The Chosen [IC / Not Accepting / PG-16]

[LordCowCow 839]

"My draken friend may not be too concerned, but I think we would prefer something light and throwable for our eyebrow's sake... if you've got anything that can be shot with a bow, all the better."

The look of disappointment on the halflings' faces were clear to see. "I don't get it." The soot-faced man said. "Bigger explosions is always better. Why settle for less?"

"Shush you, don't call it settling, that's not how you sell things!" The girl shook her head. Clearing her throat she directed her attention back at Lindow. "If you want smaller then you'll get smaller. Go get the greharms." she told the singed hair halfling.

As he ran off she explained to them "They wanted to call them grenades but that doesn't make sense. They don't aid anyone. So I came up with greharms. I think they're what you want."

"Oh, but don't try and shoot them on an arrow. Anything big enough to make a boom would weigh the arrow down anyway. Plus the fire would go out."

"Idiot, they don't need to know that! Ugh this is why I tell you to let me do the talking."

She smiled silently at the group as though she thought they couldn't have heard what she said.

Soon the other brother came around with a wheelbarrow filled with fist-sized round globes with wicks sticking out of them. "Here they are, all the greharms you could possible need! 100 gold each! Oooor ten for 990! You won't find any better deal cause these are the only ones!"

"That's called a monopoly!" The one manning the wheelbarrow said cheerfully.

[Skaia 578]

Ryia was shocked as the halflings had rolled out their biggest and most expensive explosive. The halflings seemed to be proud of their work, though Ryia was struggling to think of what they would even do with something like that. She didn't really know how in need of explosives they were to begin with, but something that heavy duty seemed a bit much for them. Nevermind she couldn't imagine how to even transport it around. She and Reinaan were probably enough to lift it around but that hardly seemed practical. And she didn't want to leave something so huge and dangerous to the mule to carry either. There was also a number of things that could go wrong with something like that. Thankfully, Lindow had declined the offer and she was fairly certain they couldn't afford the explosive to begin with. 

Soon enough they came back with things that were far more portable in size. As they were the only dealer in the area - or further as far as the girl knew - and once more from their enthusiasm in their craft Ryia felt compelled to buy from them at their sale price. No matter how poor a one it was. "Uh, well, those should probably be fine. Um..." The girl continued to think about, still unsure how she felt carrying all of them around. All the same, she and the other did end up buying from them. Giving a short bow to the salesmen she said, "thank you, for your uh, services. Yeah. If we uh, ever need more? Then uh...yeah..." The girl trailed off, unsure if they would ever return to the shop both due to necessity as well as actually being possible. All the same, she smiled and bowed her head once more before exiting. 

As the group began to walk away from the building, Ryia spotted both their fellow chosen and mount. Walking over to them the girl said, "oh, hello Keres. I see you uh, went shopping too." The girl looked towards the cart the mule now had attached to it, giving an approving nod as she did so. "We uh, bought some...greharms..." The girl had a strange feeling about the name, as well as still being entirely unsure on the purchase to begin with. Nevertheless she presented them to the water chosen before saying, "well. Uh, anyway, do you need help with this?" The girl motioned over to the mule, seeing Keres's unloading and reloading efforts from mule to cart. 

[LordCowCow 839]

"So...do you want a name?" Keres asked the mule as she loaded yet another crossbow -why did they have so many- onto the cart. She looked over at the mule who looked over at her. And of course he didn't answer. However Keres heard a voice nonetheless.

"Isn't its name mule?" Flux asked. Having had appeared sometime during Keres's loading of the cart.

"Mule is what it is." Keres answered. "Like you're a spirit. But your name is Flux. I'm a human but my name is Keres."

"Ooooh..." Flux said, drifting around the mule and seemingly captivated by the way its ears twitched as it got close to him. "Does giving him a name help?"

Keres shook her head. "Just thought he'd...like it." she answered, embarrassed despite knowing Flux had no reason to think it strange. "Anyway...I should save my breath."

She still had plenty of things to load and she was already starting to wear herself out. She was sweating under her robe and just when she considered taking it off she heard the others approach.

"We uh, bought some...greharms..."

The way that Ryia said it made Keres wonder if that was something she should understand. Would it be odd if she was confused? She didn't want to seem slow so she just nodded her head and said, somewhat breathlessly. "Yes, I see, greharms."

"well. Uh, anyway, do you need help with this?"

Keres looked at the pile and shook her head. "I'm. Fine. I did this. So I'll...put it away." she said. Though despite this she seemed to be clearly wearing herself out as she picked up yet ANOTHER cursed crossbow and nearly dropped it on her foot.

There was the slightest hint of blush on the girl's face. The closest indication she had shown to visual embarrassment before. "Maybe. Um. A little bit." she mumbled. She looked over at the mule, thinking silently for a moment, then said out of the blue "Parsnip."

[Hollow 21]

Lindow was sure stand a few feet away from Ryia as she strolled through the street holding the ten "greharms" that the halfling trio had provided. After all the dialogue that had been in exchanged in the tent moments prior, he was grateful for the brief silence amongst the three chosen as they exited the scene.

