A5G

Duplicitous Ruins in the Land of Twilight

Verdant was more than glad that the party divested the luggage across them. She may be strong enough to lug the whole gigantic sack, but snake anatomy simply wasn't build for load-bearing. She still carried a good portion of the supplies, finally divesting the entire thing on the pretty little glade that they decided to rest in.

Snake instinct said open ground bad, owls will get you. She should find a nice hole to burrow in. Verdant countered that an own large enough to nab her (probably) doesn't exist.

But she'll stay smaller. Just in case. Less tasty for potential passing giant owls. Or dragons, for that matter.

Reverting to humanoid form with a series of muffled but still very much audible noises of crackling bones and fleshy rips, the serpent stretched her neck as the phantom soreness of the latest task followed even when it really shouldn't have. Apparently brain worked weird like that... who told her that again? Well, she had a brain and it worked weird so it's probably true anyway.

"Pretty sure we lost all the eggs and pickles. Some of the jars probably broke too, but if the content is dry it should be salvageable." She mentioned to no one in particular, mostly to those who rummaged to tally what supply they had left. What can be kept, what must be thrown out. She certainly wasn't precise in the picking earlier, a keener set of eyes should take another look. "Too bad for anyone who love eggs boiled in pickle juice, but there's enough variety for other stuff. Probably."

With that she flopped next to the rising campfire, the warmth pretty comfy to tired muscles. For a moment Verdant did nothing but bask in the heat, eyes glazing to the vast expanse of cosmos so far beyond. Gaining a human's vision had been... disorienting, back then, but unlocking the mesmerizing beauty of nature was something she could ever go back from. So many stars tonight... few places had such potent display of glimmering tapestry.

Her short break was interrupted by Vesemir, who called for introduction. Turning her attention to something much closer, such as the bossman - Vesemir! That's his name! -, and the other escorts from the first team. Verdant smiled and waved at each one, sitting up criss-cross-applesauce from her spot but otherwise not rising. It's simply too comfy.

"I'm Verdant, a regular snek!" She said cheerfully at her turn, completely serious about it. As far as she's concerned, it's actually accurate. "I like naps, food, sightseeing, and exercise! Peached to see you all. Oh, where are we going exactly?"

There may had been a mention of some ruins or whatever. She didn't quite catch it. Or read it fully. It's somewhere inside the dreaded forest, and that's all that mattered.

Duplicitous Ruins in the Land of Twilight

Finding the cart was easy. The mixed stench of blood and viscera blew right into her face in the night wind, mixed alongside hint of pickles and fresh eggs. Of which when combined made for a rather volatile mixture of the nasty kind. A tickle of bestial instinct urged her to gorge on the carcass, but it was stamped down as soon as it reared its head.

Heh, she sure had went a long way. A couple centuries back and it would've been a feast. Now? Verdant definitely was a tad spoiled.

Not like she'd trade it back. Good food was part of living well after all.

She found the cart alright, as well as the horse pulling it. Well, the half left uneaten by the dragon. It looked like the overgrown lizard snapped at the horse and brought the poor thing skyward until it quite literally ripped in half under the cart's weight. The result, well. Messy was an understatement. If someone were to restore the cart they'll never get the stench of blood and horse guts out of the wood.

But that's irrelevant. What's more important was the food supply, mostly still sort-of secured in the wrecked and overturned cart, though some was strewn all over the road. Verdant worked quickly, cutting and tearing through the sturdy canvas that was once the roof of the cart, before laying down what boxes and sacks and whatnot that looked relatively unsoiled. The eggs and pickle fluid kind of splatter everywhere, mixing with some flour and grain spilling from some broken and torn containers, but for the most part the packaging was sufficiently sturdy to survive the fall.

Thank goodness for that. Hunting for sustenance in this kind of place was... likely risky. Not to mention whether it was even edible in the first place. Like, Verdant herself probably would be fine. The rest of the party? Not so much. Would be a sad end to the trip if they're forced to turn around for lack of a bite of bread.

Ah, wait. She was so preoccupied with the supplies that she kind of missed one important thing. Tilting her head to listen, followed by a sniff, the serpent simply failed to catch any sign of their coachman. She focused inward, soon after flicking a serpentine tongue as she tasted the air, but same result. No scent of coachman. No sweat, no blood, no lingering fear and adrenaline in the air. Nothing. As if the man had vanished from then and there.

