[center][h3]Tora & Poppi[/h3]
[b]Level 5 Tora[/b] - (12/50) EXP and [b]Level 4 Poppi[/b] - (11/40) EXP 
[b]Location:[/b] Morgensloft Field, the Land of Adventure
[b]Word Count: 461[/b] 
[@DracoLunaris][/center]

After scrounging for a good half hour and collecting whatever they could, the two teams reconvened to head south. It took only a minutes to step out from the dappled light filtering through tree branches into the radiance of the afternoon sun, shining down onto the rolling expanse of golden wheat ahead. “Wow-wow!” Tora cried in delight, and he and Poppi raced out into the wheat. For Tora, it came up past his head, so to the others it looked like a tuft of hair running amok in the grain. Poppi didn't share his frolicking laughter, but she looked plenty happy as she jogged after him. At the far end of the field stood a decrepit windmill and nearby homestead. In the afternoon sun it made for a [url=https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/009/884/543/large/robert-berg-farmlands4.jpg?152140670]picturesque view[/url].

Seeing this, Poppi pointed and suggested, “Masterpon, let's try over there! If this like farms at home, there should be tools to make harvest easy.” Tora nodded his approval at the idea, having been wondering exactly how he'd gather wheat himself, and took off through the golden sea.

He exited the field onto the farmstead's perimeter and instantly tripped. “Meh!” He turned to look and found the corpse of a humanoid rat creature, dead as a doornail, and scrambled back in panic. “MEHMEH! Wait, what?” As he got up, he looked at the thing again in bafflement. “Tora thought all thing turn ashy-ashy when dead.”

Poppi exited the field as well, looking at the cadaver thoughtfully. “Hum. Poppi thought so too.” She glanced up at the distant, multicolored aura of Galeem, hovering high above the void in the continent's center. “Maybe that was there when world was made.”

Tora gave a shake of his head. “Why would big baddy do that?” His companion didn't answer, so he gave a shrug before heading back toward the farmhouse. This time he kept a close eye on the ground, and as he progressed he noticed piles of ashes here and there. “These...ashes? So things [i]were[/i] killed here. Maybe by adventurers, meh.” That or, something else had slain adventurers. Shelving the thought, Tora moseyed up to the farmhouse and entered the open shed. Inside, true to Poppi's prediction, there hung a selection of farm tools from a rack. Tora, unfortunately, didn't know which to pick. “Meh, this one?” he asked, holding up a shovel.

In silence Poppi opted for a scythe. “Like this. Or sickle, the one curved likes rings of Nia. Catch lots of wheat in big cut.” When she received a curious look, she added, “Poppi lean lots about vegetables from Pyra.” Tora, however, wondered a lot more about whether or not any living rats remained in the farm. He suspected that once the crew started harvesting, they would find out before long.

[center][h3]Pelagic Lake[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] the Land of Adventure
[@MULTI_MEDIA_MAN][@Gentlemanvaultboy][@Stern Algorithm][@TruthHurts22][/center]

The route taken by the trio, with the help of their assorted mounts, brought them steadily closer to their goal. Just one hiccup presented itself: a gargantuan [url=https://i.imgur.com/R2g7aBN.png]ape[/url] resting atop a knoll, surveying its turf like some sort of lord. With it unmentioned in their quests, the three were held to no obligation to face it, and steered clear. They were correct to anticipate further conflict down the road, as could be seen the moment they topped a hill overlooking their destination. The lake, ringed by plantlife and home to a few interesting structures like the [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/zelda/images/7/7d/Human-cannonball_Ride.png/revision/latest?cb=20110221234705]one[/url] floating atop its surface, would have been idyllic if not for the desperate battle unfolding before they eyes.

Marble-eyed [url=https://gamepedia.cursecdn.com/darkestdungeon_gamepedia/0/0b/Pelagic_Grouper.png]monsters[/url] had risen from beneath the lake's rippling surface in droves, attacking another band of intruders in waves. Two, a couple of teenage wielding their own swords, fought well enough from atop the floating walkway but were grossly outnumbered. A third stranger, older and far less scrappy, had fled to the colorfully-roofed house on the water and tried the door, with no luck. Even now pelagics closed in on him, cruelly-barbed spears at the ready. These aquatic warriors clearly possessed both strength and intelligence, making them a formidable threat in those numbers. If the new arrivals did nothing, those already embattled would be overwhelmed.

[center][h3]The Centurion[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Lumbridge's Guildhall, the Land of Adventure
[@Stekkmen][/center]

Agoston's request found the guildmarm in a bit of a state, sorting through contract cards and quest files as fast as she could, with predictable results. Still, the frazzled woman managed to piece herself together enough to indulge the man's request, inferring a bit on the side. “I take it you finished your quest then. I'll, uh, be sure to mark that down.” She heaved a sigh before brightening up again, as though she'd flicked some sort of psychic switch. “As for your friends, they took Miss Mina's ingredient quest. If I remember the details right, they'll probably be in either the forest to the east across a bit of plains or the fields south of that forest. Hurry and you can catch them in time to get quest credit!”

