Jump to content
Sethera

Fire Emblem: Curse of the Goddess [IC / Conditional Acceptance / PG-16]

Recommended Posts

"What are you doing down here little ratty?" At any other time, Shiro would think it strange that they were trying to communicate with a rat, but now it seemed normal. That couldn't be good. "oh, oh, oh! Do you live down here?" The rat shook its head. Well, seeing as it answered, it seemed to be a human turned animal. Something Tsetseg didn't seem to understand. She did, however, get the rat to come along with them, only to be soon distracted by another metaphorical shiny object. "do you guys know what these squiggles mean?"

Shiro looked at the wall, Sienna doing the same, both trying to decipher the writing on the wall. Shiro mused that the three of them must look absolutely silly right now. "So, the rat didn't live here, and now writing... this is becoming a very strange day...," Shiro muttered.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

ePxC6Pa.png

Catriona was pleasantly surprised to hear Ciela respond to her comment on the wine. "True, it is bitter, but there is a potency of flavor to it that stays with you." She didn't mind bitter wines, actually, she preferred them to the sweeter flavors that much of the noble women of Galtea preferred. Perhaps it was her experience out on the border that did it for her. There, flavor didn't matter so much as the alcohol content, and all of the soldiers were long used to bitter foods and drink.

Ciela excused herself quickly afterward, causing Catriona to frown. She was right. That had definitely been wrong of her to even allude to House Mirrahel. Her father had always told her she needed to be more like Penelope--feel out exactly what was right and what was wrong to say, though the lord wasn't quite sure she could emulate her sister's habit of barging into people's faces when excited.

Finding herself alone, the white-haired woman returned to the doorway dividing the hall from the main area, glancing around the room. Ciela had approached Edrick, and Penelope and Citron still looked to be in conversation. Alois had disappeared, presumably upstairs since she hadn't seen him pass by. From what she could see, the only places they hadn't explored yet in this room were the spice cabinet and the fireplace, which were both in the vicinity of her sister. Satisfied that she had that taken care of, Catriona decided to open that door she had seen in the corner.

But it looked like it was nothing more than an outhouse. Giving it a brief inspection anyway, Catriona exited, making sure to close the door behind her. As she did so, she saw Cora leave abruptly, expression troubled, the beaver following right behind her. Should I follow? But no, Link and Licorice were already outside, so there was no point. Feeling a little useless at the moment, the white-haired woman walked over to the center of the room, near the dining table. Glancing at the food on the platter, she blinked. It looks good. Once again, the woman was reminded of the fact that she hadn't eaten since breakfast. But as a soldier, she could tough it out. Catriona looked at the others. However, they might not be able to handle the hunger. They would need to eat soon. Perhaps, after searching the mayor's house, they could sit down to eat? But then again, could they really afford to do so when they were trying to find a solution to this problem?

Then again, there were the trail rations in her bag, which they could eat while searching. Taking the food out--consisting of jerky, dried fruit, hardtack, and nuts--she offered some to Penelope and Citron, before turning to Edrick and Ciela as well. However, she paused when she heard what the lancer was talking about. Expression clouding over, the lord decided to interject at this point. "If you're hungry." The woman turned away at this point, not wanting to hear more. The idea of a small village in Histia being connected to the goddess... It was bad enough that they had stayed at a shrine earlier, but this... Is Histia secretly a goddess supporter? No, that couldn't be it. They had helped them in the war, after all. Or, since this place is so disconnected from the others, that could be it... Then, was Alois...? No, he had helped them out many times. There was no way.

Frustrated, the lord returned to the center of the room. I know I should be searching with the others, but this... Well, this was too much for her to deal with right now. Taking out some trail rations, she began to eat, hoping the food would give her the strength to keep going. After this, she would head either upstairs or to the basement and give the people there food as well.

--

xNCcVJp.png

The beaver gave up on getting the papers back after Alois gave them to Penelope. Chittering angrily at him, it looked like it had half a mind to chase after him up the stairs, but thought better of it at seeing Cora leave. Following her outside, it stayed back a bit as she muttered to herself, but then waddled forward to stand beside her, staying silent, much of its angry energy gone at that moment.

--

Downstairs, both Shiro and Sienna would, upon further inspection, realize what the squiggles on the wall appeared to be. The lighting was dim in that corner, but they could barely make out what looked like a crudely-drawn letter A. The lines weren't completely straight, and there were a couple extra scratch marks here and there, but the more they looked, the more they could see that that was what it had to be.

Meanwhile, the rat stood docilely on Tsetseg's shoulder, nose twitching as it looked around the room.

--

NxQSMSX.png

The badger huffed at Link before continuing onward, not even thanking the man for helping it out with Rohns. It didn't look like it was interested in answering the mercenary's questions, completely blowing him off. While its pace was slow, it was constant, and it looked like it was headed toward the front of the mayor's house.


OOC

Spoiler

Catriona offered food to everybody on the first floor. Reminder that it's past lunch so you're all probably hungry. You can eat while you search, so you don't have to worry about that. Again, I didn't write anything for the second floor, but you guys have the map. For the basement, remember you don't all have to be in the same area. Outside, since Link isn't next to Licorice, I didn't include that part.

Also, regardless of floor, ask me if you guys have any questions. I can't stress this enough. I might not be able to answer right away, but I will answer.

Edited by Sethera

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

aonB0Ia.png?3

On her way towards the fireplace Penelope was stopped, once again, by Citron. She spun on her heel and faced the girl. Hands behind her back and a soft smile on her face. “I, uh, don’t want to interrupt whatever it is you're doing, but do you mind if I ask you some questions relating to your group after this is all over…?”

She kept the smile on her face but in her mind she was racing through the possibilities. Could this girl be a spy? She had her concerns about that, of course, but would she be so obvious about wanting to know about them? In social situations it's true one usually wanted to know about the people you were with. Especially when you were outnumbered. Still, Penelope didn't think they'd have to worry too much. If it came to it she didn't think this girl could harm them much. She would have to make sure to keep an eye on the wyvern. To be sure no messages were being sent out.

"Well, asking questions is your prerogative. I can't stop you from doing so." Her smile turned teasing, "that doesn't mean I'll answer." Putting a finger to her lips she thought a moment before adding, "what would you say if I were to tell you we were on a journey to save the world?" Her tone didn't make it clear if she was serious or not and, before much more could be said, Penelope headed over to the fireplace.

On the way there Catriona stopped them and offered food. "Oh. I forgot about eating." Penelope gave a laugh. "I probably would have gone the whole day without realizing it." She took the food and absently began to chew on it as she investigated the fire place.

It seemed that the fire had been out for a while. But there were a couple logs still inside. Pulling her blade she reached it in and prodded around. Moving the logs out of the way didn't turn anything up. Except that these logs seemed to be in rather usable condition. She supposed if something caused them to be stuck here at least they could stay warm for a while.

Looking around the interior of the fireplace, getting soot on her face and clothes, she poked at the stone until she noticed something. Scratched into the soot itself. Another letter. "K".

Announcing her find she pulled back, wiping a bit of soot from her cheek and only serving to spread it further. "Well, seems that these letters are being left all over. Now, where else have we to explore..."

