Poppy Blake, Inside the Misty Forest Door

As the Brute charged up the hill at her and Caitlin rushed to intercept him, Poppy took the captain's hint and threw herself to the side, rolling down the hill, trailing the remnants of her tainted magic as she half-stumbled, half-tumbled down the slope. As she did so, the ghost lights that she was maintaining faded away, leaving no more greenish light that could cut through the fog.

As she made her uneasy descent, she turned herself back to the fight at the top of the hill, and still tried to focus on maintaining her curse on the Brute, as hard as that was. Along the way, one beastman tried to take advantage of her current situation, but it was also quickly dispatched by a rot blast.

The fog was thickening, and quickly, now that more blood was being spilt and nobody was listening to her warning. Poppy didn't know what this meant, of course, but she was willing to wager that it was nothing good, for sure.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Nov 15th 2020 at 1:10:24 AM

Val

"Ah, crap," Val muttered, looking at the spears that had pinned him down, then at the wolfmen's sneering faces. "Hey, guys, we can talk this out, right? I've got nothing against you, really, it's just that I need to become a god and you're kind of getting in the way of that, so—"

Negotiations were cut off by the hooded guy from earlier bisecting the minions, splattering Val with their blood and body parts. He groaned in frustration. "Aw, come on! This is gonna take forever to clean off!" A sigh. "Oh well. Might as well go all the way!"

Val pulled himself up with the staff, spinning around to kick the minions away as he did so. "Danse pour moi!" And from there, he was a whirling dervish, moving at incredible speeds and crushing, snapping, and breaking every bone his staff touched, all while slowly backing up the hill towards backup.

His grin in the face of danger had been creepy beforehand—now, with him drenched in blood and the music of murder playing across the battlefield, it was terrifying to behold.

Masaru

The little girl had screamed out a warning to not make the creatures bleed, and indeed, it did appear that their blood only made the mist grow thicker, more opaque. Well, Masaru was glad that his tachi was only single-edged. He flipped the grip in his hand, awkward as it was to fight with the backside of the blade. Their leader was charging straight up the hill like a madman. Had he been greener, Masaru would've raised an eyebrow in confused amusement, but his days as a fledgling were long behind him, and he only moved to stand in formation with Caitlin, tachi raised.

"Well, never thought I'd be standing side by side with a pirate as comrades."

As she sliced towards the abdomen and dived to the side, Masaru had to move quickly to adapt to her sudden burst of movement. He whirled around on his outside foot, raising his inside foot in a crescent arc aimed at slamming into the creature's head, following through on the movement as he spun out of the way and facing towards it once more, sword raised with both hands. He wasn't one for unarmed combat like that, but the thing had been charging, and making it bleed would only make things harder to see. His undead eyes still need to have actual clear vision, after all.

Dyersthel

Having reached the group below the hill, the traveler made quick work on a bunch of beastmen, their blood staining the grass and the mist both. With a corner of his eye, he saw the Brute charge ahead to Poppy, and he focused his field of vision on it to get a clearer picture. It'd reach there very soon, he wagered. Those beastmen were not an issue, definitely, he could likely take most of them on if he was careful. So he yelled at the two fighting near him.

One of you two! Retreat to the hill and protect the girl! I believe she is going to be helpful if we are to get through this!"

And then he focused back on fighting, his war scythe dancing freely, aided by his telekinesis.

Nasira

First came the snapping of ribs beneath the weight of Nasira's hammer. Then came the strangling pressure of the large Brute's grip on her throat. The world suddenly spun all around her and her vision only saw brown as she was slammed into the earth, her body burning with pain even as it was caked in shivering cold mud. Disoriented and dazed, the djinn pulled herself up from the mud (maul left behind, vanishing into smoke and fog), thankful that it seemed the lesser beastmen were too distracted by the others to hit her while she was down.

