Private - Cracked Bones and Scorched Fur

A twitching of the ears, a sniffing of the air, Mizuki's eyes narrowed as she made her way around a big boulder, paws touching lifeless dirt and rough stone. The only signs of there ever having been life here were scattered patches of dried and faded grass which looked like a single touch would make them fall apart, and the rare twig which looked like it was so brittle that it wouldn't snap if stepped on but crumble. The air was stale and unmoving, with little scent to it.

Mizuki had thought that she'd already seen most of Astorea, but this place was new. It wasn't like it had appeared out of nowhere, but she'd been busy with other things so it had taken quite some time before she'd heard about this portion of dead land, which for some reason or another seemed incapable of supporting any life beyond the most simple and sparse. The best people could reason was that unfortunate winds caused little rain to fall here while there was no river or lake nearby, leaving the land stale and unchanging. It was ironic that because of this it was one of the safer areas in Astorea: there weren't a lot of creatures that would willingly live here, so even if it couldn't sustain a settlement it was pretty good for travelling through as long as you had enough provisions on you.

For the wolf who was wandering it she was moved by curiosity. Almost all of Astorea was covered in lush forests and dense growth, yet here there was a place which you'd have expected to see up north, a desert not of sand but of stone and dirt. If there were any signs of this being caused by some magical disaster she couldn't find it (not that such a thing was her speciality). For all intents and purposes this was just a barren landscape, located here because there was nothing that provided enough nourishment for anything substantial to grow here.

She was pretty sure that places like these were ones which druids like herself were supposed to do something about. For a druid to spread life was a job almost sacred, and this place definitely could use some life and warmth. However while Mizuki definitely appreciated the ideals of druids and tried her best not to go against them she wasn't a fanatic about them: her practising of druidism was more pragmatic than devoted, using the incredibly convenient nature magic in combination with the ability to change shape to aid her as she explored the world as an adventurer. Maybe she could have tried to return some life anyway, but honestly she didn't really feel like it and she figured that if no other druid had bothered to fix this place yet there was probably a reason for it, either due to difficulty or something else.

Although she had to admit that the place was kind of boring once you got used to it. Dead air, dead land, dead grass. It was unusual in itself but the thematic was very straightforward and there wasn't a lot which would catch the curiosity of an adventurer other than the question why this place was so dead, and the possible hope that there were treasures and riches to be found here. She'd made sure to stock up on supplies before coming here, so she could take her time if she wanted to, but she was beginning to think that maybe it would be a better use of her time if she declared this place explored and went somewhere else.

Due to the air being devoid of any rich scents when a new scent appeared, however faint, Mizuki quickly picked up on it, her attention immediately caught as she recognized it. Smoke. From the smell of it, smoke from wood being burned. The air was also beginning to move, the source of the smoke heating the air up so it expanded while simultaneously drawing more air in for fuel, making it a lot easier to figure out which direction it was coming from... but also making it clear that this wasn't a small flame. A small flame couldn't mess with the air like that. Mizuki considered for a second before dashing towards where the fire had to be: while she had no idea what could be on fire there was no doubt that there was something on fire, and the easiest way to find out would be to go there.
@Lucia Mierz

 

Lucia's duchy was as it usually was, the lifeless territory drained regularly to ensure that nothing grew, it was a part of Lucia's efforts to create a place for the undead. In order for undead to thrive and grow, they needed a 'habitat' a place that would have the perfect conditions for them to survive. After some experimenting, she found that a dead zone was naturally the best place, the energy drained was used to sustain the few undead that did wander aimlessly, that power source confined them so that they couldn't wander away into living territories. It was in her eyes at least, the perfect place for the undead to grow and 'evolve'.

Naturally though, civilizations couldn't thrive and grow without something to motivate them. For the undead who had few desires or needs, Lucia struggled to find 'something' to get rid of the complacency, to give them a reason to grow and adapt. In the end, she understood that conflict was a good motivating factor. Enemies and foes to pressure the undead to change and adapt to defeat them would be for the best. While she couldn't use this as an excuse to assault the living, there were a myriad of other enemies that would be interested in their power source... It was for this reason she left her territory largely exposed, without battlements, without walls, she wanted her people to be forced to face these aggressors and learn and develop on their own.

As the fires spread from the outskirts, an elemental let loose an otherworldly roar. While it didn't compare with Azogg, it was still a threat. It's body igniting the surrounding foliage as it tried to force it's way into the deadlands. I was clear it was having problems maintaining itself in the dead space, there wasn't enough material to burn for it to thrive as it did in the lush woods outside, but it was slowly trying to gather strength for an assault, burning trees and brush to strengthen itself as the undead had long done to create their power source.