 


 

lcmI449.png?1

Gunther wasn't sure why he asked about the key. How would they know? A key went to a lock but it wasn't immediately obvious what kind of lock. Which meant the only way to know for sure...

Click.

As it turned out the key indeed was for the chest. He opened up and let out a gasp at what he saw. It was filled. With gold and silver coins. And beyond that several gems. He didn't know much about the stones but even he could tell they looked expensive. "Spirits." He muttered. This was far more than a simple village like this should have. This combined with the suspicious diary....What was this mayor mixed up in? Gunther realized his hand was clenched. Was he...angry?

Yes, he might be. He had seen Cora's house. There was hardly anything in it. And yet the mayor was sitting on this...Animal or not if the mayor was there right now Gunther might just....well, he'd at least have a stern word for him.

Hesitating, Gunther started digging through the coins. Looking for anything else that might give more a clue as to what was inside. At the bottom he noticed that part of the wood seemed lighter. Rapping against it he noticed it seemed hollow and so, after some more searching, he pried open a secret compartment.

Inside was....parchment? It was old and looked to be a recipe for something called "Dragon's Breath". He had seen many recipes before but this one seemed...nonsensical.

Not just the ingredients, dragonberries, powdered scales, and jewel flower petals picked on the night of a full moon for a start. But even the instructions seemed odd. Stuff like "hold under hot Histian fire for five minutes". It sounded almost like something from a fairy tale. Or, on the darker side, a ritual. The mention of "a heart's blood" chilled the Knight as he hastily put the recipe back and locked the chest. He glanced under the bed, already kneeling there, and noticed that there was a corner that seemed to have been disturbed recently, but knew he couldn't possible fit under there.

So he stood and, face pale, turned to the others to describe what he had found. "Alois...Cora denied it earlier but are you sure...the people here don't worship the Goddess?"

 


 

oZcRBQt.jpg?1

Cora propped her forearms on the wooden railing and looked off into the distance. Not at anything specific. Just off in the distance. She'd lived here all her life. She knew the people well...or she thought she did. All those times fighting off bandits or hunting and it seemed there was much she didn't know about her own home. Did her parents know? Acantha did, apparently, but why?

As if thinking her name summoned her Cora noticed the beaver-formerly-known-as-Acantha waddle her way up to her. Looking at the beaver for a moment she sighed.

"You know...when you're, um, back to normal I'm going to need to know what the heck is going on here."

Acantha sighed, something she didn't know beavers could do, and seemed to be troubled. Eventually, as Cora kept her eyes on the girl, she nodded.

At least she had that promise. Whatever it was worth. "We're not...doing something bad, are we?" If it turned out the village was involved in something evil....But Acantha's head shake was vigorous and firm. Clearly the girl at least thought that whatever they were hiding was just.

Still..."I guess I'll have to take your word....well, kinda word, for it." She could only hope they were doing the right thing.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

x0mgaxu.png?1

Alois looked a bit uncomfortable as Gunther mentioned seeing his mother off before leaving again, simply saying, "yeah...you're probably right..." It wasn't as though Alois hated his mother - she was in fact someone who he harbored no ill will towards. But, for that very reason the boy wasn't entirely looking forward to speaking to her again. Now having to think about it, he probably did nothing but cause her her fair share of troubles, and even if she didn't mind his curiosity for the unknown he couldn't image she'd still be fine with him going on this journey. Especially if she  knew what it was he had actually seen. The boy then couldn't help but grow even more concerned about the future, as he realized his mother was not the only person he had caused trouble for, and thus not the only person he'd have to talk to. 

As Gunther then seemed to find a key underneath the rug and asked if he should use it on the chest, the boy shrugged. "Probably." The boy looked over Gunther's shoulder as he went to go open the chest, and couldn't but stare a bit in awe at the sight. Alois had already been pissed off by how much more lavish the Mayor's house had been in comparison to the others of his town. However, seeing the horde the old man seemed to have, Alois couldn't help but chuckle. The laugh didn't seem to be any bit amused, if anything it only served to convey how truly annoyed by this man the boy had been. After sifting through the treasure, Gunther seemed to find something else which only made Alois shrug again. "Can't say we do. I've never been told to worship the old bone lady, and if there's one thing Cora isn't it's a liar, so if she told you so then that's the truth. Of course, the two of us aren't exactly in the know, and neither of us know what this Caller business is either."

Seeing that Gunther had been looking down at the bed, Alois decided to look underneath it as well. Crouching down, the boy saw an area of the floor that seemed to be less dusty than the others. More to that, there was a series of claw marks scratched into it causing the boy to look underneath the bed even more. As he did, he noticed a series of more claw marks etched into the underside of the bed. While at first he didn't think much of them, as he looked at it more, he noticed  that the markings formed what looked like a letter "D." Getting out from under the bed, Alois simply said, "what a weird fucking man he is."

Looking to the two who was with him, the boy said, "well, I found two letters. So," looking more specifically to Adel he asked, "what have you found so far?"

nALalDq.png?3

Tsetseg was still befuddled by the strange sort of triangle and almost square triangle in front of her. However, without being able to solve this problem, Tsetseg simply gave up and left it to her two animal shape changing friends. "Alright Ratty," she said to her newfound companion, "let's search for some more things!" Beginning her search, the young archer immediately found what appeared to be a curious trial of ants. The girl bent down as she put her hand to her chin and examined where they were going. Walking forward, the girl was eventually stopped by a door. Looking to her rat friend she said, "don't worry, I'm great with doors." Giving a thumbs up to them, the girl then went to open the door.

To her surprise, she was met with instant success! This door had likely heard the stories of her exploits in defeating the one upstairs and simply didn't bother in locking itself. Or it was just unlocked all along. Opening it, the girl walked in and continued to follow the line of ants. However, as she did, Ratty had left her shoulder and scurried out the door. While the girl was curious about this, she soon noticed a "clicking noise" could be heard as her foot pressed down on a button of sorts. 

Before she had time to react, a heavy net fell down from the ceiling on top of the girl, knocking the girl to the ground as she let out a yelp. "Aahhh, what what what - ." Tsetseg was trapped underneath the next, and try as she might have, she simply didn't have the strength to pry it off of herself. It was at this moment that the girl felt a certain empathy for the fish of the rivers and rabbits of the forests wondering if this too was what they felt like as they were caught in a trap. With a solemn look on her face, Tsetseg merely said aloud, "I'm sorry." Returning back to flustered and panicking at the whole situation, the girl shouted, "Siiiiieeeeennnnaaaaa! Shiiiiiiirrrooooooooo! Heeeeeeeeellllllllppppp!"

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Citron wasn’t exactly expecting what she got, as the woman spun around to answer her questions; a beaming smile on the strange woman’s face. A few moments passed, but not enough for Citron to really wonder why, as it was a rather broad question she asked. At first, she received the type of answer she had expected, upon realizing how… Rude, her question could have been in the right contexts. “Oh, right, sorry, I guess that might not be something you want to sh-” But she cut herself off as the girl gave her an answer; an answer that, to her, seemed real or true enough. After all, she reasoned with herself, these were strange, strange people. An array of people with nothing in common, roaming together, going from place to place… Could they have actually been trying to save the world? However, as that thought ran through her mind, she was reminded of simply how… Idealistic, or naive it alone sounded. And upon examining the woman’s tone, it had to have been a jest, even if she so very much thought that sounded cool. “R-right, um… I won’t bother you with any more questions.” she laughed a bit, as if trying to laugh it off, even as the woman continued on with whatever it was she had planned before the interruption. The laughter quickly faded to disappointment, as she realized she was... Still in the dark. Like, super in the dark in the dark.

