VitaVitaAR

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

Sir Gerard's knowledge of these mercenary bands was certainly useful. While Fanilly had definitely heard of the Golden Boars and their ruthless nature before, she would not have been able to speak of their training or prior conduct in battle with anywhere near the level of accuracy as someone who had previously met them in combat more then once.

It was good to learn his injuries were mending well without too much further attention being necessary.

"I'm glad to hear you're doing well," she replied, "As for the Boars, I hope we can determine who hired them quickly..."

The imprisoned man would hopefully offer some information that could lead them to the Boars' employer. And if they were directly the one who desired the Angroron shard, then that would be all the better.

The idea of looking for books for treasure hunters for information made a lot of sense! She hadn't even thought about that angle before, but costly treasure was surely a draw towards those with plenty of daring and little common sense. The shard could be transported if insulted fully, as per the note that had originated from Lady Cal. Someone with that knowledge could easily think they would be able to claim it.

"You're right, Sir Gerard," Fanilly began, "I didn't think about it at all, but tomes for treasure hunters and travel guides could have the kind of information we're looking for too."

It hadn't even occurred to her, she'd been so focused on the legendary and historical side of things that the practical side had totally escaped her.

Even if she didn't say it aloud, it was obvious the girl was embarrassed at the fact that she'd failed to even consider a wider breadth of knowledge. Her cheeks had colored somewhat, as she examined the title that Sir Gerard had placed on top of the stack of books.

"There's no need to apologize, I appreciate your assistance," added Fanilly, doing her best to brush aside her awkwardness.

@HereComesTheSnow

Realism no Mononoke: An Urban Fantasy RP

Tomoko listened for a few moments to the various proposals presented from across the room. Some of them were sound, though the less said about the 'chupacabra' the better. Indeed, it was clear that everyone present had done some real thinking! Not that she needed this sort of assistance, but it was sometimes useful to have other people thinking for themselves! She did pause a moment to eye Kaori as she fondled the squirming mujina. After all, given the jorogumo's past, well, noting what she was doing when a cute girl was so close to her was important.

A namahage would torture and terrorize children.

Some legends spoke of yamauba devouring them.

Urban legends spoke of a myriad of phantoms that would target children.

Kappa had an entire legend around them attacking people, most frequently children.

And, of course, a depraved human being could have abducted the children. Murdered them, abused them, or both.

All of these could have been the perpetrator.

And one was more likely then the others.

"There sure are a lot of yokai who like attacking children," mused Tomoko as she leaned back in her seat, "Normally, that might make it challenging to figure out our culprit. But it's not so difficult when you have your wonderful intermediary and club president here, is it?"

She flashed a smile towards the assembled club members as she rose to her feet, the bow in her hair bouncing.

"Since some of your suggestions are logical based on the information we have, it would be a struggle to figure out which one makes the most sense. At least, at first glance," she continued, "But how many of the child-eating yokai are known for their willingness to visit the city? These days, many of your child-hungry youkai aren't too fond of visiting populated areas."

The blonde girl picked up her cane. Indeed, it was possible some creep was the perpetrator as well.

"We could be looking at a human perpetrator, that's true. But if that were the case, I don't think anyone would have spoken to me," she continued. "I'll admit right now it's based on conjecture and hearsay, but I have a strong feeling about this. Those who guessed at urban legends might just have had a little bit of my wisdom rub off on them."

Winking, Tomoko raised one finger beside her head.

"Just a little!"

But the fact was that they still didn't have enough information to go off of.

"But we don't have enough information to come to any conclusions. Dubious conclusions about nurikabe aside, Hina-chan's questions are the right ones. Unfortunately, I don't have any answers. The kidnappings have happened in broad daylight, in the evening, from crowded locations, from lonely ones, even right behind the parents' backs. The only consistency is in the victims, and the lack of evidence."

Even the Intermediary couldn't produce evidence from thin air. But she had a plan to fix that.

"So," continued Tomoko, "We're going on a little field trip to talk to a witness!"

Given Tomoko's nature, it wouldn't take too much difficulty to understand who the 'witnesses' she mentioned were. There were no human beings who saw the crimes or knew anything about them...

At least, there were no living human beings.

"Today's club activity will be spirit invocation~!" declared the short girl brightly.

@Raineh Daze@Vega7285@Pyromania99@AzureKnight@Rune_Alchemist@Octo

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

Fanilly will make her reply today or tomorrow!

Realism no Mononoke: An Urban Fantasy RP

@Octo: Alrighty, that sounds good to me. Accepted.

Realism no Mononoke: An Urban Fantasy RP

@Octo: I like the look of her, I just want to know how powerful the curses/blessings can get before I give the okay.

Realism no Mononoke: An Urban Fantasy RP

@Octo: There's space for one more.

Urban Starlight Wonderland: A Magical Girl RP

Moments before the gaping jaws of the serpent could slam down, it was suddenly dissipated, its form twisting around the bolt of starlight before breaking down into scattering white and black mist.

The white-haired girl was taken aback by the sudden disruption of her attack, briefly glancing in the direction the bolt of light had originated from.

This distraction was the perfect window for Nico's blow.

Something was struck.

There was a strange blue-grey flash from the point of the magical girl's impact, and a sound like a ringing bell. While it didn't appear as if the girl took the hit to her right arm directly, she most certainly felt something, gasping and staggering backwards, set off- balance and forced to catch herself.

But for a few moments, it was hard to tell if there were any other effects from the blow, as the girl took a step back and her gaze returned to the feline magical girl.

Then, something suddenly stirred on her arm, the semi-visible coils wrapped around it writhing in a frantic fashion, almost seeming to distort and warp for a moment. She let out small cry, her left arm clutching at the right as she fell onto one knee.