He didn't bother to say anything initially when the they finally reunited with Keres either. As the girls shared a brief greeting, Lindow watched with a bored expression as Keres struggled with one of the crossbows from the groups collection. An offshoot of buyer's gilt tickles his neck, as the man glanced skeptically between the bow he had just bought and the haggard look that Keres had about her.  

With a sigh he skulked over to where Keres's was standing and begun helping her load up the cart. 

"Parsnip." It would have been easy to miss if Lindow hadn't already begun to grow used to catching the girl's chirps and gasps in the wind. "Agreed. I'm starving..." He called over his shoulder as he reached down to pluck up the artifact that they used to traverse the islands. It seemed to have once again regained its power after the destruction of the Demon Gate... meaning that the Chosen were free to leave at any time they pleased. 

Lindow felt himself smiling. Raising the charged teleportation device up for the others to see he said, "Shall we discuss our next move over a meal?"

Edited March 22, 2021 by Hollow

[Doggo 218]

Rich as they were, the chosen weren't made of money. Not that Reinaan had any way of knowing that of course with his limited knowledge of monetary exchange. Still, a highly expensive and very large bomb seemed less than practical even to him. The ten or so smaller bombs they settled on seemed more than good enough and all things considered the boy considered the venture worth it. He lingered a bit in his movements, as if his body was protesting leaving the raging fires scattered about the structure but soon enough he was with Ryia and Lindow back on their way to rendezvous with Keres.

For the water chosen's part she seemed engaged with rearranging the state of affairs with the mule they had been gifted. The creature now pulled a cart behind here where the majority of the things had been moved to rather than directly on its back. The sight was impressive to the boy for a moment if only because it made him think to rearrange his own things with the collection of weapons he rarely used gathering on Kloqah's back. But that was for later, a nice soothing night activity perhaps if the boy didn't get up to any more trouble. Keres said a word the boy wasn't sure he recognized as he rarely made it a point to remember what fruits and vegetables were called. But it must have been some sort of food with how Lindow suggested they discuss things over food.

Reinaan wasn't particularly hungry all things considered. With how much fish they had eaten on the first night here and his slow metabolism he probably didn't need to eat for another day or more yet. But from the exertions of the fights there was definitely a bit of room to top off.

Before long the four Chosen were sat down at a table in a restaurant that decidedly did not smell of fish. Not that Reinaan wouldn't have eaten more fish but this was closer and had some more interesting smells he found worth investigating. Upon entering one of the staff had nervously eyed Reinaan then a plaque that stated time honored tradition of no shirt, no shoes, no service. But of course Reinaan couldn't read and they didn't seem intent on calling a draken out given he was taller than most humans in the room at this point.

"So we can go anywhere now. Maybe somewhere one of us knows pretty well to speed things along. Unless we still wanted to do something here." The boy seemed lost in thought and wholly uncommitted to thinking deeply at the same time while waiting on the food to arrive.

[Skaia 578]

Ryia had stood back a little awkwardly as Keres had asserted that she would take care of loading up the cart herself, trying her best to respect the Water Chosen's wishes but also thinking there was too much for her to do by herself. As the girl struggled with one of their many crossbows, admitting to still needing help, Ryia moved alongside Lindow to aid in her loading difficulties. As the group had loaded the cart entirely, Ryia didn't quite get why Lindow had suddenly declared that he was starving, but it had certainly been a long time since their last proper meal so she could certainly understand the want. The girl frowned a little as he seemed to indicate that they should discuss their next move over it, but knew that it had to come up eventually. 

Following the others, they ended up at a decidedly less fishy restaurant which the girls nose was much more thankful this time around. As they sat down, though, the girl couldn't help but feel sorry for the staff as they seemed incredibly off put by Reinaan's choice of, or lack there of, garb. Giving an apologetic smile to them, she figured she'd tell the draken later about it, but there were more important matters to discuss. As Reinaan brought back up the subject of where to go next, the girl didn't think she could provide any insight on the first part. After all, she was from Haven and there wasn't a demon gate there. Not that leaving was what she wanted to do anyway.

So, instead of letting the conversation get too far to that point Ryia took the initiative to bring up her point. "Well, um, I think that we should stay here. And resolve the matter with the um, the minotaurs." After letting her point sit there for a moment the girl nervously continued saying, "since well, it makes this whole place safer if they can uh, work their differences out, and uh...Even if this isn't demons, it was still caused by the Demon Gate. So I think it's well, still our problem to deal with." The girl also had a feeling after their interactions with the Minotaurs previously, that leaving now after having destroyed the gate would only get things to worsen. Of course there was no guarantee they themselves wouldn't make this worse, but she felt the need to at least solve what was in front of her as best she could. And so, she looked to the others waiting for their responses. 

[LordCowCow 839]

"Agreed. I'm starving..."

