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

[Skaia 578]

After finagling around with the strange wall box thing that was over top of her, the girl looked let out a small, "oooh," as she looked outside of it. Slowly climbing out from the whole, the girl was taken aback by the sudden shift in grandeur between the hole they were just in and the chapel they had found themselves in now. Looking up at the glass, and then looking back to the statue, Tsetseg seemed a bit wary about the whole thing. It wasn't as though she actually felt anything off from it, but just the shape and form of it was enough to put her on edge. As such, the girl gave a brief shifty eyed glance to Citron, then back to the dragon and watched as Penelope went to go examine it more, more so being on edge to see if anything would happen to the girl. 

Alois, meanwhile, simply looked around the building and gave a whistle. "Glad to see you kept proper care of your clubhouse, at least." After making his off comment to the mayor, the boy began to walk around and marvel at the strange sight. There was something strange about the whole set up to Alois. Less so that such a thing existed at all, and more the extravagance yet bizarre secrecy to which the mayor had put into this whole operation. Not to mention all of the other adults who seemed to also just go along with it. Naturally, as with every other discovery he had made about this village, his expression only became more and more annoyed. Though, at least in this case it was probably relevant to what they needed to find anyway. 

As Cora made her comment, Alois said, "I'll be on my best behavior and be sure not to break anything." He then pointed towards one of the side doors and said, "unless they're locked. Then all bets are off." With a joking smile, the boy left the princess to her devices on the dragon statue and walked over to one of the two side door, attempting to open it. 

[Tiamat's Circus 117]

Citron clapped her hands together lightly as the badger replied, pleased with her work. Only to glance over towards the group, and… Watch as the young, rude-girl pushed aside their roadblock, and began climbing upwards somewhere. “...Oh. I guess that makes sense.” She murmured, lowering her head, kneeling down to the badger. “Sorry for the trouble then.” She apologized, before starting to follow the group. Glancing at the ladder, and then the animals, Citron once again began to kneel down, smiling. “Do ya’ need help climb-” Citron cut herself off, watching as… The animals seemed to climb the ladder with ease. She almost wanted to say something, before shaking her head. “...No one would believe me.” She reassured herself with a small laugh, finally following the animals upwards…

...Into something she couldn’t quite understand, really. It was more like a church than a town-hall, but according to everyone else, this was where they were meant to be? Glancing around, she saw confused faces on some, but… Relatively amused, or confident faces on others. Something about the whole situation didn’t sit right with her, really. And that didn’t even begin with the oddly regal statue of a dragon, which sat atop a pillar that had been blocking their advance only moments before.

Once again, the rude-girl gave her some… Looks, which Citron tried to shrug off as she listened around. Once again, the fox-like woman mentioned something about a magical anchor; something Citron wasn’t really… Sure what was. But, the way it was stated, sounded like it should be out of place, maybe? And the only thing that really stood out, was… “Um… Miss Licorice,” Citron asked, before walking towards the stone table - away from who she was addressing. “I don’t suppose the cup and flowers could have anything to do with what we’re looking for?” She didn’t dare reach out to touch anything, but still approached it, nonetheless.

---

Peaches simply stared on as the doe gave a soft bleat, which Peaches replied to with a less-soft “Skree”. Peaches continued watched as the doe began to scratch at the ground, tilting her head to the side in the process. At first, it looked like the doe had been simply rummaging or trying to dig for something, until Peaches realized… The doe was… Doing something deliberately, with the dirt! That was for sure. Good work, Peaches. Patiently waiting for the doe to finish… Whatever they were doing, Peaches began to steadily recognize some of the strange symbols Citron drew sometimes, both in the dirt and in the pages of her strange paper. 

But to her, the symbols didn’t really mean much. Even as the doe finished, and looked awfully proud, Peaches couldn’t help but stare at the symbols curiously, before looking at the doe. The look the Doe was giving her was… Somehow reminiscent of the look Citron would give her when asking if she wanted to eat fish that day, or if she wanted a treat, so it was probably a question of some sort. The question is, and was, what kind of question? Hopefully a yes-or-no one, that’s for sure. Hesitantly, Peaches gave a light “Skree?” and slowly nodded her head. She had a 50/50 chance of getting it right, as long as it was one that she could answer that way.

[Cheshire Toon 141]

Link was one of the last to enter the room. The first thing he noticed was the statue. He thought it to be a wyvern at first glance, but wyverns were bipedal, not four-legged, and their necks were stout and filled with corded muscles, a far cry from the sloping elegance of the statue’s. The eyes were striking too. They had been cut from emeralds so large and polished that even the Great Houses of Galtea, each of whom’s coffers were surely full of lavish gems, would be in awe. Link could only think of one word to describe the clashing emotions of magnificence and fear the statue invoked.

“Dragon,” he murmured. The Great Dragon. It had to be. He was far from a devout believer in the myths, but the past few days had challenged the things he thought to be true in ways he hadn’t yet fully come to terms with. How outlandish was a group of legendary crusaders and a mythical dragon when compared to an army of centuries-dead warriors attempting to murder you? 

Princess Penelope and Gunther moved forward to inspect it. Cora began prowling the pews. Alois set off to try and push through the doors ahead, and the newcomer asked about the objects on the table. 

Link pulled his attention away from the statue with some difficulty. A bouquet of snapdragons and a fancy chalice were the items in question. “Snapdragons,” he responded brusquely. After a moment of hesitation, he added, “Herbalists use them to treat edema. … I doubt that’s what they’re using it for.” He scoured his memory for anything else he could remember about them. Ilia had been big on the uses of flowers, and it had been a passing interest of his to learn the ones useful to first aid. Commander Marianne had once told him that various flowers could be used to pass along secret message, but he hadn’t ever learned anything, besides that it was common practice among some noble houses.

Maybe one of the princesses knew something in that case. Regardless that was the extent of his personal knowledge.

[Sethera 290]

It took Gunther and Alois commenting on the room before Catriona realized just how little this place fit with what she had seen of the village. A collection of buildings made from wattle and daub, many of them little more than huts. The few stone buildings they had looked rough and worn down, and even the village wall had crumbled, leaving only the two gates with their watchtowers.

Where exactly were they?

The woman glanced over at the two animals alongside Cora. Neither of them had moved or made a sound since climbing up the ladder. The badger had not even reacted to Alois's earlier gibe, which was unusual as it always seemed to have something to say...or growl, when it came to the fighter. No, instead the two were watching the group, specifically Edrick and Ciela, with narrowed eyes. Both stood on all fours, angling forward slightly like hounds right before the start of a hunt.

How odd. While they had been wary of Edrick earlier, they had treated Ciela just fine. Was it her earlier show of taking out her staff to use as a light that had set them off? But even in the tunnel they had seemed more focused on what lay ahead. At the ladder, they had been focused on Citron, the badger giving her a nod and the beaver chittering something in response to something the girl had said. But now, there was a tension in their bodies that hadn't been there before.

