How had she ended here again… the Felis sighed softly, one hand scratching behind her ear as Milah gave it some thought. For once the brunette was alone, her twin out today on a medical appointment with their papa IRL. Amelia had stayed behind, seemingly to study for a future test, but the teen was done with the material faster than expected and had found herself bored as a result. So she had decided to log into TerraSphere, just for a little bit really, but one thing had lead to another and… well, now she was at a tavern (an empty looking one she might add) called Growling Guppy and feeling quite out of place.

I’m Milah, it’s nice to meet you too...

Amber eyes stared at the mug with golden brown liquid placed in front of her, though the Felis doesn’t reach for it. Curious as she might be (for what underage kid isn’t curious about forbidden things) Milah was certain the first time she tried alcohol shouldn’t be on her own inside a game while getting ready to depart with perfect strangers to… whatever it was that this lady wanted them to do, really.

A-any ideas about what might be causing people, especially experienced ones, to lose their way around the forest?

Milah tried her best to keep her focus on Caroline as she piped up first among the group after the woman finished explaining why she had gathered them today It was not lost to the teen that she was the only girl and the group, and probably the youngest one too. These were all unfamiliar faces, none that she’d ever worked before, though a part of her hoped they would be agreeable company as they worked on solving this forest mystery.

Any wildlife, creatures or plants, that could cause people to get disoriented? Or do you have any folklore tales that speak of such things happening before?

The Felis agreed with Caroline’s view on things, people used to trekking on a familiar terrain day in and out wouldn’t get lost easily… not unless there was a sudden change in the geography that caused an accident or something that was messing around with them. Otherwise it simply made no sense, so their questioning and investigation should be geared towards finding clues and figuring out what was causing this in the first place.

It was only logical then to ask the NPC about anything that might come to mind; after all Milah knew nothing of Finweald and its surroundings--and researching this information on her own would take waaay to much time. Picking at Caroline’s knowledge with questions would probably be easier, and wasn’t this how quests were supposed to work anyways…?

 

Wilderness. Wild animals, wilder stories. Hell, Destiny had a stack of rumors and reports from Finweald on her metaphorical desk as big as a dictionary, and that was just the tip of the iceberg. Was no wonder the crown had ignored the letters, the pleas for help—when a city cried wolf too many times, even a king would loose his flock to wander.

Still, even an unbelievable story can catch headlines if enough people shout for it. If anyone had come to investigate, though, the old wives’ tales and the larger-than-life hunting stories must have buried the truth of the mystery. If there ever was one.

The mystery of this forest wasn’t the unknown itself. To Des, it was more the sense that in one of those fliers, one of those posters, one of those women rocking back and forth on the street corner or those friend-of-a-friend-told-me’s was the answer. The truth. Buried under a thousand voices.

At the end of whatever lay ahead, one of those people was going to cry I told you so—I warned you—but nobody listened! and they would be right.

Armed with a thousand rumors and one slightly-crumpled ad which had led her to the Growling Guppy, Destiny Divebird stepped through the door and immediately walked into a table.

“Ow! Dammit!” That taught her to read and walk at the same time—the lanky Yladian doubled over with a wheeze, feeling like she’d just received a swift kick to the gut. “God damn, someone tell me this’s the right place for the meetup. Y’all’re still open, right?”

The ranger's stomach growled as she sidled around the table and sat down at the bar instead. She’d been hoping to order something from the kitchen, but since the place looked practically deserted… hell, she might have to sit tight on an empty stomach. A pint of ale on an empty stomach sounded like the kinda start Des didn’t want to have on the day (much as she’d like to) but hell, go figure.

She took one sip from the flagon before setting it aside and nodding at the barkeep, eyes half-lidded. “With you there, Caroline. Been hearin' a lot of wild tales,” she said. “Any one of ‘em you think hits closer to the mark than others? I hear stories and see the quest-boards, but ain’t none of it stands out to an outsider.” Something evil… Destiny hitched her mouth to the side, trying not to grimace. That’s not too promising. But a rescue mission was a rescue mission, even in dangerous conditions, and she was determined to see it through.

