Xaltwind@The Irish Tree
Yeah, what @AzureKnight said. Automatons are golem monsters who have 'lost technology' as their thing.
Yeah, what @AzureKnight said. Automatons are golem monsters who have 'lost technology' as their thing.
PaulHaynek Member
The Roleplayer Nobody Likes
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Takeshi giving horse rides to all the yokai!
Takeshi giving horse rides to all the yokai!
House By The River
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
~ @Restalaan (SKA), @Rezod92 ~
Kalaj remembered the days when he and the Scarce Legion fought off monsters to keep his fellow humans safe. All that changed during Serena's Rebellion and he had not fought a monster since then. Always, the enemy was an Ortusian or a Pure Dwarf or a Serena loyalist. He did not mind fighting them, they sometimes entertained him. But he missed the days of being able to rend a monster's flesh with his magical gifts.
And now, his wishes were granted. At an, admittedly, unlikely place.
The Hornet came at him from one side and the Goblin from another, flinging a basket at him for distraction. Kalaj sliced the straw object into two as the two monsters closed in on him in a pincer attack. But Kalaj was fast despite his armor, he would not be Scarce Legion otherwise. Not falling for Skarsneek's feints, Kalaj swatted away the strike aimed at his knees.
But Kalaj could not counterattack, for Kerry began thrusting and swiping her spear at the legionnaire. Kalaj tried his best to evade but he was struck several times, though his armor protected him from the hits. But then the Warlock saw an opportunity! After a missed thrust, Kalaj grasped the polearm to hold Kerry in place and swung his flaming blade at the Hornet. His khopesh's range did not reach, but it was not meant to. The swing created a wave of fire hurtling at Kerry, who managed to get away but losing her weapon in the process.
With the Hornet's weapon on his hand, Kalaj imbued it with quickening magic before hurling it at Skarsneek. With a speed too fast to simply dodge.
Terauchi Temple
THE HEADMAN
~ @Hammerman, @AzureKnight (ATS & HIN) ~
Sorae said nothing more about Takeshi and the two other yokai, immediately focusing on the business at hand. "Sogen is competent. He knows how to hide his tracks well, but his brother Dosan... not so much. I just saw him cart food for the refugees here." The woman then sported the most unsettling smile. "We will take what I need from him."
---
The last Tokinomiya led the taskforce trio out of Terauchi Temple, following Dosan's trail. They immediately caught up with him, easily hiding from sight within the dense woods of this part of the Onrai region. Dosan, himself, was pretty average-looking save for his stout belly and seemingly carefree attitude. He looked and dressed like any other Shizuyaman villager and with him was a small wagon with a roof made of hay, covering up any goods he had.
Dosan was utterly unaware of the group discreetly following him, although he spared the occassional glance behind him. Unfortunately for him, his unkeen eyes spotted nothing suspicious. "If we run into Varjans, Niji. You're on your own, hahaha!" He told his horse.
"He's completely oblivious to us. Once we get near enough, jump him." Sorae said to the taskforce trio.
Although, the taskforce could suggest something else to the vengeful woman. Maybe they need not ambush Dosan, considering his route might lead them to a hideout. And they should also consider that Sorae might... lose control again.
Shizuyama Wilderness
THE HEAVENLY STRIKE
~ @Enkryption, @Restalaan (GRI) ~
"Found!? I'm being attacked and you're asking questions like that! Help me!"
Takeshi witnessed Alice attack Gringor as soon as the two met up. Or perhaps a retaliatory attack, Gringor did initiate this whole conflict, after all. Although, Alice did draw the first weapon. Regardless, Gringor fought back and Takeshi decided to disembark his horse and help Alice to break up this petty fight.
Unfortunately, it was over before Takeshi could draw his blade. Gringor had kicked down Alice and held his axe near her face and a foot on her chest, pinning her down. The male High Orc, declaring his victory, demanded Alice's intentions. Of course, the Mad Hatter was not amused by this chicanery and opted not to indulge her attacker.
