Faster. Faster. Faster. Eryl’s feet pounded against the snow, leaving boot prints with every sprinted step she took. Her legs ached, her lungs burned, and the air stung her nostrils but the redhead didn’t dare stop. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she hurried as fast as she dared along the mountainside. She didn’t have to look back to know the predator was still behind her. Its feline fangs were barred with loud growls, its snorts with each bound after her promised to devour her alive. She stumbled, her foot apparently hitting on loose gravel just under the snow. With a grunt, the redhead was sent sliding down the steep incline of the mountain. Frigid snow managed to find itself in the seems of her armor as she plummeted, exploiting her one last guard against the cold. At last she slid to a hault, and the redhead glanced up. The unfortunate event had managed to give her some distance between the Craig cat and her, but not much. With all the will she had, Eryl shoved up on her feet. She quickly evaluated her options—staying and fighting would almost certainly lead to her death. Hiding was clearly impossible. She didn’t have much more left in her to run. Suddenly her gift took over, and the redhead could see flashes of a log cabin. It was close, and she couldn’t tell if there was anyone in it, but at least it would put walls between her and this monster. Following her intuition, the redhead sprinted away, towards her right. The Craig cat, she could tell, wasn’t too far behind. Her gap seemed to close as the redhead had to charge uphill, through more snow. Her breath came in huffs, pants barely strong enough to keep going. Just when the woman was about to doubt if what she saw was real or not, she crested the ridge and saw, just as her vision foretold the wooden cabin, just a few dozen yards ahead. “Thank God,” she sighed. The Craig cat roared, springing to bite Eryl’s head from her shoulders. The redhead felt the beast slide by as she ducked. The wind of its fur riffled the redhead’s hair. The Craig cat landed right between her and the cabin. It turned on its heel, flashing its fangs in a sneer. “Shit,” Eryl muttered, drawing her long sword and flashing it before her foe “You just won't give up, will you?” The feline lurched towards her, snapping its jaws. Eryl managed to spring back a half step just in time. The cat lurched forward once more, its jaws this time made contact with Eryl, its white fangs sinking into her forearm. “Damn it!” Eryl cried out as pain shot through her body. She twisted the blade in her other hand, thrusting blindly. The tip sank in under the cat’s skin. It screeched in pain, unclamping her. Eryl didn’t stop to see what damage she had done, she stumbled forward towards the cabin. A trail of blood followed her from the whining cat towards the door. Her hand was in bad shape, but through sheer willpower alone, Eryl managed to twist the door knob open. Thank God it was unlocked. She shoved her shoulder against the door, slamming it shut. With heavy pants, she sank to the floor, leaning against it. Her ample chest heaved. She was alive. She made it. But barely.
Along with mushrooms, candy, and being a commander, Majolica's other hobby was research. When she first entered this world she had made it her mission to travel the world in search of items of power. She hadn't found any, but had come across many rumors, legends, a tales of mythical beasts, weapons, and items. Unfortunately, there was no real way of knowing if any of them were real, which is why she had decided to go on an excavation to The Hylands, an area that had only been mad accessible recently. Dressed in cutsie winter excavation gear matching her normal "Halloween-ish" attire, Majolica and a few of her bipedal witch frogs had trekked into the Hylands and created a cabin to act as their home base. Due to them being few in number, the group often left the Cabin unattended during their daily explorations, which was of little consequence as the Hylands, as far as they knew, were quite barren. "Hehehe, alright Frogs we made some good headway today. I think we're getting close! Hehehe, let's head back to the camp!" It was a long trek back to camp, but Majolica had gained some valuable information today, so she quite pleased with the way the day had gone. Riding atop her broomstick as the Frogs schlepped through the snow, a sudden roar stopped the party dead in their tracks. Huddling together, the frogs looked worried. "Hehehe, what was that! Was that it!" Out from a snowbank strolled Craig Cat. Ferociously it stalked towards them. There would be no taming this beast and taking it back to the cottage. This cat was out for blood, and from the looks of it, it could easily overpower all of the frogs. Majolica sighed, it was cold and she wanted to go back to the cabin where it was warm. One of the frogs pulled a knife from its bag, but Majolica held out her hand to stop it from doing anything rash. "I'll take care of this one, hehe. I don't want this to take