With the snap of a finger, she rendered Ayla blind and deaf. "Do not presume."
Jocasta used her own Chemical magic to try to undo the spell, but it was as nothing before the being's magic. "Do not attack her!" Jocasta warned. "We have less than no chance, even me!" she fully admitted, "I have met her before, or a... version of her." Desmond was confused by the notion, so she continued, "In the desert. A demon. We reversed time to save you all. Nobody else knew. I wanted to keep it that way."
Zarina, mortified at the sight of Ayla being disabled so mercilessly, had the first instinct to try and get payback, but Jocasta made the right call, “... Fix her, please.” she pleaded as she got to her friend, softened the potential fall and held Ayla close. She consistently shifted her gaze between the menace and her sister-figure. No no no! I told you to not move forward … If you just listened … If all just listened to ME. she grit her teeth and pressed her forehead to Ayla’s.
The being tilted its head to the side at Jocasta's comment. "A demon!?" It shook its head. "I am no demon, girl." She glared. "Your behaviour says otherwise," Jocasta responded. "Is this how you repay a good turn?"
The monster regarded Jocasta with cold anger. "You are strong enough to be insolent. Perhaps I should break your arms too," she hissed. "Why are humans helping me!?" she demanded. "What cruel trickery is this?" The woman snapped her fingers after some more pleading from the group and Ayla's senses returned. "Learn some decorum, child. Strike me again and you shall know suffering, truly."
"Zarina discovered this place and we wanted to know more. It is DZ54 at the moment. I wanted to release you after seeing you might have been imprisoned for so long. It was cruel." Ingrid answered.
The being appeared beside Ingrid in an instant. There was no sign of a draw or temporal magic. "I am not your friend, child." She laid a hand on Ingrid's shoulder, gripping it just a bit too tightly to be comfortable. "Had you any sense, you would have left me there."
“It wasn't our initial intention to help.” Zarina responded frankly, sighing in relief now that Ayla had been liberated. Thank the Gods. I was going to do something we’d all regret. Well, maybe we wouldn’t have had the time to.
"Then why did you come?"
“An innocent venture turned into a hell hole that blocked off our magic.” she replied, arms crossed and eyes narrowed into the speedy figure.
"Not your magic. Those vile devices were here to block mine. They were placed here by the false gods your ancestors served."
"The Sirrahi? The snake people?" asked Desmond.
"Stolen from them, from their corpses after He fed."
Ingrid winced, at her grabbing her shoulder. It was the 2nd time she was in a situation like this. "You are not my friend but what is the purpose of sense if you ignore something as tragic as being locked away forever. You are a person and everyone should reach an end that they choose."
"I am not a person."
Zarina cocked a brow, “What God-” then she thought, “That man? The big man.” she pursed her lips, “The one that put you here?”
Her eyes flash and she whirls on Zarina. "Vile tricks and treachery! He sunk his knife in my back! Humans!" she hissed, "Agents of his. You are agents of his."
“We're agents of nothing.” Zarina snapped back, eyes narrowing into a glare, “We literally just found this ruin after doing a giant turtle race.” she sighed and paused for a moment, one hand raised in surrender in an attempt to ease the tension. Her tone softens and her eyes close. “What was his name?”
"SAa-m."
"Can I ask what you are... Are you a god? The all-knower? Are you just someone who has transcended past being a person?" inquired Ingrid.
"Do not speak of the all-knower when you know nothing!" she snarled, rapidly making a gesture.
“SAa-m.” the Virangish girl repeated the word a few times, “The Start. The Beginning.”
The being nodded. “And what is your name, then?” asked Zarina with softer, half-lidded eyes. Her crossed arms even lowered themselves a little.
Jocasta's eyes widened. The language wasn't entirely different from Djamantese, ancient though it was. "Heart..." she all-but mouthed. For a moment, silence reigned.
Ayla looked towards Jo, "So... she is Love? Bride of the All-knower?"
"I don't think that was the all-knower." Jocasta shook her head.
Heart looked them over. She let a silence build after their exchange. "I offer you my apology," she decided. "It seems much has changed since I last walked among people. You have my thanks as well." She inclined her head in their direction. Material began to unspool from the walls. It gathered about her in a red cloak. Then, she disappeared.