Said disappointment, was however, interrupted as another voice piqued her interest, the Boss-Lady, Catriona, spoke up, interjecting into the world. She was… Offering food? Likely to everyone else, Citron mused, since she wasn’t part of the group, but she still found it prudent to reply. “No thank y-” She stopped herself, a faint twinge of hunger stabbing at her stomach. Actually, now that she thought about it, had she eaten since yesterday? She was supposed to eat some of the fruit they found in the forest when they got back, but… That was lost in the crash, and she had been busy since. “Actually, uh…” She smiled a bit, rubbing at her neck. “Now that I think about it, I am, kinda hungry. I know I’m not um, part of your group, but do you mind if I…?” She gestured towards the food. “I-If not, that’s okay, I don’t mean to intrude or anything.” Citron tried to explain, waving her hands a bit.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Sienna kept examining the markings on the wall, even after the others moved off. She tilted her head and looked at how the markings were drawn together and backed up a bit, getting a better look. "A... That... That's all I can see..." She mumbled to herself. Her tail swayed back and forth as she thought, did the rat do this? And if so, why one letter? As far as she could tell, the rat seemed like the only who could've drawn this... Message? She'd have to get the rat from Tsetseg and see if she could get a reaction at least. But before that, she was brought out of her thoughts by a loud shout.

"Siiiiieeeeennnnaaaaa! Shiiiiiiirrrooooooooo! Heeeeeeeeellllllllppppp!"

She looked up quickly. "Tsetseg!?" She ran to where she heard the Archer and found her in a stone room, trapped under a large net. "Oh! Hang on!" She ran over and knelt down, fumbling with the heavy net. "Agh... Shiro, can I get a little assistance? How did this happen?" She asked Tsetseg.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

 

 


r7ubDCK.png?1

 


The badger was indeed human. No animal was capable of that much apathy. Link had been blown off by nobility, high-ranking generals, and even snooty knights from the Academy; he should have been used to it, but somehow the badger caught him completely off guard. “....” The soldier looked at Rohns, but even the wolf cub seemed irritated with him, refusing to make eye contact or acknowledge his presence. 

He was even awkward with animals now. Great. 

Link grunted and set off back towards the house, trudging behind the badger, with Rohns lingering behind him but slowly following. The animal-human seemed intent on making it to the building—maybe it had known of it as a person?—and the soldier needed to return and check on the others anyways. Two birds with one stone as far as he was concerned.



 

 

Edited by Cheshire Toon

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Shiro looked the wall, feeling all the teachings were suddenly null, in fact, after a few seconds, he felt quite dull. Scrawled on the wall, standing tall, was the letter A. What was today? Was it so tiring that his knowledge was expiring?

"A... That... That's all I can see..." The fox said, to which Shiro agreed, in fact, that was the only thing it could be. Now that they were on track, Shiro turned to head back, report ready before he heard a loud clack!

"Siiiiieeeeennnnaaaaa! Shiiiiiiirrrooooooooo! Heeeeeeeeellllllllppppp!" Tsetseg called with a shout, the sound nearly making Shiro pout. All was going well, but the archer found trouble, indeed, that seemed to be the one skill she did accel. In the next room, there was a net, one that caught Tsetseg, some sort of trap, he'd bet. The fox ran over with a speed quite swift, and the net she tried to lift.

"Agh... Shiro, can I get a little assistance? " The fox asked with a plead. Shiro sighed, he had to help, lest he break his creed. Like the wind, Shiro was at their side to help the woman pinned. He did his best to try to lift, however, strength was not his gift. He only hoped with the power of two, they could lift this net that was stuck like glue.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

ljMHWp9.png

With Ciela seemingly satisfied with his answer, for the moment at least, Edrick decided to continue through with his original plan. That being making his way down to the basement to see if he could recognize anything that might have looked like a shrine. But sure enough he found himself interrupted again.

"If you're hungry." Catriona spoke up, and when he turned to look at her it seemed she'd set out some of the trail rations they'd been carrying. Edrick was about to respond, and then his stomach did for him. The growling might have been loud enough for everyone around him to hear, and from the sheepish expression on his face he knew that. So rather than immediately head downstairs to help with what was going on he snagged a handful of nuts which he promptly shoved in his face. Partly to try and distract from his own embarrassment, and partly to not be rude to Catriona. He still had a few of his travel cakes in his bag, which honestly would have been enough to get him through lunch. So he set about making his way down to the basement, and only once he was out of view did he start crunching away at one of his own creations.

"Siiiiieeeeennnnaaaaa! Shiiiiiiirrrooooooooo! Heeeeeeeeellllllllppppp!" Well that definitely gave the farmer-turned lancer a reason to hurry down the stairs. He almost choked on the nuts as he started running down, and then jumped the rest of the way to the floor with his lance in-hand and an expression on his face that the group was probably starting to learn meant he was about to start stabbing. Aaand Tsegtseg was just stuck in a net. A net which it looked like the two proteans were having a little trouble removing from her. Well, stabbing wasn't going to help this. Sighing, he set the lance down and made his way over to the trio.

"How did this even happen?" He asked, grabbing hold of an as-of-yet untouched part of the net to help the others peel it off of their archer.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Adelheid

She knew that just from the feeling on the atmosphere, what Gunther found would be quite a bad news. She didn't want to think about it. She'd rather deal with it when everyone was completing the hints they've found. So that she didn't have to hear what Gunther was discussing with Alois right now, Adel's attention went instead to the closet area. The door to it was not locked, and Adel was able to get in with ease. Inside... well, there was a suit of armor that had long since unmaintained. What a waste. Didn't seem like something a mayor would wear either. Her attention then instead went towards the crate that was on her left side. She attempted to open it, but it was closed shut. The closet room was dark so it was hard to make out what was inside, even through the crate's gaps. Perhaps she could use the blade on the table earlier...

"what have you found so far?"

"There's a locked crate here. Can you bring me that blade over there? I'm going to try opening it by force."

---

Ciela

As she accepted the ration from Cat, Ciela wondered about what Edrick just said. There was a shrine hidden here somewhere. But, no, why would it be in the Mayor's house? She then reminded herself of what happened earlier. She wanted to check out the church, but the group's movements drowned out her voice. Right. The church. It really must be where the shrine would be at.

"Cat, I'll be going out. There's a place that I would like to visit."

With that said, she bowed at the princess before leaving the room and got onto Remy's back. The idea itself also made her think however. By nature, it was quite peculiar if this was just one of Inera's machinations. Since when she could transmute people? She's the goddess of life and death, not whatever was happening here. She would doubt that this was Her doing, but it was better safe than sorry. Moreover, people seemed to be not wanting them to check on the church either.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Adelaide would find that the inside of the closet was blanketed in a thick layer of dust, as if whatever had been in here had been untouched for months. Attempting to move or even touch the crate would blow up a cloud of the stuff. The dust motes danced in the sunlight shining through the window behind them. The light also glinted off of a rusted suit of armor. In the opposite corner, a scattering of miscellaneous toys lay in a haphazard pile.