"I would put myself to the sword first, and fall upon the blade, before I gave you the satisfaction of leading me... Solve your own problems, since it's so easy for you to ambush and defeat a woman weakened by battle."
Alice began to walk away and left Gringor and a facepalming Takeshi. Maybe this taskforce was a bad idea, after all, and his faith in them misplaced as the others have told him.
"So what youz planning to do now? Continue?"
"You don't seem to be interested in others' opinions, Gringor. So what's the use of asking me?" Takeshi tiredly replied before whistling for his white horse.
The stallion dutifully galloped towards his master who embarked. "You're free to pursue the people Alice was after. But you should know that she came back severely wounded after a fight with just three of them, so be careful if you're fighting them." Takeshi told the male High Orc. "...Or you can come with me and apologize to your own teammate. But I believe that isn't your style."
"Let's go, Kuro!" And with that, the young Oja rode away.
---
~ @Enkryption ~
Alice had already made some distance from that humiliating altercation, searching for an inn to rest in. The sound of hooves coming up from behind probably elicited a defensive reaction from the agitated Mad Hatter, but it was only Takeshi Oja riding up to her atop his equine mount.
"Peace, Mad Hatter. I am not here to demand anything from you." The young Oja greeted the yokai. "In fact, I only offer my apologies for not breaking the fight earlier. Eeeven if you, sorta, started the whole thing by transforming into a fully-armored warrior with a scary, glowing axe."
"A-Anyway, that's besides my point." Takeshi waved his hands. "I figured you must be tired from all... that. So, wanna ride? Kuro's a big horse, after all. Consider it my apology too."
Terauchi Temple
"I'll be resting in the temple for a while. But, I'm always available. Just give word if you need me for anything."
"Whew, sounds like you had a really rough time with that 'Fatal Pulse' guy." Ayu replied. "Well, at least you stopped him for now. I don't even wanna know what he wants to do with those drugs. It's a shame what happened to the shipyard, though, but this is war and stuff like that usually happens. Besides, better the place be destroyed rather than it be something the Varjans can use against Shizuyama."
"Anyway, you and Liliana have definitely earned some rest. If you'd like, we've got some nice, hot springs near here. Feel free to take a dip and relax." Ayu suggested to the weary swordsman. "Anyway, I've got other stuff to handle so I'll see you around."
---
As Shizuka and Liliana walked through the temple grounds, they would chance upon Io deep in meditation. While also hearing two villager women talking to each other.
"What do you think this yokai taskforce are really doing here?"
"They're yokai. And you know what they want..."
"What?"
"To eat us!"
"I haven't seen the yokai try to eat anyone."
"They don't do it out in the open!"
"They eat our food. I've seen that."
"Ugh, I wish you weren't so naive. They only do that to fool you, and it's working!"
"..."
~~ TAKESHI'S JOURNEY ~~
~~ TAKAMORI TALES ~~
~~ SORAE TALES ~~
~~ TALES OF SHIZUYAMA ~~
~~ LEGENDARY TALES ~~
Hey all! Update's in the works but I have to delay it for maybe a day since I'm out of brain juice at the moment. Sorry guys!
Sorry for the late update. GMod got to me.
House By The River
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
~ @Restalaan (SKA), @Rezod92 ~
It was chaos! The Immortals encirclement of Kerry failed when they were surprised by Skarsneek, who had thrown a huge net over the warriors who were prowling for their fellow taskforce members. The netted Immortals were about to use their magics to burn away the ropes but Kerry quickly blew them away into the raging river with wind magic.
Still, there were Immortals left and the fighting continued. The two monsters held their ground against the magical warriors, who could not activate their armors' ability due to the nonlethal takedowns. Their numbers soon thinned and the few Immortals were poised to rout.
But then, a figure emerged from the house. Unlike the pink armor of the Immortals, his was shiny blue and gold and bulkier; the armor of a Scarce Legion warrior. Immediately glaring at Kerry and Skarsneek, he held out his hand and a magical khopesh materialized which then sizzled into flame. A Warlock of the Scarce Legion, and a swordsman at that.