too long... hehehe." While still sitting on her broom, Majolica held out her hand. ”Error Silly equals Error zero Error Xtreme Plumpy minus two Radical over Witchy Optometrist squared!" Dark writhing shadows pooled in the palm of her hand. Sensing the danger, the Craig cat began a dead sprint to catch its prey before it could retaliate. The Witch Frogs watched nervously waited for The Grand Witch to fire her spell, but she only grinned holding the mass of black magic in her hand. Closer the cat came then, lightning fast it leapt. Claws loose, and fangs aimed at Majolica's throat it rushed through the air, until... "Avada Cadabra!" In a split second a massive beam of swirling shadows surged from the grand witch's palm. After the beam finally dissipated, the cat was gone. Not even a whisker remained. A long black streak now marked the ground making it seem as if a portion of the world had simply been removed. Snow began to fall quietly covering the stain. "Hehehe, now let's get back quickly! It's starting to snow, hehe, and I don't want to get caught in it!" The Grand Witch and her frogs hustled back to their camp only to see the door slightly ajar. "Hehehe, did one of you forget to lock the door?" Majolica looked back to her frogs to see all of the shaking their head no. "Hehehe, one of you is lying..." One of the frogs appeared to be breaking out in a sweat and looked away. "We'll talk about this later...hehe..." Opening the door slowly thinking she would see another Craig Cat, she was surprised to see a wounded girl huddled against the wall. "Hehehe... huh? Who are you? Hehehe." @Eryl Justice
The world was spinning all around Eryl as she panted. She was lightheaded and dizzy, it was hard to tell if that was from the exertion, the pain, or the blood loss. The redhead knew a few healing spells that would at least stave off the crimson flow from bite the massive cat had inflicted on her arm. “A—ah—azel Iratem,” Eryl muttered, trying to curl her shaking free hand in the correct symbol. Sparks of energy formed at her fingertips, but they dissipated and the wound remained unhealed. Focus. You can do this. The redhead grit her teeth, the pain was by far, too realistic, throwing her concentration off. She tried again, but her fingers couldn’t curl in the right combinations, and her words were too shaky. Eryl slumped into a heap, watching her health bar slowly go down. She guessed this was it, she was going to die and have to respawn somewhere else with some sort of fear of cats or mountains or something like that. The woman only had one hope left. She fished out some gauze from her pack and tightly wrapped her wound. The blood quickly soaked through the layers of bandages, but at least it stopped the bleeding and eased her pain just a little. Out of the sack she fished a potion she had concocted for just a time as this. Eryl was unsure whether or not it would actually work, it was a spell she had never done before but in the least—she would have to try. She was desperate. There was a 50/50 chance it could incinerate her, knock her out, make her high as a kite, or just flat out kill her instantly. The green, bubbling liquid went down her throat, leaving a stinging feeling. Her arm was suddenly flooded with a different kind of pain, a fiery burning agony. Eryl cried out sharply, grabbing her arm. It hurt but under the bandage her flesh was mending at a rapid pace. The door behind Eryl creaked open and the redhead heard the girlish giggles and the question follow. Zapped of energy or will, Eryl pushed herself up against the wall. Her dark brown eyes couldn’t believe what she saw. She had seen some strange stuff, but this girl in front of her took the cake for one of the oddest of them all. She wasn’t mean or horrifying, she was actually pretty young and innocent looking, even if she was surrounded by a bunch of frogs and other what-nots. “This your cabin?” Eryl asked, it was probably an obvious question with an obvious answer. “Sorry for getting blood on your floor. I-uh,” she glanced at her arm, “Ran into some trouble. I’m Eryl.” The redhead pushed off the wall to her feet. She felt woozy from the movement, and needed a second to steady herself. There wasn’t enough blood to go around for her, since a fair bit was on the floor. When the black spots disappeared, she gave an I’m-ok-its-under-control smirk. “What are you and your merry band up to out here?” @Grand Witch Majolica
