Taliyah moves back along the inn, placing the ladder somewhere Cezar can't get at it. "Would the Cezar you all plan to ally himself with monstrous creatures such as nightmares or dracoliches? Because when he saw his griffon partner was helping carry him here, he started ranting about he was planning on replacing her with something along those lines in the future. That doesn't sound like something an officer of the law should be doing." As she speaks, Taliyah places her staff back across her back, and then folds her hands in front of her. Meanwhile Pixel flies over to where Venet stands and lands on her shoulder. "If we need to escape, Lady Taliyah is currently standing by a boat down on the first level that should be able to fit our entire party, we'd need to be quick though, if we want to get away." After that Pixel flies over to where Maigurs is and uses the Help Action to give advantage to the first person who's trying to wake up/stabilize Maigurs.
The three of them already set up a rope to the balcony, but seeing Taliyah setting the ladder down, they didn’t have to waste any more of their energy on climbing a rope. “Thanks, lady.” Altairs nods to the Dragonborn.
On the first floor… Laine looks visibly upset and distressed seeing Maigurs in such a state. “Maigurs! Oh… oh dear… is he going to be alright?” She points at his injured arm, blinking back tears.
Kristiāns raises his hand, “Not now, Laine. We have a job to do.”
Before he can do anything, though, Maya begins explaining the situation in her broken Lancean… however, there is something similar about her way of speaking. She can't pronounce complex words, the words she says usually end with a vowel. The drow squints his eyes hard, it's clear she can't speak Lancean that well… but there is another language that sounds similar to this, and maybe she might understand it.
«ᐊᓇᑲ ᑲᕋᓂᐁ ᑕ? ᐯᔥ ᐊᓄ ᓇ ᐊᓇᑲ ᓓᓲ ᑲᕋ, ᑕᐁ ᑌ ᓇᐃ, ᔪᐅᕈ ?» (Anaka kara ni'e ta? Pesh ano na anaka lesu kara ta’e te na’i yo’oro?) (1) He tilts his head, the language he speaks sounds so strange, but you can't tell why it is strange, perhaps it is because of its monosyllabic system of forming words. «ᔫᓐ ᔓᔪᣝ ᔕᐸ ᐊᓇᑲ ᑕ ? ᓱᑐ… ᑕᐁ ᑯᐴᓐ.» (Yun shoyow shaba anaka ta? Soto… Ta’e kopun. (2) He pulls out a rope.
Well, there are other people too, so Kristiāns will have to translate what he just said to the group too."What I'm saying is... Section 64, Dueling Act -1C 97 CY: Unsanction fights within taverns, commercial establishments, or markets, are prohibited under all circumstances. The law didn't say anything about self-defence, but that will be settled in a court." He glares at Pixel,"And don't you think of running away, Dragonfly. It's three months in prison for resisting arrest."
Seeing that Alex seems to encourage the group not to do anything stupid, and the ground didn't show any sign of actually trying to run away, he snaps his fingers, and Altairs walks over and ties each member of the party with a rope, including Pixel (He even has an extra small rope just for restraining a small creature). Meanwhile, Kristiāns ties up the unconscious half-elf mercenary and carries her on his back. The bugbear ushers the party to come forward on the balcony, making them stand in a line. (If anyone wants to break out, they can make a DC15 STR save to break out of their bindings.)
"HAHAHAHAHA! How does that feel? Get a taste of your own medicine, you filthy Mind Flayer tentacle-licking thug!" Cezars laughs, spitting in the direction of the party. His saliva fizzles against the rain. But his crap-eating grin fades away in an instant as the drow walks towards him and puts him in a metallic handcuff. Unlike an ordinary rope, which he can use his fire power to burn away, he is practically powerless with a heat-resisting binding such as this one. "WHAT THE HELL, KRIS? WHAT DID I DO WRONG!"
The drow sighs, "And that's the reason why you should get a time-out... we will have to question you later." He looks up to the rain, "But in this weather? It will be like walking into the mouth of a Tarrasque trying to do anything."
Kristiāns turns toward the group."You see, we were supposed to be here for an evacuation procedure, that idiot Vladimirs XII didn't even warn us that there was a cyclone coming. There isn't a holding cell available at all, now that most of the country will be underwater in a few days, so we'll need to bring you along with civilians to the Underdark."
"WHAT!? Are you out of your mind, Kris?"Cezars yells in shock. "That place was so bad your kind gave up your evil ways just because you want to stay away from it, and now you want to go back to a literal Hell on Lancea!?" The Underdark is a mysterious place, it's a large cave system that branches out like a root of a tree, with the epicentre at Sehul proper. You all have heard of it in tales and stories, it's home to giant spiders, snakes, and horrors beyond comprehension. It used to be home to drows like Kristiāns too, but after the end of the Second Planetary War, they abandoned their underground empire and rejoined a new, reformed society.
Kristiāns slaps Cezars in the face, shutting him up."Quiet! You guys are overexaggerating it, mother told me a lot about the Underdark, both before and after the Second Planetary War, and it isn't that bad."He throws his arms in frustration. "As long as you stay in the light, it's way, way safer than being in the middle of a cyclone. Don't say it's bad until you've actually got to see it!"
He turns back to the group. "Once we get to the Underdark... please, please don't do anything stupid, the same goes for you too, Cezars."He glares at the fire Genasi, "You all will stay with the evacuees until the hurricane passes. Do not, I repeat, do not wander away from the camp or a light source under any circumstances. If any of you die, especially you four, there will be a diplomatic crisis coming for sure." He points at Taliyah, Renar and his mother, and Shugo, the four 'tourists' of the group. "Any more questions?"
Meanwhile, Laine stands beside Maya, since she's the one who carries Maigurs. She looks around the area, "H-hey, can anyone help him, please?"
Charan transcription:
Note: This is Charan, another one of my constructed languages based on Old Chinese and Khmer. Because Old Chinese was a precursor language to most of East Asia, you can probably see some traces of Japanese and Tai Lue in there too—for example: the word for ‘I’ (ᐊᓇᑲ / Anaka) is very similar to Japanese (Anata).
The script you see in Indigenous Canadian syllabics, created by James Evans. Each letter represents one sound, so pronouncing complex words would be impossible in Charan.
In the universe, Charan is mainly spoken by elementals and anyone who lives in the Underdark. Although native speakers are getting rarer each day since the Underdark is abandoned in the present day, more on that later.
(1): “Do you speak Charan? Those words you make sound so much like Charan, but it’s not at the same time. Can you even understand me?”
(2) “We will have to arrest you, alright? Sorry… but rules are rules.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference."
"Even in self defense? Who made these laws?"Venet asks, pouting as she's retrained. They didnt do anything wrong and now they have to go underground? Should have jumped in the water or something when I had the chance.
"No... no, no, no, no, no! Darekata! Tasukete! Help him! (誰か! 助けて, Someone! Please help me!)" Maya whimpers as she does her absolute hardest to blocks the open wounds with her clawed hands; It wasn't obvious at first since it's dark and the rain is obscuring her hands, but if someone were to notice, her sharp nails, which act as her claws, notciably retract and shirnk in size as she gets them covered in blood; This is so that she doesn't accidentally open his wounds even more in the process. Also, seeing Maigurs covered in blood is causing her pants to become more exasperated, loud and panicked, almost as if... she was reminded of her mentally broken daughter dying in her hands again... (Medicine: 23) Thankfully, as Venet suggests, Maya instantyl strides towards her with the injured wolf so they can help cooperate. "Arigato, Benetu-san."She softly whispers to her. Just as she redirects her motives to escape in order to let Maigurs regenerate under her watch however, she hears something odd... but almost familiar in her terms...
«ᐊᓇᑲ ᑲᕋᓂᐁ ᑕ? ᐯᔥ ᐊᓄ ᓇ ᐊᓇᑲ ᓓᓲ ᑲᕋ, ᑕᐁ ᑌ ᓇᐃ, ᔪᐅᕈ ?» (Anaka kara ni'e ta? Pesh ano na anaka lesu kara ta’e te na’i yo’oro?) (1) He tilts his head, the language he speaks sounds so strange, but you can't tell why it is strange, perhaps it is because of its monosyllabic system of forming words. «ᔫᓐ ᔓᔪᣝ ᔕᐸ ᐊᓇᑲ ᑕ ? ᓱᑐ… ᑕᐁ ᑯᐴᓐ.» (Yun shoyow shaba anaka ta? Soto… Ta’e kopun. (2) He pulls out a rope.
"Eh?! Watashi.... watashi wa... Ima kiita...? (私... 私は...今聞いた...?, I... Did I... just hear...?)" Her white fox ears twitch under her hooded disguise. The words 'anaka kara ni'e ta' and lesu kara' sound very similar to 'anata kawaii ni te (あなた かわいい に て)', and 'kawaii desu (可愛い です)' respectively (It other words, she thought they were calling her cute; she's easily flattered by this) "Oh?! ka... watashi... watashi wa... kawaii desu ka?! (お?! か…私…私は…かわいいですか?!, Oh! I... Am I... I'm cute?!)" Maya responds flustered though her shut eyes still remains closed. If it wasn't for the squelching of Maigur's warm blood snapping her brain and gaze back to reality, she would have continued to stare at the drow with flushed cheeks and closed eyes...
But to her it sounded... a little off still... Again she cannot understand most of it. But... maybe... just maybe... She points at the dark elf with her free arm, who reminds her of another one siding with her son. "Omae! Kurayami! Anata wa... Nihongo o hanashimatsu ka? (お前！暗闇! あなた... あなたは...日本語を話せますか?, You! Tenebris! Do you... speak Japanese?)" Unfortunately, their dialect isn't the same then. She pouts in response to their confusion. If she couldn't understand the first sentence, she woun't be able too for the second. At least... until she gets forcefully separated from Maigurs and bound by her wrists... causing her to let off a short, yet confused yelp that alost sounds like an actual fox.
"Ah?! Shikashi... Naze anata wa kore o yatteiru?! (しかし...なぜあなたはこれをやっている?! But... why are you doing this?!)" She yells in shock before she glances over to her son with a panicked expression; If he tries to break free then she will too.
Wildland Shifters Pt 2 (Pt 1 with PyromaniIsDeadThankGod) Celci (The Lamb) - Non-Binary Changeling Sorcerer (Shadow Magic) Maya Kurosaki- Female Kitsune Cleric (Twilight Domain); Currently in Lancea Randy Wolftree - Male Human Artificer (Armourer); Currently in Crimson Sands of Time Shijiro Otsune- Male Kitsune Blood Hunter (Order Of The Lycan) Trojan Dseyller - Male Tortle Barbarian (Path of the Ancestral Guardian) Xenia Ironhide - Female Kobold Rogue (Soulknife)
Then Renar starts shouting... not good. "H...Hey..." he says shakily, trying to get his friend to stop. "They're right, we can't just spew out everything right now. We know we are right and that's what matters. We can't expect them to trust us when they've clearly seen a different side of Cezars... perhaps even a different version of him." He wearily eyes the genasi, remembering the evil energy he'd felt from the man. "Please... we just need to trust the system right now. If... if anyone else has the ability to detect good and evil, they'll see what kind of person he is... or at least get an idea of why he might be behaving... well, the way he's been acting. And, Maigurs knows the truth too, so once he wakes up he'll surely take our side. Perhaps, it Jainina shows up, or someone can track her down, she can be a witness as well... not to mention the old woman if Maigurs remembers who she is. If these people are honorable, then they'll see that the evidence is stacked in our favor." All of these words are spoken just to the people currently in the room, he isn't whispering, but he isn't shouting either. He wants the guards to know that he isn't plotting anything--just trying to keep his comrades calm so that things go smoothly. "I... I know this isn't going to be pleasant, but... we don't have a choice but to trust that everything will work out. We just have to show them with our actions, not just our words, that we are innocent."
