PaulHaynek

Arknights: The Dark Woods (PaulHaynek & LiverisGood)

@LiverisGood

The Operators split up, albeit not evenly. Medivac took Wu and Ibon with him while Radiant went by herself. They first checked the front double doors, though. They were not locked and all it took to open them was turning their knobs.

The first sight was a wide but empty hallway. Two doors could be seen along the left side and one door on the right. Another set of double doors could be seen at the end of the hallway. "Doesn't seem like anybody's home." Ibon remarked.

Wu's ears twitched. "Hmm, I don't sense anyone's presence either. But let's not lower our guards until we're sure." He replied. And with that preliminary reconaissance done, the party split up to scout out the outward perimeter of the facility.

Medivac's team circled the radio tower to the right while Radiant to the left. Neither of the teams found anything in their scouting, only the eerie silence of the place and the ominous forest that surrounded the clearing of the facility. They safely found each other behind the radio tower and, like what Wu said earlier, there was a single door that provided an alternate entrance to the building.

"Looks like you found nothing too." Wu said to Radiant once they met up. The Defender then gazed at the facility. "Places like this, there should be a room for the control center, a room for the generator or an electricity source and maybe several more rooms for the kitchen, bathrooms and living quarters." Wu explained. "But this building seems too small to accomodate all of that. Archosaur might be right that this place has an underground bunker."

"Do we... do we go inside now?" Ibon meekly asked as she glanced at the forest. "Being outside is unnerving."

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

Wow, 2 months since last post. Anyway, I'll be skipping this round since I'm pretty busy. Sorry about that.

A Guild Adventure: An RP with Monster Girls! (ENDED)

~@13org (ADA & FYR), @Restalaan (DIT), @Stern Algorithm, @AzureKnight (VRA & NAG)~

"Indeed we are sir knight. Pay me my proper dues, for you stand in the presence of nobility! I am Vară Riemsianne, remember it for soon it shall be known far and wide!"

Vară Riemsianne

While Vară and Nagare coversed with the Altissima sisters, Sir Reed spoke to Haley. "Riemsianne, eh? Never heard of 'em. Know anything about them, Haley?"

"Nope. Although, she did say it shall be known far and wide so it's only fair that no one right now knows about them." The Siren shrugged. "I'll wish her luck on her endeavor, though."

The fireworks display soon ended with a magnificent encore, three large explosions lit the sky in a brilliant confluence of lights so bright that it illuminated all of Boreal Port for a few, fleeting moments. The onlooking crowd erupted into cheer and applause at the stupendous ending. That, too, soon ended with the audience trickling out of the docks and back to the festivities back in the town.

The Dark Priest Riñas approached the group for a short while and whispered something in Neil's ear before taking off, leaving as soon as she came. The young man's face lit up at the news and with a proud smile, he waited for the Altissima sisters to be available. Once the monster girls were done talking, Neil came forward and spoke to the Liliraune. "Hey, you two. The surprise's ready. We can head over there once you're ready."

Neil then turned to Vară and Nagare. "Welcome back, you two. So much has happened after you left. Like guild members leaving, but also new ones arriving. Like Ada and Sir Reed." He motioned to the aforementioned, with the knight waving back. "I-I'd love to catch up with you guys but I've got an arrangement with the Liliraune sisters. I'll leave you two to the rest of the guild, okay?"

"He's got a date with the sisters, that's what's up." Haley laughed before approaching Vară. "But he's right, though. A lot's happened after the two of you left. Why don't we start catching up, eh?"

"Uhh, just to get this outta the way, I am Sir Reed of Thrakan. I am from Ortus, more commonly known as the Moon Kingdom, and I am in the Guild in search of... enlightenment." The knight bowed at the returning members. "But enough about me, I can't believe the Guild had a Dragon in its ranks. What next? A god or goddess descending from the Heavenly Realm to join us?"

"Oh, by the way. If you're looking for Bart, he has already went back with Yang. And so have a couple of our members due to the... kidnapping incident." Talia piped in.