The crate, if dragged, would move quite easily. Whatever was in there, it wasn't very heavy.

--

The basement became quite busy as people gathered around where Tsetseg lay trapped. The rat gazed at the group, though it seemed to actually be looking past them, toward the ant trail, which had turned into less of a trail and more of a panicked mess as they fled from the archer's panicked form.

Sienna, Shiro, and Edrick were not having the easiest time lifting the net. Even with the three of them taking opposite sides, the net refused to budge. It looked like they would need yet more help to lift the thing. Neither Sienna nor Shiro would be able to transform either, the room being too small to fit their beast forms.

--

eRlfZsS.png

It appeared Catriona had been correct in her assumptions. Penelope had been hungry, Edrick had been hungry, and Citron...was also hungry. Their grumbling stomachs made it quite obvious. “Actually, uh…” Citron seemed to have changed her mind about not eating, rubbing her neck with a smile. “Now that I think about it, I am, kinda hungry. I know I’m not um, part of your group, but do you mind if I…?” She gestured towards the food. “I-If not, that’s okay, I don’t mean to intrude or anything.” The wyvern rider tried to explain, waving her hands a bit.

The lord wasn't quite sure why the other was acting so odd about this. It was just food. "Of course," she said with a nod, handing over some trail rations to her as well. The Isaurian would find that what she had been given was quite enough to fill her stomach. Catriona then took the time to look through the spice cabinet behind them, but saw nothing except for some exotic spices that she was quite sure she had only seen on the dinner tables of a few Galtean nobles.

-

"And this," Lord Hughes of House Lamore gestured grandly, "is a spice only found in the desert country of Isauria. I had to pay more than a few gold for this, yes I did. It is called cardamom, and I had our chef mix it up into our sausage to add an exotic zest to your palate tonight." He tugged on his handlebar mustache for emphasis.

"Humph," Lord Erik of House Dussard wrinkled his nose. "While I do admit that those desert barbarians certainly do have...adventurous tastes, I cannot say they match up to Galtean standards." He dabbed a handkerchief to his mouth. "Wouldn't you agree, Your Highness?"

Catriona, whose mind had been wandering to her time on the border, and to how soon she could be deployed back there, wrinkled her brow. Father approves of Lord Hughes' gradual takeover of the port of Miriam. He is acting on behalf of House Salika, which has practically taken over the trading business after the downfall of House Mirrahel. However, Lord Erik has a great many farming communities under his demesne in the Scute Hills. If I offend him here, he might take it out on us later by increasing market prices on his produce. Taking a bite of the sausage, the woman's face turned thoughtful, saying the first thing that came to mind. "It is good. A little sweet though."

Both nobles glanced at her with troubled expressions.

Catriona wanted to rub her temples. If memorization were all that were involved with politics, then I could handle it, but my tongue can never match up. She was much better at cutting a path through Pontic soldiers than cutting a path through diplomatic nightmares.

-

"Cat, I'll be going out. There's a place that I would like to visit."

Hmm? Catriona turned around, shook from her brief trip down memory lane. "That is fine, but it would be wise to...bring somebody to accompany you," she trailed off as she saw the girl had already left. Remembering a similar situation with Adelaide, the woman sighed. Walking outside herself, she saw Cora and the beaver sitting next to each other, talking quietly. Ahead, Ciela was already leaving on horseback. Turning around, the white-haired woman noticed Licorice arriving from the left side of the building. This was truly fortuitous. "Licorice, can you make sure that Ciela does not land herself into any trouble?" It troubled her to ask that of the fox, but at this point, she didn't have much of a choice. While Cora seemed trustworthy, they could not know that for sure. Link would have been the best to ask, but he was still on patrol.

"Also," the lord said, opening up her bag. "Food." She offered some to Cora and the beaver as well.

The beaver gazed off to where Ciela had left with a troubled chitter, but accepted some of the food, holding a mixture of hardtack, fruit, and nuts in its hands.

Licorice had taken some jerky. "Thank you," she said. "And I can leave right away."

--

At the back, the badger had finally waddled up closer to the house, steadfastly ignoring Link and Rohns all the while. It seemed to have noticed something, and lifted its head with a snuffle, beginning to waddle just a little bit faster.

Link and Rohns would both hear the distant clop of hoofbeats, and what sounded like people talking outside. However, they wouldn't be able to see anything from their angle behind the house.

--

Ciela, and anybody who chose to follow her, would find, right across from the mayor's house, a large building that looked like a chapel towering above the rest of the buildings. The building itself was made of stone, with a large round top oaken door that looked as if it could fit two or three horses Remy's size side by side. Carved into the arch above the door were various scenes in bas-relief. Most notably was one showing the Twelve Crusaders in their fight against the goddess.

The doorknob, if turned, would jiggle uselessly. The door was locked.


OOC

Spoiler

Places left to explore
B1F - Locked chest, sword and shield, ground with red stains, crate of fruit and spice, crate of empty bottles, barrel, Dragon's Breath wine, flour, ham, crate that's bolted shut, ground where ant trail ends
1F - None if you include where Cora searched
2F - Suit of armor, pile of toys, table with broken sword

I am not always online, but I will eventually see what you guys say, so message me or post in the chat if you have any questions.

Edited by Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

oZcRBQt.jpg?1

Cora took the food that Catriona offered. It wouldn't do to waste food that was given. As she slowly ate it she was focused on the girl who had left on horseback. Similarly to Acantha she was worried. Where was the girl going?

Catriona had asked the black haired woman, the one with the tail, to go after her. But was it really alright to leave it like that? To Acantha Cora said "Keep an eye on things here, okay?" Then, louder, to Catriona,she followed it with "I'll go too. I'd like to know where she's headed at least. We don't know what's going on here so I don't want anyone getting into anything dangerous."

And she couldn't be sure the girl didn't intend on robbing them anyway. Especially with Pylauses's house nearby.

So she left the house as well, whistling for Abel and climbing onto his back. "Alright boy, we're going to follow that stranger's horse okay?" And with that she went after Ciela. Not trying to hide herself but not rushing to catch up either.


aonB0Ia.png?3

“R-right, um… I won’t bother you with any more questions.”

"You know, if you want to know more, I'll welcome the questions." Penelope said. She didn't want to completely close out the avenue. She just didn't intend to tell her everything.

That being said she saw Catriona checking out the spice cabinet. Looking around she realized that there really wasn't much else to investigate. "I'll have to ask that Cora girl if she found anything herself." With everything else handled she decided to head down towards the basement. She didn't hear what Ciela had said to Catriona, had she she might have asked the girl to stay here, so she simply strolled down to the basement.

She could hear people struggling off in the distance so she strolled over there, noting the swords and chest on the way there, and found...