"...oh", Desmond was left dumbfounded as he was unsure what any of that meant. “Huh.” Zarina just stood there for a moment, and then looked over at her crew, “Crisis ... Averted?” Jocasta twisted her way. "I... think so, though we may have just created a larger one."
“I warned you all.” sneered Zarina. Jocasta nodded glumly.
“Let's go.” Zarina sheathed her blade and gestured for them to get moving.
"Yeah, let's talk somewhere not fucking spooky"
Jocasta began to gather energy for herself. Exhaustion, anxiety, and injury made it difficult. She drew more to herself, straining. Something was wrong. "There must still be a device up somewhere," she grunted after a moment. "Making this hard."
"Alright, let's look around. We can probably find the last one through pattern placement"
People spent some time looking for more treasures while Jocasta continued to try drawing. In the distance, she can sense things moving. She didn’t like it. Ayla comes up with a second usable box like her first one, though.
Desmond’s search near the center of the inner chamber, stumbles upon a second box. In it is a mysterious and ancient vial and an hourglass. The sand is blue. As each person looked towards it with a pensive look having many thoughts of it.
The group had no luck pinpointing the source. Jocasta became more anxious. "Ugh. Let's just go back up the tunnel. I don't know about you guys, but I don't really wanna spend a moment longer in the massacre room and I think there's somethin headed here from the other direction". She decided to put words into action, as she headed out into the ring-shaped room around the central chamber, and towards the door leading into the hallway.
“I'm going to ask something of you guys,” she spoke up as they began to leave, “Not a word of this to anyone. There is a good reason these places are forbidden.”. As she muttered underneath her breath, “Surprised it isn't a pyramid, though ...”.
"Fucking agreed" Desmond said as he shook his head and sighed.
Jocasta looked back at her and nodded glumly. "My lips are sealed." Zarina did not know that she was lying.
Ayla has the star and the Hourglass with her, "Zazzy, take this box", she hands over the device she found during her search to her for safe keeping.
Zazzy caught the box, “Gotcha, Kitty cat.” the box is pocketed for now in her leather bag.
The passageway beyond is cool. The sulphurous smell is still present, but faint and dissipating. Jocasta furrows her brow. "Anyone else having trouble drawing? Shit..."
Ingrid tried drawing as well and it was tough. "Can we also not talk about the Sirrahi too much”
Desmond began to try and draw, as he is feeling off as well as he says, "Yeah, I can feel this isn’t".
Zarina tries to draw as well, “Never been the best at it but ... Yeah, it's agonisingly slow.”
Jocasta puts hands to wheels a little faster, boosting herself with faint Kinetic magic. Then, up ahead, through the haze of dampened sensing. She could sense something like a person. "Wait!" she called, "Stop! Something's up there!"
As the group moved quickly through the tunnel, they made it closer and closer to the main room. Once they made it through the hallway and into the main room, they felt their magic slowly becoming harder and harder to to use as they all prepared.
"Fuck. It must have a portable Jammer". Desmond looks back and calls towards them, "How fast is it moving?"
"Fast jog!" Jocasta replies.
"Could it be those snake people?" Ayla called out to their Sirrahi experts. Ingrid nods in response, “It could be.”
”Shit. I don’t have the power… Shunedammit!”, Jocasta grew more exasperated with the situation. The figures approached faster, accelerating as the rumbling echoed around them.
“Run!” shouts a distant voice.
“Run!” the second repeated.
“They are coming!” shouted the first.
“They are!” the second repeated again.
"It's Sirrahi!", Ingrid called out to the others.
"Awe fuck. THEY LET THE DEAD THROUGH!"
"No time for smooching! We need to flee!"
However, there was nowhere for them to flee.
“Old fashion way then.” Zarina clenches her weapon, but loses her footing a bit with the rumbling.
Ingrid halted as she waited for the Sirrahi, hoping they would be in a position to catch up soon.
Faintly, as their magic senses faded, they sensed the deadheads... hundreds of them. There may have been something else among them, something... larger.
Ingrid waves her arms in a frenzied mana towards them, Desmond joining her.