Or had something similar to those Kadanian Woodswraith. She still had no idea how they managed to elude all her senses.

Well, whatever. If he wasn't dead here he's probably on his way back home already. It's not like Verdant can afford to backtrack, she already spent most of her allocated time here. Dusting her hands as she finished piling the last box on the center of the somewhat rectangular canvas, the final addition clanging in the telltale noise of cookwares, she gathered the corners and roughly tied them together with a similarly salvaged rope. Just to keep it from falling out during transportation.

As for the transportation? Verdant focused further, her form melting down and elongate until in her place was a massive serpent with scales the hue of deep, glimmering emerald. She snapped up the rope and pulled the canvas bundle along, making good progress despite the rather unwieldy bulk of her luggage.

She's stronger than she looked, after all. Especially after absorbing Viridian back in the days.

Duplicitous Ruins in the Land of Twilight

Welp, looked like her fellows were very thorough this time around. A zoom, a bang, and suddenly the angry burning trees was now a (probably) angry burning pile of wood. Verdant covered herself from the last burst of searing air, skipping away from the source of heat once she confirmed the wood-things stopped moving.

The road's gonna be unusable for a day or so, with how much heat the ground drank in.

Viridian dematerialized, the remaining serpent taking a deep breath as adrenaline receded. It had been brief, but summoning her sister was an exhausting affair. Perhaps she could've do it less recklessly, but honestly? Verdant was getting restless after four days of monotonous ride.

She followed along the bossman, whathisname? Vermicelli..? Great, she forgot. Pretending that she hadn't just came upon an awkward realization, Verdant trundled and raised an eyebrow at the hefty bag of clinkies. There's scant few material that weight and clink like that, and sure enough it was her payment in full.

Now she feels bad.

"Wow, thanksies!" Said the serpent happily. And speaking of the carriage... "Oh, I could take a look, couldn't be far. Maybe big lizard only take the horse."

With a skip Verdant went off the way they came from, seeking to find where the carriage was wrecked. Overhearing what sounds like the combat captain's words, she had ten minutes. A bit tight if the horse had went on a full gallop, but doable. Unless somehow the dragon nabbed a different horse and their coachman was actually five miles out and counting, but in that case she'd just turn around then.

Only taking a brief stop to reclaim her bag, she strapped it tight before continuing on her short run.

Duplicitous Ruins in the Land of Twilight

The heat, the heat. Verdant hissed, standing rather close to the walking bonfire just beyond the barrier. Fresh trees were generally resistant to fire, but only up to a point. Once the blaze grew large enough, it'll draw and evaporate the moisture from the trees at which point the dried and cracked wood made for perfect kindling. Case in point, the view before her.

The radiating heat seared, a nearly palpable wall of scorching air that strongly discouraged them from approaching. She felt her scales getting uncomfortably dry already, her eyes watering from the smoke as one arm raised to cover her face with the cloak. To some extent, it worked. For now. But it wasn't a long-term solution, obviously.

"Bossman, can the barrier move back? Looks like they'll burn out soon anyway!" She hollered, loud enough to be heard over the merry crackling of flame consuming creaking woods.

If it's not possible.. well, the hard way then. At least Viridian was more resistant to the flame, though the ethereal serpent wasn't looking comfortable coiling around her free arm. Even as a spiritual beast, it's hard to avoid countless generations of natural instinct.

Natural instinct, and a healthy dose of common sense because who'd even walk straight into an inferno?

Duplicitous Ruins in the Land of Twilight

"Naww, I'm good." The last of the venom flushed out, Verdant flexed her fingers as the numbness faded. She wasn't really hurt through it all. Some scrapes from the clumsy landing, but it'll take more than that to put her out of commission. That said, it's uncertain if it'll stay that way should she dive head on to the next fight.

For it was a pair of trees.

Biiig trees. Big angry trees. Approaching menacingly. And they've been set on fire too, to make them even less appealing to approach.

Heck.

From the chunk of packed earth one of them throw, they're way stronger than her. No nervous system, no tissue whatsoever on top. That removed most of her repertoire from the equation. What's left? The Choristers' mindbreaker venom? Did trees have mind? Prooobably not. Bloodthorn orchids? Did trees have souls? She kinda doubt it. Kadanian corpse-lilies then? The trees definitely had magic of some sort powering them. But she couldn't alchemize it in large enough quantities...

