Tales of Darkness

While the fight was commencing, the numbers of the Diltoads were thinning out. Only a few left when Rowan arrived. For some inexplicable reason, he had fallen behind. His arrival was made known by a shot of fire hurling past the group and exploding on contact with the unfortunate monsters. Given that there weren't many left and the ones that were began to group together, it was the finishing blow. "I apologise for my lateness. My name is Rowan Songshade. I am a scholor." He said somberly. He was upset about the need to kill the monsters, however he didn't brood over such an act. It was inevitable, and he had to accept that. There was no way to succeed if he refused to take the life of anything. All he could do was think of the greater good.

 

The last of the creatures were defeated by the Warriors. They were weak compared to most and gave very little when it came to gald. The important part was that Kessha was safe and out of harms way, or so the group had thought. A large red mark appeared on the side of her arm where vines began to sprout. She looked down to see the infection. It was caused by one of the monsters. "Oh no. This isn't good. I've been infected with the foresting virus. If I don't get some medicine quick... I'm not going to make it." She said coughing up an oddly large amount of water. "If you could take me to the center of the forest, I have heard rumors that a lumberjack their carries the only known cure..."

MISSION START: Guide/ Carry Kessha to the center of the forest to meet the Lumberjack. Be careful of more monsters who will attack her in her weakened state.

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The last of them were defeated. Fredric sheathed his sword and gave everyone a stern look. Especially Rowen who had come late. "It cant be helped, Rowen." He said with a sigh. With a hard glare at the others he began to speak. "We are moving out. Their is an Archaeologist somewhere in these ruins that can help us get through this place." He began to laugh. "Lets just say... she is out of this world." With that he signaled the rest of them to move out and find her. She would most likely be searching through some of the old buildings that were engulfed in swamp water.

MISSION START: Locate the Archaeologist within the ruins. Search through buildings to try and find her. There are many more monsters along the way, be wary.

 

Sol had been there to finish up the last of that crowd of monsters that had assaulted them. He was rather happy with the way things turned out. There was a lot of killing that had been had, especially considering he fought at least half of them by himself. He probably would've taken on all of them but that stupid archer butted in with her pansy ass arrows. Worse yet a mage had joined their party. Sol hated archers because of their need to fight from a range with their stupid bows, but he hated mages that much more because of their tendency to fight from the back lines, do massive damage to a group of things in a single attack and act like they're sooooo superior because of it. Like where even is the fun in a kill like that and not to mention most mages are basically useless in a fight once they can't cast any spells. All hate for mages and archers aside, once the battle was done Sol returned to the group's leader to receive further instructions on where to go so he could kill more shit.

After listening to the brief description of what they're current objective in the mission was Sol said, "alright then, let's go find this Ruin Maniac." He was only enthusiastic about it because he heard that there would be more monsters there. If not for that he would probably have mellowed out and become utterly bored in mere moments after the last fight. Walking around he decided to check a ruined building just sitting there and busted in. "Yo, Lady? You in here?" Sol was rather blunt and simple minded when it came to investigations. Though his yelling and racket apparently stirred a few diltoads out from hiding. There were six of them and they all seemed ready to pounce at Sol like he was their lunch. A smile grew wider on his face as the monsters attempted to fight him.

He kicked the first one trying to tackle him into another one and the two ended up killing each other through just tackling each other. The rest all tried to circle around him, but Sol just did a fancy spin attack and ended up killing the other four with relative ease. With that out of the way he decided to check one more time before leaving. "So yeah you in here?" It was not a thorough check...

 

Rowan was looking forward to finding the Archaeologist here. As a scholar himself, he was interested to study a place called the bridge of miracles. He'd heard something about snow at the strangest times. Perhaps she'd know something about it. Well, The only way to find her was to look. He chose a building and headed toward it. The large stone structure seemed ancient. "I wonder who built these ruins...And why in such an area? Perhaps they saw the odd snow patterns as an act of the god they worshipped. It would certainly explain the name." Rowan said to no one in particular. If anyone decided to accompany him, they would be able to hear his academic views on this place.