He stretched his arms out at the monsters, beckoning them to come at him.
Terauchi Temple
THE HEADMAN
~ @Hammerman, @AzureKnight (ATS & HIN) ~
"Well, at least Alice is all better. Now that that's all over, do either of you need a moment or are we ready to head out ourselves. I'd rather not keep Sorae-san waiting."
"..." Takeshi wanted to go with Lunatea and the Hangai sisters. But he could not stop thinking about Gringor and Alice, less so for their wellbeing and more of the damage they might cause. It would be fine if their wraths were unleashed upon the wicked Varjans, but there were still innocent Shizuyamans out there.
"I'll go with them. Make sure they don't cause too much trouble." The young Oja decided. His honest talk with the spider yokai would have to wait for now. "I'll... ask Ayu to clean, or have someone else clean, this mess later. Take care of yourselves." Nodding at the girls, Takeshi went off.
---
Meeting up with Sorae, the last Tokinomiya was unamused at the sight of her Lord Takeshi chasing after the two taskforce members. "Is there a problem with your little taskforce, yokai?" She immediately inquired, quite aggressively. "You had better not be abusing the young master's trust, lest his disappointment be the least of your worries."
"Anyway, I found a letter in that inn we attacked. Came from a name, 'Sogen'." Sorae spat the name out with absolute disdain. "He's the head of Ruko Farmstead. And... a servant of Clan Tokinomiya." She calmed her rage by shaking her head and pinching the bridge of her nose. "Ungrateful traitor..."
Shizuyama Wilderness
THE HEAVENLY STRIKE
~ @Enkryption, @Restalaan (GRI) ~
Alice had left Terauchi Temple to resume her mission in taking down the students of the Heavenly Strike technique, heading for the wooden bridge where she battled the three warriors. She was a bit messed up after attempting to altercate with the male High Orc Gringor in her other form. Speaking of Gringor, he had apparently followed her. He even asked where she was going.
Before either of them could do anything else, another figure also arrived. Takeshi Oja had followed the two of them in his white stallion. "Hold on! Hold on, let me come with you." He told the two yokai. "I can see that you two are powerful fighters against the Varjans and traitors. I'm here to make sure you're against no one else, especially not each other."
"Now then, Alice, was it? What have you found so far?"
Terauchi Temple
~ @Crowvette ~
“Is gold fine? I can change its shape to coins if needed.”
The women's eyes sparkled at the sight of Io's jewelry, but none dared express their interest in it. "I-I guess we can take that as payment." One of the villagers said, and the other two nodded in agreement. "How many of these robes did you want again?"
After answering that question, the weavers would take their leave to begin their work. Ayu was quite pleased at the smooth development. "That went pretty great, all things considered." She remarked to the Lich. "It'll probably take them a day or two to get your outfits ready. I'll probably also need to provide them the tools and materials to actually make the clothes." Ayu let out a sheepish chuckle, not looking forward to foraging for those supplies.
"But hey, those are my problems and not yours." Ayu continued before a scene caught their attentions.
Io and Ayu both saw the Mad Hatter Alice quickly making her way out of the temple who was then followed by Gringor who was then followed by Takeshi Oja on a horse. Letting out a sigh, Ayu was hesitant to know what exactly caused that scene. Although, she probably needed to know sooner or later. "I must say, Lady Kyouko sure assembled a strange group. No offense."
"Well, I've got other stuff to do so I gotta go. You can relax and take a breather here in the temple, or you can continue lending a hand to the people of this island." With a wave, the silver-haired woman bid farewell. "See you later, Io."
~ @AzureKnight (SHI), @The Irish Tree ~
Liliana and Shizuka would reach the temple without further incident, just in time to witness something peculiar.