[center][h3]Courier 6[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Coral Highlands, the Land of Adventure
[@ProPro][/center]

From a distance 6 could see that his hunt for wigglers brought him and his yellow-plumed steed on a crash course with the mountains forming the Land of Adventure's western border. As he drew nearer, however, he could see what appeared to be his real objective. Across a short span of rocky foothills, nestled cozily in the middle of the range, lay an extravagant zone of gigantic, unusual structures: the [url=http://www.monsterhunterworld.com/sp/images/ecosystem/img_ecosystem_03_01.jpg]coral highlands[/url]. There, he would find the wigglers he sought.

Before he entered that lush, oceanic cliffscape however, the lowlands stood in his way. Luckily his long-legged new friend made short work of the uneven terrain. The inhabitants proved not so easily avoided. A gang of [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/indie-pogo/images/2/2b/Bullet_Kin_Fighter_Big_Size.png/revision/latest?cb=20180706174017]living bullets[/url] roamed the area, no doubt ranging from the bullet-shaped shacks on a nearby bluff. Though not excessive in number, each one of the keg-sized ne'er-do-wells sported a large handgun of his very own, and none cared too much to examine whatever caught their gaze before they started shooting.

Not far from where the ground grew moist and corals started to crop up among the weeds, a different sort of creature caught the Courier's eyes. A large, broad beast of stern stuff, the [url=https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/5/53/232Donphan.png]animal[/url] struggled against a couple of bullet bullies, who chuckled metallically as they dodge-rolled between cover and took potshots at it. So far the bullets' bullets appeared to be doing little damage, especially against the pokemon's back, but it already bore a number of shallow holes and cuts. 

[center][h3]Nero[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Charnal Lane, Dead Zone[/center]

Ratchet and Jak's efforts held back the Swarm for a moment, but its dual commanders wasted no time in getting down and dirty. Even after getting batted aside by one of the Suffering as Dark Jak, Jak called upon the riotous power again to engage his nemesis head-on with an ally's kart as a weapon. His blow landed squarely on the big demon's shoulders, knocking loose a couple skulls, and the monster staggered back with a snarl. It wheeled about, using its arms in addition to its legs to pull itself around at high speed, and came at him with a four-fisted uppercut to send the empowered man flying.

Meanwhile, Donnie -having escaped from the van and taken a little weight off Nero's load- maneuvered himself atop his disk to help push from underneath. Trusting his allies to see to Nero's defense while he committed himself to rescue spoke volumes of his trust and courage, and he made sure not to waste this time. His own strength plus the persistent upward movement of his disk, which threatened to squash him between the vehicles, managed to start the van moving upward. Inside, Nico struggled to climb upward and out of the passenger door, now facing the sky. As much as she loathed to leave all her stuff behind, it wouldn't avail her much should the whole thing plummet with her inside, so she employed her muscles to get her out of the imperiled vehicle and onto solid ground. Getting there, however, meant little in terms of her overall safety. A whole array of monstrosities bore down on her, bent on sending the weaponsmith, her friend, and the van tumbling down.

Gene, however, rose to lend his strength to their defense. Having extricated himself from the van as well, he tore off the Deistic Brace to let the God Hand loose, and smashed through zombie after zombie. One man could only do so much, though, and Gene knew it. The Swarm moved at the Sufferings' command, directed to take the van down while ignoring the defenders if they could. He needed to get their attention.

His taunt's effect was immediate. A crowd of undead, though not all of them, turned on him while both Sufferings lent him their full attention. Brutal fists powered by packed demonic muscle converged on him, apt to pummel him into paste if not for the God Hand's invincibility.

Meanwhile, Blazermate had returned from her brief sojourn to a graveyard full of chaos. Her time fused with the Engineer gave her an instinctive understanding of what he needed to do, so she flew up to the building on the graveyard's left to give him a vantage point before returning to fix her healing beam on Gene. Any second now, after all, his God Hand would run out of juice, and the wisecracking fistfighter would be history. His gambit, however, gave the others the time they needed. Nero had almost pulled the van back up onto solid ground, needing just a few more seconds.

North of the fight, a skull poked above a gravestone. Its eyes, blue with red pupils, beheld everything going on across the way, and nothing about it pleased their owner. The [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/legendsofthemultiuniverse/images/4/48/Mr._Bones.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20170725121409]skeleton[/url] held a hand to the side of his head, distraught. Whoever they were, those people needed help. But even though he wanted to, how could he? He'd already agreed to help the other skeleton, after all, and his beam could only do so much.

“whew. that looks rough.”

Mr. Bones looked over to see his [url=https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/026/589/sans_thumbnail.png]acquaintance[/url] sitting on another tombstone. “you're not thinking of running over and being a hero, are you? call me bone-headed, but those chumps look like humans. they've been crushing zombies left and right. what d'you think they'll do to us?”

Bones ground his teeth. “I know, but... I can't jus' let folks be killed by monsters like that. It ain't right.”

His friend shrugged, smiling that smile of his, as though everything were a joke. “suit yourself.” 

Having made up his mind, Bones stood up and charged down the graveyard toward the fight. From where they stood, the heroes glimpsed another enemy running their way, but the moment he arrived Bones cried out, “Here to help!” He held out a hand at a Swarm and unleashed a beam of blue lightning, destroying the undead on the spot. From his position behind the mob, he started lighting up small fry one after another, though he steered clear of the Sufferings.