Either way, Catriona wasn't sure what to think of them. While she had suspected the villagers of being goddess-worshipers, she felt like she had to revise that opinion in the face of what she was seeing now. As if reading her mind, Link murmured something that sounded a lot like "Dragon." Is that what this statue was? Is that what they were seeing then? If so, then... She drew a blank. At the moment, she was just too overwhelmed with what she was seeing to fully register it.

Meanwhile, Penelope would find that, up close, the statue appeared even more magnificent than before. The princess was still shorter than it, even with Gunther giving her a boost. In addition, everything had been carved in stunning detail, from each individual scale to the slight ribbing on the wings. The eyes in particular had been carved in such a way that the girl would see two darker green slits in the center that looked strikingly similar to pupils. For a second, she would see a flicker, as if bright green flames had sparked to life within those eyes, but the next second, nothing. If ever there were flames, they had been snuffed out.

Behind the princess, Citron had approached the stone table. “Um… Miss Licorice, I don’t suppose the cup and flowers could have anything to do with what we’re looking for?”

Link had turned his attention toward the table as well, describing the flowers with a surprising amount of detail.

"Hmm, you're just full of surprises, aren't you?" Licorice gazed at the mercenary for a few seconds. "Yes, these are snapdragons. There is, however, another name they are called by. Dragon flowers."

Catriona perked up at that. Dragon flowers...that sounded familiar.

"As for the cup...I'm not sure what it's doing here," the fox leaned over and sniffed it. "Smells like wine."

Those words sparked the white-haired woman's memory. "While we're speaking of wines, dragon flower seeds were one of the ingredients for Dragon's Breath wine." But that was only one ingredient identified. Most of them were still unknown to her.

To the side, Alois would find that the door handle turned easily under his hand. Opening the door would reveal another large room. While not as grand as the previous one, it still had a clean, well-kept appearance to it. There were a few arch-shaped windows on both the left and right wall, though they stood fairly high up, making it hard for anybody to look in or out of them. Most of the space was dominated by a large wooden table with chairs on two sides facing each other. There was also a dresser on the left side of the room, a bookshelf with a desk on the right, and a cluster of crates in the nearby corner. Behind the table, the fighter would catch a glimpse of something red and another pair of simple wooden doors, though he wasn't able to make out much more from where he was standing.

Behind him, he could see the other side of the stained glass window depicting the same creature as the statue. In front of it stood a large brazier with its sides carved in the shape of a sun. Within, a familiar-smelling flame crackled merrily. Alois would recognize it as Histian fire, which he had seen in the library basement of Ithome. Unlike regular fire, Histian fire could burn for years on little fuel. Legends were mixed on whether the Great Dragon had breathed it to life, or had helped in the discovery, but both sides agreed that the being had something to do with it. On the other side of the brazier was another door. Going by its position, it looked to be the other side door, and would take him back to the previous room.

--

The doe let out an excited bleat after seeing Peaches nod her head. Giving the wyvern a nod of its own and another bleat, it turned around and bounded up to the front door before stopping short. As if its earlier excitement had never been, it took a few hesitant steps, sticking its head inside the doorway and looking around. When nothing happened, the doe entered the house entirely, disappearing from the wyvern's sight.

---

OOC

Spoiler

Kind of a continuation of the previous post. React to what you're seeing, what people are saying, etc. You can also look around and stuff too.

[LordCowCow 840]

Usually Penelope would jump at the chance to tell Citron her knowledge about the flowers. The only reason she didn't was her close study of the statue before her. The gem, in particular, which was seemingly flashing. There was certainly something special about it. She reached out a hand without hesitation and touched it. Though nothing seemed to come of it.

It was fascinating but she didn't want to spend too much time on this statue. She heard the door opening and Alois walking through to the other side and tapped Gunther's head. "Down." She said, with a smirk, and Gunther lowered her to the floor.

She strode into the room that Alois had went into and looked around. She had hoped something would stand out as a powerful magic item. Yet she couldn't tell. There was much too much magic in this place that was clouding her senses. It was much like finding a needle in the haystack.

Then she saw the bookshelf at one end and made a beeline for it. Knowledge is power especially in a situation like this.

Instead of books she found parchments, bound in leather, lining the shelves. Slightly disappointing but still likely informative. She started pulling them down and sitting, riffling through them at a rapid pace.

Much of it seemed to be information regarding various ceremonies, lighting torches, pouring wine, and that sort of thing. It was amazing but not entirely surprising. Smaller towns often had their own strange rituals. Though, with her theory, these rituals came with an underlying importance that she felt she had to know.

The majority was simply notes. Information regarding attendance, discussions and meeting times, and that sort of everyday business. The name caller came up a few times again, as well as Dragon Wine, which merely brought the pieces together more firmly. She giggled as she saw how often the mayor complained about Alois in these meetings. "You really must have done something to upset the mayor, didn't you Alois? He sure seems to talk about you a lot. Oh, maybe he actually really likes you!" She giggled at the thought and returned to the writings.

---

Gunther let out a slight sigh as Penelope asked him to set her down. In part he was relieved, not having to worry about the girl falling from up high anymore, but he couldn't help but realize that she was asking him much in the way one would ask a dog to sit.

He couldn't help but laugh at himself as he realized, when she went to the next room, he was following behind her much in the same way a dog would. Well, I suppose people do often call Knights dogs of the royal family after all.

Unsurprisingly as Penelope went into the room she went right for the literature. He would leave the research to her. By the time he reached the bookshelf she would have read more than he could hope to in an hour. So he instead went for the door at the other side. With Alois and Penelope, and anyone else who came in, surely they'd scour this room well.

On the other side of the door, across the room, was another much smaller room. There didn't seem to be much in the room beyond a rug. The kind that one would wipe their foot on.

Which made sense as the door on the other side was familiar to him. The realization hit that it was the entrance to the town hall. Nodding to himself he backed away and turned. "Not much in there. Whatever we're looking for has to be here, somewhere..."

---

As time went on Cora became more curious about this place. She didn't remember this room, though she was sure she knew where they were, and she wondered why a place like this was hidden even from her. She knew that the town wasn't on the side of the Goddess but there was obviously something here she didn't know about.

It hurt, honestly, to think that they were keeping secrets from her.

As she paced the pews she glanced over at the badger and beaver. The concern and hurt in her expression wasn't hidden but she looked away quickly.

What had she been protecting all this time? It wasn't just the town, clearly, but something....else. Whatever it was Cora hoped it was worth bringing such troubles to the town. She hoped it was worth the secrecy.

But she wasn't so sure she could imagine what that might be.

[Skaia 578]

After Alois had gone into the room, the boy briefly looked around in his mission to find whatever magic anchor thing it was they were looking for...or anything that could be taken as incriminating. At first glance, the boy thought that the room was something of a larger version of what the mayor's house was like. His attention, however, was taken up more by the familiar sight of Histian fire. The boy had no idea where it was gotten from, but the only other place he had seen it was a secret vault underground in the biggest city of all of Histia. Needless to say, that it was in this backwater village's church had it was certainly a point of interest for the boy but he wasn't really able to inspect it further at the moment. 