Once the building had been reached, He slowly creeped through the entrance. He was immediately greeted by a tackle from a Diltoad in hiding. A quick reacting use of his Klein Staff's ability spared him the damage as he now hovered above the head of the monster who tried desperately to reach him. Mentally preparing himself for what was to come, he took a deep breathe and fired a shot of flames at it. Since it was weakened due to the staff's ability, the monster yet lived. Rowan ran at it and finished it off with a downward blow from his staff. Under normal circumstances, he'd have burried the poor creature who only defended it's home. However, time was not a luxury he possessed. Delving deeping into the building to attempt to find this woman. "Hello, is anyone there?" He called out.

 

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After handling with the Diltoad threat, she grabbed a handful of dirt and started to whisper into it. "Gods of Mercy and Life, bring mercy to both us and these creatures. Let your wisdom and guidance bring these souls to their resting places and let them live happily." At that note, she tossed the dirt in the air and let it scatter before making her way towards the broken stone buildings, searching for the archaeologist. She doesn't usually do rituals like that, but in such an occasion with so many slaughtered enemies, she had to.​

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Looking around, she jumped, hearing Sol's overly loud voice. She sighed and shook her head. "What the hell is he trying to do...? He's gonna attract more than just Diltoads if he keeps making sounds like that..." She looked around the ruins, examining the damage. "Something big must've wrecked this place...back then...is is still alive now?" She shook her head and continued poking around buildings.​

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On her way, she shot at the small packs of Diltoads on the road. Seems like some of them didn't attack all at once, but were still hostile. It was very odd...Diltoads are naturally passive creatures. Something was throwing them off. They needed to find the archaeologist fast. She should know the reason why they are acting like this.​

 

As the last of the creatures fell, Skadi felt herself relax a little bit. Though they hadn't been in much danger, as the Frettes hadn't seemed particularly powerful, she was relieved that they were no longer under attack. "It still seems odd that they would attack as they did, after they were shown kindness" she said, voicing her thoughts aloud. Perhaps the creature had mistaken the kind gesture for something threatening, or perhaps there were young Frettes there, or perhaps the Frettes were simply an aggressive sort of animal, she didn't know much about the animals of this place so there was no way of telling.

Upon hearing Kessha's explanation of the situation, Skadi turned her attention to her. The foresting virus, Skadi had never heard of such a thing. She knew of many illnesses and their cures alike, but never one that went by that name, and the symptoms were strange. She could ponder on it no longer, she would not simply wonder about the illness while someone was in danger. Skadi stepped over to Kessha and Rachelle. "You're right, she can't walk in this state. Even if she felt fine, if she does not have much time then she should conserve energy where she can" she said. She turned to face Kessha then. "I do not know of these forests, or of the creatures within them, but I give you my word I will do what I can to help you" she promised.

What Skadi could do was something she tended to avoid, she could fight. She could protect Kessha from the creatures inside the forest of deception, and she had every intention to. As long as she had her staff, she would use its power to assist the injured girl. She awaited the decision from everyone else, praying silently that they decided that both her and the one known as Rachelle were right and moved on from there.

 

Aiden Understood what Rachelle and Skadi meant instantly. He made his voice heard. "I will carry her." He said. "I was the one guarding her: I let this happen and it shall be my responsibility. He reached down to Kessha, picked her up, and made his way into the forest without a word to the others. Though he was not strong enough to hold her forever, He had the strength of a Archer twice his size. He expected the others to offer their assistance to him any minute, but he would not take it: He would not allow them to see him as a child.

 

Mist sighed at the defeat of the monsters. Everyone was safe, or so she thought. Kessha let out a squeal of pain from a suspicious virus. It wasn't something they had back home so she had no idea of its existence. No matter the case, they needed to head out and help her. "I'll help you too, Kessha. With two people carrying you, things should be a lot less stressful." She stated with a light smile. "We should probably start heading out you guys."

She began to hold Kessha alongside Aiden to carry her to this said lumberjack. Many more of the enemies they had just encountered would attack them. Hopefully the new friends she made could act well together and defeat them quickly before infecting any of them or further worsening Kessha's condition.

At last they reached the center of the forest. A grassy field gave plenty of open space, a luxury not found within the thickness of the brush. A Cottage was seen in the middle. No doubt that was the lumberjack they seek. As soon as the others were ready, Mist would take Kessha over to get the medication for her wound.

