King Cosmos

we have to save the world again? I thought we were done with this crap? (interest check)

I think my character is going to be a Paladin-type fighter, but without the religious connotations; basically an armoured swordsman with support and healing magic. They would be a sort of folk hero, someone who fulfilled a local prophesy and found a sword in a forest glade by a pond and became the sworn protector of the spirits/fairies of said forest; whichever fits the lore of the setting better. Kind of a really small scale King Arthur.

The idea is basically to have this kid who grows up feeling important but who is largely confined to one small area of the world and doesn’t know how big it really is. Then, as an adult he gets swept up into this adventure much larger than his legend was supposed to be and finds himself out of his depth.

Since the quest ended I was going to have him settle down and become the leader of an adventurer’s guild somewhere; mostly retired, but helping younger adventurers get started. He’s seen as a legend because of his inclusion in the group but he found the whole thing to be a very humbling experience and only sees himself as capable, but nothing special.

we have to save the world again? I thought we were done with this crap? (interest check)

I'll put forward my tentative interest as well. I have a few questions about how you see magic and stuff working in the story and about Ravenwood, but I have the beginnings of a character concept;

RATTLECHOMP

The answer to her question came almost immediately. Not from Yiya, but from the stairs behind her as another young woman descended onto the platform with them and approached. Sasha watched them as they walked the length of the platform but didn’t say anything; she let Yiya handle the formalities, since this was her expedition and she was much better at it than she was regardless, and instead took the opportunity to examine them instead. They seemed dressed well enough for a tough journey, prepared, though the revolver at her waist was what caught her eye the most.

Was it like hers? Sasha had never met another person who could see the shadows like she could; not among the hunters at least and she didn’t really speak to anyone else if she could help it. She’d also never told anyone about why she always kept an unloaded revolver on her at all times, so she didn’t know if the things it could do were common. The sidearm wasn’t a hunting weapon that much was certain, which meant it was either meant for use against the shadows or for use against… people.

Sasha looked away from Toni.

The next person to arrive was also a young woman and though this one was not armed, she was very talkative. Sasha listened at first, long enough to learn their name, but quickly began to tune the other girl out as she continued to talk; she pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, as she fought down the urge to leave and find a job with fewer people involved.

Before she could lose her nerve Yiya began to speak again, asking them to help her put things away. Sasha stood up and stepped off of the rug so it could be rolled up, then picked up the bowl that she was pointed to and carried it to the edge of the platform. She tipped the contents out onto the railbed, mostly ash from whatever it was Yiya was smoking, and held the empty bowl out for the machine, Echoh, to take. Thin, robotic arms shot out from the terrarium and snatched the bowl from between her fingers before she could react, surprising her enough that she didn’t notice where exactly it put the bowl afterwards.

She listened, then, as Yiya explained the purpose of her journey and her need for an escort. The plant the terrarium held was needed to cure her village of a Rue; the old woman didn’t mention any medicine, just that the plant itself would repel the Rue, which was strange. If the plant would protect her village, why would she need an escort to protect her from the Rue? Unless it only worked on that one kind of Rue? But then why did it sound like she expected it to draw other Rue to her to stop her from reaching her village?

Any further questions Sasha might have had were interrupted when one of the other girls, Toni, brought their attention to the rails, the approaching train and a shadowy figure in front of it. It was tall, even hunched over as it was, and thin. The way it stood, the way it began to spread its arms, it looked like it was going to try and stop the train in its tracks. Sasha didn’t know if it could, she had always been unsure how real the shadows were, what they could do, but just in case…

A hand moved to the holster under her coat and Sasha pulled free her father’s revolver. Holding it with both hands she aimed it at the shadow’s back, held her breath and pulled the trigger. It kicked in her hands, despite holding no bullets and produced a gunshot that only she, so far, had been able to hear.

RATTLECHOMP

I'll claim next, I guess. I'll have a post up tomorrow.

Why Were We Reincarnated as Orcs?!

Akeno

Less than a day ago, she had still been a regular teenager. Akeno had been a few months away from graduating high school but already knew which university she was going to attend; she was still living at home with her parents but was already thinking ahead to when she would finally move out and be able to live by herself. Her biggest worry had been what she was going to do with her new found independence and whether or not she had picked the right classes.

Now here she was, killing wild animals with her bare hands.

Her elbow hurt where it had struck horn and bone, the body she now inhabited not as conditioned, as toughened up as her previous one. There was blood too, just a few drops of it; not her own, but the blood of the creature she had just bludgeoned to death, running down her forearm.

