Ahh, what a beautiful day! Pormont's scenery may not have been as dramatic as Druuk Island's or Norforva, or as welcoming as Brisshal, but there was something soothing and awe-inspiring about seeing the mountains rise in the distance, contrasting with the vividly golden lowlands. The stalks of grass--reaching hip-high in some places!--rolled with the languid winds, almost like an ocean of physical sunlight. All in all, the open plains of Pormont seemed like the perfect place for Ash to find her first familiar! A bit of adventuring and exploring around the world of Terrasphere had given her some small measure of control over her new magical abilities, and she was looking to put her Beast Taming to use. Her Mini-Pet was adorable and all--here she paused to scritch the tiny bat that nuzzled into the crook of her neck--but she was just itching to tame something for herself. There had to be some form of wildlife out here. Some sort of bird, or a small critter that liked to scuttle in between the tall grass. Ash wasn't going to press her luck with a larger creature just yet, something small would do. Like hamsters, or a little kitten, or- -or a tiny baby field mouse, scampering up a long blade of grass to peer curiously at her. She beamed and, as there wasn't anyone around to hear, let out a little, "Awww!" "Hi there, little guy!" It squeaked at her, and half her heart melted right then and there. She crouched down to get on mostly equal level with the mouse. "I'm looking for a buddy to come along with me as I go travel. How about i-" Ash swore she just blinked. Barely half a second. But the mouse was there one moment, and in its place was a snake the next. Its jaw was opened almost impossibly wide as the little mouse's hind legs, the only parts of it still visible, kicked and struggled. The mouse did not seem to be winning. Ash took a second to just gape at the scene. Well. That was, uh, usually the way of things, right? Predator and prey and all that stuff. The mouse was adorable, but she couldn't really fault that snake for eating it. "Hi," she said after she recovered from her shock, feeling awkward at talking to a snake. Unfortunately, Beast Taming didn't quite give her the ability to telepathically communicate with animals. No matter how silly she felt at talking to something that couldn't talk back, she didn't have much choice in the matter. It was different with the mouse. That felt more normal, kind of like babytalking at a puppy. But babytalk didn't seem like the appropriate way to communicate with a snake. The snake gave little indication that it acknowledged her; all she got was a vague sense of satisfaction ('lunch!') as it worked on swallowing that field mouse whole. "Do you want to be my pet? We could go lots of places- I'm sure you're bored of grass, right? I go around everywhere, so you won't get bored." The snake gave of the air of a creature that was distinctly unimpressed. "Uh. If we go lots of places, I'm sure there are lots of things that you can eat? Like, you can get a new menu to try every night. Hopefully. Maybe." What did snakes eat? Eggs, probably. And mice, apparently. There were more foods in a snake diet, surely. She'd google it when she got the chance. "Do you eat fruit? I can make fruit. And, uh. There are probably lots of types of mice in other regions." So immersed was Ash in trying to convince the snake to come along with her that she failed to notice the presence behind her.
Still amazed by world around him, Devricon wonders around eventually reaching the area of Pormont. Pormont seems like a good place to explore even if it wasn't the safest of places to be. Pormont known for it's golden fields would be an amazing place to look around. It definitely would have some scenic spots and boy will it be beautiful. Armed with a quill and parchment Devricon sets out in a random direction drawing a crude map. The map is serviceable for a given definition. Sure it was just lines drawing out his path with a given of a line being 30 steps and some attempts and drawing landmarks but it gives a rough direction of where he is going. As Devricon marches on he notices a figure hunched over talking to herself. "Um hey are you OK anything wrong." he asks.
"Oh, whoa! Whoawhoawhoa!" Ash jolted at the unexpected voice behind her and lost her balance, arms pinwheeling to either side of her as she nearly faceplanted into the grass. She just barely managed to right herself in time, but it appeared that the sudden movement startled the snake into fleeing; it was gone when she looked down once more. So that was an afternoon's work of searching for a little critter to bond wasted. She doubted that she'd be seeing that particular snake again anytime soon. But, well, her most pressing matter at the moment was the person behind her. She stood up and dusted herself off, trying not to look too embarrassed at being caught so off-guard. She looked to the human who was right behind her, bringing up a bright smile. "Oh, yeah, totally fine! Nothing's wrong, nope. So, what are you doing out here? Doesn't look like there's much around," she said, gesturing to the rolling expanse of grass, grass, and grass. "Ah, and my name's Ashiore, but you can just call me Ash. What's your name?" Hm, now that she had taken a closer look at the stranger, she could see that he was holding a piece of parchment in his hand. Was that a... map? Huh. That could come in handy. "Are you lost? There's a farming town nearby, I could show you the way if you wanted." @Devricon
"No need. Sure there may not be much too look at, but I think there might be more stuff beyond." he said. "That's why i am making a map... or trying to." Devricon takes a look once more around the place. "Say want to go on an adventure together." Devricon scribbles a few more things into his map. " Say, do you know any interesting spots around here. I just started recently and there is so much to see and not a lot of time." "Is there anything you want to do?" Devricon.