Opposite of the Fire Elemental was the foe it was roaring at. A collection of undead, hiding behind shields that had been thrust into the dusty soil to improvise a wall. Some were knights in thick black armors, others were wearing ceremonial dressings from various religions found in reality, a few priests, a few taoists and medicine men. They had come together to try and ward off this creature off, but it was clear from the few blackened skeletons at the boarder-line some had already foolishly tried to charge the creature. Those few that remained were the ones who had managed to understand that blindly charging was suicide. Exchanging glances with burning eye sockets they seemed to be communicating through a series and systems of 'clacking' noises made by jaws and other bones. A primitive and uncultured method of speech, but it was one unique to them.

They seemed to be discussing a 'plan' of some sort, or at least the bare bones of one. These creatures were like neanderthals, even if their equipment was more sophisticated, their tactics, speech, and mannerisms were far from it. The best they could do in the moment was use their shields as walls to stave off the occasional fire ball thrown in anger while they tried their best to 'think' together.

Unlike those under developed undead though, there did seem to be one oddity. Among them was a living woman, watching with warm eyes as those skeletons tried to discuss their opeions. Like a mother watching a child take it's first steps, Lucia watched proudly in her cloth dressings while things were under way. She couldn't make out their words or understand what they were discussing, despite being their creator she couldn't know everything, instead she could feel impressions from them, understand their feelings. From that she knew they were all tense, all concerned, they were taking things seriously and treating their second lives as something not to be wasted. That was enough for her to feel this venture and her plans had made some progress. "It's okay everyone, take as long as you need." She continued encouraging from afar while fire balls were thrown to try and draw them out. The undead were clearly growing more impatient as time passed, but she watched them and tried to see if they could reason their way into a good solution. Enthralled in their dialogue to such an extent that she didn't notice Mizuki's approach.

 

The steady rhythm of her paws hitting the ground quickly brought Mizuki closer to the source of the smoke, her nose itching with the acrid stench even as her muscles moved and tensed to propell her forward. It smelled like burning wood and plant matter, and scorched bone as well. She couldn't smell any burning flesh, which was odd, but the presence of bone meant that there were people caught up in the flame, and she couldn't afford to slow down just because the smell bothered her. Her lips had curled up to reveal a snarl, revealing the sharp fangs of her wolf form as she tried to think of the best way to deal with what she might find up ahead. Isolating the flame would be important, but she was somewhat wishing she had water magic to make the job easier...

Once she saw the actual source of the trouble her steps faltered for a moment, not out of fear but out of surprise. It was the first time she encountered a fire elemental, or any elemental at all in this world. Of course she had heard stories of them from people in taverns and from books (and the internet, ever since she'd become more invested in stories after entering Terrasphere). They were by far the most destructive of the four elementals one would usually encounter: rock could crush and wind could tear, but fire created wastelands. For a moment she wondered if maybe it was the fault of a fire elemental that this place was so dead (it would explain why no other druids had revived the land), but the land itself gave no sign of having been scorched or burned: it was just... very, very dead. And if it was the faul of a fire elemental, why was this one trying to move deeper into the deadlands?

She'd have pondered and waited if it wasn't for the fact that she could see a whole bunch of people trying to hold the fire elemental back even as the verdant forests on the edge of the barren land were consumed by the raging elemental. No time to waste on theories, she had to make sure that neither those people would get hurt nor the forest burned. There were already several smoking bodies on the ground, so things were already dire enough that there wasn't any time for complex plans.

The fire elemental wasn't so big that she couldn't risk attacking it, being an experienced adventurer, and it looked like it was really just made of fire so it shouldn't be difficult to move it as long as she had something which could grab flames... The wolfwoman turned back into her humanoid form even as she brought her clawed fingers to her forearms, gritting her teeth as she moved her hands to carve through fur and skin, leaving three red wounds on each forearm with blood beginning to well up. Not giving herself the chance to bleed out the lupis raised both arms towards the fire elemental, focusing her magic into her arms and the blood, rich with nutrients and water... perfect fuel for some plants.

It was certainly an odd sensation, having vines burst from your wounds, but Mizuki had done it before. She simply bore it as the magically enchanted scarlet vines wrapped themselves around the fire elemental, the blood that fuelled them combining with Mizuki's magic to prevent them immediately burning away. The fire elemental was certainly caught off guard, enough so that the sudden assailant could tense her entire body, commanding the vines to retract even as she began to pull, spending some more of her energy to enchant her physical might.

