WQ - The Mountain Passage I

Quest Details: Link
Quest Roll: Link

Participants: @Eldhi @Amane Hirota @Corvella @Ursa
Team Approach: Brute
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The uncharted region just North of Brisshal and East of Astorea possessed some of the toughest mountain range to traverse. However, that didn't stop a group of explorers from the Guild to pioneer a way through there. The benefits to trade would be worth the risk as the region had the potential to connect the Falderen Kingdom with the newly-formed Kingdom of Astorea. Plus, it was also a coastal region, thus adding even more reasons to tame the mountain range in order for trade to flow there.

However, things took a turn for the worse when an expedition team went missing. Now, usually a missing scout or expedition team was unfortunate yes but nothing surprising. What made this particular team different was the fact that Princess Pyrna, 3rd child of the Falderen King, was among them. Woe fell to the adventurous royal. A missing princess sounds like a scenario straight out of a storybook, hopefully, a dragon wasn't the culprit now.

Normally, Falderen would be sending their soldiers now, however, the cramped and difficult terrain made any large scale army movement impossible. Furthermore, there were reports of Aesirs, sea raiders and pirates, in the vicinity. Why? No one knew for sure. In conclusion, the Falderen asked for the assistance of King Astor Balthas of Astorea to assist in the search and rescue mission in exchange for better relations and favors between the two nations.

Now, it was up to the adventurers of the so-called Player Kingdom to find the missing princess and her team then return them safely.

---

Just at a crossroad near the border between Astorea and the unnamed mountainous region sat a white-haired girl clad in heavy armor with a longsword strapped to her back. Her red eyes examining the various groups that had gathered here in preparation for the journey ahead. There seemed to be quite a number of interested players. Eldhi, the Paladin in question, had opted to leave her steed Merlin in the stables, the treacherous narrow paths ahead wouldn't do the stallion good. Besides, the proud equine brat wouldn't accept the endeavor anyway, at least not without an exorbitant amount of prepared apples.

Moments ago, after accepting the Quest, she had been assigned to a group of four and was now at the agreed rendezvous point. She was the first to arrive. While she waited, she gave a look on the profiles given to each of the team members. It seemed her teammates were chosen based on their abilities to make a cohesive group that'd complement each other.

"Amane Hirota..." Oh, a Felis with adept knowledge in both Arcanamancy and Illumancy, definitely a skilled mage in her own right. Eldhi could learn a thing or two from her especially regarding the latter. Her portrait looked quite exotic too, reminding Eldhi of one of those famous Japanese mythological creature, the uh... Kit... Kit-something!

Corvella~" The single word-named blonde was a fellow swordswoman, albeit she wielded a one-handed blade and shield combo instead. Also, she possessed the arcane ability of Phantasmia, oh, she never heard about it before, it was either rare or Eldhi haven't met others who possessed the skill. Maybe she could brush up on her reading unless it was one of those secret unlockable masteries. Nevertheless, Eldhi looked forward to stand beside her in battle.

Last but not least, "Ursa, hmm..." Was she a bear? Nay, instead, her portrait showed blue-eyed blonde with long wavy hair instead. This one was an expert in the mechanical art of Tinker. Her last experience with a tinkerer was with the Felis engineer, Morpheus, albeit he was also a new player like herself back then. Since Ursa was an expert here, Eldhi was really curious on what kind of fancy contraptions she created.

It looked like they had a pretty balanced party, with someone around her level and two more veteran players. This should be done in a jiffy.

36 + 15 = 51
Brute / Roll Link
51 / 720
​

 

OOC: If you'd rather TLDR; skip up until the thematic break.​

Hands protected by large and tough gloves for mining rubbed the blonde’s temples while a long and calm sigh escaped her lips. Closed azure eyes opened up, reading over the papers provided by the guild about the issue at hand. As one of its members experienced with combat, it was obvious that she would be assigned to a team that had brute force in mind. Until that point, everything seemed to run smoothly, except for just whom she’d have to deal with; Sea Raiders of the Aesir.

“Mike, Mike…” The assistant behind her sheepishly stepped back twice upon hearing hearing his name, one for each time she called for him. “I told ya I wasn’t goin' to git myself involved in things that have these cheaters in them, didn’t I? "But Ms.Ursa, we need-" The young Yladian boy was interrupted. "Ya know that it ain’t pretty when I git one of those guys on my grasp, right?” The blacksmith slammed her right fist on the crude but reliable table with the papers. “Uh… Ms.U-Ursula… P-please…” His voice was shaky, as if afraid of...Something or perhaps, someone.

