It was late night. Small light emitting bugs that were not exactly fireflies flew around. A few strange animals prowled around in the dark. Esuilus was not the most forested of regions but this particular area gave the sense that one may be in Brissahl or Pormont if they had bad directional sense. The telltale sign that would constantly remind most travelers as to where they were was of course, mushrooms. Many, many, many of the ever expanding fungi fill the woods. They were growing out of trees, grass, rocks, why some of the trees themselves were mushrooms. This was actually light for Esuilus though, which had some areas with mushrooms so large you could build a small town in one. In the dark a hand reached down and snatched one right out of the ground. Two yellow eyes stared at it for a moment and the shroom vanished into the predators' mouth. "*Munch, munch, munch* This is minty!" A girl that looked like she was hurt or sick with her bandaged arm and odd skin tone sat on a rock and took a moment to munch on some shroom. What she had just ate was just a random mushroom from the forest that caught her attention. In front of her was the bits and pieces of chewed up mushrooms. She wiped her mouth with her bandaged arm and looked a bit bored. "Mmmmmm.... life sucks without Tizzy around. Or is that death? Mmmm... I keep forgetting. There is a lot of food around here at least! Stay on the bright side Misha.... mmmmmhmmmm!" Misha had really made Tizzy mad this time. She warped away and left the Misha to fend for herself. The bottomless pit of a girl was a bit distressed but in the end she knew Tizzy would come around. She munched on another mushroom covered in weird bumps. There was supposed to be a important thing here, what was it called again? Misha had such memory issues these days. Her un-bandaged hand fiddled a bit with the rose on her chest. Hmmm... what was it? "The prism gem... mmmmm right! Tizzy thought there was one on Druuk Island but nope. I guess I was right about... about it... yeah." Finally remembering what she was supposed to do, Misha got up off the rock and dusted off her hands from fungus particles. Time to look around some more! She decided to head a bit north, this was hopefully north... it was last she checked. Misha was very rarely approached by the local wildlife. She never could remember why. If they did it would be much easier to get a good dinner out here. Oh? Misha halted in her tracks as a succulent scent drifted past her nose. Without Trizzaldi or The Over Watcher to keep her in check... that was bad. Misha immediately was drawn to it. After reaching the source of the heaven sent smell. She saw a small campfire and someone next to it. Misha was not really good at hiding or anything like that. Most of the time people ran when they took a good enough look at her, usually dropping their stuff. That was really weird to the jiangshi. They sometimes dropped food though which was really nice! "So good... just going to taste it and go...." Misha spoke a bit with her always groggy sounding voice. Her eyes were stuck to the food more than the person who was there. She was not really aware of the concept of politeness these days. So she went straight over to go eat some.... which would probably lead to all it. @Ashiore Evretto
Esuilus was an oddity of a region. Crystallized Zalra was definitely strange and otherworldly, but so was the mushroom-littered landscape that surrounded her. It was also apparently dangerous, but Ash figured that she could handle herself, especially with Naixi nearby to help. And most of the NPCs she had asked about Esuilus, after giving her a scathing glare--she supposed that her negative Yladian reputation wasn't endearing herself to most of the elves in the area--had mentioned that the region's characteristic spore storms were unlikely to occur during this time of the year, whatever those were. So, it was a low risk expedition! And she could always log out if she ran into any major trouble, right? Right! The mushroom bounty would definitely be worth it. There were supposedly tons of rare mushrooms that grew only in Esuilus, and so were nowhere to be found in most Falderen cuisine. And when she was helping out at Castle Dormont back in Astorea, she had heard from a couple of new players that the odd mushroom-meat they were serving came from one of the monsters living in Esuilus. There was no way that she wasn't going to look for some rare ingredients. Maybe opening up a restaurant in the game was still a distant dream, but it was never too early to develop a menu. And that was why Ash was sitting pretty next to a campfire she had started, a tableau of various roasted