A Heroic Trial [@Click This] [hr] Another blast of explosive water. The creature would shriek again. As Narkissa reached for its core, the slimy creature would attempt to grab her instead. Its gelatinous body reaching out to grab her arm, more tendrils being formed. One tried grabbing her wrist, coiling up her outstretched arm in an attempt to stop its ‘core’ from being messed with. Bony protrusions would dig into the flesh of her arm. More tendrils would attempt making jabs at the rest of her body, but she could easily at least cut them with her sword. It was for naught, however. She would pull, the creature would try to pull back, but it was clear at least who was the physically stronger of the two. The core would start to rip, slipping from the center mass of the creature. Its defense would get more frantic until there was a final, pained gurgling shriek as it was ripped entirely free. Narkissa would find herself stumbling backwards as the creature’s entire body would start shuddering. It would lash out a few, final times, but ultimately it would start collapsing. A single tendril reaching towards Narkissa. And it would fall, body hitting the floor and its mass losing all cohesion. “My...well, you’ve certainly done it.” A familiar, if somewhat perhaps now irritating voice would be heard. “Congratulations, you’ve managed to survive this little tutorial of sorts. I expect much greater things in the future. Here’s a little reward for the entertainment,” Something fell from the heavens, landing nearly in front of Narkissa before hovering just above the ground. A small, raindrop shaped gem. [hider=Goddess Note] Items Received: Fragment of Heroism A small teardrop shaped object barely bigger than an inch. Its small, and power seems minimal, but was gained through a heroic trial from the same Goddess which brought you here. Whatever its for, you can’t discern, but it clearly has a divine power within. Perhaps collecting more could lead to a miracle of some sort…? Slime Core: The core of a slime creature you fought in the temple. Its cold, and has the color of the deep ocean. It seems to have faint magical properties. Ability Learned: Hydromancy (lesser): The art of manipulating water and the oceans. Though you remember wielding great power while fighting that slime, it seems to have simply been the whims of a Goddess that allowed you to do so. While your ability probably won’t be quite that impressive for a while, you learned to have some control over it. [/hider] “What is it, you ask? Fufu, well, maybe ask the one that temple belongs too if you get a chance. I’ll be watching, Narkissa. If you seek greater power and fame, ask any time~” The voice would fade with a light chuckle, perhaps leaving Narkissa somewhat questioning what she was doing now. Lazhira would finish bonking the last of the lesser slimes not seconds later. “Whew...ugh, now I’m all sweaty~” Lazhira pouted a bit. “But hey, at least the fire seems to be out..so uh...hey what’cha got there?” She’d ask curiously. Dungeon Diving ho~! [@Crusader Lord][@Crimson Paladin] [hr] Regardless if her theories on certain things were correct, Leannah would once more attempt this ‘puzzle’. The stone necklace upon the vase holding the statue.The crystal sphere on the outstretched hand. The Crystal necklace on the hooded figure's neck. Immediately upon placing the last object upon where it last rested, there was an audible click. Two things happened. A low rumble. A bookcase against the far wall swung open like a door, before coming to a rest as it sat slightly ajar. A secret room hidden behind a bookcase? How cliche. What perhaps, was slightly less cliche, was the cistern below the statue to suddenly drain of water. A rush of water could be heard as it drained somewhere, revealing a room below, and stairs. The room behind the bookcase seemed to be a small, private study tucked away in the wall. A desk, a few pieces of parchment scattered on the floor. A candelabra with a candle completey burned out. A few books. Notably, upon the desk however, was a sheet of paper she could definitely read. [i]“Infiltrating the Illuminators faithful was surprisingly easy. As long as I hide my true self, that fool is none the wiser. It's easy, after all, making them just forget I even exist if any of them start to get wise too. All I’ll need to do is find the orb and make off with it, wait a bit...and then return to finish the job. I wonder how he would react? Me, doing what he couldn’t? I bet he doesn’t even remember I exist...well. He’ll have no choice but to remember once finish.”