“I see you look distressed, youngster. Is there anything wrong with my request, I wonder...” As the deep, feminine voice sounded behind her back, Ursula suddenly straightened up on her chair. Her eyes widened while looking at mirror when they could make out a figure clad in black clothes and armor. She easily towered over herself. The woman behind her was her mentor. “I am sure my dear apprentices still need some experience, yes. This is the perfect opportunity for you to help the guild. Mountains that we previously had no access to are just within reach, my dearest pupils.” The mysterious woman clad in black extended her hand, ruffling Ursula’s already messy hair.

In response, the blacksmith let out an audible gulp while the young Yladian boy, Mike, had already cowered to the corner of Ursula’s small and messy room. “But master, I have…” Her lips became wavy as she was interrupted by her mentor’s loud hum. “You have a great chance on the palm of your hands, yes. I told you, did I not? Learn to make use of opportunities to the betterment of yourself and the guild…”

The tall woman leaned closer, prompting Ursa to tremble and close her eyes. “You are one of the few of our people that can fight just as well as the newcomers, dear Ursula. I trust in your abilities and judgement... Or, perhaps, I wonder... Do you miss punishment already?

​

Somehow, the woman’s voice deepened even further on her last sentence. A shiver ran down the blonde’s spine, “I WILL DO AS YOU SAY, MASTER.” Ursula bowed, perhaps a bit too much. To the point that she unfortunately… Forgot the wooden table before her.

Her steps were slow, but firm. At this point, she already had the coordinates on the rendezvous with her team — unsurprisingly, she was teamed up with a bunch of newcomers. Ursula huffed in annoyance, her frontal hair strands flowing up and revealing a red forehead. That table hurt her pride, feelings and her forehead, of course. On another note, she’d soon be able to kick some pirate butt at last, and the results she acquired from using her tiny steam arachnomatas to explore the mountains were used to make maps with useful information.

On the distance, her eyes could see a girl clad in heavy armor waiting on the rendezvous point. “Howdy!” The blond waved, approaching @Eldhi Arc. “ Yer one of the assigned for the mission, aye? Good to meetcha, Ursula Goldsmith over here.” She extended her hand for a handshake. If Eldhi accepted her handshake, she’d give her one of her tiny automatas shaped like a spider. When touched, it’d prompt a map on her UI, though Ursa was not aware of meta information like most players. Once @Amane Hirota and @Corvella arrived, she'd make sure to share one of her tiny spider automatas with them as well for map information. "Use these to git a grasp of the terrain. We'll need to be careful with it if we want to kick those piratebutts." Ursula pulled her signature pickaxe weapon from her large leather bag on her back.

“I hope we can git ‘dis done quick. I ain’t missing the chance to mine these mountains…”​

91 + 25 = 116
Brute / (Roll) The Mountain Passage [WQ 9/22]
167 / 720
​

 

Corvella should have known better that heavy armor is a really bad idea when she is going to a mountain passage. Not even made it to the border yet, she is already exhausted from all the walking. Someone tell her to consider buying a horse next time, if she can save her money for it. Because unlike in real life, this routine doesn't contribute to fat burn at all.
​

Making her way through the rocky roads, she opened the palm menu and looked through the party information. She had worked with @Amane Hirota before, and she recognized @Ursa as the rocket-punching steam-armored girl that saved her from one of those Azog mooks. For @Eldhi though she has no idea, but she's quite sure she had seen here somewhere. She'd meet them soon and she hope they will be a great team for this mission. Originally she wasn't even interested in the slightest of Astorea-Falderen conflict but seeing that this opportunity might mend the relationship, she offered herself for the mission.

After dozens of walking, trotting, exhaling, running, taking breaks and walking, she finally made it to the border. There, the party coordinate in the UI points her to a meeting spot where she can see Ursa and a white-haired, heavy armored girl that she presumed to be Eldhi. Wait, are we all seriously going to traverse our way through mountain passage wearing all these heavy piece of armors? She then approached and greeted them "Hi, I'm sure you have been waiting here for some time. As you already know, my name is Corvella." Then her eyes caught the glimpse of a spider-looking construct in Eldhi's hand "Uh, one of your inventions?" she pointed at it and asked Ursa.