 

After hearing what there current objective was, Sieg followed behind the other into the Ruins. Surely trying to find and archeologist in this place would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Long and tedious, but they had to do it. So he kept his few complaints to himself and continued with his search.

 

Aiden almost stopped Mist when she offered to help, but decided against it. Mist wasn't doubting his abilities for petty reasons such as what his age appeared to be; she was trying to help Kessha. As the two of them carried her deeper into the forest, Aiden thought about the things he had learned so far. It was an interesting place, that much was certain, but he had to wonder about the two opposing groups. Guardian and Warriors... Only a handful of people seemed to even be in Warriors, So why form an entirely new branch of the military to deal with them? Kessha must be more trouble than they want to admit...

 

Through the ruins all that could be heard were the shouts of the Warriors. All in search of the Archaeologist proposed by Fredric. She apparently had the ability to enlighten them on the situation and the location itself. Within one of the rooms, A woman was studying hyroglyphics on the walls around the room. The party had managed to find her.

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Fredric was the first to approach her. However, the woman appeared to begin going on a rant about the findings she had discovered. "I see. These symbols must be explaining the connections between us all. The ancients must have built portals to connect our worlds together. This is so fascinating. It explains in every detail on where they had visited, what their influence was, and even the technology used to create such things. Its a shame these last few rows are completely scratched out. They could perhaps be the reason to why all the worlds lost connection to one another. Maybe if he study some of this more-"
Fredric coughed to try and gain her attention. "Madam Sage. We have come to speak with you on your knowledge of the situation. Please if you could assist us."
She stopped what she was doing and stood up. "I apologize. These ruins have just completely fascinated me beyond my wildest dreams. This world you people his quite the interesting one. I am Raine Sage. It is a pleasure to meet you all."
Fredric crossed his arms and looked over to the party. "Do not be alarmed by her presence. She is a half-elf from the world known as Sylverant. Please pay her your utmost respect." Turning away from them he looked once more at her. "We were hoping you would have been through these ruins enough to allow us to gain a much more stealth route to our enemy. Perhaps you can give these squirts a history lesson as well."
"Why yes. There are many safe paths for the Warriors to go through but sadly not many are stealth proof. There is one route that will take you right underneath the Knight's Institution. There is just a large creature that dwells there. But tell me, why are you trying to invade the knights. Wasn't your goal to create peace between them and the Guardians?"
"Rumor has it the knights aren't completely honest with their reasoning on leaving the King's rule. If we can, we'd like to try and see what they are doing. They've been oddly quiet for a while."
"I understand. I'll give you and your group a few moments to prepare before I show you the way." She looked at the group and smiled. "If you have anything you'd like to ask me, please feel free to do so."

 

Through some sort of magic of being able to correctly guess what building the ruin maniac was in...or however they ended up finding her... the team going to the Bandune Ruins did just that...find her, the ruin maniac. Her name was Raine and dear lord she could talk about ruins. Like, never stopping at all. She just kept going on and on and on and meanwhile Sol was busy trying to go and kill something for the fun of it because his group leader would probably frown upon it or something, and when he killed things he wanted to make sure the top brass was alright with it so that he didn't run into problems when wanting to kill things later. But sweet merciful Sol and Luna this broad could go on for ages about the most boring of shit in the entire world. Then he finally refocused into the chat when she said something about the knights, ya know, the whole reason for them being here. Apparently there was some sort of big monster here and it was blocking the path between them and their objective. That brightened Sol's mood quite easily as the bigger the monster the more fun it'd be to fight. They were given prep time now, with Sol just looking at his sword...and that was about all he needed to make sure he was ready to go. "My only question is can we get to the fu~n now?"

 

Rowan listened to Raine speak about the hyroglyphics on the wall, then took a look at them himself after she finished speaking. "I see. How fascinating. Would you be willing to share what you know about these ruins and the culture of the people who once lived here? Based on what you said, it seems as though they were a very advanced people." The scholor inquired curiously. His goal was knowledge. To learn what he never knew. As a fellow scholor, she would likely understand this method of thinking. It wasn't until now that Rowan noticed Sol looking very bored, only brightening up at the mention of a creature guarding the pathway. Sol made Rowan...uncomfortable. Killing seemed to be his pride and joy. While it wasn't his place to question Sol about it, he disliked the 'passtime' of his.

