The Irish Tree

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

Lizardmen are my favorite race in Goblin Slayer, so he's pretty much an instant-in for me. Looks cool too.

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

Steppe Archer winced as she saw how painful the bites looked. Guard Lady really was tough if she was trudging around while acting like she was perfectly fine. Still, she hoped that they wouldn't become infected by anything down here. After all, filth and disease bred in sewers...but so long as she didn't expose them to raw sewage, it was doubtful that she'd contract anything after giving them a clean wash and chugging down an antidote.

At Guard Lady's signal to stop, as well as the loud squeaking, Steppe Archer's footsteps came to a halt as she drew a hand towards her blade. There were so many...and they had to kill three of these nests!? Various thoughts crossed Steppe Archer's mind, namely that this was...far too much for novices. They'd have had an easier time cleaning out the ditch, at this rate...but, now, another thought made its way into her. As she cast a glance from the lamp to the rats, an idea brewed in her head. "We can use fire to take them out. It'll um...stink. Really bad. But if I can shoot an arrow covered in cloth and oil and fire, then the fire'll spread fast with all that fur and...poop," the archer suggested, still trying to think of other side plans.

"We could also try and lure more roaches this way. But...I doubt that'd work unless we got every single roach in here to attack. Worst comes to worst though, we could cut our losses and leave."

Menagerie Parade, A Fantasy World of Long Titles and Dumb Plots and Exclamatory Questions!? [Private]

Charlotte shrugged at Valkira's question, saying: "I'm just trying to overthrow my dad. Nothing big," as if that was, actually, one hundred percent a totally normal reason to be traipsing through the countryside and burning villages down by accident. Smiling, she would wrap her arm around Valkira's shoulder, leaning in close and saying: "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone back home. In faaaact...if you help me out, I'll get you TONS of promotions. How does being captain of the royal guard sound?"

Nimoa would return after several minutes, proudly holding up a map as her tiny bat wings flapped away behind her. "I found a map to the alchemist's house! And pepper spray in case that mean lady tries to grab me again," the pale vampire would say proudly, using the map to shield herself from the sun. Looking at Charlotte acting all chummy with Valkira, and seeing the nervous expression on her friends' face made her realize what was going on...this lady was another vampire hunter! Wasting no time, Nimoa would run forward, swinging her bat-pack and slamming it into Charlotte's face, knocking her flat on her behind.

"W-What the!?" Charlotte questioned, bewildered as the bag was pulled away, only for the tiny, adorable little vampire girl to be looming over Charlotte, a red canister in her hand. "Oh, wow, you really are cut-AHHHHHHHHH" Charlotte would say, then scream out as she was peppersprayed in the face. Multiple times. Trying to roll away, she would try to get as far away from the girl as possible while Nimoa chased her, shaking the can. "DON'T BULLY MY FRIENDS! GET BACK HERE! I'M GONNA MAKE YOU REGRET EVER EXISTING!"

After some time, and someone eventually clarifying that Charlotte was NOT in fact someone trying to kill her and her friends, Nimoa would begrudgingly apologize. "...Sorry..." she said, pouting intensely. She thought she was helping.

Practically blinded from pepper spray, Charlotte would give a thumbs up. "Ish'okay..." she said, face stained a bit red from the constant spray. She couldn't stay mad at Nimoa for being cute.

After a series of introductions, each member of the party got formally introduced to one another. More awkward silence would pass as they reached the town's exit, while Charlotte looked like she was moping. Since when did some random child's quest overwrite her big important main story quest!? This was an outrage! But...she was so dang cute. Just imagining her big red eyes soaked over with tears made Charlotte want to die. Just a little. Regardless, with a new parasol in hand Nimoa would find the sun nothing more than a slight inconvenience as she checked the map. Pointing at it as she showed Tristan and the others, she would set them off on their journey to Grinsgy's Hollow, home of one of the most renowned alchemists in all the land.

As well as the largest lichyard on the continent.

Literally.

Like, old retired liches lived here, apparently.

Watching from the bushes with sticks tied to her head, Ariette would giggle to herself, watching the party from behind. "Mmmhmhm...Charlotte won't know what hit her," she whispered, before casting a long range Message spell.

"Tamara? They're going to the big lichyard. Time to spook them."

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

I am really struggling to keep my writing spirit up, and I don't feel like I can keep going. I am having difficulties maintaining my interest for any RP, at this point, and I am probably just going to take a break from most, if not all my writing projects.

Thanks for a nice time, I enjoyed it. I wish you two the best of luck.

@Shard

Oh, dang. Sorry to hear that, but hope that you have a nice break. Seeya around sometime, man.

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

Steppe Archer, upon hearing that Guard Lady was gouged on the price of the lamp, felt extremely bad at having let her new friend go alone. Nobody should just be able to do that because a buxom beauty buys a bobble! That's just rude. Rolling up the sleeves of her tabard, Steppe Archer said: "I feel like we should give that merchant a piece of our mind...later though.