As the ringing in her ears subsided Nasira took stock of the situation - and immediately her attention was drawn towards the Brute's ascent up the hill, Poppy moving to avoid his feral charge while Caitlin and Masaru moved to intercept. A veil of smoke washed over her and the caked mud on her robes immediately fell, clearing her vision that little bit more as she got into a runner's stance. The Brute was all too preoccupied with the threats before him which suited her just fine; hidden beneath her robes, the tattoos along Nasira's legs radiated as she shot forward with inhuman speed, eyes focused on the beastman's vulnerable back. Caitlin sliced and Masaru kicked - and from the rear, left behind in the mud, came Nasira with spear suddenly in hand, aimed directly at the Brute's spine, right at the small of his back.

Sword gasped in relief as a companion of hers purged the crush of bodies off of her, only to sigh as yet more approached. She pushed herself up with one arm and surveyed the battlefield here. The big boss charging Poppy was clearly a big deal but there were so many people rushing to it that at this point she'd get in the way, not help. So instead there was what was in front of her: an edgy jackass that she really did not trust, with it remaining standoffish and apart from everyone until stuff got heated, and two, it thought to tell them what to do—not only that, it had a bad idea.

"No thanks." Sword said plainly, and reached down to grab her joints again before checking the goons in front of them. Val and the scythe-thing had them. Maybe the thing coming up the hill would be more worth her time, but with that crush? Seemed like it was time for what was called a lumberjack match. Sword paced around the outside of the melee, keeping her distance from it, but watching the creature closely. The second it moved outside everyone else's reach, attempting to flee like she though it might, Sword made sure to rush in and tackle it back into the fray. They couldn't afford for survivors to go get help.

Watchtower-Ruins

Both Valentin and Dyersthel began to make quick work of the remaining beastmen. The Assassin danced between the monsters, now taking the fight deadly seriously, to the detriment of his enemies. His staff breaking bones and cracking skulls like dry twigs. A brutality, that stood in stark contrast to his whimsical demeanor and looks.

The Er'yyos himself took care of the others group of beastmen, his warscythe now dancing freely between them, as if carried by invisible hands. Limbs flew up into the air and blood splattered in arcs, whenever his steelblade cut into their flesh.

With the fog getting ever thicker, the survivors of this slaughter quickly decided to run. Their rage finally submitted to their survival-instincts and some of them began to turn tail, taking advantage of the low visibility to slip away. A few were not so lucky though and were caught by Sword, who wisely had decided ta pace around the battle to pick of any stragglers. Those beastmen quickly found their end at the oni's fists.

The brute now had nearly reached the top of the hills. He barreled through a small stonewall, the ancient bricks flying in all directions. His hateful, blue eyes focused entirely on Poppy, who quickly tried to get away from him. But the small legs of a sickly girl were not as fast as the thundering hooves ofa towering beastman. With a roar he charged towards her, ready to cleave her in two.

Then Cait stepped in his way and her falchion cut into his side. The brute swung his axe at her, but the nimble pirate had already dodged to the side. Clutching his bleeding wound, the brute took a step to the side to avoid a second blow...only for Masaru boot to smash against his temple.

The beast grunted in pain, his charge halted. He shook his head, saliva dripping from his teeth, mixed with rotten inside and hissing blood. Trying to blink away the stars, that Masaru's kick had caused, the brute hesitated. Then he twitched. Blood splattered out of his mouth. His eyes traveled downward and he saw a spear poking out of his chest.

Nasira had manifested behind him, the fog allowing her smoke-like form to catch up to him. The djinn had buried a spear straight through the brutes spine. The axe left his grip and fell into the mud. His hand reached up to the speartip, almost in surprise that this was what killed him. Then his body convulsed and the beast coughed up half his lung.

The spear was brutally pulled out and the brute made a single stepd forward, before collapsing onto the ground, dead. The blue light in his eyes faded and then vanished.

The hill went quiet. The few surviving beastmen, who hadn't been caught by Sword, fled into the thick mist and disappeared. Silence soon stretched over the battlefield, the only audible sound being the breaths of the group. It took several minutes for the visibility to return to normal and the fog to clear somewhat at the hilltop.