"TURN OFF THE FUCKING DAMPENER AND MAKE A WALL! SOMEONE!?" "TURN OFF YOUR DAMN JAMMER! THEY DON'T CARE!!!" "THEIR IS A DEAD END, JAMMERS OFF AND MAKE A WALL!"
The Sirrahi were beside themselves with fear. "Isss it a dead end?" one hollered. "Deeeeaaad!" wailed the other. Howling, snarling, and wailing, a wave of deadheads crashes around a band.
Desmond shouted louder, trying to draw their attention. "JUST DO IT WE CAN STOP THEM WHEN THE JAMMER IS OFF!"
"Jammers?" wails one. "Yes, jammers!" shouts the other.
Ayla holds up the blue box in her possession, "Turn off!"
"Off!" one calls. The inhuman horde gains on them. The Sirrahi man reaches over and flicks a switch strapped to the woman's vest. It was in that moment Jocasta ploughs a kinetic shove into the deadheads, bowling some over, but there are more. They roar inhumanly, teeth gnashing, mouths dripping with vile, sludgy saliva.
Ingrid pleaded. "JOCASTA PLEAS MAKE A WALL I BEG WITH THEM ON OUR SIDE" Desmond yelled out, "BIODH AN DIABHAL AGAT!!! YES THANK GOD! Alright! Turn! We need to blast them away so we can give time to Jocasta to create a wall to keep them at bay!"
Jocasta sweats and strains. She whirls, nearly tipping her wheelchair, and begins to fabricate a wall, but she's too slow. Three deadheads leap past it, nipping at the figurative heels of the Sirrahi.
Ingrid turns and draws in energy ash she launches a few arcane lances at them.
Zarina draws now that the jammers are down, and prepares a near-at-capacity slash at one of the deadheads.
Ayla lashes out with a sonic sphere, to blast the remaining deadhead back with force. The hulking something in the background draws closer as dozen deadheads are annihilated by the combined attacks. Yet still, more kept coming. Like tidal waves. Their efforts barely made a dent in their numbers.
Dozens upon dozens of further deadheads are destroyed, but now the group finds themselves cornered. Their only escape is down the tunnel that leads back to the room of horrors. Beyond that lies a truly dead end.
In the chaos, the massive shape in the distance disappears, seeming to have one right into a wall, ready to emerge at any moment. The ground rumbles. Forcefully, deafeningly; but then for a short second everything is still and quiet.
Suddenly, a wall explodes nearby! Through it emerges...
A Royal Sand Wyrm
In all its glory, getting ready to let loose a torrent of fire; with something on its back? No, someone! Nazih shouts out, "TAKE COVER!" as the dragon lowers its head down to incinerate everything in its sight
Jocasta gets a wall up just on time! "Everybody behind it!" she screams.
“Whoaaaaaaaaaaa!” everything is in slow motion, the big fat dragon they saved was here, in good health and ridden by the Firrazene lad she creamed in the race. No time to think, Zarina hides behind it along with Ayla!
Ingrid moved further down the hall throwing more Arcane lances as a royal sand Wyrm jumped into the fray. Ingrid gets behind the wall. "WYRM YOU CAME BACK!". Desmond dives for cover as he prays Nazih doesn't hold grudges.
Nazih pushes forward, urging the wyrm ahead with its mouth still smouldering, lashing out at the deadheads. A few get shredded in its maw, and Nazih turns his attention to the people taking shelter behind the handy wall.
"You guys ready to leave, or what?” He asked, as the dragon started roasting another crowd of deadheads. The once-human wraiths scream and writhe, running around like living torches before collapsing torches.
"Yes," Jocasta responds, "Gods, yes!" “Don't have to tell me twice.” Zarina performs a few hops to scale the long body of the creature, “Just in time, not bad. Making up for that second place!” she smirks and winks. "Please let's go!" The two Sirrahi stared, dumbstruck. "Let's go, Sirrari come with us!" called Ingrid. They wrap themselves around its tail area, clinging to it.
The deadheads snap and snarl, charging for the Wyrm, but there are far fewer now. Jocasta hits them with a crushing wave of fire and force. Ingrid kept throwing Arcane lances at them. They die by the dozens. Their numbers are thinning precipitously.