"Well, this is quite the pickle isn't it?" She said cheerily as she found Tsetseg with a net covering her. Three others were trying to get the net off her but, after watching for a moment, Penelope raised a hand. "You know, it probably would be easier if we just lift one side of the net and let her crawl out. Much easier than trying to lift the whole heavy thing up at least." She smiled and shook her head. What would they ever do without her?


lcmI449.png?1

From what Alois said it wasn't anything to do with the Goddess. He had his concerns but...if Alois, who clearly didn't like this place, was vouching for them then perhaps it was something else. But what could it be? If not the Goddess....

"what have you found so far?"

"Honestly not much. All these journals, and that gold, it really points to something unusual happening. But I don't think it's related to the current situation. Not directly at least."

"There's a locked crate here. Can you bring me that blade over there? I'm going to try opening it by force."

"Ah, um, I don't know if that's...well, just be careful." Gunther said. Alois was closer to said blade so he left it to him. Instead he approached the closet. If he went inside with Adelaide there wouldn't be much room so instead... "Here, I'll help you drag it out." Gunther said and, as he stated, grabbed one side of the crate to bring it out into the open more.

Once done he checked out the suit of armor. It was full of dust and seemed it hadn't been disturbed in a long time. Not even with any of the markings they had been finding elsewhere. Looking closer he saw some sort of engraving by the collar.

"Erimax"

Without anything to go on he decided to move over to check the pile of toys. Sifting through it he didn't notice anything out of place. It seemed to be sitting here for a while as it was all covered in dust as well. The armored bear plush drew his eyes. He thought, for a moment, Tsetseg might like it. But he wasn't about to steal. It was odd. The mayor clearly didn't keep these clean but he also didn't throw it away. It was hard to tell if he cared about it or not. Though from what he saw he figured he was the kind of man to get rid of things he didn't want.

The journal came to mind again. Particularly the scratched off portions. Walking out of the closet he got Alois's attention.

"Alois...does the mayor have any children? Or, rather, did he? They might be grown up by now."

Putting a finger to his chin Alois said, "well, none that i can remember." With a joking smirk on his face, Alois continued, "I mean, I doubt anyone would want to - " he then paused. Tapping his chin again he said, "well...maybe."

"I...see." Gunther gestures at the pile of toys, "it just feels that he was holding onto this for someone....or something like that."

With a nod Alois said, "well, he definitely had a wife, but I don't remember any kid being his. Though, there was this one kid, older than me. He was pretty cool, I used to look up to him and all, but well, I don't really remember his name or what happened to him."

A thought came to mind. "Does the name "Erimax" ring any bells?"

Alois shrugged. "Sort of? It's definitely familiar but," the boy shrugged again.

He was starting to piece together an idea of sorts. Perhaps the mayor did have a child, someone he had a falling out with, which would explain why he kept all these things but didn't want to look at them...Though that was neither here nor there, he supposed. "Well, perhaps you'll meet him again someday." Gunther said without really knowing why.

He focused on the crate again. Whatever was inside might be something of sentimental value to the mayor as opposed to actual value to them. Hopefully prying it open didn't damage whatever it was.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

nALalDq.png?3

As the girl continued to thrash about in the trap that she had stumbled into, Tsetseg was glad to see the others begin to her help. One by one, from Sienna, to Shiro to then Edrick, and then finally Penelope all coming in to offer varying levels of assistance. Yet still, Tsetseg continued to be trapped under the net in spite of their best efforts. Thrashing around wildly, the girl didn't seem to be making much headway herself as she looked to Edrick and Sienna in response to their questions. "Well, see, see. I was just walking in here and then I opened the door - I've been very good at opening doors - and then I went in here to explore some more. But then - then! I stepped in here and there was a clicky noise and then this fell on me and now I can't get ooooouuuuuuuuuttttt!" Giving up for a moment, the girl simply sighed saying, "I'm a net now." 

x0mgaxu.png?1

"Yeah...hopefully." Alois waved off Gunther's last comment, less focused on the knight and more to his thoughts. He wasn't sure why the name Gunther had said sounded familiar, though that it was provided no end of bother to the boy. As Alois walked away from the bed and to the sword lying around, the boy looked at the weapon. It too seemed to have the same name on it. Bothered still, Alois then began to wonder why exactly he told Gunther of the boy he had known so long ago. There was a clear logic to his thoughts, and a natural conclusion that would explain the connection between the two vague memories.

However, he couldn't help but feel it strange that no one would mention either of these things to him or each other for his whole time in the village. Of course, if he had learned anything so far, it was that the Mayor wasn't entirely keen on explaining anything to Alois. All the same, the boy simply put the sword back down on the table he found it from and walked over Adelaide. Pulling one of his axes from its sheath, he presented it to the woman saying, "here, I'll let you do the honors. Be gentle though, these lids aren't that strong, and wouldn't do to split our evidence in half right?" 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Citron winced as she waited on a reply; her stomach having definitely given away her desperation. However, despite her stomach’s rudeness, and much to her surprise, the woman actually said yes, offering Citron a portion of a ration. “Thank you so, so much.”  She smiled, taking what she was offered while giving a polite, tiny bow, like one would give to someone who had done them a favor. “I’ll pay you back eventually, I swear.” She gave a quick nod, as she rose up, and glanced around. “Now, where should I explore…? I should make myself useful, after all…” She mumbled to herself, while absent-indedly munching on the food she was given. 

Glancing at the others who were all moving around, she surmised that the basement was probably her best bet. Penelope had gone down, and she thought she had seen someone else head that way too. She could have gone up-stairs, but, having seen the house from the outside, she figured the basement was probably bigger, and needed more people. Nodding to herself, she resolved to follow the others into the basement, or cellar or whatever they called it. And when she got there… Well, that was a sight to behold. It was fairly large, at least in comparison to what she was used to, just like she had assumed, and… There was a girl, under a net, with several of the others trying to help her. If she recalled, it was the same girl who had made rude comments about both herself, and Peaches, so it’s no surprise that Citron found herself creeping around the group to examine the rest of the room; telling herself that she was ‘just doing her best to stay out of their way’. And, as she ‘stayed out of their way’, she found herself at a cluster of crates and a barrel in the corner of the room; after having done her best to carefully avoid the stains on the floor, and the ants that she hoped-to-god weren’t people, seeing as she didn’t want to trip and be arrested for mass-murder.

Back in reality, at the cluster of crates, she was initially drawn by the barrels, hoping to find them full of fruits or, really, anything familiar to her, and when she arrived, she was, in fact, half correct. “Hm… Liquid?” She lightly knocked on the barrel, to confirm her thoughts. And, with the knock, it was confirmed; the barrel was full, but not with grain or food, a subtle slosh of its contents in response to the knock bing all that she needed to feel to answer her questions. However, another barrel gave away it’s contents before she even had to pay attention to the results of her knock; a sweet, yet slightly sour smell grabbing her attention better than anything she could have purposefully looked for. Glancing at the barrel beside the one she had approached, she dared not open it, as she brought a hand up to rub at her nose. “Ah… They must’ve been making some sort of wine here…” She coughed lightly, taking a step or two back to examine the area completely. “Eugh, I'm glad we don’t make anything fermented… Smells awful…” She glanced around, staring at the cluster of crates and barrels, looking for anything that could concievably be out of place, whilst cupping a hand around her nose and mouth.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

"Well, see, see. I was just walking in here and then I opened the door - I've been very good at opening doors - and then I went in here to explore some more. But then - then! I stepped in here and there was a clicky noise and then this fell on me and now I can't get ooooouuuuuuuuuttttt!" Giving up for a moment, the girl simply sighed saying, "I'm a net now."