Keres was startled by Lindow's words. Right after naming the mule he wanted to eat it? No, no there had to be something she was missing. They needed the mule after all. It helped with their travels for one. Even Lindow would know it was useful enough to keep.

"Shall we discuss our next move over a meal?"

He said this while holding up the teleportation device. Was this him saying that they didn't have need of the mule because they could use the device? The logic was no good but she couldn't be certain it wasn't what he was thinking.

So she hurried to stand between Lindow and Parsnip the mule and glared at Lindow. Though, really, it just looked like she was blankly staring at him. Either way the group made their way past the mule and towards another part of the city.

Relieved, Keres patted the mule on the head. "You're no one's meal." she said and then followed the rest.

--

As they got food, the staff looking uncomfortable, as though unsure if they should speak up about something or not, they started to talk about what they should do next. Ryia made it clear, in her own way, that she wanted to follow up on the minotaur problem.

Keres herself was unsure they should interfere. What if, now that there was no gate, things settled back into how it was before. There was no guarantee without the gate that that group of minotaur would try anything. Still she didn't want to take sides against Ryia. She always seemed to be willing to help Keres and wouldn't it be rude to disagree after all that? She wasn't so sure of that line of thought but she couldn't help but worry.

She did speak up, still, though it wasn't much. "Do...we know if they did anything...harmful?"

[Hollow 21]

Lindow eyed Keres curiously as the she quickly put herself between him and the mule. For a moment the man thought he could sense the slightest sparks of a stare down between them, but it was too hard to read her emotions through that blank stare. Shrugging, he stepped past the water mage with noticeable caution before tucking the teleportation device away on the cart and joining the others in their search for a place to eat. 

When they final sat down at table, Lindow listened intently as Reinaan and Ryia started up the discussion of what their next objective would be. Once again Ryia expressed her interested in dealing with the minotaur tribe, despite the fact that the threat of them stumbling across the Demon Gate was no longer a problem. This didn't come as much as a surprise, but Lindow couldn't help but wonder if the Earth Chosen had taken into account that the tribe would likely be very displeased with them after their past interactions, and even more so once they discover what they did to the Demon Gate. With this in mind, he opened his mouth, only to immediately closed it again when he heard Keres speak up first. 

"Do...we know if they did anything...harmful?"

"From what we've heard, it seems that they've withdrawn from interaction with the town but nothing aggressive..." Lindow said before looking across to Ryia. "yet." Though his outward demeanor was calm, he felt a wicked excitement at the thought of testing the strength the last boss soul had given him. "I'm sure they'd be more than eager to try doing us some harm if we stroll into their camp though."  

Funnily enough, when he said it out loud it didn't sound like too bad of time. Perhaps the group would find themselves gaining even more power if they faced the minotaur of the tribe... at least one of their warriors must have a soul worth harvesting, right? Hell, maybe they all had boss souls! It would be shame not to at least have a gander.

"Hm, could be fun..." He said almost to himself then gave the Earth Chosen a hardy thumbs up. "I'm in. Shall we deal with them tomorrow then?" 

 

Edited April 8, 2021 by Hollow

[LordCowCow 839]

Though they had eventually come to the decision to check out the minotaur tribe there was one thing that they had to do before then.

Sleep.

Each of them realized soon how worn out they were after such a long and harrowing day. And they spent the rest of the day relaxing until night fell and they went into deep sleeps. The next day they gathered up again to set out once more. Madelyn agreed to bring them to the tribe though she seemed somewhat reluctant now that they were rested up to go there.

They encountered Damien before they went but he seemed to be bothered by the suggestion of going there and told them he wouldn't have anything to do with it. Which meant it was Lindow, Reinaan, Ryia, Keres, and Madelyn who ventured to find the minotaur tribe who had been searching for a Demon Gate for their own purposes.

Perhaps ironically they learned that the tribe was set up not far from where the Demon Gate had been hidden. Which spoke to the lengths Madelyn went to steer them away from it.

The village itself was located a stones throw from a river that cut across it and led to a small lake. In lieu of an actual bridge there were stones piled up high in a couple places that let one travel across the narrow river easily. In the village there were a couple dozen buildings. Most of which looked to be made mostly of mud and straw. Though a few of them were built with stone walls. As they got near enough to make out figures they could see that the minotaur there seemed to be gathering things. Loading them onto various carts and wagons. As though they were preparing to relocate their tribe.

They watched as both men and women carried food, weapons, and various items from the buildings into a fleet of wagons near the center of the village. On occasion they would shoo away smaller, likely children, minotaur when they got in the way of the adults.

Overseeing this all was an older minotaur. He stood taller than the rest, by a full foot, but was clearly older than many of them as well. His fur greying in many places. He directed them around with one hand while holding fast to a thick staff, practically a giant's club, in the other.

"Well, there it is. And that's the chief if you can't tell." Madelyn sniffed with some disdain. "He's incredibly rude though I suppose that's no surprise." She looked at the others. "So, what is it you intend to do here?"