"WHAT?!" I snarl at Alex as I suddenly whips my angry expression towards him... at least until I notice his expression mimicking Okaa-san's and... *His katana stops glowing as his face morphs into an uncertain, almost panicking one as he hears Alex stating his case* Ugh... I swear to Asura... why does everyone have to be so emotional and Illogical? This world is so cruel... If it wasn't for the relic, I wouldn't have bothered to venture here with Okaa-san... "Ugh... Alright fine... I'll cool it off as you ask me to. But um... but... we've already stated our case though. I... what more do we need to show that we're not on the dark of life? And even O- uh I mean... Maya-san... she's clearly looking beaten like the rest of us. And... her breaths aren't good. It's as if she's suffering from a heart attack..." I hear Okaa-san yelling at the guards though and I figured if she doesn't want to be misunderstood, I'll have to step in...
"If you guys can't understand her... I've basically told you what she wanted to address: The one who fatally injured Wolfy wasn't her or anyone on this balcony but the elf assassin lying on the floor next to us. Sorry if her accent or her way of speaking sounds foreign. She's speaking a form of changeling language that only I can understand right now." Hopefully that helps to clarify their manner of speaking to-
«ᐊᓇᑲ ᑲᕋᓂᐁ ᑕ? ᐯᔥ ᐊᓄ ᓇ ᐊᓇᑲ ᓓᓲ ᑲᕋ, ᑕᐁ ᑌ ᓇᐃ, ᔪᐅᕈ ?» (Anaka kara ni'e ta? Pesh ano na anaka lesu kara ta’e te na’i yo’oro?) (1) He tilts his head, the language he speaks sounds so strange, but you can't tell why it is strange, perhaps it is because of its monosyllabic system of forming words. «ᔫᓐ ᔓᔪᣝ ᔕᐸ ᐊᓇᑲ ᑕ ? ᓱᑐ… ᑕᐁ ᑯᐴᓐ.» (Yun shoyow shaba anaka ta? Soto… Ta’e kopun. (2) He pulls out a rope.
"What the-? Can you repeat that again please? I don't..."That's not Japanese is it? The dialect sounds like it but it's still very of to my ears. Can Okaa-san understand this at all? I wonder what's she gonna respond with-
"Eh?! Watashi.... watashi wa... Ima kiita...? (私... 私は...今聞いた...?, I... Did I... just hear...?)" Her white fox ears twitch under her hooded disguise. The words 'anaka kara ni'e ta' and lesu kara' sound very similar to 'anata kawaii ni te (あなた かわいい に て)', and 'kawaii desu (可愛い です)' respectively (It other words, she thought they were calling her cute; she's easily flattered by this) "Oh?! ka... watashi... watashi wa... kawaii desu ka?! (お?! か…私…私は…かわいいですか?!, Oh! I... Am I... I'm cute?!)" Maya responds flustered though her shut eyes still remains closed. If it wasn't for the squelching of Maigur's warm blood snapping her brain and gaze back to reality, she would have continued to stare at the drow with flushed cheeks and closed eyes...
But to her it sounded... a little off still... Again she cannot understand most of it. But... maybe... just maybe... She points at the dark elf with her free arm, who reminds her of another one siding with her son. "Omae! Kurayami! Anata wa... Nihongo o hanashimatsu ka? (お前！暗闇! あなた... あなたは...日本語を話せますか?, You! Tenebris! Do you... speak Japanese?)"
*Facepalm from the only male kitsune in the room* I... I don't know what to say... uh... "ARGH! Maya-san...! Please... please don't act all flushed and dazzled during this um... and his name is for sure not 'Kurayami!' Onigaishimasu! (Please!)" *He awkwardly turns to the guards with a scowl on his face* "...w-w-well... I don't know if you can understand her or vice-versa but... in her language I think you just called her cute. I'm not sure if that's what you intent but this was what she said, not me. And also... she's wondering if you're capable of speaking her language which, uh, I tak it you don't, seeing how confused as hell she is right now..." I then hear Maya panicking and crying for my help upon being restrained. I mean sure I wish I could break free but... (Strength: 4) I just can't. I'm still exhausted like heck, not to mention that I'm still trying to recover from that stupid flash bomb... *He shakes his head at his mother, much to the latter's frustration*
Kristiāns turns toward the group."You see, we were supposed to be here for an evacuation procedure, that idiot Vladimirs XII didn't even warn us that there was a cyclone coming. There isn't a holding cell available at all, now that most of the country will be underwater in a few days, so we'll need to bring you along with civilians to the Underdark."
"Look whatever you're doing, I hope you and your comrades don't dare to treat us like some sort of criminals rather than travellers trying to find our way to solve some puzzles. That's all we ask of you. And... what?!" *His entire heart stops upon hearing the word 'underdark'* What?! You gotta be joking! There's an underdark here too?! *He flashbacks to the party fight with Lolth, where he, Rixi and Daisy were badly poisoned despite the massive victory and Tenebris lost his life only to be revived by another drow whom had turned into their ally and sacrificed his life to do so* I'm already getting bad memories of that boss fight... I heard not even Tenebris wants to head back to his own kind either, despite the fact that his big sister actually wanted to form an alliance with us against Tiamat... This doesn't sound good. Usually when I think of dark elves and dark dwarves I think of chaos ensuring after that... "Wait... You have an underdark? What's it like down there? Are those people hostile to outsiders like or something?"
Shugo seems to have been shocked into silence as all of this transpires. Though in reality, he's just contemplating the situation. He should have run when he had the chance, buuuut he didn't. And now he'll have to face the consequences. He resists the urge to facepalm when just about all of his comrades try to explain the situation. Making up excuses probably doesn't look good. Buuut, the guards don't seem to be bothered by it. He steps away from the fallen Money-lover when the guards come to tie them all up. Still holding his sheathed blade, the elf is obviously reluctant to let the guards take it, but doesn't resist.
\When the drow slaps some manacles on the hot-headed jerk, Shugo's smile returns. Justice. He glances at the fallen wolf-boy. Good thing they'd met up with him. Hopefully he's actually willing to speak the truth...and nobody tries to place some sort of spell on him to make him lie. That would be annoying.
He seams completely unconcerned with the concept of going to the underdark and gives Renar an odd look when he asks about it. Really? Is he that uneducated? Shaking his head, he ignores the shifter's question and turns to the nearest guard. "Can I ask one question? How long is this going to take? I'm not sure how you all deal with this sort of thing in your country....I also want to mention that Elmars did give us a task that we are supposed to complete before he returns..."
Alex does his best to stay calm, wishing that he at least was able to put his armor on... especially since it seems like they are going to be venturing into a potentially dangerous place, tied up too at that. He watches worriedly as Renar and Maya grow more and more agitated with the situation. To Renar he says, "Thank you. I'm sorry if it seems unfair but... these people are just doing their job. It isn't like they just disregarded what we said, they are just following protocol."
He looks to Laine, hoping that she lets Venet heal Maigurs. "Uh... If... if you don't want to untie any of us, I can heal him just by touch..." He glances down at his tied hands, not really wanting to make any sort of move for fear of further worsening the situation.
At least they handcuffed Cezars, who Alex promptly ignores--with some difficulty. All he can do is shake his head at the once-paladin's shouting, and trust that everything will work out in the end.
"I... I can also help provide light if needed," he says hesitantly. More than likely they won't need him to do so, especially considering they have another Aasimar with them, not to mention torches, but he wants to be as helpful as possible.
"Uh... what about our weapons?" He asks after a moment. Quickly he adds, "I'm not expecting you to let us keep them with us!"He glances longingly at his armor and tabard with its holy symbol. "I have no intention of trying to escape. I swear on my oath as a paladin that I will cause you no trouble. Same goes for my comrades," he gives each of them a confident look, clearly trusting that they won't force him to break his word.
"Not even two months into my journey and I've already been arrested, how exciting!" After her hands have been bound, Taliyah sits down one of the beds while she waits for the group to move on. Pixel settles down on her shoulder, a frown on his face. "Lady Taliyah. This doesn't feel like something to be excited about." After Pixel finishes speaking, she replies lightheartedly: "I'm sure these fine people will happily let us on our way once everything is cleared up, right Alex? You seem to knoq how the justice system works around here."
Kristiāns gestures and the group returns to the cover of the tavern, heading downstairs. Laine and Altairs follow behind him.
"Wait, wait! Kris, please! Are we going to leave Maigurs unconscious like that?"Laine begs.
Kristiāns rolls his eyes, "Fine... go fix him, you three."He loosens the bindings of the three healers, and after they're done, he ties them back tight.
"Look whatever you're doing, I hope you and your comrades don't dare to treat us like some sort of criminals rather than travellers trying to find our way to solve some puzzles. That's all we ask of you. And... what?!" *His entire heart stops upon hearing the word 'underdark'* What?! You gotta be joking! There's an underdark here too?! *He flashbacks to the party fight with Lolth, where he, Rixi and Daisy were badly poisoned despite the massive victory and Tenebris lost his life only to be revived by another drow whom had turned into their ally and sacrificed his life to do so* I'm already getting bad memories of that boss fight... I heard not even Tenebris wants to head back to his own kind either, despite the fact that his big sister actually wanted to form an alliance with us against Tiamat... This doesn't sound good. Usually when I think of dark elves and dark dwarves I think of chaos ensuring after that... "Wait... You have an underdark? What's it like down there? Are those people hostile to outsiders like or something?"
The drow turns to the cloaked young man, "Underdark never had an actual name, people started calling it Underdark after we found out that the Sword Coast chronicles has something similar, and we just stick with it." Maybe the role-playing books Eerin and her friend have might not be just a toy, after all. "It's a system of giant caves, some parts of it lead out to the sea, some connects to a smaller surface cave or a mine. The Underdark is split into multiple layers, from the top layer starting at three kilometres underground all the way to the bottom at the planet's asthenosphere; the uppermost layer of the mantle—the deeper you go, the hotter it gets."
He stares off in the distance, "Just like the surface, the Underdark has its own ecosystem. You might come across a chamber full of giant amethyst crystals, an underground jungle, or a forest filled with glowing mushrooms. It would take all day to explain every biome the Underdark has to offer, but you'll get to see it soon."He adjusts his armour.
"A long, long time ago, there was only one kind of elf... you can continue the rest." He looks toward Shugo, who heard this tale countless times just like his dark elven cousin over there., in summary: a long, long time ago, there used to be one kind of elves: but some of them were too filled with pride, ignorance, and evilness, so a great war between them occurred, and the evil elves were expelled into the caves below. After Cycles of isolation, the evil elf's skin turned deep purple and became drow.
He waits for Shugo to finish, then he continues, "Fast forward to -4C, the entirety of the Underdark was ours, and we ruled with an iron fist. Female drows reign supreme over male ones—they were the leader, we were their servants, and we kidnapped other races to be slaves, both surface-dwelling and underground ones. We practised a lot of... questionable things, like torture and such, and everyone feared us.
One day, the ever-expanding United States of Lancea found out there were oils in the Underdark. And they came up with a proposal: we hand over all of our oil, they'll give us gold, slaves, and their technology, and we accepted their offer. Of course, the United States of Lancea never sent us any gold, they just took our oil and dumped their prisoner underground.
During the First Planetary War, the United States of Lancea's thirst for oil grew, and they demanded more. They began killing us because we weren't fast enough, and indeed, we really couldn't deliver all of it on time. The First Planetary War ended in a stalemate and the technology level reset back to zero. No more magical sticks that can summon lightning from their tips, or a walking hut made out of iron... you might get to see some of the pre-First Planetary War artefacts in the Underdark if you have a good eye.