Sienna felt really bad for Tsetseg and even worse that she couldn't get her out of this situation. Even with Edrick coming down to help them, they could barely get the net off of Tsetseg. If only Shiro and her could transform, they'd get the net off Tsetseg in no time. Unfortunately, the room was too cramped for even a single transformed Protean.

"Well, this is quite the pickle isn't it?"

Sienna looked up to see that Penelope had walked down into the basement too. Maybe now they had a chance with four people... That is until Penelope pointed out an... Interesting solution, to say the least.

"You know, it probably would be easier if we just lift one side of the net and let her crawl out. Much easier than trying to lift the whole heavy thing up at least."

And by interesting, it was completely obvious. A solution that Sienna flat out facepalmed in response to learning it. Of course, in a moment of desperation, they forget about the easiest solution to the problem. Her ears fell flat and she removed her hand to reveal an embarrassed look on her face. She moved to one corner of the net. "Uh... Ok... Shiro... Edrick... One more time, but this time... Just lift this side." She said in a quiet tone.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

"How did this even happen?" Shiro looked up to see Edrick had entered the room, asking the question everyone probably wanted to know. Shiro turned to look at trapped girl, curious to hear how she would justify this.

"Well, see, see. I was just walking in here and then I opened the door - I've been very good at opening doors - and then I went in here to explore some more. But then - then! I stepped in here and there was a clicky noise and then this fell on me and now I can't get ooooouuuuuuuuuttttt!" Giving up for a moment, the girl simply sighed saying, "I'm a net now." 

"Then can we use you to catch fish?" Shiro asked, looking around the room. It was far too cramped in here to transform, and the net was heavier than what he expected a mere net to weigh. Perhaps they would have to cut their losses and just leave Tsetseg here. She was sure to be happy with her rat friend for the time she'd be alive. Before he could suggest this, however, a new voice rang in.

"Well, this is quite the pickle isn't it?" It seemed the little princess had entered the room. Shiro took his time to bow to her. After all, age mattered not when it came to authority and hierarchy. "You know, it probably would be easier if we just lift one side of the net and let her crawl out. Much easier than trying to lift the whole heavy thing up at least." Ah... yes, that did make things simpler. It seemed today was in fact making the frog dumber after all.

"Uh... Ok... Shiro... Edrick... One more time, but this time... Just lift this side." The fox princess asked of them, to which Shiro complied, if  only to get this over with faster. He began to lift once more, hoping the three of them could overcome this.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

ljMHWp9.png

"Well, see, see. I was just walking in here and then I opened the door - I've been very good at opening doors - and then I went in here to explore some more. But then - then! I stepped in here and there was a clicky noise and then this fell on me and now I can't get ooooouuuuuuuuuttttt!" That honestly answered more questions than it inspired, and it confirmed something Edrick had already been considering. Tsegtseg had clearly triggered a trap, and there wasn't any reason to trap a place where there wasn't anything worth hiding. But they still needed to get her out first. He was just about to pull a knife and start cutting when, right on time, Penelope arrived with another idea.

"You know, it probably would be easier if we just lift one side of the net and let her crawl out. Much easier than trying to lift the whole heavy thing up at least." That...that did make a whole lot more sense. And considering Sienna was already agreeing with the princess and Shiro was going along with it he went and did the same. He shuffled along to the same side as them, took a nice firm grip, and got to lifting.

"So," he started to say while they were in the process of getting the net off, "there's no reason to trap a place where there isn't something you want to hide. There's probably something else down here that we're missing. Maybe a hidden door?" He was just hoping that the younger of the two princesses would handle finding whatever secret passage might exist down here while they were busy. He was also already considering the logistics of taking the net along. Who knows what use they could put it to?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites



Link could hear hoofbeats from the house, and the sound of voices, though they were too quiet to discern what was being said. That had to be Ciela and her horse though. Or possibly the town guard’s horse? She had been on the back of a sturdy looking beast when he had met her. 

Still. What if it was someone else? Caution never hurt anyone, so he put a bit more pep in his step as they traveled back towards the house. The badger stopped to taste the air and then waddled faster too. Maybe he smelled something he didn’t like. Placing his hand on the hilt of his sword, Link broke into a trot, sense of dread rising in the pit of his stomach. 

Rohns, seemingly done pouting, chased after him. “Rryip!” The wolf cub barked. His small limbs struggled to keep pace with the soldier; Link was just short of a full-tilt sprint by the time he rounded the corner of the house. 

“. . . .” It was Ciela and Licorice. They were headed off toward the center of town. Link sighed, letting go of his sword and looking behind him for Rohns and the badger. 

The human-badger was still a couple dozen yards away. Rohns, however, finally caught up to the soldier now that he had stopped running. “False alar--hrngh!” Link snapped his mouth shut hard enough that it hurt his teeth, swallowing a cry of pain; Rohns had attacked his ankle. “. . . !” He kicked the cub off him, and spun around when the wolf tried to pounce again, circling to youth at his twelve. 

“Rryip!” If Link didn’t know better he would have thought the wolf was grinning. It was a game to him.



 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

eRlfZsS.png

Catriona watched Ciela, Licorice, and Cora leave with a furrowed brow. She could not say that she was happy with this latest situation, but what was done was done and there was not much she could do to stop it at this point. Now, it was just her and the beaver outside. Cora had asked the animal to "keep an eye on things here," hadn't she? Still, the lord wasn't quite sure what the animal would actually be able to do, being...well, an animal.

The two of them exchanged glances before turning away. Thinking about it, she hadn't directly interacted much with the beast. "I...ahem," the white-haired woman cleared her throat, which turned into a full-on cough. "Excuse me." She really needed to take more of that herbal tea the innkeeper had sent her. It had also come with a syrup that seemed to do wonders for her throat. However, her train of thought had tapered off with her latest fit, and now she could not think of what to say. Is it even necessary though? It is an animal, after all, transmuted or not. It is not as if it will be able to communicate with me.

The silence was broken by a voice. “False alar--hrngh!” It sounded like Link, and it sounded like...he was in pain?

Catriona rushed down the wooden stairs of the large deck in front of the house, stopping when she saw Link, as well as Rohns...attached to his ankle. The mercenary kicked the wolf cub off, but the pup was persistent, yipping loudly as he tried to pounce again. Should I interrupt? Still, Link was yet another person that had not eaten yet.

The woman approached slowly, a little wary of the wolf cub nipping at the boy's heels. "Here, eat," she said, offering him some trail rations before continuing with a question. "Did you find anything on your patrol?"

At that very moment she caught sight of a badger who was quickly shortening the distance between them. It snorted disdainfully somehow as it passed the pair of man and wolf, stopping once it reached the first of the wooden stairs going up. Slowly, laboriously, it began its upward ascent.

"Do you require aid?" Catriona asked of it, but it only glanced at her and then, surprisingly, shook its head before continuing.

I suppose that that is a human then, in animal form, the woman thought. I think we saw it once before, when we first entered this place. Or perhaps that had been another badger. She was no good at differentiating animals.

