Vox

Vox Test Box

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✤ Delve ✤

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The serious and cool face Kori had unmasked while in the midst of combat was replaced by a wide toothy smile once more, genuinely happy that everyone managed to come through unscathed even if their former foes posed no threat to the frankly monstrous party. Dahlia had mentioned that ability-wise everyone here was already well qualified to become level 2 and in the short skirmish, it seemed like that was true. Then again, kobolds and goblins weren't a particularly high benchmark to compare against.

But that only meant that they had to push themselves even harder! Part of it was the looming debt that shadowed her, but there was a deeper desire within her that wanted to see just how far she could go. While she loved everyone in her familia and certainly enjoyed her time with them, her time with them was more often spent making sure they don't blow themselves up than not. With this group, even if they were a bit disjointed and had little teamwork, was still just freshly gathered and would likely only get better together over time. Castor and Varanese were both a bit worrisome in how they seemed to only care about themselves for the moment, Obenn was definitely masking something with his airheadedness, and Kori supposed she herself could be a bit suspicious, but it was nothing they all wouldn't be able to overcome together with a bit of bonding.

As Penn scurried around collecting their loot, Kori gave her a thumbs up and walked next to Obenn, her hand automatically and unconsciously already tousling the hair on the back of his head (mostly because she would have to reach for the top of his head, and that would've been uncomfortable) as she guided him to the next floor. Putting on an even wider smile, she said "I'd only be a martyr if I end up dead right? And seein' as I'm not yet, just let Big Sis Kori and everything will be just dandy nya!" And with that, she quickly repelled down to the next floor.

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Second Floor

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The rest of the party soon followed. Kori took that time to stretch out her limbs and rest on her blade since there wasn't a sheath for it anyway, not that there'd be a way for one to rest comfortably on her frame anyway. Ears lazily twitched as she listened to Varanese and Obenn in turn before she chimed in with a "Oooor~, we head straight down and and then take a left to go straight to the Third Floor nyan. I mean, our ultimeowt goal is to get to Level 2 right? I'm sure meowst of us have already gone through the first four floors, so no reason to see if we can't push ourselves a little bit further for our first little outing nyan." As she spoke, her eyes drifted each person in the party, gauging their reactions, though her eyes rested on Dahlia for just a moment longer than any other in the group.

✤ Delve ✤

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Swift and brutal, Kori stepped to her right to avoid the slashing claws of the kobold on the left and to direct a thrust into the awaiting toothy maw the kobold on her right had so kindly presented to her. Unlike her usual boisterous personality, Kori's bladework was simple and straightforward, flowing from one move to the next with little flourish in between as her choice of weapon would little allow, lest she find herself quickly becoming tired and exhausted, a state that was unconducive to efficient dungeoneering or mothering of rambunctious mages who figuratively blew their load in every little skirmish. Thrusts, cuts, and footwork were all practiced to a rigorous and repitive degree with discipline gained from a lifetime of laborious farm work, then honed and fine-tuned after countless ventures into the Dungeon and facing its dastardly denizens.

Thus it was with practiced ease that Kori let the weight of her blade continue to propel itself forward to her right as she shifted her body to face the adversary on her left. With a slight adjustment of her grip and a pivot of her feet, she used her legs and core to drive a cutting slash toward the clawing kobold, caring little whether its pair was still attached the to tip of her blade or not.

The Doors of Janus [ Malice / Vox ]

No worries! I'm never in any rush for replies so long as you're still interested

✤ Delve ✤

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Kori could only grin at Varanese's rather sensible advice. It was a nice change of pace from members of her familia who would only say such outlandish things as the archer had suggested they should rather not do only to inevitably chicken out once faced with the real prospect of actually following through with what they said. Of course it was usually Kori herself who usually made her familia actually face said prospects, and the words "taking it easy" had never really fully registered into her list of habits. Her grin also wasn't one of pleasant amusement, but rather one all toothy and wide and having the character of someone who knew that while cliff jumping and Silverback slaying weren't the most prudent of actions at the moment, it didn't mean that those actions still wouldn't be attempted later.

"Aw don't worry so much pardner, you're right. After all, our little adventure is just gettin' started nya!"

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First Floor
Late morning

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Today's expedition marked the first time in a long while where Kori had entered the Dungeon without her familia. Her early days were filled with solo expeditions and the occasional odd team up or two, but that changed once she had met Hecate and had gotten to know her eccentric band of followers. Since that odd and fateful day, she had stuck to them stronger than a bleeding bull, and it made her worry about how they would fare without her hovering around mothering them almost every step of the way. But, Hecate and her familia had survived and was surviving before she had even stepped foot inside Orario

It was also nice not being the only frontliner nor having to hear everyone's attacks being yelled at the top of their lungs every time before they lifted their weapon.