Captain Holloway

“Well, you better get used to it!” Caitlin retorted to Masaru after she'd wrenched her falchion out of the beast's gut; dive-rolling away and swiftly hopping back up on her feet in a surprisingly unperturbed and graceful fashion. “Is that prick dead now? Thank god...”

She smoothly sheathed her falchion, before finally allowing her shoulders to sag in relief—unhooking her flask from her belt so as to lap up the last remaining droplets of alcohol left in it. Satisfied even by the miniscule burn that tickled her throat, she sighed and turned her attention towards the others—her right hand still on her scabbard as she carefully scanned the area for any other threats.

Only once she was certain that they were at least relatively safe did she let her eyes grace them; and she thoroughly looked them over with a detectable worry etched into her features.

“Are you all alright? That was quite the impressive display, I have to say. Before you get any more upset, Poppy, don't fret over that magic disruption or whatever that was back there. I'm not worried about it.”

That is to say, I'll make sure it doesn't happen next time.

Poppy Blake, Post-Battle Blues

"I..." Poppy started, about to apologize to Caitlin for disrupting her magic and causing an almost disastrous snafu during the battle. She chewed her lip, seemed to consider the captain's words for a moment, and then nodded, trying to approximate some level of confidence, even though she was clearly lacking self-esteem at the moment. "Well. All right. If you—if you say so, ma'am."

Walking over to the cooling corpse of the Brute, Poppy held her hand over it and seemed to pull another orb of ghost-light out of the dead body, except that this one was bigger and glowed brighter. The ghost-light came to rest on Poppy's palm, before Poppy wrapped her delicate fingers around it and squeezed, crushing the thing in her hand and absorbing the resultant, more malleable essence into the cuts and bruises on her body. The wounds almost seemed to crust over with a substance that seemed like mycelium, but when the whitish fibers receded, her wounds were gone.

"After absorbing so much mana, I should be free of any signs of my sickness for a...for a short while. We should take advantage of that and move on from here, if that's alright with you all," Poppy said, indeed seeming a little less sickly after she had absorbed the life energy from the Brute. "Otherwise, I'll..."

Poppy paused for a moment, wide-eyed and obviously stricken with emotions that she wasn't able to enunciate properly, while surveying the sheer destruction that she and the others had wrought upon the beastmen.

"...probably have to do all this again in the future..."

Edited by JumpingFruit on Nov 20th 2020 at 9:20:52 AM

Val

"Hah...ahaha...aw, they've fled..."

Val planted his staff into the ground and leaned against it, watching the minions disappear into the thick mist. He wondered if he should chase after them, clean up any loose ends before they became thorns in his side—

No. He shook his head. I refuse to become like him. I refuse.

Staggering a bit, Val climbed back up the hill towards the others, heading for the biggest one's body. He knelt across from Poppy and stared at the corpse.

"We really did this, didn't we?"

He let out a short laugh, reaching up to wipe the blood from his forehead, his brain still a bit scrambled from the chaos of the battle. A thought crossed his mind, and before he could consider it he'd already said it.

"You don't suppose those guys had families, do you?"

A second after he said it, his eyes widened to dinner plate size, and his hand clamped over his mouth. Val scrambled to his feet and forced a smile on his face, pulling his hand away.

"I-I mean, wow! And here I thought I was the best killer here! You guys have skills, I have to hand it to you!" He attempted a laugh. "Trust me, that's a very major compliment from me! I've been trained to kill people, so..."

I'm starting to feel on edge.

"I know what I'm doing, to say the least."

Nasira at the Watchtower Ruins, Post Combat

The spear evaporated into the fog as it was wrenched out from the dying Brute's back, blood and viscera once clinging to the weapon now splattering to the ground. With the largest threat gone, Nasira took a moment to survey the remaining forces - and breathed an audible sigh of relief as she saw them scatter, either retreating or being mopped up by Sword's diligent counteroffensive. The muscles she didn't realize she was tensing relaxed, the inner fire she channeled for strength and swiftness extinguished, and closing her eyes Nasira let the cold, crisp air into her lungs before bringing herself back into the present, and the reality that was before her.