Not that any of that showed on the surface—the Yladian’s long, androgynous face seemed relaxed and (yes) maybe a little pained. “How do the rest of y’all feel about this one?” she asked casually, propping up her chin. Ripples passed across the surface of her mug, untouched but for her first taste. “Name’s Destiny, by the way. So we walk in there: what’s our plan to get back out?” She nodded her head at @Milah , who’d asked about wildlife and plants. “Sure. Specially if there is something set to scramble our sense of direction.” She leaned back, rubbing the back of her head. “Sprinkle some breadcrumbs?”

 

Morpheus knew what was happening, he warned people but they just called him crazy old man but now they suffered. While the others might have only just arrived Morpheus did not recall when he had shown up to the location, how long he had stood, with perfect stillness against the wall. Wood creaking, old bones cracking was the first sign the crazy old man was starting to move.

"I Know who did it... It was... THE TREES!"

The elderly voice seemed to rise up from nowhere, but slowly it seemed like a section of the wall started to mold into the shape of armor. slowly moving away form his standing spot while clad fully in his Wooden armor as he looked to the group. He was always one with conspiracy theories, and today was no different. Storm grey eyes hidden in the shadows cast from his helm as he looked the group over.

"I told them all it was the trees. they are all alive, gaint wooden humanoids connected under the earth, every one of them. They waited for our weakest moment, and now they gonna take the world over!"

If any of them could see Morpheus's face it was the classic look of paranoia most had when they got called a lunatic. Slamming his right hand to the bar as he overlooked everyone and then went back to his rambling sorts.

"But it is OK... I have spent days gaining their trust, slowly sneaking into their ranks... I know what tree leads them... and we can launch a preemptive strike while they still steal our own to gather information!"

Morpheus quickly moved his gaze between everyone present, while what he said was not likely true he fully believed the trees had begun their up-rise from the earthen slumber. Sick of mankind cutting their kin down for homes and to burn away. It was the AGE OF NATURE Machines!

 

Noah’s face seemed to be the only one that had a smile on it in the spooky tarven, though the barmaid seemed rather friendly. Perhaps those bags under her eyes were natural, or more than likely it was caused by whatever had been plaguing these woods. Noah took a sip from the pint she gave him and let out an instant sign of gratification. The group that assembled seemed like they were rather interesting, it would be an adventure and that was all that mattered to Noah.


“Well I haven’t noticed too much but I’m not in this neck of the woods often I guess. Though if y’all heard some howling, I have my familiar outside and he’s a direwolf, think that could be the cause? He does getting rather rowdey when he’s out hunting.”


He took another sip and heard one of the group members introducing themselves. After trying to swallow whatever was in his mouth a bit too quickly, Noah spoke up to introduce himself. “Ah sorry, I’m Noah and my wolf out there is Greyhowl. I mainly specialize in range and hunting skill set, though I have a few other tricks up my sleeve.” He said with a frothy mustache covered his upper lip.


”I’m not too worried about getting lost, whenever I have in the past I somehow just end up in a place I was meant to be. Just got to keep on keeping on you know? Then you’re never truely lost. Though I guess if push comes to shove, Greyhowl’s got a decent nose. I’m sure he could get us back to this inn at the very least.”


He turned his attention to the NPC, @Lexiichuu Ms. Caroline. “So ma’am, can you tell us anything that sticks out? Any of the townsfolk seen a glimpse of a beast? Piss off a witch lately? What’s the scoop? I’m sure evil just doesn’t roll in overnight, there had to be some sort of buildup or event that triggered these happenings.”

 

A breadcrumb trail would be something worth considering for sure to get back… though not literally, of course.

Her attention had turned to @Destiny Divebird as the player spoke, a nod in agreement given. If people were getting lost in these woods there was a good change they could get lost too. The sudden voice that crept up from the wall behind Milah was enough to pause the debate, startling the Felis as the fur on her tail puffed in response and she glared in response at @Morpheus. Her nose crunched up in response to the absurd claims the wood covered player was making, visibly rolling her eyes though Milah barely managed to hold her tongue back.