Soon, much quicker and having to face a lot less monsters than what Kori was used to, their little mismatched party of adventureres made their way to one of the rooms that had an entrance to the second floor of the Dungeon. The only thing in their way were seven kobolds, which shouldn't be too much trouble for the four of them to take on, but as much as Kori was sure that Castor probably could have taken them all on, there didn't mean that some caution wasn't still warranted.

The armored cat person stepped and crouched as quietly as she could next to Oben and placed a hand on his shoulder. Varanese should easily be able to stay at a comfortable range from the kobolds. The same could be said of Castor as long as Kori did her job right, which left only Oben as her lucky partner, though even he should be safe as long as he used his nodachi correctly. Really, the only danger that the kobolds currently possessed to the party was numbers, but that could be easily fixed.

Nevertheless, it was better to be safer than not, and so she begun muttering her magical incantation under her breath so as to not attract the attention of the gibbering canine creatures.

"By the fate that binds us, by the chains that weigh us, join me in this sacred ritual. Share me your burdens and I in turn will share in your wounds"

"Epodyni Philia"

A warm glow emanated from her hand and briefly washed over the both of them before it disappated from her and rested comfortably onto Oben's frame. Once done, Kori gave the skull-faced boy a wide grin and gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder, the impact shadowed on her own arm before she hefted her greatsword and strode into the room, announcing her presence with an obnoxiously loud and proud "Alright y'all nyasty nyanderthals, time to kick y'alls butts into nyext week nya!"

She immediately rushed to the closest kobold to the party on the right side of the room, beginning a swing from her hips as she stopped just short of the target, grounding her feet and skidding the last few inches as she brought her steel to bare. The blade made a complete horizontal arc, her left foot following its path left to right. Carrying the momentum forward, she shifted her weight onto her lead foot, using the motion to make a thrust at the next mutt in line. She completed her movement by positioning herself with her right side to a pillar, her back facing a wall, and her front ready to take on the rest of the kobolds as they came, hoping she did enough to catch all of their attention.

✤ Delve ✤

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Hecate House
The next morning

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A bright, beautiful day awaited a habitually bubbly cat person. The dawn sun was just starting to barely peak its way through simple, but functional curtains into a room where a multitude of bodies lay sleeping in various normal and abnormal positions. The one closest to the window arose with a stretch and a contented purr. Then, like clockwork, the cat person got up from her bed, strode her way to the curtains, and threw them open with a flourish and a smile, eliciting her usual morning chorus of groans and hisses from the rest of her familia despite the nascent rays. Yet just as it was tradition for a mother to wake early and help their child prepare for the day ahead, so too was it tradition for the child to perpetually moan and complain about doing so.

And of course, this would have been like any normal morning had Kori not realized that she was not wearing her usual sleepwear, but instead a fancy white dress of which she only had vague recollections of wearing the previous night. Or was it even the night before the last?

The fact that she could not recall troubled her greatly.

The troublings only continued when she found a note from someone named "The HAMMER" thanking her for her help and services, which would have been sweet had she not found said note carefully placed in the tight space between her dress and breast.

Her easy, happy morning was quickly replaced with panic. Her feet remained frozen in place as her brain began its mad scramble to desperately find something, anything, even the tiniest hint of what may have transpired the night before. Unfortunately, all her memories seemed to be covered in a haze of aerobics, ass, and an absolutely amazing amount of alcohol until finally she remembered something about an alliance and gods and bewilderment at somebody asking if her ears were magic, though she didn't think the last point was related too closely to the previous two.

In any case, it looked like she was going to have words with Hecate.

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Dungeon Entrance
Late morning

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Normally Kori would have been happy to be on another dungeoneering expedition.

Normally she would have been absolutely ecstatic and excited at meeting new people and getting to adventure with them.

Normally she wouldn't have been saddled with an absolutely crushing amount of debt to the All-Father and have little-to-no memory of how she could have accrued such a thing. She could certainly guess at why, considering that she did know that she had spent the last night at Little Valhalla and she had vaguely remembered starting to wine and dine, of course promising herself to limit it just in case something like this were to occur in the first place.

But she also remembered the wining and dining to be ridiculously good (while also refusing to admit just how hard and fast the alcohol actually hit her).

Nevertheless, this was her reality now. Besides, Kori couldn't exactly call her life normal anymore anyway the moment she stepped foot inside Orario and had met a certain chuuni goddess, and so this single adventurer would continue to do what she did best: greet the world with a smile and meet every challenge with grit and determination. Her ma and pa didn't raise no quitter, after all.