"He... he... that's a lot of blood. Frogs, one of you bough a mop right? Hehe." One of the frogs nodded, and walked into the room. In the corner of the room, stashed behind some bags and boxes was a frog-sized mop and pale. Carefully moving the luggage aside, the frog retrieved the mop and bucket. Looking around the room, he began scratching his head. Knowingly, Majolica addressed the frog. "Hehehe, fill it up with snow and boil it for water. We'll use that to mop, hehehe." The frog nodded in agreement then waddled out the door. "Well, hehehe, no real harm done I guess. Hehe, are you going to live...? Was it one of the Craig Cats that attacked you? Hehehe, I ran into a real angry one a little while ago. Hehe, I had to blast him into oblivion. Dumb old cat, hehehe. No one lunges at Grand Witch Majolica! Hehehe, also I'm not exactly a healer and, hehehe, that's a lot of blood on the floor. So hopefully, you can heal yourself some, hehehe. Well anyway, like I said, I am Grand Witch Majolica! The most powerful witch in the whole world! Hehehe! And these..." Majolica pointed to the frogs now moving furniture to make it easier to mop. Though funny looking, they were apparently adept at this kind of work. As one of the frogs filled the bucket with snow, he passed it to another that heated the bucket over the fire. Once the water had melted, another frog placed it in front of the frog doing the mopping. Moving as a unit, they quickly and efficiently cleaned the blood off the floor making it look as it did before the incident. "Are my Witch Frog followers! Hehehe! They're not great in a fight, but they're good at this type of thing! Hehehe!" Now that the floor was clean, one of the frogs went to the luggage and pulled out a canteen. Unscrewing the lid, he waddled towards Eryl and handed it to her. From the smell of it, it was definitely fruit juice. After handing off the canteen, the frog waddled back towards Majolica. "Anyway, as Grand Witch it's important that I know about everything in the world, hehehe, especially legends! Things about powerful magics, artifacts, and monsters! Hehehe, I really want to have a giant monster pet! Hehehe, if I had that then people far and wide would know that not only is Grand Witch Majolica a master of black magic, hehehe, but also the subduer of legendary beasts! Hehehe, which is why right now we're tracking down a mythical beast that's supposed to live in this area!" @Eryl Justice
Majolica was right, it was a lot of blood pooled on the floor. Eryl stepped out of the way as the frog got to work. There were—well lots of them. That would take some getting used to. “I think I will push through,” Eryl answered. She felt worse for wear, but she wasn't flat-lining and that was a plus. “Sure I can. I like to think of myself as a harmacist. I can heal it and deal it. But, I am a bit better at healing than dealing until I up my sword skill some." Eryl sighed. That was, of course, no small part in why she had come to the Hylands. And as a result, she had ended up almost dying and finding out that running was a pretty great skill too. The redhead flexed her hand, seeing how it felt after the wound. Her flesh had completely healed over, but the she wasn’t about to risk it and take her bandage off. For now it remained wrapped in the blood soaked gauze. Eryl gave her health bar a quick glance. It was steady, the bleed damage that had been inflicted wasn’t active any more. When she had generated more energy, Eryl would probably fix her arm up some more and give herself more health, but for now she had to pace herself. “Yeah that’s probably the same one,” Eryl said stooping to grab her long sword with her good arm. “He was pretty damn angry. I just stumbled on their crag apparently and they followed me pretty damn far. I got in over my head, but I guess that’s what I get for questing alone like a pleeb, huh? Thanks for taking care of it.” Eryl took the canteen with a thankful nod from the frog and quickly took several gulps. It felt cool, refreshing and it really hit the spot. “Maybe I can help you out then,” Eryl said handing the canteen back to the frog. “It seems you could use an extra set of hands—or at least a healer in case your froggies get caught in the crossfire. And if your looking for a giant monster, I think I saw some tracks up further on the mountain. They were big. I can show you where they are at, if it suits you. It’s the least I can do to thank you for saving my life.” And in the deeper machinations of her mind, Eryl already had wheels turning. If this witch was even half as powerful as she claimed to be, then it would help her to have this woman as a friend, ally, or in the least, a semi-good acquaintance. It didn’t have to be anything hugely loyal, Eryl didn’t do massive loyalty, but moreso someone who would be cool with swapping favors if they occasion arose. And, in the least, she’d come to grind out some gold and MP, it was a chance to grind some. @Grand Which Majolica
