WQ - Blight (The Fade)

A strange affliction in Western Astorea, affecting flora and fauna alike. Of course she'd agree to help once she heard. She couldn't spend all her time searching for lost secrets just to better herself, after all.

But when she'd heard of the nature of this malady... Well. That sealed the deal. There was no way that she was going to pass on looking into this matter now.

Rubbing her fingertips together, her gaze flickered between her hands and the surrounding area. There was no way of knowing if the mysterious rotting affecting her fingers was in any way linked to the withering of the environment that she was seeing now. But, it would never hurt to look into it. And if there did indeed turn out to be a connection, all the better. She'd gotten nowhere looking in other places. Might as well try this one.

And so, here she was. Not alone; Prometheus was, as per usual, perched on her shoulder. The vulture was eyeing the area with a keen interest. Probably looking for an animal corpse or two to gorge on, the glutton.

"Hmm..." Slowly, she knelt down to press her hands to the pale-gray grass. Dry, brittle to the touch. Most certainly dead, or very rapidly approaching it. Troubling.

Just as Ashiore was about to try casting a spell on the earth, perhaps try to rejuvenate it with nature magic, the crackle of dry leaves and branches snapping some distance away caught her attention. Scrambling upright, her hands reached for her magical focus and knife. A desperate wild animal, looking for prey? A monster, ready to pounce?

...No, not that. That was definitely a humanoid form making its way through the forest. "Hello?" she called out, beginning to make her way over to the figure. It wouldn't be a local wandering about here, not with how strong the decay was. Perhaps it was another adventurer, looking into this disturbance?

@Morpheus

 

_____Sadly wrong on both of her guesses as the figure looked up with tired eyes. He had been walking for some time trying to find ‘the town with the honey bee’ or whatever it was that he got himself lost yet again. A worn out smile across his face as he tapped his cane down against some fallen leaves and looked down towards them. A few moments staring blankly blinking before he looked up to the girl with the rather odd choice for a pet and stroked his beard. Looking back down to the decayed earth and slowly scanning the area to see more of it as if he had not noticed up until now.

”What in the great name of Elvis presley happen here?! Last i saw it was full of life now … wait wrong town nevermind… reminds me of that time me and my wife got lost up in the mountains while touring greece. We found ourselves just walkin around and WHAM! Some crazy folk nearly ran us over in the bottom jaw of a dinosaur.”

_____It was rather unlucky that the girl encountered the old man, grey eyes scanning the area again as he seemed to slowly regain his focus on the world. His cane tapping the ground as the tip seemed to slightly take the effect of the area rotting just enough to turn the reddish brown wood into a nice faded gray. Moving past the woman as Morpheus looked around at area and pointed his cane towards the greater level of decay.

”Gut says i need to go that way, so i go this way.”

_____Setting his cane down, Morpheus began walking the opposite direction of where he chose to point. So far his Gut got him nearly eaten alive by wolves, in a wrestling match with grass knolls, mud fighting with a fire mute, and now to this place. He had just about enough of trusting his gut that was for sure.
@Ashiore Evretto

 

Oh. False alarm. Looking over the situation now, Ashiore felt rather silly for jumping to all those conclusions.

Though, an old man making his way through a forest by himself was already concerning enough. That he was attempting to do so here, in Naryu Canyon? Even after all the reports of the life just being sucked out of plants and animals, the shrinking villages, the rotting flesh... Yeah, it was more than a little worrying that he was out here all alone.

"Excuse me, sir," Ashiore called out, jogging just a bit to catch up to him. Prometheus remained in the trees this time, which she was grateful for. No need to have a strong-willed vulture harassing an old man right in his face. "Sir, it's very dangerous out here. You shouldn't be-"

She winced as he began pointing to an area that looked to be in much worse condition than the rest. "Wait, sir, I don't think that's a good idea."