And so there she was, arrayed in her arms and armor with her new motley crew. Her half-plate had been re-polished and repaired to a dull shine that indicated heavy and loving usage, marred with all the nicks and scars as it was. It wasn't the most flattering piece, but it covered everything that needed to be covered on her top half with a breastplate, gauntlets, and a single pauldron, while the only thing really protecting her lower half were her tassets and a pair of greaves. It at least protected her more than the token armor she knew other adventurers wore (with many of her prime examples coming from her own familia). She could understand having mostly aesthetic coverings for the ones who depended more on their speed or the higher tier adventurers that faced monsters twice their size and wielding weapons just as tall, but for adventurers like her who faced mostly lower tier monsters like goblins and kobolds, a bit of armor went a long way in not dying.

Conveniently, Kori also chose to ignore her own desires to be decked out in an outfit that was meant for fighting and fashion and thus why she had conveniently forgotten to acquire anything to cover her bare thighs except for her tassets which tastefully covered everything they needed to cover.

But that was neither here nor there and any debate about it would have been quickly shut down with the greatsword that was taller than she and yet was carried with ease in one hand.

Aside from her weapons and gear, Kori also wore her brightest smile as she gave Varanese a hearty slap on the back. "Aw come on pardner, ain't no harm in believing in yourself a bit. Odin and life-destroyin' debt aside, nothin's stoppin' us from gettin' all the way up to level 2! We just got a bit of a fire lit up under all our butts now, but I'm sure it's nothin' we all can't handle s'long as we all work together and show Odin we ain't t'be underestimated and the like!"

Vox Box / Updated 10.08.22 / [ O P E N ]

_{No specific song for this little prompt, but it's been on my mind and I'd love to play it with somebody}

Hashiru

Hashiru

[Action] [Adventure]

Two warriors are brought together through unlikely means and now find themselves on the run from a new common foe.

The Doors of Janus [ Malice / Vox ]

Man I have a habit of just making Lokkir talk and talk and talk so I decided fuck it, it's a core character trait now, they don't know when to shut the fuck up.

The Doors of Janus [ Malice / Vox ]

Despite Lokkir being the one to prompt Aeris into reattaching her prosthetic arm, it was a different matter actually seeing the arm reconnect to senses and nerves that by all rights should belong only to the realm of flesh and blood. At the very least it was a quick procedure, but the soft whirring and initial uncanny motions unnerved him all the same.

He obediently turned around when Aeris motioned for him to do so, doing his best not to flinch (and failing) when her cold arm touched his warm skin. However, like dipping into a cold bath, he got used to the sensation faster than he anticipated as his mind began to wander and idly wonder whether her metal arm could feel him. In truth the world of Qaeltine medicine was a subject that he had not delved too deep into, partly because of a lack of reliable information up until the recent alliance and partly because their teachings were still considered heretical, but perhaps that way of thought could be changed. He still barely understood the full functionality of his own prosthetic eye. Another item to add to his ever-growing list, but like with many things he could at least start by changing his own views.

Then with a final tug and a quick knot and a tuck, Aeris finished binding his chest. Lokkir looked down and patted it down, satisfied at how his modest breasts were once again reduced to nothing more than barely noticeable lumps. He took an experimental breath, one which he let out in slow relief in the fact that he could still breathe properly. Still, this was the first time anyone beside him, Alfi, or Eyvind. Unfortunately Eyvind had an "unfortunate accident" while he had been sidetracked by an errand Sanngrid had given him, which left Lokkir bereft of a personal valet until he recovered, which meant that for the last two months Lokkir had to bind and clothe mostly by himself. Alfi would help once in a while, but the king was strict and his orders were absolute.

"It is good for the most part," Lokkir replied as he was fiddling with the binding still. "It could be tightened a bit more if you were inclined to do so, but 'tis nothing a bit of extra clothing won't help hide."

Once he was finally satisfied, Lokkir started picking up the clothes discarded from the night before, but stopped and gave Aeris his full attention when it sounded like she wanted to discuss something serious. He didn't reply right away when he finished, instead choosing to slowly regather all their garment strewn on the floor, making sure that she had fully gotten across what she wanted to ask and so he could gather his own thoughts.

In truth, the subject was one he already had to constantly think about ever since the learned of the concept of gender and the fact that he was supposed to be different from his sisters and was supposed to be more like the king despite physically being the opposite. It was never something he had to really put into words before, however.