"Hehehe, so you want tome come along?" Majolica looked Eryl up and down. The woman was still a bit worse for wear, but if she felt she could handle the trek, then why not? The Grand Witch wasn't exactly sure what she would be up against, and the frogs were explorers not really fighters. Truly, what strange creatures these frogs were. "Hehehe, well if you feel up to it, then feel free! We could always just another pair of hands, hehehe." Majolica made a slight sweeping motion with her hand. One of the seats at the small table in the cabin scooted out as if offering Eryl a place to sit. Majolica sat opposite the seat and took a book out of her bag. "Sit and have a look, hehehe. Now, the legend is of The Frost Demon of Vifal. Hehehe, a long time ago... hehehe... let's start over. Once upon a time, hehe, there was a little girl from the village of Vifal. Due to constant warring with other nearby towns, hehehe, the village and the surrounding area was a very dangerous and very poor place. Hehe, During the holiday season, hehehe, the girl's family said she could have one present. Even though they were poor, the little girl's family was poor, hehe, they loved her very much and made a big effort to get her one thing she really wanted every year. This year, hehehe, when her parents asked her what she wanted, the little girl nervously said a kitten. This trouble the parents greatly, hehe, as there was only one supply line in and out of the village and it brought nothing but basic requirements. Before, the father or the mother had made the yearly present by hand, hehe, but now that wasn't possible. Even though they weren't sure if they could, they decided that they would do whatever it took to get their daughter a kitten. One day, hehe, there was a surprise attack on the village. All the men were called to action and the girl's father rushed out to meet the oncoming attack. The battle was bloody and many died, hehe, but somehow the father survived. After the battle, as he rested in the snow a small white kitten, almost invisible in the snow, ran up to him. Hehehe, it was like a miracle! For days and nights he had prayed to the gods to send him a kitten for his beloved daughter, hehehe, and now after a long and bloody battle, his prayers had been answered. Rushing home, he greeted his daughter with her new kitten. The girl cried tears of joy when she held the kitten in her hands. Hehehe, from that day onward, the kitten and the little girl were always together. They played, slept, and ate together. That was until one disastrous night. Unbeknownst to the town, hehe, the enemy that had lost the previous battle had been plotting their revenge. Month's had passed in relative peace, hehe, until unexpectedly one night they struck. Caught unaware, the village was razed to the ground and everyone killed, hehe, including the little girl. The kitten having seen his beloved family murdered grew hateful. As months passed it's body grew into a twisted form. Hehe, Claws and fangs of sharpest ice, fur like steel, and a taste for human blood. One night, hehe, the enemy village was attacked by now monstrous kitten. It tore through the village devouring everyone. After it was finished it continued on to the next village, and the next until there was nothing left. Now, hehe, people claim to see the monstrous cat here and there, eating a moose, hunting people that wander off alone, and roaring on moonlit nights still mourning the loss of its family." Majolica closed the book and grinned directly at Eryl. "Hehehe, and that is what we are hunting! Whether the story is true or not doesn't matter! Hehehe, there have been recent sightings of the monster in this area! Hehe, actually more than just sightings, there are reports of a murder! A hunter was found in the area torn into scraps... hehehe. Whether it was the beast or something else, we don't' know yet, hehe but that's why we're here to find out! Hehe. So... are you in?" Dishing out a sly wink, Majolica waited for Eryl's answer. @Eryl Justice
The redhead followed Majolica to the small table and plopped in the chair. It felt nice to have somewhere to sit after all that running, instead of lolling around on the floor or standing in place. Her armor scraped against the wooden chair as she leaned back. Her body may have been relaxed, but her dark brown eyes glistened with keep attentiveness as she listened. It sounded like the most effective kind of way to make a monster, losing everything you wanted and forgetting every kind of hope. There were so many thoughts that entered her head as she followed along with the story. Eryl wondered if the gods knew what would happen and put the kitten there anyway or if it was just an oversite. Eryl rubbed her forearm where it had been bit. She wondered if the Craig cats like the one that had attacked her were related to this monster they were coming for. It would make some sort of sense if they were the descendants of such a horrific monstrosity. But that was just a guess. It sounded like in the story of this young girl, her family truly loved her. Eryl felt some pangs of wistful desire in her soul. She didn’t know why it seemed this story hit so close to home. Maybe because she wished her dad would love her even just a fraction of as much as he loved his job, almost like the way that this father loved their daughter. She guessed they couldn’t all have what they wanted. “So what you’re saying is,” Eryl said leaning forward, “We’re going to go against something fueled by pure rage and hate that loves to commit mass murder and destruction, and is now on the lose without any abandon left to stop it?” She bit her lip and cocked her