As if lassoed the fire elemental was dragged away from the greenery, Mizuki running further into the deadland and away from the people who'd been assaulted by the elemental's fireballs. Pulling the elemental with her she dug her toes as deeply into the dry soil as she could with every step, until finally she thought she had enough distance and let out a loud growl, her muscles screaming at her as she used all her might to throw the fire elemental over her head and into a spot of dry and dead land, where there was nothing it could burn... except maybe Mizuki, who finally released the elemental and pulled the vines back completely. Draining the vines of her own blood she dispelled them, healing the wounds on her arms as she glared at her opponent. She'd have to go back and prevent the forest fire spreading too much, but she'd have to eliminate the source first.

Although she was also somewhat curious about those people who'd been facing the threat. Even from up close she hadn't been able to smell any burnt or even unburnt flesh, and while she'd been focused on the elemental they'd looked unusually pale... Just what kind of people lived in this place?

 

Lucia was content that her people were considering the problem seriously, but the sudden interjection made her cock her head. The summons themselves were in shock, vines were strange in their deadlands alone, but blood red ones fit a certain aesthetic that appealed to them. There were silent gasps and shaking of weapons or gestures at the vines as if trying to intimidate this new interloper, but they didn't initiate the attack. As if trying to decide a hierarchy or where they stood they acted on instincts and programming up until their earlier foe was hurled directly into their territory.

The deadlands were a place where elementals were naturally weak, without any source to draw power from, most were unable to survive in the dead space just like the plant and animal life. Despite it being an advantageous place to fight the creature though, it was still their homeland, the place they were trying to keep it from. Seeing it suddenly cross the boarder as a sudden snap and rash decision to try and eradicate the creature as quickly as possible, the undead grew alarmed. Their clacking sounds grew more frantic and alarmed as a large amount of them began charging towards the Elemental before it could lift itself back up. Without fuel it's powers were naturally much more limited, without anything to burn to fuel it's fires, it's actions were a lot more reserved and sparse.

With inhuman shrieks and cries the undead raised weapon, staff and relic-- whichever weapon they might have called their own before racing after it. Their attacks were largely ineffective but they were learning, wooden weapons were just fuel, metal weapons didn't seem very effective, magics seemed to be the most effective causing the melee soldiers to be more defensive and passive compared to the more active and aggressive undead mages.

Noticing Mizuki though, Lucia gestured towards the woman with a gentle smile. "Ai, be careful be careful, even if greenery is reinforced, it's still suppressed by fire. What would happen if it had been something stronger?" She initially lectured, largely out of concern. She wasn't sure if the woman was the rash or hot headed type, but it was better to be safe then sorry. Mizuki was someone Lucia recognized, from the unfortunate and ill prepared meeting led by Roland. It was a time when Lucia wasn't at all satisfied with the proceedings of things. That said, it didn't have much to do with the woman in front of her who she'd just met. "Is this your first fight against an elemental?" She asked with a gentle smile, as if there weren't fire balls being hurled not too far from where she'd been standing. She had a very relaxed and calm atmosphere as if everything were going to be alright.

 

With the fire elemental out in the open and without any source of nourishment the situation looked a lot better than before. Mizuki was in a low crouch, ready to dash and strike again, when she heard a lot of clattering and clacking. One ear twitched as she realized it came from the people who had been fighting the fire elemental, but it didn't sound like metal. It sounded like... bones? She hadn't seen them wearing bone armour, but...

The answer was provided when they ran past her towards the fire elemental, the wolfwoman looking startled as she realized that she'd given a bunch of skeletons the opening to fight back against the now cornered intruder. The knowledge flowed through her like an epiphany, her mind finally making the final connection. A land where the air, the ground, and even the grass was dead... would be inhabited by the dead. She hadn't thought of it, because she hadn't had to deal with any real undead before. She frowned as she watched them attack the fire elemental, unsure what to make of this. Was the fire elemental the one who she should have been helping? A forest fire was undesired, but undead were generally nasty, formed either through the malicious will of a necromancer or pulled from the grave by vengeful spirits.

Before she could make up her mind she heard someone else speak, a distinctly human voice unlike the clacking of the skeletons. Turning her head Mizuki looked at Lucia, recognizing the woman as having been present during the meeting for Titanius. At the time she had been more focused on the task at hand, and the fact that not all of the main characters were on equal footing, but she remembered the scent. Hearing the woman's words Mizuki raised an eyebrow, looking down at her furred forearms where the wounds had already healed.

Plants can be very resilient as long as they're not dried up. If it had managed to immediately burn the vines I would've cut them off and taken another approach.

Given that the skeletons were currently doing their best to take care of the disturbed fire elemental Mizuki took the chance to study Lucia a bit more carefully, sniffing the air as well (and ignoring the scent of smoke and bone). She gave a quick nod in response to the other woman's question before asking a question of her own.