Eventually, the mustelid made it to the top of the deck, where it glanced between the open door and the beaver with an unimpressed huff. The beaver bowed its head, but the badger did no more than pat its head with the pad of its paw before looking inside the house. Which reminded Catriona of her duties inside. She needed to give food to the people on the other floors.

--

Upstairs, quite a lot of dust had been kicked up now that the crate had been dragged out of the closet. The air was flooded with dust.

--

Downstairs, the group of three managed to lift one end of the net, allowing Tsetseg to crawl out. Seeing this, the rat scurried over to join them.

--

Gy1PJhz.png

Licorice had followed Ciela all the way to the town hall, but didn't approach or say anything to her. Instead, her ears had flattened as she slowly paced the periphery of the building. The fox seemed agitated, muttering things under her breath as she walked back and forth.


OOC

Spoiler

Okay not much going on right now on my end, but that's what you guys are for! Continue exploring, and ask me if you have any questions.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

nALalDq.png?3

As Tsetseg had simply resigned to her fate of becoming part net, the rest of the group seemed to start trying a new way of lifting it and, with some effort they managed to pull it up. Seeing her way of freedom open up, the girl quickly began to scurry out from under the net and, once free, bounded back up to her feet. Stretching her arms to her side, the girl brightly shouted, "I'm freeeee! Woooohoooo!" Looking to each and everyone of the people around her, the girl went to hug all of them before saying, "thaaaanks guys! Man, I thought I was going to be stuck under there forever." Nodding to herself, the girl seemed to have completely gotten over her experience as she simply stepped over the net and continued onward to where she was going before hand. 

Looking to see the ants, now scattering about, they still seemed to be going towards one area. Looking at the place where they were going, the girl pressed herself against the ground. Seeing that the ants were moving down a slit in the ground, the girl noticed that it seemed to be more perfectly straight than anything else. Curious, the girl pressed her fingers against it, only to notice that it was actually more three straight lines in almost a square shape. "Hmmmmmmmm..." The looked at it and thought that it seemed to remind her of a box and quite like she had been adept at opening doors, the girl also thought she was adept at opening boxes. So, taking out her small knife, the girl pressed it into the line, the blade sliding in smoothly.

Pushing her knife up, the girl let out a, "oh!" The stone block had moved up a bit. Pressing her hand against the stone block, she started to push up against it harder, clearly straining as the stone seemed to be heavy. However, after keeping at it once more, she managed to eventually life the stone block up and back. Taking a deep breath, the girl looked down, noticing something. "Hey, hey, hey guys. Come look." The girl pointed to a hole where the stone used to be, not being able to really seen down it as it was entirely dark with nothing but a wooden ladder leading down it. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

aonB0Ia.png?3

"I'm a net now." 

Penelope let out a giggle at this. She was glad she came down here. That girl was ever so delightful to watch. Alas the show was over just as it started as the others lifted the net for the girl to escape. Satisfied that things were figured out here Penelope backed away. She saw Citron off to the one side so she returned to the sword and shield she saw before. She didn't have high hopes but she didn't want to leave anywhere untouched.

No amount of touching would change the fact that there was nothing to find there. Not even under the table. Both the sword and shield seemed to be in good condition but Penelope had no need for them and it wasn't nearly worth the trouble of taking them. So she moved on to the more interesting object.

A large chest. With a lock. She tried to pull it open, testing the lock, and it held fast. The chest was rather large and heavy. So much so that Penelope didn't think she could possibly lift it.

Still, she decided to try and wiggle it forward a bit so she could check underneath and behind it. It took some trying but she was able to pull it back enough to check and find...nothing, again.

Oddly the chest felt as though it were empty. Still bulky enough to be hard to lift but from what she could tell there was nothing inside. Which only made her more curious.

She moved over towards the door the others were inside and called out "Anyone happen to find a key that could fit in this chest out here?"


lcmI449.png?1

Gunther frowned at Alois's attitude towards possibly breaking the crate. Still, it seemed that everything was settled up here. "I suppose I shall go check with the others while you take care of that. Let us know what you find later alright?"

Upon saying this the Knight went down the stairs to find that...everyone had left? Huh. Well....He stood around awkwardly for a few moments before hearing noises at the door. He approached it and opened the door to see Catriona standing there. And, behind her on the stairs, the beaver from before and....a badger?

The princess shoved food into Gunther's face, quite literally, and said simply "Here, food"

The Knight couldn't help but smile. The young woman was always rather awkward about such things. It was refreshing sometimes with how much he dealt with Penelope's more flowery speech. "Thanks Cat...er, Pri.....that is, Catriona." Gunther said as he realized he wasn't sure how he was supposed to address her. Calling her Cat seemed almost rude but she wasn't a princess here, as they were undercover, yet Catriona almost felt too stiff.

She didn't seem to have much more to say. "Suppose you're on a mission." He said with a bigger smile. Letting her through he approached the two animals. A thought came to mind while watching the badger and he knelt down and asked "This might be silly to ask but....is this your home?"

They confirmed with a nod and snuffle.

"Er...I am sorry for what's going on in your town. And for, well," he gestures at the house. "But we're doing what we can to figure out how to fix this....Oh, that reminds me. It's a small thing but I'd hate your food to go bad. Do you have a place you store your cheese?"

The badger nodded and started to shamble into the house.

Gunther followed and noticed that the animal appeared to be going for the basement. Taking this as an answer, Gunther went and grabbed the cheese once more, and followed after the badger.


oZcRBQt.jpg?1

Cora followed along behind the other two as they reached...the town hall? That seemed a bit odd. After all the door was locked and it was a rather secure building. Did the girl intend to force her way through?

She frowned. That would be unpleasant. She didn't want to even think about having to explain this situation to the mayor. It was enough that she'd have to explain why she let those people roam his house....then again the mayor also had some things to explain.

That's when Cora noticed the strange, animal-eared, girl pacing around. She appeared to be agitated for some reason. Sliding off Abel's back Cora cautiously approached her. "Is there something wrong? Um....besides the obvious."

Licorice jerked her head, a look of surprise on her face. "Oh...no, nothing is wrong..." she trailed off. "Thank you."

Cora felt she should say something more. Instead of letting this awkward silence settle. But the girl was clearly distracted and what would she say? Ask about the animal ears? What if it was a sensitive subject?

....Seriously though why did she have those ears?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

x0mgaxu.png?1

Untrue to Alois's word, he did not end up letting Adelaide do the honors. As the woman just seemed to be transfixed on figuring out how to open the crate without his axe, the boy just raised his axe over the lid of the crate. With the same amount of force he had used on the crate downstairs, Alois broke open the lid of the box with his axe. Looking in, the boy saw yet another series of papers resting at the to bottom. Though, unlike the papers downstairs these seemed to be much less neatly organized, the yellow parchment being wrinkled. "Well, let's see what secrets you're hiding this time old timer," and so the boy bent down to pick the papers up, beginning to read through them. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Adelaide

Adelaide hesitated. She wasn't sure what was happening, but her headache was getting a little worse and worse as of late. Was this some sort of effect from thinking and worrying too hard about the situation happening here in this village? She admitted that yeah, she was worried. Afraid, even. If only a little bit. A lot of what was happening was more or less things that even someone like her was not equipped well to deal with. It was uncomfortable, it was disconcerting, and most of all, she felt like she was being especially useless as of late. She was quite out of it lately. None of this sort of thing was part of what she expected when she decided to enter this mission. A cult? A village cursed to turn into animals? That sort of things should only just exist in a story book. This was all pure nonsense. Nonsense. She was getting a little insane. She felt like this was quite a bad idea from the start, but now she felt that she should've just stayed back there with the Patrol.