Nazih closely examined his new passengers in the light of the flame. These monsters were legends to him until now, but the stories that had kept him up at night as a child always highlighted the consequences of trespassing so far under the dunes of Zaqhoria. The rest of the group looked like they had been through some shit.
"Let's put the Royal Sand Wyrm into the Wyrm shaped hole!" called Ayla. Jocasta has enough time to groan. "hu, that was terrible", Desmond sighs. One Sirrahi sighs. The other sighs as well. “And make sure to seal the exit! Don't let these things escape!” added Zarina.
"Couldn't have said it better myself", Nazih said as he firmly pulled the magnificent beast towards the once structurally sound wall. The dragon was agile, and wyrmed its way through the tunnel at a surprisingly fast pace. He turned to face the path they had come from, and with the aid of the wheelchair bound girl drew the sand and stone to crash down the tunnel behind them.
They burst out into the sunlight, such a contrast to the darkness of moments ago, never so grateful in their lives to see it. Whatever deadheads were left behind them were crushed by the collapsing tunnel.
They were free! And alive.
Zarina was blinded by the sun hitting her face so suddenly, prompting her to really force her eyes into a squint. The tiny bits of saliva left on her face trickled down her features and stained her eyeball a bit, “Blah! Gross.” she attempted to rub her itchy eye. Rub rub rub, scratch scratch scratch, it only got worse no matter how much she blinked! “Ugh, fucking sand and dust and fucking fuck ...” she was missing out on the snake people with all that eye itchiness.
The pair of Sirrahi, similar enough in appearance as to be siblings, blinked and looked about. Thankfully, there was nobody else nearby, but they had still been sighted by some humans.
"You did not sssee usss," said one.
"No," agreed the other,
"You did not!",
"Wait," said the second.
"That isss the boy," said the Sirrahi.
"Yeah, we-hm?" Desmond was about to respond as one of them seemed to have stopped him.
"Yesss, that is him," exclaimed the other.
Ingrid looks at Desmond, "Oh right they got some photos of you"
It took Desmond a second before he remembered, "Oh yeah I remember that".
"It issss you!" exclaimed the woman. "It is!" echoed the man. "You are the boy from the ensssyclopedia!"
"Yes that is me", Desmond chuckles slightly from the embarrassment.
Ayla had grabbed a hold of Jocasta, squeezed upon her in a hug as she buried her face against her shoulder and cried.
"Can you pass a message onto someone for me!" She said to the Sirrahi.
The Sirrahi woman looked at Ingrid and tilted her head quizzically to one side. "Send a message?" she asked, "to who?"
"Her name is Sileen, I got some numbers she gave me if that helps"
Both of the Sirrahi clap excitedly. They regard the others nervously. "I imagine it is the first time you have seen people like us," says one. "Yesss, the first time," agreed the other. "We are a reclusssive ssspeciesss." They both nodded. "It mussst remain that way." Their heads bobbed up and down.
The woman turned to face Ingrid. "You have met a sssirahi before?" "What numbersss?" asked the other.
"No not exactly actually. We met the Disskas before. Same with that woman too," As Desmond gestures to Ingrid, "I do know of your reclusiveness, which I have vowed and kept to the best of my abilities".
"Are you going to get her in trouble, " Ingrid asked. They both blinked. Then, the man threw his head back and laughed in a snaky way. "We're not paid enough for that!" he exclaimed. Ingrid may her way over to tell them a bit more privately, "The numbers she gave me are 317-889-3716. Can you tell her that Ingrid is doing alright and I hope her goals are going well," Ingrid was blushed because it felt weird to send a message through someone. "And that last kiss was the best"
Desmond turned his head to the side and laughed out, as he turned back and said to Ingrid, "you can't blame me for that one" Four snorted in laughter. "That's her phone number," he clarified. "Kind of a personal message, huh? Who do I tell her it's from?" Ingrid felt very embarrassed, "Oh its from Ingrid, me"
Zarina kept rubbing her one eye, leaving only one to really see with. She approached the sand wyrm and reached out to give a friendly pet, “Ass-clenching save there, bud.” she shot a half-smile at Nazih. The eye itchiness was getting annoying. The Sand wrym turns its colossal head her way. Its long tongue flicked out and licked her as well. The itching was getting annoyin. She felt something weird in her sinuses. Zarina giggled at the amicable lick, distracting her just a little from the itching hell she was experiencing, “You're a gooood boy, aren't you? Yes yes yes!”