So, instead he continued to get closer to the table as he saw something red seemingly behind it. Though he was curious about what it was, he was only left with more questions than answers as the red seemed to be nothing but an enormous collection of flowers. So enormous that Alois had couldn't actually even see the floor with how many were piled up. Not all of them were red, and while some looked familiar to those in the room he had just been in, there were some that different as well. Not that Alois knew the first thing about flowers or why there were so many here.

As he pondered on this, the boy perked up as he heard the princess speak to him. Turning to see that she had made herself occupied with the books, to no surprise, before scoffing at her comment. "Yeah, he and I were best buddies, didn't you know? Me being a model villager an all." The boy's tone was dripping with sarcasm before adding on, "but it's not my fault he's always wrong about everything and easily annoyed." As he said this, Alois became more pensive, thinking on Penelope's comment again. Though his thoughts briefly went back what he learned in the Mayor's house, he quickly shook those thoughts off before saying, "hey you're an expert on flowers and the stuff right? Care to check some out and put that genius to the test?"

Tsetseg watched on warily as Penelope continued to climb the reptilian statue, but was relieved to see that nothing seemed to be wrong once she got off. With that out of the way, the girl looked around, marveling at the architecture while still feeling overall on edge about where they were. Seeing someone feel similarly, the girl made her way over to where Cora was. "Do you not like wyverns too?" As the girl bluntly asked Cora this, she then proceeded to nod saying, "I get it, I get it. They're scaly, and snarly and rawwr. And being in a place that's like a huuuge wyvern shrine is just weird. Right?"

[Wind Rider 10]

The sound of shifting stone caught Sienna's attention, the stone at the top of the ladder was actually moving as Tsetseg fiddled with it. So it was a trap door after all, no puzzle required. Sienna was the last to actually go up the ladder as she was a bit behind everyone, but was equally surprised as everyone else was when she made it up the ladder. An altar of some sort stood before the group, some kind of chapel with large, extravagant reptilian statues placed around the place. Or... More specifically, dragon statues.

Was this a shrine to this Great Dragon the princesses were talking about, or something else entirely? Either way, Sienna couldn't shake an eerie feeling she was getting from this place, it was making the fur on her tail stand on end. Looking back at the humans turned animals, they seemed to have taken a more wary stance. Staring down Edrick and Ciela, odd... Very odd...

Sienna backed off toward Edrick, not taking her eye off the strange emerald statue. "This... Is really strange... A building like this being in a small village." She said. It wasn't directly said to Edrick, but it was enough for him to overhear her comment.

[Tiamat's Circus 117]

Dragonflowers, one of the others called the flowers on the table, by the cup. Citron herself was mostly was focused a bit more on the cup itself, and the fact that Licorice mentioned she had smelled wine in said cup. Crossing her arms, Citron couldn’t help but feel like she was missing something, some greater significance of the cup and the flowers; but she was kind of getting used to that feeling by now.. “So… Do you think it was for some sort of, religious ceremony? Or something? Or that it could be related to why we're here?” She asked aloud, glancing around.

That is, until her ears caught wind of something. The rude girl, speaking, yet again, slandering wyverns, yet again! It was enough that she had done it before, and kept giving her strange looks-- And she had wanted to be civil about this, maybe sort out their differences later, but…  “Hey!” She turned on her heels, pointing towards the girl. “Wyverns are NOT Snarly! They’re screechy at most, and they generally only do that if they feel threatened! Y’know, threatened by people like YOU, who hate them for no reason!” She called out, with more vigor than she’d had before, as if a nerve had been struck. “And even if it IS a weird shrine, don’t go blaming it on wyverns, either!” She added, pointing upwards towards the archway. “Because if you look at it! It, has, four, legs!” She explained, crossing her arms. “And wyverns, only have two.” She huffed, crossing her arms. “So it isn’t a wyvern. It’s some sort of… Non-wyvern thing.” She murmured, furrowing her brow.

---

Peaches, frankly, was just glad that the very, very brave Doe was leaving her presence. As much as it was interesting to have something to do, no potential prey should be that eager to interact with her, let alone get as close to a predator as they did. Because if they do, they probably have some reason not to be scared of the predator. And that’s terrifying.

 

Now, if only Citron, or one of the others who had given her scritches earlier, would return… Then she’d be truly happy. At least for the next, fifteen or so minutes, until she was hungry again.

[Asriel Dreemurr 38]

Edrick had been quiet so far, once they made their way up into the space above the cellar. His gaze flicking this way and that every so often as he stood there with his gaze locked on the emerald-eyed statue in front of him. Perhaps the group would have thought he felt right at home in this place. At just a cursory glance he had thought himself in a chapel to Inera, the way the structure was arrayed around them. But the imagery around him had caught his attention almost immediately. The four-legged, winged, serpentine creatures depicted in the statuary, the stained glass that he had difficulty making out with clarity from where he stood, the snapdragons on the altar. Everything about this place was wrong in all the right ways to set him off, so that he could be seen openly gripping ever tighter at his spear until he was threatening to either hurt himself or damage the wood. Or both. He knew what he was looking at when he saw that statue, it had been a feature of his nightmares as a child and ever been synonymous with all things evil in the teachings of the priests.

"Dragon," Link beat him to saying it aloud, even if the soldier had muttered it. The Great Dragon. The source of all that was wrong with the world...or so he had been led to believe. Here, standing before it in effigy, he could feel a combination of fear and anger building up in him that threatened to make him lose his lunch. And yet...there was also doubt. Doubt about if this creature was truly as evil as he had been led to believe, especially in the context of doubt of The Goddess's goodness. He almost felt dizzy, and with the storm of doubts and fears swelling up inside of him as they were he began to sway on his feet. If there ever was a time to regret that he had finished off his Zeilla back in Ithome it was now. The others seemed to be spreading out and taking things in, but he was stuck in place. And might be for some time.

"This... Is really strange... A building like this being in a small village." Sienna had spoken up, loud enough that it caught his attention and had him turning his head. Oh if she only knew. This place...aside from the subject of the statuary at least, was very much like the villages in Pontus. Though their chapels were often more plain. He overheard a bit of what Citron was saying, and catching the end of the comment he decided to butt in.

"We're looking at The Great Dragon." He said, his voice shaky as could be. "What a statue of it's doing here in... a place like this I can't even begin to guess." He began to shakily approach the statue, using the haft of his spear to support him in the process until he was within what might well be considered striking distance. Either of him onto it with his spear or...Goddess forbid, the Dragon upon him. He took to clutching his devotional icon again in his free hand while looking at it.

"Mă puteți auzi?" He asked, as if expecting the statue to respond. Though if there was any statue that was going to respond, it would be this one. So he thought anyways...

• "Can you hear me?"

[Saikazo 241]

Shiro wasn't sure what to expect when they emerged from the hole in the ground, but it seemed to be some sort of... place of worship? There were pews and a giant statue... he supposed that this was a place that the humans gathered to pray to their gods. But why would there be a hidden passage leading all the way over here in the first place? That didn't make much sense to him.