Even if she was the kind to fly away from one place to another, something like this was too much.

But as her thoughts ran wildly, Alois ended up being the one that broke the box instead. What was inside were another pack of paper. Alois decided to investigate them, while Adelaide decide to just step back for a few moments.

She hated this sort of situation.


Ciela Celestinia

In the meantime, Ciela circled around the church in frustration. There were several entrances that she could theoretically use to go inside, but none of them were working. Not even getting Remy to ram himself to them do anything, instead it only made Remy so angry that he almost dropped her to the ground. Ah, that was frustrating. So frustrating. Really frustrating that she was considering to try breaking through the mosaic glass of the church instead, but she stopped herself before she was able to do that. She stopped herself, and turned around towards Cora and Licorice.

She paused.

Cora was clearly worried about her making a mess to the town, but with how important this investigation was, property damage should be excused anyway so Ciela didn't feel like she should apologize her. But Licorice was looking uneasy. This was a little different from when she got in heat from that time with the aphrodisiac, but it was still noticeable regardless.

"Um... Licorice, are you alright? I didn't drop anything on your head again right? Or did I miss something regarding this place that you wanted to tell me?"

===

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

With everyone lifting one end of the net, Tsetseg finally managed to get out from the trap. "I'mfreeeee! Woooohoooo!"

She looked at everyone and proceeded to hug them. "thaaaanks guys! Man, I thought I was going to be stuck under there forever."

She seemed to brighten up in almost an instant, putting a smile on Sienna's face. And now that the net situation was taken care of, everyone could continue looking for clues. Sienna looked around the room Tsetseg got trapped in, the fact that this specific room was trapped meant that there had to be something here. Why else would someone put a large net in their basement? "Hey, hey, hey guys. Come look."

Sienna's ears perked up as she walked over to Tsetseg. Did she find another animal? Kneeling down beside the Archer, she saw the hole that Tsetseg had found. Looking down, she saw a wooden ladder descending down into the darkness. "A trap door... Good find, Tsetseg." Sienna smiled at her before poking her head down the hole. She lit a fire in her hand to see if she good catch a glimpse of the bottom.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

“...Okay,” Citron took in a deep breath, rubbing at her temple as she tried to push the previous smell out of her mind. “If they have soured grapes, wine bottles, and, well, wine, the Mayor has been making wine.” She’d nod, audibly working through the obvious. “But that’s… A lot of wine, actually. If he was making it for the towns people, I could see him just barrelling it up, but…” She glanced towards the bottles, putting a finger to her chin. “That doesn’t exactly seem to be the case. This is also far too much for him to drink alone, so that’s ruled out. That leaves us with him either being a merchant, or keeping all of this for… Uh… Status?” She shrugged, rubbing at her chin. “That… Seems like something a relatively rich person would do, right? Hoard wine?” She shrugged, turning on her heels. “...But, he’s probably a merchant, after all…” 

Citron would take a deep breath, walking over to the sacks of flour. “That would explain this excess, too.” She’d smile, kneeling down to examine the sacks. “Identical sacks of flour, probably either sold as-is to local or traveling bakers, and or used to make things to sell. Like… Like bread.” She reasoned, nodding to herself. “After all, this stuff’ll just attract like, rats or something if he’s not using it. So he’s got to be using it somehow, and I really doubt he’s eating it.” She began to pace a few steps in front of the flour, occasionally glancing towards the group. They appeared to have gotten the rude girl out from under the net. “Buuuuut…” She’d trail off, stopping in front of the flour. “...How does me dissecting this man’s life like, actually help us out here?” Her proud expression would melt into disappointment as she crossed her arms. “Because unless he was trying to like, turn them into farm animals to sell and accidentally got hit himself, I’d say him being some sort of merchant and ALSO a mayor has… Nothing to do with anything.” Glancing past the flour, she noticed that even the rude-girl was being more useful than her, having found some sort of… Secret, movable stone or something, and more importantly, a hole…

Maybe Citron should just follow them.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • Similar Content

    • By LordCowCow
      Premise
      World
      City
      Magic
      Races
      Major Families of Froura
      NPCs
      Locations
      App Format
      Accepted Apps
       
    • By radio414
      IC

      So much to do, and so little time...
      Rules
      The Story So Far
      Setting
      FAQ
      Application
      Accepted Apps
      changelog:
      (AM 11/18/2022): Discord invite link added
      (PM 11/18/2022): Full OOC is now live!
      (AM 11/30/2022): The RP has now started! IC link added, accepted characters tab updated, discord invite link removed
      (PM 01/13/2023): Updated cast list upon Yui's departure
      (AM 04/13/2023): Forgot to update the cast list again, oops
      (AM 09/10/2023): Formally adding Belladonna to the list of players, also I changed a name in the setting spoiler because I am *very good* at keeping track of established moments
    • By LordCowCow
      It, like every night, was dark. However it wasn't stormy. Instead it was cold and somewhat clammy. The time was 10 PM and, unlike some larger cities, the streets were mostly barren. The moon in the sky, and the streetlights on the ground, made the dark night possible to traverse without being blind.
      They, in this case being Brian James Trantor and Carmen O'Conner, had gotten a message not long ago. It was from their mysterious savior/employer, Shiki. This was unusual, the first of several unusual moments, as the girl hardly ever used text messages to contact them. Though it was only a couple words, "Dagen Park" which was why they both had made their way towards said park.
      Park might be something of an exaggeration. it was rather large, it would only take a couple minutes to cross it, and only had a singular bench, under an old gazebo, to sit in. Some trees were scattered around, mostly around the edge to the left facing from the street, but not many and only one or two that were truly large. A playground sat in the center of the small grassy field which consisted of a couple slides, monkey bars, and a bit of a distance from that a pair of seesaws and a swing set that creaked with the slight breeze. Off to the side of said playground, at the right edge of the park, was a concrete area for parking. And there sat a singular vehicle.
      They each would recognize it as belonging to Shiki. A large van, practically a camper, that looked like it shouldn't be able to run. Yet they knew it did. Usually, yet another unusual thing tonight, this van was parked outside of their houses, or wherever they happened to be when Shiki wanted to contact them, and they'd use it to get to whatever Shiki needed them to do.
      However this time it was in another location. The reason why was clear to them soon.
      The third unusual thing of the night. Whenever they found said van they were the only ones who ever paid it any mind. However today there was another. For Brian this was Carmen. And for Carmen this was Brian.
      Without any warning it seemed that Shiki had decided that the two of them would meet tonight. In this park. On this cold and clammy night.

       
    • By LordCowCow
      Premise
      Premise (Expanded)
      Rules
      Setting
      Mysterious Person
      Applications
      Accepted Apps
       
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...