Team Nippon [@VitaVitaAR][@PKMNB0Y][@Crimson Paladin] [hr] While each offered a plan and a course of action, they remained relatively safe. The giant’s roar could be heard, but it was distant even if it was concerning. Had it found prey elsewhere? Well, it didn't matter much to them. While the massive creature was distracted, the three of them booked it for the gatehouse. Snow crunched under their feet as they made a dash for what was hopefully the exit. Thankfully, it seemed like that assumption was correct. Upon reaching the gatehouse, an archway connecting the two towers could visibly be seen in almost pristine condition. Beyond it, it led to a narrow path cut into the cliff. They perhaps could have taken more time to inspect it, they’d make out various runes carved into the sides of the archway, slowly lighting up and shimmering as they passed. To them, nothing much changed. They ran into the passage, it narrow enough to require them to move mostly single file, Nobu at the front, Misaki in the center, and Novak bringing up the rear. Yet, something was off, and Nobu and Misaki could both tell through their experience and the others more animal senses. Almost as something...moved. Not them, nor the ground, almost as if the world itself somehow changed. The smell of the sea, a gentle crashing of waves against the shore. The shrill call of a few birds, similar to the ones they had confronted previously. The rock walls of the narrow path disappeared entirely, and a cold wind and blinding sunlight greeting them as they suddenly found themselves standing atop a snowy outcrop, the sea crashing against a wall below them. There was no sign of any guardian, ancient buildings, or...anything from that place, really. If they looked back they would see a ruined archway laying in pieces upon the ground, and a large, black obelisk rising into the sky, seemingly coming up from the ocean itself rather than being built upon the cliff. Several intricate carvings could be seen, far more intricate than what were in the others. They were difficult to make out here, but one more prominent one was definitely of a large, crescent moon situated near the top. More of those black stones littered the ground, along with various structures made of stone. It seemed as though they had successfully made it out of that area, but...where were they? And where had they been? The land before them was covered mostly in snow, any greenery lightly touched with it. To the south across a large bay were two impossibly large mountains, seemingly threatening to pierce the heavens itself. It seemed like they could reach it relatively soon if they followed the beach alongside it. To the north, the beach stretched onwards, and further inland they could make out nothing but a snowy plains and a forest immediately beyond. One of Misaki's ears would pick up the sound of something moving to her right. [url=https://i.imgur.com/xCu8NkS.jpg]A quick look would reveal[/url] someone hesitantly poking their head out from behind one of those black stones. Upon realizing they had been noticed, they hesitantly stepped out. It was a young girl, probably only a teenager by earths standards. It was difficult to tell much from how far away they were, but a mix of both curiosity and mild concern was clearly visible on her face. She seemed oddly lightly dressed, given the conditions. And so, they were the first to exit the area the goddess had thrust them into, now then, what exactly would they do here? The world, as they say, was theirs for the taking. They just had to decide where they were going. The Roma Mob [@ERode][@Pyromania99][@PaulHaynek] [hr] Instead of letting this thing pull her in, Augusta steeled herself, deciding to pull back on whatever force was pulling her. By herself, this might have been something of a herculean feat. Whatever it was doing the pulling was incomprehensibly stronger compared to Agusuta. Every tug she could almost feel herself slipping further and further. Yet, she was not alone here. Isidore provided an anchor. Thrusting his sword into the ground, he wove his own spell. A faint outline of chains, wispy and ethereal could be seen could be seen connecting them between the cold air. Augusta would feel it, too, Isidore’s own energy connecting with her own. He would feel the pull, too, much stronger now, yet they suddenly whatever was pulling seemed to panic slightly. They had reached a standstill. Neither side being able to fully pull on the other. When Nicholas decided to join, it seemed that was all the little push Augusta needed. The translucent blue tone of her body began returning to normal, fair skin color. She was slowly, ever so slowly, dragging whatever it was through the connection she had to it. For a few moments, it didn’t even seem to resist and let itself be dragged until there was an audible crack. Augusta, Isidore, and