Dragon Sign [IC/PG-16/Not Accepting]

[Chaos Sonic 442]

Gene surveyed his opponent for a while, trying to assess the situation. They were savage beings, that much was definitely for certain. Animalistic and barbaric... He exhaled slowly, closing his eyes for a brief moment. You aren't as strong as them...so you have to use their barbaric nature against them...honestly, you seem quicker than they are, that much is certain. he thought, opening his eyes just in time to see something he wasn't wanting to: the Drengr propelling itself forward with a wild swing of it's machete.

"H-Hey wait a minute!!" he said, his eyes widening as he saw this literal beast launching itself towards him. Initially, Gene wasn't sure what to do, but his eyes glanced over at his hand. There was two strange symbols that he could...for whatever reason...read. One said "Wind" and the other "Water". ...are these...do I have access to magic?? he thought, glancing away from his arm to see that the Drengr was beginning to close the distance. "...screw it...let's just figure this out now!" Gene exhaled again, feeling his instincts going into overdrive for this moment. He COULD control water....he COULD utilize it to his benefit. All he needed to do, was reach out like before.

"Here goes nothing!" he moved slightly and thrust his sword forward. He felt it in that moment, this surge of power...magical energy, most likely. Nevertheless, from the rune covered hand and by extension the sword, began to flow water and before him was a wall made completely of water. What was more, it seemed like just normal water...fluid, a flowing substance that could be pushed around with ease...but it was more than that. It was...solid. A solid...wall of water? That's pretty awesome! he thought. But this was EXACTLY what he needed. This is perfect...if this is a solid wall of water, then that creature is going to collide with it, given his trajectory and possible velocity. Gene thought, nodding slightly. The moment the creature collided with the wall, he'd make his speedy strike...after all, he was quicker than the powerhouse brute of a creature, especially if it made contact with a solid wall.

There was a resounding thud that was heard, and luckily the wall was water based to where Gene could look and see the Drengr, mid machete swing, being slammed into the water wall. This was the moment!

Gene rushed to his right, still in the rather quick motion, then proceeded to take his sword and slash at the backs of the hyena creature's legs. When he did so, the water wall dropped, it melting away in an instant. The young man backed up a bit to assess the situation further. "O-Okay...bit too close for comfort...but still, strike the backs of it's legs, it should lose some mobility options..." he huffed, his hold of his weapon in death-grip mode. Still, there was a nagging feeling he had in the back of his mind...like he could do more than just use magic like this.

[Cheshire Toon 139]

The first thing Percy thought about was the familiar smell of blood in the air. Most people would have crinkled their face up at it, or had their stomach flip, or any of a thousand other reasonable human reactions…but it just irritated Percy. It brought with it the memory of long hours working in the emergency room in his youth, listening to hysterical people yell at him to weave the kinds of miracles that would have made Jesus Christ—whose legitimacy he was beginning to ruminate on—jealous. “Seems to me this Goddess of yours saw fit to give us some gifts after all. They do seem to be holding their own surprisingly well, no?” He worked a muscle in his jaw as he spoke, but his eyes were fixed intently on the battlefield.

Sword. Shield. Lance. Hammer. Weapons continued to miraculously appear when his companions willed them to. A few times the flow of combat was even interrupted by burst of what  looked to be magical attacks straight out of a book; Sabrina somersaulted so high that even the best of Olympic pole vaulters would have been jealous, and the scrawny boy who had called introduced himself as Gene summoned a wall of water that stopped a massive Drengr dead in its tracks. The others seemed to be holding up just as well. Skills they had definitely not possessed in their previous life guided their strikes, and the tiny slip of a medical student and the tall but wiry punk girl had both demonstrated a strength that Percy knew they never could have possessed back on Earth. 

“Can you feel it?” he said suddenly, but it was clear from the way he never looked away that his question was rhetorical. “That change in pressure.” Percy knew it well. When the air grew heavy just before it rained and it felt like he could almost reach out and touch it. On Earth he knew the shift in pressure would have been caused by the air rising into the sky before the storm, but that was not a plausible explanation here. There was no storm and it had happened far too suddenly. No, it had coincided perfectly with the sudden release of magical weapons and spells. It was far too early to be making any conclusive predictions… but he had a strong guess that what he was feeling was what some of his compatriots might call ‘mana’ filling the air as it was expended. Did that mean they had a certain amount in their body they could expend? Or was it possibly that it had been, for lack of a better word, summoned to them when they had started casting? Was it a resource meant to be burned or was it more like the smoke from an exhaust pipe, the remnants of a used up fuel? So many questions! 

He suddenly stuck his hand out like he was trying to grasp something. He opened and closed his hand a few times but nothing happened. “Hmm. Am I not doing what they did? It seemed to me they just extended their hand and a weapon appeared.” Despite his inability to summon forth his weapon he was smiling from ear-to-ear. It looked out of place on thin, bony face, like it wasn’t a thing he did very often. “Perhaps it was the lack of a command? Some of them seemed to shout something.” He threw his hand out again and very harshly yelled, “Weapon come forth!” The end result was the same. Nothing happened. 

Percy turned back to look at the others and scratched his chin. A moment passed in deep silence. Then, very suddenly, his face lit up. He walked forward toward the combat and turned his body sideways and extended his long arm so that it was aligned with the rest of his body, which some onlookers may recognize as a traditional shooting position. His arm was pointing towards the Drengr that was closest to him, which happened to be the one locked in combat with Abby.

Then he mimed pulling a trigger. Nothing should have rightfully happened… but what did happen was that there was a faint ‘boom’ and the hand of the Drengr, about to tear into Abby’s shoulder, exploded in a spray of blood. The creature roared and stumbled backwards clutching its hand. 

Percy grinned at the revolver he now held in his hand. “I thought so. The power seems to come in response to a need, not a desire.”  He spun it around his finger before lowering it haphazardly to his side. “As soon as I decided to fight and needed a weapon…boom.”

His grin had grown wicked after a successful test. He turned away from Rumian and stared at the conductor Marshall. Blood poured from several cuts across her body, and Percy had been inspired by the uses of magic he had seen. If the others could project such powerful but unrefined uses of it, could he possibly incorporate his surgical precision? He held the hand not holding his gun out in the direction of Marshall; open-palmed but his fingers curled. Then he focused intensely on the open lacerations on her arm.

The air around him shimmered and his hair started to lazily float into the air. A ball of faint black energy gathered in front of his hand then floated over towards Marshall. Perspiration beaded on his forehead but Percy narrowed his eyes. The ball of energy split apart into what looked to be a mass of tiny strings and draped over the wound…then Percy clenched his fist. The strings all the sudden dug beneath the skin and then tightened like a noose, stitching the wound closed before fading away. If Marshall were to inspect the wound she would find a puffy red mark in the shape of stitches that would soon fade. 

Percy let his hand fall and slumped over. His hair drooped, slick with sweat, and he was breathing heavily. But the grin had somehow stretched further. “Two-for-two!” 

Edited August 16, 2022 by Cheshire Toon

[Tiamat's Circus 116]

Adrenaline was what fueled her, even as she steadied herself, eyes glancing over the creature. She was losing a good bit of blood, but she could take advantage of the adrenaline that took its place, so to speak. She was faster than before, but she knew for a fact that she had adrenaline on her side to boost that even further, something that… Judging by the form of the creature before her, couldn’t make up for the gaping wounds she had left in it if it too had adrenaline. No, as she took a deep breath, she steadied herself as she waited to make her move, watching for just the moment…

When the Hyena would strike.

It began a lunge towards her lance, and though she was expecting it to attack her, this wasn’t completely unexpected either. Her right arm burned as she stood steady, grip tightening as she waited for just the right moment, thin strings surrounding it as… The blood stopped, her strength returning as the skin on her arm was woven back together where it had been slashed; a distinct mark of ‘fire’ making itself known where it had been woven together. “...You’re more helpful than you know,” she murmured to herself with a smile as the distinct shout of the Good Doctor’s triumph could be heard in the background.