I'd given up on the idea of anything living here, so I'm curious why you're here. In charge of the skeletons?

 

Lucia watched the undead with a very motherly expression, a poise and posture that betrayed a regal mindset despite her approachable personality. She had a mature beauty to her, a curvaceous and delicate exterior that was different from her confident tone of voice as if the combat going on nearby could be handled without much difficulty. Her scent wasn't at all particularly offensive, the faint floral smell of lilac as if she slept with the plant regularly, her clothing was a stylish dress, cloth armor at a glance, not of the highest quality perhaps but certainly seemed comfortable. Even with a lengthy effort to study her demeanor and appearance would just lead one to believe she was a simple and friendly woman with nothing much to add.

Despite that though, if Mizuki was clever enough she'd realize some strange points about Lucia. That gentle smile she wore didn't twitch or wane with time, as if it were a plastic or practiced smile to go along with the warm and inviting demeanor; If Mizuki recalled, Lucia also had that smile at the meeting-- It was a smile she wore in combat-- A smile she wore when discussing business. Going deeper, there was surely magic at work somewhere, whether it was to make her a little more charming, or to tweak her appearance there was something in the works. Though the scale at which it was cast was hard to discern, it was clear she'd done 'something' to her body even if the particulars were hard to grasp.

"Is that so? That's a shame. It would have helped them grow I'm sure. Whether it was as fuel or as a competitor for resources, these ones need as much help as they can get." She admitted with a mellow chuckle as those undead struggled against the elemental. It was obvious they fought with 'lives' on the line, but Lucia knew they needed more to grow. As a people they were still weak and not coordinated, at least not to her liking. Until they became as capable as your average man she'd need to keep wracking her brain on how to help them.

Though, thinking about the woman's response about the vines and the issues of being stronger, Lucia stared back blankly. "I mean more about the possible harm it might have brought you-- The blood loss, maybe pain if the link was empathetic, then there's always the danger of being caught in the flames if it travels too fast." Lucia spoke with sweet laughter, more concerned then she was lecturing at this point. Surely people's perception of their masteries changed a great deal about what they were capable of, but at the end of the day there were still magics that suppressed each other. Reaching a hand up, she tried to pat Mizuki's head with that same plastic smile, if the girl didn't struggle, she'd simply pet her gently. "Dangerous skills like that might be tried and true, but-- Well, I was worried." She admitted simply and bluntly.

 

Mizuki's nose couldn't find anything strange about the woman, but the wolfwoman's eyes still narrowed as she picked up on a lot of subtle things. There didn't seem to be any malice in the woman, nothing that screamed evil, but it was clear that this was either an unusually powerful person, a player, or both.

For one thing, she looked like she was in pristine condition even though they were out here in a deadland, where the lack of moisture in the air had already made Mizuki's fur lose its luster. Her clothes, her hair, her overall appearance... it all looked like she was just ignoring the downsides of being out in the wilderness, which would require a lot of effort, magic, or the advantages of being a player.

Well, that didn't mean she was trouble so Mizuki still didn't feel the need to be in guard, at least not towards Lucia in particular. Her eyes went back towards the fire elemental, watching it carefully and with narrow eyes as the skeletons enthusiastically attacked. While she had to admit that Lucia was a sight for sore eyes with the tasteful clothes and the mature beauty she wanted to be ready in case the fire elemental managed to break through the skeletons. It sounded like this woman wanted the skeletons to use this opportunity to train, but Mizuki didn't necessarily share those priorities.

Mizuki herself also definitely had curves, although her curves were combined with a more sturdy frame and the muscles of an athlete, and almost all of it covered by dark dull leather augmented by pieces of dark metal, the white highlights on her hair and tail the only bright parts on her... aside from the faintly glowing heterochromatic eyes, warm gold and icy blue.

She was also a lot more expressive, raising an eyebrow at Lucia's comment.

Wouldn't it be better to get them challenges which don't carry the risk of destruction? From the looks of it they still need a lot of practice.

Why a woman would be out here training skeletons was another question, but she decided to wait with asking that. While she was somewhat uncertain about how the woman's expression never seemed to really change she did feel like the woman wasn't being mocking, although when she moved her hand to pet her the lupis moved her head away.

Thank you for the concern, but it's not the first time I've used my blood as the catalyst for nature magic. As for pain... if that was an issue I wouldn't be using blood.

She looked back over her shoulder at the forest fire that was still going on, the fire elemental's departure from the greenery not having extinguished all the flames. She then glanced at Lucia while pointing at the fire with her thumb.

I'll have to make sure that doesn't spread so if you don't want me to deal with the fire elemental so your skeletons can get more training I'll be back in a moment.