Everyone went their separate ways, some examining the statue, which Shiro decided to do as well. However, he decided his method of searching would be a little more direct. He carefully grabbed onto the statue and began to climb up it, aiming to get to the top and look around it, to see if there was anything hidden out of sight on its back. He also took the time to note how dusty the statue was. If it was really dusty, that would imply people haven't been here for a while, but if it wasn't, there obviously people had been here and cleaning it recently. He only hoped he found some important clues.

[Cheshire Toon 141]

---

---

"Hmm, you're just full of surprises, aren't you?" Licorice gazed at the mercenary for a few seconds. 

Link shrugged. “Some names start to stick out when you’ve spent as much time in the sick tent as I have,” he said truthfully. His duty as a Night Wolf had put him in harm’s way more often than most soldiers, and that predictably lead to frequent injuries. 

Licorice continued to explain that they were also known as dragonflowers. Princess Catriona added that it, or more specifically its seeds, were part of the Dragon’s Breath recipe. Edrick was still stuck in front of the statue of the Great Dragon, Shiro had started to climb, and the newcomer and Tsetseg were having some kind of argument about a four-legged wyvern. Link felt useless. He had nothing to add to the situation; no knowledge, no idea where or how to begin searching for this “anchor”, or even really what the anchor was besides a magical object they needed to destroy. People were his speciality. Reading their face, gathering information from them, and more often than not, killing them. There were no faces to read. Nobody was in dire need of slaying. But...

Link turned his attention toward Cora. Still wandering the pews, she looked confused and upset. He would be willing to bet his coin purse that she hadn’t known the room existed either. That didn’t mean she didn’t know anything though. Darius’ voice echoed in his head, saying, “the best kind of informants are the ones that don’t even realize what they know.”

“Cora,” Link said, having made his way over to her. “Are you alright? You looked sick for a moment.”
 

[Sethera 290]

“So… Do you think it was for some sort of, religious ceremony? Or something? Or that it could be related to why we're here?” Citron asked aloud, glancing around.

"Perhaps," Catriona replied. "However, in Galtea at least, it is a luxury drink. I have had a little of it myself once." She frowned. "Though I do not think I shall try it again anytime soon."

As Citron turned to Tsetseg, preoccupied with something the archer had said, the lord turned her attention to the others in the room. To the side, both the badger and beaver seemed to relax slightly as Edrick didn't end up doing anything aside from talking with the others and taking everything in. Finally taking their gaze off him, they divided their attention between Cora and the rest of the group. While the badger did not seem overly concerned with the militia girl's reaction to everything, the beaver did. Approaching Cora, it nudged against her leg and let out what sounded like a low coo. If the girl looked down she would see the beaver looking up at her with wide eyes for a few seconds before turning away in sudden embarrassment. It then waddled away to the end of the aisle.

The badger, on the other hand, seemed more worried about the statue, and those inspecting it. Clomping over to where Shiro was beginning to scale the thing, it let out a couple sharp barks in warning before giving Edrick a side eye at hearing the boy speak his mother tongue.

Meanwhile, the statue didn't seem to have taken any damage from Shiro's actions, it being large enough and strong enough to withstand the weight of another. The frog would find no trace of dust on it. In fact, there was nothing about it that seemed out of place at all...until he got to the back side. There, on the back of the head, was a strange symbol--a circle with a swirl in the center. Judging from the marble dust scattered around the edges, it looked to have been carved recently.

BGM

It was while watching this rather amusing tableau, with Shiro almost hanging off of the statue, that Edrick would see the statue's eyes glimmer with a strange blue light. Shortly after, he would hear a strange humming noise emanating from all around him, but it seemed to mainly come from his front.

The others would feel it too, though the strength of it seemed to vary depending on where they stood in the hall. Gunther, who stood at the far end, would feel it the least, while Shiro, Alois, and Penelope would feel it the most.

"What is happening?" Catriona waited for one of Penelope's witty remarks before remembering she was in the other room. Still, if anybody knew what was causing this, it would be her sister...or Licorice. Actually, if the Protean's actions were anything to go by, she knew exactly what was going on.

The fox had turned as white as a sheet. "I knew it," she muttered to herself. "I would recognize that signature anywhere." Licorice shook her head frantically. "Can't go against...can't stay..." She turned on her heel and fled for the main door, ears flattened and tail puffed up in fear.

The humming grew in volume, the sound causing the building to practically vibrate...until it stopped. At the same time, the statue began to glow a pale blue, its eyes more like aquamarines than emeralds now. Alois and Penelope would also see a flash of blue light from amongst the bouquets, but they wouldn't have much time to investigate it as they would then hear a loud sound from the other room.

Those in front of the statue would bear full witness to what happened next as the glow began to die down. With a crunching noise, the statue began to move. First, its eyes, now a pale blue, flashed as if lit from within. Next, it raised one of its front feet from the base where it stood. The foot hung there for a second, as if giving the onlookers time to register what was happening, before stomping back down with another crunch as a crack formed in the base. The statue flapped its wings then, and, as if suddenly noticing Shiro on its back, crouched down before bouncing back up in a heave, throwing the Protean off. What looked to be muscles rippled underneath its scaly, but still calcified body as it shook itself free of residual marble dust like a dog. Its serpentine tail undulated up and down as its head turned from side to side in birdlike motions, tongue flicking in and out. But it soon froze as one of its gemstone eyes caught sight of Edrick. And then it opened its mouth and roared , pausing briefly before roaring once more, shifting itself with a crunch as it turned to face the boy fully.

"What in the seven hells...how?!" Catriona gasped before whirling to face the badger. "Did you know it could do this?!" she demanded.

The badger shook its head frantically and began to waddle down the center hallway as fast as it could. The beaver, however, stood at the head of the aisle where Cora, Link, and Tsetseg were, hissing at the statue while slapping its tail against the ground.

"Whether you knew about it or not, it seems as if this is no ordinary statue. Either that or--" the woman cut herself off as the statue reared itself back before its head lunged forward with whiplike speed. Straight toward Edrick.

--

Outside, anybody in the vicinity of the town hall would hear loud roars coming from within the building.

---

OOC

Spoiler

Battle Map

Battle time! Even though this technically isn't a chapter main battle or a map battle, it is a battle with a map. It almost wasn't going to be, though, but I decided to not be lazy.

Characters are represented as round "tokens" the color of their dialogue with the first letter of their name in the middle. Animals are represented as smaller tokens the color of their fur--Acantha is brown, and Dresogon is gray and white. Speaking of, I was tempted to write the badger and beaver as B and B but decided to use their real names since everybody else in this map is represented by their names.

Let me know if I positioned any of your characters in the wrong place. Ciela and Adelheid, however, are in random spots at the moment.

Original map assets and bases by Ross McConnell.
Map assembly, town hall rearrangements/edits/recoloring, original statue, and character tokens by Sethera.