Drow society was on a decline, slavery was abolished, and we couldn't really do anything without slaves—the male numbers were low and the females were too lazy to do manual labour. Our population began to drop steadily, then it took a complete nose-dive during the outbreak of the Second Planetary War. The United States of Lancea tried to kill everyone who was deemed to be a threat to their 'freedom,' and they thought we were more dangerous than others since we didn't give out enough oil during the prologue of the war.
They sent bats and rats infected with SARS, a virus that thrives in a damp and dark place like the Underdark, and two-thirds of our population couldn't handle it. We waited until the war ended and we left the Underdark immediately, along with other underground races such as duergars and deep gnomes. The surface world changed a lot, there was no hatred and tension among other races anymore, and we left our dark legacy behind. No more oppression, no more slavery, we will be better than the monsters we once were." He finishes his tale.
"What I'm saying is: if you see a bat or a rat, don't go near them. The SARS virus is still there, and if you get infected, you might get quarantined and the trial process will be much longer and difficult, not to mention you could risk getting everyone else sick too." Kristiāns says
He looks out at the window, "Nowadays, you might come across ruins of old drow cities, or if you're lucky, you might find pre-First Planetary War artefacts, or even human-made structures too. Though, there are still some 'sentient' creatures that live down there."
He snatches a rose from a nearby vase, "If you're lost or you're in need of help, you can always try to find myconids, they're mushroom people who won't try to fight you on sight... unlike literally anything else down there. They communicate telepathically with spores, so they'll understand what you say no matter what. That might be useful to you, miss."He nods at Maya.
"There are also firenewts, they're usually shy, but if they feel threatened, they will fight back." He points at Venet and Taliyah, "You two have to be extra careful around them, they don't really like ice and water, it's their two main weaknesses and they won't take your presence lightly for sure."
He seams completely unconcerned with the concept of going to the underdark and gives Renar an odd look when he asks about it. Really? Is he that uneducated? Shaking his head, he ignores the shifter's question and turns to the nearest guard. "Can I ask one question? How long is this going to take? I'm not sure how you all deal with this sort of thing in your country....I also want to mention that Elmars did give us a task that we are supposed to complete before he returns..."
The bugbear steps forward and speaks up, "In this weather? Birdie will probably delay whatever task you have by several days or so. Aarakocras like him hates rain. The hurricane will pass on 12th April, so we will have to stay in the Underdark for a week."
"Uh... what about our weapons?" He asks after a moment. Quickly he adds, "I'm not expecting you to let us keep them with us!"He glances longingly at his armor and tabard with its holy symbol. "I have no intention of trying to escape. I swear on my oath as a paladin that I will cause you no trouble. Same goes for my comrades," he gives each of them a confident look, clearly trusting that they won't force him to break his word.
"Rules are rules, if we apprehend someone, we will need to keep their weapons out of reach. If we don't, we could risk ourselves being terminated from our job. We'll keep all of your weapons in a box, and he'll carry it around,"Kristiāns says, pointing towards Altairs. "If there is an emergency, we'll handle the threat for you, don't worry about it."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference."
The drow turns to the cloaked young man, "Underdark never had an actual name, people started calling it Underdark after we found out that the Sword Coast chronicles has something similar, and we just stick with it." Maybe the role-playing books Eerin and her friend have might not be just a toy, after all. "It's a system of giant caves, some parts of it lead out to the sea, some connects to a smaller surface cave or a mine. The Underdark is split into multiple layers, from the top layer starting at three kilometres underground all the way to the bottom at the planet's asthenosphere; the uppermost layer of the mantle—the deeper you go, the hotter it gets."
*Insert anime angry emoji as Renar gives off a sour, exhausted look whilst he reluctantly walks to wherever they need to go to; He's very paranoid about what might come in this new underground place in the meanwhile, so he's content on not letting his guard down* So basically you guys stole the trope from my world. MY FREAKING WORLD! Yare yare daze... *Sarcastic tone incoming* "Right. So you actually named it after the board game or role playing thing that everyone is so hyped about. That's uh... very creative, I say."
He waits for Shugo to finish, then he continues, "Fast forward to -4C, the entirety of the Underdark was ours, and we ruled with an iron fist. Female drows reign supreme over male ones—they were the leader, we were their servants, and we kidnapped other races to be slaves, both surface-dwelling and underground ones. We practised a lot of... questionable things, like torture and such, and everyone feared us.
One day, the ever-expanding United States of Lancea found out there were oils in the Underdark. And they came up with a proposal: we hand over all of our oil, they'll give us gold, slaves, and their technology, and we accepted their offer. Of course, the United States of Lancea never sent us any gold, they just took our oil and dumped their prisoner underground.
During the First Planetary War, the United States of Lancea's thirst for oil grew, and they demanded more. They began killing us because we weren't fast enough, and indeed, we really couldn't deliver all of it on time. The First Planetary War ended in a stalemate and the technology level reset back to zero. No more magical sticks that can summon lightning from their tips, or a walking hut made out of iron... you might get to see some of the pre-First Planetary War artefacts in the Underdark if you have a good eye.
"Drow society was on a decline, slavery was abolished, and we couldn't really do anything without slaves—the male numbers were low and the females were too lazy to do manual labour. Our population began to drop steadily, then it took a complete nose-dive during the outbreak of the Second Planetary War. The United States of Lancea tried to kill everyone who was deemed to be a threat to their 'freedom,' and they thought we were more dangerous than others since we didn't give out enough oil during the prologue of the war."
Pfft. So drow society was on the verge of extinction huh? Just because... of... *His heart stops as * Wait... they were on the verge of being wiped out too? Just like us kitsunes? What is going on here? Why is there so much hatred for these kind of races? What did those drow and us nine-tailed foxes do over here?! What would Tenebris say about this if her ever found out? Not that he'd be interested in travelling here but still! This world feels so twisted to my poor, golden eyes. I wonder what's going to be next on the extinction list now that we're at it? Orcs? Kobolds? Normal Elves? And... this United Lancea sounds super corrupted. And this took place whilst I was alive. A whole three-hundred-ish years of my life and this happened. Man this world's past is super dark; Almost as dark as my own...
They sent bats and rats infected with SARS, a virus that thrives in a damp and dark place like the Underdark, and two-thirds of our population couldn't handle it. We waited until the war ended and we left the Underdark immediately, along with other underground races such as duergars and deep gnomes. The surface world changed a lot, there was no hatred and tension among other races anymore, and we left our dark legacy behind. No more oppression, no more slavery, we will be better than the monsters we once were." He finishes his tale.
"What I'm saying is: if you see a bat or a rat, don't go near them. The SARS virus is still there, and if you get infected, you might get quarantined and the trial process will be much longer and difficult, not to mention you could risk getting everyone else sick too." Kristiāns says
What the... SARS? A virus? *He shudders unnoticeably* Do they have these kinds of diseases in Japan? I know the Sworc Coast doesn't although there are a lot worse microbes over there than this. I mean, Rixi and Ethan have never brought up this kind of topic to me or any of the other Sword Coast shifters before, but I did overhear them talking about another virus called... cov... coro... I can't remember, really. It sounds and behaves similar to this one though. So... is this related to the one in Japan or something, if it does exist? Are face maks a thing in here too? Because... If only I can reach my bag! I should have a couple of those things... argh!
He looks out at the window, "Nowadays, you might come across ruins of old drow cities, or if you're lucky, you might find pre-First Planetary War artefacts, or even human-made structures too. Though, there are still some 'sentient' creatures that live down there."
He snatches a rose from a nearby vase, "If you're lost or you're in need of help, you can always try to find myconids, they're mushroom people who won't try to fight you on sight... unlike literally anything else down there. They communicate telepathically with spores, so they'll understand what you say no matter what. That might be useful to you, miss."He nods at Maya.
"So drow populations are almost no longer existent?"I ask. I wonder Tenebris would have to say about this? I mean, he does despise his own kind so maybe he might be content on having it wiped out? Or does he actually change his mind? I need to ask him when I go back... Sentient? In abandoned drow cities? "Define sentient." Unless if he's talking about the... mushrooms... the living mushrooms? Or is there something more than that? *And speaking of which, he again realises something else* Oh wait... *Skill Translation issue incoming as Maya once again looks on confused* ARRRRRRGGGGHHH! *He's on the verge of losing his voice after painstakingly translating everything off by heart for his mother; Where'd the dictionaries go?!* Damn it, my voice is sore as heck, I don't even know if should even let Alex solo this or risk my voice just to back him up... *He leans slightly into Maya's side* "Kono sekai wa nanika ga machigatte iru... watashi wa sore o kanjiru... (この世界は何かがおかしい... 私はそれを感じる)" *And then to the closest person, for the translation or if they want to know what the heck he just said* "Something's wrong with this world... I can feel it."
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The Wildland Shifters Daisy Ethalena- Female Wood Elf Ranger (Monster Slayer) Ethan Wolftree - Male Simic Hybrid Warlock (The Hexblade) Mira Laurits - Female Harengon Sorcerer(Clockwork Soul); Lancea Raiden Kurosaki - Male Kitsune Wizard (Bladesinger); Lancea Rixian Nishinoya - Male Fire Genasi Paladin (Oath of Vengeance) Tenebris Amaro - Male Dark Elf Druid (Circle of Stars) Yurime Hanasaki- Female Kumiho Bard (College Of Creation)
Maya's mood continues to remain sour as she is walked into where ever they're taking her to. Even if someone tries to strike a conversation with her, like her son, she's too pissed to respond back, well, not that she'll be able to understand what they're saying anyways... until Renar helps her translate. Geez. She hasn't even lasted two weeks in a foreign world, let alone 'found her son' and she's already begin arrested? For what?! What on earth did she even do?! All she did was spend the night with a rag tag team and begrudgingly traverse through a storm with nothing her bare feet! That's it! No souls taken or tricks played or even any handsome men seduced this time! The only time when she actually responded was when someone actually addressed her by her name, causing her concealed fox ears to twitch, though her mood doesn't improve slightly. "Hm? Doshitano? (What's going on?)" She replies with a slightly irritated tone, though her high-pitched tone somewhat remains still.
He snatches a rose from a nearby vase, "If you're lost or you're in need of help, you can always try to find myconids, they're mushroom people who won't try to fight you on sight... unlike literally anything else down there. They communicate telepathically with spores, so they'll understand what you say no matter what. That might be useful to you, miss."He nods at Maya.
With her son's help she turns towards the drow and gives him a small nod. "Hai. Wakarimashita (はい. わかりました, Yes. I got it)" She replies with the same, deflated tone, without even making eye contact this time; The only people she made eye contact with were Alex and Renar, the two she's worrying about the most right now. Both of them seem like they want to explode, especially the latter. And yet, she hears something unsettling coming from him... Apart from the 'SARS' Virus; She definitely knows what it is, because she had lived through three separate pandemics, two in the Sword Coast, one in Japan. And she doesn't want to imagine what the fourth would be like in her own, hidden eyes.
*He leans slightly into Maya's side* "Kono sekai wa nanika ga machigatte iru... watashi wa sore o kanjiru... (この世界は何かがおかしい... 私はそれを感じる)" *And then to the closest person, for the translation or if they want to know what the heck he just said* "Something's wrong with this world... I can feel it."
"Musuko... Onegaishimasu... (My son... p... lease...)" Maya whispers with fear. She wants to be the guardian angel of her son and the entire team that's grouped up with him, but her optimism is slowly fading, even with the looming threat of her own world being destroyed, she just... whatever negative emotions the rest of the group are emitting, she's slowly becoming entangled in this emotional spiral; She's slowly being affected by it too as the group walks deeper into the dark chasms of the abyss. Again... flashbacks of her lost daughter play in her head whilst this happens.