A distraught Alice would run past them, followed by a dripping wet Gringor, followed by a mounted Takeshi. Who, fortunately, stopped to explain what was happening. "Err, it's a long story. I'm following them to make sure they don't get in trouble... especially with each other. Anyway, gotta go!" And the young Oja galloped away, to become the monsters' apparent chaperone.
Entering the temple, Ayu was there to greet the duo. "Sir Shizuka! Miss Liliana! Good to see you come back from your mission in one piece! Successfully, I presume? You two look victorious." She then let out a hearty laugh. "...Don't ask about Takeshi and the two others. Not even I know what happened with them."
The temple grounds was the same as ever. Refugees still recovering in their tents and the monks making sure everything was in order. It appeared most of the taskforce were away on missions.
~~ TAKESHI'S JOURNEY ~~
~~ TAKAMORI TALES ~~
~~ SORAE TALES ~~
~~ TALES OF SHIZUYAMA ~~
~~ LEGENDARY TALES ~~
Woo!
And to keep the hype up I got another drawing of Io done! I think this one might actually be better for her RP portrait than the original. Not that I'm asking for them to be swapped, but I figured it might be fun to share.
---
@Enkryption, @Hammerman, @AzureKnight (ATS & HIN), @Restalaan (GRI)
I didn't start the Sorae quest yet because everyone was needs to deal with an enraged Alice. I also want to give Alice the chance to join them or resume the legendary tale (in which case, she might be joined by Takeshi).
@Restalaan (SKA), @Rezod92, @Nakushita, @Dark Cloud
I screwed up. The warriors outside are supposed to be pink-armored, not blue. Sorry about that.
House By The River
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
~ @Restalaan (SKA), @Rezod92 ~
"What's good, fellas!? Who wants an ass whoopin', courtesy of a sexy badass!?"
The Varjans were momentarily awed at Kerry's sudden appearance.
"It's a monster! Why's a monster here?! We're not good against monsters!"
"Doesn't matter! Just focus her down! Don't relent!"
Perhaps half a dozen or so of the pink-armored Varjans descended unto the Hornet, attempting to surround her and decrease the space she could use to move around. They wielded one-handed swords, axes and maces but as they neared Kerry, a couple used their free hands to launch fireballs at the Hornet. These were the magical warriors of Varjo; the Immortals.
Despite seemingly focused solely on Kerry, the Immortals sensed of the simple distraction plan of the taskforce. "...I smell more of them." One of the Immortals stopped in his tracks and began watching the surroundings instead of joining the attack on the Hornet. Another joined him in monitoring the situation. With them on guard, they would certainly spot Sam and Yuki should the two monsters head for the house.
Skarsneek would need to make his move soon and increase the distraction to keep the plan.
~ @Nakushita, @Dark Cloud ~
Kerry and Skarsneek had split off according to the plan. Sam and Yuki would sneak into the house during the carnage, hopefully undetected, to rescue the mother and child.
But upon keen observation of the building, the two monsters could see people through the open windows. Armed people, wearing chainmail and wielding bows. They watched the Varjans outside battle Kerry for now, but they were nocking arrows just in case. They were not the fully-armored warriors outside but Sam and Yuki knew their stealth mission was not going to be easy.
Yagata Shipyard
FATAL PULSE, SHIPPING AND HANDLING
~ @AzureKnight (SHI), @The Irish Tree ~
*BOOM*
Lightning crackled as the bolt struck the shipment crates and in that instant, the Nolkro boxes ignited and created a huge explosion that covered the vicinity in fire and flame. The Varjans reeled from the sight and promptly began to flee once they saw what was coming next.
The fiery blast did not consume all of the crates, a few packages of the Nolkro were launched into other stacks of boxes and created a devastating chain of explosions that spread to the entire shipyard. Some of the launched crates even reached the sword-covered Varjan ships, setting off their own Nolkro shipments. The vessels exploded and were finished off, sinking into the water as their hulls gave way.
The Varjans cleared out of the area, not one of them risking their lives to preserve any of the volatile drugs. Some unfortunate ones were caught in the explosions, the most unfortunate ones had flaming Nolkro boxes land on them directly. One could only hope they died instantly in the resulting blasts.