​

46 + 15 = 61
Brute / (Roll) The Mountain Passage [WQ 9/22]
228 / 720
​

 

The notice had been sent to practically every player in Astorea, and it must have been a truly important matter indeed, if the king had deemed it fit to involve the whole kingdom in the venture. The player kingdom had been growing on her — politics was never her forte, and the fact that some players were taking the time and effort to maintain good relations for the benefit of everyone else...Astor (King Astor, she supposed she should call him now? He certainly worked hard to get the title since the Dormont invasion, though if she recalled correctly, it was Jack who was doing all the work until after...) deserved her gratitude, if nothing else. A base and city to call home took out a lot of the stress that came with hoping from Stokbon inn to Stokbon inn.

Not to mention that, ever since VALOR disbanded, she had been feeling rather lost. She'd poured in a lot of time, gold, and sweat into improving the guild, even fighting against Falderen upon Steel's orders...all for nought, she supposed. At least when contributing towards Astorea, it gave her something to do. And so it was that, even though Amane had reservations about following through with the Brute technique that the other players in her assigned group had settled on, she agreed nevertheless, determined to at least do her part of the job properly. Besides, she was a healer: hurting others needlessly wasn't something she could agree with, but protecting her party? It might sound like an excuse, but someone had to prevent them from dying, and that was a responsibility she didn't mind getting behind.

"Sorry I'm late!" She said as she ran up to the assembled party, an apologetic smile on her face. "I'm Amane, your resident healer, I guess~ Are we all ready to go? Oh, thank you!" She added as she was given a small mechanical device by Ursa. A device to map out the terrain, huh? That was certainly useful. She hadn't had the chance to work alongside someone with the Tinker mastery yet, but she could already see that utility was something they excelled in. Looking between the diverse members amongst their group, and one of them, Corvella, she had worked alongside before, the felis was sure that this would be a pretty enjoyable exploration.

She felt the little creature crawl up her palm, and she looked down to coo at it a little...until she paused, peering at it carefully. Wait a second. If she looked closely, she could just about make out beady little lenses for eyes, eight splayed out jointed legs, a fat clockwork body——with a futilely suppressed shriek, Amane hurled the spider contraption away from her, her chest heaving with panicked breaths.

A few seconds later and she realised—she just hurled one of her teammates' creations into the grass, oh god she couldn't do that. "I...I'm so sorry," she said sheepishly as her breathing levelled out, her body relaxing when her mind fully processed the situation. That was embarrassing, to say the least. She really had to get rid of that death affliction — while still only a minor inconvenience, it was only a matter of time before she had to fight another spider, and then what would she do? "It's my death affliction, sorry about that," the mage explained, a heavy blush covering her cheeks. "I don't...suppose someone else can go pick that up?"

OOC: @Eldhi, @Ursa, @Corvella

59 + 20 = 79
Brute / Roll Link
307 / 720​

 

The Paladin didn't need to wait long before a companion arrived, judging by the excavator uniform and the distinctive lens strapped to her hat, Eldhi knew she was the one named after bears. "Yo!" She replied with a wave of her gauntleted hand as the blonde approached her. "That's correct, I'm Eldhi, an honor to meet you, Miss Goldsmith." The knight politely accepted the handshake, barely noticing the skittering critter on Ursula's arm just at it hoped onto hers.

"Eh?" Eldhi came this close of smacking the tiny creature away, stopping mere inches when spider-like thing fed information to her UI, providing a very valuable information in the form of a map, detailing the explored paths up ahead. "Oh... this... thing, it's yours?" The girl asked rhetorically, peering close to see the delicate parts of its metal body.

Eldhi's last encounter with beings of mechanical nature in Zalra didn't go so well, the prismatic machine almost depleted her HP bar. However, since this was Ursa's, it was alright... and the party needed the map anyway, it was suicidal to venture into the Aesir-infested wilderness without some form of guide. "I see! Nifty thing, thank you, Miss!" She grinned, "Absolutely! Those lawbreakers and criminals shall not plague the mountains any longer." Their motivation might be different but as long as it resulted in the kicking of pirate butts, all would be well.

The third person of their 4-man party arrived soon after that, a fellow blonde like Ursa but hers was tied into a tidy ponytail instead of letting it messily loose. Also, her eyes were in the shade of emeralds instead of sapphires. The stylish armor and the sword-shield pair strapped to her back, the young woman was no other than Corvella, the Phantasmancer Swordswoman.

"An honor to meet a fellow warrior, I am Eldhi." The knight diagonally crossed one arm on her chest then bowed, "By our blades, those sea dogs be brought to justice."

