SilverPaw

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

Asteria

---

---

Asteria snuck into the village alongside Ed, observing the humans. They all wore primitive clothing, the most advanced items they possessed being their weapons, in some cases leather items, and one male that might be the leader with a fancier tunic. The outlay of the village was simple, laid out in a rough circle, huts and pens littering the place. One of the pens was broken open, scraps of cloth and several tools laying around. Asteria sharpened her gaze, on the lookout for anything sharp; a knife would be preferable but in the end any tool they could make an use of would be something she’d want to steal. One the way to the shed, she used Monster analysis II on one chickens. And once they were under the triangular-shaped construction, she carefully examined all the items. To answer Ed, she put a paw on him, and communicated mentally. “Basket. Lidded jar. Scroll. Tools from the pen. Hide.” She helped him collect the items she’d requested, stashing the jar and possibly leather-scroll into it, then she nudged him, indicating they should sneak quickly to the pen to take one or two tools with them. The humans would soon approach the shed, so they’d need to hide behind something or move away, though carrying the items they did was a detriment for both stealth and speed. However, the last thing they needed was for the people to discover them.

Action summary

Sneaks into the village.
Observes the people and the items they posses.
Uses Monster Analysis II on the chicken.
Takes note of what tools were left by the ruined pen.
Communicates with Ed using telepathy.
Uses his help to gather one grass-woven basket, a lidded clay jar, and one roll of not-paper.
Sneaks out of the shed, leading Ed to the nearest hiding spot.
If there's an opportunity, takes one or two sharp tools from the pen.

Blood's Jewels (High Casual Fantasy Revolution)

Jandar Varan

Winged Boar Inn, Askavi

Not even in his paranoia did Jandar contemplate that something like this would have happened. An Eyrien Warlord Prince entered, and he reeked of power, ranking Gray at the very least. The strongest male in the bar ignored them, sitting down next to the female Eyrien who’d arrived shortly beforehand. Though the Prince seemed completely at ease, the rest of the patrons were vacating the premises, and if that was not a foreboding of potential disastrous happenings, Jandar might as well proclaim himself mad. And then Fatima just went and strolled to the male! Instead of groaning out loud, the Kaeleeran Warlord chanted a litany of fuck, fuck, fuck in his mind, while observing the goings on, with what felt like pounds of dread accumulating in his gut. And Fatima had told them to behave! Why must she stroll in danger like so! Mother night, what has desperation done to us all?!

Jandar simply watched grimly as the female rather than the male Eyrien responded to Fatima, the lower-ranking woman challenging the Queen nonetheless. The female Eyrien, likely a leader of this place given her demeanor – or someone very close to such a position – had enclosed their remaining group within the inn with the power of her Jewel, and was probing Fatima with her power as well. Jandar recognized the probe as something only a Black Widow could do, and momentarily just stood there, slightly stunned. He quickly reclaimed his wits, knowing not to interfere, despite knowing the Black Widow could harm Fatima if whatever she discovered in her mind wasn't to her liking. However Fatima had told them to behave, and he trusted that the Queen's intentions were good, so she was likely to pass the Black Widow's inspection. He did wish the people here would be more forthcoming with their motives, not that he could truly blame them if they were rebels – a hypothesis that the recent events spoke strongly in favour of.

While he simply watched in tense silence, Jassen stood up with a snarl, and lunged himself at the Black Widow with a knife. Alarmed, Jandar followed, his chair knocked over carelessly, grabbing for Jassen’s wrist to intercept the foolishly reckless male’s attack. “Do not,” he growled, yanking Jassen’s arm backwards, squeezing the wrist so tightly the male would be tempted to let his knife drop. “Not yet. I know you want to protect her, but just take a moment to consider this situation,” he hissed, irritated. “If the Eyrien lady had wanted us dead, we would be dead already. Is that notion simple enough to penetrate your thick skull?” he mocked, sneering at the other male. If he were honest, he was somewhat worried as well, but for Hell’s sake, how could this drunk think resorting to violence while such a forceful approach would put them at an obvious disadvantage was smart? Oh, right, he’s drunk and not exactly bestowed with smarts, he thought sarcastically. Jandar shook his head; he could just bet this idiot didn't realize the Eyrien female was a Black Widow and interrupting one such as her would have dire consequences.