As Liliana and Shizuka flew away, Fatal Pulse fell to his knees at the sight of the burning ruin that was once Yagata Shipyard. "Ohh nooo! It's burning!" He lamented. "My precious Nolkro drugs! Gone forever!" He then let out the most ugliest shriek the swordsman and the Fairy ever heard in their lives. The cow that Liliana summoned offered its sympathies by sitting down with the sorrowful mercenary.
No Varjan pursued the duo and the drug operation lied smoldering in the soil. Liliana and Shizuka had completed their mission and could now return to Terauchi Temple or go somewhere else.
Terauchi Temple
~ @Crowvette ~
“Ayu. Is there someone who makes clothes here? It would be best if they had something to cover them up, at the very least.”
"Err, I'm sure some of the refugees here are. Why don't I help you find one?" Ayu decided to aid the Lich. "And thanks for not... desecrating the locals and keeping them out of sight. I know Zombies are pretty harmless, but they're not exactly the most... appealing of the monsters."
-
Asking around, Io and Ayu managed to gather three villager women who could weave clothes. "...so yeah, we basically need some new outfits for our Lich friend here and her Zombies." She finished explaining to the villagers.
"Haaah? You want us to make clothes for dead people?"
"Why should we bother? No amount of pretty fabrics would make them any less dead."
"And besides, is now really the time to be worrying about attires? Need I remind you that we're in the middle of an invasion."
A sheepish laugh came out of Ayu and tried her hand in convincing them. "Please, please. This is such a small favor from someone fighting for your home. Why not indulge her just this once? And there will be compensation, of course."
One of the women sighed. "Okay, okay. What kind of clothes does the undead want and what does she offer in return?"
---
“Seriously? This is not the time to be shy, you know. Her life is in mortal danger.”
"My goodness, first thing in the morning, and all ready we have all this racket. Takeshi-san, if you're too inexperienced in this sort of thing, then please more over and let the adults handle it."
"But she's a..." Takeshi sighed instead of arguing any further with the yokai. Despite being shamed for being unable to dress the wounds of an ally for an admittedly petty reason, he was thankful that Lunatea and Atsuha were more than capable of restoring Alice to health and save him the trouble of doing it himself.
"By the way, Sorae seems to have a lead on her family's assailants. Hinami and I were going to assist her in her quest. I was wondering if either of you wanted to tag along with us. Of course, I still owe a debt to you as well Luna-chan."
The Jorou-Gumo's offer was accepted by Lunatea, and Gringor even appeared to join. Where did he come from? Takeshi would accept too. It was his chance to really express his gratitude for Atsuha. But didn't he already do that? Well regardless, the young Oja wanted to talk to the spider yokai again. However, before Takeshi could speak...
"Dare thee to cast thine strange magicks upon me without mine own permission! State thine intentions, and do so well, before I give thee leave of thine own head with mine own blade!"
"No, no... stay your words... gift us cause...."
Alice suddenly awakened, and was not exactly appreciative of the magic infused into her, even if it was beneficial. Her horrid arm had overtaken her body and morphed into a protective, spiky armor for the Mad Hatter, her cursed axe thirsting for violence.
Takeshi reacted quickly and put himself between Alice and the rest of the yokai, his hands on his sword's sheathe and hilt. He, too, was ready to draw his blade should this scene escalate into a fight. But Alice was an ally and was probably just scared and panicking after surviving her wounds. "Calm down, Mad Hatter. Peace, your friends had done nothing but use healing magic to fix you up."
"Perhaps some gratitude, instead of rage, is in order."
~~ TAKESHI'S JOURNEY ~~
~~ TAKAMORI TALES ~~
~~ SORAE TALES ~~
~~ TALES OF SHIZUYAMA ~~
~~ LEGENDARY TALES ~~
Hey y'all! I kinda had to take a lot of time deciding some of the next scenes but rest assured that the update is around the corner!
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