Now.

Just before the Hyena’s claws could come into contact with the weapon, she swept it downwards in the blink of an eye, lance soaring out of grasp. “Stand clear,” Marshall murmured as the Lance first came into contact with the ground, a small spark rising from the speed of the impact; more sparks flying as she swept it across the ground in a line in front of her. In an instant, sparks turned to flames, and flames turned to a wall of tangible fire; crackling with heat, though not quite a roar as she brought the Lance upwards. “...Of the closing doors!” she spat out, though, the Hyena hardly had time to heed the warning. Caught in the flames as they rose, the beast was still mid-lunge as the fire reached its pitch, springing up around, and over the creature. It howled in agony as it began to stumble from the combined pains.

Keep the pressure on, and take advantage of the opening you created!

Marshall’s hand tightened again around the hilt of the Lance as she aimed, and threw herself forwards in a concerted attack, lance piercing through the wall of flames… And into her opponent’s head. A sickening crack would tell her that she had pierced the skull, the howls ending in an instant as she tore the lance backwards, out of the creature as it collapsed forwards, knocked out from the blow. “...Rest in peace, I suppose,” she took a deep breath, taking a few steps back from the fighting as she surveyed the rest.

The others were doing… Acceptably; no one had died, yet on their side, at least, and that’s all she could really hope for. She swung her lance upwards to rest against her shoulder, blood dripping from the silver metal and onto her dress-shirt… Her face wrinkled for a moment, as the realization hit her all at once, that she was going to have to hope the goddess had some form of ye-olde magical stain remover. But that was a problem for later, and so she quickly shook her head, and she did her best to erect a smile. She found herself glancing away from her smoldering, near-dead opponent, as she looked towards the Doctor. “Thanks for the help!” she’d call out, giving the doc a half-salute with her free hand.

Edited August 16, 2022 by Tiamat's Circus

[yui 574]

The Drengr Abby had been faced with was showing clear signs of frustration. Clearly it hadn't had this much trouble with an opponent before. But the way it kept swinging those claws at her, the beast... man... thing was about to find it had a lot more trouble on its paws. The enemy charged at her once again, and while Abby had reared her hammer back to let loose another counterattack, that ultimately proved unnecessary. From behind her, Abby heard the sound of a gun! Turning to briefly inspect the source, she found that it was the good doctor! She'd have to thank him after this guy was dealt with. For now, Abby charged forward, taking a downward swing at the enemy's head with the business end of her hammer. A strike that seemed to leave it too dazed to really think straight. Definite concussion. Probably something to get sent to the ER for if this was the world Abby was familiar with, what with the size of the hammer and all.

But that wasn't enough. After that first swipe against her side - the sting of which she could still feel - Abby was in a no-mercy mood. The Drengr dizzily made one more attempt to bring Abby harm, though the multiple swings to the head were clearly getting to it, as its claws only barely grazed her face. This also had the effect of putting the beast right in front of a girl with a giant hammer and a need for vengeance. She held the hammer up over her shoulder, poised to unleash another, more forceful swing, and held the hammer in place for a moment. As she did, the weapon began to glow. Then, with force far exceeding any other hammer swing she had displayed thus far, Abby's hammer crashed down on the Drengr's head one last time, driving its whole body to the ground and creating an unfortunate red splat. It had gotten all over her raincoat, too.

Well, at least it'll wash off easily. Note to self, ask if someone in town can fix up those claw marks when we're done.

Diverting her attention away from whatever crushed remains there were of the Drengr's head before lifting her hammer, Abby turned back to the doctor once again, giving him a wave and a thumbs-up. "Thanks for the assist, doc! Don't point the barrel at yourself, okay?"

With others engaged in their own hyena fights, Abby brought her attention to the big guy. The leonine creature that the scythe girl was currently engaged with. It was probably a good idea to help her with that. Pondering how best to approach the new enemy, Abby started making her way to the scene as fast as her legs would take her.

[Mr. Hyde 204]

Drake made direct contact with his foe, as he pressed his attack forward and followed through.  However, he was only able to knock the opponent back only a couple of feet.  Drake grit his teeth.  Maybe he'd have to put a little more oomph into his next attack.  The Hyena coughed once they separated.  Maybe he had collapsed a lung?  Drake shook his head.  It wasn't very likely that that bash had done that much damage.  And thinking of that, he looked around to see all of his 'comrades' and the weapons they had manifested.  It seemed that all of there's were tools for dealing a killing blow.  Then what was the purpose of him having a shield?  Defeating an enemy would be rather hard with just this, wouldn't it?  His thought was interrupted upon the sound of the Hyena moving in for another attack!

"Oh no!"  Drake managed to exclaim in a panic.  However, he was used to being under attack like this at any given moment.  The Hyena swung it's axe, aiming for his midsection.  With quick reflexes, Drake was able to barely block the attack in time.  However, he hadn't enough time to brace properly for the Hyena's powerful blow, and it took all of Drake's strength to be able to withstand the attack.  Drake tried to fling arm out to the side to deflect it, but was knocked back instead, and onto the grass.  Even though some distance was created, it wouldn't be long before another assault was launched.  A faint glow from his hand caught his eye.

"Huh?  What're these?"  Two very distinct symbols shone on his hand, and he could read them in their entirety.  One was simply named Earth, and the other also simply just Cure.  However, his Earth one was the more showy of the two...maybe if he focused on it a little!  He could feel some otherworldly feeling bubble up inside of him, somehow flowing into the ground right beneath his ass!  He didn't know why, but he immediately knew that he could do something with this feeling!  His focused immediately turned to the Hyena, who was now bloodlusted and charging the downed Drake.  He waited for the perfect opportunity, and when the time came, Drake slapped the ground with force.

"Earth Pillar!"  The ground beneath his hand rumbled, as it sent a shockwave through the earth, travelling as quickly to the Hyena as it approached him.  Once the two would meet, the quaking ground ruptured, spouting forth a large pillar of rock that resembled a thick tree stump of sorts.  It sprung into the sky, until it's target was met.  A man's most precious Jewels, that he was always to protect, but also his most glaring weak spot.  The Hyena stopped his attack, as it whimpered and crumbled to the ground, grasping what was left.  Drake almost felt sorry for the creature, before he got back to his feet and made a mad dash towards his stunned foe.  He built up speed before throwing his shield parallel to the ground, aiming for the beastman's neck.  Once it would make contact, Drake himself would preform a dropkick in midair, to slam the shield further into the beast's gullet.   

[Skaia 578]

Luca snarled at the Lion Drengr as she continued to sink her claws into its back. Pulling back and continuing to stab them in one blow after the other, the Lion was growing frustrated by this, and though it was still kneeling from the pain of its neck wound it did not wish to suffer the wrath of the wolf girl any longer. Reaching back, swatting at the girl, Luca seemed keen on keeping her claws sunk deep into its flesh despite the attacks. Seeing Sabrina run towards it, the lion looked towards her with pure fury in its eyes as it took in a deep breath before looking as if it were to roar. However, as it attempted to, what was likely to be a mighty bellow was instead replaced with a cough, spitting blood out as it did so. Moving its arm away from Luca, still using one to prop itself up, it seemed ready to reel back its fist to punch Sabinra. But there was a pause. Electricity coursed through its body, if only briefly, causing the arm to jolt to a halt. And though it attempted to try and attack the scythe wielding Exalted, it was clear that she was already far too close enough for it to do anything about the girl. 

The Hyena, already confused by Gene suddenly having a weapon, was only further confused as a wall of water blocked his sword. This Hyena knew water. He saw it every day. He interacted with every day, in fact. And water did not form sword blocking walls no, the pond most certainly never blocked his swings. So both with his astonishment and the young swordsman's speed had all concluded in it getting slashed in the leg. Though Gene was by no means a strong person, that it was not expecting the attack certainly allowed him to cut through the muscle of the creature's leg easier. It winced in pain, turning around to face Gene the creature snarled and went to lunge forward at the boy. Only, rather than fully lunging it stumbled forward awkwardly as it hadn't realized its leg had been cut and went for a much less forceful vertical slash at Gene's chest. 