"Yes," he started, "and no." He straightened out, holding a small mountain of fabric that was all carefully draped over one arm. "I've never really had a choice in deciding what my body would be. I was born a girl, but raised a man because I had to for my line to continue. There are times where I hated that. That I hated how little control I really had over my life. How my fate was all decided before I was even conceived of in this world."

Lokkir placed all the garments on a nearby surface to the doorway into the dressing room. He smoothed out any of the wrinkles as best he could before sitting down in a nearby chair, his feet placed unconsciously wide apart. "Yet at the same time, this life is all I've ever known. Certainly there are days where I wish I was a man, but only because then I would no longer have to continue playing this charade and could live a normal life. Or at least, a life where I wouldn't have to lie to the face of everyone I have or will ever meet. There are days where, yes, I wake and am surprised to see breasts on a person that is supposed to be a man, only until I remember the reality of how I am just a person playing the role of man in a way that has been arbitrarily codified and defined by my culture."

"But then even when I play the role of woman, and I have on a scant few occasions, I've felt no strong pull or desire to do so afterwards. It was simply another mask I donned."

"When I mentioned last night about how my mind did not accept mine own body, I suppose I meant it in a way where I have no idea what my 'real body' should be. Should it be that of a man because that is what is expected of me, or should it remain that of a woman because it is what the gods and my parents had seen fit to birth me with?" He shrugged. "I do not know."

"Regardless, this is the life I now lead no matter how much introspection and philosophizing I may do. Much like how you must live with an arm of machinery and metal, I must live as a born woman playing a man." Lokkir turned toward Aeris and only now realized just how much he had been talking. All of his siblings had a habit of pointing out how frequently he let his tongue wander on even the smallest of subjects. A bright red blush colored his face as he cleared his throat and turned away, closing his legs when the cold morning air started nipping at his legs and loins. Still, his curiosity must be sated. "Anyway, is there any particular reason why you wished to start the morning on so heavy a topic?"

The Doors of Janus [ Malice / Vox ]

And I'm sure there's no shortage of characters that would be willing to try! But first we have to get them a'venturin' somehow.

And yeah most of the backlash would come from the Hudvalr side. Still workshopping this idea, so let me know what you think, but since dragons are natural walking magic batteries, their ambient aura also tends to make things around them go very screwy and sorta ignore the laws of reality because Magic^TM, hence in the past they were treated as something akin to mobile, everpresent natural disasters. Blizzards would rage around dragons with an ice-affinity, lava would eventually erupt and bubble around a fire dragons, torrential storms would follow water dragons, things of that like. Because of that, people from across the land were always really interested in finding out ways to get rid of dragons in any way possible, Hudvalr and probably Qaeltine included.

Until someone in Hudvalr discovered that living creatures of any type could form a pact or bond with a dragon, their natural calamitous leakage of Very Bad Stuff lessened greatly. The creatures in question had to be capable of channeling all that excess energy when bonding with a dragon or else they'd probably explode or something, but in return they'd get some neat benefits which led to fantastical stories of a white deer that can grant wishes, or mountain goats that created mountains and valleys by eating all the surrounding land. This led to an even greater interest in hunting down dragons because even if the dragons themselves were less of a threat, the creatures they bonded to were often just as worse, if not even more so, than a regular calamitous dragon.

On a side note, I had the idea that maybe dragons had to go through this bonding process as part of their maturation stage, which made me snicker thinking that all these calamities were happening because of really horny dragons bonding only because they wanted to bone other dragons. I mean, maybe mating for two fire-type dragons wouldn't be an issue, but it'd be mighty awkward if a fire-type and ice-type wanted to get together but couldn't get around the whole I-literally-melt-you-with-my-presence type deal.

Anyway, somebody eventually had the bright idea of gasp "what if humans could bond to dragons too?" And then one fantasy novel series later, we have the present day relationship of Hudvalr royalty and dragons.

Naturally bonded humans also got some neat benefits too, usually in the way of unusual features and amplification of natural magical prowess which meant that dragon bonding was typically reserved only for royalty, those of really high status, and fanciful tales consisting of the adventures of farmboys/gals and their new dragon friends. However, the last bit is generally seen as a a bit blasphemous mainly due to influences of the first two leading to certain ideas of racial purity and powerful bloodlines, and so the idea of anyone from Qaeltine bonding to a dragon would be seen by a fair few number of people as a huge No-No.

Didn't expect to write that much, but TL;DR: Qaeltines bonding with dragons is a huge cultural and militaristic taboo because a lot of Hudvalri are racist, aristocratic dicks

EDIT: Ah, and the reason it's a militaristic taboo is because even after bonding, dragons still emit ambient magical auras that can fuel spells around them, thus allowing magic to be cast in areas where normally it'd be magically void or deficient