mushrooms on a platter beside her. They were all hopefully not poisonous. It'd really suck to die from eating toxic mushrooms, and then she'd probably get another death affliction that was something dumb like fear of mushrooms. Naixi was gnawing on a boar she had hunted down after quite a bit of effort; wildlife wasn't quite as abundant in Esuilus as it was in Brisshal. The lioness had deigned to allow Ash to cut some meat out to grill so she could test if these mushrooms would work well with the meat. It was a quiet evening, and Ash was humming as she stoked her fire. All was well. So that was when a figure stepped out and began walking straight over to Ash's recently-cooked mushrooms. Ash watched with mouth agape as the strangely pink/purple-skinned girl sat down on the ground and instantly reached for the food without an introduction or greeting. She looked hurt, with one arm wrapped in a bandage and... a flower sprouting from her chest? That was either some really weird armor design choices, or she literally had a flower embedded in her chest. "Um," Ash said, "excuse me? H-hey, you can't just take that!" Nearby, Naixi had stood up and was standing over her half-eaten boar, growling at the intruder. She did need someone to taste-test, though... But it was the principle of the matter! You couldn't just go up to someone and take their food! @Vermillion (XIII)
"excuse me? H-hey, you can't just take that!" The bandaged hand stopped a bit from the food. The voice and the sound of growling, that was not coming from Misha's stomach, had managed to halt her attempt for a moment. Her yellow eyes lifted away from the food and saw a fully grown lion staring at her. Misha was reminded of something by looking at the large feline .A type of cat that she used to see often. It had stripes didn't it? She could not remember so she just dropped the thought. Misha looked to the girl who spoke and was about to say something but then she remembered! Food was right here! Misha grabbed a roasted mushroom right from the platter and started to munch on it. "*Munch* Mmmmm this is good. How about this one?" She grabbed another, completely ignoring the girl and the lion that was probably even more irritated now. The Jiangshi stopped as crumbs fell from her mouth. She realized that they were not running away from her. Misha began to wonder if the lion tasted any good? She had not eaten one of those in recent memory. "Is that lion... yours? Mmmm may I have a nibble? I won't eat all of him I promise!" Misha asked the girl as she popped another mushroom into her mouth and chewed. Oh wait.... the prism gem that was what she needed to find! Lady Verm would get pretty upset if Misha continued to be empty handed. Where could something so large and shiny be though? In a bunch of mushrooms? Misha sat with a blank look for awhile wondering where her brain was going. She used to be pretty sharp before.... "Um... mmmmm sorry. I think I was eating your food. Mmmm... Do you know where a prism gem might be? I'm separated from my friend and mmmmm.... need to find it. The gem.... or the friend.... mmmm actually both I think." Misha almost reached for another mushroom but grabbed her arm and offered a tired looking smile. Her hand began to fiddle with her flower again. @Ashiore Evretto
Ash watched, dumbfounded, as the girl just continued to eat. For a moment it looked like she had gotten through to the other girl, but then looking at Naixi seemed to have distracted her enough that she just went straight back to eating! And she was practically shoving the mushrooms into her mouth, too. She must have been starving to eat so quickly, Ash thought guiltily, now realizing how petty her protests sounded. Well, she was still in Esuilus, which meant that there were mushrooms by the armload just scattered everywhere. It wasn't like it'd be too much of an effort to gather some more if she needed to. Scratch that, actually. When she needed to was more appropriate in this instance. That was half the platter gone already! "Sorry, I- yeah, you can go ahead." Ash smiled at the girl. The compliment about the taste was heartening, at least. Ash tried to keep track of which mushrooms those were, so she could go back and grab some more of them. "Have whatever you want. So, uh, my name's Ashiore, what's y-" Her attempts at an introduction were cut off when the girl just asked if she could- if she- what?! "No!" Ash yelped. "You can't eat Naixi!" It didn't look like the girl was going to make a move, but Ash scooted closer to her lion anyway. It was solidarity, or something along those lines. The weird pink-haired girl seemed awfully spacey though, and that (disturbing) line of thought