[Skaia 578]

Ryia was glad that at the end of it all, the others were at least humoring her idea of going to try and make sure things between the Minotaurs and Humans reached the status quo it had before they had come here. Of course, there was still the nagging thought in the back of her head that she could just end up making things worse but that was neither a bridge she wanted to cross nor think about. However, these thoughts were for later as for now the group was all exhausted and had to go take their night time rest. When morning rolled around, Ryia realized that they now had to deal with the task of actually finding where the minotaur were located. Madelyn was less than happy to offer her services in this regard, but still ended up assisting them all the same. While the Earth Chosen was grateful for this, she couldn't help but be concerned by Damien's refusal to come along, wondering why that would be the case. 

Though this bothered her for a long while, this was replaced by a different feeling as they approached the settlement. She could feel her nerves starting to act up, only more so as the village was now in full view for them to see. The Earth Chosen noted that they were moving around and packing up, conducting themselves as normal for what one would expect from a village. Ryia looked towards the others as Madelyn asked her question. It was certainly a good idea to make sure all of their thoughts were in order before actually engaging with them in a dialogue. Especially if the ones from before were there as well. So, the girl took a deep breath and looked to the others, "our goals here are um...Well, we want to uh, know what their status with um, everyone else is. And make sure it's good, a good status. With the human settlements and stuff, that is. And I uh, guess tell them about the demon gate? Though they um, might know. Was there well, uh, anything else?" She looked to the other chosen. 

[Hollow 21]

Lindow looked back and forth between Ryia and Minotaur camp as the girl spoke. It was clear that tribe seemed to be amidst preparation for some kind of migration...

On one hand, this meant that they weren't going to have to risk waltzing into a fully fortified enemy camp, but other side of that coin was that the locals would be even less keen to being amicable to a group of armed outsiders.

"Was there well, uh, anything else?" Ryia finished with a question as she looked to the group. It seemed that her resolve was still strong, but it was clear that the earth chosen was beginning to realize that this may not be their brightest idea yet. 

"Nope." Lindow responded with a shrug before starting his advance. His gaze lingered on the towering figure that Madelyn had deemed the chief. That one was certainly going to be his man if things dissolved into an outright conflict. Having had the good fortune of not crossing blades with a Minotaur up until now, Lindow was rather pleased that his fist- or last dance would be with such an impressive specimen. "Let's just get this over with, shell we? The last thing we need is for it to get dark and they mistake us for an ambush..." The thunder chosen motioned forward with a wave as he made his way towards the entrance of the village. For better or worse it was time settle their dealings with this tribe once and for all. 

Edited May 2, 2021 by Hollow

[LordCowCow 839]

Madelyn shook her head. "You know this won't go well even if you intend to be peaceful right? They can be even closer to animals than they look at times. But if you're determined to go I suppose I'll stick around. After all you'll need my superior magic if it takes a turn for the worse."

"And I kind of want to see how he reacted to losing the gate." she muttered.

Keres stared at Lindow for a few moments. Trying to figure out if he planned to attack anyway. But she couldn't get a read on him so she turned her gaze forward as they group made their way towards the village.

The minotaur seemed to not expect any sort of attack. Either that or they were too focused gathering their supplies for transportation to realize that the group was approaching. When they did notice, however, several of the adult males began to close in on them. Most of them had either no weapons or just a side-arm but they didn't seem to lack in confidence despite that. In part because they outnumbered the group.

The chief of the village noticed them before the others but silently watched as several of his people went towards them. It wasn't until about seven minotaur were approaching the group that he raised a hand and hit the ground with his staff.

They could feel a slight rumble and the minotaur paused and looked back at the chief. Who then slowly made his way towards them as well. The minotaur moved to either side of the group as the chief stood in front of them. "You. You are the one who lied to us. Took our gold and led us on a chase only to give the prize to these others."

"Hey that's not true! These people just happened to find it. I went with them because I wasn't about to ignore the discovery. It's not my fault they could find it when you failed."

The chief seemed to ignore this and instead spoke to the others. "You worked together with her to destroy what I meant to use to give this land back to our people. After it had been slowly taken over by the other races. You've done us a grave injustice. And then you dare to show your faces here. For what? To mock us for our failure!?"

He seemed to be growing agitated. And, as he did, so did the others around him. Grunting and murmuring to themselves their distaste.

[Hollow 21]

"You worked together with her to destroy what I meant to use to give this land back to our people. After it had been slowly taken over by the other races. You've done us a grave injustice. And then you dare to show your faces here. For what? To mock us for our failure!?"

As expected, it didn't take long for an air of hostility to set in amongst the tribesmen. Not only had Madelyn ripped them off, but the chosen had directly foiled their plans for an uprising. Lindow took a moment to process the chief's words. He found the fact that they already knew about the destruction of the demon gate to somewhat impressive, but was sure that the minotaurs had no intention of revealing their methods... 