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Wildland Shifters Pt 2 (Pt 1 with PyromaniIsDeadThankGod) Celci (The Lamb) - Non-Binary Changeling Sorcerer (Shadow Magic) Maya Kurosaki- Female Kitsune Cleric (Twilight Domain); Currently in Lancea Randy Wolftree - Male Human Artificer (Armourer); Currently in Crimson Sands of Time Shijiro Otsune- Male Kitsune Blood Hunter (Order Of The Lycan) Trojan Dseyller - Male Tortle Barbarian (Path of the Ancestral Guardian) Xenia Ironhide - Female Kobold Rogue (Soulknife)
Venet's just kinda zone's out midway through Kristiāns talking. She's heard all of this before, blah blah blah, the war was bad, people died, don't go near the rats and things. She does keep looking at him though, he's pretty at least.
Alexander moves quickly once untied--finding himself rather surprised that they untied him at all after he offered to do the healing without being untied... all he needed was to touch Maigurs after all. But he wasn't complaining. He'll help Venet however he can, not really wanting to expend his powers completely since it sounds like they'll be departing into somewhere they can potentially get into a different kind of trouble. Wonderful... but it does sound better than braving the storm. Hopefully they can get through this quickly so they can get on with the trial and whatnot.
Once that is done, he holds his hands out complacently as he is re-tied, and waits as patiently as he can as everything else unfolds.
"Not even two months into my journey and I've already been arrested, how exciting!" After her hands have been bound, Taliyah sits down one of the beds while she waits for the group to move on. Pixel settles down on her shoulder, a frown on his face. "Lady Taliyah. This doesn't feel like something to be excited about." After Pixel finishes speaking, she replies lightheartedly: "I'm sure these fine people will happily let us on our way once everything is cleared up, right Alex? You seem to knoq how the justice system works around here."
"Oh... uh... I guess?" He knows the basics, and right now he's just trusting that everything will turn out. "Everything will work out. I'm sure we'll be fine. We have people who will side with us, and I'm sure Maigurs probably knows some others who can testify... at least, I hope he does. But... regardless, I believe that whatever happens will work out."
He blinks as the drow begins his story... now really doesn't seem like the time for a history lesson. Not that he isn't interested, but... well he can't say he hasn't heard at least some of this before, and at the moment he's too worried about everything going on to really pay attention to the exposition. Stay away from bats, got it. Now what?
"We'll stay close," he says. "And I understand about the weapons. All of my gear is right there (nods to the bundle on the floor)." He really just wanted to make sure he knew where they were going. Not that he didn't trust that at least one of these people was honorable--they had taken Cezars into custody too after all--but he just felt safer at least knowing his armor and sword were somewhere close. Even if they were out of his reach.
He raises an eyebrow at Renar... finding it rather odd that he doesn't know anything about the underdark whatsoever. ...or at least it seems that way. Didn't he say he was a researcher? Perhaps they just call the underdark something else where he's from---but then why doesn't he know about what happened with the drow? Odd. But okay.
He waits quietly, hoping that they can hurry up and get a move on, and also wishing that he could at least change into a tunic that wasn't covered in blood. Ideally, he'd be wearing his armor. But perhaps it was for the best for it to be kept out of the rain anyways.
Taliyah is listening closely to the drow's story, very much so interested in learning about the Inderdark due to how different it sounds compared to Sehul.
"So drow populations are almost no longer existent?"I ask. I wonder Tenebris would have to say about this? I mean, he does despise his own kind so maybe he might be content on having it wiped out? Or does he actually change his mind? I need to ask him when I go back... Sentient? In abandoned drow cities? "Define sentient." Unless if he's talking about the... mushrooms... the living mushrooms? Or is there something more than that? *And speaking of which, he again realises something else* Oh wait... *Skill Translation issue incoming as Maya once again looks on confused* ARRRRRRGGGGHHH! *He's on the verge of losing his voice after painstakingly translating everything off by heart for his mother; Where'd the dictionaries go?!* Damn it, my voice is sore as heck, I don't even know if should even let Alex solo this or risk my voice just to back him up... *He leans slightly into Maya's side* "Kono sekai wa nanika ga machigatte iru... watashi wa sore o kanjiru... (この世界は何かがおかしい... 私はそれを感じる)" *And then to the closest person, for the translation or if they want to know what the heck he just said* "Something's wrong with this world... I can feel it."
"Not really. Our surface populations are stable, there are around one or two million of us worldwide, which isn't a bad number, but compared to five billion of the total population, we're still a minority. Our populations underground are... gone. Not a single one left in sight." Kristiāns explains to Renar, "Most sentient creature you'll find will be in the wilderness, the drow ruins are devoid of most lifeforms, we laid a lot of traps to deter outsiders, that's the reason why no one or nothing wants to wander inside... All I'm saying is: never underestimate a creature even if they look ugly and... 'unintelligent.'"
After Alex wakes up Maigurs with a healing spell, he slowly opens his eyes, "Ngh..." The second he sees Laine, he leaps away from Kristiāns's arms like a cat being stratled by a cucumber. "Wah!" He scrambles to hide behind Alex, he's blushing hard and his tail is wagging fast, his face is so red you thought it was his injuries for a second."U-uh... h-hey. Uh... hey, uh... Hi."He takes a peek at Laine,
The Aasimar girl giggles at his antics, "Ha, you're such a dork, Maigurs. So... how did you end up with these guys, then?"
The two officers remain silent as their two co-workers chat with each other. Laine is casually chatting with Maigurs, asking simple questions. Maigurs, on the other hand, just hides his face and stutters hard every time Laine looks at him. It's a bit out-of-character for him to act flustered like this, but it's clear that these two might have something with each other.
A few hours later...
At this point, Muphird has risen... or so you thought. The sky just got slightly brighter, but you can't even see the sun.
The terrain is completely encased in rain mists, and it rains even harder than yesterday. The wind is so strong you feel like it could send you flying if you try to jump or stand up too high. Some of the villagers bring out amenometer and rain guages too: the wind is about 46.9 metres per second and there is 48 cubic centrimetres of rainfall.
The water level is around your hips, and carts are struggling to move even with the biggest, tallest draught horses out there. People load the crates you prepare yesterday into boats and rafts, and you (along with nine hundred of the villagers) head east towards the mining settlement of Vierines.
A few (more) hours later...
The trek remained completely silent, even among hundreds of villagers, because when you try to speak, you get a mouthfull of water due to how hard it is raining right now. It's as if God is celebrating Songkran with His angels in Heaven, the water just keeps pouring and spilling from the sky.
Eventually, Vierines comes to sight... at least that's what you think it is. The small mining town is on top of a stoney hill, so it's the first time you've touch a dry piece of ground within days, but when the ground is made out of stoney sand like this, it's hard to dig down and build a stable platform.
There are about fifteen buildings in the mining settlement, thirteen of them collasped, one disappeared entirely, and one is still standing. And among one of the thirteen ruined building is a body of a dwarf, cold and lifeless. He isn't unconsious, or stunned, or in a state of torpor.
He is dead.
Lancea is a generally very safe, murders are extremely rare to the point where a single murder causes an international outrage. With healing spells available, healthcare prevents people from dying too... from a cureable diesease, at least. Natural disasters, on the other hand, is probably the deadliest event that can happen. You can't fight nor prevent a cyclone like this, all you can do is survive, pray, and hope that it goes away.
But the latter couldn't be applied to this dwarf, at least.
There was no gasp or crying among the crowd, only silence, and the sound of the rain and the wind in the background. Kristiāns walks forward and touches the dead body's forehead. He searches his pocket and pulls out an identification, then he stands up and reads.
"Anšlavs Lūsis, born 4th April -1C 4677 CY, died 5th April -1C 4983 CY approximately five to six hours ago due to hypothermia. He was asleep during the time of his death."
The morale of your party and the villagers were already low enough, but now, it has reached zero.
"WHAT? He just died one day after his birthday, how is this fair?!" A woman cries out in the crowd, and soon, many voices follow. Whispers turns into murmurs, and murmurs turns into full-on shouting.
"Where are the guards when he died? Why wasn't Vierines evacuated? Why didn't Vladimirs XII send the message sooner? Was he so sick that he couldn't bother to get up and sign a paper telling that the storm is coming?"
"And you want us to go into the Underdark? Are you trying to kill us because you know we will oppose your King!?"
"After this flood is over, Vladimirs XII is going down! Vive la révolution, you pigs!"
"It's all your fault! If only you were faster and there is more of you, he wouldn't have died!"
You know that it isn't neither you nor the guard's fault, but the villager's morales are broken. They're scared of their deaths, scared that the guards can't protect them, and their fear fuels their anger.
The villagers surround Kristiāns and his four other friends (not counting Cezars), pointing pitchforks, sticks, and anything they have at them in anger... the problem is, during this entire travel, they keep all of you close to them, since it's their standard protocal to keep prisoners near them at all times. Right now, you're caught in a crossfire too.
What will you say in your defences?
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"The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"H...Hey," Alex says hesitantly, unsure if he has any right to speak for the guards who are currently holding him and his friends prisoner. "Don't you know the saying 'Don't shoot the messenger?' These guards came here as fast as they could, it isn't their fault if Vladimirs XII didn't send them in time. They likely got the message late too. And even if they didn't, they had to brave the journey here in order to come give aid. Instead of staying wherever they were, safe from the storm, they came here--risking their own lives to try and help as many of you as they can." He looks around, hoping that these citizens will see reason, "But, aside from that, none of us are going to survive if we kill each other. Shouldn't we all work together to ensure that no more deaths result from this disaster?"
Like Venet, Shugo also kinda just zones out during the drow's monologue about he underdark, he almost looks like he'd fallen into his sleepless trance while standing. Though he snaps out of it when the other elf addresses him specifically. Ugh, why now he has to give a history lesson? WHY?! Enthusiastically, he gives the most general version of the story possible, only to have the drow start talking again. Ugh, aren't they supposed to be going to jail or something? In the underdark? Hmmmm, maybe they can explore some of those old ruins when they are down there. If there are artifacts there, maybe he'll find something down there to appease his father and he won't even have to go to those human ruins. Buuuut somehow he doubts that, he's already tangled up in this mess. Hopefully they'll let him send letters to his sister. Maybe she can help bail him out of jail...and maybe the others too.
When wolfie boy finally is awakened, Shugo watches his interaction with the aasimar girl intently as if expecting something. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like the guards care what he says about them since they are all still tied up. Sighing, he follows the others out...though he does watch to make sure the guards take his sword along. He doesn't mind that they took it, but that blade is his honor....and a family heirloom. He doesn't want to lose it permanently.
After the guards examine the body of the unfortunate dwarf, only to get all of the surrounded by pitchforks, Shugo remains silent. WHYYYYYYY! Why does he keep getting dragged into things that have nothing to do with him! It's not his fault this poor unfortunate soul met his end! So, he does nothing. Unless this all starts to get blown to far south, he's not going to try to sort out this mess.
"Not really. Our surface populations are stable, there are around one or two million of us worldwide, which isn't a bad number, but compared to five billion of the total population, we're still a minority. Our populations underground are... gone. Not a single one left in sight." Kristiāns explains to Renar, "Most sentient creature you'll find will be in the wilderness, the drow ruins are devoid of most lifeforms, we laid a lot of traps to deter outsiders, that's the reason why no one or nothing wants to wander inside... All I'm saying is: never underestimate a creature even if they look ugly and... 'unintelligent.'"
After Alex wakes up Maigurs with a healing spell, he slowly opens his eyes, "Ngh..." The second he sees Laine, he leaps away from Kristiāns's arms like a cat being stratled by a cucumber. "Wah!" He scrambles to hide behind Alex, he's blushing hard and his tail is wagging fast, his face is so red you thought it was his injuries for a second."U-uh... h-hey. Uh... hey, uh... Hi."He takes a peek at Laine,
The Aasimar girl giggles at his antics, "Ha, you're such a dork, Maigurs. So... how did you end up with these guys, then?"