With Drake having caused an incredibly unpleasant experience for the Hyena it was kneeling down in pain, trying to reclaim its strength only for a shield to come flying towards it. The Hyena was hunched over and as such it neck wasn't particularly exposed. This instead lent itself to the Hyena just having shield chucked into its face, perhaps not the intended location but still causing the Hyena to be briefly stunned by the hit. Similarly, though Drake felt more combat able then he would have in life, the maneuver he attempted had none of the instinctual backing that his use of magic or shield bashing had. As a result, after the shield hit the Hyena in the face it fell to the ground and Drake missed the shield entirely. He did not, however, miss the double over Hyena and had ended up pushing his two feet into the creature's gut.

Drake would feel the mass of muscle that made up the creature's midsection take the brunt of the hit, but throwing the full weight of his body into the attack he managed to knock the creature backward. The Drengr landed on its back, dropping the axe as it fell but started to claw at the ground as it tried to scramble from its prone position. Having just thrown himself at the creature as well, Drake as well would find himself in a near identical position to the Hyena, though less injured and impaired. Slowly but surely, the Hyena went from its back to its knees. Seemingly unwilling to stand and a bit dazed the creature, left unimpeded, would just wildly fling itself at Drake, regardless of if he had gotten back up or not. 

Jocelyn, whether from shock of the Hyena's tenacity or her own newfound martial prowess or some other third thing, did not have the reaction time to dodge the lunging Hyena. As a result the Hyena had managed to sink its teeth into the girl's side causing tremendous pain and profuse bleeding. The Hyena continued to attempt to sink its teeth further into her and pull, attempting to tear part of the girls flesh off with its bite. 

Marshall and Abby would notice that the hyenas that they killed were still in fact dead. 

Edited August 21, 2022 by Skaia

[LordCowCow 839]

Was she that fast? No, that wasn't it. The lion wasn't able to fight back for some other reason. But Sabrina was too far into her charge to take note of just what it was that caused the beast to be unable to defend himself.

Sabrina's swing was a heavy one and she still wasn't used to the weight of the weapon. The tip of the scythe caught the lion in the neck on the side opposite the one that she had injured previously. The swing continued its arc and sliced through their throat. This tore another gash in its neck and more blood gushed out. Sabrina stumbled back out of the way as she stared while the blood splashed against the ground.

She should attack again. The monster was unable to respond as it now had two wounds in its neck. Yet even as she thought this Sabrina stayed frozen in place with her eye wide.

It was bleeding. A lot. Because of her. Its injuries were to the extent that it couldn't even fight back if she tried to finish it off.

Before when she was attacking it had been a rush of adrenaline and concern for her or others' safety that kept her going but now...she had a moment to really think about what she was doing.

And she found that she couldn't move a muscle. She didn't notice anything else around her. Just the bleeding creature in front of her and her heart pounding rapidly in her chest and, or so it felt, her ears. "Ah..." the strangled noise was all she could make as the fighting continued around her.

[Tiamat's Circus 116]

…Well, acceptable was the word she would have used, but that was then. Turning away from the Doctor, she glanced around at the battlefield and took it all in once again. The one with the hammer had taken her opponent out, and it appeared so had the young girl, Sabrina, had made short work of the lion as well. That left the shield master, the water-bearer, and the angry child of the group still in combat; and while the shield master and water-bearer seemed to be quite proficient, she… Couldn’t say the same of the woman with the gauntlets. Blood splattered from the woman as she was caught in some sort of grab, and Marshall found herself slightly nauseous seeing such blood come from another human being, but…

Now wasn’t the time to be squeamish; she had just gored a hyena, after all.

Wordlessly, she briefly tightened her grip on the lance as she leaned forwards, tilting herself as she began to propel herself in a quick run. She took a longer-path than absolutely necessary, steering clear of Drake and his foe as she began to make her way towards the former-mascot of the group. Though the beast attacking her may have found itself happily feasting upon one of the exalted, that also put it at a great disadvantage, she realized, as she cocked herself to the side, and began to sprint towards its motionless form. “When dealing with unruly guests, it is every employee’s duty--” she began as a sort of battle-cry, hitching her shoulder to dislodge her lance from its resting position, as she leveled it with the creature just before the point of impact. “To remain vigilant at all times, and seek proper aid when overwhelmed!” she finished, as the lance met its mark, slamming into the shoulder of the beast and piercing flesh to punctuate her statement. 

The beast’s grip loosened slightly on Jocelyne’s wrist, in that moment where lance met flesh. Gnarled teeth ground into Jocelyn’s flesh, dragging across it as the beast began to tighten its grip again, but it was too late. Marshall’s now bloody, white left-boot came into contact with the snout of the creature as she leaned against the lance, pushing it slightly deeper as she began to kick at its face until it let go, driving it briefly further into Jocelyn’s flesh again before it released her fully. “A Medical Officer can be found at the station,” she let out a grunt of exertion as she briefly nodded back towards the direction of Percy, putting more of her weight on the lance and her foot to try and keep the beast pinned. “See to it that you receive proper care while I issue the appropriate--” she paused again, gritting her teeth as she tightened her grip on the weapon. “--fines for this egregious attack against Subway Personnel.”

[Chaos Sonic 442]

While his Drengr did lose some mobility, Gene was now watching it stumbling towards him with an awkward and less forceful vertical slash. Gene backed up slightly, but that little nagging in the back of his mind returned, this time growing more and more. His instincts were going into overdrive again...just like it did when he summoned his weapon and used magic. The rule of threes definitely would apply here, was his general thought.

...okay body...what are we doing then? Gene exhaled slowly, before feeling his body's motions although he remained stationary. He knew what he was going to do...and with the skills he had presently, this had to work. "Alright then..."

The lumbering Drengr still in motion, Gene no longer showed any sort of fear...no...replaced with the fear was truly a steeled look in his eyes, the smirk he wore now shone proudly. He moved, beginning to close the distance between the two of them. It was obvious his speed played a heavy part in this little technique, so perhaps everything was going in the way it was supposed to for him. Gene wasn't athletic back when he was alive...but here? Oh there was no doubt about it...he could do this. The distance closed in, his eyes gave a slight glint in the light as he looked up at the Drengr. His sword began to glow with power, apparently being focused with magic and in one fell swoop, Gene took the sword in one hand and proceeded to deliver a quick upward vertical slash.

"Quick Strike!" he smirked, watching the Drengr backing up from the sudden attack. "I think I got the hang of this now...see if you can keep up!" Gene didn't let the hyena creature get a moment to react, or at least at first anyway...he didn't want him to have a moment to even attempt to gather his bearings. Little by little, Gene proceeded to slash at the creature's exposed flesh, cutting it and making sure definitely hurt and even incapacitated the Drengr. "With the cuts I've been making, they should be at spots that'll really mess you up in the long run! The more you move, the more you'll lose in blood and that means you'll eventually pass out from the lack of it!" Problem solving at it's finest!

[Mr. Hyde 204]

His attempt at a extemporaneous combo has failed, due to his newfound, enhanced athletic capabilities.  Drake found himself driving his drop kick straight into the hyena's center of mass.  Although his attack didn't have the exact outcome he was looking for, there was a new opportunity presented on the battlefield when the Hyena dropped his cruel axe.  Drake landed on his ass after he had pushed off of the Hyena's abdomen, and quickly pulled off a reverse somersault from his downed position.  He saw that the Hyena was hysterical now.  His shield wasn't really meant to deal a finishing blow...unless he just bashed it into the Beastman's head over and over again...a bit too crude for his taste.  He winced at the thought.  However, now the Hyena was flinging himself at Drake in a desperate attempt to finish him off.  