"We'd sooner write you letter instead of hiking out here to gloat." Lindow said with a shrug whilst positioning himself to stand before the chief. "What you were seeking would have corrupted you... twisted your bodies and minds into monsters." He paused for moment to be sure the surrounding villagers were also listening. "We saw it ourselves. The demons are able use the gates to invade this realm. You think the other races are bad? If these creatures were allowed to crossover in mass, you'd be thankful to have some neighbors with walls nearby." 

"You're clearly the leader here, so use your head. It seems you know we already took care of the gate, so what reason would we have to put our necks on the line to come out and lie to you?" Lindow stared straight into the chief's eyes with confidence, watching the other man for any sign of aggressive intent. 

Edited May 13, 2021 by Hollow

[Doggo 218]

Reinaan had slept about as soundly as he ever had given the exertions of destroying the gate the day prior. Yet when he awoken something seemed different. His feet felt further down the bed than when he had gone to bed and it wasn't until the group had congregated outside that he could begin to confirm that he had actually grown again as he stood a bit higher above Lindow's head than he last recalled. The sense of satisfaction that came with knowing he was overcoming his status as the shrimp of his village carried him squarely through the day's journey, Damien's refusal to accompany them and Madelyn's continued company aside.

Though now that they were here in the Minotaur village, the Draken did have to grapple with the fact that he didn't entirely understand why they were there. He understood well enough that the minotaurs and the human village were on less than perfectly friendly terms at the moment but with the threat of the demon gate off the table it seemed to the boy that it was up to the two sides to settle the dispute however these things were normally handled. But Ryia had insisted and given the new sense of strength Reinaan had he was at least hoping he might find a wrestling rematch. He wouldn't even have to cheat this time. Or so he thought anyway.

Once in the village, Madelyn and Lindow took to handling the negotiations with the minotaur chief more directly. Reinaan didn't think himself good at these sorts of things and was happy to leave it to the more skillfully tongued human companions present. The Thunder Chosen's words made sense to him anyway and didn't think there needed to be much more said. But the minotaurs were less than satisifed with the answer.

The chief snorted in reply, "I've seen worse from humans. You say these artifacts would bring ruin but all I know is that our chance to use them was snatched away." Having seen the effects of two gates first hand, Reinaan was frustrated to hear this kind of reply. But then most people hadn't seen what the gates actually did so perhaps it only made sense.

"Using them would have just made you all two-headed freaks eventually." Reinaan commented thinking on the sharks and lions they had fought at each gate. "I won't try to tell you what to do with the humans. My village wasn't too found of them either. But there's a couple humans here trying to talk with you instead of jumping right to the fight you seem to want to have with them so maybe hear them out." The boy settled his piece to the conversation as he shifted his focus to Ryia. His look and body language was motioning to her to take the stage at this point and voice what it was she wanted for the minotaurs and the village.

[Skaia 578]

As the group had approached the minotaur encampment, the chief had seemed none too pleased with them being here. As the man spoke up, Ryia definitely felt the need to speak up but actually doing so and being first into the conversation had proved more difficult to her then she had first imagined. Truly, the difference in picturing a conversation in her head - not that that had even gone smoothly - and enacting it in reality were very different beasts. As such, both Lindow and Reinaan had stepped up to speak first, both offering their opinions on the demon gate as a whole. The girl was given a bit of pause as the leader seemed to brush off the notion of the demons being much of anything to worry about, though that seemed to only assure her more, nodding to Reinaan as the boy called back to her. 

Stepping over to the minotaur chief, the girl looked up at him saying, "well, yes, we're neither here to uh, gloat or fight you. If I were to pick a reason for coming here, then well, first, just to uh, let you know about the gate. In general." Which her teammates had taken care of already. "And well, secondly, to try and make peace. Between everyone." Thinking to explain herself further the girl added, "since it's very well, dangerous out here. And filled with ruins. So I just thought it'd be better for everyone, if everyone got along with each other again. Yeah." 

[LordCowCow 839]

Keres was glad that the other three were doing the talking. Truth be told she didn't know what she would say even if she were to try. In large part due to not really understanding the situation. She wasn't used to living in a place with so many people on it. Her home wasn't the most hospitable and she never really went into the only actual town there. Any territorial dispute was between predators and monsters and they certainly were much more aggressive about it.

Still she nodded along when the others mentioned how dangerous the gate would be to possess.

"since it's very well, dangerous out here. And filled with ruins. So I just thought it'd be better for everyone, if everyone got along with each other again. Yeah." 

"Without...the gate, the monsters will be less active, too." Keres said. Her voice coming out more meekly than she wanted.

The chief snorted and looked at Ryia through narrowed eyes. "How can we 'get along again' if we didn't get along before? Maybe some of them were fine with whoring themselves out as mercenaries to protect these frail humans' farms but not me. They came here and decided the land belonged to them and we are supposed to be fine with that? Our kind already had to gather in just this place. Ever since that war so long ago when that human Emperor tried to wipe out any not his kind. Perhaps your people have forgotten that part of history but we minotaur have passed it down for generations. A warning about what spreading too far could lead to."

He shook his head in disgust. "You think we intend to attack the humans, don't you?" He gestured around. "More than half of us are women and children who aren't ready for battle. Our only hope to make any demand was to get a weapon strong enough to make up for that and now..."