"Oh hey. You feeling better, Wolfy?" I sourly try to ask as I absorb everything that the drow said to me. I mean, I'm not surprised really; both Japan and Sword Coast have these kind of disasters, especially creatures that seem unintelligent... like me, Yuri. Shijiro and Okaa-san... Hm? What the... he's blushing? Is that... are those two in love? Damn it... *He whips his head away in case the two of them get really intimate with each other* I'm not ready for this nonsense. Hell no. Give me my katana back you bakas... Get me out of this already... uh? *It took her a while but eventually, his mother speaks to him*
"Musuko... Onegaishimasu... (My son... p... lease...)" Maya whispers with fear.
*Renar instantly blushes in terror and his fox tail instantly sticks into the air underneath his disguise upon hearing his mother address him as her son* So she knew huh... my disguise was long busted... "OKA- I mean... MAYA-SAN! Ima wa damedesu! (今はだめです Not now!)" I whisper aggressively in her massive fox ear; She's shorter than me so it wasn't hard to do so considering that her ears are located on top of her head just like mine...
"Anšlavs Lūsis, born 4th April -1C 4677 CY, died 5th April -1C 4983 CY approximately five to six hours ago due to hypothermia. He was asleep during the time of his death."
The morale of your party and the villagers were already low enough, but now, it has reached zero.
"WHAT? He just died one day after his birthday, how is this fair?!" A woman cries out in the crowd, and soon, many voices follow. Whispers turns into murmurs, and murmurs turns into full-on shouting.
"Where are the guards when he died? Why wasn't Vierines evacuated? Why didn't Vladimirs XII send the message sooner? Was he so sick that he couldn't bother to get up and sign a paper telling that the storm is coming?"
"And you want us to go into the Underdark? Are you trying to kill us because you know we will oppose your King!?"
"After this flood is over, Vladimirs XII is going down! Vive la révolution, you pigs!"
"It's all your fault! If only you were faster and there is more of you, he wouldn't have died!"
What the... he died four to five hours ago? That was really recent. Diseases like hypothermia were common in my world too but, wasn't there anyone who could provide him shelter and warm clothes? And... why didn't anyone in the near vicinity help him before he passed?! *He notices the crowd's mood worsening as they ready pitchforks* What the... oh my god this world's a lot crueller than Sword Coast... Seriously if Rixi or any of the Shifters came with me then this mess wouldn't have happened anyways, despite the massive downpour. Ow! What the heck! Why are you blaming us for nothing?!
"Shut up... Shut up... YAMERO! SHUT UP! *He stomps the ground and sends out a massive harmless shockwave towards the people to convey his message* Why are you catching us in the crossfire?! Alex is right... we all need to work together and yet... you guys... *Pant, uh-oh... here comes a rage rant* you guys are are so ungrateful... you're all no different to the worthless guards, whoever they are, at assisting others in getting the job done! These four guards are only doing their job, even if they got the message late, they at least didn't slack off! Would you guys rather have a little help or zero help at all?! In fact You guys are so spoon fed by the king's orders that you can't even get your act to rescue that poor guy who just died?! What the heck! Can't you guys also at least signal your own evacuation? You guys can tell that whenever a storm is about to stir you should prepare in advance rather than to wait for orders! Because that's we decided to do before we ended up being falsely accused and tied up as you can see here! Where the heck in your common sense?! And you want to kill us?! When the six of us are tied up just for doing the right thing?! You guys are truly scum in this world... Do you think trying to revolt against someone who's doing their best even in times of dismay the right way to go?! *His eyes glow yellow as electricity crackles* Or should we all make you suffer like the dead dwarf over there that you could have saved in the midst of the storm when we break free from out binds? YOUR CHOICE!" Intimidation: 19
I hope Alex is taking note of the clues I am doing should I consider one person a potential friend
Clue 1: When I consider you as a potential friend, I back you up in the most dire situations, whether it be physical or verbal, even if I sound or act like I'm not; I don't care about my wellbeing or what other people think, I stand for what I think is right, and if I think your values are the way to go too, I incorporate them in my reasoning; I stand to protect people from harm's way with the best of my ability.
Maya still remains quiet as she gets lost in her own inner fantasies... until she snaps back to reality by the sound of angry villagers holding pitchforks plus her son telling her not to go far. "N-NANI?! NANISHITERUNO?! (何?! 何してるの, What?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!)" She cries out in horror as the villagers surround her . And then she notices Alex and Renar talking in their foreign language. Though she cannot understand what she's saying, she notices that her son is being too analytical, which is a bad sign for both himself and her; Usually when he becomes like that it's a sign that he might hurt other people's feelings and spit out facts that they don't want to hear. "Uh... Renar-kun! RENAR-KUN! YAMETE!" She tries to scream, but she gets completely ignored this time. She doesn't want her son to go too far and get the entire group into serious trouble, but she's assuming that he's trying to get the people to their side in the midst of the storm, so she leans towards his body despite being tied up, almost as if she was about to nuzzle him, and snarls at the hostile villagers with sharp canine fangs.
"Do not... tochu... demu... or... Renar-kun! What he say... I standu... beside him... you do... I... KILL YOU!"Intimidation: 23
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Wildland Shifters Pt 2 (Pt 1 with PyromaniIsDeadThankGod) Celci (The Lamb) - Non-Binary Changeling Sorcerer (Shadow Magic) Maya Kurosaki- Female Kitsune Cleric (Twilight Domain); Currently in Lancea Randy Wolftree - Male Human Artificer (Armourer); Currently in Crimson Sands of Time Shijiro Otsune- Male Kitsune Blood Hunter (Order Of The Lycan) Trojan Dseyller - Male Tortle Barbarian (Path of the Ancestral Guardian) Xenia Ironhide - Female Kobold Rogue (Soulknife)
Venet is a bit taken aback by the sudden turn of the villagers, and then the more heated voices of the allies. She takes a step back, as much as she can due to the proximity of everyone, away from the raised voices. She most likely squishes in closer to Shugo as he's the only one that seems to be remaining quiet on the matter. She agrees the guards havent done anything wrong though.
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Taliyah moves back along the inn, placing the ladder somewhere Cezar can't get at it. "Would the Cezar you all plan to ally himself with monstrous creatures such as nightmares or dracoliches? Because when he saw his griffon partner was helping carry him here, he started ranting about he was planning on replacing her with something along those lines in the future. That doesn't sound like something an officer of the law should be doing." As she speaks, Taliyah places her staff back across her back, and then folds her hands in front of her. Meanwhile Pixel flies over to where Venet stands and lands on her shoulder. "If we need to escape, Lady Taliyah is currently standing by a boat down on the first level that should be able to fit our entire party, we'd need to be quick though, if we want to get away." After that Pixel flies over to where Maigurs is and uses the Help Action to give advantage to the first person who's trying to wake up/stabilize Maigurs.
Combat Over
The three of them already set up a rope to the balcony, but seeing Taliyah setting the ladder down, they didn’t have to waste any more of their energy on climbing a rope. “Thanks, lady.” Altairs nods to the Dragonborn.
On the first floor… Laine looks visibly upset and distressed seeing Maigurs in such a state. “Maigurs! Oh… oh dear… is he going to be alright?” She points at his injured arm, blinking back tears.
Kristiāns raises his hand, “Not now, Laine. We have a job to do.”
Before he can do anything, though, Maya begins explaining the situation in her broken Lancean… however, there is something similar about her way of speaking. She can't pronounce complex words, the words she says usually end with a vowel. The drow squints his eyes hard, it's clear she can't speak Lancean that well… but there is another language that sounds similar to this, and maybe she might understand it.
«ᐊᓇᑲ ᑲᕋ ᓂᐁ ᑕ? ᐯᔥ ᐊᓄ ᓇ ᐊᓇᑲ ᓓᓲ ᑲᕋ, ᑕᐁ ᑌ ᓇᐃ, ᔪᐅᕈ ?» (Anaka kara ni'e ta? Pesh ano na anaka lesu kara ta’e te na’i yo’oro?) (1) He tilts his head, the language he speaks sounds so strange, but you can't tell why it is strange, perhaps it is because of its monosyllabic system of forming words. «ᔫᓐ ᔓᔪᣝ ᔕᐸ ᐊᓇᑲ ᑕ ? ᓱᑐ… ᑕᐁ ᑯᐴᓐ.» (Yun shoyow shaba anaka ta? Soto… Ta’e kopun. (2) He pulls out a rope.
Well, there are other people too, so Kristiāns will have to translate what he just said to the group too. "What I'm saying is... Section 64, Dueling Act -1C 97 CY: Unsanction fights within taverns, commercial establishments, or markets, are prohibited under all circumstances. The law didn't say anything about self-defence, but that will be settled in a court." He glares at Pixel, "And don't you think of running away, Dragonfly. It's three months in prison for resisting arrest."
Seeing that Alex seems to encourage the group not to do anything stupid, and the ground didn't show any sign of actually trying to run away, he snaps his fingers, and Altairs walks over and ties each member of the party with a rope, including Pixel (He even has an extra small rope just for restraining a small creature). Meanwhile, Kristiāns ties up the unconscious half-elf mercenary and carries her on his back. The bugbear ushers the party to come forward on the balcony, making them stand in a line. (If anyone wants to break out, they can make a DC15 STR save to break out of their bindings.)
"HAHAHAHAHA! How does that feel? Get a taste of your own medicine, you filthy Mind Flayer tentacle-licking thug!" Cezars laughs, spitting in the direction of the party. His saliva fizzles against the rain. But his crap-eating grin fades away in an instant as the drow walks towards him and puts him in a metallic handcuff. Unlike an ordinary rope, which he can use his fire power to burn away, he is practically powerless with a heat-resisting binding such as this one. "WHAT THE HELL, KRIS? WHAT DID I DO WRONG!"
The drow sighs, "And that's the reason why you should get a time-out... we will have to question you later." He looks up to the rain, "But in this weather? It will be like walking into the mouth of a Tarrasque trying to do anything."
Kristiāns turns toward the group. "You see, we were supposed to be here for an evacuation procedure, that idiot Vladimirs XII didn't even warn us that there was a cyclone coming. There isn't a holding cell available at all, now that most of the country will be underwater in a few days, so we'll need to bring you along with civilians to the Underdark."
"WHAT!? Are you out of your mind, Kris?" Cezars yells in shock. "That place was so bad your kind gave up your evil ways just because you want to stay away from it, and now you want to go back to a literal Hell on Lancea!?" The Underdark is a mysterious place, it's a large cave system that branches out like a root of a tree, with the epicentre at Sehul proper. You all have heard of it in tales and stories, it's home to giant spiders, snakes, and horrors beyond comprehension. It used to be home to drows like Kristiāns too, but after the end of the Second Planetary War, they abandoned their underground empire and rejoined a new, reformed society.
Kristiāns slaps Cezars in the face, shutting him up. "Quiet! You guys are overexaggerating it, mother told me a lot about the Underdark, both before and after the Second Planetary War, and it isn't that bad." He throws his arms in frustration. "As long as you stay in the light, it's way, way safer than being in the middle of a cyclone. Don't say it's bad until you've actually got to see it!"
He turns back to the group. "Once we get to the Underdark... please, please don't do anything stupid, the same goes for you too, Cezars." He glares at the fire Genasi, "You all will stay with the evacuees until the hurricane passes. Do not, I repeat, do not wander away from the camp or a light source under any circumstances. If any of you die, especially you four, there will be a diplomatic crisis coming for sure." He points at Taliyah, Renar and his mother, and Shugo, the four 'tourists' of the group. "Any more questions?"