---

~@ShwiggityShwah, @Rezod92, @Restalaan (YNG)~

The clopping of hooves soon resounded in the mostly empty and barely lit headquarters of the Guild. Kira and Ozzy would most definitely hear the arrival, the Guild's carriage was not at all masked as it came. However, this did not mean that their conversation had to end. But if their talk needed to stay private, they might need to notify the arriving members to leave them alone.

"It was a long day, Yang, but it isn't over." Bart yawned as he disembarked the carriage. "I'll go and prepare dinner for us and Kira and Ozzy as well as do some other stuff. Why don't you check up on them, Yang." He gave his order as he made for the Guild's double door entrance.

"Oh man, I should've bought food at the festival."

Arknights: The Dark Woods (PaulHaynek & LiverisGood)

@LiverisGood

"Leave the body as it is. There are more pressing issues to worry about. We've already spent a significant amount of time here. Let's not tarry too long."

Medivac

"Alright. Everyone! Let's move out!" Wu motioned with his hand to get the group moving.

As they left, Ibon took one last glance at the aftermath of the battle. She choked, her eyes widened with fear. The others noticed and also looked back. The body with the mushrooms on his eyes was gone. The down Savages were still there, bleeding. But the object of their interest was gone. Was it taken by the forest? Or was it not as dead as the Operators thought it was. Or perhaps it was dead, just given life?

"Come on! We can't stay here any longer." Wu declared and the Operators quickened their pace, leaving behind the disturbing sight.

-

The group finall arrived at the radio tower, a single structure in a large clearing surrounded by the seemingly dead forest of this land. It was clearly a military installation, made of concrete and sported a very tall signal tower. It was old, perhaps years old, but it seemed no worse for wear. The steel that made the tower appear to be still holding up and the concrete that made the main building still seemed sturdy. The windows on the second floor were even intact and not at all broken.

"We're here. Thanks goodness, we're here." Ibon was about to rush to the installation but was stopped by Wu.

"Hold on, Ibon. We don't know what's inside. We should be cautious and scout out the area first." The Feline Defender surveyed the area and looked at the radio tower more closely. "Okay, I see the main entrance..." Wu pointed to a pair of double doors at the installation's front. "...but places like these should have a back door too."

"We should split up. Make sure not all of us are walking into a trap or ambush inside" The Feline declared. "Okay, who's going with who?"

A Guild Adventure: An RP with Monster Girls! (ENDED)

Had to update to get @AzureKnight in and since I'm gonna be unavailable for the next several days.

Happy New Year, y'all! _{'Cause mine wasn't :c}

A Guild Adventure: An RP with Monster Girls! (ENDED)

~@13org (ADA & FYR), @AzureKnight (VRA & NAG)~

"Since I met you, I had so many wonderful new experiences."

Freyr

"Oh, Freyr. I didn't know you were such a romantic." Haley giggled cutely, walking over to sit next to Freyr. The couple sat on a patch of grass on the cobblestone pavement, placed there for an urban tree that stood over the Haley and Freyr. "And no need to thank me, hon'. I wanted this as much as you did."

It was then that Haley sensed a couple of familiar presences. She turned her head to look and her eyes widened in surprise. "Vara? Nagare?" The Siren stood up.

Indeed, the Fire Demon Vara and the Ice Dragon Nagare approached the guild members watching the fireworks display. They had to depart due to personal matters but after dealing with them, they both decided to return to the Guild. They met each other on the way and took a ship to Boreal Port, arriving just this morning. It was probably surprising for them that the port was actually celebrating a festival that day and once they've heard that the Guild had just thwarted a kidnapping attempt, they knew it was time show themselves.

Sir Reed also got up and approached. "Oh? Friends of ours? Or fellow guild members?"

Neil, who was with the Altissima sisters, approached too along with the Liliraune. "You two! You're back!" He was clearly glad to see them again. "They're fellow members, Sir Reed. They had to leave due to personal reasons but I guess they're back." A slight blush formed in his cheeks formed when he saw Vara.