"And so you're leaving, to where?" Madelyn asked, which earned her a glare from the minotaur. As if he was angered she even dared to speak.

"It is none of your concern where we go and what we do. All that matters to you is that we do not attack the humans, am I wrong?"

[LordCowCow 839]

***

After a tense meeting with the minotaur the group eventually decided to return back to town to plan their next move. As they discussed where to go next they realized that Madelyn had yet to part with them. As it turned out the girl had decided she was going to stay with them. Claiming that if they wanted to have any chance in this saving the world business then she had to come with to make sure they didn't screw up.

They found Damien back at the bar. When they told him what had gone down with the minotaur he seemed to be put into a better mood. Though that mood dropped a bit as they found out where the next destination was. Though with a sigh and a "Well it had to be done sometime I guess." he went with them to prepare and leave.

---

Once they made it to the bridge once more Sir Perior greeted them with a smile. "I don't know what you did but there have been less monster attacks lately which is surprising to say the least."

"S-sir Perior, just because I was recently transferred doesn't mean I had anything to do with that..."

"Ah, Sir Prising, sorry about that I didn't mean to imply that. In any case, we're grateful to you....I assume as you're here your next destination is Flomest...I will not say you should not, I'm sure you know what you're doing, but I would be careful."

He looked off down the massive bridge that connected the two islands. They could, even from here, clearly see that the portion of the bridge nearer to Flomest was covered in vegetation. The massive trees loomed on the other side of the bridge. An intimidating wall of wood.

"There is a path that goes around the island but we aren't able to patrol it so its a risk for most to travel across. I should warn you that the elves do not like people entering the forest itself. They tend to keep people away when possible. Though, it's strange, I've noticed them less often these days."

"They're elves, sir." Prising said. "You can't expect to be able to understand their movements."

Sir Perior wasn't convinced but he said no more if not asked. He gave them a smile again. "Feel free to rest here if you'd like, we can give you some supplies for your journey, but I cannot provide any men as we're already understaffed."

Keres was staring at the forest. It was different than the woods of her home and, yet, they were imposing nonetheless. She could tell that there was powerful magic surrounding the place. The trees themselves radiated it. She couldn't imagine what sort of beasts lurked inside but she felt that there would be even more dangerous creatures than they had faced thus far hiding inside the depths of this forest.

Book 3: Tame the Savage Soul of the Forest

BGM

[Hollow 21]

Lindow was visibly disappointed that they had trekked all the way to the minotaur camp for nothing, nonetheless he chose to keep it to himself as the group made their way back to town. With the preparations completed and their party reassembled, the chosen made their way to the large bridge that that would allow them passage to Flomest. 

Nodding a thanks to the pair of knights that had greeted them when they first arrived on this island a few days ago, Lindow took a step towards the bridge before glancing down to see Keres staring out into the towering woods that waited for them on the other side. "I've been meaning ask you..." He addressed the water mage whilst joining her in taking a long look towards their next destination.

"The minotaur chief spoke of a past emperor, and something akin to a mass extermination of the other races, right? Not that it sounds out character or anything... but I couldn't help but wonder how us frail humans could pull something like that off. Have you ever come across something about it in those books of yours?" 

 

Edited June 11, 2021 by Hollow

[Skaia 578]

With the conversation having ended and their business on this island having finished the group had begun to make their way to the next demon gate. Ryia was a bit troubled with how things ended with the minotaur, but she knew next to nothing about the history of the people there and couldn't possibly hope to play mediator to try and make everyone get along. Lindow was right in that she couldn't solve every problem, at least not with the demon gates still around, and so she just took solace in knowing that all the business caused by the demon gate there was resolved.

As they arrived at the outpost nearest the bridge, she couldn't help but feel a bit relieved as the knights were all still there as well as thanking them for their work. She was happy to know that, at least, the activity of all the beasts and monsters on the island had lessened. However, the topic then shifted to a warning of sorts about the forest they were about to approach. The girl didn't actually know all that much about elves, her only exposure being the one she had traveled with for a few days, and didn't really know if they were any bit less predictable then a human was. Beyond that, though, she furrowed her brow at the note of the elves appearing less frequently.

It was a small shift at best, much smaller then an everlasting sun or a sudden uproar in monsters. But all the same it was a sudden shift in the status quo of the area. The girl couldn't help but leap to the conclusion that the demon gate was involved in some way, but of course without knowing anything about the elves or the island they were going to she couldn't deny that she was perhaps just being incredibly paranoid about it. So, not commenting on that further, the girl simply nodded to the knights. "Oh, well, um, thank you very much. That's greatly appreciated." The girl wasn't sure how in a rush they were to get going, but all the same restocking before the long trip was always a good thing. Curious about when they would need to get stocked again, Ryia looked to the knights and asked, "oh and uh, before we go would you happen to um, know of any settlements or some sort that we should uh, be on the lookout for?" 