Meanwhile, Laine stands beside Maya, since she's the one who carries Maigurs. She looks around the area, "H-hey, can anyone help him, please?"
Charan transcription:
Note: This is Charan, another one of my constructed languages based on Old Chinese and Khmer. Because Old Chinese was a precursor language to most of East Asia, you can probably see some traces of Japanese and Tai Lue in there too—for example: the word for ‘I’ (ᐊᓇᑲ / Anaka) is very similar to Japanese (Anata).
The script you see in Indigenous Canadian syllabics, created by James Evans. Each letter represents one sound, so pronouncing complex words would be impossible in Charan.
In the universe, Charan is mainly spoken by elementals and anyone who lives in the Underdark. Although native speakers are getting rarer each day since the Underdark is abandoned in the present day, more on that later.
(1): “Do you speak Charan? Those words you make sound so much like Charan, but it’s not at the same time. Can you even understand me?”
(2) “We will have to arrest you, alright? Sorry… but rules are rules.
"The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference."
—Richard Dawkins
DM—Stories From The End of The World: Episode I
"Even in self defense? Who made these laws?" Venet asks, pouting as she's retrained. They didnt do anything wrong and now they have to go underground? Should have jumped in the water or something when I had the chance.
"I could heal him but I need my hands free.."
"No... no, no, no, no, no! Darekata! Tasukete! Help him! (誰か! 助けて, Someone! Please help me!)" Maya whimpers as she does her absolute hardest to blocks the open wounds with her clawed hands; It wasn't obvious at first since it's dark and the rain is obscuring her hands, but if someone were to notice, her sharp nails, which act as her claws, notciably retract and shirnk in size as she gets them covered in blood; This is so that she doesn't accidentally open his wounds even more in the process. Also, seeing Maigurs covered in blood is causing her pants to become more exasperated, loud and panicked, almost as if... she was reminded of her mentally broken daughter dying in her hands again... (Medicine: 23) Thankfully, as Venet suggests, Maya instantyl strides towards her with the injured wolf so they can help cooperate. "Arigato, Benetu-san." She softly whispers to her. Just as she redirects her motives to escape in order to let Maigurs regenerate under her watch however, she hears something odd... but almost familiar in her terms...
"Eh?! Watashi.... watashi wa... Ima kiita...? (私... 私は...今聞いた...?, I... Did I... just hear...?)" Her white fox ears twitch under her hooded disguise. The words 'anaka kara ni'e ta' and lesu kara' sound very similar to 'anata kawaii ni te (あなた かわいい に て)', and 'kawaii desu (可愛い です)' respectively (It other words, she thought they were calling her cute; she's easily flattered by this) "Oh?! ka... watashi... watashi wa... kawaii desu ka?! (お?! か…私…私は…かわいいですか?!, Oh! I... Am I... I'm cute?!)" Maya responds flustered though her shut eyes still remains closed. If it wasn't for the squelching of Maigur's warm blood snapping her brain and gaze back to reality, she would have continued to stare at the drow with flushed cheeks and closed eyes...
But to her it sounded... a little off still... Again she cannot understand most of it. But... maybe... just maybe... She points at the dark elf with her free arm, who reminds her of another one siding with her son. "Omae! Kurayami! Anata wa... Nihongo o hanashimatsu ka? (お前！暗闇! あなた... あなたは...日本語を話せますか?, You! Tenebris! Do you... speak Japanese?)" Unfortunately, their dialect isn't the same then. She pouts in response to their confusion. If she couldn't understand the first sentence, she woun't be able too for the second. At least... until she gets forcefully separated from Maigurs and bound by her wrists... causing her to let off a short, yet confused yelp that alost sounds like an actual fox.
"Ah?! Shikashi... Naze anata wa kore o yatteiru?! (しかし...なぜあなたはこれをやっている?! But... why are you doing this?!)" She yells in shock before she glances over to her son with a panicked expression; If he tries to break free then she will too.
Wildland Shifters Pt 2 (Pt 1 with PyromaniIsDeadThankGod)
Celci (The Lamb) - Non-Binary Changeling Sorcerer (Shadow Magic)
Maya Kurosaki - Female Kitsune Cleric (Twilight Domain); Currently in Lancea
Randy Wolftree - Male Human Artificer (Armourer); Currently in Crimson Sands of Time
Shijiro Otsune - Male Kitsune Blood Hunter (Order Of The Lycan)
Trojan Dseyller - Male Tortle Barbarian (Path of the Ancestral Guardian)
Xenia Ironhide - Female Kobold Rogue (Soulknife)
"WHAT?!" I snarl at Alex as I suddenly whips my angry expression towards him... at least until I notice his expression mimicking Okaa-san's and... *His katana stops glowing as his face morphs into an uncertain, almost panicking one as he hears Alex stating his case* Ugh... I swear to Asura... why does everyone have to be so emotional and Illogical? This world is so cruel... If it wasn't for the relic, I wouldn't have bothered to venture here with Okaa-san... "Ugh... Alright fine... I'll cool it off as you ask me to. But um... but... we've already stated our case though. I... what more do we need to show that we're not on the dark of life? And even O- uh I mean... Maya-san... she's clearly looking beaten like the rest of us. And... her breaths aren't good. It's as if she's suffering from a heart attack..." I hear Okaa-san yelling at the guards though and I figured if she doesn't want to be misunderstood, I'll have to step in...
"If you guys can't understand her... I've basically told you what she wanted to address: The one who fatally injured Wolfy wasn't her or anyone on this balcony but the elf assassin lying on the floor next to us. Sorry if her accent or her way of speaking sounds foreign. She's speaking a form of changeling language that only I can understand right now." Hopefully that helps to clarify their manner of speaking to-
"What the-? Can you repeat that again please? I don't..." That's not Japanese is it? The dialect sounds like it but it's still very of to my ears. Can Okaa-san understand this at all? I wonder what's she gonna respond with-
*Facepalm from the only male kitsune in the room* I... I don't know what to say... uh... "ARGH! Maya-san...! Please... please don't act all flushed and dazzled during this um... and his name is for sure not 'Kurayami!' Onigaishimasu! (Please!)" *He awkwardly turns to the guards with a scowl on his face* "...w-w-well... I don't know if you can understand her or vice-versa but... in her language I think you just called her cute. I'm not sure if that's what you intent but this was what she said, not me. And also... she's wondering if you're capable of speaking her language which, uh, I tak it you don't, seeing how confused as hell she is right now..." I then hear Maya panicking and crying for my help upon being restrained. I mean sure I wish I could break free but... (Strength: 4) I just can't. I'm still exhausted like heck, not to mention that I'm still trying to recover from that stupid flash bomb... *He shakes his head at his mother, much to the latter's frustration*
"Look whatever you're doing, I hope you and your comrades don't dare to treat us like some sort of criminals rather than travellers trying to find our way to solve some puzzles. That's all we ask of you. And... what?!" *His entire heart stops upon hearing the word 'underdark'* What?! You gotta be joking! There's an underdark here too?! *He flashbacks to the party fight with Lolth, where he, Rixi and Daisy were badly poisoned despite the massive victory and Tenebris lost his life only to be revived by another drow whom had turned into their ally and sacrificed his life to do so* I'm already getting bad memories of that boss fight... I heard not even Tenebris wants to head back to his own kind either, despite the fact that his big sister actually wanted to form an alliance with us against Tiamat... This doesn't sound good. Usually when I think of dark elves and dark dwarves I think of chaos ensuring after that... "Wait... You have an underdark? What's it like down there? Are those people hostile to outsiders like or something?"
The Wildland Shifters
Daisy Ethalena - Female Wood Elf Ranger (Monster Slayer)
Ethan Wolftree - Male Simic Hybrid Warlock (The Hexblade)
Mira Laurits - Female Harengon Sorcerer (Clockwork Soul); Lancea
Raiden Kurosaki - Male Kitsune Wizard (Bladesinger); Lancea
Rixian Nishinoya - Male Fire Genasi Paladin (Oath of Vengeance)
Tenebris Amaro - Male Dark Elf Druid (Circle of Stars)
Yurime Hanasaki - Female Kumiho Bard (College Of Creation)
Shugo seems to have been shocked into silence as all of this transpires. Though in reality, he's just contemplating the situation. He should have run when he had the chance, buuuut he didn't. And now he'll have to face the consequences. He resists the urge to facepalm when just about all of his comrades try to explain the situation. Making up excuses probably doesn't look good. Buuut, the guards don't seem to be bothered by it. He steps away from the fallen Money-lover when the guards come to tie them all up. Still holding his sheathed blade, the elf is obviously reluctant to let the guards take it, but doesn't resist.
\When the drow slaps some manacles on the hot-headed jerk, Shugo's smile returns. Justice. He glances at the fallen wolf-boy. Good thing they'd met up with him. Hopefully he's actually willing to speak the truth...and nobody tries to place some sort of spell on him to make him lie. That would be annoying.
He seams completely unconcerned with the concept of going to the underdark and gives Renar an odd look when he asks about it. Really? Is he that uneducated? Shaking his head, he ignores the shifter's question and turns to the nearest guard. "Can I ask one question? How long is this going to take? I'm not sure how you all deal with this sort of thing in your country....I also want to mention that Elmars did give us a task that we are supposed to complete before he returns..."
Alex does his best to stay calm, wishing that he at least was able to put his armor on... especially since it seems like they are going to be venturing into a potentially dangerous place, tied up too at that. He watches worriedly as Renar and Maya grow more and more agitated with the situation. To Renar he says, "Thank you. I'm sorry if it seems unfair but... these people are just doing their job. It isn't like they just disregarded what we said, they are just following protocol."
He looks to Laine, hoping that she lets Venet heal Maigurs. "Uh... If... if you don't want to untie any of us, I can heal him just by touch..." He glances down at his tied hands, not really wanting to make any sort of move for fear of further worsening the situation.
At least they handcuffed Cezars, who Alex promptly ignores--with some difficulty. All he can do is shake his head at the once-paladin's shouting, and trust that everything will work out in the end.
"I... I can also help provide light if needed," he says hesitantly. More than likely they won't need him to do so, especially considering they have another Aasimar with them, not to mention torches, but he wants to be as helpful as possible.
"Uh... what about our weapons?" He asks after a moment. Quickly he adds, "I'm not expecting you to let us keep them with us!" He glances longingly at his armor and tabard with its holy symbol. "I have no intention of trying to escape. I swear on my oath as a paladin that I will cause you no trouble. Same goes for my comrades," he gives each of them a confident look, clearly trusting that they won't force him to break his word.
"Not even two months into my journey and I've already been arrested, how exciting!" After her hands have been bound, Taliyah sits down one of the beds while she waits for the group to move on. Pixel settles down on her shoulder, a frown on his face. "Lady Taliyah. This doesn't feel like something to be excited about." After Pixel finishes speaking, she replies lightheartedly: "I'm sure these fine people will happily let us on our way once everything is cleared up, right Alex? You seem to knoq how the justice system works around here."
Kristiāns gestures and the group returns to the cover of the tavern, heading downstairs. Laine and Altairs follow behind him.
"Wait, wait! Kris, please! Are we going to leave Maigurs unconscious like that?" Laine begs.
Kristiāns rolls his eyes, "Fine... go fix him, you three." He loosens the bindings of the three healers, and after they're done, he ties them back tight.
The drow turns to the cloaked young man, "Underdark never had an actual name, people started calling it Underdark after we found out that the Sword Coast chronicles has something similar, and we just stick with it." Maybe the role-playing books Eerin and her friend have might not be just a toy, after all. "It's a system of giant caves, some parts of it lead out to the sea, some connects to a smaller surface cave or a mine. The Underdark is split into multiple layers, from the top layer starting at three kilometres underground all the way to the bottom at the planet's asthenosphere; the uppermost layer of the mantle—the deeper you go, the hotter it gets."