[/i] Perhaps this had been someone's hiding hole? But then why was it locked behind such a complex mechanism…? Or did someone leave it here intentionally for her to find? Regardless, if she took it with her it would fit neatly with the book she pilfered earlier. The only place left to explore, was the now drained cistern. A brief look would show it was rather spacious, despite the small opening she could fairly easily squeeze into it, the size of her butt only being a small inconvenience as she would drop below. The room smelled old. Like salt water and brine. Moldy and surprisingly humid, too. There was a small path forward at the far end of the cistern, a gate seemingly opened to let out the water. It was a wonder why anyone would even build a temple like this, but being built like this it would be. Thankfully more crystals would light the way. So Leannah would continue forward, following the slow flowing water until she reached what seemed to be a large pool. A simple, rectangular area made of bricks and large chunks of those Illumicrystal. Light was coming from the bottom of the pool, and Leannah could see objects moving under the water. More tar seemed to hang from the edges of the pool...at least the exit seemed easy enough to reach, on the opposite end. Something moved in the corridor ahead, but it only seemed to be a shadow. Maybe this area had secrets, if she cared to look around, or would she keep moving? [hr] Taking what seemed to be the correct choice, Novak would ‘press’ them as they were buttons on some code, or a keypad. As he would finally press the chainlink, he perhaps would wait with a bit of trepidation as the images would briefly flash...before dimming entirely. A few seconds passed before there was the sound of a click. Rather disappointingly, after a few moments, nothing seemed to happen. If he were to don the mask, however, he would see a bright white light hovering in place over the pedestal. A few more figures would also be shown, though it would seem as though they would grab the sphere before a series of flashing, intermittent images of them would quietly run down the hallway he had come from, and heading around the bend to the area that was of yet explored. Rather disconcertingly, he would see small humanoids seemingly peeping at him from around the corner, before a quiet giggle would be heard and they vanished. A few unintelligible whispers followed. Really, just what was this mask? ...he might notice what appeared to be a human skull now resting off to the side of the room. Had...had that always been there? [hr] Nobbu, the Fox, and a Traveler [@VitaVitaAR][@PKMNB0Y][@PaulHaynek] [hr] “...I see.” It would state airly at Nobunaga’s intention. “You seek the same perhaps as that other traveler that appeared before me not too long ago. Well, no matter. You wish to know what the deal was that they broke.” It would exhale, a gentle if somehow tired seeming wind sweeping gently through the grove. “It is not a failure, but rather negligence and somes desire for that which they should not. I am not the source of their problems, but rather the thing that is sealed beneath the land here is.” It would reply, a bird landing upon its antler. “You know they once worshipped one by the name of ‘The Illuminator’. The God of knowledge, and the one named Iva’Krorh.” The deer would paw lightly at the ground, as if in a mildly irritated manner. “He seeks something of the old world. Something that frivolous storyteller calling herself a Goddess sealed here in the Moonless Era. I know not the details nor the past before the earth woke from its slumber.” He would fix Nobunaga with a surprisingly stern gaze. “The accord they broke was simple. They are to protect this land and forest. In doing so, they had to forsake their previous deity some years ago, and now I can only surmise that since whatever experiments he was using this village for has failed, he is simply sating his curiosity somewhere else by attempting to unseal the past, and there are those in the village which seek to aid him.” He would turn his head to Misaki, observing her quietly while still speaking to Nobunaga. The fawn cautiously sniffed the reeds, before hesitantly taking the reeds and happily eating them. It would start following Misaki now, content that the fox girl wouldn’t have harmed it. “Truthfully, I care not for what happens. Should he succeed, I will move, and the forest with I. The Goddess will flood this land once more, and they will have brought it upon themselves.” His attention would suddenly be drawn towards the edge of the forest. “...it seems we have another visitor.” It would say just as Nicholas would walk into its range of sight. “Speak the reason you have come here, or leave.” [hr] The Roma Mob [@ERode][@Pyromania99] [hr] Octavia would tilt her head quizzically towards Isidore, listening intently. Seeming to understand she would sniff and paw at Isidore’s feet, before running over to one of the deceased apostles sniffing and getting a scent of some sort from their body. After a few seconds of rummaging around, she would bark and start trotting off towards the western peaks of the mountains. It would be a rather long trek. Thankfully it seemed as though Octavia’s nose was far better than that of hounds on earth, apparently being able to track things even days old with ease. Leuca would stick close to Augusta, desiring to walk herself after a while. There would be a few more dead bodies along the way. Most had been picked clean, or there would be nothing immediately useful to the party. Eventually, the sun would start to sink below the horizon. They had come quite a distance, traveling ever so steadily up the mountain taking a relatively safe path whenever possible. The snow hindering their progress only a little, with the storm thankfully holding itself from simply opening on them out in the open again. Just when they would think it’d be a good time to perhaps make camp, the sounds of clanging steel on steel would catch their ears. A few muffled grunts before it sounded like words were exchanged, but they were too far away to be heard. The sounds came from over a crest in a hill, where the ground would slope sharply downwards to a small valley below under a rocky outcropping that would slowly curve upwards. Two humans stood there, one a woman who looked to be fairly young. [url=https://i.imgur.com/eb0RZHL.png]She was glaring at the older male, a sword grasped firmly in her hands, lightly armored.