was quickly dropped as the girl explained her situation. Or, tried to, at least. Ash frowned in concern. "You've lost your friend? What do they look like? Maybe I can help you look for them." She didn't think that many people would be wandering around Esuilus, but there was always a chance. And as for the other part of her question... Prism gem, prism gem... where had she heard something like t- Oh! Right! There was that strange shop that disappeared, wasn't there? "Actually, I sort of know where to get Prism Gems. It's not here right now, but if you find a lot of Prism Shards, then you can turn them into Gems." Ash had no idea what they were for, to be honest. The two she was carrying around seemed to do nothing but take up space in her inventory. Rummaging about for it, she pulled out the one that she had won from the lottery in Stokbon and held it out to the other girl--whose name she hadn't actually gotten yet, Ash would have to fix that soon. "I actually have one of the shards right now. I'm not really using it, so you could have it if you want. And if you want more shards, you can just go to Stokbon. There's a lottery every month or so, I think? It's usually free to enter, and if you're lucky you can win Shards." @Vermillion (XIII)
This person was pretty friendly. Misha always tried to honor one's hospitality by remembering it. Unfortunately that was really difficult for her these days. Only members of Vermillion XIII really seemed to remain in her head. It made getting along really hard out here. The lady said that the Jiangshi could not eat her panther... or lion. Awww that was disappointing. Misha would have tried to only eat one or two legs tops... yeah. The person then went on to offer to help look for Tizzy! Oh that was generous of her. Misha liked being treated with respect. It was not something she received much. This might be a good person... maybe a tasty person too. They had a great complexion.... very healthy.... would they want to come and meet Lady Verm? The thought crossed Misha's eternally foggy mind. She tried to remember what she was told to do again. Oh right this lady was pretty helpful! Prism gem, or was it gems...? "A lottery.... help me find Tizzy? You are very nice Xiǎojiě. Mmmm... I don't chat that much anymore with outsiders... so sorry for my.... mmmmm awkwardness." The purple skinned girl remembered a proper way to greet someone and bowed her head. The information was very valuable. There was a person who gave these things out? Misha would be praised for sure by Lady Verm! They were supposed to be really rare. Now Lady Verm can have what she wants! Misha still remembered how much Vermillion gave her. She would be dead if not for her. Yes, she would share this first thing! Then the lady showed her a... actual prism shard?! "Wā! Mmmmmmmm! You have prism shards on you?! Mmmmm... yes I will take them all. Right now! Lady Verm will be.... mmmm proud of me! She wants to do something really incredible for... mmmmm some reason!" She began to reach out to grab them them with a suddenly greedy and triumphant look on her face. "OH FOR THE LOVE OF ME, MYSELF, AND I! Misha! What are you doing here.... CHATTING!? I go for a bathroom break and you get lost? When is Lady Verm gonna put you back into the dirt? Oh right... you never got buried to begin with! Damn it.... what are you looking at? Hmm? Mushrooms, sigh... no wonder." The newly arrived blonde made no qualms about talking very loudly in the forest at night. Why? Nothing here could oppose her might! She was Trizzaldi The Great! Why she was stuck with this level of companion she could never understand. Tizzy walked past the lioness and took a sideways glance at it. "Gotta say nice pet. At least you like to go big. Misha, if the Over Watcher gets on my case because of this. I am going to put you into a vacuum space for the next 100 years!" Misha began to stutter and wanted to bring up the shards and the lottery and how nice this person was but it was becoming boggled again... and she just noticed that very succulent cat again... "Mmmmm...'drool' Tizzy.... prism shards.... she has them and um.... going to get a bite to eat." As the Jiangshi jumped up and almost ran for the lion to feast. Tizzy grabbed her by the collar and held her in place. The magic user pointed something that looked like a staff with a spiked headpiece at Ashiore. "You got shards? Good give em to me. I'll be glad to take them ALL off ya!" @Ashiore Evretto DM WARNING: You are currently in a dangerous situation. You may run if you do not want to lose shards. You will automatically succeed. If you give the shards it may improve your (undocumented) rep with Vermillion XIII.