Dozens upon dozens dead, strewn all throughout what was just moments ago a battlefield, some already in the midst of rapid decay thanks to Poppy's... particular talents. The largest one right by her feet, the lights gone from its eyes but the shock of its sudden end still apparent in its final expression. Nasira was expecting to feel something surrounded by death as she was at that moment, but to her dull surprise there was nothing, not even a sense of numbness. Just an empty acknowledgement - these deaths happened, they were the cause, nothing more and nothing less.

...she wanted something more there, but nothing else came.

Poppy's and Val's words brought Nasira back out of her thoughts, nodding absentmindedly as she took in what they said. That twinge of her past told her she should comfort the sickly girl who seemed shaken by what occurred, but with Nasira's own mind not in the right place for it, she couldn't find the right words to tell Poppy - or even if there were any. Doubtless they would face more violence in their journey to the thrones - other contenders, challenges left by the dead gods, and who knows what else down the road to ascension. No, it was better to stay quiet on those thoughts; Poppy didn't need those extra worries now.

Val's question of the beastmen's families did cause Nasira to blink and pause however, putting a curved forefinger to her chin in contemplation. "...who can say. Everything living starts with a family. Even homunculi and golems have their creators. But we have no idea how long they've been here - even without us it looked as though their bodies were ready to fall apart, and it was as if they've been here so long they've taken in or become part of the environment, part of the mist, itself. They may have outlived whatever family they may have had..."

Then came Val's... compliments? They came across as... somewhat off, like the rest of his behavior. Nasira threw a glance at Poppy briefly, then responded, "...we just did what we could to survive. That's all."

There was a brief pause before Nasira abruptly tossed Valentin a clean rag to help him wipe off. Another of her smoke creations, but it would still do the job it needed to.

Captain Holloway

“Watch your tongue, Valentin!” Caitlin half-snapped, recognizing the fragility of Poppy's emotional state in that moment—thinking about their possible families of the creatures was not a wise idea immediately after they'd slaughtered a whole group and their leader. She moved alongside Poppy, and caught her in a loose-sidelong hug—lightly squeezing her healthier shoulder and looking down at the girl with a hint of motherly concern on the pirate's face.

“Nasira's right. That was self-defense. Also it was quite smart of you. Don't worry, Poppy. Alright? We take any advantage we can against our enemies. Even if it's gruesome. I don't condemn chivalry, mind—but if it means we'll definitely get out of it alive, any tactics are viable. To a... certain point...” she faltered in admittance, before clearing her throat slightly. “But that display of yours wasn't even close to crossing my lines. As far as I'm concerned, you saved our lives and a whole lot of trouble.”

She glanced down at the tattoos on her arm, checking to see if the proximity was a conscious thing only in the heat of battle or a constant, unconscious phenomena around Poppy. If the former, then she should be back in working order by now. If not, then she'd have to be careful going forward.

“I'm not leaving the rest of you out, mind. Very efficient. More or less. I didn't see the most of it,” Caitlin stated, finally moving away from Poppy as she stretched her arms above her head and groaned a little. “Gods do I miss my crew; they'd already be off drinking by now...”

Edited by Enirboreh on Nov 22nd 2020 at 7:42:25 PM

Dyersthel

The assault had ceased, the battle had ended, and now, only silence remained. The fog was still thick, and the ground- littered with corpses and shining crimson- was still wet with blood. But amongst all this, Dyersthel didn't seem particularly bothered. The traveler's eyes- one would usually say 'expression' here, but only the eyes could be seen- were stoic still, as though this was nothing out of the ordinary for him. He cleaned his scythe on a patch of grass that had not been stained yet, painting it red as well, before putting the weapon away in its sheath.

He was, it bears saying, intending on remaining quiet. But Val's words caught his attention. So, he turned and replied.

"Families, you say...? No, probably not. But whether they did or not, let it not sway even one of us."