head to the side, “I’m in.” She propped herself up by one elbow on the table, “Since you want to try and capture it, that’s going to make things more problematic than just killing it. But I am sure we can make our way through it. "I'm no ranger can see two possible plans we could execute." Eryl bit her lip wistfully. Where was @Destiny Divebird when you needed her? She sure was a clutz but somehow somehow she managed to live through it all. That said something. "First, we can find its lair and try to capture it there. Its sure to return sometime, and almost certainly we can find it that way. My problem with that is, the monster would have the homefield advantage.” She leaned back again, giving Majolica a chance to think the possibility over. Her fingers reached into the leather pouch on her sword belt, retrieving two small metallic spheres. She rotated them between her fingers, letting them crisscross her knuckles as she spoke, “The second is to lay and wait at a village. If its known to come out and slaughter whole villages, then we can count on that almost as much as we can count on its lair. Of course, we get the homefield advantage, but we run the risk of it not happening, unless—you had a psychic on hand.” Eryl smirked, flicking both metal balls towards the table. They exploded in a burst of energy, sending violet, magenta, crimson, and cyan sparks of energy into the air. Where they resolved, a small porta could be seen, illuminating a village at night. The place was being torn to shreds, houses were smashed in, some were on fire. There were bodies lying in the street, and a shadowy massive figure burst between the snow-clad streets, ripping the few survivors to shreds who dared to try to escape. “Too bad you just have me,” Eryl said drily. Her eyes narrowed looking at the image. She held her hand out, it paused, “I recognize that rock,” she flicked her fingers, the image amplified on a strange looking bounder in the background. Through the natural efforts of snow itself, the salt-and-pepper coloured stone had been worn away to look like a 6 foot tall waterfall made of pure stone. “I saw that going up the mountain, if the village isn’t too far from there, we could travel and be there by nightfall.” Her eyes flicked up to Majolica, “Its your call, try to find the den or try to save the village?” @Grand Witch Majolica
Majolica watched as Eryl's magic flared up on the table. She didn't realize Eryl had any magical prowess... this was interesting. She'd never met anyone who used magic like this, at least openly to where she could tell. It was a very useful gift. Hehehe, future sight and far sight, huh... hehehe someone like that would be a useful addition to the team. Hehehe, the Witch Ops would always been one step ahead... I'll have to make a mental note! Heheh! Majolica smirked the answer to Eryl's question was an easy one. "Hehehe, I am The Grand Witch and Commander of the Witch Battalion, hehehe, a league of dark heroes sworn to protect the realm and her people. Hehehe, if there's a town in danger, hehehe, then of course I will intercede and save them! One day, I'll be the future ruler of the whole world! Until then, it's my job to protect all the people of this world until they finally realize how great I am and vote to make me their eternal ruler! Hehehe! But, even after I'm ruler I'll keep protecting them, hehe, they're my darling loyal subjects after all." Majolica looked to her frogs. "Hehehe, frogs! We set out soon, began preparing! The frogs nodded in unison and began gathering supplies. Ropes, tents, buckets, shovels, oil, rations, fresh water, and everything else that they might possibly need. Turning back to Eryl, Majolica grinned. "You can lead the way right? Hehehe! Let's hunt a monster!" @Eryl Justice
Of all the ways to use scrying, or introduce that you could, Eryl supposed that was in the top 5. She would keep that sort of thing in her back pocket, ya know, for later. In case she had to do the same for someone else again, or if she just wanted to. Eryl was still figuring out who the shakers and movers were in this game. Apparently, this was one of them too. Maybe getting bit by that damn Craig cat was actually a pretty great ace for her after all. She guessed this Grand Which was one of those nega-heroes that use the negative and dark stuff for the right reasons. Eryl smirked, that story line was always one of her favorites to play. “Glad your heart is in the right place,” Eryl said, “We could use more benevolent dictators around here willing to stand up for the little guys and gals.” Eryl checked her health bar. It seemed alright enough for now, hanging on at about 3/4ths full. She had a slight debuff on her left arm because of the lingering effects of the bite. Eventually it would go away, but for now she just had to focus on getting to the monster cat with this odd woman. Eryl still wasn’t quite sure what to make of her just yet. The chair scrapped the floor as the redhead rose and made her way to the door. Outside things were still cold and a little less than hospitable with the snow. She looked around at the mountainside for a second to get her bearing. She felt outwards just a little, letting her psychic abilities give her a gentle nudge towards the stone waterfall. It was better safe than sorry, after all. When she was sure, Eryl strode confidently into the snow, her leather boots making clear impressions in the snow after her. The journey took them slightly uphill along one of the mountain’s ridges. “Best I can tell, we aren’t too far from the village,” she said, “All things considered, we are lucky its on the same mountain,” she paused, stepping over a snow-covered boulder. “So, your Witch Battalion, where are you based out of?” @Grand Witch Majolica