Edited January 31, 2020 by Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd

[Cheshire Toon 141]

 

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---

 

Link was pulled away from the conversation by a loud crunch behind him. He whipped around to see what could be making such a noise, but what he saw rooted him to the spot, his brain frantically trying to make sense of it. The statue of the Great Dragon had seemingly come to life. “. . .  Spirits,” he whispered, unable to stop himself as Licorice raced by, her face painted with terror. 

It was the bloodcurdling roar that broke the spell on him. Link ripped his Slag Blade free and hurdled over the pews, years of training instinctively pushing his body into motion. “Edrick, move!” he screamed loudly enough that his throat ached. No one was close enough to help the kid. He hoped with everything he had the boy was fast enough to get out of the way, because the jaws on that creature looked more like knives carved of stone. 

Why had he moved? Why had he gone to speak with Cora? Why in the seven hells was he so stupid?
 

Edited January 31, 2020 by Cheshire Toon

[Wind Rider 10]

Sienna eyed Edrick and Shiro as they started interacting with the statue, well... More like Edrick was interacting with it and Shiro was climbing all over it. Then, as if in response, the statue literally started to hum to life, vibrations echoing throughout the entire building. "W-wha... What is happening!?" Sienna had to crouch to keep her balance. She then noticed Licorice bolt out of the room, a look of fear visible on her face. "Uh, Licorice? Wait!" Sienna took off after her for a split second before hearing a loud crunch. She stopped in her tracks and turned around to see the large statue... MOVING!?

The stone creature shook the dust off it and had immediately turned it's attention to Edrick, letting out a loud roar at him. Link had rushed towards the creature in an instant, more than likely trying to grab it's attention from Edrick. Following Licorice wasn't the priority anymore, Sienna grabbed her fire stone and transformed. "Things just went from bad to worse..." She mumbled as she bared her fangs at the living statue.

[LordCowCow 840]

Penelope let out a snicker at Alois's obvious sarcasm. "I always knew you were a good little trooper yes, so polite and obedient all the time."

"hey you're an expert on flowers and the stuff right? Care to check some out and put that genius to the test?"

"A test? There's never been a test I haven't passed. Bring it on." Though after Penelope said that some sort of humming start. She paused what she was doing and slowly got to her feet. Looking at Alois inquisitively. Then there was the rumble. Followed by a crunch and a roar.

She glanced over at the flowers that were glowing with a frown. But she had to see what was happening out there. "Come on, something's wrong." Penelope said to Alois as she exited the room.

"I can't leave you all alone for one moment can I?" Penelope said, trying to smother the fear with a confident joke. What in the world happened? Some sort of defense mechanism? But why was it triggered now?

She noticed it going for Edrick and a theory popped into her mind. Whatever the case, though, it seemed they would have to try and fight. It looked powerful, and durable, but perhaps her magic could cut through.

Holding the Elwind tome in one hand she gestured in front of her and let loose a large blade of wind. Targeting the statue's wings. She didn't know if it would make a difference but she knew that such magic would work best on the more fragile parts of flying creatures. Hopefully the same theory applied in this case.

---

He hadn't even had enough time to leave the small room before he started hearing noises, and seeing lights, from back where the others had been. "Oh no, what did they do now..." He muttered as he went through the doorway, took several steps forward, and froze.

Was that the statue? Was it moving? More than moving it seemed to be attacking. His eyes went to the target of the statue's ire and, oddly, felt a hint of understanding. Or at least a conclusion that seemed to make sense to him. Edrick must have done something, something related to the Goddess, that upset whatever guardian this place had.

While he felt an odd sort of kinship with the statue, how long must it have been standing guard here waiting for its time to act, he knew he couldn't just stand around. Especially as he saw Penelope attack the thing.

So he started forward and fumbled for his weapon. "Anyone who can't hurt that thing get behind me!" he called out.

---

“Are you alright? You looked sick for a moment.”

Truly, she wasn't. Cora was growing more and more nervous as these people scoured this area. She didn't know what she should feel. Who she could trust. "I...don't know." Cora responded, biting her lip. She didn't want to explain to this stranger that she was starting to, herself, feel more a stranger in this place.

When Cora felt the beaver's nudge she looked down and into the animal, who was certainly not acting animal-like at this point, and felt a small smile cross her face. Her friend, at least she thought of her as a friend, always was the type to try, not very well, to hide her feelings and this was no exception. If she could expect anyone to be honest it would be her, even unintentionally, yet...

Her thoughts were driven from her head as the statue made its move. She stared in shock as the creature moved. What was this? Did the village contain such a beast? Was this what they were hiding?

One glance at the mayor made her question. He seemed frightened, and shocked, just like the rest of them.

Right. Okay. Well.

She grabbed her sword. She was trembling, her hands were sweaty, but she kept a hold of her blade. There was only one thing to do. She was the only one left of the town to protect everyone. What this was and why it was here she didn't know but it was clearly dangerous. And right now everyone in town were practically defenseless.

"For Phar!"

So she ran forward at the thing, raising her sword up, ready to bring it down on the statue's head.

---

Spoiler

So Gunther on the map would be about where Licorice is now, to the left of her.

Penelope by the right door

Cora will go as far forward as she can, that's up to Sethera and everyone else how far she gets

 

[Skaia 578]

Exchanging looks with Penelope as the rather loud and foreboding crunching noises started to reverberate through the building, it was clear that something was amiss. Looking back, as he saw Penelope's eyes go to the flowers, he saw that they were  also now glowing. Wonderful. As the princess the mentioned trouble being afoot, the boy sighed saying, "what could possibly be going wrong this time?" 

Following her out, Alois saw what was possibly going wrong. Seeing the statue of the Great Dragon moving around and flying Alois could only stop and stare for a moment at it. Regaining his composure, though, Alois looked to see where the statue was moving towards. Seeing the Pontic boy standing right in its path, Alois couldn't help but shout, "Eddy!" In spite of the severity of the situation, though, his tone was much more accusatory then it was concerned. With everyone else moving on for the attack, Alois drew out his hand axe and looked at the beast he was fighting. He wasn't really sure how effective it would be, given the statue was still made of stone,  but all the same he tossed the blade at the creature's neck. 

Tsetseg looked over towards the Isaurian as the girl interjected on her comment about wyverns. "They're screechy and snarly and scary and teethy and all kinds of rawry." The girl retorted. "They do it all the time when they're the ones doing all the threatening and eating and stuff too!" Crossing her arms indignantly and letting out a huff as she pouted, the girl then looked over to the statue as the Isuarian claimed that it was not a wyvern. As Edrick came over and pointed out it was the Great Dragon, Tsetseg seemed tripped up for a moment and pondered on this new information. After thinking on it for a moment, clearly confused by this, Tsetseg muttered aloud, "so the Great Dragon is some kind of super wyvern...hmmmm..." 