Last but not least, the only non-human member of the party, the sorceress and arcane healer Felis with an elaborate hairstyle and elegant robes. "It is no trouble, Amane, we didn't wait long." Eldhi smiled, looking up at the rather curvy woman. Speaking of that, Eldhi just noticed she was the shortest one around while Amane and Corvella were of similar height and Ursa just barely an inch shorter than then.

Oh my... she would be lying if she didn't feel a bit of anxiety as she already exaggerated her real-life height for her virtual persona. What if her teammates treat her like a child due to her slight height? Ursa looked so spunky, Corvella confident, and Amane elega-

-Then an ear-piercing high-pitched shriek reverberated through the air. "...!?" Eyes widening in alert, Eldhi's hand was already holding her longsword's grip in preparation for hostiles. However, there was no Aesir, nor Knolls loitering about. There were only stares from the other parties nearby, all directed at... their resident healer. The answer to the seemingly out-of-character behavior was soon given, something about a 'death affliction', penalties given to characters if they decided to continue after death, only removable by paying an exorbitant amount of gold.

"Oh..." She wondered what happened to the poor Felis but it'd be impolite to prod. Then again, the fear of spiders was so popular in fiction, Eldhi believed it held some truth to it. At least, being afraid of spiders wasn't exactly... a strange trait to have, right? Letting Ursa handle the tossed gadget, Eldhi would wait until all of the party were ready then examined the map. "The route is already set for us, okay... then we should go East and then take a South turn at this point..." She paused for a moment, pondering, "Beware of the Aesirs and expect the unexpected. Alright, let's go, shall we?" Pushing aside her slight uneasiness in her heart for being the 'runt' of the group, she marched on.

---

An hour later...

Trudging through the unbeaten road of the yet unnamed region, their journey somewhat smooth thanks to the map provided by Ursa, the party eventually approached the spot where an Aesir forward hideout was supposedly set-up.

Amane's keen ears would detect the echoes of distant chitter-chatter, gruff voices and boisterous laughter so stereotypical of sea-raiders and pirates. Indeed, up ahead, there was a group of Aesirs, having set up a camp. Why was a bunch of sea raiders doing all the way up here in the mountains? A question left unanswered and for Eldhi, she didn't care less, these pirates deserved to be struck down by the blade of justice, whether at sea or on the mountain.

"Everyone." Eldhi addressed the party, having come up with a plan, a simple yet effective one, "I shall go up to them and attract their attention. I have confidence in my ability to take hits and I can empower or heal myself so don't worry."

She turned at the Phantasmancer Shieldmaiden, "Corvella, I heard that Phantasmia is an arcane school of illusion and trickery, perhaps you can make use of that after I distract them, then when you strike with your blade, I shall drop all charade and join you in battle."

Next, she addressed the Expert Tinker, "Ursa, I... I admit I am not wholly familiar with your line of work but I had seen another tinkerer made portable weapons that shoot giant arrows, while I am not seeing that right now, what I mean is that maybe you can set up traps and machines that'd kick their butts once all hell breaks loose."

Lastly, yet playing a very important role to any adventuring party, "Amane, I request for you to keep me and Corvella safe from harm, though you can focus on her as I am able to heal myself. Of course, blasting those lawless scum to sky high is welcomed as well."

She took a moment to note just how cool and chivalric and knightly she looked, mhm. Tyl would be proud, yes.

---

​

With all things said and agreed upon, Eldhi stood up, turned the corner, and sauntered up to the Aesirs. She deliberately made her steps heavy, her armored form clinking with each thump of boots. Her red eyes on the alert as a pair of Aesirs assigned as guards took note of her, their hands ready on their cutlasses. However, unlike the typical pirates Eldhi have encountered, their breaths didn't smell of stale ale and the look in their eyes, the way they moved, suggested they knew how to fight properly.

"Arrr... halt, landlubber." One Aesir, a gruff tanned man with rough stubble, a bandanna tied around his head, "What be yer purpose?"

"I am just passing by." Eldhi answered curtly, she debated on faking politeness and attempted to converse cordially but no, they didn't deserve it, even now, their very presence already tried her patience. "I'll do no trouble."

"Nay, lassie." The pirate growled, narrowing his eyes, "This mountain be our territory, scurry back to where ye hailed from." He paused for a moment, "Or we'll make ye regret it."

"..." Eldhi took a deep breath, gritting her teeth, her fingers twitched, ready to brandish her sword at a moment's notice. Hopefully, she had brought enough time for her comrades to take positions and prepare their respective field tactics.