"Oh, you're making a map. That's cool!" Ash usually just relied on the in-game map, but there was something fun about drawing one yourself, she supposed. That was probably why he was doing it in the first place. "An adventure sounds like fun." She hadn't been around to many places in Pormont herself, so stumbling around looking for cool things did seem like a better way to spend her afternoon than sulking about the snake she no longer had a chance of charming. Oh, but if he was expecting a guide, she had better explain that too. "I'm not that familiar with Pormont either, actually. We can just go wandering somewhere!" She also talked about the knolls and pretty broadly in terms of what to expect from this area of Falderen. "-oh. Right. Um, we should also probably steer clear of the corpse pile?" she offered with a grimace. "Unless corpse piles are... your thing...?"
"Corpse piles? That sounds kind of interesting. We could try to find out what who is making these corpse piles I guess." he says scratching is head. "I would much rather find scenic spots and mark them on my map. I don't think the in game map has that kind of feature." Devricon looks around looking for any degree of elevation. "How about we find some hill for a sunset. That or a lake or something. Oh right I'm Devricon. Anyway how about you pick a direction?"
"Uhh, I think it was the knolls that were making the corpse piles. And they were mostly knoll bodies too. And they made it into an altar of corpses that sort of messed with your brain? Compelled you to try and drink from a poison vial at the top of it? And I kinda know this from personal experience, so if it's all the same to you, let's just steer clear of the corpse piles from now on." When he suggested finding a hill for a view, Ash brightened up considerably, eager to get that last topic of discussion out of her mind. "Yeah, sure! Maybe we can try climbing the mountain to get a better view." She pointed towards the mountains in the distance. "Let's just steer clear of any knolls that are wandering around, and I think we should be fine. They're pretty aggressive, but they're not very observant most of the time. It should be pretty easy to sneak by them." She smiled as he gave his name, and with that, she picked the nearest mountain and started walking towards it. Mountain climbing seemed fun! And a pretty safe way to train up her physical strength, which still needed a lot of work. She couldn't be an adventurer if she ran out of breath every time she had to sprint somewhere!
Devricon continues following her scribbling in the map. "So what were you doing talking to yourself there? Is there a mountain climbing skill of some sort or do we just try to force it? Also do you think there are some boundaries that will stop us from going where we should not be going" As Devricon continues moving forward he calls on his magic in order to create a nice breeze. "Should I try to make a headwind or tailwind? A headwind can help us hide from knolls I think, but a tailwind feels nicer. What do you think?" As they continue the trek towards the mountains Devricon notices something out of the corner of his eye. "Hey whats that thing?"
She shrugged. "I saw a snake and I was trying to talk to it. You know, convince it to come along with me, be my little animal friend. Stuff like that. Oh but I was actually trying to get a mouse first, but, well." She made kind of a quick darting motion with her hand. "You know how snakes and mice work." At his mountain climbing skill suggestion, Ash frowned. "I hope not. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that there's a mountain climbing skill, but then again I heard that some people have found that there are secret skills. But I don't think mountain climbing counts?" And for the last question about boundaries, she shrugged. "Haven't found one yet. I think if we try to head over to a region we're not supposed to be in, the monsters will just eat us or something along those lines. The game isn't very forgiving outside of Brisshal." They were making pretty good progress towards the mountains! And she wasn't even feeling that tired yet. Huh. Maybe she really was getting more fit after all. Her first couple of days trying to get anywhere in game were so pathetic it was embarrassing. But she stopped at Devricon's warning, turning to look in the direction that he indicated. She squinted, trying to catch sight of anything. But so far, it just looked like golden fields and rocky ground, nothing too much out of the ordinary. "I don't know," she said, rolling a pebble between her toes. "I don't really see anything out of the- ow!" She stepped back from where she had subconsciously tried to crush the pebble beneath her foot. She winced and saw a little point of blood on the sole of her foot, from where she had pressed down so hard that the rock had cut through her skin. But Ash didn't have much time to think on that, as two spears came flying down in their direction. With a yelp, she nearly fell over as she was shuffling backwards to avoid being hit. From around a boulder nearby where Devricon was originally looking, two gnolls emerged, looking quite annoyed that their ambush had failed. But they were now wielding two scimitars and obviously looking to make up for that failure with a whole lot of killing. @Devricon