Ash smiled at the girl, mildly surprised by the Chinese. It honestly felt kind of weird to hear another language in-game. "Ah, méishì," she said, deflecting the compliment. Though it did feel good to be called nice. "It's not a problem at all. And don't worry about being awkward, it happens to everyone." And speaking of awkward- no better time to ask someone for their name after having a decently long conversation with them, right? "Anyway, my name's Ashiore, but Ash is just fine. What's yours?" The response to the prism shard was pretty unexpected. It was the most animated she had ever seen the girl. And who exactly was... Lady Verm? It was a bit of a strange name, but Ash herself couldn't really object; she'd gotten her own in-game name off a fantasy name website. And anyway, she didn't quite mind parting with the one prism shard that she had out, that was why she was offering in the first place! "Sure, here you go! So, who's Lady Verm? Is she another friend? And what kind of things is she doing with the prism gems?" Ash couldn't help her curiosity. If there was actually something you could do with them, then yeah, she definitely wanted to know what it was. But just as she was reaching out to pass it over, another loud voice broke through the quiet forest night, accompanied by its owner. "U-uh, thanks?" Ash said, exchanging a confused look with Naixi. The lion huffed like she was shrugging and settled back down, still keeping a wary stare on the new arrival. Ash listened to the brief exchange between the two girls. So this was the Tizzy that Misha was looking for? At least they were reunited, though Tizzy seemed quite... abrasive. She jerked in surprise when Misha leapt up and practically lunged towards Naixi. So did Naixi, for that matter, letting out a reflexive growl. Thankfully, Tizzy managed to snag Misha before she reached Naixi--was she really serious about eating a lion? Just as Ash was about to protest again, she was caught off guard when Tizzy pointed her staff at her. "Uh." She was still holding out the shard she was going to give to Misha. But, she didn't quite want to part with her other one, the one she got off the giant fish monster in Druuk Island. There really wasn't much of a difference between the two of them, but the Hydromancy shard was like a trophy of sorts. It had more sentimental value than the Geomancy one that she only got because of luck. Well... No reason to let them know that she had another, right? The other was still safe and sound in her inventory. "Sure, it's yours. I only have this one on me, though." @Vermillion (XIII)
"Misha!" The Jiangshi had responded when Ashiore had given her name. Misha's name was one of the few things she could remember pretty well. She could not remember her last name though. It was not that important! Misha never got to respond to Ash's question about Vermillion. Things went much more quickly once the prism shards and Trizzaldi became involved.The blonde made a haughty smile of superiority at Ashiore's quick, in Tizzy's opinion anyway, surrender of her shard. Shard? Only one? Trizzaldi ensured to keep her one hand on Misha's collar otherwise she would be busy wasting time eating lion right now. The sorceress pulled back her staff and stuck it into the ground. "Shard? I thought Misha said you had shards? Eh... never mind. What she says can't always be taken seriously. Alright, give it to me! " The girl snatched it right out Ash's hands and began to laugh dramatically with what was probably supposed to be a very well practice evil laugh. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, HAHA! Yes! I, Trizzaldi The Great, have acquired a shard!" Misha tapped her on the back. "Tizzy please mmmm.... let me go... I won't eat, promise.... You umm sure this is enough? It's just a little shard. It's not even mmmm chaotic yet..." The blonde made a annoyed look and let go of the Jiangshi. "Whatever. A shard is a shard! You stay put. You run off and it's curtains got it?" Tizzy resumed her look of superiority and focused again on Ash. Pocketing hthe shard and grabbing her staff. "You have been helpful peon! If you do not know who I am you now do! I am Trizzaldi the greatest Tyrant Witch the world has ever known or will know! Your petty offering has earned you the right to live another day! Be grateful! I heard you ask Misha, my unworthy companion here about our Lady. Lady Verm is the Red Queen, The Crimson Overlord, the Arch Mistress of Scarlet. She has many names. I the great Trizzaldi consider her a worthy comrade." The caped girl tapped her staff into her other hand as she seemed to size up Ash for one reason or another. Then she shrugged and turned to see Misha who was hungrily chewing her bandage. "Time to get out of here. We have escaped the Over Watcher's criticism so far and I would like to keep up that good fortune.... DO YOU HEAR ME? We are leaving! Gate is opening!" Trizzaldi began to speak a strange language extremely quickly. Faster than would be thought possible. She then struck her staff rod into the ground and a large dimensional portal formed below her and Misha. The Jiangshi let the bandage fall out of her mouth as she waved goodbye. "Zàijiàn! Mmmm.... who are you again?" Tizzy rolled her eyes and face palmed as she and Misha sunk into the portal and it closed up behind them. Ashiore would find herself and Naxi alone once again with their now cold mushrooms. @Ashiore Evretto - 1 Prism Shard ()Geomancy) Ashiore's relationship with Vermillion XIII is currently: Indifferent