So did he proclaim, even knowing Poppy was listening.

"We all came here to become Gods, did we not? We all have families, worlds even, waiting for us. These monsters attacked us, and we defended ourselves. If we fall here, then it was all pointless, right? Come now. We did not come here to be bested by remorse over killing in self defence"

He then stepped closer to the group, at least acknowledging them, this time. Already better than last time.

Edited by DarknessAwaits on Nov 22nd 2020 at 10:36:03 AM

Sword was getting more tired of this guy with the scythe. They didn't need to think about that. The people who dwelled on that shit in the Guilds never made it far. Even Val's facade was better, though she doubted it'd hold for long and unfortunately she was pretty sure it was hiding some serious shit. Best to not let either of them live in her head rent free.

"Poppy doesn't need to hear that, buddy." Sword remarked at the guy, drawing her flat hand across her throat like cut it the fuck out. She crossed up the hill over to the captain and held out the second joint to her. "Dropped this earlier." She raised an eye at Val and Nasira in turn. "You want one? I brought plenty."

Edited by Taco on Nov 22nd 2020 at 8:43:42 AM

Val

"Ah, calm down!" Val laughed, grinning at Caitlin. "I just found you all to be impressive fighters. It's a compliment!" He caught the rag Nasira threw at him and started wiping off the blood, giving her a quick "thanks".

"So," he said, getting to his feet. "Where do you guys wanna go from here? We can head to the ruins, the hills, the forest, the other ruins..." Val shrugged. "Whatever works for you guys, 'cause honestly, I have no idea."

...oh, right.

"And for the record, oni lady, I don't do that sorta stuff. Makes it much harder to focus."

Edited by LilyTheLitten on Nov 23rd 2020 at 6:38:00 AM

Nasira, Smoke Meets Smoke

Nasira blinked at Sword's offer. Truth be told, she wasn't certain what it was that she was being presented. That isn't to say she hadn't seen a joint before - plenty of merchants partook in the smoking of a myriad of substances, through a myriad of manners, when she was present to serve during trades and it was a common enough habit she's seen traversing the realms. However, she still didn't understand the why of it all - a ritual of social convention, perhaps? It did seem, at the very least, that it was the oni's way of being friendly.

"...being honest, I've never tried it, but if you are offering then I will gladly accept; thank you." Nasira nodded and reached out an arm, the sleeve of her robe sliding back slightly to reveal tattoos of calligraphy circling her wrists, branching and trailing along her forearm like braids.

Or chains.

For a moment, Nasira wasn't mindful of her former marks of property but she was quickly reminded of them when she saw the tattoos decorating Caitlin's arm as well. Forgetting her guard, the djinn whispered to the pirate captain suddenly.

"...were you also a slave?"

...as an aside, as soon as Val finished wiping himself down the towel broke down into smoke, blood and viscera splashing on the ground in its absence.

Captain Holloway

“Ah-hah. I was wondering where that'd gotten to...” Caitlin smirks at Sword upon her retrieving the joint, promptly placing it between her lips again and sighing deeply as she began to puff it. Nasira's whisper snapped her out of her daze somewhat, and she looked at the djinn with wide eyes—almost dropping her smoke before realising she was choking on the thing.

“I-I– *cough cough* –sorry, a sla–” *cough* she hacked, holding up a hand to signal for a moment's grace as she hit her chest and eventually managed to recover herself enough to talk—her voice croaky once she began speaking again.

”...bloody hell. They're... *cough* they're old things. Not... slave tattoos, not at all. But they're good magic-channelers. There's a couple of relics in 'em, but really that's all there is to it– *cough*. Excuse me, ahem...”

She eventually cleared her throat, but she was tentative to put the joint back between her lips again for a minute or so; wishing privately to herself that she hadn't guzzled down practically every droplet in her flask as soon as she'd arrived. Flicking her eyes between the others, she mulled over Valentin's words and finally began to smoke the joint clutched between her fingers again.