A sigh escaped her lips as the message popped up in front of her eyes, telling her what she already knew. It disappeared almost as suddenly, apparently reading her dismissive attitude as an actual dismissal. How did that work anyway? Why was she seeing messages at all? The goddess had said something about a system and their connection to it; was this that system?

She wasn’t given much time to think about it, as the old-sounding orc began to call out orders to their little group. The others would handle making a fire while Akeno went with her to chase down the last of the birds; there was no dissent and one of the others simply nodded and got to work. Akeno turned to look at the old orc and considered whether or not to do the same; the other orc was quickly setting themselves up as the leader, giving orders like this and coming up with the plan, and they’d all just kind of gone along with it because no one had a better idea. Now she was truly taking charge and they were still going along with it, just like they’d probably go along with her next idea too.

The question was did Akeno want to be a part of this group? Did she want to go along with what this stranger planned? She had her Elwet, she’d completed the requirements of the quest given to her by that orc back at camp; she could just leave now. Or, she could leave; do what she’d said earlier and just abandon the camp entirely and try to make her own way. Neither of those seemed like good ideas, but then neither did teaming up with a bunch of people she knew nothing about. Who were they, before all of this? What would they do with this second change? Could she trust them? Could she afford not to trust them?

Whatever. Better to go with what was working so far. Honestly, Akeno wasn’t good at this kind of thing; scheming, planning around other people, trying to figure out their motives. She was the kind of person who went with the flow of the situation; let other people take control and do what they wanted so long as it wasn’t too onerous. Life was easier that way. There were a few exceptions, times where fighting for her autonomy was worth the headache, but this wasn’t one of those times. Yet.

She shrugged at the old-voiced orc and began to walk out of the clearing, following the path scratched into the dirt by the fleeing Elwet.

“Fine, let’s go.”

@Zeroth@ERode@Crusader Lord@Kazemitsu

Why Were We Reincarnated as Orcs?!

Akeno

The kick was more effective than Akeno had anticipated, knocking it clear off its feet and seemingly injuring or even breaking one of the bird’s wings, but like she had expected it wasn’t enough to put it down. Fatal or not, the creature apparently didn’t want to try being hit like that again and as soon as it was back on its feet it was running away from her and straight towards the backs of the other orcs.

She had been expecting another attack, counting on it even, so Akeno was caught a little flat-footed when it ran instead. Nonetheless, she began to chase after it, hot on the bird’s heels as it fled and flailed its way right into the tangle of bodies.

A prompt appeared in the corner of her vision telling her that the rest of the Elwet’s were either dead or had run away, meaning this was the last one left. Before it could recover and try to run again, Akeno leapt towards it, trying to mount its back and she reached out to grab hold of one of its antler-things. Holding its head in place and with her body now over the Elwet, Akeno raised her other arm above her head and brought her elbow down as hard as she could on the top of the creatures head.

Then she did it again.

And again.

And again.

Until it stopped moving or it threw her off.

@Zeroth@Kazemitsu@ERode@Crusader Lord

Why Were We Reincarnated as Orcs?!

Generally speaking, I’m good for Akeno soloing her own bird, unless King Cosmos wants another to assist.

@ERode

I'm fine going for the final blow. I'll get a post up tomorrow, but if you guys want to react to the chicken crashing into you first that'll work too.

Why Were We Reincarnated as Orcs?!

Akeno

Akeno hadn’t expected the creatures to be directly in front of her once she emerged from the underbrush. Maybe she should have, but in her haste she hadn’t considered it as an option and for her lack of care she received a face full of feathers and a deafening cawing in her ears.

Closing her eyes and batting away from feathers, she opened them again just in time to see one of the other chicken-beasts open its beak to spit a small fireball in her direction. It wasn’t large, but then again neither was she and small or not it was still fire; she had time to dodge, but instinct prevailed and muscle memory controlled her response as she swept an arm from waist to above her head to block the attack the way she would an incoming punch. The motion was smooth, easy, driven by her skill which had active unconsciously as soon as she drew on her martial arts training.

She felt her arm burn. Pain engulfing a baseball-sized patch of skin just above her wrist as the ball of fire seared away at her. Rather than dwell on it, Akeno pushed down the feeling and lashed out at the chicken directly in front of her instead; her left foot came up, hips rotating as she swung her leg into the creature’s side as hard as she could. The hit felt strong, stronger than normal somehow, but as she felt her kick impact the soft feathers and fat body of the Elwet she knew that it wouldn’t be enough.