Well, that didn't seem to work. He seemed to be quite set on heading there. Grimacing, Ashiore drummed her fingers against her thigh as she considered her options. She could never let an elderly man wander out alone into god knows what was lurking out there. But she also wanted to investigate this area even more... Although, there'd probably not be a better place to look than where the heart of the affliction seemed to lie.

"Let me come with you, please," she said eventually. "I can fight, a bit, but you should be ready to run if there's something very bad out there. I don't like the feel of that place, so we should both be very careful."

As she walked, she attempted casting a little nature magic on some trees she passed. Just a quick spell that was supposed to reinvigorate plants. Anxiously, she waited to see if there would be a response to her magic.

@Morpheus

 

_____Morpheus would not change his mind nor would he stop the woman from doing as she wanted to do. Cane tapping the ground with every other step as he seemed to once again drift off into a almost sleep walk, yet also not. His body seeming to move by itself but his mind extremely active otherwise and it could be seen as his grey eyes seemed to rapidly scan the area for movement or things he fully planned to avoid.

”I don’t that is going to work… the decay seems quicker… look…”

_____Stopping in his tracks Morpheus spun his cane around and tapped the handle to the earth, eyes watching as the wood began to decay the same as the bottom of the cane. Tossing the cane aside now that it was rather taken to the land and watched as it all suffered from the rot. Mumbling a few words to himself as he dug around his UI and got out another Cane before walking further into the dangerous area without much worry.

”Just so you know, if something happens YOU run, i’ve lived enough a life. Rather the youth get somewhere then me.”

_____His gaze only setting on the woman for a moment, a shallow smile on his face. Beside from theying to be kind, he would be damned to back away from danger and leave a woman likely a third or fourth his age to fight in his steed. With the matter settled and Morpheus clearly set on his word being final he marched forward.
@Pandora | @Ashiore Evretto

 

Ashiore's eyes widened as the world seemed to come alive. And most decidedly not in a good way. As the ground erupted around her, she lost her balance and fell over, eyes widening as she took in the dark tendrils forcing their way through the fissures in the earth.

Most of them seemed to ignore them, but the world itself started breaking down all the quicker. Trees dissolved in an instant, stones crumbled into sand, the shrieking of startled birds in the distance rapidly died out, leaving the furious shattering of the earth as the only sound around.

Staggering to her feet, Ashiore pulled out both her knife and her magical focus. At the sight of the lone single tentacle looming over her and her partner, she steeled herself. Despite the oppressive atmosphere, she didn't feel as though the multitude of other tendrils were directly antagonistic.

But this one? Oh, this one definitely seemed aggressive.

She cast her hand out and chanted a spell, trying to go with her default battle spell of conjuring up some vines to try and restrain her opponents. It only very rarely failed her. But with how the mass of tentacles seemed to absorb the life and vitality out of anything in the area, her vines stood no chance of restraining the enormous, writhing mass. The vines withered near instantly, before even making contact with the tentacle.

"You have to go!" she shouted at the elderly man, her mind racing through her options. Thus far, it didn't seem like she had a lot.

Thrown dice:

29

37

+50
116/1000
Cycle 1 of 4​

@Morpheus

 

_____Morpheus, god bless his soul it was a mystery how he lived as long as he currently had. As the tentacle rose before them all the old man saw was the age old sixty-four bit ‘a enemy approaches’ and lifted his fist allowing the cane to clatter to the ground. It was massive and clearly it had to be a boss encounter and to the old man that was not something to run away from. Rushing forward without a single worry Morpheus pulled back his right fist and allowed a faint glow to encase it, his FIGHTING SPIRIT!

”SPIRIT PUNCH!”

_____With the most annoying shout he could muster and dashing forward he struck the creature. The air behind him glowing in a trail with his first before he began to spring around like a young boxer or a certain old fashioned boxing game character would do. But without much rest he began pulling both his fist back and grinned slowly. A brief wait before he began a barrage assault of punches to the creature.

”Rapid Rapid PUNCH GUN!”