The woman turned to some of the others, smiling at Ayla. "Nice to meat you!" she exclaimed. "I'm Ssseukri Five Lissaal." She jerked a thumb at her partner. "This is Ssseukri Four Dasson." Ayla stopped to a sniffle as she made Jo's shoulder very wet, and turned to look towards the two snake people. "Hola soy Ayla.", she tries to give them a smile. "In the mood for Ayla hugs, new friends". She goes to hug the Sirrahi in greetings. "Okay, okay," Jocasta says, patting Ayla embarrassedly, suddenly a bit more like her usual self. "Let's keep it together." When Ayla moved up to the Sirrahi to hug them, their eyes widened in momentary fear. However, Five, who was not occupied talking with Ingrid, was wrapped around her in a big snaky hug within moments. "Oh," she exclaimed, "how very nice! Thisss one knows the tradition!"
Nazih shuffled uncomfortably in his seat on the wyrm, wanting to ride out this rare privilege as long as possible, but disturbed by the happenings around. He was gawking at these...snake people? He seemed to recall something from the aged myths of Zaqhoria droned on to him in lessons, but would never have so much as considered any of it to be real but the walking dead- and now whatever these were. Perhaps the desert heat was getting to him. "You should go and ride this big guy around," Jocasta recommended upon seeing Nazih. "I know they're a pretty big deal for you guys. I can take the others outta here if need be. Thanks for the save!"
Time for Ingrid to do the teasing, "Jocasta, weren't you going to kiss a Sirrahi when you met them?" Ingrid teased. Jocasta turned to Ingrid and her expression went flat. "I don't kiss." Ayla gestures to Jo, offering to pull her closer to engage in the Sirrahi hugs. Though at the mention of smooching, "Ingrid... do we need an intervention on you kissing?". "Oho, Ingrid, I never knew you were such a fiend. Will I need to start worrying?".
"Ayla!" Ingrid exclaimed. She was so red. She was being outed as a kissing fiend. Jocasta holds an arm out and backs up. "Yup, nope. I've had enough weird stuff for one lifetime." She took in these... Sirrahi one more time and, gathering energy, opened herself a portal to somewhere far, far away.
The Sirrahi agreed to pass on Ingrid's message to the number given and, soon enough, they too were gone, with fond farewells and many thanks. Jocasta reappeared, keeping a portal open and then it was just the five of them again, who had begun this unexpected adventure. "Okay, you idiots," she sighed, softening her annoyance with a light smile, "Where to next?"
Flames, left in the wake of Evander’s and Abdel’s furies, danced throughout the arena, progressively lighting the dark skies above with an orange tint that made the black flames more noticeable. Of course, the mild fire was not enough to get all eyes on the South-Western portion of the city, not with most of the patrols taken care of. With such powerful blasts, said to be the weakness of the Sanguinaire, it would be to the group’s horror that the shadow emerged, seemingly unscathed by any of it, and stood facing them, "Oooh," he teased. "ouch." he was toying with all of them.
A curved line of white teeth glowed in the darkness of his cowl. "My turn."
The bloodsucker played along with the kids’ attempts to get him. Illusions and superior speed allowed the monster to make the battlefield his stage, and only the Gods would be his audience for all the living were merely the instruments - vulgar cogs - to his catastrophic plan. The levity of it all was perhaps a good sign for them, until Yuliya caught his attention. The Sanguinaire larvae struck “true”, decapitating the “Sanguinaire” with “blood” squirting about. Of course, it was all but a farce. The consequences were not.
Something like a hand reached out of nowhere. Only, Yuliya could neither see nor stop it. It took her by the neck and slammed her face-first into the ground. With blinding speed, she was lifted and rammed into it again.
And again …
And again.
"Rule one, infant: do not underestimate your quarry."