“...I'd suggest the ruins, but you'd better be ready for another scrabble. I'd hardly say a fight; that's patting ourselves on the back a little. But I'd rather we have some kind of shelter, and it gives us something to do. If it doesn't... collapse on us, that is. Still better than wandering aimlessly out into the forest, though, wouldn't you say...?”

Her eyes flicked up at them again, a bright spark seeming to reflect off of her retina as her lips twitched and eventually broke out into an anticipatory grin.

“What say you, lads? I've still got some fight left in me. Even as bitchy as I feel at the moment...”

Edited by Enirboreh on Nov 23rd 2020 at 3:29:57 PM

Poppy Blake, Post-Battle Blues

"...Please don't say that," Poppy said in response to Val's comment, only freezing up more rigidly respite the arm that was slung around her shoulder and becoming even more wide-eyed with unspeakable emotions. "I don't understand. I don't understand at all. If you kill people with magic, intentionally or not, it's an evil thing to do. If it wasn't, why would the rulers of Kanterlotte press-gang mages into the Royal Mage Service? I didn't ask to be cursed with magic! I didn't ask to be evil! So don't call me...a good killer...because I never...I never asked to be born!"

"And if I died, at least there would be a point to it!" she continued, starting to giggle softly with a rictus grin, only being spurred on by Dyersthel's comments. "If I die, it's one less problem for everyone; If I become a goddess, I don't know what the hell I'll do, but I'll probably find a way to turn my good intentions into something bad anyways! At least I will get some goddamned respect, and maybe some revenge to go with it—!"

"I care because I want to," Poppy finished, grin sliding off her face like a slippery patch of moldy fruit. "It's the kind thing to do! If I didn't, do you think I would limit my powers, my leeching of life, to the point that I am sick and starving? Do you think that I would let everyone who ever crossed me live on, even if I could kill them with a snap of a finger—just like that? You're fighting men and women, I understand that, but at least you cannot feel the life draining out your opponents and hear their last thoughts as they die! Doing 'whatever I need to survive' is like—is like being—hhh—some—some lowly parasite, do you hear me!? I absolutely refuse to think that way!"

There was a brief silence that seemed to stretch forth unto eternity.

"I promised not to hold you all back, that's true. And I'm sorry for not quite keeping my oath just then," she said quietly, turning towards the ruins. "But don't ever tell me what to do with my fucking feelings ever again. I feel for everybody's sake, and I have yet to test my upper limits."

With that, Poppy began marching resolutely towards the ruins, her cough already returning due to the exertion involved in her little outburst. As she stepped through the field, she left behind little imprints of dead grass shaped like her feet, and made half a tree wilt just by passing it by.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Nov 23rd 2020 at 10:51:49 AM

Alvahnôn, Refuge Mist-Devoured

As the group was speaking, the fog slowly receded, until it finally retreated under the dark shadows of the surrounding woods. Clouds broke and for a while a pale sun illuminated the landscape. From their vantage-point, the heroes could see that in the east, there was smoke rising up into the sky. To the west stood a series of broken castles, vine-covered and conquered by time and ruin. To the south stretched the dark forest, with giant menhirs occasionally rising from the canopy. And to the north stood a lonely tower, still somewhat good in shape and facing the hilltop. Likely the twin to the forgotten ruin, in which they now stood.

Poppy walked away from the group, seeking some peace of mind. The weather-worn faces of kings of past eons looked down on her, their expressions empty. On close inspection there were signs of man-made destruction. A big statue in the back had been toppled and defaced by someone, the scratches still visible even after all this time. The carvings in the stone, though very difficult to see, followed flowing and circular patterns and certain symbols kept repeating themselves. Bows, spears, wolves and boars. Hunters, or at least something similar to that, took center-stage, but their faces were scratched out.

"Curious, isn't it?", said a coarse, age-worn voice behind Poppy.

As she turned around, she saw a woman sitting on the toppled statue. She wore thick cloaks, her face wreathed in shadows underneath a grimy, frayed cowl. Long, elegant fingers clung to a chipped sickle, a thumb following the dull edge. She leaned forward, almost as if a heavy load pressed down on her back.