He stares off in the distance, "Just like the surface, the Underdark has its own ecosystem. You might come across a chamber full of giant amethyst crystals, an underground jungle, or a forest filled with glowing mushrooms. It would take all day to explain every biome the Underdark has to offer, but you'll get to see it soon." He adjusts his armour.
"A long, long time ago, there was only one kind of elf... you can continue the rest." He looks toward Shugo, who heard this tale countless times just like his dark elven cousin over there., in summary: a long, long time ago, there used to be one kind of elves: but some of them were too filled with pride, ignorance, and evilness, so a great war between them occurred, and the evil elves were expelled into the caves below. After Cycles of isolation, the evil elf's skin turned deep purple and became drow.
He waits for Shugo to finish, then he continues, "Fast forward to -4C, the entirety of the Underdark was ours, and we ruled with an iron fist. Female drows reign supreme over male ones—they were the leader, we were their servants, and we kidnapped other races to be slaves, both surface-dwelling and underground ones. We practised a lot of... questionable things, like torture and such, and everyone feared us.
One day, the ever-expanding United States of Lancea found out there were oils in the Underdark. And they came up with a proposal: we hand over all of our oil, they'll give us gold, slaves, and their technology, and we accepted their offer. Of course, the United States of Lancea never sent us any gold, they just took our oil and dumped their prisoner underground.
During the First Planetary War, the United States of Lancea's thirst for oil grew, and they demanded more. They began killing us because we weren't fast enough, and indeed, we really couldn't deliver all of it on time. The First Planetary War ended in a stalemate and the technology level reset back to zero. No more magical sticks that can summon lightning from their tips, or a walking hut made out of iron... you might get to see some of the pre-First Planetary War artefacts in the Underdark if you have a good eye.
Drow society was on a decline, slavery was abolished, and we couldn't really do anything without slaves—the male numbers were low and the females were too lazy to do manual labour. Our population began to drop steadily, then it took a complete nose-dive during the outbreak of the Second Planetary War. The United States of Lancea tried to kill everyone who was deemed to be a threat to their 'freedom,' and they thought we were more dangerous than others since we didn't give out enough oil during the prologue of the war.
They sent bats and rats infected with SARS, a virus that thrives in a damp and dark place like the Underdark, and two-thirds of our population couldn't handle it. We waited until the war ended and we left the Underdark immediately, along with other underground races such as duergars and deep gnomes. The surface world changed a lot, there was no hatred and tension among other races anymore, and we left our dark legacy behind. No more oppression, no more slavery, we will be better than the monsters we once were." He finishes his tale.
"What I'm saying is: if you see a bat or a rat, don't go near them. The SARS virus is still there, and if you get infected, you might get quarantined and the trial process will be much longer and difficult, not to mention you could risk getting everyone else sick too." Kristiāns says
He looks out at the window, "Nowadays, you might come across ruins of old drow cities, or if you're lucky, you might find pre-First Planetary War artefacts, or even human-made structures too. Though, there are still some 'sentient' creatures that live down there."
He snatches a rose from a nearby vase, "If you're lost or you're in need of help, you can always try to find myconids, they're mushroom people who won't try to fight you on sight... unlike literally anything else down there. They communicate telepathically with spores, so they'll understand what you say no matter what. That might be useful to you, miss." He nods at Maya.
"There are also firenewts, they're usually shy, but if they feel threatened, they will fight back." He points at Venet and Taliyah, "You two have to be extra careful around them, they don't really like ice and water, it's their two main weaknesses and they won't take your presence lightly for sure."
The bugbear steps forward and speaks up, "In this weather? Birdie will probably delay whatever task you have by several days or so. Aarakocras like him hates rain. The hurricane will pass on 12th April, so we will have to stay in the Underdark for a week."
"Rules are rules, if we apprehend someone, we will need to keep their weapons out of reach. If we don't, we could risk ourselves being terminated from our job. We'll keep all of your weapons in a box, and he'll carry it around," Kristiāns says, pointing towards Altairs. "If there is an emergency, we'll handle the threat for you, don't worry about it."
"The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference."
—Richard Dawkins
DM—Stories From The End of The World: Episode I
*Insert anime angry emoji as Renar gives off a sour, exhausted look whilst he reluctantly walks to wherever they need to go to; He's very paranoid about what might come in this new underground place in the meanwhile, so he's content on not letting his guard down* So basically you guys stole the trope from my world. MY FREAKING WORLD! Yare yare daze... *Sarcastic tone incoming* "Right. So you actually named it after the board game or role playing thing that everyone is so hyped about. That's uh... very creative, I say."
Pfft. So drow society was on the verge of extinction huh? Just because... of... *His heart stops as * Wait... they were on the verge of being wiped out too? Just like us kitsunes? What is going on here? Why is there so much hatred for these kind of races? What did those drow and us nine-tailed foxes do over here?! What would Tenebris say about this if her ever found out? Not that he'd be interested in travelling here but still! This world feels so twisted to my poor, golden eyes. I wonder what's going to be next on the extinction list now that we're at it? Orcs? Kobolds? Normal Elves? And... this United Lancea sounds super corrupted. And this took place whilst I was alive. A whole three-hundred-ish years of my life and this happened. Man this world's past is super dark; Almost as dark as my own...
"So drow populations are almost no longer existent?" I ask. I wonder Tenebris would have to say about this? I mean, he does despise his own kind so maybe he might be content on having it wiped out? Or does he actually change his mind? I need to ask him when I go back... Sentient? In abandoned drow cities? "Define sentient." Unless if he's talking about the... mushrooms... the living mushrooms? Or is there something more than that? *And speaking of which, he again realises something else* Oh wait... *
SkillTranslation issue incoming as Maya once again looks on confused* ARRRRRRGGGGHHH! *He's on the verge of losing his voice after painstakingly translating everything off by heart for his mother; Where'd the dictionaries go?!* Damn it, my voice is sore as heck, I don't even know if should even let Alex solo this or risk my voice just to back him up... *He leans slightly into Maya's side* "Kono sekai wa nanika ga machigatte iru... watashi wa sore o kanjiru... (この世界は何かがおかしい... 私はそれを感じる)" *And then to the closest person, for the translation or if they want to know what the heck he just said* "Something's wrong with this world... I can feel it."The Wildland Shifters
Daisy Ethalena - Female Wood Elf Ranger (Monster Slayer)
Ethan Wolftree - Male Simic Hybrid Warlock (The Hexblade)
Mira Laurits - Female Harengon Sorcerer (Clockwork Soul); Lancea
Raiden Kurosaki - Male Kitsune Wizard (Bladesinger); Lancea
Rixian Nishinoya - Male Fire Genasi Paladin (Oath of Vengeance)
Tenebris Amaro - Male Dark Elf Druid (Circle of Stars)
Yurime Hanasaki - Female Kumiho Bard (College Of Creation)
Maya's mood continues to remain sour as she is walked into where ever they're taking her to. Even if someone tries to strike a conversation with her, like her son, she's too pissed to respond back, well, not that she'll be able to understand what they're saying anyways... until Renar helps her translate. Geez. She hasn't even lasted two weeks in a foreign world, let alone 'found her son' and she's already begin arrested? For what?! What on earth did she even do?! All she did was spend the night with a rag tag team and begrudgingly traverse through a storm with nothing her bare feet! That's it! No souls taken or tricks played or even any handsome men seduced this time! The only time when she actually responded was when someone actually addressed her by her name, causing her concealed fox ears to twitch, though her mood doesn't improve slightly. "Hm? Doshitano? (What's going on?)" She replies with a slightly irritated tone, though her high-pitched tone somewhat remains still.
"Musuko... Onegaishimasu... (My son... p... lease...)" Maya whispers with fear. She wants to be the guardian angel of her son and the entire team that's grouped up with him, but her optimism is slowly fading, even with the looming threat of her own world being destroyed, she just... whatever negative emotions the rest of the group are emitting, she's slowly becoming entangled in this emotional spiral; She's slowly being affected by it too as the group walks deeper into the dark chasms of the abyss. Again... flashbacks of her lost daughter play in her head whilst this happens.
Wildland Shifters Pt 2 (Pt 1 with PyromaniIsDeadThankGod)
Celci (The Lamb) - Non-Binary Changeling Sorcerer (Shadow Magic)
Maya Kurosaki - Female Kitsune Cleric (Twilight Domain); Currently in Lancea
Randy Wolftree - Male Human Artificer (Armourer); Currently in Crimson Sands of Time
Shijiro Otsune - Male Kitsune Blood Hunter (Order Of The Lycan)
Trojan Dseyller - Male Tortle Barbarian (Path of the Ancestral Guardian)
Xenia Ironhide - Female Kobold Rogue (Soulknife)
Venet's just kinda zone's out midway through Kristiāns talking. She's heard all of this before, blah blah blah, the war was bad, people died, don't go near the rats and things. She does keep looking at him though, he's pretty at least.
Alexander moves quickly once untied--finding himself rather surprised that they untied him at all after he offered to do the healing without being untied... all he needed was to touch Maigurs after all. But he wasn't complaining. He'll help Venet however he can, not really wanting to expend his powers completely since it sounds like they'll be departing into somewhere they can potentially get into a different kind of trouble. Wonderful... but it does sound better than braving the storm. Hopefully they can get through this quickly so they can get on with the trial and whatnot.
Once that is done, he holds his hands out complacently as he is re-tied, and waits as patiently as he can as everything else unfolds.
"Oh... uh... I guess?" He knows the basics, and right now he's just trusting that everything will turn out. "Everything will work out. I'm sure we'll be fine. We have people who will side with us, and I'm sure Maigurs probably knows some others who can testify... at least, I hope he does. But... regardless, I believe that whatever happens will work out."
He blinks as the drow begins his story... now really doesn't seem like the time for a history lesson. Not that he isn't interested, but... well he can't say he hasn't heard at least some of this before, and at the moment he's too worried about everything going on to really pay attention to the exposition. Stay away from bats, got it. Now what?
"We'll stay close," he says. "And I understand about the weapons. All of my gear is right there (nods to the bundle on the floor)." He really just wanted to make sure he knew where they were going. Not that he didn't trust that at least one of these people was honorable--they had taken Cezars into custody too after all--but he just felt safer at least knowing his armor and sword were somewhere close. Even if they were out of his reach.
He raises an eyebrow at Renar... finding it rather odd that he doesn't know anything about the underdark whatsoever. ...or at least it seems that way. Didn't he say he was a researcher? Perhaps they just call the underdark something else where he's from---but then why doesn't he know about what happened with the drow? Odd. But okay.
He waits quietly, hoping that they can hurry up and get a move on, and also wishing that he could at least change into a tunic that wasn't covered in blood. Ideally, he'd be wearing his armor. But perhaps it was for the best for it to be kept out of the rain anyways.
Taliyah is listening closely to the drow's story, very much so interested in learning about the Inderdark due to how different it sounds compared to Sehul.
"Not really. Our surface populations are stable, there are around one or two million of us worldwide, which isn't a bad number, but compared to five billion of the total population, we're still a minority. Our populations underground are... gone. Not a single one left in sight." Kristiāns explains to Renar, "Most sentient creature you'll find will be in the wilderness, the drow ruins are devoid of most lifeforms, we laid a lot of traps to deter outsiders, that's the reason why no one or nothing wants to wander inside... All I'm saying is: never underestimate a creature even if they look ugly and... 'unintelligent.'"