Following behind @Eryl Justice atop her broomstick, Majolica kept a weary eye out for any would be monsters. After all, Eryl had just recently been bleeding out. It wouldn't due to have her blind sighted by another ferocious Craig cat or some other beast stalking through the snow. Majolica was very thankful that she had her broomstick as they moved onwards. Trudging through the snow was a pain and she didn't want to ruin her booties. The frogs behind the two adventurers schlepped behind carrying the gear. Because they were frogs, it was difficult to determine what exactly they were thinking, but it could probably be assumed they were jealous of the broomstick. "Hehe, good. I don't think the frogs would be very happy if we had to travel all the way across the mountain, hehehe. The Witch Ops? Hehehe, our home base is in Brisshal! Hehehe, I have a cottage deep in the forest and I live there with all my frogs. Hehe, we have meetings there and sometimes people can and visit, and we do Witch Ops initiations there and in the darker part of the forest! Hehehe. I like it because it's in a secluded part of a busy area since that's where a lot of new adventurers end up. Hehehe, it's good for recruitment, and it's fun because you get to meet all kinds of new people! Hehehe! One of our other members just opened a restaurant in the city though, so sometimes we hang out there too! Hehehe, I'm very popular so I'm welcomed everywhere I go? Usually.... hehe..."
Eryl nodded as she listened to Majolica’s description as the reasoning to why she had set up camp where she did. It seemed like the most ideal place; centralized, easy recruitment, good training, and a great place for creepy initiations. If the redhead was going to set up a secret society of benevolent ner-do-wells, that’d be the prerequisites she would have looked for. Her ears perked up when Majolica said one of their members had just opened a restaurant. “It wouldn’t happen to be that curry place?” Eryl asked, “Stinky something?” She had attended its opening day, it seemed alright enough. She might step by again when they were less packed and she was less hangry. The redhead descended down a ridge and looked upward to the mountainside, observing where they were. Her eyes alighted on a strange ridge that was shaped almost like an arm. It trailed down to right in front of them. Her brown eyes followed it, tracing its shape against the horizon. She pointed ahead, “That looks familiar. The Stone Waterfall should be just past there.” Eryl shrugged slightly, “You have the Witch Ops, I have had a notion to make something like that,” she paused thinking the idea through. She didn’t know too much about this Majolica, but Eryl did know she was powerful and appeared benevolent enough. It didn’t seem dangerous to tell her this, if anything, she might be one of the people who could help her reach her goal and know anyone who could be interested in the idea. “I would like to gather a band of fighters. Misfits, if you will, that don’t exactly belong in anyone’s group. By themselves, they probably wouldn’t be the best—or even close. But together they could be something more. A group of heroes, unafraid of anything, unbound to any group but their own, seeking adventure only for the sake of the adventure itself.” People like me, I suppose, Eryl thought to herself. “But I’m not too sure there would be enough interest in that for the effort.” @Grand Witch Majolica
"Hehehe, you mean Ivan's curry? Hehehe, yep that's it. I don't know why he called it 'Stinky Ivan's' the dummy, hehe but the food is good. They even made me a special candy curry! Hehehe, it was very delicious!" As they kept walking, @Eryl Justice began explaining that like Majolica, she wanted to form her own group of companions. It made Majolica think of her earlier days when she was new to the game and spent most of her time alone traveling the wilderness. "Hehehe, well, finding people isn't easy. It took me a long time before anyone even wanted to be my friend! Hehehe, I would travel around, meet people, hunt mushrooms, and drink cocoa but everyone seemed to ignore me, hehe. I even invited people to events I created for everyone to have fun, and no one would show up, hehe." Majolica stopped her story reflecting on those early days. They