The legs, the neck, the head. Akeno didn’t have a knife or a spear or anything that could stab though the flesh to reach the organs, so she needed to target the parts of the body that wouldn’t be able to absorb the shock so well. Both feet back on the ground, Akeno hopped back from the chicken and took up a proper stance as she awaited its next move.

@Zeroth@ERode@Crusader Lord@Kazemitsu

Why Were We Reincarnated as Orcs?!

Akeno

They were children, so they needed to stay with the other orcs in the camp for now. Even though those orcs had sent a bunch of children like them into the woods to hunt dangerous animals, with no weapons, no training and no support. If they survived then great, if not then they weren’t worth much anyway. Not exactly the most supportive environment to be born in to; Akeno really did have to wonder if it was worth going back there if they were able to succeed at this hunt.

Maybe the orcs would be more helpful if they proved themselves; give them weapons and armour and training. Or maybe they would just send them out again the next day, treat them as expendable resources until they expired or lived long enough to boss around the next generation. Or got strong enough to be able to push back. If they were able to survive out here, find food, fend off the threats of wild animals, wouldn’t it be better to just leave and make their own little camp with their other former humans? They were only children physically after all.

Well, it wasn’t like Akeno had ever had to fend for herself. Neither option sounded especially great for her long term survival.

“Fine.”

Akeno accepted the rock from the other orc, felt its weight settle into her palm and considered it for a second or two. She shook her head then dropped it to the ground with a sigh. “I’ll do better without a weapon.”

First she’d see what kind of threats they were dealing with, and then she’d figure out what to do next. Akeno looked over at the other two orcs with them, the ones she would be fighting with; there was no way of knowing if they could fight, since they were as new to their bodies as she was hers any tell-tale signs like build were erased. She knew she could strike the killing blow… probably, but she wasn’t sure if they could; so she’d approach this with that in mind.

“I’ll get the attention of one of them, you two grab it while it’s distracted and hold it still… I’ll kill it.”

With that said, Akeno turned and walked to the edge of the clearing in the direction they had heard the cawing coming from. She stopped before reaching the underbrush and spent a moment trying to find a way to get through without causing too much of a ruckus, before deciding just to start pushing through it. If she was going to be a distraction then making a bunch of noise would only help, after all.

@Zeroth@ERode@Crusader Lord@Kazemitsu

Why Were We Reincarnated as Orcs?!

Akeno

So much for this place being private.

Akeno didn’t jump when a voice suddenly called out to her, but her body was tense as she turned to face the orc who had stumbled across her. They weren’t a familiar face, because she hadn’t been paying attention to any of the other orcs in the brood pit; maybe she should have been, maybe then she’d have some idea why this one had followed her out here and approached her. She was trying to come up with a response, perhaps something that would excuse what they’d just found her doing, when two more orcs entered the clearing.

Yeah, her hiding place really wasn’t very good.

Humans. These orcs were also humans? Like her? Why hadn’t she considered that before? The goddess never said there would be others, but she hadn’t said she’d be alone either. She should have been paying more attention to the other orcs, to see if any of them were acting oddly, like she must have been. Although, even if she had done that she probably wouldn’t have noticed anything weird; reading people wasn’t her strong suit. Well, most of the time anyway.

This young orc, who sounded old in a way Akeno couldn’t really define, wanted them all to team up. They wanted to hunt more than they were asked to, so that they could eat more than they would get otherwise. Why? Probably because runts like them would only get scraps from their own hunt anyway and if Akeno wanted to build up her strength, if any of them wanted to get stronger, they needed more than that. But there was that other skill she had too, the one she hadn’t picked; Ingestion. Eating itself was a way to get stronger for orcs it seemed; you could get Skills just from consuming something that had them.

That felt… fittingly savage, for what little she knew of orcs. Akeno wasn’t much of a movie person, or a book person, but she knew what an orc was just through cultural osmosis. Still, she wasn’t sure she wanted to complete this quest by beating some animal to death with her bare hands and then eating it to gain its strength. Not because she thought she couldn’t, though there was obviously risk involved, but because the whole thing just felt… taboo. No, not exactly that. It felt primal. Savage. It felt like something she didn’t want to be.

But if she wanted to survive for any length of time here, Akeno wasn’t sure she had much of a choice.

“Why return at all?” Akeno shrugged her shoulders, as if dismissing her own point as soon as she’d made it. “Why not keep everything you hunt for yourselves?”

@Crusader Lord@ERode@Kazemitsu