"..."

She took another step back as she forced herself back into her feet.

"... We'll meet again."

With that, she threw herself from the rooftop, backwards.

Even if Nico rushed to see where she fell, she would be gone.

@Ammokkx@King Cosmos

The Storm Cycle: Reclamation

Fio had finally located the Queen and Luna, only to be hit by the strong scent of alcohol. She most certainly wasn't fond of the odor, given her enmity towards alcohol in general. Her disappointment only increased when she came to understand just what was going on.

There was going to be no serious discussions happening now, and in all honesty the Sword Witch really would prefer not to be around her Highness when she was almost certainly drunk.

Unfortunately, even given the difference of sobriety between them, there was no denying that Fio was inferior in terms of physical capabilities.

No matter how she attempted to flee when she realized that the Queen had spotted her, her fate was a forgone conclusion.

The royal embrace was something that could be thought of fondly, as a show of affection towards the loyal, those who proved themselves as true comrades and knights of royalty.

In this moment, however, Fio could not have wished to be further from it.

The petite girl give a frantic yell of "Stooop!" before she was abruptly restrained, her face buried in the intoxicated Queen's chest.

No matter how she attempted to speak, she knew now there was no way anyone was going to hear anything but muffled cries for help. And perhaps mercy.

Both would be ideal.

No to mention how utterly embarrassing this position was to begin with. Why did Queen Sorcha have to do something like this? Flustered(and perhaps experiencing no small amount of jealousy), the petite witch squirmed frantically in a bid to try and escape.

Alas, there would be no escape.

Luna's words were hardly of any comfort. If anything, they managed to make the situation considerably worse.

@Pyromania99@Rune_Alchemist

Realism no Mononoke: An Urban Fantasy RP

After having experienced Kaori's attitude and affections for a considerable length of time now, Tomoko had learned to be prepared for this kind of treatment.

The karakasa wasn't the only friend she brought along today.

Letting her surprised decoy 'enjoy' Kaori's affections, Tomoko stepped to the side and around the clingy jorogumo, ignoring any muffled pleas for help.

"Tea would be lovely, thank you," she said, in response to Homura.

She cast a bright smile around at the assembled students. Yes, she'd done quite an excellent job at putting together various supernatural attendees at Miyama, and it hadn't taken very much effort at all!

"I'm sure you're all curious about our first order of business today, so I won't delay any longer," she continued, retrieving the daily newspaper from her bag. She didn't often read them, but picking up a copy seemed like it was a wise idea for illustrating the task at hand.

"Tada~" Tomoko declared, presenting the paper, or more specifically one of the articles.

The article in question was one that detailed all the publicly-avaliable knowledge on the recent rash of children's disappearances. There wasn't much, but it was enough to establish the fact that there was little to no evidence, and no way of knowing if the disappeared children were alive or dead.

Though given the length of time since the first known disappearance, the outlook was growing considerably more grim.

"Seven children have disappeared this month alone," she continued, "Without any evidence, with no sign of a struggle. Nothing is left behind at all. Even if I didn't have a few friends letting me know they thought something was going on, I think this would be plenty of reason to suspect it's not simply a human kidnapper, isn't it?"

At the very least, it was clear that Tomoko was taking the matter seriously, even if she had presented the newspaper article in such a lighthearted manner.

"I have my suspicions as to what it may be, but I'm curious if anyone else does," continued the girl as she put the newspaper down, waving her real hand idly, "Speculation and conversation are the best path forward!"

Indeed, assembling a plan of action meant discussing that plan of action first.

Tomoko had no intention of allowing another child to disappear, so letting the perpetrator go another night wasn't an option.

Meanwhile, the shapeshifted mujina in Kaori's grip squirmed frantically. She'd altered her usual human form to be identical to the intermediary, but she hadn't been told why this was happening.

Only now did she understand.

@Raineh Daze@Vega7285@Pyromania99@AzureKnight@Rune_Alchemist

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

"Ah?"

Fanilly was surprised to hear a voice behind her.

She was even more surprised to see who it was. But then again, perhaps pursuing a more leisurely activity in comparison to further training was an ideal pastime for the mercenary-turned knight before her. Aggravating that injury would do no good.

For that matter, the sight of his arm in that sling caused a twinge of guilt in the Knight-Captain's heart. In her head, she was already running through scenarios in which her commanding was just a bit better, where she was able to keep any of her knights from being injured. Surely, surely, she could have done better.

But she didn't speak of them.

"Sir Gerard, it's good to see you," Fanilly greeted her knight with a pleasant smile.

Rather then her resplendent silver armor, the slight blonde was dressed in the blue, white, and gold uniform granted to the Captain of the Iron Rose Knights. To be honest, at times she wished she could dress more casually, but it wouldn't to for her to do so among her knights.

"I'm looking for any information we may have on the shards of Angroron," she explained, blue eyes returning to the bookshelf, "Everyone's familiar with the story of Saint Lilianna and the fall of Orodrunn, but the nature and whereabouts of the shards aren't common knowledge."

She let out a small sight. It was for good reason. Few wanted to risk such terrible artifacts being discovered. And those that sought them out were likely precisely the sort of people who should never obtain them.

But that did make it harder to prevent someone who had already found them from doing something terrible.

A few of the books she was examining were labeled with titles such as Theology and History: The Divine Influence on Our Past, Record of the Orodrunn War, and Tools of the Wicked: Know the Enemy.

Somewhat embarrassed, Fanilly awkwardly scratched the back of her head.

"I guess I've never really looked at anything but the library's novels before, so I didn't have a great idea of where to start... I just picked out titles that looked promising."

The young girl paused for a moment.

"How is your arm?"

@HereComesTheSnow