Headhunting Season [WQ]

Though time had marched on and many events had come to pass, Gwyn wasn't surprised to eventually hear more on the mysterious movement of unknown groups in Norfova. After the fall of the spider queen at the hands of other players before her, Gwyn and another had taken up a scouting quest. She had enjoyed it, even if at her low level she'd made a bit of a fool of herself at the time. It was good to explore, to be the first to set foot in a new zone and stare wide-eyed at the majesty of it. Even the blood-cursed, half-rotted wilds of Norfova. There was something distinctly sick and wrong in the blighted terrain, but she didn't blame the natural life of it for how it lacked. It couldn't help that man was as dangerous here as it was back home.

Gwyn had answered the call of the odd mage faction she knew little of and turned her eyes to where she had once seen traces of the unknown cult they spoke of now. The same woman who had fought at her side with the new king of Astorea and The Admiral joined her for it. While something unsettled Gwyn in her manner, she was sharp-eyed and quiet. @Beretta had a logical mind as sharp as a scalpel from what she had seen. Not to mention that the ranger would have been a fool not to recognize the sure step and easy guidance to the soft portions of an enemy to be anything but a fellow hunter.

"Over the next ridge is where we spotted them moving through. Easily twenty strong, possibly more. Armed too, which means their tracks should be deeper and more likely to have survived over time. These deserted wastelands don't exactly get regular rainfall. Unless this is a common footpath for them then we shouldn't run into anyone, but caution before culling, yeah?" She offered with half a grin, a dangerous glint in her eyes as she lifted a hand to nudge the top of the bow over her back. They were both perfectly capable of being devastating of that she was sure, but any number of unknowns could quickly become a lethal danger if they didn't know what they were dealing with. They had joined decided that logic trumped impulse and that tracking them down to find camps, scraps left in their wake, or commonly trafficked areas was more in line what they were after. With their method predetermined it was only a matter of a skilled and stealthy approach to where the moving group had once passed... and then to follow what tracks or memory would lead them in line with the march. The hunt was afoot.

 

Investigations in Dormont had led Beretta into what may be seen as a detour. This was not her style, however certain aspects of this game's 'story' were off to the secret agent. The NPC's were so intelligent and everything interacted with such realism that she was honestly becoming intrigued by the technology on display here itself. This was just... too good. Not only was the AI intelligent, but it was not overly so. NPC's made honest mistakes that a AI at this level would never make. It was the unbelievable AI of Terrasphere that led Beretta to conclude it would be wise to see how more of these in game canon factions operated. The Ynglar Brotherhood and the Blood Coven. According to what she had gathered Ynglar had assisted the players previously and now have a mutual enemy, the Blood Coven. A cult of witches that specialize in blood magic aka hemomancy. In truth... It really was not all that different from other games of the same genre. She was now on a mission for the former to find out what the Coven is scheming.

Beretta decided it best to team up with another for this mission, @Gwyn ap Herne. The woman was a advanced player and had skills, at least in game, that would be beneficial here. Not only that... Gwyn had actually been to this region before. Beretta would rely on her for the briefing. The archer explained what she had encountered here previously. Beretta listened with her arms crossed and not really focused on Gwyn herself. However it would silly to think Beretta had not heard every word. She nodded when Gwyn finished. Beretta had activated investigation mode. The agent was able to survive without it just off of her own skills but it did simplify things. She just made sure to not fully trust it. Any program made by this game could turn traitor if it hid any skeletons in it's closet.

"Agreed. This place has more hazards than just human beings. Witches or not."

@Asch

 

They had met nothing in their delicate tracking, following the old trails left behind. The remaining footprints had been worn down, but even with the dry and cracked earth there was little hiding them in the desolate wastes. Wind and time had worn them down, but the weight of armored steps and the supplies they had likely transported left too deep a sign. Not enough wind and time had passed them by.

She was disappointed to find the outpost abandoned, but perhaps that was for the better. The ranger was hesitant to touch anything considering her own lacking experience with the likes of magic. Even in the fantasy world having it cast on her in both harm and helping didn't quite lessen the disquiet of it. It was an unknown and a power that even in the confines of the game settled odd on her skin and in her mind. She was content to let @Beretta take the lead snooping about what was left behind in greater detail while she scouted around. It was better to ensure nothing had been laid down as a trap or that scouts still kept an eye on the location. It became obviously fairly quickly, however, that the campsite was truly left to rot by its previous owners. Recently, she noted.

Gwyn wasn't too keen to follow the heavy marks of movement from the last of whatever had once filled the atelier as time ticked onward. The paperwork scattered about already pointed her to a target. A volcano. The only mountain that stuck out to her as an aberration was the Bloodthrone one... and the heavily distorted and destroyed volcano the odd caped figure had leveled as Gwyn and her companions had either escaped or otherwise logged off. She narrowed her eyes and skated her fingers over the word leyline with a scowl beginning to take over her expression. Either way, things looked like they'd be getting a little rough. The game had shown its ass a few times already with startling events of grand proportion so she had little doubt they'd be finding out about the mysterious cult and the dormant volcano they had set their eyes on. Cult itself implied secrecy, but in the real world and in media of all sorts they always had to have their day in the spotlight. They were awfully loud about clamoring for attention and drama despite the mysticism the term implied. It was a matter of time before this one did the same.

"I think this is all there is to be found for now...." she sighed and bit at the inside of her lip with another wary glance around. "Wish I had that damn Jinn's Eye though."