A nod was given in @Noah Krane’s direction before the teen turned her attention back to Caroline as she addressed them all. Quietly her mind ticked out the story from Old Lady Emma and Henry, both seeming too foolish or old to really have anything to do with the recent events. For some reason, though, the flashing lights mentioned by the baker’s daughter caught Milah’s attention.

Do you know if she’s seen those flashes every sundown… or only before or after people disappear?

Sure, an experience tracker wouldn’t get loss by normal obstacles that might phase less experienced wanderers… but no one could claim to be an expert at tracking or avoiding magic, right…? Besides, this was a game--regardless of how real it felt--so it made sense that a quest would be linked to some magical stuff and whatnot.

At least it did inside of Milah’s mind.

What do you mean by ‘rightly human’? Could you describe them more? Did anyone else around here got to speak with them more than a few passing words?

That particular part of Caroline’s speech caught the Felis attention more than anything else, tilting her head to the side in confusion. She wasn’t about to say that these people might be the root cause of it all, but it wouldn’t hurt to get more information about them...

 

“Aw, hell,” Des said as part of the woodwork detached itself and creaked towards the bar, pronouncing the trees themselves the perpetrators of the disappearances. Alarmed, the Yladian snatched up her beer and cheese plate as @Morpheus hit the table. “Hey!” She popped a bite into her mouth, chewing it quickly as if she expected the old man to hurl her lunch out the window and say the trees took that too. “Well that’s it! Y’all heard the guy—trees. Go figure,” she said, still holding her food and drink safely in her lap.

Apparently Caroline had heard this wild spiel before, because she chided the man before answering Destiny’s question. Ice-colored eyes attentive, the woman took another sip of ale and continued to eat, listening silently to the three accounts. Flashing lights could be anything, and it ain’t easy to solve a curse, ‘specially when you weren’t the ones who got the curse placed in the first place. If that was the case, hell, they should be dragging Lady Emma outta her parlor and shoving her into the woods to fix her own grandpa’s mess.

“Mmm. Thanks,” she said, hitching her mouth to the side. It was a noncommittal answer, but she had to think. "Kinda critters are native here? Deer, wolves?" Based on what the barkeep had told Milah, it sounded like the wild population was real riled up over something or other. Mobilizing to wipe out humankind or not (Christ, she goddamn hoped not) they’d probably have some pissed-off critters getting territorial ahead. Might do good to prime a couple net traps just in case. She had a spare crossbow to load with ‘em now.

Well, no use grinding her teeth over things they couldn’t help. Might as well socialize. “Hey, a range brother! Imagine that, I’m a hunter myself,” Destiny said, leaning back to look at @Noah Krane behind @Milah’s back. She liked his attitude. If they did get lost, it seemed like the long-haired man would keep a cool head. “How about you, kitty? What kinda claws you hiding over there?” The woman propped her chin up on her hand, directing her words towards the fuzzy-tailed Felis girl. Her eyes narrowed in laughter.

 

Hmmm nature spirits? That might be something… Noah thought to himself. He had not really had any run in with any sort of spirits or spirit users since entering the game but he knew that spiritual magic was an option in the game as a mastery and even heavily contemplated picking it as a starting mastery. The thought of talking to the dead and having no privacy was a bit off putting to him, so he opted for aeromancy instead. Shooting lightning bolts and bouncing around with wind seemed like much more appealing than the whole spirit mumbo jumbo.


It seemed that Noah was not alone in his skill set. Another hunter and range users were in the mix. It was always nice to be around similar company but in an adventure like this one they probably needed a melee user of sorts. @Destiny “Well I’m sure we can learn a thing or two from each other.” He said with a big grin towards the spunky woman.


He chugged the last of his drink and slammed it on the table, probably in a much more dramatic way than what was needed. “Well, I think perhaps we should gather our things and head off in whatever direction Ms. Caroline suggests. We can’t do too much good kicking our feet back and drinking in this inn now can we? Who knows what sort of evil acts could be committed while we're in here. Like Ms. Caroline said, summer is coming so I'm sure kids will be out exploring all times of the day, they might stumble across something they shouldn't” The truth of the matter, Noah was just eager to be on his first real quest like this. Sure he had done some odd jobs here and there but nothing so exciting like this. Plus he hated to leave Greyhowl outside all alone for this prolong amount of time, the wolf was not one to wait too long before going off to do his own thing.