Heck again.

"I guess we'll try intercept the projectiles." Verdant claimed, strolling to the edge of the barrier as Viridian materialized out of her right arm. The full-sized ethereal serpent outscaled her about six times over, but the incorporeal form was thankfully weightless. The serpent coiled at the ready, though she likely couldn't entirely ward off another chunk of the road she damn well can greatly reduce the force behind it.

The barrier shouldn't fall. Everyone else likely wasn't resistant to poison, including the client that'll be paying for her rampage through the local restaurants later.

Duplicitous Ruins in the Land of Twilight

The moment the mist seeped out, Viridian sprung and all but tossed her sister into the newly formed protective dome before teansforming into a flash of light that merged with Verdant's ragdolled form, the skull snugly fitting on her head. The previously paralyzed serpent, for her part, managed to turn her freefall into a somewhat clumsy roll as her body rapidly broke down the venom within.

"Owie." She said, slowly getting up to her feet with a shudder. The dragon was much scarier after it started talking, intelligence a much greater force multiplier to a creature of such vast strength. Verdant can attest to that. She was but a snek, a long time ago. "Guesa we're not having dragon for dinner."

Her words was filled with the kind of remorse that's probably unfitting for someone that almost ended up a dinner herself, but let's not sweat the small stuff.

Duplicitous Ruins in the Land of Twilight

The downside of fast metabolism, see, all that venom was immediately distributed all over her body.

".......?"

Verdant, flopping face first like a sad sack of soup, could only make the slightest grumble from down there. So, the paralytic part of the venom was much stronger than the necrotizing part. Well, in hindsight it's not a good idea to swallow all that. And now she's stuck for a few seconds when there's a big bad lizard glaring from too-close-for-comfort.

And Viridian's baleful green gaze fell upon her with as much judgment as a nonsentient spirit could convey. Which was surprisingly a lot, Verdant sensing the gaze burning holes behind her skull without even having to see her sister's form.

"...., .... ... ......."

With an exaggerated roll of the eyes, the spectral ocular doing a perfectly perceivable 360 degree roll, the ethereal serpent picked up the humanoid one by the scruff of her neck, coiling in preparation for evasion should it be a necessity. Verdant, now no longer eating dirt, had a full view of the dragon that speak.

It speak!

"... ... ..... ....... ..... ..?

The only answer she get was a noncommittal hiss.

Duplicitous Ruins in the Land of Twilight

The creature ceased functioning just like any other with a brand new smile drawn over its neck, though not before one last struggle. Verdant, with an unsettling lack of concern, sawed off the tentacle and plainly swallowed the remaining length in a decidedly inhuman display of anatomy. Whatever it sprayed had a familiar tingle of toxin, one that she instinctively sensed was a new addition. Neat. Been a while since her repertoire expanded.

"...Mmm, sharp with bitter aftertaste. A bit numbing. Paralytic and necrotic? Rather weak one. Meat and blood kinda rancid." The serpent mulled, licking her lips. The taste... not a fan, but she had worse. In a short moment she'll figure out how it work and make it hers, but for now she had bigger stuff to worry about.

Like the other beast nearby, still reeling from the lightning. Viridian's ethereal form materialized over her skull-hat and lunged, the spectral serpent intent on ripping its throat before it recover.

The other issue, though. The big lizard came down nearby. Loudly. With a snack. Verdant crouched low, eyes on the massive beast, ready to spring away at the slightest hint of aggression. Alone she may not be able to take it down, but perhaps if someone could distract it...

"How do you taste like, big guy?"

Thankfully, she's facing away from the party and spared them her manic grin. It's perhaps a tad inappropriate under the circumstances.

Duplicitous Ruins in the Land of Twilight

After somehow bumbling herself to be hired as a guard, Verdant was saved the hassle of sneaking through the elves to explore the supposedly cursed land. Which was pretty neat, since the uptight bunch seemed to have some sixth sense to find and capture unwanted intruders. Well, probably magic. The serpent never really understood the theory behind it even if she had some supposedly innate capability. But regardless, that's one hurdle passed.

The next hurdle, however, was boredom. And then unease. It went from what felt like a regular untouched woods, to some inexplicable sense of dread pressing in from all over. A distraction would be great, but she's not supposed to wander off and with how noisy their ride was there's nothing that wander to their direction either. Bummer. Ditching the group was an option... but the payment was too good. It could trade for a lot of tasty things. Wasn't that one core of living well? Good meal, new experience, and generally have lots of fun. Simple enough - she had it aaaaall figured out.