Her thoughts, however, were interrupted as she looked over towards the moving statue. As it seemed to roar and begin charging towards Edrick, Tsetseg shouted, "see! That was totally a super snarl!" In spite of her current argument, however, Tsetseg grabbed her bow and nocked an arrow. With everyone else converging on it, Tsetseg knew that wyverns and other flying creatures were always annoying for people with swords and other weapons to fight. So, she would just have to try to make it not. Pulling back her arrow, the girl let it loose and fly towards the wing of the stone super wyvern. 

[Otaku-sama 31]

Abdul cursed his luck as the deteriorating walls of the isolated village came into sight. Clearly, this was not one of the formidable fortress towns of Western Pontus as the guide said he would have already encountered. Abdul already had an inkling that the guide was not to be trusted, but he was the only one willing to talk to him and give directions to Pontus. Unfortunately, the rest of the mountain villagers were too suspicious of him to offer anything more than dirty looks, the result of generations of superstition and inbreeding so common in isolated villages. Abdul expected nothing less of Phar as he urged his camel towards the gates.

As he approached the village, Abdul could not shrug off the feeling of being watched. He knew that the woods in northern Galtea were infested by bandits, but every time he turned his head in an attempt to find whatever was watching him, he would only see normal forest fauna. Indeed, every time he turned his head, he saw an animal looking at him with an almost human gaze before taking off into the undergrowth. Clearly, the lonesome road was starting to get on his nerves. As he crossed the threshold, he hoped that there would be some place for him to rest more hospitable than the village stable.

Much to his dismay, the village was not only isolated, but apparently completely abandoned. In his experience, the arrival of an outsider as exotic as himself would cause all but the most xenophobic of village rustics to come out of their homes to observe the travelling spectacle. However, Abdul found no such welcome other than the sparse wildlife that were taking advantage of the deserted homes. Maybe the ever-present bandits had finally drove out its residents and already took everything of value. Perhaps something more sinister was at work. If the latter were the case, he would get to the bottom of it.

Dismounting and hitching his trusty steed to a fence post in the village square, he walked towards the largest building in sight, which apparently served as a town hall. It was the only building in the whole town that was made of stone, standing in the centre of the village like a monolith in a forest clearing. Even though the villagers had put all of the artistic ability they could muster into a single building, its shabby and poorly maintained exterior suggested a woeful ignorance of aesthetic canon. However, when he could start making out the details of the building, he started to question his assumptions.

The windows of the building appeared to be stained glass. While simple and gaudy stained glass patterns were not unusual to find in small village churches, it was quite unusual to find them in a town halls. Stranger still was it to find stained glass of such exquisite quality in such a building. While the glass was covered in a thick layer of dust and dirt, Abdul’s close inspection showed detailed patterning that suggested a flowing, curved form of some animal. This close inspection of the glass was interrupted by the faint sounds of voices within the building.

Abdul placed his ear onto the glass in an unsuccessful attempt to make out what was being said. All that he could make out was that there were multiple people within the building.

“Interesting...Why would the village be taking shelter here?” Abdul muttered to himself.

He could not dismiss the possibility of this building being a home to the bandits that drove off the previous tenants. Grabbing the spine of his Luna Tome, he slowly approached the heavy wooden doors of the building, keeping his tome at the ready behind his back. With a deep breath to steady his nerves, he knocked politely at the door. After a moment of silence, he tried again, this time more insistent.

“Hello friends! Would you be willing to give a humble traveler some shelter?”

Instead of a response in a human voice, his greeting was answered by the roaring of a massive animal inside. Abdul jumped in surprise, backing away from the door before regaining his composure. Not only were there people in there, but apparently some monstrous beast!

“By heaven, just what are those people doing in there!”

Abdul rushed up the steps and pounded his fist against the door, hoping he could be heard over the commotion inside.

“Are you in danger?! I can help! Open the door and I can help!”

[Tiamat's Circus 117]

Citron wanted to pull out her hair at the rude, and annoying girl’s replies to her words; completely disregarding her own shallow arguments made to combat theirs! There was some saying her grandfather had mentioned, something about not fighting someone on their home-turf or not fighting an idiot but…! She couldn’t really recall that right now, crossing her arms. Something about the way the girl insisted that she and her wyvern were evil was just.. Infuriating! It made her want to just-

Citron’s train of thought was cut off by the deafening roar which snapped her back to reality. Wheeling around, Citron’s eyes grew as she watched the stone statue, which one of them was climbing on and the other was examining… Begin to move?! Standing, stock-still, Citron found herself unable to move as she watched the statue move. She desperately wanted to follow as she watched Licorice run by, doing their best to leave, get out; it made sense, didn’t it? A moving statue didn’t seem all that out of place when compared to people turning into animals, but… Something about it shook her to her core. 

Was it because she now found herself caught off guard? Was that it? She hadn’t been expecting anything bad to suddenly happen, yet here they were,  group staring down an ominous, moving statue… Which was now diving at someone, someone she would consider at least a friendly acquaintance; with everyone else trying their best to help. One of them, the armored man, Gunther, even saying to get behind him… But Citron? Citron wouldn't move, or rather couldn’t move, legs shaking as she brought a hand up to her chest, eyes locked onto the statue-esq creature, as it lunged at Edrick. 

---

A roar was the first thing to catch Peaches attention, the wyvern’s head whipping away from the entrance of the building; prompting her to bare her teeth in the direction of the sound. Glancing around, she didn’t see any beast, but she certainly heard it, even if distantly. While the doe from before had made soft sounds, and despite being odd, scary even, showed no hostility, whereas Peaches recognized this noise. That was the cry of an animal looking for blood, looking to protect itself and finish it’s hunt, and it was in the town somewhere. In the same town Citron would be in later, once she came out of the large house; which would mean that whatever was making that noise, was potentially trying to hunt Citron.

Glancing at the house for just a moment more, Peaches turned back to the source of the noise, a building towards the center of town, and began to make her way towards it; taking flight if even just for a moment to make the distance trivial. When she had arrived, she was met not with the animal making a ruckus, but by someone at the door, who looked, from her opinion, to be trying to get in; possibly to attack the same thing she was after, to cease it’s hunt. Whether they were friend-or-foe, Peaches landed just short of the door and reared back, readying herself to ram the door, before letting out a warning screech. Hopefully, if they were friend, they would catch her meaning and move; and were they foe… Surely she could ram them too, she reasoned in her lizard brain.

[Saikazo 241]

The frog ignored the cries of the  badger, not caring if something happened to the statue. It was just a hunk of rock, they could probably make a new one. He instead looked around it, trying to see if he could find some sort of clue. Maybe it moved, hiding a room or something. What he found was a little more interesting... a symbol was carved into its back... the dust around it seemed to indicate it was carved recently... why was it here?

He got what seemed to be an answer soon after as the statute came to life. What the hell?! Was this some sort of magic? He didn't get much of a chance to try to strike what may have been a weak point, as the dragon threw him off, causing the frog to fall off, crashing into the ground. With a groan, he stood back up, panting slightly as the wind was knocked out of him. The dragon was quick to flex its muscles, taking a dive at Edrick. Other people began to attack it, and Shiro, well, he wasn't going to get close to the flying monster before it got to Edrick. What was he supposed to do anyways? It wasn't like he had a weapon to use against the flying beast.