An enraged Khaliun immediately intervened. An attempt to noose the vampire’s neck with a concentrated ring of pure force was tightened around his neck. There is no restraint, with the Tethered’s wide and refracting eyes painfully focused on her one enemy. "Oops!" came a response. "Pop goes muh head!" it popped off cleanly, squirting a little blood, executing a turn in midair, smiling, and rolled to a stop before her. "Guess I'm ded." It stuck out its tongue before disappearing. Khaliun was left unimpressed, but did not waste time questioning it. Taking advantage of the creature’s taunting, she sought to employ her blood magic to tend to her royal better-
As Khaliun approached, Yuliya's prone form exploded, spraying bits of blood and gore everywhere. When Khaliun instinctively flinched, she found that she was losing feeling up past her midsection, her chest, and into her fingertips! "Hue hue hue," laughed the Sanguinaire. "Why so serious, girl?" Left shocked and distraught, Khaliun just stared at the puddle of blood as the creeping feeling spread through her.
Leander emerged from his hiding spot and helped, along with Evander snapping from his illusionary bindings. Still, despite their best efforts, they were not even grazing the revolting affront to life itself that taunted them so confidently. That was until …
The Sanguinaire had a very clear weakness: Hubris. He was very much stronger and held powers that even made his natural weaknesses less reliable. His provocations of the Nobleman and the Merchant child as well as having dealt with Yuliya made him oblivious to the growing storm occurring right next to him. Feeling the power of Eshiran and Vashdal coursing through him, Abdel called upon six perfect morningstars of light. They blazed in the night sky like so many moons.
"Be cleansed in fire, demon!"
The morningstars hurtled towards the Sanguinaire and he bolted from his place, recognizing the real and present danger. The air itself seemed to waver as he left the confines of the colosseum, but he proved too slow and the colossal attack crashed down on the sanguinaire's new position nonetheless. "Ejjiran akbar!" Abdel bellowed, bounding up onto the arena's lip. A great plume of dust and smoke rose from the Sanguinaire's landing place, but no signs of sound or motion. Flames blazed and heat rolled off of the area.
Buoyed by the furious spirit of Eshiran, the paladin called upon a lance of fire and thunder from the heavens. Leaping down for the finish, he found himself halted in midair. A deep, frosty laugh emanated from the wreckage and a tall lean silhouette emerged from it, wreathed in ghostly white flames. He seized Abdel by the neck and squeezed.
"Die."
"Это моя добыча. Отъебись!"
The young Sanguinaire, once predating on the captured paladin, was now his saviour. A massive swing was brought down upon him, enough to make him lose interest in his prey and simply drop him. Abdel was freefalling twenty metres down, bringing Khaliun to go for a last second save. Ymiico and Yuliya held their own, but Khaliun was busy rescuing her ally, and wasn’t ready for the Kinetic fist that plucked her out of midair. "If I break your back," the Sanguinaire wailed, hysterical with laughter, "will it even matter?" He drove her into the ground to act as a brake for Abdel.
It was now clear that this monster was not going to let another slip-up like with the Darhannic Fireblood occur again. And despite peak performances from Leander, Ymiico and Evander, they couldn't even scratch the shadowy figure. However, play time was about to meet its end.
Approaching them, at an impossible speed from the north, came a gargantuan energy. Those conscious enough reached for their temples, grimacing, staggering, and even retching into the dirt and the ruins. Even the Sanguinaire winced. But, after a moment, he smiled.
A great, toothy grin.
It had arrived within moments: a supernova of energy, burning and blinding. People had no choice but to flinch away, to shield themselves; they were compelled to. The Sanguinaire, busy making sport of biros, quickly found his smile fading and he snarled from beneath his cowl. Lips chapped and skin cracked. The water in the fountain and the lead coating on ruined roofs boiled away. So fantastic was the heat that timbers smouldered and fires flared spontaneously from nothing. Clearly audible was the hungry hiss and snap of the flames that wreathed the silhouette at the centre. It was a woman. Her presence was overwhelming - humbling - for, in it, night became day and demons turned to dust. She was the Sun.
“You will depart,” she commanded, “Or you will die.”
This is a mid-cycle update. The battle continues! Sunny has joined the fray, and she isn't here to form a drum circle.
Danyel
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dragonpiece
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Izurich
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Ti
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