Drake had something else in mind.  The wild flailing of the Hyena's claws would be difficult to avoid, but if he could just make it past them.  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  Boot Camp was way worse than this was.  Drake then opened his eyes, and rushed towards the Hyena's dropped Axe.  He preformed a dolphin dive, making sure to shield himself from the Beastman's wild attack, but wasn't able to protect his legs, as they were swiped and gouged by his enemy.  Drake persevered, rolling and picking up the axe on the way.  Once he rolled onto his feet, Drake pivoted, swinging the axe horizontally, aiming for the kneeling Hyena's jugular.

[Skaia 578]

Marshall had pinned the creature with her lance, continuing to force the Hyena into the ground. It attempted to claw and grab at the lance but found that in its currently dazed state with one arm being locked in place it had little success. Then, staggered as the lance was pulled out of it, Marshall went for a final strike as she brought her lance down onto the creature's head, hearing the crack of the skull and seeing the gush of blood as she managed to finally kill the creature. 

Having nimbly evaded his assailant once more, Gene found himself able to capitalize on his stumbling opponent. His Quick Slash had swung into the creature's neck, critically injuring it as the blade cut through the side. With blood starting to gush out from it, the already wounded creature found it much harder to keep strength in its legs and was robbed of any form of defensive capability as it stumbled forward only to then be attacked by an assault of slashes from Gene. None of his cuts by themselves were particularly strong nor did they cut particularly deep. However, each slash formed a new exit for blood to flow from, and with it already heavily wounded each drop brought it closer to its end until it finally fell forward, limp on the ground and unable to move any longer. 

Having grabbed the axe and swung it at the creature's neck, Drake would find that the weapon that this Hyena used was as effective against it as it was him. The blade sunk into the creature's neck and it attempted to pull the weapon out. However, as it had already been in a rough situation and was now fatally injured, it found itself losing the monstrous strength it once had. And so, it struggled in vain to pull the blade out before finally keeling over and dying. 

Luca let out a small grunt as the thing that she had latched onto suddenly fell forward, an audible thud being produced as the lion hit the ground. With blood gushing from its neck, the creature still facing Sabrina, she would see that it hadn't fully died yet. Weakly, it continued to claw at the ground and tried to pull itself back up, though wasn't particularly able to lift its head out from the ground as it did so. Standing up on the body, Luca looked down with annoyance on her face at the creature. With a swift strike of her claw into the creature's neck, it finally stopped moving as she got back up. Looking back to see that everyone else had managed to deal with their foes, the girl's previously beaming expression returned. "Whoa! I knew the Exalted were supposed to be great heroes but you guys were like, super strong! You all summoned those weapons and used magic that was so cool!" 

"Right, I can't say that I've ever seen a weapon like that before either." Rumian mentioned, looking at Percy's weapon with fascination. 

While Luca was excitedly talking about the fight, Sabrina would notice what looked like a small red stone floating out from the now corpse of the lion. And, after a few seconds it would zip towards the girl at alarming speed. However, the stone would swerve towards the Dragon Sign on her hand and as it got close enough a small tendril of water would whip out from it, grapping the stone and pulling it into the mark. As it entered the tattoo all of the Exalted would hear a noise. With equal clarity and as if echoing through space, they would hear the sound of water droplet striking a pond reverberating around them. 

In addition to that, those who were wounded with visible wounds would notice something very odd. Though the slash Drake took to his leg and the bite that Jocelyn took to her side had broken their skin, what appeared to be a miniscule amount of blood had flowed out from them but didn't seem to be continuously bleeding. 

Luca would look back to Sabrina, a very exuberant and thankful look on her face as she ran back to her. "But you were amazing! You're like, one of the bravest people I've ever seen and you fought against their leader so well. I would've been in a whole lot of trouble without your help. Thanks so much for helping my village!" The girl smiled, clapping her hands together with blood still fresh on her claws.  

[LordCowCow 839]

Sabrina couldn't look away as the lion tried to continue towards her. Seeing it struggle so much despite its injuries made a pit form in Sabrina's stomach. It should have just given up already why waste its last moments struggling like that?

She looked away as Luca finished it off. Not even able to witness its final moment. Luca said something but she didn't quite hear. Her legs were about to give out and she kept herself up by leaning on her scythe.

Her scythe....She looked at the weapon and noticed the blood still on the edge of it. This was something she was going to have to get used to, wasn't it? Had she hesitated like that when the monster was still able to attack what would have happened to her? Sabrina's grip on her weapon tightened. She needed to get over this feeling. Otherwise how long could she keep this up?

"But you were amazing! You're like, one of the bravest people I've ever seen and you fought against their leader so well. I would've been in a whole lot of trouble without your help. Thanks so much for helping my village!"

Sabrina looked at Luca without really seeing her for a moment. Then she blinked. And she realized what the girl had said.

A blush came unbidden to her face and she instinctively looked away and felt the need to deny her words of praise.

But...that wasn't right. What was it she said? She was brave? She had helped? Sabrina looked back at said village and remembered why she had charged in to fight these things. To protect these people from evil who wanted to destroy them. And....hadn't she done just that?

What was the point in being here if she was going to deny the part of her that wanted to be special.

Sabrina took a deep breath and stood straighter. No longer leaning on her weapon as she felt the strength return to her legs. Smiling, and outstretching her hand, she said "Think nothing of it, twas child's play for a chosen one of my caliber! My ancient powers could have handled ten, no, twenty of them if I had to!"

She felt a tightening in her chest, along with a warmth, upon saying these words. She didn't think she would be instantly used to fighting like that but...just saying these things made her feel better. As if maybe she would be able to make her dreams come true after all.

What else could she do but try?

[Mr. Hyde 204]

Drake's breathing was heavy.  His attack landed perfectly.  Blood gushed from the vital spot, soaking the Hyena's neck with a flowing curtain of crimson.  Drake's eyes met his foes, as it struggled to remove the axe from the wound...an ultimately pointless goal in the end.  Even if the axe was removed, that would only lead to more blood loss.  Drake picked himself up to his feet, standing triumphant over the now deceased Beast Man.  He silently thanked his enemy, with hopes that he would reach some sort of afterlife that he believed in.  At the end of the day, they were both warriors fighting for what they thought was right. 

This wasn't his first confirmed kill, and he could guess it wouldn't be his last.  Was this really how things were going to go again?  He was going to fight another battle for a cause he wasn't familiar with.  He looked over to Luca, her claws soaked with blood from the leader.  He reminded himself of what might have happened had they not been here.  Drake had finally caught his breath, as he stared beyond the destroyed wall of the city.  

"Whoa! I knew the Exalted were supposed to be great heroes but you guys were like, super strong! You all summoned those weapons and used magic that was so cool!" 

Drake's attention turned back towards Luca.  

"It came naturally...like I've always known how to do it..."  What a weird feeling it was, doing something you'd never dreamed of in your life so seamlessly.  He had controlled the earth as if he'd been doing it his whole life.  How much more would he be able to do? 

A red glow caught his eye, as a gem appeared from the corpse of Dracona's opponent.  Was this supposed to be like...loot or something?  It whirled around the girl for a moment, before it was drawn towards her hand, and straight into her tattoo.  Drake looked at his as well, as the sound of a small droplet rang out around them.  Drake's pain had also vanished almost entirely, as he looked to the wound on his leg.  However, it had almost completely vanished, with small traces of blood still remaining.  

"Whoa..."  Is all Drake could manage to get out.  He checked his leg once more.  It was in perfect condition.  "This is something else, huh?"  He questioned to no one in particular.  This probably meant that the others were also healed of wounds they might've received.  He made his way towards Dracona and the others.  "Is everyone all right?  How'd the fight go on your guys' end?"  He was truly concerned with his fellow Heroes' well being.  "Next time, I won't get distracted!"  Drake smiled, as he displayed his shield across his chest rather proudly.  "Next time, I'll make sure no one else gets hurt!"  