[Doggo 218]

With the group deciding there was ultimately little they could do for the Minotaurs, they found themselves on the way to their next destination. Reinaan was surprised, but a bit grateful, that they weren't teleporting into Flomest. The boy had next to no idea what the place even was, but getting their by conventional means felt ideal. And the travel time game the draken room to think about what had been happening. On top of wishing he'd been able to more meaningfully interact with the minotaurs, or wrestle one with his improved strenght, he was also somewhat off put to see Madelyn intended on continuing on with them. The boy was pretty sure she didn't like him and this was before this supposed bath incident he didn't remember all that clearly. Just the way she spoke of non-humans generally was bothering him.

As the group approached the knights who prepared to let them in, Reinaan found himself hanging back with Damien of all people. From their initial exchange Reinaan had been defensive enough to have barely tried speaking with the man since. But it seemed somewhat unfair thinking on it now. Damien seemed to show no distaste for non-humans like Madelyn did. In fact he had been quite friendly with minotaurs in town and hadn't wanted to go with them to the village, perhaps because he didn't want to come to blows with them. It was enough to set the draken thinking. And thinking... and thinking some more. Eventually as the others began speaking to each other or the knights, Reinaan finally attempted communication.

"Hey..." he started as he lingered on silence for a moment, uncertain where he stood in relation to the man. "I've been wondering how you ended up friendly enough with minotaurs to be drinking with them. I haven't properly met a lot of humans outside this group and well, some of them," he continued as he quickly glanced in Madelyn's direction before returning to looking vaguely around, but not directly at, Damien. "Don't seem like they'd be excited about the idea, minotaur or otherwise." Reinaan managed to say. 

[LordCowCow 839]

"The minotaur chief spoke of a past emperor, and something akin to a mass extermination of the other races, right? Not that it sounds out character or anything... but I couldn't help but wonder how us frail humans could pull something like that off. Have you ever come across something about it in those books of yours?"  

Keres tilted her head and looked at Lindow. What a strange thing to ask. Of course she knew about that, it was something she was taught early on in school when going over the history of the region. Perhaps school for other people taught different things? But it was so important...

"The Emperor." Keres said. "He rose to power a long time ago. In the past...there were many wars...between all the races. The Emperor rose above all other humans to lead them and protected humanity during all this...But he didn't stop there. He continued. Trying to expand human's territory...by eliminating all others. He almost...succeeded. But a group comprising various races stopped him...No one knows what happened to him after. But even now you can see how close he came...that's why there are so many more humans than any others even today."

Madelyn spoke up then. "They say he was a mage that enslaved spirits to use every magic. Some say he was a warrior with terrible strength but that couldn't possibly be true. After all magic-users are the most powerful of all."

-

"oh and uh, before we go would you happen to um, know of any settlements or some sort that we should uh, be on the lookout for?" 

The knight leader gave her a small smile. "Something you have to understand is they don't live quite like us. There's only one place that we would call a city. Right in the center of the forest. Where most of the elves who aren't out hunting or whatever it is they do live."

"What about the Lycans?"

Sir Perior flinched. "True, they have their own villages here and there. But they aren't on any map with how much they move around. Honestly if you see any signs of civilization you'd best stay clear."

-

"I've been wondering how you ended up friendly enough with minotaurs to be drinking with them. I haven't properly met a lot of humans outside this group and well, some of them don't seem like they'd be excited about the idea, minotaur or otherwise."

Damien's expression turned to a sneer for a moment before falling back into an easy smile. "Ah, well you know, I tend to fall in with a strange lot." He hesitated then said "I guess I'm just a bit different than other..humans." he sounded a bit bitter as he said this. He sighed. "Between you and me I much prefer being around non-humans. You may have noticed most of them tend to be...less than pleasant. I guess I'm just more comfortable around other races." He gazed into the forest and added, "well, most of them."

[Skaia 578]

Ryia furrowed her brow at the response. There was only one city and it was one of elves, which meant their only means of getting information about the demon gate was in a settlement of people that didn't like them. In the center of forest they weren't welcome in either, both from the locals and perhaps the local wildlife as well. She wasn't quite sure what the elves had against them, though she couldn't help but wonder if they shared a similar animosity that the minotaurs did. Which if that were the case, that would only make their mission even more difficult. Ryia frowned more as they mentioned the villages of the Lycans as well. 

She didn't even really know that they had villages to begin with but couldn't help but agree that it'd be best to stay clear of them. As far as she knew most other races were simply different from humans, only physically and sometimes magically. Lycans, however, were the only ones she knew to be truly monstrous. Shapeshifting, unstable, man-eating people, so bizarre an idea to her she couldn't help but feel like people had made them up. Of course, having seen a fire and ice breathing two-headed lion and a shark that launched its head from a whip like spine, such a thing seemed much less far-fetched to her now. Though, now, she also couldn't help but wonder if they too were a product of some demon gate magic. 