had been difficult. She hated being ignored, after all and had been alone most of the time. Though in retrospect, maybe that had been a good thing. Being on her own had taught her hone her skills. It had made her stronger, and now, after all she had gone through, it seemed like all of her hard work had paid off. After all, she had a good team of loyal companions, and also happened to be one of the strongest practitioners of black magic in the world. Majolica smiled and continued with her story. "Hehehe, But eventually, I started to make myself noticed! I joined the Lion's Pride guild and met people! I showed off all the powerful witch magics I could use, and helped defeat some huge monsters! After that, hehehe, people started to get interested in me, which is when my Witch Ops began recruiting and building itself up! Now we're a team of dark heroes that protect the world while also having fun! Hehehe! But, it's a lot of work too. When you become the leader of a group, hehehe, your companions become your responsibility! Especially if you're the strongest one, hehe. So you have to protect them, while also giving them space to grow! Hehehe, that's what a leader does! Hehe, but then as the group grows everyone gets to know each other, and everyone begins to mesh. Hehe, you learn each other's strengths and weaknesses and can make up for them! Hehehe, and that's when you everyone gets really powerful! Hehe, when everyone works in sync to become a real team, the team becomes unstoppable! Hehehe, take it from me, The Grand Witch, hehe, treat your companions right and you'll always have allies!" @Eryl Justice
Eryl nodded, “Yeah, that’s the one. He sounds like a real chum.” The young witch seemed to have a story like what Eryl was in. She was still in that first phase, looking and searching for where exactly it was that she belonged—forming allies. Eryl wasn’t sure if people were ignoring her exactly, they might have been. But Eryl knew she wasn’t exactly playing the main character in anyone’s story just yet. She hadn’t found close companions, or anyone who would keep her, if she had a term for it. For Eryl, it was about forming allies at this point. “That bites,” Eryl said when Majolica said she had made events no one showed up for. “I hate it when that happens. I played a lot of other VR games before this one, the worst thing is when no one would or could play ball.” Majolica had joined a large guild. Eryl smirked, she supposed the best place to meet people was in a crowd of course. She had always been more of a loner type, venturing off on her own. She didn’t get too close to people. Ever, in the real world or in the virtual. She was always the new girl in school, since her dad had moved so much with work. A sense of why bother had developed in her real world persona. They were all passing trains on the platform, in the next month or two she could uproot and move to a different nation all together. In her virtual, things weren’t all too different. She was more confident, more outgoing, braver, but certainly no more popular. “Sounds about right,” Eryl agreed, “in games like this, people are worth more than gold. You can’t role play these things alone,” she paused, correcting herself, “well you could but its not as fun. And you don’t make friends being a butthole. I try to be a team player, no one likes that guy.” Was she fun to be around? Was she a fun person? The redhead furrowed her brow. She wasn’t sure, she certainly wouldn’t call herself that, and most people probably wouldn’t either. She was too intense, too serious, too stoic. Her sense of humor was sardonic, hardy and sometimes dark to morbid. She wouldn’t win any socialite awards. Sometimes that was good, it let her see the bigger picture. That was why she selected the Astral magic. Other times, it honestly sucked. “I will take that under advisement. Thanks.” They crested the ridge at last. Before them lay the small village that had been foreseen in the scrying not but a few minutes ago. It was vibrant, and for now, alive. There were no signs of fire, damage or danger and soft sounds of joy carried over in the air. Small children were playing in the snow, tossing the fluff at each other in the snow. Down the rest of the ridge was the rock waterfall they had seen. It looked like water itself had been turned to black and white stone in mid flow down the mountainside. Legends surrounded it of course. Some said it was the activity of a magic volcano during the mountain’s formation, some said that it was the work of a powerful mage. “Looks like we made it in plenty of time,” Eryl said tilting her head towards Majolica. She rested her hand on the hilt of her sword. Her eyes looked over the surrounding area. The village was nestled in a nice little pass between two slopes of ridges leading up towards the mountain’s peak. Eryl pointed at the two sides of the pass, “It looks like the ideal places to come through is here and here. If I were to say there’s an easier way, it’d be down towards that way,” she gestured towards the lower end, near the base, “But it’d be hard to tell certainly without some divination. Any ideas?” @Grand Witch Majolica