[Chaos Sonic 442]

Once he saw the Drengr fall, Gene was honestly waiting to hear some sort of fanfare. It seemed like his games and shows he once watched, but even more so...it truly felt like his dreams were coming true. He swung his blade before having it rest upon his shoulder for a moment or two. "...what...a...rush!" he huffed with a small smile on his face.

"Whoa! I knew the Exalted were supposed to be great heroes but you guys were like, super strong! You all summoned those weapons and used magic that was so cool!"

Gene nodded at Luca's reaction to them accomplishing this, making his way towards the others. "The body just started reacting is all...sort of gave me a feeling that this was how to survive." he shrugged, looking at the sword now resting on his shoulder before glancing at his Dragon Sign. A good thing he did too, as something began to fly out from the lion's corpse and rushed towards Sabrina...it was...a gemstone, red in color. It flew in the direction of Sabrina and arrived at her Dragon Sign to be taken inward with some sort of tendril.

...okay that's kind of creepy... he thought. He remembered that most tendrils seemed to usually denote something bad in the grand scheme of things with his stories, games and shows. Maybe it wouldn't be the case here?

At the same time, the moment the stone entered her Dragon Sign...Gene heard it: a water droplet striking the water. It was a reverberating sound, it was surreal.

"But you were amazing! You're like, one of the bravest people I've ever seen and you fought against their leader so well. I would've been in a whole lot of trouble without your help. Thanks so much for helping my village!"
"Think nothing of it, twas child's play for a chosen one of my caliber! My ancient powers could have handled ten, no, twenty of them if I had to!"

"...uh...m-maybe let's keep those numbers low for a while...?" Gene spoke up nervously, hearing Sabrina's little declaration of being able to handle twenty of them.

"Is everyone all right? How'd the fight go on your guys' end?"

Gene glanced at Drake and gave a thumbs up. "Did as best I could. Though...I namely waited the creature out." he said, motioning to the sword he still was brandishing. "Turns out, enough slashes and gashes on a berserking creature like that and making sure they're in the right spots...it'll expend a lot of blood in the process and eventually just pass. Gotta love problem solving!"

[Cheshire Toon 139]

The melee had concluded. Percy was somewhat disappointed by that fact. It had been a rush of adrenaline that he rarely got and (probably because he was in no actual danger himself), while it was morbid to admit, he had been enthralled watching the others fight. There was so much that he still needed to learn about this world and their powers! While his typical method of study was slow and methodical and involved constant back-tracking and proofs and red-tape that he had to get approved, combat like this was a crash course, an unlimited field laboratory for him to test to his heart’s desire.

“This?” he raised his gun up at Rumian’s question. “This is a weapon from our world. It is one of the most devastating creations mankind ever conceived… though it hardly seems fit to call this a real gun.” It seemed tiny and toy-like in his massive hands as he flipped it over to inspect it. “I’ve found no way to take it apart, or reload it, and there was hardly any recoil when it fired. My best guess would be that it is operating off this ‘magic’ it was conjured up with.”

He continued to explain how an actual gun would work to Rumian, and would have kept going, if not for the interruption of Drake. “The soldier got a shield and the doctor got a gun?” Percy tilted his head back and laughed. An odd, dry sound that felt foreign in his mouth. “There is some kind of poetic irony to that.”

He glanced around to inspect the others. “I suspect we can put these weapons away in a similar way to how we summoned them. They seem to respond to a need you can envision, and with all the fighting done, that need should be gone.” As he said this he lowered the gun and envisioned the gun disappearing… and a second later it did. He smirked. “Right. With that dealt with… I find it worth noting that we seem to have been granted some kind of rapidly clotting ability. A few of you should be about to faint from blood loss but instead your wounds have all but stopped bleeding.” His eyes rested on Jocelyn and Drake as he said this. “Regardless. Hold very still.”

Percy focused the same way he had before he had healed Marshall. The air around him began to fill with mana and grew so thick it felt as if he could drink it, and then, he gestured toward Drake and Jocelyn. Their wounds were surrounded by a black energy that laced through the cuts like a needle guided by a skill hand, and the wounds seamlessly closed, so perfectly that even a doctor as skilled as Percy would be unable to tell they had ever been injured. 

“...There,” Percy said with a sigh. “Is the pain gone as well? How do the wounds feel? On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your overall improvement? You as well,” he motioned at Marshall. His face had lost all color and his brow was beaded with sweat, but his eyes burned bright like a pair of coals plucked straight from the fire. “Quickly, please, while the experience is still fresh on your mind.”
 

Edited September 17, 2022 by Cheshire Toon

[Tiamat's Circus 116]

Marshall's heart beat like a drum in her ears, as the lance pierced the Hyena’s skull, cracking it with another sickening, sharp, crunch, as blood once again began to flood out from around the point of impact. She felt her jaw tense again as teeth came down against teeth, before… Finally, relaxing, as she realized the sound of battle around her had fully stopped. Taking in a heavy breath, Marshall’s grip on her lance slowly began to loosen itself as she closed her eyes, listening to everything as it came to an end. The fading adrenaline only did so much to keep her nerves steady, as the events to have transposed finally began to link themselves together, and yet…

It wouldn’t do for a Conductor to let her mind, of all things, get away from her while there was still more to do.

Her eyes narrowed as that thought, that realization, was punctuated by the sound of a… Drop of water, clear as day, falling into a pond. Perhaps that was even the shock that gave Marshall the push she needed, as she found herself bringing her free hand up to grab the brim of her cap, and pull it down just a tinge; prompting her to start… Moving again, as she finally began to glance around, doing her best to survey the aftermath as she began to walk back towards wherever the group had begun to amass themselves..

Luckily, Marshall wasn’t met with the sight she had expected before they had summoned their weapons. Without exception, the Beasts they had sought to slay had been slain, and none of their number had taken anything that wouldn’t be able to be healed by the Doctor, she could assume. Luca, the village chieftain, was even congratulating them and gushing about how cool they had all been, with special praise being given to Sabrina. That was enough to bring a smile to Marshall’s face, even for the briefest moment, before she turned to glance further around, doing her best to regard the others. Her mouth was about to open, when Drake, who had moments before been replying to Luca, began to speak; voicing the same exact question she had been about to ask. To their credit too, most of their number began to reply one by one. 

“...I did well enough, I believe,” Marshall, whenever she had deemed it to be her turn, would reply to Drake, pausing so as to nod her head back towards the first of the Hyenas she had slain’s charred, and bloody form. After that, she found no real need to elaborate, instead simply nodding along and listening to the Doctor’s observation of how their weapons could likely be dispelled; letting her hand drop free of the lance. It pivoted first downwards, as the heavy hilt began to drag it in an arc, before dissipating in a flash of light, just as the Doctor’s had.

From there, she simply stepped back as the Doctor went about healing the others; closing her eyes as she pulled her cap further down to block out any more of the light. In fact, it wasn’t until the Doctor’s voice grew louder, more direct, that she even realized he had asked her a question; or that time had really been moving at all. The Adrenaline was surely wearing off now, but that didn’t give her an excuse not to answer. “...There was a lingering, phantom-esque pain. It was dull, rather than the sharp slashes they had provided; as if it was bruised, but it has long since begun to fade from that level. On a scale from one to ten... 8.24, in terms of improvement.” She replied, doing her best to give a full, detailed report.

Edited September 17, 2022 by Tiamat's Circus

[Skaia 578]

True to both Drake and Percy's assumptions the Exalted were neither debilitated by their wounds nor were their wounds completely gone to begin with. Thankfully, with the doctor's healing all those injured had seemed to make a full recovery, outside of Sabrina. Though she had been punched several times by the lion, and though she hadn't been healed by Percy, even she would start to feel her wounds lessen as the heat of combat died down.

Rumian, for his part, was still in awe by the explanation that Percy had started giving about the firearm though still didn't quite understand what it was. Similarly he was awed yet again at the man's display of healing magic. 