@Ursa @Corvella @Amane Hirota

30 + 15 = 45
Brute / Roll Link
352 / 720
​

 

Corvella jumped a little as a shriek was released into the air. By the looks of it, @Amane Hirota was the culprit. The explanation about 'Death Affliction' makes sense, since death would be meaningless in this game without it. She never read it in the manuals in the menu, though. Does she have to die first to know about this 'Death Affliction'? The gold-haired knight soon concluded that Amane's death affliction was fear of spiders (and everything akin).

She turned her sight to the rest of the team, whom shared an awkward gaze with her. Moments later, she took the initiative to pick up the poor automata from the ground before asking Amane "Uh, you sure you want to hold this thing yourself? I'm sure Ursa has some alternative." Handing the thing again to her might result in Corvella getting another scream. She then waited for something that Ursa might have to offer.

- o -​

The road were actually kind to her, with less steep inclines and good traction. She was going to store some piece of her armor earlier but it looks like it wasn't necessary. Approaching the Aesir hideout according to the intel, Eldhi gave a hand signal to stop. It looks like they picked up some sound nearby, and short reconnaissance confirmed it was coming from a group of Aesirs. Everytime Corvella looked at sea peoples, Ozwin is the first thing that came in her mind. It doesn't help that he behaves like one with all that sea talk (although he claimed that he hates seascums such as raiders and pirates).

Eldhi assembled everyone and made a solid plan. The number of Aesirs she saw so far wasn't that much, but it would be stupid to underestimate them, since intel on them showed high fighting prowess and high tactical capability. They waited for some time to prepare the plan. She is curious whether @Ursa has something like traps to ambush them or not. Either way after some time they were ready and Eldhi went first, distracting a pair of Aesir guards.

Corvella isn't that adept yet in the art of Phantasmia, so area illusions would be too much for her. Luckily, with the distraction @Eldhi did, she had time to cast the Calm spell to each Aesirs visible to her in the camp individually, which would reduce their sensing capabilities by not much, but hopefully it will count. Everyone were ready to execute the plan when she finally jumped into the camp and bashed her metal shield into one of the head unsuspecting sea raider, releasing a very loud clanging sound that is also the signal for the group. "Try to do this the easy way, girls. They might have some informations we need."
​

72 + 15 = 87
Brute / (Roll) WQ 9/22
444 / 720​

 

Ursula chuckled to the white-haired paladin because of her reaction. “Aye, this lil’ bugger is my automata. They’re pretty good for scoutin’, not so much for combat. They ain’t that durable, and tike lotta time to make…” Her heart skipped a beat when Eldhi mentioned lawbreakers and criminals, her blood boiling with rage already. Much like a holy priest of the Elysid despised demons, a follower of Endra like Ursula despised thieves and traitors.

Over the course of a few minutes, their group was thankfully assembled within a reasonable amount of time. Sometimes, to the blacksmith’s eyes, these people seemed oddly punctual. Not only that, but sometimes it seemed that they shared knowledge that none of her folk were able to grasp. Ursula shifted her attention to Corvella and her questio nabout the tiny mechanical spider, curiosity that triggered the inventor within her. “Ya got that right. I ain’t makin' the big ones I used in the whole trouble with Azog, cause those are just too troublesome to git right… It ain’t that much, but I hope it helps yall.” Lastly, @Amane Hirota joined the group , apologising upon arrival.

Everything seemed to run smooth for the group, though it appeared to be too good to be true. When Ursula handed one of her mechanical inventions to Amane, the felis eventually hurled the tiny automata either because of fear or some sort of shock. The blacksmith gasped as the steam spider was hurled in the air - it was fragile, and the magitech inside could cause small, but loud explosions. Pointing her right arm to her automata, she attached one of her mechanical addons to her right glove, gears turning on and her armor’s gauntlet launched and grabbed the mechanical spider mid air, eventually being reeled in at high speeds by the malleable metal cable that connected the gauntlet to her actual arm.

Truth be told, she wanted to scold the Felis, but when her gaze shifted to Amane, Ursula could note the fear in her breaths. Ursula sighed, “It’s alright, worry not!” Death affliction? What even was that, her mind wondered as she plucked pieces off the poor spider. Eventually, nothing but a round piece of the automata was left, with no identifiable traits of a spider to be seen. “Here, this shoulda work!” She said, a wide grin on her lips. Much to her chagrin, a fake one; it was hard to relate to people that seemed to know so much information that she simply couldn’t grasp.