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

The Journey Begins

~ Another Unknown Location ~

Interacted with: @Rune_Alchemist, @Pyromania99

"Where the hell are they?"

Augusta?

Octavia dashed for the stick, leaping into the air to catch it but then landing into a patch of soft snow. The pup quickly sank into the pile with her lower body sticking out. Octavia wriggled and struggled to get herself out to which Nick chuckled.

He was close enough to Augusta when she asked the question. Nick wondered too, where were Isidore and Donovan? Did something bad happen to them? If it did, Nick didn't doubt that they could handle it. They escaped two titans fighting each other, after all. Maybe they ran off without them? "I can look for them later, if you want." Nick suggested to the Elf. "Hopefully, I don't run into anything bad. I'm not exactly a fighter like you guys."

Soon, the demon pup finally wriggled herself free from the snow. She shook to rid herself of the snow before taking the stick with her mouth and heading over to Nick and dropping it in front of him. "Good job! Who's a good girl? Who's a good girl? You are! You are!" Nick showered Octavia with praise, rubbing her head and stroking her fur. "Ready for another, Octavia?" He picked up the stick and wiggles it in front of the pup.

If Octavia wanted another round, Nick would oblige and hurl the stick once more.

Arknights: The Dark Woods (PaulHaynek & LiverisGood)

@LiverisGood

"These individuals were clearly huddling around something before they attacked. Let's take a quick look at what they were and then make our way to the tower. If we are going to be here for a while, we should know what these savages are interested in. It shouldn't take too much time."

Medivac

"Ah! Y-You're right, we should take a look at what they were doing. Maybe it'll give us a clue as to what's happening here." Wu agreed, as if his senses snapped back to him.

When Radiant took the headdress from the downed savage, it revealed the normal face of an average Kuranta man albeit with some Originium crystals growing on his face. The sight seemed to have perturbed Ibon. "We have Oripathy cases that affected the mind... but nothing like this. These people seem to have retained intelligence in their madness, enough to coordinate with other maddened infected. The Oripathy here isn't normal." The Medic Operator remarked.

"Ibon, Radiant. Take a look at this." Ibon and Radiant soon joined Medivac and Wu who were investigating the point of interest. The Haynek Institute Operators beheld a disturbing sight. The now-incapacitated savages were huddling around the corpse of a Kuranta male. The upper body was bare and in his torso were multiple growths of Originium while there were two white mushrooms on his eye sockets. It seemed the fungi were put there on purpose, the eyes gouged out to make way.

"What the hell were they doing...?" Wu was clearly disturbed by what he saw.

"He-he should have some dignity in his death." Ibon suggested. "Let's remove the mushrooms from his eyes at least and maybe take him to the side and cover him up. I won't say bury him, we don't have time for that."

"Is that such a good idea though...?"

A Guild Adventure: An RP with Monster Girls! (ENDED)

Hey guys, things are... a little wild on my end so I'll have to postpone the update to next week. Maybe even the week after that.

Sorry for this, you all, but alas, ol' Paul's in a bit of a pinch right now.

Arknights: The Dark Woods (PaulHaynek & LiverisGood)

@LiverisGood

The rock throwers continued to hurl stones, but to no avail. Radiant weaved and ducked through their attacks while the rocks did little to Medivac's huge shield. The two Operators closed the distance, Medivac smashed one of the savages' legs with his shield while Radiant knocked the other one out cold with the blunt of her blade. The savage with the broken leg screamed in pain as he fell to the ground.

Meanwhile, Wu bashed the savage on him to the ground with his shield before bringing it down the savage's head, crushing it into a mulch of red gore. His shield was splashed with blood but Wu did not seem to mind. "Is that all of them?" The Feline Defender sniffed as he surveyed the aftermath. Some of the savages were still alive, albeit on the ground screaming from their injuries. Victory belonged to Haynek Institute.

"W-What do we do with them?" Ibon asked about the survivors.

"Leave 'em behind. Let their beloved forest take care of them. Come on, we don't have much time." Wu, rather coldly, declared. He began moving to the radio tower, but Ibon seemed to hesitate.