Luca, still smiling, nodded saying, "oh I'm sure of it! Twenty of these brutes couldn't even close to beating you! Oooh we're gonna get a Calm soon, I just know it!" The girl's excitement was practically overflowing as she added, "oh, right! I gotta show you guys my place still! This way!"

As she began to lead the way for the group, a group of other half animal half human people had made their way over. All of them seemed on edge with weapons already drawn, shouting, "we heard there was an attack! Where do you need us chief- uh." The group slowed down, looking confused at the pile of Drengr corpses along with the humans who notably lacked any animalistic features to them. Relaxing their grip and letting their shoulders slack a bit, the one in the front looked to Luca saying, "what...happened here?" 

Raising a stern finger and wagging the guards she said, "you were too slow. The Drengr already broke in and would've killed a lot of people. But thankfully," the girl's stern expression broke into yet another smile as she gestured to everyone. "We had the Exalted to help us!" 

Luca explained everything that had happened, in a rather dramatic fashion, to the town guards. When all was said and done the guards thanked the group for their work and Luca told them to take care of the bodies before guiding everyone through the village. 

---

Being the middle of the day, curiously, it had seemed as though there weren't that many people out and about, at least not on the roads they traveled. Every now and then they had passed by a new person who seemed happy to greet Luca and stare curiously at the Outlanders. Luca would explain that they were Exalted and this was met with either jubilance and thanks, or simply more curiosity and skepticism. All the same, they seemed like they had places to be at the moment and didn't linger for very long. Soon enough, the group reached Luca's house. 

The house itself was as flat topped and short as every other house in the village they had seen. In fact, it looked almost identical with its only two distinguishing features being that it looked to be a room larger and that it had a sign that said "Chief" on the front. As the group walked in Luca turned and smiled saying, "welcome to my home! Oh man, I can't believe I have the Exalted in my house!" The inside of the house seemed to be rather modest.

As they walked through the door they would notice it open up immediately into a rather large common room. It was hard to call it a living room, as its main features were that of a large wooden table with wooden seats surrounding it, as well as various bookcases across the walls and a barrel that had a variety of large rolled up papers in it. It then broke into what appeared to be some kind of kitchen area, though that wasn't separated by any wall and only had a small counter to work with there, and there seemed to be two rooms that off-shot from this one large room. "Have a seat, have a seat!" The girl gestured to the table. "This is where we usually hold town meetings and stuff but to think I can have a super special meeting like this today! Rumian! Get the map!" 

"Right." The boy walked over to the barrel and pulled out one such map before laying it down on the table for everyone to see. 

"I don't know how much you guys know about Aerstroff, since you're outlanders and all, so if you have any questions ask away!" 

Rumian looked towards Percy for a moment before looking back to Luca, considerably less enthused as he remembered everything before the fight that had just taken place. "I am unsure how much you know about well, anything in regards to this world. So, ask any of those as well and I'll do what I can to answer." 

---

Spoiler

The map is actually on parchment and is only inked with black ink, the different colors are only for ease of player understanding what they represent. 

 

[LordCowCow 839]

Sabrina was surprised that she wasn't in more pain than this. She was pretty sure after your heart stopped pounding and the excitement died down was when things really began to hurt. Yet she found it the opposite. Maybe it was more of the special chosen one magic they had? If so she wondered how far it could go. She didn't really want to test it but she couldn't deny she was curious.

Luca's praise made her smile widely, unable to contain the giddy joy that came from it, though she had to push back the instinct to dismiss it. This was no time to be humble! She was here to be their hero so she had to take the praise head held high!

Over to the side it seemed the others were talking about something. The large man with the shield asked everyone how things went. Despite the glow of pride from Luca's words she wasn't quite comfortable enough to join in. Especially not after hearing the first reply.

"Turns out, enough slashes and gashes on a berserking creature like that and making sure they're in the right spots...it'll expend a lot of blood in the process and eventually just pass. Gotta love problem solving!"

There was something kind of frightening about the way he talked about it. She couldn't put her finger on it but...she decided to keep her distance as they traveled nonetheless. She instead stayed near Luca, blushing and grinning whenever someone came up who seemed to be impressed by then. By the time that they reached their destination her face was practically entirely red yet the smile on it stretched from ear to ear.

The house itself wasn't impressive on its own. However Sabrina found herself marveling over it all the same. While she could see in it similarities to the houses and rooms she was used to there were so many things that were different. Almost like out of a history book or something. It really drove home the idea that they were in some other world to look around and take in the place.

When offered a seat Sabrina hesitated a moment and then sat down. She had to fight the urge to slouch forward as soon as she sat down and basically failed when the maps were brought out as she leaned in to get a look at them anyway. Yep, they sure weren't anywhere she knew of. Of course she didn't know much about maps to begin with but it didn't even look a little bit familiar.

Blinking she sat back up and nodded, pretending to understand what she was seeing.

They offered to answer any questions and once more Sabrina hesitated. There were dozens of things she could ask about. When it came to things she didn't know in general the list was long but when it came to this place it could very well be infinite. But she felt embarrassed to just rattle off question after question so at first she was going to stay silent.

Then a thought came to mind and she sat up even straighter, her face lighting up as the question came out, "I was just curious...is there someone who rules, uh, Aerstroff? Like, royalty or...something?"

Was there a king? A princess? Someone for a chosen one to save and complete the picture that was being painted of a special hero who was transported to another world and became super powerful and popular.

“Rules?” Luca put a finger to her chin as she thought about it. “I’ve never been called Royalty but that’d be me, right?”

Rumian shook his head. “No, she means something like a King.” The girls expression shifted to one of realization before trying to now think on this. The deer boy looked back to Sabrina. “From what I know long ago, before the Calamity, Aerstroff had a king. I don’t know much about him, but legends called him a great heretic who’s responsible for the Drengr. I assume he’s dead, or maybe he’s just a story. All I know is this here,” he pointed to the circle on the south end of the map, “is the ruins of what was presumably his castle.”

Sabrina's shoulders slumped a bit. "A-ah, I see." It was a disappointing blow, to be sure. But it might not be the end! There were many stories like that which didn't involve specifically a royal family! There was still a chance for this to become perfectly dream-like.

"Well, sounds like a bad kind of king anyway..." She grew silent and hoped someone else would ask something so her disappointment wasn't too easily noticed.

[Chaos Sonic 442]

"This is where we usually hold town meetings and stuff but to think I can have a super special meeting like this today! Rumian! Get the map! I don't know how much you guys know about Aerstroff, since you're outlanders and all, so if you have any questions ask away!"

...that would be next to nothing honestly... Gene thought, while looking at the map. Between Luca and Rumian, they answered Sabrina's question regarding about royalty...and the fact that the one was pretty much a heretic. So no king...no monarch to govern? Hmmm... he thought, muttering and rubbing his chin as he saw the area that Rumian pointed to. That circle there was the ruins of the castle of this heretic king.

"So...are there any locations here in Aerstroff that..." Gene paused, trying to really gather his thoughts before speaking. "...are there any locations that were heavily in tune with Exalted?"

Luca shakes her head, as Rumian looks deep in thought for a moment before also shaking his head. “I’ve never heard of past Exalted. After all you guys are super powerful heroes and stuff so our world would already be saved, right?”

“Though if you’re looking for points of interest,” Rumian chimes in and points to the square on the map. “This is a shrine to Storm and is also blessed by Ocean. Past notes tell me that were the Exalted to appear this would be the first place to go.”

Gene seemed a bit disappointed at the general answer. But regardless, he looked at the square on the map that Rumian pointed...which seemed to be a shrine. A place where Exalted were to appear? But... ...we were appearing in a church sanctuary...not some shrine. he thought, looking at the direction of that shrine. "...not much to go on...but, that could have some more answers to why we came here...plus, maybe we can find some clues on what we can do and how to properly do?" His problem solving mind went to work as he said this. After all, any answers on their true capabilities here in Aerstroff wouldn't hurt.