 

_____Morpheus' claim was shot down AGAIN, nobody every believed his words and they would all be sorry for it later. Moving slowly Morpheus walked to the tavern exit without much words back to the group. he had no reason to try and work with people that did not consider every possibility, least of all consider his. Once he was outside Morpheus Opened his UI to get out of the clank and otherwise hard to move wooden armor to get his Kimono back.

"Consider the facts... I don't got enough to go on to form a solid report... You are marooned, enemy has taken the first strike and left little to no clues..."

_____Slowly the senile like mindset of the old man withered away, his old military training rebooting the older gears and breaking things down. He needed to go gather information from other sources. Needless to say the only way he was going to gather Intel of what he was up against, was to move into enemy lines with caution. So without the group or letting them exactly know what he had planned the old man began to walk into the forest.

_____UI opening to take out a small sharp rock that was then used to carve three symbols into the bark of a tree while he walked. Every so often he would carve the same three odd symbols, none of them seemed different to the common first glance, but to Morpheus he knew how to tell them apart. If someone tried to hunt him, well they would be in for a fight after a rough time tracking him down.

_____As all gears within Morpheus' head reentered military mode he seemed so vastly different. Dulled grey eyes turned to storm grey focus. His body slightly larger as he did not hunch over or make himself look less formidable. The aura he faintly emitted was strong and by no means the same sort most old man would have. After-all this was a soul who grew up during World war two, and severed his country for forty years. he saw the beast within men, and he let his out now.
@Lexiichuu
P.S. Others can follow behind him, Morpheus just wont notice them for a while most likely less they tried to break his focus.

 

• 134 HP
  

  MAX 134 HP

• 80 EN
  

  MAX 100 EN

-20 EN for Reckless retaliation!

_____Morpheus Did not know when or what lead to the events, but with a loud howl Morpheus replied with a likely equal or slightly louder shout of his own. He was out here to get information about the approach tree threat to PROVE to everyone he was right, now he had wolves trying to play patty cake and he was not having that! Hands waved his UI, cane in his left hand, club in his right as his wooden armor was re-dawned and the old man Rushed forward against the threats.

"I AM GROOOOOT!!!"

_____Morpheus' battle cry a tribute to a movie he watched long ago while the old man returned his main focus to the annoying wolf before him. Cane raised to jab the narrow base to the Wolf's eye before Morpheus swung hard with his right arm, the club bashing the jaw of his foe as he kept the steam rolling. A second jab with his cane to the same eye before swinging his club against the wolf's rib cage as he shouted loudly. He was, despite the oddness a perfect match for the team.

_____His gun ho nature, and clearly exposed back would likely draw the blunt of the wolves attention to him so the three archers could pick the wolves off. Even without that Morpheus was more built to take blows then most the rest and as he kept the first wolf on it's back paws it would hopefully lessen the risk factor he chose to pick. With a stren voice Morpheus spoke to the group.

"Well don't just stand there, you are at war soldiers! Get those weapons out and start using them!"

Reckless attack corrupted Wolf A
51 + 92 (Rolls) + 5 (Weapon) + 5(Mastery) = 153
Tracker / Roll
Corrupted wolf A: 22 / 175 HP

 

• 112 HP
  

  MAX 112 HP

• 120 EN
  

  MAX 130 EN

-10 EN from Attacking

From what little information they had managed to gather after picking Caroline’s brain it seemed ever since the passing of those folks the barmaid had mentioned odd things began happening. Little at first, subtle even, but steadily spreading until it had reached this point now--expert hunters and trackers simply disappearing in woods that they knew better than the back of their hands. How anyone decided to simply turn an eye to this situation and ignore it was beyond the Felis’ comprehension--to Milah it was crystal clear that something was causing this to happen and it sounded like they’d have to investigate inside the forest to find the root of it all.