Thanks to the scouting done by her minions beforehand, traveling was fairly easy as most of the safest paths to their destination were taken according to the map. Surprised, her steps came to a halt when Eldhi signaled for everyone to stop. Apparently, thanks to a quick reconnaissance, they finally found enemy territory and started discussing their strategies on the spot. Truth be told, though she has a fair amount of knowledge from the papers of the guild assignment, Ursula had very little actual practical knowledge of her team mates. This would be a good chance for experiencing a fight in another way — no need to fear being roasted alive this time around.

Eventually @Eldhi made her move and approached the Aesirs as @Corvella casted her spells. Ursula quietly approached crouching in between specific distances and setting up simple blast traps - they would generate strong kinetic energy, enough to launch someone in the air. She signaled to her team mates and showing the obvious bumps on the ground because of the installed traps. The quantity was particularly higher near herself and Amane, so that they couldn’t approach them with ease. Lastly, Ursula shot her gauntlet when Corvella took initiation and attacked an enemy — it attempted to coil around three Aesirs, restraining and tightening its grip so they could not move if successful.

31 + 25 = 56
Brute / (Roll) WQ 9/22
500 / 720​

 

"Thank you so much," Amane said to Ursa, a grin forming on her face to mirror the other girl's. The Tinkerer didn't have to — it was her own fault, really, that she couldn't stand spiders. For the girl to have dissembled and destroyed part of her own creation just for her...it touched the felis' heart. She made an internal note to repay the kindness somehow. After all, Ursa could have easily handed the spider off to someone else instead.

With everyone equipped with a navigation device, they made easy work scaling the mountains, as easy as climbing sheer rock with little to no paths to guide them could be, at least. On the downside, a mapping device couldn't show them the Aesir's positions, but as they ventured deeper the sound of gruff voices and rough hollers reached her, her ears perking up with interest. Cocking her head to the side, she tried to pinpoint from which direction the pirates seemed to come from. "There are pirates ahead of us, a bit to our left, I think," she said at last. "Is everyone ready to fight?"

The paladin Eldhi took charge, assigning roles to each of them. Her planned sounded pretty solid, as far as impromptu strategies went, and Amane nodded along, moving to the back of the party beside Ursa, mentally rehearsing the various spells she had at her disposal. Curiously, she watched as the Tinkerer hid her traps under the ground, each machine sophisticatedly constructed, even to her untrained eye, that spoke of the girl's skill and expertise. "What do these do?" She asked, slight awe in her voice once Ursa was done. Even in the real world, where the hardest science got was memorising theories off a whiteboard, it was still far from her strong point. Creating things from scratch? That was out of the question. Whatever knowledge Ursa was implementing, she had Amane's respect. Such an unorthodox combat style could be utilised by few.

As the others made their own preparations, Eldhi approaching the pirates and Corvella dampening their senses in order to sneak up on them, she began casting a spell of her own, her hands glowing as waves of light radiated from her position to cover the area, every ally that her magic touched lighting up in a faint, gold shine. Along with the glow, strength should surge through their muscles, like a shot of adrenalin, only fresher and more uplifting. If any of them were to look at their status bar, they would notice a newly added buff to their damage. "Everyone should hit harder now!" She called out, in case any of them were too busy or distracted to check their UI. Or if they were an NPC, Amane realised belatedly. She always assumed that everyone she met on quests were players...but now it just occurred to her that that wasn't necessarily the case. No matter, she could always just have to call out her supporting actions from now on.

Ame no Uzume

42 + 30 = 72
Brute / Roll Link
572 / 700​

OOC: @Eldhi, @Corvella, @Ursa

 

The little staring contest between Eldhi and the two Aesirs were getting tenser by the second. It wouldn't be long until the fragile situation broke into full-blown hostilities. Good, Eldhi had no intention of letting these raiders plague the mountains anyway, they must be cleansed or else they'd just prey upon the innocent merchants making their living through the mountain route. It seemed her teammates had finished preparing their own methods to deal with these criminal scum.

The Phantasmic spell cast by @Corvella the Swordswoman managed to mitigate the band of pirates' senses, hopefully reducing their fierce combat ability when things went south. @Ursa the Tinkerer set up her traps around the area, that'd box in the Aesirs and prevent them from flanking the party or running away. Finally, @Amane Hirota the Felis Cleric worked her powerful holy magic, buffing the party.

"Heh... on the contrary." Eldhi smirked after she briefly checked her UI, her form glowing dimly, "I'll make you regret it!" Not letting the two scurvy knaves react much, she immediately brandished her longsword, the edge shining with a searing light then made her move at the same time as Corvella launched her shield bash on the other raider.