Thankfully, a distraction presented itself before Verdant went completely stir-crazy. With the manic urgency of a toddler on sugar rush, in a single motion she sprung with her bag in tow even before the coachman asked. The carriage shook mildly from her departure, the force propelling her up to the nearest tree in a single leap. Her eyes shifted, regaining its serpentine slit as the world lost color yet gained clarity under the night.

People ahead, attacked by unknown thingies. Then there's a giant lizard swooping down, Verdant instinctually flinching from the roar of the beast. She lost track of it in the short moment, now wary over the prospect of getting snatched for a late night snack.

Nope. She'll need to pay extra attention up.

The bag was hooked on a broken branch before Verdant's figure shrunk, shifting into a small green-black serpent that coiled atop the tree. From there she explosively sprung forth, her form undulating and slightly flaring as she rapidly glided her way to the battle. Hopefully unnoticed in the darkness. As she arrived she'd revert into her human form, falling onto the rearmost creature with knife at hand, the weapon whipping forward to cut open its throat with a disturbingly practiced ease.

Duplicitous Ruins in the Land of Twilight

Name: Verdant

Species: Snek (technically yokai)

Age: 420 (Sentient for 138)

Gender: Female

Appearance: The Skull™ is never far. Prefers comfy clothes with many many many pockets. Even better if it's predominantly green.

Snek?

Reason to Join: Mischief and whimsy

Passives:

Innate Toxicity: Innately already a venomous creature and resistant to similar substances, Verdant also gains resistance to various poison and venom (natural or otherwise) that struck her. Or she intentionally sampled. And she had sampled a whole lot over the years. Allegedly it's a nice spice, according to the snek herself. As a side effect, she can eat damn near anything without any (lasting) side effect.

Serpentine Physique: Even in a decidedly non-serpentine form, Verdant's physique retain various traits of her snek origin... and somehow also traits from different snek species. Dont ask her why or how, she has no idea. Examples include contortionism, protective scales at certain places, envenomed fangs, massive appetite, powerful musculature, and the likes.

Spells:

Shapeshifting: An ancient snek that had attained spirituality and eventually sentience, Verdant quite rapidly learned to shift her essence and change her form. She can shift into other snek indefinitely, as well as - for some reason - humanoid creatures. Others, the further away from snek the more taxing it becomes to maintain. Partial shifting is possible, though maintaining the frankenstein-esque form was also rather tiring.

Alchemize: Ever since the little snek transcended into some sort of snek demon, she gained an instinctual ability to alchemize toxic substances. Well, calling it alchemize will probably send proper alchemists into an academic rage, but regardless - Verdant was capable of changing one substances into another. Anything works as the source, though her own bodily fluid reacts the best, and the final result is limited to either her own natural venom or whatever other toxin that she had came into contact with.

Verdant and Viridian: A sibling, a rival, and an eternal companion. Hatching from the same clutch of eggs, only two of the batch managed to survive long enough to attain spirituality over the centuries. The final pair eventually fought in a bid to devour the other's essence, the final victor gaining awareness after the feast. The loser, however, didn't disappear - having instead fusing into one, yet remaining somewhat a separate entity. Viridian's spiritual form now coils around Verdant, the conjoined sister forever stuck in a state between beast and man. Yet even as a beast she's still a force to be reckoned with, spectral form capable of materializing to interact with the world, and even temporarily splitting away by possessing her old skull should it ever be necessary.

Mundane Skills: (mundane and maybe trivial things that they can do)
Wilderness survival, hunting, fighting, drinking (yes really), physical exercise, power naps, sneaking, and chiseling stones into sharp objects.

Equipment:
Bag of Many Things containing Very Important Supplies (actually just spare clothes and food and first aid), various knives, a little bit of coins, and The Skull™.

Other:
Easily sidetracked and doesnt usually commit to anything for long, thus isn't really well-known. Goes wherever her feet takes her. Despite her age, is likely seen as a bit childish. By mankind standard she's too straightforward and occasionally spitefully vindictive, but that's the byproduct of having plainly different morality. She's learning to blend in... slowly. She'll get there. Eventually.

Probably.