“Have you not seen her bodyguard? Have you not managed to notice that we are the intruders here? Fatima is willing to take the risk of trusting these people. Let the ladies settle whatever they have to on their own, because if the two of us get involved, so will he,” he gestured at the Eyrien Warlord Prince, the unknown warrior who'd acted only as an observer so far. “Not to mention that you interfering in a delicate matter such as this could not only kill Fatima, but ruin her beyond recognition. So do not do anything to tip the scales for us. For her,” Jandar berated Jassen in a menacing growl, his emphasis indicating that Fatima might come out for the worse because of his drunken assault. While he’d taken the time to lecture the man, he had also remained vigilant to the developments, because the situation was going downhill by the second, and Jassen’s idiocy – despite his own intervention – could very well cost them their lives. If Fatima hadn’t been endangered before, and Jandar wasn’t as confident in his conclusions as his reproach of Jassen might have indicated, she could be now, so he stood there, keeping a physical hold on Jassen while he blatantly watched the goings on.

Exalted: Fall of Creation - IntCheck

Curious to see more.

Blood's Jewels (High Casual Fantasy Revolution)

Jandar Varan

Winged Boar Inn, Askavi

Jandar did not expect Fatima to insist to try and prevent any bloodshed. Worse, she looked genuinely disappointed, perhaps even embarrassed or ashamed of him. He grimaced as she stepped into his personal space, endangering not only him, but herself as well. Nonetheless, he vanished his sword and shield reluctantly, though his hunting knife remained sheathed and in view on his back. “Very well, but if they–” his pointed warning against the rowdy bar patrons was cut off by a confident female’s entrance. The Eyrien warriors retreated before the female, not out of fear, but respect. Jandar couldn’t help but wonder who the blackhead was. Besides though she wore the Blood Opal (as did he), he felt that her Jewel of Rank was darker, perhaps even a Red just as he had?

Despite his concern, the Warlord sat down at a table his Queen chose, and accepted whatever the innkeeper – Randalvar, the mysterious Eyrien female had greeted him as – brought to the table. Unlike Jassen, he did not believe the bar owner would try poisoning them, not when he simply had to wait for the Eyrien lady to leave. Surely, whenever she did, the hotblooded Eyriens surrounding them would decide to have their fun again. If and when they did, he would be ready. He mentioned his concerns to his Queen. “Fatima, the warriors here…they might not be amenable to peaceful discussions,” he was frowning as he scanned the bar, trying to get a read on the Eyriens still there. Would they, after all, still want to test the mettle of who they saw as a pesky intruder? Or would they head that unknown female's warning and not bother them for the rest of their stay here? Jandar did not know, and this discomfited him to the point of tenseness, a restless state wherein he was rather over-vigilant and ready to react to the slightest disturbance.

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

Asteria

---

---

Though she'd done her best to gouge out the rock, she'd made a very shallow indentation at best, destroying her rudimentary knife in the process. Creating a proper bowl/mortar would take hours. What she’d done so far would have to suffice. Fetching the Bugward. Kilm and Nullven plants, she set to work. First, she examined the Healing herb Ed had given her, so she’d see its full properties. She found a decent sized oval-shaped rock, and first ground the whole Bugward flower into paste. Next, she added the Kilm’s sap and roots, mixing it with the previous paste thoroughly. Before proceeding with the last plant, she tested the mixture of the two she’d combined so far. Asteria nicked her own tail slightly with a tooth corner, then put the paste on it, observing the effects. Finally, she added half of the Nullven to the paste, made another cut on her tail, and tested the final product on it again, noting whether the Nullven had changed the paste’s properties in any way despite in not quite having been an extract. The remaining half of the Nullven, she ate, though she’d have preferred to make a tea out of it.

When her medical dabbling was done, she settled in front of the hole and spent the remaining of her time on guard meditating. She closed her eyes, choosing to focus on the nature’s sounds, breathing deeply. Thinking it might speed up getting the meditation skill, she activated mana sense, letting the natural mana surrounding her permeate her being, actively draining a part of it. If at any point she got the feeling of having too much mana, she would also attempt to reverse the effect and return some of what she’d gained back into the earth, air, and to whatever metaphysical presence the energy-mana might have taken shape as. When Ed tapped her to trade turns, she gratefully joined mother rat in their temporary hide-out and fell asleep.