He sure is a lively one, huh...

Amber eyes watched the old man as he walked, clicking her tongue in mild irritation as Caroline asked them to keep an eye on the old man. ’Why should I babysit an old man?’ It was preposterous really, and almost a pet peeve of sorts for the teen. How hard was it for older people to act like the mature person they were meant to be?

Still the Felis stuck to the group, she had accepted the job offer after all, and focused on keeping track of the old man’s path as they moved. A few things caught her attention here and there, though she allowed the other more experienced looking tracker to point out the oddities here and there. Changes in the ground, lack of prey marks etcetera… whatever was going on was certainly having an effect into the flora and fauna of these woods.

Milah had just knelt to look at the black undergrowth, a finger hesitantly reaching out before watching it turn into dust, when she felt the presence of something around them. The fur on her tail stood on end, but before she could alert the group a sound pierced through the forest and had the trio rushing to the spot where they presumed the old man and the dire wolf to be at.

That’s what you get for going off on your own like a fool, old man!

She didn’t appreciate Morpheus telling her what to do, a defiant snort given before the Felis nocked one of her arrows into the bowstring. Disregarding the wolf he attacked Milah aimed for the one besides it, letting the arrow fly and watching it sink into the mutated creature’s shoulder with a howl of pain. Seemed the barmaid’s hunch had been right after all, those were not your average wolves after all...

Ranged Attack on Corrupted Wolf B
58 + 15 = 73 Total
Tracker | Roll
Target: 27 / 100 HP

+15 from Proficient Range Mastery

 

• 127 HP
  

  MAX 127 HP

• 111 EN
  

  MAX 121 EN


• 63 HP
  

  MAX 63 HP

-10 EN for Attack

“Y’all smell that?”

Despite the potential for a joke, the disheveled woman seemed uncommonly serious as she stood on the dirt path, nostrils flaring. The lines of amusement usually gathered around her mouth and eyes were gone, her stare steely as it flickered through the trees. Oh hell, I don’t like that one bit. Somethin’ ain’t right. Where was it coming from? It was a sour stench, like metal and stomach-acid. Least I ate before we headed out, or that’d do it for my appetite.

She stood back with her mouth hitched to the side as @Milah stooped to touch the blackened grasses. Her eyes narrowed. Wasn’t that just foreboding as hell. “You think—” She broke off suddenly. The triumphant cries of a pack on the hunt finished her sentence for her, a summons for winged scavengers to join in the feast. If there was a crow or sparrow left in these damn woods, anyway.

Forget birdsong—wolfsong, twisted and raucous, reverberated through the trees. And at the center of their choir was (you guessed it) @Morpheus , whose tricky tree-scratching apparently hadn’t worked so well on the wildlife. The ranger’s bleary eyes focused in on the man just in time to see him crack the alpha across the ribs with the end of his walking stick.

“Aw, hell!” Des strong-armed whoever was closest to her in an attempt to hold them back before she took off running towards the old man. Dammit, Caroline just had to ask us to watch out for him! She usually ran away from wildlife, not towards it, but the pack leader was already lunging towards the crazy elder—

“Back! Backback!” A running Des kneed the corrupted wolf in the chest like a bad dog who jumped on you whenever you went over to a friend’s house, sending it reeling. As the beast snarled and shook its head, gathering its scrambled wits for another lunge, Destiny pointed her crossbow between its sap-streaming eyes and fired. The sturdy bolt went whump as it embedded itself in the animal’s head. The canine fell like a marionette cut from its strings, collapsing onto the patchy grass.

Des let out her breath, lowering her arm. Christ, what are these things? She’d have to remind herself to go over the dead wolf with Investigation Mode once they had a minute to breathe. As it was, her Hunting mastery wasn’t telling her nothin’. “You all right, pops? Shoot, watch it!” The lanky woman ducked behind the ex-soldier, struggling to reload her crossbow as another wolf’s teeth snapped towards her.

Attack on Corrupted Wolf A
7 + 15 = 22
Tracker / Roll
Corrupted Wolf A: 0 / 175 HP (Dead)