"No need to be scared, dear. I can assure, these old bones pose no threat to someone like you.", she said, chuckling at Poppy's reaction. "Oh, and do not worry about my safety, either. Death seems to have forgotten about me...I doubt, you can remind him of lost duties, yet. He..he...he..."

Her eyes were not visible, but Poppy could feel anyway how the old woman looked around the ruins. "Sad sight, isn't it? Not too long ago, this was once a great tower. One of many in this forgotten refuge. Alvahnôn had been created to be a shining beacon for the Lost and Forgotten. Only to be forgotten itself..."

She shook her head, the thumb one more pressing down her curved blade. "I suppose, there is little else to be expected. She was never one to create...and a failure cannot expect ones creation to fare better."

Again she chuckled, as if she laughed about a joke, only she could understand.

Captain Holloway

“...Bloody hell.”.

There wasn't much else Caitlin could think to say after that speech from Poppy, and if she felt bitchy before she felt even more so now. She wasn't entirely sure how to respond at first, but she didn't go after the sickly girl once she began to storm off towards the ruins—taking a deep puff of her joint instead as she fixed her gaze firmly towards the ground.

“...duly noted, then...”

She crushed the joint between her fingers before tossing it away, sniffing a moment before looking up again towards Poppy's path of ruin and degradation. She felt a stab of guilt in her heart, and for a moment she forgot her own adulthood—wavering in place like a dithering child before she snapped herself out of her daze and made to follow after Poppy.

“Alright! Come on, you scrawny bastards! Who knows what she's walking into...!”

...they're not my crew, they're not my crew, they're not my crew...

She drew her falchion upon recognizing a stranger's voice, but didn't hold it threateningly as she approached—merely having it out of its scabbard was indicative enough on its own that she was ready to use it if need be, but she hid it partially behind her own arm to show she was at least open to explanation. She attempted to move alongside Poppy in a protective manner, and was quick to speak—her tone apologetic yet also brief and eager to move on.

“I didn't realise I'd disrespected you. I'm sorry. I had no idea how much you'd been through...” she whispered to the girl in a hushed tone, keeping a firm eye on the stranger the entire time she did so. “I'll remember that going forward; I promise you that. But now, who's this? Do you know?”

Poppy Blake, Entering Ruins

"Eep—" Poppy squeaked, stopping in her tracks as the old woman(?) spoke to her. "Oh...if you say so, then." Her fingers fluttered as she clearly wanted to express her concern, but was stopped by the stranger's reassurances. Poppy was clever enough to pick up on what the old woman implied, until Caitlin approached.

"O-Okay. In that case, I'm very sorry too. What an unsightly outburst..." she remarked to Caitlin, looking down and shaking her head at herself, before looking back up at the old woman and the ruins surrounding them.

"Ma'am? If I had to hazard a guess, you knew the old goddess, right?" Poppy posited a guess cautiously. "That's the 'she' you're talking about, I think..."

"A long time ago...I think I would have liked to live here," she commented more sadly. "I believe...I would have belonged here. The air is so crisp, too...It would have been good for my sickness..."

Edited by JumpingFruit on Nov 25th 2020 at 4:48:53 AM

Val

Val said nothing as Poppy ranted, simply staring at her with an unreadable expression. He said nothing as she stomped away towards the ruins. It was only after she was far enough away that he said something.

"Wow. That was rude."

What? He wasn't wrong. Literally all he'd said was that she and the others had been better at killing people than he'd thought, and she'd gone off at them like they'd killed her puppy in front of her. And while Val had done many, many terrible things, killing puppies was not one of them.

By now, Caitlin had gone off to join Poppy in the ruins, and it was probably best to follow. Becoming gods was a team effort, after all. So he trailed after her, footsteps swift and silent.

Ooh, mysterious old woman! Those always point you in the right direction. Unless all the stories were lying to me. As Caitlin and Poppy talked, Val headed up to the mysterious old woman.