Early morning dawned sooner than she’d preferred, but nonetheless, she heeded Ed’s call and woke up, stretching all muscles a bit. “Will do, let me just try and get mother rat to stay here. Or at least make sure she won’t be concerned about our whereabouts…” saying so, she went to the still sleeping dire rat, touching a paw to her gently. She closed her eyes and concentrated on what she wanted to convey. Over the telepathic link, she sent feelings of reassurance and safe, but laced with her desire and expectation for her mother to be patient, calm, cautious, and to wait for them at home until they returned. Then, she followed Ed in the direction of the shack, muffling her sounds as she did so.

Action summary

Examines the healing herb with Plant analysis I.
Grinds the Bugward and Kilm into paste.
Nicks her own tail and tests the paste.
Adds half of the Nullven to the paste.
Makes another nick on her tail and tests the new paste on it.
Eats the other half of the Nullven.
Practices meditation, trying to get a better hang of it with the help of Mana Sense and Mana Drain.
Goes to sleep once Ed takes her watch.
Stretches for a few minutes upon waking up.
Makes telepathic contact to Mother rat to get her to stay at the hole while Ed and her go out and about.
Follows Ed stealthily.

Pokémon: The Pillaging

@UndeadSpartan Aww, too bad. Yeah, sure, shoot me a mention if a spot becomes available.

Pokémon: The Pillaging

@UndeadSpartan So, just checking because I think I got a neat idea: could I have Zorua or Zoroark as my character's poke-buddy and use their illusion ability for deceit-based criminal shenanigans?

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

Asteria

---

---

Observing the unknown light spell unfortunately hadn’t reveled any new information, but Asteria’s other endeavors were more successful. Mother rat had physically inspected her after her telepathic probe, but otherwise seemed unperturbed. Good. This meant she could gradually acclimate the non-human in their party to telepathy and perhaps spark her cognition into evolving. Surely if she had evolved there were ways for her to induce something similar in mother rat. Now she only had to remember to communicate with mother rat daily, perhaps focus on actively teaching her, even…But for now, there were also the parts she’d collected to consider. She was considering making the bloodingfly’s stinger into a weapon but concocting a medicine out of the unknown plants was still a priority, since those things could wilt. While collecting the monster parts she’d been successful in knapping a flat rock into a blade, and she used that as inspiration for further crafting.

First, she dug around for a rock large enough that she’d have to hold between both paws and was a tad larger than a head. Asteria then used the rough stone blade as a chisel, using another rock to hit against it. It was a slow and grueling process, and she cut her hand against the blade several times. Out of curiosity, she used her own teeth at one point to try and gouge pieces out of the large rock. She considered using the stinger for the job, but didn’t want to damage something so precious. So, she continued her efforts with the rocks and occasionally teeth in an attempt to craft something akin a stone bowl. As long as the final product at least vaguely resembled a mortar, she’d attempt to smooth the insides by patiently grinding a rock at the irregularities left behind the blade and teeth. For the pestle, she’d just dig around until she found a long oval rock that she’d only have to alter a little to make the handle part.

At one point, Ed brought her some food outside. “Oh, thanks, I was a bit busy with these,” she said, accepting the bug meat and gobbling it gleefully. “Early morning sounds good, hopefully more of the people will go sleep by then. Just let me have the first watch, because I want to try combining those flowers into a salve that would be similarly effective to the healing herb. Mind lending me one of those by the way?” as she said this, she peaked into the hole for long enough to use Plant Analysis I on each of the plants she’d picked up on the plains earlier.

Action summary

Searches for a large rock to turn into a bowl.
Attempts crafting a stone mortar and pestle, using some other rocks and her own teeth as tools in crafting.
Accepts the bug food Ed offered her.
Uses Plant Analysis I on the five plain plants.
Suggests taking first watch, asks for one healing herb from Ed.

Blood's Jewels (High Casual Fantasy Revolution)

Jandar Varan

Winged Boar Inn, Askavi

So either they are rebels or just a bunch of disgruntled Eyriens, Jandar thought sarcastically to himself, though he was also well aware Terreile hadn’t been how it should be for a long while. And at least these people saw the root cause of it; certain people’s corruption that had spread almost throughout the whole land. It was a wonder there was still a Queen such as Fatima left – one that seemed to actually care for Terreille, something that was apparently a rarity in this Realm.