After Alex wakes up Maigurs with a healing spell, he slowly opens his eyes, "Ngh..." The second he sees Laine, he leaps away from Kristiāns's arms like a cat being stratled by a cucumber. "Wah!" He scrambles to hide behind Alex, he's blushing hard and his tail is wagging fast, his face is so red you thought it was his injuries for a second. "U-uh... h-hey. Uh... hey, uh... Hi." He takes a peek at Laine,
The Aasimar girl giggles at his antics, "Ha, you're such a dork, Maigurs. So... how did you end up with these guys, then?"
The two officers remain silent as their two co-workers chat with each other. Laine is casually chatting with Maigurs, asking simple questions. Maigurs, on the other hand, just hides his face and stutters hard every time Laine looks at him. It's a bit out-of-character for him to act flustered like this, but it's clear that these two might have something with each other.
A few hours later...
At this point, Muphird has risen... or so you thought. The sky just got slightly brighter, but you can't even see the sun.
The terrain is completely encased in rain mists, and it rains even harder than yesterday. The wind is so strong you feel like it could send you flying if you try to jump or stand up too high. Some of the villagers bring out amenometer and rain guages too: the wind is about 46.9 metres per second and there is 48 cubic centrimetres of rainfall.
The water level is around your hips, and carts are struggling to move even with the biggest, tallest draught horses out there. People load the crates you prepare yesterday into boats and rafts, and you (along with nine hundred of the villagers) head east towards the mining settlement of Vierines.
A few (more) hours later...
The trek remained completely silent, even among hundreds of villagers, because when you try to speak, you get a mouthfull of water due to how hard it is raining right now. It's as if God is celebrating Songkran with His angels in Heaven, the water just keeps pouring and spilling from the sky.
Eventually, Vierines comes to sight... at least that's what you think it is. The small mining town is on top of a stoney hill, so it's the first time you've touch a dry piece of ground within days, but when the ground is made out of stoney sand like this, it's hard to dig down and build a stable platform.
There are about fifteen buildings in the mining settlement, thirteen of them collasped, one disappeared entirely, and one is still standing. And among one of the thirteen ruined building is a body of a dwarf, cold and lifeless. He isn't unconsious, or stunned, or in a state of torpor.
He is dead.
Lancea is a generally very safe, murders are extremely rare to the point where a single murder causes an international outrage. With healing spells available, healthcare prevents people from dying too... from a cureable diesease, at least. Natural disasters, on the other hand, is probably the deadliest event that can happen. You can't fight nor prevent a cyclone like this, all you can do is survive, pray, and hope that it goes away.
But the latter couldn't be applied to this dwarf, at least.
There was no gasp or crying among the crowd, only silence, and the sound of the rain and the wind in the background. Kristiāns walks forward and touches the dead body's forehead. He searches his pocket and pulls out an identification, then he stands up and reads.
"Anšlavs Lūsis, born 4th April -1C 4677 CY, died 5th April -1C 4983 CY approximately five to six hours ago due to hypothermia. He was asleep during the time of his death."
The morale of your party and the villagers were already low enough, but now, it has reached zero.
"WHAT? He just died one day after his birthday, how is this fair?!" A woman cries out in the crowd, and soon, many voices follow. Whispers turns into murmurs, and murmurs turns into full-on shouting.
"Where are the guards when he died? Why wasn't Vierines evacuated? Why didn't Vladimirs XII send the message sooner? Was he so sick that he couldn't bother to get up and sign a paper telling that the storm is coming?"
"And you want us to go into the Underdark? Are you trying to kill us because you know we will oppose your King!?"
"After this flood is over, Vladimirs XII is going down! Vive la révolution, you pigs!"
"It's all your fault! If only you were faster and there is more of you, he wouldn't have died!"
You know that it isn't neither you nor the guard's fault, but the villager's morales are broken. They're scared of their deaths, scared that the guards can't protect them, and their fear fuels their anger.
The villagers surround Kristiāns and his four other friends (not counting Cezars), pointing pitchforks, sticks, and anything they have at them in anger... the problem is, during this entire travel, they keep all of you close to them, since it's their standard protocal to keep prisoners near them at all times. Right now, you're caught in a crossfire too.
What will you say in your defences?
"The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference."
—Richard Dawkins
DM—Stories From The End of The World: Episode I
"H...Hey," Alex says hesitantly, unsure if he has any right to speak for the guards who are currently holding him and his friends prisoner. "Don't you know the saying 'Don't shoot the messenger?' These guards came here as fast as they could, it isn't their fault if Vladimirs XII didn't send them in time. They likely got the message late too. And even if they didn't, they had to brave the journey here in order to come give aid. Instead of staying wherever they were, safe from the storm, they came here--risking their own lives to try and help as many of you as they can." He looks around, hoping that these citizens will see reason, "But, aside from that, none of us are going to survive if we kill each other. Shouldn't we all work together to ensure that no more deaths result from this disaster?"
Persuasion: 19
Like Venet, Shugo also kinda just zones out during the drow's monologue about he underdark, he almost looks like he'd fallen into his sleepless trance while standing. Though he snaps out of it when the other elf addresses him specifically. Ugh, why now he has to give a history lesson? WHY?! Enthusiastically, he gives the most general version of the story possible, only to have the drow start talking again. Ugh, aren't they supposed to be going to jail or something? In the underdark? Hmmmm, maybe they can explore some of those old ruins when they are down there. If there are artifacts there, maybe he'll find something down there to appease his father and he won't even have to go to those human ruins. Buuuut somehow he doubts that, he's already tangled up in this mess. Hopefully they'll let him send letters to his sister. Maybe she can help bail him out of jail...and maybe the others too.
When wolfie boy finally is awakened, Shugo watches his interaction with the aasimar girl intently as if expecting something. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like the guards care what he says about them since they are all still tied up. Sighing, he follows the others out...though he does watch to make sure the guards take his sword along. He doesn't mind that they took it, but that blade is his honor....and a family heirloom. He doesn't want to lose it permanently.
After the guards examine the body of the unfortunate dwarf, only to get all of the surrounded by pitchforks, Shugo remains silent. WHYYYYYYY! Why does he keep getting dragged into things that have nothing to do with him! It's not his fault this poor unfortunate soul met his end! So, he does nothing. Unless this all starts to get blown to far south, he's not going to try to sort out this mess.
"Oh hey. You feeling better, Wolfy?" I sourly try to ask as I absorb everything that the drow said to me. I mean, I'm not surprised really; both Japan and Sword Coast have these kind of disasters, especially creatures that seem unintelligent... like me, Yuri. Shijiro and Okaa-san... Hm? What the... he's blushing? Is that... are those two in love? Damn it... *He whips his head away in case the two of them get really intimate with each other* I'm not ready for this nonsense. Hell no. Give me my katana back you bakas... Get me out of this already... uh? *It took her a while but eventually, his mother speaks to him*
*Renar instantly blushes in terror and his fox tail instantly sticks into the air underneath his disguise upon hearing his mother address him as her son* So she knew huh... my disguise was long busted... "OKA- I mean... MAYA-SAN! Ima wa damedesu! (今はだめです Not now!)" I whisper aggressively in her massive fox ear; She's shorter than me so it wasn't hard to do so considering that her ears are located on top of her head just like mine...
What the... he died four to five hours ago? That was really recent. Diseases like hypothermia were common in my world too but, wasn't there anyone who could provide him shelter and warm clothes? And... why didn't anyone in the near vicinity help him before he passed?! *He notices the crowd's mood worsening as they ready pitchforks* What the... oh my god this world's a lot crueller than Sword Coast... Seriously if Rixi or any of the Shifters came with me then this mess wouldn't have happened anyways, despite the massive downpour. Ow! What the heck! Why are you blaming us for nothing?!
"Shut up... Shut up... YAMERO! SHUT UP! *He stomps the ground and sends out a massive harmless shockwave towards the people to convey his message* Why are you catching us in the crossfire?! Alex is right... we all need to work together and yet... you guys... *Pant, uh-oh... here comes a rage rant* you guys are are so ungrateful... you're all no different to the worthless guards, whoever they are, at assisting others in getting the job done! These four guards are only doing their job, even if they got the message late, they at least didn't slack off! Would you guys rather have a little help or zero help at all?! In fact You guys are so spoon fed by the king's orders that you can't even get your act to rescue that poor guy who just died?! What the heck! Can't you guys also at least signal your own evacuation? You guys can tell that whenever a storm is about to stir you should prepare in advance rather than to wait for orders! Because that's we decided to do before we ended up being falsely accused and tied up as you can see here! Where the heck in your common sense?! And you want to kill us?! When the six of us are tied up just for doing the right thing?! You guys are truly scum in this world... Do you think trying to revolt against someone who's doing their best even in times of dismay the right way to go?! *His eyes glow yellow as electricity crackles* Or should we all make you suffer like the dead dwarf over there that you could have saved in the midst of the storm when we break free from out binds? YOUR CHOICE!" Intimidation: 19
I hope Alex is taking note of the clues I am doing should I consider one person a potential friend
Clue 1: When I consider you as a potential friend, I back you up in the most dire situations, whether it be physical or verbal, even if I sound or act like I'm not; I don't care about my wellbeing or what other people think, I stand for what I think is right, and if I think your values are the way to go too, I incorporate them in my reasoning; I stand to protect people from harm's way with the best of my ability.
The Wildland Shifters
Daisy Ethalena - Female Wood Elf Ranger (Monster Slayer)
Ethan Wolftree - Male Simic Hybrid Warlock (The Hexblade)
Mira Laurits - Female Harengon Sorcerer (Clockwork Soul); Lancea
Raiden Kurosaki - Male Kitsune Wizard (Bladesinger); Lancea
Rixian Nishinoya - Male Fire Genasi Paladin (Oath of Vengeance)
Tenebris Amaro - Male Dark Elf Druid (Circle of Stars)
Yurime Hanasaki - Female Kumiho Bard (College Of Creation)
Maya still remains quiet as she gets lost in her own inner fantasies... until she snaps back to reality by the sound of angry villagers holding pitchforks plus her son telling her not to go far. "N-NANI?! NANISHITERUNO?! (何?! 何してるの, What?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!)" She cries out in horror as the villagers surround her . And then she notices Alex and Renar talking in their foreign language. Though she cannot understand what she's saying, she notices that her son is being too analytical, which is a bad sign for both himself and her; Usually when he becomes like that it's a sign that he might hurt other people's feelings and spit out facts that they don't want to hear. "Uh... Renar-kun! RENAR-KUN! YAMETE!" She tries to scream, but she gets completely ignored this time. She doesn't want her son to go too far and get the entire group into serious trouble, but she's assuming that he's trying to get the people to their side in the midst of the storm, so she leans towards his body despite being tied up, almost as if she was about to nuzzle him, and snarls at the hostile villagers with sharp canine fangs.
"Do not... tochu... demu... or... Renar-kun! What he say... I standu... beside him... you do... I... KILL YOU!" Intimidation: 23
Wildland Shifters Pt 2 (Pt 1 with PyromaniIsDeadThankGod)
Celci (The Lamb) - Non-Binary Changeling Sorcerer (Shadow Magic)
Maya Kurosaki - Female Kitsune Cleric (Twilight Domain); Currently in Lancea
Randy Wolftree - Male Human Artificer (Armourer); Currently in Crimson Sands of Time
Shijiro Otsune - Male Kitsune Blood Hunter (Order Of The Lycan)
Trojan Dseyller - Male Tortle Barbarian (Path of the Ancestral Guardian)
Xenia Ironhide - Female Kobold Rogue (Soulknife)
Venet is a bit taken aback by the sudden turn of the villagers, and then the more heated voices of the allies. She takes a step back, as much as she can due to the proximity of everyone, away from the raised voices. She most likely squishes in closer to Shugo as he's the only one that seems to be remaining quiet on the matter. She agrees the guards havent done anything wrong though.