"Hello, stranger! I'm Valentin Trémaux, but my friends call me Val. Now, this is gonna sound real weird, but could you maaaaaybe tell us which way to go to reach...whatever we're trying to reach? We're a little lost, and you seem to know this place pretty well."

Edited by LilyTheLitten on Nov 25th 2020 at 9:06:25 AM

Alvahnôn

"Goddess? Hah!" The old woman laughed loud, a barking sound that came so freely from such a frail voice. It shook her, seeming for a moment to cause her pain, before she calmed herself again.

"There are no Gods left, my dear. That is why you are here, after all." She wagged one finger, as if she was admonishing a child. "No...no...the only thing here are sad puppets and a spoiled brat, who plays with them. Good intention she had at the start, good enough to stay her journey and create this place. But with time comes boredom and she lacked the will to carry on her task."

Her head turned, surveying the fog-clouded lands. "Hunting is what she loved the most and so she sought to sweeten her time, by indulging in this vice. While the people she let in tried to tame the land, she fooled herself with puppets and pets. And before too long, to play was more enticing than to continue tending to her Refuge."

She chuckled again. "Mortal minds are fragile things and a lack of will is cause of so many ills. To rule over this little Shard was enough of power she desired and her feeble ambition was satisfied...but not her lust for pleasure."

Again she turned to Poppy and seemed to only pay attention to her, neither acknowledging Cait or Valentin. "With time, she forgot her task, her duty and finally her ambition. The hunt is her and she is the hunt. This place now serving only to house her prey and toys. Nothing left but Fog and Beasts..."

"She desires a challenge, but lacks the imagination to create one herself. By now, I imagine she has become quite restless. Should you arise her notice, I don't doubt she will come for you soon enough."

With these words she rose up from her seat and onto her feet. She turned around to leave, but stopped for a moment. Her cowl now facing all three contenders. "You seek to climb to the thrones and this place is nothing but a stepping-stone. Slay the Pretender or find the Gate and you can proceed. But beware, adversaries will be the least of the dangers facing you. As to where you need to go...use your own heads. This is not a vast land. You can find your way..."

A wide grin pierced the darkness of her cowl, unnaturally bright and almost mocking. Then it vanished and she walked away from them. As she passed the others, she patted Masaru on the shoulder. "Look alive, general. It will do you good."

Then the fog swallowed her and she was gone.

Edited by TheNohen on Nov 26th 2020 at 4:58:38 PM

Captain Holloway

“...Well. That was irritatingly vague,” Caitlin grimaced, cautiously sheathing her falchion only once she was sure the woman had gone. Even then, she might've been listening in still—but Caitlin considered the fact that if she meant to kill them straightaway then she would've done already. “How in the bloody Realms... alright. She said this place wasn't... too large, and there's already a choice...”

She pointed to several landmarks, before gesturing to the structure they were literally outside of—glancing between the rest of the mishmash party in a questioning manner.

“Are we actually listening to her, or preemptively calling bulls***? She's the only ‘person’ as such we've seen so far in this place after all, apart from ourselves. No telling that she isn't the one we're looking for, and she's lying through her teeth.”

She paused, looking down at Poppy before sniffing a little.

“Not to stoke paranoia.”

In the Guilds you had to be on guard for rats. Some well-intentioned snitches get it in their heads that they can help people by bringing down the Guild. Sword had hung back and watched this whole... display, almost playing rhetorical footsies or something, trying to see if this was a crew that would hold or if they had troublemakers—from within or without. They were admirably solid. She expected a weak link to expose itself with this old lady.

Sword passed Nasira a joint, by request, and eyed the ruins. They had some options.

"Hey guys, I've never been much for tactics, but I gotta say I really like that Tower." Sword took out her joint and pointed at the tower with it. "Maybe we can get a better lay of the land up there? We had spotters in places like that back home. We give whoever's in there the old Five Floor Goodbye and we've got ourselves a hideout to work from."