Hidden: Music

"En garde, scum!!" She made a powerful cleave! ...in which the Aesir immediately reacted by quickly brandishing his cutlass and clashing it with her longsword. Oho~ The rumors regarding the Aesirs' combat prowess were true at least, a common thug would already be dead by now, slain by her holy blade.

"Hyaaah!!"

"Arrrr!!"

The two were soon locked in intense combat, Law against Anarchy, Paladin against Pirate, Longsword against Cutlass, again and again, they struck each other, sparks flying from their blades.

Of course, the commotion alerted the rest of the Aesirs in the camp just behind the two overwatches, they grabbed their weapons, and soon, around eight additional raiders were joining the battle, most of them attracted to the two most visible combatants around, Eldhi and Corvella, while Amane and Ursa were still safely out of sight, made slightly easier due to the spell cast on them by the shieldmaiden earlier.

"Hmph!" Forcing an opening, Eldhi parried away her opponent's weapon then she drove her blade through his chest, puncturing his heart then pulled out as his lifeless corpse fell unceremoniously on the ground. "Hah..." With a smirk, she drew back a few steps back, minding the traps set up by Ursa and made her stand there. They wouldn't expect a thing... They might be fierce and smarter than the usual sea raiders but surely they had no knowledge of the intricate machinery worked by the blonde Tinkerer, they would fall right into her trap.

69 + 15 = 84
Brute / Roll Link
656 / 720
​

 

As soon as Ursula’s rocket gauntlet entangled three of the Aesirs, the pulling mechanism activated and started reeling them in towards herself and @Amane Hirota, avoiding any mines in the process for now. Once they arrived at her location, Ursula removed the gauntlet and the socket from her arm, connecting it to the ground with the socket mechanism so the captured Aesirs couldn’t escape the mechanical arm’s grasp.

Ursula’s eyes shifted and narrowed down on the situation at hand as the battle between sea raiders and adventurers broke out. Even if their teamwork was great, things would surely get trickier the battle progressed and Ursula wanted to remain concentrated on the unfolding events to prevent any possible problems that may arise without warning. “Hm?” Ursula gazed behind her back when Amane asked her about the traps she set up on the field. Ler lips curled up in a somewhat cocky grin as she returned her gaze forward. “Just ya watch the show! Ya gonna see how ‘dese babies will show ‘em how to believe they can fly!” as she answered Amane’s question, Ursula readied her pickaxe in case she needed to support any of the frontline fighters.

Her eyes first gazed upon @Eldhi, the first one to take action in the fight. “Tch…” Not good. If these guys, capable of fighting back people like these newcomers, the ones used to adventure and fighting like that, just how strong were the bossmen in their ranks? Ursa shook those thoughts away, shifting her blue orbs towards @Corvella this time around since Eldhi and her sea raider opponent were in a stalemate exchanging blows. When the commotion from fighting started, enemies from different areas within the camp started to assemble in the general area of the mountain passage.

Eventually, one of them tried to sneak on @Corvella and attack her while unnoticed — most likely a rogue. Ursa reacted to his attempt and shot her remaining gauntlet towards the man, grabbing him by his neck, and reeling him in to lower ground. Her eyes noticed as Eldhi distanced herself from incoming enemies. As soon as her paladin team mate was in a safe range, Ursula hurled the man on her grip on the incoming enemies, specifically on top of one of the mines. Suddenly the scenario changed as kinetic explosion occurred and some of the traps were activated in a chain-reaction of explosions, aesirs flying high in the air much like ragdolls.

Reeling in, her mechanic gauntlet connected back to the rest of her equipment with a loud and satisfying clang. She looked back to check up on Amane and make sure everything was running smoothly, and that’s when an Aesir sneaked behind her back, making use of the dirt smoke generated by her explosions to hide himself. Unfortunately, she only noticed his presence a bit too late; a quick swing of his scimitar aimed at Ursula’s left arm was barely blocked by the blacksmith. “Heh, suits yer kind! Sneaky bastard!” Despite being able to move her limb, Ursula’s arm was bleeding profusely as they started to exchange attacks one against another. She was no swordsman, and even with Amane’s buff was having a hard time pushing back her opponent.

71 + 25 = 96
Brute / (Roll) WQ 9/22
752 / 720
​

 

The Aesirs won't go down easily. Shield bash to one, another downed guy rose back up. It was not long before she got pretty distracted from the attacks in different direction and an Aesir rogue managed to sneak up on her. Fortunately @Ursa is there for the rescue and the second Corvella noticed someone sneaking, the guy was already reeled away by the rocket gauntlet. "Thanks!" she shouted.