Ash stood next to Devricon as the gnolls approached. And all this because she was going to go climb a mountain with her new friend. She instinctively pulled her staff up like it would shield her from whatever attack the gnolls would launch. They sneered at her and Devricon and circled around, one splitting left and the other going right. "I guess... I take one and you take the other?" she offered hesitantly. Luckily this was Pormont, with acres of golden fields and all sorts of plant life around to manipulate. Unluckily, this was another fight. Ash really didn't like the combat part of the game, she just wanted that made clear. Maybe after this she should just stick to cooking. That was nice and calm. She steeled herself as the gnolls approached. But it looked like luck was on their side again, as a large shape leapt out from another corner and pounced on the nearest gnoll. Blood went flying in an instant and screaming filled the air--for a brief moment. The screaming cut off suddenly, and Ash blinked as she finally processed what she was seeing: a lion. Or, well, a lioness, at any rate. She had crushed the gnoll's chest in her jaws and was currently digging into its flesh, feasting hungrily. Ash exchanged a wide-eyed stare with Devricon. Thus far, the lioness seemed preoccupied with eating, unconcerned about the two humans nearby; the lone remaining gnoll had fled during the initial pounce. Perhaps it could sense that they meant no harm? If it was inclined to stay... Ash felt an idea forming in her mind. "Stay here," she whispered to Devricon. "I'm going to try something." She did come out here today to find an animal companion, after all. Ash stepped forwards, stowing her staff at her back and keeping her hands up, palms facing out. She wasn't sure if the 'surrender' gesture would be understood by lions, but it was worth a shot. Basically she just tried to appear as non-confrontational as possible. And it was a strategy that seemed to be working, seeing how the lion looked up with its muzzle dripping red as Ash approached, but otherwise made no move. "Hey kitty," she said brightly, smiling. Was it demeaning to talk to a lion like this? Ash didn't know. She called upon her animal empathy abilities as best as she could, trying to emanate friendliness. Was it working? She couldn't tell. "I'm not here to hurt you, or to steal your food. I was just wondering if you wanted to be my friend? I go lots of places where there's a lot of creatures to hunt, you know. We could make a good team?" The lioness continued watching warily. But it still didn't move. Testing her luck, Ash carefully extended a hand, trying to scratch it between its ears. Thrown die: 59 59 + 15 = 74 (OoC: Succeeded tame action, now have a lioness as an animal companion. And sorry this post got so long)
"Oh wow, that lion is pretty strong." Devricon said in amazement. "Sorry I wasn't of much use, still trying to get into the swing of things. I don't think this is a good place to explore considering the gnolls." Devricon looks around trying to determine which is the best path to avoid monsters. "I don't think there helping it. We can just bumble around and hope nothing comes our way. Do you think the lion can protect us?" Devricon rummaged around the bodies before picking up the sword. "Do you mind if I keep this? I don't think my magic is that good and having a weapon might be nice." "Do you think the lion knows any good spots or should we just keep walking that a way" Devricon says point in the direction of the hilltop.
"Your name is Milkshake," Ash whispered very seriously at her new lion companion, still petting the newly named Naixi between the ears. Her fluffy minipet perked up at the sight of a new friend and the tiny bat curiously climbed onto Naixi's head. The lion looked vaguely irritated but seemed to tolerate this, and her bat cuddled up between Naixi's ears. Straightening, Ash made her way back to Devricon. Looking like she was done with her meal, Naixi followed. "Sorry about that, just had a thought. It's no problem," she added when Devricon apologized for spacing out a bit. "I was pretty useless in my first fight too. Good idea with picking up the sword. It's probably for the best; not having a weapon is not that great of an idea." At the last question, she frowned contemplatively. "Maybe we should just keep going the same direction. We're almost there anyway, and I don't think the gnolls will try anything if we have a lion with us." Well, one could hope. Ash continued walking over to the hill that Devricon pointed to, and the mountain beyond. Maybe this time the trek could be relatively peaceful and they could finally make it to their scenic overlook without any further complications.
Ash spent most of the trek trying to get to know her two new companions. Naixi wasn't much of a talker, but Devricon was a decent enough conversation partner. As much as he could be while working on his map, of course. She worried that she was messing up his concentration on his task whenever she made small talk. So, the conversation eventually petered out until they were all walking in silence. They reached the hilltop without getting ambushed by another group of gnolls or any other monsters roaming the plains. Naixi curled up in a patch of grass beneath a tree and waited patiently as Ash and Devricon went about their business. The view was spectacular indeed! Beside her, Devricon was probably sketching out the major landmarks and villages that he could see from his vantage point, but Ash herself was conent with just taking in the sights. Sunset stained everything a warm rose-gold color, and the clouds above made for beautiful streaks of purple in the fast-changing sky. "Great view," Ash said, after a while. It sounded inane in her head, but she didn't really know what to say. She had moved over near to Naixi as she and Devricon rested on top of the hill, trying to see if the lion would let her huddle close. Naixi just huffed and continued grooming herself, apparently fine with letting Ash do as she pleased. "I think this might be a good place to stay for a bit," Ash said, giving Devricon a smile. "I guess you've got other places to explore? Well, it was really nice meeting you. Hope to see you again sometime!" She curled up by the tree next to Naixi and just relaxed. So today was a great day after all. Sure Naixi wasn't the animal companion she was expecting to tame when she first set out, but every day in this game was an adventure! She was just glad that everything turned out fine.