Following Shade's trusty Darkvision, Steppe Archer would remain close to her two companions as they journeyed backwards, the lamp soon coming into sight from the dull, still burning light. It seemed that it had either eaten up most of the current oil, or the fall had made it dislodge the oil or...something. In truth, Steppe Archer had no idea how such a thing worked. She'd only ever had the light of torches and campfires at night to keep her vision free of blackness. At being directly called to, Steppe Archer turned to her halbardier companion and, at her question, gently ran a hand through the quiver at her hip. She thankfully had only lost one or two arrows in their flight, no doubt trampled underfoot, but her current count was at eighteen. Smiling at the Guard Lady's suggestion to reclaim the arrows, she would nod and draw her knife. "Good idea...I'd almost forgotten. Waste not, want not~" she would say, searching the ground for evidence of her arrows. Thankfully, the roaches weren't exactly heavy enough to crush it underfoot, and weren't quite dumb enough to eat metal and a stone that was only lightly stuck into a rat's head. If anything, maybe they ate around them to avoid danger. Regardless, two more arrows in-quiver rounded her out to 20 shots.

Now that they had lamplight and Guard Lady was ahead of her, Steppe Archer would finally get a good look at the bites on her neck, inspecting it to make sure it wasn't like, green with poison or anything. Gently brushing Guard Lady's hair to the side with a gloved (mostly) clean hand, she would inspect the bite wound.

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

Well, at least Guard Lady wasn't in need of immediate medical attention. It wasn't bad, as she'd expected. Having seen her get bitten in the neck before the light faded, Guard Lady would touch her uncovered fingers to where she'd seen her get bitten, to check for any bleeding or swelling. Once she confirmed that Guard Lady at least wasn't bleeding out of an artery, she offered her a smile in the dark. "You'll be fine. Even if there's nothing wrong by the end of this, I promise I'll buy you a curative."

A wave of unease fell over Steppe Archer as she finally noticed that their light source was gone. That was...beyond bad. Shade seemed perfectly okay in the darkness, but the two of them would take some time to even adjust enough to see the faint outlines of objects in this lighting. Hearing his idea of banging two rocks together, Steppe Archer hummed. They might be able to make a torch if they had a decent enough piece of wood, and some animal fat. That way they wouldn't even need the lamp. But...well...that'd require enough time to make tallow from the rats while they were on the run. Skilled at animal dissection as Steppe Archer was, there just wasn't enough time. At hearing their confusion over what a Rat's Nest actually was, Steppe Archer shook her head slightly. "No...a Rat's nest isn't like a beehive or anything. its basically just wherever there's a gigantic horde of rats in a big pile. They might make something simple out of some bones though, but rats aren't very good builders," she explained, experienced in having to drive normal rats out of their temporary settlements. Without a proper flooring, it was simple for rodents to just slip under their tents and find their pantries. It was why they often carried many vermin-hunting animals with them.

Taking a moment to think, and looking back on the horde of rats as the cockroaches claimed victory, Steppe Archer nodded. "We need to move fast. If making a fire isn't an option, then we'll just have to count on your eyes. I can hear most things coming up. But we have to be careful fighting in the dark...we're more likely to cut each other up if we don't work together." As she pondered more and more on what to do, she eventually came on an idea. "...Wait, why don't we just...go back, get the lantern, and go the other way down the sewers? We only have to destroy three nests of...Shaper knows how many. Ooh, or we can set a lot of traps outside their nests!" Steppe Archer said, trying her best to make retreat sound about as pleasant as possible. Even if it meant more fighting, it at least meant fighting with the light present. "Oooooor, maybe we can lead the cockroaches to a nest and try to get them to fight. But...I'd think the nests would only have one way in."

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

As soon as Guard Lady let out a cry of pain, Steppe Archer stopped and turned around, cringing at the sight of her getting bitten by a few of the roaches. Roaches were disease carrying virmin, true, but at least their teeth weren't sufficient in small numbers to tear apart a healthy human. She hoped. At worst, maybe they'd just have to clean the little bug bites and use some alcohol in order to cleanse them. But stil, EW! BUGS!

Shade's plan was brilliant, and as Steppe Archer leapt up onto the ledge, she slumped against the wall and sank to her knees, drawing her bow with trembling hands. If the rats did indeed win, she could snipe a few before they got close. But the momentum of the fight was going with the roaches, numbers overpowering raw strength. If it weren't so disgusting, the lesson at hand may very well be humbling. After all, humans had more might than rats, but the rats were in the position of the roaches when facing adventurers. The many versus the few. Where humans had the advantage against anything however was in tactics, planning, and coordination. Shade had used that to ensure that a rout was possible. Heck, if possible, this strategy might keep working. After all, roaches didn't care WHAT they ate, and the rats were territorial. In the end, this way they could secure two victories in one!

Looking to the halberdier once she was with safely on the ledge, she would ask: "H-How are you feeling? Those bites didn't break the skin, did they?" she asked, taking a peek at the bites. "If they hurt, I can make you a small painkiller with those plant branches."