@Ashiore Evretto

Thrown dice:

97

64

+0
277/1000
Cycle 1 of 4​

 

This didn't look good. With a grimace, she stepped around the precarious battlefield to try and make her way closer to Morpheus's side. It meant getting far closer to the tentacle than she was normally comfortable with during battle. No matter how many times she mentally told herself that she would have to get in close during some fights and start using her blade more, she was still nervous about not having any distance between her and her opponent.

But, it wasn't like she had much of a choice here, did it? Running away, leaving an old man to fight against such a creature by himself? She wouldn't be able to live with herself.

So, she called out a command to Prometheus to have him join the fight, talons slashing at the tentacle whenever he saw an opening. And she circled around, calling forth her summoned familiar with a long incantation. By her side, a glowing green deer-like form materialized, and with another command she sent Yaara off to join Prometheus in attacking the beast.

Circling around the area, Ashiore kept an eye out for Morpheus. If anyone got injured, she'd have to be ready with a quick healing spell.

Thrown dice:

63

49

+50
439/1000
Cycle 2 of 4​

@Morpheus

 

_____As the girl seemed to get into the fight more, well Morpheus just kept doing what he did best. Going all out and worrying about the result or injury later. Hopping back even while there was no present threat to his location pervious Morpheus seemed to be getting himself ready. Hands waving in the air slowly, small trails of light from his SPIRIT mapping his movements before he rushed forward again slamming both palms against the tendril with the most thunderous force he could achieve.

”Two palm!” Frame moving before he quickly slammed boths hands two more times against his target. ”Four palm!” Frame moving around the target as he struck four times with each palm gaining momentum. ”Eight Palm!” Body moving once more around his foe and striking eight times with each open palm. ”Sixteen palm!” Moving and freezing for a moment as he lifted his hands and began counting his fingers before unleashing a flurry of strikes.

”So many strikes i can’t remember the number of them barrage!”

______Spinning like a drunk old ballerina back to his starting place before pulling his right hand over his left shoulder and swung HARD across. ”Frugalista bitch ass whacker backhand!” Pulling his left hand over his right shoulder and repeating the same movement once more. ”REVERSE FRUGALISTA BITCH ASS WHACKER BACKHAND DELUXE!” Then he got the most feared sound in his own head while something seemed to whack him upside the head. ‘COMBO BREAKER!’ In truth it was nothing but his energy giving him a reminder. Falling onto his butt and later further falling to lay down.

”Super power nap!” and as quickly as he said it, the old man began to snore very loudly. The danger he was in doing nothing to stop him or make him take a game of all things serious. He fought in wars, a tentacle made of pixels in his mind did not have shit to a gun pushed into his mouth by enemies of wars he fought in and lived to play this very game still won over it. Another loud snore and calm exhale, seemed he would be alright for the moment.
@Ashiore Evretto

Thrown dice:

37

13

+0
489/1000
Cycle 2 of 4​

 

Prometheus slashed at the large tentacle with his claws, but the hide of this thing was tougher than she thought, since she didn't see any blood trailing from his claws as he flew about the battlefield. Yaara's antlers slammed into the side of the tentacle but again there didn't seem to be any discernible effect.

Morpheus let loose a fast-paced attack, faster than Ashiore expected given his age. But when he suddenly found himself on the ground, she panicked. With the area around her jagged and broken up from the tentacles that were now flailing in the background, it took her longer than she'd like to reach Morpheus.

A healing spell already at her lips, she reached down to try and cure him of any possible injuries. But... it appeared that there wasn't much--or anything at all!--to heal.

With the current situation, she couldn't spare any more time to look after him. The tentacle was still there, and though it hadn't yet done anything too severe, she had a feeling that they had better deal with it quickly before it got a chance to really start hurting them. And she couldn't leave her animal companion and familiar to fight on their own for too long.