Wait... flying... flying... fly. This was nothing but a giant stone fly, right? Right.

The Protean quickly transformed, having no time to waste. The second he was in his giant frog form, he opened his mouth, letting his tongue fly out and wrap around the tail of the dragon. When it connect, he stood his ground, hoping to immobilize the dragon for even a second, in order to help Edrick avoid the attack and let the others' attacks land. He only hoped he was strong enough not to get dragged along.

Edited February 11, 2020 by Saikazo

[The Last Occultist 16]

Ciela

As expected, the group's natural affinity on facing against the weirdest sort of situation finally reared its head for real, literally, as a statue that the group was examining began to roar and dive forward at Edrick. And so, in seconds, chaos erupted within the building that they had somehow found themselves in. However, something distracted Ciela from the actual commotion happening thanks to the statue.

It was Licorice.

Perhaps it was because of the events of the day before as she waited for Licorice to shake off the influence from her aphrodisiac, as well as her wondering about what was her friend (?) up to with her, but Ciela had been paying more attention to the presence of the black fox, and furthermore, how she had been more and more hesitant on continuing the investigation of the village. 

And now, she suddenly panicked and attempted to run away, despite being one of the most experienced soldiers the group had. Even Sienna stood her ground. Something was clearly amiss, and so Ciela for now ignored the fight against the beast itself in favor of following Licorice who attempted to run to the back of the church.

However as she did so, she also heard the voice of someone calling out from outside.

On 1/31/2020 at 10:46 PM, Otaku-sama said:

“Are you in danger?! I can help! Open the door and I can help!”

"I don't know how to open it, damn it!"

 

---

 

Adel

Chaos erupted inside of the room. The statue that the group was checking had somehow turned alive, and it was now attempting to attack Edrick. This group really was a magnet of weirdness, Adel thought as she prepared her lance and moving herself into position. There was only one enemy right now, however, it was not clear yet what it was able to do or what else might happen about it. With the chaotic ball that was everyone's attempt to react to it, Adel focused on moving herself around to get into a position that had not yet been covered by the others. 

For something made out of stone like it, Adel guessed that something like Fire magic would be more useful than weapons of iron. Which would mean that Sienna should be the one attacking it. However, she herself had readied herself. If the opportunity presented itself after the dust settled and the results of everyone's attacks became clear, then naturally Adel would launch a fast strike on it...or at least the best she could manage with her current condition. 

 

 

[Asriel Dreemurr 38]

For a moment, Edrick found himself relaxing. He was just being ridiculous. It was a statue, of course it couldn't hear him! He was just beginning to turn away from it to join the search for whatever else was in the building when something caught his eye. The light glimmering in those gemstone eyes of it had him turn back, his heart already beginning to race before he had even the time to register that humming sound. It had to be magic, and if it was magic then maybe he had done something do much worse than he thought. For a moment he began to panic as the humming grew in volume and began to shake the room, or so it seemed to him. He had barely been able to fend off the Awakened, and now here he was about to be struck down by the only power that could equal The Goddess herself! The bright blue glow from behind those emerald eyes frightened him as much as anything in the world could, because what would become of his soul if he were struck down by a dragon?

And then, from somewhere deep inside of him, defiance raised its head. He had crossed the Plains of Locris in Winter. Charged headlong into a horde of bandits to save a group of strangers. Stood before the Councilors of Ithome and not flinched. Saved two mysterious peoples from those who would have destroyed them. And yes, he had survived in the face of what looked for all the world to be Inera's Wrath. And just like all of those times save the first, he was not alone. He and his friends had proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they could stand against anything the world could throw at them. As the rock began to crumble away from the beast in front of him he grit his teeth, and when it turned at him and roared he spun his spear in his hands once and struck the floor with the blunt end of its haft.

"Edrick, move!"

"Eddy!"

He wasn't stupid, though. The beast heralded its strike at him by a country mile, and he was already moving when it lunged down at him. Two steps to the right put him, hopefully, just out of the way of its lunging bite. It also put him in the perfect position to counter-attack. Both feet turned towards the dragon, his lance turned in his hands with its iron head pointing straight at the dragon's neck.

"You missed, you overgrown lizard!" He shouted so loudly his voice cracked in the first syllable of "lizard" as he all but jumped forward in his own lunge. Link taught him well, and he'd already grasped that against an enemy this big they needed to seize the momentum in this fight right at the start. 

[Sethera 290]

BGM for this battle

Those who had begun running from the back of the room would not make it to the front in time to stop the statue's attack. Link had just barely dashed past Catriona when marble fang met human flesh--or would have, had it not been for a couple of factors.

First was Sienna's transformation. As soon as the Protean had shifted into her more bestial form, the statue paused, the blue glow dying from its gemstone eyes. One second passed, then two, before it flared to life once more, turning back toward Edrick. Next was the large blade of wind heading toward its wings. While they did little more than nick the wings, it was still enough for the statue to crane its head toward her, though its attention was quickly diverted when Alois, then Tsetseg, attacked it as well. Unfortunately, their attacks had about the same effect as the princess's.

"How are we supposed to do this?" Catriona muttered. She and her allies were used to fighting flesh-and-blood enemies, not stone statues! Still, she couldn't sit back and let Edrick get chomped to bits either.

Behind her, Cora was running up, sword raised high, the beaver following closely behind. The badger, however, had kept its course toward the back of the room, only stopping after reaching Gunther. Its furry form shivered in fear from its position behind the knight. Behind Catriona, Citron seemed equally paralyzed by fear. Understandable, Catriona thought. She's a civilian, unused to fighting. I'm an experienced soldier, and even I am at a loss for what to do right now. It was disheartening to see how little of an effect their attacks were having on this thing.

Ahead, Adelaide attempted to circle around, keeping out of the firing range, but waiting for an opportunity to strike. And it seemed like she would get one, as soon enough Shiro, now transformed, let his tongue fly out and wrap around the statue's tail. While the Protean wasn't strong or heavy enough to stop it entirely or hold his ground, he was strong enough to force it to pause for a second, though the next second he would feel himself being lifted from the ground as the statue whipped its tail back and forth, roaring in rage.

However, that single second of distraction was enough, as Edrick had time enough to step to the side and go in for his own attack. Unfortunately, the damage was minimal at best, and seemed to do nothing but make the statue angrier as it let out another roar, its gemstone eyes glowing with that unearthly blue light. Heedless of the tongue wrapped around its tail, it lunged forward once more. This time, however, it was more than a mere movement of the head, but a full-bodied tackle, its feet kicking off from the marble base. Its wings snapped open as it managed to maneuver itself into a divebomb straight toward the lancer, an action that, with its stone body, would be similar to being struck by a boulder. At this point, Shiro would have to let go or be dragged along with it.