[/url] Long blond hair flowed gently in the wind, a tattered cloak would hang from her shoulders. [url=https://i.imgur.com/6h5AoMM.jpg]The male, white haired but still giving the impression of someone full of youthful vigor and health.[/url] A large sword was grasped in one hand, a sword in the other, dressed in full armor and eye patch. They didn’t seem to notice you, or if they did neither cared. Whenever Augusta tried observing them...well, she’d find she couldn’t really. Especially the woman. Whenever she tried to look to long, she’d start getting a headache. [Hider=Goddess Note] Name: Railey Race: Human Physical Attributes: Stronger than you Magic Attributes: N/A Weakness: Possesses no magical ability, but has great physical ability. Abilities: Steel Muscles Focused Mind Peak Physical ability Special attributes: Protection of the Prophet Heart of Justice [/hider] [Hider=Goddess Note] Name: Sorcha Race: Human Physical Attributes: ???? Magic Attributes: ???? Weakness: ????? Abilities: ????? Special attributes: Holder of a dying Wish Human Sympathy [/hider] It seemed as though Augusta’s eye was less helpful here for some reason. Perhaps they had some protection or something she couldn’t see? As well, the human had far more special attributes and abilities, but the exact amount was unknown to her. “S-sorcha…!” Leuca would quietly exclaim. Seemed the two were have an intense stare off. Would they get involved? Or simply watch how things played out? [hr] Wayward builder [@Guy0fV4lor] [hr] She might have very well swindled him into doing her dirty work for her. Mie would show him one of the other ones, making sure he at least knew what he was looking for - a giant weasel sort of animal with greyish fur. Apparently they were used as pack animals by the group to haul their cargo and such. Thankfully it seemed like it might not be too hard to track - it left very obvious and clear tracks in the snow. So Donovan would decide to follow them. It would take him fairly deep into the forest before he would see signs of it. A few pieces of fur caught on some shrubs here and there. Some scratching in the snow, until finally he’d be able to see the beast itself. It was aggressively clawing at the ground, attempting to...ah. It would take him a moment to realize what exactly it was doing - it was trying to maul someone. “Oi! I can see ya over there! A little help here? You friends with this beastie!?” The one being attacked [url=https://i.imgur.com/hwlQEWM.jpg]A...child? With blue hair was currently being accosted[/url] by the beast he was hunting. Not quite a child perhaps - they seemed to come up to about half of Donovan’s height, and they were clearly dressed for travel. Armor, sword, shield and all. The shield of which was currently being used to try and keep the animal from completely crushing them. It would take a moment to glance to Donovan, growling threateningly, but the short humanoid would take this moment to quite literally, punch the thing right in the face and cause it to recoil giving them enough time to roll over and get back to their feet. “Just cos I’m a dwarf doesn’t make me a chewtoy you oversized rat!” [hr] Send Feet Pics [@Cu Chulainn] [hr] Soyala listened to this ploy, and all the sordid details Malphas spoke of. It would certainly make sense. None of the faithful would object, she was sure. There was however, a small problem with that. “Hm...yes, that should work. If we cook the flowers into the food it should reduce the effects at least somewhat, too. We could at least take the girl, then and figure out what exactly she’s up to.” The one that had accosted Malphas wouldn’t say a word, keeping himself quiet and merely observing the entrance to the closed off temple. “...the only problem would be having Enli agree to it. Holding it here would defeat the purpose of hiding this place.” She would remove the small mask she wore over her eyes. “I am unsure if the Illuminator would be willing to bestow such a feat upon you, however. He’s never done such a thing before as far as I recall...but it likely is not out of the realm of possibility. But you’d have to ask him yourself once he returns. Normally to emulate it, the priests simply wear eyeless masks in order to see what he does in the world...but if he finds amusement in it, I am sure he would agree. Regardless, we can find more of those plants as well as hunt enough to make this a possibility.” Seemed like his task was set then. She didn’t say why he would have to convince Enli, but perhaps the village chief was just a bit suspicious of the hunters asking such a thing. “Alternatively...there’s a good chance she’ll be alone at some point. She always seems to manage to evade us, but perhaps you could have more luck in that regard should the temple not take care of her for us. A far less elegant solution, but still one nonetheless. I’ll pass the plan on to lordship while you are off convincing Enli and taking care of that business the fox wanted.”