[Mr. Hyde 204]

The walk back to town sure was a surreal one.  Drake and the rest all looked so different from the denizens of the village, yet they were thanked for their help by all those who were told the group were the fabled exalted.  It sure was a one-eighty from what he was used to after a battle, but he smiled and waved to all of those that had received them so graciously.  In their hasty retreats back into their home, he could only reassure those they had protected.

"All in a days work for the Exalted!"  The phrase rolling off his tongue almost made his spine shiver.  What a strange thing to say.  Was he really so worthy of this role?  The thoughts kept prodding the back of his mind until they had reached Luca's domain.   

"This is where we usually hold town meetings and stuff but to think I can have a super special meeting like this today! Rumian! Get the map! I don't know how much you guys know about Aerstroff, since you're outlanders and all, so if you have any questions ask away!"

After they had all taken a seat, and Luca brought out her map of Aerstroff, the others took turn asking their own questions.  Drake listened intently.  Sabrina asked about the highest position of power in the land.  Unfortunately, there was none higher at the moment in this village than Luca.  Only fairy tails it seemed of ancient Kings.  Next was Gene, who asked an important question of where the Exalted should venture next.  A shrine blessed by the ocean would be their first destination.  

Drake leaned forward to take a look at the finely crafted parchment.  No doubt that in this sort of society, such map drawing skills were priceless.  However, upon further inspection, he sighed.  He slumped back into his chair and shrugged.

"This is why they didn't make me a field leader.  I can't make heads or tails of the topography...but some important landmarks might be helpful to know."  He pointed his finger to the one he'd like to call pretentious.  It's too bad the adjective didn't fit the man at all.  "Probably leave it to tall, pale, and wise over there.  I'm sure he'll figure out a thing or too."  He looked to Luca.  "I've really got no questions Ma'am.  I'm just gonna make sure the rest of these guys stay safe.  That's my new mission."  A loud growling could be heard around the room, emanating from Drake's stomach.  "On second thought...what do you guys eat around here?  Just wondering..."  Ah!  A new question actually did pop in that empty head of yours.  "Speaking of food, how would one pay for such things.  Does this land have multiple currencies?  Or is it all centralized?"   

[Skaia 578]

Rumian put a hand to his chin thinking about what Gene had said before saying, "I have never personally been there but I do believe it'd be a good first stop for you all. You were all brought here by Ocean's power so it stands to reason that there is something related to that at a shrine that has been blessed by her as well."

As Drake went on to ask his own question, this time both Luca and Rumian seemed confused by the question. "What's a currency?" The girl asked, only to be met with a similarly confused look from Rumian. "I don't know what you mean by all that stuff, but I can tell you all about the food! We've got stuff like bread, and maize and millets and gazelles - oh there was this one time an elephant came too close to the town so we had to get rid of it. It was really tasty too, but I don't think we have any. Sometimes we also get berries when we go hunting and supply collecting."

"If you want some food we'll be happy to get some for you." 

"Yeah!" Luca nodded excitedly. "I don't know how it works where you're from, but here whenever you finish a task for the day you get your food provided to you. And you guys are the Exalted, which means you're job is to be heroes, and you've already done heroing today!" 

Rumian thought more before saying, "oh, we should also probably get them a home to stay at for the time being. It shouldn't be too hard finding you a place right now so, we can go look now. But," he looked to the others that had been silent thus far. "Any other questions?" 

[yui 574]

While she had initially intended to help the rest of the crew deal with the last invader, Abby soon found herself instead sitting by and watching the action unfold. Seeing everyone else do these flips and spells and all helped her become more comfortable with the fact that she had done the same not long ago. It made it seem more real, somehow. Which did of course mean that her rather grisly execution was also quite real, a fact that most people would become immediately uncomfortable with, but if this was real, it was either her or it. She still had her own best interests to look out for, and being alive seemed foremost among those. With various other Exalted all working together as a team, the leader of these unruly raiders was put down in fairly little time for a leader, punctuated by that weird water drop sound. Abby sure had heard a lot of unusual things lately.

The group was afterward brought back to Luca's house, where the group was free to ask Luca and Rumian any questions they had about the strange new world they'd found thrust upon them. There was the matter of kings, landmarks, and of course, the economy. What Abby wound up taking away from these questions and their answers was that the matter of food might be a bit of a problem moving forward, but in exchange they had been given a couple pointers on places to look into visiting. And so it was that Abby voiced her own main concern.

"We did do pretty good as heroes I'd say, but no offense, I doubt we were brought here just to protect one village from some angry beastmen. Is there someone or something we should be trying to like... defeat?"

Rumian raised a curious eyebrow only for Luca to speak up excitedly. “Oh wells that an easy one. You guys are the Exalted so you have to beat the Accursed!”

"The Accursed, huh? And what's their deal?"

“Oh, well they’re really evil people that did really bad stuff a looong time ago and now they curse our lands.”

Rumian looked at Luca then back to Abby. “That’s a bit of a simple way to put it, but not inaccurate. Specifically the one here, Beryn, is the one who presides over the Great Curse of Aerstroff.” Once more thunder had sounded off, as it had been their entire time in this land so far. “That.”

So that was why that was the way it was. Well, that worked out perfectly for Abby at least, for a few reasons. It gave her a clear, tangible goal to work toward, a source of potentially more info since it felt safe to assume these Accursed were in league with one another, and it let her put this stupid weather to an end. Abby didn't mind thunder and lightning, but she did mind when that was all it was. It was annoying and mildly tense for no reason, like one of those cursed remixes where the song never actually starts or the drop never happens.

"Last one, this one's trivial. I don't suppose either of you know of some sort of magic spell to like... mend fabrics or whatever? Something like that just sounds really useful."

The both of them shook their heads. "I can only make small bits of lightning," Luca stated.

Well, that was unfortunate. Looking down to where the rip in her clothes had been made, Abby found... that the rip was conspicuously gone!? How mysterious! And convenient! "Don't worry about it, then."

[Skaia 578]

With the questions having been answered, both Rumian and Luca being confused by Abby's last question, decided to move on. Clearing his throat, Rumian spoke up saying, "right well, I should also mention something else. Beryn, the Accursed, where he's located. Which is, well, here." The boy pointed to the circle at the south end of the map again. "Legends state that he resides in the throne room of the old castle ruins. Fitting, I suppose." After making his off hand comment he added, "though, uh, it would probably still be best to go to Storm and Ocean's shrine first." He pointed back to the square eastward. "I can't say what lies there but Beryn was known to be quite powerful himself, so, well every little bit helps." Rumian trailed off a bit awkwardly, uncertainty seeming to be in his expression, though this pause barely lasted in the face of Luca's exuberance. 

"Now that you're all done with questions, I can go show you guys around! Well, at least where you'll be sleeping." The girl bounded out the door as she waited for everyone  to follow after her.

Rumian, opting to stay behind said, "I'll be here if you have anything more to ask. I have some things to look through and a whole slew of notes to record with, well, all of you here now." 

Once outside the girl would lead them not too far from the building they had just been in before stopping at a house that seemed no different then any of the others in the area. Similarly, the inside of the small one floor wooden building had been almost identical to Luca's house. Two bed rooms, a common living room area and a small kitchen to the side of that. The only difference was that the living room was lacking the bookcases that Luca's house had as well seeming smaller, if only slightly. After showing them inside the girl said, "make yourselves at home! Oh, but there's a lot of you so," the girl exited the house before pointing to the one adjacent to it saying, "feel free to use that one too!" Were they to check inside they would find it identical to the one they had just looked at. 

With that done Luca to everyone and said, "you've all done a lot of heroing for today so feel free to rest up! Oh, but I know you have important Exalted things to do too. So you can start doing those things too!" A disappointed expression crossed her face as she said, "I wish I could stay longer but I have chief things to do, especially with those stupid lousy no good Drenger attacking us." Brightening up she said, "but I can't wait to learn more all about you guys!" The girl looked ready to leave, before looking to the east horizon and suddenly remembering something adding on, "oh and be careful when it rains!" 