Nick would find themselves having nothing pulling back on them, the sudden lack of opposing force sending them to stumbling backwards. Had the connection been severed by the other side? The ground under the stone rumbled lightly, and the first thing they’d see was the snow suddenly melting, turning into steam as the ground underneath began to crack and split. A vicious, black, sludge bubbled up from the ground from it, slowly forming a small pool at its base. Not seconds later would it start crawling its way up the stone, almost as though it were alive in some manner. Up and up they crawled, making an almost vein like pattern on the surface of it, the sludge pulsing and undulating with life as all of the different veins reached the top of the stone. Not stopping its growth, it continued growing upwards, a small stem growing upwards resembling that of a flower. A few new growths would branch off, almost resembling leaf like patterns. Soon the growth stopped, a single sphere of the black substance sitting atop it like a heavy crown. It kept growing and growing, larger and larger until it was almost almost the comical size of a small animal and could no longer support its own weight. And then - It opened. The sphere, or perhaps, flower bulb split. Its petals opening and revealing an oddly beautiful black flower and dropping something from its confines onto the ground with a heavy thud. Upon the ground in front of them, was a puppy. At least, it looked like a dog. Its fur was thick, black and surprisingly extremely soft. Its eyes, an angry red and its mouth seemingly too long for its muzzle, with jagged sharp teeth. It rolled around in the snow for a second before standing on four legs covered in a small bark like substance and shaking off the snow from its body. It looked to the three gathered people, barked happily before running in a circle and wagging its tail, jumping back in the direction of the building they came from before turning to face them once again. It seemed friendly. The flower that spawned it, purpose completed, withered and dried up. The petals dried up and floated away in the breeze, leaving only a few melancholic ones remaining. [hider=Goddess Note] Name: N/A Race: Demon Hound pup Physical Attributes: Similar to you. Magic Attributes: N/A Weakness: Like all demons, they are weak to divine related miracles that seek to purify corruption. It is inherently bound to obey those who made it unless released from its service. Is weak to magical effects, especially fire and ice. [i]Abilities:[/i] [i]Black Blooded[/i] This hound comes from the --------- clan. Its blood is toxic and extremely caustic, causes severe burns and can even cause humans to mutate. [i]Pack Mentality[/i] As a demonic beast, this particular one works best in a pack. When around other members of its pack, it will gain sharp boosts to its intelligence and physical boosts. [i]Physical Regeneration[/i] Demons of the --------- clan are notoriously difficult to kill and blessed with massive physical boons. The least of which, is incredible regenerative properties even being able to remake severed limbs in the midst of battle. A Demonic Beast from the --------- clan. Dangerous and intelligent, it is a beast that will relentlessly pursue its prey and sadistically end them. Loyal and steadfast, it’s a beast you can trust should you command it. You do not. As a beast-type creature, its physical senses are heightened. While smarter than your average animal, it can still only follow basic commands from those who control it. It seems like it wants you to follow it. [color=6ecff6][i]As adorable as it is, I would recommend ending it.[/i][/color] [/hider] The thundering footsteps of the guardian could be felt getting closer. They were closing in on this location! Was it chasing something, or had it noticed them? Nick was getting a bad feeling, but it wasn’t from the dog. It was definitely coming from something else, presumably the golem now that the stone had finished whatever it was doing. [hr] Team feet pics [@Cu Chulainn][@Crusader Lord][@Click This][@Guy0fV4lor] [hr] Donovan bolted from the building, slamming the door behind him. A noble sacrifice, this early in his new life? Certainly a tale for the books. The former construction worker put his entire being into running, his physical body straining against its already heightened natural limits. He could feel the warden shake the very ground with every one of its massive steps. While it wasn’t fast, its own weight slowing it down massively, its gait was long and each movement covered as much ground as Donovan did in all of his steps. Recalling whatever the goddess said of his mystical abilities, he focused inwards. He could feel it, something in his chest. Focusing it inwards, he directed that energy towards his legs - the effect wasn’t much. This was his first