In the back, Licorice seemed unaware or uncaring of her surroundings as she sprinted toward the doors. They had just barely begun to close from Gunther's entrance when she flung them open once more. It was then that she finally registered two voices coming from beyond the second set of doors. One sounded a bit raspy and strange, but still human, but the other one sounded positively unhuman. While neither Ciela nor Licorice would have heard this particular sound before, the quality of it sounded familiar.

Without hesitation, the fox transformed into her beast form and rammed the door with her shoulder. When the door managed to hold despite all of that, she hit it once more, then again, and so on, before finally pausing as she panted for breath, blood oozing from a wound on her shoulder.

Through all of that, the door managed to remain standing, but it had not survived Licorice's assault unscathed. The wood was heavily cracked and splintered, the metal hinges bent backwards from the force of the fox's blows as she had, partway through, focused her attention on them. It looked as if one last hit would finish the job.

---

OOC

Spoiler

Updated maps will be posted on the Discord server.

You are allowed to be a bit looser with your actions here than in a normal "map battle." Unlike a map battle, I will not be keeping track of damage and HP through the combat log, but you can infer how much damage your characters and the statue have taken from posts such as this one.

Also, in case it wasn't clear, you all are fighting a literal marble statue.

Edited March 4, 2022 by Sethera

[LordCowCow 840]

The town guard wasn't concerned for her well-being. She was ready to face this creature regardless of the danger. At least that's why she was telling herself as she advanced. Her sword raised and ready to bring down on it once she got closer. Truly, especially after seeing the others try to attack, she didn't have much confidence. She was strong she knew but even so what could her blade do to that?

Nonetheless she kept going. She reached the altar before something clicked in her mind. Two of the strangers had vanished. In their place now were a pair of giant animals. She paused in her attack as she stared at the two, dumbfounded. One of them had mentioned turning into animals before, she remembered, but this was something entirely different.

They were much larger, much fiercer, than the average animal. It wasn't like what had happened to the villagers but something totally different. So shocked was she that she momentarily forgot about the monstrous statue that was standing before them.

What in the world was going down in this town?

---

Gunther watched with dismay as his companions seemed to do nothing more than chip the statue. Though it seemed that they had kept it from being able to fully attack at least. He thought perhaps he should get in there too but what would he do? Their weapons weren't doing anything. And to add even more to worry about...

“Are you in danger?! I can help! Open the door and I can help!”

It sounded like someone was trying to come in. There hadn't been another non-animal person in this entire town besides Cora. Yet suddenly, after this thing comes alive, somebody appears saying they want to help? Gunther wasn't buying it. For all he knew this was the person who started this.

"I don't know how to open it, damn it!"

"Wait, Ciela, don't! We don't know who that is." Gunther said, turning in a panic. He saw Licorice recklessly bashing herself against the door and took a step closer to the door. But he stopped. After all he couldn't exactly stop the woman when she was like this and he'd be likely to get bitten in the process.

He heard the wyvern's shriek and could only hope they would frighten off whoever was on the other side. As it was the Knight looked back and forth between the door and the statue. Uncertain which he should be more concerned with.

---

Penelope watched closely as their attacks landed nearly harmlessly. She had expected such but it distracted the thing. There had been a hope that its moving would mean the creature had turned at least partially into flesh and blood but that didn't seem to be the case.

She noticed the thing's hesitation at Sienna's transformation. Was it somehow confused? Did the magic that brought it to life have something to do with Protean's transformation? Or was it simply trying to analyze the new threat that had appeared?

The princess couldn't help but notice the beast's eyes. And how they flashed, and dulled, at different times. It might not be the source of its power but there was clearly some sort of magic inside of them to cause such a reaction.

So while it focused on the fighters near it she made her way in a wide arc. Nearing closer to where her sister stood. Then, trying for a moment when the beast's head was more still, she launched another attack. This time she sent the wind magic towards the gems. Hoping to either damage them or break them from its stony socket. "Everyone keep it busy but don't stay in one place too long. Its quick but we have to be quicker. We can't let it pin us down."

[Skaia 578]

As Alois caught his axe back on the return, he simply clicked his tongue and grimaced. "Of course that wouldn't work." As it had turned out, the creature was entirely made of stone and their attacks weren't seeming to do much against it. As an axe user, Alois had much more luck with cutting wood than he had stone, and was fairly certain that as things were his axe just wasn't going to cut it.

Alois didn't really know what do in this case, though, as the only way he could think to hurt it was either with a pick or something large and blunt enough to crack it. Naturally, a thing such as convenient as the former didn't exist right here. As for the latter, the thought of the group grabbing the fully armored Gunther and tossing him to bludgeon the dragon statue briefly came to mind. This was followed by Alois wondering if he too was in fact an idiot. Shaking this off, he simply settled for the next best thing. Which was to just keep chucking his axe at the thinnest part of stone there was. And so, the boy, moving a bit back lobbed his axe at the creature's wing. 

Tsetseg, frowned as it had seemed that her arrow did little to inhibit the creature's flying abilities. Tsetseg was very experienced when it came to hunting animals, large animals too. She was not, however, experienced in hunting statue animals. It was a very new territory for the girl, and so she briefly had to reconsider her approach to shooting the creature down. As she looked it, the girl saw the eyes of the creature continuously glow and change color, which got the girl to thinking. Eyes were usually easy to pierce! 

With this newfound theory in place, the girl heard the princess's orders and decided to heed them. Stepping from one pew to the one behind her, the girl readied her bow and frowned a bit as she realized her shot was obstructed. Naturally, the one causing her issues here was the Isaurian lady, who seemed to be standing still. Not only was she in the way from Tsetseg's new firing position, but she was also ignoring her friend's advice. "Hey, hey Isaurian Girl! Penelope said to move so you should be moving!" After calling out  to her, the girl briefly stepped to the side to readjust her aim anyway, before lining up her shot with the stone super wyvern's eye and firing at it. 

[Otaku-sama 31]

Abdul leaned towards the door as he tried to make out what the occupants were saying over the growing din of battle. Whatever had made that bestial roar was clearly not under their control.

"I don't know how to open it, damn it!"
 
This voice was followed by desperate ramming of the door, a repeated dull thumping that indicated a body throwing itself against the unyielding timbers. Despite the clear determination of whatever was trying to knock the door from its hinges, its efforts were mostly in vain as the door held fast despite the wood starting to bow outwards. Abdul backed away from the door as another voice shouted out from within.

"Wait, Ciela, don't! We don't know who that is!”

“What could they fear outside more than whatever was likely trying to kill them inside?” Abdul said to himself incredulously. Before he could think any deeper on this, another monstrous screech echoed through the empty square, this time directly behind him. Abdul spun around with his tome at the ready, coming face-to-face with a wyvern with piercing emerald-green eyes. He had got his answer.

However, instead of the creature’s eyes staring at him with the hungry eyes of a predator, it appeared to be staring past him at the splintering door. Abdul hoped that it was not hungry, but was instead trying to come to the aid of whoever was inside. As the wyvern began to charge, Abdul scrambled out of its path with a yelp, barely managing to keep his balance in his desperate retreat.