Majolica studied the path and the landscape. Typically, Majolica would use a mixture of deceit and raw power to eliminate her enemies. She was decent with illusion magic after all, and that coupled with her mastery of black magic made a palpable combo... but she didn't think that would work to any great affect here. If she were stronger, she could cloak the town in invisibility when the monster showed to protect it. But that wasn't really an option, which meant that all she really had was raw power. Though, she could definitely distract the beast with her illusions, while also pummeling it with curses and black magic. There was also her broom that she could enchant to help fight the beast autonomously. Honestly, the beast probably didn't stand a chance in hell, but she wanted to be sure that her newer companion also got a chance to get some good licks in. Of course, the town and it's people's safety were also a top priority. "Hehehe, I would say we can each take a side, hehe. But you're already hurt right? Hehehe. What if we position ourselves in the middle? Hehehe, that way we can quickly get to the monster before it can reach the town? Hehehe, we could also tell the town's people to lock themselves in their houses and put up any fortifications they have. Hehehe, but I don't know how much time we have until the monster shows... hehehe." Majolica scratched her head in thought, then came up with an idea. "Hehehe, I'll have the frogs begin setting up a barrier out of snow. They won't be much use in the fight anyway, hehehe, but that way then town will have some sort of buffer in case the monster does start heading that way! Hehehe. Unfortunately, I don't have any divination abilities so all I can really is plan, and when the monster shows blast it! Hehehe. Though, if I enchant my broom to life, it can help us to fight the monster, so at least it will be a three on one. Hehehe! Not that the monster has a chance anyway... hehe. So what do you think, hehehe, any strategies you think would work? Hehehe, I usually just take the most direct path to victory, since I'm the all powerful Grand Witch. Hehehe." @Eryl Justice
Eryl nodded. Waiting in the center was probably the best plan. She didn’t want to get caught one on one with this beast. Her arm had healed up fairly well from the Craig cat, but she was still running with a slight penalty on it. Teamwork was going to be the best way to take this beast down. And she was right, the townspeople needed to be warned ahead of time. It would minimize the loss of life. When she stretched out the woman couldn’t feel which end the monster would begin at. It was like there were equal chances either way. “Good thinking,” Eryl said as the Frogs went off to begin to build their barriers. “We will just have to wait and see what the monster decides. I might as well go to warn the townspeople.” Eryl looked down the rocky water fall. It was sheer drop, and she wasn’t exactly a great rock-wall climber. When she had tried before a few times in the real world, it had never ended well. The redhead sighed before springing into the air. Her body looped in a graceful summersault, twisting and spinning before landing in the snow softly. She dusted the snow off her armor once she had landed. It was a good thing she had picked the acrobatics skill. Marching forward she made her way towards the center of town. “Move inside! You are about to be attacked by a massive monster!” Eryl shouted, “Everyone go inside, quickly! We will protect you from it, but we need you to go inside.” “Ey, who are you to tell us what to do?” a stocky woodsman challenged from the other side of the street. “I’m pretty sure we can take care of ourselves.” Eryl turned her head, giving him a cold look, “I’m the woman with a big ass sword, that’s who. If you want to die, that’s your problem. But stay out of our way and the way of others.” The man’s eyes held the defiance for a moment longer, before he submitted, sulking away into his cottage. Word traveled quickly of the impending danger as Eryl moved through the streets, giving warning. Soon they were empty, Eryl made her way back to the center of town. She wasn’t sure how this would end. She could die, she might make it through ok. Sometimes the coding in this game was so realistic, it was hard to tell that it was still just a game. She planted her feet, wait with Majolica for the beast to arrive. The sun was beginning to set, shifting the blue sky into a mix of golden and crimson huges. The pale snow was soon shifted into a scarlet color. Silence settled on the streets. To Eryl’s left there was a crash, followed by a scream. The redhead felt a shot of adrenaline. She gripped her sword with her good hand, “That must be it!” Her eyes flashed as she looked to Majolica, “Let’s go!” She sprinted away towards the sound, leaving fresh tracks in the snowy streets. @Grand Witch Majolica