Trying to at least direct the fight away from Morpheus, Ashiore headed over to another section further around the tentacle, stabbing with all her strength to try and hurt the creature. Meanwhile, she cast a quick buff on her companions, bolstering their strength so hopefully they'd be able to finish off this tentacle and get out of here.

Thrown dice:

57

23

+50
615/1000
Cycle 3 of 4
@Morpheus​

 

I’m up I’m up don’t tell chief on me!”

_____Morpheus bolts upright and looked slightly disoriented for a moment before his memory caught him up to speed and he kicked off the ground and rushed back into the fighting. While his attacks slowed down he seemed to regain more power in them, each a steady and strong punch against the tendril as he tried to do everything in his power to help the woman out and her animal friends.

”not looking to good for us here, time you skipped town missy. Let this old man least save someone in his lifetime!”

_____Charging everything he could Morpheus slowed down more to strike heavier blows with each fist or knee strike against the tendril. He needed to get it’s attention away from the girl so she could escape as well as her animals doing the same. Sure his great granddaughter and granddaughter would lecture and tease him for ding in the game before they did but if it meant saving someone else he could rest in peace with that.

Thrown dice:

94

4

+0
713/1000
Cycle 3 of 4
@Ashiore Evretto​

 

The longer she stayed trying to fight here, the worse she felt. As the battle had been raging on, the ocean of tendrils across the ground were leeching the life out of anything remotely alive, and Ashiore had the feeling that they were turning their attentions to her, not even remotely sated by the plants and the wildlife. Every movement felt harder, every breath was more difficult to draw than the last. Even Prometheus seemed to lag now, exhausted by something other than mere physical extertion.

Was she paranoid? Was she imagining things? Was the swirl of discoloration at her fingers that resembled the texture of rotting flesh expanding further, reaching down across her hands, her arms?

Dizzy, out of breath, running seemed like a distant goal. And, it looked like Morpheus was not going to escape either--on the contrary, he turned back to the single, enormous tentacle with renewed ferocity.

Concentrating, she dismissed Yaara, the deer familiar dissolving in a scattering of pale green energy. Through her bond, she commanded Prometheus to go; flight would at least carry him away from this place, towards safer skies. There was no reason that either of them had to remain here, to fall here.

But Ashiore, she had do stay. When it became clear that Morpheus had no intention of leaving, she couldn't in good conscience run just to save her own skin at his expense. So, she began gathering energy, concentrating on her athame as she began murmuring an incantation under her breath. Every last bit of energy she had in her body, she pulled on it and focused it to a single point. Whether or not she threw every last bit of energy into this one spell, she wouldn't last long anyway. Might as well give it her all to try and make sure that Morpheus would have a chance of making it out.

Unleashing the spell with a short, clipped syllable, she threw her hands out and commanded the earth to rise up. It took everything she had to coax thick thorny vines into being, the dead inert ground fighting her at every step. But somehow, she managed. Curling them around the base of the tendril, she clenched her fist and squeezed as hard as she could. She wanted it to hurt, she wanted it restrained, she wanted anything that would give either her or Morpheus an out from this fight.

Thrown dice:

30

20

+50
813/1000
Cycle 4 of 4
@Morpheus​

 

_____Morpheus had a gut feeling this was it, there was not going to be much more time the two of them could keep fighting and he would be damned to try and run away now. Fist tightened at each side of his frame before Morpheus charged forward slamming everything of force he still had and then some to push the creature back. The kid did everything she could, now Morpheus had to do the same, no more jokes.

_____Each blow striking like thunder in his own mind, the glow fading slowly with each but no speed lost as the old man tried to make sure the efforts did not go down in flames. Grey eyes sparking with rebellious spirit as he struck with everything until his likely last breath and then some. Like hell the old man would stop fighting on death’s door. He would give that older fart a good right hook before he was taken, both here and in real life.

Thrown dice:

88

52

+0
953/1000
Cycle 4 of 4
@Ashiore Evretto @Pandora​