 

Whether by coincidence or not. The monsters in this area left the two alone. With the cult having been here so recently. It was a good representation of the group's power. The creatures that did reside here still, may have learned it was suicidal to attack humans after having a bad run in with the cult. This has benefited the two, so Beretta was thankful for that at least. Even if it would mean a worse scenario later on. The tracks themselves were easy enough to follow. The cult did not even consider to cover their trail. Matched up with the lack of aggressive beasts thinking humans made a good lunch and... that was a good deal of proof that this cult was just as confident as it was dangerous.

Arriving at a old abandoned outpost was disappointing to her traveling companion but Beretta was not too surprised. The rumors about how disliked they were made it obvious that they would not stay in one place for long. It was the reason they had been here that Beretta was interested in.

"Let's split up and look for clues.... a trope I know, but we should be alright if we do not go too far apart. Let's try to stay in each other's sights."

The place turned out to be some sort of atelier. These were rare. The agent saw how reluctant Gwyn was to touch anything. This game was good at conditioning someone to be wary. However Gwyn already revealed her cautious nature in the Wurm tunnels. It was a good thing. Beretta would have had a lot more trouble properly investigating with a more sporadic or aggressive individual. Beretta made sure to test her investigation mode here just to be safe. Nothing seemed dangerous... for now. Beretta lacked the proper tools to do this the way she would in real life. So she had to just deal with it. She went around and analysed what she could here.

Afterwards, she kept some of the papers in her hand as she folded her arms with a thoughtful look.

"So we have a group of cultists that have a very bad repute among nearly every faction currently known in this game. A outpost in the middle of a wasteland. A volcano somewhere. A underground ley line. And considering the lack of complete data here... I would say that they took the most important of their research with them."

She looked again at the paperwork. with a gloved hand to her chin. They were here to do something, then finished up and took the completed project with them. Did they create something? Or perhaps they were tracking some kind of underground movements? Her eyes shifted to Gwyn when the huntress made the comment about their being nothing left to do unless they had some kind of magic item. Magic... interesting. Something dangerous was coming. There were red flags everywhere.

"Gwyn... magic. If we combine what we know now with their reputation. A possible goal could be to trigger a volcanic eruption, or seeing how this is a fantasy game... the ley line is disturbing. A more magically informed individual would be better suited to answer some of these questions."

Beretta pocketed the papers, hopefully they would not have some sort of spell preventing them from being taken. There was also the possibility of false information being left behind for those who would come here to find it. It would explain the uncovered tracks. This could all simply be overconfidence on the cults part though. Beretta did not voice any other thoughts at this time.

"Let's do one last sweep and then go. This was informative enough for now."

@Gwyn ap Herne

 

Gwyn sighed heavily as they poured over the scant bits of information they'd been able to find. The archer leaned against one of the abandoned tables, a little sturdy for hauling around, but apparently sturdy enough to take to the temporary camp turned magical study for a time. They'd found something, but it was't enough for her. She was a hunter by nature and such a breadcrumb wasn't satisfying to cut her teeth on. It was useful in that it gave them a key location, but... they didn't know such a volcano. It wasn't in any of the regions she had ventured to, or at least that she'd seen of them. The disaster at the tournament had happened to recently and Bloodthrone was a den of activity, yes, but hadn't other players been involved there already?

Eventually Gwyn was forced to draw her attention back to the other woman and cease the incessant gnawing of the inside of her cheek. It was beginning to become a bad habit. That and chewing on her lip. The damn game was more high stakes than she had been led to believe virtual reality games normally were. Well, besides disasters like that Sword Art Online mess.

"I make it a point to always be nervous about and around magic. It can do a lot of things for good, for bad, and for the even more fun morally ambiguous goals. If a leyline is involved that means that whatever it is is powerful and packs a hell of a punch. I'd be less concerned with triggering a natural disaster and more worried about them, fuck, draining the essence of life or something out of a landscape or city and fueling some awful ritual where some power hungry maniac goes full demi-god or something equally ridiculous. That's how this fantasy magic shit goes, yeah?"

She waved a hand without thought, as if to dismiss her own offered explanation. Magic was unsettling as all get out and the ranger didn't overly care for it. It was, admittedly, cool. It was also a dangerous unknown and she had no qualms with mages, but the power they wielded was something she didn't take lightly. There was only so much damage someone could do with a longbow. Gwyn lifted her eyes to the ravaged region currently playing host to them with a mournful look. For all the might she could put behind her arrows and for all the savagery of her companions... she could never do something like what had been done to Norfova. No warrior's blade could poison the earth and water. No dagger or lance or maul could curse the creatures living her to turn to blood-crazed monsters.

"I don't know of any mages strong enough to answer the kind of questions this all raises. Yulan, Astorea, Astor... those are your best bet if you want to follow this up. I'm of more use joining any scouting parties to find out more on the location or hunting down these cultists. I'll leave the fancy talks to you lot."

Is there was a note of disdain in her voice, it certainly wasn't for @Beretta. So she still had some hangups over the guilds and the player nation deal? It was of no matter. She could play nice and she could admit to lacking in more politically-minded matters. It wasn't her game of chess to play around with. She refused to be a pawn as much as she loathed the king and queen. She refused to be the rook, the bishop, the knight, or whatever else bade to be. No, Gwyn would watch and when the games between the rich and the powerful grew too dangerous for the common man? Then she'd be the hand to flip the board over and claim all the pieces in one fell swoop. For now though there was no need. No threat. She was aimless and without a true quarry to hunt.

For now, hunting a sleeping volcano would have to do.