'surely there must be another way...' Rowan began pondering in his mind about the monster. 'No...i suppose there wouldn't be. If this is the path in which we are less likely to be detected, we should take it. Being spotted will only lead to more bloodshed. It's impossible to save every life.' Rowan thought to himself, displeased with the conclusion yet accepting of it.

 

Aiden Acknowledged Rachelle's comment. "Oh, I don't know," He responded sarcastically. "...There could be multiple advantages to just standing here like idiots. Maybe we should try it." He said with a frown as he carried Kessha to the house. He left her to mist as he opened the door. "Is anyone home?" He asked. He was fully prepared for hostilities, but he did not draw his weapon as this was not a battle and as such it would be rude to point his weapon at someone whose position he did not know.

 

The half-elf turned toward Rowen and gave a large grin. "I would simply love to. However, I believe Fredric to be a little impatient at the moment. Maybe when we are out of the ruins I can discuss much with you."
"Preparations are complete Ms. Sage. Let us begin." Fredric said, his arms crossed.
"Right this way then." Raine pointed toward a small corridor that would lead the group to the Academy. "This way should lead us well enough. Like I said before, there is a powerful beast that lives within here so try not to provoke it. We may get lucky and avoid it all together."
"We can surely hope. Alright Warriors. Move in to the passage. Try to be stealth. Go!" He stated as he and Raine were the first two to enter.

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Kessha's breathing was heavy as she was being taken to the lumberjack's home. It wasn't the most secure looking place but monsters seemed to avoid the grassy field. Mist let Aiden carry Kessha for a few brief moments as she called out for the lumberjack yet there was no response. She went around to see a young looking girl with pink hair dragging some wood from the forest.

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The girl looked up at her. She gave no reply whatsoever. Just a blank face. She continued to carry the logs.
Mist yelled out to her. "Excuse me, our friend, the crystal mystic has been poisoned. Can you help us?"
"Ingredients." The girl said with a monotone voice.
Mist just grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the others. "I think I found the lumberjack."
Kessha coughed up a large amount of water. "That's Presea. She is the girl I was talking about... C-can you help me Presea...?"
"Gather ingredients for medicine." She said pointing at the group. "Blue Clover. Sacred Tree Bark. Cheagle fur." Whether she was just stating random words or actually giving them the materials to find it was hard to tell.
"Those are what she needs you all to find.... please look for them."
Presea shook her head. "Cheagle fur last." After that she took Kessha to allow the others to find the ingredients she stated.
"I can tell you a little... about each item.... Blue Clover.... are found near the River... Sacred tree bark... can be located on the top of red trees. It's dark so please be careful." Kessha said with a look of pain in her eyes. She was weak. They needed to hurry.

 

Sol was rather upset by the fact that someone wanted to drag this process out more by "learning" more about the ruins from this Ruin Maniac. Mostly because he was 90% sure that she would go off on another rant about how magnificent and blah blah blah this place was. Boooorrrriing. Thankfully due to Fredric's ability to...well get people to not rant like lunatics, he was scott free from listening to that sort of a rant.

Unfortunately there was a chance that the huge beasty thing down in the passage they were taking might not even have to take on the big beasty down there. Well regardless, he was going to have to conform to this group's stealth tactics to avoid the boss monster, because as much as he loved fighting, he wasn't stupid enough to take something that strong, supposedly, on by himself. Feather footed and agile he continued alongside the group in stealth mode.

 

Rowan's footsteps were light as they passed down the corridor, barely making a sound at all. So far, there was no sign of the monster in the passage. He hoped things would stay that way, though he doubted it. The passage was dark and muggy. Were it not for their stealth tactics, he'd have conjured a flame to light their way. '"What exactly do you know about the beast guarding this tunnel?" He said in a hushed whisper to Raine. "Should we encounter it, It may be wise to give us any information on it beforehand." The whisper was quiet enough that you could barely hear him if you were standing right next to him. 'I only hope we need not use it...'