After being lost in her thoughts for a bit, Ryia snapped back to reality, looking back to the guards. "Hm, I...I see. Well, um, thanks for the information. I'll be sure to well, be on the lookout for anything like that. To, uh, steer clear of it, that is." With a smile and a bow, Ryia made her way away from the guards and went towards the bridge, awaiting the rest of the group before moving on to the next island. 

Edited June 22, 2021 by Skaia

[Doggo 218]

That Damien was talking to him, and so readily at that, was something of a surprise to Reinaan. Because of his own initial distaste for the man in their initial meeting he assumed the feeling mutual yet had never directly challenged the idea until now. As he listened to the man talk he wondered what sort of life he had led to feel less comfortable around his own people than other races. The idea of feeling more comfortable around humans than draken was something he couldn't entirely process. But thinking on it, meeting the templar employed by the Council was perhaps some small taste of the feeling. The boy turned his eyes toward the forest as Damien did, curious if he would offer any additional information if asked about it. But asking plainly didn't seem appropriate.

"What, elves cheat you out of a drink once or something?" Reinaan tried asking with a smirk. He winced.

"Nothing like that....Honestly it's...not the elves I have issue with." his eyes flick towards the others for a moment. Reinaan worried he'd said something wrong or offensive for a moment before recalling talk of the Lycan that also supposedly inhabited these woods.

"Oh you mean... Are they that bad?" Reinaan questioned back not wanting to say the name directly if it was this sensitive.

"It's kind of a long story. Let's just say I had a pretty strange upbringing." he scratched the back of his head and glanced away, clearly uncomfortable. This certainly wasn't the direction the Fire Chosen had expected any of this to go. He felt like he needed to offer some sort of assurance.

"Well, nothing you gotta worry about. I'll just scare off any who try to mess with us." Reinaan tried to seemed threatening as he delivered the line, his chest puffing naturally. Granted with his physical growth since the journey's start, the gesture wasn't entirely void of merit as it might have been in the past. If he could nearly wrestle a minotaur, surely a couple Lycan wouldn't be an issue. He was ready to tackle the forest with everyone.

[Hollow 21]

"Huh. That really puts a lot of things into perspective... I thought it was just nature that dictated we all hate each other." Lindow's brow furrowed in thought as he peered down at Keres.

Part of him was scanning to see if she was lying. After all he had never heard such a story before. The people that had pulled him from gutter and raised him in his past life cared very little for anything that wouldn't help him swing a sword better. The only tales he ever heard amongst the cruel and brooding ranks of the Abyss Seekers, were those of glorious battle, and the horrors that man inflicted each other. Though he had always noticed the disparity in populations between the races, he would never have come to the conclusion that the humans were so directly responsible until now. 

Something that Madelyn said also stood out to him. "Enslaved spirits, huh?" Lindow spoke softly in that moment. Uttering the words made him aware of the whisperings that always seemed just out of ear shot. The Emperor. Had this tyrant of old used a power like the grey woman's to absorb spirit magic? It was a stretch, but parhaps it would be worth while to investigate the legend further in hopes of shedding some light on his own situation. 

"How fascinating. Thanks, little Madelyn and Keres." He spoke up again with a grin after a few moments of thought. "I can't wait to see what heights we'll reach by the end of our journey. Now let's get going shall we?" With a new breeze in his sails, Lindow moved to take his first steps onto the bridge. All the while humming a cheery tune to push the indecent whisperings back into the ambient noise. 

 

Edited July 3, 2021 by Hollow

[LordCowCow 839]

"Well, nothing you gotta worry about. I'll just scare off any who try to mess with us."

"Careful I might swoon." Damien responded dryly to the Draken.

"I can't wait to see what heights we'll reach by the end of our journey. Now let's get going shall we?"

"Yes." Madelyn said. "Let's go...and don't call us 'little' again you sound like a creepy old man."

The group then set out. Keres hesitating for a moment as she mulled over what Lindow had said. It seemed like he had taken a rather unfortunate message from the history lesson.

She said nothing as they continued. Moving down the vast bridge and closer to the forest. As they got closer they realized the air felt cleaner than before. Vitalizing. Yet even despite that there was something else. The air didn't feel simply energizing but, also, had a tinge of aggravation as well. It was easy to suppress but it was there beneath the surface.

As they reached the edge of the forest they found...nothing. No signs of life at the border despite all they had heard about elves often patrolling and keeping people out. It would seem that the elves had abandoned the border for some reason.

They were able to easily enter the forest. And as they did the light grew dimmer. Only patches of sunlight where the canopy of massive trees above them gave way lit their path. Many of the trees were massive. Too large to wrap their arms around even half of them.

In the distance they could hear noises. Animals moving through the trees. Calling out to each other.

It seemed peaceful. Yet it didn't entirely feel right.

Regardless, they had now taken their first steps into the forest. Their goal being the Demon Gate supposedly somewhere in its vast expanses.

They now just had to take their next steps.

Spoiler

If the pace is too slow, sorry, let me know so I can fix. But figured would get us into the forest and we could decide how we want to tackle this. Searching around, going for the center directly, etc etc.