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

The Steppe Archer let out a small chuckle, nervously scratching the back of her hair with her bow-hand. "Ehehe...you really think so? I think I'm just a little good at dealing with beasts from all the time I spent hunting. Glad that you're both okay though," the archer would say, just before Shade would depart to scout ahead. Feeling like the Guard Lady needed at least something to perk her spirits up, Steppe Archer would say: "Don't feel bad! We're all alive and uninjured. So what if a rat managed to knock you over, next time, you'll cut them clean in half!" in an enthusiastic manner, clean hand patting the Guard Lady's back before she stooped to reach for her bow, and return it to her back.

"Now, let's go find those rat nests before-"

Skitter

Steppe Archer froze. Dead in her tracks the archer stood, growing almost as pale as her hair in the dim torchlight provided by Shade. Before any order was even given, Steppe Archer started to retreat, hesitantly stepping back towards Shade as he fled, even being passed up by Guard Lady as she followed. She was dead last, petrified in fear before she let out a bloodcurdling scream as she made a mad dash, swift as a horse and half as graceful as she nearly frothed at the mouth to escape from the insect horde.

Bugs? Bad.

Roaches? Worse.

Giant Bugs? Worst.

Giant Roaches?

Worstest

Yes, it was a point she was mocked for consistently as she was growing up. A woman of the steppe, a proud child of the land and benefactor of its bounty...absolutely loathed insects with a passion, to the point that a tiger was less fearsome in her eyes than a line of red ants.

And here and now, the woman who had been a dervish of steel and arrow against the rats was cowering as she ran between Shade and Guard Lady, fearfully tugging at her bow. "I will LITERALLY fight every single rat in this sewer if it means getting away from these things! But I like your idea. J-Just lead us away from these disgusting little...UGH!" Steppe Archer said, sounding like a total weenie. Where before she had been reliable and competent, the sight of insects had almost made her into a liability...

ＦＩＮＡＬ ＦＡＮＴＡＳＹ Ｘ｜Ｖ： Ｔｈｅ Ｂｌｅｓｓｅｄ Ｔｗｅｌｖｅ

At the sound of books and human shaped non-book things slamming into the ground, Theodore's head turned away from his (potential) future employer to the Miqo'te that had fallen. He'd walk over, beaten to the punch by one of the Miqo'te's own who picked up one book, while Theodore, wanting to help, would stoop low and pick up the remainder. Carrying them as a stack with both of his hands, he would deposit them on an unoccupied end table, devoid of flagons. "Are you alright, miss? You look like you took more than just a fall," Theodore would say, offering the crimson clad cat woman a hand with which to rise up. He'd noticed the bruises she'd gotten at the very least.

Once A'lythana was fine to rise once more, Theodore would look to her stack of books. "Quite the selection, Miss. If you're here to join the Company, I'd have them take a look at your bruises. I'm sure that they would oblige you," the white haired swordsman said, turning his attention back to the members present that had persisted in joining in this..."initiation", one could call it. Aside from the curious case of the Padjal, there was one other who caught his attention at a glance. A woman of Highlander blood, bearing a lance of familiar make. The more Theodore cast his gaze to her, he swore deeper and deeper that he'd seen the woman before...but couldn't place whether it had been someone he knew by name. The days from when he was serving in Coerthas were a blur of memories when he nearly vomited everyday from the exertion of his training. He was only sure that they were an Ishgardian by their spear, one the likes of which he'd seen on many of the dragoons and higher ranking knights within Foundation. He could only hope this wasn't somehow going to lead with him having an inquisitorial encounter...but for now, the idea of a fellow kinsman out there, fighting the good fight outside of Ishgard warmed his heart.

---

The carriage ride was a welcome surprise, mostly since at the mention of the Silver Bazaar, Theodore had expected that meant trudging halfway across Western Thanalan in metal armor. Make no mistake he was accustomed to the humidity of Gridania, and the heat often found in the temperate woodlands, but the direct sunlight made the young man feel as if he were a chocobo breast stuffed into an oven. Being in the company of fellow adventurers, especially in such numbers was more than a morale booster, it was half the fun of adventuring to begin with. The duo of Sunseeker men had broken into a jaunty little musical number with a rhythm that had him lightly tapping his armored foot to the rhythm. He didn't want to embarrass himself by singing along without even knowing the words, but it was a pleasant way to start what would either be the successful and bustling rebirth to a dwindling free company...or, a massive waste of everyone's time. But the latter didn't even cross Theodore's mind as the gates of the Sultana faded over the hills.

The future was there. Justice would be delivered, and those who had been wronged shall receive due recompense with their home restored. This much Theodore believed with unflinching certainty, and as an accompanying thought flitted through his mind, the boy would smile and look to the ceiling of the caravan. "This will be the first of many, perhaps," Theodore mused in a mutter under his breath, relaxing until they would arrive. As soon as his greaves would touch down on the dirt of the not-so-Silver Bazaar, the man would be ready for action. Or interrogation. Or investigation. Or really, just about anything asked of him to get this done.

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

Wasn't the quest to exterminate three rat NESTS? Seems like we barely got through half of one.