---

OOC

Spoiler

So yeah, you guys are free to just chill around, explore the town, rest in your houses and talk, or just go and set on your Exalted adventures. Though things were kind of expedited here, you are still free to speak with Rumian and Luca, though Luca is ready to leave and will do so shortly, or already have done so if no one speaks to her. 

Also worth noting, in spite of your adventures thus far today no one would feel fatigued. 

 

[LordCowCow 839]

Sabrina tried to pay attention to what the others were asking. She really did. But her mind kept wandering. Imagining what she'd find out there. What they said about the Accursed sounded kind of scary but also was very much in line with what she had expected from this. It was just people to beat to become heroes right?

With everyone in the same room, multiple people talking, Sabrina was starting to grow antsy. She felt a sudden urge to go get a breath of air outside and was relieved when it seemed that they would be heading out.

When she saw the buildings she was surprised, "So we're all going to be...living together?" She glanced over at the others, especially the doctor and the angry girl, and started to grow nervous at the idea. She hadn't lived with anyone besides family before and even then it wasn't many people.

She barely noticed when Luca announced she'd be going but managed to stammer out a hasty, "I'd like learning more about you too!" before the girl left.

Growing ever more uncomfortable Sabrina announced "I'm going to go, uh....scout out the village a bit!" she said, trying to find an excuse that sounded impressive. Then without further ado she simply wandered off. She had no destination in mind but she always tended to seek out high places when her mind wandered.

Which led her to a hill near the church they had arrived in. It was a gentle slope but it climbed up quite high. Possibly the highest point in the village in fact. As she reached the top she turned and sat down. She could see most of the village as she looked around and she took some time to take it all in. Over in the south the village was on something of a slope which felt like an unusual thing to her.

Much of what she could see beyond the simple buildings were farmland but at the opposite end was a large lake. As her mind wandered the first thing that came to mind was "Beach episode." but then she remembered who all was in the group and shook her head to remove the thought.

Once again she noticed those strange spires. There were three of them and each were massive. And somewhat ominous truth be told. She wondered what purpose they could possibly have and, as she wondered, she noticed far off to the north that there was yet another outside of the village.

For some time she stared at it, trying to figure out the purpose of them, then she gave up and laid back. As she did she closed her eyes and just focused on the grass beneath her. Her mind had been a whirl for a while now and she needed a moment to wind herself down. Besides first day of a new school year she had never met so many people at once like this. She didn't know yet what to think of them so she decided to use one of her tried and true methods of evaluating people.

"I wonder what Servant they'd summon..."

[Tiamat's Circus 116]

The dregs of adrenaline that pushed her forwards were all but gone now, and yet Marshall did her best to keep up with the group, physically, at least. Of course, mentally was another question entirely, a quiet fog clouding her senses as she glanced around as even the light of the town seemed too much to perceive after such a fight, and so she chose the familiar comfort of dragging her cap over to briefly cover her eyes. At least this way, she could focus on her feet as the others followed Luca, and from there leave her addled brain to focus more keenly on what was being said, and the implications of that as she did so.

By and large, it seemed that Luca - and the townsfolk in general, so far - had rather taken a liking to their performance as ‘Exalted’; something that was no doubt good, to be honest. Though she wasn’t sure she approved of the guards being ridiculed for the time they had taken, as they no doubt had to get ready for battle themselves, she couldn’t find it in her to contradict Luca either. It was a matter of literal life or death after all, and had it not been for their intervention… She shook her head, pulling the cap tighter, as Luca explained the battle, and then led the group through the town.

Luckily for the conductor, as she let her posture slouch a bit and focused herself primarily on putting one foot in front of the other, there weren’t too many people out and about speaking for her to keep up with her group’s own conversation. While she had grown quite accustomed to tuning out the hustle and bustle of subway life herself, it was much harder to do after an event that pushed one to their limits, and so she was… Thankful, to say the least, for the relative peace and quiet that lasted until they reached their destination. Luca started in there, announcing the group to her house. 

Clutching the brim of her hat as she followed the others, and, truth be told, Marshall was glad to sit down as Luca suggested, and the rest of the number at Luca’s table, with most of their group moving to glance at the map. She herself only caught a few hazy glances of parchment, but that was more than enough she decided she pressed the brim of her cap down with a slight wince. This was one of those moments, she decided, where she would be all too happy to let the others steer the question as she tried to piece things together from the safety of the lightless-inside of her hat, rather than risk a migraine all over again.

Luckily for her, the others seemed all too ready to oblige; asking questions about the ruling class, former kings, and a ‘shrine to storm’ all being topics that rose. Others, of course, asked a few too questions for her liking, but since she was refraining from speaking for now, she was in no position to voice a complaint. There was also a good deal of retreading ground, of course; not everyone had been paying attention when she had prodded River for information about ‘The Accursed’, but again, that was to be expected. In fact, as far as information gathering went, she had more than enough information to work with for the time being, though she would surely have more prudent questions after she had let her mind rest for a moment.

After that, to be honest, she lost focus. Luca had brought the group out of her house, once again rousing them from their feet, and to their own abode, or rather, abodes, where they would be staying together. It wasn’t until after Luca had left, or at least started to, that Marshall finally raised her cap to allow her to see more than just a few feet in front of her, and took the living-quarters in. They would be cramped with the number of people in their number, for sure, but that wasn’t so much of an issue as far as she was concerned. After all, were she tired, she would be able to rest just about anywhere; one of the perks of how much her job had required of her in life.

The problem, of course, was that she wasn’t tired. Not in the least bit, a foreign feeling for sure. She was used to adrenaline, when it faded, bringing with it the all-too-familiar fatigue that feels as if your very bones are losing solidity; something she was all too familiar with whenever training an apprentice for the rail company, but that was notably absent. The question passed through her mind even as she finally allowed her eyes time to adjust, though she wasn’t sure exactly who to ask about it. After all, their only Doctor seemed, so far, the type to run experiments were she to ask him about it; and so she made sure to only allow her gaze to linger on him for a moment before turning to the rest of their group.

It seemed to her, at least, that she wasn’t the only one feeling restless, as Sabrina blurted out that she was going to go ‘explore the village’, before running off at breakneck speeds before anyone could get a word in edgewise. Marshall simply nodded at this, raising her cap before once again glancing over the rest of the number. “...Before anyone else can run off,” she cleared her throat, hoping to catch them, as she kept her tone measured. “We should discuss sleeping and living arrangements; in particular, how we want to divide ourselves up first,” she explained, tucking one arm behind her back with the other planted on the brim of her cap as she was accustomed to.

“...Of course, we could all simply skip this step, and decide to stay in the first, single house; but I can assure you it is not likely to be a comfortable stay for anyone who isn’t already adept at filing into a confined space like a sardine,” she added, the faintest hint of sarcasm betraying her serious tone as she let the smallest edge of a smile poke at the corners of her mouth. “...Of course, I know we have a lot else to discuss too, but I would think figuring this out now will save us the trouble of doing so when we are all actually tired,” she added, before continuing. “...Now, as for the exact nature of how we should do so, we have more than a few options. This primarily is determinate based on the comfort and preferences of those around us, and so, were we to choose a systematic way of determining things, I may suggest either placing us in one of the two houses based on age-groups, as some of the younger members of our group may be uncomfortable with so many adults around, or, by gender-presentation, as that seems to be a tried and true system in many parts of our old world… “ she trailed off, taking in a deep breath; the faintest trace of a smile on her face, as if this idea of simply organizing things had begun to excite her just a bit. “...Though, of course, those are only systematic ways; there’s always the potentially better, if not more random, option of simply allowing people to choose which house they wish to stay in based on who they are more comfortable with and around at the moment,” she nodded. “But still, we have many systems and potential courses of action, and so…”

She trailed off, yet again, glancing around the group as she let the smile fade from her face, looking at each person for but a moment as she scanned over them each time. “What are all of your thoughts?”