“Be careful if you do go,” Jandar warned Fatima, though he was fairly certain she would go, and already knew to be cautious. But really, all that coating a mountain in blood was dramatic. It wasn’t as if Fatima had an army, and while there were plenty of Eyriens, there were only Jassen and himself to go against them. A small barrel worth of blood at most, that. It was a morbid consideration, but if these warriors were so eager to spill blood, Jandar would oblige them. “So that’s how it’s going to be, after all,” he commented, rather peacefully – perhaps resigned, even. He vanished the bow and arrows with a touch – they’d be useless in such close quarters – and summoned his sabre and shield. Fighting multiple opponents alongside a stranger who had a dislike for him wasn’t going to be pretty, but Jandar hoped Jassen was aware that in such a situation watching each other’s back was not only optimal but necessary.

“Show me what Eyrien warriors are made of, then,” Jandar called out to the group, admittedly getting fired up about testing his mettle in a real fight. The tournaments he’d been in so far might have been ferociously competitive and a good way to better his own skills, but this would be something else; a real battle, though a small-scale one. There was also the fact that Eyriens weren’t as common in Kaeleer and were said to be fiercer in Terreille. He supposed he’d get to see exactly what they were like. The thought of going against such a well-known warrior race made him grin as he took a fighting stance, eyeing each opponent. He’d start on the defensive, not only because they were outnumbered and he had to learn a bit about the warriors he was about to face, but because Jassen, a technical ally of his, was also an unknown.

Blood's Jewels (High Casual Fantasy Revolution)

Jandar Varan

Winged Boar Inn, Askavi

When Jandar woke up several hours later, washed his hands and face in a basin, dressed himself, equipped his dagger, bow, and quiverful of arrows while the sword and shield were Vanished. He shouldered his backpack before making his way down to the main inn room, paid for some bread, cheese, and even a fill of ale for his leather flask for the way, and finally went to saddle and rein in Teo as well. Jandar thought he saw the thief watching him as he left alongside his new travelling companions, though it might have been someone else. Jessen, Fatima’s other companion hadn’t been pleased at Jandar’s presence, but the Warlord ignored the other male, while he reciprocated Fatima’s gesture in getting to know each other. He realized she was keeping him in the dark regarding the details of where they were going and why, but as far as he was concerned, that was simply a sign of a good dose of sense and cautiousness.

The fondness with which Fatima spoke of her rambunctious youth seemed to hint that she was still a mischievous, energetic, perhaps even slightly childish woman. Though he by no means knew her well enough to draw sure conjectures as to her character or judge her. Actually, the only thing he could ever possibly judge her for was foolishness or injustice, and she’d not shown an inclination to that so far. In exchange for her stories, Jandar shared a bit of what it was like for him to live in Kaeleer. He told her of his grandfather and father, of memorable hunting trips, exhilarating tournament wins, and his research interest. He hinted at the frustration that grew in him due to having evidence of strange things befalling people from Kaeleer who went to visit the courts in Terreille, yet being unable to do anything officially. He was vague on certain details so Jassen would not be alarmed further, but otherwise honest with Fatima.

Thus, the time till they arrived at another inn in what was apparently a village dominated by Eyrien warriors passed pleasantly. There was something off about the inn’s patrons, but Jandar couldn’t discern what exactly that something was before the inn-owner, a grizzled Eyrien Warlord Prince approached them – rather offensively, he couldn’t help but note. Could these be some sort of a local rebel group? Though he was dubious of such a conclusion based on the information he had, Jandar still considered this situation to be a potential opportunity, though certainly a dangerous one. He waited curiously for Fatima or Jassen to react, though slightly tense at the possibility of swift and unfortunate escalation of hostilities.

Thankfully, Fatima seemed fairly well versed in de-escalation and mediation, though he couldn’t help but turn to stare at her in surprise at her…explanation. She mentioned weaving, webs, visions, and a person who dealt in those, and who else could she be referring to other than a Black Widow? He turned back to the inn-owner, assessing the male’s mood. How would he respond to that? Would he be prepared to hear them out? Or was that input of Fatima’s enough for him to turn them all away? In any case, Jandar did not believe that him responding to the inn-owner until the Eyrien said his piece would help right now. The Eyrien had had most of an issue with Fatima, so even if Jassen or himself chipped in at this point…it would most likely be unnecessary.