time doing something like this, after all, but he could definitely feel a small difference - he was slowly, just ever so slowly, outpacing this giant but he could feel the toll it was taking on him, too. He couldn’t keep this up for long as untrained as he was. He could see it in front of him, a path beside the cliffs that led west. The giant would never be able to fit in there, and the giant seemed to sense Donovan’s goal. It growled, a terrible mechanical sound as it pursued - yet, however, suddenly stopped, the only indication Donovan would have of this would be the sudden lack of the titan’s heavy footfalls. If he looked back, he’d see its head turned towards the east - in the direction the others presumably had gone. It then completely forgot his existence, turned, and started walking back towards them. The others, conflicted about the man's sacrificial resolve, quickly left the building. Perhaps there had been more secrets there to discover, but for now they likely chose the safest option. Leave while their watcher was distracted. They left the building, one by one entering into the cold open air, the only one remaining unbothered would be Leannah, her blessing keeping her warm and cozy despite the temperature. Once outside, they would meet the same sight Donovan did. A large snow covered field, littered with stone slabs, the ground recently disturbed by the steps of their guardian. Across the field they could see a tower and buildings, and beyond that a cliff where a wall was. That only left them to decide where to go now, while the Guardian was distracted. North was out of the question, unless they wanted to play hero and see Donovan’s resolve go to waste. That left only the path right in front of them - they could see a few doors along the building, and the path around to the west seemed safe enough, and it seemed Narkissa made the decision for herself. The brit would take the chance, running west as south was nothing but an open field with more of those monuments. Soon, she’d reach the courtyard where the giant had been watching the tower, close to the center of the complex. If everyone had followed, they would see the gatehouse as well. Perhaps that was their ticket out of here? Ahead of her, Narkissa could see three more disappear beyond the gatehouse, a small shimmer of light seeming to indicate them passing. Was that their ticket out of here? Fate would not be so fortunate. As soon as the others had passed, Donovan’s distraction would fall somewhat short. Their exit caused them to draw the attention of the Guardian to the gatehouse. With a growl, it turned their attention back towards them. They had time before the guardian made its way to them. With a little luck, perhaps they could make it to the gatehouse before it caught up to them, but as its steps thundered closer, perhaps they should scatter before it could crush any of them. [hr] The Lonely Pixie [hr] [@1charak2] Donovan dashed by some distance in front of Alice, surprisingly swift of step. Perhaps he was using some supernatural means of enhancing his speed? Regardless, the giants steps thundered after him, but it was not important to Alice. Neither would see her, tucked away in her corner. Still, she elected to perch on the roof to hopefully prevent herself from being spotted. “Golem…?” The words slowly formed on the page as though the book was thinking, if it were even capable of it. “...I recall...a lab...shadow elf and...a cloaked figure. So many prototypes...I’m sorry, I can not recall.” The words trailed off, as the book likely considered Alice’s second question. “Broken? Am I...broken? I can’t say. I can’t tell anything from here. I am sleepy and lethargic, but...broken?...ah...hold on...” The pages in the book suddenly, quickly turned, stopping only when the center pages had been reached. The pages shimmered briefly, slowly losing their paper like appearance and quality as it was soon replaced by a dark gold colored, almost metallic looking shiny finish. Lines ran down the page, a slightly brighter color. Some of the lines ended in little circles. Others ran off the page, presumably being continued on the back side of the page. Some of the circles were black, almost as though they had been burnt. Some had been seemingly torn out or somehow removed, leaving nothing but a jagged hole. One of the pages returned to its normal coloration, more writing appearing on it. “Hm...it seems I am damaged. That may...explain a number of things, but I don’t know how to fix it.” A line break. “...a fairy. Curious. And not from...here?...where is even here?” If Alice cared to look, out of the corner of her eye she could still see that same cloaked figure near the building the others had just vacated. The person wearing the skull mask curiously seemed to watch them leave, before scurrying inside the building through a window.