Corvella bashed an Aesir warrior's jaw pretty hard that he fell on his back to the ground with a thud. She was naive enough to assume that the guy was down for the count. Pain then could be felt in her left leg as the guy tried to pierce her footwear with a dagger. She kicked the dagger away from his hand before exclaiming "Stay down!" before engaging another enemy. The man continued to grab her leg, trying to distract Corvella from the attacks she is shielding right now. She had to stomp the man in the face for him to release her leg, breaking his nose in the process. "Please, stay down" she pleaded.

She hasn't been utilizing her sword in this battle, only her fist and her mighty shield. But one thing she learned next was that an Aesir never backs down and give up as the now bloody-faced man rises up and tries to choke Corvella in the neck. His attempt is futile as he in the state he is in, no power can be transferred to his hands. The Aesir held his ground as he endured blunt swordhilt hits on his head, before finally falling down to the ground with blood running; Corvella used her sword to pierce the man's heart, sparing him painful death. "I'm sorry," she muttered with teary eyes before turning to attack other Aesir with her sword.

With @Eldhi's swordfighting prowess, Ursa's traps and nonlethal disarming mechanism and @Amane Hirota's empowering buff, the number of Aesir standing in the fight quickly went down. As if they were fighting as one with incredible coordination and teamwork, the Aesir warriors were no match for them. The battle will end soon enough.

​

93 + 15 = 108
Brute / (Roll) WQ 9/22
860 / 720​

 

Amane winced at Corvella's actions, a wave of remorse twisting in her gut, simultaneously urging her to avert her gaze, and yet — perhaps out of horror, or a misplaced, morbid curiosity to see the act through — keeping her eyes glued to the pair even as the knight raised her sword to run the bleeding Aesir through. She didn't blame her: from the situation, there clearly was no other choice, and Corvella's own life came first before all other considerations of sparing that of their opponents. Nevertheless, the felis could not help but feel a pang of regret that she couldn't fulfil her prior, fervent hope that they would make it through this fight without having to resort to taking a life.

Forcibly pulling her gaze away, she gathered energy within her palms, sending the arcane spell flying at the Aesir on the front lines, providing ranged cover for Eldhi and Corvella and giving them a short respite. Then light erupted across the battlefield, sending chunks of dirt and debris airborn, shockwaves rippling across the field from the force of the explosions. "Wow," the comment slipped from her mouth unbidden as dust scattered around Ursa and her. The damage was...extensive, to say the least. Aesir bodies littered the ground in various pieces, blood soaking the mountain stones. Few magical attacks could wrought such damage without extensive preparations and energy consumption, and Amane couldn't help but look around the devastation in horrified awe. A shout from her left garnered her attention, however, and she swung around to catch sight of an Aesir raising a scimitar against Ursa. Wasting no time, she raised her right hand in a upward slashing motion, her index and middle finger pointing outwards, light lancing from between them and into the Aesir's face as the last words of the incantation left her lips. At point blank range, with the buff empowering her magic, the spell blew his head clean off, a small splattering of blood falling on Ursa and her faces.

Wiping off the blood with one hand — swallowing down an aborted retch as she did so — she muttered under her breath, warm light blooming across the field in the form of a pair of golden wings, healing any ally within its vicinity. "Are you alright?" she asked the Tinker when she was finished, glancing over to make sure her wound was healed, before turning her attention to the rest of the battle. The bulk of the Aesirs seemed to have been...taken cared of, either by Corvella and Eldhi's attacks, or Ursa's explosions. Only a few stragglers remained, and they launched themselves desperately — futilely — at the two frontliners. If only they would run, Amane thought mirthlessly, though truth be told she hadn't really expected them to. It was a matter of honour to them, she supposed, that they would rather die fighting than living and having fled. But even knowing that to fall in combat was their choice...it was of little consolation to the felis. It had to be done, she told herself, shaking off her remorse. They had a princess to save.

"Shall we move on?" she said at last, after she had casted a few more heals, bringing the whole party up to full. She had to put this behind her: this wasn't the first time she had killed...and it wouldn't be her last. If she wanted to continue playing Terra Sphere, killing was an inevitably. As much as disgusts her——today she got away with only killing one person, but next time they fought, Amane promised herself that...she would, perhaps...try to do her full part.

OOC: DONE.

72 + 30 = 102
Brute / Roll Link
962 / 720​